WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈
Chapter 64: The Moonshadow Mausoleum (6)
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“I ate the fruit! S-So talk to me instead...”
At Raguel’s brazen words, every monster froze in shock.
They all turned to stare at him.
Every kind of emotion filled their eyes.
Bewilderment, rage, frustration, resentment, shock, despair, grief... Their emotions surged out of control.
One by one, the demons gathered around Raguel. Climbing over one another, they completely surrounded him.
It felt as though he had been trapped inside a massive dome.
Only jade-colored eyes shone in its dark interior.
──Ah, ah! That detestable human has taken even our final hope from us!
──Pull out his stomach and split it open!
──Wait! Look closely at him!
──His, his ears!
──It can't be!
Suspicion and doubt began to mix with the voices that had been full of rage.
──An Elf!
──H-How?
Murmur, murmur. Commotion spread.
Raguel was frightened and tense, but he waited silently. According to what Mapheltan had told him, they would soon show a certain reaction.
──A brother who escaped the Moon's Curse! Impossible!
──A pure Elf cannot exist!
──It's an illusion! Tear him apart and kill him!
Every Elf in this world had fallen into demonhood.
They could no longer reproduce, meaning they could not conceive ordinary Elves.
The World Tree, which had fallen to the rank of an Apostle, was the same.
The World Tree had once produced High Elves, but it had now completely lost its ability to reproduce.
In short, a pure Elf could not exist in this age.
Yet an anomaly had appeared.
An Elf, and a High Elf at that, stood openly before them all.
The demons could not help being confused.
──Kill him?
──Of course!
──Wait! This isn't for us to decide!
The moment they began arguing among themselves, a voice heavy with resentment rang out from somewhere.
“Step back, my brothers.”
The strange voice carried an unmistakable presence even amid the great uproar.
The moment it spoke, the demons surrounding Raguel in a dome scattered in every direction.
His surroundings opened up again.
Raguel swallowed hard.
Before him stood a darkness deeper than Mapheltan's.
A being that looked like a shadow standing upright on the flat ground stared directly at Raguel.
Zalkarin murmured softly from Raguel's arms.
“A Dark Elf. The one End spoke of.”
The Dark Elf's eyes glowed jade like Raguel's, and their ears stood upright.
An indescribable pressure flowed from the Dark Elf's thin, gaunt body.
The Dark Elf was fundamentally different from the other demons in the mausoleum.
Having once been a High Elf, the Dark Elf still carried an atmosphere that was difficult to approach, even after falling into demonhood.
The air around them grew heavy.
The Dark Elf slowly opened their mouth.
“It is all so empty. Five hundred years of effort have come to nothing.”
The Elves had carried the World Tree Seed for five hundred years.
Their goal had been to grow it into a new World Tree.
That entire plan had vanished into nothing.
Because of the boy before them, Raguel.
The Dark Elf looked at him with empty eyes. Rather than hatred or anger, they held resignation.
The Dark Elf even seemed strangely detached.
Raguel spoke hesitantly, his face tense.
“T-That isn't true. A High Elf was born from the seed.”
The Dark Elf's expression did not change.
“By High Elf, do you mean yourself?”
“...Yes.”
“What meaning does that have?”
“If I exist, then one day our brothers will be born in this land again. Pure Elves, free from the Moon's Curse.”
One of the Dark Elf's eyes narrowed.
“Did you just say ‘our’?”
“W-Well, I'm an Elf now too... I've seen your memories and pain, and I understand your wounds...”
The Dark Elf cut off Raguel's rambling.
“My brothers and I are demons. We are no longer Elves. We seek only humanity's extinction. Rebuilding the Elves? Their revival? Such things do not truly matter.”
Raguel spoke in a trembling voice.
“That's a lie. Otherwise, there's no explanation for why you carried the World Tree Seed for five hundred years.”
“Lingering attachment and obsession. The seed would never have sprouted anyway. There is no nourishment in this barren graveyard.”
“B-But!”
“It was all false hope. Only now that the seed is gone do I realize it.”
The Dark Elf looked somewhat relieved.
“There is still a chance! Someday, I will surely make this land...”
“Do as you please. You need not declare it to me.”
The Dark Elf started walking past Raguel.
“W-Where are you going? I haven't finished speaking yet!”
“Young Elf, I will not harm you. But the Horned Demon must pay the price. He probably has the Key to Narak too, doesn't he?”
The moment the Dark Elf finished speaking, a commotion spread among the demons.
──Could we finally escape this prison?!
──Let's tear those detestable humans apart!
──Revenge! The day of revenge has arrived!
Now that the seed was gone, there was no reason to remain in the mausoleum.
They only needed to obtain the Key to Narak and escape this place.
Like other demons, they would now live for humanity's end.
Things were going as Mapheltan intended.
There was only one problem.
The demons wanted Mapheltan's life.
That had to be stopped.
“...Do you intend to kill me?”
The Dark Elf turned around and looked at Raguel.
“As I said, I have no intention of harming you.”
Raguel was the only Elf left in this world.
The Dark Elf could not bear to kill him.
Deep inside, the Dark Elf still longed for the glory of the past.
Raguel slowly opened the eye he had kept shut.
The image of a scythe-wielding malevolent spirit was embedded in his left eye.
“If you kill Mapheltan, I won't remain safe either. He is my master, and someone I must protect.”
Apart from their Contract of Subordination, Mapheltan and Raguel had also entered into a Covenant of Protection.
They were each other's hearts.
Just like Ilea and Mapheltan.
The Dark Elf narrowed their eyes.
“...So the Horned Demon has played you completely.”
Without being willing to kill Raguel, it would be difficult for the Dark Elf to harm Mapheltan.
Raguel spoke.
“A-Are you willing to hear me out now?”
Raguel intended to bring them under Mapheltan's command.
Of course, that was only if he could persuade them.
Mapheltan had told him not to force the matter concerning this.
The Dark Elf said, “There is nothing for us to discuss. If the Horned Demon intends to use you to control me, then even if it means losing you, I will kill the Horned Demon. The same applies if he refuses to hand over the Key to Narak.”
The calm declaration was sincere.
Raguel had no idea how to persuade the Dark Elf.
At the very least, he needed to achieve his secondary goal.
“...What if the Key to Narak is handed over willingly?”
“Then nothing will happen.”
The Dark Elf wanted to kill Mapheltan either way, but if Raguel's life was at stake, things were different.
The Dark Elf was willing to take a step back.
Of course, that depended on receiving the Key to Narak.
Raguel took a deep breath.
“Alright. Please keep that promise.”
“Then where is the key?”
Raguel pointed in the direction he had come from.
“Mapheltan has it. He is probably waiting for you.”
Without a reply, the Dark Elf turned and walked away.
Countless demons followed behind the Dark Elf.
Raguel collapsed onto the spot.
The tension drained out of him.
Zalkarin poked their head out from Raguel's arms.
“Not bad for a brat. Now End will take care of the rest.”
* * *
In the gray forest, Mapheltan leaned against a rotten giant tree and looked ahead.
A pitch-black shadow was slowly approaching.
‘Even after rotting for five hundred years, a Dark Elf is still a Dark Elf.’
The quality of the Demonic Energy the Dark Elf emitted was considerable.
By Horned Demon standards, the Dark Elf would be a high-ranking demon with at least three horns.
The Dark Elf stopped before Mapheltan.
“Where is the key?”
“What's the rush? There are still several days until the next full moon. Let's talk first.”
The gate to Narak would only open once the full moon returned.
The moment Mapheltan finished speaking, the Dark Elf vanished.
‘Damn it!’
Before he could react, the Dark Elf's hand seized Mapheltan by the throat and lifted him into the air.
“Young demon, stop your prattle and hand over the key. I have no intention of entertaining your nonsense.”
Killing intent filled the Dark Elf's jade eyes. The Dark Elf's anger was difficult to contain.
Despite the pain, Mapheltan curled his lips into a smile.
“What are you afraid of? Are you on guard because you're worried I'll sway you? Ha ha! How laughable! You, who have existed for eternity, are frightened of a youngster like me!”
The Dark Elf's eyes narrowed sharply.
The Dark Elf hurled Mapheltan to the ground.
A dull thud rang out as ash scattered through the air.
“I should shut that mouth first.”
A mass of black light began to condense in the Dark Elf's hand.
Mapheltan casually raised both hands.
A small wooden slab rested in one of them.
The Heartwood Core Slab. The key to Narak's First Zone.
The Dark Elf strode over and reached out.
Just as the Dark Elf was about to seize the Heartwood Core Slab, Mapheltan opened his mouth.
“A few months ago, a Witch must have come here.”
When Ilea had visited Narak, she had gathered World Tree Sap as well.
At the mention of that day, the Dark Elf froze for a moment.
“A Witch?”
Mapheltan smirked.
“Yes, a Witch. Do you feel like talking now?”
The Dark Elf snatched the Heartwood Core Slab from Mapheltan's hand.
Though the Dark Elf's business was done, they remained rooted in place.
“Are you allied with the Witch?”
Mapheltan shrugged at the Dark Elf's question.
“You said you had no intention of playing along. It seems you've changed your mind already.”
The Dark Elf frowned. Their displeasure was obvious.
“Answer the question, young demon.”
“Well, we're close enough that the word ‘allies’ does not quite explain it.”
After all, they shared their lives.
“Could you be the Witch's Familiar?”
Mapheltan smirked.
“That is the World Tree, not me.”
The Dark Elf's gaze wavered.
“...Young demon, how much do you know?”
“At least more than you.”
When Ilea visited Narak a few months ago, she had made some sort of contract with the World Tree.
In return for that deal, the World Tree had become the Witch's Familiar.
The Dark Elf only knew that the World Tree had become the Witch's Familiar, while Mapheltan knew even the terms of their deal.
Ilea had not told him directly, but having read the original work, he could not help knowing.
The Dark Elf was visibly shaken.
“Speak. Why did the Earth Mother submit to the Witch?”
The Earth Mother referred to the World Tree, Alquines.
Mapheltan's lips curved into a long smile.
“Words alone won't do.”
“Stop being insolent and...”
“Let's make a deal. What will you give me?”
A chilling smile spread across Mapheltan's face.
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