Chapter 76
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Denial (3)
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It didn't take long to complete the mission in Cornik.
No one could pass through the barrier that enveloped the entire city.
The Bertharod who had taken human form seemed to linger until I left the city, but I never saw him again after that.
Just as I had vowed to myself, I forgot all about Bertharod. And about the many people who died there.
Curse......
Sensations I hadn't felt back then were now coming back to life.
Neither I at the time nor the garrison mage could have foreseen that the curse would rebound like this.
In that very place where I had claimed countless lives with my magic, my father had nearly lost his own.
The spell I had cast so casually had snuffed out so many lives so pointlessly......
Each and every one of those deaths was now searing itself into my fingertips.
I wonder if Father is okay.
Thinking back to that moment sent a chill racing down my spine.
With Grain and Wedin there, he should be fine.
I had definitely dispelled the magic and recovered the mana.
Not just Father—some of the knights might have been hurt too......
I let out a groan as I gazed up at the fortress walls of Cornik Fortress City.
Drawing on Ash's power hadn't been a good idea.
A reckless move, driven not by reason but solely by the desperate urge to escape that spot.
And as a result, I'd plummeted into the middle of the wide river below Cornik Fortress.
Cold, shallow water lapped at my calves.
This spot was visible from the fortress overlooking it.
Ash's power allowed spatial leaps only to places within my line of sight, it seemed.
Ash must be panicking right now. But the distance wasn't far—he'd find me soon enough.
I staggered to my feet. My entire body felt battered and torn.
The pale river water glowed red in the dawn light as it flowed lazily onward, fine silt settling on the riverbed.
Silver Luclemia flowers bloomed in wild profusion all around, swaying gently with the current.
A breathtakingly beautiful scene.
Beautiful enough to make me forget, if only for a moment, my worries about Father, the knights, and my friends.
I picked a single Luclemia blossom. Its tiny silver petals shimmered in the dawn glow.
Clemence had told me this was Lesion's national flower, symbolizing 'purification.' It cleanses even filthy water.
"Lib, there you are."
I looked up at the sky.
Barkus, wings like a dragon's spread wide, hovered in midair before folding them and landing before me.
The gust from his wings whipped the river water into a frenzy, scattering Luclemia petals in every direction.
"Wow, what a great spot."
Barkus approached me with his usual nonchalance, though his appearance was utterly transformed.
I backed away, eyes locked on his every move, ready to weave a spell faster than he could if he stirred his mana.
"I don't want to fight you. No need to be so guarded."
Barkus grinned, his face deathly pale.
His reddened pupils curved into rounds, black veins bulging starkly on his emaciated cheeks.
"You've...... become a Demon."
My thoughts were a whirlwind.
Barkus clearly bore a Demon's form, yet he seemed to cling to his reason.
Most who mutated into Demons lost all sense, driven only by the primal instinct to devour life. But he was different. Like Ash.
"So what? This is the power Kaela-nim bestowed upon me."
Barkus gazed in rapture at his fingers, now tipped with razor-sharp claws.
Those black, elongated nails looked lethal enough to serve as weapons.
"It was exactly what I needed...... I've always been so powerless."
Kaela Ermis. Lesion's Court Archmage. I'd never even met her, yet the certainty that she was behind this wouldn't fade.
"That woman turned you into this! Once you mutate into a Demon, there's no going back. You know that."
"Ahahaha!" Barkus burst into laughter, sending chills crawling over my skin.
I retreated a step, but his elongated arm snaked out and seized my shoulder before I could react.
"Go back? Why the hell would I? To that scrawny, feeble shell? Back to scraping by as a slum orphan with dirty, worthless blood? No chance in hell."
I struggled to break free of his grip, but it held fast no matter how hard I pulled.
Giggling echoed right in my ear.
"Ah, Lib. Now I see it. Kaela-nim's true intent...... Why she sent me on this mission."
"To turn you into a Demon?"
"To grant me power. Though I botched the other task—retrieving the key."
Key...... My face went rigid.
Just as I'd suspected.
The instant Barkus claimed he'd summoned the Gatras, a faint hunch had flickered in my mind.
"You sent the Gatras to raid the Hope Merchant caravan. All for the Knot-Solving Key."
"How did you know?"
This time, Barkus was the one startled.
He'd joined the delegation after the Hope caravan departed, so he had no idea we'd lent them aid.
The black Gatra meant to deliver the key back to him had been lured by my magic into ambushing us instead, leaving Barkus lost in the shadowed woods......
"......You've got the key, don't you?"
I bit my lip.
"Forget the key. It's being stored in Prius."
Barkus stared at me, wide-eyed in shock.
My shoulders tensed—he might try to rip it from me by force—but he held back for now. Probably figuring he could take it anytime he wanted.
Then I sensed Ash's presence drawing near.
I turned to see Shuren and Ash galloping toward me on horseback from the distant riverbank.
"Lib!"
They were still too far for Shuren's shout to carry clearly.
Ash halted at the water's edge—his powers faltered in liquid—while Shuren leaped down and waded into the river.
He spotted the Demon-mutated Barkus right in front of me.
Too distant to make out his face, but the shock hit me like a wave.
"Lib, look at me."
Barkus seized my face in both hands.
Up close, his features twisted in rapture.
"This is an incredible opportunity. Come with me to Kaela-nim, Lib."
"What?"
I stared up at him, eyes wide.
His words tumbled out in a feverish rush.
"Kaela-nim will unlock your talents without limit! That power of yours can't truly shine in a backwater like Prius.
And the Knot-Solving Key! Hand that over too, and it'll be perfect. Kaela-nim will be overjoyed."
Barkus raved with zealous fervor, as if no greater prize existed.
Utter nonsense.
I twisted away from his grasp, rejecting the offer outright.
"No. I don't want any such 'opportunity.' More importantly, you need to realize Demon power is nothing but a curse."
"Get away from Lib right now, Demon!"
Shuren bellowed from afar, sword drawn as he charged through the water.
Barkus shot him a glance and snarled.
"What can a worthless knight like that do? This power isn't some curse—it's world-shaking might!"
Seizing the opening in his agitation, I wrenched free of his hold.
"You're...... wrong."
My cheek burned where his nails had raked it in the struggle.
I tried to reason with Barkus.
"If you've still got any reason left, there's hope. Prius is working on a way to revert Demons back to human form. You could...... Barkus?"
Barkus stared vacantly at his own hands.
Something was wrong with him.
The moment I realized he was mesmerized by the bead of my blood clinging to his nail tip, a cold gasp escaped me.
"Barkus!"
I batted his hands aside and gripped his face.
His red eyes churned wildly, reason fraying at the edges.
I strained to lock gazes with him.
If he lost it now, that was the end.
Since the mutation was fresh—or maybe because he was a mage—some shred of sanity lingered. There might still be a way to reverse it.
At the very least, like Ash, he could have a shot at survival.
"Snap out of it! Clear your mind—deep breaths!"
"Lib, you......"
A thin, groaning whisper slipped from Barkus.
His pupils burned an even deeper crimson. Cold fingers, nails erect, brushed my throat.
Dread choked the air from my lungs.
"You really do have 'power.'"
Pressure built in his fingers, throttling my neck.
Those nails pierced my skin.
His red eyes no longer saw me—just prey to devour.
No other choice.
Kududuk!
Red crystals erupted across his face in unison.
"No......"
Despair swallowed me as the words came too late—Barkus could no longer reply.
The crystals surged from his skull, racing down his neck, shoulders, chest.
They engulfed the arm clutching me, right to the lethal nail tips.
My legs buckled, and I sank to the riverbed.
The red crystals writhed, greedily consuming Barkus.
His ill-fitting robe and hood. Even the incongruous dragon wings.
The river, once blooming with Luclemia, now stained black with blood.
Dark droplets spattered across silver petals—too foul for even those flowers to purify.
"......Lib."
Once the crystals, starved for more prey, crumbled and vanished, only his tattered clothes and robe remained, adrift in the bloody current.
Shuren drew close.
I stayed slumped in the water, staring at the spot where Barkus had died.
That face—warping, shattering before my eyes—refused to fade.
There was nothing I could have done......
Barkus had craved power. He was ready to live as a Demon.
He wasn't like Ash.
If he'd been even a little like Ash—if there'd been the slightest chance...... I'd have found a way to restore him in Prius.
Vain hopes, I knew, yet I couldn't shake them.
"Let's head back."
Shuren's hand on my shoulder unleashed a flood of tears I couldn't hold back.
Hot droplets traced my gashed cheek, stinging fiercely.
I scrubbed my face and rose.
Reason demanded I accept it all.
That my magic had hurt Father. That Barkus was beyond saving.
Tracing every cause back to its root, it all circled painfully to my own failings—so reason simply commanded acceptance.
Punishment. A curse for past sins. Accept it.
But the fifteen-year-old boy could only weep.
I'd never get used to it. I shouldn't get used to it.
Back then, death had meant nothing. Now, it weighed like a stone on my chest, stealing my breath.