Chapter 80 - The Count’s Domain (10)
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Several hours earlier, Yohan sat on the Heavenly Womb, watching the Count.
The Count was utterly entranced. Rigid as a statue, he stared into empty space with vacant eyes. He was having a terrible nightmare.
Yohan had no way of knowing what the dream contained. Only Ilea could access the hallucination. She now had Belzarak, the Nightmare Wraith, as her familiar.
Tiny magic circles turned like cogs in her blue eyes. She was using Belzarak to manipulate the Count’s nightmare.
Yohan looked at her listlessly.
'When will this be over?'
Just as he was growing tired of waiting, the magic circles vanished from Ilea’s eyes, along with the blue mana. She spoke.
“A satisfying production. Well done.”
A lump of pitch-black slime shot out of the Count’s mouth as though he had vomited it up. It was Belzarak. The creature immediately squirmed its way toward Ilea.
KRRRRRK!
Belzarak could not speak. It did not even have a definite shape. It was simply a being of condensed malice.
Who would look at that and think it was a high-ranking Demon? Judging by appearances alone, Belzarak was no more than an ordinary petty spirit.
Yohan spoke skeptically.
“Are you sure it’s done properly?”
Ilea nodded.
“Don’t worry. Belzarak is more capable than I expected.”
Belzarak was nightmare itself, a being that had existed since ancient times. Calling it the sovereign of Nightmare Spirits would be no exaggeration. Though it had lost some of its power, it had once been one of the underworld’s Archdemons.
Merely calling Belzarak capable hardly did it justice. Once it recovered its true body, it would become a formidable asset to Yohan.
That was a long way off, though. For now, it was merely a “fairly” exceptional Nightmare Spirit. Not particularly reassuring.
Yohan spoke.
“Well, if you’ve checked its work, I suppose Belzarak must be useful.”
Ilea smiled gently.
“Trust me. The Count will have no choice but to take your hand.”
She had staged the Count’s nightmare together with Belzarak. Having watched the entire process, she was certain of his defeat. That lent her words some credibility.
Yohan said,
“All right. Anything else worth noting?”
Ilea approached the rigid Count.
“This pendant. It turned out to be quite dangerous.”
The Count’s necklace was the trigger for summoning the Archdemon Saehel. Ilea removed the pendant and handed it to Yohan.
Yohan said,
“It brings forth a calamity. One called Saehel.”
Ilea gave a small exclamation of admiration.
“You knew, of course.”
She had learned the pendant’s function through the Count’s past, but Yohan had known about it all along. He had read about it in the original novel.
“Aren’t you used to it by now?”
“Yes. I’m not even surprised, really.”
“Anything else to tell me besides the pendant?”
There might be something he did not know. Chronicle of Humans and Demons was an ensemble story; it did not explore every individual’s psychology or circumstances in detail.
Ilea said,
“... Hmm, do you know the untold story of the Count and his wife? Of Cromwell and Yeriyan?”
Yohan knew nothing that could qualify as an untold story.
“Isn’t it just another love story?”
Ilea shook her head.
“It’s quite interesting, and more poignant than I expected. I can tell you if you’re interested.”
Yohan considered briefly before speaking.
“If it’s something I need to hear right now, give me the short version.”
“It’s nothing urgent.”
“Then I don’t need to hear it. I’d rather not waste time.”
It was time to leave, before more people gathered in Deathshadow.
Ilea gave a light clap.
“Then how about this? I’ll tell you while you’re resting. You remember promising to take a short break after this is over, don’t you?”
He had indeed made her that promise. Yohan said,
“Yes, well. Let’s do that when there’s time. Get ready to leave for now.”
Ilea narrowed her eyes at his evasive tone, then sighed softly.
“All right, for now. Is that all we need to take?”
She pointed inside the Heavenly Womb. Yeriyan’s remains were tightly swathed in a black wrapping cloth.
“Handle them carefully. Damage would complicate things.”
“Don’t worry.”
The bundle slowly began to rise, lifted into the air by magic.
Yohan placed a letter where the remains had lain. The Count would probably check on Yeriyan as soon as he woke. He would find Yohan’s invitation in her place, then come straight to the Miyatro domain.
The groundwork was reasonably well laid. Now, so long as he made good use of the Count, Yohan could accomplish a great deal.
He spoke with satisfaction.
“Let’s return to the domain. We’re finished here.”
Ilea and Yohan pulled on their head coverings and hoods, then left the chamber. Belzarak followed them.
* * *
A vast crowd had gathered in the enormous cavern on Deathshadow’s second level. Fell God Society believers, mages, fallen knights and priests, even a few unidentified oddities—all were wary of Ilea and Yohan.
A man slowly stepped out of the crowd. He spoke in a languid voice.
“Well, now. Looks like I let a calamity in.”
It was the Sword Fiend, Hakain, one of Deathshadow’s seven gatekeepers. He was the one responsible for letting Ilea through. It would hardly be an exaggeration to say this entire affair had happened because of him.
Ilea spoke from beneath her hood.
“You only followed the rules, Mr. Hakain. I obtained an entry token, and you, as gatekeeper, let me through. No one is at fault.”
Hakain chuckled.
“You’re not wrong. But someone has to answer for this. Since I’m the gatekeeper who let you in, I have to set things right. I’d like to pay as small a price as possible.”
If anything had happened to the Count, Hakain would not survive.
Ilea spoke.
“How do you intend to resolve this?”
“First, let me ask a few questions. What happened to His Excellency the Count?”
No one else had yet ventured into the chamber, for fear of Belzarak.
“He’s safe. You have absolutely nothing to worry about.”
Hakain stroked his unruly beard.
“That’s hard to take on faith. Is that perhaps His Excellency floating up there?”
A large cloth bundle floated above Ilea’s head. Inside were Yeriyan’s remains.
Ilea shook her head.
“The Count is perfectly fine on the third level. Go and see for yourself.”
“I’d rather you showed me what’s inside that bundle.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s out of the question.”
Hakain looked troubled.
“If you won’t cooperate, I can’t simply let you leave.”
Ilea’s eyes curved in a smile.
“Do you think you can stop me?”
Hakain had witnessed her power firsthand. A little earlier, at Deathshadow’s entrance, she had slaughtered a mage with high-tier magic, without so much as an activation phrase or a sign of preparation.
In all likelihood, Ilea was an archmage. Out of respect for her strength, Hakain had even addressed her deferentially. Now he had dropped those courtesies again. She was a potential enemy.
Hakain said,
“Stopping you would be difficult. But wouldn’t it be a different story if I used that one?”
He pointed behind Ilea. A small figure stood there, hooded just as she was. It was Yohan.
The amusement in Ilea’s eyes faded.
“Use him? How?”
“By targeting him instead of you. Even an archmage would struggle to take all of us on while protecting someone.”
Ilea had kept Yohan behind her from the start. It was an instinctive gesture, born of the urge to protect something precious. Yohan also looked quite weak. The Sword Fiend’s keen eye had caught all of it.
The smile vanished entirely from Ilea’s eyes. The air began to grow cold and still. She spoke slowly.
“The moment you act on that, you will regret this decision to your very bones. For the rest of your life.”
A biting chill spread through their surroundings. Everyone’s breath began to mist.
Hakain offered a cautious smile.
“If he’s that precious to you, why not try protecting him from me?”
He lowered his stance, brought a hand to his waist, and gently curled it around his sword hilt. His perpetually languid gaze sharpened.
Ilea murmured,
“You’re crossing a line.”
Countless equations appeared in midair. Bizarre geometric shapes meshed and turned like cogs. The moisture in the air slowly froze, turning their surroundings white.
Every mage present was shaken.
“Sh-she’s human?”
“How is this even...”
Several spell arrays of a tier far too high for them to decipher had appeared at once. Anyone versed in magic could only stare in shock. The being before them truly was an archmage—or something on par with one.
One mage spoke in a trembling voice.
“S-Sir Hakain. You must stop.”
Cold sweat beaded on Hakain’s forehead. Yet he held his stance, gripping his sword hilt ever tighter. A faint desire to test himself flickered in his sharp eyes.
Hakain muttered tensely,
“Can I cut her down? At this distance, I have the advantage.”
Yohan and Ilea were both within his reach. Conventional wisdom held that a mage could not win within a swordsman’s range.
Should he trust common sense and experience and draw his sword? Or heed that strange instinct and bow his head? The hand clutching his sword hilt began to tremble.
Ilea spoke coldly.
“You threatened the one most precious to me. You’ve already committed an offense worthy of death. I truly have no desire to hold back, but I will give you one last chance. Please step aside. If you draw that sword, I will kill you and every human connected to you.”
Her blue eyes turned pitch-black. All the magic circles suspended in the air meshed and revolved.
The atmospheric conditions kept changing every few seconds. Bitter cold swept in, only to give way to searing heat. At times, it even felt as though they were submerged in water.
She was altering nature itself. This was a realm far beyond their reach.
One by one, mages sank to the ground. Their will to fight was utterly gone. Only awe remained.
Hakain realized it too. His sword would never reach the mage.
He immediately relaxed his stance and released his sword hilt. With a sheepish smile, he said,
“I’d be better off taking my punishment from House Staviana. Believe it or not, I have much to protect.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than every magic circle vanished. Ilea let out a long sigh.
“Then would you please step aside?”
With an air of exaggerated nonchalance, Hakain gestured for them to proceed.
“Go on. Let’s never meet again.”
Yohan and Ilea started forward. At that moment, someone spoke in a shrill voice.
“Chatter, chatter. Utterly pathetic, the lot of you.”
Yohan turned toward the voice. A bizarre figure that looked like a fusion of spider and human was scuttling toward him at speed.
It suddenly leaped, baring pitch-black venomous fangs.
Just before it reached Yohan, a flash of light cut across its path. The spider-creature split in half in midair. Dark red bodily fluids poured down over Yohan’s head.
Hakain stood with his sword drawn, looking pleased with himself. Ilea spoke in a flat voice.
“You drew your sword.”