Chapter 52
The heavy rain finally fell, as precious as dew falling from the depths of hell.
You can see the black smoke rising from the city from very, very far away. The burning things will turn into ruins like this after the fire is extinguished.
The city's reconstruction is the most urgent task, so there's no time to rest, even in the pouring rain. Ketchum is currently directing the knights to clear the roads from the ruins, while simultaneously assessing which dilapidated buildings can be used in the short term.
Fortunately, there are still some places to stay temporarily. That guy only caused trouble at the entrance, and many places inside are safe and sound.
As for Alpha, he is now searching for the demons hiding in the city. Ketchum knows Alpha's character; he won't rest until those guys pay for what they've done.
"This kind of reckless guy is really annoying," Ketchum sighed softly, rubbing his temples.
He saw something he shouldn't have seen. If he hadn't turned around and looked at it then, he might not have ended up in such a distressing situation.
This unbearable feeling was truly unpleasant, Ketchum thought, perhaps he shouldn't think so much and should just act on his intuition.
But what kind of outcome do I really want? After all...
My head really hurts, it hurts so much that Ketchum just wants to rest. Damn it, this rain is so annoying, the sound of the dense raindrops hitting the ground is so unpleasant, it makes me shudder.
He was exhausted. He had just survived a battle worthy of casual conversation, and now he had to think about such troublesome matters. The combined mental and physical exhaustion threatened to break the back of this seemingly steel-willed priest. He felt pain, pain throughout his entire body. Yet, he was skillfully directing the knights to perform their tasks.
But now was not the time to rest. Ketchum knew that wanting to rest was just wishful thinking. How could he possibly rest? He had many responsibilities to fulfill, and he couldn't easily say he wanted to rest at a time like this.
Ketch chuckled dryly, mocking his own laziness, and continued with his work.
......
"Really? You really found the demon?" Ark looked at Deedri with slight surprise.
Just now, Deedri asked him to come out with her for a moment. In the pouring rain, the two of them stayed in a secluded spot, seemingly planning to discuss something.
The heavy rain effectively blocked out the chaos outside, although it soaked both of them. Ark didn't mind; Deedri being completely drenched was indeed a sight to behold. But Ark had no intention of appreciating it; he was preoccupied with what she had said.
"That child named Lori is a demon."
Dedeline repeated herself, even though she had already said it once before, but she repeated it again as if she had forgotten, perhaps because it was indeed something that needed to be taken seriously.
Is the news reliable?
“I saw it with my own eyes; she annihilated that fire giant in an instant.” As she spoke, Deedri took a bag from her person and tossed it over. Ark caught it, opened it, and looked inside at the white, sticky clumps that had become somewhat mixed together.
This is ashes, or more precisely, ashes soaked in rainwater.
But there was no fire element at all, just like the things on his table.
"Do you know what kind of ability it is?" Deedri paused. "The ability is used in an instant, starting from the point she touches and instantly expanding into a field. From beginning to end, it's just a moment, without touching anything else. This thing in your hand... is the core of that monster."
Yak was stunned for a moment, and it took him a while to figure out what this meant.
This core originally contained immense magical power, so even if it were truly destroyed, all the magical power within it shouldn't disappear.
Instead of being pure ashes, which would just look like ashes. There are no other contained elements.
However, it did not subconsciously reject all elements; it had already invaded the water element when it was soaked in water.
However, this has another problem... which is that at the moment of its creation, it does not contain any elements.
Was a substance that originally possessed enormous energy instantly reduced to nothing but ashes? Ark felt a chill run down his spine. If Deedri wasn't lying, then they really had encountered a very strange creature.
“This might not be a demon from the Flavos lineage,” Dedeline stated her judgment. “Not all ashes are related to fire; this kind of mindset isn’t your way of thinking.”
“Perhaps. Maybe my thinking has become too mainstream. It’s true that seeing ashes makes people think it must be something related to fire.” Ark said helplessly, “If there really is no open flame, then it should only be the Void and Illusion Demon and the Mutation and Chaos Demon, right? Which two should have similar abilities?”
"No, you're lying to me."
Why would you say that?
“Every time you readily agree with what I say, I feel like you’re trying to trick me,” Dedeline said, frowning. “You also think that thing is related to Vladis.”
“Perhaps I am indeed stuck in a fixed mindset.” After hesitating for a long time, Ark said hesitantly, “But I really think it’s a demon related to fire.”
Have you ever seen a similar ability?
“No, although I do know a demon friend. But he’s a demon of the Calamity and Death lineage.” Acton paused and said, “Through him, I obtained a lot of information related to demons. This information has always been closely controlled by the Church, so I took a lot of notes at the time and came to several conclusions.”
"for example."
"The abilities of demons may have triggering conditions, and these conditions may be unrelated to magic power, but rather a separate system."
"Then what."
"Demons inherit abilities from demons, but they should only acquire a few of those abilities. Not many, and certainly not all of them."
Is there anything else?
“That involves the power of rules.” Ark paused and said, “Someone who can defy the rules set by the gods.”
"Rules?" Deedri repeated softly, sighing slightly.
Whenever people think about this kind of situation, they actually feel a strange sense of oppression.
That's because they are bound by the rules of this world, including the fact that they must stand on the ground, or that they will be born, grow old, get sick, and die. These are all physiological laws.
But there are always those who manage to defy these rules, and without exception, they are all connected to gods and demons. If we call them rats, and this world is enclosed by fences, then no matter how fat they get, they are still just rats in a cage.
Those who can ignore some of the rules simply cannot think in terms of common sense.
For example, Ghost Lord. Ark still doesn't understand what this guy is, but he's probably a demon too. But strangely, no magic power has been detected on him.
Although there is no evidence to prove that abilities require magic to activate, unless it is a very extraordinary ability, magic is still needed to fight. Otherwise, this demon will ultimately just be a demon, and unless he eventually becomes the Demon King, he will not become a character worthy of being mentioned.
"I still can't understand it," Dedeline said, looking at herself. "Ark, what exactly are you?"
A question that had nothing to do with what had just been asked caught Yak off guard.
“That’s all there is to it,” Ark said, looking at Deedris. “Now is not the time to talk about this.”
“When I was about fifteen, I remember very clearly what made me different from others.” Dedeline paused and said, “Our Fire Goat clan does not belong to any demon god; the abilities we possess have evolved due to our environment.”
“Let me think about your innate abilities. I remember they are the Blessing of Wind, the Blessing of Fire, and the Blessing of Earth.” Acton paused and said, “Your lifespans are not short, and you are not reproductively isolated from humans. You have stable relationships and sizable groups. You have a good background.”
“But we’ll reach our limit soon,” Dedeline said, looking at Ark. “I know perfectly well that I can’t improve any further. Because neither God nor the devil cares about us lambs, neither of them intends to bestow any favors upon us. These are things we can’t change; we can only accept our fate.”
"You came to find the demon for this reason, right?"
"I was just going that way."
"Don't lie to me. If you really wanted to travel, you wouldn't have come here. You should have heard all the rumors about this place by now. You came here specifically to find the demons." Acton paused and said, "Let me be clear, although I've heard that you can obtain a soul imprint through the soul of a demon, that method has always been in the experimental stage because there are no test subjects. It has never been officially used. If you think you can get the blessing of the demon god using this method, you're really being foolish."
"Don't delve into it. I just came to take a look. The main reason I'm here is to have fun." Dedeline didn't deny it. "Getting off topic, now that we've found the demon, what's next? Don't worry, I don't intend to hurt her. She's a very beautiful child. This child shouldn't be hunted down because of her birth."
“I think we should leave too, right away.” Acton paused and said, “I’ll try to get the carriage ready tomorrow and hopefully leave the day after tomorrow. Do you want to come with me? I need a mercenary to help me deal with the monsters on the road.”
"Let me hear your offer. I'm a mercenary now, and you made a good amount of money off me when I left. I can't work for free."
"One-tenth of the caravan's profits, including food and lodging. Equipment will be provided for borrowing; if it gets damaged, it's on me, but you can't take it with you. A sweater and a scarf will also be included."
"What the heck is this?" Dedelie laughed helplessly. "This condition is incredibly arbitrary."
"So, what's your answer? Come on, get it straight."
Does it include alcohol?
"We'll pack as much as we can get."
"Deal." Deedri said with a smile to Yak in the heavy rain.
She seemed quite happy, as she was somewhat looking forward to the rest of the journey. Many people could attest that following Ark always led to interesting things.
"By the way, why are you specifically mentioning the scarf and sweater?" Dedeline asked, a little curious, as she remembered this question.
“Oh, I’ll tell you when we get back.” Yak kept him in suspense: “But I can say for sure that you won’t find a better towel.”
"Did you use the wool of the Dark Trace Sheep?"
"Even if I had that thing, I'd sell it quickly, because we have something better, and that thing can fetch a lot of money." Ark made no attempt to hide his greedy nature; after all, he was a businessman. A businessman who doesn't love money can't make money.
“Let’s wait and see. But do you really have no other plans regarding the demon?” Deedri paused and said, “Your goal was never the demon, but you’ve already accomplished what you were supposed to do. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have appeared in such a strange place. Things will get complicated after this storm passes, because too many inexplicable problems have occurred during this time. These problems will be thoroughly examined when the storm is over.”
“Yes, but a tragedy happened: our carriage broke down. Luckily, Denos saved the horses, otherwise we would have had to wait until we found other means of transportation. I estimate we might have suffered casualties before then. It was my mistake; Lady almost died.” Ark said softly, “I wasn’t nearby at the time. If it weren’t for Karl, Lady’s death would probably have been my fault. I’ll feel very guilty then.”
"Aren't you guilty now? Lady was seriously injured, her neck was pierced. If she weren't not human, she'd probably be dead by now." Dedeline paused, realizing that what Ark meant was that he was relieved.
“I will feel guilty, but I have a chance to make amends.” Acton paused and said, “As long as I’m alive, time will help me make amends or forget some of the mistakes I made. But if she dies here, I might have nightmares for a long time to come. She was a good girl. She’s not suited to be with us. She’s suited to live in a stable place.”
Are you planning to take her home?
"Okay, I'll go next. Although I haven't said it to anyone, I've already made my decision. Coincidentally, I also want to go there to see what they call steam machinery. I heard they've built it quite well, but the lighter we bought there can't be used because a part is broken."
“Ha, now that you mention it, I’m a little curious too.” Dedely said, crossing her arms. “I also want to see those machines; it would definitely be very interesting.”
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