Chapter 140
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: Cleanup
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“Fire! We have plenty of arrows, so keep firing!”
“M-my lord. We’re almost out of holy water!”
“Goddammit…!”
The curse ran rampant.
After the dungeon break occurred.
The countless scattered domains were each struggling in their own way.
Fortunately, they had stocked up on troops and war supplies, so they were fending off the monsters without much difficulty.
Unfortunately, they were trapped in the labyrinth, forced to watch their holy water supplies dwindle.
Thus, even as despair deepened with every battle, they couldn't bring themselves to give up, desperately swinging their swords and spears.
“L-look over there!”
“…The fog is clearing?”
“Does that mean… perhaps…”
The cursed fog, which had brought ruin to all who strayed even slightly from their domain without being doused in holy water.
Those who saw it gradually dissipating were stirred.
Then they confirmed that the monsters had stopped mutating and melting away.
After sending out a packhorse, and then a slave, and confirming that nothing was amiss, they erupted in cheers.
“The curse is gone!”
“We’re saved! We survived!”
From nobles to soldiers and commoners, everyone embraced each other in joy.
The fact that they had finally survived the fierce struggle gave them a sense of camaraderie that transcended social status.
Of course, if a commoner dared to overstep their bounds and challenge a noble, they would still be beheaded on the spot.
But there was one place.
The atmosphere in Nakrang Castle alone was different.
While the people of Nakrang Castle were just as happy about the situation, they couldn't help but quietly watch their surroundings for one reason.
Unlike the other domains, they hadn't all fought together to withstand the monster assault.
There had been no need for them to fight; a single person had stepped forward and slaughtered thousands of monsters.
“…Is it finally… over?”
“I believe so.”
“Sleepy, annoying, and tiring. The worst overtime.”
“Uh, sister. It’s still daytime.”
“So?”
“No, it’s just…”
“So?”
“…Thank you for your help.”
At the gaze of the oni woman, who carried an iron rod on her shoulder and tilted her head to look at him.
Kelton cautiously lowered his head.
From her iron rod to her clothes and hair.
Her appearance, utterly drenched in blood and gore, was terrifying to behold, even for someone other than him, the so-called Martial Duke.
Even more so because mixed in with that blood and flesh was that of a noble who had gotten on her bad side.
Perhaps that was why.
The oni woman, looking at Kelton with sleepy eyes, said bluntly.
“If you’d just done as I said, you wouldn’t have had to suffer.”
“If I’d gone through the Gate of Isolation as you said, I would have died!”
“It’s fine. You wouldn’t die.”
“No, I’m telling you, only a monster like you could survive that…”
“No need for thanks. Looking after a little brother is a big sister’s duty.”
“…”
Whether you’d call it impossible to reason with her.
Or just a one-way street.
In the end, Kelton gave up trying to argue against her self-paced attitude and simply shut his mouth.
As if taking his silence for agreement.
The oni woman yawned long and spoke languidly.
“So, as a token of your gratitude, yanggaeng.”
“Pardon?”
“Premium yanggaeng. Lots of it.”
“Uh… Sister? This isn’t Mado, Yodoryeong, or Mudoryeong. Even if I wanted to, there’s nowhere to get yanggaeng here…”
“Yanggaeng. Lots.”
*Thud!*
“…I’ll find a way to get it.”
“Yes. A good little brother should.”
Seeing the iron rod embedded deep in the ground, Kelton nodded, breaking out in a cold sweat.
The oni woman, finally satisfied, closed her eyes.
And…
*Zzzz.*
“…Sister?”
*Zzzzzz.*
“Seriously, what am I supposed to do if you fall asleep in a place like this…”
Watching the oni woman who had fallen asleep right there on a pile of corpses, leaning against her iron rod.
The young Grand Ogre could only fret anxiously.
***
After the curse vanished.
The labyrinth stabilized to a degree unbelievable for a place that had just suffered a dungeon break.
Even the monsters that had been rampaging madly until now had suddenly tucked their tails and fled.
Since the contaminated mana that had been the very cause of their frenzy had vanished as if washed away, it was a natural outcome.
Thus, each domain found peace all the more quickly.
Even for a 2-star labyrinth, escaping wasn't difficult without the curse and monsters.
But they didn't know.
Even though the fog had suddenly disappeared.
The contaminated mana within it had not.
The truth was that the contaminated mana, once spread throughout the labyrinth, had merely gathered and condensed in one place.
…into the fog that moved as if fleeing along the dark shadows of the canyon, letting out a chilling laugh.
*Hee-hee.*
It had no reason.
No intellect.
But the fog, possessing just enough of a primal nature to harbor resentment, made a judgment.
It had to retreat for now.
Because of its very nature to curse all things, it would never have made such a choice at any other time, against any other opponent, but…
This time was different.
When it appeared before Pandora.
When it saw the boy who faced her—no, who faced ‘itself’—without losing his smile, it had realized instinctively.
‘That thing’ was dangerous.
It wasn't just that the curse didn't work.
It was his gaze, which saw not only Pandora but also the ‘self’ dwelling within her.
And it was the boy's smile, which, far from showing madness or fear, was instead filled with pure joy and welcome.
This had caused the fog to instinctively gather all its power and stealthily flee into the depths of the labyrinth.
Of course, it was merely a fragment.
Compared to the main body trapped inside Pandora, it was nothing more than dregs, not even a proper clone…
But that didn't matter.
As long as it could devour more contaminated mana.
Spread far more curses.
And bring ruin to this world, even as mere dregs, it could be satisfied.
*Hee-hee.*
And so, laughing eerily.
The fog tried to keep moving.
“And where might you be going?”
…if a voice hadn't suddenly been heard.
Even in this completely unexpected, heart-stopping situation, the fog reacted instinctively.
By spewing out all the contaminated mana it had gathered at its opponent.
Even as a mere fragment, a dreg.
It was a mass of contaminated mana immense enough to cause a dungeon break.
No matter how great the Awakened One, the natural outcome of facing it was to be eroded and contaminated, reduced to a mere mutant.
But…
“To answer a greeting with such a thing… as expected of the lowest seat, you have no dignity.”
…Hee-hee?
“Then again, for the dregs of the lowest seat, I suppose this is the best you could do.”
*Step, step.*
Even after being doused in enough contaminated mana to drive not just a high-ranking Awakened One, but even a transcendent one, to madness and mutation.
The girl with purple twintails, who approached as nonchalantly as if she’d been splashed with a bit of muddy water, scoffed and continued.
“However, you should know your place.”
…Hee, hee?
“The demons are laughable, really. There is no way something like you could ever be worthy of being the ‘Seventh’.”
Strange.
Wrong.
Must flee.
With that instinctual premonition, the fog squeezed out even more contaminated mana, but…
Nothing changed.
No matter how much the fog increased the concentration of contaminated mana, the girl didn't even bat an eyelash.
She simply continued her cold sneer.
“To begin with, the very term ‘Seven Calamities’ is a misnomer.”
*Sssssss.*
…?!
And then.
It began. The absorption.
A shadow had appeared beneath her.
No, it was an endless two-dimensional plane that looked like a shadow, and it was gradually sucking the fog in.
Terrified, the fog tried to escape the shadow, but…
It was useless.
No matter how wide the fog spread.
No matter what tricks it used to resist and flee.
The shadow expanded endlessly, continuing to absorb the fog.
“That term originally stemmed from the calamities that the Five Heroes vanquished, the ones that nearly destroyed the world.”
That's right.
It was only this weak because its seal was incomplete.
And because it was a fragment.
If properly unleashed, this fiend was a calamity that could destroy the world.
Normally, no mere girl, Awakened or not, should have been able to withstand it.
But…
“The problem is, the Five Heroes never said there were only seven calamities.”
“Seven was simply the limit of the calamities the Five Heroes could defeat.”
“So, you would do well to learn this now.”
Whether they were demons.
Or sentient races.
From the age of the Ancient Kingdom to the present day.
Why did their vile nature remain unchanged?
Despising and loathing the acts of the ignorant masses who were so eager to hide the truth, yet grateful for the vulgarity that allowed her to trample them without hesitation.
The Vault Keeper spoke a single name left by the Five Heroes, before it was distorted and erased.
“—The Twelve Fiends.”
“……!”
“That is ‘our’ proper name.”
The power to destroy the world.
Above all, born with that very ‘destiny.’
The ‘twelve’ calamities that were the end itself.
To borrow a phrase her master sometimes used, they were one of the 12 final bosses that would bring ruin to Odobaekryeong.
A calamity that exerted absolute control over those it branded, growing stronger as its subjects increased.
In the first timeline, it had ultimately turned all sentient races into puppets, leading Odobaekryeong to its ruin.
The culprit who had passed the legacy of the King of the Dark Grotto to his successor, turning dozens of transcendent Awakened Ones into puppets and destroying several cities.
A being that had gone back to sleep to bide its time after the second King of the Dark Grotto was defeated by the Five Heroes.
The calamity ranked 9th among the Twelve Fiends.
【Bad Ending No.9 – King of the Puppet World】
The Vault Keeper of the King of the Dark Grotto.
—No, the Vault Keeper of the Fiend King absorbed the remnants of the fiend without leaving a single trace.
A cruel smile graced her lips.
She spoke elegantly.
“It has been a while since my last restorative meal. I enjoyed it.”
***
“That was a bit much.”
Suddenly.
He mutters.
“No, I can understand it. From the perspective of choosing the most efficient scapegoat.”
The canyon had, until a moment ago, been shrouded in a thick, cursed fog.
But now that the fog had lifted.
On a cliff that had become ordinary enough for an adventurous climber to succeed with the minor sacrifice of one in three dying.
The blood-soaked, rabbit-eared boy clutched a large holy water pouch and muttered softly.
“…Still, using your supposed collaborator as bait without a second thought is a real bastard move, isn't it?”
For a long while, he fiddled with his long bangs, which covered his eyes as if he were deep in thought.
Finally, the Guild's messenger let out a deep sigh.
“Haaah… I really think I took the wrong ‘request’.”
Too deep to be resignation.
Too shallow to be a lament.
After exhaling every last bit of breath that had pooled at the bottom of his lungs.
Naru turned around.
And as he walked along the narrow path carved into the cliff, he muttered.
“I've cut something worthless again.”
And so…
Whether he had saved his life.
Or the curse had vanished.
He felt no particular joy.
Nor any particular sorrow.
Naru simply trudged on.
To descend the dizzying cliff and return to Waryongjang.
…leaving behind the corpse of a giant leopard, its head severed.