Episode 40: A Series of Misfortunes
Late at night.
After two full days of travel in a carriage under the escort of knights, Yohan finally arrived at a village within the territory of Count Ekarsi.
Perhaps it was because the rumor of a possible demonic lair appearance had spread widely, but the atmosphere in the village was tense. Then again, it could also have been due to the looming rain on this dark night.
“Are you the ones sent by the Imperial Bureau?”
As the carriage approached the village entrance, the guard at the gate politely inquired.
“Yes, we are.”
The knight leading the group nodded. The guard promptly moved to push aside the barricade blocking the road.
“We’re counting on you.”
The guard said with heartfelt sincerity, likely because he had grown deeply attached to this village.
Yohan and the knights from the Imperial Bureau entered the village. The atmosphere inside was just as unusual.
Everything in the village seemed to have ground to a halt, likely due to the emergence of the demonic lair.
Yohan surveyed his surroundings as they entered the village. The reservoir had dried up, and the well had run dry. The fields were cracked, revealing barren, desolate earth.
At the entrance of the village, an elderly man sat silently. His deeply wrinkled face exuded a lifeless aura, adding to the overall bleakness.
“Something feels off.”
Finding the scene unsettling, Yohan furrowed his brow. Everything was unusually dry. Even the air seemed arid.
It was less like a living village and more like a place slowly succumbing to death.
“Special-Class Mage Harsen, I’m not the only one who finds this strange, right?”
A first-class knight tasked with protecting Yohan asked, clearly unsettled by the village’s eerie atmosphere.
“No, you’re right. It’s almost certain there’s a Demonic lair here.” Yohan responded.
All Demonic lairs shared common traits: dried-up land, decaying life, and oppressive, foul air.
A landscape signaling the onset of famine.
This village perfectly matched that description.
“We’ve arrived. That house up there belongs to the village chief.” said one of the knights.
Yohan disembarked from the carriage. The village chief’s house, perched on a hill, wasn’t particularly large, but it was better maintained than the other homes.
Walking up the incline, they saw a small figure. An elderly man with a scruffy beard and striking white hair stood waiting.
“Welcome. My name is Haden, the village chief of Luden in Count Ekarsi’s territory.”
Haden bowed deeply, visibly intimidated by the Imperial nobles and officials before him.
“Where is the location of the Demonic Lair?” Yohan asked.
The village chief straightened himself with difficulty and pointed in a direction.
“It’s not far. If you head out through the northern gate of the village, you’ll reach a mountain path. Once you get there, you’ll immediately feel the ominous presence.”
Yohan nodded at the village chief’s cautious explanation.
“Let’s check it out immediately. Can someone guide us?”
“Of course. Hadu?”
The chief turned and called a name. A young man stepped forward. Judging by the resemblance, he appeared to be the chief’s son.
“This is my son, Hadu. He’ll guide you to the site.”
“My name is Hadu. I’m familiar with the mountain paths.” the young man said.
“Good.” Yohan nodded before turning around.
Hadu, initially looking puzzled by the gesture, quickly realized it was a signal to follow and hurriedly moved to lead the group.
“What about the carriage?” one of the knights asked.
“We can’t take the carriage into Demonic lair territory. Leave it here.” Yohan replied, his gaze fixed in the direction of the Demonic lair.
“Hadu, can you ride a horse?”
“Yes, I’ve had to travel to the city often, so I know how to ride.”
“Good. Then let’s head out immediately.”
***
As they ascended the northern mountain path, the ominous atmosphere grew more intense. They remained vigilant, prepared for beasts to appear at any moment.
“There it is.”
Hadu pointed toward a dense cloud of black mist swirling in the distance. The negative energy radiating from it was identical to that of an unmanaged demonic lair.
“Hadu, head back now. We’ll take it from here.” Yohan instructed.
“Yes, sir,” Hadu replied before retreating.
Watching the young man leave, Yohan turned to a knight and remarked, “This will take some time.”
The knight, wearing a grim expression, nodded in agreement.
“Indeed. With that level of energy, a full-scale eruption could happen at any moment. We can’t leave this unchecked.”
If they only investigated and left, the demonic lair could overflow and devastate the village. Cleaning up the aftermath would only complicate things further.
“Let’s move further in.” Yohan said.
With that, he and the knights entered the mountain path shrouded in black mist. The sinister energy crept up their spines as they advanced.
Soon, they encountered shadowy figures lurking in the mist.
The sound of sharp claws scraping against rock echoed eerily, and pairs of green eyes glowed menacingly in the darkness.
“As expected. There are beasts here.” one knight said.
The knights dismounted and unsheathed their swords, the metallic clink of their armor accompanying their movements.
“Grrk?”
Alerted by the sound, the beasts turned toward them. Yohan began channeling his mana but was interrupted by a knight.
“Special-Class Mage Harsen, please conserve your magic. We can handle this ourselves.”
Though Yohan didn’t need to conserve his magic, he decided to heed the knight’s advice. There was no need to draw unnecessary attention from the beasts by using magic right away.
“Kiiieeek!”
“Maintain formation!”
As the beasts charged, the knights held their formation and swung their swords. Within the dark mist, blades imbued with mana sliced through the air.
Slash!
The beasts’ necks were severed cleanly. The glowing mana blades continued their relentless assault.
Despite the number of creatures, they were no match for the five first-class knights.
“It’s all clear.” one knight reported.
“Let’s proceed further.” Yohan replied.
They ventured deeper into the mist, where the sinister energy was at its thickest.
“What is this…”
“Just as I thought…”
“This is no ordinary situation.”
There was a rift from which the black mist spread. Its interior was filled with darkness, rendering everything within invisible.
But even without sight, they could feel it. Something was stirring within.
“It’s on the verge of eruption.” one knight observed.
“There’s nothing we can do here on our own.” another said.
“We should evacuate the villagers immediately.” a third added.
Their judgments were sound. The size of the demonic lair’s rift was far beyond anything they could handle alone.
“I’ll have to apologize to Count Ekarsi, but we’ll need to declare this part of his territory a restricted zone.” Yohan muttered.
“Let’s go,” he said as he mounted his horse again.
Just then, his Omniscient Perception ability detected something. Acting on instinct, Yohan activated his Eternal Flow Technique barrier at full strength.
Clang!
A sharp dagger halted inches from Yohan’s face.
The knights weren’t so fortunate.
“Urgh!”
“What’s happening?!”
“Agh!”
Caught off guard by the black mist, they couldn’t evade the attack. Their cries of pain rang out.
“It’s poison!”
“Ahh… my arm!”
“I can’t feel my leg…!”
The knights’ bodies stiffened, rendered incapacitated in moments by the mysterious poison coating the daggers.
“An ambush!”
Yohan exclaimed, scanning his surroundings. But the black mist obscured everything.
“Anyone still able to move, respond!” he shouted toward the direction of the fallen knights. Silence greeted him.
In less than a minute, the poison had completely incapacitated them. Its potency was extraordinary.
‘I anticipated this, but I didn’t think they’d attack us during a reconnaissance of the demonic lair.’
Who could have orchestrated such a reckless move? Whether it was Cassis or Fedelian, either of those lunatics was capable of pulling such a stunt.
Shadows? Or hyenas? Judging by their fighting style, they weren’t the Black Knights.
“…….”
Yohan quickly realized that his opponents were hyenas. He recognized the distinctive design of their daggers.
“Hyenas, huh? Come out.”
Yohan sharpened his gaze as he scanned his surroundings, waiting for the hyenas. The killing intent hanging in the air was heavy. These weren’t ordinary hyenas.
“You’re quick to notice. How’d you figure it out?"
The hyenas revealed themselves from the darkness, activating their mana blades as they approached slowly.
There were ten of them in total.
“There’s only one group that uses daggers like these.”
Yohan deliberately engaged them in conversation while quietly drawing on his mana. This was the entrance to the demonic lair. Escape was the priority.
One of the hyenas at the forefront smirked maliciously.
“Planning to escape? You might as well give up. Your chances are next to zero.”
The leader pointed their sword at him. Just as they said, Yohan’s chances of escaping here were slim.
The limited visibility near the demonic lair and the fact that all his opponents were first-class or higher left him with few options.
It was either annihilate them or die himself-there was no in-between.
‘Capturing them would be ideal, but that’s impossible.’
Dealing with Hyenas was already challenging given their expertise in escaping, let alone ones of this caliber. Even for a special-class Mage like Yohan, it wasn’t feasible.
“Begin!”
Before the words had fully left the hyena’s mouth, daggers came flying.
Dozens of blades surged toward Yohan.
Yohan’s mana threads from his Eternal Flow Technique extended outward like strands of silk. The daggers halted midair, twisted, and snapped. But there was no time for relief.
The hyenas' mana blades charged in immediately afterward. With a cold expression, Yohan pushed off the ground.
Shuk!
As he slipped through a gap, three mana blades slashed through empty air. The next wave of attacks came right after-mana blades again. Yohan gritted his teeth and twisted his body.
Swish!
The blades, moving at terrifying speeds, narrowly missed Yohan.
Daggers flew toward him. He didn’t bother paying attention to them. As expected, the daggers couldn’t pierce the Eternal Flow Technique. Yohan reinforced his physical abilities with Mana Enhancement: Mugol.
As he quickly created distance, the hyenas widened their eyes.
“A mage with physical abilities like that?”
“Focus! He’s an Special-Class Mage!”
Their surprise was brief. The hyenas quickly regrouped.
“Attack!”
They charged in again, determined to give Yohan no time to cast magic. Like arrows, they shot forward.
Their blades, all imbued with mana, surrounded Yohan from all sides. It was impossible for the Eternal Flow Technique’s threads to block everything.
Pouring mana into the Eternal Flow Technique, Yohan made it sturdier. The mana blades broke through the threads and pressed closer. However, the delay had been enough.
“Distortion Orb.”
Yohan moved his hand. A violently spinning sphere of mana emerged, radiating an intense force. He guided it with precision. Following the movement of his arm, the Distortion Orb swept up the nearby hyenas.
Boom!
“Argh!”
“Aaaagh!!”
The violently spinning sphere tore the hyenas apart and ripped through the ground, leaving nothing behind but blood.
“He’s an Special-Class Mage! Stay vigilant!”
The remaining hyenas retreated into the black mist, having quickly realized that conventional methods wouldn’t work against Yohan.
Watching the black mist carefully, Yohan muttered,
“So, Cassis must be pretty upset, huh?”
There was no response. But Yohan continued talking.
“That idiot can’t even distinguish between personal grudges and official duties. What a joke.”
His voice was filled with irritation.
His voice brimmed with irritation, and for good reason. Sending assassins during a mission to investigate a demonic lair was beyond foolish.
“Following a foolish master is a sin. Your oaths may shield you from interrogation, but I’ll kill you all anyway.”
Yohan channeled his mana to its limits. A pitch-black sphere began to form at his fingertip. A rupture point. Its fierce rotation created a storm of energy that swept across the area.
But then-
“Kiiaaah!”
“Grrraaaah!”
“Kyaaahhh!”
With horrific screams, something began pouring out of the demonic lair’s rift. A wave of grotesque creatures filled with malice and hostility surged forth.
Beasts intent on tearing flesh and drinking blood.
It was an outbreak.
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