Chapter 189: Behind the rampage of the demons
“What… What in the world is happening…?”
Time rewinds to the moment just before the appearance of the monstrosity. At that time, Karelvo was in a state of utter confusion. It was because the demons, his creations, and the foundation of his status within the empire had started running rampant throughout the imperial capital.
Karelvo, who was not a demon himself, couldn’t hear the disturbing sound that would drive demons mad. Therefore, the report that the demons had gone berserk came as an unexpected shock to him.
“Lord! Lord Karelvo! Are you listening?”
It was the military officers belonging to the Gnaeus faction who had come to report the demons’ rampage to Karelvo; they came rushing in to report the incident and were also eager to inquire about the cause and potential solutions.
However, the answer they desired never came. Karelvo was in a state of disbelief, as all he could do was gaze out of the window as the roar of demons echoed outside.
“So, as per our judgment, we’ll exterminate all the demons within the capital! Is that acceptable!?”
“Why… How…”
The military officer, fed up with Karelvo’s muttering of “why” like a mantra, shouted before making his exit. To them, demons were rampaging inside the city, and from the outside, Remus’s army was closing in. It was a situation that required urgent action, and there was no time to wait for him to snap out of his stupor. They hastily departed.
Alone in the room, Karelvo wasn’t pondering the cause of his creations going berserk or even searching for a way to stop them. His mind was consumed only by despair over the demise of his glory within the empire.
Since a young age, Karelvo has struggled with a sense of inferiority towards his brother Orvo. He had been determined to somehow outshine his cheeky younger sibling. However, no matter how much effort he put into his research, he couldn’t measure up, and that sense of defeat had twisted his personality.
As a result, Karelvo had gradually shifted his focus from research itself to promoting its results to someone else and obsessively seeking to gain social status. A researcher gifted enough to become a member of the “Seventh Pillar” had turned into a seeker of power and fame.
“How can I turn this around… What should I do…!”
“Well, well, are you clinging to a position gained through the power of others even in times like this? Not very becoming of a researcher.”
Karelvo was preoccupied with how he could maintain his standing within the empire. His thoughts were consumed by this concern, and he had failed to notice Larman, who had entered the room.
In his state of despondency, Karelvo seemed oblivious to Larman’s presence, but it appeared that his ears were finely tuned to the words of self-reproach. Karelvo turned around with bloodshot eyes, but when he laid his eyes on Larman, he regained a hint of composure. The reason was that Larman was dressed differently from his usual self.
He was dressed in sturdy fabric clothing, rugged boots, and a hooded cloak, looking as if he were preparing for a long journey.
“You… what in the world is that outfit?” Karelvo exclaimed.
“What do you mean? It’s quite obvious. I thought it was time to take some time off from here.”
“Time off…? Do you understand the current situation?”
“Of course, I do.”
Karelvo shouted in anger at Larman, who calmly declared his intention to leave. Even though he said he would escape from here, the demons were running amok in the capital, and Remus was attacking them from outside. It would be difficult to escape in such a situation.
However, the word “escape” held an alluring appeal to Karelvo. He had been so consumed by the current, unbelievable situation that he hadn’t considered other options. But as his mind regained its calm, he came to the realization that there was no alternative but to flee when contemplating the uncertain future ahead.
Karelvo wasn’t a military officer, so he didn’t understand the intricacies of the battle in the imperial capital. He had assumed that the capital’s superior numbers would ensure their victory. In fact, he believed that the demons’ activity in the capital would only increase their value, and by extension, his reputation would also increase.
The longer it dragged on, the more it would benefit me. That’s how Karelvo optimistically viewed this battle initially. However, with the rampage of the demons, the situation took a drastic turn.
Let’s say I remained in the imperial capital. If Gnaeus’s faction were to win, it was clear that he would be held accountable and executed for the demons’ rampage. However, even if Remus’s faction emerged victorious, it was doubtful that Remus, who held a strong aversion to demons, would see any utility in him. In other words, no matter which side prevailed, there would be no place for him in the imperial capital.
In that case, he thought he should just escape with Larman and market his skills in another country. Given Larman’s composed demeanor, he was convinced that Larman must have some ideas regarding the means of escape. While not as brilliant as Orvo, Karelvo, a possessor of a sharp mind, swiftly calculated all of this.
“Alright. I’ll go along with your proposal. How do you plan to escape?”
“Are you going to come along with me? You have some nerve… No, I think it’s only natural for a coward like you who boasts about the research he stole from his own brother, right?”
“You… what did you say…?!”
Karelvo, who was regaining his composure, had his confidence shaken when the truth, which was known to only a handful of individuals in the empire, was revealed. Normally, he would have brushed it off with a loud laugh, but Larman seemed quite sure of himself.
How did he know? How did he find out? Larman looked at Karelvo, whose mind was filled with such questions, and let out an exasperated sigh.
“When one is shown those flawed spiritual circuits, unless one is incredibly inept, anyone would understand the truth of the matter. You’re far inferior as a researcher compared to your little brother.”
“You! I’ll kill you!”
As Karelvo was forced to face his biggest insecurities head-on, anger surged through him, and he attempted to take Larman’s life in a fit of rage. Despite having less mastery over spatial spiritual arts compared to Orvo, he made a desperate attempt to wield them against Larman. However, the attack failed to materialize.
This was because Karelvo was suddenly struck in the abdomen by someone who appeared out of nowhere. Karelvo spewed a mixture of blood and vomit and collapsed to his knees as he looked up at his assailant with a painful groan.
There, in the room, was something resembling a humanoid figure formed from a thick liquid, reminiscent of heavy oil. The flowing surface of the liquid reflected light and was shining brightly. However, after a while, the liquid body slowly solidified, and in the end, it took on the form of a naked adult man.
“A de…demon…? But something like this… I’ve never seen…”
“That’s right. There are demons that I created, mimicking Orvo’s methods to the best of my abilities.”
Upon hearing this matter-of-fact statement, Karelvo couldn’t help but be astonished. Larman had willingly surrendered and shown a cooperative attitude towards the empire, which led to his involvement in creating the demons. However, Karelvo had kept the most crucial aspects hidden, and the empire was not fully trusting and was always keeping a vigilant eye on him.
This guy actually managed to procure human specimens and beasts needed to create demons, sneaking around the Empire’s watchful gaze. It was hard not to be amazed by it all.
Clearing that issue naturally relied on the power of Prince Vasilius. The latter had procured the materials with his subordinates in the imperial capital and supplied them to Larman. The demon who had struck Karelvo was one of the successful creations resulting from this effort.
“I managed to recreate the humanoid form up to a certain point… Mr. Orvo is indeed a genius. My techniques caused a significant decrease in the intelligence aspect. Well, it’s good that they’re obedient to orders.”
While Larman was also an excellent researcher, Orvo possessed talents that surpassed even his. He had adapted the modified techniques to be closer to the original Orvo method in a short time, but a full replication was impossible. Their self-awareness had diminished drastically, turning them into obedient puppets under Larman’s command.
However, the current situation was rather convenient for Larman. All the demon materials provided to him were from the human population of the Enzo continent, and if their intelligence remained intact, they would undoubtedly exhibit a rebellious attitude.
“I’ll slowly make improvements when I get back to my homeland… Now, let’s get to our final task. Restrain that man lying there.”
“Guaah…!”
The demon man nodded once and transformed one of his arms into a thick liquid, which he used to restrain Karelvo. The demon’s arm was as heavy as it looked, and Karelvo, pressed down by the entire body, could only let out agonizing sounds.
Larman and the demon took Karelvo down to the underground area. There, countless creatures that Karelvo had gathered for the Empire to use in creating demons were stored. Most of them were stray dogs or livestock, but there were some extremely rare creatures as well.
Many of the creatures inside the cages barked or growled, particularly when they saw the demon with the grotesque right arm. Larman completely ignored them as he continued walking down the corridor lined with cages.
“Cough… What are you planning to do?”
“What else can one do here but make demons? We’ll use all the materials available.”
“You! You realize what will happen if you do such a thing! Don’t you!?!”
Karelvo screamed for what felt like the umpteenth time today. When using multiple creatures simultaneously to create demons, there was a high likelihood of the synthesized creature going insane. Even if they succeeded, the synthesized creature’s intelligence would almost certainly drop to a beastly level.
Karelvo had stamped those as failures and thrust them onto the special operations unit. Larman had been present during those experiments, so of course he knew the outcome. Yet he was proceeding with his plan fully aware of the results.
“To begin with, there are no human species to use as materials!” Karelvo said.
“…Huh? You still don’t understand? You’re one of the materials.”
“…Huh?”
Larman’s plan was to create a demon using Karelvo and all the creatures present here before taking advantage of the ensuing chaos to escape from the capital. The escape route had already been secured, and all that remained was to transform Karelvo into a demon.
On the other hand, Karelvo had no understanding of what would happen to him until this point. He believed that he held value as the one who could create demons and assumed that he wouldn’t be harmed. That’s why, after uttering a foolish statement, his face contorted with fear, and he started screaming.
“Stop! Don’t do this to me, turning me into a demon!? If you do that…”
“It will definitely fail. A demon created using everything here will undoubtedly become an uncontrollable abomination. There are too many materials, and the created being will likely become larger than this mansion. However, it won’t have a long life. Though it won’t be defeated, its lifespan will soon run out.”
Originally, the synthesis of demons was a delicate process that required selecting compatible creatures. The simplification of this process led to the issue of aggression among Karelvo-type demons. It was only natural that attempting to synthesize multiple creatures at once would result in failure.
So, what would happen if countless creatures were used for synthesis? Although conducting such an experiment was deemed risky, the outcome was predictable; an uncontrollable and enormous monster would be created.
“W-Why me? Can’t it be someone else?” Karelvo protested.
“No, it must be you. You’ll be labeled as the creator of the rampaging demon. When a monster appears in the heart of the capital, the people of the empire will blame you. You’ll be the scapegoat. In the chaos, I’ll escape, and you’ll have wreaked havoc on the capital… After everything is over, which one do you think the empire will prioritize in their search?”
The reason for turning Karelvo into a demon without killing him was to use him as bait even after his eventual demise. The uncontrollable Karelvo would die sooner or later. While the empire searched in vain for Karelvo, which they would never find no matter how hard they searched, Larman would be already gone.
While they were talking, Larman reached the deepest part of the underground dungeon. There, a large glass cylinder, crafted from rare material, stood in place. Inside the cylinder, which was filled with green liquid, chunks of pulsating flesh floated.
“Now, we’ll use this too. These are the materials I cultivated at your request… it includes the Fire Dragon’s cells.”
“Stop it! Please stooooooop!”
Karelvo’s screams echoed in the dark underground dungeon. However, no one came to his rescue upon hearing his agonizing cries. Just before the synthesis process began, Karelvo remembered the words his loathsome younger brother had once uttered: “You see, you won’t be able to inherit my research. Your ambition is too big for your stature, and it will lead to your downfall. That’s for sure.”
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TN: Man had a worse ending than his brother! Too bad for him, he most likely has no soul expert girlfriend dabbling in soul spiritual arts.
TN: Btw, I returned to chapter 62: Plunder to copy Orvo’s last words, at the same time I read “easykiln” comment and man … I don’t know if you’re still reading, but kudos to you for analyzing and even predicting Orvo’s situation so far back in the novel.
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