Episode 62. The Being in the Necklace (3)
-You’re a demon, but you’re showing off some really bad tricks.
Haneke said something in a deep voice, but he didn’t rush in right away. He just quietly watched what the spirit did.
The demon was producing an army.
The spirit’s upper body was a pile of bones arranged bizarrely, without any skin, and when the bones were removed one by one, they seemed to become soldiers that moved according to the spirit’s will.
Grrrrr… … .
The more the bones were broken into smaller pieces, the smaller the soldiers created.
Although he was called a soldier, he was not a humanoid, but just a monster. Since he was a monster created from the body of a demon, it was hard to tell how different he would be from the monsters of this world… … .
Haneke was still relaxed. He held the sword’s handle upside down so that the sword was pointed toward the floor.
-That’s enough now.
With those words, Haneke lightly ran up the hill. He landed safely in front of the demon. Although he was in the middle of hundreds of monsters swarming around, he shouted with a light laugh.
-I’ll gladly sweep it all away in one go!
Haneke lifted his sword and plunged it into the ground. Since it was a rocky area, a normal sword would have broken or only the tip would have been stuck.
However, his black lacquer aura was wrapped seven times. The blow he had once swung at the forefront of a siege to break down the wall struck the ground directly.
The moment Haneke plunges his sword into the earth.
The air surrounding them seemed to compress for a moment, and then the earth shook with Haneke’s roar.
Kukukukung!
The demon soldiers who were standing on the ground lost their balance and fell down without exception.
-What, what, what, what!
The demon screamed, his face as transparent as a wine glass distorting itself.
Haneke had no intention of ending up just by knocking down the soldiers. He lowered his stance and pulled out the sword he had stuck in the ground. The next moment, he drew a circle around his body’s central axis while simultaneously drawing the sword horizontally.
From the soldiers nearby to those far away, the attack that started in the middle spread out far away in waves.
The monster that was nearby was completely crushed, and the one that was far away was reduced to pieces.
Although the form was different, the result was the same. Not a single monster survived this single attack.
-A single shell is enough for a group of soldiers.
Haneke stood up from his seat, throwing out a word as if he was lecturing on the martial arts. Then he adjusted his grip on his sword and walked towards the demon.
-My soldiers don’t die all at once!
The demon screamed again.
Haneke glanced behind him and shrugged.
-I fought against skeleton soldiers resurrected by necromancers while I was alive, but my sword was not restored.
-How foolish of you to compare me to a necromancer like that. What I have created are not human corpses, but an army of demonic spirits… … .
The foolish one was the demon spirits. The hundreds of demon spirit soldiers seen behind Haneke were not revived. If things were as they were, they could have reassembled the bones and created even bigger monsters.
-That’s why the level of the sword is important.
The demon desperately moved its tentacles to get away from Haneke. However, Haneke approached the demon with light steps.
-A commander who lacks skill in battle is likely to end up dying. I wish there were more people like you in the Demon World.
The snakes inside the demon’s head. They were entangled with each other, their mouths gaping open. It meant that the demon was feeling a pure threat, but Haneke had no way of knowing that.
Because I just thought it was so gross.
-I can’t stand looking at this any longer. There’s nothing good to show Rubin. Let’s end it now.
Haneke raised his sword to shoulder height. There was no need to even use the Brion style against such an opponent. He felt sorry for the intruder, who was worse than he had expected.
-Damn it. I picked the wrong address.
There was nowhere else for the demon to retreat. He felt a solid rock wall behind him.
-Don’t you know what death is anyway?
-You know a little about magic?
-If you disappear from here, you’ll just return to the Demon World. Next time, come properly prepared. No, it would be better to stay put and not come near.
The spirit shook his head and spoke urgently.
-Wait a minute, wait a minute!
-… … ?
-I have an important story for you to know. A very important story!
-You’re struggling to survive.
-Really! Just listen to it once. Rubin, you say? The master of this inner world. You really need to know this for the little kid. Do you really not want to listen?
-… … .
At those words, Haneke put down the sword he had been holding. He looked around, but Rubin had not yet appeared. However, he could clearly feel that Rubin was heading here now.
-What’s wrong with Rubin?
-No, I’m not talking about right now. But if things continue like this, there will be problems someday.
Haneke slammed his sword into the ground. The sword that was stuck there trembled. The moment the demon did something stupid, it was easy to pull it out and cut it off.
Rubin will be arriving soon. I guess I’ll have to leave the power of life and death of this guy up to Rubin.
Haneke folded his arms and nodded to the spirit, telling it something it was absolutely necessary to know.
* * *
Kuze looked at Rubin.
‘There is no shaking. It’s like it’s frozen.’
As he had expected, Rubin lost consciousness of the real world from the moment he injected the dark smoke. He was holding the necklace on the table with one hand, but he was sitting still, not moving at all.
Is it going well? Kuze felt both anxiety and regret. Was he putting too much of a burden on the young master?
‘Maybe I should have found another way.’
Kuze unconsciously imagined the worst-case scenario. At that moment, his concentration was distorted and the aftereffects were immediately apparent.
A difference in density appeared momentarily in the hemispherical dark smoke he was spreading. When Kuze realized it belatedly, Rubin had already suffered a brief convulsion.
“Kuje!”
Rubin screamed. No, it wasn’t Rubin screaming. It was Tina, who had transformed into Rubin, screaming.
“Focus. Do you want to kill Rubin?”
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“Oh, I’m sorry!”
Kuze took a deep breath and lightly bit his lower lip. As he began to concentrate again, he felt a sense of stability from the dome-shaped darkness.
“I’m worried about you, Master.”
Tina flipped her hair back at Kuze’s honest words. Her expression was serious yet indifferent.
“It’ll be okay, since Rubin has clearly figured it out and has made a plan.”
“I guess so?”
“You still don’t get it? This guy is… … .”
Tina was about to reassure Kuze by telling him some anecdotes from her time with Rubin. She was about to tell him about the Roineklow flight at Gillyfield Arboretum.
There was a knock on the guest room door.
Knock knock.
At the cautious knock, Kuze and Tina looked at each other with nervous eyes.
“This is Celestia.”
Tina stood up, motioning for Kuze to stay still. She walked over to the door and opened it halfway.
“Hey, Celestia, what’s going on?”
It was a slightly awkward tone for Rubin, but not enough to arouse Celesne’s suspicion. Celesne bowed in greeting.
“I didn’t know that Lord Luden would come out in person.”
“What’s going on?”
Kuze asked the same question again, sounding slightly annoyed.
“Miss Chloe asked me to come and check on you. She’s worried because you don’t seem to be feeling well.”
“Oh, Chloe… I’m not feeling well, just a little tired.”
“I see. I’m planning to make some tea for you. Would you like some too, Young Master?”
Tina scratched her chin and pretended to be troubled.
“Refreshments.”
“If there is a snack you like, please let me know. I have prepared a variety of snacks in the subspace pocket.”
A conversation held while holding a half-open door. Tina thought it would be more unsettling to leave it like that, so she decided to send them away for now.
“I don’t care what happens. I’ll send Kuze.”
“Okay, then.”
Celesne nodded slightly at the door. I thought she would just turn around and walk down the hallway, but… she turned around again.
“But… there’s something a little strange.”
“Huh? What?”
Celesne’s gaze came in through the open doorway. It was clearly a suspicious gaze.
“I think I hear a sound from inside. Something like thumping.”
Oh, sir. How did you hear that? It was the sound that inevitably comes from Kuze’s hemispherical dark room.
Tina swallowed hard and reached out to Celesne, who was taking a step closer. Then she whispered so that Kuze, who was inside the room, could not hear.
“Actually, Kuze is currently doing physical training.”
“Physical training? That’s unexpected.”
“It’s nothing special, even to me. It’s just for show. Anyway, I’m taking off my shirt and focusing on it.”
Celestia’s expression crumpled at the mention of taking off her top. It was clear that she did not want to see it. It seemed like she would just back off now.
“I see… Then I will go. By the way, Master, are you really okay? Your complexion really doesn’t look good.”
Tina smiled awkwardly and quickly ended the conversation.
“I guess it’s because the sea is so deep, my body feels heavy. I’m also starting to feel sleepy. Let’s send Kuze away for now. Of course, I’ll make sure he’s clothed.”
Celesne tilted her head as she watched Luden blinking one eye, but turned around without saying anything. Tina carefully closed the door and swept her chest with one hand.
“Phew. Almost got caught.”
Tina straightened her shoulders, thinking that she had finally overcome the crisis. She looked at Kuze, who was looking back at her with worried eyes, and said with a proud look.
“You weren’t worried, were you? Didn’t you see what I did just now?”
“I need to bring some refreshments… … .”
“No. I have to go. You finish what you were doing here. Keep concentrating.”
Then, Tina transformed into Kuze this time.
Kuze swallowed his saliva at the unfamiliar experience of encountering someone who looked exactly like him. He concentrated so as not to lose his mind again.
“Joe, take care on your way back, Tina. And don’t forget to lock the door.”
Tina looked back at Kuze at the door. She had to reassure the anxious looking Roynenser. So she gave him a wink full of leisure, just like she had done to Celesne. Not knowing that this attitude was what was making Kuze anxious.
“I’ll be back!”
As soon as Tina, who had transformed into Kuze, stepped out into the hallway, she made the sound ‘Ah, ah’ several times to get used to the sound.
‘Why am I so anxious?’
Kuze took a deep breath for an uncountable number of times while listening to the voice coming from beyond the locked door.
He was worried about Rubin, who was sitting in front of him, but he was also worried about Tina, who was facing Celesne. Of the two, the one who made Kuze more anxious was definitely Tina.
* * *
Rubin made his way through the layers of darkness.
The darkness surrounding him was thick and even aggressive. But it didn’t matter. As Rubin took each step forward, its momentum gradually diminished.
How long had he walked? He had no choice but to walk through the endless dark space. He had to walk for a long time without being able to run or jump. Rubin guessed that he had walked for several kilometers.
‘Almost there.’
It was as expected. There really wasn’t much time left until the darkness ended. As I walked, a wall appeared blocking my path. Like glass on the verge of breaking, cracks were running all over the wall.
I lifted one finger and gently pushed against the wall.
Boom.
As the wall crumbled, a familiar landscape appeared before his eyes. It was the training ground for the inner world he had built with Haneke.
-Are you here?
Haneke’s voice was heard from over there.
Rubin moved quickly. All the senses that had been trapped inside his body came back to life, and he was able to operate the dark smoke.
I arrived in front of Haneke, making a noise of the wind.
“What is this thing?”
Rubin frowned at the demon’s hideous appearance.
-It’s a demon. I’m guessing it’s a low-level demon.
-What are you talking about? I’m a high-level demon!
-I heard, you say you’re a high-level demon.
Rubin jumped lightly and stood next to Haneke. He saw Haneke’s sword stuck in the floor. He looked at Haneke with questioning eyes.
“We need to send this guy back to the Demon World. Then the danger contained in the necklace will disappear.”
-I was going to kill him too. But he told me something I couldn’t ignore.
A story that cannot be ignored? Rubin stopped himself from grabbing Haneke’s sword that was stuck in his hand.
Instead, he floated dozens of swords into the air, surrounding the demon spirit.
Dozens of black lights floating in the air flashed, revealing their sharpness as they aimed their sword tips at the demon.
If you wanted, you could send the spirit back to its original world by just snapping two fingers.
This was Rubin’s inner world, and here Rubin was a kind of god. He couldn’t create life, but he could do everything else.
-Ah, no, you have to listen to what I have to say first, you brat!
Okay, let’s hear what they’re talking about.
