WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈
Chapter 67: Capital Assault (1)
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“He is the Great End. Since you're on your way to the afterlife, show some manners.”
Before Zalkarin had even finished speaking, the Dark Elf reached out with a black demonic hand.
Their grip seized Johan’s face in an instant.
His frail body rose into the air.
Holding Johan in one hand, the Dark Elf spoke.
“Human, I asked what you are.”
Johan could not answer. The crushing force against his cheeks prevented him from opening his mouth.
‘At this rate, I’ll be crushed.’
Pain flared through his cheekbones as though they would break.
Honestly, it hurt terribly. Even holding back a groan was difficult.
Johan barely managed to maintain a blank expression.
Fortunately, Raguel understood the situation and stepped in.
“What are you doing? Let go of him right now!”
He rushed over and shoved the Dark Elf.
The Dark Elf did not budge. They merely stared at Johan with jade-colored eyes, as though trying to pierce through him.
They roared like a beast.
“Human! I asked who you are!”
The black grip tightened further.
At this rate, Johan’s head might truly be crushed.
Raguel desperately clung to the Dark Elf’s wrist.
“He’s Mapheltan! The Apostle you made a contract with! Stop it! If Johan dies, the contract and everything else will be over!”
He desperately bit down on the Dark Elf’s wrist.
The Dark Elf was utterly bewildered. It was difficult to accept the situation before them.
“Let go of him first, then we can talk!”
The Dark Elf ground their teeth. Barely holding on to their reason, they loosened their grip.
Johan’s body fell.
After landing on the ground, he rubbed his cheek.
“...You are an excessively violent bastard.”
He spoke as though it were nothing, but Johan truly wanted to roll around while crying out in pain.
Demonic Energy rose from the Dark Elf’s entire body.
They spoke in a low, chilling voice.
“Speak. What exactly are you?”
“I do not know either.”
“What?”
“I was merely born mixed-blood, and someone gave me the role of an Apostle. That is all I know.”
There was not a shred of falsehood in his words.
For a moment, the Dark Elf had nothing to say.
Johan did not look as though he were lying. It was simply difficult to accept the truth.
“...You expect me to believe that?”
A being who possessed both a human and demon body. On top of that, the Thirteenth Apostle. Johan continued to shatter common sense.
Johan spoke.
“Whether you believe it or not, nothing changes. You only need to assault the capital as promised, and I will pay the price in full. Our contract remains firm.”
The Dark Elf narrowed their eyes.
“You, a human, intend to betray the Moon?”
Johan let out a hollow laugh.
“Human? Betray? I am a Half-Demon to begin with, and I have never served the Moon.”
“Before I listen to your sophistry, I should verify it first. Where is the proof that you are a Half-Demon? I even doubt whether you are the Horned Demon who made a contract with me.”
The aura Johan gave off was nearly identical to Mapheltan’s.
However, that alone was not conclusive proof that Johan was Mapheltan.
The Dark Elf seemed unable to believe Johan without seeing it directly.
Johan spoke.
“You will soon see it with your own eyes. Just wait a little.”
“Right now...”
Raguel abruptly cut them off.
“When the sun sets, Johan becomes a demon. Please endure it for just a few hours.”
Johan frowned.
“There is still that much time left?”
It was impossible to tell the exact time inside the mausoleum. Sunlight and moonlight barely reached this far underground.
They had to estimate the time.
Raguel was different.
High Elves were a race whose senses had developed to their limits. He could detect even the faintest sunlight.
Raguel nodded.
“About two hours remain.”
Johan looked at the Dark Elf.
“You waited five hundred years. Two hours are nothing, are they?”
The Dark Elf’s eyes gleamed ominously.
“...If even a shred of what you said is false, I will give you the most horrific death in all history.”
Johan snickered.
“Declarations like that always end in disappointment. I have heard something similar from someone else before.”
Apostle Beris had said the exact same thing, but nothing had happened to Johan yet.
The Dark Elf muttered in a low voice.
“Do not act so arrogant. Carve my warning into your bones.”
Johan shrugged.
“Well, I will remember it. Let us get moving.”
Before night came, everyone gathered here had to assemble at the mausoleum entrance.
Thousands of individuals had to pass through the narrow exit in one night, so time was somewhat tight.
It would be better to arrive early and prepare for their escape.
When Johan turned away, the Dark Elf stared at his back with an incredulous expression.
They muttered softly.
“You are just as shameless.”
Johan turned back.
“Come quickly. We do not have time.”
Their destination was the mausoleum ceiling. They had to climb the World Tree’s enormous roots and line up before the exit.
Johan hurried onward.
His current physical abilities were so pitiful that he had no choice but to move more diligently than everyone else.
* * *
Thousands of evil spirits climbed the roots of the World Tree.
They looked like a swarm of termites crawling up a tree in search of food.
Watching that sight, Johan wiped the sweat from his brow.
‘This is killing me.’
Every muscle in his body spasmed. His lungs throbbed as though they would burst.
The Dark Elf spoke with a suspicious expression.
“Either you are a fool, or what you said earlier was a lie. It must be one or the other.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You could have waited until you transformed into a demon, then flown up here. There was no need to pant like this.”
“It is training.”
“What?”
“I need to build up my stamina. I have to live in a human body too.”
He meant it. Johan intended to strengthen his body whenever he had the chance.
The Dark Elf stared blankly at Johan, then scoffed.
“If it is bullshit, it will soon be revealed.”
Johan snickered.
“Now is exactly the time. Look.”
The beads of sweat dripping from him began to turn black. They transformed into black smoke and scattered away.
Ominous mist covered Johan’s entire body.
Within the darkness, red eyes flashed.
The Dark Elf’s pupils shook.
“Ha!”
The smoke gradually cleared.
A black demon stood where the boy had been.
Mapheltan drew his lips into a long smile.
“Mortal, it has only been a week.”
The Dark Elf took several steps back.
“...How can such a thing be possible?”
He wanted to tease them a little longer, but there was no time.
The fact that his demonic transformation had begun meant night had arrived.
The full moon had come.
Mapheltan spoke.
“Let us leave first.”
He pointed to the base of the World Tree.
Like the entrance, the exit also had a screaming face embedded in it.
The Dark Elf took out the Heartwood Core Slab while concealing their agitation as much as possible.
They spoke in a sorrowful voice.
“Earth Mother, please forgive us.”
Mapheltan clicked his tongue. He swiftly snatched the Heartwood Core Slab from the Dark Elf and pressed it against the World Tree.
The World Tree screamed.
The gate to Narak opened once more.
* * *
A massive Magic Formation had been drawn across the broad surface of Death Gorge.
A spatial transfer formula. It was a technique that even a high-level Mage could only complete after preparing for several days.
Mapheltan let out a sound of admiration.
‘As expected, it was prepared properly.’
The spatial transfer formula was Ilea’s work.
Two weeks ago, she must have come here separately and prepared the magic.
By now, she had likely arrived in the capital and opened the exit.
The moment this technique activated, everyone here would be transferred to the capital.
The Dark Elf slowly examined the technique.
“It appears to be the Witch’s work.”
“That is right. It is connected to the capital.”
“You prepared thoroughly. We have been properly played into your hands.”
The Dark Elf looked somewhat despondent.
“Well, everything proceeded without a hitch.”
Almost no unexpected variables had arisen during this trip to Narak.
There had been little need to use most of the relics they had brought.
Mapheltan was quite pleased by that.
The Dark Elf stared at him as though trying to pierce through him.
“This is the end of the tricks you can play. With such paltry methods, you will not be able to tamper with the contract we made.”
Mapheltan let out a hollow laugh.
“You wrote it so strictly, yet you are still uneasy?”
The Dark Elf could not help worrying.
The Horned Demon before them was a being completely beyond common sense. They had only known him for a few days, but the Dark Elf had learned that nothing was more foolish than feeling certain about anything involving him.
“I am merely warning you. Take it to heart.”
“I understand, so let us begin.”
Mapheltan gestured to Zalkarin.
Zalkarin brought out a small cube from the backpack.
It was a treasure that converted Demonic Energy into Mana.
It was necessary to activate the spatial transfer formula.
The Dark Elf suddenly let out a roar.
Their piercing cry rang throughout the gorge.
At the same time, countless evil spirits stepped onto the Magic Formation.
The remaining individuals waited in orderly ranks.
The Dark Elf spoke.
“We are ready.”
“Then I will activate it.”
Mapheltan began pouring Demonic Energy into the cube.
The cube, having absorbed the spirit energy, rose into the air. Then it split apart into fragments. Deep blue Mana began flowing from the gaps.
At the same time, the Magic Formation drawn on the ground began to burn faintly.
Mapheltan frowned.
‘As expected, it is not enough.’
The amount of Demonic Energy needed to activate the formula was clearly insufficient.
The Dark Elf’s eyes curved into crescents.
“You call yourself an Apostle, yet that is all you can do?”
Mapheltan had nothing to say. He truly lacked the ability.
“I could use a hand.”
The Dark Elf chuckled and stretched an arm into the air.
“I'll throw in this much for free.”
Mapheltan snickered.
‘Well, would you look at that.’
It seemed they had each done the other a favor once.
The Dark Elf’s dense Demonic Energy was absorbed into the cube.
Only then did the formula blaze brightly.
Mapheltan spoke quickly.
“Raguel, move out of the formula.”
The Dark Elf spoke in confusion.
“What about you?”
“I am going with them.”
He intended to reveal himself in the capital.
“That does not seem like a very good plan.”
If the capital the Dark Elf remembered was similar to how it had been five hundred years ago, no ordinary demon could survive there.
Naturally, Mapheltan would die as well.
His death would be a devastating blow to the Dark Elf.
The person responsible for honoring the contract could not be allowed to die.
Mapheltan spoke with a calm expression.
“No, it is an excellent plan. The chance of my death is very low, and the reward will be great.”
Demons grew by feeding on the fear of other intelligent beings.
They could also raise the rank of their existence through evil deeds.
If he simply released countless evil spirits into the capital and showed himself, Mapheltan would profit greatly.
He could not give up this chance to grow.
The Dark Elf spoke.
“...Do not forget the contract.”
Mapheltan nodded.
“Die well.”
At the same time, the formula convulsed and swallowed the gorge.
Everyone vanished without a trace.
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