Chapter 126
Chapter 126
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: Deal with the Mad Soul
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“No, what the fuck! Isn’t that going too far? What kind of deal doesn’t give you a choice!”
Saladin, who’d been treading carefully and calling him “Elder,” shouted in excitement.
But Jenos’s soul merely fiddled with his ear at Saladin’s frantic yelling, showing not the slightest reaction.
“A young punk yelling at an old man like that... Tsk tsk. Then let me ask you the other way around. Why exactly are you here?”
“We’re just here to catch a few wyverns!”
“Hoo, then it’s an even better outcome for both sides.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Jenos’s soul, deeming me the reasonable one compared to the screeching Saladin, ignored him entirely and fixed his gaze on me.
“I told you earlier. To create dragons, I captured sub-dragon species and subjected them to improvement after improvement.”
Whooong!
As Jenos’s soul waved a hand through the air to cast a spell, a wyvern far larger than any ordinary one materialized.
“That ultimate method of improvement is called Gu poison. This one is the final product after centuries of repeated research. It’s incomparably smarter than other dragonkin and can even speak human words, albeit crudely.”
Jenos’s soul gazed at the wyvern with eyes full of resentment.
“But that’s where it ends. No matter how many improvements I piled on, it seems the innate limits were insurmountable. Raising its rank any higher proved impossible. Dragons are a species that transcends all. Even if I made dozens—no, hundreds—of such creatures and refined them further, I could never reach that point. But my servant seems to think otherwise.”
The wyvern’s solitary eye stood out prominently in the air.
“My servant considers this his masterpiece and the key to dragon creation. You want to take a wyvern? Then it’s impossible without defeating my servant.”
Fate’s little joke.
To think the wyvern that annihilated Hatan’s entire unit was the culmination of Jenos’s long years of research.
“So choose. Will you accept my help and fight my servant, or give up everything right here and leave quietly?”
…There was no longer any room for hesitation.
Hatan wouldn’t back down either, not when clan vengeance was on the line.
And for us to create a dispel weapon capable of neutralizing great magic armor, we couldn’t abandon those wyvern scales.
Not to mention Jenos’s soul was dangling compensation in front of us—it wasn’t even free.
“…Just one question.”
“Speak.”
“Among the results of your research, is there a way to neutralize chimeras?”
If it was something we had to do anyway, better to nail down the details.
Heh!
The corner of Jenos’s mouth curled up instantly.
“What’s the point of telling you?”
Unlike before, Jenos’s soul wore an expression brimming with pride and satisfaction.
“It’s not just my servant—I hate the Holy Empire just as much. The method to dismantle everything they’ve bastardized from my chimera research? That was completed ages ago. No, it’s probably my most confident field of study.”
Decision made.
Heh!
“For your peaceful rest, Elder, we’ll give it our all.”
As I flashed a friendly smile, Jenos’s soul burst into laughter in response.
“Indeed, you’re a young man after my own heart.”
“Kieeeek!”
Slash!
Dodging the dragon turtle’s rock-like shell, it burrowed into the thinnest spot of hide and claimed its life.
Thud!
Luna whistled as she watched the dragon turtle collapse moments later.
“Whew! Marquis Crank’s beast sword is as ferocious as ever, no matter how many times I see it.”
Luna and Dingo showed no complaints, even as sub-dragon species endlessly poured out along the path where Marquis Crank had split from Marquis Shoph’s group.
“…If the bishops think I’m wrong, feel free to go with Marquis Shoph.”
Crank stowed the serrated blade he’d used to rip out the dragon turtle’s throat, but...
“Pfft, you’re a good joker too. Why follow that germaphobe and risk some mishap?”
“…I trust the marquis’s instincts.”
Luna and Dingo simply followed silently behind Crank.
That’s how much faith they had in him. In Crank’s senses.
His instincts, honed to near-prophetic levels, would never lead them astray.
“Still, how much farther south do we have to go? We’ve come this far—shouldn’t we turn back soon?”
Bored, Luna twirled the ends of her hair as she asked.
“Not much longer. Just a bit more.”
Every sense in Crank’s body was screaming it. He didn’t know the exact reason, but heading south now would open the path to survival.
Crank turned his head toward the north they’d traversed.
The prickling sensation down his spine.
It felt like it was gradually shifting southeast.
Screee!
Boer of the Twin Fish Palace swung his flail, adorning the air.
The chain linked to the flail pressured the old man from all directions, but...
“Blink.”
The old man slipped the pressure with a single light spell.
Swish swish swish!
As if anticipating the dodge, Gott of the Scorpion Palace menacingly swung the claws in both hands.
“Great Shield.”
The old man countered with a defensive spell of his own, but Gott’s savage claws tore through the hastily cast magic like paper.
Gott’s claws shredded the old man’s shield in an instant, but that fleeting moment was more than enough time for the old man to evade.
Marquis Shoph’s rapier wove through the air toward the airborne old man.
Piiiing!
Fierce thrusts filled the old man’s front in less than a second.
“That’s fairly frightening.”
Not underestimating Shoph’s exquisite piercing, the old man poured denser mana than he had against Gott’s claws.
“Absolute Barrier!”
A far tougher and thicker defense enveloped the old man, but...
“Useless!”
Shoph’s rapier pierced through the old man’s magic—slowly, but surely.
“!”
Evidently not expecting Shoph’s blade to breach his spell, the old man crossed his arms and curled up to minimize the impact zone.
I felt it!
The distinct feedback of his rapier slicing into the old man’s body.
Clang!
Perhaps from overexerting his aura.
Shoph’s rapier shattered, unable to withstand the strain.
It was a sword worthy of one of the Four Marquises—a true masterpiece.
Anyone could imagine how fully Shoph had committed against the old man.
“Ooh, Marquis! You did it!”
As the old man’s body, struck by Shoph, plummeted limply through the air, the half-ruined Boer rushed over excitedly.
“…As you decree.”
Gott’s claws were missing teeth here and there as well.
“Huff... huff...”
Shoph ignored Boer and Gott, focusing solely on regulating his ragged breathing.
This is the limit.
As one of the Four Marquises who had reached the master realm, had he ever fought this desperately before?
The fierce battle had left the coastline so scarred it was unrecognizable.
“…Both of you, take a moment to rest. Once stamina recovers, we’ll move to retrieve the wyvern eggs.”
Grind!
Shoph gnashed his teeth.
Duke Camille of Ballista Fortress making no preparations meant one thing.
Wyvern Knight? All bullshit.
That cunning bitch surely knew about this extraordinary old man in the damned Dragon Mountains.
After her involvement in Philador Kingdom’s rebellion leaked, her political standing had narrowed considerably.
She must’ve planned to wipe out the crown prince’s key forces this time.
Yeah, he got her frustration. But this crossed the line.
Regardless of politics, they were pillars upholding the same empire. To pull this shit...
But this time, that snake of a woman’s scheme would backfire.
If they survived and proudly retrieved the wyvern eggs, her position would narrow even further.
Ibarella, you bitch. It won’t go your way.
As Shoph secretly ground his teeth, Boer of the Twin Fish Palace plopped down at Shoph’s suggestion to rest.
With the old man’s shattered corpse rolling on the shore from Shoph’s strike, it seemed safe to relax.
“Whew! Haven’t sweated like this since my monk trainee days—can’t even remember when.”
Boer tossed aside his flail, as tattered as his own body, too exhausted to even lift its weight.
Turning his gaze, he saw Gott of the Scorpion Palace in equally ragged shape.
Yet Gott still seemed to have some strength left compared to him.
“Gott, if you’ve got any energy left, maybe cast a healing spell on...”
Slash!
...me.
But at the sudden slicing sound, his voice wouldn’t come out for some reason.
...Huh?
Something’s off.
The crystal-clear sea and sand, untouched by human hands, began filling his vision.
Nice view, sure, but he had no intention of dunking his head in the ocean right now.
Boer couldn’t think any further. His vision went pitch black.
He couldn’t think at all anymore.
Of course not.
A severed head couldn’t continue thinking.
“!”
At the sound of Boer’s head flying across the shore, Shoph and Gott reflexively turned toward the old man’s corpse.
The old man’s right hand was gathering mana toward where Boer had sat.
Scree!
Boer’s headless body shattered into pieces. Just like the old man’s fallen corpse.
Squirm squirm.
Not just the right hand. The old man’s body, sliced by Shoph’s wide-area strike, was slowly knitting back together.
Soon, the regeneration gained momentum, restoring the old man’s body to pristine condition in no time.
“…Hoo.”
Perfectly, as if he hadn’t even fought Shoph’s group.
“To damage this body even for a moment. As expected of the Empire’s damn lackeys. Quite impressive. Heh heh heh.”
Lightning and wind magic gathered in the old man’s hand as he let out an unsettling laugh.
“Well then, shall we start over? Heh heh heh.”
At the old man’s response, Shoph glanced down at the broken rapier in his hand.
Half snapped.
His body covered in wounds.
Mana core drained empty.
Gott equally wrecked, and Boer already a corpse.
“...Hahaha.”
A hollow laugh escaped Shoph’s lips.
He’d helped the first prince’s ascension to share in the Empire’s glory.
“...For that glory to unravel from the very start like this.”
Shoph gripped his trembling legs and stood.
The tide had turned, but he couldn’t just stand there and die.
“Ibarella, Ibarella...”
Shoph, who’d guarded Vatican’s outer walls, recalled the profound eyes of Third Imperial Princess Ibarella, whom he’d encountered during palace visits.
Those eyes that pierced everything.
“...Keurgh!”
In the distance, Gott resisted with his claws, but his abdomen was being sliced by wind magic.
A massive bolt of lightning hurtled toward Shoph as well.
Bzzzzzt!
“...May your curse fall upon that wench.”
Shoph’s brief words were drowned in the thunder.
BOOM!
Having sealed the secret deal with Jenos’s soul, we hurried toward the Abyss Cliffs.
True to his word, Jenos’s soul handed over 40% of his subspatial research results immediately upon agreement.
Something about preempting any double-cross.
The chimera neutralization method, the crown jewel of his studies, he firmly withheld until we fully defeated his servant.
An unexpected windfall.
Even so, what we’d gained from Jenos’s dungeon would prove immensely valuable in the war against the Empire.
On par with our original goal of crafting a dispel weapon against great magic armor.
With rewards like these, we had every reason to risk our lives against his servant.
“Ah, argh. Why the hell did I start following that guy of all people~~!! Dragged to some godforsaken backwater like this!! Argh!!”
Of course, not everyone shared my thoughts—Bori was grumbling away.
“Ah, sorry about that. When we get back to Bentan, I’ll make it up to Mimi-chan and Nene-chan for sure.”
“Kyaaack!! Y-You crazy bastard, at it again after so long!!”
We were easing the tension with such silly banter en route to the Abyss Cliffs when...
“Kyaooo!”
Not far off, a drake was collapsing with a roar.
“Hm?”
Unlike the sub-dragon-infested lower paths, the upper routes had fewer thanks to Jenos’s spook magic.
Do sub-dragons fight each other up here too?
Not keen on meddling in their brawl, I started veering away when...
“…So, just a little further, and a safe path opens for us, right?”
“…Hm?”
Voices drifted over—voices that absolutely shouldn’t be here. Human conversation.