Chapter 104: The Knights (5)

That saying about there being nothing free in this world, I take it back.

Justice was still alive.

“What’s wrong?”

“What.”

“Your expression is a little……”

What about my expression?

“……Let’s take care of this first.”

“Ah, yes.”

Unfortunately, the mutant’s corpse was currently pinned beneath Gardorom’s massive body.

Meaning, to get the mutant’s corpse out, we had to move Gardorom’s corpse as well.

Of course, moving that huge thing whole was physically impossible, so we had no choice but to dismantle all of Gardorom, even if it was a bit tough.

‘Anyway…….’

I examined the part of the mutant pinned under Gardorom’s corpse.

‘As I thought, I can’t tell what demonic beast it is.’

Although it was impossible to judge accurately as only a very small part of its body was visible, this was nonetheless a pretty good sign.

As I had confirmed before, the more severe the mutant’s transformation, the more strongly it had been subjected to the Corrosion of Demonic.

Therefore, the fact that I couldn’t recognize the demonic beast’s original form meant there was a high possibility that the Ascension Stone Fragment it held was no ordinary one.

‘In fact, the demonic beast I caught with Yohan was also difficult to recognize in its original form.’

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t looking forward to it.

In any case, to secure the mutant’s corpse, I had to get rid of Gardorom’s corpse first, so I drew the Fang of Blazing Fire.

Slice, slice─

Cutting the hide of a demonic beast like Gardorom was no easy task, but the Fang of Blazing Fire dug into Gardorom’s hide all too easily.

To be precise, the super-high heat generated the moment the blade touched it instantly burned through Gardorom’s hide.

A kind of industrial cutter, so to speak.

“I’ll help too.”

“It won’t cut easily, you know?”

“I’ll try.”

Unlike what I expected, Alicia processed Gardorom’s corpse with pretty decent skill.

“Will this do?”

“……You’re good at it.”

At the level I knew Alicia to be, it shouldn’t have been easy for her to cut the hide of a level 7 demonic beast, even if it was a corpse. It seemed that while going through hard training and journeys, Alicia had also become considerably stronger without realizing it.

‘Well.’

Considering what had happened since arriving at Winter Castle, it would be stranger if she hadn’t grown.

After all, isn’t there that saying? What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.

‘It’s probably not just Alicia.’

Thinking about it now, Conlan, Albino, and even Edric had all grown noticeably compared to when the 4th Special Task Force was first formed.

If the rest of them, excluding Edric, were just riffraff before, they had now truly become quite useful soldiers of Winter Castle.

Considering that all sorts of threats, including the Twilight Troupe and the Eastern Union, were lying in wait before Winter Castle and the Empire, this was pretty good news.

‘While I’m at it, it might not be a bad idea for me to train them properly.’

My original self wasn’t the type to prefer party play, but that was only when I was Cain.

My current self was clearly closer to the weak than the strong, considering the average level of this world, and therefore, I needed colleagues who could take the front line in case a battle occurred.

Fortunately, the 4th Special Task Force was quite excellent from that perspective, and above all, we had built a considerable bond in this world where you couldn’t trust anyone.

Alicia was excessively favorable towards me, Albino’s life was already held as collateral by me, though he himself might not know it, and Conlan was a simple guy, so he’d come over if I tempted him appropriately.

Therefore, if I trained the 4th Special Task Force properly, it would clearly be a great help in the events to come.

‘Well…… although I still don’t know what Edric is thinking.’

While I was lost in thought.

Before I knew it, the processing of Gardorom’s corpse was almost finished, and the form of the mutant beneath it was revealed.

“I’ll do this. Please finish up what you were doing.”

“Ah, yes.”

As Alicia moved her hands to finish processing Gardorom’s corpse, I struggled to pull out the mutant’s corpse pinned under Gardorom.

“Urrgh……!”

“Should I help?”

“I can do it alone.”

I could have just asked for help, but I stubbornly kept pulling.

It was so heavy that even with my physical abilities amplified to the maximum by Haima’s Pendant and Demonic energy assisting me, I had to stop and rest several times in between.

“Huah…….”

And the form of the mutant that was finally revealed was, as expected, that of a demonic beast I did not know at all.

There was a possibility that a new species had been born, but it retained the characteristics of a mutant that had undergone excessive physical transformation.

Crucially, an Ascension Stone Fragment, like a symbol of a mutant, was growing like a horn on its head.

‘Found it.’

I looked at the Ascension Stone Fragment on the mutant’s head.

It certainly had an unusually large size among the Ascension Stone Fragments I had seen so far.

It meant the transformation wasn’t severe for no reason.

‘Shall I check it right away.’

The moment I brought the Fang of Blazing Fire to the mutant’s hide to separate the Ascension Stone Fragment.

Ssshhk……!!!

Black smoke rose and instantly began to fill the surroundings.

It seemed some reaction occurred when the Fang of Blazing Fire touched the demonic beast hide corroded by Demonic energy.

“Cough! Cough! Vell! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Don’t breathe in the smoke, get far away.”

“……Will you be okay?”

“I’m fine. Hurry and get out of here, it’s not smoke that’s good for you to breathe in.”

“……Okay.”

I didn’t know what the rising smoke was, but at best, it was just a remnant of Demonic energy.

Naturally, something like that couldn’t have any effect on me.

[The effect of the Postponer of Ruin nullifies the Corrosion of Demonic!]

And, rather, the smoke that rose was soon naturally absorbed into me along with my breath.

[Demonic energy has been absorbed.]

[Utilization and understanding of Demonic increases.]

Although it wasn’t enough for the Demonic energy stat itself to rise, it probably rose by some unseen decimal point.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

What I was going to take right now wasn’t some remnant like that, but the source of Demonic energy itself.

The Ascension Stone Fragment.

Slice, slice…….

Every time the Fang of Blazing Fire touched the mutant’s body, the blazing flames scraped against the mutant, and blackish smoke billowed up.

The Demonic energy couldn’t affect me much, but that didn’t mean the acrid smoke was good for my body, so I covered my nose appropriately with my clothes.

Finally, all the work was done, and the Ascension Stone Fragment revealed itself before me.

‘Indeed…….’

As if proving that the Demonic energy held by the Ascension Stone Fragment was no ordinary, its size was larger than any other fragment I had seen so far.

If I had to make a comparison, should I say the fragment Yohan took from me in the past was a similar size to this one?

Considering the immense Demonic energy Yohan had shown after absorbing the Ascension Stone Fragment back then, I could roughly guess how much Demonic energy an Ascension Stone Fragment of this size held.

‘Hmm.’

I wondered what to do with it, but decided it wasn’t good to carry something like this around in the current situation, so I decided to absorb it right away.

‘Then…….’

The moment I touched the Ascension Stone Fragment.

[Absorbing the ‘Ascension Stone Fragment’.]

[The Great Heaven tests you.]

An explosion of Demonic energy swallowed me.

Rurururururu───!!!

An explosive energy made of Demonic energy shot straight up into the sky.

***

“Commander.”

Watching Royer confidently enter the office as always, Yuliana let out a deep sigh.

“Knocking, how many times do I have to say it?”

At that, Royer gently knocked on the wide-open door.

Knock knock─

“There, happy?”

“……What’s the point of doing it now?”

“I did it anyway.”

“You’re going to be very surprised when you see your paycheck next month.”

“So cheap. Don’t you know how precious a salary is to an employee?”

“Nope, I don’t.”

As Yuliana was seriously contemplating how she could split that slick face in half, Royer spoke.

“I didn’t come here for that. There’s something the Commander needs to know.”

“What is it?”

“I saw the Guild Bulletin Board earlier, and an order came down from Bellerophon.”

“An order?”

“It’s an order to investigate the whereabouts of Dennis, who was active as a member of the Pegasus Merchant Guild, while we’re here at Winter Castle.”

At Royer’s words, Yuliana was lost in thought for a moment, then spoke as if she remembered.

“Dennis? Ah, that audacious bastard who embezzled Bellerophon’s funds and went into hiding? Why are they asking us to find him? Tell them we’re busy.”

“I was going to, but the last place Dennis’s movements were traced to was Winter Castle. It seems Bellerophon thought there might be some clue left. And above all, Winter Castle isn’t a place we can visit often.”

“Hmm…… is that so?”

Normally, finding an embezzler was trivial work that Yuliana wouldn’t do, but if the clue was right here, there was no reason not to.

Since her subordinate, Royer, would be the one doing the actual moving anyway.

Should I say it was a situation where Yuliana just had to give the order?

“Well then, look into it appropriately, as long as it doesn’t interfere with your work.”

“So I looked into it a bit, and there’s something very interesting.”

“Interesting?”

Royer nodded.

“Apparently, before Dennis went missing, he was investigating a 4th Special Task Force soldier, Vell Blackwood. He went missing shortly after the two met.”

“Is that true?”

“What would I gain from lying?”

A savage smile played on Royer’s lips.

“If Vell Blackwood is a player, wouldn’t he know something about Dennis? He might even be an accomplice.”

“……It’s not impossible.”

Royer spoke as if confidently declaring victory.

“As expected, it would be best if I check him out myself, right?”

In the end, this time, even Yuliana couldn’t refute Royer’s words.

War, in the end, was all about justification, and unfortunately, in this war, Royer had the justification.

“……Just don’t make a big scene.”

“Of course.”

Royer thumped his chest and spoke confidently, but for Yuliana, who knew what kind of person he was, there was no way her anxiety would disappear so easily.

“I’m anxious.”

“Have some faith in people.”

“I trust people, but I don’t trust you. You’re not a person. How are you a person.”

“That’s a bit of a parent-insult.”

At that, Yuliana couldn’t hide her flustered expression, and soon added quietly.

“……Sorry.”

“Just kidding.”

Watching Royer chuckle, Yuliana shook her head as if fed up.

“Well, I’m off then.”

“Hurry up and get lost.”

“I’ll get my feelings hurt if you say it like that.”

“You deserve to be a little hurt.”

“That’s harsh.”

Yuliana wondered where Royer’s brazenness came from.

Perhaps, if she split open that thick face-hide, something might come out.

Just as Yuliana was seriously lost in thought while staring at Royer’s face.

A change occurred.

“……Wait.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

Yuliana’s golden eyes stared at the change rising outside the window.

Her insight allowed her to see things that normally couldn’t be seen, and thus, she could also see the phenomenon occurring over there.

A blackish and ominous energy rising up into the sky.

There was no way Yuliana didn’t know what that was.

“……Demonic energy.”

The snowfield outside Winter Castle.

Over there, something is happening.

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