Chapter 149 : Chapter 149
Chapter 149. Wulfrin (2)
In the vast temple of sand at midnight, pitch-black Miasma and transparent Aura tangled together and surged upward.
The layers of piled sand scattered in every direction.
A sandstorm swept through the temple.
Every military tent set up atop the desert was blown away.
Count Wulfrin’s forces all lowered their stances and barely endured the gust.
Even in the midst of that struggle, they could not take their eyes off the battle before them.
Sword energy cleaved the hem of night, and the cursed spear tore through translucent Aura.
The surroundings brightened faintly, then were buried in darkness again.
Light and darkness flickered in real time.
That repetition continued endlessly.
A chillingly eerie voice filled with malice echoed through the temple.
“Watcher’s watchdog! I don’t have time to play with you, bitch!”
White Horn suddenly flew into the air.
Pitch-black Miasma began to condense in the night sky.
A red eye swept over the ground.
It met Count Wulfrin’s gaze.
The corners of White Horn’s mouth rose into a long grin.
Cursed Spear Turabak fell toward the count like a lightning bolt.
Shaferia kicked off the ground and shouted.
“No! Dodge!”
The black lightning headed straight for the count.
SHWIIIIIIIIK――――――!
A sharp ripping sound followed.
The count’s pupils opened wide.
The cursed spear was right before his eyes.
He would not be able to dodge. His entire body had frozen stiff.
He would surely be pierced by that dense darkness and die.
His life flashed before his eyes.
The count squeezed his eyes shut.
At that moment, his body floated up.
He collided with something soft.
A rough explosion rang out far away.
The count muttered, having lost his reason.
“……Is this how I die?”
A hurried voice immediately reached him.
“Open your eyes and get a hold of yourself!”
Something struck the count’s cheek hard.
At the sudden pain, the count’s eyes flew open.
His awareness returned in an instant.
“W-What is this!”
The count was drifting through the night sky.
To be precise, he was floating in the air because of Shaferia.
She had saved the count from the cursed spear.
“Do not give up! You can still live!”
The young female knight held the count in her arms and fell back toward the ground.
Grains of sand surged upward.
Amid the scattering sandstorm, the count opened his mouth.
“Y-You are……”
“I am Shaferia. A knight of the Miyatro Family and one who watches the Abyss.”
A crescent-shaped seal was shining at her chest.
The count immediately made the sign of the cross.
“SaintㆍMarziel.”
Shaferia set the count down on the ground.
“This is not the time to leisurely make the sign of the cross. The Thirteenth Apostle of the End is trying to kill you.”
From Count Wulfrin’s perspective, it was far too bewildering.
His face turned deathly pale.
“Oh, Great Saint. Why would an apostle be targeting me?”
Shaferia opened her mouth with the calmest expression she could manage.
“The spirit egg. It is because of the spirit egg. Apostle Mapheltan will do anything to obtain the spirit egg.”
The spirit egg was the stone lump the count had bought from a fisherman in the city of Hazara.
A divine beast’s egg. The count also knew very well that the black stone lump was a spirit egg.
Some imperial nobles secretly bought spirit eggs.
“S-Spirit egg? I do not know what you mean……”
The count’s gaze was wavering.
Shaferia said with a cold expression,
“I already know very well that you purchased the spirit egg, Count. There is no need to hide that fact from me, so please tell me honestly. Where is the spirit egg now? Of course, I will not hold you responsible for the purchase.”
In the empire, every act of storing or handling objects related to divine beasts was forbidden.
Purchasing a spirit egg was a crime.
Fundamentally, spirit eggs were classified as abominations.
The count swallowed dryly.
“……I-I am sorry. I had no intention of hatching the egg. I merely needed the money that would remain after selling it.”
Shaferia said with a sunken face,
“I am sorry, but you will not be able to sell the spirit egg again. As long as you possess the spirit egg, Apostle Mapheltan will continue targeting your life.”
Despair filled the count’s complexion.
“T-That cannot be!”
Shaferia’s expression turned firm.
“Hurry and hand the spirit egg over to me. The spirit egg must not fall into the apostle’s hands. Where is the spirit egg now?”
The count hesitated. To him, his family was as precious as his life, and the only way to revive that family was the spirit egg.
From the count’s perspective, it was difficult to give up the spirit egg so easily.
Just as he hesitated, a gloomy voice spread across the night sky.
“Inferior mortals, come out at once and offer up the abomination! If you do, this body will promise you a painless death!”
The abomination meant the spirit egg.
The apostle was declaring that even if he obtained the spirit egg, he would kill everyone.
Count Wulfrin trembled in terror and pointed somewhere.
A carriage had overturned on the sand.
“S-Sir Shaferia. The spirit egg is there.”
Shaferia nodded.
“I will draw the apostle’s attention with the spirit egg. Count, once the situation calms down, leave this place immediately.”
The count was swept up in a miserable feeling.
To live, he had no choice but to hand the spirit egg over to Shaferia.
His stomach burned terribly.
Just as Shaferia was about to move, the count shouted out with a faint hope.
“M-My money! What happens to my money?”
Shaferia’s expression crumpled.
“What money are you talking about?”
“……I spent an enormous sum to obtain the spirit egg.”
“Could it be that you intend to charge the Miyatro Family for the price of the spirit egg?”
Count Wulfrin had handled a spirit egg even while violating the Great Saint’s law.
Because of that spirit egg, he had ultimately been swept into misfortune, and if Shaferia had not been there, the count absolutely would not have survived.
The reality was slightly different, but on the surface, that was how it looked.
The count could not demand anything from Shaferia.
No, he must not.
Shaferia’s complexion sank chillingly cold.
Sensing that mood, the count quickly shook his head.
“C-Charge you? It is a misunderstanding. Rather, I should repay you, Sir. You saved my life.”
Shaferia turned around and said,
“If you wish to repay someone, do it to the Watcher of the Abyss, not me. I am merely someone acting according to his command.”
The count spoke in a voice that almost crawled into the ground.
“……Understood. SaintㆍMarziel.”
Shaferia immediately kicked off the ground.
Her form shot forward like a flash of light.
In an instant, she flew toward the fallen carriage.
The count could only quietly watch the sight.
He was merely powerless.
***
Wild laughter rang loudly across the dark desert.
“How amusing! Very amusing indeed! I never knew you had a talent for deceiving humans!”
Mapheltan was sitting on an ocher boulder, laughing uproariously.
Shaferia said with a composed expression,
“I will do anything for my lord.”
Mapheltan cackled.
“Do not let that resolve change in the future either. There will be many things you must do for Yohan.”
Shaferia narrowed her brow as though irritated.
“Do not put my lord’s name in that filthy mouth of yours while pretending to be familiar. Once this matter is over, you are nothing but my lord’s enemy again.”
Mapheltan shook his head.
“Yohan and I will eventually be in the same boat. The Watcher’s interests and mine align in many ways.”
For Shaferia, every conversation with Mapheltan was torture.
She wanted to completely ignore what Mapheltan said.
She could not bring herself to put that into action.
There were a few questions she absolutely had to ask.
“……You’re saying something similar again. White Horn, just what interests between you and my lord align? What is your reason for trying to kill Apostle Beris?”
The smile vanished from Mapheltan’s face.
He opened his mouth with a fairly serious expression.
“I intend to slaughter every apostle in this world except myself and absorb their power. This body alone will become all evil itself.”
Shaferia was slightly flustered.
“……Are you saying you intend to become a Demon God?”
Mapheltan was declaring that he would become the lord of all demons and stand above all evil.
He snorted.
“Well, something like that. The title itself does not particularly matter.”
Shaferia was greatly enraged.
“How do your interests, when you want to become a Demon God, align with my lord’s?! There is a limit to how much bullshit you can spout!”
Mapheltan clicked his tongue.
“Think about it. The Watcher of the Abyss bears the duty to judge all evil. He must spend his entire life fighting evil. From Yohan’s perspective, do you truly think it would be easier to oppose twelve apostles? Absolutely not. Rather, it would be far easier to deal with this body, which will be gathered into a single malice.”
Like a hunter driving prey, the apostles would be driven into one place and killed all at once.
That was what Mapheltan was saying.
Shaferia laughed dryly.
“What dogshit wordplay. You don’t have even a shred of sincerity.”
Mapheltan shrugged.
“Well, it must be difficult to believe right now. In the end, you will come to praise this body’s tearful sacrifice.”
Shaferia stared at Mapheltan with an expression of utter disbelief.
“Sacrifice? Just what are you trying to say? Are you perhaps claiming that you will appoint yourself as the villain and someday die by my lord’s hand? Something like that?”
Mapheltan clapped as though impressed.
“A fine scenario. I shall keep it in mind for now.”
Contempt settled in Shaferia’s eyes.
“Any further conversation would be a waste of time. White Horn, I have no intention of entertaining your wordplay.”
Mapheltan crossed his arms and let out a sigh.
“That is unfortunate. I found this conversation quite enjoyable.”
Shaferia frowned and rose from the boulder.
“Stop with the useless talk and let’s return. Was the next destination the Abyss?”
In Sector Two of the Abyss slept the altar that would gather Apostle Beris’s soul in one place.
The moment the Land Dragon’s egg was placed on that altar, Apostle Beris would manifest.
If they subjugated him, this alliance would end as well.
Shaferia wanted to shake off Mapheltan’s hand as quickly as possible.
Mapheltan nodded.
“We are going to Sector Two of the Abyss. Keep the Land Dragon’s egg safe.”
He summoned the Cursed Scripture.
Through mirror magic, the two immediately teleported to the Miyatro Territory.
***
The morning sun brightened.
The cold wind of night changed back into a hot wind again.
Count Wulfrin clutched the hot sand and trembled all over.
He had lost everything last night.
Now there was no way to revive his family.
“Damn it! Goddamn it!”
A knight approached and said,
“My lord, are you all right?”
“……Not at all. Our family is finished now.”
The spirit egg in which he had invested half his entire fortune had vanished.
From the count’s perspective, he had no choice but to despair.
The knight spoke with a pitying face.
“Still, you preserved your life. All the troops are safe as well. It is all the grace of the Great Saint and the southern Watcher.”
The count looked down at the sand with a blank face.
He certainly had not died. He had survived even after facing an apostle.
He should have been happy, yet for some reason, an inexplicable emptiness came first.
A strange sense of dissonance kept rising within him.
It felt as though he had been bewitched by something.
The count muttered quietly,
“……Grace, you say. I suppose it must be grace. Somehow.”
The knight smiled brightly.
“That is right. We must repay it someday. To the Watcher of the Abyss.”
Looking at that innocent smile, the count somehow felt anger surge within him.
He wanted to hit the knight.
He did not act on it.
He had no justification.
As the knight had said, Count Wulfrin truly owed a debt to the Miyatro Family.
According to noble custom, a favor received had to be repaid.
The count let out a sigh filled with resentment.