Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 29: Failed

“…The report is above. Regarding the matter mentioned earlier, I asked Witherspoon.”

“That fool with only muscles in his head?”

“Oh, dear Vance, don’t say that. Your ‘brains’ are basically pieces of meat.”

“You made a deal with him.”

“Yes, the reward is one of my eyeballs; voluntary dedication, full of strength, and a good taste.”

“Why bother to go through so much trouble, Telaranea? You might as well just let them kill you. Even if Edwards’ body is destroyed, you’ll only lose an eyeball at most. We all know you’re never short of those.”

“It really doesn’t matter, but my contract with Cahill Edwards hasn’t been completed yet. I just got the ‘deposit’. His knowledge is unique, and I don’t want anyone to hinder me from getting it.”

“If I remember correctly, Witherspoon is not much better than you.”

“I don’t like fighting, and he’s an expert.”

“…And a very good test product, right? Telaranea, I warned you.” Vance’s tone became cold. “Compatriots are not your toys.”

“This is a deal of his own volition. You have no right to interfere.”

Having said that, Telaranea terminated the call in a good mood. The communication crystal disappeared into the air along the sound isolation array on the wall. He sat down in the wheelchair and adjusted his expression to just the right softness, as the sound of footsteps outside the door became clearer. Then someone gently knocked on the door.

“Mother.” He grabbed a book casually and opened a few pages before setting it down on his knee. “It’s so late. What can I do for you?”

“I saw that the light in your room was still on,” Mrs. Edwards’ voice sounded from behind the door. “Rest early, son.”

“Don’t worry, mother,” he said. “You need to rest more. The tranquility of night helps me think.”

“…Good night, son.” After a moment of silence, the old woman said softly at the door, “I love you, always.”

“I love you too. Good night.”

At this moment, there was no “tranquility of night” in the desert not far from Hailam.

It happened so suddenly that Nemo and Oliver were completely unprepared for battle. Oliver was better. At least he was still wearing daytime clothes, and his shoes were still on his feet. Nemo was wearing a nightgown and was barefooted on the sand. The gravel on the ground made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

But now was not the time to worry about his feet.

Oliver was awakened by the toss and subconsciously raised his hand against the blow. He fully woke up from the pain eroded by magic. His hands were empty, and he had to use his own flesh to endure the huge pool of magic. Thankfully, his attack seemed to be effective, as the black-armored warrior was buried completely in ice.

However, the dark figure broke through the ice easily and used the giant sword  to slash the icicles like a hot knife cutting butter. The gray parrot was flung into the sky by an icicle that had drilled out of the sand, waking it up.

“What’s going on—!”

No one bothered to explain to it. The smell of danger was stronger than any disaster they had encountered before, and the opponent had a clear intention of killing them. Oliver didn’t care about the wound that had opened back up. The blood had dyed his bandages black and red. He frantically erected an ice wall in front of the black-armored warrior, while Nemo desperately tried to recall magic… But to no avail.

The black-armored warrior walked slowly. There was no doubt that he was heading straight towards them. It looked as if his back had eyes, as icicles that were hurled towards him from a tricky angle were turned into soap bubbles as he broke them with just one swing of his sword. Although he was dressed in heavy black armor, his movements were strangely light as he gracefully navigated through the icicles. He bent over, dodged sideways, turned his metal-covered neck, as if he was moving to the beat of drums that they couldn’t hear, like he was doing some weird ancient dance.

Oliver gritted his teeth. His left arm was covered in scars again as it hung softly. He raised his right arm and continued his futile resistance. Nemo was sweating profusely, and was finally able to summon a little dark shadow, which the opponent tore to pieces. The gray parrot screamed and wanted to launch an escape spell, but was instantly sealed into a magic array and couldn’t move.

They tried their best, but their opponent acted as if he was taking a stroll through a garden.

“When he came to ask me, I thought I could meet some interesting opponents.” The black-armored warrior split the last erected ice wall in half. Oliver’s right arm drooped as blood kept flowing continuously. All he could do now was move his shoulders.

Even if he was given a good sword now, he would no longer be able to hold it.

Nemo clenched his fists tightly. He didn’t need to be an expert to know that if things continued on like this, Oliver would truly lose the use of his arms. He tried to use his trembling hands to direct the shadow to attack the black-armored warrior who was close at hand, but the shadow trembled more severely than he did. It swayed indiscriminately, which couldn’t be considered an “attack” at all. Even if he was lucky enough to connect with the warrior’s armor, it was easily brushed off in the next second, drifting away like dust.

“…As a result, you’re only two children who have never been on a battlefield,” he said casually as he stabbed the sword at the parrot lying in the sand. “Is this all you can do?”

Nemo’s heartbeat had never pounded as fast before. His heart was on the brink of exploding. For the first time, despair had grabbed him so earnestly. Nemo stretched out his hand again and the black shadow shot out and dragged the parrot who was right under the sword towards him. Nemo didn’t dare to hesitate. He stretched out his hand and tore apart the restraint array, just like he had torn the lightning cage that night. The black-armored warrior stopped moving and watched with interest.

“Don’t think I’ll be grateful. My strength is only enough for me to—”

“Go!” Nemo whispered as his lips trembled.

The gray parrot was stunned.

“Go quickly. I beg you—go back to Hailam and tell Ann to escape.”

After that, he opened his hands, creating a black shadow barrier that separated the black armored warrior from them, but at this moment, it could only serve to blind his vision. The gray parrot glanced at Nemo deeply, and its figure disappeared in black light. Almost at the same time, their enemy leisurely passed through the barrier.

“Abyssal magic immunity? How rare.” He shook his head at the residual light left by the parrot. “But it’s nothing more than that.”

Everything happened so fast.

By the time Nemo reacted, he had already collided into a huge rock and broke it to pieces, as if he was flying into a cobweb. Several stone pillars passed through his torso until he was finally nailed firmly to a rock. He trembled and lowered his head. His entire chest was pierced through; his ribs had been shattered, not to mention his fragile organs like his heart and lungs. He could feel the rapid blood loss as his vision quickly blurred.

It may be because the pain had already exceeded the threshold, as he no longer felt pain. It just felt terribly cold.

‘Finally.’ Nemo thought blankly. ‘Finally, the moment has come.’

He never thought the end would be so quick. Nemo tried to breathe, but his lungs were already crushed by a stone pillar. His heart no longer existed, let alone beating. Perhaps this was already the world after death, and he had already become a ghost that hadn’t had time to leave his body yet.

The black-armored warrior turned around, empty-handed, looking at the figure that was coming towards him from behind. Oliver was pierced through the abdomen by the giant sword. His body reclined against a sand dune. It was unknown if he was still alive or dead.

‘It’s over,’ Nemo thought slowly.

Suddenly, bloody icicles shot out of the sand and scattered into countless tiny ice needles, piercing the gaps in the armor of the warrior. Bright red blood oozed from the gaps in the armor and dripped onto the sand, which greedily sucked it up.

“He’s dead.” The black-armored warrior lowered his head. His tone wasn’t very pleasant. “Even if it’s a demon warlock, it’s impossible to survive with a shattered heart. Your friend is dead.” He announced it coldly.

Oliver didn’t answer.

He was facing the huge rock and saw it clearly. Nemo’s entire body was nailed to the rock, like some strange specimen on display. His blood left conspicuous marks all over it.

Can someone survive after so much blood loss? …Rather, can a human really shed that much blood?

He didn’t want to think about it now.

Nemo could always survive. They were able to survive the jaws of the ratliff wolfhound, pass through the Frontier Forest safely, and even faced a superior demon and countless hoards of demons. Nemo Light could always survive, even if he struggled and was terrified.

The giant sword penetrated Oliver’s abdomen. He could feel the burning pain of his gastric acid eroding the inside of his body. He needed a lot of optimism and hoped, even in this moment, that this person would still miraculously survive this disaster. Maybe Nemo just needed a little more time.

All the bones in his lower arms were broken, but Oliver still squeezed the last trace of strength from his muscles to raise his arm. Red icicles swarmed the black-armored warrior like a blood-red sea descending from the sky, trying to stop the enemy’s footsteps.

“Amazing power, but unfortunately, you don’t have enough experience.” Their enemy finally turned his head around. The black-armored warrior suddenly pulled out his giant sword, and the blood from the blade left a trail of residual light that glowed in the night. “I’m very happy to have met you, young warrior. Although it’s a pity that you can’t fight freely, you’ll definitely become a big threat if I leave you alone.”

He lifted the big sword, pointing the tip before thrusting it straight at Oliver’s head. The latter’s eyes didn’t even blink. His emerald eyes flashed slightly, looking directly at his impending death. The icicles did not stop for a moment, as they continuously bombard his target. The sand under Oliver’s arms had already been blackened by the overflowing blood.

The tip of the giant sword quickly pierced something heavy, but it didn’t stab its target. It should have shattered Oliver’s head like a watermelon, ending tonight’s boring battle, but Oliver still lay in place, but the giant sword had disappeared, along with the entire right arm of the black-armored warrior.

Oliver leaned against the sand dune and gasped. He opened his eyes wide and looked at the person who did all this to the enemy—

Nemo was walking towards them. He somehow broke free from the deadly stone pillar. There was a terrible, gaping, bloody hole in his torso that one could see the scenery behind him through, but it was healing rapidly, as if it wasn’t the flesh of a human, but an illusionary mist composed of colorful spells.

The familiar sense of horror suddenly hit and flooded Oliver like a tide. It was clearer than ever before, and now he could almost instinctively assert that this person was definitely not a human, but something other than human.

His enemy obviously had similar thoughts as well. The black-armored warrior slowly took a step back; he had never retreated since he had appeared in front of them.

When Nemo was still a dozen steps away from them, the bloody gaping hole had finally closed completely. His linen nightgown had already been ruined by the stone pillars and was in tatters, soaked in blood, and was almost completely black in the dim night. At this time, pieces of healed skin were exposed on the broken fabric, and the sense of disharmony became more intense.

He stopped, looked up, and scratched his head in the familiar movement that Oliver was used to.

“Um, I don’t like interfering with other people’s actions.” His voice was the same as usual, “but Oliver is my friend. Can you please stay away from him?”

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Kinky Thoughts:

“Friend”. Nemo’s so cute.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 28: Fallen Star

Nemo knew very well that at this moment they should stay collected and accept the conversation calmly, but thinking about it was much easier than actually doing it. He simmered for a long time before finally hardening his heart and letting out an “Mm”.

The superior demon in human skin smiled even more brightly.

“Are these Mr. Edwards’ friends?” The chubby bishop looked like a kind-hearted old man. When he smiled, his face looked ruddy and cheerful.

“We happened to meet before,” the demon said, turning his gaze away from Nemo. “Then I won’t bother your lordship. I’ll consider what you said.”

The bishop nodded in satisfaction, “May the glory of Zenni shine on you forever, dear Mr. Edwards. Both of you, please come with me.”

The demon accepted the blessing calmly, with a smile on his face. The bishop stepped into the room first. Oliver took in a breath and followed in, and just as Nemo was about to follow up, the voice of “Cahill” sounded from behind him…

“Don’t be like a stranger,” he said softly. “If you want to know more, just ask me.”

He stared at Nemo. For a few seconds, his right eye wasn’t an ordinary eyeball. Countless pupil-like things flowed onto the red eyeball, squeezing and fusing with each other. Nemo almost threw up at the sight. He turned his head and rushed into the room, slammed the door, and put his back against it, as if the thin wooden door could resist the power of a superior demon.

It’s just a piece of flesh from a superior demon. He made every effort to console himself in his heart. Cahill, like Bagelmaurus, was just a piece of flesh. He shouldn’t give in to despair. When he calmed down and raised his head, he found that the bishop and Oliver were staring at him together.

“Your friend… His mind is really not stable.” The room was divided into two parts by a gleaming silver railing. The bishop opened a small metal door and sat on a leather chair opposite the railing. Behind him was a spacious window, and the afterglow of the setting sun added a golden outline to the fat old man, which made him look sacred.

When the old man snapped his fingers, suddenly the other side of the railing, the ceiling, the ground, and the surrounding wall, including the wooden door they had just passed through, were all sealed tightly by a thin silver fence. The two were instantly locked in a silver cage.

“Don’t be nervous, my children,” the bishop comforted them as he saw their shocked faces. “This is a fixed procedure, which can save us a lot of trouble. Your friend may experience a bit of pain. Now come, my child. Sit down first.” He turned his head to Oliver.

Before Oliver had time to ask what “a bit of pain” meant, the wall on one side slowly slid open, revealing a huge sacred emblem. The center of the triangle made of three feathers was no longer empty but filled with a complex magic array with silver wires as the stroke. A white light the size of a nail cover was embedded in the middle of the magic array, and it shone with a silver shimmer under its effects.

Nemo naturally noticed it, but he didn’t suffer any form of pain. He stared at the bright white dot and stretched out his hand as if possessed.

Even with the light at his back, Oliver could see the bishop frowning. He quickly activated the charm technique. Thank God. The bishop’s brows drooped, and his expression turned blank.

“Don’t touch it yet!” After confirming that there wasn’t a problem, Oliver immediately warned.

Nemo recovered instantly. He stared at the dot with some wonderment for a while, then retracted his hand and turned his gaze back to the bishop.

“Please… Um, please tell us everything you know about Adrian Cross.” Although the charm technique was successfully enacted, there was still discomfort in Oliver’s voice.

“He’s a dirty traitor. A hateful heretic,” the bishop said in a voice without any emotion. “A man who does whatever it takes for his status.”

“What do you mean?”

“Adrian Cross and Mr. Edwards are friends who grew up together,” the bishop said. “I have to admit that he’s a genius that has been hard to ignore since he was a child. At that time, his Holiness even praised him as the ‘Glorious Divine Grace’ and the ‘Bright Morning Star’. We trusted him, taught him, loved him from the bottom of our hearts, and firmly believed that he was the miraculous person referred to in the prophecy. But in the end, he ruined everything!”

Even if he was in the state of enchantment, the bishop’s breathing still became rapid.

“He lost all his magic after the Battle of Kandal. If you ask me, he definitely did something incredibly blasphemous. I have never heard of anyone’s divine grace that can completely disappear, but this was the case. That old man Mercer still trusted him and didn’t throw him out! He even allowed the heretic to stay and work as an inquisitor, which was absolutely ludicrous.”

“Heresy is heresy. He couldn’t even live in peace for two years. He must’ve found that he couldn’t regain his strength and couldn’t stand his low status, so he wanted to find other shortcuts to climb up. That heretic actually falsely accused his best friend, our hero, Mr. Edwards, of being a superior demon! Oh, Zenni is just. Of course, he wouldn’t let that damn bastard succeed. Mr. Edwards’ innocence is impeccable. How ironic that it was him who we found the demon’s seal on.” 

“Mr. Edwards even came forward to intercede for him, but the heretic didn’t appreciate it at all. He resolutely did not take back his lies and refused to mention a word about the seal. He probably still fantasized about the one day when his luck would turn. Personally, I sincerely hope that he dies in the dungeon. Of course, Zenni has his own arrangements. There will be no filth left under Zenni’s glory.”

The bishop’s anger almost overshadowed the calming effect of the charm technique, but Nemo couldn’t help being taken aback. Judging by the bishop’s words, Mr. Cross seemed to be quite different from the Knights of Judgement that Ann described. There was quite a considerable gap.

“Is… there anything else?” Oliver tried his best to keep his voice steady.

“Except for the fact that he’ll rot in the dungeon? Nothing else.” The bishop’s tone was mixed with hatred from someone who had been betrayed.

They got less information than they thought. Nemo sighed silently and nudged his elbow towards Oliver. “Ask him what this thing is… I don’t feel uncomfortable now, but if we don’t figure it out, I might get exposed after we lift the spell.”

“What is that?” Oliver pointed to the huge holy emblem.

“A skull fragment from the previous Demon King, Ulysses.” The old man’s tone returned to its monotonous nature. “Before it was lost, His Holiness, the Pope, had removed a piece. It’s a very effective weapon against demons, and even if a higher-level demon is present, it’ll feel uncomfortable after being provoked. It’s a pity that the skull has been lost for so long, and its residual powers are getting thinner by the day. Now, it can only suppress a demon warlock at best.”

Nemo glanced at the small bone fragment again only to feel that his hands were deathly itchy. He obeyed his heart and stretched out his hand across the silver railing and poked it carefully.

Facts had proven that there was a reason why some things shouldn’t be touched indiscriminately. It seemed as if a sharp ice pick had broken through his skull and pierced the back of his head abruptly. Nemo hugged his head and hissed coldly while Oliver glared at him disapprovingly.

“What are you going to do with us?” he asked.

“Put on holy shackles for the black-haired child and begin to prepare for the ceremony. He has one night to spend with his family and loved ones. I will invite dignitaries to sacrifice him to Zenni at sunrise tomorrow.”

Nemo rubbed his forehead, and as soon as he was about to stand up, Oliver pressed his head down again.

“What are you doing?” he asked discontentedly.

Oliver didn’t answer him. “What are the holy shackles?” He returned to his usual cautious style, and the questions he asked flowed out more smoothly. “What effects does it have?”

“The sacred restraint given to us by Zenni can prevent sinners from casting spells. If it isn’t lifted by someone recognized by the holy church within a time limit, its brilliance will burn the body of the sinner.”

“What the hell—!” Nemo squatted on the ground and shouted. “Isn’t Ann overestimating us? Is this really okay?”

“Are there any restrictions on use?” Oliver asked.

“It is only effective on demons and humans below the strength of a demon warlock.”

“…Still! What if I’m really just a demon worshiper—”

“I can persuade him and make him think that he has already put on the holy shackles on you, but I can’t charm everyone in the church at the same time… There are too many loopholes. Nemo, you decide. Do you trust Ann?” Oliver’s tone was extremely serious. “I have no right to choose for you.”

Nemo hugged his head and took a few deep breaths.

“Let’s do it.” He gritted his teeth. “This is nothing compared to Pandorater.”

Oliver nodded. He called the bishop to the railing and patted the old man on the arm.

The old man glanced at Nemo, who was squatting on the ground, and his expression became more natural.

“I understand the specific situation, there is indeed room for redemption.” He assumed a posture as if he had been talking freely with them all this time. He made a motion, and the massive holy emblem was once again hidden in the wall. “What a lucky child. God will definitely smile on you.”

Nemo laughed dryly.

“Come, stretch out your hand.” The old man smiled. “It’s just a small restraint. Don’t worry, but please remember, please be sure to return here before sunrise tomorrow, otherwise it will cost you your life. You won’t turn your back on God, will you?”

Nemo took a deep breath and stretched out his hands. Dazzling light gushed from the old man’s fingertips, twisting into two thin glowing chains that wrapped around his arms tightly. The silver fence slowly disappeared, and the bishop even took a few steps forward and gave Nemo a hug. “May Zenni’s glory last forever.”

“…May Zenni completely ignore me.” When they walked out of the church, Nemo said with bitterness as he scratched the chain on his arms.

Ann was leaning on a marble statue of an angel. Its wings blocked most of the female warrior’s figure, so they almost didn’t notice her.

She raised an eyebrow at the shackle of light on Nemo’s arms. “How surprising. You two are quite obedient.”

Nemo rolled his eyes at her. “You’d better tell me that you have a way to fix this thing.” He waved his arms pitifully. “I don’t want to go back to that damn place anymore.”

Ann smiled slightly. She recited an incantation in a low voice and then easily tore the shackles apart. The shackles of light turned into spots and slowly dissipated in the air. “Look, Nemo. If I really wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t use such a roundabout way.”

Oliver pursed his lips and gave her a thoughtful look.

“Curious as to why I know how to lift the shackles?” Ann obviously knew what Oliver’s eyes were thinking. “Don’t worry about it. It’s all in the past.”

“You’re not a Laddist, are you?”

“It’s a long story.” Ann cleared her throat, “…So I decided not to talk about it.”

“But—”

“If there ever comes an appropriate time, I won’t hide it from the two of you—Nemo!” Her joking words suddenly turned to a shout.

Nemo fell over silently. Oliver reacted quickly. He grabbed the back of Nemo’s neck without letting him bump his head into the base of the marble statue. He tried to wake Nemo, but the black-haired young man closed his eyes and breathed gently, as if he had fallen into a deep slumber.

“The holy shackles shouldn’t have any effect,” Ann whispered. “Take him back to the inn first.”

Nemo had a dream.

It was dark at first, but then he heard someone singing. Although he wanted quietness at the moment, he decided to endure it for the sake of the beautiful singing. The singer was a young man with icy hands that had sweat all over them. For some reason, at this moment, he was holding the man’s hand and moving forward in the darkness.

“I would like to follow you and step through the ruins and smoke—” The young man hummed, “Sandra, Sandra. The dew on the tombstone gleamed… Forget it, forget it. This isn’t very auspicious.”

“You can shut up now.” Nemo suggested it amicably. The voice was not like his. The tone was wonderful, although the content was in a lingua franca*, it was by no means a human voice.

*A language or dialect systematically used to make communication possible between groups of people who do not share a native language or dialect (AKA a common language).

“It’s too quiet here,” the young man replied. “It’s so quiet that people panic.”

Nemo was silent for a long time, then tentatively opened his mouth. “Aren’t you afraid?”

“My lover and companions are still waiting for me. I’m so happy. I’ll definitely survive! Hey, let me tell you. My fiancée, she’s…”

“Enough, shut up.” Nemo heard himself interrupt the young man. “You’ve already said it like nineteen times!”

“We can just round it up.” The young man’s voice sounded a bit aggrieved.

“It’s not far away.” Nemo digressed. “Human, do you really have the confidence to kill the Demon King?”

“Maybe,” the young man replied, without the joy in his voice. “To be honest, since I got here, I’ve been thinking—”

“…You answer my question first.”

“If everyone does their best… Yes.”

“Then I have a request,” Nemo heard himself say. “Cut off his head and take it out of the Abyss, so that the Abyss can sleep longer, which is exactly what you want.”

“But according to legend, once its corpse touches the ground, it will…”

“That’s because the previous fighters were too useless.” The mystical voice continued, “Your magic is amazing. As long as you keep wrapping its head with pure magic, its head will not be swallowed by the Abyss. Your power should be enough.”

“But you… You’re just a wanderer, right? Aren’t demons your kind? Why are you telling me this?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“…I see the lights from my team! Thank you very much, kind wanderer.” The young man cheered, “God, I don’t know how to express my gratitude, so I’ll give you this. If you have the opportunity to go to the surface, you can find me with this, and we can talk about it then.”

He stuffed something into the palm of Nemo’s hand.

“After all, it’s a life-saving grace… My name is Flint Lopez, and I sincerely look forward to seeing you again. Do you have any wishes? If I can do it—”

“I want to take a look at the surface. Just one look is enough. Unfortunately, that’s not something you can do, human.”

Nemo jumped out of bed, not because of the dream, but because of a biting coldness. He found himself lying on the soft bed of the inn. It was dark. Oliver was lying on his bed, sleeping soundly.

He grabbed Oliver, who was still asleep, and rolled onto the ground. A giant sword swept across the place where Oliver had just been lying, then pierced through the mattress and plunged into the ground.

“Superb alertness.” A low voice came from the darkness. “Why bother… You could have died peacefully.”

The light of teleportation magic lit up, and they were no longer surrounded by the setting of the comfortable inn, but a vast desert. A tall man stood in front of them. His whole body was wrapped in dark armor. He casually threw the gray parrot, who was still talking in its sleep, into the cold sand and raised his giant sword again…

“Farewell, boys.”

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 27: Charm

“No matter what the reason is, it’s your sin to cooperate with a superior demon, my child.” The monk still had a soft voice, and the genuine concern in his words made Nemo feel a little creepy. “You have to repent so God can forgive you. Do you know what happens to the usual demon warlocks? You still have a chance to live cleanly, for which I’m sincerely happy.”

Nemo took a step back. No, this person is not like Old Patrick at all.

“I’m the one who was attacked.” He lowered his voice. “I don’t think I have committed any crimes.”

“But you have a choice, don’t you? If you were really attacked for no reason, you have many ways to preserve your spirituality as a human. You can cut your own throat with a dagger. You can bite off your tongue. You can let the despicable demon have no time to make a deal and die gloriously for God. Of course, I’m not condemning you, my child. People have always had times where they are confused. Look, aren’t you coming before me now?”

“But I’m not loyal to your—” Before he could make his position clear, Ann covered his mouth.

“May the glory of Zenni last forever,” Ann said solemnly. She let go of Nemo and wiped her hands on his robe. “Thank you again, speaker of divine grace. He’s just a little shocked. We’ll persuade him.”

Oliver also nodded with a flat face. He firmly grabbed the twisting gray parrot and left the perfume shop with Ann. The shop door closed automatically behind him, and the bell on the door made a pleasant sound. The monk made a prayer gesture on his left chest, picked up the soft cloth, and continued to wipe the delicate glass vial.

“…What he meant just now is that it was better for me to commit suicide immediately when I was attacked by Bagelmaurus?” After confirming that they had gone far enough, Nemo inquired in surprise.

“He really thinks so. I know that the Laddism Church* has little influence in Roadside Town… This is already the softest stance of the Wodenist Sect. If it was an older sect, they wouldn’t even ask for the reason. It’ll be the most ‘glorious’ just to kill you directly.” Ann made an ugly face. “You’d better be mentally prepared. At least independent monks are civilians who practice voluntarily, unlike the Knights of Judgement, who have been brainwashed since childhood. Cross is the Chief Justice. You can imagine it for yourself.”

*Clarity: I originally thought that Laddism and Wodenism were different religions, but it seems like the case is that Laddism is the main religion of humans and Wodenism is a denomination of it (akin to Christianity & Catholicism). Note too that any translation of holy church is also a reference to Laddism.

Nemo refused to imagine.

“But he did come up with a good idea,” Ann said.

“What idea? Wait, let me declare first—I love my hands and don’t want to dedicate them to any gods.”

“You see, the people in the Church of Penitence must know something about Cross,” she said, “and we have Oliver.”

“Me?” Oliver, who was fighting with the gray parrot, raised his head in confusion allowing the gray parrot to pounce on his head. “How can I help?”

However, Ann didn’t tell him until they had found a good place to stay. Even though she got Mrs. Edwards’ deposit, she didn’t enjoy it lavishly. The inn they stayed at was probably the cheapest grade, but Nemo and Oliver thought it was more exquisite and tidier than any rooms they had ever seen.

The sheets and pillows had the scent of sunlight and had been folded up neatly. Fresh fruits were stacked on the wooden trays that still had drops of water on them. Fresh flowers were placed in vases near their beds.There were no remnants of suspicious hair on the floor or even dust. In front was a huge bay window composed of oak and marble, and the greenery outside the window left a blurred reflection on the smooth marble surface. There was even a small altar on the table with a statue of Zenni, the God of the Laddism Church, who had long curly hair and a beard, with the unique majesty of an old man.

Nemo fully demonstrated his adventurous spirit. He sat down by the bay window, leaning on the soft cushion, unwilling to move any longer. Oliver showed a regretful look as he sat down on the edge of the bed and was startled by how soft and sunken the mattress was.

“Charm.” Ann pulled over a chair and sat down with her legs crossed. “This could work.”

“What?” Nemo straightened up. “Who? Oliver?” He failed to contain the gloating in his voice.

Oliver frowned, seemingly not liking the idea.

“Don’t think too deeply about it.” Ann grabbed a fruit and bit into it inarticulately. “Young men, I won’t ask what messes you two have seen, but in short, charm is not what you’re thinking it is.”

The two looked away at the same time.

“’Alita on the Bridge’ is a masterpiece,” Nemo protested in a low voice.

“The author must not have known much about magic,” Ann said. “Come, let me show you—”

She swallowed the fruit she was chewing on, rubbed her hands together, and walked up to Oliver.

“Look me in the eye,” she requested.

Nemo could see clearly from his angle. Ann’s iris lit up instantly, emitting a golden shimmer. Oliver blinked and looked at her puzzled. “Then what?”

A knock on the door interrupted them. Ann smiled slightly before opening the door. A maid dressed in a long black dress walked into the room with a clay pot full of fresh milk.

“Madam…” As soon as she opened her mouth, she gazed into Ann’s eyes, which were still twinkling. She stared at them in a daze, and the smile on her face gradually turned into a natural look.

“Sweety, how old are you this year?”

“Nineteen years old,” the maid replied mechanically in a calm voice.

“Where are you from?”

“Kenyatta in Garland. My mother is Albanian, and our family moved from…”

“Enough.” Ann smoothed out the young girl’s curly blonde hair before the glimmer in her eyes dimmed. The young maid didn’t seem to notice what had just happened. She blinked and placed the clay pot next to the fruit tray, then she bowed slightly and left the room.

“That’s it.” Ann poured herself a glass of milk. “This is charm.”

“But Oliver wasn’t affected.”

“That’s right. It can only dominate people who have a lower level of magic than themselves and are mentally unsuspecting,” Ann said. “Oliver’s magic level is higher than mine, so it doesn’t work on him. The lower the target’s magic level is, the better the charm effect, and the less likely it will be discovered. Lifting it is also easy. Just a touch on the object affected by the charm. My magic may not be able to overwhelm a leader of the Laddism Church, so only Oliver can do it.” There didn’t seem to be any remorse in her tone.

“…But the other party is a confessor of the holy church. Would he be that unprepared?” Oliver asked uneasily.

“When important information is transmitted, it’ll be mixed with hints of spells to resist charm, but I don’t think anyone will spend this kind of effort on gossip. Besides, the magical level of the Laddism Church has always been high, and their will is very firm. They generally have no trouble in this regard.”

“Wow. Dear Oliver, you’re going to charm the old men of the holy church!” Nemo cleared his throat and recited his speech like a bard. “May the glory of Zenni shine on you, and I’ll write a hymn for you—”

Oliver grabbed the pillow on the bed and threw it at Nemo’s face.

“Fine.” He covered his face and let out a sigh through his fingers. “Teach me.”

Oliver learned very quickly. In less than five minutes, he began to look at Nemo with gleaming golden eyes. “Frog dance around the room,” he whispered solemnly.

Nemo dug his ear in. “Your eyes look beautiful, Ollie. It’s worth ten laps,” he said sincerely, “but I’m very tired today, so I can’t jump.”

Oliver shifted to a different target in disappointment. “Bagelmaurus, get out.”

The gray parrot looked into Oliver’s eyes in a daze and rolled obediently on the table. The lively smile on Ann’s face disappeared. She stared at Nemo, who was about to hit Oliver with a pillow and held her breath.

Nemo Light wasn’t on guard. He didn’t even show a second of confusion, which only meant one thing. His magic level was much higher than the monstrous power of Oliver’s Ramon. Bagelmaurus, who should have been the source of his power, wasn’t as strong as Oliver, so this didn’t make any sense.

Was the monk’s conclusion correct?

She took a deep breath, squeezing almost all of the air from her lungs, hoping that her decision was correct. Ann closed her eyes and prayed for a few seconds, hoping that her soft heart would not lead to a terrible disaster from the Abyss.

The process of practicing charm was simple and enjoyable, but when they arrived at the Church of Penitence at dusk, Oliver’s and Nemo’s faces were as stiff as stone slabs.

“Can’t we do it tomorrow…? I think I should practice some more.” Oliver’s eyes were soulless.

“You’re proficient enough.” Ann ruthlessly rejected his request.

“…Will we be recognized? Even though we have black badges, the warrant wasn’t revoked, right?” Nemo rubbed his face.

“The holy church in the capital of Garland will not care about some third-rate wanted criminals on the border.”

“Will I really not be killed on the spot? In case… I mean, in case—”

“You just went to a consult today, remember? This is not a butcher shop in the market. They won’t chop off your hands with machetes. They will do a bunch of things first before that.” Ann grinned. “I don’t know which bishop you’ll meet, but a bishop’s magic level is similar to mine at best. Even if Oliver drinks too much, his monstrous magic won’t let the other party discover his charm! Hell, do you want me to say it any more clearly—” It didn’t feel good to admit that she wasn’t as good as the younger generation.

However, the two younger generations still looked worried.

“I’ll wait for you outside. I’ve been in this business for so long that they may recognize me. Now go in!” Ann pushed the two from behind.

The two swallowed their saliva together and staggered to the door. They opened the door in a heavy mood and squeezed into the huge church through the gap in the door. As a result, even the two who had no faith were so shocked by the solemn scenery in front of them that they almost forgot to breathe. The afterglow of the setting sun passed through the stained glass, casting countless light marks on the wooden floor. In the middle of the wall facing them hung the emblem of the Laddism Church; three white feathers connected end to end, forming a beautiful triangle. The huge statue of Zenni was much more exquisite than the one in their room. The statue spread its upper arms and posed as if it was hugging a visitor.

Several priests were wiping rows of benches. They looked up at the two of them when they heard their movements.

Nemo said “uh” a few times, but he didn’t succeed in squeezing out a word. Oliver was the first to calm down. “Please… Excuse us. Is the bishop here?”

“The two of you are…?”

“My friend was attacked by a demon. We need to confess to the bishop, uh, repent,” Oliver narrated the prepared remarks. “I have to make sure he is not too severely corrupted by the demons.”

Although Nemo, who was looking around, didn’t look unusual, the pious priests accepted this unconvincing statement. One of them politely led the two to a corridor on the left side of the church and told them to wait in front of a wooden door.

“The bishop is receiving guests at this moment. Please wait here for a bit,” the priest said as he made a ritualistic salute.

The corridors were bright and clean, the floors were spotless, and the wooden doors were decorated with beautiful reliefs. Without the blood, screams, and pine oil torches in the dark, Nemo breathed a sigh of relief.

But he wasn’t able to relax for very long.

There were footsteps and conversations at the end of the corridor, mixed with a strange but frighteningly familiar noise, like wooden wheels rolling across the smooth floor.

Nemo turned his head abruptly. The old man, who looked like a bishop, was walking towards them, but he wasn’t alone. Cahill Edwards was sitting in his wheelchair with a gentle smile on his face.

“What a coincidence.” He nodded to them. “We meet again.”

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 26: An Independent Monk’s Judgment

Bagelmaurus answered too decisively that it made the entire table fall silent for a moment. Ann and Nemo seemed to freeze mid-air while Oliver found it difficult to swallow his soup, making a particularly loud gurgling sound.

“You won’t believe me anyway,” grumbled the gray parrot, “but I advise you to stay away from that guy.”

“Don’t you know his race?” Ann asked tentatively.

“Of course I don’t know! He didn’t show his body like Pandorater. Don’t you know the principle of a superior demon’s possession at all?” Looking at the three vacant faces, the gray parrot suddenly became a lot more energetic. “The most we can bring to the surface is a small piece of our flesh. Do you hear me? A very small piece! Who can tell me where it came from! If we could move our entire bodies up, there would be no room for you humans to make trouble up here.”

Having said that, it looked at Oliver wistfully, giving him goosebumps. “Why am I so unlucky? If I had caught Ramon in the first place, I would be…” It swallowed another nut, and its tone became more erratic, reminiscing of yearning. “Oh, what talent! I’m so ignorant that I can’t ask for too much—”

Oliver stood up, grabbed the gray parrot, and stuffed it back into Nemo’s backpack.

“Why did I pick up such a loser—” the parrot continued to express its feelings loudly in his backpack.

Nemo quickly tied up the knot at the mouth of the backpack.

“Let’s assume that it didn’t lie.” Nemo ignored the gray parrot who had started to swear. “If it’s really the worst case… Then the other party should know that I’m a demon warlock.”

“Believe me,” Oliver said solemnly. “Judging from the recent situation, we always have to assume the worst.”

“What do you think he’ll do?” Nemo poked the greasy scrambled eggs on his plate with an iron fork, almost breaking them to pieces.

“I don’t know,” Ann said, “Anyway, there are great differences in the personalities of superior demons that have been recorded. If you meet an extraordinary one, they might ignore us, but—”

“He has been pretending to be a human in a wheelchair for a long time, so he should be the more cautious type, no matter how he looks,” Oliver added. “He must have done it for a certain purpose… Maybe he would try to kill us.”

The three of them held the tableware with a sigh as frustration brewed around the table.

“Is it though?” Nemo suddenly realized something. “If he doesn’t want to be exposed, shouldn’t he be the first to kill Cross? Then find a chance to kill Mrs. Edwards, so that no one will question him.”

“Your thoughts are treading dangerous territory…” Ann sighed faintly.

“It’s easy to explain why he can’t get rid of Cross,” Oliver interrupted. “There’s the Wall of Sighs that was jointly established by the Cardinals on the side of the Heretical Judgement Hall. It’s said that it will isolate all inhuman things, and only people from the holy church can open it. It’s impossible for a superior demon to sneak in, unless it destroys the magic array with brute force. Before that, it’ll be discovered and surrounded by the Knights of Judgement. If it wants to remain undiscovered, it’ll never be stupid enough to attack the Heretical Judgement Hall.”

“…You seem very knowledgeable.” Nemo was taken aback.

“The Wall of Sighs is a very famous attraction and I have always wanted to see it.” Oliver scratched his head embarrassingly.

“But this doesn’t explain the situation with Mrs. Edwards.” Nemo swallowed his scrambled eggs that had the same taste as wax. “She’s his mother. She should be more—Wait, Mrs. Edwards asked us to bring Cross out of the Heretical Judgement Hall. Could it be for…” He choked in horror and coughed violently.

“It makes sense.” Ann frowned. “Superior demons never lack the ability to bewitch people. He could be controlling Mrs. Edwards… But why didn’t he post the task himself?”

“We know too little, so we can’t guess the result.” Nemo felt a little discouraged.

“In any case, we have to solve your problem first.” Ann patted him on the shoulder. “I don’t want anyone to trigger the demon alarm when we’re passing through the Wall of Sighs.” After that, she picked up her plate and shoved all the remaining boiled beans into her mouth.

“Eat quickly,” she said, with difficulty. “We have to visit a n independent monk.”

Cahill Edwards—better yet, something disguised as Cahill Edwards—pulled on the curtains, locked the door, and got up from the wheelchair. He walked lightly to the table, stroking his thin fingers through the air. Suddenly, all the walls in the room were printed with complex black magic formations, and a muddy crystal column slowly appeared out of thin air in front of him.

“Vance.” He spoke calmly after the crystal emitted a vague green light. “Your little friend came to my door.”

“……”

“What bad luck he has.” Cahill stretched. After all, this body was human and sedentary still made him uncomfortable. “I promised you that I would not touch him because of your interest, but now I have to defend myself—this is my right. I don’t care what you think about the so-called Demon King. Light is at best the legacy of that monster. The debris will always be blown away by the wind. You have to know that.”

“Do as you want. I remember that Hailam’s Blessing Festival is about to begin, so don’t make too much noise.”

“Do you have any special interest in the other two?” Cahill asked. “You’re always interested in strange humans.”

“No. As I said, you can do whatever you want, Telaranea.”

“Very well.” Cahill—Telaranea replied softly. “If I can get the remnants of the Demon King out of his corpse, I’ll take care of it and give it to you as a souvenir.”

“Then you should be careful.” Vance’s indifferent voice came from the crystal. “You should know better than anyone how dangerous that power is, even if it’s just residual. I don’t need any souvenirs. If you want to take action, do it cleanly. If it corrodes your body, that’ll be a world of fun.”

“Oh? How very considerate. Can I take this as you’re being caring?”

“Just to protect the diversity of species in the Abyss and your stupid brain. As our archive, you’d best be a little more aware .”

“I will not use other bodies to handle this matter.”

“I hope so. Curiosity can kill more than just cats.”

Cahill took a deep breath.

At the same time, in another part of this continent, an old man lying in the shade by a tree opened his eyes, a playful and cute girl picked up her skirt, and a middle-aged man who was dozing against a pile of books wiped off the saliva from the corner of his mouth. A female professor who was writing fast on a parchment put down the goose quill pen in her hand… Seemingly unrelated people raised their heads, showing the same gentle smile.

The same smile appeared on Thorne’s face from the Steel Wolf Mercenary Group. The red-haired young man blinked and used a brisk voice to talk to the people in the distance at the same time.

“But I live for curiosity, Vance,” they murmured.

Nemo didn’t know that Oliver’s conjecture about “killing a witness to destroy their confession*” had become true. He was pressed against the glass window on the bustling street at this moment with someone else. Oliver was also fascinated as they both looked at a huge model of the universe through the glass window. The stars flickered and floated due to magic, making dazzling light marks in the dark. It filled the entire window with magnificence and splendor.

*(杀人灭口) Idiom referring to the practice of killing witnesses in order to destroy their testimony, thereby eradicating the evidence.

“It’s just astrology!” Ann yelled, dissatisfied. “Are you two twenty-three or three years old?”

“Three.” Nemo retracted his hands and carefully wiped off the mark left by his palm on the glass. “Sorry, mom.”

Ann’s eyebrows twitched, and a threatening lightning flashed across her fingertips.

Nemo stood up straight as soon as he saw this and grabbed Oliver, pushing him to the front aggressively. Once he got used to this hapless rhythm, he was able to squeeze out a good mood. Ann’s subtle indifference disappeared, and he could see that she had relieved some of her guard against them. This was a rare, good omen for the near future.

“I smell a bad smell.” The gray parrot finally recovered from its sickly state and stood on Nemo’s shoulder again. “It’s the stench of human magic tricks!”

Nemo didn’t smell anything bad, but rather the opposite, as they were standing in a small perfume shop that filled their noses with mysterious and light aromas. The shopkeeper looked about fifty, wearing a monk’s uniform without the badge of the holy church. He was sitting behind the counter, carefully wiping a glass vial.

The monks’ uniforms of the Laddism Church were very easy to recognize. They wore black robes with three narrow leather buckles on their high collars, which tightly wrapped the monks’ necks. The teachings of the Laddism Church preached that they represent “no credulity, no blind obedience, and no lies” but Nemo wasn’t interested in those unchanging* dogmas. Under the influence of a perennial environment, he didn’t believe in the existence of God. As an ordinary person who had no luck with magic for more than twenty years, it was difficult for him to pay respect to someone in heaven, no matter who it was in theory, and for his faith to be higher than the average level of the public.

*Changing the soup, but not the dressing (换汤不换药) Idiom referring to changing in form, but not content. || In this context, it means that what they preach changes from time to time, but the underlying meaning remains the same.

The free monk nodded to Ann, gently put down the soft cloth and vial in his hand, and turned his gaze to Nemo.

“Is it you?” While his hair wasn’t white, his voice was mixed with the kindness unique to the elderly. “May God bless you, my child.”

The gray parrot made a loud retching sound.

Nemo was a little inexplicably nervous. The monk’s eyes made him involuntarily think of Old Patrick. He stroked the folds of the hems of his robe with his hand, not knowing how to answer so that he wouldn’t appear rude.

“Don’t be nervous.” The monk waved his hand and walked up to Nemo. “I heard Ann say that you didn’t fall voluntarily.”

“Bah, degenerate fart. Why don’t you fuck right off!” The gray parrot continued to yell, but the monk behaved as if he couldn’t hear it. He took out a few silver needles and plunged them into the body of the gray parrot, then quickly pulled them out. The position chosen was just right. Nemo suspected that the gray parrot had staggered under the needles’ piercing.

The gray parrot screamed on the spot as the black light of abyssal magic suddenly lit up. At this moment, the monk just turned around; his back was wide open and unguarded. Nemo subconsciously used his hand to grab the pitch-black ball of light, but he didn’t expect to really grab it into the palm of his hand. The pitch-black sphere had no weight, and it was rhythmically moving in his palm, like a weird beating heart. He tightened his fingers curiously, causing the ball of light to pop into countless fumes and disappeared into the air.

Oliver and Ann looked at Nemo disapprovingly. Nemo put his hands behind his back and quietly wiped it on his robes.

“I’m sorry,” he said embarrassingly. “…It was an accident.”

The gray parrot was so angry that it began to peck Nemo’s scalp.

The monk carefully put the blood on the silver needle into the vial and didn’t pay attention to what was happening. He cautiously mixed the liquid in the bottle, and then turned around again after a full ten minutes.

“Not a superior demon,” he said. “It has the aura of a superior demon, but now the class has dropped. It could be for many reasons. In short, you’re definitely not a demon warlock, my child.”

Nemo could hear the loud sound of a big stone falling off his chest. He turned around excitedly and gave Oliver a big hug and then spread his arms to Ann, who crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. Nemo immediately changed direction and hugged Oliver fiercely again. Oliver smiled helplessly and patted Nemo heavily on the back.

The gray parrot turned its head and pulled on Oliver’s hair angrily.

“Great.” Ann said. “Thank you very much.”

The monk simply nodded.

“But since you have a way to distinguish superior demons. Why…?” Nemo had calmed down from the joy. If the people taught by the Laddism Church had the means to distinguish demon ranks, maybe they could secretly get Cahill’s blood…

“Demon warlocks don’t talk about it, but they can usually be distinguished by their appearance,” the monk said amicably. It didn’t seem like this was the first time he had encountered this kind of question. He carefully cleaned the silver needle with magic, and there were traces of a smile in his voice. “Superior demons generally hide their flesh in the skull of the occupied body, and then strengthen the bones. That’s not something that can be pierced with a silver needle. We must have the blood from the demon’s flesh to be able to determine it. The blood also can’t be away from the flesh for too long, and the demon can’t be on guard. Otherwise, they can use their mimicry, and even if we do get fresh blood then, we won’t be able to identify it.”

“Your contracted demon is too weak. Even if it splits its flesh, it can’t put it into the skull. That’s why I can use this method, which was originally used to identify subordinate and intermediate demons.” He thought for a bit, then added, “My child, your subordinate demon was indeed a superior demon, so you have retained some of the characteristics of a superior demon. You are really lucky that things haven’t reached the point of being irreversible, and you still have time to turn back.”

Nemo was startled.

“Go to the Church of Penitence, my child. It has lost the power of a superior demon, so the bishop can help you remove the filthy flesh from your body.” The monk gave him a kind smile.

“Okay…” As a result, before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Oliver, who pinched the back of his waist fiercely.

“Remove the flesh?” Oliver asked.

“Yes,” the monk said piously, “the bishop will help this child gather the flesh into his hands—”

“Then cut them off, so he can turn back into a pure and unsullied human being.”

---

The author has something to say:

Nemo: No, no, this really hurts.jpg

---

Kinky Thoughts:

That would be a hard pass.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 25: Saint Cahill

Whether it was due to the hangover or just plain dizziness from the massive teleportation array, Oliver’s face was rapidly turning almost the same shade as the bandages wrapped around his arm. The fracture he’d suffered had already been healed by a healer near the end of the test, but with so many injured and the healer’s magic being limited, minor cuts and scrapes were still treated the usual way—ointment applied, then wrapped in bandages, without wasting magic on them.

It looked a little grisly, though fortunately it didn’t affect his movements.

“How much did he actually drink?” Ann frowned, her brows knitting in concern.

“…Half a cup of fruit wine,” Nemo whispered, deciding to cover for Oliver as he swiftly changed the subject. “Where’s your horse?”

“Sold it.” Ann averted her gaze and looked at the ground, seeming a little downcast. “From Noer to here, even the fastest horse would take a week. If it were some other mission, that wouldn’t matter, but this time we really need to make up time. Judging by Fenrir’s reaction, the client is probably not the easiest person to deal with.”

The three moved away from the teleportation array, passed through the enormous stone archway, and stepped onto Hilam’s iconic Iris Plaza. Oliver and Nemo, both raised in little border towns and never having seen the capital of a kingdom before, froze completely at the entrance to the square.

There were no log houses with stripped bark or rough stones mixed with grass mud. The buildings were all made of square stone bricks. The spires of countless towers pierced the sky, and the touch of gold from the giant bell on the church bell tower could be seen from a distance. People walking on the streets were brightly dressed, and from time to time they could see the reflections of satin and silk top hats. All the plants in their field of vision were well taken care of, and the artificially cut shrubs were almost integrated with their stone carving bases, becoming part of a piece of art that no longer bore natural traces of life.

They moved early in the morning so the sun had just risen, giving off the glow of silky orange red. The stone ground tiles of the square had been polished by the flow of people. At this moment, the afterglow of the rising sun was reflected, looking a bit like sparkling waves across a lake. Iris Square itself had relatively high terrain and an amazing wide view. The scenery of less than half the capital rushed to the bottom of Nemo’s eyes as he stood there in shock.

‘It was indeed like two separate worlds,’ he thought. In Noer, the difference between them and the residents was only whether they had hats or not, but now it seemed that Ann blended in, while the two of them, who were only wearing linen clothes, seemed to be incompatible with the whole city.

Ann expected this, and she thoughtfully didn’t rush them, waiting for them patiently to recover.

“See the bell tower over there?” Seeing Nemo finally move—he fastened the wooden buttons on his cuffs—Ann began speaking. “That is the Church of Confession, but I suggest you think clearly before making a decision.” Ann added, “…Demon worshippers are fine, but if you’re really a demon warlock, you have to do your damndest to convince them not to kill you on the spot. Although the Wodenites are known for their kindness, there’s always a risk. I can understand if you don’t want to go, and there are also many independent monks who you can consult—”

“I prefer independent monks,” Nemo replied quickly.

Ann was taken aback for a few seconds by his overly cautious, or rather, timid declaration.

“…You said you would understand!”

“I was just trying to be polite. You don’t really want to try it?”

Nemo shook his head decisively.

“It’s better not to go.” Oliver’s face finally became less pale, and he rubbed his temples weakly. “The possibility that he’s a demon warlock is very high.”

Ann looked Nemo up and down, sweeping her gaze from the mud spots on his deerskin boots to the short ponytail that was randomly tied up and then snorted.

“All right,” she said, “Let’s go and meet Joanna Edwards. Who knows what’s going on in that head of hers?”

Hailam was frighteningly large, and when they finally arrived at the address given by the client, the three of them had no strength left to be surprised.

“Looks decent.” Ann, who had been lost for three hours, wiped the hot sweat from her forehead. “How really unexpected.”

The house in front of them had three floors and a beautiful garden, like a scaled-down castle. Ann rang the doorbell while Nemo looked around. The plants in the garden gave him a sense of intimacy, as if he had returned to a small town. In simpler terms, they grew freely and there wasn’t any sign that they had been taken care of for a while.

The person who answered the door was an old woman with a cold temperament. She was wearing a long gray-blue dress. The corners of her mouth drooped slightly, and her silver hair was tightly combed into a neat bun behind her head. It didn’t look like a servant based on how she was dressed and the jewelry she had on. 

Her sharp gaze fell on the black badges on their chests before she narrowed her eyes. “Who’s Oliver Ramon?”

Oliver hurriedly took a step forward.

“Please give me the black badge and the contract.” Her tone was polite but distant.

“Are you…?” Oliver rummaged through Nemo’s backpack to find the parchment roll and even accidentally tore a few feathers off the parrot.

“Joanna Edwards,” she said succinctly, before taking the parchment roll and confirming the name behind the black badge. “Come in and we’ll talk.” She moved back a few steps.

The sun was shining, giving off a strong aroma of roses in the yard. Mrs. Edwards took them through the garden and opened the door to the house. The decoration inside was also tasteful and elegant. There was a huge bookshelf in the living room, full of books, but it matched the decorations just right and didn’t feel out of place, but Nemo seemed to feel an indescribable sense of incongruity. This house seemed to have died long ago, as there wasn’t much breath of life left in it.

“Mother.” As soon as they entered the door, they heard a voice belonging to a young man and the creaking of wooden wheels. A young man in a wheelchair moved closer to them from the other side of the hall. He had ginger hair that was half long, and he looked a bit listless, but the smile on his face was very bright. “There are guests?”

“The Black Chapters I hired, Cahill.” Mrs. Edwards frowned. “It’s still early. Don’t run around.”

“Cahill?” Ann gasped. “Cahill Edwards?”

The young man nodded. “Do you know me?”

“Oh—Oh, yes.” Ann’s tone was a little unnatural. “I’ve heard of…. Well, you know.”

Cahill raised his eyebrows, but still had a warm smile on his face. “It’s all right,” he said. “You talk first, and I’ll make some tea.”

He made a gesture with his right hand, then he turned his head and moved slowly in the opposite direction. After the shadow of the wheelchair disappeared behind the door, Ann finally exhaled the breath she had been holding back.

“That child is so restless,” the old woman said. “Please sit.”

“Is your son Cahill Edwards, the ‘Battlefield Saint’?”

Mrs. Edwards pursed her lips, as if strangely annoyed by Ann’s question. Ann, who was aware of this, quickly shut her mouth.

“I want to see Adrian Cross, even if it’s only for half an hour,” the old woman said calmly, ignoring Ann’s question. “I hope you can bring him. I think you should already know. He’s currently held in the dungeon of the Heretical Judgement Hall, where outsiders aren’t allowed to enter or leave.”

“Why?” Seeing that Ann was holding back, Nemo spoke on her behalf.

“He still insists that my son is a superior demon to this day,” Mrs. Edwards said with a grim smile. “Do I need a precise reason to see him?”

“Wasn’t Cross holding the transaction seal of a superior demon?” Oliver interjected. “He must have made a deal that hasn’t been completed. You may be in danger if you see him—”

“You don’t need to know that much.” The woman’s sharp gaze swept over like a knife. “Just bring him. Can you do it? If you can’t, just give up the task and I’ll find someone else.”

After that, she put a heavy and delicate purse on the round table.

“Deposit,” she said. “One thousand gold coins, some of which have been converted into gold paper. After the task is completed, the rest will be paid, up to five times this, depending on your efficiency. “

Nemo sat up straight for an instant and found that it might be possible to pay off Ann’s debts.

“It’s useless, mother.” Cahill leaned back in the wheelchair. A tray full of teacups floated in the air slowly rubbed against the table. “You won’t get any results from seeing him. He’s not the Adrian Cross you knew. Trespassing in the dungeon of the Heretical Judgement Hall is a felony. You can withdraw the task now—”

“Wanting to see someone is not something that can be held accountable. Besides, these people took on the task voluntarily. I did not force them. They can give up at any time,” Mrs. Edwards said coldly, throwing a piece of sugar into the teacup.

Cahill deeply sighed.

“Then do as you want.” He smiled softly and adjusted the direction of his wheelchair. “Excuse me, everyone. I’m a little uncomfortable, so I’ll take my leave now so I can rest… Have you considered the failure rate? I’ll try my best to persuade my mother to adjust the content of the task.”

What a gentle person. Nemo was moved. He picked up the teacup and accidentally knocked over the small silver spoon used for the honey. He quickly bent over to pick it up. The spoon had rolled behind the tablecloth. When he went to grab it, he touched dust with his hand. He was stunned at the dust on his fingertips for a few seconds.

“That’s it. I have nothing else to say and there are no additional requirements.” The old woman pushed the bag in front of Oliver. “The sooner the better.”

“Hell, I should have pressed Fenrir to make him spill more.” After leaving Mrs. Edwards’ home, the hungry trio carefully picked a restaurant where the food didn’t look too expensive. Ann gulped down a whole glass of beer and then crudely wiped off the foam on her lips. Nemo was sipping on mead, while Oliver, who had a darkened face, poured himself a few cups of onion soup.

“Her son seems to be very famous?” Nemo asked.

“Quite famous in the past two years, but no one has mentioned him recently,” Ann said. “The war hero of the Battle of Kandal. At that time, Garland’s nobles wanted to tie him to a flagpole so they could publicize him—well, he seemed better off than I thought.”

Nemo looked at Ann in surprise, completely unable to understand how one could make a living when bound to a wheelchair.

“Back then, he couldn’t move from below the neck down. He himself was a healer… How miserable,” Ann said. “There’s been calm recently on the Garland border, so no one has promoted the ‘spirit of war’.” Her last sentence contained a sneer.

“Cross claims that he’s a superior demon?” Oliver put down the bowl of soup in his hand. “This is a bit…”

Nemo touched his chin and pulled the specimen-like gray parrot out of his backpack.

“Oh, yes. We have such a thing.” Ann struck her palm with her fist.

“Bagelmaurus! Hey, Bagelmaurus!” Nemo pinched the parrot’s wings. The parrot turned its eyes and glanced at him weakly. “You were there just now. You should be able to feel it. Was Cahill Edwards really replaced by a superior demon?”

The gray parrot stood up weakly and swallowed a few fried nuts from Nemo’s plate.

“That’s right,” it said angrily. “What’s the matter?”

---

The author has something to say:

I have a few words to say about the setting.

At the beginning, when I was thinking about people, I seriously thought about personality issues. Extreme personalities may be more popular, but I don’t really want to write like this.

The protagonists grew up peacefully and soundly in a town by the border, and their personalities are very ordinary. Because they are not very old, they have limited experience. I don’t think that people with this kind of growth background can suddenly kill and decisively dominate and be the cool and handsome type that don’t even take killing seriously… Possessing power does not mean possessing the state of mind to control the power.

From the perspective of potential power value, the two of them are indeed powerful, but mentally they are not. I want to write the story of ordinary people slowly growing into heroes.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 24: Your Knight

Ann’s admonition didn’t take effect immediately, and the habits of being a law-abiding citizen wasn’t easily discarded. They didn’t take the initiative to look for the invisible shady parts of the town. The daily market alone was enough to dazzle the two of them.

Noer was only a small border town, but the worst streets were still busier than Roadside Town, which only had a few scattered shops and couldn’t be compared to the surging flow of people they saw before them. From time to time, caravans passed by on the cobbled paved roads, and the air was mixed with the smell of horse dung and sweet and pungent spices. As the temperature rose, merchants were no longer willing to sell cooked food, so the aroma of hot grease was far less intense than the weird sweetness of rotting fruits. Oliver picked a good place. The aroma from the bakery covered the overly strong smell of the market. The shadows cast by the sunshade separated them from the blistering sunlight and delimited them from the noisy market.

Nemo weighed the pouch. He only knew that a place like Dawn Tavern existed because of Oliver. Now he was completely out of ideas. The sun was scorching above. Even if he wasn’t afraid of the heat, it didn’t mean he would be willing to throw himself under the blazing sun either.

He silently loosened the strap of his backpack and pulled the opening of the bag wider. Although it was unlikely, he was a little afraid that Bagelmaurus would suffocate quietly inside.

As a boring adult, Oliver obviously had no enthusiasm for adventure. He moved his entire body into the shade to stay away from the sun. The citizens on the street had long been on guard against this. Headscarves and hats with wild bird feathers could be seen everywhere, while two young men with bare heads stood out conspicuously.

The market was close to a river, and the smell of bread was mixed with the water. Nemo walked around behind rows of shops and saw that the side facing the river was also full of small shops, and the narrow walkway was covered by shade from the building, making the area slightly cooler.

He saw a vine-wrapped tavern at a glance. Unlike the Dawn Tavern, which was formally decorated and atmospheric, this tavern’s small broken signboard gave people an inexplicable sense of peace of mind. Of course, it may also be because the owner put a huge mermaid ice sculpture at the entrance of the shop; it was probably attached with a non-melting spell, so it exuded cold air that felt refreshing and comfortable.

The two rushed into the shop as if they were fleeing something.

Perhaps it was because it was just after lunch time, but there were few people in the shop. Nemo picked a table in the corner of the room, then stuffed himself and his backpack into the corner, posing as if he was going to stay here all afternoon. Oliver shook his head and sat opposite him.

The interior of the tavern wasn’t as old as it looked on the outside. The only special thing was that the entire wall was plastered with documents and portraits. The content was all related to…

“The Tin Soldiers.” Nemo confirmed whether the parrot was still alive in his backpack, then he put it on the floor with his bag. “It seems that the owner is a loyal supporter of the Tin Soldiers.”

“How discerning, young man.” A bearded man approached with two huge wooden wine cups and placed them heavily in front of them. There was a faint smell of wine coming from them, and the ice cubes made a pleasant sound. “Alas, nowadays, young people don’t know much about the Tin Soldiers. This is my treat. You’re welcome.”

He didn’t seem to want to talk more. The wooden prosthetic leg on his right leg stomped back to behind the bar, where he then laid down and took a nap.

“The Tin Soldiers?” Oliver asked in a low voice.

“The most famous mercenary group more than 20 years ago.” Nemo’s spirit came back in an instant. “Now, many people have written books about their adventures. The last Hero was born from the Tin Soldier mercenary group, but unfortunately, it was disbanded after the last expedition.”

“Why?”

“Because most of the members of the team died on that expedition.” Being a librarian was a rather boring profession. He didn’t know how many times the books on the Tin Soldiers’ adventures had saved him from countless boring afternoons. Nemo himself was even considered to be a supporter. “It’s a pity. There was even a dragon among their members! Even the Hero himself didn’t survive.”

“Wait, the Hero himself didn’t either?”

“It’s impossible for the Demon King to be defeated by anyone alone. Every time there’s a crusade, an entire army will go together.” Nemo shook his glass. “The one who gives the Demon King the fatal blow will only be awarded the title of Hero. I remember the last Hero. The Deputy Commander of the Tin Soldiers, Abbas Alastair, a powerful warlock. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it out of the Abyss alive. It’s said that there were only two people alive during the last expedition, and that was the testimony they provided.”

Oliver wrapped his hands around the cup, looking as if he didn’t want to drink it. “In other words, our Mr. Hero was only the deputy commander? What about the commander?”

“Well, do you see that strange man in the mask?” Nemo excitedly pointed to a portrait posted on the edge of the wall. “Lopez was recognized as the strongest swordsman on the mainland at that time.”

Oliver stretched out his neck and glanced at the yellow parchment. The mask was so weird that he quickly lost interest. “The taste is… Quite special.”

“He’s quite a controversial figure.” Nemo downed more than half the glass in one gulp, smacking his lips, and decided that it was at best a sweet drink with hints of alcohol. Still, it was quite refreshing and quenched his thirst. “He rose too fast and had no background. There’s an opinion that he achieved the position by relying on emotional intelligence and deception, especially after the expedition. He had lost his right arm to an ordinary demon hunting. At that time, many people thought that he couldn’t do anything without a team… I haven’t heard much about him since.”

“Do you like stories about the Hero?” Oliver’s gaze slid from the weird mask to the beautiful elf portrait pasted to the side. “Amazing, there are elves in their team.”

“Yes, their archer,” Nemo said. “There were also dwarves and necromancers. I don’t know if they were too lucky or something, but at that time, the members of the Tin Soldiers included most of the well-known races. Some even suspected the presence of a superior demon, but to be honest, I don’t think it’s surprising even if there was.” They were two pure humans, both of whom were still inexperienced novices. When he looked at their team, his only romantic spark had blown out before it was even ignited.

“Is that why you rushed out at that time?” Oliver suddenly drank a sip of his wine. “Because you yearn to be like the ‘Tin Soldiers’?”

“What?” Nemo had no reaction.

“During the test,” Oliver said softly.

This was the first time they talked about it after the test. Nemo sat up unconsciously.

“If it was me, I don’t know if I would have done it.” Oliver took another sip of the transparent liquor. “The parrot clearly guaranteed that you would survive if you did nothing.”

He raised his bright emerald eyes and could not see any expression on Nemo’s face.

“Uh… I… Didn’t think too much?” Nemo scratched his head a little embarrassingly. “Besides, can you watch Ann or I die… Wait. Why are you making that kind of expression? I thought we were friends!”

“I don’t know.” Oliver shook his head. “To be honest, I’ll definitely hesitate… Even if it’s only a second, I’ll still hesitate. How did you do it?”

Nemo wasn’t an extrovert. He was reluctant to go to dances full of strangers or laugh naturally with people he had just met. This was one of the main reasons why he chose to work as a librarian after there was no financial pressure dragging him in the form of his siblings in the orphanage. Oliver, on the contrary, could directly ask what ordinary people weren’t willing to say, such as now.

Nemo drank all the wine and desperately found that he wasn’t the slightest bit drunk, let alone gaining a bit of courage from the alcohol.

“…Relying on my conscience that I have accumulated for many years,” he stubbornly concluded. “Anyway, I can’t stand there and watch the two of you die. Of course, if I hadn’t thought of an idea at that time, I might have… Ahem! Besides, didn’t we survive? Don’t worry too much about it. If you hadn’t gone with me at that time, I would probably have tripped over some roots and smashed into a tree… to my death…”

Oliver stood up and leaned his face towards Nemo with a very serious expression.

“Different,” he said. His slightly hot breath sprayed on Nemo’s face. “Every time I slow down, I need someone to rush in front of me first.”

Nemo began to regret that he had chosen a position that was against the wall, as he didn’t have much room to shrink back to. He cleared his throat awkwardly and planned to reach out, intending to push Oliver away to make room for himself so he could get some fresh air, but found that as he was about to stretch out his hand, he saw a light redness spreading around Oliver’s neck…

Nemo pulled Oliver’s cup over and sniffed it in disbelief, making sure that he was drinking the same drink as himself. When he looked at it, it was even more shocking. Oliver’s reaction was like he was intoxicated, but this degree of alcohol couldn’t make even a little girl drunk.

“God, I’m a selfish bastard,” Oliver continued sadly, leaning back in his chair with dejection. Nemo now affirmed his conjecture. “Would more people have survived if I had taken the initiative in the first place? Tell me. Don’t lie to me, okay?”

It’s survivor’s guilt. Nemo instantly reached the conclusion and sighed secretly in his heart. Ann’s thoughts were correct after all. This person’s idealism needed to be fixed, or maybe he was a complete perfectionist, but he aimed that only at himself, making the situation even more difficult.

He thought about it for a while and suddenly realized that something was subtly wrong. He himself seemed to have never been troubled by such thoughts, even for a second. He was indeed happy for those who had survived, but he didn’t feel sad for those who died. Their deaths shocked him, and he did lament the deaths of some, but thinking about the victims he had never met, he seemed to…

Not care.

Nemo’s hand holding the handle of the cup shook slightly.

“Don’t think about it. It’s human nature,” he said dryly to Oliver. “It’s human instinct to subconsciously consider one’s own safety.”

However, he couldn’t really answer Oliver’s other question because he really didn’t know how and why and he really didn’t want to know the answer to that question.

“Besides,” Olive said tipsily, “I’ll work with you…. I’ll work with you to find out what that parrot is. You need the help from your comrades-in-arms. I need to figure it out…”

His voice fell silent.

“I need answers…”

“Cheer up. Haven’t we already agreed?” Nemo decided to put the annoying thoughts to the back of his mind. “And we’re friends—”

“No, just… Just like a knight,” Oliver belched as his face flushed even more. “At least… Help…”

“Okay, stop drinking.” Nemo grabbed his cup and drank what was left in it in one gulp. He stretched out his fingers and tapped Oliver’s left shoulder a few times hastily. “Are you satisfied, Mr. Knight?”

“You… You haven’t admonished me yet.”

“Help me pay back the money.” Nemo pondered for a few seconds, then replied.

Oliver laid down on the table, buried his face in his arms, and laughed sullenly. “Fuck you,” he said softly.

It was an extremely crude canonization ceremony, and none of them took it seriously at that time. Nemo put the glass neatly on the table while Oliver fell asleep. They didn’t know how much trouble this joke would cause them in the future.

On a summer afternoon, the hot wind blew into the tavern, making the portraits of the tin soldiers resound. The portrait of Flint Lopez was blown off the wall. Nemo glanced at the bearded man who was still napping and pasted it back carefully. After smoothing the folds in the corners, he stared at the weird mask on Lopez’s face, and the strange emotion in his heart reappeared.

This time, he deftly ignored it.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

End of the first arc.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 23: Old Friend

The unpleasant gaze of scrutiny finally moved away from Nemo. He thought he had probably escaped this catastrophe. The loud voices in the restaurant finally suppressed his frenzied heartbeat. Nemo let go of his hand. The hem of his robe was wrinkled by his grip. Now that the crisis had passed, he hesitated for a few seconds before cautiously picking up the cup in front of him and adjusted his posture by taking a drink.

Then he listened with interest.

The only thing Nemo had confidence in was the quantity of knowledge he possessed. However, he was quite picky about which books to read, so he didn’t bother with eccentric professional books or vague books on demons and monsters. However, he had always been full of interest in things like historical biographies.

He knew very well that there was no country or race on this continent that didn’t have faith. Atheists were as rare as superior demons that infiltrated the surface.

The elves had their own forest god, Celestine. The dwarves loved Mansfield, the god of fire. Even the dragons had their own dragon god, Dimitrios. These were just a few representative ones. In fact, there were often multiple religions within each race. The most common were humans, with Laddism having the absolute advantage in terms of numbers of believers and spread, but there were still all kinds of smaller religions that existed, and new sects continued to emerge in an endless stream. Besides demons and monsters, basically every intelligent creature had the opportunity to come into contact with at least three or more missionaries from different religions.

In this environment, except for individuals from extreme sects, it wasn’t impossible to change beliefs. Although it would make some people unhappy, it wouldn’t be considered “apostasy”. “Apostasy” referred specifically to a certain crime, a very serious crime.

It meant that the sinner had not only abandoned his faith, but had also betrayed everything on the surface, which was not a crime that any believer could simply commit. It only applied to high-ranking religious figures who had been found to be in cahoots with demons. If, as Ann said, that person was a former Knight of Judgement who had rebelled, then this joke would be a little too much.

Judging from the fanaticism of the Knights of Judgement, this kind of thing was tantamount to fire burning inside ice.

“To be honest, I don’t know the details,” Fenrir said. He shifted his target and began to glare at Oliver, sitting next to Nemo. “Few people are willing to talk about this matter. After all, no matter what the reason is, the loss of magic of a Chief Justice in the Knights of Judgement is an incredible scandal.”

“Loss of magic? Has he really lost his magic? I thought it was quite ridiculous to hear that he would use this as a trade with a superior demon.”

“I don’t think so,” Fenrir retorted dryly. “Do you remember the Battle of Kandal?”

“I remember.”

“It’s rumored that Cross has been unable to use magic since then.”

“That was two years ago?!”

“Yes, but the bishop of Garland didn’t expel him immediately. After all, a significant number of people still regard him as the prophetic swordsman. They removed Cross from his position as Chief Justice of the Knights of Judgement and asked him to be an inspector for inquisitions. My guess is that they were waiting for him to recover his strength.”

“They are really patient.” Ann curled her lips.

“Then a few months ago… I remember that it was snowing. Cross was found to be holding the transaction seal of a superior demon and was caught. I haven’t heard of his execution, so I’m guessing he’s still locked up in the dungeon of the Heretical Judgement Hall.”

“How terrible.” The female warrior knocked the wooden cup heavily on the oak table and splashed a few drops of golden mead onto the tablecloth. “I hope he can still move.”

“That’s all I know.” Fenrir stretched out his thumb and touched Ann’s wound. The blood line slowly dissipated in the air. “Why are you suddenly interested in him?”

“Because I, the biggest idiot in the world, was lazy when these two novices took on a task, and I didn’t expect that anyone would want to go on a date with Adrian Cross,” she replied sharply, grabbing a chicken leg from her plate and started chewing on it, oblivious to her appearance.

“…Is that so?” Compared to Ann, Fenrir’s eating was more elegant. “Who was the task applicant?”

“Joanna Edwards,” Nemo whispered.

Fenrir’s hand holding the fork almost stagnated for a few seconds.

“Oh,” he exclaimed. “With such a big accident this time, it’ll definitely not be our group’s turn to host the test next quarter. It should be much smoother next season, young man.”

“Do you know the applicant?” Ann spit the chicken leg bone in her mouth onto the plate. “Let’s hear it.”

“The time to ask questions is over.” Fenrir wiped his hands with a napkin and took out a parchment booklet and a charcoal pen. “I don’t need to answer your questions anymore. After all, I didn’t get much good information. Can you draw the picture first, Savage? I have other things to deal with.”

Ann rolled her eyes, grabbed the booklet with her oily hands, and rubbed the charcoal against the paper. Nemo leaned over, seeing a suspicious oil stain on the paper. Ann’s drawing was flawless. She used the charcoal pen to lightly sketch the scene of Pandorater being entangled by the shadow, which was exactly the same in Nemo’s memory.

“Here, take it.” Ann stuffed the charcoal pen and booklet back into Fenrir’s arms and wiped the charcoal ash from her fingers with a napkin. “Thank you for your generosity. Goodbye.”

Fenrir looked at the oily stains on the booklet, causing his facial muscles to twitch a few times. He picked up the parchment and looked at it, then nodded with a straight face. “Have a nice meal,” he said stiffly, picked up the booklet, and left.

Oliver and Nemo finally dared to pick up the tableware. The former was folding his napkin like someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder, while the latter was mechanically sipping on his drink, even though it had long been empty.

“Eat. You’re scared.” After Fenrir’s back completely disappeared from the door, Ann turned her attention back to the food in front of her. “Troy has already paid the bill, so you should eat more. I don’t understand why you two are so nervous. I mean, that guy can’t beat you, Oliver.”

“Still…” Oliver raised his fork and poked the meat that was sitting in front of him awkwardly. “Isn’t that guy regarded as some kind of law enforcement…?”

“…Listen, retaining the thoughts of a law-abiding citizen is not conducive to your task. Did you hear what he said? Cross is held inside the dungeon of the Heretical Judgement Hall.”

“So?” Oliver stopped his knife and fork; his voice sounded a bit desperate.

“So it’s better to try than to give up,” Ann said. “We can get him out and put him back.”

Nemo’s hand shook, causing the piece of potato he had in his fork to roll onto the tablecloth. Listening to her, it was like she thought the former Chief Justice would be as obedient as a kitten, and the dungeon of the Heretical Judgement Hall could be visited with just a ticket.

“I… I think…” Nemo pressed on his fork tightly. “I can’t. We can just wait another three months. We can participate in the next—”

“I need one hundred gold coins to register a second time.” The female warrior glanced at him. “And you—especially you—have definitely been targeted by the top.To be honest, I won’t be surprised if the next test will be hosted by the Knights of Judgement.”

Nemo snapped his fork in half and spat out the food from his mouth in shock.

“But…” Oliver seemed to plan to struggle a few more times.

“Anyway, let’s just go and have a look first, okay?” The female warrior appeased him reluctantly. “It’s not as crazy as you think. If Cross can’t use magic, he can only follow us honestly, unless he’s one of those rare masochists. As for the dungeon… If they haven’t changed their habits, then we really have a chance. Besides, Light must go to Hailam to collect information. The situation can’t be that bad. No one would openly challenge the Laddism Church, so don’t worry.”

While the food tasted good, the meal those two ate felt much heavier. Ann maintained her elusive habit and separated from them in front of the restaurant, not bothering to explain to them where she was going. She just asked the two of them to walk around casually and meet back at the inn after sunset.

“Your information has been recorded into the guild. Wear the black badge and walk around with peace of mind. Now, no bounty hunt will touch you.” She even threw them a small bag of coins, as if coaxing a thirteen-year-old boy.

Nemo carried the pouch and stood on the side of the street with Oliver, not knowing where to go for a while.

“Well.” Oliver probably thought it wasn’t appropriate to be standing sculptures on the street, so he took the lead. “It’s not far away… Shall we go to the Dawn Tavern and have a look?”

Nemo slowly turned his head. “Can we not go in?” he said bitterly, stuffing the silent and stiff grey parrot into his backpack. “How about we just look from outside?” He didn’t really feel at ease.

When they got there, the Dawn Tavern was much more normal looking than what he had imagined. Compared with the decoration of the tavern, the appearance of the two of them sneaking around on the street during daylight was even more suspicious. However, they’ve learned a lot these past few days. Curiosity killed the cat. The two of them walked around the tavern and agreed that it would be more realistic to go to the market to buy some of Noer’s specialties instead.

Nemo took off the collar of his robe, turned around, and almost ran into the person standing behind him head-on.

The tall man was just one step away from the two of them and was watching them quietly. His long gray hair was softly draped on his shoulders, and his eyes were a pure orange color; an extremely rare eye color. The man was well dressed, with not even a single button missing. The style looked like he was a waiter.

“Sorry, I thought the two of you were guests.” He smiled slightly. “Why don’t you come in and sit down?”

Nemo was stunned.

“…No thanks.” Seeing that Nemo didn’t speak, Oliver quickly laughed a few times and hurriedly dragged the stunned Nemo away from the tavern. He walked around into a crowded small market and stood in front of a bakery.

“Have you seen him before?” He let go of the hand that was holding Nemo’s arm.

“No,” Nemo responded slowly. “Uh, how can I put it… It might sound a bit…”

It’s not like he didn’t want to tell Oliver, but he didn’t know how to describe that feeling. Nemo was pretty sure that it wasn’t a negative emotion, but he couldn’t find any suitable positive description. He knew that he had never seen the man before, but at that moment, some small emotion suddenly swelled and exploded. If he insisted on using a word to describe it, it would be close to “relief”.

That emotion wasn’t strong, but he was troubled by it.

“It may be a reaction between demon worshippers or demon warlocks.” Nemo found a reason for himself. “It must be. Those eyes… They don’t look like human eyes.”

He didn’t know why, but he didn’t hate them.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

I decided not to put in some of the author’s comments as they contain a lot of spoilers.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 22: Information Exchange

“Have you heard of Adrian Cross?” Nemo rubbed the blood stains on his hair laboriously as he asked Oliver, who was outside the bathroom. Oliver had washed himself first and was now already paralyzed on the bed.

It was midsummer, so the small inn didn’t bother to heat up the water. It only provided a few large buckets of cold water that was warmed by the sun. Nemo carefully poured water on his body for fear that he would run out of water before he finished washing. The process of cleaning up all the blood stains and sludge was so boring that he couldn’t help but talk to someone. Right now, Oliver was the only one there.

“No…” Oliver’s voice came from outside the door. The voice was a little muffled. He seemed to have stuffed his face into the blanket or pillow.

Although the topic didn’t start, Nemo’s mind still stirred for a few seconds. With blankets and pillows to lie on, he couldn’t imagine anything more wonderful than this at the moment. Although they weren’t clean and still had a subtle musty smell, it could only be said that people’s adaptability was truly amazing. Although Nemo’s life was poor before, he had lived cleanly. In just a few days, his requirements for quality of life had plummeted precipitously.

Nemo sadly pulled a small piece of demon’s flesh off his arm and sighed. He looked at his arms; his skin was pale and smooth, and there weren’t any traces of scarring. He twisted his arm hard, trying to find a place where it might be deformed, but he found nothing. There were no strange bumps in his joints, and there were no ulcers or parts that didn’t belong to humans.

He finished pouring the last bucketful of water, wrapped a bath towel around his waist, and pushed the door out.

Oliver was lying face down on the bed, like Nemo had thought. He was wearing a new loose shirt and remained motionless, as if he had already fallen asleep. Nemo hesitated for a few seconds before stretching out his wet hands and patting Oliver on the neck. It made him bounce off the bed immediately, causing Nemo to almost slip when he took a step back in shock.

“Sorry, I thought…”

“No, no. It’s my fault. I should’ve said something first. Oliver, I want to ask you for a favor.”

“You… Wait a minute first. I remember I put your clothes on the wooden rack in the bathroom. Did you—”

“I’ll wear it in a bit.” Nemo sincerely interrupted Oliver. “If Bagelmaurus is truly a superior demon, I must have undergone some deformation somewhere. I tried to confirm it while I was washing, but I didn’t find anything unusual, except for my back. I can’t see back there.”

It was originally a simple thing, but when Nemo was talking, there was a little bit of scaredness in his voice. Oliver swallowed his spit and rubbed his butt against the bed as he moved. It was one thing to face a weird-looking demon, but it was another thing to have something strange growing out on your companion.

Nemo turned around with a solemn expression, facing his back towards Oliver.

Oliver breathed a sigh of relief.

Nemo’s back was normal, and there were no faces or weird organs that shouldn’t be there. The curtains were drawn, and the light in the room was a little dim. The pale back of the black-haired young man even gave the illusion that he was slightly glowing. Nemo lifted his dripping hair, revealing the entire back of his neck. The skin on his back was smooth and flawless, and although pale, it didn’t look sickly at all. The muscles weren’t as exaggerated as those of a warrior, but they were enough to be considered strong and attractive.

“It’s normal… There’s nothing special.” Oliver rubbed his nose. There was a sudden, subtle discomfort in his tone.

“It seems that the problem can only be internal. Perhaps like an enlarged heart or something.” Nemo let go of his drenched hair and shook the water off his hand, feeling relieved. “It’s good. At least it’s not easy to be discovered.”

He then shuffled back into the bathroom briskly, and quickly changed into his underwear and robe. The fabrics were ordinary, different from Oliver’s shirt, and there was no doubt that they were clothes for a mage.

Before he had even had the chance to use his staff, he had lost it in the Frontier Forest. At the rate this was going, it was estimated that they would not be able to repay the money they owed Ann even after taking on a lifetime of tasks. Nemo wiped his hair vigorously with a bath towel, and his mood turned bitter again.

“You… Come here.” Oliver sat down by the bed and greeted him with some hesitation.

“Lower your head slightly.”

Nemo did so stiffly. Oliver stood up, stretched out his hands and pressed them on both sides of Nemo’s head, as if to cover his ears. Nemo felt soft warmth coming from those hands, like warm water was brushing through his hair. The moist water vapor was steaming, but he didn’t feel the slightest discomfort from the heat.

The tips of his dark hair had become fluffy from being wet, but no water droplets slid down Nemo’s neck. Nemo raised his head and tied his hair skillfully with a hair tie, just in time to meet Oliver’s gaze. The two stood extremely close. When he raised his arm, he almost hit Oliver’s shoulder.

“Thank you,” Nemo said, taking half a step back, showing a big smile. “You’re more suitable to wear this than me. We should get two mage robes. Are you hungry? I remember Ann saying…”

Suddenly, a bang sounded.

The two of them almost put on their fighting posture. Oliver was the first to discover the source of the sound. It was the gray parrot slamming its head into the glass window of the room and was slowly sliding down.

“Hey, it’s back.” Nemo opened the window while the gray parrot flapped its wings embarrassingly and flew into the room.

“…It doesn’t look good.” Oliver stared at the parrot’s messy feathers.

Contrary to how it normally acted, the parrot shrank on Nemo’s shoulder and remained silent.

“Where have you been?” Nemo tried to talk to it, but the latter closed its mouth tightly and didn’t say a word. Even if it was a normal parrot, it could still learn and be able to say a few words.

“…Forget it. Let’s go find Ann first.”

It was almost noon, and they hadn’t eaten anything in the past day, so they were starving. However, the hunger seemed to have been forgotten by them; at least Nemo didn’t feel hungry at all. His stomach seemed to disappear without a trace. He thought it was just going to be a simple lunch together, but as a result, when they got to the table, they could clearly see who was sitting there. Oliver coughed heavily, and Nemo turned pale and almost walked back out, but Ann grabbed him by his lapel just in time and pressed him to the nearest chair.

Troy Fenrir raised his eyebrows.

“These are your new teammates?” He said, looking with interest at the gray parrot with a wooden expression that was sitting on Nemo’s shoulder.

“Yes. I may have owed them a treasury in my previous life,” Ann said calmly, most likely holding back some true emotions in her reply. She had changed into a new leather armor. She sat down carelessly and poured herself a cupful of mead.

“This is… your friend?” Oliver asked cautiously, slowly covering the black badge pinned to his left chest with his right hand.

“Hard to say. We occasionally do business, but it’s a bad relationship.” Ann shrugged. “Troy Fenrir, the leader of the Steel Wolf Mercenary. I think you have already met,” she added insincerely.

Fenrir’s hawk-like eyes swept towards the two of them. Oliver straightened his back subconsciously, while Nemo lowered his head and began to count the embroidery stitches on the edge of the tablecloth.

“They’re just two kids. Don’t scare them.” Ann jabbed the mercenary’s arm with her elbow, causing Fenrir to finally retract his gaze. “Speak quickly if you have something to say. The food will be coming soon, and I’m so hungry that I could eat a bear. I may not have time to talk with my mouth later.”

“How much do you know about Pandorater?” The mercenary turned his head sideways and stared straight into Ann’s amber eyes. “The group of refugees were all frightened and didn’t know anything when we asked them. The wanted criminals ran away when they saw me but were full of bullshit when we caught them. You should know something about it, Savage.”

Nemo held his breath and counted the stitches more intently.

“I do know a little.” Ann didn’t have a trace of nervousness on her face. “Old rules. The Pact of Truth. Exchange information for information.”

“What do you want to know?”

“About Adrian Cross,” the female warrior’s tone was steady. “I need some information beyond rumors.”

“Deal.”

Having said that, Fenrir took out a blank piece of parchment paper. The two of them stretched out their thumbs and, without hesitation, bit it, then drew a complex array on it. After the array was completed, two thin lines of blood poked out from the heart of the formation and wrapped around the wrists of the two of them.

“Let’s get started,” Ann said indifferently. “You go first.”

Nemo finally stopped focusing on counting the stitches. He couldn’t help but raise his head and look curiously at the floating blood in the air, as if they would break at any moment.

“It’s the Pact of Truth,” he whispered excitedly to Oliver. “This is the first time I have seen it.”

“First question, how did you know that it was Pandorater?”

“I have read about it in books,” Ann replied without hesitation. “Its characteristics are obvious.”

“…There is not much information about superior demons in books. Where on earth did you get it from…?”

“That has nothing to do with what you want to ask,” Ann responded calmly. “Are you planning to use the Pact of Truth to spy on a woman’s personal privacy?”

Fenrir gritted his teeth. There was nothing he could do. The blood line was not broken, which meant Ann did not lie.

“Okay, fine. Did you return after repelling the worm? Did you see anyone else approaching?”

“None of us did. Didn’t it get ripped apart by Pandorater?” Ann raised an eyebrow. “Could it be that something went wrong before that? Let me think… Who seriously injured it? No, it seems someone had killed it.” She widened her beautiful eyes and stared at Fenrir’s eyes.

“I’m the one asking the questions.” The mercenary’s face darkened.

“Sorry, please continue.”

“What did Pandorater do after she appeared? …Be detailed. Tell me everything until it disappeared.” Fenrir stood up from his seat and propped his hand on the table, swaying the blood line precariously.

“It spread out and slaughtered everything; its usual practice.” The tone of the female warrior was colder this time. “Then it suddenly gathered, as if it was bound by something, and it didn’t take long…” she made a gesture of spreading out, “before it disappeared with a bang.”

“Bound?”

“Yes. Entangled by something black. Who knows what it was… At least I’ve never seen it before.”

“Did anyone take the initiative to approach it?”

Oliver clenched his first, while Nemo tightened his hand that was clenching his robe under the table.

“I didn’t see anyone approaching it.” The female warrior picked up her glass of mead with her other free hand and took a few sips from it. “Of course, I didn’t hear anyone say they’d deal with it. It was fighting with that black thing, so it might have encountered some natural enemies.”

“That’s a superior demon, not an ordinary monster. They don’t encounter natural enemies so easily on the surface. I haven’t heard of any Knights of Judgement passing by, unless there was also a demon warlock present…” The mercenary sat back in his chair. He took his gaze away from Ann and directed it sharply at Nemo again, sending a chill down Nemo’s neck. “…Otherwise, nothing can stop it.”

“I said I don’t know. When I came back, I didn’t find any testers that were mixed with demon warlocks. That was originally your problem, no? If you’re interested in that black thing, I can draw you a picture of it… But I wasn’t close to it, so I may miss some details.”

“…Fine.” Fenrir sighed. “What about this kid? What’s his identity?” Just when Nemo thought the inquiry was about to come to an end, the mercenary asked directly.

“As far as I know, demon worshiper,” Ann snorted, answering without hesitation. “Look at him. Even if you stand still, he will probably be unable to stab you with a knife. Do you think I would be stupid enough to bring someone like that to see you?”

Ann raised her head, with a face full of confidence. Fenrir squinted at the blood line on her wrist. The thin red line had not disconnected.

“Give me the drawing in a while. I have nothing else to ask for the time being. Now it’s your turn, Savage.”

The smile on Ann’s face faded, and she thought for a moment.

“Adrian Cross, the ‘Shining Morning Star’… I only know that he has indeed been stripped of the title of a Knight of Judgement. Troy, tell me, is he really an apostate?”

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 21: First Task

Bagelmaurus stared at the silver candlestick, trying to distract itself. The silvery and delicate patterns reflected an intoxicating halo in the firelight, which was a view that could never be seen in the Abyss.

It knew that it wasn’t special. It was born as an intermediate demon, fully inheriting the traits of a Corewen Flat Snake, which were innately afraid of things. They survive by swallowing the bodies of other demons. Compared to other races, their strong digestion was the only thing special about them. After all, not every demon could extract residual magic from rotten flesh.

Because they were amazingly timid, most of them didn’t even know how to spell the word courage. The Corewen Flat Snake, which could eventually turn into a superior demon, theoretically had unlimited potential, provided that they could actually live long enough and could devour large quantities of magical corpses from superior level demons.

That was such a place in the Abyss.

However, superior demons didn’t like their corpses being devoured, especially by a group of nobodies. When their lifespan approached its limit, most of them chose to fall to the bottom of the Abyss, the Demon King’s territory, that was empty and silent, filled with thick darkness. Only a very small number of superior demons who were particularly confident in their own power would dare set foot there for food. It was rumored that there were still some strange races that the demons themselves didn’t know about that could survive the cold darkness, but most didn’t care about the rare numbers of outliers.

They just needed to know that it was the best place for eternal rest.

Since it inherited the glorious trait from its ancestors that filled its very bones, it was naturally impossible for Bagelmaurus to wander to such a desolated place by itself. It was dragging its massive body through the lava one day when a dying thing fell into the Abyss and brushed up against it. The huge body of a superior demon smashed into the rock platform, shattering it to pieces, and its curled horn had hooked Bagelmaurus’ body, causing it to faint.

It didn’t know how much longer later, but when it woke up, it was at the bottom of the Abyss and found that it was held in the demon’s hand like a broken hemp rope. It stiffened in shock and its countless eyes on the edge of its body turned frantically. It was already considered big among the Corewen Flat Snakes; its body stretched out more than 500 meters, but at this moment, something was holding its tail, and even then, its head couldn’t touch the ground.

Its eyes were all turned in one direction, seeing three huge red eyeballs looking back at it in the dense darkness. It had never felt such terrifying magic pressure, and the scorching power made it unable to even faint. Bagelmaurus stopped thinking momentarily. Its body stiffened even more, desperately trying to muddle through by pretending to be dead.

The three weird eyeballs pressed closer, causing a sharp pain to radiate from his back. Bagelmaurus trembled all over at once, waiting in boundless fear for the swallowing and chewing to commence. That surely would be even more painful…

However, death didn’t come.

Something scorching seeped into its body through the wound, and the flat snake let out a silent wail. The blood in its whole body was boiling, and the pain hurt so much that it wanted to die in that instant. Amidst the overwhelming pain and burning, Bagelmaurus curled its body into a tight ball, and finally fainted.

When it woke up, it found that it was wrapped in a thick cocoon of flesh. The huge monster had already left, leaving Bagelmaurus with a body surging with endless magic. It was still in disbelief from being smashed by the pie that fell from the sky. It recklessly collided in the dark and left the bottom of the Abyss quickly.

The ecstasy of the rest of its life was mixed with inexplicable joy, almost breaking all four of its hearts. It could finally leave here. Although intermediate demons weren’t restricted by the rules of the Abyss; they could freely enter and exit at their will, but with their pitiful power, they would be beaten to the ground by other powerful races within a few steps of setting out of the Abyss, let alone exploring the surface.

It had wandered around in the middle of the Abyss for several years and finally found out the specific way to leave the Abyss. It happily took its own flesh and practiced with expectation…

Yet fate slapped it harshly.

Fucking Light. Fucking Vance. Fuck everything. The gray parrot was stumbling as it talked, while falling into endless chagrin. Perhaps from the moment that it was dragged into the bottom of the Abyss by that superior demon, its luck had not improved at all.

“Three giant red eyes.” Vance completely ignored the gray parrot’s bad mood and looked contemplative. “Listening to your description, it looks like the tenth generation, the three-eyed corpse dragon.”

“I don’t know,” the parrot replied weakly.

“Do you know what generation it is now?” Vance smiled more intensely. “Now is the 19^th generation of the Demon King. Little guy, if you’re not lying, you’ve been asleep for nearly two thousand years… You don’t know how much I hope you aren’t lying.”

The superior demon who was masquerading inside the human body raised his arms, seemingly having no intention of respecting its elders.

“According to you, your piece of flesh was taken away by a human… This is the first time I’ve heard of this kind of thing after living for so many years.”

“Maybe… Maybe I’m not very skilled. I was just an intermediate demon before, you know…”

“Enough.” The crystal pillar by the candlestick suddenly made a sound. It was obvious that Vance wasn’t the only one who was listening. “That’s enough, Vance. We can get Light and study him ourselves.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“This bird does not have the aura of the Demon King. I just checked its body, and its flesh does smell like a superior demon, but its current power is undoubtedly only that of an intermediate demon. It’s just that ordinary flesh segmentation won’t cause this. At least I don’t know who can do such a thing, Telaranea.”

“There are no relevant examples. That’s why I propose catching Light. Aren’t you curious?”

“If this trash isn’t lying, it can only mean one thing.”

“…You’re not…”

“All the power belonging to the Demon King was taken away by Light, which can indeed explain Pandorater’s behavior. I don’t think a mere flat snake has the ability to tell such a lie. Listen, that Light doesn’t seem to be willing to enter this ‘side’. I believe he will seek the truth himself. It’s enough to keep an eye on them for now.”

“Vance.” There was a bit more coldness from the hearty male’s voice. “You have no right to restrain me.”

“But I can kill you,” Vance answered briskly, licking the corner of his lips.

The gray parrot desperately moved into the shadow of the candlestick, trying to reduce its sense of presence.

“It’s just a trivial curiosity. I believe you can overcome it,” Vance added softly. “We have more important things to do, don’t we?”

There was a long silence from the crystal.

“…Although I think it’s unlikely,” the voice sounded again with the same icy tone. “Aren’t you too deeply influenced by humans? Vance, we all know that the ‘Demon King’ is just a title from humans’ wishful thinking. It is not our king and does not need the bullshit of loyalty from our group of small characters. To us, it’s just a monster among monsters.”

Vance Talbott did not answer. He lifted the trembling gray parrot up and drew a virtual circle in the air with his other hand. A black mantra climbed onto the parrot’s neck, causing it to tremble more severely.

“Shh… Good boy. Don’t be afraid,” he said softly. “This is just a small insurance. If you mention today’s event in any way, it will blow you up into beautiful flowers of blood. Please keep this in mind.”

He let go of his hand, and the gray parrot fled away from the dark basement, completely forgetting that it had wings.

Meanwhile, the two who were still in the registration office were inexplicably relieved about it.

“I really haven’t seen it.” Nemo touched his nose awkwardly and took his gaze away from Oliver’s face. “Ann said it could find me. You see, it’s probably a sup…. Well, you know. Nothing should happen to it. Besides, its power is still with me!”

For the first time in Oliver’s life, he came into contact with an unwilling demon worshiper or a suspected demon warlock. He had nothing to say, so he nodded.

“It’s not convenient for me to squeeze through, so hurry up and take a look at the taskbar.” Ann had already collapsed in the corner and threw the small lead cube around her neck in Nemo’s direction. “Hurry up, so you still have some selection available… Remember to pick the one near Heilam!”

Nemo lightly grabbed the flying piece of metal, dragged Oliver into the crowd, and used the latter as a shield to open the way. Seeing the two of them coming, the crowd happily let out a gap. The smile of the female employee remained still, as if it was painted on her face. She took the three lead squares handed over by Nemo, made a gesture, and then three dim black badges suddenly fell into Nemo’s palm.

Nemo couldn’t help but look down for a few seconds. The black badges were heavy. There was a living lizard carved on the front, and a simple magic array on the back, with the holder’s name. It’s just that the magic array looked grayed-out and didn’t seem like it could be used. 

“All lizards?” he couldn’t help asking aloud.

“Your team’s rating hasn’t been reduced or increased. This is a tentative comprehensive rating,” the girl said sweetly. “Please pour your magic into your black badge and choose your task.”

Nemo squeezed the black badge with a sucking force, but it didn’t help stimulate any magic. The black badge lay quietly between his fingers, unresponsive.

It seemed like his usual state had returned. Nemo immediately cast a look of help at Oliver.

Oliver touched his black badge with his fingertips, and in the next second, a page-sized light screen appeared in front of them densely lined with rows of tasks. New ones would appear from time to time while old ones were removed.

“You can specify the country or city, as well as the task type.” The female employee made no secret of her concern for the two of them. “Lingua franca, as long as the pronunciation is standard enough.”

“Garland, Heilam.” Oliver cleared his throat. “Task type… uh, task type…”

“How about looking for people or things?” Nemo said. “Seems safer.”

“But isn’t there a task limit for the Advance Black Chapter? Will this kind of task not… have…”

The two of them stared at the results that appeared in real time, seeing a task quietly lying there.

“Take it quickly.” Nemo poked at the flashing line of text, then found in frustration that his touch was ineffective. “Oh… I hate this design.”

The task description was very short, unlike the type that should appear in the scope of a Black Chapter’s task.

“I want to talk face-to-face with Adrian Cross. The deposit is prepaid, and the remuneration is negotiable. The client, ‘Joanna Edwards’, is located in Heilam. There are no limits to the trustee.” Oliver read, frowning slightly. “Isn’t this a little…” Ordinary, but it looked suspicious.

“Maybe it was just posted. It could be just a couple’s quarrel. Oh, just pick it first! It’s now or never, my friend!” Nemo snapped his fingers anxiously. Just now, he could see a lot of task titles, such as ‘hunting ten mutant griffons’ and ‘handling plague corpses’, disappearing. Compared with those tasks, this one seemed quite ordinary.

Oliver touched the fingerprint mark next to the task, and a piece of parchment full of instructions for the contract instantly appeared in front of them. Nemo read it quickly. It was full of long-winded official rhetoric, but there was nothing substantial. Oliver seemed to have discovered this too. He stretched out his finger and signed the contract. As soon as he moved his finger away, the roll of parchment paper became solid and fell slowly in front of him.

“That’s it?” Nemo looked at the roll of parchment with novelty.

“…Probably.” Oliver rolled up the parchment, not sounding too sure. “Let’s go and tell Ann.”

“You got it? How quick.” Ann leaned back in the corner and nodded at the parchment roll in Oliver’s hand. “What’s the task?”

“It was commissioned by a lady,” Nemo said. “She wants to meet Adrian Cross.”

“Looking for someone. Not bad… Wait who? Who does she want to meet with?”

“Adrian Cross.”

“…Who?!”

The two of them finally realized something was wrong. Nemo and Oliver glanced at each other deeply.

“Adrian Cross…”

“…Sooner or later, you two will be the death of me.” Ann’s hunting spear landed with a clang on the ground as she buried her face in her hands. “Fuck, we’re screwed.”

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 20: The Demon’s Flesh and Blood

It was not the pain that awakened Ann, but the numbness and itching caused by the rapid healing of her wounds. Her sweaty clothes clung to the wounds on her skin, giving her the feeling that her skin was rotting. ‘Maybe it wasn’t an illusion, but this was what death should look like,’ Ann thought dimly.

She tried to move her fingers, but they seemed to be buried deep in the mud at the bottom of a marsh as she couldn’t even lift a single one. An orange light passed through her eyelids, and it exhausted all her strength to lift them. From the small gap, two dirty faces immediately filled her field of vision, causing the female soldier to reflexively close her eyes.

“She’s awake! I just saw her blink!” Nemo proclaimed excitedly.

Ann turned her eyes laboriously. The sunrise in the summer came early. Half the sky was already bathed in bright blue that belonged to the day. Of course, she didn’t miss the eye-catching huge icicles, which helped her put together most of the facts about the events of last night without much difficulty.

She opened her mouth and tried her best to ignore the pain in her throat caused by thirst.

“Who hit me?” Ann whispered in a hoarse voice.

They probably didn’t think that the first sentence out of her mouth would be this, which caused Nemo to take a step back subconsciously. “It’s me…” he responded unconvincingly. “I… I thought you were burning out with magic.”

“I’m not planning on doing anything to you.” Ann leaned her mouth close to the water bag that Oliver handed over. She ignored the stains on the opening and swallowed its contents greedily. “I want to know how you survive… Was it really abyssal magic?”

“Can you use abyssal magic?!” Nemo yelled, his gaze drawn subconsciously to Oliver.

“No, it’s a spell drawn in a spell book.” Ann didn’t bother to explain, as usual. “It’s just more expensive to use.”

Oliver looked a little disappointed, but he hid it well.

“I poked it with my finger to see if my resilience could keep up.” Nemo rubbed his fingers. “The way you looked at that time was terrible. I didn’t dare think too much. It didn’t hurt my finger, so I closed my eyes and rushed up. You know what happened next.”

Ann stared silently at the black-haired young man whose face was covered with an unknown liquid. It seemed that her world was destined not to loosen a single corner. She wanted to grab his collar and shout at him that this kind of shit couldn’t happen, but since the impossible did happen, and she was exhausted to the point where she couldn’t even move a finger, the female warrior decided to pivot in a different direction, choosing instead to believe that the magic array was fake or shoddy and had insignificant stamina. At least this conjecture would not make her head hurt so much.

“…Maybe I should send you to the inquisition,” she sighed faintly, determined not to ask about the superior demon for the time being, as to give her nerves a chance to calm down. “Forget it.”

“So is the test over?” Oliver looked a little guilty. “Uh… Maybe I should break the ice wall. We’re surrounded now, so it’ll be hard for the mercenaries to come in.”

“They’ve already run away a long time ago.” Ann slowly showed an ambiguous smile. Nemo noticed a bit of schadenfreude from it. “I really look forward to the expression Fenrir will show.”

“How much?!” Troy Fenrir’s spit splashed onto Thorne’s face, which splattered on the round-rimmed glasses he was wearing. Thorne lowered his face, took off his glasses, and wiped them with his sleeves.

“One hundred and twenty-four squares are still active,” the red-haired young man put on his glasses and repeated with dissatisfaction. “There are still one hundred and twenty-four participants that are still alive in Noer’s examination room. One fifth, captain. That’s nearly one-fifth of the original people.”

“What’s wrong with Pandorater?” Fenrir paced back and forth irritably, like a beast trapped in a cage. “I wouldn’t have done it like this!”

Thorne shrugged, apparently not bothered by it. “Who knows? She’s just a little girl. A little girl’s mind is hard to guess.” He even pulled out a smile, showing off his snow-white teeth.

“I said don’t make such metaphors.”

“…Sorry, captain. So, what should we do now? The person who attacked the worm must still be alive.”

“Go through the normal process. They can’t blame us for Pandorater’s abnormality. There are too many people who survived this time. The litigation team must have been eyeing them, waiting for the Mercenary Guild to turn its face and deny it; Pandorater’s affairs haven’t been clarified yet, so no one wants to take this responsibility.”

“Only the Abyss can affect the Abyss.” Thorne pushed on his glasses. “Do you want to take ‘special care’ of the demon worshiper regarding this issue?”

“Report truthfully.” Fenrir’s expression was stiff. He didn’t want to wipe their ass for headquarters’ mistakes. Pandorater was not only used for cleaning the examination room but was also very active on various battlefields. It had never been destroyed, and no one expected that there would be survivors, let alone the size of the current survivors that was large enough for a bonfire party. “Gather the team and come pick them up with me.”

When the mercenaries arrived through the teleportation array, Oliver had just laboriously broken the icicle wall. Nemo was staring at him discontentedly. The healer had cured Oliver’s left arm and warned him to have a good rest for the next few days, but he just turned his head and shook it. Fortunately, someone had enthusiastically provided Oliver with a long sword this time, so at least he was using his dominant hand.

Although the sword didn’t last long, when Troy Fenrir stepped on the wreckage of ice, Oliver hadn’t had time to drop the hilt of the sword yet.

Fenrir’s expression was a bit distorted. He ignored Oliver and raised his head to look around. People were crowded together like quails, their eyes half alert and half pleading. When Nemo realized that the mercenary leader’s gaze was aimed at him, his whole body shivered from head to toe.

“Will they find out? Will they find out that I did it? I really didn’t mean to!” Nemo grabbed Oliver, who was approaching. “Oh god, will I be taken away?”

“I don’t think anyone saw you.” Oliver touched his chin. “Except for me.”

It was written all over Nemo’s face that his gaze towards Oliver was full of camaraderie. He almost hooked his arms around Oliver’s shoulder to deepen the relationship. Oliver faintly patted him on the shoulder.

“Congratulations,” Fenrir, the mercenary leader, announced dryly, without the slightest hint of congratulatory in his tone. “Congratulations everyone. You’ve passed half the test. We will set up a portal for you now. You can use the lead square as a temporary black badge when you go back. Someone over there will explain the rest.”

He recited his lines and threw the words at their faces, then turned his back and walked through the portal first, as if he would get some terrible disease if he stayed with them for another second. Nemo swore that he heard Ann desperately suppressing her laughter.

People were much more positive this time than when they first entered. They swarmed up and squeezed into the portal in a disorderly manner until one of the mercenaries flashed his big sword. Nemo and Oliver helped Ann walk slowly to the end of the line. Oliver seemed a little distracted, as he raised his head from time to time, looking around.

“What?” Nemo was a little nervous, fearing that another legendary monster would jump out.

“Don’t you think we forgot something?” Oliver asked in confusion.

“If you mean my backpack… It was bitten off by one of those monsters when we were fighting. Don’t you remember?”

“It’s not the backpack.”

“The water bag? That’s the healer’s stuff.”

“…It’s not a water bag either.”

“Then it’s probably something not important. Let’s go back first.”

“Okay.”

After passing through the portal, the air seemed to have a more civilized smell. They returned to the familiar backyard where they started. The sun was warm, and people’s laughter came from near the courtyard. Everything was peaceful and stable, like always. The blood and death that they left behind instantly became ethereal, as if it was some overly realistic nightmare.

Many people crawled down to kiss the ground under their feet. Their dirty faces were full of tears when they raised their heads. Thinking about how much larger the original group was, Nemo suddenly felt indescribably sad.

“Now I’ll give you an hour to reorganize your team. Please be sure to keep the number of people at three or more,” a gentle and amiable-looking girl announced, though the contents of her speech had nothing to do with the words “gentle and amiable”. “We’ll give you black badges that have not been activated according to your group. If you’re dissatisfied with the black badge level or your teammates, you can adjust your team as you please before the task is completed, but please also note that if the first task fails, it will count as a failure for all members of your team for the test. In addition, if you are expelled from your team during the task and are not accepted by another team, you will be deemed to have failed as well.”

She bowed slightly with a smile on her face and retreated behind a wooden desk, ignoring the survivors who were panicking.

Originally, Nemo thought that this hour was a free opportunity to rest, but in the next second, people flocked to him, crowding him to the point where he was almost suffocating.

“The three of you are in a group, right? Please let me join—”

“I have children with me…”

“Gentlemen, I won’t cause you any trouble!”

Nemo backed away, and Oliver was almost squeezed under the table. Although Ann was still very weak and was using her hunting spear as a crutch, she threw it on the ground causing many people to flinch in front of the lightning.

“I’m very sorry. There were some minor issues, so your black badges are estimated to come a little late.” The female employee who had just explained things stood up again, snapped her fingers, and a huge piece of parchment appeared out of thin air. There were originally 600 names on it, but now only about 100 were still clearly visible. The rest had all turned into light gray marks.

“You can see your rating after your name. This is the headquarters’ estimate based on your performance in the test. Please choose your teammates carefully. If you choose a dangerous companion, the danger level of your team will also increase. I believe everyone knows what this means.”

People eventually dispersed and rushed to the parchment. Nemo patted his chest with difficulty, smoothing it out. His eyesight had always been good, so he could barely see from this distance.

“Owl, owl, owl, jackal, owl… Ann, what are these? I’ve read about it in books but—”

“These refer to the number of eyes and the bad taste of the Mercenary Guild.” Ann was holding on to her hunting spear, barely able to stand firm. “The owl is the lowest level. It likes to keep one eye open, right? The lower the number, the better. After all, the more dangerous it is, the more vigilant you’ll have to be, and the harder it’ll be to receive easy and simple tasks.”

“Lizards and snakes have two eyes, right?” Nemo confirmed it cautiously. “Oliver’s name is followed by a lizard, and mine’s a snake. Ann, your name is followed by a jackal. Don’t jackals also have two eyes…? How is this all assessed?”

Ann stared at the ceiling in silence.

“The wedge-toothed lizard has three eyes, and the rattlesnake has four. The jackal really only has two eyes,” she struggled to explain a few minutes later. The scene of these two little bastards fighting the worm was definitely monitored by the guild. Fortunately, after the superior demon came, they should have taken away all the surveillance bugs; otherwise, their level may have soared all the way to the top. The disappearance of the superior demon was definitely related to these two boys.

Nemo scratched his nose that had demon’s blood caked on it. When it dried up, it made his skin itchy. If he was being honest, he had no intuitive understanding of these levels. “It’s not just me, there are two names with…”

“Abstain,” A man with deformed insects crawling on his chest said bitterly. “I can’t accept starting as a snake.”

“I also abstain.” This time it was a girl with black eyes who spoke. She had a sharp voice, and there was a centipede with fat eyes wrapped around her neck.

The young female employee smiled and nodded, and the two names on the parchment instantly blurred into light gray handwriting.

“…It’s gone.” Nemo added dryly.

“They are demon worshippers,” Ann said. “Only the Abyss can affect the Abyss…”

“Whether I want to or not… This will drag you down.” Nemo flinched a little.

“You don’t need to worry about me. I don’t care anyway.” Ann responded firmly. Don’t, she thought to herself. Next time, the rating might be even higher. “How about you? Do you mind, Oliver?”

She found Oliver was fast asleep under the table.

Ann exhaled hard and wanted to faint again. Fortunately, as soon as Nemo’s level came out, no one came to bother them about joining their team. Nemo looked around and found an abandoned wooden table. He wanted to lie on it to sleep peacefully. As soon as he closed his eyes and began drifting off, Oliver, who was next to him, suddenly raised his head and yelled, slamming into the bottom of the table.

“I remember,” Oliver murmured, rubbing his head. “I remember what we forgot… Nemo, where’s Bagelmaurus?”

The gray parrot’s mood at this time was very similar to Ann’s. If it could faint on the spot, it would do so immediately. It stood on a beautiful wooden table, shrinking its neck, as all its feathers exploded. The man in front of it had a gentle smile, but there was no smile in his orange eyes.

“First introduce yourself. I am Vance Talbott, your kind,” he said. “Don’t be nervous. Relax… I just want to have a friendly chat with you.”

While the man told it to relax, the magic pressure he was exuding made the gray parrot breathless. It was smashed into a meat patty by the invisible force. This man was most definitely doing it on purpose. He was threatening it, the gray parrot thought bitterly.

“My friend and I are very curious about why Pandorater would self-destruct for you… Although that kind of weak race will instinctively sacrifice itself to the strong, with all due respect, you don’t have that level of power.”

He smiled and lit the table, causing the gray parrot to scream in pain.

“I said—I said! I… My race is the Corewen Flat Snake. This is all a misunderstanding. I just… I just…” Its voice was breaking to the point of cracking. “…I just devoured a small piece of the Demon King’s flesh!”

“You’re lying.” The man who claimed to be Vance narrowed his eyes, and the invisible pressure in the air doubled almost immediately. “As long as a superior demon is still alive, the gift of flesh must be voluntary. You mean to tell me…” He paused. “There’s someone out there who willingly gave you his flesh—a Corewen Flat Snake, the most famous coward in the Abyss?”

“How should I know what he was thinking?!” the parrot howled sadly. “I was still an intermediate demon at the time. I didn’t even volunteer!”

It was about to cry.

“I really don’t know anything!”

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