Ch.474Episode 17 – The Blood-Drinking Tree

# Pitch-Black Darkness Below, Endless Stone Steps Ahead

A pitch-black darkness lurked beneath my feet, with endless stone steps stretching before me.

The spiral staircase was so narrow that it was difficult to even place one foot on it. I tried to look down into the depths below, but still couldn’t see anything.

Carefully, I cracked a glow stick and tossed it downward, hoping to catch a glimpse of the bottom.

A faint light spread through the gloomy underworld, and the green flash fell into the endless darkness.

The bottom I had hoped to see didn’t appear. Instead, the underground world hidden in darkness was revealed.

The underground world viewed from the stairs was truly massive. A city that looked like an ancient desert kingdom had been transported here intact. Walls packed densely with sand-colored buildings.

This place, where angels and demons were said to sleep, resembled Petra in Jordan.

As I hurried down the stairs toward the ruins, the echoing wind began to create an eerie sound.

As if mocking us.

## Episode 17 – The Blood-Drinking Tree

Descending stairs that seemed to have no end was nothing short of torture.

Some might scoff, “What’s the big deal about going down some stairs?”

But I guarantee that person would change their mind, just as I did, after descending stairs for over 30 minutes.

“Veronica.”

I suddenly spoke while going down the steps.

“How long have we been in here?”

“Well…”

Veronica carefully stepped on the stone stairs before answering.

“I didn’t bring a watch, so it’s hard to say exactly. But it’s been a little over 90 minutes, I think.”

“And we’re still going down stairs.”

I sighed wearily as I continued down another step.

“…Meeting an angel is damn difficult.”

I’d heard that the 63 Building in Seoul has about 1,200 steps. Roughly counting the stairs we’d descended so far, it was at least 2,000.

In other words, we were essentially descending a skyscraper taller than the 63 Building in reverse.

Considering that I got tired and gave up counting partway through, we might have climbed the equivalent of two 63 Buildings by now.

Anyway.

The dreamlike and beautiful journey to meet the sleeping angel had long been blocked by these godforsaken stairs.

Fantasy-like sentiments? There were none. We’d just been climbing down stairs for an hour and a half straight.

Descending stairs with no visible end was already arduous enough, but this place had a knack for driving people mad with its environment as well.

Pitch-black darkness, an eerily gloomy atmosphere.

This underground world surrounded by darkness seemed less like a place where mythical beings slept and more like a dungeon.

Of course, this was just my personal impression. No monsters, ghosts, or ancient curses had appeared to threaten us. There were massive statues and structures of unknown origin, but that was it.

Now that I think about it, it felt somewhat like exploring ruins, but the reality was just meaningless repetitive labor.

Lift a foot, step down. Move the other leg down the step. That was all there was to it.

No fighting against unknown threats or even having to choose between different paths. Just simple, meaningless repetition of labor.

That’s why I couldn’t help but groan, even though we were just going down stairs.

“…Ugh.”

It would have been better if we could at least enjoy the scenery while moving.

Unfortunately, we weren’t given the luxury of looking around. The width of the stairs was extremely narrow.

Add to that the steep incline, which meant one misstep could send us plummeting down. It was difficult to descend with peace of mind.

If you asked whether we could rest freely, the answer would be no.

The staircase was designed in a typical spiral structure. Since there were no landings, we couldn’t unpack and rest on a flat surface.

So we had no choice but to sit on the stairs to rest, but as I mentioned earlier, they were frustratingly narrow, making it impossible to sit properly.

Therefore, we had to huddle close to the central pillar of the staircase and squat on the narrow steps just to catch our breath.

That’s why Veronica had cursed hundreds of times.

“Fuck…”

The saint, burdened with a heavy load, squatted on the stairs and clasped her hands together.

“God, I know You test us with hardships and adversities. But why do You keep giving us trials without the slightest reward? I’ve donated enough money to live without lifting a finger for the rest of my life, and I’ve prayed diligently. Why do You keep messing with me?”

“…Veronica. When we went to the Vatican last time, some bishop said you got caught by the Pope skipping mass and gambling with stolen holy artifacts.”

“Who’s spreading such nonsense?”

“No, I heard you’ve sold holy artifacts for gambling before…”

This half-dazed conversation was natural. Anyone would lose their mind in such a hellish situation.

No one trapped on these stairs of time and sanity maintained their composure. Even Arkande, with his four-dimensional mindset, was staring blankly into space.

Of course, the knight was an exception. He wasn’t human to begin with, was he? That cheating bastard.

Anyway.

We escaped from these hellish stairs after what felt like about two hours.

“The stairs have ended.”

The knight, who had been leading the way down, announced from the corner. When I rushed down to see, there really was an end to the stairs.

“Finally!”

“At last, it’s over…”

The moment flat ground appeared, everyone collapsed.

Veronica, her legs giving out, wept loudly, while Arkande transformed into a quadrupedal animal. He kept kissing the ground, offering prayers of thanks to the Earth Mother.

I seemed to be the only one in relatively decent shape. While I was lying there in a daze, the knight approached and suggested we take a break, to which I immediately agreed.

*

After two hours of grueling marching, we were granted sweet rest. Leaving the terrible stairs behind, we felt unparalleled happiness and satisfaction.

Veronica sat on what looked like a bench statue and caught her breath.

“Whew! I finally feel alive again!”

After putting down her bag and lantern, she wiped her forehead, and beads of sweat moistened the back of her hand. Her expression soured at the sticky, damp clothing clinging to her skin.

“Going down stairs isn’t meant for humans. When I get back to the cathedral, I’ll have all the stairs removed.”

What kind of logic is that? She seems to have developed a stair phobia. Veronica went on to make the absurd declaration that she would eliminate all stairs in the Holy See of Lateran.

I looked at her with an expression that said I couldn’t stop her and shook my head.

“Why are you taking out your anger on innocent stairs?”

“How can you say that after what we just went through?”

“You should have packed lighter.”

At my blunt remark, Veronica’s eyes narrowed into triangles.

With body language and a sour expression that clearly showed her hurt feelings, she rested her chin on her hand and responded indifferently.

“Why are you suddenly picking on me? Making me feel embarrassed.”

“I meant why did you bring so much baggage and make yourself suffer. It wasn’t meant as criticism.”

Her luggage was the heaviest among the three of us.

A long wooden case, a holster strapped to her thigh, small pouches around her waist, several vials of holy water, and a brass lantern.

Excluding Veronica’s weapons, her luggage was diverse. While some food and water were essential necessities… what was that case for?

“Wouldn’t it have been better not to bring that case? The wooden material must be quite heavy. Without just that, you’d be much lighter.”

The wooden case, engraved with elaborate patterns, boasted a length of over a meter. It looked about 100 cm plus another 20-30 cm.

At 120 cm, it was almost the height of a child. Considering the weight of solid wood, it must weigh at least 10 kg. And that’s excluding the contents.

But Veronica shook her head firmly, as if she couldn’t possibly part with it.

“No. I absolutely couldn’t leave this behind.”

“What’s so important about it…?”

“It’s nothing special, but what’s inside is best not used. To be more precise…”

It would be best if a situation requiring its use never arose. That’s what Veronica emphasized.

I wondered what kind of item would make her say such things, but I didn’t bother to ask. Partly because I didn’t feel the need, but mostly because I didn’t even have the energy to speak.

Arkande yawned lazily while leaning against a pillar, and I lay flat on the ground to relieve my fatigue. With a creak, Veronica adjusted the brass lamp, increasing the intensity of the light.

The strong light drove away the darkness surrounding us and illuminated our surroundings. As the darkness receded, the contours of the underground world became clearer than before.

The structure of the underground was similar to a massive cylinder. Rather than a perfect cylinder like those in math textbooks… it was more like a bell shape.

The ceiling, starting from what appeared to be an entrance, fell in a gentle curve. Walls surrounded the central pillar where the spiral staircase was located, and within those walls were the buildings we had seen while descending.

I murmured, recalling a ruin I had seen on a business trip long ago.

“It’s like Petra.”

“Petra? What’s that?”

“It’s a ruin. An ancient one.”

Petra is a representative ancient ruin in Jordan, with traces of an ancient city that existed in the southwestern region of Jordan long ago.

Located in an area connecting Egypt-Arabia and Syria-Phoenicia, it is believed to have been quite prosperous. It’s famous for its high archaeological value due to the mixture of ancient Eastern and Hellenistic architectural styles.

The landscape of the city, carved from red sandstone in the middle of the desert, remained so vivid in my memory that I could easily recall it with my eyes closed.

I think a contact from Jordanian intelligence took me there for tourism. I don’t remember what event it was, but I went on a group business trip and returned after seeing many wonderful sights.

“I don’t know about ruins… but I think this resembles the underground dwarf kingdom that was said to have existed in the past.”

“Why are you talking about fallen kingdoms? It’s ominous.”

“Well, it’s underground, has a city with a kingdom feel, and the architecture is unique. The structure is peculiar too.”

Veronica looked around at the scenery and pointed to the surroundings.

“There’s a pillar in the center whose height is hard to gauge, and five bridges extend from it. I’m not sure where they lead, but they seem designed for passage. They’re quite wide too.”

The structure here wasn’t just a simple bell shape. A central pillar rose like a tower. From there, five bridges extended toward the walls, connecting the pillar to the walls.

The arrangement and height of the bridges varied.

At the end of each was a massive door, but we couldn’t tell where they led. For reference, we were not on the ground but on a bridge attached to the pillar.

This meant that to reach the actual bottom, we would need to continue descending into that pitch-black underground of unknown depth.

Of course, we had neither reason nor intention to go down there. Not only did we not know how vast this place was, but we already had a good guide.

“So where do you think your comrade is?”

The knight raised his gauntlet and pointed to the end of the bridge.

“Ahead.”

“Your comrade is there?”

“Yes. I sense a familiar presence.”

He was saying the angel was right there.

I asked the knight another question.

“Have you located the demon?”

“I don’t sense any evil aura. But if my comrades and I are sleeping here, the demon must be sealed nearby. Probably not far away.”

The knight couldn’t sense the demon’s presence, but that didn’t matter. It meant the seal was still intact.

I started gathering my loosened backpack. Veronica tightened the straps on her pouches and shouldered her case. Though not explicitly told, Arkande also got up and stretched.

Yes. So the angel is there.

“Let’s go see.”

I want to see what an actual angel looks like.

*

We crossed the bridge without delay. The path started from the door and extended in a straight line.

The compass pointed northeast. We continued moving in that direction.

Walls filled with carved stone bricks surrounded us on all sides, with stone pillars supporting the ceiling. Though showing clear signs of weathering, the craftsmanship was impressively smooth and solid.

“It’s empty.”

The space we entered after opening the door was, as Veronica said, empty. The buildings and furniture we had seen from outside didn’t exist here.

This place, with only tall, majestic pillars, felt like… an ancient Greek temple.

The difference being that Greek temples were sanctuaries built for gods, while this was a temple built for demons.

The knight spoke.

“This is a temple built by priests who worshipped demons a thousand years ago. They sacrificed living people here as offerings to demons.”

It was a chilling subject, but his tone was utterly calm.

The knight continued his explanation in a matter-of-fact voice. He spoke as if reciting historical facts, which they apparently were.

“They sacrificed many victims trying to summon the demon to this land. My comrades and I defeated it and sealed it here.”

“How did you seal it? Did you really behead it and cut off its limbs?”

“We cut off its head and limbs, but it kept regenerating its body. For three days and nights, we swung our swords trying to kill it, but it was impossible to keep cutting away the endlessly growing flesh. It wasn’t until the dawn of the fifth day that we discovered its weakness was fire, and only then could we seal it. Without my comrade’s wisdom, it wouldn’t have been so easy to seal.”

“Wait, what?”

It was surprising enough that they had sealed a demon, but they fought it for three days and nights? How did they manage that?

I’ve faced demons before. That’s why I find it hard to believe.

Even with two saints, a hero, a descendant of an archmage, and division-level military forces, we barely fought for a few hours and would have died if Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrova hadn’t appeared. And they faced such a demon for five whole days?

I don’t know if the knight’s words were true, but if they were facts, it was an incredible feat. Veronica and I started whispering in low voices.

“He must really be an angel, right? He fought a demon for five days.”

“If it’s true, he’s definitely an angel. How can anyone fight a demon all night long?”

“…Why do you keep doubting me?”

The question sounded somewhat aggrieved, but we didn’t answer. He probably knew the reason himself.

Anyway.

As we rushed to the place where the angel’s presence was felt, we made a simple plan. We shared information quickly and immediately discussed anything we needed.

“The best-case scenario is that the demon is still asleep and only the angel is awake, or both are still asleep. The worst-case scenario is fighting an awakened demon. Since we have no immediate way to retreat, combat is essentially unavoidable… Can we win?”

“Of course. What do you take me for?”

Veronica smiled mischievously and winked. At those words, the knight, who had been quickening his pace, looked at the saint.

“You don’t need to face the demon. If the seal is broken, I wish the master of Altiora would also avoid taking unnecessary risks.”

“Who are you telling to run away? You think you’re the only one who’s fought demons?”

“You have experience fighting demons?”

“Three times.”

The saint held up three fingers and smiled.

“The first time was when I participated in a solemn exorcism at the request of an exorcist priest when I was 16. At 21, I encountered a demon on a pilgrimage route. Last year, I also sent home a demon that was causing trouble in the northern part of the Empire.”

“Impressive. To stand against evil with a human body.”

The knight expressed his admiration quietly. But Veronica’s expression seemed somewhat displeased.

“It’s not that impressive. What’s the point of winning if I couldn’t kill them?”

“No. You’ve done something truly remarkable. Killing a demon is extremely difficult. The body is just a shell; their souls return to hell. As long as that soul doesn’t perish, demons will always exist.”

“Is there no way to destroy a demon’s soul?”

“There is, but it’s not an easy method. That’s why we chose to seal rather than destroy.”

“If it’s a demon just released from its seal, it should be relatively weak. Still can’t kill it?”

The knight nodded at the saint’s question. Tsk, a small click of the tongue escaped from the saint’s lips.

Veronica added an explanation for those without background knowledge.

“A demon that has just been released from a seal or has only recently manifested on earth has almost no power. Especially right after possessing a host, that’s when it’s weakest.”

“It gets stronger over time?”

“Usually, yes. If it has strong powers from the beginning, it’s likely because its original power was exceptionally strong. That’s why the demon we faced was so troublesome. It had been dwelling in its host’s body for over 10 years.”

In other words,

Even if the demon broke its seal and appeared here right now, we could handle it easily. I had been worried about facing something that could devastate an entire city like in the north, but fortunately, it would be relatively weak.

“The presence is getting closer. We’re almost there.”

The knight informed us who were following behind. We were approaching our destination.

Everyone started to pick up the pace, yet the knight still remained at the front. The knight, clad in plate armor, was running ahead faster than anyone.

Please, just don’t let the demon be there.

As I was hurrying along with that thought…

“…Hmm?”

“What’s wrong?”

Suddenly, the knight who had been rushing ahead began to slow down.

The knight slowed his pace and placed his index finger against his helmet. It was a signal to be quiet. Seeing the knight’s hushed demeanor, we also fell silent. Veronica covered the lantern to prevent light from leaking out.

Keep your mouth shut and ears open. Try to sense any sounds in the quiet stillness.

“……”

While everyone was looking around, the knight, who had been staring at one spot, began to move into the pitch-black darkness.

We followed the knight, advancing slowly.

There was nothing immediately threatening in sight. The fact that the knight hadn’t drawn his weapon suggested that the possibility of combat was low.

Veronica removed the cloth covering the lantern and slightly increased its brightness. The brass lantern was raised high as the saint gestured.

As the light spread through the cavern and the surroundings began to brighten…

“…?”

A vague outline of something emerged from the darkness.

What could it be? I strained my eyes and focused my gaze, then—

“Holy sh—”

A short, concise curse burst out, and everyone moved. I raised my rifle to aim forward, and Veronica drew a revolver from the holster on her thigh. Arkande lowered his stance, extended his fist, and tensed his muscles.

In the cavern where darkness had receded, a massive object lay. Something like a ball made of grotesque flesh.

Everyone was tense at the sight of the form that made one nauseous just by looking at it. Then suddenly, something felt off.

“…What is that? Is it dead?”

“It… looks that way?”

Veronica, who had drawn her revolver, moved forward with a tense face. Approaching the grotesque mass of flesh, she raised the lantern to illuminate it for confirmation.

As the lantern drew closer, the identity of the flesh mass was finally revealed.

The head portion of a creature with a massive body. Through the half-closed flesh, dim pupils were visible, confirming it was indeed a head.

After shining the lantern around, Veronica stepped back with a disgusted expression. Retreating with backward steps, she carefully spoke.

“…It’s dead. I don’t know what it is, but it seems to be a life form related to demons.”

“It certainly looks evil enough to be from that realm…”

We slowly backed away from the corpse. I tapped Arkande’s shoulder, gesturing for him to move back.

While everyone kept their gaze fixed on the direction of the corpse, the knight was also looking at the hideous body. He still wasn’t holding a weapon, but he had been strangely silent for a while.

I wasn’t the only one who found this suspicious; Veronica was eyeing the knight with a dubious look.

“……”

In the silent cavern, the knight who had been quiet took a step forward. He advanced toward the corpse.

Standing before the presumed demon corpse, the knight raised his gauntlet and began to trace the head. As Veronica shone the lantern, the bloodstains on the part where the gauntlet rested glowed red.

There were traces of something having penetrated there. A sharp injury, as if stabbed deeply with a very sharp and keen object.

“…It was you, after all.”

The knight, who had been touching the traces, spoke.

“Even though I felt a familiar presence drawing near, for some reason, I couldn’t sense even a trace of the seal. It seems you’ve already killed the demon.”

The dull metallic sound of plate armor broke the silence.

The knight turned and looked up.

Everyone’s gaze followed the direction of the helmet.

“Show yourself now.”

The knight stared at the ceiling and spoke commandingly.

“Nathaniel.”

The lantern’s light rose to the ceiling.

Between the ceiling and the pillar, on the arch connecting two pillars.

A faint human figure was looking down at us.