Chapter 190
The story continues off the page
The Last Dance Before Midnight
A masked dragon asks the lanternwright for one slow dance
“I will explain the Demon Lands.”
After resolving the incident that had nearly spiraled out of control, Erika explained the information about their destination.
“As you all know, the Demon Lands are the home of the demonkin, the race created by Godwin, as well as monsters. A great deal of demonic energy still lingers there.”
The greatest reason the Demon Lands had been impossible to conquer was the demonic energy.
“Demonic energy is a great source of nourishment for demonkin and monsters, but to people like us, it is like a poison that interferes with the flow of life.”
“It doesn’t seem as though we’re any different from those creatures. Is there a way to deal with it?”
“Of course.”
Erika took out a talisman.
“This was provided by the Blue Eyes, who sponsor our Adventurers’ Guild. They call it an anti-demonic talisman.”
“Is it something that purifies demonic energy?”
“No. It pushes demonic energy away from within the talisman. It creates a space where we can breathe.”
“Then if we have the talismans, there’s nothing to worry about!”
It would have been nice if the conversation could proceed that easily, but Erika’s expression said otherwise.
“Unfortunately, it is impossible to repel all demonic energy. Its efficiency also decreases depending on the concentration, so it cannot be called a cure-all.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“I heard the Blue Eyes were the best in magic, but I suppose that is merely an old reputation.”
“……Well, that may be true, but I don’t think it’s right to insult the people sponsoring us.”
“Ugh…… I’m sorry.”
The adventurer who had said that immediately backed down at Erika’s words.
The bastard who had said it had no idea how lucky he was that his head was still attached.
“Anyway, if that is the case, then we will still be exposed to demonic energy. Does that mean we will have to bear that risk?”
“There is no need to worry too much. The talisman blocks about ninety-five percent of it.”
“How much time will we have?”
“Twenty-four hours at a safe level. Even if we take a risk, we only need to leave the Demon Lands within forty-eight hours.”
“To do that safely, our schedule will be very tight.”
“May I ask where exactly we are going?”
“I’ll show you on the map.”
Erika spread a large map across the table.
Pointing to a red mark, she said,
“This is where we plan to conduct our exploration. According to the information we obtained by commissioning Escolleia, it was once called Gyeonghuigung.”
“Do you think there will be treasure here?”
“In the East, magic was practiced in a form called ‘do.’ This was a place where people trained in do, so it would be similar to a magic academy.”
“Then there should be magical artifacts.”
Their eyes seemed to see mountains of gold coins.
Magical artifacts were far more precious and valuable than mere gold or jewels.
But they could not simply become excited.
They also had to consider the risks they would be taking.
As seasoned adventurers, they had an accurate grasp of the situation.
“This definitely won’t be finished in a single day.”
“Is this something we absolutely have to risk our lives for?”
They all had the same question.
Was this an exploration they could complete within twenty-four hours by relying on a single anti-demonic talisman?
If it could not be completed in one day, then the only sensible choice was to withdraw.
That possibility had already been included in Erika’s calculations.
“That is why I prepared a way to shorten the time needed for travel.”
She took out a scroll and unrolled it across the table.
It looked somewhat unfamiliar to everyone, but Ferda recognized it at once.
“We’ll use a mana-powered vehicle for transportation.”
“A mana-powered vehicle?”
“You can think of it as a carriage that moves using mana stones made by condensing and refining demonic energy.”
They had considered attaching anti-demonic talismans to horses and traveling that way, but the demonic energy constantly stimulated their survival instincts. The horses became frightened and ran away after going only a little farther, so that idea had been abandoned.
“How much time can that mana-powered vehicle save us?”
“After a test drive, we confirmed its speed. Two hours should be enough.”
“Two hours!”
They had no choice but to be astonished.
Marching would take at least six hours, and even on horseback, it would barely be possible to make the journey in two.
Cutting that time down to one-third while facing the risk of demonic energy was no ordinary feat.
“But there is one problem.”
But as always, nothing could be entirely good news.
“Originally, we planned to use detachable mana stones so we could replace them and use the vehicle for longer, but apparently that isn’t possible.”
“May I ask why?”
“Because an object made by condensing and refining demonic energy is liable to lose its nature when it comes into contact with demonic energy. A simple ninety-five-percent barrier like ours is not enough for it to perform at full capacity. So it can only be used as a single unit to transport us.”
“So you mean the mana-powered vehicle is disposable. How long can it operate?”
“Two hours. We can conserve our energy on the way to Gyeonghuigung, but we will have to walk back.”
“Hmm……”
It was a hesitant reaction, but it was still better than their initial response.
They would save a full four hours, and they would not need to expend stamina during the two hours of travel.
That meant they would have more energy to devote to the exploration itself, considerably reducing the risk.
What had been a reckless act of walking straight into death had become a challenge worth attempting.
It lit a fire in the adventurers’ hearts.
Enjoying their reaction, Erika continued speaking.
“From now on, I will explain the outline of the operation.”
They spent the time discussing the details of their exploration of the Demon Lands.
After three hours of discussion, they had added substance to the plan’s outline and created a rough framework.
The rest would have to be handled with the flexibility of adventurers.
“Then we’ll depart in three days. Does anyone have any suggestions?”
At Erika’s question, someone raised his hand.
It was a huge hand, identifiable even without looking down.
“Go ahead, Jonathan.”
“Captain Eri, I think we should establish a pecking order. What do you think?”
“By ‘establish a pecking order’……”
“They say there cannot be two suns beneath the heavens.”
Jonathan Sina gestured toward the Armored Knight with his chin.
“Shouldn’t we determine who is the strongest in the expedition by having them compete?”
Jonathan Sina was descended from the Northern Great Warrior, one of the Twelve Expedition Heroes known as the Strongman.
As his descendant, the present-day Jonathan had also established himself as synonymous with superhuman strength and was making great contributions.
They said he could match his strength against a vicious ogre without being pushed back at all, and that his strength continued to grow even as he aged.
The room was instantly filled with excitement.
Unnecessary competitiveness was something that should be reprimanded, but
“If both parties consent, we’ll proceed.”
Erika was secretly curious as well.
What would happen if Jonathan Sina and the Armored Knight went head-to-head?
‘I know Jonathan’s potential and his current level of strength.’
She knew everything about Jonathan Sina’s lineage and his current deeds.
But what about the Armored Knight?
‘Unknown.’
She had seen a realm that was already the limit for some, yet even that did not feel like the Armored Knight’s limit.
Thanks to the provocation from the pugnacious Sina family, Erika had a chance to find out with her own eyes.
What would the Armored Knight do?
She had been more convinced that the Armored Knight might refuse.
But the Armored Knight’s reaction was the complete opposite, as though she welcomed the idea.
‘At last, I get to try this thing called arm wrestling!’
Valdrova was overjoyed by the proposal.
Arm wrestling was often used by men to show off their manliness, and the workers at the construction site did it frequently as well.
She had always been forced to watch them arm wrestle.
It was only natural.
Who could possibly defeat her when she could hoist a log over her head?
Unaware of that fact, Valdrova had been terribly upset that everyone excluded her.
Valdrova clasped her pot-lid-sized hands together happily.
Even though her armor had been made much larger than an average adult man’s, her hand looked like a baby’s in comparison.
“Then…… begin!”
At Erika’s signal, thick, vicious veins bulged across Jonathan’s hand.
Thud!
His clothes burst, unable to contain the swelling of his muscles.
Crack!
The sturdy old-wood table could not properly withstand the weight.
“Haaaaaah!”
Jonathan’s battle cry and the force behind it made the table tremble.
Valdrova was impressed as well.
‘This man is strong.’
It was hard to believe that the power she felt through his hand belonged to a human.
It was enough to make her wonder whether he could defeat dragonspawn on his own without much difficulty.
‘He really is strong, but……’
That was only by the standards of the monsters on this earth.
His opponent was a dragon.
And among dragons, Valdrova—who could be surpassed by no one in strength—was the embodiment of power.
To Valdrova, the difference in their physical class was like arm wrestling a three-year-old child.
‘Is that why no one wanted to try?’
Now that she had actually tried it, the excitement seemed to drain away.
“Ooh……! The bloodline of the Northern Great Warrior!”
“It truly is a battle between a dragon and a tiger!”
She could hear the people around them making a great fuss.
With everyone reacting as though the outcome was impossible to predict, Jonathan burned with determination.
“Hnnngh!”
Each time he exerted himself, the veins that rose up his body pushed all the way toward his head, looking ready to burst through his skull.
It was beginning to frighten her.
She wondered whether the veins bulging from his head would cause him to die.
‘If I win like this, won’t he resent me?’
Valdrova did not really want to win.
After all, defeating him would only humiliate him.
So Valdrova made her choice.
Tap—.
She chose to lose.
The instant their evenly matched contest ended, cheers praising Jonathan burst out.
“Ooh! The Northern Great Warrior has won!”
“As expected of the Ogre Slayer!”
Valdrova thought it was enough if someone could be happy.
But matters did not end so easily.
Jonathan’s gaze fixed on Valdrova with an unusual intensity.
“What was that just now?”
“?”
“You damn bastard!”
“??”
What came back was fury, his face flushing bright red.
When he rose and tried to grab the Armored Knight by the collar, the adventurers barely managed to restrain him.
Jonathan shouted,
“Did you think I would be happy if you deliberately let me win!? Fight me again!”
Valdrova could not understand him.
He had been desperate to win, and she had let him win, so shouldn’t he have been happy?
Jonathan repeatedly shouted for her to fight him with all her strength, but in the end, the matter fizzled out through Erika’s intervention.
Valdrova still could not understand how he felt.
* * *
On the day of the expedition into the Demon Lands, Valdrova finished preparing to join the expedition in a cave beneath Valdrova Castle.
‘Nothing will go wrong.’
All that remained was to prepare herself mentally.
Valdrova sat down and quietly collected her thoughts.
‘Since those monsters appeared yesterday, things should be fine for a while.’
If necessary, she could simply turn back again.
‘If that happens……. A lot of people will be surprised, won’t they?’
Valdrova could not imagine how they would react.
Whether they would be happy to see her combined with the Armored Knight’s reputation
or whether they would simply feel betrayed upon learning that the Armored Knight had been Valdrova, the evil dragon.
A heavy feeling remained in Valdrova’s heart because of that.
Valdrova stopped thinking about it.
In any case, the most serious problem was something else entirely.
-Why are you trying to go to that land?
She raised her head at the voice she heard.
A man’s figure stood there.
Valdrova knew him.
That man was nothing more than the weakness created by her own heart.
That weakness had a name.
“Godwin…….”
The Black Dragon Godwin.
Though he had already died and disappeared, he had merged with the darkness and was thrusting his head toward Valdrova.
Valdrova instinctively placed a hand over her chest.
Her heart was pounding violently.
-You know that as well, don’t you? If you go there, I will appear before you.
He spoke gently, as though it were nothing unusual.
His words stirred Valdrova’s emotions.
“Yes…….”
-Your anger toward me gives you great strength.
“It will.”
-But if you cannot become angry, you will repeat the mistake you made back then.
“……”
-Look, Valdrova.
At his words, something else appeared beside him.
It was Ferda.
A man who was kindness itself.
A man who gave her a love she should never accept, no matter how she thought about it.
-Valdrova. Who is this?
“……”
-Do not think I will be unaware simply because you do not answer. I am nothing more than an illusion you created yourself.
He was right.
Every spirit she saw was nothing more than something she had created.
-What would happen if this man were to die by your hand?
“……”
-Or what if my children killed this man?
“……”
-Would you become angry with me?
“……”
-Or would you merely watch, as you did back then?
That time.
Valdrova knew exactly when he meant.
Godwin had killed the humans Valdrova cherished.
What Valdrova felt was despair.
And anger.
She hated Godwin, hated his spawn, and hated everything he had done to throw the continent into chaos.
And yet she could not become angry.
Because the power she possessed was far too great.
Knowing what consequences her anger would bring, she could do nothing.
“If Mr. Ferda…… were to die…….”
Ferda’s figure overlapped with the corpses Valdrova had seen.
Valdrova’s brows trembled.
Her head drooped, heavy as a thousand pounds.
She tried desperately to avert her eyes from the sight.
“Godwin.”
But she did not shake it off.
She raised her head and looked at Godwin.
Ferda’s slaughtered form returned to normal.
Then it scattered.
“I’m afraid of you. But that doesn’t mean I can retreat.”
-Are you saying it does not matter if this man dies?
“Mr. Ferda has…… done so much for me.”
Ferda was human.
A human who would die in the blink of an eye and return to the earth.
A human who knew joy, yet whose end would lead to sorrow.
But what had that human done?
He was working to revive the Far East, the land of despair.
He was showing her how joyful it was to be alive.
“I may not be able to do much…… but I have to overcome the despair you show me.”
That was why Valdrova was trying to take a step forward.
Even though it would be frightening and painful, she refused to look away from the burden in her heart.
Godwin’s form gradually scattered.
He whispered into Valdrova’s ear, sounding satisfied.
-It is good to see you steeling your resolve.
“……”
-But you will not be able to do that.
“……”
-You have always been that kind of being, ever since you took up a spear for the sake of the Beginning. Our king.
With that, he disappeared from Valdrova’s consciousness.
Her heart had grown calm, and Valdrova put on her armor.
It was time to go to the Demon Lands.