Whispers of a Scheming Demon - Chapter 95

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈

Chapter 95: Deception

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Shaperia could not hide her bewilderment.

What was happening before her eyes was far too sudden.

The round table she was riding suddenly began to drop.

It was plunging deeper underground.

The edge of the table scraped against the walls, producing a heavy noise.

Krrrrrrk!

Stone fragments flew in every direction.

Violent tremors battered her entire body.

Shaperia gripped the handle on the round table tightly and lowered her stance.

Her expression had stiffened.

She was tense and anxious.

She cried out urgently.

“Baron!”

Johan’s face was far too calm.

“We will arrive soon. Please endure a little longer.”

It seemed he was used to this.

Shaperia felt a little resentful of him.

“N-Next time, please at least warn me!”

If she had known they would fall like this, she would not have made such a spectacle of herself.

“I am warning you now. Prepare for impact.”

The instant he finished speaking, a massive impact struck her entire body.

The noise battered her ears.

A cloud of dust rose into the air.

The round table hit the ground.

They had arrived at their destination.

Shaperia exhaled roughly and looked at Johan with reproachful eyes.

“...I truly thought I was going to die.”

“Wait a moment, Lady Shaperia.”

Something was strange about Johan’s expression. His face, which had been calm until moments ago, had become oddly tense.

“What is it?”

Johan did not answer.

Shaperia immediately looked in the direction he was staring.

Ahead of them was utterly dark.

There was not a single point of light.

Johan spoke in a low voice.

“It seems something has gone wrong.”

At the same time, two masses of crimson light flashed in the distance.

The glow was as red as human blood, like the gaze of a demon.

It possessed the power to freeze a person in place.

Wariness appeared on Shaperia’s face.

“...W-What is that?”

Surely there could not be a demon living beneath the lord’s castle. As it was Shaperia’s first visit to the Forbidden Archive, she was thoroughly confused.

Johan spoke in a tense tone.

“I believe it is His Highness. Most likely.”

Shaperia’s pupils widened.

She stared intently through the red light.

“You mean His Highness the Third Prince?”

“That is correct. It seems the corruption has progressed faster than I expected.”

The Third Prince, Gawain, had become a demon.

Shaperia was deeply shocked, but she did not stand there blankly.

She immediately drew the sword at her waist.

“Put that pathetic blade away, Shaperia. I have no business with you.”

The voice came from ahead.

It was cold, yet strangely calm. It gave Shaperia an odd sense of familiarity.

Shaperia opened her mouth hesitantly.

“Y-Your Highness! Are you His Highness the Third Prince?”

The crimson glow blinked once in the distance.

“That is right. We meet again like this.”

For some reason, the voice sounded closer.

Shaperia unconsciously took a step back.

“Are you all right? I heard you were afflicted by a demon’s curse.”

The red light flickered again.

The glow grew slightly larger.

A chilling laugh echoed through the darkness.

“A curse? You call it a curse? Shaperia, it appears you too have been deceived by that vile man.”

A freezing chill seeped into Shaperia’s skin.

She swallowed dryly.

“A vile man? What do you...”

The red light blinked again.

A pitch-black silhouette began to emerge.

The distance between the light and Shaperia had clearly narrowed.

“The one standing beside you.”

Shaperia clenched her sword hilt tightly.

“...Your Highness, do not come any closer.”

The crimson glow suddenly vanished.

Shaperia quickly scanned her surroundings.

She could not sense any presence anywhere.

Johan spoke in a very quiet voice.

“Lady Shaperia, when I give the signal, run straight ahead. With everything you have.”

Shaperia nodded.

At the same time, she felt an unpleasant foreign sensation on her shoulder.

A pitch-black hand brushed over her shoulder.

A voice cold enough to chill her bones whispered beside her ear.

“I will say it again. I have no business with you. So go back.”

Fear filled Shaperia’s face.

Johan shouted loudly.

“Now!”

Johan grabbed Shaperia’s wrist and began to run.

Together, they sprinted toward the Forbidden Archive at full speed.

Loud laughter erupted behind them.

“How do you intend to escape? From me.”

While running, Shaperia cried out.

“Sir Johan! Is there a way?!”

Johan bit his lip as he spoke.

“Even if there is not, we must find one somehow! We cannot let His Highness in that state loose upon the world!”

When a human fell and became a demon, they gained strength proportional to the power they had originally possessed.

Gawain had always been a transcendent being.

Now that someone like him had fallen, it had become a terrible calamity.

The moment he manifested on the surface, the world itself might truly be destroyed.

Shaperia knew that well.

“I will do anything I can! Please tell me what to do!”

Johan quickly looked in every direction.

He swallowed a groan.

“It is too dark! I cannot find any sacred relics we can use!”

“Please wait a moment!”

Shaperia pulled a small bead from her robes.

She threw it into the air.

A mass of pure white light burst in midair.

The interior lit up.

“Well done, Lady Shaperia!”

Shaperia’s eyes widened.

“W-What is this...?”

The Forbidden Archive came fully into view.

All manner of sacred relics and treasures were arranged in neat rows.

It was filled with items whose value could not possibly be measured.

The Forbidden Archive truly was the continent’s treasury.

Not even the Empire or the Holy Kingdom would possess a place like this.

Every relic inside scattered brilliant light.

Yet Gawain, transformed into a demon, had stained all that radiance with darkness. Just how immense was his malice?

Shaperia could only be horrified.

As she stood speechless for several reasons, Johan shouted.

“This is not the time to admire it! Find a sacred relic we can use immediately!”

Shaperia regained her senses at once.

She quickly examined the surroundings.

But she could only despair.

Without the ability to wield Holy Power, there was no way for her to use a sacred relic.

She had lost all her Holy Power.

“B-Baron. I do not have the ability to activate a sacred relic!”

Johan clicked his tongue.

“The same is true for me!”

Johan had not yet learned Holy Power.

Even with countless sacred relics before him, he could not use a single one.

They were all beyond his reach.

A cold laugh echoed through the archive.

“You truly are a pair of utter incompetents. You are pitiful to behold.”

Johan and Shaperia looked behind them.

Gawain, consumed by malice, was snickering.

Aside from his purple short hair and white skin having darkened somewhat, he still looked much like a human.

Gawain slowly stepped forward.

Covered in countless shackles, he approached Johan.

Johan swallowed a groan.

“Lady Shaperia, we do not have much time.”

Gawain would eventually cast off all those restraints.

The moment he did, Johan’s death would follow.

Johan had to subdue Gawain as quickly as possible.

Shaperia desperately searched around.

There was still no sacred relic she could use.

Her entire body trembled.

“...I am sorry. It is because I am so useless.”

Johan shook his head.

“Do not give up. There must be a way.”

He did not despair. He continued to think.

Shaperia did not lose heart either.

“I have no intention of giving up!”

Johan, who had been deep in thought, suddenly spoke.

“The Brilliant Covenant Sigil!”

The Brilliant Covenant Sigil was a pentagram seal made from the Great Saint’s Holy Blood.

The moment it was embedded in one’s forehead, it allowed the user to borrow the Great Saint’s Holy Power for a brief time.

Hope entered Shaperia’s voice.

“Is there a Brilliant Covenant Sigil here?”

“I will find it. Please wait a moment.”

Johan immediately headed somewhere.

A short while later, he returned with a deep blue pentagram seal in his hand.

Shaperia’s expression brightened.

She held out her hand to Johan.

“Baron, please give it to me.”

Johan shook his head.

“No. I will use it.”

Shaperia’s face stiffened slightly.

“...Do you not know? You will die from the side effect.”

The Brilliant Covenant Sigil burned the user’s soul and converted it into the Great Saint’s Holy Power.

From the moment it was embedded in one’s forehead, death began.

“Of course I know. But I must do it.”

“Why?”

“As the Watcher of Narak, I must take responsibility for every demonic incident that has occurred in the south. Even if it kills me.”

Shaperia desperately shouted.

“No! Think of the greater good! Baron, you are someone destined to accomplish greater things! If you die here, I will never be able to face the Great Saint! Give it to me, quickly! I am no longer fit to serve the Great Saint anyway!”

Johan shook his head.

“You are one of the Great Saint’s favored children. One day, you will recover your strength and protect humanity. Please preserve yourself until that day.”

Gawain snickered.

“It is difficult to watch without tears. How amusing.”

Shaperia ground her teeth.

She suddenly lunged at Johan.

To take the Brilliant Covenant Sigil from him.

But Johan was faster.

He had already embedded the pentagram in his forehead.

Shaperia’s eyes shook.

“...S-Sir Johan.”

Johan slowly rose into the air.

His eyes scattered brilliant light.

A pure white Sacred Flame blazed across his entire body.