Chapter 115

Pahomel’s eyes gleamed like a snake’s.

 

The original plan had been to draw Caldeon’s group’s attention away by starting in the North, where the poison would spread first. Instead, the souls of those killed by monsters were more than twice the number of souls he could have gathered through poison alone.

 

He had released so many monsters near the imperial palace to bind Caldeon’s group there and use the poison effectively—but knowing how this would turn out, he realized he should have abandoned the poison altogether and opened gates made with teleportation stones across the entire empire instead.

 

Still, once he heard that Caldeon’s group had split up and begun eliminating monsters both in the Forest of the Demons and near the imperial palace, he concluded that using poison was unavoidable after all.

 

The number of monsters they were slaughtering in an instant far exceeded the number of human souls he had collected.

 

‘Are they trying to wipe out the monsters entirely?’

 

Worse still, Caldeon, Enria, and Hayden—who had gone to the Forest of the Demons—were killing every monster they saw. At this rate, Pahomel even feared that the Forest of the Demons might be completely annihilated.

 

‘No matter how fast their breeding rate is, at this pace it’ll be close to total extinction.’

 

Deciding he needed to draw Caldeon’s family out of the Forest of the Demons as quickly as possible, Pahomel opened a special map. Pouring his black magic into it, he released black-magic poison into the river systems that spread throughout the empire.

 

Toward the North in particular—the region the rivers reached first—he poured in such an immense quantity that even a single mouthful would be fatal.

 

By the time Pahomel finished, nearly all the black magic in his body had been drained. He left just enough to escape in an emergency, then pulled his hand away from the map.

 

From this point on, countless people in the North would die from poisoned drinking water. Once news reached them, Caldeon’s family would have no choice but to leave the Forest of the Demons and head north.

 

‘Unexpectedly, the souls gathered by the monsters are far more than I anticipated. Things may go more smoothly than expected.’

 

Watching the human souls steadily accumulating, Pahomel curled his lips into a bloody smile.

 

 

***

 

 

“No, Hayden. We’re not here to kill monsters, so you don’t need to slaughter every single one you see.”

 

They were hurrying to find the gate the black mage had opened, but Hayden kept killing every monster in sight with black mana. Unable to watch any longer, Enria spoke up.

 

“Why? We should kill them.”

 

Hayden tilted his head, genuinely confused by Enria’s words.

 

“Right now, finding the passage the monsters are using to leave the forest is more important.”

 

She added that since the monsters weren’t attacking them and were just staying in their habitat, there was no need to kill them all. Hayden frowned slightly, clearly finding that reasoning incomprehensible.

 

“If they all die before we find the gate, nothing will go through it.”

 

Hayden delivered the fatal logic with an innocent face. Enria was left speechless for a moment, and Caldeon chuckled quietly.

 

“Our son really is a genius.”

 

“Don’t praise him unconditionally,” Enria said. “Monsters may be harmful to humans, but that doesn’t mean it’s right to kill even the innocent ones indiscriminately.”

 

She went on to say that monsters were also creations of the god, and asked whether it was right for Hayden—who carried part of divinity himself—to treat creations that way. Hayden looked up at Enria, rolling his pitch-black eyes thoughtfully.

 

“Mom, being a god doesn’t mean you never make mistakes.”

 

“…What?”

 

“Of course, monsters themselves weren’t a mistake. But no one expected them to be born with instincts focused solely on killing other life, not survival.”

 

Because of that, even the god had struggled with monsters killing humans indiscriminately. That was why power had been granted to humans, and spirits created to help them.

 

“But things got this bad anyway,” Hayden added calmly. “So it might be better if I just wipe the monsters out myself.”

 

Enria and Caldeon stared at him in stunned silence.

 

It was a moment that forcefully reminded them that Hayden truly was part of a god.

 

Just then, the communication orb Enria carried began to ring loudly.

 

It was a personal orb Roseanne had given her, just in case.

 

“Rose?”

 

[Enri, something terrible happened!]

 

The moment Enria answered, Roseanne’s frantic voice rang out, drawing Caldeon’s and Hayden’s attention to the orb.

 

[Tearen…! Sir Tearen…!]

 

“Calm down, Rose. What happened?”

 

Roseanne couldn’t form a proper sentence and kept repeating Tearen’s name. Frustrated, Enria tried to steady her.

 

In the end, Roseanne burst into tears, begging them to return to the ducal castle immediately.

 

At that, Caldeon quickly pulled out his own communication orb and contacted Arsen.

 

While Caldeon asked Arsen what had happened at the castle, Enria soothed Roseanne, telling her they were returning at once and asking her to explain.

 

“What? Tearen?” Caldeon exclaimed beside her.

 

At the same moment, Roseanne sobbed into the orb.

 

[Sir Tearen isn’t breathing!]

 

Enria’s eyes widened in shock.

 

 

***

 

 

When Enria rushed back to the ducal castle, her eyes went wide at the sight of Tearen and Belona collapsed on the floor.

 

She was told that both had vomited blood and collapsed immediately after drinking water. Her first thought was poison in the water.

 

“It’s black magic,” Enria said, moving toward them to cast healing magic.

 

But Hayden grabbed the hem of her skirt, stopping her, and walked over himself.

 

“Black magic.”

 

Caldeon nodded as well, seeing the pitch-black smoke rising from their bodies.

 

“This is something the baby can do.”

 

Hayden stretched out his small hands and placed his palms on Tearen’s and Belona’s bodies. Because his arms were short, his hand barely reached Belona’s arm, so Rahar rushed over, carefully lifting Belona and laying her closer to Hayden.

 

Rahar looked deeply shaken, all color drained from his face.

 

Fortunately, Hayden could both perceive and nullify black magic using his black mana, while also casting healing magic. He cleansed the poison from their bodies with ease.

 

As color gradually returned to Tearen’s and Belona’s faces, Roseanne finally let out a relieved breath and explained what had happened.

 

“As soon as we finished dealing with the monsters at the imperial palace, we came back here. In case you couldn’t find the gate, I asked Arsen to locate a teleportation stone connected to the Forest of the Demons. While we were waiting, we drank some water to soothe our dry throats.”

 

Tearen, who drank first, vomited blood and collapsed moments later. Belona followed soon after, also vomiting blood and collapsing.

 

Both had drunk water. Roseanne and Rahar had not yet done so.

 

Hearing that, Enria wondered if the black mage had known Caldeon was absent and infiltrated the castle—

 

But before she could finish the thought, Arsen burst in, shouting that people throughout the North were collapsing due to poison.

 

“Everyone collapsed suddenly. Some were working outside, others were inside their homes. We don’t yet know the exact cause—”

 

Enria’s eyes widened, and Caldeon rose sharply, his gaze turning razor-sharp.

 

“The drinking water,” he said.

 

He told Rahar to come with him, then turned to Enria.

 

“Can you purify the fallen people in the North?”

 

“Yes, of course. I’m not as powerful as Hayden, but my healing magic will help.”

 

“To minimize casualties, we’ll need Hayden’s power too.”

 

“Yeah. Baby’s going with mommy.”

 

Hayden nodded firmly.

 

“Lady Kaznaren, go with Enria. Rahar and I will head to the river supplying the North.”

 

“Understood.”

 

“That’s fine, but… are Belona and Tearen going to be all right?”

 

“The baby removed the poison. They’ll wake up soon.”

 

Reassured by Hayden’s nod, Rahar told Arsen to contact him via his orb once the two regained consciousness. Arsen agreed and ordered servants to move Belona and Tearen to the infirmary.

 

As Caldeon left with Rahar toward the northern river, he kissed Enria’s and Hayden’s foreheads in turn.

 

“Be careful.”

 

“Don’t worry about us. You be careful too, Caldeon.”

 

“You don’t need to worry about me.”

 

“Mommy, don’t worry. Baby’s here.”

 

As Hayden spoke, rolling his jet-black eyes between them, a smile spread across both Enria’s and Caldeon’s lips.

 

But the smiles quickly faded, and they turned their backs on each other to carry out their respective tasks.

 

“Rose. It’s best to start with the village closest to the ducal castle, right?”

 

“Yes. A lot of time has already passed—there are probably many who’ve already died. It’s better to reduce the damage as much as we can by starting nearby.”

 

The North had fewer locations where teleportation stones could be used than other regions, so moving village by village from the closest point made the most sense.

 

Every moment saved could mean one more life.

 

“Mom, we can call Graung.”

 

Hayden suddenly said.

 

Enria looked at him in mild surprise. Roseanne, puzzled, asked, “You mean Duke Caldeon’s earth spirit?”

 

Hayden nodded.

 

“He’s contracted with Dad, so Graung can be moved easily.”

 

Enria’s and Roseanne’s eyes widened slightly at the information.

 

Normally, spirits weren’t used like teleportation devices. Even earth spirits with movement abilities were believed to only transport contractors between spirit villages and human settlements.

 

Since Enria wasn’t contracted with a spirit, and Roseanne wasn’t a spirit mage, Hayden’s words naturally shocked them.

 

Seeing their reactions, Hayden shrugged once and added, “Of course, Graung might try not to help much because he’s lazy.”