Chapter 6 – What Happened at the Festival (Part 5)

Fernan quickly moved his steps at the sight of her struggling with her head in her hands. People wearing black masks were guarding the iron door. They blocked Fernan’s path with spears.

“Stop. Only those with permission can enter here.”

Fernan gritted his teeth. There was no time to leisurely chat here. He needed to resolve this quickly and check her condition. Moreover, the faint energy he sensed when entering this space was strongly felt beyond the iron door. 

Fernan glared at the gatekeepers with sharp eyes. His red pupils glowed dark crimson.

“Open.”

The command filled with magic imprinted on the gatekeepers’ minds. With empty expressions, they slowly opened the door. Unlike the brightly lit street, beyond the iron door was utterly dark. In the dark space, only a faint blue light barely illuminated the path. 

In preparation for any unforeseen events, Fernan walked slowly along the light while casting an invisibility spell on himself.

On either side of the path were large empty iron cages. A faint smell of blood wafted from somewhere. As they went further inside, cries and sobs of people could be heard.

“Gasp.”

Ellerdin, poking her head out from under the robe, covered her mouth at the sight before her. Numerous creatures were struggling, trapped in iron cages. They were not humans nor monsters but other races. There were children with deer antlers on their heads and those with spines protruding from their backs. Shackles were fastened around their necks and feet, and they were all bleeding.

This was an illegal trading market. They tied up rare species, sold them, or displayed them for money. If they didn’t obey, they were whipped and tormented under the pretext of quelling their spirits by feeding them violent drugs. Humans outside the cages were poking the suffering children with sharp metal skewers.

“Hey, hey, poke there. This one’s funny.”

People giggled as if they were playing a fun prank. They weren’t the only ones. Many people in this space were behaving similarly. Next to the large cage was a small box, and through the small transparent window, tiny lizards were crammed in with no room to move.

“Stop it! It hurts! Stop it!”

“Just kill me.”

“I want to die quickly. I don’t want to be here anymore.”

Their cries filled her mind. Ellerdin gasped and collapsed to her knees. Fernan, panicked, knelt to check on her. He hurriedly removed the magic surrounding her body. It was much better to check her condition without magic. People inside, startled by the presence, shouted in surprise.

“Who are you?”

People wearing black masks swarmed in. They pointed the metal skewers, which they had just used to stab monsters, at Fernan and Ellerdin. Thick blood dripped from the spear tips.

“……”

Ellerdin glared at them with fierce eyes. 

‘How can they do such cruel things?’ 

She wanted to say that this was wrong, but her mind was filled with cries for help, making it hard to breathe. While she was struggling to accept the sounds ringing in her ears, a very desperate and hopeless voice drowned out the other cries. It was a very low and slow voice.

“I curse you.”

Ellerdin’s body froze. The voice came from right behind her. At that moment, a bright light shone on Ellerdin. She was sitting with her back to the light, which allowed her to see the shadow that appeared.

It was a shadow with familiar fin shapes. The shadow fluttered like it was caught in the wind, moving as if gesturing to look here. She should have realized it when she saw the shadow. She shouldn’t have looked at it.

Ellerdin turned her head to look behind her as if enchanted.

“Ah……”

Her pupils shook violently. In a large tank, a creature resembling a mermaid was bound. Its scales were torn off, and chains were wrapped around its fins and neck. Her heart pounded. The scene from the past overlapped on the tank in an instant.

“Mom……”

In front of young Ellerdin was a large tank. Inside, her mother, a mermaid, was chained and somehow unconscious. Blood from her fins slowly spread in the water.

“Kill me.”

Amelia’s lips moved, forming words. 

“Huff, gasp.” 

The old memory shattered, and Ellerdin gasped for air. A gag reflex surged up. Although the creature trapped in the tank before her was of another race, it seemed to her as if her mother was there.

“Ah, sob, no, I don’t want this.”

Tears flowed endlessly from Ellerdin’s eyes. She trembled and scratched her arm as if intentionally inflicting wounds. Fernan hurriedly grabbed her arm.

“Ellerdin, Ellerdin! Get a hold of yourself!”

But even at his urgent call, her focus didn’t return. Ellerdin shook her head like someone who had lost her mind. Her deeply buried trauma had been triggered.

The surrounding species seemed to resonate with her agitation and began to move violently. As all the species inside started to rampage, the masked people looked around in confusion.

“Sob, sob.”

Ellerdin began to struggle in pain.

“Please stop…….”

Her heart throbbed as if it would burst. It felt like a fire was burning inside her body. She wished this space would disappear. Her mind was still filled with negative voices.

Ellerdin gasped as if she would pass out. Her veins bulged as if something was about to burst out. Ellerdin curled up, clutching her heart. Bright light was seeping out from outside her body.

“Ellerdin!”

Fernan tried to approach her to check on her, but an invisible barrier prevented him from getting closer. Soon, the bright light exploded, engulfing the darkness.

Thud.

Ellerdin’s body, having expended energy, collapsed to the floor, and Fernan hurriedly ran to her. In the vast space, only Fernan remained conscious.

“……”

With a dark expression, Fernan carefully held Ellerdin in his arms.

“A child with an amazing power.”

At that moment, a voice came from the darkness untouched by the light. Fernan glared coldly into the darkness.

“Don’t glare so much. I couldn’t help because I’m in a state where I can’t use my power.”

The voice was mixed with rough breaths. Fernan silently stared in that direction. At that moment, others who noticed the commotion began to enter through the iron door. Fernan’s red pupils scanned the humans.

“Mollek, Nisroch.”

His angry voice echoed in the space.

“Yes, Master.”

Mollek and Nisroch appeared from the air.

“Clean it up immediately.”

As soon as Fernan finished speaking, Mollek and Nisroch’s bodies began to glow. As the restrictions on their souls were lifted, magic power began to overflow from their bodies.

“Hahaha, finally!”

Mollek burst into a satisfied laugh. His body instantly grew massive, filling the warehouse. Mollek’s body was entirely gray, and his eyes shone with a murderous gleam. He stepped outside and swept his long arms around. In an instant, five humans near the warehouse entrance were caught in his grasp.

“Ahhh! Save me!”

Listening to the humans’ screams, Mollek chuckled. His enormous mouth engulfed all five humans at once. Sharp teeth devoured their bodies, and the sound of bones breaking accompanied the flow of blood.

“Hehehe, it’s so sweet.”

Mollek bent down, sticking out his long tongue. He began to chase and devour the fleeing people on all fours. Nisroch started to clean up the area Mollek had swept through without leaving a trace. People, shops, goods, dirt—he opened his enormous mouth and inhaled everything at once. With one inhale, everything around disappeared.

“Run! Ahhhhh!”

At the sudden appearance of demons, people began to flee with pale faces. Nisroch trudged after them with slow steps. Humans began to run toward the wall they had entered. However, there was no exit.

“Huh?”

The noble who reached the wall first knocked on it in confusion. The yellow magic circuit should have appeared, but the wall remained unresponsive like ordinary stone. Realizing the exit was blocked, people panicked and pounded on the wall.

Behind their screams, Nisroch, now much larger than before, approached. Faced with impending death, people fainted and collapsed.

***

“Ellerdin, let’s go home now.”

In the quiet warehouse, Fernan murmured in a subdued voice. He carefully cradled Ellerdin, who was drenched in cold sweat. There was no response from the unconscious Ellerdin. Fernan bit his lip and hugged her tightly.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you as I promised.”

He despaired at the fact that he had put her in danger while being preoccupied with hiding his identity from her. At that moment, a cold hand touched his cheek.

“Fernan… don’t apologize. It’s my fault.”

Ellerdin smiled weakly.

“Are you conscious?”

Fernan bit his lip again. Ellerdin gave a weak smile. It was still hard to breathe due to the trauma. She coughed lightly.

Fernan quickly took out water from his inventory and handed it to her. After quenching her thirst, Ellerdin blinked and looked around. With all the lights broken, nothing was visible. Fernan faintly smiled as she seemed unaware of what had happened around her.

“It’s all over. Don’t worry anymore. Let’s go back home.”

As they prepared to move, Ellerdin grabbed his sleeve.

“Can we… take the children here with us?”

Ellerdin’s pupils trembled with anxiety. Fernan looked around in silence for a moment. The number of unconscious races seemed to exceed twenty at a glance. Moreover, ‘that’ race was also at the end of the darkness. To move this scale, he had no choice but to reveal his demonic form.

“In exchange, you must never look at me until I say so. Understood?”

Ellerdin nodded weakly.

“Mollek, Nisroch. Clean up without leaving anything behind.”

Fernan gave the order and temporarily set Ellerdin down from his embrace. He picked up broken stones from around him. Fernan knelt and began writing something on the floor with the stones. White lines were drawn on the gray floor. After drawing a unique pattern, he exhaled briefly.

“Ellerdin, come here.”

Ellerdin buried her face in his chest. He gently stroked her back. 

With a bright light, all the objects and creatures beyond the iron door disappeared. Only an empty space, like a clearing, remained.