Ed stepped onto the staircase leading underground. He was accompanied by Montrant and several knights. The dull thud of the knights’ thick leather soles echoed through the cold stone steps.
“How did you find this place?”
It was the knight commander who asked that, as Montrant who was tense from descending the stairs kept his words to a minimum.
Ed had no choice but to lie since it was difficult to reveal Bimellion’s existence.
“The door was open, so I came inside just in case. But it didn’t look like a place where someone actually lived. When I searched more thoroughly, I found this passage.”
“Hmm…”
The commander let out a low groan and narrowed his eyes.
Ed could read the suspicion in his gaze.
It was a plausible doubt. Was Ed the one who had hidden the children, only to pretend to discover them just as the search began?
But Ed found it utterly absurd.
He had only arrived here yesterday.
His whereabouts before that could easily be verified by the church, so there was no reason for him to tell a lie that would be exposed so easily.
It was clear that the knight commander simply didn’t like him.
As their gazes briefly crossed in silent tension, they finally reached the bottom of the stairs.
What they saw under the dim light of the lanterns mounted on the walls was truly horrific.
“Ugh…”
One of the knights was unable to endure the sight and gagged.
Blood pooled thickly on the damp floor, and crimson splatters stained the walls. Torn flesh lay carelessly strewn about, while human organs, preserved in grotesque fashion, were proudly displayed along the walls. The foul stench of rotting corpses hung in the air, suffocating them.
Ed too felt nausea roiling in his stomach, but he barely managed to suppress it. He covered his mouth with his palm as he forced himself to look deeper into the space.
At the far end of the wide chamber stood rows of cold iron bars. They were prison cells.
And inside them were trapped people.
“Julia! Oh, my baby…”
As soon as Montrant spotted his youngest daughter curled up inside the prison cell with her face pale, he rushed forward in a panic.
But a knight blocked his path.
“My lord… you need to see this.”
The knight’s voice carried an ominous weight.
He pointed toward something situated between the rows of prison cells. There, a metal examination table stood, and on it lay a man with his limbs bound.
That man was the second son of the Montrant family.
At a glance, his pale face looked as though he were merely asleep.
But upon seeing his body, there was no way one could think he was at peace.
His naked body bulged grotesquely in various places as if something beneath his skin was writhing.
His arms, legs, chest, waist, and neck….his skin swelled and deflated over and over again in an unnatural rhythm.
Even his back twitched violently, as though something was trying to break free from within. His restrained body trembled ceaselessly atop the examination table.
“Germond…?”
Montrant’s voice was dazed and hollow and it echoed through the underground chamber.
“He must have been a subject of the necromancer’s experiments. It’s dangerous. Do not approach him.”
While the knight held Montrant back, Ed cautiously stepped closer to Germond.
Up close, his body looked even more horrific. This was not simply a case of swollen flesh.
Something foreign, something almost like a new lifeform, was stirring inside him.
“If you value your life, step away immediately.”
A sharp warning came from one of the knights behind him.
But Ed paid no mind and continued observing Germond.
Then, suddenly Germond’s closed eyes snapped open.
The whites of his eyes were completely soaked in blood. It wasn’t just redness from irritation. His entire sclera had turned a deep crimson.
Even Ed involuntarily recoiled at the grotesque sight. Had they found him too late, despite discovering him much earlier than in the original story?
A chill ran down Ed’s spine, but he steadied himself and looked at Germond again.
He was moving his lips.
But no voice came out. His trembling lips were desperately mouthing something in silence.
Ed carefully observed the shape of his mouth. And then, in an instant, he understood.
“Help me.”
That was what he was saying.
Ed immediately stepped forward and reached out his hand.
He had to free him somehow. But the restraints around Germond’s wrists and ankles weren’t just ordinary ropes. They were solid iron shackles.
“I told you not to act on your own!”
A sharp shout came from behind, but Ed didn’t even turn around as he yelled back.
“Get over here and unlock these shackles! I can save him!”
“He’s already been contaminated! The swelling of his skin is a sign of a chimera transformation. Even if it’s not, his whole body could explode at any moment, killing all of us! Stop spouting nonsense and get out of there! …For now, we’re taking the lord and retreating.”
But Ed refused to give up.
A single person flashed through his mind. The bishop.
With the bishop’s advanced holy magic, most curses and contaminations could be purified. Moreover, Germond still had his sanity. That meant there was a chance. He could be saved.
There was no way Ed was going to walk away now.
As the knights began forming up around Montrant, preparing to retreat, Ed strode toward them without hesitation.
He grabbed the arm of the knight in front of him and ordered him,
“Unlock the shackles. Now.”
“You insolent—”
“If he dies because of you, will you take responsibility?”
The knight flinched at Ed’s commanding presence but soon clenched his teeth and shook off Ed’s grip.
Realizing that arguing with the knights any further was pointless, Ed immediately turned his gaze toward Montrant.
“My lord, give the order. I will save him, no matter what.”
Montrant who had been staring blankly into space as if his soul had left him slowly met Ed’s eyes. His wavering gaze gradually grew clearer as he locked eyes with Ed’s firm and determined stare.
At last, he gave a small nod.
At that moment, the knight who had shaken off Ed’s grip let out a deep sigh and drew his sword.
“We’ll settle this later.”
He strode forward and swung his sword down with great force, striking the bonds that bound Germond.
Clang—
With the sharp sound of metal shattering, the cuffs broke in two, and the knight quickly stepped back.
As soon as the shackles were severed, Ed rushed to Germond and pulled him into his arms.
Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the staircase.
“Stay back!”
“Move!”
“I said, stand aside!”
Fortunately, it seemed that Montrant had regained his senses. He gestured for the knights attempting to block Ed’s path to stand down.
As the knights hesitated and stepped aside, Ed seized the opening and bolted forward. Even in his arms, Germond writhed restlessly, unable to stay still.
Ed gritted his teeth and ran. The Bishop was probably near the cathedral, leading the clergy in their search.
He had to get there quickly.
Though he wasn’t a warrior monk, Ed had trained his body consistently, and he was confident he could reach the bishop without stopping.
Two paladins stationed near the bishop noticed a man sprinting toward them at full speed.
Then they saw the child in his arms, showing clear signs of chimera transformation.
Immediately, the paladins drew their swords, preparing to block his path, but the bishop raised a hand, signaling them to stand down.
He had already seen Ed approaching and grasped the situation.
Breathing heavily, Ed knelt before the bishop and carefully laid the child down.
“We need advanced purification!”
“Understood. He’s still conscious, so we should be able to cleanse the dark magic contamination. There will be aftereffects, but…”
Only then did Ed let out a sigh of relief. When he took a step back, the bishop tightly grasped the holy emblem of Arian hanging from his neck.
“Merciful light of the Goddess.”
With the bishop’s cry, an intense radiance burst forth from the emblem. The soft glow gradually intensified until it completely enveloped Germond’s body.
The strange protrusions that had begun to break through his skin slowly receded, and his writhing gradually came to a halt.
***
“Thank you, truly.”
Once the situation had settled, Montrant approached Ed and offered him a sincere word of gratitude.
“You are… better than my knights. No, perhaps even better than I am.”
“Please, don’t say that. I was simply close enough to notice that the young master was still conscious.”
“Even so, risking your life to save a child is no easy feat.”
The evening sun painted the sky a deep red. Its orange glow wrapped around Montrant’s face, accentuating his sharp features.
“Do you remember my promise?”
“You mean the generous reward you spoke of?”
“So you do remember. Just don’t tell me you intend to refuse it. Otherwise, I fear I’ll be haunted by nightmares for a long time.”
“Fortunately, that won’t be an issue. There is something I’d like to ask of you.”
“Oh?”
Montrant raised an eyebrow and a pleased smile formed on his lips.
“Go ahead.”
“May I send you a letter?”
“Anytime. I’ll read it before even those from my dearest friends.”
“Thank you.”
As Ed bowed his head respectfully, Montrant gave a small nod before glancing back over his shoulder.
At his gesture, the waiting knight commander stepped forward. He was wearing a somewhat awkward expression as he finally approached Ed and bowed his head deeply.
“To be honest, I doubted you. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I thought you were overstepping your bounds. I apologize. I regret that my narrow perspective kept me from recognizing your true worth.”
It was a rare sight to see a knight commander bowing his head to a monk. Although he was treated with basic respect as a member belonging to the Church of St. Arian, the status difference between a knight and a monk was considerable.
Especially for a knight commander, who was treated almost like a noble, lowering his head and offering an apology was an extraordinary gesture.
When he had been accused, Ed had felt frustrated and dumbfounded, but now that he was receiving an apology, he found he had no reason to hold a grudge.
Come to think of it, the knight who had told him “We’ll talk later” was nowhere to be seen. Ed hadn’t even started looking around for him, but the knight commander, as if reading his thoughts, spoke first.
“You won’t be seeing him for a while. If you wish, I can summon him to apologize to you personally.”
“It’s fine.”
Ed shook his head lightly. In reality, with everything happening so quickly, he barely even remembered the man’s face. He didn’t think it was worth receiving an apology over.
The sun had sunk even lower, and its fiery red light stretched its shadows long across the ground.
Count Montrant had quietly gone inside to check on his son’s condition himself.
The clergy had dispersed to rest in preparation for their departure the next morning, while the bishop remained inside. He continued the second young master’s treatment.
Meanwhile, the secret laboratory of Bimelion had been thoroughly searched and completely cleared out by the knights and paladins.
In the now-empty underground laboratory.
Ed returned there alone.
Relying on the dim glow of the small lamp in his hand, he carefully examined the floor.
Just as he had noticed when he first discovered this place, there was a faint crack in one corner of the floor.
He pressed down with his fingertips.
Clunk.
When Ed lifted the surrounding floorboards, a hidden staircase was revealed beneath them.
He stepped forward.
The staircase was much narrower than the laboratory and led deep underground.
When he finally reached the bottom, he found a space far smaller than the laboratory. A pitch-black void, completely devoid of light.
Clang.
“Who’s there…?”
A metallic clank echoed through the space, followed by an unfamiliar voice. Ed raised his lamp.
Illuminated by the light was a young girl, sitting on the floor.
She wore thick shackles around her wrists and ankles, with chains fastening her to the ground.
The restraints resembled those that had bound Germond, but they were even thicker and made of an oddly unnatural metal.
She sat there quietly as if the restraints were nothing new to her. Though it had likely been a long time since she had seen light, she showed no sign of surprise and just looked directly up at Ed.
“Who are you?”
“….…”
Ed said nothing. He simply stared at her.
Her purple hair fell just low enough to cover her eyebrows, and her deep, vivid red eyes were striking. Her face seemed more mature than Lina’s, but there was still a trace of childhood in her features.
Right before him stood the true reason Ed had feared the consequences of his discovery.
A being born to bring destruction. A child fated to one day become the Demon King.
The Bewitching Demon King, Versilia.
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