34 – Episode 34
# 34
Dehiri dreamt a dream.
Beneath the brilliant sun, he opened his eyes in a palace above the clouds. Dimitri, who often read scriptures like a daily meal, recognized this place as Heaven, the afterlife of Tianshinkyo.
‘So, I’m dead?’
He felt proud.
Indeed, there was a reward for worshipping God with a pure heart.
Although he regretted not capturing the Manticore, surely it was due to his brother’s guidance that he could reach Heaven?
Now, he just needed to wait for the trumpeting angels…
At that moment, someone appeared before Dimitri.
‘A woman?’
A beauty that could only be described as dazzling. Literally, an existence as beautiful as a work of art.
Overwhelmed by her beauty, Dimitri instinctively knelt.
‘My lord,’
The woman smiled slightly. Dimitri had the right idea.
She was the lord of Tianshinkyo.
‘I’m glad to see you in person, Dimitri. However, this place is not yet for you.’
‘… What?’
Dimitri was bewildered by the goddess’s words.
‘Didn’t my lord call me?’
‘What are you saying? You died from a hole in your stomach caused by a Manticore’s claw. So are you saying I sent the Manticore to kill you?’
‘???’
Dimitri couldn’t fully understand the goddess’s words.
Literally, it was impossible for him to comprehend.
Her language didn’t fully resonate with Dimitri, as if he were dreaming or recalling a long-held memory.
She was the universe’s greatest mystery, an existence unto herself. So Dimitri filtered through her coarse words which sounded inappropriate to him and remembered.
‘I did not call you.’
‘But, my lord!’
[“Your time has not yet come, my child. You still have much to do.”]
[“Much to do?”]
[“Yes, spread my will far and wide. Help the weak, do good deeds. And…”]
The goddess spoke with a transcendentally beautiful smile.
[“My apostle, lend your full strength to help Ian.”]
[“Ian…? Do you mean the wizard Ian?”]
[“Indeed. That is what your goddess desires.”]
Dihitri’s ritual slowly fell silent.
…
When he opened his eyes.
“He’s awake, he’s awake!”
“Brother! Are you conscious?”
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Surrounding him were countless order of knights, repeating their prayers and cries.
Among them.
A young wizard soaked in sweat spoke with a gratifying smile.
“How do you feel, being brought back from the dead?”
‘Ian…!’
Dihitri realized as soon as he saw Ian.
The Lord of the great heavens had sent wizard Ian to save him…!
Suddenly.
Dihitri grabbed Ian’s hand tightly.
Caught off guard by the sudden handholding, Ian expressed surprise.
“No, why on earth would you do something that would send us to hell…!”
But nothing could be seen by Dimitri, who was already blinded. In fact, Ian was the only one who paid attention to such things. After all, everyone had witnessed the miracle performed by Ian.
“Magician Ian! You, in the great one’s name, have saved me!”
Ian laughed awkwardly.
Well, he couldn’t deny it. The reason Ian could use the divine technique was because the goddess of the Celestial Church lent her power to him.
So, he simply admitted it.
“Yes. She said Dimitri has much to do and must be kept alive.”
“!!!”
Dimitri was immensely shocked.
Ian’s words exactly matched that of the Goddess!
Although it was just Ian’s rough paraphrase, Dimitri would absolutely not believe it.
This was a clear revelation of the divine.
Dimitri tried to kneel, enduring the fear of his entrails, which had just been pushed back, popping out again. Everyone fiercely stopped him.
“Magician Ian! You are an apostle sent by God!”
“…Pardon?”
“I, the humble servant of the lord, greet thee, Apostle!”
Including Ian, everyone tilted their heads, wondering what nonsense Dimitri was spouting.
Calling him an apostle of God out of nowhere?
While everyone knew that Ian had shown an amazing miracle, just that was not enough to call him God’s apostle.
That was just how the divine technique was. No, that was just how magic was.
If you gain the favor of the mysterious powers, magic and the sacred arts can produce marvelous results, and if not, they yield no harvest at all.
Ian’s sacred art was certainly exceptional… but a large part stems most likely from the fact that Dihitri was the one being healed.
Gods are perceptive, likely showing more passion when healing their own followers.
In other words, the result was almost a fusion of Ian’s sacred art and Dihitri’s devotion.
Impressive, yes, but it didn’t seem worth all the fuss, like the reaction of Dihitri…
‘I guess I was seeing mirages while wandering the desert.’
‘Makes sense. Let’s give it special attention for a while.’
Understanding the situation, the knights vaguely followed Dihitri’s whims.
Dihitri kept babbling nonsense like Ian being an apostle of God, but nobody paid attention.
The pursuit of the escaped Manticore was more urgent.
“You couldn’t finish it off?”
“… I apologize, Elder.”
“What would you have to apologize for? I’m the one who should be sorry. I should have fought with you…”
The Manticore had fled, wounded. Even a giant beast would run if it decided to. There was no chance they could catch up.
“hehehehe. I knew it.”
The wizard, Mani, acted as if he knew all.
This act was incredibly irksome.
Isn’t it that the most annoying thing is someone who nestles at your side when you’re already pissed off?
“Mani! If you hadn’t cast that spell…”
“Ian would have been in danger.”
“…”
Mani silenced the knights with a single sentence. He truly was a living testament to the greatest wisemen of the era.
“Don’t be too disheartened. Didn’t we prepare weapons coated in poison for situations like this?”
The knights nodded their heads.
Having a single shot to kill the manticore would have been better, but since things went off track, they had to resort to Plan B.
And the plant poison magic prepared by Marnie would steadily chip away at the manticore’s health.
“Let’s go back to the village for now.”
Upon Elder’s suggestion, the knights were taken aback.
“You’re suggesting we let the creature we’ve captured escape?”
But only Ian fully understood the Elder’s words.
While conversing with the manticore, a new entry formed in his summoning magic guide.
“Carnivorous monsters hunt humans when they are wounded. Because there’s no prey as plentiful, weak, and tasty as humans. – Demonite.”
“So it’s off to hunt human flesh, then.”
The knights fell silent at Ian’s words.
The manticore’s anticipated destination was clear; it was heading for a human village. Searching for prey wouldn’t be its only intention.
Since a manticore is cunning and brutal, it was obvious it would seek revenge by capturing and devouring humans.
Just to torment the knights – it was committing retaliatory slaughter.
“Boss. I’ll release the birds to chase the manticore.”
“Is that okay? You might put yourself in danger.”
Ian slowly shook his head.
Ian already had as much animosity against the manticore as he could muster.
If he didn’t see that murderous creature’s life end, he wouldn’t be able to sleep.
“Now that I know it’s not just your run-of-the-mill beast, don’t I have to see this through to the end?”
At Ian’s response, the knight corps broke into a pleased smile. Though the knights weren’t originally friendly with mages, Ian was the exception. How could they hate a brother-in-arms, a fellow student of the scriptures, a faithful brother?
“Thank you, Ian.”
“I want to join too!”
“If you do not sow too many beans, that will be fine.”
“What?”
The knights erupted in laughter. Since they had wounded the Manticore and even saved Dehitri’s life, the battle was a victory for the knights. The tension began to ease somewhat.
However, the monster was still alive.
“Oberon, take the birds and follow the traces of the Manticore.”
[We will do that!]
The birds rose all at once, chasing the traces of the monster at the wizard’s command.
The knights, after a brief rest, resumed the hunt, checking their arms.
#
As Elder and Ian expected, the Manticore set off to attack the nearby village.
It was a retaliatory attack, intended to send the message, ‘You dare disturb I, who hid and lived well until now! I’ll make you regret this!’
The blatantly shameless mindset of the monster, which would obviously hunt humans whenever it was bored if not subjugated, was overwhelming.
Regardless of how evil the Manticore was, it was better to prevent villagers from becoming victims.
“It’s a… it’s a monster!”
At dusk.
Farmers coming home from working in the fields were suddenly attacked by the Manticore that sprang from the forest.
The Manticore attacked the farmers, swinging its tail and firing poisonous stingers. The paralyzing poison of the stingers was a dreadful weapon that immediately impaired the victim’s physical capabilities.
“Ahhhhhg!”
The farmers, hit by the stingers, went down helpless.
A young farmer, stopping to flee, rushed towards a fallen farmer.
“Father!”
The young farmer, holding a rake in his hands, stood in the way of the Manticore.
“Get out of our village! You monster!”
Mustered up the courage of a lifetime, the young man faced the monster.
It was truly astounding bravery. Was this dialogue not meant for the hero who sneakily hid in the village after being injured!
Even the Manticore seemed taken aback by the young man’s defiance. It slowly circled around him, bearing a chilling grin.
He could kill them right now, but Manticore was a wicked monster by nature, a ruthless devil. In other words, it enjoyed tormenting humans…!
“hehehehe. So, that human is your father?”
“!”
“Let me make you a proposition. Kill your father and bring him to me. Then I will spare the rest of the humans.”
The young man looked around in shock. There were many fallen farmers in the field. But to exchange his father and those farmers’ lives…?
“You’re not a complete idiot, are you? Ten humans or just one. Which will you save?”
Manticore’s words were lies from beginning to end.
No matter what choice the young man made, all the farmers would die. There was never a thought of sparing them. Manticore simply wanted to witness humans struggle, suffer, and die in agony.
However, the humans cornered at the edge of the cliff lost their judgment and faltered.
“…Wha-what are you doing! You heard the monster! Do what it says!”
“Shut up! You dumb bastard! Would you trust what the monster says?”
“Who are you calling a dumb bastard! Are we all going to die together, then?”
The humans raised their voices and argued with each other. They didn’t hesitate to blame and inflict wounds on one another.
Manticore laughed heartily while observing their behavior.
Yes. Manticore was originally a troublemaker. It was the embodiment of chaos, a joker without disguise, and a lover of grandmothers.
Being able to release the stress of being beaten by the knights made Manticore feel good.
“…Do you really think I’m going to listen to the enemy’s words?”
So, when the idiotic young man swung his scythe, Manticore didn’t feel any worse.
Manticore would have been pleased if the young man had truly killed his father with his own hands, but he was smarter than Manticore had thought. There was nothing he could do about it.
“Oh, really? Then die!”
Manticore laughed and swung its paw.
And at that moment…
Swoosh!
“Graaah!”
An arrow from the forest pierced precisely through the eye of the Manticore. Launching his bow, Elder charged and struck the Manticore’s foreleg with his longsword.
“Knights of the Santiago Order, ready for battle!”
The knights enclosed the Manticore in the blink of an eye.
Only then did the Manticore realize its carelessness.
“You bastards! You wish to die!”
The Manticore distorted its face, shouting furiously. It was to make his enemy tremble.
However, the opponents were a combat group bound by faith and conviction.
“In the name of the heavens! We have come to punish you, wicked monster!”
“We’ll sever your head and dedicate it under the bright sun!”
“Roar! Get out of my sight!”
The knight order stubbornly maintained their encirclement. Those close to the Manticore withdrew, while those further approached.
As if proving their long-experienced hunt of monsters, the knights coordinated seamlessly like water flowing in a stream.
Meanwhile, Ian, from a distance, continually got on the Manticore’s nerves with his rambling.
“Idiot. What changes with your babbling?”
“Shut up, wizard!”
Truth be told… this was all the wizard could do—since wizardry was all about blabbering.
But since his few words managed to manipulate the opponent’s emotions, could it not also called magic?
“So, what can you do? Beyond threatening to get lost?”
“I will chew your head off…!”
“Oh, you can’t, can you? You can’t break the encirclement, can you? You are destined to die here, right?”
“Roar!”
As Ian led the Manticore around and the knights manipulated its actions… what they had planned happened.
The knights led the Manticore into a wheat field (not where a wife was waiting). The wheat seeds were starting to sprout in the field.
And in that place, there was a shrewd herbomancer.
“[Children of Green! Grow!]”
As Mani cast the spell, the sprouts grew at a terrifying rate, twirling around the arms and legs of the Manticore.
“Damn these tricks!”
The Manticore exploded with rage, unable to break free from the natural net.
Grass is resilient by nature. Living grass is even tougher. Hence, the soldiers referred to the rapidly growing weeds as a green monster.
“Hmph! If you can cut it off, try! You monster!”
Mani confidently shouted.
Just as she believed, the Manticore couldn’t break free from the net made of wheat stalks. The poison from Mani’s plants had drained the Manticore’s strength to a substantial degree.
It was a death sentence.
“Now is the time! My brethren!”
Knights pulled out molotov cocktails from their possession and threw them. (Reason why the familiar crop is used, is because Mani is a seed collector.) Nectar given by Mani was inside the molotov cocktail.
It was the ingredient for flaming arrows.
“Ian Eredis! It’s your turn!”
The famous fire mage, Eredis taught his disciples how to control the mysteries of fire. Fire magic was notoriously difficult to learn, but in some ways, Ian just got it without much effort.
Ian flicked his finger toward the Manticore, a signature move of a fire mage.
Today, the weather was clear, and pyromancy joyfully danced across the field.
It was a day perfect for using pyromancy.
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” [O Fire! Ignite!]”
The wood sap, with low ignition points, blazed up.
The Manticore, smeared with the sticky sap, was trapped in the green net and burst into flame.
Burning at the stake. A fitting punishment for monsters that harm humans.
The author seems to like to tease others.
Lol, “My wife waited in the wheat fields” reference was unexpected