VOLUME 14: CHAPTER 20

VOLUME 14: CHAPTER 20

[Daxton City]

Daxton City, the territory most adjacent the Forbidden Region in the Kingdom of Lukas, had been experiencing peace and prosperity. These were attributed to the sudden recovery of Count Steven Boris, the annihilation of the Pierson Pirate Fleet, the recent policies implemented by the crown, and the decrease in the number of monster attacks from the Forbidden Region.

As though the gods had collectively decided to bestow their blessings upon the County, only good things had been transpiring one after another in the territory for quite some time now.

Even the small towns surrounding Daxton City could feel these changes. Unlike before, the citizens of those territories no longer suffered from famine.

Truly, a time of peace.

“Pour me another cup, Marianne,” said Count Boris.

“Yes, Master.”

The Count was currently on the balcony of his mansion, absentmindedly gazing at the rows of houses that could be seen here from the distance. It may be just his imagination, but from here, he could hear the sound of children laughing and playing, along with the sound of carts traversing the streets.

Ah, how serene.

He wished that this tranquility would last forever.

The Count’s most trusted maid, Marianne, smiled as she poured tea into her Master’s cup.

Her Master had recently become fond of this particular tea. The taste wasn’t anything special, but the golden color reminded the Count of the potion given to him by his son.

Drinking this tea, the Count would always be reminded of that day when Mokuva entered his room and announced that he had finally obtained a cure for the disease that had been eating away at his father’s life for decades.

“Middle-grade or high-grade healing potion, was it?” muttered Count Boris. “Marianne, what do you think?”

The maid had just finished pouring the tea.

She respectfully took a step back and shook her head. “I believe the same, Master. That’s no potion, but an elixir. The most potent one there is. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the legendary elixir of the United Grakas Alliance.”

Count Boris smiled smugly. He felt proud of how smart his personal maid was.

Indeed, after it came to light that the King of Lukas and the Beast King had formed a bond, the two of them surmised that the potion given to Count Boris was the legendary elixir from the United Grakas Alliance.

“Hahahaha!” The Count’s laughter was brimming with vitality. “My son, Mokuva, is that talented huh?! To think that His Majesty would willingly bestow the legendary elixir to me just to ensure that my son would work for him!”

As a father, Count Boris couldn’t be any prouder right now.

He’d already accepted his fate long ago.

He’d already come to terms with the fact that his disease was the consequence of his numerous expeditions to the Forbidden Region during his younger years.

But now, not only have he gotten rid of the disease, he could even feel indescribably vitality flowing through his entire body.

He felt as though he’d regained at least ten years of his life after drinking that elixir.

The maid also smiled proudly.

As impertinent as it may sound, she’d been taking care of those kids since they were young, and she considered them as her own sons.

“It’s not only young master Mokuva, Master,” said Marianne.

Count Boris nodded. “I know.”

The Count also felt proud of his two other sons: Aris Boris, the new High Priest of the Temple of the Water God, and Arzen Boris, the administrator appointed directly by His Majesty, King Lark.

All of his three sons had been doing well in the respective paths they’d chosen. Count Boris believed that decades from now, their feats would be talked about even by the common folk – their achievements even immortalized in history books.

“I still remember that time when those three used to run around the mansion, falling down the stairs and getting injured everywhere,” said Count Boris. “Time sure flies fast.”

Count Boris looked at the maid standing nearby.

Since he was a teenager, this maid had been assigned to his side by the previous house head. Now, both of them had grown old. Although Marianne was younger than him, she’d now grown numerous wrinkles on her once flawless skin.

Even her back, which used to be ramrod straight whenever she walked, had started arching the past few years. Of course, Count Boris never once pointed this out.

This woman had literally spent her entire life serving him. Thinking about this, Count Boris couldn’t help but feel a squishing sensation in his heart.

This woman stayed in this family not out of monetary gains, but pure devotion.

Even during the time when the Count was about to die, this very same maid was by his side.

Did he really deserve such loyalty from this woman?

“Marianne,” said Count Boris.

“Master?”

“Your birthday is soon, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“How old are you again? Fifty?” The Count shook his head, finding it hard to utter the words he meant to convey. “Ah, damn it. Haah… I’m already this old but it seems I still don’t know how to deal with these things, huh? Marianne… what I want to say is.” The Count paused, a bit afraid of uttering his next words. “Let’s get married.”

The maid’s eyes widened.

Without warning, tears streamed down her eyes.

“W-What? Wait! Why are you crying?” said Count Boris, flustered. “I’m sorry if this is so sudden! I mean—”

“—Can you repeat that again?” said Marianne, her voice soft and eager.

Hearing her voice, the Count realized she wasn’t angry or offended at all. On the contrary, she sounded happy, as though she’d been dreaming of this day for so long.

Count Boris took the teacup and drank everything in one gulp.

He’d decided that since he was going to confess, he’d better do it in a right manner.

The Count mustered his courage once again.

“M-Marianne, I said let’s get—”

But a shadow from the distance interrupted the heartfelt confessions between the two.

“—Huh? What’s that?” muttered Count Boris.

The single shadow turned into two, and they quickly grew larger, until they reached the mansion where the Count was residing.

“D-Dragons?”

After some time, the two figures reached the mansion. Count Boris and Marriane were stunned speechless by what they saw.

A seven-headed creature and a winged red lizard.

The two colossal creatures stopped right above the mansion, each flap of their wings sending strong gusts of wind, sending flowers and leaves in the garden below flying.

The now empty teacup tilted from the wind and rolled off the table. It dropped to the ground, the sound of it shattering muffled by the flapping sounds.  

Behind him, the soldiers assigned to guard the Count entered the room, almost fainting upon seeing the two mythical creatures.

“Oh gods, what the hell are those things!”

“C-Count! Are you alright!”

“Please, this way!”

“We’ll protect you! Please escape!”

The Count didn’t listen to them.

Although Count Steven Boris was called ‘The Beloved Fool’, due to his compassionate personality,  in reality, he was a noble far smarter than his peers. He quickly put the pieces of the puzzle together. Although he didn’t know who the Red Dragon was, the seven-headed creature was quite famous in the kingdom. Without a doubt, it was the pet of the king of Lukas.

Count Boris mustered all of his courage and slowly went down on his knees. He even put both of his hands on the floor, prostrating.

“I greet His Majesty, King Lark!” The Count shouted at the top of his lungs. “It is an honor for you to visit this humble County of ours!”

Only after hearing that did Marianne and the soldiers snap out of their stupor. Although hesitant, they imitated the Count and prostrated on the ground.

The Count, the maid, and the soldiers didn’t dare look up, afraid of earning the ire of the king or the colossal creatures serving him.

“Impressive.”

“You are smart, human.”

The Scylla spoke in human tongue.

“Blackie, let me talk to him.”

“Of course. As you wish, God Evander.”

“You may raise your head, Count Boris.”

Slowly, Count Boris looked up, his coat flapping from the gusts of wind created by the flying creatures. From atop the seven-headed creature, he saw a silver-haired young man and several other people.

“Your Majesty?” said Count Boris.

Lark said, “Yes. I apologize for coming here abruptly and without any notice.”

Count Boris’ heart skipped a beat when he heard the king apologize to a mere Count like him.

“We’re on our way to the Forbidden Region, and I need your help.”

“His Majesty needs my help?”

The king was all-powerful and could even command these mighty creatures. What could he need from an old man like him? For a moment, the Count was worried.

“I’ll be harvesting some trees in the Forbidden Region.”

Trees?

As the conversation went on, the confusion of the Count deepened. Of course, he didn’t dare to ask questions and interrupt the king while he was speaking.

“The trees are… how should I say this? Special. We’ll be harvesting them, trunk, leaves, roots, and all. What I need you to do is to gather enough men to clear off any soil clinging to the roots. Make them as clean and as presentable as possible, without damaging any parts.”

Count Boris inwardly heaved a sigh of relief.

When he heard that the king needed his help, he was worried that he would be forced to mobilize his army to march into the deepest parts of the Forbidden Region.

The monsters had been quiet lately, that’s true, but that territory should still be swarming with those dangerous creatures.

His territory had been enjoying peace, and if it’s possible, he didn’t want to send his soldiers to their deaths just to follow the command of the king.

If it’s merely cleaning some trees, then the Count would gladly take on this task no matter how long it would take.

“This humble vassal hears and obeys,” said Count Boris. “Please leave this task to me, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you, Count,” said Lark, smiling. “I’ll entrust this task to you then. Blackie.”

“Yes, God Evander.”

“Let’s go.”

After uttering those words, the Dragon and the Scylla flew away, toward the direction of the Forbidden Region, leaving behind the dumbfounded people in the mansion.

The meeting was so unexpected and abrupt that they even forgot to thank the king for giving the Count the elixir, granting him another chance in life.

The Count and Marianne looked at each other.

“Marianne… I don’t know if I should be angry or what….” said the Count.

His Majesty had chosen the worst time to come. The Count didn’t even know whether he should laugh or be angry about what just transpired.

“That should be my line, Master,” said Marianne.

Now that the momentum had been cut right at its climax, things had become awkward between the two of them again.

The Count deliberated whether or not he should continue his confession, but seeing the soldiers nearby, he decided to postpone it for another day.

The Count faked a cough. “So, let’s get ready, shall we? Let’s prepare enough men to handle the task entrusted to us by His Majesty.”

The soldiers saluted. “Yes, Count!”

Marianne sighed. She was hoping the Count would continue with his confession even if there were people around, but it seemed the man was a coward.

***

The distance that would normally take weeks to cross had been traversed by Lark’s group in just a single day.

From the capital, they flew past cities, plains, forests, and villages, reaching the Forbidden Region in just several hours.

“Waaaah! Finally! The Forbidden Region! Hey, look at that! Is that the infamous poison gas?!”

George squeaked as he looked at the clouds of green gas oozing out of the cracks from the ground below. It was the famous flesh-eating gas that made people call this territory the City of Bones – the Kingdom of Lukas’ Forbidden Region.

“Master, do you know what kind of monsters are producing those gas?” said George excitedly.

“Shut up, George,” said Austen. “I’m pretty sure it’s not produced by monsters. Probably just the earth farting to deter humans from this area or something.”

Lady Alice and Chryselle chuckled at the statement, and even Arcturus, who’d been silently flying in his real form, found it amusing.

“Why are you butting in?” spat George. “I’m asking Master, not you, stupid.”

“I’m just worried that Master will throw the two of us out because of your stupid questions, brat.”

Lark laughed. “You are almost correct, George.”

Hearing this, George shrugged and smirked at Austen.

Lark continued, “The gas is the byproduct of the plants called corrupted willowroots. They’re a special kind of plant that evolved over time after being exposed to various amounts of mana and miasma. Although we couldn’t see it, there should be an extensive network of roots intertwined with each other deep underground.”

“Willowroots, I’ve read about them before,” said Lady Alice. “They’re basically parasitic plants that suck away the life of the soil.”

Chryselle said, “Master, if the flesh-eating gas is from mere plants, wouldn’t it be possible to eliminate it entirely if we target the source?”

“That’s impossible,” said Lark. “Those plants must be hundreds of years old, their roots deep and spanning the entire Forbidden Region. Unless we literally tilt this place upside-down, it’ll be impossible to eliminate them. They’ve grown to the point where it’s impossible to cull them completely. We’ll it should be possible to prevent them from spreading further to the nearby city and villages, but that’ll take a considerable amount of effort from the residents of Daxton.”

“I see,” muttered Chryselle. “Well, thanks to the flesh-eating gas, the beastmen army couldn’t cross this part of the kingdom’s territory during the last war.”

Because of the natural deterrence afforded by the Forbidden Region, the beastmen army was forced to take the path near the Endless Forest to invade the Kingdom of Lukas back then.

The flesh-eating gas and the monsters of the Forbidden Region acted as the strongest shield of Daxton City against any invasion from the South.

As they were discussing these things, Lark’s group noticed that the monster beetle swarms flying in the sky had been avoiding their group.

Even the monsters below didn’t dare go out of their hiding, utterly terrified of the sudden appearance of the Scylla and the Red Dragon.

Because of this, their trip to the labyrinth had been without any hitch or strife so far.

“Blackie, we’re almost there,” said Lark. “I want to enter through the main entrance this time.”

“Understood, God Evander.”

Upon reaching the labyrinth, instead of entering through the hole created by Blackie when it left this place, their group landed right at the entrance.

Lark jumped down from Blackie’s back. His gaze immediately landed on the headless statues at the entrance. His mood immediately turned sour.

Lark thought he’d come to terms with what happened to the statues of his disciples, but it seemed he still harbored resentment toward the perpetrator.

“Master?” muttered George.

“Shhh…” Austen nudged his little brother.

Even the unruly George noticed the foul mood of their Master. Silently, they followed Lark inside the first floor of the labyrinth. And upon seeing the numerous scorch marks that had completely erased the millennium-old murals on the walls and ceilings, the brothers gasped.

Everyone could tell at a glance that someone rampaged here and purposely erased all of the records they could find.

For several minutes, Lark simply stood there in complete silence, staring at the erased murals.

He wondered if he should ask the Arzomos Tribe to capture the Thunder Lord Nikolai, too.

It may sound petty, but he really wanted to make the man suffer for the crime of erasing the historical records left behind by his disciples.

Based on recent reports, the Thunder Lord remained at large, his whereabouts unknown.

The former royal court magician was not only cunning, he was also too strong to be captured by ordinary soldiers. Moreover, he never hesitated to kill anything and anyone that blocked his path, making him the more dangerous.

Thankfully, the Tower Master and his mages had been relentlessly hunting the Thunder Lord. Otherwise, that madman would have been able to freely roam the kingdom.

After some deliberation, Lark decided to add another request to the Arzomos Tribe. Later, he would ask them to put the Thunder Lord on their hunting list. It was the fastest and most efficient way to capture that criminal.

After staring at the scorch marks for several more minutes, Lark commanded the group to start moving. They jumped down the hole created by Blackie before, circumventing the other floors.

Finally, they reached the lowest part of the labyrinth.

Everyone, including Arturus and Lady Alice, gasped in astonishment.

The moment they stepped foot in this floor, it felt as though they’d been transported into an entirely different world. The floating particles of light felt surreal, the air didn’t feel stale, and they could even see a lake, a grassland, and a forest.

Moreover, those who could harness mana could feel the thick atmospheric mana in this place. The mana in this labyrinth was even denser than the Dragon’s Lair.

“Those are the elven oaks.”

Lark pointed at the massive trees that reached the ceiling. Their trunks were so thick that even five adult men wouldn’t be enough to fully embrace them.

“They’ve absorbed the mana in this place for over a thousand years, making their trunks and branches nearly as hard as iron,” said Lark. “Every part is precious, so we’ll try to preserve them as much as possible. Now, your first task is to dig.”

Although the task would be finished quickly if he used magic, Lark was afraid of tainting the elven oaks with his mana. Based on the blueprint he’d given Gorovir, the base of the floating castle would be created using elven oaks, and they would be combined to form a monolithic foundation. In order to do this, the elven oaks should be free from any external mana as much as possible before the base platform’s creation.

Only after the base platform was completed could they freely add mana into it, fortifying its defenses severalfold.

“Dig around the roots, make sure not to damage them,” said Lark. “And once we’re done, I shall personally transfer them one after the other to Daxton City.”

This was the reason why Lark called it harvesting, and not culling or cutting. He planned on delivering these millenium-old trees to the Dwarven Kingdom in their perfect state, no matter how arduous it would be.

Lark clapped his hands twice. “Now, let’s start!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The soldiers took out the shovels and pick axes they’d brought with them beforehand. They realized they were required to bring these tools for this reason.

Well, if an ordinary man was tasked to dig even one of these trees, it would probably take him weeks to finish. The royal guards, whose strength far surpassed ordinary people, were perfect for this task.

Cherry snarled, “You heard our king! Dig! Dig! Be careful not to damage the roots!”

“Yes, Vice Commander!”

“The rest of you, follow me,” Lark said to his disciples, Lady Alice, and Arcturus. “It’s not every day you’ll see a Dragon Vein. I’ll let you witness how gluttonous the Sword of Morpheus is.”

While the soldiers were busy digging out the elven oaks, Lark decided to feed the Sword of Morpheus and replenish its mana.