Chapter 36: Marvas (1)
‘This is going to overflow if I’m not careful.’
No wonder he didn’t pee at all before bed, he just had to save it for now……. Parenting really doesn’t go as planned.
There was nothing I could do. I hadn't even thought of packing any, so of course there were no spare diapers.
“What’s wrong?”
Roro’s gaze turned this way.
“It’s not a big deal, it’s just ti to change his diaper.”
“Whaat! That’s a real ergency. Delphi, shouldn’t we get moving now?”
I didn’t say he had to go, I said he already went, but Roro looked as if she’d heard sothing catastrophic. Her thick eyebrows knitted together and the corners of her drooping eyes shot up.
“It’s not that urgent……”
Before I could finish my sentence,
Kugugung-
The ground began to rumble.
Not a gentle shake, but enough to make my butt bounce.
“Ms. Roro. Now.”
With perfect timing, Delphi called to Roro.
“Alright!”
Kwa-deuk!
As if that was the signal, Roro shot to her feet. At the sa ti, the wooden stocks that had bound her crumbled as delicately as if they were made of wet paper.
“Vice-Captain, untie us too-.”
Phillip rattled the wooden stocks on his hands up and down with a monotonous request, and Roro grabbed my wooden plank first with one hand. And then,
Kwaduk!
The wooden plank shattered just from her grip.
……Phew.
Even though she was on my side, a chill ran down my spine. It was unlikely to happen, but the desire to not get on her bad side, which I didn't have much of to begin with, completely disappeared.
“Next!”
After lightly breaking Phillip’s and Delphi’s as well, Roro lowered her stance as if to jump up.
“Lottie, I’ll finish this quickly and let you get your diaper changed.”
Roro, who had promised a diaper change with a serious face, kicked off the ground lightly.
A clean movent with no unnecessary flourishes. Like a tiger that had truly been tied down with a thumbtack, she landed lightly outside the pit, looked sowhere, and then vanished from sight in an instant.
“Arsen, do you want to go out, or stay here? Both are fine. If you want to stay here, I’ll have Phillip stay with you.”
“The newbie is a weakling, so wouldn't it be better to stay here? You could die if you’re not careful.”
Delphi, who was also getting ready to move. Phillip raised his eyebrows at her suggestion.
I thought for a mont before replying.
“I’ll go outside too.”
It wasn’t that Phillip was uncomfortable, but there was no need to stay here.
I had to improve my abilities one way or another. To do that, I needed to grow, and there was no reason to miss an opportunity to get a free ride like this.
No matter what happened, these people would save , right? Even if it got dangerous, I was confident I could protect at least Lottie with my life.
“Alright? Then do that.”
“U-eh? W-what is this?”
Delphi, who had nodded nonchalantly, suddenly hugged from behind.
A soft sensation touched my back without warning. Before I could even be stunned by the warm and cozy feeling, my feet were in the air.
Uh, uh, wa-wait, what is this……?
“W-wait a minute! Ms. Delphi……!”
Uwaak-!
But before I could even properly get the words out, Delphi had thrown .
Literally,
Whoosh.
***
“I should have just stayed inside, Lottie.”
Before I could even guess what ability Delphi had used, I, who had been unceremoniously thrown outside, was only able to get up after rolling over once.
As I dusted off my tingling hand that had been hit while protecting Lottie, my surroundings ca into view. The atmosphere was completely different from the sowhat friendly one below.
An unusually strong wind blew from all directions, cutting through my skin, and the pitch-black trees were losing their shape under the murky gray sky as if they were crumbling.
I hugged Lottie, my senses on high alert at the rumbling ground.
No matter how positively I tried to think, it was not a good sign. Sothing was definitely showing off its presence.
“Heave-ho! Oof, what’s this. Why is it like this here.”
Phillip, who popped out next, also looked around after a clumsy landing. As for Delphi, I have no idea what her ability is, but she climbed up on her own.
There was nothing to step on or grab onto, so that was even more surprising.
“Where could Ms. Roro have gone.”
Roro was not near the pit. As I looked for the most reliable person in this situation, Delphi raised her finger.
“……That way. She’s over there.”
Following her gesture, I could faintly see Roro’s back in the distance in the forest. And in front of her, sothing was floating in the air.
An unidentifiable shape that seed to be shimring air, or perhaps shimring liquid, was repeatedly expanding and contracting in the air.
“Phillip. Delphi.”
Our steps, which had been moving towards Roro, stopped in their tracks.
Roro’s voice, which reached all the way here even though we were dozens of paces away. She wasn’t shouting, but it felt like a growl right in my ear.
Ah, right.
It was a similar tone to that ti. The low but fierce voice she had used in Eastbourne the mont Mago said he didn’t know Camila’s whereabouts.
The postures of Phillip and Delphi, who had been moderately relaxed, imdiately straightened.
“It’s a high-ranking devil, alright. Go to the village and don’t let a single one of them escape. They’re all Devil worshippers.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Simultaneously with Phillip’s cheerful reply, the two of them turned around and started running towards the village at a terrifying speed. In an instant, I was left alone with Lottie, blinking blankly.
This made it certain.
Roro was usually treated like a fool in the Knights, but when it ca to business, she was the type to get things done…….
“W-what! Why is Arsen still here!?”
“……Pardon?”
The admiration I had just felt, canceled.
Perhaps to check if Phillip and Delphi had heard the order properly, Roro glanced back, and she jumped so high it was visible even from this distance.
“Why, why didn’t you follow them?”
At Roro’s incomprehensible question, I looked in the direction the two had disappeared, but there was no trace of Phillip and Delphi.
I scratched the back of my head, wondering for a mont what she was talking about.
“Even though he’s a weakling who takes so long to manifest his body, you two are in danger! Of course, it’s fine since I’m here……”
I could see Roro’s eyebrows furrow from here.
‘Well, I didn’t go with them because you so precisely left my na out.’
It was a little absurd, but I didn’t show it and just waved my hand.
“It seems too late to run away now, so don’t worry too much. I’ll stick right by your side.”
At this point, it was better to be with Roro than to chase after Phillip with a child alone.
At that, Roro made a troubled expression and started walking towards , but then she stopped abruptly.
Kugugung-
I widened my stance on the violently shaking ground. Having experienced this a few tis, I felt like I had mastered the art of balancing.
[Khahahahahaha!]
A disgusting laugh that sounded like it had been scraped with sandpaper ca from behind Roro.
[It’s been a while since I had a sacrifice. I can finally regain my strength!]
A voice boiling with joy, mixed with the sounds of the forest.
[The ti for revenge against the damned donkey has co!]
The murky particles that had been gathering and dispersing began to rge into one with a flash of light. Without needing to know anything, the phenonon clearly heralded the appearance of sothing sinister.
[O foolish lambs, worship this Lord Marvas and et your glorious death!]
Fwoooosh-!
‘Is this what a devil is?’
A devil, which I was seeing for the first ti in my life, was extrely loud. Perhaps empowered by its self-luminescence, the already strong wind, which my upper and lower body had been enduring well, rcilessly whipped around .
“Ugh, dust.”
I couldn’t open my eyes at all because of all the things being carried by the wind. Lottie, also feeling unwell, whined and clung to .
“Kuhk……. Ms. Roro, are you okay?”
Roro was much closer to the being presud to be Marvas than I was. It would be more intense for her, not less.
But what I saw when I barely opened my eyes was not Roro dodging the flying dust and debris, nor was it Roro with a slight frown of displeasure.
She was taking all the hitting branches and stones with a face devoid of any emotion.
Like a wooden doll with its strings cut, without a single trace of playfulness or her bright deanor.
Her head was tilted to the side, and she seed to be lost in thought, looking sowhere in the empty air, not at .
For a mont, I felt a chill at her inhuman appearance.
“……Hmm.”
Roro, in that sa posture, turned around and spoke with a low hum.
“You, you do have a demon stone, don’t you?”
As if by a lie, everything around us fell silent at the sa ti as Roro’s nonchalant question.
***
Krrrrrk-!
A sharp sound like a beast’s roar was heard, and then a fierce wind blew again.
“Ah, seriously, stop it already……!”
This damned Marvas, is he the spirit of the wind or sothing? He doesn't know when to stop.
As I was enduring all the things flying at , scratching my arms and legs, sothing finally revealed itself.
[How dare a re foolish sacrifice utter the words ‘demon stone’! All of this must be atoned for with excruciating pain and blood!]
With a roar of anger, a foul stench instantly spread in all directions. As the wind gradually died down, the sll beca even stronger.
“What is this sll……”
I wrinkled my face and lifted my head, and I had to swallow the rising bile at the sight of Marvas, who had finally revealed himself.
“Wow, what a grueso face.”
Putting the sll aside, I couldn’t believe my own eyes, seeing such a horrific appearance.
Marvas’s appearance was that of a half-man, half-beast, a little over 2 ters tall.
A shaggy black lion’s head and a thick tail. A face more horrific than a severe burn mark, as if it had been lted in the fires of hell. And its body, with gaping holes, was dripping with yellow pus from all over, literally a living plague.
‘Even for a devil, what an incredible visual.’
Thanks to Marvas, I had to suppress my nausea with all my might. Especially his face, which was almost completely crushed on one side, was terrifying to look at.
In the darkness, the devil’s one remaining red eye flashed.
[Wait. You are no ordinary sacrifice.]
Marvas’s growling voice echoed eerily through the forest. In front of him, Roro answered in a voice completely devoid of emotion.
“Can't you tell by looking? A sacrifice? I'm the hunter who ca to catch you.”
[A hunter? It’s not just that. Even though this body has lost its strength, I still have that much insight. You can’t fool .]
Marvas’s one remaining eye narrowed.
At Roro, who just tilted her head crookedly at his words, the devil began to take heavy steps. Lumps of yellow pus the size of a fist fell to the ground with a splat.
[You are of the sa kind as , aren't you? Right?]
Marvas, now only a few steps away from Roro. At the devil’s strange words, I frowned without realizing it.
Of the sa kind.
Could there be a stranger thing to say?
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