Ch.587The Price of Complacency

The news of the Knight of Ruin’s defeat spread rapidly.

The nobles of the island sighed bitterly as they were reminded once again of the power and importance of the Emperor’s trump card, the Empire’s First Sword.

“Already defeated…? Just like that…?”

“The difference in skill is simply too vast…”

Haschal was like a thorn in their side—her very existence interfered with their vested interests, yet they couldn’t simply reject her outright. To the island’s nobility, she was an unwanted necessity.

In this incident alone, they couldn’t even begin to imagine how much damage they would have suffered without her.

Meanwhile, the lords and citizens who had been hurriedly packing their belongings in preparation for evacuation cheered at the surprisingly quick and decisive conclusion, praising the hero’s greatness.

Even if they had evacuated to save their lives, there would have been no way to prevent their castles from crumbling and their homes from being destroyed. Thanks to Haschal’s swift action, they were able to preserve their property intact.

“Is it really over…?”

“Yes! We can return home! Long live Lady Median!”

Those who had tearfully left their homeland also joined in the cheers, albeit with less enthusiasm. Though they would have to work hard for some time to rebuild their collapsed dwellings, it was a far better outcome than becoming homeless refugees.

And the Imperial Archdiocese took the lead in supporting them and restoring the damage.

Lacy moved quickly to initiate church-level support to aid them. While it was a costly endeavor for the Archdiocese, the benefits the church would gain far outweighed the expenses.

The support of countless common people. The goodwill of nobles who saved on reconstruction costs. The expansion of church influence and accumulation of good Karma. For the newly established Imperial Archdiocese, these were assets far more valuable than mere wealth.

‘It’s not like we need much money for this anyway.’

Lacy smiled slightly as she stamped her seal on the document on her desk.

The document she had just stamped contained instructions to drastically reduce the salaries of paladins and priests for the time being to secure funds for disaster recovery support.

This was why she could initiate relief support without any hesitation. It was a choice only possible for the Archdiocese, composed of clergy—something impossible for the Imperial family or nobility.

With the right cause, she could mercilessly extract and utilize her subordinates’ assets!

After all, it was impossible for someone in holy orders to oppose using their salary to help people. Any opposition would only label them as corrupt priests blinded by self-interest.

Most didn’t oppose it anyway—rather, they volunteered willingly, as it was an opportunity to accumulate good Karma.

Thanks to this, Lacy’s Archdiocese was able to overcome the chaos caused by independence from the Holy State and grow into a more solid organization.

======[ Feirius ]======

While Haschal had left the island to subjugate the Knight of Ruin, Feirius had conversely penetrated deep into the island.

‘Simple enough.’

As expected, he didn’t even need to conceal his appearance. As long as he avoided the gaze of high-ranking clergy, there was no one who could recognize his face—he was considered dead for hundreds of years.

He was able to enter the island without any restrictions just by presenting his false identity as the second son of a local baron.

Exploring the underground waterways was more challenging. It was already a thoroughly secured area with sentries and mages patrolling constantly.

To avoid unnecessary commotion, he had to avoid their gaze as much as possible. Killing or subduing them would have been easier than breathing, but that would inevitably leave traces.

Therefore, Feirius carefully moved forward, concealing himself by converting various spirits into mana and consuming them instead of using the mana in the atmosphere, to avoid detection by the patrol forces’ mana sensing.

Toward the intense aura of death emanating from deep underground.

—-

“Oh….”

Finally arriving at the underground cavity, Feirius brushed off the dirt accumulated on his robe while letting out a quiet exclamation of admiration.

The passage had been completely buried from the middle, so he had to dig through piles of dirt and rock and then cover them again to erase his traces… but it was worth the trouble.

“Krrrrrrr….”

Before his eyes was a living dragon.

‘Well, strictly speaking, it can’t be called a dragon.’

It was far from being the reincarnation of the evil dragon Nidhogg. Its legs and wings hadn’t even formed yet, and its head and torso were far from resembling a scaled reptile.

-Crunch crunch crunch crunch.

Millions? Tens of millions? Perhaps even more. Countless insects had gathered to form a strange shape that seemed like a mixture of insect and dragon.

On both sides of its long snout protruded stag beetle-like curved carapaces, and instead of horns, several pairs of antennae extended from the back of its head, while eight compound eyes embedded on both sides of its face emitted a red light.

Each of those faceted eyes was made up entirely of insects. It was like a mosaic made of bugs. Every single cell was essentially composed of insects.

‘Tens of millions of insects combining to form a single body—when the hive mind of insect-type monsters reaches its extreme, even this becomes possible. Remarkable.’

Even Feirius hadn’t expected this. He had come looking for dragon bones to possibly utilize, but to encounter such a being…

A dragon made up of swarms of insects, presumably left behind by Isabella. It was literally worthy of being called an insect dragon.

“Krraaaaaa!”

The insect dragon let out a wary roar at the unwelcome visitor. The underground cavity vibrated softly, echoing with muddy reverberations.

‘Well, this is no time to be standing in admiration.’

Feirius snapped out of his amazement and assumed a defensive stance.

It was still unknown whether those insects had completed the dragon’s heart and fire-producing organs, but if they had, he would be hit by a firestorm if he remained still.

‘There’s no possibility for… dialogue.’

Though it had formed a dragon’s body, insects were still insects. Unless it was the witch who had merged with insects, his words wouldn’t get through.

‘I’ll have to subdue it.’

Having made up his mind, Feirius spread his arms and awakened his power. If it were a complete dragon, he might have retreated, but in its current state as an insect dragon, it wouldn’t be difficult to defeat.

-Whoooosh…!

Massive darkness flowed from his body, enveloping the cavity. So thick that not even an inch ahead was visible.

“Krrrrk…?”

The insect dragon, deprived of its vision, growled and shook its head from side to side. With an insect’s intelligence, it couldn’t understand what was happening.

“I don’t know if you can understand… but please be captured quietly.”

Feirius, shrouded in darkness, released his power into the world with a quiet utterance.

Since he had descended quite deep from the area where mages were investigating, he wouldn’t be detected by a small commotion. He intended to subdue it as quickly and quietly as possible.

—-

Five hours later.

“Phewww….”

Returning to the surface, Feirius exhaled the breath he had been holding and wiped his sweat-drenched face.

The robe he had worn when descending into the underground waterway had long since turned to ashes, so he had changed into ordinary ceremonial attire. Even a robe comparable to a holy relic couldn’t withstand the dragon’s breath.

‘It took longer than expected….’

Trying to fight while suppressing the impact on the surroundings had consumed an enormous amount of power. Three of the souls he had collected had even completely perished. Had he failed to subdue it, the loss would have been considerable.

However, Feirius didn’t regret the loss of those three souls at all. He had obtained a harvest incomparably greater than their worth.

After defeating the incomplete insect dragon, Feirius thoroughly examined it and discovered that a dragon’s soul was sleeping intact inside its skull.

‘Perhaps it was planning to awaken the moment the body was completed, suppressing the insect consciousness and taking control.’

Unless it was Isabella, mere insect monsters couldn’t resist a dragon’s soul. If left alone, Nidhogg would have succeeded in resurrection, albeit in an insect body.

That was now impossible.

Feirius smiled as he caressed the dragon’s soul in his possession. Nidhogg’s soul fiercely resisted the necromancy attempting to control it, but without a body, it was impossible to overcome Feirius’s power.

After extracting the dragon’s soul, Feirius inserted one of the spirits he controlled into the empty space, thus gaining complete control over the incomplete insect dragon.

Since he couldn’t bring that massive body to the surface, he had to leave it in the underground cavity after taking some concealment measures.

‘Thank you, Isabella. For leaving such a valuable legacy for me.’

If Isabella were alive to hear this, she would have jumped up screaming “thief,” but she had already been completely annihilated by Ophelia.

Perhaps it was fortunate that she wouldn’t witness this scene, even as a vengeful spirit.

—-

Having secured Nidhogg’s soul in his possession, Feirius turned his head to look at the island’s walls.

Having achieved his goal, he had no further business here, but his body, exhausted from the long battle, was desperately calling for rest.

‘…It wouldn’t be bad to rest for one night.’

Feirius turned to enter the streets of the island.

Or rather, he tried to.

“—Hmmmm, who do we have here? A ghost who should have died long ago is walking around?”

A cold voice flew toward him.

Feirius’s gaze reflexively turned in that direction.

On the roof at the entrance of an alley leading into the merchant street. A woman wearing a large hood was looking down at him, clutching a bottle of alcohol. She reeked intensely of alcohol.

“Feirius Haranshior? Am I seeing things because I’m too drunk?”

Long, pointed ears occasionally visible through lemon-colored hair. It wasn’t difficult to identify her.

There was only one fairy to be found in Extrashafel, unless it was Alvheim.

“Perneisia…!”

“Oh? You recognize me? I’m honored.”

Pernei put down the bottle she was holding on the roof, speaking playfully. Her eyes, clouded with intoxication, gradually began to emit a clearer light.