Chapter 43

Demonic spawn and monsters are not the same.

While monsters were native species that had inhabited this continent since time immemorial, demonic spawn were minions brought by demons.

Their difference was fundamental, and the most evident at a glance was the open presence of demonic energy.

That’s what they taught at the academy.

And it was correct.

“Those are Shades.”

Demonic creatures in the shape of shadows, completely covered in absolute black. They have no defined form and tend to mimic nearby living creatures.

“I didn’t expect to see spawn here… But it’s just like they taught at the academy.”

At first glance, it looked like a group of assorted monsters. Except for the detail that all their eyes were red and their bodies black.

“Professor Balmon really was a great teacher.”

“This isn’t the time for sentimental comments.”

The situation was quite serious. Thanks to Fernan’s magic, everyone falling had been saved, but it wasn’t possible to safely stop all the huge carts loaded with goods.

Several of them were falling directly into the depths full of Shades.

And among them was—

“Aria, stop the carts from falling using spirits!”

The fourth cart—the one transporting the World Tree.

Damn it. Fernan dove down.

“Which one?”

“All of them!”

Aria came to his side instantly, deploying five spirits in different directions.

“I can’t handle them all!”

It was true, she only had five spirits and seven carts were falling.

“Then push yourself past your limit!”

Fernan didn’t even listen as he manipulated his mana. His enhanced vision lit up the darkness a little.

Even while saying that, he knew exactly which one to protect. He had already marked it beforehand.

The cart closest to the ground, about to crash.

“That one, Aria! The one furthest down!”

“Understood!”

Wind brushed past Fernan as Aria, followed by three wind spirits, shot down like an arrow.

Just before the cart fell into the open mouths of the spawn, the fall stopped.

About 50 centimeters above the ground. Aria landed lightly atop the cart.

“I’ve got it!”

It was a relief, but that didn’t mean the danger was over. Shades transformed into monsters like hounds, orcs, goblins, and even animals like bears or bats bared their fangs at the prey that had fallen from the sky.

But Fernan wasn’t going to let them act.

Clang!

Flasks with reagents fell around the cart. Whoosh, flames surged, and the Shades, creatures of shadow, instinctively retreated.

A second later, Fernan landed.

He struck the ground with his staff and activated a pre-prepared spell, erecting a huge barrier that separated the Shades from the cart.

The calm didn’t last. The thunder and blows shook the barrier.

“What do we do now?”

Aria landed softly with the cart suspended.

“What else? Kill them all and get out of here.”

Looking up, he noticed they had fallen about 40 meters.

‘Was this space down here?’

It wasn’t a simple cave but a kind of gigantic dungeon with a massive underground flow to one side.

And it was crawling with demonic spawn and destroyed carts.

“All that… so much money lost.”

“Yes, it’s a shame.”

“…?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

‘Maybe I’m getting too used to Luina—she would’ve complained if that was really important right now.’

“Listen up, Aria.”

“I’m listening.”

“Take the cart up immediately. Can you do it?”

“I can. For now.”

“For now?”

It was an ambiguous answer.

“I think I won’t be able to much longer.”

Then Fernan noticed something strange.

Aria’s pointed ears wouldn’t stop twitching. That meant she was hearing something he couldn’t.

“What is it?”

“You’ll hear it soon.”

A rhythmic sound shook the cavern.

If he wasn’t mistaken, they were footsteps. Of something enormous.

As the sound approached, the demonic energy also intensified.

“…Barca.”

A ten-meter-tall creature, bipedal with skin harder than steel, fangs capable of devouring anything, and monstrous jaws. Claws sharper than any legendary sword.

A category 4 demonic spawn registered in the book “Studies on Spawn and Monsters.”

It could easily devour dozens of trolls and even ogres.

Unlike Shades, which were category 8 and numerous but manageable, this was another matter.

“…Damn it.”

Its four red eyes gleamed, clearly focused on them.

His skin crawled.

He understood—with his current level, it was impossible to defeat it. Die here? In a place like this?

Not after everything he’d been through to interpret the prophecy and survive.

“Hyde!”

The Shades charging ahead of Barca were cleaved in two.

A cut so silent the spawn didn’t even realize they’d been killed.

In front of Fernan appeared a bodyguard wielding a sword.

“…Eh? That’s the senior’s escort? I didn’t know he had that much skill.”

Fernan ignored Aria’s light tone.

“Hyde, handle that thing.”

“That thing… even for me, it’ll be tough.”

“I’ll distract it. You find an opening and…”

Roaaar!

A deafening roar shook the cave.

BOOM! BOOM!

Barca began charging toward Fernan.

“…Not even a second of respite, huh?”

WUUUUNG!

The subspace opened, and a five-meter golem launched to block Barca.

Exactly 30 seconds.

2 seconds for the golem to swing its greatsword. 4 seconds for the claws to block and rip off the chest armor. 10 seconds for the tail to wrap around its body. 25 seconds to completely destroy it.

And 30 to hurl it to pieces.

Fernan, Aria, and Hyde were left speechless.

“…What the hell…”

“What kind of monster is that…?”

“That’s category 4…?”

Even if the golem wasn’t directly linked, this was insane. But there was no time to contemplate the carnage.

Ka-ka-ka-kak—

A chilling laugh. Barca was mocking them.

As if playing with its prey, Barca leapt gracefully.

And then—

——!

Another golem fell on him.

Boom!

The golem’s weight crushed it.

“Hyde, do what I told you now! It won’t hold much longer!”

“…Yes, I trust you.”

Hyde vanished.

“Who said I’d let myself be devoured so easily?”

Spawn, mutated spawn, demons—it didn’t matter. In the end, the one who survives is him.

Fernan looked at the Barca pinned under the golem.

“I’ve still got four left.”

He hadn’t brought just one golem. Spawn and golems clashed.

The ground trembled and chunks of the cave ceiling fell.

Shockwaves swept over the Shades, who screamed as they were dragged along. Those who survived lunged instinctively at their prey.

Even if their legs were torn off or torsos crushed, they didn’t stop.

Their target was Fernan Pellenberg, completely still, linked to his golem.

Just before they reached him, blades of wind shredded them.

“This is too reckless!”

Aria summoned spirits. Her maximum—five.

They formed a barrier around the immobile Fernan. They were the only defense against the wave of Shades.

“Haa, haa… I can do this! I can do this!”

Compared to Barca, the Shades were weaker, but they were still spawn.

And Aria had to stay still. Give up her elven agility and push herself too far.

“No, I can’t. I’m going to die like this.”

Her mana and stamina were running out.

She extended her staff and recited a spell. A small tornado tore through a dozen Shades.

“My mana…!”

But as it weakened, a spawn broke through the wind and tried to bite her. Aria reacted and struck it with her staff.

Boom, the bat went flying, but an orc raised its mace behind her.

She opened her eyes wide in desperation.

She tried to lift her staff but had no strength.

At that moment—

BOOOM!

Something fell on the Shade.

Through the dust, a golem appeared. Or rather, a heap of scrap—the golem destroyed by Barca.

It stopped moving, and Barca crushed it, roaring in victory.

But.

──!

The battle wasn’t over.

The subspace opened, and the fourth round began.

“Haa…”

Aria, barely saved, glanced sideways at Fernan, seated cross-legged with eyes closed.

His clothes soaked—not with water, but sweat.

“…I’ve saved his life several times now. He better thank me. With something real, not just words.”

Like an invitation to the Yacht Club. Or a closer relationship between Fridian and Pellenberg.

No response, as expected.

“I hate risking my life like this!”

Aria forcibly drank a potion.

The Shades were still too many.

***

‘….’

When a mage controls a golem, they are completely defenseless.

They close their eyes and block out all their senses. But that doesn’t mean they are totally disconnected from the outside world.

Because they still perceive the world through the golem.

Sensory blocking exists to be able to control the golem more precisely, to feel it as if it were their own body.

‘Damn it.’

That’s why he could feel everything so clearly.

How much difference there was in strength, how clumsy and weak that gigantic body was.
And how little talent he had for swordsmanship.

“Tsk!”

The massive sword custom-made for the golem sliced through the air.

Barca dodged the attack with ease, without even rushing, and let out a mocking laugh.

‘Damn spawn!’

Fernan threw a punch, but it was blocked. The monster’s tail struck the golem’s chest.

Boom!

The thick armor caved in. The impact pushed the golem back several steps, and Barca didn’t waste the opportunity—he lunged at it.

Crash!

The head burst under the pressure of his jaw.

The link was abruptly severed, and Fernan barely managed to suppress the blood rising to his throat.

He wanted to give up. His mana was nearly depleted, and both his mana heart and circuits were damaged from overuse.

And still.

Even so, he couldn’t give up.

Bzzzt!

A new golem emerged from subspace. It lunged at Barca’s neck, who was roaring triumphantly over the fallen golem.

‘This is the third one.’

This was the fourth golem. He only had one left, and he didn’t even have the energy to control it. He had to finish it here and now.

Bam!

The golem struck from above as Barca fell backward.

Bang! Bang!

‘Die…!’

He hit again and again.

‘Just die already, damn it!’

Barca’s head was partially crushed. And still, the monster spewed miasma and shoved the golem forcefully.

The armor melted from the acid. Fernan clenched his teeth at that insane resistance.

‘Hurry…!’

Crack!

The golem’s leg snapped.

The torso staggered backward.

‘Come on, hurry!’

Barca stomped it and laughed. When the core heart was destroyed with a spark, Fernan saw a black silhouette rising above the monster’s head.

A red sword shot out like a lightning bolt.

An aura sword nearly three meters long pierced straight into the monster’s open wound.

Barca spat blood.

He tried to shake it off like a fly. But Fernan didn’t miss the chance.

With his mana heart on the brink of collapse, he forced the summoning of the final golem.

There was no control or calculation. It was simply a brutal launch, but enough to briefly immobilize Barca.

And in that instant, Hyde drove his sword into the wound again.

Crack!

Barca’s head split open.

With a boom, the monster collapsed to the ground. Fernan opened his eyes just as a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his lips.

“You’re late! So damn late!”

“You’re right! I was late!”

“I did everything I could!”

“They broke four of my golems!! Do you have any idea how much they cost?!”

“I almost died, remember?! And stop acting like it’s all over—get over here and help me already!”

Aria, still fighting off the Shades, shouted indignantly.

And at that moment—

“Lord Fernan, watch out!”

“What the hell is that?”

“Self… destruction?”

Barca’s decapitated corpse began to swell rapidly.

Fernan hastily erected a magical wall, Aria raised a gust of wind, and Hyde stood in front of Fernan.

─────!!!

The explosion rocked everything. The miasma ravaged everything in its path.

Rocks, Shades, underground waters—even the carriages.

Only three people survived, protected by multiple barriers and artifacts.

“…Hah.”

Fernan let out a hollow laugh. Most of the carriages had melted from the miasma.

The scene was so horrific he almost forgot the pain in his body.

“Aria.”

“Speak.”

“I’ve got two good news… and one bad. Which do you want first?”

“Hmm, the good ones.”

“First, thanks to that monster’s self-destruction, all the Shades were annihilated. Second, I put an artifact inside the box that held the World Tree branch. Thanks to that, the branch survived.”

“And the bad?”

“It’s not completely intact.”

“Yeah… I can see that.”

The branch of the World Tree, peeking out from the broken box, showed black stains as if to declare on its own that it had been corrupted.