Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 049
Chapter Title: Treasure Goblin
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Creak.
The shop door opened with an eerie groan echoing through the air.
“Oh, you’ve arrived.”
A clear “Closed” sign hung on the shop door.
Yet the fact that someone had entered meant they had an appointment.
“I’ve come for the goods.”
It was the same man from yesterday.
Sein had arrived.
“The goods are ready, I presume?”
The advance payment he’d given—the archbishop’s blood.
Naturally, the old man had verified its authenticity.
It was genuine blood from an archbishop, brimming with pure divine power.
And this was the man who’d tossed it over as casually as pocket change.
“…Of course.”
Unable to hide his tension, the old man pulled out a small wooden box.
Geometric patterns were engraved into it, giving off a sinister aura.
A magic circle antithetical to white magic.
A high-grade seal typically used for containing something truly precious.
Click.
The lock released, and the wooden box slowly began to open.
A murky, acrid smoke spread out, carrying a poisonous stench.
“Parts of demon race byproducts.”
For the first time, the old man spoke with a hint of confidence, shedding his tension.
“……”
It was then, as Sein approached to inspect them.
“Danger…!”
Demon race byproducts were, in essence, curses incarnate.
For an ordinary person, touching them could steal their soul, drive them mad with frenzy.
In the worst case, their body might melt away entirely.
Even those who harbored magic power in their bodies weren’t immune.
Unless proper precautions and procedures were followed…
“Demon race blood and a body part.”
But Sein handled them without a care.
“……!”
It felt as if the old man had brought fakes.
“But the blood’s old, and the body is just useless tissue.”
Yet Sein proved they were real.
“…My apologies.”
The old man barely concealed his shock as he spoke.
“As you know, demon race byproducts are extremely rare. This was all I could obtain…”
The old man spoke cautiously.
“If you’d prefer, we can cancel the deal.”
He wanted the profit, but given who his buyer was, he had to play it safe.
He knew greed could invite disaster, so he reined in his overflowing desires.
“Where’d you get them?”
“That’s…”
“Here. This one’s fresh. Clearly harvested recently.”
“……!”
The old man’s eyes widened in shock once more.
“I have a bit more archbishop blood. If you want, I’ll throw in a few ingots of mithril too.”
“……”
“Pass word to the ones who procured this. I want to meet them in person.”
It was then, as Sein turned to leave.
Fwoosh!
A pillar of violet light erupted from beneath his feet.
“No need for that.”
Not the old man’s voice, but someone else’s.
“I’m already here.”
Sein turned to look at the old man.
At the corner of his mouth.
Smirk.
A bright smile spread across it.
Everything about the old man up to now had been a facade.
He had been genuinely surprised, that much was true.
“Keehehe. A treasure goblin walking right in. Lady Luck must be smiling on my twilight years.”
He wasn’t afraid of Sein.
‘Binding magic circle.’
One he’d meticulously prepared over a long time, activated with the finest materials.
It drained the bound target’s magic power to reinforce itself, laced with a curse that sapped vitality.
“You say more archbishop blood? Don’t forget! I’m the one who brought you the treasure goblin!”
“I won’t.”
“……Do you even know who I am to pull this stunt?”
Sein said in a low, gravelly voice.
“I bear the great name…”
“How dare a false pretender utter their name!”
Cloaked figures who revealed themselves shouted.
“You think we don’t know the great names? Your sin is impersonating them!”
The great names.
As far as he knew, they referred to the four most infamous black mages on the continent.
One of whom had vanished long ago, no longer active publicly.
“Aw, shit. We’re screwed.”
Sein grimaced as he spoke.
“Finally confessing, are you?”
Boom!
The magic circle’s bindings crushed down on Sein even harder.
“You…”
A cloaked figure who had approached right in front of Sein said.
“You’ll confess everything. How you possess pure demonic energy.”
Thud!
The intensified magic circle slammed Sein’s body to the floor.
That was why they hadn’t seen it.
Smirk.
The smile creeping across Sein’s lips.
*
*
*
Sein was completely restrained.
His mouth, eyes, nose, and ears.
Magical iron chains constricted his entire body, and curse-imbued cloth covered him besides.
Anyone seeing it might think Sein wasn’t human, but a monster.
“The curse will take three days to seep into every bone.”
A hazy voice filtered in like a dream.
“Don’t slack off on watch until then. We don’t know what he’s hiding. Remember that.”
“Understood.”
He felt the presence fading away.
“This punk has pure demonic energy?”
The one left alone spat at the bound Sein.
“Bullshit. The higher-ups must be losing it. Ugh, more work. Damn it.”
He had no idea.
That Sein could sense his presence and hear his voice.
Given the bindings on Sein, it should have been impossible.
The fact that it wasn’t meant…
Rustle.
Sein hadn’t been affected from the start.
Sein possessed the Demon King’s heart, and the Demon King was the king of all curses.
He also bore the saint’s halo, a convergence of blessings.
To bind such a Sein with curses…
“You’d need divine-grade, right?”
At the voice that rang out.
“……?”
The man tilted his head.
No way.
“Am I hallucinating?”
No one but him should be able to make a sound here.
But an inexplicable unease made the man look at the bound Sein…
“……!”
He was gone.
The curse cloth was torn, the curse chains unraveled.
“Emergency—!”
As he shouted and tried to activate the magic circle.
A face thrust right in front of his, upside down.
Sein, standing on the ceiling with feet planted, arms still seemingly bound.
And then.
Clatter!
The arm restraints released themselves.
Crack!
The man’s neck snapped at an impossible angle.
“Phase one success.”
It had all been Sein’s plan.
*
*
*
-Sector 6… Contra….
-Arcane….
-Demon race….
That was the intel Sein had obtained.
From Tanba, with whom he’d nearly formed a magical contract.
‘Demon race.’
He couldn’t let that name slide.
Find the byproducts, track down their procurer, enter the place.
What he sought wasn’t the demon race’s location.
Step, step.
It was to seize them.
“It’s been a while since I felt demonic power this dark.”
Sein’s body hair stood on end.
Not from the ominous chill of this underground lair, but from exhilarating pleasure.
His upper body exposed due to the bindings.
A bizarre pattern etched across his chest.
His fingertips were blackened, patterns extending from them up to his wrists.
Right now, what dominated Sein wasn’t the dragon heart.
“Hah.”
The demon race heart.
That was why this dark, humid demonic power…
Shoooo—!
Was being sucked into Sein, empowering him.
“Wheee.”
Sein whistled cheerfully, in high spirits.
“……?”
A cloaked guard in the corridor spotted Sein and looked puzzled.
No one unauthorized could pass through here.
Especially…
“……!”
A shirtless white-haired man wandering around? Impossible.
It wasn’t a hallucination.
Fwoosh!
He tried to ignite his magic power to trigger the alarm spell.
But his magic wouldn’t budge.
Then the man realized.
Everything around him was black.
“You.”
Right in front.
“……”
Even with the white-haired man inches away, he could do nothing.
It was the visage of an absolute predator.
The despair of a human facing a giant bare-handed, from mere meters away.
“Do you know where the demon race is?”
“…I… don’t… kn… ow.”
A voice squeezed out with effort.
“Yeah?”
And that was…
Splat!
The man’s final words.
His head burst like a watermelon.
Smirk.
Sein smiled in satisfaction.
Sector 6, Contra.
This was the territory of another underworld immortal.
He couldn’t rampage recklessly.
“But this should be fine.”
A place that caged demon race, with ironclad security above all.
Which made it, ironically…
“Well then, who here knows about the demon race?”
A perfect prison for Sein to run wild in.
*
*
*
They were all black magic practitioners.
Black magic, a system apart from white magic.
Some were quite skilled.
But.
“You don’t know?”
“I… ugh…”
Splat!
They were no match for Sein.
The awakened Demon King’s heart.
‘Domain of Curse.’
An absolute power rendering powerless all within range who bore weak demonic energy.
Another perk from his past life, gained via level-up in the soul lantern.
“You?”
“S-spare…”
Splat!
Absolute dominance over black magic.
It consumed immense magic power—even Sein felt the strain—but here it was fine.
“Sip! Ha!”
The underground brimmed with dark demonic power, supplying him infinite mana.
“Nice, so nice.”
In the past, it had just been a game.
Debuffs were mere numbers, forcibly blocking sensations.
Something like berserk mode made the character rampage uncontrollably, devastating surroundings.
But now.
“This is the feeling.”
This was no longer a game.