novelraw Chapter 20 : [The Sunlight’s Scheme, the Night King’s Poison]
Chapter 20 : [The Sunlight’s Scheme, the Night King’s Poison]
Chapter 20: [The Sunlight’s Scheme, the Night King’s Poison]
The sunlight of dawn rose lazily and reluctantly over the horizon of the Kanna Plains, flickering faintly at the end of the misty, dust-laden morning—like an overworked office worker kicking off the blanket with no motivation to go to work.
But no matter what, the sun still came out in the end.
The wasteland echoed with the cries of demonic ravens.
A few indistinct black shadows circled above the bandit camp, drawn by the mangled, bloodied corpses scattered across the ground.
Clearly, the black-armored knight had struck with ruthless ferocity.
“Samael… Samo!” Thaleia’s shout came from not far away.
Samael lifted his head.
With a loud bang, the tall and slender black-armored figure raised her hammer-spear, smashing through two spiked wooden barricades before stepping through the gap and striding quickly toward him.
The remaining three members of Randall’s party and Thaleia had already dealt with the low-level bandits and were hurrying through the camp toward the watchtower ruins.
The black-armored woman was drenched in bandit blood as she jogged up, glancing Samael over from head to toe.
“I thought you weren’t very good at fighting, little prince.” Her helmet touched Samael’s, their foreheads meeting through the cold metal. Her low voice vibrated faintly through the steel surface.
“I told you, I was just an ordinary person back home. We don’t have princes anymore…” Samael muttered, “Can’t say I’m good at fighting, but… I manage.”
He remembered a romantic scene from The Three-Body Problem: in the vacuum of space, where sound couldn’t travel, two astronauts with broken communicators embraced tightly, pressing their helmets together to speak through vibrations.
“I found something. We need to talk later.” Samael subtly gestured toward a grain sack at his feet and whispered, “I’ll go check with Randall first.”
Thaleia looked at the markings on the sack, fell silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.
“This could be trouble… Find an excuse to get away from them. We’ll need to be alone.” she murmured.
Samael glanced at Randall’s team in the distance—everyone was gathered around Elliot, tending to his injuries.
“Elliot’s ribs and lungs are damaged. The healing rate is poor. Don’t move him recklessly.” he heard Selina the mage say.
Elliot was still coughing blood intermittently.
The swordsman Grad stood there awkwardly, unable to help, clumsily wiping the blood from Elliot’s mouth with his sleeve.
“What kind of weapon caused this wound? Why can’t even high-grade Healing Potions fully mend it?” Ruby, the potionmaker, frowned.
“This sword.” Randall placed the Bloodsteel Greatsword on the ground. “Please check it.”
Ruby took a small vial of clear potion and a piece of white gauze from her leather pouch, dropped a few drips onto the crimson blade, and after a dozen seconds, dabbed it dry with the gauze, observing the resulting stain.
A brilliant deep blue.
“A Demonic Essence indicator. The darker the blue to black, the higher the concentration.” Ruby held the gauze to the light. “This blade’s made from some high-grade demonic material.”
Selina adjusted her runestone staff, fished three beast eyes from her catalyst pouch, embedded them into the runic slots, turned the carved rune dial to verify the circuit, and aimed the staff at the Bloodsteel Greatsword.
The three eyes spun wildly, scanning the sword for several seconds.
“Identification Magic shows this sword drains vitality and strengthens the wielder with the victim’s life force.” Selina explained quietly. “Wounds caused by it destroy physical and mental strength. The fact that Elliot’s still alive is a miracle.”
“Thanks to Brother Samo.” Randall said softly.
Samael stepped forward and lightly patted Randall’s shoulder.
Randall turned.
“What’s the plan now, Brother Randall?” Samael asked. “Any next steps?”
“Elliot’s badly hurt—he can’t travel long distances. And we haven’t even sorted the loot yet. We’ll likely have to stay here at the camp for the day… perhaps return to town tomorrow morning.” Randall rubbed his temples. “Sorry, Brother Samo, for delaying your precious time.”
“It’s fine, really. I just came to check up on you. Ah—my monastery and Brother Talan’s have a rule: after battle, we must pray. According to the Church Law, we need somewhere secluded.” Samael said. “We’ll just find a quiet place to pray—since we can’t help much here anyway.”
“Of course, by all means.” Randall nodded politely. “This mission’s been hard enough on you both.”
Samael thought silently, then waved for Thaleia to follow him out of the camp.
Randall watched Samael’s back as he left—the rusty bronze sword and shield on his back, then the blood-red sword on the ground. He recalled the bandit chief swordsman’s terrified words during battle, and the chilling aura from Brother Samo’s armor every time they were near.
But in the end, he said nothing, only listened as Ruby and Selina argued over treatments while he and Grad carefully laid the coughing Elliot down on a blanket to rest.
Samael and Thaleia moved cautiously, hiding behind the broken walls of the Ancient Imperial Watchtower ruins to obscure their figures, slipping into the wasteland beyond the camp and crouching behind a charred tree.
They peered out, confirming Randall’s team couldn’t see or hear them.
“The writing on that sack…” Samael whispered.
“We have to pretend we don’t know.” Thaleia cut him off. “In fact, we really don’t know! It’s just a coincidence—maybe they weren’t related to Varak at all! Just random bandits who happened to rob a convoy delivering grain to the dungeon!”
“Pretend not to know what?” a voice suddenly spoke from above.
They both snapped their heads up.
A massive, crested demonic raven perched on the blackened branch overhead, its blood-red eyes coldly watching them.
Its crown of black feathers spread open like a fan, streaked with crimson eyespots—signs of a monarch’s fury.
“Varak, we don’t know anything!” Thaleia protested.
“Don’t know?!” the raven screeched. “Then you must at least remember our agreement, right? Or have you already forgotten, you Ronowe half-breed girl?”
“We never even entered your dungeon! This place is hundreds of kilometers away from it!” Thaleia argued.
“You killed my slaves!” the raven shrieked. “This area is far from my dungeon, beyond the range of my Dominator Energy! My beasts and nightmare legions can’t reach here! I raised these mongrels to act outside my range—and you slaughtered them all!”
“They were just… some mangy dogs. Surely you’re not petty enough to care about a few wild dogs?” Thaleia stammered.
“The dogs don’t matter—their task does!” the crested raven roared. “Two hundred and twelve adventurers of level six or above are currently camped within my dungeon’s third ring—thirteen of them level nine, two level ten, and one cursed level eleven! They’ve formed a massive party of 212 people! They pitch tents at my doorstep, kill my pets, pluck my gardens, dig up my armory, pry open my vaults, and steal my Relics of the Gods! I’ve sent beasts, demonic hunters, corrupted human soldiers, even slaves on shifts to harass them and restrict their movement!”
“You know the only way to drive them out of my land? Hm? Do you, you stupid girl?” the raven leaned down, glaring at Thaleia. “They can’t eat anything from the spiritual ecosystem! All their food has to be shipped from outside! If that supply is cut, they’ll starve—two hundred and twelve of them together won’t last seven days!”
“I raised those mongrels to ambush the Guild’s grain convoys!”
“The adventurers’ camp at my doorstep has been starving for two days already! Success was within reach—and then you two killed the ones I sent to finish the job?!”
The raven shrieked furiously.
“Do you want war, Ronowe?! Think I’m afraid of a few adventurers? I’ll gladly destroy the fortress I spent decades building! I’ll crush them all myself—and then you’re next! Prepare for a Groundquake!”
“Wait, Varak! Hold on!” Thaleia shouted. “We… we can replace them! We’ll handle the convoy for you!”
“You two?” the raven narrowed its eyes, crest lowering slightly.
“Tell us when the next convoy will reach the Kanna Plains.” Thaleia said. “We’ll intercept it for you.”
“Ah?” Samael blinked.
Thaleia stomped on his foot.
“Hmm…” the crested raven hesitated.
“Can we… not kill innocents?” Samael whispered.
“Please, little prince, let’s get through this first!” Thaleia hissed back.
“Isn’t there another way? What if we just… make the food disappear? Or spoil it?” Samael asked softly.
“You ruined my plan. Replacing the task isn’t enough.” the raven said, shaking his head as he eyed the two whispering humans.
“Uh… ah! Wait—Varak! Have you tried seeding their grain with Spiritual Fungi?” Thaleia suddenly brightened. “If their food rots and molds, it’ll deplete their stores even faster!”
“They guard their granaries strictly. I can’t infiltrate the camp.” Varak mused.
“If we contaminate the Guild’s convoy grain with Spiritual Mold before it arrives, it’ll have the same—or better—effect!” Thaleia explained. “The mold won’t show at first. Once the contaminated sacks reach their granary, the spores will spread through everything! Under your Dominator Energy, the mold will grow rapidly—within a day the entire stockpile will rot! Once they’re out of food, they’ll have to retreat!”
“That way, you won’t have to wait five days. Just one or two.”
Varak paused for several seconds.
“Fine.” he growled. “If all goes well, I’ll spare you. The next convoy will reach the Kanna Plains tonight, crossing the wasteland by the edge of the Beastbone Hills. Figure it out yourselves.”
“We’ll need a sample of the dungeon’s Spiritual Fungi.” Thaleia said.
“I’ll send a raven scout before nightfall with it. Are you pretending to be adventurers? Playing house with those low-level fools? What a ridiculous hobby for a demon hybrid!” Varak cackled. “When the raven delivers the poison spores, come fetch it yourself. Don’t let your little roleplay waste my time!”
“No problem.” Thaleia nodded.
The crested raven flapped its wings and disappeared into the sky.
“Oh my god… that was close.” Thaleia exhaled.
“I… um, still don’t really want to fight the Guild people,” Samael murmured. “They all seem… pretty nice.”
“It’s fine, I’ll handle it.” Thaleia shook her head. “But our appearance is too distinctive—we can’t act directly, or the adventurers might recognize us.”
“This area’s too far from Varak’s dungeon, outside his control. He can’t command the local beasts—only a few ravens have long-range psionic resonance. But since we’re closer, I can control nearby monsters.”
“Tonight, I’ll control the beasts here to attack the convoy as a distraction, while we slip in the fungi.”
“Speaking of monsters… Randall’s team might be getting suspicious.” Samael said. “They haven’t encountered any monster attacks. They might start wondering if it’s because of us. We’ll need to put on a show—make it believable.”
“Ah… you’re right.” Thaleia froze. “Wait—they also said they haven’t seen any undead?”
“Aren’t undead and monsters both scared off by you?” Samael asked.
“No, Samael. Demonic predators’ scent only repels monsters.” Thaleia shook her head. “The undead attack anything living—including demons. Controlling undead takes a lot more Spiritual Energy. It’s difficult and inconvenient. We usually manipulate demonic beasts instead.”
“So the reason we haven’t met any undead this whole journey is…” Samael trailed off.
Thaleia looked at Samael.
Samael looked back at her.
“Oh. Right.” he muttered, glancing down at his chest armor.
“When I was little, I read in my mother’s study that the ancient Ghost Knight Kings were top-tier undead—capable of commanding Undead Constructs. Their Death Aura could suppress undead in a small radius, preventing them from acting chaotically.” Thaleia recalled.
“What? I can control the undead?” Samael fumbled through the UI, searching through disorganized database entries for anything related to ‘control’.
The armor’s database terminology differed greatly from this world’s, making it hard to find an equivalent.
Control…
【Fundamental Phase Transition – Thermal Regulation Control】… no.
【Colony Management – Personnel and Cost Control】… no.
Wrong concept—another keyword… what was it?
Samael thought hard, then remembered the description about controlling the Root-Creature and Earth-Devouring Worm:
【Control methods include but are not limited to: Aether-type psionic signals (i.e. Space Demi-human psionic transmission), and psionic implant modifications.】
“Signal”? Or “Drive”?
Searching “Signal”…
【Artificial Biology – Nether-Copper Resonance Signal】
【A resonance signal generated through Nether-Copper mediums can drive psionic constructs composed of organic waste. Due to its unique frequency, this signal can only be produced using Nether-Copper materials.】
Search “Nether-Copper Resonance”…
【Attached Device Detected: Nether-Copper Resonator】
【Status: Operational.】
【Nether-Copper Resonator ready for use.】
【Strike Nether-Copper to produce resonance signals of specific frequencies, enabling remote communication and control of psionic constructs within range.】