Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Demon King's Knight
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"Horned One, hold on a moment. I'll confirm the existence of that Harpyia myself."
Iveldra raised a black hand to stop Kirumin Jay right away, not wanting Elis's jaw to break. The Night Hag Queen undoubtedly had plenty to say, as did Elis, but first they needed to check the changes that had occurred in Elis.
She carefully maneuvered her hand to catch Rah's black droplet floating in the air and pressed it against Elis as she asked,
"Elis Hope, have you regained your sword?"
"Yes. But the moment we descended the peak and entered the valley, I died, and my sword... that Harpyia, the Night Hag, took it. I... I killed myself."
"Yourself?"
"How many times have I come down from the mountain with these tears wiped away and my memories severed? What have I become in the end?"
"Ah, you've touched your memories. That's..."
"No! You're reborn as kin anyway-what does it matter? Such a human way of thinking."
Whether Kirumin Jay was taking Elis's word at face value that the Harpyia had vanished with her sword, or whether some new interest had sparked in her, she flapped her bat-like wings and approached Elis, speaking right away.
"You're not human anymore. You know that much, right? You're one of us Demons now."
This time, even Iveldra held her tongue. As madness seeped once more beneath Elis's right eye, the Night Hag Queen paced restlessly and continued.
"Once you find your sword, you'll recover the memories from inside the Great Demon King, won't you? Then you must have a rough idea of the Demons' situation and just how much of a bitch that princess is."
Who was it that insisted Night Hags be classified as a demonic race?
No one could say for sure, but the Night Hag's sly voice struck Elis's ears like hypnosis and faded away. In that moment, she had no choice but to admit it herself.
"The princess... So I'm no longer a knight."
She had recovered her memories, but the knight who had wielded her sword for her beliefs even in this distant land was dead. All that remained was one Demon bearing the kin of sin.
But Elis was strong-willed. Accepting reality, she immediately turned her thoughts to the future. So what role must she play in this story from here? What kind of sword must she become?
"No time to hesitate, kin. You're the Great Demon King's avatar, so you have to help me."
Elis looked up and met the Night Hag Queen's eyes. Unlike the seductive yet decadent gaze of her foe, Elis's were filled with nothing but hatred for revenge.
Kirumin Jay quite liked that challenging stare. It resembled the Demon King's own, making Elis truly feel like his avatar now. But Elis was different. No, she had no intention of being dragged along by the story's flow as mere avatar of the Demon King.
Elis Nakam, kin of sin symbolizing vengeance and fury, came up with one idea.
"You can fly, so you can scout from above, right?"
She had to find something only she-with a knight's memories and the Demon King's emotions-could do. There had to be a reason she'd returned in this story. A reason for her existence, outside the Demon King or the Empire's side. She would surely find it once she descended this mountain.
To the human cities.
"What do you need my help with?"
Judging by the intangible red aura rising from her eyes-no, her entire body and deepest heart-Elis had fully embraced her identity as kin.
"Oh? Arrogant..."
"Loyal Horned One, allow me to speak now."
Iveldra stepped in front of Elis with an expressionless face, and the Night Hag Queen clicked her tongue before circling around Rah. Their hierarchy wasn't strictly defined-perhaps because Kirumin Jay was originally a Mir. Or maybe it was Iveldra's towering height that made the Night Hag Queen seem so much smaller.
"Your goal is to carry the madness to the human cities. That hasn't changed. But there's a specific reason only you can deliver it. This Hatham is the Night Hags' territory by nature. They hide in the valleys because lost undying ones roam the frozen plains, but now they're all preparing to take flight. That's why they've started a full war with the undying ones, and the human city-once climbed by pilgrims via the pure path-is now guarded and isolated."
Iveldra pointed toward the unseen base of the mountain and continued.
"Pilgrims no longer come, and without delivering the madness, everything the Night Hags are creating requires its control. That's why I awakened you, kin of sin."
"The human cities on the western continent... What exactly is there?"
"What's there doesn't matter. Ignore the humans-you just need to deliver the madness. On the way down, visit our lair. As for the giants-no, we'll talk about that when we see them together."
As if she could hold back no longer, Kirumin Jay spread her black wings and flew up, declaring,
"Anyway, you didn't see where the Harpyia went, right? Fine, then. I'll send one of my subordinates to the valley entrance you collapsed. Follow their guidance to our lair. We'll talk more there."
With that, the Night Hag Queen returned to her lair. Elis had assumed she'd take her along, but since the queen had only relayed her message and vanished, Elis turned to Iveldra right away.
"So now we just go down again?"
"No, Elis. Just now, I sensed that you'd used the kin of sin from your previous death. You probably couldn't control even yourself when you encountered her."
"Ah, that red light... I don't really know either."
Iveldra enveloped her once more in warm darkness and continued.
"Elis, over a week has passed since you died and awoke again. Please be careful when handling the kin of sin. If you use your power of vengeance now, you risk mixing in the madness. That could shake the boundary of death, like an overflowing vessel."
At that warm embrace and whisper, Elis flinched, recalling when she'd unleashed the kin of sin's power. It had felt like she could kill anything-and thus, herself too.
"Oh, poor Elis. If you wish, shall I grant you death?"
Elis looked up at the black lips whispering kind words. Then, tousling her disheveled hair, she rose. With a sad smile, she shook her head.
"I'm already kin of sin and know the princess's truth, so I'm no knight of the Empire. But my sword's direction hasn't wavered. I'll find the reason I came back to life. Something only I can do. This isn't for the Demon King or the Empire. So for now, until I deliver the madness, I'll be the Demon King's undying knight."
A Hero leading knights, a Demon King who killed knights, and a Hero who became the Demon King's friend once more. Given those irrational connections in the story, Elis's words carried heavy meaning.
"This time, it'll take a bit longer. Then, off I go again."
With that, Elis began her sixth attempt to descend.
***
This time was no different.
The stairs, white mist and shattered ice waterfall, and the tunnel passage down from the peak where the Mirror Knight had been. But the path she'd walked was drenched entirely in blood, with no enemies in sight. When she reached the blue-glowing tunnel, Elis confirmed her corpses strewn about. All the selves she'd raised with madness, and the flesh that had been the Mirror Knight, lay tangled and burst as they were. Only the splashing of blood echoed in the tunnel with her footsteps.
"As expected..."
And as she emerged from the tunnel again, Elis could confirm that after the omen she'd unleashed at the valley entrance, the Harpyia had collapsed the valley. In her mind, if the Night Hags' lair was nearby, it couldn't have been the valley path she'd seen before dying. So they'd probably collapsed it to prepare for the undying ones marching up once the path opened.
"What's in this ice valley anyway... First, I need to head up."
Elis recalled when she'd hunted Joins while on knight duty and began climbing higher to grasp the terrain, no matter the dangers. Of course, the spot where she'd unleashed the omen sloped downward, so she'd have to follow the collapsed valley to find an intact section.
Thus, Elis started walking along the left ice wall that seemed least collapsed. The narrow path kept her from drawing her spear, but soon enough, she reached the point where the valley had begun to crumble. It'seemed the path she'd seen was wedged in like the valley itself, with the rest just flat snowfields.
"Then... if I keep going down this way, it'll lead there?"
With that, she folded Iveldra's wings close and walked on. Each step of the white-haired woman in black against the pale blue ice and snow left red tracks behind.
"Huh?"
And soon after, she realized why this place was called a valley rather than a snowfield. Elis brushed away the snow on the ground, revealing transparent ice beneath.
"No way it's under here..."
Looking back, she saw the base of the peak she'd descended. Beneath the massive terrain piled with snow and ice, in the crevice of that glacier, iron stairs and bridges were clearly visible.
"Break the ice and go down?"
Crunch.
And then, from far off, footsteps far heavier than Elis's approached. She hadn't heard them, of course, but amid the ceased snowfall and heavy clouds, the glowing flames were plain to her eyes.
"Are you the carrier of madness?"
Unexpectedly, a woman's voice asked.
Elis didn't answer and lowered her stance. The woman with the torch then spread her black wings wide to announce herself and asked again.
"I am the Night Hag 'Chashop Hay.' I'll guide you to our lair."