VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 1

“Sword of Morpheus?” said Lark.

King Alvis had met Lark several times before, but this was the first time he had witnessed the young man become visibly flustered. Even when the demon appeared and spoke to them, he’d remained calm, as though it was an everyday occurrence.

“That’s right,” said Lady Ropianna. “Sword of Morpheus. Ah, I think I still have that thing with me. Let’s see.” She fumbled in her pocket and took out a stone sparrow. “A royal court magician called Wisgarus sent this message to the captain of the royal knights before his death.” Sorrow was hidden within the elderly magician’s voice.

She handed the stone sparrow to Lark. He read the words engraved on its body.

We’re probably already dead by the time you read this. The Sword of Morpheus. The trap inside the treasure room in the statue was activated. Symon, take your men and leave this floor immediately.

Lark’s eyes widened. Indeed, the message mentioned the sword. He unconsciously tightened his grip on the stone sparrow.

“Where?” said Lark. “Where did they find the sword?” Lark already had an idea, based on the information he’d heard so far, but decided to ask regardless.

Lady Ropianna studied Lark for a moment. After a long pause, she said, “I’m sure you know already: The Forbidden Region. The same place where the royal knights obtained the Tears of Ubroxia.”

Nickolai was glaring at her. His eyes were clearly saying ‘Are you out of your mind? Why are you telling this brat?’ but Lady Ropianna simply ignored him.

“Judging by your reaction, you must have heard of the Sword of Morpheus,” said Lady Ropianna. “The sword the legendary Evander Alaester created. Although most people considered that treasure a myth, it seems that it really existed. And to think that it’s been in the Forbidden Region of all places. No wonder it was never found.”

Lark nodded slowly. Although he was stunned upon hearing of the sword’s whereabouts, he’d slowly started regaining his calm.

“You said before that a monster is guarding the sword,” said Lark.

“That’s right,” said Lady Ropianna. “A gargantuan monster with seven heads, resembling a dragon. The same monster that almost wiped out the full expedition team. Even the royal knights weren’t a match for it. We heard from Captain Symon that the monster’s attack evaporated a portion of the lake in an instant. We’re truly blessed by the heavens that the captain managed to escape the labyrinth alive, in exchange for losing just a single arm.”

Captain Symon was the only son of Sword Saint Marrozo. It was a well-known fact that, before becoming bedridden, the Sword Saint passed down his techniques to his son. But even Captain Symon couldn’t come out unscathed after entering the Forbidden Region. Even he lost all will to fight after seeing the monster guarding the treasure room.

Several thoughts started running through Lark’s mind upon hearing this. He was sure that in his previous life, one of his disciples had jokingly said to him that in the event of his death, they’d store his beloved sword in a safe place, protected by a strong monster capable of killing a High Demon on its own. A monster capable of fighting even a dragon.

A wry smile formed on Lark’s lips. A certain disciple came to mind. He could imagine that kid stealing his sword from the treasure room in the Forbidden Tower and storing it away in another place, away from the hands of humans and demons.

As for the monster guarding the treasure room…

Gargantuan. Seven heads. Resembles a dragon.

Two monsters came to mind: A Hydra and a Scylla.

A Hydra can have between five and nine heads, and the number increases as they age. Considering that more than a thousand years had passed since his death, the Hydra should have already matured and had nine heads by now.

Then, the monster was most probably a Scylla.

But how did they tame a Scylla? Moreover, task it with protecting Evander’s treasures for more than a thousand years? Those creatures were as prideful as dragons. They wouldn’t bow their heads, even in front of High Demons.

“Kid, don’t even think of entering the labyrinth,” warned Nickolai. “You’d probably be dead before you even reached the entrance. You heard what happened to the royal knights, right?”

Lark remembered what Lady Ropianna said before. It seemed that Nickolai had been secretly gathering his disciples after learning the whereabouts of the sword.

Lark smiled. “Of course. It’s called the Forbidden Region for a reason.” He was sure that if he told them he planned on entering the labyrinth, everyone in this room would do everything in their power to stop him. He’d like to avoid such nuisance if he could.

Nickolai stared at Lark, as though probing the young man’s intentions. Fortunately, it seemed he was satisfied with Lark’s answer.

He snorted and said, “It’s good that you understand.”

***

Their return to the capital was met without hitch or strife. Surprisingly, the moment they arrived at the city gates, they were met with cheers from the citizens. News traveled fast. Although they did not know the full details, the news of the ritual’s success and the king’s full recovery had even reached the ears of the commoners. The cheers “Long Live King Alvis!” echoed as they marched through the streets.

The king, his skin visibly healthier than before, opened the carriage window and waved at his subjects gathered on the streets.

“Look! Doesn’t His Majesty look a lot younger than before he left the capital a few weeks ago?”

“I was worried that war was brewing again, but it seems that the rumors were true. They must have conducted a ritual to cure His Majesty!”

“As expected of Lady Ropianna! She must have found a way to finally cure the king! It’s been so long since we’ve seen His Majesty like this!”

“I heard that a demon appeared?”

“Nonsense! Demons are nothing but myths! Even the Empire never encountered those monsters. Grow up. Stop believing in folk tales.”

“But I heard it from my brother himself! He said he was there when it happened!”

“Then your brother’s a liar. Stop spouting crap.”

“What did you say?”

Numerous rumors and speculations spread among the masses. It seemed that the scouts who had arrived back at the capital a few days earlier couldn’t keep their mouths shut.

Upon arriving at the castle, the king immediately summoned Lark to the throne room. This time, only His Majesty, the retired General Carlos, and several guards were inside.

Lark knelt in front of King Alvis. “It’s an honor to be in the presence of Your Majesty.”

“It’s regretful that we couldn’t conduct the awarding ceremony in public, since we’d like to keep what transpired in Fork Meadow under wraps. I’ve heard that some rumors are spreading among the citizens of the capital. There’s no need to fan the flames with an awarding ceremony held in public, now of all times. I hope you understand.”

“Yes, I understand, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you.” The king sighed. He felt regretful that he couldn’t properly reward this young man for what he’d done. An awarding ceremony held in front of everyone held more significance than a private one. “During our journey back to the capital, I asked you to choose a reward.”

Lark remembered. He hadn’t made up his mind back then; he had apologized to the king and asked for more time to think things through.

“I believe I’ve given you enough time,” King Alvis said softly. “Let me hear it. What reward do you wish to receive this time?”

After careful consideration, Lark had arrived at a conclusion. What his territory was lacking right now was both manpower and gold. He was already blessed with a very large territory. What he needed was funds, and people.

“If it isn’t too much, five thousand gold coins,” Lark said carefully. “And a notice backed by the royal family.”

Monetary reward was among King Alvis’ expectations, but he hadn’t anticipated the last request. In his whole life, this was the first time someone had requested such a reward from him, the king.

“Five thousand gold coins is reasonable.” King Alvis looked at Lark with eyes filled with interest. “As for the notice, it’ll depend on its contents.” It must be something of grave importance, since Lark specifically requested the crown back it up. But Lark’s next words proved the king’s assumption to be wrong.

“It’s a simple recruitment notice, Your Majesty. A recruitment notice for the military, agriculture, education, and other things like arts and masonry. There have been a lot of immigrants coming to Blackstone Town lately, but I believe it’ll soon be just a dribble.”

King Alvis stroked his beard.

Indeed, there was a limit to the amount of people who’d be willing to immigrate to a town in the middle of the wilderness, even if the pay offered was generous.

But with the help of the royal family, it would be a lot easier to recruit more immigrants for Blackstone Town. After all, a recruitment notice with the seal of the royal family held more weight and credibility. Furthermore, it would be possible to post the recruitment notices in the lands ruled by the other nobles all throughout the kingdom. A feat impossible to achieve with Lark’s authority alone.

A smile slowly formed on King Alvis’ face. The second son of Duke Drakus was really something else. For a moment, King Alvis was truly glad that the curse had been lifted. Maybe he’d be lucky to live long enough to see Blackstone Town become one of the major cities of the kingdom.

Just thinking about it made the king tremble with excitement.

“A recruitment notice, huh?” said the king. “Very well. You shall be granted five thousand gold coins, and the royal family shall do everything in its power to help you recruit more people for your territory.”

Lark grinned. With this, the problem regarding Blackstone Town’s population would soon be resolved. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Had Lark been greedy, he would have also asked for a high-grade mana stone. But he knew that such item was so rare that Lady Ropianna had to pull one out of her family heirloom just to obtain one.

It was regrettable, but he’d have to settle with these rewards this time.

“Now that we’re done discussing the rewards…” King Alvis looked at General Carlos, who’d been standing right next to him. “Carlos.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

General Carlos removed the cloth covering the item he was holding in his hand, revealing the phylactery they had used to temporarily store the fragment.

“You said before that it would be possible to use the pinnacle-grade barrier spell stored inside the phylactery to protect the entire capital,” said the king.

Lark nodded. “Yes, that’s correct, Your Majesty.”

King Alvis paused for a moment, as though ashamed that he would be asking Lark for another favor today. He said gloomily, “The flower used to complete the spell was obtained in exchange for the lives of almost a hundred of my most loyal men. This old man sincerely hopes that you’ll be able to erect the barrier here, to protect the capital.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Lark said without hesitation. He also believed that this spell should be used to protect the capital. This way, the souls of the knights who died to obtain the flower would be appeased somewhat.

“You said before that it’s possible to control the barrier as long as someone is holding the phylactery,” said General Carlos.

Lark nodded. “Yes.”

General Carlos turned to the king. “Your Majesty, I believe it would be best to install the barrier at the most secured place in the castle.”

“Then, the Royal Sanctum,” said King Alvis.

“Yes. There’s no place more secure than the Royal Sanctum,” said the General.

The Royal Sanctum was different from the treasure room of the king’s castle. The treasure room was where the gold, silver, jewels, and other important notes were stored, while the Royal Sanctum was where the treasures of the past royals were kept.

Even royal court magicians would have a hard time breaching it.

“Although only those with royal blood are allowed entry, it’d be wise to make an exception this time. Very well, let us install the barrier there.”

Following the lead of His Majesty, Lark and General Carlos arrived at the entrance of a large underground chamber. The four royal guards standing in front of the door immediately knelt the moment they saw His Majesty.

King Alvis took out two long, slender keys and pushed them into the keyholes, before twisting them at the same time. Loud clinking sounds were heard.

“Carlos,” said King Alvis.

General Carlos placed both his hands on the iron door and started pushing it with all his might. The iron door, which was almost two meters thick, slowly creaked open as the General pushed it. Stale air seeped out of the gap.

General Carlos’ muscles bulged as he pushed it open, making a gap just enough for two people to pass through side by side. After the king, Lark, and General Carlos entered the room the iron door was shut tight again.

Darkness momentarily swallowed them. General Carlos summoned an orb of light and willed it to hover right above them, illuminating the entire chamber.

It seemed that this was merely another passageway, as another iron door stood at the end of the chamber.

“A trap room,” said Lark.

He noticed the irregularly placed blocks of stones forming a portion of the walls. Below them, the ground felt hollow as they walked. Above, three medium-sized magic formations were engraved on the ceiling. At their center were three middle-grade mana stones.

“That’s right,” said King Alvis. “Those who tried to force their way in without using these keys would trigger the traps. Poison arrows, pitfalls, and explosion magic would rain down on the intruders.”

Lark studied the magic formations engraved on the ceiling. There were three of them, all explosion magic. Judging by the runes and layers in the magic formation, each of the three spells were seventh-tier at the very least. Even a royal court magician would not come out unscathed if he was bombarded with three powerful spells in this confined space at the same time.

The king opened another thick iron door, and they arrived at a chamber similar to the first one. Just like before, several powerful traps were installed in this room. Their group passed through five trap rooms before eventually arriving at the Royal Sanctum.

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 2

The orb of light illuminated the various treasure stored in the Royal Sanctum. Swords, staffs, armor, shields, various accessories and jewelry that screamed ‘extremely expensive’ filled the room. For generations, this place had held the most prized possessions of the previous royals.

Looking around, Lark saw several items worthy of interest. His eyes lingered on the sword with a black blade hanging on the wall.

Noticing Lark’s gaze, the king said, “It’s one of the four named swords. The black sword, Darkmoon. I gave your brother one during the previous awarding ceremony, remember?”

Lark remembered the blue sword bestowed upon his older brother after their victory against the Empire. A sword created by the legendary dwarven blacksmith, Golgodan.

“Grandblue is currently owned by Lui Marcus. Sword Saint Alexander holds Bloodthorne,” said King Alvis. “And Darkmoon is currently being kept here in the Royal Sanctum. As for the remaining one… White Seraph’s current whereabouts is unknown. It went missing during the reign of the previous king.”

Lark stared at the black sword with interest. It was undoubtedly made of adamantite. The strongest metal in this world.

King Alvis stroked his beard as he pondered for a moment. “How about this? If you take Esmeralda as your wife, I’ll make an exception and give the last remaining named sword to you,” chuckled King Alvis. “What do you think?”

The king was really persistent.

Lark smiled wryly. “I’m not so shameless as to take both the king’s daughter and his sword.”

King Alvis laughed. “Is that so? I don’t really mind though. Tell me once you’ve changed your mind. This old man is always open for conversation, my future son-in-law.”

The king’s hearty laugh echoed in the Royal Sanctum. General Carlos awkwardly scratched his stubble.

General Carlos cleared his throat. “Your Majesty.”

“Ah, of course,” said King Alvis. “I believe the shrine over there is a perfect place to install the barrier, don’t you agree?”

At the center of the Royal Sanctum was a small shrine made of gold. It could fit only five people at most. A place once used by one of the previous kings to pray to the Gods.

The three of them entered the shrine and Lark placed the phylactery on the empty altar. He’d already altered the magic formations in the phylactery before coming to the capital. The moment the barrier was released, only humans could come and go in the capital as they pleased.

“Your Majesty, I presume that you’d also like the general to have control over this barrier?”

Seeing that the king brought only General Carlos with him, it seemed that he was the one who the king trusted the most.

“Yes. In the event that I’m unable to control the barrier,” said King Alvis. “I want you, Carlos, to control the barrier and protect the capital.”

The General bowed his head. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”

“Then, let’s start,” said Lark.

Lark touched the phylactery and slowly guided the layers upon layers of runes to spin outward. As though they had a life of their own, the runes started surrounding the king, Lark, and the general, forming three separate magic formations.

This way, only they would be able to alter the magic stored in the phylactery at will.

The barrier started expanding.

The barrier grew as though an invisible giant blew large amounts of air into it. At first, it enclosed the shrine, before expanding further and enclosing the entire Royal Sanctum.

In just a few minutes, it started covering the castle, spreading outward until it covered the whole capital.

The citizens of the capital stopped in their tracks when a translucent bubble started spreading out from the direction of the castle. Some of them panicked and tried running away from it, but upon seeing that it didn’t do anything to those it touched, they started to calm down. They watched as the translucent bubble expanded into the sky and spread far and wide, until it eventually enclosed the entire capital.

Lark lifted his hands off the phylactery. He wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead.

“The barrier should be visible outside,” said Lark. “It’ll probably be able to block a few dozen Grand Scale Magic spells before it collapses.”

The king and General Carlos were stunned.

A few dozen? If the barrier, with mithril as its medium, was this strong, then they could only begin to fathom how strong the barrier protecting the Dwarven Kingdom was. No wonder it had never been breached by its neighboring kingdoms.

“Since I won’t always be here, it’ll be better if His Majesty and the General know how to control this barrier,” said Lark. “It’s fairly easy. Your Majesty, please touch the mithril jar.”

The king placed both of his hands on the phylactery. The moment he touched the medium, King Alvis felt an indescribable sensation flow through his entire body—as if you suddenly found yourself able to control the flow of a raging river. It was a peculiar feeling.

“Once you’ve been recognized as the caster of the spell, it’s fairly easy, right?” Lark grinned.

King Alvis still couldn’t get used to the overflowing mana which followed his every command. So, this was how Lark felt after he completed the pinnacle-grade spell.

***

After leaving the Royal Sanctum, King Alvis immediately issued a public statement that the royal family was behind the sudden appearance of the barrier.

The citizens did not know the full details—how strong the barrier actually was and how it was created—but they’d been told that it would hinder the entry of monsters, beastmen, and other races aside from humans.

Since the barrier reached a portion of the outskirts of the capital, it greatly relieved some of the soldiers’ burden.

“You’re leaving already?” said King Alvis. “Why not stay a bit longer? Blackstone Town can wait for sure.”

He sounded like a father asking his son to stay for a couple more days.

Lark smiled politely. “I really have to go back, Your Majesty.”

King Alvis sighed. “Is that so?”

“Yes.”

King Alvis fell silent for a moment. Eventually he said, “I see. It’s regrettable. I was hoping you’d stay for a few more days.”

King Alvis tapped the armrest of his throne several times. “I believe we’ve already given you the five thousand gold coins we discussed. As for the recruitment notice, I’ve already tasked several messengers to go to various territories of the kingdom. Although there might be some backlash, since we’ll be encroaching on other nobles’ domain, it’s nothing you should be worried about. It’s not like we’re stripping them of their titles. We’re merely recruiting more people.”

The king laughed heartily. Judging by his mischievous expression, it seemed that he planned on issuing more recruitment notices in lands owned by the anti-royal faction.

Lark smiled as he looked at the scheming face of the king. It was great that King Alvis had really recovered his health. He even had the spare energy to make jokes every now and then.

After leaving the king’s castle, Lark immediately went back to the inn where his disciples were staying.

They had packed their belongings already, ready to move out at any time. A familiar face was among them. She carried a small bag. Lark stared at her quizzically.

“What?” she asked.

“What brings you here, Princess?” Lark said carefully.

“You’re going back to Blackstone Town, right?”

It suddenly occurred to Lark that he had seen her personal knights standing outside the inn.

“Are you perhaps… coming with us?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” The princess frowned. “I’ve spoken with Father already and he agreed.”

It did not make sense. She’d achieved her goal of curing her father, after all. Lark expected to part ways with her here. He expected her to stay here in the capital after His Majesty had been healed.

“But His Majesty’s been healed,” said Lark.

“We told you before, didn’t we? We came to Blackstone Town for the cultural exchange training,” said the princess.

Lark was stunned to hear the stupid-sounding pretext once again. It was amazing that she managed to blurt it out without flinching.

“I don’t plan on breaking that promise,” she added. “As I told you before, we’ll stay for at least a year.”

Austen and George looked at each other and grinned. The brothers seemed pleased that the princess was staying with them. Judging by their faces, they would have jumped for joy and cheered if there had been no one there to see them.

Lark rubbed his forehead. It seemed that he’d underestimated King Alvis. He must have spoken with the princess before sending her here.

What a persistent old man.

“Hey, I know you’re not happy with me being here, but can you at least pretend to be?” The princess pouted, her cheeks flushed after Lark’s reaction to her words.

“Don’t mind the Young Master, Princess!” said George. “He’s young, but he has the heart of an old man. He can’t appreciate beauty when he sees it! We’re all happy that you’ll be staying at Blackstone Town!”

George started spouting nonsense. But judging by the princess’ face, it seemed to be surprisingly effective. The princess smiled broadly and said, “Is that so?”

She smiled at Lark with a ‘Did you hear that?’ look.

Lark sighed. Since this was approved by His Majesty himself, there was nothing Lark could do about it.

“Alright. I understand.” Lark conceded. “I know that you have your knights with you, but, Princess, please make sure to stick close to my disciples during your journey to Blackstone Town. Especially Anandra. You should be safe as long as he’s around.”

Anandra was strong enough to overpower even a leader of Black Midas. As long as he didn’t encounter an opponent on General Alvaren’s caliber, the princess should be safe with him around.

“What do you mean?” The princess shot Lark a quizzical gaze.

It sounded as though Lark was not coming with them on their journey back to Blackstone Town. Even his disciples, especially George, Austen and Chryselle, were baffled at this statement.

“There’s somewhere I need to go,” said Lark. He did not elaborate further.

“Anandra.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

“Can I entrust the princess to you? It’d be a real pain if something were to happen to her on her way to Blackstone Town.”

The other disciples weren’t sure if Anandra was already aware of Lark’s plan, since his expression didn’t change even after Lark declared that he wouldn’t be accompanying them back to Blackstone Town. He wore his usual cold, stoic gaze.

“Of course, My Lord. Please leave it to me.” Anandra bowed. “I’ll eagerly await your return. Please have a safe journey.”

Anandra was really starting to sound like an old man as time went by. Once again, his image overlapped with Gaston’s.

“You’re leaving? You’re not coming with us back to the town?” said Chryselle.

“I’m simply making a detour,” corrected Lark.

“Can you at least tell us where you’re going?” said Chryselle.

Lark fell silent. He planned on going straight to the Forbidden Region after this. But if he told them the truth, they might try to stop him from going to such a dangerous place. Or worse, they might insist on coming with him.

Lark had heard from Lady Ropianna how dangerous the Forbidden Region was. If a Scylla was really guarding the treasure room where the Sword of Morpheus was being kept, it’d be impossible for the current Lark to protect everyone. Just surviving an encounter would be hard enough.

The best course of action was to go there alone.

“I can’t tell you the specifics and I can’t tell you the destination, sorry.”

Chryselle bit her lip. “I see.”

Seeing her crestfallen face, Lark smiled softly. He placed a hand on her head and gently ruffled her hair.

Chryselle’s eyes slowly widened and she froze. She hadn’t expected Lark to do that. Especially in front of other people.

“It’s fine,” said Lark. “I’ll be sure to come back straight after.”

Lark looked up. There were still several hours before dusk, but the air was already freezing cold. Very soon, winter would arrive.

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 3

After parting with his disciples, Lark immediately went to the breeder and bought the fastest and strongest horse available. Although it cost him a hefty sum of money, investing in a good mount was a must for this expedition.

He also bought a woolen coat, several days’ worth of rations, and a large water flask.

“Four gold, five silvers,” said the merchant in front of him.

Lark handed the merchant the exact amount, strapped the items on the horse, and looked in the direction of the nearby tailoring shop. He was sure that several people had been following him for quite some time now.

“Ah, since you’ve bought a lot, take this. It’s free.”

The merchant tossed a plaid scarf to him.

Lark stared at the scarf then at the smiling merchant.

“Winter gets harsher each year,” said the merchant. “You’re going on a long journey, right, young man? You’ll need more than a coat to survive the freezing snow in the coming months.”

Lark wrapped the scarf around his neck and lightly bowed his head. “Thank you.”

After buying all the things he needed for his journey, Lark immediately moved out of the capital and headed southwest, toward the Forbidden Region.

Lark frowned. Several people continued following him from a safe distance. Lark clicked his tongue. He did not like being followed and monitored by unknown individuals.

Lark reined in his horse and dismounted. He amplified the strength of his body using mana and increased his speed using wind magic, before shooting in the direction of his pursuers.

The three men, clad in cloaks, following Lark, were surprised to see a figure shooting toward them at a frightening speed.

“What is that?”

The figure blurred and vanished entirely. A split second after, the heads of their horses flew and rolled on the ground. Blood spurted out incessantly, splattering the pursuers and the ground.

“Who sent you? Why are you following me?” A cold voice was heard.

Although they couldn’t see the owner of the voice, they realized to whom it belonged. The three looked at their headless mounts. They realized that had Lark willed it, he could have killed all three of them on the spot.

“W-Wait!” shouted one of them. “Master didn’t tell us it’ll be like this! H-He simply told us to follow you and report our findings!”

Based on what he’d seen so far, they definitely weren’t assassins. The assassins from Black Midas could parry Lark’s attacks, and the leaders of that criminal syndicate were even more proficient with the sword than Lark. But these three couldn’t even react to his movements.

Right now, they were frozen, as though they feared they would be beheaded if they made the slightest movement.

Like a mirage, Lark’s figure slowly appeared in front of everyone.

“Master?” said Lark.

The three looked at each other. The one who first spoke pulled down his hood, and the rest followed suit. Surprisingly, all of them were young, probably around the same age as Lark. The oldest was probably the same age as Anandra.

The oldest of the three swallowed the lump in his throat. Fear was evident in his eyes. “M-Master Nickolai.”

An unexpected name came up. Lark silently urged him to continue.

“W-We’re all disciples of the Thunder Lord . T-The master asked us to monitor your movements in the capital,” said the disciple.

“Monitor my movements,” repeated Lark. His cold voice sent shivers down the three disciples’ spines.

When their master, Nickolai, told them to monitor someone, they expected it to be an easy task. After all, the three of them were capable of spells until the fourth-tier. An ordinary soldier wasn’t their match. But after seeing the inhuman strength displayed by Lark, the way he unhesitatingly beheaded all of their mounts, the three disciples all lost the will to fight.

They realized that the man they were tasked to monitor was at least on the same level as a high-ranking knight. They even surmised that he was probably as strong as the captain of the royal knights.

This was someone capable of killing them before they could even cast their spells.

“Yes, we’re merely tasked to monitor your movements!” said another disciple.

It seemed true, as Lark didn’t feel they had any intent to kill. Still, he did not like being followed.

“Why?” said Lark.

A single word.

But for some strange reason, the three felt that the fate of their master rested on their answer to this question. They fell silent for a moment.

The oldest disciple choked his words out, “T-The treasure in the Forbidden Region! The master has been gathering all of his seventeen disciples and several mercenaries for an expedition to the City of Bones!”

Lark furrowed his brows upon hearing this.

Seeing Lark’s displeased expression, the oldest disciple hurriedly added, “T-The master is afraid that you’ll steal the treasure stored in the labyrinth! That’s why he asked us to monitor your movements!”

“Steal the treasure? I won’t,” said Lark.

This was true, since the Sword of Morpheus was his to begin with. He would simply be taking what was rightfully his. Hopefully, the information passed on by the captain of the royal guards before he lost consciousness was true, that the sword could really be found in that labyrinth.

“R-Really?” said the youngest-looking disciple.

“I’m not so shameful as to steal another person’s treasure,” said Lark. He sounded resolute and convincing.

“But the direction you’re going… it’s the opposite direction to the Endless Forest. It’s the same direction as the Forbidden Region.”

“That’s none of your concern. Wherever I’m headed is none of your business,” said Lark. He stared at them for a moment, then sighed. “The three of you are still young, and seeing that you have no harmful intentions, I’ll let this one slide.”

The three of you are still young . That sounded peculiar, coming from someone their age.

Lark sheathed his sword. The disciples sighed in relief upon seeing this.

“Tell your master this—I dislike being followed. I won’t be as merciful next time.”

Lark started walking toward his mount, then stopped. He turned around and looked at the disciples. “The three of you seem to have some talent in magic.”

The amount of mana in their bodies and its flow was a dead giveaway. Although Lark wasn’t a hundred percent certain, these three probably had at least half the talent of Chryselle.

It felt like a waste to see someone so young die due to the greed and arrogance of their master. A Scylla wasn’t something they could hope to survive even if they trained for another decade.

“Some advice,” said Lark. “Don’t participate in this expedition. You heard what happened to the royal knights, didn’t you?”

The three looked at each other. They were also afraid of going to the Forbidden Region. But since the master clearly told them that he would disown anyone who refused to come with him, they had no choice but to join. Furthermore, the rest of the disciples were eager to join the master. They were all looking forward to seeing the legendary sword in the flesh.

“B-But if we don’t join the expedition...” The youngest-looking disciple gazed on the ground. “Master Nickolai will get rid of us. He’s done it before. I’m sure the three of us won’t be an exception.”

“Then leave,” said Lark. “It’s that simple, isn’t it? It’s called a Forbidden Region for a reason. Don’t throw your lives away over something as petty as legendary treasure.”

He’d said his piece. What they chose to do next was up to them. Whether they’d choose to throw their lives away for their master or choose to wander around the kingdom as fourth-tier mages without affiliations.

Without uttering another word, Lark went to where his mount was located. He looked up.

“Winter came earlier than expected, huh?”

Snow had started falling. Fortunately, he’d already bought a thick woolen cloak and the merchant had given him this nice-looking scarf—free.

Lark thought of Blackstone Town for a moment.

It should be different than last year, when people were dying from hunger and the cold. This time, they had more than enough food stored in the granaries to last them the winter, even a year. They’d also built several houses in the Eastern District.

Lark smiled. He felt at ease leaving the town in his people’s hands.

He mounted his horse, slapped the reins and went toward the Forbidden Region.

***

The three disciples tasked to monitor Lark went back to the capital. Immediately, they headed to the residence of their master in the Inner District.

“You lost track of him?” Nickolai asked incredulously. He gripped the parchment he was holding in his hand, crumpling it in an instant.

“O-Our horses were killed and we didn’t have any other means to chas—”

“Then use your magic, goddamnit!” snarled Nickolai. “The three of you are among my five strongest disciples! That’s why I specifically tasked the three of you to monitor that stupid Marcus brat! You mastered the thunderclap spell a long time ago, didn’t you?”

Thunderclap was a spell that enabled the caster to move at a frighteningly fast speed for a short period of time. It was true that had they used it, they could have chased after Lark for some time until they ran out of mana.

But the warning of Lark echoed in their minds. After seeing him beheading their horses without hesitation, they had all lost the will to fight. That was a monster in human flesh. It would be like facing their master.

“These useless disciples!” Nickolai slammed the crumpled parchment down on the table.

“But, Master! He told us that he doesn’t have any intention of stealing the treasure in the Forbidden Region!”

“And you believed him?” sneered Nickolai. “As I thought. That old hag should have kept her mouth shut. Spouting nonsense here and there! There was no need to tell that Marcus brat about the legendary sword, right?”

The disciples listened silently as Nickolai started cursing Lark and Lady Ropianna. They all knew of their master’s temper. The Thunder Lord was known as one of the strongest magicians in this kingdom, and he was also among the most ruthless.

He couldn’t show his hostility openly before, since His Majesty and General Carlos was there with them in Fork Meadow. Furthermore, he was not in an amicable relationship with Elias ‘Farsight.’ The archer held no interest in power struggles and politics. He was only interested in archery and magic. A stark contrast to the Thunder Lord. Naturally, their views often clashed and they viewed each other in bad light.

Nickolai gritted his teeth.

He was sure of what he saw that night. The moment Lady Ropianna mentioned the Sword of Morpheus, the Marcus brat’s eyes glimmered with greed. He wanted that treasure for himself, Nickolai was sure of it.

“Stealing what’s supposed to be mine,” Nickolai clicked his tongue, “I won’t allow it.”

Nickolai said to his strongest disciple, “Videl, the mercenaries?”

Videl bowed his head respectfully. “We’ve managed to recruit over a hundred mercenaries from the guild, Master. They’re all willing to join our expedition in the Forbidden Region as long as we pay the asked price.”

“Good,” said Nickolai.

Finally, some good news.

“Those ruffians will be our meat shield. We’ll recruit more mercenaries once we’ve arrived at Boris County. I’m sure everyone will jump at the offer once they hear the name of the Thunder Lord.”

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 4

For several weeks, Lark relentlessly made his way toward the Forbidden Region. The snow had grown thick by then. Everything was blanketed white.

He occasionally passed by a small town or a village. Unfortunately, unlike Golden Wheat City, it seemed that this region had been hit by the black famine this year and hadn’t recovered. All of the villages he passed through along the way were in a terrible state. Some of the shacks had collapsed due to the piled-up snow, and he saw several dead bodies outside half-buried in snow. Looking closely, the dead bodies were emaciated, as though they hadn’t eaten anything for days.

Lark looked up. The sky kept howling as fierce wind and snow blew. It seemed that the blizzard wouldn’t stop any time soon.

“Looks like I need to stay in an inn tonight,” he mumbled.

He entered the nearest village and went toward a nearby cabin, which he presumed to be an inn based on the snow-covered sign dangling from its eaves. There was even a small shed next to it for his mount.

Lark knocked on the door several times. When he heard no response, he knocked again and said in a loud voice, “Hello? Is the inn open? Can I stay here for the night?”

“Is no one home?” he asked himself.

Lark looked to his rear. He noticed a group approaching him. Judging by the way they glared at him, and the threatening way they held their farming tools, it was easy to see what they were aiming for.

The moment they’d surrounded Lark, one of them shouted, “G-Give us all of your belongings and we’ll spare your life!”

There was a hint of fear within the man’s words. Now that Lark had taken a careful look, all of the men surrounding him were skin and bone. They held the same appearance as the other villagers Lark encountered on his way here. They wore thin, tattered tunics, with only straw hats protecting their heads against the freezing snow. No wonder they were all trembling as they held their sickles, shovels, and rakes.

When Lark didn’t reply to their previous demand, the same villager repeated, “G-Give us all of your belongings! Leave everything behind and we’ll spare your life!”

The emaciated man’s voice was close to crying. He sounded so desperate. The fear within his eyes was clearly evident. They definitely weren’t bandits. They had probably never killed a single person before in their lives.

“And if I don’t?” Lark finally spoke.

The villagers saw the sword dangling on his waist, half-concealed by his woolen coat.

“T-That’s… W-We’ll kill you!” one of the villagers choked the words out.

Lark could see why these people were doing this. It had been a few weeks since winter started and judging by the state of the crops he’d passed by along the way, this village was among those hit terribly by the previous black famine.

The villagers must have been dying from hunger and the cold since winter arrived.

For a moment, Lark was reminded of Blackstone Town. His territory was in such a terrible state just a year ago. People were dying on the streets from the cold, after their shacks collapsed from the piled-up snow. Some people even started digging up the roots of trees and eating them just to survive.

He looked at the villagers currently surrounding him from all sides. They too were scrambling for survival.

After seeing Lark’s sword and his expensive-looking mount, these men must have realized that they had targeted the wrong person. It was easy to see the fear in their eyes that they would lose their lives tonight. They must have thought that he was a knight serving under a noble house.

“Kill me, huh?” mumbled Lark.

One of the villagers took a step back upon hearing this. The rest, on the other hand, flinched and tightened their grips on their weapons.

Lark fell silent for a moment, his face half-shrouded by his hood.

Eventually, he spoke. “I can give you my food, but I’m afraid you’ll have to kill me if you wish to steal my other valuables,” said Lark.

Boris County was only a day or two from here. He could definitely survive without eating during that time. These villagers, on the other hand, would probably die soon if they weren’t able to procure any food.

Lark was sure that there were children inside those dilapidated shacks, waiting for them to return.

“J-Just the food is fine!” said one of the villagers. “W-We’ll let you keep your sword, your mount, and your other valuables with you!”

It was good that they weren’t too greedy.

Lark unstrapped a large leather bag from his horse and tossed it toward the man who appeared to be the leader of the group.

“That’s all the food I have,” said Lark. “Take it.”

The leader of the group immediately dropped his weapon and grabbed the leather bag, as though afraid that Lark would suddenly change his mind. Upon opening, a shout of glee unconsciously escaped his mouth. His eyes were wide as he stared at the meat jerkies and loaves of bread inside.

Although it wouldn’t be enough to feed the entire village, at the very least, they would be able to feed the starving children. The same thoughts ran through everyone’s mind as they gawked at the leather bag filled with food, as though it was some sort of treasure.

Lark mounted his horse.

Everyone looked at him, relieved that the young man had no intention of fighting back. For a moment, they had worried that several lives would be lost tonight.

The villagers thanked the Gods above.

“A-As promised, we’ll let you go,” said the leader of the group.

They both knew that it was actually the other way around. This young man was simply being benevolent to the pitiful bunch.

Lark smiled and lightly bowed his head. “Thank you.”

Lark looked in the direction of the nearby forest. “I saw some burdock on my way here to the village. You can make some soup with its roots. Walk about ten minutes east of this village and you should see it. If I’m not mistaken, it’s near a large boulder.”

The villagers were thrilled to hear this. Burdock was not only edible, its roots also tasted meaty, with some sweetness, when cooked properly. The children would surely love it.

The villagers looked at each other as shame and guilt started creeping in. The young man not only gave them all of his food, he also told them about the root crop he saw on his way here.

“Y-Young man,” said one of the villagers. “You came here to find an inn, isn’t that right? I know this sounds preposterous coming from me, especially after we robbed you of your rations, but you can stay the night in my house.”

Lark pondered for a moment.

It was a good offer, but he decided to reject it. “No, thank you. It’d be better for me to be on my way.”

Lark deemed that this was the best course of action right now. If he stayed here, the villagers would be reminded that they’d mugged an innocent young man.

He didn’t really resent them. Even weak people like them would do anything to live, to ensure their loved ones’ survival. They were just unlucky that they had been struck by the black famine and hadn’t managed to recover before winter arrived.

Without uttering another word, Lark spurred his horse forward and left the village.

That night, he ended up using his mana to create a small shed made of earth magic. Although he could tolerate the freezing snow, it seemed that his horse was approaching its limit. He ended up staying the night inside the shed, right in the middle of the forest.

His stomach also grumbled from the lack of food, but Lark simply ignored it, thinking that the emaciated villagers had it far worse. He’d reach Boris County soon anyway.

When morning came, Lark immediately resumed his journey. And finally, after almost two days, he reached Boris County. A vast territory composed of the City of Daxton and its three surrounding towns.

The City of Daxton was nearest the Forbidden Region, and it served as the regulating body stopping unruly people from entering that death zone.

It was noon when Lark entered the city.

Unlike the dying villages he encountered on his way here, this place was bustling with life. Its population was almost comparable to the capital.

The City of Daxton had no walls—Count Boris never saw the need to have them built, since the Forbidden Region formed a natural barrier preventing the United Grakas Alliance from invading.

The beastmen race would have to cross a monster-infested area before they could even reach this city. It would be a foolish move, and the beastmen never even attempted it.

No wonder the county was flourishing. Despite being next to the Forbidden Region, this was one of the safest places in the entire kingdom.

Lark’s first destination was the nearest tavern. He felt so famished that he no longer cared about the bland taste of the meat in such a place. He ordered two plates full of meat and a tankard of juice.

Although it was only noon, a couple of tables around him were already full of men drinking to their hearts’ content. The lively atmosphere was a stark contrast to the dying villages Lark had encountered.

“Hey, did you hear? It seems that Lord Arzen started reorganizing the army.”

“Idiot. Are you living under a rock? That’s old news. He started reorganizing the army before autumn even ended.”

Lark heard the familiar name, he continued eating and listened silently.

“Lord Arzen really has changed ever since he came back from that war, huh?”

“My old man works in the army and he’d never seen the lord so desperate to improve his swordsmanship skills. My old man said it’s like the lord became an entirely different person.”

“Well, he became a commander in the previous war. You’d be surprised how much war can change someone.”

“Wait, don’t tell me… the reason he ordered all those priests—”

“Yeah. That’s the reason he hired all of the best healers in the county to cure the captain of the royal knights. I heard that Captain Symon promised the lord that he’d teach him the Marrozo Swordsmanship once he’s fully healed.”

“Wow! As expected of our Lord! So, he’ll soon learn the swordsmanship of the Sword Saint!”

“But I heard that the captain lost an arm during the incident in the Forbidden Region? Can he even teach the lord in such condition?”

Lark had heard that the captain of the royal knights, the one who survived an encounter with the Scylla, was recuperating in this county. He didn’t expect that Arzen Boris was behind the quick response of the priests and magicians to heal the captain.

Lark smiled as he remembered the commander of the Second Army.

Arzen was still young. It was good that he was striving for greater heights and wasn’t complacent in what he’d achieved so far. In the near future, these young sprouts would become this kingdom’s pillar.

Lark finished both plates, paid the bill, and went straight to the armor shop.

He’d heard that the Forbidden Region was dangerous, not only due to the monsters roaming the ruins, but because of the flesh-eating poison gas oozing out of the cracks in the ground. Surely, the armor shop would have items capable of protecting against the gas. It wouldn’t make sense, otherwise.

And Lark was right.

The armor shop in this city was vastly different from those in the other major cities of the kingdom. Not only did it sell chain mail and plate armor, but also clothes and armor made from the skin of monsters living in the Forbidden Region.

The clothes and armor made from the skin of those monsters were naturally resilient against the poison gas. There was even a leather mask being sold, capable of neutralizing the gas.

Lark bought a complete set of leather armor made from the skin of a green desert serpent—a snake living in the inner parts of the Forbidden Region—and two masks capable of neutralizing the poison gas.

Thankfully, the shop owner didn’t ask why Lark was making the purchase. It seemed to be a normal occurrence for people to buy this same set of items before exploring the Forbidden Region. The shop owner looked at Lark for a moment and shook his head as though disappointed that another person would die soon, before accepting the payment.

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 5

After leaving Boris County, Lark kept heading southwest, eventually arriving at a vast, dead plain. Everything was covered in snow by now. But had Lark arrived here before winter, he would have been met with barren ground filled with cracks, without a single plant in sight.

Despite the snow covering the ground, green smoke still wafted in the air. Using his foot, Lark cleared the snow on the ground below him, eventually revealing the cracks in the ground. Poison gas continuously oozed out of them.

“Corrupted willowroots,” he mumbled.

The dead land before him was a textbook example of a land infested by corrupted willowroots. Dead willow trees that had been corrupted after being exposed to vast amounts of ambient mana and miasma over the years. Some considered these underground plants as monsters, while some simply regarded them as large parasitic poison plants whose roots ran several hundreds of meters deep underground. Every time the trees breathed, poison gas oozed out of the soil and destroyed everything it touched.

The vast barren plain was testament to that.

Although corrupted willowroots were commonly seen back in the Magic Empire, this was the first time Lark had seen an infestation of this scale. There were easily thousands of corrupted willowroots living underground the Forbidden Region.

Lark surmised that if they were left unchecked, in the next one hundred years Boris County would eventually be overrun by these underground plant monsters.

Clad with the leather armor and mask he bought from Daxton City, Lark ventured deeper into the Forbidden Region. He brought only the bare necessities with him—a few days’ worth of rations, an iron sword, the mithril cubes, and the leather set capable of neutralizing the poison.

The amount of poison gas became thicker as he went nearer the ruins. Worried that the armor and mask he bought from the city wouldn’t be enough, he cast a few layers of barrier spells on his body. This should prevent the poison gas from melting his skin even if, by some chance, the leather armor broke.

Lark stopped in his tracks.

He was almost inside the ruins when he felt something moving underground. A very large creature at that.

Without hesitation, Lark started to cast his spell. A five-meter large magic circle manifested itself beneath his feet, and the moment a worm-like monster shot up from the ground right below him, Lark activated it.

Lark leaped to the side, avoiding the gaping maw of the worm monster. It was at least fifteen meters long, its mouth large enough to swallow Lark whole.

Dirt and snow flew about as the worm monster roared in anger upon realizing that it had failed to devour its prey. At the same time, the wind spell Lark had cast beforehand swirled around the worm monster’s body, bisecting it into several pieces. Yellow blood splattered on the snow-blanketed ground as the worm fell helplessly on the ground, lifeless.

Another one .

Lark felt another worm moving underground. Just like before, Lark cast another wind blade spell and activated it the moment the worm monster shot up from the ground. The wind blade spell swirled around the monster’s body and also cut it into several pieces.

In less than a minute, two gigantic worm monsters had been massacred.

He was not even inside the ruins yet, but monsters as strong as these were already trying to kill him.

Lark pondered if he should use concealment magic to enter the ruins but decided against it. The worm monsters proved that the creatures living in the Forbidden Region had a way of detecting him even without eyesight. It’d be a waste of mana to use a concealment spell in this situation.

Then, the best way should be flight magic.

Lark was about to cast flight magic when he noticed several black dots moving in the sky. After amplifying his eyesight with magic, he saw dozens of monster beetles flying in the sky, forming a swarm. Each of them was twice the size of an adult human.

The swarm flew around, as though looking for prey. Lark ran inside the ruins and hid behind a large slab of stone. Large buzzing sounds were heard as the swarm flew past above him, eventually disappearing from sight.

Carrion beetles.

Back in the armor shop in Daxton City, Lark saw several shields made out of the carapace of those monsters.

They were annoyingly hard to kill, since their carapace were as strong as iron. Furthermore, they were extremely poisonous and moved in swarms.

If Lark used flight magic and encountered those monsters, he’d end up using vast amounts of mana to eliminate them.

On the other hand, he’d also end up expending large amounts of mana if he chose to move through land. Based on what he’d heard from Daxton City, the ruins were home to tens of thousands of monsters. And to make matters worse, each of them were poisonous enough to kill an average soldier with just a single scratch.

No wonder the kingdom abandoned this part of their territory and forbade anyone from entering this region. It was simply impossible to reclaim this land from the monsters.

After some thought, Lark decided to use flight magic to reach the labyrinth at the center of the ruins. Fighting against the swarm sounded much better than battling his way through the ruins while on land.

His body hovered up, then shot toward the direction of the labyrinth. As expected, the carrion beetles quickly noticed him—the intruder. It seemed the beetle monsters were quite territorial, they angrily screeched as the entire swarm flew toward him.

Lark used more mana to increase the speed of his flight, but to his surprise, he failed to shake off the pursuing carrion beetles. The insect monsters were terrifyingly fast despite their size. Their wings flapped several times each second, creating an ominous buzzing sound.

Below, Lark could see a horde of giant scorpions crawling on the snow-covered ground. And not only giant scorpions—Lark also saw monsters resembling cacti, giant serpents, rock golems, and poison wisps.

The ruins were like a giant monster breeding ground.

Left with no choice, Lark started casting his spell. A medium-sized magic circle appeared in the air, and from it, over a hundred lightning arrows appeared and rained down on the swarm.

As expected, the lightning arrows weren’t enough to kill the carrion beetles, but they were more than enough to stop the swarm from chasing Lark any further.

The insect monsters flew around in a daze after being hit by the lightning spell. Lark used this opening to fly further away and eventually, he reached the labyrinth at the center of the ruins.

Lark landed right in front of the entrance.

The labyrinth was even larger than the king’s castle in the capital. Its walls were plated with bronze, and at the entrance, two statues stood majestically.

When the royal knights arrived here several months ago, they thought for sure that those two statues were knights.

But Lark was different.

He stared at the two gargantuan statues, his heart filled with mixed emotions—longing, sadness, amusement. The two statues bore a striking resemblance to his two disciples. Without a doubt, these were the statues of Kubarkava—The Dragon Devourer, and Qeurvanu—The God of Poison.

Although they had aged quite a bit compared to the time Lark last saw them, he was sure that the two statues were made in the image of his disciples.

“Those kids.” Lark smiled wryly. “Don’t tell me… they made this labyrinth?”

It explained why the Forbidden Region was infested by corrupted willowroots—a parasitic monster plant which produced flesh-eating poison gas. It also explained why poisonous monsters were thriving here, why the Forbidden Region became a breeding ground for poisonous monsters.

“The Scylla guarding the treasure in the labyrinth…” Lark sighed. “As I thought... It was the kid who brought it here.”

Before coming here, he already had a hunch that that kid was involved in this. And after seeing the statues, everything had been confirmed.

That brat—Kubarkava—tamed a Scylla and tasked it to protect his master’s treasured sword for several years.

For a moment, Lark felt a squeezing sensation in his heart. He knew how prideful a Scylla was, and how hard it was to tame one. His disciple must have gone through a lot of hardship just to tame one.

And all of it was to guard the sword of his beloved master.

Really, he didn’t have to go to such lengths just to do that.

Lark looked to his rear. Several giant scorpions had surrounded the entrance of the labyrinth, but for some reason, none of them dared attack him. It seemed that he’d be safe as long as he stayed near here.

After another look at the statues of his two disciples, Lark entered the labyrinth.

The first floor was surprisingly well kept, as though it had never been touched by the passage of time. The pillars were plated with bronze, and on the walls were various murals.

Using an orb of light, Lark looked at all the murals on the walls and couldn’t help but be moved by the sight.

To the royal knights, these were mere drawings from an ancient era, but to Lark these murals held several years’ worth of history. The murals conveyed the history seen by Kubarkava and Qeurvanu before their deaths. History their master never witnessed.

The murals depicted the death of the Emperor of the Magic Empire, shortly after Lark’s death. It also depicted the separation of the disciples after the death of their master.

Dantes, the Ruler of Fire, was the first to leave. He went to search for a certain mythical creature and never returned to the Magic Empire.

Loumen went on an expedition into the land of demons and just like Dantes, never returned. His fellow disciples did not know exactly what happened to him, but according to history, Loumen fought the demon lord and lost his life in the process. All of it was probably mere speculation, Lark knew, since even this mural did not depict his exact fate.

Leonard went to the Land of Savages and founded his own school. Uurvesk, on the other hand, started waging war with several nations and tribes. Although it was not written in the mural, Lark knew that based on history, Uurvesk—that problem child—eventually founded the Great Empire.

The story shown in the murals stopped at this part of the history. It didn’t tell Lark the history of Leanne founding the White Stream Oasis. A paradise in the desert where food and water never ran out. It didn’t tell the history of Pollux, who later on became known as the Millennium Magician.

The reason was simple.

Qeurvanu and Kubarkava were probably already dead during this time, after their failed attempt to revive their master.

The fact that those two disciples died in their attempt to revive him left a bad aftertaste in Lark’s mouth. He leaned on one of the pillars and sighed.

He said in a low, solemn voice, “You should have lived your own lives. Why did you attempt to revive your master? Fools.”

Lark clenched his fists.

He already knew what happened to his disciples, after reading about it in the library of Lion City, but seeing the murals in person had a far bigger impact. It felt as though his two disciples themselves were telling him what happened after his death—what his disciples had accomplished after their master was gone.

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 6

After inspecting the murals on the first floor of the labyrinth, Lark immediately descended to the second floor.

It was a typical cavern, with glowing algae covering portions of the walls. Numerous poison wisps wandered the floor aimlessly. Those who tried latching onto Lark were immediately repelled by the small, translucent mana barrier he’d covered himself with.

Lark stabbed the poison wisps’ cores with his sword, and they burst like overinflated balloons before dissipating.

The second floor was surprisingly easy. Every now and then, traps would be activated as Lark made his way into the labyrinth, but all of them were easily taken care of by the mithril cubes. When arrows shot toward him from the walls, the mithril cubes would immediately separate into eight smaller pieces and block each of them, rendering the traps useless.

Even the whirling blades, which shot toward Lark from above the tunnels, were easily blocked by the mithril cubes. Although the arrows and the whirling blades held enough strength to destroy iron shields, their power simply wasn’t enough to penetrate an artifact made of mithril.

It did not take much time before Lark finally arrived on the third floor of the labyrinth.

Lark had heard from Lady Ropianna that this was the floor where the royal knights encountered the arachnia. The moment Lark stepped foot on this floor, he immediately released a cloud of mana and forced it to expand into his immediate surroundings. A spell meant to detect hidden monsters.

Although they said that the arachnia and its eggs had already been taken care of, Lark did not dismiss the chance of other arachnia hiding on this floor.

With the cloud of mana probing his surroundings as he walked, Lark quickly moved through the third floor of the labyrinth. Along the way, he passed by the rotting, decapitated body of a giant spider. He also saw several broken eggs in the far corner—the webs covering them had already been burned by magic.

“Such a waste,” said Lark.

The egg of an arachnia was an extremely valuable ingredient in alchemy. It was one of the main ingredients in creating a pinnacle-grade healing potion.

A soft sigh leaked out of Lark’s mouth as he stared at the broken eggs sitting on the ground. These monsters were so rare that he probably wouldn’t encounter another one in this lifetime.

Lark could only imagine the number of pinnacle-grade healing potions he could have made with just a single egg of this giant spider monster.

There was no real need for the royal knights to destroy the eggs. Without the mother arachnia, those eggs would never hatch. Lark did not know the exact explanation for this, but he remembered one of the researchers in the Magic Empire telling him that the physiology of an arachnia was quite unique. The researcher told him that the moment the mother arachnia died, all of its unborn offspring would eventually perish.

It seemed that the royal knights weren’t aware of this fact as they made thoroughly sure that all of its eggs were destroyed before they descended to the lower floors of the labyrinth.

Lark searched through the dead body of the arachnia just to be sure, but as expected, its mana stone had already been pulled out of its body.

He cleaned his bloodied hands using magic, before eventually descending to the next floor of the labyrinth.

The fourth floor of the labyrinth was exactly how it had been described to him by Lady Ropianna before he left the capital. The moment he set foot on it, it felt as though he’d entered an entirely different world.

Gigantic trees reaching all the way to the ceiling, colossal roots covering most of the ground, brown and red leaves forming canopies. Innumerable particles of light, which resembled fireflies, floated in the air. Even without light magic, Lark could see everything clearly.

“Those kids… really.” Lark smiled.

These colossal, ancient-looking trees were definitely elven oaks—trees capable of harnessing mana from their surroundings and using it to fortify their trunk, roots, and branches. Wood from elven oak was extremely strong and malleable—a lot of magic items could be made from it, most notably, arrows and bows that wouldn’t break even if you applied tremendous amounts of mana into them—making it the ideal raw material for weapons for archers.

These trees were coveted even back in the Magic Empire.

“There’s so many of them,” said Lark as he looked around.

By estimate, there were easily hundreds of these gargantuan trees here. Untouched by humans for such a long time, they had managed to reach adulthood and propagated over time.

According to Lady Ropianna, this should be the floor guarded by that monster. The creature which almost annihilated the royal knights.

Lark kept walking and after half an hour the sea of trees ended. He arrived at a grassland.

Lark frowned.

From where he stood, he could see an absurdly large golden statue. It was more than a hundred meters tall, thirty meters wide. Its head almost reached the ceiling.

The most stunning thing wasn’t its size, nor the fact that it was made entirely of gold. What surprised Lark the most was the fact that the statue was his spitting image, a few years before his death.

He’d already heard about this statue’s existence, but he hadn’t heard that it was made in the image of Evander Alaester.

The way he was holding the book on his left hand and a staff on the right gave off such extreme grandeur, it felt embarrassing, almost nauseating. Lark’s stomach churned upon seeing it. He didn’t know why his disciples had made the statue so imposing.

Lark’s surprise didn’t stop with the statue.

According to the Seer, the monster guarding this floor was initially found sleeping in a gigantic hole on the fourth floor of the labyrinth. But right now, he could clearly see the seven-headed monster sleeping right next to the statue, coiled around its base.

Black, iridescent scales. Long necks with serpentine heads resembling that of a dragon. Its two pairs of bat-like wings were folded and covered more than half its body.

The seven-headed monster’s size was almost comparable to the golden statue. For a moment, Lark wondered how such a prideful creature endured living here for hundreds of years. It must have felt so cramped and suffocated. Had this seven-headed monster been human, it would probably have lost its sanity by now.

Lark’s initial plan was to approach the statue quietly, enter the treasure room, and retrieve the Sword of Morpheus. But that had gone down the drain now. It’d be near impossible for Lark to enter the treasure room without alerting the monster coiled around the statue.

Lark was racking his brain for a feasible method when suddenly, one of the seven heads slowly opened its eyes and stared at Lark, who’d been standing a good distance away from the statue for quite some time now.

“Damn it,” mumbled Lark.

The head growled, and the remaining six heads immediately jolted out of their slumber. All seven heads roared, as though angry that another human had come to taint their sacred ground. The ground lightly trembled as the monster uncoiled itself from the statue.

Without warning, one of the heads opened its mouth and spat out a gigantic orb of lightning in Lark’s direction. Lark amplified the strength of his body with mana and moved to the left, avoiding the colossal ball of lightning by a wide margin. The lightning magic struck the ground and exploded into numerous lightning serpents, scorching the grasses and dirt, forming a large crater big enough for four carriages.

Lark’s expression turned grim.

As expected, in his current state, it would be impossible for him to win against this monster.

If the seven-headed monster went on a rampage outside this labyrinth, it could probably lay waste to a major city or two in a single day.

The other heads snorted after the first head missed its target—as though saying ‘you can’t even hit a mere human?’—then one of them sneered, opened its mouth wide, and breathed a torrent of fire at Lark.

His speed and strength still amplified with magic, Lark ran to the side and evaded the attack. But unlike the ball of lightning, the torrent of fire continued pouring out of the Scylla’s mouth, following him as he ran.

The other heads didn’t stay idle, as they too, started firing their spells. The third head started summoning a gargantuan wind vortex and shot it toward Lark. The fourth head summoned several dozens of ice spears, and shot each of them at Lark from all directions.

No incantations.

No magic formations.

These strong spells had been cast almost instantaneously.

Lark felt as though he was fighting a dragon as several offensive spells rained down on him one after another.

With a spell-casting speed incomparable to other magicians, Lark summoned a small orb of wind and willed it to spin at a frightening rate, opposite the spin of the wind vortex’s. It shot toward the wind vortex and struck its center, momentarily halting the flow of mana and disrupting the direction of the wind. Lark used this opening to fire a second wind spell, which, after striking the wind vortex, shattered it completely.

The mithril cubes immediately separated into smaller pieces and blocked the ice spears one after another. Those that managed to bypass the mithril cube’s defenses were immediately dealt with by the mana barrier Lark had created.

Lark continued running, all the while avoiding the torrent of fire and blocking the ice spears raining down from the sky.

After all of the ice spears had been shattered into pieces, the torrent of fire finally stopped. The Scylla stared at Lark, clearly surprised that the human managed to block three consecutive attacks. What bothered the Scylla the most was the way the human dealt with its wind vortex spell. The two small orbs of wind the human used to destroy the Scylla’s magic were clearly lower tier, but easily disrupted the flow of mana and shattered the spell completely.

For some reason, it reminded the Scylla of the technique used by that human.

Silence momentarily fell.

A deep voice was heard on the fourth floor of the labyrinth.

The third head, the one that fired the wind vortex, spoke in human tongue, “Human, who are you?”

A grin slowly formed on Lark’s lips. A Scylla was a very prideful creature. Unlike dragons, it was rare for a Scylla to initiate conversation with humans. Even when confronting an entire army, this colossal monster normally wouldn’t utter a single word and would simply continue slaughtering humans mercilessly.

The fact that it asked this question meant that the Scylla had taken an interest in him.

The other heads looked at the third head in disapproval. They couldn’t understand why the third head would stoop so low as to initiate conversation with a mere mortal.

“What are you doing?” hissed the first head. It spoke in ancient draconic language. The same language spoken by dragons.

“You saw it too, didn’t you?” said the third head. “That human… he read the flow of my magic and easily disrupted it.”

“But to speak with a mere human!” The sixth head snorted. “Read the flow of magic? That’s nothing special! Even we can easily do that!”

“Shut it,” snapped the third head. “You didn’t even participate in the attack just now. Even back then, when those humans invaded this sacred ground, you simply watched in amusement! You damn, useless fool!”

“What did you say?”

Lark stared bewilderedly at the Scylla as the seven heads started bickering with each other. It was an amusing sight, since this was a legendary monster heard of only in legends.

The heads spoke with each other using ancient draconic language, unaware that Lark could perfectly understand their words. Lark wouldn’t have been surprised if the heads had started biting each other.

Judging by the conversation, it seemed that the third head wanted to converse with him, but the rest were adamantly against it.

In the end, the bickering stopped and the third head conceded. They decided to eliminate the intruder.

All seven heads started pouring colossal amounts of mana into a single spell. A large magic formation formed almost instantly above Lark as all seven heads worked together to create a single spell.

Lark’s eyes widened looking at the runes and layers in the magic formation. If that spell hit him, he would be reduced into pulp in an instant.

The damnable Scylla was casting Grand Scale Magic at him. A gravity spell similar to the one he used in Wizzert City, the only difference was that instead of suppressing, this one was meant to kill the target immediately.

To the Scylla, expending this much mana was trivial. It could probably cast several more spells of the same magnitude if it wanted. That was the difference between this monster and mere humans.

The heads roared, and the magic formation—which had been almost instantaneously created—shattered.

The Grand Scale Magic was activated.

Before the gravity spell descended on Lark, the mithril cubes spread out and activated the runes carved on its walls, creating a dome-shaped barrier above Lark. The barrier did nothing but halt the descent of the gravity spell for a full second, but this was enough time for Lark to cast several movement spells and move out of the spell’s radius.

The moment the barrier broke, the mithril cubes were struck by the gravity spell and contorted. The mana stored inside them burst and collided with the gravity spell, creating a shockwave.

The ground struck by the gravity spell turned into a large, bottomless pit. The mithril cube, no longer capable of sustaining itself, fell into the hole and vanished without a trace.

Everything happened in an instant. With seven heads working together to perform a single spell, even casting Grand Scale Magic had become a trivial task.

All seven heads stared at Lark for a moment. As though saying that this was merely the start, the Scylla started casting another spell.

Another large magic formation appeared above Lark.

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 7

It was preposterous.

The Scylla started casting more Grand Scale Magic at him, and just like before, the magic formation was activated in just a couple of seconds. Lark knew that he had to find a way to prevent all seven heads from working together, otherwise, they’d just keep firing spells at him one after another.

The magic formation above Lark glowed and spun slowly, eventually forming a portal-like vortex. Inside the vortex, hundreds of lightning serpents emerged and shot toward Lark, each of them probably strong enough to scorch and kill a knight in a single strike.

With the number of lightning serpents alone, it’d be impossible to outrun and evade them all. Lark stood his ground and started casting two barrier spells. The ground rose and formed five gigantic hands, each of them fortified by the wind barrier spell. The gigantic hands started swatting the lightning serpents, preventing them from hitting their master.

Cracks quickly started forming on the gigantic hands, despite the fortification of the wind barrier spell. At this rate, the defensive spell would shatter in a few seconds. And to make matters worse, two of the Scylla’s heads opened their mouths and spat out two colossal balls of fire.

Lark gnashed his teeth.

Hundreds of lightning serpents above and two colossal balls of fire in front.

If only he still had the mithril cubes.

Lark looked at the forest filled with gigantic, ancient trees. Elven oaks were several times stronger than an average tree. It was almost as strong as iron.

Without hesitation, Lark channeled large amounts of mana into his lower limbs and temporarily boosted his speed tremendously. He abandoned the giant hands protecting him and retreated in the direction of the forest. His legs screamed as his muscles started tearing apart after being pushed to their limit. Lark gritted his teeth and endured the pain.

The colossal balls of fire struck the giant hands made of earth magic and swallowed them completely. The lightning serpents, on the other hand, chased after Lark and shot in the direction of the forest. The lightning serpents avoided the trees, as though they had lives of their own as they chased after him. As expected of Grand Scale Magic.

Lark’s legs were becoming numb as seconds ticked by.

While keeping a good distance away from the hundreds of lightning serpents, he started casting his spell. Despite the fact the Scylla used seven heads to cast a single spell, Lark’s casting speed did not lose in the slightest.

Tremendous amounts of mana started oozing out of Lark’s body. Layers upon layers of runes started forming and overlapping with each other, forming a magic formation above the forest. After several seconds, the magic formation was complete.

Lark activated his spell.

Grand Scale Magic—Will of the Dryad.

The same spell he used in the forest near the capital. The same spell he used to annihilate the assassins sent by Black Midas.

After some deliberation, Lark had come to the conclusion that this was the best Grand Scale Magic to use in his current situation. Each of these ancient trees, which had lived for more than a thousand years, were almost as large as the Scylla itself. Although it would be impossible to control hundreds of them with this spell, even a few dozen would be enough to suppress the Scylla for a moment.

In his previous life, Lark always told his disciples that even a low tier spell could defeat a high-tier spell if used properly. When used at its utmost potential, even a single Grand Scale Magic spell could suppress that seven-headed monster.

The moment Lark’s spell was activated, the entire fourth floor of the labyrinth trembled. Several dozen ancient elven oak trees started uprooting themselves. Several faces of humans in despair started forming on their barks.

Lark could not ask for a more favorable battlefield right now. A forest filled with millennium-old gigantic elven oaks was undoubtedly the ideal place for the Will of the Dryad spell.

The roots of the elven oaks, some of which extended for more than a hundred meters, shot up and struck the lightning serpents. Some elven oaks started destroying the lightning serpents using their branches, and some used their mana-infused leaves to shield Lark from the attacks.

The Scylla, who’d been watching from afar, was surprised upon seeing several dozen ancient elven oaks come to life.

After destroying all of the lightning serpents, the ancient elven oaks started moving toward the Scylla. With dozens of colossal ancient trees approaching it, the Scylla started to look like an average size monster.

Lark stood on the branch of one of the moving elven oaks and started drinking a middle-grade potion. The effect on his torn muscles was instantaneous. He sighed and tossed the vial on the ground. He looked at the Scylla, who even now, refused to move away from the statue.

Lark grinned.

Although he’d used up almost all of his mana, he was now in a far better situation than before. These elven oaks had been living here for over a millennium—they’d been absorbing the vast amounts of ambient mana in this labyrinth—and were almost as hard as iron.

The moment the elven oaks had surrounded the Scylla, Lark spoke, “Hey, lizard.”

The heads of the Scylla looked at the Lark in bewilderment. The human had definitely spoken in draconian language.

“Don’t you agree that that statue is an eyesore?” said Lark. “It’d be great if it breaks once you and these stupidly large trees start fighting each other.”

As though adding more provocation, the elven oaks moved their roots and branches threateningly. The Scylla growled. It moved closer to the golden statue, as though desperately protecting it with its body.

Lark found this sight amusing. He didn’t know how that disciple of his had done it, but it was clear that this seven-headed monster was incredibly protective of the treasure stored in this floor of the labyrinth.

Under normal circumstances, this Scylla would win in a fight against these elven oaks. But with it clinging desperately to the statue, Lark knew that it would not be able to put up a proper fight.

“Human, if you make even a scratch on the statue of God Evander, I’ll chase you out of here! If you somehow manage to escape this labyrinth alive!” the Scylla finally spoke and spouted threats using draconian language.

Lark chuckled. “How cute. Let’s see… Should I destroy the head of the statue first?”

The eyes of the Scylla grew wide from rage. It roared, “Just try it, human! After I kill you, I’ll also destroy your Empire! Your family, your friends! I’ll burn them all alive!”

As expected of a prideful monster, it got riled up after just a few words. It seemed that taunting it using the statue was a very effective tactic.

Lark decided to make use of this to make an opening.

“The statue,” said Lark. “Destroy it.”

The ground trembled as the roots of the elven oaks started shooting toward the golden statue. Fear was evident in the eyes of the Scylla after realizing that the human was really trying to destroy the statue it had been protecting all its life.

The Scylla roared and started biting and destroying all of the roots and branches shooting toward it. It spread its two pairs of wings wide and covered the statue, shielding it from the attacks. Even its tail moved to block the roots and branches of the elven oaks.

The Scylla started accepting several blows from the elven oaks using its body, just to prevent even a single strike reaching the statue of Evander. The way the seven heads moved and desperately intercepted each attack was amazing. Despite the relentless attack from dozens of elven oaks, not even a single one had landed on the golden statue.

As the Scylla desperately fought to protect the statue, Lark quickly analyzed the flow of mana as he tried to find the entrance to the treasure room.

Unfortunately, the message of Wisgarus before his death did not indicate where the entrance was. Lark ended up expending a bit of his mana to find the hidden entrance.

After some time, Lark found it.

Without hesitation, Lark jumped from the branch he was standing on, and using flight magic, shot toward the direction of the statue’s mouth.

The Scylla’s heads immediately moved to devour him, but the elven oaks used their branches to protect their master. Using this opening, Lark landed on the statue’s mouth and pried it open. He immediately entered.

Upon entering the statue, Lark cast an orb of light. He saw an already opened bronze door with a complex magic formation carved on it. Judging by the overlapping runes in the magic formation, this door used to contain a very powerful defensive spell, which unfortunately vanished after the passage of time.

Lark entered through the door and went down the long, winding staircase. The moment he arrived at the bottom of the statue, Lark was momentarily struck speechless by what he saw: Mountains of gold coins dating back to the Magic Empire, dozens of high-grade and pinnacle-grade mana stones, adamantite ores, mithril ingots, pinnacle-grade healing potions, bloodstone fragments, heart of a Frost Dragon, High Demon cores, blood emeralds, Tears of Ubroxias, fangs of Cerberus, tears of dryads, mandrake roots. Lark also saw several weapons—spears, swords, and shields—made of adamantite.

Each of these treasures were worth tens of thousands in gold coins. But as though they were insignificant, they were simply scattered among the piles of gold coins.

Lark looked at a sword held by a golden pillar.

White, translucent blade. Platinum hilt made of adamantite, with five gemstones embedded in it—all of which were made from the cores of Elementals.

It was the Sword of Morpheus, without a doubt.

His most prized possession back in his previous life.

This sword had accompanied him through numerous life-or-death situations back then. Without this sword, he probably would have died when he fought the demon lords in his previous life.

Lark’s gaze moved to the words written on the golden pillar. It was written in the language of the Magic Empire.

To our beloved master. We believe you’ll come back to us someday. Definitely.

Lark felt a squeezing sensation in his heart. His disciples had stolen almost half the treasure from the Forbidden Tower and moved it to this labyrinth. Although it sounded foolish, those two believed in him until the end.

Lark looked around him. Despite the urge to grab the Sword of Morpheus, he did not take another step forward. He was sure that his disciples had placed a trap in this treasure room to deter unwanted visitors.

And he was right.

Carved on the wall was a small, almost inconspicuous magic formation. Despite its size, it was far more complex than the one carved on the bronze door near the statue’s mouth. Lark stood in silence as he studied the magic formation. After some time, he arrived at a conclusion.

Hand of God.

A pinnacle-grade spell was currently protecting this place. Had Lark taken several more steps, the spell would have activated and crushed his body in an instant.

After he’d taken a careful look, Lark noticed the disfigured bodies half-buried in gold coins a few steps away from him. The two bodies had been reduced to nothing but torn, rotting flesh and crushed bones. They were probably the corpses of the two royal court magicians who’d entered this room a few months ago.

They probably died without even knowing what kind of spell struck them.

“Let’s see,” mumbled Lark. “The source of the pinnacle-grade spell’s mana.” He scanned the treasure room. After some time, he found the pinnacle-grade spell’s source of mana—the heart of a Frost Dragon.

Lark doubted that a lot of intruders had managed to reach this treasure room, which was probably why the heart of a Frost Dragon had managed to maintain the pinnacle-grade spell for over a millennium.

Judging by the amount of mana left in the heart of the Frost Dragon, it should probably be able to maintain the pinnacle-grade spell for a hundred more years at a minimum.

“They didn’t kill a Frost Dragon just for this, right?”

Lark rubbed his brow. Kubarkava had killed a few dragons before. Lark wouldn’t be surprised if that kid had killed a dragon living in the Frost Mountains of Yleonor just to protect these treasures. He wasn’t heralded by historians as the ‘Dragon Devourer’ for no reason.

Lark sighed.

There was no use in thinking about these things now. As long as the pinnacle-grade spell was protecting this treasure room, there would be no way for him to obtain these treasures.

Using almost all of his remaining mana, Lark shot a disintegration spell toward the Frost Dragon’s heart. It wasn’t enough to destroy the heart, but it was more than enough to disrupt its flow of mana for a couple of seconds. Without its source of mana, the Hand of God spell wouldn’t activate.

Lark used this opening and immediately ran toward the Sword of Morpheus. He climbed the mountain of gold and grabbed the sword from the golden pillar.

“It’s been a while.” Lark grinned.

The sword fit in his hands perfectly. Lark pressed his thumb on the sword’s blade, making a deep cut, and smeared his blood on the hilt of the sword. Using a predetermined flow of mana only the creator of the sword knew, he activated the core of the Elementals embedded in it.

Under Lark’s command, the five gemstones immediately started sucking in mana from the sword’s blade. The translucent blade—a crystallized form of mana from the dragon vein below—still held a terrifying amount of mana even after millennium had passed.

The mana the sword’s blade held was so astronomical that it made the amount stored in a Tears of Ubroxia seem trivial.

The heart of the Frost Dragon finally broke free from the disintegration spell and the Hand of God was immediately activated. An invisible force started wrapping around Lark. The same invisible force which crushed the two royal court magicians.

Using the mana stored inside the Sword of Morpheus, Lark started casting several barrier spells one after another. Whenever the Hand of God broke the barrier, Lark simply cast another one.

It’d been a long time since Lark could do this. It’d been a long time since he could cast several spells without caring about his mana.

After almost a minute of relentlessly casting dozens of barrier spells to resist the pinnacle-grade spell, Lark finally decided to get rid of it. He shot several disintegration spells at the Frost Dragon’s heart, disrupting the mana stored inside it completely. Immediately, the pinnacle-grade spell stopped working and the Hand of God vanished.

Lark fired another spell at the Frost Dragon’s heart, cutting it into pieces.

Lark looked around him. He could probably buy a kingdom with this fortune.

“It’d be nice if I could take all of these with me to Blackstone Town.”

He heard a loud thud outside and the statue momentarily shook. It seemed that one of the elven oaks had managed to land a hit on the golden statue.

Lark heard a furious roar.

“These uselessly large trees! You dare harm the statue of God Evander!”

The ground shook and Lark heard the flapping of wings, followed by roars and several loud explosions. It seemed that the Scylla had finally lost it after the elven oaks managed to land a hit on the statue it had been protecting.

“Burn into ashes! Die! Die!”

The Scylla even started cussing at the elven oaks.

He heard several more explosions. The mountain of gold coins clanked as the ground continued rumbling and quaking.

A broad smile formed on Lark’s face.

He’d just thought of a way to transport all of these treasures back with him to Blackstone Town.

VOLUME 5: CHAPTER 8

The Scylla continued its rampage outside the treasure room. Lark started to feel the links binding him to the elven oaks vanish one after another. Judging by the powerful explosions and the rumbling of the ground, the Scylla had started using magic to destroy the colossal ancient trees surrounding the giant statue. The seven-headed monster had become desperate after Lark had managed to slip inside the treasure room.

“Human, come out!” the Scylla’s roar reverberated even inside the chamber. “If you don’t come out, I’ll destroy all of these toys, go out of this labyrinth and destroy your puny Empire!”

Another shockwave shook the giant statue. The Scylla continued firing several powerful spells, and it showed no signs of stopping until it had eradicated all of the elven oaks controlled by Lark.

“This is the safest place on this floor, huh?” mumbled Lark.

It was clear that the Scylla couldn’t do anything to him as long as he was inside the treasure room. It must have been utterly frustrated right now, knowing that the treasures it had been protecting all of its life were currently being ransacked by a human.

Lark still had a few days’ worth of rations with him. He decided to expand his mana pool where he was, safe from the fangs of that seven-headed monster.

Although there were several high-grade mana stones scattered around the room, Lark ignored them and went straight for the pinnacle-grade mana stones.

A high-grade mana stone was precious enough to be part of Lady Ropianna’s family heirloom. Lark could probably buy a small city using a single pinnacle-grade mana stone. And he could see at least eight of them half-buried in this mountain of gold.

Lark stared at the azure gemstone he held in his hand. It was a bit larger than his fist, with silver and crimson dust floating inside. Judging by the pattern, Lark was sure that this mana stone had been taken from the corpse of a Gryphon, an apex monster capable of annihilating an entire army on its own.

The magicians of this era normally pulverize these mana stones and use them to create a magic formation, before slowly absorbing the mana and essences flowing out of the magic circle. Although it was a far safer method than the one used in the Magic Empire, the amount of mana you were able to absorb from the ritual was a mere fraction of the total amount. It would be akin to throwing tens of thousands of gold coins away, considering the fact that he could probably buy a small city if he sold this pinnacle-grade mana stone.

Using the Sword of Morpheus, Lark cleanly cut the pinnacle-grade mana stone into eight pieces, then put one of them into his mouth.

The moment he swallowed the mana stone fragment, a torrent of mana immediately surged inside his body. His bones creaked and his muscles started tearing apart as the torrent of mana coming from the mana stone forcefully passed through his mana circuit and meridians.

It felt as though a raging river was trying to pass through a small pipe. His heart pounded loudly and his blood vessels bulged from the pressure, almost bursting. Had Lark done this a year ago, his body would have immediately exploded from the turbulent mana in mere seconds. Thankfully, relentlessly training his physical body had paid off.

As the massive amounts of mana inside the pinnacle-grade mana stone forced its way into his mana circuit, Lark’s mana pool slowly expanded. Lark skillfully guided the overflowing mana into the various parts of his mana circuits and meridians, preventing them from bursting at the very last moment, before moving to the next part.

This was a method that would usually be considered suicide in this current era. A single mistake would be fatal, and even if by luck the magician somehow managed to survive the ritual, there was a very high chance of irreversibly destroying one’s mana pool and meridians.

Seconds quickly turned into minutes, and several hours passed by without Lark realizing it. The moment Lark swallowed the pinnacle-grade mana stone, all unnecessary thoughts vanished in his mind as he guided the overflowing mana with a single-minded focus. He no longer noticed the curses and roars of the Scylla as it annihilated the elven oaks outside. He no longer noticed the trembling ground, the clanking of gold coins, and the deafening explosions.

After a full day, he finally managed to expand his mana pool and assimilate the mana contained in the pinnacle-grade mana stone fragment into his body.

Lark opened his eyes and stretched his body for a bit. His body ached and his stomach grumbled from hunger.

“The lizard’s quiet,” said Lark. He could no longer feel the link binding him to the elven oaks. All of them must have been destroyed by now.

How many hours did it take him to absorb that fragment? He’d lost track of time. Judging by his grumbling stomach, at least several hours must have passed by now.

Lark opened his bag, grabbed some meat jerkies and tossed them into his mouth. He drank some water, rested for a bit, and slept for a couple of hours.

He woke up after several roars were heard outside.

“Human, I know you’re still alive!” growled the Scylla. “Come out, you damn thief! You maggot! If you don’t come out, I’ll go outside this labyrinth and lay waste to the nearest city I can find!”

Lark scratched his ears and sighed.

Lark ignored the Scylla, who kept spouting curses at him one after another. Those were empty threats, Lark was sure. If the Scylla really did have that much freedom, it would have left the labyrinth by now.

“Insect! Pile of shit! Bastard! Thief! I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking kill you!”

“For a monster with seven heads, that lizard really has a foul mouth.” Lark chuckled.

Historians would have probably been struck speechless by now had they heard the words the Scylla was spouting in draconian language. It did not befit the image of this mythical monster.

Lark grabbed another piece of the pinnacle-grade mana stone and swallowed it. Just like before, a torrent of mana flowed into his body. For hours, Lark guided the overflowing mana and expanded his mana pool once again.

He repeated the same method for several more days, and by the time his body had reached its limit, he’d already consumed two pinnacle-grade mana stones.

In his current state, any more forceful expansion of his mana pool would be detrimental to his health. His body needed to be accustomed to the sudden increase in mana capacity first. Moreover, he’d run out of food a few days ago.

Lark finally decided stop. He decided to take the treasures and leave the labyrinth.

It was time go back to Blackstone Town.

***

The Scylla was trembling with rage as it waited for the intruder to come out of the statue. Although the human didn’t deserve a quick death after all the sacrilegious acts it had committed, all seven heads agreed to kill him immediately once given the chance. There was something eerie about that human, and the Scylla’s instinct was telling it that the human had the ability to escape the labyrinth alive.

It’d had been several days since the Scylla destroyed the elven oaks surrounding the statue, but the human still hadn’t come out regardless. If not for the trace of mana coming from inside the statue, the Scylla would have believed the human dead by now.

The Scylla could feel it.

The faint amount of mana that had started growing as days went by.

The Scylla didn’t know what kind of method the human was using inside the treasure room, but one thing was for sure: the human’s mana pool was growing exponentially by each passing day. The intruder’s growth was so absurd that, for a moment, the Scylla questioned whether that man was really human.

Was it really possible for a human to grow this much in mere days? As a creature proficient in magic, the Scylla could clearly see the flow of mana coming from inside the treasure room. From an almost dried-up well, the man’s mana pool had now become a small river.

After ten days, the statue’s mouth finally opened and the human came out.

He stood right in front of the statue’s entrance and said, “Hey, lizard. I have several questions for you.”

The human seemed like an entirely different person than before. When the human first appeared on this floor, the Scylla was absolutely certain that he did not have the power to kill it. But now, the Scylla felt the human threatening, as though it was currently facing a dragon.

All thoughts of immediately attacking the human vanished in an instant. The Scylla looked at the human standing on the statue’s mouth warily.

“Get off the statue first,” snarled the Scylla’s first head. “You’ve tainted this sacred ground enough. Have some shame, human.”

All seven heads snorted in agreement.

Lark shrugged. “Alright.”

Lark cast flight magic and slowly hovered closer to the Scylla. Even when some of the heads gave signs of trying to bite his head off his body, he didn’t stop until he was only a few meters away from the seven-headed monster.

“I’ve left the statue,” Lark said leisurely. “Now, let me ask my questions.”

The seven heads looked at each other. The third head, who wanted to initiate conversation with the human before, answered, “We always keep our promises. Ask, human.”

“Three questions,” said Lark. “First, how did Kubarkava convince a monster as strong as you to guard this statue for several generations?”

All of the Scylla’s heads were bewildered upon hearing the first question. After a thousand years, this was the first time they’d heard the name of their master come out of a human’s mouth.

The flesh-eating poison and the poisonous monsters guarding the ruins were dead giveaways that this place was created by the God of Poison—Qeurvanu himself. But people weren’t aware that creating this labyrinth wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the Dragon Devourer. They wouldn’t know this, unless they could perfectly decipher the murals drawn on the first floor of the labyrinth.

Now that they thought of it, this human could speak draconian language too. It wouldn’t be far-fetched if he was also proficient in the Magic Empire’s language.

But their astonishment didn’t stop there. The human’s next questions also stunned the Scylla.

“Second, what happened to those kids—Kubarkava and Qeurvanu? This labyrinth feels like a perfect place to conduct the Ritual of the Underworld. Did those two brats perform it here? Tell me what happened,” said Lark. “And lastly, do you know what kind of treasure is being stored in that statue?”

Lark snapped his fingers and the bracer he was wearing immediately transformed into a beautiful, translucent sword. Lark grabbed its hilt. “Are you familiar with this sword?”

There was momentary silence as the Scylla stared at the sword.

“T-The Sword of Morpheus!”

“But how did the human activate it?”

“A strong spell should have been protecting it from thieves!”

As a creature proficient in magic, the Scylla held no doubt that the sword Lark was holding was the real thing.

The Scylla couldn’t understand how the human managed to obtain it, moreover activate the sword. It’s master—the Dragon Devourer—had told the Scylla that in order to activate the sword, you needed to apply mana in an extremely complex, predetermined direction. Even their master wasn’t able to activate that sword.

But the human did it. In mere days too.

“G-Give it back!” snarled the fifth head, clearly flustered. “You dare steal the treasured sword of our master?”

Lark chuckled. “Give it back? Why should I? It was mine to begin with. Your master simply stored it in that giant statue for safekeeping.”

As though proving that his words were true, Lark activated the mana stored inside the sword’s blade and made a slash to his left. A colossal wind blade shot out of the sword and cleaved the ground, creating a hundred-meter long ravine.

After hearing Lark’s words and after seeing how he easily wielded the legendary sword, the Scylla shuddered. It remembered the words spoken by its master before his death.

Blackie, listen. I don’t believe that Master Evander is truly dead. He’ll come back to us once again, someday, definitely.

Although more than a thousand years had passed, the Scylla could still vividly remember the mischievous grin of the Dragon Devourer as he told the Scylla stories about his master.

And when that day finally comes, please tell my master this—‘Welcome back. I believed you would come back to us eventually, Master Evander.’

The first head, who’d wanted to kill Lark the most before, softly muttered, “Only one person should be able to wield that sword.”

The predetermined flow of mana carved in the sword was so complex and easily encompassed several dozens of layers of magic formation. Only the sword’s creator should know how to activate it.

The ability to exponentially expand his mana pool in mere days. The ability to wield the legendary sword. There was no longer any room for doubt.

The Scylla curled its tail, bent its knees, and bowed all of its seven heads.

All seven heads said in unison, “You’ve finally come back to us, God Evander!”

It was a surreal sight.

A fifty-meter long, seven-headed monster bowing down to a mere human.

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 9

After realizing Lark’s real identity, all malice and hatred within the Scylla vanished entirely. It did not even dare look the human in the eye anymore and simply bowed all of its heads subserviently.

After a few minutes of silence, Lark realized that the seven-headed monster wouldn’t move or speak unless he stated otherwise. For a moment, it felt as though he was dealing with another Anandra.

“Lizard,” said Lark.

“Yes, my God.”

Lark furrowed his brows. “I’m just a human. Just call me Lark—or human—anything is fine.”

“As you wish, God Evander.”

A groan almost escaped Lark’s mouth. He should have known from the way the Scylla refused to leave the statue—this creature was amazingly stubborn.

Lark sighed. “The questions I asked you before. My two disciples. What happened to them? And why is a Scylla guarding this place?”

The heads peeked at each other. The first head replied, “Masters Kubarkava and Qeurvanu are dead. God Evander is right in his previous assumptions. Indeed, this was the place where they conducted the Ritual of the Underworld. The two successfully opened a rift, but perished moments after opening it. The massive amounts of miasma from the rift devoured their physical bodies.”

The Ritual of the Underworld.

It was among the rituals Lark studied thoroughly in his previous life. If the Ritual of the Immortal was capable of prolonging a mortal’s life, the Ritual of the Underworld was said to be capable of bringing the dead back to life.

It was ironic, Lark thought, that both he and his two disciples died from these forbidden rituals.

“They successfully opened a rift?” said Lark. It was an amazing feat.

“Yes, my God.”

Lark fell silent for a moment. If those two managed to open a rift to the underworld, then that thing should be present in this dungeon.

“The place where they conducted the ritual,” said Lark. “Lead me to it.”

“Gladly!”

The Scylla raised its heads and opened its wings. Its expectant gaze was a dead giveaway that it wanted Lark to ride on top of it. And to think that the monster was cussing at him just moments ago. But now, it was even wagging its tail like an excited puppy.

Lark jumped on top of its body. For a moment, the Scylla shuddered from euphoria. It flapped its wings, flew up near the ceiling, and shot toward the opposite direction of the lake. It did not even take a full minute before it landed on the ground.

“This used to be where the shrine was located,” said the Scylla.

In front of them was a gigantic hole on the ground. It was so deep that when Lark kicked a large stone into it, it took almost a minute before he heard the sound of the stone hitting something.

This was definitely the hole Lady Ropianna had mentioned. The place where the expedition team had found the Scylla sleeping.

“After the ritual failed, the rift swallowed everything in this place. The shrine, Master Kubarkava, the God of Poison.”

There was a trace of longing within those words.

“If only we had been beside the master back then,” said the Scylla. “Our body is far stronger than humans. We definitely could have absorbed the rift’s impact.”

Judging by the size of the hole, Lark doubted if the Scylla would have made any difference. Miasma formed from the rift between this plane and the underworld was vastly different from magic. The Scylla would have probably perished along with his two disciples if it was near the shrine during the ritual.

Lark looked at the Scylla and decided to keep those thoughts to himself.

Lark said, “They built the shrine on top of a dragon vein.”

“As expected of God Evander,” said the Scylla, “you are correct.”

Deep within the hole, Lark could feel a familiar sensation. Massive amounts of mana were flowing underneath this floor of the labyrinth. Unlike ambient mana, the mana underneath felt ‘extremely solid’—clumps of dense mana flowing in a single direction. There was no doubt that this was part of the dragon vein below. The source of all mana in this world.

The royal court magicians didn’t notice this before, since they’d been too preoccupied discovering the Scylla sleeping inside the hole.

“I’ll be gone for a while,” said Lark.

Without another word, he jumped into the hole and disappeared from sight.

Lark used flight magic to land softly on the ground. He saw another hole, around the size of two carriages combined, in front of him. The familiar sensation was coming from within this smaller hole. If Lark jumped inside this one, he’d probably reach the dragon vein below.

“What a treasure trove.” Lark grinned broadly.

He raised the Sword of Morpheus, activated it, and stabbed it in the ground. In mere seconds, a dense river of mana gushed out of the small hole and was sucked in by the Sword of Morpheus.

Lark was really pleased to find a dragon vein—and right after regaining his sword at that. He planned on filling the sword to its utmost mana capacity before he went back to Blackstone Town.

For several minutes, the sword continued sucking in the mana from the dragon vein. The translucent sword was becoming opaque as time went by. Eventually, when it reached its full mana capacity, it became a white sword.

Lark grabbed the sword and willed it to stop absorbing the mana from the dragon vein below. Like slime, the sword slowly changed its shape and latched on to Lark’s arm, before turning into a bracer.

Using flight magic, Lark left the hole. He noticed the Scylla looking at him with eyes filled with admiration.

Lark had made the Sword of Morpheus taking the limited mana capacity of humans into consideration. One could say that it was similar to the cores of demons and dragons in its ability to store mana. Although replenishing the sword’s mana was a simple task, the Scylla looked at Lark as though what he had done was no ordinary feat.

Lark ignored the Scylla’s awe-filled gaze and asked, “Ah, you haven’t answered my other question: Why a creature like you is guarding the treasure on this floor?”

The Scylla broke out of its trance.

It answered, “The reason is simple, God Evander. It’s to repay a debt.”

Lark hadn’t expected this answer. He thought that the monster was bound by a pact and was forced to guard this floor of the labyrinth.

“To repay a debt?” said Lark.

The first head nodded. “That’s right. Our tribe—the Earth Scyllas—were on the brink of extinction over a thousand years ago. You’re probably already aware of this… our kind had been in constant strife with the Gryphons of Marut.”

It was a well-known fact that Gryphons frequently hunted Scyllas for their meat. The fact that the Scyllas resembled serpents probably contributed to this.

Although Scyllas were considered mythical monsters, they were helpless against the Gryphons. The Gryphons were impervious to most spells and their claws could easily penetrate the scales of the Scyllas.

The Scylla started recounting the story.

It seemed that after Kubarkava slaughtered several dragons from the Frost Mountains of Yleonor, he went straight to the monster-infested region of Marut in search for more items and the ingredients needed for a certain ritual.

To the Earth Scyllas’ luck, one of the ingredients he needed for the ritual was the corpse of a Gryphon.

One event led to another. After killing one Gryphon, his stupid disciple ended up slaughtering an entire nest. Although Kubarkava did not really intend on saving the Earth Scyllas, it was an indisputable fact that, if not for him, their tribe would have gone extinct.

“So basically, you’re the child of the leader of your tribe,” Lark summed up the story. “And you were offered to that idiotic disciple of mine as thanks for saving the tribe.”

The Scylla nodded its heads.

Lark furrowed his brow. This Scylla was already old. It had used up almost all of its life protecting this floor. It probably only had a few centuries left to live at most.

“I don’t understand,” said Lark. “You keep calling him master, when in fact, you were just a sacrificial lamb given to him by your tribe.”

The words of Lark were unforgiving, but it seemed that the Scylla did not mind.

“We know,” said the third head. “But coincidence or not, it still doesn’t change the fact that he saved our tribe from extinction. Our master’s only request was for us to guard this floor. A simple task in exchange for saving so many of our kin.”

This response left a bad aftertaste in Lark’s mouth. If Kubarkava was here, he would have smacked the kid’s head onto the ground.

“And although the time we spent with the master was short, it was the most enjoyable of our lives. We frequently heard stories about you, God Evander. Stories of how you single-handedly repelled the demon lord’s army. Stories of how you suppressed a tribe of dragons on your own. Feats only a God could achieve,” said the first head.

“Ever since then, we’ve been looking forward to meeting you someday,” said the fifth head. “The master and the poison brat were certain that you’d be back. Although they didn’t mention when.”

“And they were right!” The seventh head laughed.

Lark fell silent for a moment. He asked slowly, “What would you have done if the owner of the sword didn’t come? If I had never arrived in this floor during your lifespan?”

Although Lark couldn’t fully comprehend the facial expressions of monsters, he was sure that all of the Scylla’s heads were smiling right now.

“We’d use all of our remaining mana and lifeforce to create a barrier to protect this floor,” said the Scylla. “Dying while protecting the treasures would have been the highest honor.”

Dedicated to their task until the end.

Lark was starting to like this monster.

He sighed then smiled. “I live in a small town far from here. Want to come with me?”

The Scylla wagged its tail. “Of course!” it said eagerly. “A town? Not a city, but a town?”

It probably could not comprehend why its God was living in such a cramped place.

“It’s called Blackstone Town.” Lark chuckled after seeing the Scylla’s tail wagging once again. “If you let me ride on your back, we could probably reach it in a single day.”

The first head immediately spat, “Of course! You can ride us all you want!”

“Great.” Lark grinned. He looked at the statue. “But first, we need a way to transport all of the treasure back with us. A way for all of us to leave this labyrinth.”

The first head snorted. “Leave it to us! We know a way out!”

The other heads nodded in agreement.

Lark was expecting a hidden path or something similar, but it seemed that the Scylla’s ‘way out’ was far simpler than that.

Without warning, all seven heads looked up, opened their mouths, and started gathering vast amounts of mana in their mouth. Lark was stupefied upon realizing that they planned on boring a hole through the labyrinth using a breath attack.

Before Lark could utter a word to stop them, all seven heads fired their spells. Beams of light shot out of their mouths and struck the ceiling above. Several violent explosions and shockwaves shook the entire labyrinth. Large rocks and dust fell down as the ground continued rumbling.

After the dust receded, there was a large hole in the ceiling.

The Scylla started gathering energy in their mouths once again, ready to fire several more spells to bore a way out of the labyrinth.

Lark pondered if he should stop the creature from destroying the place. In the end, he decided that this was probably the best method they had. The giant statue was made of gold, and Lark had no intention of leaving it here alone in the labyrinth.

After the Scylla made an exit, it could probably carry the entire statue if Lark used gravity magic. The Sword of Morpheus was currently filled with vast amounts of mana. Using gravity magic for several hours should be feasible until they arrived at Blackstone Town.

Without Lark stopping it, the Scylla fired several more spells. The entire labyrinth shook as the ‘exit’ continued growing wider.

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 10

After his victory in the war against the Empire, Arzen was given full authority over the City of Daxton. Count Boris was too old and had decided to pass all administrative responsibilities to his eldest son. Unsurprisingly, this was met with little to no resistance from the city officials and the general public. Arzen was the hero who freed the City of Yan from the clutches of the Empire, after all. He was the pride of Boris County.

Inside his office in the castle, Arzen leafed through the mountain of documents on top of his desk, prioritizing only the most urgent and important tasks. After coming back to the county, his days were always like this. Most of his time was consumed by endless paperwork, with hardly enough time for him to hone his swordsmanship.

Arzen sighed, put down the document he was holding, and rubbed his brow. The City of Daxton was comparable to the capital in terms of size and population. As the current ruler of the region, there were so many things he needed to do for the territory.

“That stupid baron,” Arzen clicked his tongue, “if he was going embezzle the funds we allocated for the agricultural development in his territory, he should have done it more discreetly! And what’s this? The amount of money he spends every night in brothels is comparable to the yearly salary of our soldiers!”

The baron wasn’t the only one who had taken advantage of Arzen’s absence during the war. After looking through the reports of his men, it seemed that three other officials of Daxton City were ‘misappropriating’ the funds allocated to them.

“Send a message to Baron Miller, the vice-captain of the fifth unit, the head mason of the residential district, and the clerk assigned to oversee our agriculture’s finances.” Arzen repeatedly tapped his finger against the table. “Tell them to come to my office, three hours from now.”

“Understood, My Lord.” Arzen’s secretary bowed upon receiving his orders.

Arzen planned on culling the roots of corruption in his city before everything spiraled out of control. His father, the count, was too soft. Arzen vowed to not make the same mistakes his father had during his reign.

“Ah, My Lord. We received a message from the Mercenary Guild a while ago,” said the secretary.

“Mercenary Guild?”

“It seems that the Thunder Lord is currently in Daxton City and he’s been throwing away hefty sums of money to recruit mercenaries.”

Arzen frowned. The Thunder Lord was one of the strongest magicians in the kingdom. There were even rumors that he had fought the Master of Wizzert to a draw a few years ago.

What was a royal court magician like him doing here in Daxton City?

“Don’t tell me…”

Arzen had a bad feeling about this. He stood up, donned his parka and said, “Where is Lord Nickolai right now?”

“I believe he’s still at the Mercenary Guild as of this moment, My Lord.”

Arzen strapped his sword to his waist. “Gather my guards. We’re going to meet the Thunder Lord right now.”

“As you command!”

Arzen wasn’t stupid. There could be only one reason why the Thunder Lord was here, recruiting mercenaries, in Daxton City. Along with five of his most trusted guards, Arzen walked through the snow-covered streets and headed straight to the Mercenary Guild’s headquarters.

Upon entering the building, Arzen realized that his assumptions were correct. The leather armor worn by the mercenaries was meant to repel the flesh-eating poison gas in the Forbidden Region. They were planning another expedition to that region.

“Ah, Lord Arzen!” the Mercenary Guild Master greeted him amicably the moment he entered.

There were more than a hundred mercenaries gathered here today, and all of them were armed to the teeth. Arzen could see several bags—which probably contained rations—sitting in the corner.

Standing next to the Mercenary Guild Master were Nickolai ‘The Thunder Lord’ and his disciples. After the Guild Master mentioned Arzen’s name, all of them looked in his direction.

“What brings the Lord of Daxton City to this filthy place?” joshed the Mercenary Guild Master.

“Master Rafael, what’s the meaning of this?” Arzen got straight to the point. “Didn’t we agree not to send our men to that damnable region?”

The Mercenary Guild Master’s smile slid down his face. “That agreement was reached last year, wasn’t it? And I believe that Lord Arzen didn’t stop the royal knights when they went on an expedition to the Forbidden Region several months ago.”

“That was clearly an exception. It was a decree from the royal family. There was nothing I could have done about it,” spat Arzen. “Furthermore, there’s a vast difference in skill between the royal knights and these mercenaries. Are you fine with this, Master Rafael? You’ll be sending all of these men to their death.”

The mercenaries were vital to the growth of Daxton City. Unlike the Endless Forest, the forests surrounding the county were home to monsters and ferocious beasts. These mercenaries were responsible for keeping the population of those monsters in check.

“Stop yapping,” Nickolai finally spoke. He glared threateningly at Arzen. “These mercenaries have already accepted the contract. I don’t care if you’re the lord of this city. Don’t get in the way, brat.”

Arzen’s guards placed their hands on the hilts of their swords, clearly displeased at Nickolai’s words. Seeing this, Nickolai smirked. Arzen was sure that the moment his guards unsheathed their swords, lightning spells would rain down on them.

“Now, now,” said the Mercenary Guild Master. “Lord Arzen just wants to ensure the safety of the city’s mercenaries, isn’t that right? There are a lot of monsters living near the outskirts of this territory, you see. It’s understandable that the City Lord is worried about losing these men.”

The Mercenary Guild Master tried to defuse the situation before it escalated even further. He wrapped his arm around Arzen’s shoulder and said, “The Thunder Lord is among the strongest magicians of this kingdom. The expedition in the Forbidden Region shouldn’t be as dangerous as long as he’s with us, right?”

Although Captain Symon regarded Arzen as his benefactor, the captain of the royal knights hadn’t told him about the treasure in the Forbidden Region’s labyrinth. Arzen didn’t know why the Thunder Lord was organizing another expedition to that damnable place.

Arzen fell silent. The argument of Master Rafael was valid. Indeed, although Nickolai was ruthless, he was among the strongest magicians in this kingdom. Nothing too dangerous should happen as long as the mercenaries were with Nickolai.

Arzen sighed. “Fine. But promise me one thing, Master Rafael. If you find yourselves in a perilous situation, turn back immediately. I can’t afford to lose all of the city’s mercenaries.”

Master Rafael chuckled and slapped Arzen’s back. “Of course! All of the mercenaries gathered here today are veterans. With the help of the Thunder Lord, this expedition shouldn’t be too dangerous! And besides, we have a lot of experience in fighting the monsters in the Forbidden Region.”

Arzen decided to concede here. But before he left, he said to the Thunder Lord, “I’ll be sending a report regarding this to the royal family.”

“Do what you want,” scoffed Nickolai.

After Arzen left, the expedition team finished their preparations and went straight to the Forbidden Region. All members of the expedition team wore a leather set capable of neutralizing the flesh-eating poison gas.

It took the group almost a day before reaching the Forbidden Region.

“This is the Forbidden Region, huh?” Nickolai grinned broadly.

Just a little bit more and he would finally reach the labyrinth where the treasure was located. Once he obtained the legendary sword, even the king would have no choice but to bow down to him. He would finally hold absolute power, capable of ruling over the entire continent.

“Lord Nickolai,” said one of the mercenaries. He pointed at a place near the ruins. “The area over there is home to the death worm. It’s one of the apex monsters in this region. Although it’ll cost us a few hours, it’ll be safer for us to take a detour to the east where the poison cacti live.”

As expected of mercenaries—although they weren’t as powerful as the royal knights—there was no one more knowledgeable about this place than these louts.

Guided by the mercenaries, Nickolai and his disciples moved through the safest path in the Forbidden Region. The man-eating cacti they encountered along the way were easily taken care of by the mercenaries, and the disciples of Nickolai easily killed the poison wisps and the giant serpents.

“We’ll be entering the giant scorpion territory soon,” said one of the mercenaries. “Everyone, prepare yourselves.”

True to his word, the moment they stepped foot in the ruins, over a hundred giant scorpions started appearing from the snow-covered ground. Green fluid dripped down their stingers, reeking of the word ‘poison.’

The scorpions screeched. Like a mindless mob, the entire horde surrounded and attacked the expedition team.

“Pesky insects,” spat Nickolai.

While the mercenaries were holding off the horde, Nickolai started casting his spell. A ten-meter large magic circle appeared in the sky and from it, over a hundred lightning swords appeared. The lightning swords rained down and struck the giant scorpions, paralyzing them in an instant.

Although the power of the lightning swords wasn’t enough to deal a fatal blow, it was more than enough to render the giant scorpions immobile. The mercenaries didn’t miss this opportunity. Using this opening, they stabbed the heads of the scorpions, killing them in an instant.

The mercenaries looked at Nickolai in awe. The title of the ‘Thunder Lord’ really befitted the royal court magician. Even the giant scorpions weren’t his match.

“More of these things might come this way,” said Nickolai. “What are you waiting for? Lead the way.”

“Ah, Yes!”

The expedition team moved through the Forbidden Region using the same formation and tactic as before: Mercenaries held off the monsters, giving Nickolai the chance to cast high-tier spells. The monsters who managed to endure the Thunder Lord’s magic were then killed by the mercenaries.

At one point, a death worm suddenly shot out of the ground. But to the mercenaries’ surprise, the Thunder Lord simply bound the death worm’s body with a lightning chain, before cutting it into pieces using a lightning blade.

Even the death worm—an apex monster feared by the mercenaries—couldn’t do anything when confronted by absolute power.

They were almost at the labyrinth now, but the number of casualties could be counted in only one hand.

“That’s the labyrinth, huh?” said Nickolai.

Even from this distance, he could see the labyrinth’s entrance. For some strange reason, it reminded him of the temple in the capital. Rather than a labyrinth, it looked like a large shrine.

According to their intel, the first floor of the labyrinth was a haven. A place devoid of traps or monsters. Nickolai planned on taking a rest there before diving into the lower floors.

The expedition team was about to go inside the labyrinth when suddenly, the ground shook. A roar, which reminded them of a furious dragon, was heard from the labyrinth’s entrance.

All thoughts of approaching the labyrinth vanished at once. The nearby monsters screeched and scurried away from sight. Even the giant beetles, who’d been hovering above the expedition team for quite some time now, immediately made a turnabout and flew out of sight.

Nickolai’s face turned grim. The roar was probably from that seven-headed monster guarding the fourth floor of the labyrinth.

Nickolai had no intention of directly fighting it. His initial plan was to use the mercenaries to buy him enough time, at least until he reached the giant golden statue of Evander Alaester. That was why he’d made sure to protect the mercenaries. He still needed them later on, when they finally arrived on the fourth floor.

The ground continued trembling. Even the walls of the labyrinth started forming cracks as loud explosions reverberated from the underground.

“H-Hey, isn’t this bad? Even the monsters are fleeing. We should probably leave now!”

“Lord Nickolai! Your orders?”

Nickolai didn’t respond. He could feel it. Right now, something gargantuan was trying to come out of the labyrinth.

“It’s too late,” said Nickolai. “It’s here.”

Another deafening roar was heard and the roof of the labyrinth was blasted into pieces. The cloud of dust slowly receded, revealing a colossal monster with two pairs of wings and seven heads.

“W-What the hell is that?”

The mercenaries weren’t aware of the existence of this monster. The moment they saw it, all hope was lost and the mercenaries fell into despair. No matter how they looked at it, there was no way for mere humans to win against such a monster.

Even Nickolai couldn’t stop trembling. He could feel the massive amounts of mana flowing through the body of the seven-headed monster. He was sure of it: this creature was proficient in magic.

“Damn it!” Nickolai gnashed his teeth. “Why did it suddenly come out of the labyrinth?”

“M-Master, look! At its back!” One of his disciples pointed.

The cloud of dust had now completely receded. Nickolai was stunned upon seeing a giant statue sitting on the back of the seven-headed monster.

“G-Golden statue?” Nickolai had a bad premonition.

According to the information they’d gathered, the treasure room was inside the golden statue.

Nickolai could not understand why the monster was carrying the statue. He could not understand why the monster had suddenly decided to blast open the ceiling and leave the labyrinth now, of all times.

While Nickolai was lost in his thoughts, he noticed a figure sitting on top of one of the monster’s heads. He was sitting leisurely, as though the creature he was riding was a mere wyvern.

Unfortunately, the figure was clad in a hooded cloak and his face was covered by a mask—the same mask worn by the mercenaries—making it impossible for Nickolai to see his real appearance.

The masked figure stared at the mercenaries below, and mumbled something to the seven-headed monster using an unfamiliar language.

Who was he? How had he managed to tame that beast? Judging by the amount of mana alone, that seven-headed monster could probably fight on par with a dragon.

So many questions ran through Nickolai’s head as he stared at the seven-headed monster hovering above the labyrinth.

The seven-headed monster looked at the expedition team below for a moment. It snorted, as though saying that mere insects did not interest it in the slightest.

It flapped its wings, creating gusts of wind, then flew toward the east, eventually disappearing from sight.

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 11

Despite the giant statue it was carrying on its back, the Scylla flew through the sky at a frightening speed. It flew above the clouds, at a distance where the humans could not see it.

“Is it really fine to leave those humans alone?” said the first head. “We can still turn back and annihilate them. It’s clear that they’re after your treasure, God Evander.”

Before leaving the Forbidden Region, they had seen over a hundred people near the labyrinth’s entrance. They were definitely the mercenaries and magicians Nickolai had gathered for his expedition. Unfortunately for them, Lark had already taken all the treasures away.

“No, it’s fine,” said Lark. “We’ve already taken everything anyway. There’s no need to shed more blood.”

The first head said, “As you wish.”

“God Evander, isn’t it uncomfortable?” said the sixth head.

A dome-shaped barrier was currently surrounding Lark, preventing the winter wind from hitting his body.

He looked at the sixth head quizzically. “Uncomfortable?”

“Yes, God. My head is a lot softer, you see. I believe it’ll be more comfortable if you rode on top of me.”

Hearing the sixth head’s remark, the first head—the one Lark was sitting on—hissed indignantly. “This scheming snake! What are you saying to God Evander! Stop spouting nonsense! My head is definitely softer than everyone else here! That’s why he chose me! That’s why he chose to ride on top of me!”

The other heads snorted. The sixth head gave a mocking laugh.

“Hey, isn’t it about time we switch places?” the fifth head hissed unhappily.

“I agree! Why are you monopolizing God Evander in the first place?” the seventh head snarled.

Lark had been sitting on top of the first head for more than an hour and this brought forth pangs of jealousy among the rest of the Scylla’s heads. It was amazing how some of them even started threatening to rip the first head into shreds.

“Everyone, lower your voices,” said the third head. “Don’t you see that you’re making God Evander uncomfortable?”

The bickering heads immediately shut their mouths upon hearing those words. Although the other heads were clearly frustrated, they no longer shot menacing glares at the first head. The threats and curses thrown at the first head stopped too.

Lark smiled wryly. He started wondering if he should have sat on top of the body, right next to the statue, instead.

“It’ll take us several more hours before we arrive at Blackstone Town,” said Lark. “So, how about this—I’ll alternate between the seven of you during that time.”

“What a great idea!”

“As expected of God Evander!”

“Then, please ride on top of me next!”

“No, I’m next!”

The decision was unanimous. Everyone immediately agreed to Lark’s suggestion. Lark chuckled. Despite its scary appearance, he found the seven-headed monster quite cute and amusing—just like an overly eager puppy.

Aren’t we starting to slow down?

Lark noticed that the Scylla had reduced its speed considerably. Despite rigorously flapping its wings, it was now moving at almost half its previous speed.

It was obviously stalling for time.

Lark sighed lightly. He decided to let this pass. Even if the Scylla moved at half of its maximum speed, it was still a lot faster than horse-drawn carriages. With its ability to ignore the terrain, the three weeks of travel time from the Forbidden Region to Blackstone Town could be reduced to one day.

True to his word, Lark alternated between the Scylla’s heads every hour, all the while maintaining the gravity spell he’d cast on the giant statue. After expanding his mana pool and obtaining the Sword of Morpheus, the amount of mana being consumed by the spell had become comparatively meager. It was almost negligible.

Although he still hadn’t reached the same amount of mana he had in his previous life, being able to use high-ranking spells without worrying about running out of mana was such a great feeling. He no longer had to restrict his spells just to conserve his mana. His trip to the Forbidden Region had been truly fruitful.

After almost a day, Lark finally saw the Aden Mountain Range. He also saw a large fortress inside a valley. Its towering walls were comparable to Yorkshaire City.

“That’s the Valley of Witches, huh?” mumbled Lark.

His assumptions should be correct, since there was only one fortress in this area. If Yorkshaire City was the stopper preventing the Empire’s forces from crossing over to the kingdom’s territory, the Valley of Witches was the stopper preventing the United Grakas Alliance from advancing into the kingdom. A fortress that held grave strategic importance.

“Lizard, look over there. At the town below us,” said Lark. “That’s my Blackstone Town.”

The Scylla looked at the town covered by snow below. Although there were several hundreds of houses, it was surprisingly small. All seven heads thought that it did not befit someone of Lark’s status.

“Fly higher, make sure no one sees us.”

“As you wish, My God.”

The Scylla flew higher and went past Blackstone Town. It continued flying toward the east. Everything in front of it and below it had now become a sea of trees. Even when flying above the clouds, the end of the forest was nowhere in sight.

“This forest is quite large, isn’t it?” mumbled the seventh head.

“The Endless Forest,” said Lark. “This will be your new home. No one has managed to map the entire region before, but according to some people, this forest should be at least as large as the entire kingdom itself.”

“Our new home. The Endless Forest. It doesn’t sound bad.”

“We should look for a nice place to make a nest!”

“That’s right! A nest! A proper one, unlike the hole we used to sleep in on the fourth floor of the labyrinth!”

Although the Earth Scylla called it a nest, Lark knew that it meant something similar to a dragon’s lair. A protected territory where it could slumber peacefully.

After flying for an hour, Lark decided that they were far enough from the town. Even Herbalist Mores wouldn’t delve this deep into the Endless Forest.

“This should be good enough. Let’s leave the statue here,” said Lark. “Make a large clearing.”

The Scylla hovered down and fired several wind spells toward the ground, destroying more than a hundred trees in an instant. Lark disabled the barrier surrounding him, jumped onto the ground, and pointed at the clearing.

“Over here.”

Using all seven heads, the Scylla carefully laid the statue on the ground.

Although they were quite far from the town, there was always the possibility of someone wandering the Endless Forest seeing the giant statue. Its towering height and its golden luster made it conspicuous even from a distance.

“It’s sticking out like a sore thumb, huh?” said Lark.

The Scylla nodded its heads in agreement. “If you give us permission to build a nest, it’ll be possible for us to conceal the statue, God Evander.”

“Hide it inside the nest of a Scylla,” said Lark. “Not a bad idea.”

After Lark gave the Scylla permission, the seven-headed monster started casting several spells one after another. Even now, the spell-casting speed of the Scylla amazed Lark. The way it used seven heads to create several layers of runes at once greatly hastened the creation of magic formations.

In mere seconds, the Scylla had cast several high-tier spells.

The forest shook and the ground started to move. With the Scylla’s precise control of magic, the earth molded itself into a large shrine, with the statue at its center. There was a two hundred-meter empty space around the statue, which was probably meant for the Scylla’s nest.

For almost an hour, the Scylla repeatedly molded and hardened the earth, until it was satisfied with the shrine’s appearance. In the end, a far more conspicuous sight than the giant statue had appeared in the Endless Forest.

The Earth Scylla stopped for a moment to appreciate its creation.

“I don’t like it,” said the first head.

“We should make it larger. How about a castle?” replied the seventh head.

“Definitely. Something this small does not befit God Evander.”

“No, the size is good enough. What we’re lacking is gold.”

“That’s right! Gold!”

“I agree! We should cover the shrine with gold!”

“But where can we get the gold?”

“We should be able to get enough if we attack the capital of the nearest kingdom!”

“Then let’s go right now!”

The seemingly innocent ramblings of the Scylla started turning dangerous. They even started discussing how they’d break into the royal treasury without damaging the treasures within. Lark decided to interfere before things spiraled out of control.

“Seriously.” Lark sighed. “Hey, lizard.”

The chatters died down in an instant. The Scylla respectfully bowed all of its seven heads. “Yes, My God.”

“You can roam around the Endless Forest—you’re even allowed to wander around the entire kingdom—but you absolutely must not attack any humans,” said Lark. “Do you understand?”

The heads looked at each other. They must have been conflicted by Lark’s words. How could they gather the needed gold if they weren’t allowed to take it from the humans?

“Understood, God Evander.”

For some strange reason, Lark understood what was going on in the Scylla’s mind right now. He said, “There’s no need to coat the entire shrine in gold. What matters is that the statue remains hidden from other people. Is that clear?”

“Yes.”

The amount of treasure inside the golden statue was more than enough to support the entire kingdom for several decades. Lark couldn’t possibly take all of it with him to Blackstone Town. He decided to only take a handful—just enough to support all of his projects—and leave the rest in this forest.

“Just to be sure, we should set up a barrier spell to prevent other people from reaching this place,” said Lark. “A mirage spell or an illusion spell. As for the treasure room, I’ll personally set up a defensive ward inside it.”

“As you wish,” said the first head. “We’ll make sure anyone who approaches this shrine will be killed in an instant!”

Lark creased his brows and rubbed his forehead. He said firmly, “No, there’s no need to go that far. I forbid all of you from killing any humans, even if they intrude into your nest. Just make sure that they can’t get near it.”

Although the chances were low, Lark didn’t like the idea of one of his subjects being killed by the barrier spell they’d set up in the forest.

The third head said slowly, “Then, an illusion spell that messes with one’s sense of direction and vision should do the trick.”

Lark was relieved that the third head was at least reasonable. He nodded. “Exactly.”

“Please leave it to us,” said the third head.

After the Scylla was done building the shrine, Lark entered the statue and placed several defensive wards inside. Unlike his disciple, he didn’t place an extremely dangerous spell like the Hand of God. He simply placed several barrier spells, which would prevent other people from taking the treasure out of the statue.

Lark took several adamantite ores, pinnacle-grade potions, mithril ingots, gold coins, a bloodstone fragment, and two mandrake roots from the treasure room. The leather bag he bought from Daxton City could hardly contain all of the treasure.

Lark smiled. It was such a great feeling.

He now had more than enough money to hasten the development of Blackstone Town.

After Lark left the statue, he said to the Scylla. “Lizard, did my idiotic disciple give you a name?”

“Yes, God Evander. Master Kubarkava bestowed upon us the name, Blackie .”

Lark’s face momentarily contorted. What a horrible name. But, amazingly, the Scylla seemed proud of it. It was apparent by the way its tail wagged after mentioning the name given to it by the Dragon Devourer.

“Blackie,” repeated Lark.

“Yes!” the Scylla replied enthusiastically.

Lark sighed. The Scylla was very fond of the name it had been given. Although it sounded horrible, Lark decided to stick with it.

“Then, Blackie,” said Lark.

“Yes, God Evander!”

“I’ll be going back to Blackstone Town for a while,” said Lark. “I’ve placed several defensive wards in the treasure room and the statue, so it should be fine, even if you leave the nest and wander the kingdom for a bit. Just make sure you’re not spotted by humans. Is that clear?”

The Scylla eagerly responded with a yes and enthusiastically bobbed its heads.

“Here, take it.” Lark tossed a gemstone toward the Scylla. The seven-headed monster caught it using wind magic.

“A communication crystal?”

It was similar to the item Lark had given to Zacharia during the previous war with the Empire.

“It’s connected to the necklace I’m wearing,” said Lark. “Contact me should something happen here.”

“Contact you? O-Of course!”

The eyes of the Scylla grew wide and all seven heads looked at the gemstone as though it was the most precious thing in the world. They started a heated discussion about which head should keep the gemstone.

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 12

Migrating to Blackstone Town was probably the best decision Hans had made in his life. Who would have thought that a former thief like him would become the apprentice of a well-known herbalist? Although he still had uncertainties, Hans had found a lead toward his path in life.

“If you’re done shoveling the snow from the roof, come inside!” Herbalist Mores shouted from inside the timber house. “We got orders from the Central Market!”

Hans, standing on the rooftop of the herbalist’s house, looked at the houses around them. The heatstones installed around the town a year ago, which were made of cheap but readily available materials, had lost their power several months ago. Although it had stopped snowing two days ago, everything was still covered in white. With his every breath, white steam would puff out.

Hans immediately got down from the roof and entered Mores’ house. The familiar scent of dried herbs and medical concoctions assaulted his nose the moment he entered. Looking above, dozens of dried herbs hanged from the ceiling.

“More ginger ecaruits?” said Hans.

Herbalist Mores donned his cloak, scarf, boots, and gloves. “That’s right. Good thing we gathered a lot of ’em before winter arrived.”

The herbalist pointed at a large sack sitting near the entrance. “The ecaruits are already inside. Carry them for me, will you?”

“Of course, Master.”

The herbalist and his apprentice traversed the snow-covered ground and went toward the Central Market. Surprisingly, despite the freezing winter, a lot of people were inside the Central Market. Due to the abundant harvest and the fixed price policy imposed by the lord of the territory, the price of wheat was incredibly cheap—it was affordable even for poor families.

Hans had seen this scene in the Central Market several times before, but it still amazed him every time. The people of the slums in Lion City were probably struggling to survive right now, homeless, with hardly any food to eat this winter. But the residents of Blackstone Town were different. It was as though the God of Harvest smiled upon this territory this winter.

Hans sighed inwardly. If only Lord Valcres was as benevolent and as competent as the Lord of Blackstone Town, then maybe things would have been different.

Hans and his master made their way to the stall selling medicinal herbs on the second floor of the Central Market. The vendor immediately greeted them. “Ah, Mores! Just in time you’ve come! The dried ecaruits you made are flying off the shelves lately. We just sold the last bundle this morning.”

This had never happened before. During the last winter, people were so desperate to survive that all of their money was spent solely on food. No one had enough money to spare for medicinal herbs, moreover a relatively expensive one like ecaruits.

But now, things were different. After the lord regulated the prices of food and after the massive job recruitments, the residents of Blackstone Town were thriving. They even had enough money to spare for medicinal herbs and clothing.

Mores nodded at Hans. On cue, the apprentice placed the large sack in front of the vendor and opened it, revealing several bundles of ginger ecaruits inside.

“This is the last batch for this month,” said Mores. “We’ll need to wait for several more weeks before the rest of the herbs in my home fully dry.”

“Last batch, eh?” The vendor clicked his tongue. “This won’t even last a week. You remember that shorty from the mines? Arturo? He’s been spoiling his sick daughter with ecaruit soup every day ever since winter started. Damn miners and their deep pockets. I heard he’s made it big after mining a very large kalrane a few months ago.”

When Hans first came to Blackstone Town, he deliberated if he should apply for the position of a miner but eventually decided against it. Although the pay was almost comparable to that of a soldier’s, it was hard labor and he didn’t like the idea of delving deep into the cavern with nothing but a pickaxe and a small kalrane.

“The kalrane worth two gold coins,” nodded Mores, “I remember. He went drinking at the tavern every night for an entire week after receiving his pay. How could I forget?’

“W-What?” said Hans. “T-Two gold coins?”

He hadn’t heard of this. That was enough money for a person to live comfortably for a year. Hans imagined the things he could do with such a large amount of money.

“Wipe that greed off your face,” said Mores. “Gathering herbs is honest work. Arturo simply got lucky, that’s all. If you really want to become an herbalist one day, stand tall and take pride in your profession.”

“Y-Yes!” Hans straightened his back and scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

After leaving the Central Market, the herbalist and his apprentice went inside the Endless Forest to gather a certain herb which only grew during winter.

“Master, are we really going to gather herbs at this hour?” said Hans as he looked at the frozen river next to them. “We should probably wait a few days, wait for the snow to melt a little more.”

“Quiet, you damn amateur,” snapped Mores. “Just follow me quietly. You said you wanted to learn how to gather herbs and make medicine, no? Frost moonlight lilies grow only during winter. We’re lucky that it grows in the Endless Forest. It’s one of the reasons why I chose to settle down in this town.”

The herbalist led Hans deeper into the Endless Forest. After several hours of traversing the snow-covered ground, they finally arrived at a part of the forest which the herbalist called the ‘medicinal herb treasury.’

Mores crouched and carefully pulled out an ordinary-looking plant. It wasn’t beautiful like Hans had expected. “Drill this into your brain. This thing here is a frost moonlight lily. A plant that blooms only during a full moon. Make sure not to damage the roots, understood?”

“Yes, Master,” Hans half-heartedly replied. He also started digging the ground. He could not understand what was so special about this plant.

Hearing his apprentice’s uninterested response, Mores said, “A bundle is worth six silvers in Lion City. If the roots are undamaged, eight silvers.”

Hans froze. He stared at the ordinary-looking plant in his hand, at his master, then back. “Six silvers? This thing?”

Mores grinned. “Pretty lucrative, isn’t it? I heard that it’s being sold for twice the price in the capital. An important ingredient in making several medicines, you see. The fact that it grows only during winter makes it so darn expensive.”

Hans looked around him. Judging by the amount of frost moonlight lilies growing in this place, it should be possible to fill several baskets. Hans realized that his master was right in calling this a treasure trove.

“I should have brought a bigger basket,” Hans said in regret. With renewed vigor, he started to carefully gather the lilies one after another. He no longer minded the cold. If a bundle was worth six to eight silvers, then a single plant was worth at least one silver coin.

It felt as though he was plucking money from the ground. Who would have known that they could get so much money from gathering wild grass? The feeling was so exhilarating that he didn’t notice that a few hours had passed by.

“That’s enough,” said Mores. “We’re heading back.”

“But, Master, there’re still a lot of lilies growing over there. We can probably fit more of them inside our bask—”

“Come on, get going. We’re coming back here tomorrow anyway. It might be dangerous if we’re still in the forest by dusk.”

“But there are no monsters in the Endless Forest.”

“Monsters, no. Ferocious beasts, yes. I’ve encountered wolves in this part of the forest before. If you’re confident of killing an entire pack, then feel free to gather frost moonlight lilies here as much as you want.”

Hans looked around nervously. One of the reasons he left Lion City was due to the frequent monster attacks. Although he was quick on his feet, he wasn’t confident of outrunning wolves in this forest.

“R-Right, let’s go back,” said Hans.

Their baskets almost full, Mores and Hans went back toward Blackstone Town. Upon reaching the forest edge, a figure suddenly fell from the sky and landed softly on the ground. Mores and Hans were startled and terrified at first; they were ready to leave their gathered herbs behind to run for their lives. But they soon realized that it was not a monster, but a human.

“W-Who are you?” said Mores.

The figure turned around and faced the two of them. “Ah, that’s right. I’m still wearing this mask, huh?”

It was a familiar voice.

The figure took off his mask and smiled. “Herbalist Mores, correct? It’s been a while.”

Mores eyes widened. He hadn’t expected to encounter this person here, of all places. “Young Lord? I thought you went to the capital with the princess?”

Hans grabbed the arm of the herbalist and whispered, “Young Lord? Don’t tell me, this is the ruler of this territory? The Lord of Blackstone Town?”

After seeing the series of developments made in the town, Hans had been curious about what the lord was like. He’d heard various rumors regarding the lord—from demon commander, womanizer, the illegitimate son of Duke Drakus, great tactician, to cold-blooded tyrant.

But after seeing him in person, Lark Marcus did not look like a demon incarnate nor did he look like a great tactician. He was surprisingly young. He looked quite handsome, Hans had to admit, and he had this inexplainable air of authority around him.

“Stop whispering in front of the Lord,” reprimanded Mores. “Show some manners.”

Hans immediately shut his mouth.

“The princess and my men haven’t returned to Blackstone Town yet?” said Lark.

“We’ve been gone from the town for almost an entire day, My Lord,” said Mores. “But I’m pretty sure that before we left, they hadn’t yet returned.”

“I see,” mumbled Lark. “I’ve arrived earlier than them because of Blackie, huh?”

“Blackie?”

“Ah.” Lark smiled. “It’s nothing. I was just talking to myself.”

Lark noticed the baskets on their backs. “You’re gathering herbs in this weather?”

Mores glanced at the basket filled with herbs on his back and nodded. “Yes. There’s this herb called frost moonlight lily which grows only during winter, you see.”

“The herb used to make painkillers and antidotes,” said Lark. “So it grows in this region? Interesting.”

Mores realized that the Lord had vast knowledge. Although most alchemists and herbalists knew that the herb could be used to make painkillers, not everyone knew that it could also be used to make antidotes. Even he, a herbalist, only found out about it a few years ago.

“Yes, Young Lord.” Mores pointed to a particular direction in the forest. “Continue walking straight from here for two to three hours and you’ll arrive at the place where the lilies grow.”

“I see.” Lark nodded. He fell silent for a moment, pulled something out of his bag, and said, “Mores, do you have experience growing roots?”

“Roots, My Lord?”

Lark handed Mores two small, black roots. “Ever heard of mandrakes?”

Mores’ hands, holding the roots, trembled upon hearing the words of the Young Lord. Mandrakes were mythical plants—monsters—capable of assuming the form of a human. Creatures heard of only in legends.

“Although they look like roots,” said Lark. “These two are mandrake seeds. Just feed them blood every now and then and they’ll eventually grow after several weeks.”

“B-Blood?” said Mores. “My blood?”

Seeing the color drain off the herbalist’s face, Lark patiently explained. “Even the blood of animals—say, chickens—should do. I’ll tell Oliver to provide you with animal blood every day. All you have to do is to feed them with blood and make sure they’re receiving enough sunlight. Sounds easy, right?”

“But Young Lord! I-If these are really mandrake seeds, aren’t they… too dangerous?” protested Mores. “I’ve heard they hate humans. Won’t they kill me once they grow?”

“Those rumors,” said Lark, “are pertaining to dryads. Mandrakes are mindless creatures. Although they are capable of magic, it’s limited to healing spells. There’s no harm to your life at all. If mandrakes were that dangerous, I wouldn’t have asked you to take care of them. I’m not that cruel.”

Mores sighed in relief. “I see.”

“Mandrakes are quite rare,” said Lark. “So I hope Herbalist Mores can grow them properly.”

Mores stared at the black roots in his hands. “I’ll do my best, Young Lord. Please leave it to me!”

After giving the seeds to the herbalist, Lark immediately made his way back to the mansion. Along the way, he passed by the newly built Town Hall. It was larger than the mansion itself and could easily accommodate five hundred people. Although its exterior looked ordinary due to prioritizing functionality, its towering height made it a landmark in Blackstone Town. Near the Town Hall was the newly built school.

“The waterway’s almost finished,” said Lark. “The Town Hall and the school are done. Impressive. As expected of Silverclaw.”

Lark was really glad that he had competent subordinates overseeing Blackstone Town during his absence. Just the presence of the head mason alone greatly alleviated Lark’s burden

Upon arriving at the mansion, Lark was immediately greeted by Gaston. Judging by the sweat on the old man’s forehead, he must have hurriedly come here after hearing of the Young Master’s arrival.

“Young Master!” said the butler. “Welcome back!”

Although the old butler tried his best to be stoic, he failed to conceal the excitement within his voice.

“I’m back,” said Lark. “How’s Blackstone Town been during my absence?”

The butler cleared his throat.

“The number of migrants had dwindled a bit upon the arrival of winter,” said Gaston. “We still do not have enough population to qualify as a city. The Town Hall and the school were finished a few weeks ago, just before the arrival of winter. As for the temple, two priests of Nereus are currently staying here in the mansion.”

“Priest of Nereus?”

“Yes, Young Master,” said Gaston. “After you gave your approval to have a temple built in Blackstone Town, the Temple of the Water God immediately sent two of their priests. Until the temple is done, I’ve decided to let them stay here in the mansion.”

“I see,” said Lark. “Good work. You made the right decision. The Temple of the Seven Gods holds a lot of power in this kingdom. The Temples of the Water God and the Sun God are probably the most powerful among them. It would be foolish to antagonize them.”

“I agree, Young Master. The temple is a fearsome enemy and a reliable ally. And based on what I’ve heard from the priests, it seems that the high-ranking officials of the Temple of the Water God see the Young Master in a favorable light.”

Lark remembered the elderly female royal court magician he’d met in the capital. Lark was sure that she was among those who were pulling the strings. It seemed fortunate that he’d gained a reliable ally.

“I’ll greet them personally tomorrow morning,” said Lark.

“As you wish.”

“The princess and my men aren’t back yet?”

The butler looked at Lark quizzically. “No. Did you come back here on your own, Young Master?”

Lark fell silent. Although he knew that the Scylla’s speed was incomparable to a carriage’s, for some strange reason, he was bothered that the princess and his disciples hadn’t arrived in Blackstone Town yet.

Well, Anandra and Chryselle were with them, so nothing too dangerous should happen.

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 13

The next morning, as promised, Lark greeted the priests staying at the mansion. The first priest was a tall, elderly man with balding hair. He was reading a book about the scriptures when Lark knocked on the door and entered the room. Next to him was a young, stubby male priest with numerous freckles on his cheeks.

“Please pardon me for not visiting you the moment I arrived, honorable priests of the Water God.” Lark placed a hand on his chest and bowed his head. “Lark Marcus, Lord of Blackstone Town.”

As lord of the territory, there was no real need for Lark to bow his head before mere priests. But Lark had heard that they’d been waiting for an audience for quite some time now, ever since he’d given the approval to have a temple built in the town. Showing this much respect was the least he could do for these men.

The elderly priest snapped the book closed and stood up. He looked at the stubby priest and wordlessly told him to return Lark’s gesture. Together, the two priests returned Lark’s greeting politely.

“Thank you for taking the time to meet us, Lord Lark,” said the elderly priest. “I am Wallace Ramford, a priest of God Nereus. And this young man next to me is Dean Arte, a newly appointed priest of the temple.”

Although the words and gestures of the elderly priest were polite, he looked at Lark with a hint of disgust. The stubby priest, on the other hand, was clearly terrified of Lark. He could hardly look the Lord of Blackstone Town in the eye.

“We’re glad to finally meet the esteemed ruler of Blackstone Town,” said Wallace. “We’ve been hearing a lot of… rumors regarding the lord lately.”

“Rumors? I hope they’re at least pleasant ones,” Lark joshed. He chuckled. “I’ve prepared a small feast below. Let us discuss matters concerning the temple in the grand hall.”

The two priests obliged Lark’s request and followed him to the grand hall of the mansion. The elderly priest frowned upon seeing the various dishes prepared on the table.

“A lavish lifestyle,” mumbled the elderly priest. “As I thought. He never changed, huh?”

Although Wallace said it in a low voice, Lark heard everything clearly. He studied the elderly priest discreetly as he led them to their seats.

“Is the food not to Priest Wallace’s liking?” said Lark the moment they sat down.

Priest Wallace furrowed his brow and shook his head. “No. That’s not it. The prepared feast is satisfactory. How should I say this…” There were several seconds of pause. “It’s too excessive. We could probably feed two or three families with this, don’t you think?”

Lark replied carefully, “I agree, Priest Wallace, that there is enough food here to feed several families for the day, but I can assure you that none of it will go to waste. The servants are permitted to eat the leftovers.”

Priest Wallace sighed and nodded lightly. “Is that so?” Although he wasn’t entirely convinced, he finally started eating the food served on his plate.

While eating, Lark and Wallace started discussing the establishment of a temple in Blackstone Town. To Lark’s surprise, it seemed that the Temple of the Water God planned on shouldering all expenses for the project. The only things they asked of the Lord of Blackstone Town were manpower and a piece of land in the center of the town—sold at the cheapest price possible.

Lark happily agreed to their demands and even offered to give away the land for free. Lark believed it was a small price to pay if he could gain the favor of the temple.

“You’re giving it to the temple for free?” Wallace stared at Lark in bewilderment.

One needed a large amount of money to buy even a small piece of land in the center of a territory. Moreover, judging by the number of developments the priests had encountered during their stay here, it was apparent that this town would one day become a city—it was only a question of when.

Although there had been similar instances before, wherein nobles gave away their land to the temple for free, such cases were extremely rare. Wallace hadn’t expected someone with a notorious reputation to make such offer.

“The temple is vital for the growth of Blackstone Town,” Lark said after sipping his wine. “As lord of this territory, I believe it necessary to support the temple in any way possible.”

Normally, such words would have been nothing but empty talk. But the fact that this young man before him was giving away the land for free made Wallace reconsider his true intentions.

“I didn’t know you’re a devout believer of the Water God,” said Wallace.

“I am not.”

Priest Wallace raised his brows in surprise. “You’re not? Then why—”

“Like I said before, the temple is vital for the growth of Blackstone Town.” Lark smiled. “Priest Wallace, do I need any more reason than that?”

Priest Wallace fell silent. The Lord of Blackstone Town was right.

“I see. But Lord Lark, I was wondering… Why are you giving us the land next to the border of the Eastern District? I believe it would be better for the temple to be built at the heart of this territory.”

“It’s simple. The Eastern District will someday become the heart of Blackstone Town. It’s inevitable since I plan on expanding the town further after clearing trees in the Endless Forest.”

Priest Wallace nodded in understanding. “I see.” He looked at Priest Dean, who’d been silent until now, then at Lark.

Priest Wallace wiped his lips with a napkin. “We hope that we can start building the temple once spring arrives. Until then, we’ll be staying here in the mansion under your care.”

“Please stay as long as you like,” said Lark. “I’ve already told the servants to attend to your needs. Please make yourselves comfortable during your stay here.”

Priest Wallace stared at Lark for a moment, as though observing him.

After everyone was done eating, the priests stood up and bade farewell to Lark. Priest Wallace still held the same gaze as when they first met, while Priest Dean still did his best to avoid Lark’s eyes.

Lark did not understand why the stubby priest seemed so afraid of him. He hadn’t spoken even once during their discussions.

“Excuse me,” said Lark the moment the priests were on their way out. “Priest Dean. Is something the matter?”

Priest Dean finally looked at Lark in the eye, but immediately averted his gaze afterward. Seeing this, Priest Wallace clicked his tongue and sighed.

“I thought you wished to settle the discussions regarding the temple in a peaceful manner,” said Priest Wallace. “That’s why you were pretending not to know each other. And now you had to ask something so… distasteful.”

The last few words were said hesitantly.

Lark shot him a quizzical gaze. He did not know what the priest was talking about.

Seeing the expression of Lark, Priest Wallace raised his voice in anger. He snapped. “Stop pretending not to know, Lord Lark! This kid—this priest here! Are you going to continue to pretend that you do not know him?”

Priest Wallace’s outburst was uncharacteristic of a priest. Furthermore, he no longer tried to hide the disgust in his eyes.

“I do not understand—” said Lark.

“You! How shameless!” Priest Wallace’s eyes widened in rage. “Do you know how much suffering Priest Dean underwent because of you? You broke his limbs, crushed all of his fingers, and battered his face! If you truly did forget, then you’re nothing but a demon incarnate! How can a person do all those things and forget all about it! Disgusting scum!”

Cruel words were thrown at him one after another, but Lark simply stood there in silence. He finally understood everything. Why Priest Wallace’s gaze held a hint of disgust. Why Priest Dean did his best to avoid him.

Lark remembered the rumors about the previous owner of his body. He was certain that there was an incident where he almost killed a priest over some squabble. It was also the incident that finally made his father give up on him.

He’d never expected to meet that priest here, of all places. Moreover, he was the priest assigned to oversee the temple in his domain.

Although Priest Dean had fully recovered his health, the trauma of being beaten to near-death was definitely still there. The way Priest Dean’s body trembled whenever Lark looked at him was a dead giveaway.

Lark realized that he was actually fortunate that Priest Wallace had been reasonable enough to converse with him despite everything that happened.

Although it was the previous owner of his body who did all those things, Lark had no intention of shirking responsibility. The sins of the previous owner were his sins now. He had no intention of running away from this reality.

Lark bowed his head low. “I apologize for not realizing Priest Dean’s identity until now. I know that this might sound like empty words, but I am really sorry for what happened. If there’s anything I can do to atone for my sins… anything.”

Priest Wallace’s face contorted for a moment. He looked conflicted. Priest Dean, on the other hand, was staring at Lark with wide eyes, as though he’d never expected in his wildest dreams that the arrogant noble would lower his head and apologize.

“Words are cheap.” Priest Wallace snorted. “If you are truly sincere, show us through your actions.”

“Of course,” said Lark, his head still bowed low.

“It seems that the Seer has taken a liking to you, Lord Lark,” said Priest Wallace in disgust. “She even went as far as purposely sending Dean here. I don’t know what’s going through that mind of hers. That crafty woman. Sometimes I wonder why God Nereus favors her so much.”

***

After the priests left, Lark immediately summoned the head mason and ordered him to help with the construction of the temple to the best of his abilities. Lark even went as far as allocating a hefty sum for the project, even though the temple had declared that they would shoulder all of the costs for the construction of the temple.

Lark believed that the previous owner of his body deserved all the curses thrown at him by the priest. He smiled wryly as he realized that the original Lark was a far bigger bastard than he’d originally thought. No wonder the duke threw him to this faraway town, in the opposite direction of the Marcus Duchy.

After meeting with the head mason, Lark went to the underground chamber of the mansion.

He opened the large bag sitting in the corner of the room and took out the gold coins. The figure of the first Emperor of the Magic Empire was engraved on one side of the coin, and the image of a serpent eating its own tail—the ouroboros—was engraved on the other.

The ouroboros represented the dragon vein below, the origin of all mana in this world. Coupled with the image of the first Emperor, these gold coins basically represented the unending glory of the Magic Empire. A nation that would never crumble, even with the passage of time.

Lark found it ironic that the gold coins had been true to their meaning. With the dragon vein gone, the Magic Empire collapsed.

The value of these gold coins was probably immeasurable in today’s time. Collectors would go crazy if these gold coins were auctioned in the capital. After all, anything related to the Magic Empire should have been lost a thousand years ago.

Although Lark would have loved to auction these coins for a higher price, doing so would immediately give him away as the person responsible for the disappearance of the treasure in the Forbidden Region. The last thing he wanted was for Nickolai and his men to come and wreak havoc in his territory.

Although he was far stronger now, Lark wanted to prevent unnecessary disputes as much as possible.

He deemed that the best course of action right now was to melt these gold coins into a more ‘inconspicuous’ appearance. Melting a few hundred of these coins shouldn’t pose a problem. There was literally a mountain of gold coins left inside the statue, after all.

After ordering the servants to get several crucibles from the masons, Lark immediately proceeded with the melting process. It was fairly easy, since all gold coins used in the Magic Empire were made of pure gold. Nothing would be lost during the melting process when using such coins.

Lark used a gravity spell to lift the coins and used fire magic to heat them until melting point. The melted gold was then poured into molds.

Lark patiently repeated this process and eventually, he managed to create fifteen gold ingots. With them, it should be possible to finance more projects in Blackstone Town.

After molding and cooling the gold ingots, Lark went back to his office and summoned the butler.

“You called for me, Young Master?”

“Gaston, when is the next batch of merchants coming to Blackstone Town?”

“They should arrive tomorrow morning, Young Master. I heard that Mavas City had a food shortage recently. It seems that Big Mona decided to use that chance to trade commodities there.”

“Tomorrow, huh? Perfect,” said Lark. “Listen, I want you to send a message to Big Mona for me.”

Lark handed Gaston a sealed envelope along with two gold ingots. The old butler stared at the bullions for a moment.

“This much money…”

“Big Mona should know what to do with them after reading the letter. Please make sure it reaches him.”

“As you wish.”

The content of the letter was simple. It was a recruitment notice for teachers and instructors in Lion and Mavas City. Since he had an astronomical amount of money stored away in the Endless Forest, Lark decided to use it to entice these people to work for Blackstone Town instead.

Although Melody was doing a great job managing the school, there was a limit on what she could manage alone.

The monthly salaries he offered in the letter were at least six times the normal rate. If he could accelerate the growth of Blackstone Town, and if he could drastically improve his subjects’ level of education, then the money spent would be definitely worth it.

Two loud knocks were heard on the door and a servant whispered something to Gaston.

Gaston nodded, dismissed the servant, and said to Lark, “Young Master, it seems that the princess and your disciples have finally returned to Blackstone Town.”

Hearing this, Lark smiled. The kids were finally back. It had been a while since he’d heard the brothers’ boisterous laughter and the princess’ occasional banter.

“They sure took their time.” Lark grinned.

Lark stood up, donned his coat, and made his way toward the grand hall.

As he approached the princess and his disciples, he noticed the gloomy air surrounding them.

George was the first person to speak among them. “M-Master.”

Lark realized that something was wrong. Even Anandra—who normally didn’t show any emotion—was furrowing his brow. A hint of anger was visible in his eyes.

“What happened?” said Lark.

“C-Chryselle,” said George. “She’s no longer coming back to us.”

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 14

“What do you mean she’s not coming back?” said Lark.

“It happened after we entered Lion City.” Anandra handed Lark a sealed letter. “She asked me to give this to you, My Lord.”

After Lark received the letter, Anandra added, “Lady Chryselle spoke to me before she left.”

“What did she say?”

“It was… strange. She told me that our lives would be in danger if she stayed with us any longer,” Anandra said unhappily. “She said that an organization called the Grand Order is currently looking for her.”

It was the first time Lark had heard of this organization.

“Grand Order,” repeated Lark.

“It’s a group of magicians under the direct command of the Magic Academy,” said Tomas, the most proficient in magic among the knights. “Basically, they’re the magicians tasked to protect the academy. Although they also reside in Wizzert, they’re an entirely different organization from the tower. But I wonder… Why they’re looking for Lady Chryselle?”

Tomas mumbled the last part of his statement. The princess and her knights weren’t aware of Chryselle’s true identity even now.

“Then the Headmaster of the Magic Academy is probably involved in this incident,” said Lark.

“I think so too, Lord Lark.” Tomas nodded. “He would be the only one with enough power to mobilize that elite group of magicians.”

Several questions started popping up one after another. Lark remembered that Chryselle had mentioned that her great-great-grandfather was the founder of the Academy. Lark surmised that it must have something to do with that.

Lark opened the letter left by Chryselle and read it.

The handwriting was beautiful, and the way it was written made it apparent that she had already thought of everything she would say before writing this letter.

I’m sorry for leaving without telling you first, Master. A messenger from my grandfather spoke to me in the capital after you left. It seems that my brother finally found out the real identity of the person who attacked the tower that night. He has been pressuring the Grand Order to mobilize their magicians. I’ll talk to my grandfather, the current Headmaster, personally regarding this. Please don’t look for me. I’ll take care of things on this side and make sure this doesn’t inconvenience you in the slightest. There’s no need to involve Blackstone Town in this mess. Please trust me. I’ll be sure to return soon, Lord Evander.

Lark stared at the last part of the letter for a long time.

How did she know his real identity? Although he’d performed magic far beyond the capabilities of the original owner of his body, it shouldn’t be enough for her to suspect him as the late Evander Alaester.

Various thoughts ran through Lark’s mind.

His blatant interest in the history of the Magic Empire. His deep understanding of magic. The way he rejected the teaching of the Grand Magician—Algrove Aria. His knowledge of magic towers, demons, and curses. Knowledge that should have been lost along with the fall of the Magic Empire.

Although all of this pointed to the fact that he was a far greater magician than what he made himself out to be, it shouldn’t have been enough for her to arrive at the absurd conclusion that he was Evander Alaester. There was no definitive evidence for her to single out a magician who died over a millennium ago.

Then realization struck him.

The book he’d written back then. Principles of a Just Sovereign .

Chryselle was incredibly smart for her age. No wonder she was the youngest Elder of the Tower. She must have connected the pieces of the puzzle after reading it.

“The pen name,” Lark clicked his tongue and said in a low voice, “I shouldn’t have used it after all.”

Lark had found it amusing to use his previous name as the pen name for the books he’d written and distributed in Blackstone Town. But he realized that he had been too naïve. He should have accounted for situations like these.

Lark sighed, folded the letter, and tucked it in his pocket.

“What did she say, Master?” said George.

“She’s coming back, don’t worry.” Lark patted the kid’s head. “She has something to take care of at home. That’s all.”

“Really?” said George.

“Of course.” Lark smiled.

George nodded in satisfaction after hearing this reply.

***

Time passed by quickly.

Winter had ended and spring had finally arrived, but Chryselle still hadn’t returned to Blackstone Town.

A small feast, sponsored by the lord, was held in Blackstone Town. This was to celebrate the opening of the Town Hall—a massive building that towered over all other structures. At the same time, the school was also opened. And as though the Gods were smiling upon Lark, the teachers Big Mona recruited in Lion City and Mavas City finally arrived in Blackstone Town.

Lark expected two or three of them to answer the recruitment, but surprisingly, there were a large number of them. Five men and two women.

“Ah, welcome,” said Lark. “Pardon me for asking the servants to lead you here and not the mansion. It’s the opening ceremony for the Town Hall, you see.”

The teachers looked at the flowers currently adorning the entrance to the massive structure in front of them. Next to the entrance was a four-meter long bronze placard. The words ‘Town Hall’ were carved on it.

Not far from them, several servants were handing out free food sponsored by the lord. People were chatting excitedly with each other as they ate, casting admiring glances at the Town Hall every now and then.

Although it looked plain at first glance, it was the largest building in Blackstone Town. Moreover, rumors that this building would one day become the core of this territory had already spread far and wide. Several people had been showing interest in working together with the ministers Lark had appointed.

“You must be tired from your journey,” Lark said to the teachers. “We’ve prepared a small feast for the ceremony. Please eat to your heart’s content.”

Some of the teachers looked at each other. More than half of them came here out of curiosity and not because they had been swayed by money. After hearing that they were going to be teaching commoners instead of nobles, most of the teachers decided to see the Lord of Blackstone Town himself. They wanted to know what he was like, and what his aim was for offering an exorbitant amount just to let his commoner subjects obtain an education in Blackstone Town.

He’s a lot more… polite and refined than the rumors suggest , the teachers thought.

The teachers accepted Lark’s offer and partook in the feast. Meanwhile, Lark started introducing the officers in charge of the ministries. Oliver, Pico, Silverclaw, Clarkson, Melody, and the rest of the officers delivered a short speech one after another.

Since most of the officers here were original residents of Blackstone Town, most of them were familiar faces. The residents cheered when the men came to the rostrum and delivered their stutter-filled speeches. Only Silverclaw remained unperturbed when speaking in front of so many people.

After the introductions were finished, one of the teachers said to Lark, “These officers of yours. It seems to me that they are quite… loved by your people.”

Lark smiled. “Of course. They’ve been working so hard to improve this town, after all. Without them, it would have been impossible for me to make all of these developments happen. They’re the treasures of Blackstone Town.”

The teachers were surprised that such humble words came from Lark’s mouth. He had a terrible reputation, after all. Although nowadays, after the war with the Empire, some people had started praising him as a hero.

“Lord, please forgive my impertinence, but I believe that all of us have been meaning to ask you this question,” said one of the teachers. “I heard that the reason you are recruiting this many teachers is for the sake of the commoners.”

The other teachers listened attentively to the conversation. They were also eager to find out the answer to the upcoming question.

“I wonder,” said the teacher, “what is the reason behind this, Lord Lark? I would have understood if it was for the sake of the nobles. But commoners… They have no way of paying you back. For them, the cost of education is simply astronomical.”

In the entire kingdom, only nobles were capable of availing the service of educators like them. Only nobles and the children of wealthy merchants had enough money to enter academies. This was why a common soldier did not even know how to read or write. The only exceptions were those who served the royal family, since those soldiers came from exceptional backgrounds before enlisting as guards and knights.

Even Melody, the so-called scholar, was simply lucky to have learned her knowledge from the noble she served back when she was living in Lion City. Lark had taught her the rest.

“There are no expectations. They don’t have to pay me back,” said Lark, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Education is free in Blackstone Town.”

The eyes of the teachers widened. Free education for commoners? How absurd. It must have cost the lord a fortune to hire all of these teachers, but he was going to let his subjects study for free? It was akin to throwing money on the streets.

“As much as I like King Alvis, I believe that he’s at fault for our kingdom’s current predicament,” said Lark. “He focuses too much on diplomatic relationships and the nobles. He has forgotten to focus on fundamental things. He should have abolished slavery long ago and given the commoners free education. Even a simple merit system for non-noble students should be enough if the problem lies in the lack of funds.”

The teachers looked around, worried that someone had heard Lark badmouthing His Majesty. Had the royal guards heard this, Lark would have been forcefully dragged into the dungeons for slandering the royal family. Thankfully, everyone around them was enjoying the festivities and it seemed that none, aside from the teachers, heard it.

“Well, he loves his subjects, I’m sure.” Lark shrugged. “And I’ve heard that he’s a lot better than our previous ruler. That tyrant king who even waged war with the Great Empire and the United Grakas Alliance.”

“L-Lord, please stop. You could get dragged to the chopping block if someone hears these things and reports it,” said one of the teachers.

Lark grinned. He playfully said, “Not if every one of you remains silent about it.”

Lark looked at the teachers gathered around him. His voice turned serious as he said to them, “The farmers, the soldiers, even the paupers living in this town. I consider all of them as my children. The children of Blackstone Town.”

It felt incongruous hearing these words from a young man like Lark, someone young enough to be their son. But for some strange reason, the teachers felt that he was telling the truth.

“Blackstone Town will always treat its children equally. No matter their race, gender, status, no matter their age. I see no reason why the commoners shouldn’t be given an opportunity to obtain even the most basic education.

“Money will never be an issue. You will be given the promised salary each month. You have my word for it. My only wish is that you treat each of my subjects equally. Please teach them well so that they may someday become the pillars of Blackstone Town.”

VOLUME6: CHAPTER 15

For several days, the raw materials Lark ordered from the merchants guild arrived at Blackstone Town one after another. At the same time, the number of people migrating to the territory started increasing again as soon as winter ended.

Just today, they had gained almost a hundred people. It seemed that King Alvis was upholding his promise and was posting recruitment notices for Blackstone Town in various territories.

Since it had been a while, Lark decided to meet today’s new migrants.

“Young Master,” said Silverclaw. “Are we really going to accept all of these men?”

In front of them were the migrants who had arrived today. This was the largest group so far. According to one of them, more than half of them were from a village north of Mavas City. After several people in their village had died from the cold and hunger during the winter, they had decided to move to this territory.

“Of course,” said Lark. He looked at the group of migrants. Although most of them were skin and bone, the majority were young men and women. They would definitely become a boost to their workforce. “What we need the most right now is manpower. We should be grateful that the recruitment notices issued by the royal family are enough for people to start flocking to this town.”

“Ah, L-Lord.”

An elderly man, who seemed to be the leader of this group of migrants, stepped forward. Although he was clearly afraid of Lark, he still did his best to look the lord in the eye.

“I-Is it true that we’ll be provided homes and food if we move to this town?” said the old man.

The other migrants waited anxiously for the lord’s reply. They must have felt that the recruitment notice was too good to be true. After all, a lot of territories were devastated by the black famine last year, despite the fact that they had finally found a way to kill the swarm.

“Nothing is free,” said Lark. “What we will be offering are job opportunities. Your survival, the food for your children, everything will still depend on how hard you are willing to work. You must have heard by now. The starting salary is six silvers for most of the jobs offered in this town.”

The migrants looked at each other in glee. The salary being offered by the lord for even the most mundane jobs was on par or a bit higher than those in major cities. Although they’d heard of the details from the messenger sent by the royal family, hearing it directly from the lord’s mouth was an entirely different matter.

“L-Lord, is it possible for us to apply to the military?” said one of the men. “We heard that it’s possible to receive twice the pay if we become soldiers.”

“As long as you pass the test, yes.”

“T-Test?”

“Clarkson, the leader of the police, will give you the details later,” said Lark. Clarkson, who’d been standing quietly next to Lark the entire time, nodded his head.

Seeing everyone’s anxious faces, Lark added, “It’s not a test of intelligence, or anything of the sort, if that’s what is worrying you.”

The man sighed in relief. “T-Thank you, My Lord!”

After handing the migrants over to Clarkson, Lark said to Silverclaw, “How many available houses do we have left in the Eastern District?”

“Only a few dozen are left,” said the head mason. “I’m afraid it’ll be impossible to provide homes for all of these people.”

Although the speed of building houses had increased a lot, it still wasn’t enough to accommodate everyone due to the large number of migrants coming to Blackstone Town.

“For now, even a simple shack should do. Just make sure they have a roof over their heads within the next few days. We’ll speed up the construction projects once we’ve secured men for the job.”

“Understood.”

Lark handed Silverclaw several parchments. The head mason looked at their contents and slightly creased his brow. It was a blueprint for a magic tower.

“You understand, right?” said Lark. “I’ve already gathered the necessary materials to build that thing. I’ve also briefed Gaston beforehand regarding this. For the materials, please coordinate with him.”

“Magic towers,” said Silverclaw. “I heard that the Young Master is the one who built the towers in Lion City, but seeing this blueprint… still amazes me.”

The head mason noticed something peculiar in the blueprint. He stared at it for a moment, making sure that what he was seeing was right. “The tip of the magic tower will be made out of adamantite? And the magic formation at the base—”

“Will be made using a mixture of high-grade mana stones and powdered Tears of Ubroxia,” said Lark.

The head mason looked at Lark in bewilderment. What the Young Master was suggesting was preposterous. Even Silverclaw knew that the price of a high-grade mana stone was exorbitant. Moreover, it was impossible to acquire adamantite.

As though Lark could read the head mason’s mind, he took out a small cube the size of a fist from his bag. He tossed it to Silverclaw and the head mason caught it nimbly with one hand.

“There’s more where that came from,” said Lark. “Our goal is five towers this year. We won’t be making cheap imitations like the ones seen in Wizzert and Lion City. We’ll be making the real deal. Towers capable of taking down demons and dragons.”

Silverclaw shivered. For some reason, it sounded as though the Young Master was anticipating monsters attacking the kingdom in the near future.

Silverclaw stared at the fist-sized cube he held in his hand. It was surprisingly light, and its black luster occasionally glowed in golden light. The textbook definition of adamantite.

The hand holding the cube trembled. He could probably live comfortably for the rest of his life if he sold this item in the capital. As far as he knew, it was extremely rare, even in the Dwarven Kingdom.

“Adamantite?” breathed the head mason. “Is this really adamantite? W-Where did you get this from, Young Master?”

It had been a long time since Lark had seen the head mason become this flustered. The last time he was this agitated was when his daughter was on her deathbed.

“The source doesn’t matter,” said Lark. “Start building the first tower in the Eastern District, near the Town Hall. Understood?”

“Y-Yes!”

After meeting with the head mason, Lark met with the merchants from Lion City. These merchants were crucial for the growth of the territory. Lark made sure to give them preferential treatment—they were given free lodgings in the best inn in the town and were charged with minimal tariffs. Sometimes, he would even go out of his way to meet them personally, just like today.

“Ah, Lord Lark!” one of the merchants greeted him merrily. Although it was still early morning, the three merchants were already drinking ale in the tavern. “Over here! Please join us!”

Lark smiled and joined their table. He called the waitress and ordered a tankard of mead.

“We’ve heard that you plan on establishing a merchants guild in Blackstone Town?” said one of the merchants. “The boss told us to assist you in every way possible.”

“Yes. Thank you. I’ve promised to compensate Big Mona for this favor.”

The merchants chuckled. “The boss will piss himself in excitement if he hears that. He’s been very busy trying to breach the market of the capital lately. He has some grudge with the merchants of the capital, you see.”

This was new information. No wonder the fat merchant was so ecstatic after acquiring the recipe for the low-grade potion.

The waitress placed the tankard in front of Lark, bowed her head politely, and left.

As Lark started drinking his mead, the merchant added, “Big Mona’s in a festive mood these days. The news that the middle-grade potion he’s been selling greatly contributed to the king’s recovery is the talk of the capital recently.”

“If this trend continues, won’t our guild become large enough to compete with the one in the capital?”

“The guild owned by the Vont Family, eh? Although the boss is raking in gold recently, it must be chump change compared to the wealth of the Vont Family. I can’t see our guild overtaking them in the next few years.”

Lark remembered that Chryselle belonged to this powerful family. For a moment, he remembered the letter she wrote to him.

“Those weasels.” The merchant shook his head and slammed his tankard on the table. Judging by his red cheeks, he was already drunk. “If I owned a port city and held power over the mercenaries, I’d be filthy rich too!”

The merchant next to him snorted. “Keep dreaming. As if it’s that easy.” He looked at Lark and said, “Anyway, we’re here to discuss the establishment of a merchants guild in Blackstone Town.”

Lark nodded. He took a small map from his pocket and spread it on the table. He pointed at a particular spot on the map. “I plan on building it here, next to the Central Market. What do you think?”

“It’s a nice location. Accessible to the main road. There should be no problem building it there.”

“But, Lord Lark, you will need at least four affiliated merchants to establish a merchants guild in your territory. Anyone come to mind?”

“About that,” said Lark, “Big Mona has already spoken with his associates in the other cities. It seems that two people have already agreed to found a guild in Blackstone Town.”

“Then we’re left with just one more person.” The merchant rubbed his chin. “If by some chance you’re unable to find another one, I could introduce you to a friend of mine.”

“I’d be grateful if you could do that,” said Lark.

“But the problem is…” The merchant spoke slowly, as though he was conflicted. “That friend of mine wouldn’t move unless there’s profit to be had. Say, how about this? I heard that umami salts are getting quite popular in the capital these days.”

“Of course, I’ll make sure that you and your friend will be given the largest bulk of its trade,” said Lark. He understood that these men only moved for profit.

The merchant grinned. “I’ll take your word for it.” He raised his tankard and clinked it with Lark’s.

***

After meeting with the merchants, Lark decided to visit the golden statue in the Endless Forest. He needed more funds for the various projects in the town. He’d used up almost all of the gold he’d brought back.

Using flight magic, he flew over the sea of trees at a tremendous speed. Unlike before, mana was no longer an issue.

After flying for almost an hour, he finally saw slight undulations of mana in the air—signifying that he was near the radius of the illusion spell the Scylla had cast.

Had Lark not known beforehand that an illusion spell had been cast on this part of the forest, even he would have had a hard time locating the statue. The Earth Scylla was really proficient in magic.

When Lark was only a few hundred meters away, a path in the illusion opened, and a familiar creature appeared in front of Lark.

“God Evander!” the Scylla shrieked in excitement. “You’ve finally visited us!” The Scylla’s loud voice reverberated through the forest. To those who did not know draconian language, it must have sounded like a roar from a ferocious monster. “Please come inside!”

Under the excited gaze of the Scylla, Lark flew inside the illusion and finally arrived where the statue was located. He hovered down slowly and landed on the ground.

The Scylla immediately bowed all of its seven heads and said in unison, “Welcome back, God Evander.”

Lark looked at the structure in front of him and frowned. The shrine had become a large stone castle. It was probably even larger than the king’s castle in the capital. Lark was not sure.

“It’s become… quite big,” mumbled Lark.

“It’s our masterpiece,” the first head said with pride.

“We’ve worked on it day and night since you left for Blackstone Town!” said the sixth head.

Lark smiled wryly. He wanted to tell the Scylla that there was no real need to make a castle this big, but after seeing those overly eager eyes, he decided against it.

“It looks great.” Lark decided to give it praise.

Although the Scylla’s physique vastly differed from humans, Lark was sure that all seven heads were smiling proudly right now. Its tail was wagging, sending small clouds of dust after striking the ground.

“What brings you here today, God Evander?” said the third head.

“I need more gold and adamantite,” said Lark. He started walking toward the intricately made entrance. “I’ll be entering the treasure room for a while.”

“I see,” the third head slowly nodded. “So it isn’t about those spirits, huh? Please take your time inside the treasure room, My God.”

Lark halted in his tracks. “Spirits?”

The third head replied, “Yes.”

“Several spirits have been trying to break through our illusion spell these past several days,” said the first head. “Normally, we would have immediately annihilated those fools, but since they weren’t capable of breaking through the illusion spell, we decided to leave them be for now.”

Lark was glad that the Scylla had heeded his words and didn’t resort to drastic measures. “What kind of spirits are they? And why are they trying to break through the illusion spell?”

“Wind spirits, God Evander,” said the third head. “And high-ranking ones at that. As for the reason… I apologize, but we still do not know why.”

“There were three sylphids among them,” said the seventh head.

“Three sylphids?” said Lark. “And they still couldn’t break through a mere illusion spell?”

He felt that something was wrong. Three sylphids should be more than enough to destroy the illusion spell protecting this part of the forest.

“They’re sylphids but they’re much weaker than the ones living in Marut,” said the third head. “I could probably kill them all on my own, even if there are five of them.”

The other heads nodded at the third head’s statement.

“If they’re as weak as you say, then they’re probably contracted spirits,” said Lark.

“We believe so, God Evander,” said the third head.

Unlike free spirits, those who formed a contract with a mortal were incapable of unleashing their true potential. If they used more power than what was allowed, their contractors could die.

This probably explained why they couldn’t break through the illusion barrier of the Earth Scylla.

Who sent those spirits?

And how did they know that an illusion barrier had been cast on this part of the forest?

Several questions started popping up one after another.

“God Evander,” said the first head. “This forest isn’t as peaceful as it appears to be.”

“If you will just give us the order,” said the fourth head, “we’ll do our best to investigate what is happening in the Endless Forest.”

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 16

Lark started considering the Scylla’s offer of investigating the Endless Forest. After pondering over it, he said, “Alright. But don’t overdo it. Blackie, I’ll leave the investigation of the Endless Forest in your hands.”

The Scylla shuddered.

“T-To call us by name!”

“Yes! We’ll do our best! We won’t disappoint you, God Evander!”

“We’ll make sure those spirits won’t be able to snoop in this sacred place any longer!”

Lark found the Scylla’s overeager response amusing, but for some reason, he had a bad feeling about this.

The Scylla was among the most intelligent monsters in this land. Surely, it wouldn’t do anything detrimental to its master, right? Lark shook off his uneasiness. After asking the Scylla where the statue was located, he entered the uselessly large castle.

Entering the castle, he was immediately greeted by an intricate stone statue of a young man. It was pointing a familiar sword up to the sky.

A glorified statue of Lark.

Upon seeing this, he smiled wryly. Although his current body was quite decent in appearance, Lark was sure that he wasn’t as handsome as the statue before his eyes. The way the statue’s face was grinning reminded Lark of the narcissistic nobles in the Magic Empire.

Although Lark didn’t like how the Scylla had portrayed him in this statue, he had to admit that the seven-headed creature was really dexterous in controlling magic. Everything, from the strands of his hair down to the lace of his boots were detailed.

For a moment, he wondered if he should let the Scylla build stone houses in Blackstone Town but immediately decided against it. It would render the workers useless. Such jobs were fundamental in propelling his territory forward. Lark deemed that it would be damaging to his territory in the long run if he took care of everything using magic.

As Lark continued walking through the castle, he noticed that it even had several rooms inside, their doors made of wood. Lark opened one of the rooms out of curiosity. It was empty.

“This place is surprisingly habitable,” he mumbled.

After adding some fixtures and a little bit of cleaning, people could actually live in this castle. Lark continued walking through the castle, admiring the structures made by the Scylla every now and then. Eventually, he arrived at the large stone door the Scylla had mentioned. Lark amplified his strength using magic and pushed the stone door open, revealing the foot of the golden statue.

Lark climbed the winding flight of stairs and entered the mouth of the statue. He momentarily deactivated the traps he’d placed inside and went into the treasure room. He filled his bag with gold and several adamantites, before leaving the statue and the castle.

The moment Lark left the castle, the Scylla immediately noticed that the large bag Lark brought with him was filled to the brim with gold. The Scylla dropped its head. Judging by the amount of gold Lark had taken, the Scylla thought that it would probably be some time before he visited again.

“I’ll come back a week from now,” said Lark. The Scylla should have investigated a large portion of the forest by then.

The Scylla immediately raised its heads as its eyes glimmered in excitement.

“O-One week?” exclaimed the first head.

“What, you don’t like it?” said Lark.

The fifth head vigorously shook its head. “Of course not!”

“We just thought that it would be some time before God Evander comes back! But to think that it’ll only be a week!” said the fourth head.

The seventh head excitedly added, “We can easily sleep through that time!”

“That’s right!” The sixth head nodded. “A week is nothing compared to the number of years we slept in the labyrinth!”

Lark chuckled. Its tail was wagging again. Despite its terrifying appearance, this seven-headed monster was quite amusing.

“Snap out of it,” the third head spat. “What are you saying to God Evander? Did you forget that he entrusted us with the mission of investigating this forest?”

The other heads immediately shut their mouths.

“God Evander, I apologize.” The third head lowered its head. The rest of the heads immediately followed its lead and also lowered their heads in apology.

“No, it’s fine.” Lark smiled. “Just remember. Like I said before, should anything happen, contact me with the communication crystal.”

“Yes, God Evander.”

After Lark left the forest, the Scylla immediately started preparing for the investigation of the Endless Forest. It cast several high-tier spells around the castle to prevent any intruders from stepping foot inside. It also strengthened the illusion spell shrouding the surrounding areas.

After all preparations were complete, the Scylla cast a concealment spell on its body and flew toward the sky. It carefully observed the sea of trees below. After several minutes of flying in the sky, it finally saw one of the spirits who’d been trying to break through the illusion barrier it had set up to protect the sacred ground.

“Found one.”

***

[Aerith—Kingdom of Elves]

Deep inside the Endless Forest and several thousand kilometers away from Blackstone Town, was the ancient city of Aerith. Due to their low fertility rate, only a hundred thousand elves lived in this kingdom.

Unlike humans, the elves lived inside the large elven oaks in this part of the forest. Each of the trees was connected by wooden bridges, serving as roads for the citizens of the kingdom.

At the center of the kingdom was a colossal tree that easily surpassed the two hundred-meter mark. It was the largest elven oak in the entire forest, and it served as the kingdom’s royal palace.

Inside the royal palace, the King of Elves and his ministers started discussing the recent disturbance in the border of their kingdom. Several weeks ago, the scouts noticed an astronomical amount of mana being gathered at a certain part of the forest, near the border. The amount of mana was so massive that even the spirits were reluctant to approach it. Furthermore, some of the spirits claimed that the mana ‘felt’ evil. Hearing this, the scouts immediately made a report to the royal palace.

“What are the scouts doing?” said King Melandrach. “It’s been more than a week since we sent them to investigate the border.”

Although King Melandrach had turned seven hundred years old this year, his face was still that of a middle-aged man. His ears were longer and more pointed than the other elves gathered here in this room—a characteristic of those born to the royal family. With his slanted eyes, he prompted the commander sitting to his right to speak.

The commander placed his hand on his chest and made his report, “We sent several scouts contracted to sylphids to the border, Your Majesty. But unfortunately, even the sylphids weren’t able to pinpoint the exact location of the mana the scouts had detected. We believe that a spell is protecting the area.”

“A spell strong enough to restrict even sylphids.” King Melandrach furrowed his brow.

“What if… it’s a demon?” one of the ministers reluctantly voiced out.

“Nonsense,” said another minister. “The priestess would have given us a revelation had the portal opened once again.”

“You’re right, but only a High Demon or a dragon should be capable of suppressing several sylphids at once. The dragon should still be guarding that damnable Dwarven Kingdom… If it isn’t a demon…”

“We have no concrete evidence on the identity of the source of mana,” said King Melandrach. “I will visit the temple personally after this to talk to the priestess. For now, while we still do not have the confirmation of the priestess, let us assume that it’s an unknown monster.”

“Your Majesty,” one of the royal advisors said in a raspy voice. “I believe that a human town is near the border. If the owner of the mana is indeed a monster, chances are it will attack the human town first. Aerith should be safe as long as the owner of the mana doesn’t move deeper into the forest.”

The other ministers nodded in agreement. Aerith was located at the heart of the Endless Forest. On foot, it would take more than a month for the humans to arrive from the border of the kingdom to this city. The human town and cities outside the forest should be nearer to the place where the cluster of mana was detected.

“We should probably pull out the scouts from that place temporarily, Your Majesty,” said another royal advisor. “It wouldn’t be wise to earn the wrath of the owner of that mana.”

Sylphids were among the highest-ranked spirits the elves could summon in this realm. But even they couldn’t break through the spell the owner of the mana had cast in that part of the forest. The ministers thought that they should be grateful that the owner of the mana hadn’t been hostile so far, even after the aggressive movements of their scouts.

“Pull out the scouts, huh?” King Melandrach pondered. “Commander Khuumal, what are your thoughts?”

The three-hundred-year-old elf immediately responded, “I agree with the royal advisor, Your Majesty. I believe we shouldn’t aggravate the owner of the mana unnecessarily. Just like the royal advisor said, even if the owner of the mana is some ferocious monster, its first target should be the human town near our kingdom’s border. It does not have any reason to come all the way here when there’s prey nearby.”

The Kingdom of Elves had survived this long, despite the constant war between the humans and demons, by secluding themselves in this vast forest. Even when the demons started slaughtering the human race during the Descent more than a thousand years ago, the ancestors of King Melandrach did not participate in the war. The elves were simply glad that the claws of those demons weren’t pointed at them, but at the humans.

Silence fell for a moment.

King Melandrach had decided. “Commander Khuumal, order the scouts to pull back. Avoid provoking the owner of the mana at all cost.”

The commander bowed his head. “Understood.”

After the meeting, King Melandrach visited the temple and sought audience with the priestess.

“King Melandrach, son of Ylyndar, humbly greets the priestess.” King Melandrach lightly bowed his head.

Elves, who worshiped the God of Earth, were highly religious creatures. In this kingdom, the priestess was paramount. She was treated with more veneration than the king himself.

“Father.” The priestess frowned. “Please raise your head. I’ve told you before that there’s no need to greet me this respectfully whenever you visit the temple.”

“How could I be disrespectful to the incarnation of God Gaia?” King Melandrach shook his head, as he found the priestess’ words unacceptable.

The priestess, a two-hundred-year-old elf with long golden hair, sighed. This was yet another repeat of the exact same scenario when her father visited had her at the temple before.

“What brought you here, father?” The priestess’ voice was soothing to the ears.

King Melandrach finally raised his head. “I’ve come here to confirm something, Priestess.”

“To confirm something?”

“Yes. Priestess, have you received any revelations from the God of Earth lately?”

The priestess tilted her head to the side at the question.

“God Gaia has been quiet for the past several years, father,” she said. “The last time I heard from her was fifteen years ago, when the previous priestess died and I took on her position. I haven’t heard from God Gaia since then.”

“I see.” King Melandrach heaved a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear.”

If the God of Earth didn’t give a revelation, it meant that the portal remained closed. They could safely assume that the owner of the mana at the border was not from the demon race.

“Did something happen, Father?” the priestess asked worriedly.

“It’s nothing to be worried about, Priestess,” said King Melandrach. “We received some reports regarding an unknown creature at the border region. Although the chances are low, I came here to confirm that the creature is not a demon.”

The priestess understood what her father meant. The Gods would give them a revelation if the demons started appearing on this land once again. That was their promise after the Magic Empire had been ravaged after the Descent, more than a thousand years ago.

“For father to come here personally … That unknown creature must be something dangerous.”

“Based on the amount of mana, the scouts are certain that the creature is incredibly strong. Even several sylphids couldn’t break through the spell protecting the unknown creature’s domain,” the king said bitterly.

The priestess was surprised to hear that even sylphids couldn’t break through the creature’s magic. She was about to ask for more details regarding the creature when she noticed the huffing messenger running toward them. The messenger immediately prostrated upon meeting the gaze of the priestess. In a loud voice, he said, “Forgive my insolence, Priestess! But I have an important report for His Majesty!”

The messenger sounded desperate. Sensing the urgency in the messenger’s voice, King Melandrach said, “Speak.”

“Your Majesty! Over one hundred spirits have perished! That creature! It’s coming toward this city as we speak!”

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 17

“That creature?” asked the king.

“Yes, Your Majesty! The creature at the border! It killed all of the scouts we sent to investigate it and is heading this way as we speak!”

The king stared at the messenger without blinking. He’d just ordered the commander to pull out the scouts and to not aggravate the monster any further, but it seemed that he was a step too late. The monster, which easily suppressed several sylphids, was currently headed toward the ancient city of Aerith.

The king turned to the elves guarding the temple. “Escort the priestess to the shrine underground.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The guards saluted and started moving toward the priestess. “Forgive us, Priestess Siofra,” guards said reluctantly. “But you’ll have to follow us to the underground shrine.”

The priestess glared at the guards and they immediately took a step back.

“Father, are you telling me to seek refuge at the shrine while our warriors are risking their lives protecting the kingdom?” Priestess Siofra said unhappily.

The king said softly, “Please understand. We cannot risk losing the only Priestess of the Kingdom.”

“No! I’m not going to the underground shrine!” the priestess declared resolutely. “And these guards will not heed your orders, Father. They serve the temple, they serve God Gaia. They’re not yours to command.”

The guards looked at each other, their eyes filled with uncertainty. They wanted to move the priestess to the underground shrine and secure her safety, but they couldn’t go against her commands.

Seeing the determined gaze of his daughter, King Melandrach knew he couldn’t persuade her any further. Moreover, in terms of hierarchy, he was a rank lower. He sighed. “Then, one thing. Please promise me one thing, Siofra.”

Hearing King Melandrach call her by name, she understood that right now, he was speaking to her not as the king of the nation but as a father.

“If the situation becomes too dangerous, you will flee to the underground shrine.”

The underground shrine was where investiture and enthroning ceremonies were held. Moreover, it was where the voice of the Gods was best heard. Protected by the roots of dozens of elven oaks and the defensive talismans created by their ancestors, it was the safest place in the entire kingdom.

“Under the name of God Gaia,” Priestess Siofra clasped her hands together, as though in prayer, “I promise to flee to the underground shrine should the situation become too dangerous, Father.”

The creases on the king’s brow loosened upon hearing these words uttered under the name of their God. Together with the priestess and her guards, they left the temple and went toward the royal palace.

“The status of the army?” said King Melandrach. The officials flocked toward him the moment he entered the royal palace. They bowed respectfully at the priestess first, before giving their reports to the king.

“The western garrison is currently in a fierce battle! The warriors are doing their best to prevent the monster from coming to this city! But it’s only a matter of time before all our warriors stationed there are annihilated, Your Majesty!”

“We should mobilize the guardian golems!”

“Please give us your orders, Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty!”

The entire royal palace was in an uproar. Numerous elves were seen running here and there, as everyone did their best to assess the current situation of the battle. King Melandrach’s ears twitched as he found this pathetic. It seemed that several centuries of peace had weakened the elven race.

“Commander Khuumal,” said King Melandrach.

“Your Majesty.” The commander placed his hand on his chest and bowed his head.

“The creature heading this way. What kind of monster is it?”

The commander’s face turned grim. “A gigantic, flying monster with seven heads, My King. After receiving the report from the scouts, we immediately searched our archives for any information regarding such a beast. We believe that it’s an Earth Scylla.”

A roar was heard outside, followed by a loud explosion. Flocks of birds flew out of the elven oaks as the ground rumbled for several seconds.

“Your Majesty! An urgent report!” A palace guard came running toward King Melandrach. “The western garrison has been destroyed! We’ve lost contact with the warriors stationed there!”

The elves in the palace who heard this shuddered. The western garrison had not even lasted against that monster. Another roar from the outside was heard.

“An Earth Scylla,” mumbled King Melandrach.

King Melandrach had heard of the existence of such monsters before when he was still young, but never in his wildest imagination did he think that he would encounter one. As far as he knew, their species could only be found in the lands of Marut.

What was such a monster doing here, of all places? And why was it attacking the Kingdom of Elves?

“Commander Khuumal, I am giving you full authority over the guardian golems and the royal guards. Kill the Earth Scylla.”

“As you command!” said Commander Khuumal.

The commander immediately headed out and gathered the warriors of their kingdom.

Along with the priestess and several palace officials, King Melandrach went to the peak of the royal palace. From this vantage point, he could see almost half the city.

“Y-Your Majesty… that is.” A palace official pointed toward the western part of the city. Several dozens of gigantic elven oaks had been blown to smithereens, and a portion of the elven city had been set ablaze. Black smoke continued swirling up into the sky as a gigantic seven-headed monster continued firing spells toward the ground, one after another. Balls of fire, lightning, and wind continued raining down on the city.

Although they couldn’t see it clearly from a distance, they were sure that the elven warriors stationed in that part of the city were currently fighting the monster for dear survival.

The palace officials couldn’t imagine how they could possibly win against that monster. If it didn’t have seven heads, they would have mistaken it for a dragon.

“F-Father!” croaked Priestess Siofra. “At this rate, our city! The entire kingdom will be destroyed by that monster!”

The priestess trembled not in fear, but in rage. She couldn’t bear seeing the city she grew up in being destroyed in just a single day. With her keen hearing, she could even hear the faint screams of her people from far away.

“The guardian golems and our warriors will protect us,” said King Melandrach in a calm voice.

Although King Melandrach said this, he still couldn’t help but feel anxious deep inside. Even from this distance, he could feel the absurdly massive amount of mana from the seven-headed monster.

Surely, the guardian golems that had been protecting this kingdom since the time of their ancestors would be able to deal with that monster, right?

***

After destroying the western garrison of the elven kingdom, Blackie immediately entered the ancient city of Aerith.

“Hey, aren’t we just supposed to investigate the forest?” said the seventh head in draconian language. There were doubt and uncertainty in its voice.

“That’s right,” said the fifth head. “He wouldn’t reprimand us for destroying this city and killing these elves, right?”

The third head sighed and shook its head, as though it had long given up on convincing its brothers.

The first head snorted. “God Evander told us to investigate the forest, that’s all. He didn’t tell us not to kill these pesky insects who repeatedly tried entering our sacred ground!”

The first head opened its mouth and spat out a ten-meter ball of fire. Although the warrior elves below dispersed to evade the attack, the fireball still engulfed dozens of them at once. The elves couldn’t even scream as the ball of fire immediately reduced their bodies into ash.

The ball of fire also set an elven oak ablaze and the fire started licking the wooden bridges connecting it to the nearest elven oaks. All of the houses around the Scylla were currently blazing with flames.

“And these maggots attacked us first,” the first head said in justification. “They dared to fire their arrows at us. Those fools.”

Initially, Blackie planned on capturing several sylphids to interrogate them. But the moment it grabbed hold of one of the spirits, the elven scouts contracted to them started attacking the Scylla like madmen, without regard for their lives.

One thing led to another, and Blackie eventually ended up killing the elven scouts. It also ended up annihilating everyone stationed in the western garrison.

Well, their master—The Dragon Devourer—had told them back then: “If it blocks your path, just destroy it. Why waste your time taking a detour?”

Blackie had lived by this philosophy since then.

Blackie could still remember the grinning face of its master after it destroyed an entire nest of Gryphons in Marut. Those words and that smiling face were forever embedded in its memories ever since. Now that it had thought of it, the master was right. Didn’t they manage to get out of the labyrinth in the Forbidden Region by boring a hole through all of its floors?

“These elves are quite persistent, eh?” said the fifth head as it looked at the largest elven oak in the city.

More than a thousand elves came pouring out of the colossal tree located at the heart of the city. Each of them carrying swords and bows. Their cavalry unit, composed entirely of warriors riding their elks, assumed the role of the vanguard.

And as though the army wasn’t enough, four fifteen-meter large humanoid golems rose up from the ground, near the entrance of the royal palace. Numerous runes were carved on the golems’ bodies, each of them glowing with an azure hue.

The warrior leading the vanguard pointed his sword at the Scylla. He roared, “Proud warriors of Aerith! Protect our kingdom! Charge!”

The elven warriors roared, their eyes filled with resolve.

“Protect the kingdom!”

“For the kingdom!”

The archers located at the back of the army started firing their arrows at Blackie. Despite the distance, their arrows flew toward the Scylla with great accuracy. As expected of elves.

Blackie snorted and cast a simple barrier spell to fend off the attacks.

The vanguard army started speeding up. Behind them, the guardian golems also started running toward the seven-headed monster.

It was only a matter of time before things completely blew up into an all-out war.

“I think this is enough of a warning for these elves,” said the third head. “Unless they’re fools, they won’t dare snoop around our sacred ground after this. Let us head back.”

Thankfully, the other heads agreed. They also thought that killing any more than this would be quite drastic.

The third head amplified its voice using magic. It spoke in the language of humans and elves. “You brought this upon yourselves.”

The elven warriors halted in their tracks. They hadn’t expected the seven-headed monster to be capable of human speech.

“Let this serve as a warning.”

The Scylla stared at the warriors below for a moment, flapped its wings, and flew in the opposite direction. Without another word, it disappeared from sight.

Even after the Scylla was gone, the warriors remained there, staring in the direction the seven-headed monster had disappeared. The words the monster uttered were few, but they were more than enough to instill fear among their people.

It was basically telling them to stop investigating that part of the forest—where the clumps of mana were first detected.

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 18

After investigating the ‘disturbances’ in the Endless Forest, Blackie went back to the golden statue and eagerly awaited Lark’s return. True to his word, Lark returned exactly a week after he left the Endless Forest.

“God Evander! Welcome back!”

The Scylla’s eyes glimmered with excitement.

“We’ve prepared some refreshments for you,” the first head said proudly. “Flying all the way here from the town must have been tiring. Please, have some wine.”

Lark gazed at the stone table and chair sitting near the castle’s entrance. A bottle of wine and a wooden cup were placed on top of the table. Lark wondered where the Scylla got these things.

Using wind magic, the third head pulled back the chair, ushering Lark to sit on it.

“Where did you get this?” Lark asked as he sat on the chair and grabbed the bottle of wine. Dark red liquid sloshed inside.

The third head didn’t answer immediately. A hint of hesitation flashed on its face and it momentarily averted its gaze.

The seventh head merrily replied, “We got it from the elves! There’s an elven outpost not far from this place!”

Lark froze. He stared at the bottle of wine then at the Scylla. The seventh head was grinning mischievously, the third head held a look of resignation on its face, while the rest were proudly nodding their heads.

“Elven outpost?” said Lark. “There are elves living in this forest?”

“That’s right, God Evander,” the fifth head softly. “If you keep flying east from here, you’ll eventually arrive at an elven kingdom.”

The first head smirked. “They call it a kingdom, but it’s nothing more than a puny city.”

Lark’s intention in coming here was to hear the result of the Scylla’s investigation of the forest. But he did not expect to hear that an elven kingdom was located deep inside the Endless Forest. It easily explained the spirits wandering in this part of the forest. It also explained why the forest was eerily peaceful, as though all of the monsters here had been culled by some unknown creature.

Lark poured himself a cup of wine. “A kingdom of elves, huh? Tell me more of what you’ve found out.”

The Scylla started to recount excitedly everything that transpired during their investigation of the Endless Forest. How it initially abducted several sylphids to interrogate but ended up killing all of the elven scouts instead. How it tried investigating the elven kingdom, but the elves stationed in the western garrison started attacking the seven-headed monster without regard for their lives.

Lark’s expression slowly turned sour as he listened to the story. With the exception of the third head, everyone animatedly and proudly told him everything that they had done during the past several days, down to the finest details. And when Blackie came to the part wherein the elven kingdom sent out thousands of warriors and gigantic guardian golems to defend their kingdom against the Scylla, Lark finally sighed.

Although he wanted to reprimand the seven-headed creature in front of him, he couldn’t bring himself to do so, especially after hearing that his disciple, the Dragon Devourer, was the one who taught the Scylla to do things this way. Looking at things from a different perspective, he should probably be glad that the Scylla didn’t destroy the elven kingdom.

“So, after destroying the garrison, you went back to the elven outpost, ransacked everything you could, and came back to the castle,” Lark summarized.

“That’s correct, God Evander!” The first head repeatedly bobbed its head.

“We also got some items from the outpost! We thought that you might be interested in them.” said the sixth head. Using gravity magic, it took out several items from the castle’s tower and presented them before Lark—fabric, fruits, meat, and herbs.

Lark took the fabric and inspected it. It was soft like cotton and smoother than silk. Furthermore, it was surprisingly durable. It was almost as strong as leather. It was the type of item Big Mona would gawk over.

The fruit and meat were nothing special, but most of the herbs were rare. Lark was sure that he could further improve the middle-grade potions he’d been selling to Big Mona if he used these plants. Pinnacle-grade potions were still impossible to concoct due to the lack of ingredients, but high-grade potions should be feasible with the addition of these herbs.

“Good work gathering these,” said Lark.

It seemed that a lot of rare herbs grew in the deeper regions of the Endless Forest and the elves knew where to find them. Furthermore, Lark’s interest was piqued by the unknown fabric. Lark was certain that it would be possible to make strong yet comfortable armor using it.

The heads looked at each other. They seemed really happy after Lark complimented them for the items they’d gathered.

“G-God Evander!” The first head moved closer to Lark and looked at him with expectant eyes. “If you want, we can gather more of these things. Please give just give us the order!”

“That’s right! We’ll gather more of those if you want!” The sixth head looked toward the east, in the direction of the elven city.

Lark was dumbfounded. It seemed that he needed to set things straight here. Otherwise, he was worried about what this creature would do once he was no longer here.

“No. You’ve already killed enough elves this week. Are you seriously planning on attacking an entire kingdom just to obtain these… things?”

The Scylla looked at Lark as though asking ‘are we not allowed to do that?’.

Lark rubbed his forehead. “Look. I don’t like unnecessary killing. Humans, elves. This applies to both of them.”

“But they attacked us first!” said the seventh head indignantly.

“That’s right! They shot us with their arrows!” added the sixth head.

The first head agreed with its brother’s statements. “And they dared snoop around this sacred ground!”

“He is saying that we could have subdued them instead, without killing them,” said the third head. “Isn’t that correct, God Evander?”

Lark was becoming fond of the third head. Without it, he would have probably disowned this seven-headed monster. Well, he knew that he probably wouldn’t go that far. Although this creature considered humans and elves as mere insects it could kill and trample on, it was still the pet of his beloved disciple. And Lark had never forgotten the fact that this seven-headed monster had spent almost its entire lifespan protecting his treasure in the dungeon. He would always be grateful to the Scylla, no matter what.

“That’s correct,” said Lark. “Unnecessary killings are forbidden. If it is possible to just subdue them, subdue them.”

The Scylla’s tail, that had been wagging in excitement before, stiffened and started drooping to the ground.

“And it’s understandable why the elves tried breaking through the illusion spell you’ve cast on this place. Think about it. Imagine: Your kind has been living in this forest for centuries when suddenly, an unknown creature appears at your kingdom’s border and makes it its home. Anyone would naturally want to try to investigate it.”

The Scylla listened attentively but its eyes were looking at the ground like a sinner.

“They attacked us first. They shot us with their arrows,” said Lark. “Of course, they would. You tried to abduct their contracted spirits, after all. For the elves, their contracted spirits are family. Imagine this—what would you do if someone forcefully took Kubarkava right before your very eyes?”

“The master?”

The Scylla’s heads looked at each other.

“That’s impossible, God Evander…” the first head said slowly. “The abductor would be killed before he could even touch the master.”

Lark smiled. It made sense. Even he couldn’t see that kid being abducted without putting up a fight. Lark realized that he should have given a more plausible scenario to the Scylla.

“Kubarkava was my strongest disciple,” mumbled Lark. He rephrased, “Then how about this. What if someone suddenly took Quervanu by force? Right in front of you?”

“The poison brat? We’d kill them immediately, of course!”

“How dare they harm the creator of our dungeon!”

“We’d tear them to shreds and burn their bodies into ashes!”

The heads started spouting threats one after another. As Lark had expected, it seemed that even after his death, Quervanu had not become as monstrous as Kubarkava. Based on the history books Lark had read before, it seemed that Kubarkava had become so strong that even the dragon race avoided him.

The Dragon Devourer.

It was truly unfortunate that he had lost his life immediately upon opening the rift.

Lark smiled. Like a father patiently explaining things to his son, he said, “See? You wouldn’t let something like that to happen to Qeurvanu, right? It’s the same for the elves. You said that they started it, but from their perspective, you’re a monster trying to kill their contracted spirits.”

“But we were really just going to interrogate those sylphids,” mumbled the fifth head, its eyes still staring at the ground.

Lark walked toward the fifth head and patted its snout. “I understand. But please try to restrain yourselves from now on. No unnecessary slaughter, understood?”

The eyes of the other heads shook with envy. They stared at the fifth head, who was now closing its eyes and softly mumbling, “Yes, God Evander.”

Lark looked up at the sky. If they left now, they could probably arrive before dusk.

As far as he knew, the elven race kept to themselves and hardly made contact with traders. They raised their own food and produced their own tools. With the exception of dwarves, their nation was probably the hardest for a merchant to conduct trades with.

But Lark held an item which the elves coveted. An item that would solve their nation’s most dire problem.

According to Blackie, the Kingdom of Elves was only as large as a human city. By estimate, their population hardly reached past the hundred thousand mark. It was apparent that even after more than a millennium had passed, the elves still couldn’t overcome their extremely low fertility rate. Their kingdom was slowly dying due to the declining population.

Under normal circumstances, the item would have been more than enough to convince the elves to trade with his territory. But after Blackie annihilated all of the elven scouts and destroyed a garrison, Lark doubted if negotiations would proceed smoothly.

They’re right next door. It’d be a shame if I couldn’t grab this opportunity to monopolize the trade with an entire country.

Although the chances that the elves would agree to his parley were slim, Lark decided to go along with it.

Lark went inside the castle, entered the golden statue, and took out a particular item.

After coming out of the castle, Lark said to the Scylla, “Blackie, want to visit the Kingdom of Elves with me?”

The seven-headed monster immediately unfolded its wings, creating gusts of wind.

“Of course! We would love to!”

Its enthusiastic voice reverberated through the forest. Lark chuckled and jumped onto its body. He’d learned before that it would strike pangs of jealousy if he sat on one of the heads.

“Then, to the elven kingdom,” said Lark.

The Scylla roared and flocks of birds flew out of the forest. It jumped into the sky, flapped its wings, and shot toward the east at a tremendous speed.

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 19

The entire elven kingdom was in turmoil after the incident with the seven-headed monster. Including the scouts and those stationed in the western garrison, they’d lost more than a thousand elves from that single encounter. Furthermore, a portion of the city had been blown into smithereens, and several houses had been burned to the ground. Thankfully, the water spirits had managed to put out the fire before it spread throughout the entire forest.

Several days had passed since then. All of the kingdom’s officials were gathered at the royal palace to discuss matters concerning the kingdom.

“Your Majesty, we’ve finished relocating the affected families,” reported one of the ministers. “We have repurposed the elven oaks which served as storage houses last winter. We plan on letting those who lost their homes stay there, at least until the elven oaks in the east are mature enough to be converted into houses.”

“Good work.” King Melandrach nodded in approval. He said to another official, “The burial ceremonies?”

“We’re almost done with the preparations, Your Majesty. Two days at most and our fallen warriors can finally return to God Gaia. We’ve already received the blessings of the priestess and the temple.”

“It seems that hundreds of elven oaks will sprout in the forest this year,” King Melandrach said in a glum voice.

Although the body of an elf wasn’t a prerequisite for an elven oak to grow, for some strange reason, there was a very high chance of an elven oak sprouting from the ground where a deceased elf was buried. This was why the elves considered the trees sacred, since most of the trees here grew from their deceased ancestors’ bodies. They would wait for a hundred years, until the elven oaks had matured, before carving their homes inside the trunk of these trees.

“My King,” said Commander Khuumal. “We’ve been receiving reports of several… disturbances in the city.”

“Disturbances?” said the king.

“Yes, Your Majesty. There have been protests among the citizens of the kingdom. The warriors wish to hunt and kill the monster. They are demanding for the royal family to take immediate action. Even the vice commander averred his desire to take revenge on the Earth Scylla.”

“Even Vice Commander Calen.” King Melandrach found this troubling.

The vice commander had several hundred warriors under his command. If he suddenly decided to go to the border and take revenge on the Earth Scylla, it would be easy for him to rally the other warriors under his banner.

They’d lost a lot of warriors already. King Melandrach had no intention of letting their casualties increase even further.

“Keep an eye on the vice commander. Make sure he doesn’t do anything foolish,” said the king. “It’s not like I don’t understand why they are acting this way, but we need to face reality. Commander Khuumal, you understand too, don’t you? Had that Earth Scylla wanted to, it could have killed more of our warriors that day.”

Commander Khuumal nodded grimly. “I believe so.”

“But we have the guardian golems, Your Majesty,” said one of the officials. “Surely, the guardians our ancestors created would be more than enough to protect the kingdom?”

“Even if the guardian golems could somehow manage to take down the Earth Scylla, it would cost us tens of thousands of lives. Imagine this—what would have happened if that monster had chosen to fight the golems right in the middle of the city?” said the king.

Heavy silence fell in the room. They could vividly imagine what would have happened had the monster chosen to go on a rampage in the city. Hundreds of elven oaks would have been burned to ashes, and thousands if not tens of thousands of elves would have died that day.

They did not doubt the strength of the guardian golems who have been protecting their kingdom for several centuries. But they knew that even those fifteen-meter tall giants wouldn’t be enough to completely hold down the Earth Scylla.

“As the king of this nation, I hereby prohibit any expedition to the border region,” declared the king. “Anyone caught violating this decree will be given the death penalty. No exceptions. Even if the violator is a high-ranking officer in the military.”

The king’s statement showed how much of a threat he believed Earth Scylla to be. In order to avoid antagonizing it even further, His Majesty was willing to go as far as making this decree. Everyone in the room knew who the king was referring to in the last part of his statement.

“Disseminate this decree to everyone. Tighten the security at the perimeter of our kingdom,” said King Melandrach. “We do not know the reason why that creature suddenly appeared and made the border its home, but for now, we shall capitulate that part of the forest to the Earth Scylla.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” said the officials.

Suddenly, a huffing soldier barged into the room and said in a loud voice, “Your Majesty! That monster! It has returned! We received reports from the western outpost just now!”

The king stood up from his seat abruptly. “What? We recently erected a barrier in that part of the forest! What happened to the barrier?”

After the incident a week ago, the king had ordered his men to erect a barrier in the western part of the forest to deter the monster from coming into their city. It was created using the might of several dozen high-ranking spirits. It should have been strong enough to withstand several attacks even from the Scylla.

The huffing soldier looked around the room for a moment, his eyes quickly scanning the terror-filled faces of the officials. He said to the king in a hurried voice, “The barrier has been broken! A human! The report said that a human broke through the barrier using a single spell!”

The king stared at the soldier for a moment, wondering if what he’d just heard was correct. “A human?”

“Yes, a human!” The soldier nodded.

King Melandrach looked at the officials in the room. Just like him, they couldn’t believe what they’d just heard. The Scylla was one thing, but a human? How could a mere human break through a barrier created using the might of several high-ranking spirits? Furthermore, he did it with just a single spell?

“Y-Your Majesty!” said one of the ministers. “Your orders?”

“We don’t know what that monster is thinking! Coming back here immediately like this!”

“We should mobilize the guardian golems and the royal guards!”

“The warriors! Commander Khuumal! Gather the warriors!”

The ministers and the other officials were frantic as they awaited the king’s orders. King Melandrach couldn’t blame them. It had been a long time since their kingdom had been in such a predicament. Even he couldn’t help but shudder in terror at this news. He’d seen for himself what the monster was capable of, after all.

King Melandrach breathed in deeply and said in a voice filled with conviction, “Mobilize the guardian golems! Gather all of our warriors, including the royal guards! Send a message to the temple! Tell them to prepare for the Blood Rite of the Earth God!”

The officials stared at the king in bewilderment. The Blood Rite of the Earth God was the strongest spell known to the elves. In exchange for the life of the current king, God Gaia would briefly descend to this realm.

“B-Blood Rite? B-But Your Majesty!” said one of the royal advisors.

“Enough!” snarled the king. “This much is needed for our race to survive. No matter how strong that Earth Scylla is, it will never be a match for one of the Seven Gods.”

After the warriors and the royal guards had been gathered, King Melandrach patiently waited at the entrance of the royal palace. Standing behind him were the four guardian golems of the kingdom.

For some reason, the presence of the unknown human made the king think that the seven-headed monster would head straight to the royal palace.

And he was right.

Ignoring everything else, the Earth Scylla flew through the city and stopped right in front of the largest elven oak in the entire kingdom.

The seven-headed monster was as threatening and as imposing as before. The way it looked at the army of elves below showed clearly how it thought of them as nothing but insects it could easily trample on.

King Melandrach looked at the human standing on top of the Scylla’s body. He was surprisingly young. If he were an elf, he would be probably around a hundred and fifty years old. He was definitely younger than King Melandrach’s daughter.

“Elves.” To their surprise, the Earth Scylla spoke. “You have been graced with the presence of my God. Show your respect.”

God?

All of the elves who heard it shuddered, their faces drained of color immediately. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t believe such a preposterous statement. But these words came from the Earth Scylla itself. They came from a monster who could destroy their kingdom on its own.

Surely, this monster wouldn’t submit itself to anything short of a God.

“M-My King!”

“W-What should we do?”

The Scylla was more than enough of a threat. And now, a God had suddenly appeared at their doorstep.

Initially, King Melandrach was confident in negotiating with the human and the Earth Scylla. After all, he held a trump card in his hands. Once broken, the artifact he was carrying would take his life and momentarily summon God Gaia on this land.

But everything changed after he heard the Scylla call the ‘human’ its God.

“Kneel.” King Melandrach eventually decided. “Lower your heads.”

The high-ranking officers of the army immediately disseminated the words of the king. Although reluctant, all of the elven warriors knelt and lowered their heads. Even the guardian golems bent their knees.

The Earth Scylla snorted, as though pleased that the elves recognized the greatness of the human riding on top of it.

“I am Melandrach, King of the Elves. The current ruler of Aerith,” said the king, not daring to look at the human on top of the seven-headed monster. “May I know why such an esteemed… individual decided to visit our humble city?”

There were several seconds of silence. For a moment, King Melandrach wondered if he had not shown enough respect. Shivers crawled down his spine at the thought.

“I’m here to apologize for the behavior of one of my men,” said the human. “I heard that Blackie here caused havoc in this city. Although words won’t bring back the dead, I hope you can accept my apology.”

King Melandrach and the elven warriors looked up. They hadn’t expected such words to come out of the human’s mouth. Their eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the ‘God’ bowing his entire upper body in front of everyone. Moreover, those words sounded sincere, without a hint of malice or deceit.

The Earth Scylla looked distressed upon hearing those words and seeing the human bowing his head.

“G-God Evander! There’s no need to bow your head in front of these elves!”

“T-That’s right! Please raise your head!”

The Earth Scylla looked as though it would start crying at any moment. It was a surreal sight. They’d never expected to see this terrifying creature become this perturbed over the words of a human.

God Evander?

King Melandrach was sure that that name was not among the Seven Gods.

But it sounded familiar. The King of Elves was sure that he’d heard that name before in his life.

“Please accept this as a token of my apology,” said the human.

A wooden chest slowly flew down toward the elves below. It landed softly right in front of King Melandrach.

The king hesitated for a moment, but eventually decided to open it.

“This is?”

Inside the wooden chest were five bottles filled with blood-red liquid. King Melandrach wondered if it was wine at first, but judging by the words uttered by the so-called ‘God’, this was surely no ordinary item.

“Water that has made contact with a bloodstone,” said the human. “Although it won’t bring the dead back to life, I hope you can use it to propel this kingdom forward. King of Elves, you understand the importance of this item, right? With this, it should be possible to recover the population you lost due to this incident. A token of my apology. Please accept it.”

All of the elves, the king included, knew the significance of this item. Bloodstone was the most coveted item of the elven race. When used by humans, it cured weak curses and even prolonged their lifespans. But when used by elves, it greatly increased their fertility rate, making it almost on par with those of humans.

“Your Majesty, is it really from a bloodstone?” whispered one of the military officers. Even he couldn’t believe it.

King Melandrach opened one of the bottles, dipped his index finger inside and licked it. After several seconds, he felt an indescribable sensation surge inside him. This was the real thing. He was sure of it.

“It’s real,” said the king.

The elves stared at the wooden chest in marvel. Right now, that wooden chest was more precious than the treasures stored in the royal palace.

“Had we met under normal circumstances, I would have loved to become one of your trading partners,” said the human. “But I understand that this is impossible, with the way things are right now.”

“Trading partners?” said the king.

The human jumped down from the Scylla and landed softly on the ground.

“That’s right. Trading partners. I haven’t introduced myself, have I?” He placed a hand on his chest and lightly bowed his head. “Lark Marcus, Lord of Blackstone Town. The town located west from here, right next to this forest.”

Lark added, “This may sound… contumelious, coming from me… But we truly did not mean harm to your country. Please understand that what I’m offering isn’t just the opportunity to trade with my town. What I’m offering is the chance to trade with the entire kingdom. The human race. If we become trading partners, your kingdom will have direct access to the human race’s resources.”

There were still several questions going through the king’s mind, but he understood what the human was conveying for the most part.

Still, although the offer sounded tempting, King Melandrach did not see the merit in opening their country to these outsiders. The elves could produce their own food, they had access to timber, they could spin and weave their clothes. They could live by simply utilizing what nature could offer.

King Melandrach was about to utter his refusal when the human added: “And you’ll also gain access to these elixirs. Water that has made contact with a bloodstone. How about it?”

King Melandrach stared at the human, then at the wooden chest next to his feet. With just those words alone, the human had managed to overturn the table of negotiations. King Melandrach had never heard something so tempting before. Greed started showing in his eyes.

“How… How many bottles of elixirs can you trade with us each year?” said King Melandrach.

The human raised four fingers.

“I see. Forty bottles,” mumbled the king.

“Four thousand,” corrected Lark.

The king’s eyes widened. With such an amount, they would no longer have to worry about the declining population of their kingdom. If lucky, an elf could have a single offspring in its lifetime. Two children was already a miracle. But with these elixirs, such things would no longer be a problem.

“F-Four thousand?” said the king.

Lark grinned. He understood why the king was this flustered. Even he had only managed to get his hands on a single bloodstone back in his previous life. These legendary stones were that rare. But The Dragon Devourer and the God of Poison—those two disciples of his—managed to get their hands on not just one, but five bloodstone fragments. Lark did not know how those brats managed to obtain them, but he was glad that they did.

Five bloodstone fragments were more than enough to supply the elixirs to these elves. Dipping those stones in water hardly sapped away at their strength, after all. Lark even felt that he was exploiting the King of Elves by offering them to him.

“I understand that it’ll be hard to arrive at a decision this soon,” said Lark. “So, how about this? Send a messenger to the forest border, once you’ve arrived at an answer.”

Lark looked at the guardian golems kneeling behind the king, then at the elven warriors. Despite the long period of peace, it seemed that the elves weren’t as helpless as they looked. This kingdom could probably defend themselves, even against the Empire’s army.

“But these elixirs… I don’t see what our kingdom could give you in exchange for these items.”

Lark shot a quizzical gaze at the king. “Metals, herbs, fabric, fruit, meat. Those alone are more than enough reason for my Blackstone Town to trade with your kingdom.”

Lark flew up and landed on top of Blackie’s body. “Two weeks. I hope you can give me an answer by then.”

The Scylla started flapping its wings, creating gusts of wind.

“Wait!” said the king. “And if we refuse your offer?”

The king was worried that these two monsters would lay waste to their kingdom if that happened.

“Then we’ll cease contact with the elven race entirely,” said Lark.

The king sighed in relief. At the same time, the king understood that the human was implying that they’d also lose access to the elixirs completely. And with the seven-headed monster and this so-called ‘God’ on the side of the humans, it was not like they could forcefully take those bloodstones away.

“Whatever your decision is,” said Lark. “I assure you that I will respect it.”

After those words, the Scylla flew in the direction of Blackstone Town.

VOLUME 6: CHAPTER 20

After the seven-headed monster and its God left the city, the elves immediately tasked the herbalists and healers to verify the authenticity of the bloodstone water. After confirming that it was the real thing, they started discussing the proposal given to them. For several days, the officials—including the high-ranking priests in the temple—debated the pros and cons of opening their kingdom to Blackstone Town.

It had already been five days since that encounter, and they still hadn’t come up with a consensus. Currently, the kingdom’s officials were divided into three groups: those in favor of trading with the humans, those who wished to close their borders and live secluded in the heart of the Endless Forest, and those who wished to hunt and kill the Earth Scylla.

“Vice Commander Calen! Are you out of your mind?” One of the royal advisors slammed his hands on the table. “You wish to lead our warriors to the border and attack that monster?”

Tension was palpable in the air as the kingdom’s officials discussed the proposal given to them by the ‘God’ of the Scylla. Most of the royal advisors were in favor of the proposal; they even pushed the idea of pursuing a friendlier relationship with Blackstone Town. According to the royal advisors, there was no merit in aggravating that seven-headed monster and its master—the difference in strength between them and those monsters was simply too great. On the contrary, they believed that the elven kingdom would greatly benefit from this trade. The people were the main driving force in a kingdom’s prosperity. The royal advisors envisioned that the moment they finally got their hands on an unlimited supply of bloodstone water, it would only be a matter of time before the elven race regained its former glory.

The faces of Vice Commander Calen and the two captains beside him distorted. They found these officials in favor of establishing a trade with the humans revolting.

“These cowards,” mumbled the vice commander. He said in a low, but enraged voice, “Royal advisor, have you ever seen your father and your comrades die before your very eyes? Have you seen someone burn alive, their body melting like elk tallow?”

The military officers in the room seethed with rage as they remembered what happened only weeks ago.

“That monster killed hundreds of our warriors! It almost destroyed the entire city! And you wish to form a friendly relationship with it?” snarled the vice commander.

Silence befell the room. The vice commander huffed as his entire body trembled from rage. The memories of how his comrades were killed right before his very eyes were still vivid.

“Calen, lower your voice. You are under the presence of the priestess,” said Commander Khuumal.

The vice commander looked at the priestess and dropped his head in shame. “Ah, Priestess. Forgive me for raising my voice…”

The priestess smiled in understanding. “I believe that everyone in this room feels the same way as the vice commander. There is no way we could have forgotten the sacrifice of those valiant warriors.”

Contrary to the deep and enraged voice of the vice commander, the priestess’ voice was calm and soothing.

“Their deaths, the lives they lived, their loyalty to the elven race,” the priestess placed a hand on her chest, “will never be forgotten.”

Coming from the mouth of the priestess herself, those words carried an indescribable weight. Tears started forming in the corners of the vice commander’s eyes. He nodded his head and said, “Yes.”

“Father,” Priestess Siofra said to the king. “Have you found any leads regarding that so-called God?”

King Melandrach shook his head. “I’m afraid not, Priestess. We’ve combed the archives but failed to find any record related to that… human. The Scylla called him a God, but in the scriptures, there is no such name as Evander among the Seven Gods.”

The priestess slid a thick book toward the king. It was bound by black leather, cracked and dry with age. The pages inside were brittle and smelled faintly of dust.

“I looked through the underground library in the temple. The library restricted to the current priestess,” she said. “And I found a book mentioning the name of that human.”

King Melandrach started flipping through the pages of the book. He realized it was a journal of a human called Gustav Chavalion who’d lived several centuries ago.

“There’s only a single person who fits the identity of that human—that so-called God of the Scylla. Evander Alaester, one of the strongest magicians to have lived on this land. The supposed avatar of the Sun God,” said the priestess. “According to that book, Evander Alaester killed two demon lords in his lifetime.”

“T-Two demon lords?”

“That’s impossible! The rumors must have been blown out of proportion!”

The officials gathered in the room were in uproar upon hearing the last part of the priestess’ statement.

“This book was written several hundred years ago…” King Melandrach narrowed his eyes as he pondered. “Humans are short-lived. It’s impossible for a human to live this long. It must be a different person. Someone with a similar name.”

“I agree with Your Majesty.” Nodded one of the ministers. “A mere coincidence. Humans tend to have… similar names.”

“But it would be wise if we start moving with the assumption that the two are one and the same,” said the priestess. “And even if he is a different person from the avatar of the Sun God, the fact that he managed to tame that monster remains. We should tread carefully, Father.”

The king understood what the priestess meant. If the God of the Scylla was indeed Evander Alaester, then they should definitely pursue a friendlier relationship with him and his territory—Blackstone Town. And even if they were wrong, they would not be losing much from this assumption.

“We’ve closed our nation for too long,” the king said in regret. “If only we had more information regarding that town, that kingdom… it would have been easier to come up with a decision.”

The king sighed and fell silent for a long time. Eventually, he said, “For the sake of the elven race, we shall open our nation to Blackstone Town.”

The king looked at the priestess and she nodded her head in approval.

The military officers closed their eyes upon hearing those words, while the ministers heaved sighs of relief.

“I will personally go to the border and meet with that human,” said the king. “Commander Khuumal, you shall accompany me, along with two guardian golems and a hundred royal guards.”

“Understood!”

Although the king had just declared that he would go to where the scouts had been annihilated, no one raised a protest. This much was needed for something of this scale. They would be opening their nation to outsiders after hundreds of years, after all.

***

Although it would normally take a month on foot to reach the forest border, the king and his entourage managed to reach it in just a week. The elks, together with the spirits, made it possible for the elves to move through the sea of trees with ease.

“Your Majesty, we’ve arrived,” said Commander Khuumal.

The entourage halted. King Melandrach stared at the trees in front of him. Although it was faint, he could see the distortions in space right before his eyes. He realized that all of the trees in front of him were mere illusions—a mirage.

“An illusion spell,” said the king.

“I believe so, Your Majesty,” said the commander.

“Then, how do we get in?”

As though those words were on cue, a rift appeared right in front of them. It slowly expanded, until it became large enough to accommodate even the guardian golems. Looking inside the rift, they could see a large stone castle and the seven-headed monster from before.

“King of Elves,” said the seven-headed monster. “My God has given his permission. You may enter our sacred domain.”

The Scylla was as imposing and as threatening as before. Although it was speaking to the King of Elves, it held no hint of respect or deference at all. It looked at King Melandrach as though he was nothing but an insignificant insect.

“You may bring a dozen guards with you,” added the Scylla. “And those golems. Bring them inside.”

The king, along with a dozen guards and the two guardian golems, entered the rift. The moment they entered the space protected by the illusion spell, they realized that the stone castle was far larger than they’d expected. What they had seen outside was only a portion of its towering walls and battlements. The castle itself was twice the size of their royal palace.

Various questions started running through King Melandrach’s mind.

How did they manage to build this castle in such a short period of time? Why did they build a castle in this part of the forest? And why was an absurdly strong defensive spell, together with a seven-headed monster, protecting it?

“Welcome,” a familiar voice spoke.

A young man with short silver hair emerged from the castle’s entrance.

“Thank you for coming all the way here. You must be tired from the long journey,” said Lark. “I’ve prepared some refreshments. Please, come inside.”

Lark ushered the king and his men inside the castle. Along the way, they passed by a large statue, its upper body covered by a cloth, as though the Lord of Blackstone Town did not wish anyone to see what it looked like. Looking around, although well made, the castle’s interior was surprisingly empty. There were no paintings, no carpets, no fixtures commonly found in castles.

Even the grand hall had only a single table and two chairs, just enough for Lark and the King of Elves.

After the two of them sat, Lark poured the king a drink and got straight to the point, “So, has His Majesty arrived at a decision?”

The king drank the wine offered to him without hesitation. For some strange reason, the wine was very similar to the ones their warriors normally drank in taverns.

King Melandrach gently placed the cup on the table and said, “Yes. But before that, I hope you can answer one question of ours, honestly.”

Lark looked at the king curiously. “A question?” He paused, sipped his wine and said, “If it is something within the limits of my knowledge, alright.”

“Are you Evander Alaester, the magician who lived during the Age of Magic, fifteen centuries ago?”

Lark hadn’t expected this question from the king. He fell silent, smiled, and eventually said, “I am.”

King Melandrach’s eyes widened. Even Commander Khuumal and the royal guards stared at the human in wonder. Rumors of the human’s real identity had already spread throughout the kingdom. And now, the human had just confirmed it himself, that he was that same magician written in the legends.

A human who’d single-handedly repelled several demonic invasions and killed two demon lords during his lifetime.

Shivers crawled down the elves’ spines as they realized that they were in the presence of such a monster.

“So, i-it’s true,” said the king. “But the journal… it clearly said that you died from a curse. The Ritual of the Immortal failed. A human couldn’t possibly live this long. How—”

“One question,” said Lark, smiling. “I agreed to answer only one question.”

“Ah, that’s right. I apologize for overstepping my bounds.” King Melandrach lightly bowed his head.

It was regrettable, but it was indeed true that he’d asked the human to answer only a single question. King Melandrach inwardly clicked his tongue for this blunder. Had he known that the human wouldn’t deny it, he would have requested more answers.

The two started discussing the trade between Aerith and Blackstone Town. As agreed before, Blackstone Town would provide the elven kingdom with at least four thousand bottles of bloodstone water each year. In exchange, the elven kingdom would provide the town with metals, fabric, herbs, fruit, and meat.

According to the elves, the fabrics Lark had seen before were made using threads produced by a carnivorous worm species living in a cavern near the city of Aerith. Although the supply of these threads was limited, King Melandrach promised to sell the bulk of their harvest to Blackstone Town. Furthermore, the king also promised to provide vast quantities of medicinal herbs. With which it should be possible for Lark to create high-grade potions.

For a moment, Lark remembered Big Mona. That fat merchant would definitely squeak in glee once he presented these items to him.

King Melandrach placed an arrow on the table. Its tip was made of a black metal reminiscent of obsidian.

“This is the metal our race uses to create arrowheads,” said the king. “It’s as strong as iron and as potent as a paralyzing potion made from mydrengia. Even a graze from this arrow can paralyze an elk in mere seconds.”

Lark took the arrow and inspected its tip. “An arrow that could paralyze its target. This will surely boost the firepower of my archers. Impressive.”

Lark’s gaze moved toward the golems standing behind the king. He was curious about what kind of technology the ancestors of the elves used to make those things. For a moment, Lark had the urge to cut their bodies open and look at the mechanism engraved inside.

“Of course,” the king said proudly. “When I was young, this forest was infested with monsters. A species of devouring apes lived in this territory. They could rip elks apart with their bare hands and they could move through the trees as though running on flat ground. But over time, our warriors eventually managed to wipe them out—these arrows greatly contributed to that victory.”

“This forest is indeed eerily peaceful, despite its size,” said Lark. “The elves killed all of the monsters living in this forest, huh?”

“That much was needed to protect the children,” said the king. “Unlike humans, we aren’t capable of giving birth to several offspring. The death of a single elf carries far greater weight for our race.”

For a race with a declining population, Lark believed that eliminating the threats in the forest had been a wise decision.

“If you would permit us, we’d like to create a road connecting this castle and the city of Aerith,” said Lark.

“A road,” said the king. “I don’t see any harm in creating one, as long as the damage to the forest is kept to a minimum…”

“I’ll see to it that as few trees as possible are destroyed in the process of creating this road,” Lark gave his assurance.

The king smiled. He was glad that the human before him knew how important the forest was to the elven race.

The two finally came to a consensus.

Lark raised his cup. “For the elves.”

King Melandrach also raised his cup. “For Blackstone Town.”

From now on, Aerith would open their nation to Blackstone Town.

VOLUME 6: EPILOGUE

“God Evander, you’re leaving already?” the Scylla’s first head asked despondently.

The meeting with the elves had ended a few hours ago. King Melandrach and his entourage had already returned to their kingdom, leaving behind five elves proficient in earth magic to help with the creation of the road connecting the castle and Aerith.

“These herbs I received from the elves,” said Lark. “I want to try them out. I’ll probably be able to make high-grade potions with these. And these fabrics, I’m going to show them to a merchant I’m acquainted with.”

“I believe the poison brat left behind several pinnacle-grade potions. There’s no need for God Evander to concern himself with mere high-grade potions,” said the fifth head.

“That’s right! And the fabrics produced by these elves are mediocre at best! We can easily tear through it with our claws!” said the seventh head.

“These aren’t for me.” Lark smiled in understanding. “They’re for my subjects. The people living in Blackstone Town.”

“Are those humans living in that town really that important?” said the third head.

“That’s right,” said Lark. “Blackstone Town is important.”

“Blackstone Town is important,” repeated the first head in a small, almost inaudible voice.

Lark looked at the five elves left behind to help the Scylla create the road. Although the five of them were trembling from fear and their faces were drained of color, Lark could see the conviction within their eyes.

“I’m really glad that we’ve become trading partners with the elves,” Lark said to them. “Even if something similar to the black famine strikes our land, we’ll be fine. King Melandrach told me that your kingdom never once suffered from hunger nor drought. He told me that in Aerith, food is incredibly abundant.”

The oldest among the five elves spoke, “W-We’re also grateful that you’re willing to give us something as valuable as the bloodstone water!”

Lark smiled wryly. He felt a prick of conscience. Dipping the bloodstone in water hardly sapped away at its strength—it was almost negligible. Lark cleared his throat. “I’ve already received permission from King Melandrach for the creation of the road. He told me that the five of you held the highest aptitude in earth magic.”

“Yes,” said the oldest elf. “We have also made contracts with earth spirits.”

“Impressive,” said Lark. “Then, I’ll leave it to you. Please work together with Blackie here.”

The Scylla looked disapprovingly at the elves after Lark praised them.

“Yes! Please leave it to us!”

“We’ll do our best to make a road connecting to this castle!”

The Scylla snorted.

“God Evander,” said the first head. “These insects will just be a hindrance. Earth spirits? Bah! They’re nothing compared to an Earth Scylla!”

“What did you say?” one of the elves snapped upon hearing the Scylla insult their contracted spirits.

“It’s true, isn’t it? Can your spirits make a castle as majestic as this?” said the first head.

“The most they could probably do is make a bump on the ground!” sneered the seventh head.

The rest of the Scylla’s heads started chuckling, as though it was the most hilarious thing they’d ever heard. Even the third head was openly showing its dislike of the five elves, especially after Lark uttered his praises for them.

The elves were livid. One of them even started putting his hands on the quiver, ready to pull out an arrow.

Lark immediately moved to pacify them. “Now, now. Let’s get along, shall we? Blackie, with King Melandrach gone, these five elves represent the elven kingdom. I want you to treat them with respect. And you are not allowed to harm them, no matter what. Do you understand?”

“B-But we can create the road on our own!” protested the first head.

“That’s right! We don’t need these elves to help us!” said the second head.

Lark cast an apologetic glance at the elves. With a stern voice, he repeated to the Scylla, “Do you understand?”

The Scylla lowered its heads glumly. “Yes. We… We won’t harm these elves, God Evander. Please leave the creation of the road to us.”

Lark sighed. “I’ll visit every now and then. Cooperate with the elves. You can destroy some trees, but be sure to keep the damage to the bare minimum, just enough to create a path, a road. And you absolutely must not harm any elven oaks.”

“Yes, God Evander.”

Lark nodded in satisfaction. At least now, he’d no longer have to worry about the Scylla ‘accidentally’ killing the elves. Furthermore, he’d no longer have to worry about the Scylla greatly damaging the forest. He’d promised King Melandrach that he would keep the damage to the bare minimum, after all.

After giving several more instructions to the Scylla, Lark finally went back to Blackstone Town. Only the Scylla and the five elves were left in the castle. Now that they were alone, the five elves wondered if they would suddenly be eaten by the seven-headed monster. But to their surprise, a rift in the illusion spell opened, and a path leading to the outside appeared.

“We shall start making the road immediately,” said the Scylla domineeringly.

Following behind the Scylla, the elves left the castle. The rift closed and they were finally back in the Endless Forest.

The elves looked at each other. They thought that maybe the creation of the road wouldn’t end in a tragedy as they’d initially thought.

But they soon realized that they were wrong.

To their horror, without warning, the Scylla started gathering vast amounts of mana, and using all seven heads, cast Grand Scale Magic. A colossal wind vortex started forming in front of the Scylla. It slowly grew in size as it continuously sucked in mana from the seven-headed monster. And the moment it reached a diameter of thirty meters, it shot forward, in a straight path toward the direction of the elven kingdom.

“W-What are you doing?”

“Oh, God Gaia!”

“Stop!”

“You’re destroying the forest!”

The elves’ shouts were muffled by the blast of wind. Trees were blown into chips and fragments and even the root-blanketed ground wasn’t spared by the spell. The Grand Scale Magic the Scylla had cast easily made a half kilometer long clearing on the ground.

“What, what is this? What did you do?” the oldest elf ran to the Scylla and started kicking its legs. He was fuming with rage and no longer considered the consequences of aggravating the seven-headed monster. “The trees! You! You destroyed the forest!”

“Stop yapping. I’m creating the road,” said the Scylla. “And stop asking the obvious, damn insect.”

The elves opened and closed their mouths. They were stunned speechless by the Scylla’s flawed logic.

Making roads? This seven-headed monster had just destroyed over a hundred trees with a single spell!

“My master told me that this is the best way. The fastest way,” said the Scylla with pride. “Indeed, the master is wise. It’ll be easier to make the road now, isn’t that right?”

The Scylla stared at the elves and added, “And worry not, we’ll use a weaker spell if an elven oak is nearby.”

Ignoring the dumbstruck elves, the Scylla started hardening the clearing it had made using magic. Astonishingly, despite its tendency to destroy everything in its path, the Scylla was incredibly dexterous in earth magic. It skillfully manipulated the soil as it created the road.

A realization dawned unto the elves.

“Were you the one who made that castle?” breathed one of the elves.

The Scylla looked at the elves. The seven-headed monster looked at them as though they were pitiful creatures who couldn’t even comprehend something so glaringly obvious. The Scylla snorted and didn’t utter another word. It shouldn’t have expected much from these… things.

God Evander said that he would visit this place every now and then. The Scylla vowed to make a grand road, something that would shame even that of an empire, for him.

The Scylla looked forward to the day when he would see the road it had created.

***

[Lion City]

Big Mona hummed as he flipped through the Merchant Guild’s ledger in his hand. He could still vividly remember the incident in Mavas City several weeks ago.

“That fool,” chuckled the fat merchant. “He should have stored them at different granaries. How stupid.”

A few months ago, Mavas City had suffered an arson attack. The lord’s castle burned to the ground, and all of the food stored inside—meant to feed the people during winter—was engulfed by the flames, reduced to nothing but dust.

Although Big Mona held no solid evidence yet, according to his intelligence network, this was most probably the work of Black Midas. The most powerful underground syndicate of the kingdom.

Mavas City was ruled by Lord Hais. After his death, his eldest son acceded the role. Unfortunately, his eldest son’s rule was short-lived. All of Lord Hais’ children, including his wife, died in the fire. Big Mona surmised that all of this was done to prevent any more information regarding Black Midas from leaking out. As expected of the underground syndicate—they were thorough in eliminating any trails they’d left behind.

“Where there is tragedy, there is profit!” Big Mona smirked. “I’ve got to hand it to those arsonists! Well done! Well done!”

Big Mona thanked the arsonists from the bottom of his heart. Because of this incident, he’d managed to sell all of the wheat and meat he’d bought from Blackstone Town at several times its original price. The citizens of Mavas City—the city where Lion City used to import their grains from—even went as far as selling some of their children to survive.

“Big Mona, Sir,” said his administrative assistant. “We’ve received a letter and a parcel just now. I believe you may want to look at it, Sir. It’s from the Lord of Blackstone Town.”

“The Lord of Blackstone Town?” Big Mona’s eyebrow twitched. He put down the ledger and said in a gleeful voice, “From Lark Marcus, my dearest partner? Bring it to me. Immediately.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Big Mona’s belief that Lark Marcus was an undug goldmine had already been solidified after he came back victorious from the war against the Empire. That young noble was simply too competent for his age, too ambitious. Just like Lui Marcus in his younger days.

The administrative assistant soon came back carrying a parcel and a letter. He handed it to the fat merchant obsequiously.

Big Mona opened the letter first and read its contents.

If you’re interested in these items, come to Blackstone Town.

A single line, but it was more than enough to pique Big Mona’s interest. He quickly unwrapped the parcel and opened the box. Contained inside were a vial of an unknown liquid, several fruits the fat merchant had never seen before, and a strange fabric.

The fabric and the fruits were definitely unusual, but what concerned Big Mona the most was the vial. It was the same container used for middle-grade potions. But unlike the red liquid seen in middle-grade potions, the liquid sloshing inside this one was yellow.

“D-Don’t tell me.”

Big Mona shuddered when a certain thought crossed his mind. He immediately wanted to try it out. He wanted to confirm if his suspicions were true.

“Summon one of the slaves here!” said Big Mona, his eyes still glued to the vial. “Now!”

“Which slave, Sir?” the assistant said hesitantly.

Big Mona glared at him. “Are you stupid? Any of them! If that scrawny kid cleaning the drawing room is still there, call her! And a sword! Bring a sword!”

“Y-Yes!”

The assistant ran outside the room and soon came back with a scrawny girl. Although she was wearing clean clothes—the same ones used by the maids tasked to clean the rooms—her skin looked greasy, as though she hadn’t taken a bath for weeks.

Big Mona grinned impishly upon seeing her. “William. The sword. Stab her.”

The girl trembled upon hearing this. Tears started forming in the corners of her eyes as color drained from her face.

“Pardon?” The assistant was greatly perturbed by the order.

“I said stab her. Just make sure she doesn’t die immediately,” said Big Mona. “What? You’re going to disobey my order? Should I stab you instead, is that it?”

The administrative assistant was horrified. He instinctively took a step back.

The girl looked at the assistant pleadingly. She croaked, “P-Please don’t!”

“This softy! She’s just a slave! What are you hesitating for?” snarled Big Mona. “Here, give it to me!”

Big Mona forcefully grabbed the sword from the assistant, unsheathed it, and without hesitation, stabbed it into the girl’s stomach. Big Mona pulled out the sword and blood spurted out. The woman immediately fell to the ground and started coughing up blood.

“S-Sir! What, what are you doing?” said the assistant.

Big Mona ignored him. He took out the vial, uncorked it, and shoved the contents down the girl’s throat. After a few seconds, the girl’s complexion visibly brightened. There was a hint of confusion on her face as she stared at Big Mona, then at the place where she had been stabbed.

“The wound closed,” mumbled the fat merchant. “It healed even faster than when I used the middle-grade potion. The potion’s limit, what is it?”

Using the sword, Big Mona cut off the girl’s index finger. The girl screamed but Big Mona simply ignored her. He stared intently at the new wound. Just like before, the wound closed over in mere seconds.

Big Mona clicked his tongue in dismay. “It’s incapable of regrowing body parts, huh?”

Big Mona cut off another of the girl’s fingers, but this time, reattached it. To his delight, the cut finger reattached itself in mere seconds. He ordered the slave to move her fingers and they all moved without any problems at all.

Big Mona chuckled.

The Lord of Blackstone Town was indeed a gold mine. And this time, he’d presented a potion far more potent than the ones before. Just the thought of selling these to the kingdom made the fat merchant shudder in ecstasy. With this, his dream of becoming a more prominent merchant than the Vont Family had become closer to reality.

Big Mona couldn’t wait to meet Lark Marcus once again. His beloved partner.

“William, prepare the carriage,” said Big Mona. “I shall depart for Blackstone Town immediately.”

AFTERWORD AND WHERE TO FIND ADVANCE CHAPTERS

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for buying the sixth installment of the novel. If you like my work, please take the time to leave a review. The algorithm of Amazon requires a certain number of reviews before they start promoting my work. Every review is greatly appreciated.

You can find the drafts of the novel (and some art) on my Patreon page: patreon.com/crazyblackchili

And you can read the chapters on Tapas (although Patreon and Amazon are way ahead of the releases compared to that site).

A big shout out to my Patrons! This isn’t much, but I hope to at least immortalize your names in this book: Adams, Bigtree, Elfie, Marr, Forge, and Borchers. Thank you very much ^_^

-chili