Chapter 76
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: The Trial
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It was a fierce battle.
Commanding demonic soldiers.
Using magic and spells.
Swinging their weapons like madmen.
The might of the rampaging Soma Knight Order was enough to effortlessly lay waste to a small domain.
And yet.
In the end, they were defeated.
It wasn't that they were weak.
It was simply that their opponent was too absurdly strong, too bizarre.
*Clap, clap, clap.*
“—Incredible.”
That was why.
The moment the surroundings fell silent.
The Vault Keeper could react so calmly to the leisurely applause coming from one side.
“To think you’d defeat the Soma Knight Order so easily. You really were strong, Shuttle.”
“Hmph, I told you so many times. I am far too good for a master such as yourself.”
“Yeah, I’ll give you that.”
The boy, who had been staunching the blood flowing from his side in a corner to avoid being caught in the fight.
Dion readily nodded.
The power of the Vault Keeper, who had managed to subdue Sirgal and the Soma Knight Order—something he and Parsha couldn't handle even together—was truly astonishing.
It made her haughty attitude up to this point perfectly understandable.
The outcome was something even Parsha had to admit: she was worth breaking into Elise’s room to find.
“So…”
Despite all this.
Dion wasn't smiling.
Instead, he asked with a truly troubled expression.
“...It’s my turn next, right?”
“Of course.”
And the girl, wreathed in writhing shadows.
When her power was sealed, she had been nothing more than a special porter.
But now that Dion had unlocked her chains, allowing her to use a portion of her stored power, the Vault Keeper of the King of the Dark Grotto smiled sweetly.
“I am the examiner. A being with the duty and right to test whether my new master is worthy of becoming the king's successor, you see.”
“Just to be sure, what’s the test?”
“It isn’t very difficult. You simply need to defeat me.”
“Wow, that sounds really easy.”
The King of the Dark Grotto was a merciful king.
He hadn't set strict qualifications for his successor; one merely had to defeat a humble Vault Keeper.
As Parsha’s eyebrows shot up at the girl’s kind explanation.
Dion asked again.
“And if I don’t pass this test, I die?”
“That would normally be the case, but…”
The Vault Keeper paused for a moment.
Originally, she had no intention of giving him such a chance.
This boy was unworthy of being the successor to the King of the Dark Grotto, a boy who had delayed the test he was meant to take and worked her like a slave.
Killing him in the most gruesome way possible was her duty as the Vault Keeper of the King of the Dark Grotto.
But…
“In consideration of you releasing my seal, I can offer you a special opportunity, Master.”
“An opportunity?”
“Renounce your right to be the king’s successor.”
“…”
“And if you swear to become the servant of the next king, I shall spare your life.”
The Vault Keeper said haughtily.
Because Dion had saved her?
That was certainly not the reason.
She was the great and mighty Vault Keeper of the King of the Dark Grotto. She would never make a judgment based on personal feelings or grudges.
Nevertheless, she had decided to give Dion a chance for one reason.
She acknowledged it.
Dion was more useful than she had thought.
Though she had subdued even a knight order as if they were nothing, the abilities Dion had shown were outstanding even among high-ranking Awakened Ones.
Besides, one could never have too many servants.
Especially considering the work the true successor to the King of the Dark Grotto would have to do.
“Hmm… so, in short, I have to choose between dying here or becoming a slave?”
“That is correct.”
“Right, then I have no choice.”
As if he fully understood that there was no other option.
Dion, who had been staring blankly at the sweetly smiling Vault Keeper, let out a deep sigh.
He then dropped the leftover bandage from staunching his side and opened his mouth.
“I guess I have no choice but to use Plan C.”
“…?”
What plan was he talking about?
The moment the Vault Keeper tilted her head slightly at the incomprehensible words.
*FWOOSH!!!*
Smoke bombs hidden among the bandages Dion had dropped exploded, blanketing the entire area in smoke.
***
“Hmm…”
Slowly.
Her eyes scanned the area.
The fragments of magestones embedded in the wall.
The remnants of the smoke that had filled the space.
The labyrinth, shrouded in darkness under a faint light.
After sweeping her gaze over the ground, which was empty except for a few bloodstains.
The girl with purple hair so long it touched the floor spoke softly.
“To think he had such a trick hidden away. My master certainly is skilled at petty tricks.”
It must have been a high-quality item.
She muttered softly, looking at the smoke bomb that had filled the area with smoke for several minutes before finally settling.
Just a few minutes.
But a whole few minutes.
It was enough time for Dion and Parsha to vanish without a trace.
Though she had regained some of her power, the Vault Keeper was not yet at her full strength and had no choice but to let the boy she had all but caught escape.
“It’s a futile effort, however.”
Despite this, she wasn't particularly disappointed or angry.
No matter how far they ran.
This was the middle of the Labyrinth.
Without purified water, they would eventually have to return.
Catching Dion was only a matter of time.
The only problem was that searching for him herself was a bit of a bother…
“It’s a good thing there’s something useful at hand.”
[…]
“Now, in that spirit, I shall grant you all a special opportunity as well.”
[…What kind of opportunity?]
“The opportunity to choose between selling your souls to live as slaves, or dying right here.”
A faint smile.
Played on the girl’s lips.
Looking at the Vault Keeper, Sirgal, who was sprawled on the floor in tatters along with his knights, gritted his teeth.
It was baffling enough to be subdued by this monstrous girl.
He never imagined he would receive such a humiliating offer.
[…I will become a slave.]
“A wise choice.”
But when Sirgal eventually bowed his head, the other knights followed suit.
Whether they escaped later.
Or betrayed her.
They all knew they had to submit for now if they wanted to survive.
Looking at them.
The girl smiled with satisfaction.
And so, the Vault Keeper extended her hand.
At the moment the shadowy tendrils that rose from her fingers touched the foreheads of Sirgal and the Soma Knight Order.
“—With this, the contract has been formed.”
*Zzzzt.*
[What…? Ghaaaack!!!]
“Kyah!”
“W-what is this?!”
“Heeheehee, there is no need to be afraid. I have simply engraved proof that you have become the king’s servants.”
Smiling sweetly at the Soma Knight Order, who were convulsing as a mark resembling a black flame seeped into their foreheads.
The Vault Keeper gave her command.
“Now, go and capture my master.”
[Krrggh… h-how could you…]
The moment they heard that ‘command.’
The Soma Knight Order was horrified.
The excruciating pain transmitted from the mark on their foreheads.
Just thinking about disobeying the command made their heads feel like they would split open.
An instinct that told them that actually acting on that thought would cost them their lives.
Above all, the nature of the power the Vault Keeper had used left them aghast.
‘An Authority?!’
A power that only a Master with a 5-star class could use.
Or an extremely small number of transcendent Awakened Ones.
A power that surpassed even classes and traits, in that simply being able to use it allowed one to accomplish things even a Master could not.
As they stood stunned by the unimaginable, absolute power.
The Vault Keeper of the King of the Dark Grotto, who had single-handedly ravaged the entire world in the distant past of the Ancient Kingdom era.
Smiled bewitchingly.
“Of course, if he’s too difficult to capture, you can just kill him and drag his corpse back. I don’t mind.”
***
“—Are you an imbecile?”
Dented steel armor.
A blood-soaked maid uniform.
Even her black skin was covered in wounds.
The dark elf maid, a far cry from her usual pristine appearance, sat leaning against a rock in a corner of the valley.
Parsha spoke with a face about 3.7 times colder than usual.
“No, you’re a complete moron.”
“Isn’t that a bit harsh to say to the master who just saved you from the brink of death?”
“I might have thought so, had you not done something as idiotic as poking a bomb beetle to avoid a ground worm.”
Parsha glared with cold eyes at Dion, who had carried her on his back and fled, as her movements had been slowed by her injuries.
The Soma Knight Order was a truly powerful military force.
At full strength, they were killing machines that even a transcendent Awakened One might not defeat, but could at least hold at bay.
Parsha, having witnessed the battle, couldn't possibly fail to understand what a terrifying monster the Vault Keeper who had so easily subdued them was.
Above all, her elven instincts, inherited through her bloodline even after losing her powers and blessings, told her.
That girl…
No, ‘that thing’ was a monster incomparably more dangerous than any ordinary Awakened One.
Including the fact that releasing her seal was an act of suicide so foolish, reckless, and insane that not even the world’s biggest idiot would attempt it.
“I couldn’t help it, right? We would have died otherwise.”
“Instead, you’re about to be killed by the slave you worked so hard to acquire. How very impressive.”
“Right? I’m quite popular.”
But Dion, the one in the most danger from this situation, showed no particular sign of anxiety.
He even cracked a joke with a bright smile.
Looking at Dion as if he were a lunatic, Parsha questioned him even more sharply.
“Why did you take in an uncontrollable bomb like that in the first place?”
“Because once I pass the test, I’ll be able to control her.”
“...Let’s say, for the sake of argument, you pass that test. Do you really think she’ll obediently listen to you, Young Master?”
“Yep.”
“…”
“Shuttle has no other choice.”
She was the Vault Keeper of the King of the Dark Grotto.
A manager and examiner solely for the purpose of handing over all of the King’s legacy to his successor.
Just as testing the new successor was her duty and right.
Absolute loyalty to the successor who passed the test was her destiny.
After stating this nonchalantly.
Dion added one more thing.
“Her circumstances are different from yours, Parsha.”
“...What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said.”
Dion smiled faintly.
A personal maid.
A being who is absolutely loyal to her master.
Parsha, in particular, was the one and only vassal, guard, and nanny who had practically raised Dion, who had lost his mother and maternal family at a young age.
Despite always spitting venom, Parsha had always protected and cared for Dion.
But that was precisely what made a certain fact hard to understand.
“That’s also why Sirgal fell for our trap so easily, isn’t it?”
—Why did Sirgal so easily believe Parsha’s information?
If you thought about it.
It was strange.
Considering the special nature of a personal maid who shares her master's fate, betrayal is normally unthinkable.
It would have been natural to suspect she was setting a trap and providing false information.
Especially for the suspicious Demon Lord of Soma or Sirgal.
And yet, the reason Sirgal.
No, to be precise, the reason Ren Unlight, who was pulling their strings, believed that information so easily.
There was only one answer.
“Because Parsha was bought by my brother Ren a long time ago and has been selling me out like a toy.”
“…”
Wasn’t it because they had been dealing with each other for so long that there was no need to even doubt the authenticity of the information?
As Dion pointed this out with a grin.
Parsha didn't look offended.
Nor did she spit her usual venom.
She simply remained silent, her face expressionless.
—As if admitting that she was, indeed, a traitor.