Chapter 67
Assault on the Royal Capital (1)
“He is the Great End. Since you’re already on your way to the afterlife, show some respect.”
No sooner had Zalkarin finished speaking than the dark elf thrust out a pitch-black demonic hand.
His fingers closed around Johan’s face in an instant.
Johan’s frail body was lifted into the air.
Holding Johan aloft with one hand, the dark elf spoke.
“Human, I asked what you are.”
Johan could not answer. The grip crushing his cheeks prevented him from opening his mouth.
At this rate, my skull is going to be crushed.
His cheekbones ached as though they were about to shatter.
Honestly, the pain was excruciating. Even suppressing a groan was difficult.
Johan only barely managed to keep his expression blank.
Fortunately, Raguel caught on and intervened.
“What are you doing?! Let go of him right now!”
He rushed over and shoved the dark elf.
The dark elf did not budge. He merely stared at Johan with his jade-colored eyes as if trying to pierce straight through him.
He roared like a beast.
“Human! I asked who you are!”
The black fingers began tightening around Johan’s face.
At this rate, Johan’s head truly might be crushed.
Raguel desperately clung to the dark elf’s wrist.
“He’s Mapheltan! The Apostle who made a contract with you! So stop it! If Johan dies, the contract and everything else will be over!”
He frantically sank his teeth into the dark elf’s wrist.
The situation was utterly bewildering to the dark elf. He could hardly bring himself to accept what was happening.
“Just let go of him so we can talk!”
The dark elf ground his teeth. Barely managing to regain his reason, he loosened his grip.
Johan’s body dropped.
Landing on the ground, he rubbed his cheek.
“…You truly are excessively violent.”
He spoke as though nothing had happened, but in truth, Johan wanted to roll around on the ground in agony.
Demonic energy billowed from the dark elf’s entire body.
He spoke in a low, chilling voice.
“Tell me. What in the world are you?”
“I don’t know either.”
“What?”
“I was merely born a half-breed, and someone bestowed upon me the role of an Apostle. That is all I know.”
There was not a shred of falsehood in his words.
For a moment, the dark elf was rendered speechless.
Johan did not appear to be lying. It was simply difficult for him to accept the truth.
“…And you expect me to believe that?”
A being who could use both a human body and a demon’s body. Moreover, the Thirteenth Apostle. Johan was continuously shattering everything the dark elf knew to be common sense.
Johan said,
“Whether you believe me or not changes nothing. You will attack the royal capital as promised, and I will pay the agreed price in full. Our contract remains intact.”
The dark elf narrowed his eyes.
“You, a human, intend to betray the Moon?”
Johan let out a derisive chuckle.
“Human? Betrayal? I am a half-demon to begin with, and I have never served the Moon.”
“Before I listen to your sophistry, I must confirm something first. Where is the proof that you are a half-demon? I am beginning to doubt whether you are even the horned fiend who made the contract with me.”
The aura Johan gave off was almost identical to Mapheltan’s.
But that alone could not serve as definitive proof that Johan was Mapheltan.
The dark elf felt he could only believe Johan’s story after seeing the transformation himself.
Johan said,
“You will soon confirm it with your own eyes. Wait a little longer.”
“Right now—”
Raguel abruptly cut him off.
“When the sun sets, Johan turns into a demon. Please be patient for just a few hours.”
Johan frowned.
“There’s still that much time left?”
It was impossible to determine the exact time inside the mausoleum. Neither sunlight nor moonlight could reach this far underground.
They had no choice but to estimate the time.
Raguel, however, was different.
High elves were a race whose senses had developed to their absolute limits. He could detect even the faintest traces of sunlight.
Raguel nodded.
“About two hours remain.”
Johan looked at the dark elf.
“You’ve waited five hundred years. Surely another two hours is nothing?”
An ominous gleam flickered in the dark elf’s eyes.
“…If there is even the slightest falsehood in your words, I will grant you the most horrific death in all of history.”
Johan smirked.
“Declarations like that are always destined to go unfulfilled. Someone else once said something similar to me.”
The Apostle Beris had said the exact same thing as the dark elf, yet nothing had happened to Johan so far.
The dark elf muttered in a low voice,
“Do not be insolent. Carve my warning into your very bones.”
Johan shrugged.
“Well, I’ll remember it. Now, let’s get moving.”
Before nightfall, everyone gathered here needed to assemble at the mausoleum’s entrance.
Thousands of beings had to pass through the narrow exit in a single night, so time was somewhat tight.
It would be better to arrive early and prepare for their escape.
When Johan turned and began walking away, the dark elf stared at his back with an incredulous expression.
He murmured,
“You’re just as shameless as he was.”
Johan looked back at him.
“Hurry up. We don’t have time.”
Their destination was the ceiling of the mausoleum. They had to climb the World Tree’s enormous roots and form ranks in front of the exit.
Johan hurried onward.
His current physical capabilities were so pitiful that he had no choice but to move more diligently than everyone else.
*
Thousands of fiends were climbing the World Tree’s roots.
They looked like a swarm of termites crawling up a tree in search of food.
Watching the magnificent sight, Johan wiped the sweat from his forehead.
This is killing me.
The muscles throughout his body were spasming. His lungs throbbed as though they were about to burst.
The dark elf spoke with a suspicious expression.
“You’re either a fool, or what you said earlier was a lie. It must be one of the two.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You could have waited until you transformed into a demon, then flown up here. There was no need to pant and wheeze like this.”
“It’s training.”
“What?”
“I need to build up my stamina. I have to live in a human body too.”
He was serious. Johan intended to train his body whenever an opportunity like this arose.
The dark elf stared blankly at Johan before scoffing.
“If that is nonsense, we will soon find out.”
Johan smirked.
“And now is the perfect time. Watch.”
The sweat dripping from his body began turning pitch-black. The droplets transformed into black smoke and dispersed.
An ominous haze engulfed Johan’s entire body.
Crimson eyes flashed within the darkness.
The dark elf’s pupils trembled.
“Ha!”
The smoke slowly cleared.
A pitch-black demon now stood where the boy had been.
Mapheltan stretched his lips into a wide grin.
“Mortal, it has been a week.”
The dark elf staggered back several steps.
“…How can such a thing be possible?”
Mapheltan wanted to tease him a little more, but there was no time.
His demonic transformation meant that night had arrived.
The full moon had risen.
Mapheltan said,
“Let’s get out of here first.”
He pointed toward the base of the World Tree.
Just like the entrance, the exit had a wailing face embedded in it.
Concealing his agitation as best he could, the dark elf took out the Heart Core Orb.
He spoke sorrowfully.
“Earth Mother, please forgive me.”
Mapheltan clicked his tongue. He immediately snatched the Heart Core Orb from the dark elf and pressed it against the World Tree.
The World Tree wailed.
The gate to the Abyss opened once more.
*
A massive magic circle had been drawn across the vast surface of the Valley of Death.
It was a spatial transference spell—a complex formation that even a highly accomplished mage would need several days to prepare.
Mapheltan let out a sound of admiration.
She certainly prepared it properly.
The spatial transference formation was Ilea’s work.
Two weeks ago, she must have come here separately to prepare the spell.
By now, she had probably reached the royal capital and was setting up the exit.
The moment this spell was activated, everyone here would be transported to the royal capital.
The dark elf examined the formation.
“This appears to be a witch’s work.”
“That’s right. It is connected to the royal capital.”
“You prepared everything thoroughly. I danced perfectly in the palm of your hand.”
The dark elf looked somewhat dispirited.
“Well, everything went according to plan.”
Almost no unexpected variables had arisen during this expedition into the Abyss.
Mapheltan had not even needed to use most of the artifacts he had brought with him.
He was quite pleased by that fact.
The dark elf stared at him as though trying to pierce through him.
“This is as far as your schemes will take you. Trifling methods like these will not allow you to tamper with our contract.”
Mapheltan chuckled.
“You drafted it so rigidly, yet you’re still worried?”
The dark elf could not help but be concerned.
The horned fiend before him existed completely outside the bounds of common sense. Although only a few days had passed since they first met, the dark elf had learned that nothing was more foolish than feeling certain about anything involving him.
“It was merely a warning. Heed it well.”
“Understood. Now, let’s get started.”
Mapheltan beckoned to Zalkarin.
Zalkarin took a small cube out of his backpack and brought it over.
It was a treasure capable of converting demonic energy into mana.
They needed it to activate the spatial transference formation.
The dark elf suddenly unleashed a deafening roar.
His piercing cry resounded throughout the valley.
At the same time, countless fiends climbed onto the magic circle.
The remaining creatures waited nearby in orderly ranks.
The dark elf spoke.
“We are ready.”
“Then I’ll activate it.”
Mapheltan began pouring demonic energy into the cube.
After absorbing the demonic energy, the cube soared into the air. Immediately afterward, it split apart into numerous pieces. Deep-blue mana began pouring from the gaps between them.
At the same time, the magic circle drawn upon the ground began to glow faintly.
Mapheltan frowned.
As expected, it isn’t enough.
He had nowhere near enough demonic energy to activate the formation.
The dark elf’s eyes curved into crescents.
“You call yourself an Apostle, yet this is all you can manage?”
Mapheltan had nothing to say in his defense. He truly did lack the necessary power.
“I could use a hand.”
The dark elf cackled and extended an arm into the air.
“I’ll provide this much as a complimentary service.”
Mapheltan smirked.
Look at this bastard.
It seemed they had each provided the other with one complimentary service.
The dark elf’s dense demonic energy was absorbed into the cube.
Only then did the formation blaze brightly.
Mapheltan quickly spoke.
“Raguel, get off the formation.”
The dark elf looked at him quizzically.
“What about you?”
“I’m going with you.”
He intended to appear in the royal capital himself.
“That does not sound like a particularly good plan.”
If the royal capital was anything like the dark elf remembered from five hundred years ago, an ordinary demon could not survive there.
Naturally, Mapheltan would die as well.
His death would be a devastating blow to the dark elf.
The one responsible for upholding the contract could not be allowed to disappear.
Mapheltan spoke with a calm expression.
“No, it is an excellent plan. The likelihood of my death is almost nonexistent, while the reward I stand to gain is immense.”
Demons grew by feeding on the fear of other intelligent beings.
They could also elevate the rank of their existence through evil deeds.
After unleashing countless fiends upon the royal capital, Mapheltan only needed to reveal himself to reap tremendous benefits.
He could not afford to pass up this opportunity for growth.
The dark elf said,
“…Whatever happens, do not forget our contract.”
Mapheltan nodded.
“Die well.”
At that moment, the formation convulsed and engulfed the valley.
Every last one of them vanished without a trace.