It was a heavy blow.
The axe split the scales of the fish, burst its yellow eyeballs, and drove deep into its gills. Thick, viscous blood spurted from the shattered head like blue dye.
The demon, caught off guard by Cantavia’s ambush, fell lifelessly.
But soon, smoke began to billow from the demon’s split head. It was darker than the smoke from burning coal. The massive smoke quickly engulfed the surroundings.
In no time, the island was filled with black smoke as if consumed by a wildfire. The smoke did not rise to the sky; it lingered on the ground, casting a dark veil over the world.
As the black fog thickened, nothing could be seen even an inch ahead. The fallen demon quietly hid within the fog, rising to its feet.
“[Grangach, Grangach.]”
The demon whispered its name in the black smoke.
The demon’s name was Grangach.
Grangach’s sin was silence.
The black fog that enveloped the surroundings was darker and quieter than at night.
The silence of the fog coerces submission. Those surrounded by the black fog cannot see even if they want to, cannot hear even if they desire. Gradually, their sense of direction fades, they lose the sensation of weight and touch, and eventually, they lose all senses.
Those who have lost dominion over their bodies tremble in fear of loss.
Grangach’s prey doesn’t even feel pain; they are slowly torn apart by Grangach’s teeth without realizing they are being eaten. The victim of the black fog only becomes aware of their impending death when their brain is devoured at the very end.
Silence.
Grangach’s sin was the terror of the deep waters.
[Foolish. Foolish.]
Grangach mocked its prey. How dare they inflict harm upon it.
Slowly savoring, it intended to chew and consume over several hours.
Grangach had fought with the guardian of the lake for a long time, its body weakened, but the power of sin remained. Sin is intrinsic, superior to anything else.
Not even the guardian could dispel the silence of the black fog.
[Unable to even tremble in fear.]
Look at the pitiful creature, devoid of senses, consumed by fear.
A wretched being unable to even scream when devoured.
Though the blue-eyed boy escaped being eaten, Grangach would devour him without leaving a single bone behind.
The demon revealed its true form. Shedding the guise of a human, the demon emerged from the abyss. The blackwater fish that devoured humans swam through the fog, floating around Cantavia. Fear is a splendid spice. To make humans sufficiently terrified, the demon patiently awaited its feast.
Finally, like a swordfish, the demon thrust its sharp beak and charged towards Cantavia. Grangach intended to feast on human flesh, hoping to paint its scales red with blood. Its yellow eyeballs gleamed with exhilaration. Just before its razor-sharp teeth could tear into Cantavia’s arm, something unimaginable happened.
“Damn you.”
Thud!
The unthinkable occurred. Grangach’s jaw was severed by Cantavia’s axe. Once again, blood sprayed, this time from itself. As the black smoke encircled, the jaw regenerated. The wound quickly healed, but Grangach trembled with humiliation more than pain.
The defiance of the prey.
It was what Grangach despised most.
Those subjected to silence were supposed to submit to their own deaths.
There were occasional exceptions. Humans who, despite the sharpness of their senses, resisted the coercion of silence, humans who wielded the dreadful power known as “Aura.”
Grangach became more cautious. It circled Cantavia, waiting for the right moment. No matter how strong a human was, as long as they bore “sin,” the sin of the demon was absolute. It would take time, but eventually, the human would also lose all senses.
Grangach had waited centuries for this moment of predation. It didn’t rush. It carefully observed the prey’s condition. This time, instead of attacking, it approached slowly, hiding in the fog. If there was no reaction, it planned to capture and consume.
“You filthy bastard.”
That was the moment.
Once again, something unthinkable happened.
The prey, supposed to remain silent, retaliated.
Thunk!
In an instant, Grangach’s jaw was severed by the axe. Grangach fled in a panic, but the axe did not stop. Under Cantavia’s relentless assault, Grangach’s torso was crushed, and its fins were severed. In excruciating pain, Grangach realized it wasn’t the prey’s “defiance.”
Cantavia chased after the fleeing demon, striking its head repeatedly. The blue blood of the demon spewed in all directions under the relentless blows of the axe. The demon’s white bones were exposed as they were split apart like firewood. But before its head could be completely severed, Grangach managed to escape into the abyss.
As Grangach fled, it saw.
Those who should struggle in silence.
Those who shouldn’t see anything in the grip of fear.
The “prey” staring at it distinctly.
Instead, it was met with eyes intent on devouring it in rage.
“Is this your strength?”
Cantavia wiped the blue blood from the axe blade and said.
“Is this all you can muster?”
Even when the black fog enveloped the surroundings, Cantavia remained vigilant. So when the demon finally attacked, it realized there was no ‘power’ at all. The demon merely dyed its body black, hiding in the fog. Cantavia had seen everything from the beginning.
“Show everything, you bastard.”
Grangach was astonished. Since its existence began, Grangach hadn’t seen a single prey resisting the coercion of silence. At most, only those who handled the beasts of the stars resisted silence, but they ultimately met the same fate—being devoured.
However, what was this creature? It wasn’t resisting. It pierced through the silence of the fog and stared directly at it. Sin was deeper and darker than the darkness before the dawn, a ‘noble’ power untouched by light interference.
The sin of the demon is absolute.
Absolutely, there cannot be humans without sin…
[That can’t be true.]
There must be humans without sin.
[There must be a being that sees through reason…]
A being that sees through sin.
The demon screamed in rage.
[How can a mere human overcome sin! How can silence, the core, be broken!]
Cantavia shrugged at the demon’s anger.
“Don’t spout nonsense. What good is seeing when it changes nothing.”
He raised the axe and charged, and Grangach fled into the fog.
* * *
“Heck, damn. This devil is too tough.”
Cantavia continued to hack away at the demon, but the creature wouldn’t die, instantly healing its wounds. Realizing that every time the black mist enveloped the demon’s body, its wounds regenerated, Cantavia decided to abandon futile attempts. The mist couldn’t be dispelled. But there was a means to eradicate it.
As soon as the wounds healed, Grangach fled. He had somehow gotten closer to the sea. If he were allowed to dive in, he would undoubtedly escape. Cantavia, gasping for breath, chased after him relentlessly. But this time, he had no intention of hacking the demon to pieces. Instead, he transformed Lamelstar from an axe into a harpoon. The tip of the harpoon curved like a fishing hook, ensuring once it pierced, there was no escaping.
Grangach desperately fled. He held no authority over demons. Fearful of an incomprehensible unknown, he only sought to escape the situation. However, the demon, impervious to sin and evil, was nothing short of a grotesque monster. Soon enough, Grangach was caught by Cantavia.
Thud!
Cantavia plunged the harpoon straight into Grangach’s spine. Made of Leviathan scales, Lamelstar pierced through the soft flesh like a fish’s tender flesh, firmly embedding itself into the ground.
Grangach spewed black mist from his mouth, but the smoke that once billowed out instantly vanished at Cantavia’s fist.
“This power!”
Grangach couldn’t comprehend further. The force that momentarily repelled the power of sin was undoubtedly contrary to that of the demon’s. However, he was neither a believer nor an angel. Was this force piercing through the silence the same as this power? No, he hadn’t even used this power. The demon stood in terror.
“The power of justice prevails. But it’s insufficient.”
Grangach continued to emit black smoke. Cantavia blocked the smoke using the power of emptiness, which nullified the powers of relics and demon magic. However, the black mist continued to emanate, and the power of emptiness couldn’t be used limitlessly.
“Damn, are we still far away!”
As Cantavia grew increasingly desperate, unable to block the smoke any longer.
Then, a cheerful cry was heard.
Dalbi?
“Yes, hurry!”
Dalgbi!
It was Dalbi. After swallowing the devil, at some point, Dalbi, who hadn’t been seen, suddenly appeared. Even in the tense situation, Cantavia noticed that Dalbi’s tail fur had turned blue. Cantavia looked up at the sky as Dalbi responded to his call. The young deer emitted a bright light like the moon.
Grangach and Cantavia simultaneously looked up at the sky.
A splendid shooting star streaked across the night.
One of the numerous stars embroidered in the sky was falling.
“Dalbi.”
Cantavia swallowed hard.
“What am I supposed to do if that falls?”
If he released the harpoon, the demon would hide in the black smoke and flee to the sea.
But standing at the center of where the shooting star would land would be suicidal.
Knowing its power well, Cantavia looked at Dalbi with a desperate expression.
“Da…”
Dalbi approached and leaned against Cantavia’s back.
Just as the fish’s emotions merged with the shaman’s, so did the shaman feel the fish’s emotions.
Now Cantavia was no longer afraid, nor did he release the harpoon embedded in the demon’s spine.
As the starlight drew nearer, the demon screamed. It was more chilling than the roar of a beast, more ferocious than the cry of a person filled with resentment.
Kwaaang!
Finally, the shooting star landed on the island. The star falling next to Cantavia and the demon emitted a tremendous light that instantly dispelled the night. As the light touched it, Grangach’s black mist disappeared like a shadow. The light fragmented the demon. However, Cantavia remained unharmed.
“Dalbi.”
Cantavia removed the harpoon and stood up to look at the demon torn apart. It could no longer emit black mist. A deep pit formed where the fallen star had landed. The force that shattered the marble walls and crushed the stone roofs remained unchanged. However, the light that fragmented the demon was a power previously unseen.
“You’ve recovered and grown stronger.”
A transformation that occurred after swallowing the devil.
Dalbi yawned, trembling its tail. Cantavia looked at the blue-tinted tail of the deer and wondered what Dalbi would become once it regained all its strength.
The demon, torn to shreds, did not give up on life. Although it no longer had the power to commit evil, Grangach continued to struggle desperately, his body torn apart. Like a fish caught on a fishing line thrashing about, he headed towards the sea. With each movement, pieces of flesh fell off.
Cantavia lifted the harpoon to finish it off but lowered his arm and bit his lip.
There was a ship approaching the pier. The sail bore the emblem of the Schwarzen family.
* * *
It was chilling.
The sight of someone yearning to live in such a state was chilling.
The devil became even more repulsive.
What irritated me was having seen too many such sights since my past life.
“It’s over.”
I was about to bring down the wrath to kill.
But as I looked at a ship entering the harbor, I hesitated, eventually lowering my weapon. I had prepared for the worst-case scenario, in case I couldn’t find Karant’s body and to brace myself for the worst that could happen to me. No, thinking about it now, it was just an excuse. I didn’t care at all about the Count’s feelings to prove Karant was the devil.
“I’m sorry, Count Schwarzen.”
I bowed my head. Memories from my previous life kept haunting me, making me miserable.
I remembered the countless comrades who died using me, to protect me.
A man disembarked at the pier.
He walked straight toward the devil.
He was Count Schwarzen.
The devil had already changed its appearance.
Its wriggling scales and fins had turned into tattered arms and legs.
The wretched and pitiful Karant, beaten to near death, became a miserable sight, screaming desperately at Count Schwarzen.
“Please, Father, save me!”
The Count paused, halting his steps.
Then he approached slowly. His expression was too indifferent to be that of a father facing his dying son. But the devil didn’t notice. It had no heart to understand a father’s feelings. It just mocked me, becoming a impostor, becoming Karant, and ridiculing me.
“Ugh, Father. Save me, Father, Father!”
The Count standing in front of Karant spoke.
His voice had no intonation. But it didn’t mean there were no emotions. I noticed he was desperately holding back. He could only speak mechanically, afraid that something might slip out.
“Karant, you’re badly wounded.”
“The priest tried to kill me! That crazy priest, that damned bastard, he envied me, he wanted me dead! Ugh!”
Karant coughed up blood. Unlike when he was a devil, it was bright red blood. The Count kneeled and carefully embraced Karant, who was on the verge of death. The Count’s hands, gently patting his son’s back, trembled greatly.
“My beloved son. Your blue eyes were my pride.”
As if not wanting to miss a moment, he hugged him tightly.
“Oh, it hurts.”
Then he slowly let go of Karant from his embrace and stood up.
Swoosh!
The sound of a drawn sword was chilling.
The Count aimed the sword at Karant.
Karant hesitated and reached out his hand.
“Father?”
“But your eyes are as red as a beast’s.”
In an instant, the Count cut off Karant’s outstretched hand.
Even with his hand severed, Karant did not reveal his devilish form.
The Count’s voice became intense. He resembled bubbling lava from a volcano. Intense anger and hatred, which could explode at any moment, emanated from his voice.
“I experienced it during the Great War. How can I forget those devilish creatures with red eyes that devoured my child?”
Thunk!
The Count’s sword severed Karant’s other arm.
“My piece, the meaning that came out of my soul. What made me happiest wasn’t any precious treasure, but a humble stone I picked up in the garden. Three stones were my everything. But damn it, the devil took away all my meaning.”
He cut off the leg, pierced the ship. Only then did the devil reveal its true colors, but the Count’s sword ruthlessly severed its head. The devil could no longer recover and ceased to move. But even after that, the Count’s sword continued to swing mercilessly.
“How, how, how! Do you even take away my last love! Ah, Cephi, Liana. Karant!”
The devil was beaten beyond recognition.
The blood Karant shed gradually turned blue.
