Paladin of a Fallen Order (Novel) - Chapter 49 - When Flowers Bloom
Chapter 49 – When Flowers Bloom
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Translated by Pratt
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The research facility they entered following the mages was as neatly decorated as the inside of the Mage Tower.
If there was a difference, it was merely that magical lighting lit up the surroundings instead of windows.
“It’s fine if you are slow, so make sure to search thoroughly.”
The mages even cast magic as they searched for the intruder.
A meticulous search breeds confidence, and hasty confidence erases from one’s mind the possibility of having left the intruder behind.
In other words, the more thorough the mages’ search, the safer Elbridge’s party following behind them became.
However, Mitchell still did not seem to have let go of his anxiety.
“It is convenient since things are going well… but what if even one person proposes to search the back again?”
Marcus snorted.
“Hmph, that sort of thing won’t happen. I know well since I’ve been a mercenary for a long time.”
“Why is that?”
“Look at those mages’ expressions right now. It hasn’t even been that long, but they are already bored to death, aren’t they?”
The party poked their heads out slightly and observed the mages.
The back and a bit of their profiles were all that could be seen. However, those profiles were filled with all kinds of emotions.
Anxiety, irritation stemming from a sudden mission, and the boredom characteristic of repetitive work with no results.
“Do you know what happens if someone suggests searching the back again here?”
“Let’s see.”
“Among colleagues, they will be treated as someone who tactlessly creates more work. Since they will look like a fool who couldn’t handle the assigned task meticulously on time and only grew anxious late, they will also get scolded by their superiors. To vent their anger, and just in case, to make a scapegoat in preparation for when trouble occurs.”
Because it was a fairly persuasive guess, the employers were impressed.
“Ah… I suppose that’s true.”
“Subordinates have their own dynamics. Since you are from wealthy families and have never done menial labor, it’s only natural that you wouldn’t know.”
There was definitely a reason why he had survived for over ten years while working rough mercenary jobs with mediocre skills.
The quick wits and insight Marcus had accumulated while rolling around in real combat were superior to Elbridge’s.
Millia said, feeling sorry.
“It seems you have experienced such things too, Mr. Marcus. It must have been unfair…”
“Of course, I wasn’t the one being scolded, but the one doing the scolding.”
“…”
The Goddess of the Rusty Shield, who had been listening to that story, admired.
– My. How could the god and the believer be so equally insidious… They are indeed a well-matched pair.
“I think so too, Goddess.”
While the party moved slowly behind the mages, a large vibration swept across the entire underground.
Boom—
Just once.
Yet there was no one who failed to realize that an enormous power was contained within that vibration.
Not long after that vibration echoed, a mage appeared from the opposite side.
The newly appeared mage asked.
“It has been noisy since a while ago, what is going on?”
“Ah, Team Leader. There was an intruder, so we were searching.”
“An intruder? Did you check their physical description?”
“We couldn’t verify it. However, the two guarding the entrance were unconscious, and the door was open. It is certain that an intruder has appeared.”
The mage called Team Leader clicked his tongue.
“What a time…”
“Shouldn’t today’s experiment be canceled?”
“The 7th experiment started three days ago, how can we cancel it now? All schedules in the Mage Tower revolve around the experiment… Phew. Finish the search as quickly as possible and stand by.”
“Understood.”
As if taking those words as permission to ‘search roughly,’ the speed at which the mages searched became incomparably faster than before.
Elbridge’s party whispered while following the mages’ backs.
“It seems certain that an important research is underway.”
“Let’s keep going for now.”
Boom—
The dull rumbling of the earth they had heard just a moment ago was felt once again.
And its interval was gradually growing shorter.
Anyone could guess without difficulty.
That this massive rumbling was related to the experiment.
Boom—
When the rumbling had continued about a few times, the mages reached a large door.
The mages chattered with slightly relieved expressions.
“Was there no intruder after all?”
“Or maybe they gave up trying to enter and just fled.”
“We don’t know that. Anyway, don’t forget that the Team Leader told us to search as quickly as possible. Even if there was an intruder by some chance, if it weren’t for the instruction to hurry, we could have found them. You know?”
“That is true.”
The mages aligned their stories to save face, and then entered inside the large door.
Boom—
Now, only Elbridge’s party was left in the corridor. The giant door was still slightly open.
Marcus crept closer, looked inside the door, and then gestured to the party.
“We can go in. There is no one looking this way.”
The remaining four approached the door and looked inside.
“Wow…”
“Shh.”
Beyond the door existed a hemispherical space so massive that it was hard to believe it was underground.
Although that space could be described in all kinds of expressions, Elbridge recalled a memory from not long ago upon seeing that space.
‘It resembles the arena of the Grand Festival.’
A hemispherical structure like the upper half of a sphere cut off.
A spatial layout where everyone could look down at the center.
Even the size of the space was similar.
The only difference was that, unlike the Grand Festival arena, the lighting was concentrated solely on the very center space.
And just as Marcus said, there was not a single person looking at the entrance they had come through.
The mages in the darkness were looking only at the very center, which was illuminated.
“Because the space is wide, there should be plenty of places to hide. Fortunately.”
The party moved stealthily and took positions in a corner unlikely to attract the other mages’ attention.
And crouching like children playing hide-and-seek, they looked down at the very center, just like the mages.
Boom—
In the very center of this space sat a blue sphere. Its size was about twice a person’s height.
The sphere shimmered as if water were flowing on its surface, and chains were wrapped tightly around it.
“What is that?”
At Patrick’s question, Millia replied.
“It is a seal.”
“A seal?”
“We saw a barrier on our way here, right? You can think of it as a strengthened version of that barrier. The chains wrapping the seal are also artifacts related to the seal.”
Millia trembled as she spoke.
“But the amount of magic power contained in that seal is too vast. Among all the magic I have seen so far, it is the most… That isn’t a seal that one or two mages could create. What on earth did they seal?”
Marcus, who was quick-witted, knew who the person capable of answering that question was. Elbridge.
As Marcus glanced at Elbridge, Elbridge spoke up.
“Do you know about demons?”
The reply came from Millia.
“If you are a mage, you know. Looking at the old records kept in the Mage Tower, concrete records of demons having existed are plentiful.”
“If so, do you know what role mages played in the war against demons?”
“It was diverse. They supported the paladins and knights of the era with all kinds of magic.”
“If you were to pick just one most important mission?”
Millia answered immediately.
“Sealing. Since demons are not entities that die or vanish.”
Elbridge pointed toward the blue sphere in the center with a chin gesture.
No explanation could be clearer than that.
Right on cue, a vibration echoed from the blue sphere. Boom—
Patrick’s eyes widened.
“Mr. El. Have you ever seen a sealed demon?”
“Somehow.”
Although it was a somewhat insincere reply, there was no one who did not believe Elbridge’s answer.
Because the hired mercenary had no reason to lie to them, and Elbridge’s actions carried the calm attitude characteristic of a person speaking the truth.
Marcus lamented softly.
“No wonder. My dreams last night were terrible…”
“Mr. El. There is a demon inside that seal?”
At Millia’s question, Elbridge shrugged his shoulders.
“The seal is too powerful, so I do not know for sure if there is a demon inside. However, that is the most powerful seal I have seen in my life. At least several dozen times stronger than typical seals.”
That was precisely what Elbridge found strange.
In the past, when sealing a demon, such a strong seal was not necessary. Even when subduing and sealing the Great Demon, it was the same.
Boom—
A vibration came from the seal.
Boom— Boom—
And, the interval of the vibration gradually grew shorter.
Elbridge thought that vibration felt like a heartbeat.
Boom—
Meanwhile, an elderly female mage stepped into the center of the space, into the brightest spot.
Her impression was neat and calm. Her age, was it perhaps past sixty, heading close to seventy? She looked like a high-ranking person to anyone.
“Is it the Tower Lord?”
At Marcus’s muttering, Millia shook her head.
“No. She is the Deputy Tower Lord. Though it’s only natural that the Deputy Tower Lord wouldn’t be unrelated when a matter of this scale is occurring…”
Just then, the Deputy Tower Lord spoke.
“We will begin the 7th experiment. Mages of the proud Central Mage Tower. Concentrate. For your honor, for the Mage Tower, and for the people of the entire world.”
Boom—
Following that, the Deputy Tower Lord raised her staff and shouted.
“In the place where the hand of God does not reach. We open the path.”
At that, hundreds of mages in the darkness chorused in reply.
“We engrave the answer upon the burning tablet.”
The Deputy Tower Lord waved her staff. Thereupon, the chains wrapping the seal unwound.
Boom—
The Deputy Tower Lord slowly retreated while chanting a spell.
“Even a seed wedged in the crevices of cold stone shall sprout one day. That which is suppressed shall yearn for freedom. Chains shall rust and seals shall fade, and just as light erases shadows, memory also shall melt the seal…”
Like unraveling a spool of thread, a stream of energy stretching from the seal began to vanish into the air.
The speed at which the seal unwound gradually gathered acceleration, and soon became terrifyingly fast.
Boom, Boom—
As the thick seal unraveled, the entity trapped inside finally revealed its form.
But that form differed from what the three clients or Marcus had expected.
Marcus muttered.
“Somehow, for a demon, it looks a bit different from what we saw in the mountain city last time…”
What appeared from the seal was the form of a woman.
A pure white female form, about one and a half times larger than an average human.
Her attire was long and flowing, and she covered her two eyes with a cloth.
She held a water pitcher in her two hands, and her two legs were buried inside a rock. The texture of her pure white skin looked more like white rock than human flesh.
Although the atmosphere was slightly strange, she did not look threatening.
Yet Elbridge obtained certainty. Demons possessed a unique, hard-to-describe atmosphere characteristic of them.
His skin tingled.
For the first time in over two hundred years, hatred and anger boiled up from deep within his chest.
Elbridge wished for peace more earnestly than anyone, but at the same time, he also needed an object upon which to unleash his anger.
Marcus felt a sense of incongruity upon seeing Elbridge’s appearance in the darkness.
The Elbridge Marcus had seen until now was a young man who was good-natured, seemed capable, yet occasionally showed a simple, clumsy side.
Except for his outstanding skill, a person who might exist anywhere.
But Elbridge’s appearance was different now.
‘That is less like a legendary paladin, and more like…’
Elbridge suppressed his boiling emotion and quietly offered a prayer.
“Goddess. Please let me gouge out that demon’s rotten heart.”
Thereupon, contrary to what Elbridge had expected, an oracle in a slightly subdued voice returned.
– Elbridge. Your Goddess wishes for her sole paladin to bravely vanquish the demon. Yet at the same time, I wish for you not to hate the demon…
Elbridge did not accurately understand what that oracle meant.
And just then, the seal completely unwound.
Boom, Boom, Boom.
The white woman opened her eyes. Even though her two eyes were covered with cloth, everyone knew that fact.
The woman neither rushed at the mages nor let out a shriek. She merely tilted the water pitcher in her hand slightly to moisten the ground.
In an instant, sprouts grew from the ground. Tiny green sprouts.
Yet as if it was still not enough, the white woman was slowly sprinkling water to moisten the ground. Even more sprouts bloomed.
Boom, Boom, Boom.
The Deputy Tower Lord spoke.
“Begin.”
With that, every mage watching the white woman from the darkness chanted a spell.
With a massive murmuring, dozens, hundreds of layers of nets appeared and enveloped the white woman’s surroundings. Only then did Elbridge understand what kind of experiment the mages were conducting.
In past battles against demons, the role of mages was limited to support and sealing.
The mages helped paladins and knights subdue the demons, and after the demons were subdued, they sealed them.
But now, the mages sought to seal an unsubdued demon solely through the power of mages.
Even if it were possible, it would not be an efficient tactic.
However, even if it was inefficient, that which was possible and that which was impossible were completely different.
It might be an experiment capable of changing the footing of the Mage Tower and mages in the approaching troubled times.
‘If the protagonists of the last war were the knights and paladins, the protagonists of this war might be the mages.’
As long as they could win the war, whoever held the initiative was none of Elbridge’s concern.
Elbridge stood quietly in the darkness, hoping that the mages’ experiment would succeed.
The sealing magic approached like a cobweb fluttering in the wind and covered the demon.
A new seal upon a seal, another new seal overlapped. The demon’s movements were instantly restricted, and water no longer flowed from the demon’s pitcher. The rumble that had sounded continuously also subsided.
Mitchell whispered.
“It seems to have succeeded, right? Let’s slowly slip out before it’s too late.”
Just then, a flower bud at the demon’s feet burst into bloom.
Pop.
And tiny pollen, invisible to the eye, bounced out and mixed into the air.
One of the numerous pollen grains burrowed into the nose of the mage standing closest.
Being engrossed in casting magic, the mage did not realize what had happened to him.
And, the mage felt a foreign sensation in his nose.
The mucous membrane inside the mage’s nose swelled at an tremendous speed.
The mucous membrane, and the skin of the nose, could not withstand the sudden expansion and tore.
New flesh filled up between the lacerations created in that way.
The new flesh, and the surrounding skin expanded again, tearing the skin. And new flesh filled up once more.
`…!`
The speed at which the skin tore and regenerated was so fast that, in the eyes of ordinary people, it looked as if a person was suddenly being covered in flesh.
The newly grown flesh completely blocked the mage’s nose and mouth.
Clasping his neck with an arm that had begun to deform bizarrely, the mage collapsed with a thud.
The wriggling movement of the mage ceased.
And breaking through his skin, a tiny sprout grew.
“…”
There was no mage screaming.
Because it was an experiment already conducted six times, and several victims had appeared.
However, a silent agitation spread out.
Agitation shattered composure. Magic that failed to achieve composure could not be as robust as before.
Boom.
A shaking was heard again.
Every mage felt it intuitively.
The result of this experiment would be one of two.
Successfully sealing with considerable sacrifice, or failing to seal and everyone dying.
Shring.
A faint metallic sound was heard.
Elbridge, who had drawn his sword before anyone noticed, spoke.
“Mitchell, Millia, Patrick. Cover your nose and mouth, and escape immediately.”
Marcus subtly showed his presence. Waiting for Elbridge to tell him to escape too.
However, Elbridge did not call Marcus’s name.
“…”
Feeling a bit sorrowful, Marcus looked at Elbridge.
And he thought.
That since their first meeting, it seemed Elbridge had never shown such a lively expression as now.