Chapter 140
Chapter 140
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: Demon and Archmage (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
In a corner of the lounge, Kadim sat facing off against the Magic Tower Lord.
The lamp burned through its final flicker before dying out faintly. In its place, Kadim drew Judgment of Atala and leveled it at the Lord's forehead, poised to bring it down like a guillotine at the first sign of any mental transfer.
Of course, this was merely a precaution for the worst-case scenario. The Magic Tower Lord already seemed to have abandoned all will to resist. On a face too ambiguous to tell if it belonged to a young man or an old one, only a twisted, chaotic smile hung.
Kadim's expression darkened.
There were too many things he wanted to ask. Right off the bat, the sudden shift in this bastard's attitude was suspicious. But everything had its order. He picked out the most pressing questions first and hurled them.
Why had he said he'd only just arrived now? What was the nature of that grand spell Melissa had devised? Was it somehow connected to the demons' rampage?
And was Melissa still alive?
Only one question got a response.
"Melissa... is still alive. That grave is just a decoy she asked me to make. But I can't answer your other questions."
"......"
Kadim held himself back. He quelled the storm raging inside him.
Not yet. Not now. He couldn't lose his cool until he'd uncovered everything. He tightened the loosening reins of his mind once more.
"......Why can't you answer? You gonna play dumb and claim ignorance?"
"No, it's... exactly as I said. No matter how much I want to tell you, I physically can't reveal those answers."
"......"
"......Rather than words, let me show you directly."
The Magic Tower Lord clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. He steeled himself, lips parting with a chew.
"The grand spell that depleted the ancient mana..."
Thud—boom!!
"......Urk!"
A dull noise rang out, and a lock-shaped magic circle floated in the air. It forcibly sealed the Lord's mouth before fading away like an afterimage.
The seal was so brutal that his lips split open. The Lord wiped the blood from his mouth and explained to Kadim, who was furrowing his brow.
"......Before leaving the Magic Tower, Melissa placed several restrictions on me. No matter the method, I can't answer those questions. Speaking triggers a seal on my mouth, writing breaks my hand bones, and sending a mental message deletes the demonic energy."
"......"
Kadim didn't trust demons. But demons couldn't lie in proposals or contracts. Those restrictions were likely from a pact with Melissa.
Doubts lodged deep in his mind began to swell grotesquely.
What exactly was this demon's connection to Melissa? What had happened for a mage who loathed demons to make a pact with him and name him her successor?
He'd worried even that answer might be restricted, but thankfully it wasn't. The Lord let out a troubled sigh at the question and began unraveling the tale.
"......Melissa and I first met about 300 years ago in the Demon Realm. She took in a lesser demon like me, on the brink of annihilation. But the reason wasn't out of warm compassion."
Melissa had wanted to experiment.
Could a demon truly be made human?
And ultimately, could she twist the essence of all remaining demons in the world so they no longer craved pain and despair?
Upon returning from the Demon Realm, Melissa built the Magic Tower at the eastern edge of the continent. She gathered mages from everywhere, taught them magic, and enlisted them in her research and experiments. Her greatest focus was the study of the "ancient grand spell," followed closely by experiments to humanize demons.
"In the end, the experiment was... half a success. No, half of half a success."
It was fortunate the demon's type was a "possession breed." Melissa split the demon's thoughts, implanted them into a dead human body, and paired it with countless education sessions and mental controls to humanize it. And eventually, she succeeded in making that "split body" think and act like a human.
"'Akula.' The name Melissa gave me on the day I first thought and spoke like a human. As a demon, I was exceedingly rare... I gained a name before becoming a greater demon."
But it was far too meager to call a true success.
Human-like traits were limited to the "split body"; the "main body" still voraciously hungered for pain and despair. The split body, subordinate to the main, couldn't escape the aftermath. Even the thoughts Melissa had painstakingly humanized would revert to demonic corruption after just a little time.
In the end, Melissa took drastic measures.
"She completely sealed the 'main body' and left only me, the 'split body,' outside. Even that wasn't enough for peace of mind, so she bound me with countless restrictions and prohibitions."
Thus, she succeeded in maintaining the split body's human mind and form, but applying this universally to other demons was impossible. The Lord wiped the lingering blood from his mouth and gave a bitter smile.
"The experiment meant to find positive potential in demons only deepened distrust of them. Without isolating the main body, even a part couldn't be purified—a fundamentally rotten existence."
"......"
"These restrictions aren't from any contract, either. Melissa never made a pact with a demon in her life. From the day she brought me until she left the Magic Tower... she never trusted demons, never lost her loathing for them."
"......"
"So I, who received more attention from her than anyone... never once earned her goodwill."
It was a story Kadim hadn't anticipated at all. He'd known Melissa planned various experiments, but he'd never imagined something like this.
Kadim grimaced, at a loss for words or expression. After rubbing his dry face, he finally regained his composure and spoke.
"So in the end... you're a demon, but you think and act like a human?"
"Yes."
"Sounds like mad bullshit that's hard to swallow. Weren't you just pulling all sorts of demonic crap?"
"......That was an extreme exception. Someone invading this place was an unforeseen emergency. Absent special circumstances, I never use demonic powers like that."
Kadim's eyes narrowed like blades.
"Then changing bodies to extend your life and mixing demon and human flesh for magic—those are human things?"
"Yes, human things."
"......"
"You know it well yourself, don't you, Kadim? How wicked humans can become for their goals... Gahk!"
A murderous grip clamped around the Lord's throat, squeezing with bone-crushing force. Kadim's whites of his eyes bulged red as he snarled like he might chew him alive.
"You filthy demon scum, spouting sophistry. If you call inhuman bullshit 'human,' then there's nothing you wouldn't do. Why the hell shouldn't I kill you right now?"
"Kek, you're... right... Kek, but I had... no choice... Kek, because of... another mission Melissa entrusted to me..."
"......"
Kadim loosened his grip for now. Breaking his neck or axing him could wait until after the full story.
"......What mission? Speak."
"Cough, cough. Before that... there's something else I must tell you..."
The Lord cleared his throat with effort and spoke in a subdued tone.
"Earlier, I said Melissa's greatest focus was researching the 'ancient grand spell'?"
"......Yeah."
"The very reason she started that research was to find you."
"......!"
Kadim's eyes widened in shock. A jaded, desolate smirk crept onto the Lord's lips.
"When we first met, she'd already wandered the entire continent searching for you, who had suddenly vanished. But she found no trace anywhere and eventually reached an absurd conclusion..."
Thud—boom!
"......Urk! Ugh... Can't even say that much. Anyway... After long years of research, she completed that 'grand spell'—impossible for human power alone—specifically to find you."
To test the completed spell, Melissa decided to leave the Magic Tower temporarily. By then, "Akula" had blended seamlessly among the mages, mimicking humans flawlessly. As her most adept disciple, he was naturally chosen as successor.
Yet at root a demon, Melissa bound Akula with restrictions and missions out of caution.
Protect magic and mages in any situation.
Kill any demon without compromise.
And guide her comrade wholeheartedly upon his return.
A leashed demon had no say. Thus began Akula's life as next Magic Tower Lord.
And Melissa left the tower, finally casting the grand spell.
Ancient mana depleted entirely, and demons rampaged.
The continent, having overcome great demons, faced ruin once more. The Magic Tower suffered worst: mana-less mages were worse than goblins, helpless against mighty demons.
But Akula was bound by those missions. To protect magic and mages, to subjugate demons, he devised highly unorthodox methods.
"Using 'demonic energy' like demon sorcery as a new power source for magic. Catch demons for fuel, use fuel to catch more demons—a cycle. But raw 'demonic energy' bewitched mages, costing reason. So inevitably... we added buffers: special materials and human bodies."
Akula named this new magic source "mana." Empowered mages quelled demons; their corpses birthed new mages. Chaos subsided, order stabilized, and the Magic Tower boomed.
Then Melissa returned one last time.
"She looked like a walking corpse, utterly haggard. Before I could ask what happened, she said she wanted everything about her forgotten—no one to seek her."
"......"
"So I obeyed... Erasing all traces of her from the Magic Tower. Obliterating her achievements, distorting her life, even faking her death with this tomb."
"......"
"Yet even then, she couldn't let go of her lingering hope for you. Before leaving this miraculous city, she scattered illusion fragments everywhere, in case you came someday."
"......"
"Didn't you see illusions more vivid than reality while here?"
Kadim didn't answer.
Instead, he tilted his gaze upward.
Many questions resolved, but no relief came. Crushing pressure like deep-sea weight bore on his chest. His clenched fist carried a groan that could twist even sturdy bones.
Yet Kadim didn't drown in dark emotions. Duties undone weighed on his shoulders. Postponing these leaden feelings, he slowly lowered his gaze to the shackled demon.
"So where is Melissa now?"
"......"
The Lord silently pointed to his lips. Restricted even on that? Kadim's furrowed brow deepened. But seeing the Lord mime writing in the air, he caught on.
"Her location, the ancient grand spell... all the missing pieces are in Melissa's records?"
"......Yes."
"Where are those records?"
A slender finger extended, pointing to the burial chamber.
"Open the coffin lid, and an entrance to a magic space appears. She sealed her records there herself. Regrettably, accessing them won't be easy. A formidable guardian protects it, not for just anyone."
"......What kind of bastard is it?"
"My main body. Unbound by missions or restrictions, a 'greater demon' steeped in malice over eons of sealing."
The Lord wore a plaster-mask expression as he spoke.
A greater demon stood at transcendence's threshold. The sorcery his split body showed paled like child's play against the main. Considering he'd ruled this tower for centuries with that alone, no human could oppose the main—not even this warrior, Melissa's ancient comrade who'd subdued him by mysterious means. He'd expected hesitation.
But Kadim reacted unexpectedly.
He grinned ear-to-ear, baring a smile more chilling than any ferocious demon's cackle.
"That's music to my ears."
"......"
"Just records would've been a letdown, but a prime blood bag included? Melissa prepared quite the gift."
The being on the demon-human border fell silent.
Primal fear seized his nerves strand by strand. Hair stood on end, legs went numb. To hide the unfamiliar terror, the Lord hurriedly turned, offering to lead.
Kadim followed into the burial chamber. He shoved aside the floral decorations and flung open the coffin lid without hesitation.
Thud—boom!
Sure enough, no rotting corpse—instead, deep stairs appeared. Thick, sticky demonic energy coated each step. The lounge's aura stemmed from here.
The truth's puzzle neared completion. No reason to hesitate now. Like a grave robber entering a cursed tomb, he stepped indifferently onto the stairs.
But a sudden ominous doubt pierced his mind.
Kadim whipped his head toward the Lord with a creak and asked in a chilling voice.
"By the way."
"......"
"You were a lesser demon when you first met Melissa, but your main body's now a 'greater demon'? Means you've been gorging on pain and despair all this time."
Whoosh—splat, thud—boom!
A thrown axe embedded in the floor like thunder. The Lord barely avoided his foot splitting in two by a hair's breadth.
"All that mission talk was bullshit, and fighting demons was your real goal? Mages battling demons, humans turned to mana fuel... Must've been quite the harvest."
The Lord seemed genuinely startled by the sudden attack. But he quickly composed himself and replied calmly.
"I... unlike other demons, never deliberately sought to generate pain and despair. Restrictions prevented it, and... even just from the one person permitted, I received more than enough to overflow."
Kadim's abyss-deep eyes shook hazily. He'd guessed it, yet hoped it wrong.
But such grim suspicions rarely missed.
The Lord nodded bitterly, driving the nail home.
"Yes. Melissa's pain and despair alone elevated my main body to greater demon."