Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: The Immortal's Demon
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Ever since spotting the demon tied to the Immortal House, Sein had been relentlessly tracking down traces of demons.
Over the past year, both Otolomeo and the forces under Sein's command had grown significantly, gradually fulfilling their roles bit by bit.
That was the information he had uncovered.
—It's a demon.
Traces of demons. Hidden locations.
And then he learned.
—But...
That this demon was nothing like the ordinary ones he knew before.
Jane stood before the demon.
He slowly lifted the bound demon's head.
The horn on one side of its forehead proved it was a demon, but that face...
“Grooo...”
It felt strangely familiar.
Clang!
Behind him, Collan was battling the wraith sorcerer.
“Eeeek!”
The old man summoned even more powerful wraiths to fight Collan, but it was futile.
“I told you, I can't catch you right now.”
Even as he fought on instinct, Collan's movements were improving steadily.
It was a resistance against the wraiths' corrosion.
And this was precisely the moment Sein had desired.
Information on the demon—it had leaked out.
Not handled by him directly, but passed to someone else.
“Immortal.”
The starting point of direct confrontation with the Immortal House.
“Is this all you've got prepared?”
Jane spoke toward the wraith sorcerer from behind Collan.
“You worm!”
“Then I'm disappointed.”
Clatter!
As Jane's hand touched it, the chains binding the demon began to unravel.
“...!”
The wraith sorcerer could only panic once more.
The demon's sealing restraints were one of the Immortal House's secret techniques—something that couldn't be undone without permission.
Clatter!
But this guy was managing to do it.
“You know what happens if this continues, right?”
Jane spoke slowly, as if giving him time to think.
“Your biggest secret is getting exposed to Demorus.”
“What the hell is that guy?”
The wraith sorcerer asked, backing away.
It was different from the clumsy demeanor he'd shown so far.
“How much do you know?”
“Maybe not much. But.”
Jane smiled.
“I know this one's identity.”
The chin lifted by Jane's fingertips.
That familiar face.
This man's name was.
“Felpero Immortal.”
Felpero, who had gone missing during the holy sword retrieval operation, was now standing before them as a demon.
“Isn't that enough from your side too?”
Clatter!
The chains continued to loosen.
“You were holding back just to see how much we know, weren't you?”
At that moment.
Fwoooosh!
A power erupted from the wraith sorcerer's body, on a completely different level from anything before.
As if all the previous losses to Collan had been a ruse.
Boom!
The number and quality of surging wraiths were on another plane entirely.
“No need to probe any further. This was all my setup.”
Jane didn't hide it.
“So.”
Clatter! Thud!
Finally, all the chains binding Felpero fell away, dismantled.
In that instant, Felpero collapsed, drained of strength.
He couldn't make the demon rampage like before.
This one wasn't a demon born from him, after all.
“Give it everything you've got. Rotem.”
One of the Great Names, Rotem.
The moment that name was invoked.
Roooar!
A black hand tore through the air, lunging toward Sein.
It emanated an irresistible absolute aura, resembling the hand of the god of death itself.
Thud!
Collan, merely grazed by it, was sent flying into the wall.
His subordinates, already fallen to the wraiths' corrosion, were crushed by the passing hand, vomiting blood.
No—the entire space itself was shattering and ripping apart, unable to withstand that single hand.
The hand finally reached right in front of Jane and spread its fingers.
What would happen the moment it grabbed him? No deep thought was needed.
Absolute death.
However.
Fwoooosh!
A brilliant halo of light burst from Jane.
The hand of death, poised to tear everything apart, began to crumble in that instant.
Jane emerged from between the shattering hand.
No—Sein did.
—Youuu worm!
With a glowing white ring around his forehead, he radiated divine power brighter than anyone's.
“This isn't the time for that.”
The Great Names—beings who could be called the continent's strongest dark mages.
Yet one must not forget.
Roooar—!
“Your opponent isn't me.”
Standing behind him was the Demorus heir candidate who most resembled the family head Tejera, his entire body painted black.
Collan Demorus.
Slash!
Part of the body hosting Rotem was torn away by Collan's sword.
Jane didn't miss that moment.
Hum.
Varak rose into the air.
Sebu rose into the air.
“See you later.”
—I will hunt you down and rip you apart!
Rotem's furious voice echoed, shaking souls.
—My mark will pursue you to the ends of the earth!
Wraiths swarmed to engulf Jane's body.
The tattoo-like marks etched onto him couldn't even be repelled by Jane's white light.
However.
Smirk.
Jane smiled.
What he possessed wasn't just this great divine power.
—...!
Darkening tattoos spread across half his upper body.
As the white ring faded, the aura that poured out was denser and darker than Rotem's magic.
In that instant.
Flash!
Jane, Varak, and Sebu vanished.
*
*
*
Luring Collan into a place guarded by a Great Name.
Yet ensuring Collan gained nothing from it.
“Mission accomplished.”
Sein gazed down at the rampaging magic below.
The clash between Rotem's power and Collan's—it resembled the day Contral had become a sea of fire.
“Looks like I've got a knack for this stuff.”
The Great Names' strength was said to rival that of witches.
Even for the current Sein, they were foes he couldn't be certain of defeating.
But if it was just escaping—if everything was prepared, if he could strike at their weakness.
‘It's possible.’
The operation that had begun that way now reached its conclusion.
Collan had gained nothing, and Jane had secured the demon Felpero, who had been sealed and experimented on.
Now, only one final thing remained to confirm.
“One way or another...”
Smirk.
“Wrap it up, Rotem.”
What unfolded from here on was beyond Sein's certainty.
Two possibilities.
Boom!
He could only watch which one would be chosen.
“What do you think will happen, sir?”
The voice belonged to Varak.
The awakened Varak was recovering his body with Sein's divine power and refilling his depleted magic.
“Hmm.”
Sein pondered before finally speaking.
“He won't kill him.”
Rotem couldn't kill Collan.
“Even those called Great Names are ultimately just lackeys.”
Having an outsider from another house kill a Demorus heir candidate wasn't a decision to be made lightly.
Especially if one couldn't fully bear the consequences.
“And those idiots are obsessed with their own lives, so realistically, there's only one high-probability choice.”
Smirk.
At last, the battle seemed to reach a stalemate.
This was Collan putting up a valiant fight, truthfully.
Collan, who resembled Tejera and inherited his power and physique.
His abilities transcended his age—a great talent rare even across the continent—but still unfinished.
The fact he could hold his own was probably due to his cheat-like blessing.
In the end.
Whoooosh.
Collan's defeat was all but decided.
So now, Rotem would choose.
Roooar—!
The swirling energy spread out.
Portals, gates, teleportation magic—they were privileges of white magic, essentially.
What Sein had used was a form of holy magic.
But dark mages had such things too.
They simply required such high levels and devoured so much mana that they weren't used lightly.
—Gate of Darkness.
That was the skill being activated there now.
Flash!
The black vortex vanished, leaving utter silence.
The result was visible to his eyes right then.
“As expected, the latter.”
Rotem's choice.
“Did you see that? The Demorus heir candidate just got kidnapped.”
It was taking Collan—who had seen what shouldn't be seen, fought what shouldn't be fought—back to the Immortal House.
Sein said.
—Peace has lasted too long, hasn't it?
Therefore.
—It's time to end it.
War.
“Varak, things are about to get busy.”
The strife among the three great underworld houses, which had settled into a lull, would reignite.
Collan should be thrilled.
He had stood at the starting point of a great history, after all.
It was then.
“...”
A presence from behind.
“You're awake.”
Sein spoke to him without turning.
“Jane...”
Sebu—he had regained consciousness too.
Sebu immediately checked his own body.
The body half-burned from magic overload was healed, and his damaged organs seemed to function normally again.
“...!”
Something no mere potion could achieve.
“No.”
Sebu said slowly as he rose.
Unbelievable as it was, he wasn't foolish enough as a Black Sword Company member to deny the evidence before his eyes.
“Are you Sein Demorus?”
Sein, called the Saintess's Guardian.
If so.
And considering Jane's appearance in that hellish scene and this moment now.
“...”
With Varak standing respectfully beside Sein, it was only natural to think so.
“The sight you witnessed left an impression.”
Sein turned and spoke to Sebu.
“You know you saw what you shouldn't have and heard what you shouldn't have, right?”
In that instant.
Shing.
Sebu drew his sword and held it to his own neck.
Had it not been Sein, he would have died anyway.
For saving him and revealing the truth.
“No debts remain. Please relay this to Lord Rohan.”
It was fine now.
Discarding all the facades he'd shown until now, Sebu stood before Sein more like a true Black Sword Company member than anyone.
“Whoa.”
Before he knew it, Sein was pressing down on Sebu's sword with a finger.
Tremble.
No matter how much force he applied, the unmoving sword made Sebu's eyes widen.
“This is a scout.”