Chapter 142: Demons and the Ancestral Realm (2)
Before Luna's arrival.
I was already fully aware of the main storyline and its outlines, and ready to capitalize on them.
First things first.
This main quest, as is the case in most games, is forced upon the player.
What does that mean?
It means that even if you try to pick other missions, the story will insidiously steer you to do this quest.
The episode that takes place in this Avilat gambling house is the main story. It's the second story.
"This is a set flow. I just have to figure out how to change things up along the way.
The most profitable structure.
Plus, you have to design all the situations, build your clans, and move the story forward quickly.
You have to make sure that your units never die or get maimed.
But, you might ask, how do you do that?
What does this entail first and foremost?
'The answer is simple: in the very sequence of the episode, boldly skip what you need to skip and take what you need to take.'
To do this, I analyzed the story.
Here's the sequence of the main story you should follow.
First, you start with any random characters in the Avilat gambling house.
In other words, get the characters of your choice safely to the gambling house.
Then, after gambling for a while, prepare the following.
If they manage to earn at least one gold coin, the underground auction house will be opened to the players.
Failure to do so will result in the player being caught and a bad ending.
Therefore, it's very important to save up your funds.
'In order to reliably deposit at least one full gold, it's important to have a party of at least two characters with a Luck stat of 6 or higher… or at least one character with an overwhelming Luck stat, like myself.'
Of course, it gets better from there.
In this underground auction house, the players will encounter a demon.
Jagan, one of the 72 demons, hides his essence under the name Herman, but he's actually a master of foul and unholy sorcery.
I succeeded in meeting him.
I also succeeded in drawing his attention to me.
Of course, there was one more thing I had to do in the process.
As a member of the Lunatic Order, I had to bring Jagan out of hiding. I had to uncover the evil essence and open the way for it to be stopped at any moment.
What follows is the first phase.
A boss raid against Jagan.
I took note of the fact that fellow units could get hurt in the process, so I decided to skip it entirely.
While it's good to build up your units, I didn't want to risk putting them face-to-face against one of the 72 demons just yet.
So, I took the Lunatic mission and brought its leader, Luna, here, and had her play Phase 1 against Jagan.
This is how the current situation on the ground was created.
'The Lunatic is a criminal organization that has grown out of the underworld and the black market, but at the end of the day, one of their goals is the extermination of the 72 Demons.'
I mused lightly, recalling through one of the Lunatic's settings.
The Lunatics. They are a criminal organization, but they have a purpose that is not quite like that, and one that is still unknown to most.
They have two main goals.
The first is to topple the Imperial Family and usher in a new era.
The second is to eradicate the 72 demons and root out evil.
The reason for the suspense has yet to be revealed.
But there is a reason, which is why the random title is Inner Lunatic. I can only speculate.
Luna sheathed her sword and spoke in a condescending tone.
"Even for a filthy demon, you've gone too far. Slavery… and the oppression of an entire race."
[Why should I, a Archduke, care about such things?]
The Archduke.
It was a speech full of pride and vanity.
However, he is also a powerhouse with a worldview that floats high above the rest.
As one of the seven stars, it meant nothing to Luna.
Although she's the weakest of them all, she's the one with the greatest possibilities.
It was Luna who would rise above all others in the future and reign as the Greatest.
I swallowed hard and watched her closely.
Just like in the past, the power she exuded was astounding.
'... I haven't felt this kind of pressure since Theo.'
Theo, of course, is an absolute superpower.
At least, that's what he was at the end, before he was consumed by his villainous fate, but there has yet to be anyone stronger than him, at least as far as I can tell.
Paimon was strong, but if he had the right equipment?
There was one being who would never be outmatched, even in a single breath, and that was Theo von Reinhafer.
Luna was now approaching such an existence.
'This is not the time.'
I snapped out of my reverie.
I had to retrace my steps to get to the main story this progression.
The second step is as follows.
Obtain two hidden pieces from the auction process.
This was not too difficult for me, although it is only granted to Stagnant Water due to its difficulty.
For the record, what you need to obtain here are two items.
The first is an ancient grimoire with draconic inscriptions.
The second is a warrior unit, named Prim, with the extraordinary trait of [Command Reinforcement].
It's the least difficult unit to obtain among those with the same trait, so it's practically a must-have, if you don't get it here, or you'll suffer dearly later.
As a side note, he's blinking rapidly between Luna and I trying to figure out what's going on.
He's probably looking for an opening to escape during the confrontation between the two of us and Jagan.
Of course, he's not moving that easily, as he's realized that he's under a low-level spell and can't escape.
'He'll probably start planning his escape as soon as the binding magic weakens a bit. '
I've seen through his plan.
No matter what the situation was, it was not difficult for me to take advantage of it.
[I just sold them off to useless trash, that's a sin? How ludicrous.]
Jagan sneered at Luna in his uncharacteristically abrasive tone.
Unlike his former propriety, the sudden change in the demon's tone grates your skin.
A voice that resonated past the demon's signature deafening pitch and into the depths of his heart.
"You're worthless, you filthy demon."
Luna's tone turned even more chilling.
The mana-fueled voice instantly froze everyone in the vicinity.
[Hahahaha! You funny girl!]
However, as was typical of the Demon Race, Jagan had no notion that he would be defeated.
Moreover, he possessed traits such as [Arrogance] and [Contempt].
Jagan had a tendency of overconfidence.
Luna looked at her enemies with her lustrous blond hair falling down her back and her clear eyes.
Beautiful, to say the least, was too strong a word to describe the sharp features that illuminated the dimly lit underground auction house.
"As the head of the Lunatic, I ask you."
She asks, ashes from two flickering torches on the wall.
"Are you Jagan, the 72nd demon?"
At Luna's cry, Jagan frowns.
[If so, what will you do?]
"Cut."
Luna replies as she unsheaths her sword.
It was pitch black, but she didn't care.
The enemy in front of her was one of the 72 demons. It was a catastrophe incarnate.
An enemy that must be defeated, no matter what.
Luna took this to heart, channeling her energy and wrapping it around her sword.
I repeat the same process. It's a tenuous balance, but I don't want the magic to spill over onto me.
Instead, it's Jagan I'm worried about, even if she's not.
"Hey, you. Are you trying to run away?"
My voice, and with it, one of the slaves.
One of the brown-haired boys who had been moving in a hurry, stopped.
It was like that.
I'm aiming for Prim.
I'm aiming to capture [Command Reinforcement] here.
***
Prim.
A young boy with brown hair and two black eyes as dark as obsidian.
He was born in the rugged mountains of the East.
He has no memory of the parents who gave birth to him.
What he does remember is that many children fell victim to the Eastern War, and were conscripted into child soldiers and...
He knows that the war is still not over.
His hometown has already lost its name.
It is now a faded landscape carved by the wind.
When he saw the borders between countries drawn in arbitrary straight lines, he concluded that there was no country he could believe in and follow.
One day, he's in one country.
The other day, he was a citizen of another nation, barely surviving another day.
He had to make do with the rotten potatoes they handed out or the grain mixed with stones.
He had to take care of his own family, whose blood was not mixed with his own.
And so it happened.
He was sold to the slave market by Herman's tempting promises.
He offered to take them to the greatest capital.
Arkheim.
It was the land of gold, the home of the great empire of the West, not the East.
-There, everyone would be fed.
That's what Herman claimed, and he said he would provide support.
... Of course, the result was, as we see now, enslavement and being sold to nobles.
'But I won't give up.'
One thing, Prim kept thinking even as he was captured.
He would never give up on himself.
He'd been gifted with a talent for leading people since childhood, and he didn't give up on people easily.
Therefore.
Even though he had failed to escape due to the magic of Herman, or rather, Jagan.
He was still waiting for his chance.
And now.
The chance had finally presented itself, Prip thought.
The spell that bound him had finally weakened.
And so .
Carefully muffling the sound, he tried to evacuate the others...
"The battlefield." [1]
A dense sense of hopelessness causes an excruciating headache and nausea.
A man stops me from trying to escape as Jagan confronts an unidentified woman.
A foolish man who bought all the slaves for 180,000 gold coins, never knowing the true market value. A gray-haired man who bought himself, never knowing the implications. A nobleman with lavender eyes.
'You mean this isn't going to be easy, but I can't give up now. The worst that can happen is that I draw attention to myself and distract others from...'
"I can see what you're thinking, but you'd better not do that. If you think you can hold me back, you're wrong."
The gray-haired man spat out the words unexpectedly.
At that moment, Prim felt his heart clench in his chest, but he stared at the ash and white-haired boy who didn't say anything.
He took a short breath.
"You look about the same age as me… If we run away at the same time, you're confident that you can catch us all, right?"
His words were meant to provoke his opponent. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work on the boy in front of him.
"You're here because you're confident, and let me correct you on one point. I'll give you a chance. Do you really think it was a coincidence that I broke the lock on the confinement and let you escape?
"... You think you saved us, you filthy aristocrat?"
Prim replied in an edgy tone. He didn't trust nobles.
He didn't despise them like Paracelsus did, but hadn't he been dragged here by them and become their little toy?
Though the gray-haired boy had broken the lock and given them the attitude that he didn't care if he ran away, that was one thing.
He may have tricked them, and now he wants to take advantage of them.
"I will take you to my estate. I'll give you something to eat, something to drink. I will not discriminate between man and beast, and I will punish you severely if any of you choose to leave." [2]
And then.
Suddenly, the man's words were beyond comprehension.
What is he talking about?
Is this hope torture?
Is this a sophisticated maneuver to give people hope, then take it away and revel in it so they can suffer more?
It was all too much for his mistrust of humanity to comprehend.
But at that moment, the gray-haired, silver-haired man with the lavender eyes spoke.
"I am Knox von Reinhafer."
And then he continued.
"Everything depends on what you do. If you become my servant, I will save everyone here. If not, I will leave them all as they are. I will not care if you die or not."
"... Leave them be?"
"Well, you know best what will happen to you once you're captured by him."
Death.
Prim knew it.
The chances of escaping his arch nemesis in this place that was practically Herman's domain?
It was as close to zero as he could get.
Probably all that lay ahead of them was death at the tip of their toes.
He quickly turned over in his mind.
To echo the words of the gray-haired man before him.
'Come to think of it...'
Knox von Reinhafer.
He'd heard of him before.
A man known as a madman, even by the Reinhafer family, a sword master known for the 'harshness of the path'.
But why would he be targeting him?
"Now, choose."
An unsettling precipice.
Knox Von Reinhafer offered him a choice.
"Become my squire, or die in vain trying to escape this place."
It was a whisper, a demonic whisper.
A lump rose in his throat, his heart racing.
He clenched his fists and looked at Knox.
" I am... I'm not stupid."
"On my honor."
That's what Nox had said earlier, in the distant past.
Prim gritted his teeth.
An oath.
It's a common ritual among the nobility, a ritual of binding magic.
If broken, a fitting price would be paid.
The man before him held the egg in his mouth, willing to take the risk as if it were a given. [2]
The Oath of Reinhafer?
It was a time-honored tradition, a sworn oath on a black sword that could result in death if broken, and one that must be honored, even at the cost of one's own life.
Even Prim, raised in the rugged eastern lands, was not completely ignorant of the ways of the world.
So he recognized the magnitude of Nox's offer.
After a moment's consideration, Prim nodded, his expression still skeptical.
"Okay, very well,I'll accept your offer, but only if you guarantee the safety of the others and myself, and don't sell them into slavery. If you don't, I'll consider your promise broken."
"Good."
Nox's response to Prim's statement was simply to say the following.
"I, Knox von Reinhafer, do hereby acknowledge you as my squire, and I swear by the ancient history of the Black Sword that I will keep all the promises I have made to you now."
The answer came too easily.
Prim went blank for a moment.
Knox's eyes met his.
"Is that it?"
TN: Notes
While 72 Demons would sound a lot more thematic as Roman Numerals LXXII ⅬⅩⅩⅠⅠ but it unfortunately doesn't blend nicely.
[1] : 전장 – Battlefield – Not sure what author was going for here.
[2] : Beast probably demihuman. Will most likely change in the future.
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