Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 025
Chapter Title: Master of the Nameless City
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As if cheering on the second expedition of the green-eyed boy, winter was finally coming to an end, and the weather began to thaw bit by bit.
It wasn't all good news, though.
Sure, it was nice not to have to walk around with cheeks frozen red and breath fogging as you rubbed your hands to warm them. But as the days warmed up, you'd sweat more, which meant needing even more water.
That's why, for exploring the Demon Realm, the worst season wasn't winter—it was summer.
Water was the hardest resource to manage there.
If you had a priest, you could purify dirty water with a cleansing miracle, but unless they were elite, it was tough to supply enough for everyone to drink.
Along the way into the Demon Realm, they sliced through the monsters they encountered several times but didn't bother collecting any byproducts.
It was better to travel light to the ruins, and anyway, they'd end up dumping anything extra once they stuffed themselves to the brim with loot there.
If there had been a follow-up expedition team behind them, those folks would've been thrilled to snag all the free scraps.
A few days of following the same route as last time, and a thick fog began to blanket the area ahead.
This was definitely the zone where the compass had broken before, but it seemed the terrain had shifted in the meantime.
Fortunately, Roden did an excellent job as their guide, navigating the foggy region based on the notes from their previous trip.
Along the way, attacks from giant spiders and other annoying monsters were mostly handled by Shan's hand.
Still, it was bound to be slower than crossing open plains unscathed, so it took the four of them three more days to reach the mountaintop city of Delepon again.
As they entered the city through the narrow pass, they spotted several horses tied to a nearby building.
"Those are..."
"Looks like we have some early visitors."
It wasn't all that surprising.
The watchtower in this mountaintop city offered a clear view for dozens of kilometers in every direction, and for some reason, monsters avoided approaching it.
Because of that, many expedition teams taking this route stopped by to plan their explorations or rest.
That said, their last encounter here with an Altoin expedition team hadn't ended on a good note, so there was a lingering unease.
Tensing up as they went to check who it was, they were surprised to see a familiar face.
A massive brute of a man, built like a mountain, waved cheerfully and shouted.
"Oh, isn't this the genius kid who turned me down? What a coincidence running into you here!"
"Pakan?"
The ones already there were the expedition team of the bear hunter Pakan, whom they'd met several times in Shedil City.
They were huddled around a fire in the ruins of a building whose original purpose was unknown.
"You guys look pretty light on supplies, so you must've just set out. Did you go back home to rest and then head out again?"
"Yeah. Looks like you're heading back now, Pakan."
Word was that Pakan's team, 'Giant Footprints,' had set out not long after Shan's last expedition, meaning they'd been wandering the Demon Realm for quite a while before returning.
That much was evident from their ragged state.
No spare clothes left to change into—their outfits and armor were tattered and crusted with monster blood, weapons chipped and broken.
Looking closely, two of the original eight members were missing.
"Mr. Yojo and Mr. Marinak are..."
Shan trailed off as he spoke, noticing the jovial look fade from Pakan's rough face.
The big man slumped his shoulders and said nothing for a moment.
"...Yeah, that's how it went."
Even for seasoned explorers, it was hard to shrug off the grief of losing comrades so casually.
Especially if they'd been together for a good long time.
Not knowing how to respond, Shan hesitated before gently patting Pakan's broad shoulder.
"Hang in there."
"Thanks, kid."
His awkward comfort seemed to help a bit, as Pakan ruffled Shan's hair with his huge hand and grinned.
"In that spirit, how about joining our real expedition team this time?"
"No thanks."
Pakan laughed ruefully, shaking his head, then waved them off as if to say they should get going.
After tying their horses at the entrance and climbing the tower, Shan recalled the grieving expressions he'd just seen.
'Losing comrades...'
The idea of losing someone precious wasn't a foreign concept to him.
During the bandit raid on Willow Village, two people who'd pitied him had lost their lives—one right before his eyes.
But back then, their deaths hadn't felt that sad.
Why was that?
Was it because it was over half a year ago? He couldn't quite grasp why he hadn't grieved more.
Maybe the thrill of wielding violence against others for the first time had flooded his brain, or perhaps he hadn't liked Priest Ador and Selina as much as he'd thought.
The human heart was surprisingly hard to pin down.
One thing he knew for sure, though: losing Roden would devastate him.
If someone killed Roden, Shan would slaughter the culprit—and everyone up the chain of command who ordered it.
Even if it was a nation's king.
"Roden."
"Yeah?"
"Don't die."
Roden blinked at Shan's sudden words from above, then chuckled in disbelief.
"I'll be careful."
From the watchtower rooftop, they confirmed that the northern sandswept area from last time was now a messy mix of swamp and snowfields.
After a brief discussion, they decided on the snowfields.
They were closer to the northeast than the full north swamp, and with their winter gear, they'd handle the cold better.
But soon after, Shan started doubting the choice.
The chill in the snowfields was beyond imagination.
"Ugh..."
The cold seeped through multiple layers of coats, and the wind sliced at their faces like knives.
Just a few steps made their bodies shudder, bones aching.
Willow Village winters were harsh enough that he'd thought himself inured to cold, but this was another level.
Compared to here, winters in Libert Kingdom and Pendia felt like spring.
Even the horses faltered after a few steps in the biting cold, so Roden passed out cold resistance potions from their supplies to the group.
"Drink this."
"What is it?"
"Cold resistance potion. I was gonna ration it for milder chills, but no chance... We'll freeze solid in under an hour like this."
That's why they'd chosen the snowfields over the swamp in the first place.
Shan took a sip and marveled at the price—it was worth it. Hot blood surged through him, driving out the cold in a mystical rush.
"Whoa..."
"Money really does make life easier."
"Tell me about it. One potion costs dozens of gold coins."
Bent and Jerpo shook snow from their fur coats after drinking theirs.
From then on, the green-eyed boy downed cold resistance potions whenever the effects wore off, pushing through the blizzard zone.
Luckily, the extreme cold kept away ice spirits and yetis that usually infested such areas.
By day, they dosed up and marched; by night, they warmed themselves with dried yak dung blazing in old Altoin ruins.
About a day and a half like that.
A route that took three days last time was cut nearly in half, thanks to familiarity and a near-run pace.
Once clear of the snowfields, Shan glanced back and stuck out his tongue.
"Let's never go that way again if it's snowing."
"It's not usually that bad. That spot's just extra brutal."
Jerpo pointed it out, but he looked just as fed up.
Half a day after crossing the snowfields.
Passing the buffer zone between mutation areas, the compass broke again soon after.
But unlike last time, Shan and Roden sighed in relief.
"Good..."
"Compass zone means no other surprises."
Being relieved a compass failed was the mark of a true explorer.
Thankfully, navigating without it wasn't hard.
This was uncharted territory, but cross-referencing the Altoin expedition log with Count Shedil's gift made it manageable.
From there, the team pressed on through twists and turns.
Fighting monsters, detouring because crumbling bridges from environmental shifts blocked paths, spending half a day sniping down dozens of harpies one by one...
While crossing a tall, treacherous peak, Jerpo said wearily,
"I knew those Altoin guys were skilled, but they're even better than I thought... How they made it here and back is a mystery. Must've had some serious luck."
They'd been shredded so fast it was hard to appreciate, but they were clearly top-tier warriors and explorers.
Not that comparing to Shan—who even knights struggled against—was fair.
They finally reached their goal twenty-five days after leaving Shedil City.
The ample food and water they'd packed was down to half.
"We're here!"
"Finally..."
Everyone's faces were haggard without exception.
After battling monster ambushes and bizarre environments for so long, it was to be expected.
But the joy of finding the target ruins overpowered even that fatigue.
Shan climbed onto Roden's shoulders for a better look.
"It's a city!"
"Yeah, that's the one the Altoins found."
Old Altoin buildings and ruins were common in the Demon Realm.
But most had been looted ages ago by early explorers, leaving just skeletons.
In contrast, a deep, deep city like this was untouched, still holding relics.
Most ruined by time, of course, but those preserved by special conditions or magic fetched insane prices as artifacts.
After catching their breath, Roden shouted energetically,
"Alright, let's go check it out!"
The nameless city was bigger than expected.
The walls alone spanned kilometers, suggesting at least ten thousand residents.
Comparable to—or larger than—Shedil City.
"No way this is Asilrub..."
"Not a chance."
Jerpo cut Shan off firmly.
His eyes, usually cynical, brimmed with deep curiosity as he scanned around, but he kept his cool.
"The capital of an empire bigger than the entire Arman Alliance wouldn't be this small and shabby. Even after all these years, it had to house at least hundreds of thousands."
Maybe over a million—hard to fathom, but he'd felt the same first seeing Hasra, a city of a hundred thousand.
If that existed, why not a million-person metropolis?
Magic handled food and such anyway.
Soon, the green-eyed boy entered the city outskirts, fully on guard.
As expected, monsters lurking throughout the city soon noticed fresh prey and swarmed out.
[Shieeeek-!]
"Whoa, this is no joke..."
Snakes big enough to swallow a child slithered from buildings, surrounding the team.
Not ordinary fangs—these chewed prey with sawblade teeth.
Rare outside the Demon Realm's edges, unnamed, and there were dozens.
The log said the Altoins couldn't enter the main gate because of them, sneaking via sewers and scavenging the fringes like thieves for days.
Of course, overwhelming force made that unnecessary.
"Hold the line!"
Confirming Roden and the others formed a defensive circle around the horses, Shan launched forward.
Dual one-handers gripped in each hand.
The snakes lunged at the aggressive prey, but their straight-line attacks were child's play to Shan's eyes.
His gaze flicked left and right, tracking every trajectory, then the two swords danced independently, severing incoming necks with clean slices.
Dual-wielding wasn't practical.
Slower and weaker than two-handed swings, and human brains/bodies weren't wired for organic control of two blades.
But Shan's brain split perfectly, like two minds, responding uniquely to each side.
Left hand lopping a falling snake's head, right stabbing a thrusting jaw.
His spare feet kicked low attackers or used heads and bodies as springboards, leaping airborne like he could fly.
Watching from behind, Roden bashed an approaching snake's head with his mace, then let out a hollow laugh.
If he'd charged like that, he'd have taken one or two down before getting torn apart.
"Seriously, every time..."
"No one in the world could pull that off."
Bent and Jerpo chuckled in shared disbelief.
They'd seen it multiple times, but the sheer power never felt real.
The snakes finally retreated when their numbers halved.
The four eyed the dozens of corpses littering the entrance.
"Anything useful from these?"
"Dunno, first time seeing 'em... Dissect one properly back home, and something might turn up."
"Then let's ditch 'em."
Bent shook his head at Jerpo's words.
Normally, he'd take one for research and sale, but with an untouched city right there?
The snake pack they'd repelled seemed to be the city's main force—no other monsters showed while exploring.
A few snakes hissed menacingly now and then, but one glare from Shan's sword sent them slinking between buildings.
"Ha, they're spooked!"
Bent muttered unusually flippantly, then coughed awkwardly.
Glancing around, Roden asked over his shoulder,
"Any hunch where to start, Jerpo?"
"Head inward first. Outer edges rarely have valuables."
Even now, city fringes housed the poor or common folk.
Sure, places like Shedil City had the count's castle on the edge, but typically, the farther from gates, the nobler the residents.
Valuables naturally came from noble districts.
Searching a city bigger than Shedil with four people—lingering at entrances alone would take weeks. Best to plunge straight to the core while they could move freely.
"Wow..."
Shan kept gasping in awe atop the grand avenue, eyes darting left and right.
This place looked nothing like mountaintop Delepon or other Altoin ruins they'd passed.
Though mostly decayed, display shelves and planters inside showed it had once been lived-in.
Other cities, stripped bare, felt like mere models by comparison.
Deeper in the central district, they fought a few more battles like at the entrance.
But riskier now—snakes swarmed from all sides, not clustered like before.
Each time, Roden drew fire to protect Bent and Jerpo from the most dangerous spots, getting bitten on the forearm and shin once each.
"You okay? Can you walk?"
"Ngh, it's nothing..."
Roden tried to play tough and stand for Shan's concern, but the pain was no joke.
The bite force was vicious—even through chainmail, his bones throbbed and skin bruised black.
Bare flesh would've been severed clean off.
"Hold still. Goddess, a wounded soul seeks your mercy here..."
Thankfully, Bent's prayer soon improved the bitten limbs visibly.
Not fully healed, but the dark bruises faded like weeks old, and his limp straightened.
"Phew..."
"Thanks, Priest."
"No need! I should be sorry—you got hurt guarding me. Good thing... no poison."
Bent, in his early forties, wasn't old yet, but as a priest—not a dedicated warrior—his combat days were waning.
After resolving such minor issues over hours, they finally reached the city center.
The atmosphere shifted dramatically.
Buildings grew taller, more ornate; fountains still worked, trees glowed faintly with magic.
"Can't take that fountain, huh?"
"Probably not..."
Regret was short-lived—they arrived at a massive mansion likely belonging to the city's lord or equivalent.
"Check this building first, then sweep clockwise from here. Mark any already-searched entrances..."
Roden listened intently to Bent and Jerpo's instructions, then noticed Shan tilting his head nearby.
"Pay attention. If you don't watch our backs, we're all in danger."
"The snakes are gone."
"What?"
"They were lurking near buildings up till now, but inside here? Nothing."
Shan's eyes narrowed as he muttered.
Just like when facing enemies or danger.
As if on cue, a heavy thud echoed from within the mansion.
"What was that...?"
"No way."
Thud, thud—the booms grew louder, closer.
Something was coming their way.
Soon, peeking over the wall appeared a massive, elongated boulder-like thing.
The wall over five meters high made its size dizzyingly unimaginable...
Jerpo screamed at the sight of its face.
"It's a cockatrice!"