Chapter 209
Chapter 209
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 209
Chapter Title: Moonwolf's Awakening
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My head spun as if it had been soaked in alcohol.
The moonlight energy filling my body rampaged wildly inside me, like a pup with its tail on fire.
Grrr... I was too complacent.
Baukalrak berated himself as he observed his internals crumbling in real time.
Where had it all gone wrong?
Grrr... No.
It wasn't "wrong." Baukalrak himself had "messed up."
He'd placed too much faith in his own talent.
He'd swallowed a lethal dose of silver in one gulp, far beyond what was safe.
He'd ignored the chieftain's advice not to rush.
He'd let his pathetic inferiority complex show by envying other races.
It was all his fault.
...Grrr. If only I'd realized it a little sooner.
The rampaging moonlight energy surged alongside the silver, gradually encroaching on the inner world of Baukalrak's consciousness.
If time passed like this, he wouldn't become a Banargand—he'd end up as nothing more than a rabid wolf.
Grrr... Oborten, I leave the cleanup to you.
As Baukalrak felt inwardly apologetic toward his friend, who would have to clean up his mess(?), and prepared to accept his failed ritual—
...Grrr?
For some reason, the moonlight energy that had been threatening his sense of self, poised to erupt at any moment, was gradually calming its frenzy.
And that wasn't all. The inner energy that had been encroached upon was slowly returning.
...Grrr. I don't know how or why.
He couldn't miss this golden opportunity.
Baukalrak began slowly guiding the now-subdued moonlight energy.
"...It's working."
The rampaging energy within Baukalrak started to stabilize bit by bit.
Hoo.
Splat!
He collapsed onto the floor, his body drenched in sweat.
"Grrr. D-Did it work?"
Oborten and the other Lycanthropes gulped nervously as they asked me.
What I'd performed on Baukalrak was a technique called Mana Leading.
An essential skill included in any mana cultivation method on the continent, originally developed for masters or parents to guide their successors in cultivation.
These days, though, it was more commonly used to tame rampaging mana.
Lycanthrope physiology differs from humans, so I'd been skeptical, but the results were astonishingly effective.
I had no idea why.
Maybe it was their superior vitality compared to humans, or perhaps Baukalrak's exceptional talent with mana.
Or maybe he was already on the verge of breaking through to the next realm.
All I'd done was briefly soothe his rampaging mana. Everything after that was up to Baukalrak.
In the end, my timely arrival was fortunate, but that luck was part of Baukalrak's own fate.
"I've done everything I can. Overcoming it from here is up to Baukalrak."
Oborten shook his head at my modest words.
"Grrr, no! I can already see this fool's body improving! We offer our thanks!"
Thwack!
Oborten kicked the still-dazed Baukalrak's leg once, expressed his gratitude, then suddenly asked,
"By the way, we haven't had the chance to ask until now. What brings you to Lycaon?"
Quick to ask, aren't you.
"We'll talk about that once Baukalrak wakes up."
It'd be more dramatic that way.
A shimmering light like heat haze tickled the corners of his eyes.
"Grrr... Am I... alive...?"
Baukalrak instinctively squinted and opened his mouth, then jolted in surprise.
He'd come to his senses. Did that mean he'd overcome the moonlight energy?
That final moment when the energy had subsided—it hadn't been a fluke. He'd ultimately conquered the moonlight ritual.
Thud!
"Gurk?!"
His elation was short-lived. A dull impact to the back of his head made stars explode before his eyes.
"Graaang! You're awake now, you idiot!"
Oborten, tears welling in his eyes, entered Baukalrak's blurred vision.
Behind him stood countless tribe members.
As Oborten explained everything that had happened to the awakened Baukalrak at length—
"You're finally up."
A familiar human pushed through the crowd of tribesmen.
"Grrr, Jerome?"
"That's right, me."
I'd rushed over the moment I heard Baukalrak had awakened.
There probably wouldn't be a more dramatic moment than now, with all the young Lycanthropes gathered.
"I heard the story. You owe me a debt you didn't expect."
"Yeah, I do."
No need for false modesty.
"So, I have one favor to ask of you, who bestowed this sky-high grace upon me."
It's a request from your lifesaver, after all. Refusal isn't an option.
The steps home after a fulfilling day are always light.
Especially with unexpected gains to boot.
Even if my broken ribs still throbbed despite potion treatment, and my mana was utterly depleted from the leading—
"Whew, tough bastard. Persistent, too persistent."
Saladin muttered as we headed toward Elrunheim.
"Why? Everything went well."
"Sure, from your perspective."
Saladin nodded as if to say, of course it did.
"You squeezed every last drop out of those poor guys, didn't you?"
He meant the 100 Lycanthropes I'd secured as compensation for saving Baukalrak from his rampage.
"There are only 200 Lycanthropes stationed in all of Lycaon, and you took half? If that's not ruthless, what is?"
Considering the Lycanthropes' efforts battling the evil dragons in Lycaon, half wasn't a small number by any means.
"I told you, the young Lycanthropes need experience."
"Heh."
"Besides, Baukalrak especially needs a ton of experience to fully break through. I'm doing him a favor by giving him this chance, right?"
"Heh?"
Saladin shot me a look that said, what kind of nonsense is this? If my body weren't wrecked, I'd have decked him. Tch.
Maybe sensing my glare, Saladin, who was tending to Mimi and Nene, belatedly switched to a more agreeable tone.
"Well, fair enough. Becoming a full Banargand is that fool's lifelong dream, after all. Might not be so bad."
That's right. Baukalrak had thankfully regained his sanity, but he hadn't fully evolved into a Banargand.
It was only natural. He'd barely pulled himself back from failing the ritual on his own; regaining his mind was miracle enough.
"Well, who knows? By the time we hit Sharon Kingdom and rack up some experience, he might change again."
"Heh heh, speaking of, he looked just like a mutt right now, didn't he?"
Pfft!
Even the quietly listening Beskin burst out laughing.
True, it was comical. A Banargand's fur is pitch black, able to blend into shadows or shine brilliantly at will—but the incompletely evolved Baukalrak's color flickered inconsistently.
Like a stray mutt from the neighborhood, if that doesn't offend.
As we chuckled over the Lycaon events nearing Elrunheim, I downed another potion.
I couldn't let Princess Seira and the others know about the mountain incidents, so I needed to thoroughly hide my injuries.
Entering Elrunheim, Millia and Ash greeted me.
"Welcome back, Jerome. Have you finished everything you needed to do before heading to Olivia?"
"Yes, it was a bit rough, but... we wrapped it up successfully."
Millia's eyes flashed as she caught not just Mokgora, but the successful alliance with the Lycanthropes, from my words.
"...So, what's the next step?"
"I'll send a letter directly to Sharon Kingdom. To get there, you have to pass through Banten anyway, so join up with the Lycanthropes there first and travel together. We'll prepare disguises on our end."
Ash ground his teeth.
"Finally, revenge on those humans. Can we wipe out every last one involved?"
He'd been sharpening his blade for this; just thinking of them turned his eyes bloodshot.
"Prepare thoroughly. Mercado's lackeys have built up serious power."
If I had the time or could handle it quickly, I'd have done it myself without borrowing elven or Lycanthrope aid.
No—if they were pushovers, Prince Peter wouldn't have asked for my support in the first place.
Ash scoffed at my warning.
"You're the monster here. Elves and Lycanthropes don't get treated like weaklings anywhere. Don't worry."
"That's not the point. I'm worried because you're elves."
"What?"
"Mercado's ilk know non-humans better than anyone on this continent. Rush in on emotion, and you'll get burned."
"...!!"
Ash glared at my blunt assessment.
"...Then why entrust this to us? By your logic, we're not equipped to face them."
Fair point. Purely for smashing them, I'd be far easier.
"You don't understand humans at all."
"What?"
"Interacting with humans, adopting their culture bit by bit to enrich this land— that's good. But the vile underbelly of human malice is far stickier and uglier than you realize."
What happened when Millia was kidnapped in Mercado was mere child's play.
"I'm asking you to do this so you experience that underbelly firsthand and learn what to watch out for in humans."
"...Is there a reason we must?"
He questioned if they really needed to grasp human depravity so brutally, especially since they'd only deal with Banten.
Of course, I had to affirm Ash's question.
"Time's running short. Elves, Lycanthropes, orcs, cyclopes... the whole continent will be swept into war's vortex soon. Consider this practice for then."
"...?"
As Millia and Ash tilted their heads at my vague words, I gazed northwest while speaking, toward the Imperial capital, Vatican.
Since my envoy visit to Vatican, the Empire had been eerily quiet. As if all these events were a midsummer night's dream.
In the past, by now Ibarella would have been steadily devouring the princes' factions, heading into the final stage of imperial succession.
And five years later, she'd unleash everything prepared beneath the surface in a storm, igniting the great war in an instant.
But history had changed. Much of what she'd schemed in the shadows had crumbled.
The monster legions, the Heterogenous Power labs, the Philador rebellion—all gone.
The princes she'd secretly assassinated and the Emperor she'd practically usurped banded together against Ibarella. No more puppet.
Any normal person would break at this point, relieved they'd altered history enough.
But instinct told me this silence, this stillness, harbored the ominous air of a storm's prelude.
Ibarella—the monster Emperor who'd terrorized the continent in my past life—wouldn't just sit idly by.
Ibarella, what exactly are you plotting?
I couldn't know yet, but soon, in the near future, I'd realize once more: even after facing her directly, I'd underestimated her subconsciously.
Holy Empire's capital, Vatican.
Since its founding, no invader's foot had ever soiled Vatican soil—not once in recorded history.
Especially Byzantium, home of the continent's pinnacle of power, the Emperor.
Byzantium, which no enemy had ever dared breach, was the Empire's pride and glory incarnate.
Roarrrrr!
That palace of imperial pride, Byzantium, was burning.
Ironically, the imperial citizens had no way of knowing.
Holy Knights sealed the impenetrable outer walls airtight, thoroughly controlling information on this shocking event.
"Ugh... ughhh..."
Thud!
In one of Byzantium's palace halls.
A bloodied man, missing an arm from who-knows-where, collapsed limply in the corridor.
Even drained of strength, he clawed desperately to escape, his clinging to life heartbreaking to witness.
Step... step...
Unfortunately, the knight approaching from behind wasn't one to be swayed by pity.
"Just give up, First Prince."
His calm voice held no emotion.
If only he'd spat hatred or mockery—it wouldn't have been this terrifying.
The crawling man, First Prince Michael, screamed from the corridor floor.
"...Duke Kaiser! Why... why are you doing this?!"
Michael's attacker was none other than Duke Kaiser, one of the Empire's three great dukes, the "Mount Tai."
The core defender of the capital and palace was now hunting Michael, one he should protect with his life.
"...Sigh. If you'd stayed hidden like a dead rat, you might've survived. Why struggle pointlessly and cause this mess?"
Shing!
Unlike his genuinely regretful tone, Duke Kaiser's sword slid chillingly from its sheath.
"You think you'll get away with this! His Majesty won't let you!"
Resigned to death, Michael's voice grew hoarse with rage.
"His Majesty..."
I didn't know who Michael meant, but one thing was sure: after tonight, His Majesty wouldn't reprimand him at all.
Slash!
As Duke Kaiser impassively endured Michael's curse, his sword swung—Michael's head soared high.
Thump! Roll...
As Michael's head hit the floor and rolled, their eyes met, and Kaiser spoke.
"Tonight, the Empire's heavens will change."