Chapter 130

“We were the ones who saved Bercheff! We believe we also have a right to this!”

After arriving at the Academy, Aint used the teleportation circle, taking advantage of the authority of the Count of Bercheff, and thus arrived directly in the region. There, an unexpected situation awaited him.

Until facing the gigantic three-meter egg, everything had gone well.

— It’s certain. No doubt, it’s Decarabia’s egg.

— How the hell did they get this?

— Is that rich guy more competent than he seems, or are the corrupt just a bunch of idiots?

— No… in this case, the idiot must be Kimaris.

The egg was real, and Aint was already prepared to destroy it at any moment.

“So you’re Aint Armian. They call me Alby Gallian, an old man locked in his chambers.”

“Hello, Aint. This man isn’t just any old guy, he’s Cardinal Alby, an Archmage.”

That was the problem—there were people protecting the egg.

“Impossible! I will never allow it!”

They weren’t corrupt nor beasts. In fact, they had exterminated monsters and saved Bercheff.

They were known as the priests of the Dragon God Cult.

And the one who, from the front lines, was deploying great magic to keep anyone from approaching the egg was none other than one of the five cardinals of the cult, an Archmage.

“Please, your eminence.”

At his side, trying to stop him, was the saint of the cult.

Aint didn’t understand what the hell was happening.

Why would a cardinal prevent the destruction of a demon egg?

“It’s simple.”

Fernan, who had brought him there, summarized the situation.

“So, they say we shouldn’t destroy it, but investigate it instead?”

“That’s right. And it’s not an entirely wrong argument. If we manage to discover some weakness of the demons by investigating the egg, we’d come out ahead.”

And the cult had the capacity to do that.

In fact, their “Holy Flame” magic and holy water had shown great effectiveness against demons and monsters.

— Nonsense! That egg is practically a fragment of Decarabia! It’s not the same as investigating ordinary monsters!

— Demons can never be controlled! This will end in disaster!

— We must stop these lunatics right now!

— A thousand years ago, there were already people like this! They ended up losing body and soul, turned into liches…!

Gardner, hearing it all, roared with fury.

“So, senior, you agree with them?”

“I’m not saying it’s impossible. The cult is competent, that’s undeniable. But according to my instinct, this is different from a simple monster. The risk of a ‘just in case’ is too high.”

“We must destroy it.”

“You say that as an Armian?”

“Yes. It’s dangerous. The aura it emits is more terrifying than any demonic magic I’ve felt. It’s not like monsters. It resembles—it resembles Andromalius.”

The magic of demons had something distinct from that of monsters. Hard to explain, but fundamental.

— We must destroy it!

Ignoring Gardner’s warning was never an option.

“I agree with you.”

“So, senior, you also believe we should destroy it?”

“Of course, research might give us something useful, but I was the one who found it. The monsters protected it as if it were sacred. It’s not just any egg.”

Fernan knew it was a demon egg.

And no matter how much the Dragon God Cult claimed they’d guard it, what if the demon awakened inside? If disaster broke out within the cult itself, it would be even worse.

That’s why he hadn’t acted before Aint arrived—the opponent was none other than an Archmage, Cardinal Alby.

An obstinate Archmage couldn’t be stopped easily—except by Aint Armian.

“Leave it to me.”

Fernan didn’t wait for Aint’s answer and stepped forward, positioning himself between Cardinal Alby and the Count of the Frontier.

“What’s going on here?”

“What’s going on?”

“Cardinal Alby, I was the one who brought this egg. Therefore, I believe the primary right belongs to me. Don’t you agree?”

“I admit you have an important right. But the cult also played a decisive role in all this. And I’m not saying we plan to just keep it.”

“I know you have no ill intentions, your eminence.”

Fernan nodded, dragging Aint beside him.

“But we can’t deny that this egg is sinister. I, the Count, and the Mercenary King all felt it. Even you, though you don’t say it. And above all, Aint Armian, the natural enemy of demons, insists it must be destroyed immediately.”

“…Aint Armian?”

Not even a cardinal could ignore what that name meant when it came to demons. Even less since Aint had gained fame after the Magic Congress.

“Is it true? Do you believe it must be destroyed?”

“Of course. It’s not a simple egg. If we try to investigate it, we might provoke something even worse.”

“Hmm…”

Alby frowned at Aint’s firmness.

“But you’re not wrong either, your eminence. How about this? Let’s make one final attempt to destroy it. If it fails, we’ll follow your plan.”

“Attempt? As I understand it, they already tried and failed.”

“We were waiting. No one has tried yet with the power of an Armian.”

Alby’s gaze fixed on Aint. Doubt pierced him.

No sane person would believe a student could achieve what two Royal Knights hadn’t—but Aint was an Armian.

“You think the same, Count?”

“That’s right. I was waiting for Aint Armian from the start.”

With the Count on his side, the cardinal couldn’t insist any further.

“…Fine.”

Alby finally nodded.

He calmed himself thinking that, after all, Aint hadn’t yet reached the level of an absolute.

‘Nothing will happen. At most, he’ll make a crack.’

That egg should belong to the Dragon God Cult. It needed to be studied.

Dangerous? Yes. But the risk was worth it—demons were no longer just a corrupt threat, they had now been summoned. War was inevitable.

Studying that egg might give them the key weapon to win it.

“Then let’s begin.”

Aint’s white aura filled the air. Just with that, unease returned.

‘No… it’ll be fine. Not even the Count and the Mercenary King could break it. Even if he’s an Armian, he’s just a student.’

That’s what the cardinal thought.

But then, a slash impossible for a mere student struck the egg.

‘Wait a second… wasn’t it Aint who killed Andromalius?’

The memory of that battle, seen through the Pope, crossed his mind too late.

────!

A white light covered the world.

The explosion shook everything around.

And then—

‘No… it can’t be!’

While the cardinal and the priests screamed in terror.

Crack.

The egg split in two.

A suffocating demonic magic rose to the sky, but the holy light devoured it.

The sword absorbed the darkness.

“…He did it!”

Fernan clenched his fist, euphoric.

The Count, who hated having that evil egg in his land, nodded in satisfaction.

“…It actually worked. What the hell is the power of an Armian?”

Even the Mercenary King, bandaged and battered, let out a disbelieving laugh.

“N-no way…!”

Cardinal Alby and the priests screamed in horror.

The egg that had threatened the north of Bercheff had been destroyed for good.

***

Snip—

The scissors cut a branch from the bonsai.

“Defeated? Dead, you say?”

At the question of the bald man, not a single hair on his head, the shadow bowed even lower.

“Yes. They say he couldn’t withstand the combined attack of the Mercenary King and the Count of Bercheff, and was decapitated.”

“How did that happen?”

Another branch fell to the ground.

“All he had to do was sit still, gather monsters, and use them as a sacrifice to summon Decarabia. It was a plan that couldn’t fail if he just stayed put.”

Humans called those northern lands the Demonic Region and barely showed any interest. There was no reason to fail if he simply hid well.

“They say the people of Bercheff took the egg.”

“The people of Bercheff reached the Demonic Region?”

“No, sir.”

The shadow clarified that to summon Decarabia more quickly, they had moved the egg further south.

“There were about a thousand monsters guarding it, but they were annihilated by the White Lion Knights.”

“The White Lion Knights? No matter how skilled they are, since when can thirty knights wipe out a thousand monsters in lands corrupted by dark magic?”

Because the land around Decarabia’s egg should have turned into a hell, tainted by demonic magic.

That kind of land drained human energy and mana, while strengthening monsters and demons.

And still, a thousand monsters on cursed ground were defeated by barely thirty knights?

It was laughable in disbelief.

“That…”

“Enough. It’s done. The egg was stolen due to some idiotic mistake, then he marched south with an army of monsters to recover it, but lost. Is that it?”

“…Yes, sir.”

Heh heh heh. The man let out a chuckle.

“So he called himself a demon, huh? Regained all his original power and still ended up decapitated by just two humans.”

An unparalleled humiliation.

“And the monsters?”

“Of the ten thousand that marched, more than half were killed.”

“And Bercheff?”

“Its first wall nearly fell, but in the end, they held out.”

“A demon led an army of ten thousand and couldn’t even bring down a fortress! And you’re telling me that’s not a total defeat?”

The man growled in rage.

“Pathetic. Not even Aint Armian was there.”

The scissors began cutting harder and harder. The bonsai lost all its branches, reduced to just the trunk.

Only then did the man stop.

“Cease all action for now. Stay hidden and wait for the right moment.”

“Understood.”

By then, the demons had already revealed their existence to the world. The entire continent would be on alert against demons and monsters.

To expose oneself would be suicide.

“Failure, failure, failure… No, this isn’t even a failure. It was an isolated idiocy. Anyway, now I have no idea how much the grand plan will be delayed.”

The man sighed. The shadow vanished silently.

“Well… at least not everything is bad.”

That idiot was dead. So he no longer had to worry about Aint interfering in Frazia following leads.

No, this could even be an opportunity.

“Good, time to move.”

He pushed the destroyed bonsai aside, put on leather armor, secured a book under his chest, and picked up his weapons before heading out.

“Scum! Time to work!”

“Boss, not today.”

“What do you mean?”

“Aint Armian left.”

“What?”

He left? Just like that?

Right when he finally knew where to properly help him.

‘To Bercheff, maybe?’

“Where to?”

“We don’t know. Since he took a ship, maybe he returned to the Academy.”

The man’s face went blank.

“And everything we did until now?”

“The message came through the Black Lance mercenary company. He might be back soon.”

“Back soon?”

At least there was still a chance.

There was no choice—he’d have to wait for the next opportunity.