Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: The Source of Evil
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“This is…….”
“I just activated Stealth.”
Lergal whispered.
“Ancient Wolves can hide their bodies in the darkness. And mine is especially excellent. If I really focus on it, even those monsters won’t detect me.”
Come to think of it, these guys could use Stealth, right? Sure, they were helpless in front of the cocoon, but still.
“But in this state, I can’t fight. All I can do is run without making a sound.”
“I see. But right now…….”
I activated Life Detection magic, and an enormous number of monsters came into range. Holding my breath, I checked the gaps between them.
“You sure about this? They seem to be spread out everywhere.”
“We have to aim for the openings. We’ll keep running straight to the monsters’ spawn point like this.”
“The openings don’t look that plentiful…… It’s really crawling with them.”
“That’s true. But you turned off the light, so how do you know?”
“I have magic that detects life. But you—how are you running when you can’t see anything?”
“My eyes can distinguish objects even in the dark. At the same time, I perceive a three-dimensional space through smells and sounds.”
“Oh…….”
“But to humans, there’s nothing. What an inconvenient race.”
“I won’t argue with that, but every race has its strengths and weaknesses.”
At that moment, an incredible number of additional monsters poured into the range of my detection magic.
No way. What’s with this insane number?
It’s way more than my initial estimate. At this rate, I can’t confidently say I could wipe them all out.
“Good lord, there are too many.”
“You sensed it too? Detection magic really works, huh.”
“It works like a charm. Ugh, look at those Death Worms clumped together.”
“Death Worms?”
“It’s what I named them. The long monsters that burrow through the ground.”
“Those guys? Fitting name. They’re plenty terrifying. But this…… Tch.”
The moment Lergal clicked his tongue, my body shook violently up and down. I tensed up as I detected a massive slime blocking the path ahead.
“It’s completely blocked ahead. Can we break through that? It looks like it’s sealed off the entire passage.”
“No.”
“What?”
“Damn it. This was a clear passage just a few days ago. Now we’ll have to take a long detour.”
“Wait!”
As Lergal started to turn, I stuck my hand out of his mouth and shouted.
“Stop for a second!”
“What? Why?”
The moment Lergal slammed on the brakes, I activated Tempest magic on my outstretched hand and yelled.
“Close your eyes!”
In that instant, a swirling stream of flames shot straight ahead.
The intense light illuminated everything, revealing the slime horde packed into the passage.
The slimes shrank back as if cowed by the sudden light. At the same time, the fireball unfurled massive wings of flame and engulfed them in one go.
And then the explosion hit.
BOOM!
‘Protection Magic.’
I first cast an absolute barrier spell on Lergal’s body. Then, as if he’d been waiting, he kicked off the ground and launched himself straight ahead.
“Wait! You’re not charging into the explosion…….”
SPLAT!
He burst through the wall of explosion, flames, and molten slime in an instant. Then he raced down the now-empty passage, flicking his tongue.
“Powerful barrier magic. Thanks to that, we got through quickly.”
“You knew that without me explaining?”
“I knew the moment it was cast on me. Can’t humans tell that much?”
“Humans don’t know unless you tell them. Whew…… I thought my heart was going to stop.”
“I nearly bit my tongue off. They said you were stronger than anyone in the Empire—now I see why Didi said that.”
At the same time, I sensed countless monsters swarming toward the explosion site. Ah, so that’s why Lergal rushed through so urgently.
“If we’d lingered even a little, we’d have been surrounded again. How many are there? They’re pouring in like a waterfall.”
“That’s why I moved right away. This place was peaceful until just a little while ago, but now it’s turned into a real hellhole.”
“Can you explain in detail? What the hell happened?”
“If we count the days, it was exactly 13 days ago. That’s when a strange smell started wafting through the sewers.”
“A smell?”
“I raced straight to the source. There was a pool of blood-like water. It was changing the ecosystem around it.”
“The ecosystem changed because of blood? What kind of blood does that?”
“It seemed like human blood…… But I don’t know for sure. Calling it blood is probably wrong to begin with. It was pure venom. Blood poison, maybe?”
“Blood poison? Human blood is poison?”
“That poison completely transformed the sewer’s creatures. The ones you call Death Worms are the same. Rat-snake hunters that lived here got exposed and turned into those monsters.”
Rat-snake hunters.
Come to think of it, Didi said that when she saw the dead Death Worm. Structurally, it was quite different from otherworld Death Worms.
“What about the slimes?”
“Slimes? You mean those sticky blobs? They’re mutated colonies of mold that used to cling to the sewer walls.”
“Because of the blood poison too?”
“Probably.”
“So you want me to get rid of that blood poison pool?”
“Your flame magic from earlier should be more than enough. I’m sorry for shoving the responsibility on you because I couldn’t muster the courage.”
“What are you talking about? Why are you sorry?”
“When I first saw the pool, if I’d just drunk it all, things wouldn’t have gotten this bad.”
“What?”
“Ancient Wolves purify poisons around them that way. But I couldn’t act. Even though we’re immune to all poisons, the moment I saw it, I couldn’t move.”
Lergal shuddered violently as he spoke.
“Out of fear. I was too scared to even approach it.”
I shook my head, feeling the fang in my hand tremble strongly.
“You shouldn’t drink that stuff anyway. What if it killed you?”
“Avoiding death in the face of poison is a disgrace for an Ancient Wolf. In that sense, I’ve already lost my qualifications.”
“Qualifications? What qualifications?”
“…….”
Lergal didn’t respond. Did I touch a sore spot? Better change the subject before the mood gets heavier.
“Anyway…… If I destroy that blood poison pool, what about the ones already turned into monsters?”
“Just leave them be.”
“Huh?”
“The monsters can’t stray far from the blood poison. That’s why they don’t chase us to the outer edges of the sewers.”
“Like at the machine room earlier?”
“A few days ago, I saw a monster that strayed from the pack wandering outside the territory for a day before drying up and dying. So if we eliminate the source—the pool—all the other monsters should be gone within a day.”
If that’s true, it’d be a clean resolution. Dealing with this insane number one by one would be too much.
“I hope so. But where the hell did that damned blood poison come from?”
“From above, of course.”
“Above where?”
“I’ll tell you when we get there. It’s a place connected to you too.”
“Me? Why do I come into this out of nowhere?”
Right then, something new entered the range of my Life Detection.
“…….”
“Why are you suddenly shaking?”
“Just now, something entered detection range…….”
“You felt it too, huh. That’s the blood poison pool.”
Lergal said calmly.
No, but this isn’t a simple problem, is it? This shouldn’t even be here in the first place!
An otherworld army.
No, at minimum, something on the level of an executive giving off that ominous vibe was lurking there.
In monster terms, maybe Berserker or Infection Lord level?
“Here. Get off.”
Lergal lowered his body and opened his mouth wide. I carefully crawled out and stood up.
“This is…….”
The place we arrived at was no different from the sewers so far.
But the upstream was blocked, so no water flowed through the channel.
Instead, the center had a deep depression filled to the brim with blood-like liquid.
“This is it…….”
The blood emitted a faint glow that lit up the surroundings. Looking closely, it spread out like fine blood vessels, extending its territory quite far.
Crunch……
I turned at the eerie sound and saw a forearm-thick snake clinging to one of the vein-like strands.
“Rat-snake hunter. From the size, it looks like it just started mutating.”
“So this is really what turns things into monsters.”
It felt incredibly ominous, but it didn’t seem particularly dangerous in itself.
It just mutated the surrounding creatures into dangers.
The ones already turned into monsters avoided coming within a certain range of the pool.
Like a sanctuary of sorts? Good thing that makes them easier to deal with.
But it came from above?
I looked up and saw a sewer pipe connected overhead. Frowning, I asked Lergal.
“Where’s above? And what do you mean it’s related to me?”
“This is directly under the Imperial Palace.”
Imperial Palace? This was under the palace?
“……Exactly where in the palace?”
“I don’t know the precise spot. But from what I overheard, it seemed like the annex where a prince lives. The people going in and out called the owner ‘Regent Highness.’”
“Ah…….”
A sigh escaped me.
Jess.
Now I got a sense of what happened.
Ten days—no, exactly 13 days ago that night.
Jess had appeared before me in the form of a Berserker, not human.
It had never happened before, but somehow, through a spy he contacted from the otherworld, he’d gotten his hands on the substance that turned him into a Berserker.
But he must have failed to control the dosage?
He dumped the leftover substance into the sewers, and it piled up here, turning the sewers into an otherworld monster breeding ground!
Good lord.
Are you insane, Jess?
Why dump something that dangerous in the sewers? Well, he was insane enough to abandon his human body for Berserker form.
“Whew…… Damn Jess. Even dead, he’s causing trouble.”
“The annex owner is dead?”
“Yeah. I killed him.”
“You? Some sibling power struggle? Court intrigue?”
“Nothing that dramatic…… I’ll explain the details later. For now, let’s finish this and get back to Didi.”
Without hesitation, I hurled a Tempest of flames at the pool. But at that moment.
Splosh!
The blood in the pool suddenly gathered and surged upward.
“Ugh…… Claude…….”
It even formed a human shape and spoke! Did it just call my name?
And then the explosion.
“Grah…… GRAAAAH!”
It thrashed and screamed in the inferno. I muttered its name in shock.
“Jess…….”
Well, technically just a blood lump shaped like Jess.
Anyway, the thing that withstood the Tempest crawled up from the pit, spewing white smoke. What the hell? Why isn’t it fazed after taking a Tempest?
“Do it quick! The monsters noticed—they’re swarming!”
Lergal shouted from behind. Gritting my teeth, I formed new fireballs in both hands.
“Claude…… I, I can’t forgive you…… You who defiled the imperial bloodline…….”
“Shut up, dead guy! Hya!”
The two Tempests fired simultaneously, and it finally started collapsing and evaporating.
“Grah…… Gra…… Claude…….”
“Got it!”
It reached out toward me with its last wisp of smoke and vanished. At the same time, Lergal scooped me up into his mouth from behind.
“Lergal!”
“Shut your mouth! You’ll bite your tongue!”
Lergal spun around and bolted back the way we came.
SPLAT!
Dozens of Death Worms and slime hordes surged in from all sides. But Lergal weaved through them with insane agility.
Slash!
He even ran along the walls or, for a brief moment, the ceiling, barely slipping through the monsters’ encirclement.
“Ugh…….”
The speed was so intense my eyes wouldn’t stay open. Only after burrowing deep into Lergal’s mouth could I finally catch my breath.
Whew, what is this, a kangaroo shoving into its pouch……?