Chapter 124

“Kuh…?”

Fernan was startled by the force of gravity violently dragging him down.

‘Damn it… and just when Aint isn’t here…!’

Had he known, he would’ve insisted on bringing Aint. Stopping the southern demons was important, but preserving his own life was even more so.

“What a terrible miasma…!”

“What’s down there?”

The knights shouted. A stench of demonic energy could be felt rising from below.

“Straighten your bodies and protect yourselves with aura! Cling to the walls to cushion the fall!”

The force, almost opposite to the flow of mana, interfered with the aura’s circulation and slowed their movements.

They struggled to stick to the walls, but it was no easy task. The fall continued.

‘How deep is this?’

It was impossible to estimate by sight. No matter how powerful the White Lions were, an impact from this height would be devastating.

Fernan forced himself to keep his body straight and began reciting a spell.

But the viscous miasma delayed the activation of the magic.

Crash—

The knights crashed to the ground. Right after, a swift shadow caught Fernan, the last to fall, and rolled with him across the floor, softening the impact.

“Are you okay?”

It was Luina.

“…What are you doing?”

Fernan, surprised to find himself in her arms like a princess, asked in displeasure.

“You’re physically weaker than us.”

“I could’ve protected myself with magic.”

“If even aura is affected by this miasma, magic is even worse, don’t you think?”

Besides, even with constantly activated artifacts, the delay in magic had been real; he was seconds away from smashing into the ground. He had no rebuttal.

“…Put me down already.”

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. The only annoying thing is the stares from the White Lions.”

The knights, who had already absorbed the impact, were curiously watching Fernan in Luina’s arms.

“Ah… ahem, don’t misunderstand. It was just to lessen the damage…”

“I get it. Put me down.”

Luina quickly set him down. Fernan immediately looked around and understood.

“This entire underground is contaminated with miasma.”

The source was the corrupted earth itself.

And then he saw it.

“…Damn it.”

Eyes glowing in the darkness.

Countless demons. The miasma they carried mixed with that of the land itself.

‘How many are there…?’

The murderous pressure and demonic energy made his skin crawl. It was impossible to count how many filled that vast cavern.

Could even the White Lions handle something like this? The doubt was inevitable.

‘They’re concentrating on the right side.’

They had fallen into the center of the cavern, and while there were demons everywhere, that sector had more, along with even thicker miasma.

‘Is something there?’

Maybe it was just an impression, but the demons’ formation looked like that of guardians protecting something.

At that moment, the White Lions unleashed their killing intent.

“To think they dared to take root in Bercheff lands…?”

“Heartless beings who don’t know their place.”

The captain raised his sword, and the others followed.

It mattered little how many there were or how dense the miasma.

If enemies stood before Bercheff, they would be exterminated. That was the honor and loyalty of Bercheff’s knights.

They were ready to give their lives for Bercheff without hesitation.

“Lord Fernan, you’re now part of the patrol. We ask for magical support.”

“The situation is too unfavorable. Shouldn’t we retreat?”

“If we let them go, they’ll advance toward Bercheff. How could a knight turn his back on an enemy before him?”

“But…”

Fernan was about to insist when he saw the horses’ corpses among the debris. He stopped.

Flee? How?

Even though they weren’t in the Demon Kingdom yet, they had ridden for nearly a full day.

Could they really escape that distance on foot, without horses, while being chased by demons?

Impossible, even for elite knights.

The aura might let them run faster than horses for a while, sure, but they’d burn out fast. And no one knew the real speed of those creatures.

“…Alright.”

At that moment—

Screeech!

Roooar!

The demons, who had seemed restrained until now, could no longer contain themselves and unleashed their bloodlust.

“Everyone, formation!”

“Yes!”

The knights formed a circle around Fernan, who also drew his staff.

“We’ll break through one side and fight with our backs to the wall.”

They were in the center of a huge cavern, surrounded by thousands of demons. The most unfavorable situation possible.

Rumble—

Fernan raised a massive wall, blocking everything except the path they needed.

Thud! Thud!

The demons slammed into the wall, cracking it, but buying precious seconds.

In that brief instant, the knights charged.

Slash—

Just one second.

Dozens of Shades were torn apart by the white glow of aura.

Crack—

The heads of five Skolds rolled across the floor.

The legs of a sixth-level arachnid demon, a Lupardin, were all severed and the creature collapsed; swords fell on its skull.

At that moment, Fernan’s walls crumbled.

From above, Krickters—eighth-level flying insect demons—descended on him.

But they didn’t reach their target.

Slash—

A wave of blue aura sliced them in one blow from the darkness.

“Be careful!”

Luina covered Fernan’s back. The five demons following them met the same fate as the flying insects.

With every step they took forward, new demon corpses appeared.

A trail of black blood was drawn, mountains of bodies piled up. But even the White Lions were quickly becoming exhausted.

“It’s… definitely tougher than usual…!”

“For land tainted by dark magic to be this heavy…!”

The ground full of dark magic didn’t just block the flow of mana.

It interfered with the energy of all living beings that didn’t belong to the Demon Kingdom.

Mana, aura, stamina—all consumption multiplied; exhaustion came much sooner.

‘From now on, I need to be careful with any corrupted terrain…!’

Only because they were an elite order could the White Lions maintain overwhelming power in such an environment.

If they had been regular soldiers, they’d have already been dinner for the beasts.

They finally reached one of the cavern’s walls.

They pushed Fernan into the center and formed a solid living wall around him, like a rock.

At that moment, Fernan raised another stone wall.

This time, he reinforced it with mana—thicker and stronger than before.

“At most, it’ll last ten seconds. Everyone, take these immediately.”

Fernan opened his subspace.

From it, he began pulling out potions. One, then another, and another.

Each knight received a pair of vials.

They were left speechless—not just by the amount, but by the fact that they were all of supreme quality.

“Don’t be surprised just yet. There’s more.”

“…More, you say? How many potions did you bring exactly?”

“Enough for everyone to die from exploding.”

“…Good heavens.”

“Is this what Pellenberg is like?”

One of the knights pointed to a potion with a different color than the rest.

“And what’s this one?”

“That’s a prototype. An experimental mana potion made by my house’s alchemists.”

“Does it restore mana?”

“Yes. It also has a small amount of elixir mixed in.”

“Incredible…!”

Fernan hadn’t expected it to be so useful, but in tainted land where mana recovery was slow or impossible, it was the perfect move.

The knights drank both the supreme potion and the mana potion in one go.

“…The quality of the Golden Turtle Guild’s products is real.”

“If we make it out of here alive, we’ll put that in the newspapers. And you’ll have to repeat exactly what you just said.”

“It won’t be hard. It’s not a lie.”

The recovered energy and mana were partial, but enough to reactivate their auras.

Just at that moment, the wall collapsed.

What awaited them wasn’t a group of exhausted knights, but reinvigorated warriors.

“Kill them all!”

“Yes, sir!”

They lit up their auras and resumed the massacre.

They killed. And killed again.

“Anyone who runs out of strength or aura, fall back and drink more potion.”

Bottles emptied.

They kept drinking and fighting, over and over again.

No one could count how many had already fallen.

The piled bodies formed barriers, which the monsters climbed while devouring their own dead.

In the end, it was the knights who reached their limits first.

Fighting non-stop on corrupted ground, kept barely standing by potions, fatigue caught up to them.

Because potions weren’t omnipotent.

“Seems we owe thanks to Professor Rosalia.”

Fernan placed special cigarettes in several knights’ mouths and lit them.

“W-what is this?”

“Inhale deeply and exhale. It will clear your head.”

They were cigarettes Rosalia, a professor at the Academy, regularly used. They contained no harmful substances, but did have a powerful stimulant.

Huu—

With each puff, the knights’ eyes regained their shine.

The effect lasted about ten minutes in this environment, but Fernan had brought plenty.

After his trip with Rosalia to the Academic Congress, he’d decided to carry several just in case.

“I also have chocolate. Eat while you fight.”

He’d brought that for Luina.

The knights fought with potions, cigarettes, and chocolate.

They drank, bit, exhaled smoke, and kept swinging their swords.

“…This feels very strange.”

Luina wiped the blood from her face.

“Normal. None of this is normal.”

Fernan lifted sand to drive off the flying demons diving at them.

The potions healed and restored some energy, but didn’t create strength from nothing.

Exhaustion still accumulated.

The cigarette only masked the fatigue, not erased it.

Even so, Fernan thought it was enough.

Because the end was finally in sight.

“There are no more in sight! These are the last ones!”

“The last ones, they say!”

“The last ones, damn bastards!”

“Kill them all!”

The knights no longer maintained decorum.

Fatigue, drained aura, and tension made them nearly frantic.

Only the captain of the White Lions and Luina remained calm.

“If it weren’t for the chocolate, I’d have gone insane. This corrupted land is unbearable.”

Slash—

The head of an arachnid demon fell to the ground.

And with that, everything ended.

In the vast chamber, nothing could be heard.

Not a trace of life remained.

“We… we did it!”

“Victory!”

Even though Fernan had supported them, without the strength of the White Lions, it would have been impossible.

‘This is Bercheff.’

The family that had defended the Empire’s north for over a thousand years.

‘And these are the White Lions.’

Their first knightly order.

Even with external support, thirty knights had wiped out nearly a thousand demons on corrupted ground. No small feat.

‘I want them.’

The order, not all of Bercheff.

“…We’ll advance deeper into the cavern.”

Though Fernan was thinking about his ambitions, the captain preferred not to rest and to clear the area immediately.

They couldn’t rest on corrupted land.

They walked over the sticky bodies toward the interior.

The darkness was total, but Fernan lit a magic lamp he had taken from the First Emperor’s dungeon.

And then they saw it.

“This is…”

A gigantic object in a corner of the chamber.

“…An egg?”

“Looks like it, but of what…?”

It was an oval mass, nearly three meters tall, covered in pulsing veins.

A purple glow seeped through them.

The source of the corrupted magic was there.

The closer they got, the harder it was to breathe.

“What the hell is this?”

“I don’t know, but leaving it would be a mistake. We must destroy it now.”

— Kyu, kyu, kyu!

At that moment Wooden began to thrash around.

‘Break, break, break, danger, danger…?’

And then it happened.

An unbearable headache struck Fernan.

The world went dark.

It wasn’t a normal vision.

Like when he had seen Andromalius descend.

The scene lit up again, but they were still in the same cavern.

Only now the demons were still alive.

And not just demons—there were monsters too.

[Kyaaaagh!

Dragged monsters, tied with threads from an arachnid demon, screamed as they were brought to the egg.

The corrupt led them to it.

Immediately, tentacles emerged from the egg and pierced the monsters—and even the demons.]

Soon after—

[Crack, crack—

The monsters and demons withered within seconds, stripped of their life.

The egg pulsed in a frenzy, devouring everything around it.]

And then—

Crack—

The egg cracked open.

[“Finally, a complete descent. Kimaris, you did your part well.”]

The creature laughed. And that laugh alone made the entire chamber tremble like an earthquake.

It was a grotesque being in the shape of a pentagram.

Fernan had never seen it before, but recognized it instantly from his research.

‘Decarabia!’

The 69th demon.

The vision ended there. Brief, but devastating.

“…We have to destroy it. No matter what.”

Fernan muttered, drenched in cold sweat.