[Translator - Prøks]
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Chapter 149
"Are you sure this will be okay?"
Kayla asked, her voice filled with worry.
In her hands was a strangely shaped mask, large enough to cover half her face.
It was a special dwarven-made mask that Vagran had given me, as I needed to approach the infected.
I'd heard that they were hastily increasing production of these masks as a substitute for the cure.
However, Kayla still seemed uneasy.
"Don't worry. It's dwarven-made. You can trust its performance. Right, Barundel?"
"Of course! I took a look at it earlier, and it should be able to block most contaminated air."
"…Really?"
Only after Barundel spoke so confidently did Kayla seem reassured, handing me the mask.
I immediately put it on.
Clunk, clunk.
It had buckles on the front and back, completely sealing around my respirator.
And inside, there was a purification filter.
It was more like a gas mask than a simple face mask.
Barundel certainly had reason to be confident.
'Well, even so, I'm still a bit uneasy…'
This was a disease presumably spread by a Demon Legion Commander.
Even if it was made by dwarves, who were known as gods of craftsmanship, I had my doubts whether it could completely block the disease.
Of course, I couldn't back down just because I was afraid.
'The dwarves are waiting for me inside.'
After reviewing the situation in my mind, I shook off my fear and stepped forward.
I entered a sturdy, single-story building.
As soon as I entered, I heard a chorus of groans and saw a thick mist of bluish-green demonic energy.
"Cough, cough!"
"Ughhhhh…"
"Hack!"
Coughing, groaning, the sound of spitting up blood…
Hundreds of dwarves were gathered in one place, each expressing their own suffering.
Frowning at the gruesome scene, I immediately began my work.
"This might be a little difficult."
Whoosh…
I stretched out my hands and slowly released cold air.
The temperature around us dropped rapidly.
"C-cold…"
The dwarves shivered, but there was no helping it.
This was the best way to slow down the progression of the disease.
Once I finished the internal work, ensuring it wouldn't harm their lives, I surrounded the building's exterior walls with invisible cold air.
This should also reduce the infectiousness of the air leaking from the building.
We could now say we had bought some time.
Whoosh…
After washing off the demonic energy clinging to my body with the cold air, I approached my companions, who were standing at a distance.
"…"
Perhaps it was because of the harrowing scene they had witnessed, but their mood wasn't good.
"…Let's hurry."
I just wanted to relieve these people of their suffering as quickly as possible.
***
Having decided to capture Bune, we returned to the Red Rock Cliffs.
Our group consisted of myself, Kayla, Thompson, Barundel, and now Vagran.
"It's so thick, you can't even see an inch ahead anymore."
The difference from before was that the demonic energy lingering in the Red Rock Cliffs had become much denser.
So dense that it obscured our vision.
As a result, we couldn't use the same method of observation as before, looking down from the top of the cliff.
Fortunately, everyone was wearing the special dwarven-made masks, so it wasn't a major problem.
Whoosh!
Vagran was the first to step into the dense fog of demonic energy.
-I assure you, if you wear these, you absolutely cannot get the plague. There weren't enough leaves to make many…
I heard that they had coated the purification filters with the components of Antillian Leaves.
As he had said, Vagran's actions were decisive.
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Gaining confidence from his initiative, we also stepped into the demonic energy.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Of course, entering it didn't suddenly clear our vision.
It still felt like we were surrounded by a thick, black fog.
In that stifling atmosphere, we took each step carefully.
Thump, thump, thump…
How long had we walked?
Demons started to appear one by one.
"Shriek!"
A [Demon Rock Snake] slithered towards us, flicking its tongue.
Its eyes were clouded and white, as if it had cataracts.
It was an already infected rock snake.
Well, given the thick demonic energy, there probably weren't any healthy demons here.
Anyway, just as we realized that, Barundel stepped forward.
Slash!
The rock snake's head was cleanly severed by the [Anatak's Great Axe].
Blue blood spurted out, and Vagran, looking impressed, gave him a thumbs-up.
"Nephew, you haven't lost your touch, have you?"
"…"
It was still an awkward sight.
I still couldn't believe they were related.
Thinking that, I examined the corpse of the [Demon Rock Snake].
If my guess was correct, there should be traces of Bune here.
As expected.
"Demonic energy?"
"Yes, a clump of demonic energy."
A tightly packed clump of demonic energy emerged from the [Demon Rock Snake]'s body.
It was a reaction that only occurred when a creature struck down by Bune's power died. This clump of demonic energy had been hastening the disease within the creature while it was alive.
And that meant…
"It's definitely Bune."
It was clear that he was behind this.
"…Good."
"Now we just have to catch him."
"Let's start by finding his trail."
Gaining some headway, we moved more urgently.
To find his trail.
Where he first appeared, what methods he used, where he was hiding now… we had a mountain of things to figure out.
After a while, Barundel was the first to make a breakthrough.
"Isn't this the demon's trail?"
"It looks like it."
Crackle! Crackle!
He pointed to a space where an unusually large amount of demonic energy was flowing out.
Moreover, it was slightly distorted.
As if it had just been closed.
"It seems he opened a gate here to enter Kazandur."
"If it's closed now, that means…"
"Yes, he's gone back."
Thump!
Vagran slammed his hammer into the ground, his face contorted in anger.
"That damn demon… spreading disease and running away?"
He seemed utterly frustrated.
Considering how many dwarves had already lost their lives, it was understandable.
However, there was something he was mistaken about.
"He hasn't completely returned."
That Bune hadn't fled altogether.
"Is that true?"
"Yes, there's a trail here."
The evidence was the distorted space right before our eyes.
If he had completely left, he wouldn't have left such a trace.
Generally, when returning completely, the gate would be fully closed.
This meant only one thing.
"He'll be back soon."
He would return to spread the plague again.
And…
"Everyone, prepare yourselves. We must seize that moment."
That moment would be our chance.
A golden opportunity.
***
Bune, the Legion Commander of Plague, looked at his trembling hands and spoke with delight.
[My power… is returning!]
As he said,
Whoosh!
Quality energy was surging into his clenched hands.
The life force of the smelly dwarves and the unfortunate demons who had been caught up in this.
That life force was being transformed into the power of death and disease in Bune's grip.
Just a while ago, he had been so weak he felt like he would collapse… now his body felt as light as a feather.
[Thank goodness, thank goodness…!]
To be honest, he had been in a very dangerous situation.
His plague ability, [Disease Propagation], had a side effect of continuously consuming demonic energy, and he had no way to replenish it.
No, to be precise, there was a way, but he couldn't use it.
Because it required a large amount of life force.
'Baal wouldn't allow it.'
Baal wouldn't allow it, saying that harming life was akin to disrupting the balance.
Frankly, he didn't understand why harming life was forbidden, but this was a world of the survival of the fittest.
And Baal was the lord of the Demon Realm.
Whether he liked it or not, he had to obey Baal's words.
So, day after day, he had been barely sustaining his power by squeezing out the little demonic energy he had…
[Thanks to those foolish ones! Hahahaha!]
An opportunity arose, thanks to the foolishness of two demon legion commanders.
Asmodeus and Valefor, who had recently met their end in the middle realm.
Thanks to their foolish deaths in the middle realm, the balance of the legion commander system had been disrupted, and he was able to obtain permission.
Permission to harm life and replenish his demonic energy.
As soon as he received that permission, Bune crossed over to Kazandur and used his power, and this was the result.
Whoosh!
Demonic energy filling him endlessly!
Overflowing power!
[Hehehe… just one more time.]
Bune smiled contentedly, assessing his power.
Based on his prime, he had about one-fifth of his demonic energy remaining.
Just one more trip to use his power would fill it completely.
How could he not laugh?
Whoooosh!
[Wait for me, dwarves!]
Bune shouted in triumph and opened the gate once more.
This time, he planned to cross over to the middle realm and fill the last of his demonic energy.
With 80% of his power already restored, there would be no creature in the middle realm capable of stopping him.
He was different from those foolish Asmodeus and Valefor.
However.
[…Hmm?]
Bune, who had crossed through the opened gate, tilted his head.
Something was strange.
He had definitely crossed through the gate, but…
[…Why is it so dark?]
For some reason, instead of the unpleasant sunlight of the middle realm, an alien darkness welcomed Bune.
The entire scene before him was nothing but darkness.
Bune, unable to comprehend the situation, considered various possibilities.
'Did I open the gate to the wrong place?'
No. It was a space he had visited several times. There was no way the coordinates would change without him touching it.
'Then is this the middle realm?'
It wasn't entirely impossible. The middle realm could have been consumed by demons in the meantime.
But if it was darkness of this magnitude, there was only one being who could make it happen: Baal.
So this wasn't the case either.
Baal didn't casually cross over to the middle realm, especially if it involved harming it.
Then the last possibility.
'…Did it connect to a different space?'
It was the most plausible hypothesis.
All someone had to do was connect another space to his opened gate.
'I don't know who this audacious fellow is…'
If that were the case, there would be an unavoidable gap left behind.
Just as Bune took a few steps to wedge into that gap and sever the connection.
"Jackpot."
At the same time as he heard an unfamiliar voice in his ear,
Swish!
The gate that had been open behind him was swallowed and closed.
Yes, that place, his only escape route.
Bune was momentarily stunned.
[What is happening…?]
He couldn't understand the situation at all.
How could he have predicted…
That he, a demon legion commander, would be swallowed into a mage's space magic.
It took Bune a very long time to realize his predicament.
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