WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈
Chapter 27: Apostle Beris (1)
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Johan and Gaf rode hard for half a day before catching up with the Pilgrimage Group.
The group had settled on a high ridge and was preparing to camp.
Even in the darkness of night, the campsite was remarkably bright.
Their clerical robes and military tents shone white with Holy Power.
It was a safe zone surrounded by Holy Power. Most demons could not even approach the ridge.
The same applied to Johan. Kazan's Ring would keep him from burning to death, but the moment he touched the Holy Power, his identity would be exposed.
The instant Kazan's Ring absorbed the Holy Power, the clergy would notice something was wrong.
Everyone would go on guard. No demon could escape their watch.
“This is as far as we go. Gaf, don't get any closer.”
Johan spoke from a mountain peak opposite the ridge.
Gaf snorted.
“You called it cheap glow-in-the-dark paint, but it seems even you fear Holy Power.”
“If I were afraid, I wouldn't be standing here. Worry about yourself instead. We need to move soon.”
Gaf looked toward the ridge. Nearly a hundred soldiers were stationed there. Priests who wielded holy magic and monstrous holy knights were likely among them.
The two of them were supposed to attack that group?
No matter how he considered it, they had no chance of winning.
Gaf's expression darkened.
Johan gave a faint laugh.
“Are you nervous?”
“How can you be so relaxed?”
“Because I'm certain.”
Johan opened his bag and took out a jar covered in talismans.
It was a relic shrouded in dark energy. Just looking at it sent a chill down Gaf's spine.
Johan spoke.
“Like I said earlier, we don't have much to do. We'll draw their attention with this relic, then steal the Great Saint's coffin. That's all.”
“What in the world is inside that jar?”
Tension, rare for Johan, crossed his face.
He spoke in a low voice.
“The Twelfth Apostle of the End. More precisely, it contains a fragment of the Archdemon Beris.”
Gaf frowned.
“Beris? The one from the scripture?”
“That's right. The demon Great Saint Marziel tore to pieces five hundred years ago. As you know, Beris's soul was split into ten fragments and scattered across the continent.”
“And one of those fragments is inside that jar?”
“Exactly.”
“...I can't believe it.”
“See for yourself.”
At the same time, Johan pulled the talismans away.
The talismans formed a high-level sealing formula, but years of weathering had rendered it useless.
No one had maintained the formula for centuries.
The negligence of House Myatro's heads had led to a terrible result.
Later generations had no choice but to bear the consequences of abandoned duty.
The seal came undone in an instant.
In the original work, a Witch had summoned an Archdemon to this land. Now, it was a Half-Demon.
It was only one-tenth of Beris's soul, but the aftermath was still beyond what mere mortals could endure.
Black smoke rose from the jar, and Gaf collapsed to the ground. Blood streamed endlessly from his nose and eyes.
Johan convulsed like an aspen tree.
The released malice pressed down on the space around them like gravity.
A terrible shriek burst forth.
“Kiha ha ha ha! Only five hundred years? To one who has existed for eternity, it is but an instant! Marziel! Look upon me! I have broken free of my chains and manifested upon this land once more! The prophecy of the Apocalypse has come true yet again!”
It was as if death itself lay within the voice. Mountain birds lost their lives and fluttered down from the sky.
The nearby trees and soil began to rot.
Nature itself was losing its life.
Johan and Gaf covered their ears and groaned. The crushing pressure was so intense that they could not even lift their heads.
The manifested demon was on an entirely different level.
Even divided into ten pieces, Beris possessed a majesty before which mortals were no more than insects.
‘...Just as terrible as expected.’
In the original work, even Ilea could not look directly at Beris. Even a Witch who commanded demons had been crushed by her status as prey.
Naturally, Johan could not resist Beris's majesty either.
That was simply common sense.
Yet something unexpected happened.
Johan was slowly raising his head.
It was painful, but strangely, not painful enough to kill him.
According to the original work, he should not have been able to move a finger. Yet he could move more freely than expected.
‘Was the original work exaggerating?’
But Gaf's condition was too pitiful for that.
Gaf had his head pressed against the ground, writhing in agony.
The original work had not exaggerated at all.
Mortals could not even look upon an Apostle of the End.
‘Then why...?’
Just as confusion took hold of him, the malice drew close to Johan.
A voice like metal scraping against iron pierced his eardrums.
“How curious. What are you?”
Only then could Johan see Beris's true form.
A bizarre being dressed in gray robes, Beris twitched a large hooked nose while staring at Johan through two vertically slit eyes.
Beris's mouth, far too small compared to the eyes and nose, moved ceaselessly as though chewing something.
It was deeply unsettling.
“I asked you, insect. What are you?”
Every syllable bore weight as it pressed down on Johan.
Resisting the pressure, Johan opened his mouth.
“Lies won't work on you, so I'll tell you the truth. I don't know what I am either. But there's one thing I know for certain. I'm the one who freed you.”
The muscles in Beris's face twisted slightly.
Beris was displeased that Johan spoke without showing respect.
Beris's pride had been wounded.
A demon that did not respect an Archdemon. A mortal who resisted an Apostle's presence. Johan was an utterly incomprehensible being.
Even Johan had difficulty understanding what was happening.
‘...Was there some setting in Inmarok that I didn't know about?’
Regardless of race, mortals were bound to feel fear and awe before transcendent beings.
Johan was different.
He suffered beneath the pressure, but he felt neither fear nor reverence.
Even one-tenth of an Apostle possessed a presence beyond comprehension, yet for some reason it had little effect on Johan.
He could not understand why.
Even if he thought about it now, he would not find an answer.
For now, he needed to focus on the present.
Beris spoke.
“...You released my seal? Very well. I shall grant you, a mere insect, the honor of making a deal with me. Speak your desire.”
Beris was the Apostle who governed contracts.
Before being sealed, Beris had left a contract spell in the world.
It granted whoever broke the seal the right to make a deal with Beris. In other words, Johan could make a direct contract with an Apostle.
Whatever he might give or receive, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a mortal.
He could ask for an ageless body or demand to be taught great magic.
He could even settle for wealth and glory.
The mortal would have to pay something in return, but in truth, the Apostle would receive nothing.
There was nothing Beris wanted that a mortal could possibly give.
A contract with Beris was called a deal, but for a mortal, it was little different from gaining the right to make a wish.
Johan spoke.
“Over there. Do you see that ridge?”
Beris twitched a hooked nose.
“Marziel's lapdogs. A breed more tenacious than cockroaches. Even after five hundred years, they still gather in swarms.”
“There is a red-haired woman among them. Her name is Shaperia. Completely annihilate her. That is my condition.”
Beris blinked vertically slit eyes.
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
“I do not understand.”
“I'll say it again. Completely annihilate her. The deadline is midnight tonight.”
Beris gave a shrill laugh.
“To waste an opportunity that will never come again in your life. You are truly foolish, but I find you quite interesting. Therefore, I shall keep you at my side. In exchange for annihilating that bitch before midnight, become my thrall. Do you agree?”
Beris was demanding Johan's subservience as a condition of the contract.
Every demon wanted to become an Apostle's thrall.
There was no reason to refuse.
In fact, it would not have been strange if Johan had asked Beris to make him a thrall as part of the contract.
Johan nodded.
“Fine. The moment Shaperia is annihilated, I will become your thrall.”
Gaf, still sprawled on the ground, groaned and glared at Johan.
If Johan became Beris's thrall, Ilea would inevitably become entangled with the Apostle as well.
An Apostle had only one goal.
The extinction of humanity.
Without any choice in the matter, his daughter would contribute to that terrible evil.
Gaf trembled as he struggled to move.
What ending awaited him and his daughter now?
He could no longer even guess.
He regretted every moment.
His greed to find his daughter had brought them to this point.
As Gaf laughed bitterly to himself, Demonic Energy surged from Beris's body.
The billowing smoke seeped into Johan.
A foreign sensation settled in Johan's chest.
The contract had been completed.
Gaf watched with despair in his eyes.
Beris gave a shrill laugh.
“Perhaps I should correct that manner of speaking first?”
“I am not your thrall yet. Deal with Shaperia first. If you fail, you will pay a fitting price.”
There might be some timeline where Beris failed, at odds of one in hundreds of millions or trillions.
In that world, Beris would have to bear unimaginable karmic retribution.
If an Apostle who governed contracts could not even uphold a promise made to a mere mortal, it would mean Beris had lost the reason for existing.
Beris could not complain even if erased.
Beris burst into wild laughter.
“Kiha ha ha ha ha! You said failure?! What an entertaining creature! Watch closely and remember it well! The omnipotence of the one who will be your master!”
Beris shot into the air in an instant. Gray robes fluttered in the wind.
Looking down at Johan, Beris spoke.
“I shall return and correct your manners!”
Then Beris headed straight for the ridge.
Having noticed the disturbance, the Pilgrimage Group was already preparing for battle.
Once Beris left, the pressure crushing the space around them vanished as quickly as it had come.
But Gaf could not rise.
He could only sink into despair and helplessness, bitterly mocking himself.
Johan spoke.
“Beris is gone. Pull yourself together and get up.”
A mortal who faced an Apostle would suffer a great shock to the mind.
Gaf's reaction was entirely normal.
Gaf spoke quietly.
“...I finally understand what you intend.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You intend to kill every human.”
Johan frowned.
“Why would I?”
“Then why did you become an Apostle's thrall?”
Gaf's eyes were filled with hatred because Johan had dragged Ilea into this.
“I am not Beris's thrall.”
“Stop playing with words!”
Once Shaperia was annihilated, Johan would become Beris's thrall.
There was no chance Beris would fail.
“This is not wordplay. I have no intention of serving under an Apostle. If you don't believe me, I'll even make a contract with you, with my life as collateral.”
Gaf stared intently at Johan. Confusion filled his eyes that had burned with hatred.
No matter how he considered it, Shaperia would die, and Johan would become Beris's thrall.
Nothing unexpected should happen, yet Johan denied it.
Johan nodded.
“Come to think of it, I can see why you would misunderstand. You know nothing about Shaperia.”
“Then explain it.”
Johan shook his head.
“While Beris wreaks havoc, we need to steal the Great Saint's coffin. If we don't move now, we'll miss our chance. Besides, explaining everything to you is bothersome. I have no obligation to tell you.”
Gaf gave a hollow laugh.
“You called us partners before. So that was bullshit.”
Partners naturally shared their opinions.
If one hid everything, they could not be called partners.
For the first time in his conversations with Gaf, Johan felt caught off guard.
‘He got me there.’
Johan spoke.
“Fine. Since we are partners, I'll share information with you from now on. In return, you must acknowledge me as a partner too. We should show each other mutual respect.”
Gaf stood, brushing the dirt from his knees.
“I'll decide after I see how this turns out.”
Johan gave a faint laugh and stepped behind Gaf.
“I'll make this clear one more time. I have no intention whatsoever of serving under anyone.”
With that, Johan slipped his arms beneath Gaf's armpits.
Before Gaf could say anything, Johan flew into the air.
Their destination was the ridge, which had already become hell.
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