Chapter 122
The system interpreted the language of the demon realm and displayed it in text.
『"Humans, how dare you!"』
Simultaneously, the horrifying entity struck the ground with its staff.
Thunk!
Black smoke seeped into the stone floor and the ground below started to rumble.
Growl!
Monsters with grotesque teeth and numerous horns, walking on all fours, appeared.
These terrifying demonic beasts seemed to grow from the earth, bursting through the stone floor.
Richmond was startled and hid behind Sieg.
"Ma-master! De-demonic beasts have appeared!"
Sieg observed the dreadful entity holding the staff while pointing his sword.
The black smoke flowing from the staff swirled around him like a cloak.
'That one must be dealt with first.'
Sieg activated his Draconian Skill.
Swish!
From the shadows beneath Sieg, five Dragon Fang Soldiers clad in black armor emerged.
Clang!
As soon as the Dragon Fang Soldiers fully formed, they readied their spears, standing at attention.
Sieg issued a command to the Dragon Fang Soldiers.
"Capture the demonic beasts! Richmond, provide support from the rear!"
While the Dragon Fang Soldiers charged at the demonic beasts, Zeke used Swift Wind Technique to rush straight toward the horrific fiend lurking behind them.
"Haah!"
Sieg unleashed the Mace of Light on the monster.
Crash!
The Mace of Light descended upon the creature, but the black energy from the staff deflected the impact.
『"Impudent fool!"』
The creature pointed the staff at Sieg.
Vwoooom!
A surge of black energy emanated from the staff.
The black wave hurtled toward Sieg.
Sensing the ominous power, Sieg used the Shield of Light.
Sizzle—
The black energy halted against the Shield of Light.
Sieg swung his Bahamut, enveloped in aura.
Slash!
The aura blade collided with the black energy surrounding the creature's body.
It seemed that ordinary aura blades struggled to penetrate the energy.
Sieg employed the recently acquired skill, blade of Purification.
Flare!
A golden aura imbued with purifying power surged from his sword.
In response, the dreadful creature wielded the staff to craft a barrier of black energy.
Without hesitation, Sieg swung the Blade of Purification towards the black barrier.
The purifying wave struck, causing the black energy surrounding the creature to dissipate.
Fizz—
The creature was thrown to the ground by Sieg's strike.
Gripping its staff once more, the creature struck the earth again.
Boom—
This time, an even more grotesque demonic beast emerged.
Roar—
A gigantic undead being, composed of red bones, crawled from the stone floor, baring its jaws at Sieg.
Simultaneously, a black flame erupted from the undead's mouth.
Whoosh!
The stone floor melted and bubbled from the flames.
Sieg raised Bahamut to block the black flame from the undead.
Bang!
Bahamut, possessing indestructible attributes, glowed red but remained unscathed against the undead's flames.
At that moment, a message appeared.
『Bahamut is absorbing the flames of the demon realm.』
Sieg recalled Bahamut's newly unlocked ability, 'Mana Absorption'.
'Is it possible to absorb something like this?'
While Sieg marveled, another message appeared as Bahamut seemingly absorbed all the flames emitted by the undead.
『The absorbed flames can be expelled once again.』
Sieg aimed his sword at the undead and expelled the flames.
A dragon-shaped crimson flame erupted from Bahamut.
Roar—
The black flame infused with dragon energy engulfed and overpowered the flames released by the undead, expanding in size.
Then, the flames wrapped around the massive undead and set it ablaze.
Screech—
Engulfed by Bahamut's flames, the undead writhed in agony before disintegrating into ashes.
Sieg couldn't help but be impressed by Bahamut's new ability.
'Such power. Fully unlocked, it would be unstoppable.'
Pleased, he glanced at Bahamut and slowly approached the creature holding the staff.
'System, can my words be translated into the language of the demon realm?'
『Executing simultaneous translation into the language of the demon realm.』
Sieg spoke to the creature.
"What exactly are you?"
What he said was translated by the system into the demon realm's language.
The creature flinched and replied.
『To know the language of the demon realm, could it be you have offered your soul?』
"Not sure what you mean, but I haven't offered my soul."
Confused by Sieg's words, the creature spoke again.
『To retain your sanity within the domain of authority without being a servant... it's unbelievable.』
"What are 'servants' and what is 'authority'? Are you a dark mage who learned forbidden magic? Or an experiment sent by the Rom Empire?"
Sieg tossed words around, trying to gauge the opponent's response.
But the creature didn't react to Sieg's words.
Sieg spoke again.
"Were you sent by Abyss?"
Watching the creature's subtle body reaction, Sieg realized its connection to Abyss.
'So, abyss isn't just an ordinary dark mage group.'
Sieg asked once more.
"Are you a demon?"
The creature realized Sieg was extracting information from its reactions.
『You are an astute one.』
Annoyed, the creature tapped its staff against its chest.
Thunk!
Instantly, its body started to liquefy.
Sizzle—
A foul odor wafted from the black liquid seeping from the creature's body.
The liquid ran through the stone chamber, emanating black smoke.
Rumble!
As the chamber entrance closed, it turned into a completely sealed space.
The now amorphous creature spoke to Sieg.
『The authority of the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness' is limitless. It is sheer folly for a trivial human to resist a great being's servant. Die in torment and despair!』
Just as at the beginning, the staff stood upright in place, and the creature completely dissolved into liquid.
Simultaneously, black smoke filled the chamber.
Sizzle—
The black smoke burned Sieg's skin as though melting it.
Even the Healing Factor couldn't remedy it.
'Damn it.'
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Sieg ran towards the Dragon Fang Soldiers and Richmond.
"Unsummon soldiers! Richmond, get in too!"
The Dragon Fang Soldiers and Richmond disappeared into Sieg's shadow.
He urgently opened a portal to escape this place.
But a red warning message appeared.
『Portal use is restricted in this region.』
"Damn!"
As the black smoke filled more of the chamber, Sieg prepared himself.
He first equipped Hersion.
『Protecting the user from the mana of the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness'.』
Runes on the surface of Hersion glowed and floated.
Then he donned Agamemnon's Mask.
He steadied his breathing.
'Can the Greater Purification cleanse that?'
The Greater Purification was an extensive skill that cleansed the mana that eroded the Agamemnon territory for a long time.
Sieg grasped Bahamut and focused.
He synchronized the Greater Purification skill with a wide-range buff skill.
Vwoooom!
Golden waves emanated from Sieg's body.
Crackle—
The movement of the black smoke slowed upon contact with the golden waves.
Sieg, confirming the effectiveness of the purification on the black smoke, amplified the power further.
Vwooooom!
Ripples extended from Sieg's body, generating a vibration.
Crackle—
The powerful waves struck the black smoke, turning it into ash.
Sieg concentrated and drew more purification energy.
"Haah!"
A massive golden ring emerged from Sieg's body.
The ring expanded, spreading outward from Sieg.
It was reminiscent of how he purified the entire Agamemnon territory.
Fizz—
The golden ring collided with the black smoke, turning it completely to ash.
The golden ring didn't stop there and widened beyond the cave where Hydra was, expanding towards the Giant Mountain Range.
A message window floated before Sieg.
『Confirming the boundaries of Greater Purification.』
『Commencing purification of mana that eroded the land.』
Shh—
Although unknown to Sieg, the widespread purification returned corrupted lands and vegetation throughout the mountain range, which had been eroded by mana, to their original state.
Simultaneously, the lands of the Barbarians, disturbed by hunting hounds, regained their original power.
The Barbarians emerged to behold the mysterious sight of the mountain range aglow with golden light.
The tribe leader, Big Foot, momentarily stood in awe at the magnificent spectacle.
The golden wave restored the devastated Barbarian realm and gradually disappeared.
The golden waves from Sieg's body also subsided.
"Phew."
Sieg, confirming that the black smoke had completely vanished, disarmed Hersion.
He approached the fallen staff on the ground.
The staff, possibly affected by the purifying power, was cracked in several places.
"What on earth is this?"
Sieg examined the staff with his Dragon Eyes.
- ?????? Information -
Description: A staff imbued with the authority bestowed upon a servant by the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness.'
Unique Ability: Domain Erosion, Frenzy, Demonic Beast Summoning
Particulars: Damaged by the purifying energy, retaining only partial power
"The Harbinger of Blood and Madness?"
Sieg recalled the creature's mention of the authority of the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness'.
It certainly didn't seem like an ordinary dark mage.
Sieg resummoned Richmond.
"Huh! Master."
Though a Lich, the timid Richmond looked at Sieg, pale-faced.
"Wh-what happened?"
Sieg handed the staff to Richmond and asked.
"Richmond, do you know what 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness' refers to?"
Richmond flinched in shock.
"Gasp, where did you hear that?"
"The authority of the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness' was contained in that staff."
"What!?"
Richmond, startled, dropped the staff.
Sieg shook his head at Richmond.
"Are you really a Lich?"
"Well, the ritual is all that's needed for it..."
"Anyway, so do you know what the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness' is?"
Richmond nodded.
"That refers to a Devil."
"A devil? A demon?"
Richmond shook his head.
"Devils and demons are different. In the demon realm, there are 666 devils, each having their own servants. Those typically referred to as demons are their servants."
Sieg was taken aback by this information.
"So that was a demon?"
Richmond was more shocked than Sieg.
"What? demon?"
"You mentioned the servants of devils are demons. The one before said it was a servant of the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness.'"
"Gasp!"
Even more alarmed and frightened than Sieg, Richmond wiped away cold sweat and explained.
"Well... devils and even demons cannot easily come to the material world. That was likely an avatar of a demon."
"An avatar, then its true form is in the demon realm?"
"Theoretically, yes. But I've only learned about it, I've never encountered real devils or demons, so I can't be certain."
"Weren't dark mages known for worshiping devils and the demon? How do you not know?"
"There were subcult groups before the Holy Empire era, but they're mostly gone now. Even when I was active, they were hard to find. Selling souls to devils to learn forbidden magic doesn't pay off."
Sieg nodded at Richmond's words.
From what he understood, dark mage clans faced allegations due to crimes related to forbidden practices like illegal chimera synthesis and human experimentation, not for conducting any cult-like activities involving summoning devils or demons.
Sieg inquired further.
"Then is the 'Harbinger of Blood and Madness' one of the 666 devils of the demon realm?"
"Yes, it's recorded as a very powerful devil."
"It's not a good sign for such a devil's servant to reveal itself, even as an avatar."
The sudden frenzy of Hydra also seemed to be influenced by the demon.
Suddenly, a thought crossed Sieg's mind.
'Could the Empire's experiments be related to these demons?'
Experiments like using demonic beast blood in human trials or chimera experiments combining humans and monsters were not normal ideas.
Perhaps even Abel and the Zimmens group were linked to this.
'Things are becoming more dubious.'
It was at that moment.
"What!? Uh!?"
A strong vibration emanated from the staff Richmond was holding.