novelraw Chapter 169 : Chapter 169
Chapter 169 : Chapter 169
Chapter 169
With his hands and feet bound, Mordegard’s gaze sharpened.
A highly concentrated amount of mana began to gather around his body. He was going to attack with magic.
If Mordegard used magic, I would be instantly killed!
「Seal Mordegard’s mana.」
In the midst of the standoff, I immediately scribbled the words without hesitation.
The gathering mana scattered in an instant, and Mordegard’s eyes widened slightly.
Facing him, who was clearly surprised, I forced the corners of my mouth into a grin.
“Now what?”
That was the first question that popped into my head as I faced Mordegard.
How am I supposed to get past this?!
The only silver lining was that I could guess Iris Viden was probably unable to move right now.
Seeing him try to kill me again not even a few hours after the first failed attempt, Iris must be either away or unable to come here.
Our eyes met for a moment, and Mordegard thrashed wildly, trying to break free from the chains.
“Scary.”
His pupils had gone crazy.
Yes, that was the only way to describe his gaze.
It was obvious why he wanted to kill me so badly.
It was because I had found out Iris’s secret.
A literal murder to silence me. Even if killing people was commonplace in this world, and even if it was just another day at the office for Mordegard, who worked under Iris, this was too much.
“Hoo….”
Don't be scared. The opponent is subdued, anyway.
After taking a deep breath to shake off the fear, I faced Mordegard squarely.
“I know what you want.”
No answer.
Of course. He would think there was no need to talk to an adversary.
But he wouldn't be able to ignore these words.
“Lerwon-sunbae also placed the same curse on himself as Iris.”
Still no answer.
This was a bit unexpected. Thinking it over, what was important to Mordegard was Golden and Iris, who led Golden, not the adopted son Iris brought in on a whim.
In other words, it didn't matter to him whether Lerwon became a monster or not.
In that case, could he really ignore even these words?
“I was the one who turned Sunbae, who was becoming an Ouroboros, back into a human.”
As if to prove my prediction correct, Mordegard’s body jolted violently.
“It means I know a way to turn a being who is becoming an Ouroboros due to a curse back into a person.”
In a movement quite different from his struggles to break the chains, I read his astonishment.
“How on earth?”
A pure question flowed from Mordegard’s lips.
His gaze was so sharp it was fierce, as if trying to gauge whether I was lying.
If Mordegard had an ability to turn his gaze into blades, wouldn't I have been sliced to pieces and dead by now? Yes, I definitely would have been.
“That is the culprit that destroyed the ancient civilization.”
“……!”
I didn’t know that.
The era called the ancient times was destroyed because of the Ouroboros?
“…It’s a method used in ancient times, unknown in the modern era.”
This world was once destroyed and then rebuilt.
That was a fact that could be easily inferred from the occasional mentions of ancient beings in the game.
But the fact that the culprit was the Ouroboros had never once been revealed.
That made it all the more shocking. To think a monster that only briefly appeared in Part 1 was the cause of the world’s destruction.
“What a trash game.”
I clamped a hand over my mouth, swallowing a silent scream, and looked at Mordegard with calm eyes.
Did he want to stop it even knowing that, or did he wish to stop it because he knew?
Before I entered into full-fledged negotiations with Mordegard, I had to confirm something.
‘Hey, Albedo. Is the method to turn Iris Viden back the same as with Lerwon-sunbae?’
《You, surely not again?》
‘Ah, what! I can be curious!’
This information was essential for negotiating with Mordegard.
Albedo seemed to let out a light groan but answered quickly.
《It is the same. However, it is a method that only works before the transformation is complete, so you will have to hurry.》
‘That’s a good enough answer.’
“Do you have a lightning-struck ginkgo tree?”
“The kind made with magic?”
As expected, he asked that first. Well, the price difference between something that occurred naturally and something that could be made artificially was like heaven and earth.
“What are you asking? Of course, it’s natural.”
“How long will it take?”
“A day is enough.”
If I spent the whole day making that watch, I could somehow manage it.
“The condition?”
“The person themselves must want to return to being human.”
Lerwon-sunbae didn't show it, but from the knowledge I received from Albedo, it was a method of ‘defining’ and ‘reconstructing’ the return to humanity.
And such a method inevitably came with pain.
Sunbae had said it didn't matter since he was used to being tortured under the Master of Gold, and if pain was the only way to become human again, even that was fine…
‘Will Iris accept it?’
That was something even I couldn't say for sure.
It was a curse of desperation, of having reached the end to the point of giving up on living as a human.
Iris hadn't given up on living as a human; she had simply wanted to possess a power that transcended humanity.
That was the crucial difference between Lerwon and Iris.
“…I will persuade her.”
“You’ll persuade Iris?”
“So please, tell me the way to stop my master.”
Having never looked at something so blindly in my life, I couldn't understand Mordegard.
But one thing was certain: Mordegard's feelings toward Golden were not unlike Ignos’s loyalty to his lord.
That blind emotion, like that of a fanatic, wasn't exactly pleasant, and it even made me feel a little intimidated.
“I assume you understand that if you kill me, you won't find out the method?”
“…Yes.”
“Then can I pass?”
“No.”
Why is that the answer! I stared at Mordegard in shock.
Mordegard answered bluntly with a sullen expression.
“How do I know this isn't just a temporary measure to persuade me right now?”
“I keep my promises!”
“And I might need you to persuade my master.”
Why do you need me to persuade Iris!
Should I just knock him out with a skill right now?
As I seriously hesitated, I met Mordegard's unwavering gaze and somehow couldn't bring myself to do it.
Damn it, I could just mess him up with a skill.
“Besides, do you think you can escape the mansion just by passing me?”
“It’ll be better than when you’re blocking my way!”
“This mansion is located underground.”
“?”
The moment I heard that, my expression faltered.
“Even if you leave the prison, all that awaits is a complex underground labyrinth.”
“It’s not like you built a mansion in a dungeon.”
As if he heard my muttering, Mordegard’s body twitched. Ah, that was the attitude of someone who had been hit where it hurts.
“You really built a mansion in a dungeon?”
What kind of crazy thing is this?!
It was even more infuriating that I could easily imagine Iris laughing breezily and saying, ‘Is it the first time I've been crazy?’.
Seriously, I'm going crazy! No, this is crazy!
“Wow, how did you even come up with that?”
It was a novel and refreshingly insane idea.
But I had a way too. After all, I had been forcibly caught up in a dungeon before.
It was terrible at the time, but in life, everything becomes experience.
“I still have a way to escape, so will you move?”
“I cannot. If you knock me out and pass, I will immediately find my master, wake her, and capture you again.”
“No, then you should persuade Iris first! What do I have to trust you on! Is there any guarantee you'll let me go when Iris is turned back into a human?”
“You are a captive.”
“I was just about to escape, and if you weren’t blocking my path, I would have escaped long ago, you know?!”
Mordegard fell silent at my rebuttal.
He must have judged that I certainly had the power and ability to do so.
Although the variable of Iris Viden intervening existed, if she didn't, I would have escaped this dungeon-mansion without much difficulty.
“Ha, anyway, I’m leaving. I have no reason to be detained in the first place.”
“Then I will accompany you.”
“?”
I think I just heard something very strange.
Accompany me? Did he just say accompany?
“Shouldn’t you stay here and persuade Iris?”
“I will persuade her. But how can I trust that you won’t run away and not fulfill your promise?”
“We can make a contract.”
“I can’t trust a contract either. Contracts can be broken.”
That wasn't entirely wrong either.
In the end, it was a vicious cycle. Then, as expected—
“Alright. But on the condition that you're a prisoner. The moment you become a threat, I'll knock you out first. Got it?”
“As you wish.”
“And I’m not taking off the chains, and I’m not unsealing your mana.”
“Do as you please.”
The way he nodded nonchalantly pissed me off even more.
In the game, he didn’t really show up until after Part 2, and back then, he was generally… well, like this.
Iris and Lerwon were special to him, but Mordegard was the type of person who judged that Iris would be much better off without Lerwon.
Alright, then I should ask my second question.
“Is there any way to contact the outside from here?”
“…….”
So there is.
I smiled, quickly created a sword of ice, pointed it at Mordegard, and threatened him.
“Hand it over, now.”