I knew this would happen.
What’s the point of gathering people and creating a solid plan when nothing went as planned?
Even so, I felt unexpectedly calm. Maybe it was because, in a corner of my heart, I’d been expecting something like this to happen.
“You said it wouldn’t go bad.”
“...I have nothing to say,” Calzark mumbled shamefully.
I hadn’t expected that reaction.
To be honest, it didn’t fit him.
“It can’t be helped. We’ll have backup soon, so we just need to survive until then,” I said, making sure that Juan could hear me.
I was obviously bluffing. I hadn’t even had time to inform Juniang before leaving.
My stroll out here today had been quite spontaneous.While resting in the instructor’s lodge, I’d been able to sense the presences in the building a bit more clearly...
And I’d focused quite a lot on Juan’s room...
Where is he?
Was he going around in the middle of the night?
In the end, even after 11 at night, Juan’s room continued to stay empty...
I felt that something was off, so I carefully sneaked out of the nurse’s office.
And then, while looking around, I found this place.
Naturally, I hadn’t had the time to inform Juniang or Rook.
“Heup...!”
At this moment, Calzark stood up.
I was surprised by his movement.
“Are you okay? I think you’re bleeding quite heavily.”
“I’ve stopped the bleeding. I can’t say I’m at my full strength, but I can’t be a burden to you.”
Despite his words, it was difficult for me to expect much help from him.
The injury to his abdomen was critical; that part of his body would strain with every movement he made.
“He attacks with his tongue.”
“I saw. I killed someone similar in the mountains.”
Laughter was heard.
Keh.
It was Juan.
“Osel was quite the promising cultist. I was the one who arranged his contract with the demon...”
“...”
“But more importantly, Luan Bednicker... Your attack just then showed much more skill than I expected. Have you perhaps been hiding your talent?”
It’s been a while since I was last asked such a question.
I estimated the distance to Juan as I answered, “Not particularly.”
“Is that so?”
The moment he said “so,” his tongue flicked out from his mouth again.
It was fast.
If not for my training on Spirit Mountian, I wouldn’t have seen it.
Ah.
He wasn’t aiming for me.
His tongue was headed for Calzark.
Maybe Calzark would’ve been fine if his condition was normal, but could he respond in his current state?
Clang!
Thankfully, Calzark parried the tongue.
At least, that was how it seemed at first.
Shwip.
“...!”
The tongue wound itself around Calzark’s sword. It was an unpleasant movement, reminiscent of a snake coiling around its prey.
After the tongue had tightly wrapped around the sword, it pulled Calzark like a rope.
“Kugh!”
Calzark’s body lurched forward, but he never let go of his sword.
It was impressive to see his tenacity as a swordsman, but we soon learned that this wasn’t a good idea.
Juan lifted Calzark by the sword using his tongue and whipped him into the air.
“Calza—!”
His strength was monstrous.
Calzark’s body was thrown into the night sky like a pebble.
I looked up in shock, then quickly moved my upper body to dodge the incoming tongue.
“Don’t worry about someone who is already dying, Young Hero Luan,” Juan said as he smiled at me.
He spoke pretty well for someone whose tongue was all the way out of his mouth.
“It may become troublesome if I keep you alive. I’ll have to kill you here before the reinforcements arrive. ...Well, if my guess is correct, there weren’t any to begin with.” Ř
Damn it.
He was quick.
Well, fine.
Although the situation had taken a turn for the worse, I had trained for situations like this.
The rage, despair, and humiliation I’d felt after the training camp, the 100 days of training on Spirit Mountain, and even my spar against Fourth Senior Brother...
All those memories returned to me like a storm.
Fuu...
I let out a long breath and glared at my target.
“...Let’s go, High Priest.”
No distractions, just you and me.
* * * * *
* * * * *
Calzark flew up to a frightening height.
His senses, which had improved quite a bit after consuming the Sapphire Snake, rang their alarm bells.
The scenery was quite beautiful as he looked down at the expansive forest in the middle of the night like this—
Woomp.
But when his ascent turned into a descent, he could no longer enjoy the scenery.
Swoosh!
“...! ...!”
He fell.
It was difficult to even keep his eyes open due to the rushing air.
It was also difficult to do anything else due to the pain in his abdomen.
In the end, Calzark crossed his arms to prepare himself for the crash landing.
Crunch!
Perhaps fortunately, the thick branches of the tree absorbed his impact. Around the time he stopped feeling the branches clawing away at his skin...
Crash!
Calzark rolled to the ground.
At least for now, he was still alive.
Though he could feel cracks in his arms, ribs, and legs.
“Damn it...”
Calzark forced himself to stand.
The green tongue that had appeared out of Juan’s mouth...
It was dangerous.
Of course, he’d allowed the attack by letting his guard down because he’d thought Juan was dead...
Calzark, you idiot.
What was the point of talking as if you’d forgotten the friendship of the past if you were going to be that pathetic?
His opponent had been a cultist, and a high priest at that.
In the cult, where all sorts of nonsense happened, Juan was an executive, a rank that numbered less than two dozen.
It had been foolish to assume that Juan had died from being stabbed in the throat once.
Of course, it wasn’t as if Calzark didn’t have an excuse.
The high priest he’d met in the mountains hadn’t been able to regenerate like that.
...The kid is in danger.
Just walking was difficult, but Calzark quickly returned to the open field.
“...”
When he arrived, he was dazed by what he saw.
Clang!
A close-quarters battle was ongoing as if the wide-open area wasn’t wide enough.
The green tongue continued to shift in shape as it launched continuous attacks.
And the way Luan was perfectly responding to all of it, made him seem like a seasoned fighter—if Calzark ignored his appearance.
Luan, you... just what happened to you?
Calzark forced the question down.
Instead, he quickly analyzed the situation and contemplated what he should do.
Honestly, he wanted to join the battle right away... but he would only be a burden in his current state.
...We need assistance.
He would return to camp and bring back reinforcements.
But that didn’t mean he could bring everyone.
Juan might have subordinates among the instructors, and if he brought too many people, Juan might try to run away.
He thought of the two most capable and trustworthy people at the current time.
The Instructor of Doctrine. Knight Captain Rook.
Those two and Luan.
If those three combined their strength, they could definitely kill High Priest Juan.
Calzark buried his past friend Juan and decided to face him purely as the high priest of the cult.
He would hesitate no longer.
...Don’t die, Luan.
He now had one more debt to repay.
Calzark staggered as he made his way to the camp.
***
As explained by Juniang and guessed by Luan, most high priests were chosen from among individuals who were already a part of the cult.
But the reason Juan had been able to become a high priest...
The reason he had been scouted personally by the cult leader was because of his special talent.
Juan was able to serve multiple different demon lords simultaneously.
No one else had been allowed this except for the cult leader, the incarnation of darkness, not even the vice-cult leaders who’d inherited his blood.
Demon lords were egotistical beings.
Although the uneducated Imperials grouped them together, calling the demon-lord worshipers the “Church of Darkness,” their internal affairs were much more complicated.
To begin with, the six Demon Lords didn’t have good relationships.
They each had their own personalities, and their scriptures were completely different as well.
Each sect had its own rules, teachings, and peculiarities between members, so if they didn’t have the cult leader to act as the central joining force, they would’ve all been separate forces.
Naturally, the demon lords didn’t like the faith they received being split with other gods.
However, Juan worshiped three demon lords at once.
The Demon Lord of the Black Swamp, Ahop.
The Demon Lord of the Blood-Lit Moon, Hadenaihar.
And the Demon Lord of the Green Tongue, Tangtata.
Among them, Ahop needed to be worshiped with the utmost care because of how powerful he was, and his scriptures were the heaviest among even the other demon lords.
On the other hand, Tangtata’s personality was completely different from Ahop’s.
Even if someone wasn’t a worshiper, he might accept their request if their ideals aligned with his, if he liked the compensation, or even for no reason at all.
Of course, imbuing people with authority was a completely different matter.
Slash!
Juan no longer kept his green tongue in his mouth.
He pulled it out with his hand and swung it around like a whip.
His green tongue was a demon lord’s authority had personally gifted to him by Tangtata.
The liquid that constantly oozed from its surface had a rusting quality that broke down all weapons and defensive tools it came into contact with.
An ordinary weapon would’ve rusted away already, and even extraordinary weapons wouldn’t be able to hold on for long.
Even the palace’s swords, which were famed for their strength and toughness, would not be able to resist the tongue’s corrosive liquid.
What is that sword?
The already-rusted sword that Luan was swinging showed no sign of receiving any damage from the liquid.
And most peculiar of all...
This young hero...
...Was that the talentless child of House Bednicker, who had never shown anything extraordinary, was showcasing an absurd level of martial arts.
Juan was genuinely surprised.
“...Fifteen. Just how were you able to achieve this level of power at that age? Not even the Lord of Blood and Iron could’ve fought a high priest at that age,” he said while continuing his assault.
However, Luan’s reaction was quite nonchalant.
“I used a trick.”
Juan didn’t understand what Luan meant by that.
So he decided to not think on it too deeply.
Clench.
The moment he put strength into the hand holding his weapon, the flowing weapon that had been flicking around like a whip solidified.
He grabbed the hardened tongue with both hands and stabbed forward like a spear.
Although it took a long time to describe, the attack didn’t take even half a breath to launch.
Fwip!
“...!”
Luan dodged that attack like it was nothing.
Juan felt as if he must have suffered a blow to the head at some point.
In this fierce melee combat, Luan had responded to a sudden change in his opponent with ease.
That was impossible with talent alone.
He has experience as well? At just fifteen years of age?
Juan swung his green spear.
As he did, he continued to change its form.
He broke off the spear head to use as a shortsword and wielded the long spine of the spear like a sword.
Sword, Blade, Spear, Staff, Ax, Club, Whip...
Seeing so many different weapon arts, Luan couldn’t help but be impressed.
“I would’ve been in big trouble if I hadn’t sparred with Fourth Senior Brother.”
“Fourth Senior Brother?”
“Yeah. Do you perhaps know anything about Shape-Memory Alloy?”
“First time hearing about it.”
“I was like that as well.”
It as at that moment...
Juan felt as if thunder had clapped in front of him.
Rumble!
In less than a breath’s time, Luan’s sword arrived in front of his face.
By the time he’d realized it, the sword had already drawn blood.
Slash.
The sound and pain arrived shortly after.
Juan moved back a little and grabbed his severed right arm.
Frustration and despair filled his face.
“Does it hurt?”
Luan smiled.
“It hurt for me as well.”