Chapter 102 – 101 – Bond (2)

Carpe Silvanus.
In ancient tongue, it means, reap the forest.

With the Demon King and the Archdukes sealed away, the demonic forces were greatly diminished. The mighty beings who had no equal in the world had vanished in an instant, leaving behind only small clues…

Now, long years have passed, and the stories have been passed down, the transmissions became legends, and the legends became myths. In this distant time, few remember the Demon King and the Archdukes of Hell, and even fewer remember why those powerful beings were sealed away.

But Lilith knows. She knows why those great beings were sealed away. Why they were sealed away at the same time.

And why the vessel named Carpe Silvanus, the one who reaps the forest, came into being.

As a successor to the few remaining myths, Lilith wandered for a long time… for an immeasurable time. Though a high-ranking demon, Lilith, whose own power was weak, used her unique technique of ‘avatar’ to become a shadow of the world.

She hid in the darkness, scheming, planning, and preparing.
And the moment she realized that the being she had been waiting for had been born, the joy she felt!

Although she was surprised that someone else had taken the vessel first, it was a relief that it wasn’t one of the Archduke’s lackeys. If it had been stuck in the Holy Nation of Hespote, she would have had to keep waiting for an opportunity, but since it had walked out on its own, even Lilith, who had been patiently hiding in the darkness for so long, couldn’t help but wiggle her behind.

Perhaps that’s why she suffered the humiliation of being caught by a strange priest and having her identity exposed, and even recorded the dark history of losing her original purpose and enjoying carnal relations with him in his dream… and, more than anything, she made the mistake of releasing him just before he became a puppet… but it’s okay.

In the end, she is the one who will reap the forest.
She will finish what the Demon King started. And thus, she will be reborn as a new Archduke.

The only, the sole Demon Archduke in this world!

“Now… show me. It is the season of harvest. A time when life is born and also revived. I am Lilith. The one who remembers the forgotten myths. The one who has endured for a long time. Carpe Silvanus, the one who reaps the forest! Harvest! Harvest and give me the fruits!”

The seal… she can feel the seal stone being absorbed.
She can feel herself being assimilated into his earnest heart.

The purple glow intensifies and slowly expands its range. Lilith trembled at the power she felt from the purple light that enveloped her body.

This is… this is the power of an Archduke. A powerful presence that had been forgotten for too long transcends time and descends upon the world once more.

Finally, where the light had faded, stood a woman of breathtaking beauty.
Her black hair, mixed with a purple glow, and her black, indifferent eyes, also tinged with a purple glow, turned towards Lilith.

“…Insufficient.”
“Noble Archduke, the seal stones will soon be gathered. I have made arrangements for you, so please grant your humble servant a little more time.”

The indifferent black eyes that looked down at Lilith, who was prostrate on the floor, focused on something that was in the way. The vertical pupils that were split in the middle.

The knuckles seemed to adjust to her enlarged hand, gradually growing in size. The knuckles that had been so tight on her hand grew little by little until they were the perfect size.

“……”

The woman, who seemed fascinated by the sight of the knuckles that didn’t suit her delicate, slender fingers, raised her hand in front of her eyes and clenched her fist a few times, tilting her head.

For some reason, looking at this makes her feel strange.
She knows. She knows what this is, how she got it, and what its value was.

The woman remembered the memories of when she used the name ‘Karsilla’. That’s why she knew how precious this knuckle was to her past self.

But she doesn’t understand. Because her past memories don’t resonate with her current feelings.

“…Archduke?”
“……”

Lilith’s eyelids fluttered as she watched the woman staring intently at her hand, which she had raised in front of her, and repeatedly playing the game of clenching and unclenching her fist.

‘What, what is it? What is the meaning of that action!? What is the reason for constantly repeating that simple action of lightly clenching and unclenching her fist? That’s clearly a game that human children play! …No, that can’t be. There’s no way a Demon Archduke would play such a game. Then what does it mean!?’

Lilith, who was racking her brain, didn’t realize that she had just come up with the answer. And she probably never will.

The woman was simply having fun clenching and unclenching her fist.
She didn’t understand why she felt so drawn to the knuckles, and why the simple act of clenching and unclenching her fist made her feel so good.

“I, I see! You haven’t… you haven’t tested your power yet! Then, your humble servant will guide you to a place where you can unleash your power!”
“…Power?”
“Yes! The power of the Archduke! An opportunity to show the world the power of the new Archduke, born against the myths!”
“Power…”

Lilith, who quickly got up at the sight of the woman nodding, took the lead. Considering the numerous presences she could feel not far away, there was no need to rush.

Today.
This city will disappear from the world.

“…Um.”
“……??”
“Are, are you going to… carry that knuckle around?”
“……”

The woman, who had stopped clenching and unclenching her fist, tilted her head. Knuckle… is it necessary?
After thinking for a moment, the woman nodded again.

Clang.
Soon after, the sharp metallic sound of the knuckle falling to the floor echoed, but no one paid attention. Lilith didn’t even glance at the knuckle lying carelessly on the floor, and the woman following behind her strode out with her long legs, as if she had no particular attachment to it.

The knuckle that had fallen on the cold floor was growing cold.

* * *

The city was burning.
What greeted the group that had just emerged from the dungeon was not the crowds of the city, the guards, or the clear sky, but a horde of strange, grayish-white monsters.

“Kill them!”
“These monster bastards are attacking the city!”

The group was exhausted, but they were not weak enough to be defeated by the monsters, and they easily dispatched them, but the atmosphere was close to the worst.

The end of a difficult expedition, they thought they were finally returning to the city, but the city was in this state. What on earth happened?

This is… an event that never happened in the game. What trigger caused this change? …Come to think of it, the Blood Frenzy Archduke was only mentioned by name in the game, and there were never any enemies who actually served the Blood Frenzy Archduke.

Where… where did it all go wrong?
Her head was a mess, but she could think about it later. First, let’s secure Karsilla’s safety.

“Stick together. We’re going through the city. Our destination is the Elemental Magic Tower and the City Hall. We’ll stop by the tower to secure the mages, and then head straight to City Hall.”

Of course, it was more for bringing Karsilla than the mage force, but considering the mercenaries and the guards, she couldn’t say, ‘I have to save my baby first!’

Save Karsilla and secure the city’s nobles. She had to get clues about this situation from them, or, in the worst case, protect at least them and get out of the city.

It was impossible to save everyone in this city with a resident population of tens of thousands anyway. There is no difference in the preciousness of life, but that is only an ideal, and the value of human life is different.

And she would save the most valuable and precious person to her first. She could tell the heroic side of saving people with all her might to go to hell.

“Here, here are the mages!”
“……The mages are annihilated? What kind of enemy…?”

As they quickly approached the magic tower, a pile of mages lay dead. Judging by their robes, they didn’t seem to be combat mages, but still, more than 10 mages would be a pretty powerful force… what defeated them?

“Yurian. Just a moment… this way.”

Cha Hyewon, who was examining the pile of mage corpses, gestured with a serious look on her face, and her heart sank.

She hesitated for a moment because of the inexplicable anxiety, but she couldn’t turn a blind eye to it. She approached with reluctant steps, and Cha Hyewon whispered closely.

“These mages. They’re from the Elemental Magic Tower.”
“I know that. You can tell just by looking at the robes with the Elemental Magic Tower mark on them. So what?”
“This old man here. He seems… he seems to be the old man in charge of Karsilla.”
“……What?”
“No… I asked you to entrust her education using the magistrate’s power. At that time, the mage you brought as the mage in charge of Karsilla was this old man, I think. His skills were… honestly disappointing, but I thought it was just a few days of studying, so I said okay… I think that was the mage.”

Damn it.
Could it be that the tentacle guy was telling the truth?

She looked down at the corpse of the old mage, who was glaring with his eyes wide open as if he was so wronged, and then her eyes fell on the staff he was holding.

The necklace tied to the old, polished, heavy staff… it was definitely the ‘Guardian Knight’s Protection Necklace’ she had obtained from the ‘Forgotten Temple’. The necklace she had given to Karsilla.

【Guardian Knight’s Protection Necklace】 ▷ Function Disabled

▶ Magic Item
◉ Automatic protection function limited to the wearer
    (Increased protection based on the user’s strength stat)
◉ +2 when strength stat is 15 or less, +1 when 20 or less

The shield was broken and the function was disabled. Why does this old man have Karsilla’s necklace? Then Karsilla is…!?

“Ah! Yurian?”
“Hurry. The tower is right in front of us!”

And she couldn’t help but be dumbfounded by the sight of the tower that appeared in front of her. The tower was burning and collapsing in places. The countless monsters scattered around it and the fact that the surrounding terrain was destroyed seemed to indicate how fierce the battle had been.

“Even the tower… Oh God, what is going on?”

The gasping voice of the parish priest and the voices of the mercenaries calling out to God were faint.
Did something really happen to Karsilla? Should she have taken her into the dungeon even if it was dangerous? Was it wrong to entrust her to the tower to encourage her interest in magic?

As she was blankly watching the burning tower, Irian approached.

“Yurian. These footprints. They look similar to Karsilla’s footprints.”
“……What?”

It was hard to tell because of the monster corpses and the destroyed terrain scattered everywhere, but among the many footprints, there was a small footprint in the place Irian was pointing at.

It was such a faint trace that she wouldn’t have been able to find it if it hadn’t been for her unique sharp eye, but she followed it just in case, and soon found a familiar object.

“There’s a knuckle here! But… it’s a little different in shape and size from Karsilla’s knuckle.”

The knuckle that Diana found. It was definitely different from the knuckle she had given to Karsilla, but the information window didn’t lie.

【Siege Weapon – Knuckle】 ▷ Modified by the mage ‘Andrew Jackson’

▶ Rare Weapon
◉ 300% increase in attack power against walls
◉ +3 when strength stat is 15 or less
◉ Automatically adjusts size to fit the wearer

“Cha Hyewon! Was the old mage’s name… Andrew Jackson?”
“Probably. I think that was his name. Why?”
“……It’s Karsilla’s knuckle. Why is it abandoned here?”

At that moment.
A hand that had approached without a sound snatched the knuckle.

“It’s mine.”
“Wh, what! Who… are you?”

What… is it? This familiar yet unfamiliar woman is…?