Mausoleum of the Moon’s Shadow (5)
Mausoleum of the Moon’s Shadow (5)
“Show me the worth of my investment, Raguel.”
Leaning against a withered giant tree, Mapheltan’s voice came out laced with groans.
He was smiling, but he didn’t seem relaxed at all.
His whole body was covered in wounds. His wings looked like torn scraps of cloth, and the carapace covering his skin was cracked in several places.
Raguel was flustered, stammering in confusion.
“V-value? What do you mean by that…? More importantly, are you really Johan—no, Mapheltan? What are all these injuries, and just what is going on right now?!”
His mind was in chaos. Everything in sight was scrambling his thoughts.
The strange ashen forest and the monstrous demon before him—what he saw now was even more unreal than what he had imagined back when he was blind.
After months away, the world he returned to had completely severed ties with common sense.
Mapheltan spoke with effort.
“I don’t have time to repeat myself, so listen carefully. As you’ve probably guessed, you’re no longer human. You are now of the Elf race—specifically, a High Elf. The only one of your kind in this world.”
Raguel murmured quietly.
“An… Elf.”
“Yes, an Elf. I suppose the word is unfamiliar to you.”
For five hundred years, the Order had systematically erased all information about the thirteen forgotten races. By the present era, almost no records of them remained.
Only the race known as “Witches” lingered in rumor.
Raguel said,
“This is the first I’ve heard of them. But somehow…”
“You feel like you already know what they are?”
“Yes. I just had a dream about the Elves.”
A trace of sorrow flickered across Raguel’s expression.
Mapheltan replied,
“Good. That will make things quicker.”
As in the original account, consuming the World Tree’s seed seemed to grant the eater the Elves’ memories and emotions.
In the original, another person—a branch member of the Miyatro family—had swallowed the seed, but the result had been the same.
A tense look came over Raguel’s face.
“So there’s something you want me to do.”
Mapheltan nodded.
“If you agree, you’ll join me in many tasks to come. But for now, we have a more immediate problem to solve.”
Raguel looked at him seriously, his jade eyes clear and bright.
“Is that task… to destroy humanity?”
He had seen the countless atrocities humans had committed against the Elves.
Burning forests, Elves dragged into slavery, endless abuse and exploitation. After witnessing such things, it was natural for hatred toward humans to rise.
Mapheltan asked, his expression sinking,
“Raguel, do you wish for all humans to vanish?”
Raguel lowered his head.
“…No.”
Though he had seen humanity’s cruelty firsthand, he had not fallen entirely into extremism.
Not all humans were evil.
Many still pursued the good.
Raguel, who had read much, had also learned of noble acts through countless stories.
“Nor do I,” Mapheltan said. “I have no intention of killing all humans.”
“Then what exactly are we going to do? An Elf who feels resentment toward humans, and an Apostle of the End…?”
An all-too-familiar voice suddenly chimed in.
“Don’t leave me out, the Fire of the Abyss!”
Zal’karin popped up from Mapheltan’s arms.
Raguel’s eyes went wide.
“Y-you’re… Zal’karin?”
It was his first time seeing the Imp.
The red-furred ball puffed out his chest proudly.
“Surprised? So, how does it feel to behold my noble self?”
Raguel’s innocent face showed pure admiration.
“You’re… way smaller than I imagined. Pitiful and cute.”
Zal’karin’s face turned beet red.
“W-what?! Pitiful?! You dare—”
Mapheltan’s expression hardened.
“Do you think this is the time for idle chatter?”
His voice had gone cold.
Zal’karin was instantly silenced.
“M-my apologies. I wasn’t thinking.”
Raguel scratched his head.
“I was just curious… Sorry.”
Mapheltan clicked his tongue.
“Let’s get back to the point. You asked what we’re going to do, didn’t you?”
“Yes. If it’s not to destroy humanity, what would an Elf and an Apostle do together?”
The Elves wanted vengeance on humans. Raguel, though not completely swept away by their emotions, had come to doubt humanity as well.
An Apostle, by nature, was a being that heralded humanity’s end.
With the two together, the obvious answer would be total human annihilation. Yet Mapheltan had repeatedly denied that.
Mapheltan said,
“To preserve humanity—and to prevent the end of the world. That’s what you and I will do from now on.”
Puzzlement crossed Raguel’s face.
“That… doesn’t make sense. You’re a demon.”
A demon protecting the world—there was no greater contradiction.
“Have you forgotten? Red blood flows in my veins too.”
He was half-demon, half-human.
“…That’s true.”
But Raguel still didn’t seem completely convinced.
“You are the first step in my plan, Raguel. From you, I will restore the rest of the races. I need your strength—and theirs. You may find it vague now, but I want you to trust me and follow.”
He was asking for blind loyalty.
Raguel’s expression grew calm.
“As I told you before, I don’t really have a choice. And now that I’m an Elf, there’s no way I can live normally. It seems the path you’ve offered has become my life. I’ll follow you—so long as you don’t betray my trust.”
He was already under the demon’s sway, with no turning back.
Mapheltan’s face was serious as he said,
“I promise. I won’t bring harm to this world. So take my hand. Within an eternal covenant, we will forge a new destiny.”
Black miasma pooled in his hand.
Raguel swallowed hard.
“Y-you mean…”
“A subjugation contract. Raguel, will you serve me?”
The subjugation contract was entirely different from a normal pact with a demon.
Where a normal contract was a trade of mutual benefit, subjugation was one-sided devotion.
The moment it was made, Raguel would become Mapheltan’s subordinate—like Grian and Zal’karin.
Conflict clouded Raguel’s face. Even if he trusted Mapheltan, such a contract was not easily accepted.
Zal’karin spoke up.
“Kid, you don’t know it, but countless friends are out for our lives right now. To survive this, we need the ‘relationship’ between you, a High Elf, and the Great End, Mapheltan. Step into the embrace of the End. I’ll be the right arm, so I’ll let you be the left.”
Raguel looked at Mapheltan, silently asking if this was true.
Mapheltan shrugged.
“Well, it’s not wrong. But I won’t force you. I’ll respect whatever choice you make.”
Even if he refused, there were other options.
Still, Mapheltan wanted to bind him completely now—so he could never run.
Sensing this, Zal’karin spoke again.
“The End truly values you. Don’t you want to repay that?”
Raguel lowered his head, his fists trembling.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
“…This is my choice.”
Zal’karin said,
“Hope it’s a wise one.”
“It has nothing to do with you! I wasn’t swayed by your words.”
Raguel glared at him, making Zal’karin flinch.
“Kh… hm. So, your decision?”
At the same time, Raguel clasped Mapheltan’s hand.
“Mapheltan, I’ll go with you.”
Mapheltan’s lips curved upward.
The pooled miasma surged.
Black smoke enveloped them both.
An unspoken law was being etched into Raguel’s soul.
In the pitch-black void, a chilling voice echoed.
“Raguel, I demand blind faith and unconditional loyalty from you. Do you accept?”
Raguel’s voice trembled.
“…I accept.”
The surging miasma sank into him all at once.
On the noble High Elf, the demon’s brand began to take shape.
A grim god of slaughter wielding a scythe—Mapheltan’s sigil appeared in Raguel’s left eye.
He was now an Apostle’s subordinate.
Mapheltan said,
“You’ll have no cause to regret this choice. Now, I’ll tell you what you must do.”
***
In the dead wasteland, there was one being that carried life.
Walking alone through the ashen forest, the boy’s hair shone amber like ripe barley, and his eyes were purer than the deepest lake.
Wherever he stepped, life breathed again.
Withered flowers and grass regained their green breath.
Though the harsh environment soon withered them back to nothing, nature still reacted to the High Elf.
To Raguel, it was all new—and heartbreaking.
“…They’re all crying.”
Every part of nature in the mausoleum was screaming, and to a High Elf, their cries were vivid.
“Now that you’re an Elf, getting sentimental?”
Zal’karin peeked out from his arms.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Hmph, and I don’t care. I’m only interested in one thing—whether you can do your job.”
Now, Raguel had to carry out the first order Mapheltan had given him.
A trace of unease crossed his face.
“…It’ll be fine.”
“Just do exactly what the End tells you, and you’ll be fine. Don’t overthink it.”
Raguel suddenly stopped.
Before him spread a curtain of white.
A sacred barrier, set up to buy time—its surface was cracked and splitting.
It will break soon.
Cold sweat rolled down Raguel’s face.
“So it’s beyond here.”
From beyond the barrier came countless sounds.
Scratching, pounding, smashing. Terrible screams blended in, creating a grotesque harmony.
Zal’karin said,
“Right. I’ll hide again for now. Good luck.”
He burrowed back into Raguel’s arms.
“Y-you coward!”
Raguel felt utterly alone.
He steadied his breathing and looked at the barrier.
It was now completely warped.
He stepped back.
At the same time, the barrier shattered with a crash.
A horrible roar shook the heavens and earth.
Countless abominations filled the space.
──Gakgwi! Find him!
──Where are you hiding?!
──We’ll tear you apart and make you into Mother’s fertilizer!
Resentment and fury toward Mapheltan echoed through the mausoleum.
Every monster began to charge.
Raguel stood frozen.
From within his arms, Zal’karin shouted,
“You idiot! Are you just going to stand there?!”
At last, Raguel came to his senses.
He shouted with all his strength:
“I’m the one who ate the seed!”
Every hostile gaze turned toward him.
“S-so… let’s talk.”
He swallowed hard.