Ruinxen's Trash Bastards
“Ruinxen's trash bastards... Do you even know who I am to pull this shit?!”
“Chan Kingdom's Mahal Arram, that's who we asked for.”
“...Who the hell are you? Did you order this?!”
“You don't need to know about me.”
Adel lowered his head. His swollen, torn face was caked in blood, his eyes barely able to open.
“Hmm, those wounds look nasty. Must hurt like hell. Go wash him up. He can't even open his eyes properly.”
“Pardon? Oh, right.”
Ralka blinked at Adel's words before nodding hastily.
Splash---!!!
In the freezing warehouse that made him shiver even standing still, icy water slammed mercilessly into Mahal's face.
“Gaaah!! Uwaaaah!!!”
A bone-chilling cold hit first, followed by the stinging burn of water on his mangled wounds. Mahal screamed in agony, rolling across the floor.
“Bet you're freezing. Gotta warm you up a bit.”
“Ah, yes, of course.”
At Adel's cue, one of the hounds eagerly pulled a glowing red fire poker from a nearby bucket.
“H-heek...!!”
Mahal, already battered beyond endurance, recoiled in terror at the sight, shaking his head frantically. Blisters dotted his body here and there—clear signs he'd endured this multiple times already.
“W-wait just a second!! Please, have mercy! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!! Whatever you want!! What are you curious about? Just tell me... I have to know to answer, right?!”
He shouted, trembling violently.
“You don't know?”
“...Pardon?”
“Don't know what I'm curious about?”
'Damn...'
Mahal's face twisted. The Ruinxen overseers nodded in admiring disbelief.
[Ruthless bastard...]
Kalderet sighed as if he couldn't stand it.
“I-I... um...”
Mahal's face paled.
“I'll count to three. One.”
“...Wait!!”
“Two.”
“Uh... uhhh...”
“Three.”
His eyes darted wildly. Then they locked onto the Lion Bow slung over Adel's shoulder.
“...A bow? Oh, right!! I get it now!! You're a noble from the desert! That explains it... Yes, I know what you're after!!”
With his arms bound, unable to clasp his hands, Mahal rubbed his face against the floor as he yelled.
“It's the demon spirit stones, right? I swear I didn't divert them on my own. They were used to enrage the beasts as ordered. But... the Forgotten Ones threatened me to hand them over.”
'What the hell?'
Adel sensed something off in Mahal's rapid-fire explanation.
'The Forgotten Ones are the ones who started the Cataclysm that berserked the beasts in the first place, aren't they?'
Puzzled but intrigued, Adel listened quietly as Mahal continued.
“I refused, of course. But they threatened to block my succession to the youngest if I didn't give up the stones. And they didn't stop there—they said they'd kill me...”
“So?”
“I haven't forgotten the desert's help. But with them hounding me, I couldn't stay in Ruinxen any longer.”
Adel frowned slightly at his words.
'Desert's help? What nonsense is this? Does this guy have ties to the desert?'
“Even if the demon spirit stones came with the Forgotten Ones' aid... You know it too, noble one. They originally belong to the desert.”
'What? The demon spirit stones originated from the desert?'
Mahal's claim was shocking. Adel had never imagined the desert connected to demons—the very scourge that ravaged the continent in his previous life.
“Don't bullshit me. This is all from your greed.”
“No, absolutely not!!”
“Sure about that? Swear it. Then tell me straight—who were you planning to hand them to?”
Adel probed him, yanking his collar sharply and shouting.
“Of course, to Lord Merka, the true owner of the stones!!!!”
Thud.
Adel released his grip in that instant.
“...What?”
He doubted his own ears.
Merka Temir. Among Hien's children, the one he'd trusted most unquestioningly.
“...You. What the hell did you just say?”
Crack--!!!
“Kek?!”
Adel seized Mahal by the collar, hoisting the much larger man up and dragging him across the floor before slamming him down again.
“Cough...! Gahk!!”
Mahal shuddered on the ground.
“You're saying Merka Temir, Hien's firstborn, put you up to this. That certain?”
“Y-yes, of course. Why would I lie now? If you don't believe me, I'll tell you where I hid the demon spirit stones! Please, tell Lord Merka I never betrayed him. Just... spare me, I beg you!”
Mahal clutched at Adel's pant leg in a desperate scramble, yelling.
“Protect me! Noble one! Otherwise, the Forgotten Ones will catch me and make me suffer. No—they'll turn me into a wretched half-dead wraith!”
“...”
No lie rang in his frantic voice.
'How did a guy like this become a mass murderer?'
Adel felt disoriented. He'd thought knowing the future gave him an edge in everything, but now it felt like poison, twisting what he knew.
'Mahal rises to family successor with Forgotten Ones' help, then uses the demon spirit stones to berserk beasts as payment.'
“Hoo...”
Adel exhaled deeply, sorting his thoughts.
'That much tracks.'
And it aligned with what he'd half-expected. The Cataclysm erupts around this time, after all.
'But the problem is the demon spirit stones that spread the berserking came from Merka...'
How?'
'The demon realm gate hasn't even opened yet... After continental unification, the Forgotten Ones summon demons in the war. I stopped Shallon's disaster to seal it off from the start...'
A chill crawled down his spine.
An inexplicable unease. No—not inexplicable. The dread of a foreseeable worst-case scenario.
'What if... the Forgotten Ones' dimensional gate is already open?'
Adel had assumed their southern march was to activate the cult's ritual site. The demons' emergence from there would ravage the desert and spark a human-demon war.
But if the temple was already active, demons roamed the continent regardless of his efforts.
'Gotta confirm it.'
He narrowed his eyes.
Merka Temir was someone he'd seen as vital to his future—trustworthy enough to hand the desert over to if he unified the continent.
But if Mahal spoke truth, Merka harbored the greatest threat.
'Whose words are true? And depending on that truth, even my judgment of Syrin killing big brother Merka could change.'
His heart raced, but Adel steadied his breathing. This wasn't new territory.
'You can't know a person's true heart. Betrayal from the most trusted is commonplace. I won't judge humans lightly.'
That was a hard lesson from experience.
'Step back one pace. Assess coldly.'
That's what he needed now.
“Ralka.”
“We'll step out.”
The sharp woman nodded at his call, waving her subordinates back and exiting the warehouse.
“Listen up. I'm Hien's eighth. Had to torture you formally. Eyes were watching. Get it?”
Adel untied Mahal's ropes.
“Ah...!! You're Lord Merka's brother! No wonder your presence felt so commanding!! Yes, yes, I understand.”
He bobbed his head repeatedly.
“Big bro was furious. Beasts kept berserking even after you went dark. Thought maybe you'd colluded with the Forgotten Ones and betrayed him.”
“No way!!!”
“You know how dangerous demon spirit stones are. They drive beasts mad, but they have an even bigger role.”
“Indeed. Lord Merka warned me repeatedly when he gave them—never succumb to their temptation.”
Mahal, sensing his chance at survival, started babbling eagerly.
“I never used them. Sure, I got successor status with Forgotten Ones' help, but Lord Merka is my lifesaver. Did I mention? He saved my life...”
“Don't care about you and big bro's bromance.”
“Ah, right...”
“One job: Tell me where you hid the stones. I'll deliver them to him myself. Plus your loyalty.”
“But...”
Mahal eyed him hesitantly. He looked dim-witted, but sharp enough to doubt Adel's request for the location.
“Recognize this?”
“Ah...!”
Adel revealed the bracelet on his wrist.
“Menga Division mark!”
As expected, Mahal recognized it. A keepsake Merka had given Adel before leaving the desert.
'Never thought I'd use it like this.'
Adel flashed a wry smile but feigned utmost caution, as if sharing a grave secret.
[Always got that silver tongue. Sly one.]
Kalderet marveled at the sight.
“Of course I know the mark.”
“Not just anyone gets a Menga Division mark. Believe me now?”
“Understood. Please... put in a good word with Lord Merka. Or just let me live—that's enough.”
“Don't worry. No more Forgotten Ones trouble. Promise.”
“Th-thank you...!! As expected of a noble!”
Mahal prostrated himself like in prayer, his glib tongue wagging again.
“Cut the crap. Where's the stone hidden?”
“The place fit to store a demon spirit stone? You probably know it too. Famous tale. Only one spot.”
Mahal grinned slyly.
“The belly of a girl who hasn't had her coming-of-age rite.”
Adel barely suppressed the urge to kill him right there.
“Continent's full of girls without rites. Which one?”
“Haha. To keep it from the Forgotten Ones? Gotta be where those girls are most plentiful.”
“Where kids are most abundant?”
“Yes, where child slaves trade most.”
Their gazes met.
“...Cratel.”
“Exactly. That slave city Cratel.”
They uttered the name in unison.
“One slave trader there named Magi. Find him—he runs an auction for pure, untouched kids. That's where I...”
“I heard enough.”
“Th-then...”
“I'll spare your life.”
“Thank you!!”
“But I don't think you went to Cratel just for that. I know what you do next.”
“...Pardon?”
“You slaughter countless kids. Went to Cratel to buy prey, right? Yeah?”
“Th-that's...”
“Ralka.”
Adel called the Queen Spider in a low voice.
“Yes.”
True to her fallen god nature, she reappeared amid black smoke in the sealed warehouse.
“Cut off his limbs so this bastard can't do any more useless shit.”
“H-heeek?!”
“As you command.”
Ralka seized Mahal's head without hesitation.