Chapter 130 – Parent of the Elves (Part 7)

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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There was one fact that Rombel had overlooked, and that was the fact that the elves’ ears were incredibly sharp.

Gazes filled with shock and contempt turned toward Rombel.

A few reserve Sentinels even whispered in low voices.

“Wow. We called them to eliminate a demon, and the first thing they think of is luring a demon in?”

“Is that the average character of a dwarf?”

“Typical dwarf…”

The reaction was so intense that even Rombel, who was rarely shaken by anything, was quite flustered.

Seeing Rombel’s reaction, Elbridge subtly advised him.

“Rombel. Are you just going to let it go when your kind is being insulted?”

“…With the atmosphere like this, what am I supposed to do by myself?”

“For the sake of other dwarves, you should clarify the facts. Say something like, ‘I am strictly a below-average dwarf, so do not discuss the dwarven average based on me’…”

Rombel grumbled.

“Stop talking nonsense. And this is unfair to me. It’s not like I said I would lure Starwave into the Forest of Thorns, is it?”

“Wasn’t it?”

“It was just a comment that I was curious about what would happen. Besides, Starwave is an extremely rare demon whose direction of movement can be controlled…”

Honestly, Elbridge was just as curious.

When Starwave appeared near the City of Norens, the elves chose to burn the forest and live by sponging off the City of Norens.

If Starwave approached the Forest of Thorns, would the elves of the Forest of Thorns also set fire to their forest?

‘If they set fire to the forest and Jean and Bella leave the Forest of Thorns, wouldn’t Orion and the goddess’s goal be achieved in one way or another…?’

While Elbridge was having such thoughts, Starwave disappeared somewhere beyond the horizon.

*

The next day, the atmosphere was unusual even before lunchtime.

That was because the gray, amorphous-type demon that had quietly vanished last night had appeared and was hovering near the Forest of Thorns.

Sonya muttered while pinching her nose.

“…Seeing it during the day, it looks even more unpleasant. The smell too.”

At least last night, it was dark enough that they could only confirm something was moving.

But seeing it in the bright daylight, its slimy appearance was clearly visible.

Marcus assessed the demon.

“It looks exactly like the mire next to a tanner’s house.”

Commonly, tanners use urine to remove grease from hides and to make the leather soft.

Inevitably, a mire that mixed rotten urine, leather impurities, dirt, and mud, emitting a foul odor, was bound to be created around a tanner’s house.

The appearance and smell of that demon resembled the mire formed near a tanner’s house.

“I think I’ll call that guy ‘Mire’ from now on.”

“It doesn’t seem to have any other name, so let’s do that…”

The demon still did not show any particular hostility.

It would have been wonderful if they could have remained in such an indifferent, detached relationship, but slightly past lunchtime, a summons from the Sentinels came.

Going near the sacred tree, Jean, Bella, and Orion greeted Elbridge’s party.

Of course, Orion feigned ignorance, acting as though he had never met Elbridge’s party separately.

“You have come. You must have seen the demon near the forest?”

“We have.”

“Can you handle it?”

“We can try. But it doesn’t seem to be a demon that will cause major harm immediately, so is there any need to go out of our way to disturb it? It might just invite unnecessary trouble.”

As Elbridge replied calmly, Bella shook her head.

“There is no guarantee it will continue to be so in the future. And a single demon staying near the forest means that if even one more demon appears, we would have to face two or more demons simultaneously. You must know well how troublesome that is.”

Elbridge nodded.

Since each demon harbors its own chaos, it is difficult to guess what kind of outcome will be brought about when two or more demons gather.

And matters entangled with demons tend to drift in a troublesome direction. Facing two demons simultaneously might require risking five or ten times more danger.

“If you think so, then there is no helping it. By the way, that demon seems to have appeared several times before… Do you know anything about that specimen’s abilities?”

“A foul odor. And that demon’s mucus has the property of dissolving substances it touches.”

“Ugh.”

Elbridge and Rombel winced in disgust.

They had faced demons with special bodily fluids that dissolved substances they touched a few times.

The commonalities of such demons were three: one couldn’t fight them with a peace of mind, they were difficult to defeat in battle, and even if one won, their weapons and armor would end up battered.

However, the situation was different this time.

“I can cast a protection magic.”

“What kind of protection magic?”

“Originally, it’s something used when experimenting with acid solutions, but it can be cast on people as well. The effect is quite good and stable.”

Sure enough, having a mage in the party was convenient in many ways. Even more so if it was a fairly skilled mage like Sonya.

Furthermore, the Sentinels did not intend to just sit back and watch.

Jean said.

“I cannot go outside the Forest of Thorns due to certain circumstances. However, if a battle breaks out not far from the forest, I will help. Since my weapon is a bow.”

If it had to be done like it or not, it was better to step up when help was offered.

With Jean’s assistance, they should be able to subjugate the demon reasonably stably.

Elbridge nodded.

“Very well. Let us go immediately.”

*

The gray amorphous-type demon, provisionally named ‘Mire,’ was lying limply at a spot about two hundred paces from the forest.

It was not moving at all, as if it was even taking a nap.

Sonya tapped the ground with the tip of her staff, drawing everyone’s attention.

“I can only cast protection magic on up to five people. Let’s select the members.”

Jean took charge of the selection.

Among the five, Elbridge and Rombel were naturally included, and two reserve Sentinels with the most useful skills were also designated. What was interesting was the fact that Marcus was also included.

“Right. There’s no need to entrust the work to insiders when we have a worker from the outside.”

Marcus grumbled for show, but his expression was quite good. Wasn’t it a situation where he had been recognized by a Sentinel as qualified to fight a demon?

Elbridge nodded his head.

‘Then again, Marcus’s skills have improved a lot.’

Currently, Marcus’s skill was slightly below the average of reserve Sentinels.

Although his survival couldn’t be guaranteed, it was enough to not hold others back.

Rather, what Elbridge found fascinating was Marcus’s positive attitude and bright expression.

In the past, Marcus would have made all kinds of excuses to avoid fighting a demon.

“Mr. Marcus. How are you so calm for once?”

“It’s not like it’s my first time seeing a demon… And that guy, whether he is a cesspool or a mire, looks like the easiest demon I’ve seen so far.”

It looked that way to Elbridge as well.

Mire was large in size, but by demon standards, it was not particularly big.

It had never shown fast movements, nor did it have sharp claws or teeth. Furthermore, it was a situation where they could prepare for danger to some extent with Sonya’s magic. In a way, the compatibility could be considered good.

Rombel asked, swinging his axe around.

“We just need to find the core while fighting, right?”

“That is the most important thing.”

Finding the core and destroying it directly was fine, and even if they couldn’t destroy it directly, it wasn’t a big problem.

Because Jean would shoot an arrow to finish it off if they just sent a signal.

As Sonya muttered and chanted a spell, a gentle light enveloped the five people and quickly vanished.

“Let’s go.”

The five people slowly approached from five directions, keeping a reasonable distance.

When Elbridge’s party approached within a distance of about twenty paces, ‘Mire’ finally reacted.

Mire seemed to contract slightly, then,

Pyut!

Bestowing a part of its body with a sharp, harpoon-like form, it shot it out.

The person Mire’s attack targeted first was Marcus.

Kkang!

However, Marcus calmly swung his sword to deflect that attack.

As if Mire could control its hardness, despite its mushy outward appearance, the sound of hard things colliding echoed from Marcus’s sword.

“Oh, not bad…”

When Rombel grinned and admired, Marcus replied in an excited voice.

“I had a feeling it would be like this. I was prepared in advance.”

As the five people slowly drew closer, various parts of Mire’s body transformed into sharp points, and attacks were shot out in succession.

The five engaged in the battle with Mire deflected the attacks quite skillfully. Although Marcus was a bit precarious, it was not to the extent of being in immediate danger.

Elbridge also concluded his assessment.

‘It’s a weak specimen for a demon. The warnings of its attacks are clear, and it isn’t irregular either.’

Rombel swung his axe vigorously.

Paak!

Mire’s outer shell was sliced open, and bodily fluids splattered.

Chiiiik—

A few drops of bodily fluid stained Rombel’s forearm, and smoke rose. However, Rombel’s skin touched by the fluid only turned slightly red and did not lead to a deep wound. It was thanks to Sonya’s protection magic.

Elbridge shouted spiritedly.

“Good. Don’t let your guard down, and let’s slice it away bit by bit!”

Without recklessly attempting deep attacks, the five people accumulated wounds on the demon as if shaving it down bit by bit from the outside.

‘The outside is harder than it looks, but the inside is soft. At this rate, even Marcus can tackle it without difficulty.’

Sure enough, Marcus was swinging his sword with an excited expression. Although the fallen fragments of Mire were occasionally absorbed back into the main body, the speed at which the five people sliced them off was faster.

‘It’s smooth. Still, no variables have appeared…’

After a short while had passed like that, Marcus shouted.

“Over here!”

It was the signal that he had found the demon’s core.

Mire wiggled, trying to hide its core, but it was already too late. Jean’s arrow was already nocked on the bowstring.

Jean looked at the sky and released the bowstring.

‘The sky?’

Of course, Jean hadn’t shot the arrow without any thought.

The arrow shot by Jean vanished into the sky, then soon became covered in a bluish divine power and changed direction.

And nosediving toward the ground, it accelerated at an unbelievable speed, just like a bolt of lightning striking.

“…”

The strange speed and destructive power of the arrow felt closer to a god’s authority rather than a Sentinel’s attack.

The arrow was so fast that only after the arrow shot by Jean was embedded in the demon’s core did the sound of the arrow cutting through the wind echo.

Shwiiiiiiik—!

Jean’s attack cleanly pierced the demon’s core. Among the countless demons Elbridge had faced so far, a demon that was finished off this easily was rare.

“Sonya!”

“I’m going!”

As Elbridge called, Sonya came running with quick steps.

Since a battle with a demon was bound to end with a mage’s sealing.

However, the situation flowed in a direction slightly different from expectation.

Mire, which had managed to maintain its shape despite being amorphous, collapsed.

The gray bodily fluid contained within Mire’s body flowed down to the ground, soaking the surroundings, and smoke rose along with a sound as if something was boiling or burning from the earth.

Chiiiiik—

The five who had been facing Mire retreated while covering their mouths and noses. The ground was melting away.

The problem was that the speed at which the ground melted, and its depth, were unusual.

When a short while passed like that, Mire’s form completely vanished and the smoke subsided.

The party looked inside the melted ground to check how deeply the ground had melted, and to confirm the position of the core buried in the earth.

And the party saw a strange sight inside the ground.

Chiiik—

‘The core… is melting?’

Just like Mire’s body, the core was smoothly melting and seeping into the ground.

After a moment passed, a large, dark red well was formed underground.

Inside the dark red well, something was swirling slowly, yet clearly.

“This is…”

Rombel muttered. It was not a word carrying any special meaning.

However, the five people felt intuitively that the true worth of ‘Mire’ was not its acidic fluid or harpoon-like attacks, but that very sight.

‘It’s ominous. It’s like a passageway.’

What was coming to Marcus’s mind right now was the warping-type magic beast they had seen in the Mountain City Barkuntol.

A magic beast that dragged a part of a demon’s physical body existing in a far-off place into this space.

If a mere warping-type magic beast could drag a part of a demon’s physical body into this space, what could a demon similar to that drag over here?

Only one thing was certain. That it wouldn’t be just a ‘part’ of a demon.

Just then, below the dark red well, an entity that looked like a neat noble appeared.

He looked up at the surface from underground and smiled.

“…!”

Unlike the other three who did not understand what the situation was,

Elbridge and Rombel reacted immediately as if struck by lightning.

“It is the Master of the Index Finger!”

Elbridge’s shout.

At the same time, Elbridge brandished his sword, and Rombel swung his double-bladed axe.

They were not aiming for the neat man underground. Elbridge and Rombel severed their own index fingers by themselves.

A bewildering situation. Marcus thought.

‘Master of the Index Finger… I’ve heard that somewhere before.’

In that instant, Marcus’s index finger bent in a bizarre direction.

The tip of the index finger was slightly hooked beyond the pinky.

The same went for the fingers of the two reserve Sentinels.

And—

Kwajik.

The index finger, which moved on its own accord, crushed the rest of the fingers.