WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈
Chapter 66: The Moonshadow Mausoleum (8)
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The Dark Elf was lost in thought for quite some time.
While they wrestled with the matter, Raguel returned to the forest where Mapheltan was.
Raguel swept a glance around the area before speaking.
“...Mapheltan, are you all right?”
There were signs of a fight nearby. The ground had been gouged out, and the gray bushes were burned black.
Mapheltan nodded.
“Well, it was nothing.”
His expression was as calm as usual.
Raguel let out a sigh of relief.
“That’s good.”
Zalkarin suddenly popped out from somewhere and spoke.
“Before the great End, even that black-eared bastard must’ve been helpless!”
Raguel flinched and covered Zalkarin’s mouth.
“Shh! They can hear you, idiot.”
Then he cautiously looked toward the Dark Elf.
The Dark Elf, who had been lost in thought, raised their eyelids.
Their naturally jade-colored gaze fixed on Raguel and Zalkarin.
Zalkarin cleared their throat and looked away.
“Ahem.”
“Y-you idiot.”
Raguel, tense from head to toe, hiccupped.
The Dark Elf slowly opened their mouth.
“...Let me ask you one thing.”
As if Raguel and Zalkarin held no interest for them at all, they looked directly at Mapheltan.
Raguel rubbed his chest in relief.
Mapheltan spoke.
“Ask whatever you want.”
“What do you intend to do?”
Mapheltan’s brow creased slightly.
“Don’t ask without context. Ask a specific question, and I’ll answer it.”
“I am asking about your ultimate goal. You are allied with the Witch, and now you have even made a High Elf your subordinate. What do you intend to achieve with that power?”
“What a foolish question. I am an Apostle, no, a demon. The goal of every demon is obvious. The end of humanity. I am not much different.”
The Dark Elf’s eyes narrowed.
“You truly desire humanity’s end?”
“Does it sound like a lie?”
“I do have doubts. If you truly awaited humanity’s end, why would you simply throw away a card like us?”
Mapheltan intended to send every demon in the mausoleum into the capital, in other words, into a pit of fire.
It meant discarding a useful fighting force.
If Mapheltan truly wanted war with humanity, it would have been better to make them another proposal.
Such as forming an alliance.
Mapheltan spoke.
“To be honest, you have little value as my allies. Your hatred toward me is the first reason, and your un-demonic ‘ideal’ is the second. I need chess pieces without a will of their own, pieces that will fit into my plans. Beings who hold different ideals like you will someday become uncontrollable bombs.”
A faint dream of rebuilding Elven civilization remained in the hearts of the demons within the mausoleum.
It was extremely faint now, but there was a high chance that desire would sprout again someday.
Depending on the circumstances, a conflict of interest could arise between Mapheltan and them.
That was why they could not be together.
Furthermore, they were not worth Mapheltan taking such a risk.
It would be different if they possessed potential comparable to the Witch, but unfortunately, the limits of the demons in the mausoleum were far too clear.
The Dark Elf let out a hollow laugh.
“So you will use us as consumables?”
Mapheltan nodded.
“Well, that is about right.”
He was speaking shamelessly without the slightest hesitation.
The Dark Elf’s eyes curved like crescent moons.
They suddenly began to giggle.
Soon, loud laughter burst forth.
Mapheltan could not understand what they found so funny.
For a while, only eerie laughter echoed through the forest.
Only after quite some time did the laughter die down.
Perhaps calmer now, the Dark Elf spoke.
“You truly may be an Apostle. You are just as mad as they are.”
Mapheltan shrugged.
“I will take that as a compliment. So, have you made your decision?”
The Dark Elf began to walk. Slowly circling Mapheltan, they spoke.
“In exchange for us attacking the capital, you will bring down the Moon and rebuild Elven civilization. That is the outline of the contract, correct?”
Mapheltan nodded.
“That is correct. Let us discuss the details again from this point onward.”
A contract of this kind had to be written with a specific deadline and detailed terms.
The Dark Elf spoke.
“I will draft it.”
* * *
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『 Article 1: Purpose 』
The purpose of this contract is for the Contractor, Mapheltan, to provide the Authority and objects necessary for the Elves’ undertaking, namely the fall of the Moon and the rebuilding of Elven civilization, in exchange for the contracted demons of the mausoleum, hereafter referred to as the Elves, attacking the capital city of Arterium.
『 Article 2: Mapheltan’s Obligations 』
The Contractor, Mapheltan, bears absolute responsibility and a duty of fulfillment for the following three provisions.
1. Priority use of sacred relics and treasures.
Should Mapheltan discover a treasure or relic capable of performing miracles in the future, he must use it first for the purpose of enabling the Dark Elves’ reproduction. This obligation takes precedence over his own survival, war, and the commands of the Apostolic realm.
2. Active search for miraculous relics.
Mapheltan must personally, continually, and actively seek items containing miracles that can enable the survival and reproduction of the Dark Elf race. This act shall be considered a mandatory mission employing Apostolic authority, not mere “cooperation.”
3. Destruction of the Moon.
Mapheltan shall not, in principle, compromise with Great Saint Marziel (the Moon), Marziel’s creations, Thralls, or ideology in any form. However, if contact or negotiation with Marziel serves the purpose of strategic deception or luring intended to eliminate Marziel, such compromise may be temporarily permitted. Yet should an opportunity to eliminate Marziel become real, Mapheltan must eliminate Marziel immediately without considering any condition, circumstance, or sacrifice. Delaying or abandoning that act shall be considered grounds for the dissolution of the entire contract. The Elves shall possess all rights of retaliation, including punishment, interrogation, memory erasure, and annihilation.
『 Article 3: The Elves’ Duty of Fulfillment 』
1. Guarantee of total annihilation during the capital assault.
During the capital assault operation, the first stage of the contract, the Elves swear to use every possible means to destroy themselves so that not a single individual survives. They may not evade this obligation on the grounds that they are powerless, and all attempts at escape or survival shall be considered a breach of contract.
2. Prohibition of descendants, branch families, and exiles.
All Elves currently existing on this land, including hidden bloodlines, defectors, branch families, exiles, and mixed-blood individuals born with other races, must be listed in advance and included in the operation before the day of the capital assault, so that not a single Elf remains in the world. This clause is irreversible. Should even one individual be confirmed to have survived, Mapheltan shall be defined as the rightful victim of the contract, and the Elves shall pay the price for deceiving him.
『 Article 4: Breach of Contract and Punishment Clause 』
This contract is not a temporary agreement, but a perpetual contract using life, race, and one’s entire existence as collateral. Should any of the provisions below be violated, the relevant party shall be subject to erasure from existence, while the harmed party shall possess unlimited rights of punishment.
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The rest omitted.
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Mapheltan carefully read the black words written in the air.
‘A high-ranking demon is still a high-ranking demon.’
The contract, written through Article Seven, was extremely detailed.
There was almost no room for either side to find a loophole.
He felt slightly uneasy because of how detailed it was, but it did not matter much to Mapheltan.
Whether it was restoring the Elves or bringing down the Moon, both had been his highest-priority goals from the beginning.
When Mapheltan nodded, the Dark Elf spoke.
“Is there anything you wish to add or amend?”
“This is enough. You have made it very detailed.”
“It is the result of learning a thing or two from Lord Beris in the past.”
Beris, the Archdemon who governed contracts and the Twelfth Apostle of the End. Their name had suddenly come up.
Mapheltan snorted and muttered.
“Beris? They were nothing special.”
He had previously used Shaperia to get the better of Beris.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. Let us sign now.”
Black Demonic Energy rose from the fingertips of Mapheltan and the Dark Elf.
Their signatures were written upon the contract floating in the air.
Immediately afterward, the contract turned into black mist and seeped into both of their hearts.
The Dark Elf spoke.
“It is done. Let us meet again on the full moon.”
The gate to Narak would open only when the full moon came.
There was still a full week left until then.
“Very well. We will gather at the entrance to the mausoleum.”
* * *
Time passed quickly.
On the day of the full moon, gray monstrosities swallowed the horizon.
They were all cursed Elves.
At the head of that pale mass, a single black demon made its presence known.
When they took one step forward, the evil spirits followed after them.
The ground shook as though its foundations would collapse.
An evil army was on the move.
Countless emotions passed over their faces.
Anticipation, anger, self-mockery, hatred, joy, regret, anguish, and more. Every individual held a different state of mind.
Yet they were one. Though their thoughts and feelings differed, the Elves moved as though they shared one body.
It was cohesion rarely seen among ordinary demons.
If they ever came to share the same emotions as well, the consequences could surpass human imagination.
Just like now.
Every monstrosity stopped at once.
Their once-varied expressions all took the same form.
Suspicion and anger. Their faces twisted with hatred.
Kieeeek!
“It smells like a human!”
“Where did one crawl in from this time?”
“Find them! We must find them!”
The gazes that had been wildly searching left and right slowly fixed on one place.
Straight ahead, a boy stood alone in the gray forest.
Wearing a Barrier Mask and Spirit-Demon Barrier Cloak, he looked at the evil spirits with a stiff expression.
“J-Johan, are you sure this is all right?”
A voice came from the rock wall behind him.
Johan swallowed a groan.
“Raguel, there was a reason you could not help losing consciousness.”
An overwhelming number of beings, carrying hatred of immeasurable depth, were focused on one human.
Maintaining one’s sanity would be difficult for anyone with ordinary mental strength.
Even Johan, who possessed the soul of an Apostle, could feel his hands and feet trembling.
Their stench, shrieks, expressions, and gestures, every one of them inspired fear.
He could not even bring himself to meet the gaze of the Dark Elf standing at their head.
The Dark Elf rushed over in an instant and stopped before Johan.
Johan closed his eyes.
It was not out of fear, but because of the Great Saint’s Eye.
The moment the Dark Elf made eye contact with Johan, they would be unable to restrain their killing intent.
The Great Saint’s Eye was a Holy Relic that earned demons’ hatred.
“...A human? So that is why I have smelled one since earlier.”
The Scale of Equivalence had chosen today of all days to end.
Johan would once again live as a human by day and a demon by night.
He spoke in the calmest tone he could manage.
“Have all your brethren gathered?”
“What...?”
“Article Three, Clause Two. Surely you have not forgotten already?”
The prohibition of descendants, branch families, and exiles. Every Elf had to gather here without a single exception.
The Dark Elf’s expression twisted sharply.
Johan’s expression, tone, and atmosphere carried a strange sense of familiarity.
They spoke in a trembling voice.
“What are you?”
Zalkarin poked their head out from Johan’s arms.
“He is the Great End. Since you are about to walk the road to the afterlife, show some manners now.”
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