Chapter 40 : Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Sand Hell (3)

“There are quite a lot of them.”

“Yeah. Polarin, you okay?”

Eidon and Keldric returned after wiping out the horde of demonic beasts.

“Yes, thanks to both of you, I’m alive. Thank you.”

I expressed my gratitude to them.

Eidon waved his hand dismissively, accepting my thanks casually before throwing a question my way.

“Were you guarding the portal to keep us from being attacked by beasts as soon as we came out?”

“Yes, that’s right. I was worried you might get ambushed right after exiting the portal.”

“You don’t need to do that next time. Intelligence agents are trained to jump into combat anytime, anywhere. Isn’t that right, Keldric?”

“Yup, that’s correct! We’re trained not to feel dizzy even right after passing through a portal!”

Keldric’s response, brimming with military discipline, came instantly.

Of course, I hadn’t undergone such training myself.

“Still, I appreciate the sentiment.”

“Yup, thank you.”

When I responded without hesitation, a satisfied smile spread across Eidon’s face.

Being able to say thank you even for things you’re not truly grateful for is a kind of social skill, isn’t it?

It was no different on Earth or here.

“Did you keep that guy under control? Let’s take a look.”

I presented the demon to Eidon.

The demon, whom I had silenced by striking its forehead, began to struggle again.

“Human scum! Let me go!”

“You want to get scolded again?”

The captured demon… was pathetically weak.

Unbelievably so, for someone who could control up to a Grade 2 beast.

There was no need for special restraints to keep it in check.

The moment I raised my fist slightly, it flinched.

With its small stature and childlike appearance, I almost felt like the bad guy.

“It tried to escape with its invisibility ability, but it’s not a problem.”

“You humans! How did you find me when I was hidden?!”

“It’s definitely a low-ranking demon. Even if it escapes, we’d catch it in no time.”

We continued our conversation, ignoring the demon’s shouts from the side.

Keldric stood by Eidon’s side like a disciplined rookie, not moving an inch.

“Did you find out anything?”

“Other than it was hiding near the boundary stone during the fight… nothing.”

“I see.”

Eidon grabbed the demon by the scruff of its neck and set it on the ground.

Despite blood dripping from his arm, torn by the demon’s struggling claws, he showed no sign of pain.

Then, he began chanting softly.

Soon, ice rose from the ground, encasing the demon.

In no time, the demon, still struggling to break free from Eidon’s grip, was trapped inside a rectangular block of ice.

The ice was so transparent that the demon’s form inside was clearly visible, like glass.

“I’m going to start the magical interrogation, so stay back.”

“Yes, sir!”

Keldric responded loudly and prepared to move away with me, as he had before.

But I was curious about what kind of magic Eidon would use.

“If it’s not too much trouble, may I tend to Eidon-nim’s wounds?”

Eidon stared at me intently.

It was Keldric who looked flustered, frantically signaling me with his hands.

But I ignored him and waited for Eidon’s response.

“Hmph, go ahead.”

Eidon replied curtly and extended his injured right arm toward me.

Keldric looked dumbfounded, glancing back and forth between me and Eidon.

Up until the Coming-of-Age Ceremony, Keldric hadn’t been so stiff, but I had no idea what had happened to him since then to make him so rigid.

Anyway, what I was more curious about was how Eidon would conduct the interrogation with his magic, not Keldric’s situation.

Mages were such rare assets that opportunities to observe magic were few and far between.

I wasn’t suddenly planning to switch my career to become a mage, but I wanted to learn when I had the chance.

I took some ointment from Keldric and applied it to Eidon’s wounds.

Despite being a mage, his body, likely due to his fieldwork, was lean and muscular.

I stole glances at the demon’s situation.

Steam was escaping from its mouth—it must have been cold inside the ice.

Then, Eidon asked in a languid tone:“Can you control demonic beasts? How do you do it?”

Bang bang!

The demon pounded on the ice and shouted.

“You think I’d tell you, human?!”

But Eidon merely observed it without reacting.

Then, one side of the transparent ice began to melt and drip.

It didn’t seem like the demon’s feeble punches had caused it to melt…

Soon, something astonishing happened.

An image began to play on the melted ice.

The demon was shown cutting its golden claws and feeding them to newborn demonic beasts.

It even petted their heads as if raising them.

When the demon waved its fingers, the beasts moved forward, backward, or rolled in sync with the motion.

The demon watched them with satisfaction.

It began to pound the ice wall furiously, even letting out a shrill scream.

“What is this?! You filthy human!”

Eidon frowned slightly and chanted another spell.

The demon’s hands and feet began to freeze.

Eventually, even the area around its mouth froze, preventing it from shouting further.

“So, your ability is to make demonic beasts your servants by feeding them your claws?”

Mm, mmph!

I didn’t know how it worked, but it seemed the demon’s responses weren’t necessary for the magic to function.

When Eidon asked his second question, the demon couldn’t respond, but another image appeared on a different wall of ice.

It was like watching an endoscopy.

When a beast consumed the yellow claw, it traveled down its esophagus, tore through the stomach wall, and lodged itself in the heart.

“As Nofen-nim predicted, this low-ranking demon has the ability to control beasts stronger than itself,” Keldric summarized.

Eidon nodded.

By then, I had finished treating Eidon’s wounds, but he didn’t immediately send us away.

“I understand your ability. The important question is ‘why.’ Why did you set a trap, even sacrificing the beasts you’ve raised?”

The demon shut its eyes tightly.

It didn’t answer this time either, but another image appeared on the ice wall.

Despite being a low-ranking demon, it had lived outside the barrier for 300 years, commanding countless demonic beasts.

Then, one day, it heard a voice from the heavens:

- The one who inherits Adjak’s fate has appeared.

The low-ranking demon believed this voice to be a message from the Demon King.

Tears streamed down its face as it looked to the sky.

Low-ranking demons were often treated as disposable, sometimes even worse than high-ranking beasts.

Accustomed to such treatment, it was deeply moved by receiving a message directly.

It vowed to dedicate everything to fulfilling the Demon King’s command.

At that moment, my face appeared on the ice wall.

Both Eidon and Keldric were startled to see my face reflected in the ice and turned to look at me.

I was just as shocked, unable to tear my eyes away from my face, which was becoming harder to discern as the ice melted.

After receiving the message, the demon had sent beasts to spy on me.

The Arlook lingering near me, along with other large and small beasts, were all under its control.

The scene continued, showing the demon using a precious artifact, the boundary stone, to set a trap in the cave.

Then, the ice shattered with a crash.

The image stopped playing.

But it didn’t matter—I already knew what happened next from my own experience.

“Hmm…”

Eidon let out a low groan.

The magic, which had seemed incredibly convenient, must have consumed a lot of mana, as he looked visibly exhausted.

The ice encasing the demon shattered as well.

It no longer struggled or tried to escape with invisibility. Instead, it looked at Eidon with fear.

“Polarin, if you have any questions, ask them.”

Even though the ice wall was gone, Eidon spoke.

I nodded and began my questions.

Why had it set a trap to kill me?

Was there any connection to high-ranking demons?

Surprisingly, the demon answered willingly.

It believed that killing me would earn it recognition from high-ranking demons, granting it greater power.

It claimed the act was its own decision.

Keldric listened to our conversation and, following Eidon’s orders, reported the images from the ice wall and the demon’s answers to Nofen.

- Hmm, this seems serious… You can’t fully trust the demon’s words, so can you bring it back?

“It’s possible. But taking everyone would require a bit more strength.”

- Including the demon, how many can you bring?

“Including me and the demon… probably just one more.”

Eidon looked between me and Keldric.

I responded politely to Eidon.

“I’ll stay here to investigate the scene further. You can return with Keldric-nim.”

“No, Polarin. You’re injured too. You should go rest. I can walk back via another route.”

Keldric spoke with a worried expression, but I declined his concern.

“No, since I’m already in the desert, I’d like to look around more. I also need to check if there are other demons nearby.”

“It seems dangerous right now…”

Everyone had heard the contents of the demon’s message.

It only stated that I had inherited Adjak’s fate, but there could be others, like this defeated low-ranking demon, who interpreted it differently.

Given my current physical condition wasn’t great, their concern was understandable.

“The mission comes first. Given the situation, there might be more demons around. I’ll move carefully.”

I spoke each word with conviction.

Neither of them tried to persuade me further.

“Keldric, tie that guy up.”

“Yup!”

“And you, walk with me for a bit.”

“Yes, understood.”

Eidon and I began walking through the cave, littered with the corpses of demonic beasts.

An awkward silence lingered until Eidon spoke first.

“My magic doesn’t only show the truth.”

“Is that so? Still, it was an incredibly mysterious magic.”

I meant it sincerely, not just flattery.

Eidon was an exceptional mage, in combat and otherwise.

“It’s closer to projecting what the target believes, rather than the truth. Not everyone believes what they see or hear.”

“I understand. I’ll proceed with the mission cautiously.”

“But I want to believe it.”

A faint spark of longing flickered in Eidon’s eyes.

“That someone who carries Adjak-nim’s fate, his will, has appeared.”

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