Chapter 58: Demon Stone
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"So... we’re safe?"
Hao Ren took a long moment to calm his breathing as he stared at the silent, stone crypt in disbelief. The tunnel behind them had been completely sealed off after the Lightning Strike explosion. Their pursuers were blocked off by the collapsed tunnel. Even if the wraith knights were physically strong, they were made of metal; metal had a finite strength. So, the wraith knights could not have possibly dug through the sealed tunnel—at least for the time being.
It was time for a break to collect his thoughts.
"Maybe… not." Vivian closed her eyes and felt the energy flow from the crypts. "The aura of the wraiths are everywhere but I can’t explain the spooky silence. The wraiths behind us are just a small group of the army..."
"Holy moly, a small group?" Hao Ren exclaimed in shock. "What was the castle owner thinking of?"
Lily had gone on the ground to check out the fragments of plated armor. Equipped with the natural instinct of a canine, she searched through the fragments as though something had attracted her interest. Then she found something—a twisted piece of chest armor. "Hey Battie, take a look! What’s this? Are these Letta runes?"
Doggie and Battie. It looked like they would not be calling each other by their actual names for a long while.
Vivian kicked Lily’s leg in protest before bending over to pick up the armor fragment. Sure enough, the silver metal plate had some squiggly patterns on it. Unfortunately, the plate was broken and the runes were not completely legible. "Let’s see whether there are other fragments. We might be able to find something readable."
"I’ll help." Hao Ren came up and joined Lily. They searched high and low for fragments. Most of the plated armor were frozen and they shattered under sub-zero temperatures. Literally none were in one piece. After some laborious searching, Hao Ren established that almost all wraith knights had runes on their armor.
The runes were inscribed on the same piece found on all of the armor. Their size and pattern were also identical. It appeared that the armor were the result of a mass production.
"Found it!" Lily was the first to find a whole piece of armor. She handed the one-square-foot metal plate to Vivian, who immediately deciphered it. "…The warden, watcher, sleepless warrior of the demonic chamber... under the order to defend the power of the demon, to drive out intruders... are not allowed to enter the demonic chamber... a covenant imbued and effected within the runes."
Hao Ren could not make sense of it. "What does it mean?"
"Looks like we’ve got one thing wrong," There was a subtle change in Vivian’s expression. "We initially assumed that the wraiths were the objects of the sealing mechanism and the avenging wraith knights were being confined down here. But little do we know that the knights are actually part of the crypt’s defense mechanism. They’re the guards here. There’s something else being held down here."
Hao Ren looked thoughtfully at the metal fragment in his hand. He had guessed it from the beginning; the buried army was a thoughtful arrangement. Full-corps, well-equipped; no matter how one looked at it, these knights were not the prisoners. Instead, it made more sense to say that they were the guards of the crypt.
"Demon?" The word struck Hao Ren as Vivian deciphered the runes. "This...this isn’t funny! Don’t tell me that the one being held down here is a demon. How on earth can demons exist at all in this world?"
"If the Blood Clan like me and errr... werewolf like Lily exist, why not a demon?" Vivian threw the armor fragment on the floor before corroding it with her caustic blood flog. Then she spoke in a grave manner, "Humans made tons of errors in their records of mythology. A lot of the violent, foreign creatures have been summarized and categorized as demons. I’m not sure whether the ‘demon’ described in the runes is a demon or something else. It better not be the real thing or else, it’s going to spell big trouble."
Vivian paused for a few seconds before continuing, "Judging from the standard of the runes on the stone wall, the crypt was supposedly designed by the demon hunters. Demon hunters are experts who wouldn’t make such a silly mistake in the categorization of unusual creatures. Most likely, the one being held down here is an actual demon."
Hao Ren’s face twitched. "It’d be better if you didn’t say that last sentence!"
Vivian did not take notice of Hao Ren’s denial. She carefully surveyed the floor for armor fragments with runes in the hope that she would find out exactly what kind of demon was being held down there. On the other hand, Lily was anxious. "Did we just take out the knights tasked to guard the demon? Did we just commit a Himalayan blunder by letting the demon out!"
The world would be better place if all werewolves were as kindhearted as the werewolf maiden. Hao Ren patted her on her back and said, "Don’t worry, the MDT said the crypt’s seal had long passed its expiry date. The armored knights would not have been able to hold the demon back by themselves. We’re just an accidental accomplice, at most."
"Not necessarily. The runes say it’s a Demon Stone," Vivian explained as she picked up another armor fragment. "There’s a place called the ‘Demonic Chamber’ as described in the runes on this cuisse. This secret chamber holds the Demon Stone, not the Demon itself. So, it isn’t as bad as you think."
That sounded like a Double Dutch to Hao Ren. "What Demon Stone?"
"The Demon is an apt manipulator of power in the dimensions of space. Demon Stone is like a position tracker in their travel between spaces. It’s also a remote medium which they use to corrupt the human world, much like their double. The Demon Stone is made of very special material, not the kind of stuff that demon hunters can destroy. So, the standard treatment would be to confine it—as long as a few hundred years. Basically, it’s pretty secure."
"I see. So, the Demon Stone will exhaust its power after a few hundred years?" Hao Ren said assumingly.
"Not really. Usually, the demon will replace it with another Demon Stone when they lose contact. Pretty much like what you’d do when you lose your phone."
Hao Ren was quiet. The explanation sounded reasonable but he still found something amiss.
"That means the Demon Stone is still in the crypt and it’s still working." Lily was naive but not dumb. She gulped and said, "Let’s hope that the demon behind the stone has changed its ‘number’. The disturbance in the crypt seems to have excited the Demon Stone..."
Vivian thought for a while before continuing, "Most likely the demon will come back to check the stone out just like what you’d do if you get a message from your lost phone. It would recognize the signal coming from the lost stone."
Hao Ren fingered his temples and said, "What’s most important is, are you guys able to take on the demon?"
"We’re not sure." Vivian looked a little awkward. "Theoretically speaking, we’re neck and neck but there are also less powerful demons out there. However as you know, I’m a peaceful person who despises conflicts. During the war between the Greeks and the people of Troy, I joined the army only out of necessity because I was broke. Even then, I fought for both sides. Each side for five years respectively..."
Hao Ren was speechless once again. He did not care to pick at Vivian about her monumentally black history.
Lily gained some quick wit and something suddenly crossed her mind. "Oh yeah Battie, what do the runes mean by ‘guards are not allowed to enter the demonic chamber’?"
"Although the wraith knights are kind of an effective weapon, their power comes from the demon. As such, they’re only useful in guarding the Demon Stone from afar or around the crypt; not too close to the secret chamber."
"Have you noticed that this crypt is empty… Not a single wraith knight’s here?"
A thick silence ensued and filled the crypt.
The trio had felt a stream of cold air blowing from all directions. Hao Ren carefully scanned the stone crypt and woefully asked, "Vivian, how does the Demon Stone look like?"
The vampire maiden started to recall. "Basically it’s a long and thin crystallite, half a meter to a meter in length, irregular-shaped and black like smoked glass. The tips are slightly red in color..."
Hao Ren almost cried out in fear. "...What’s that thing dangling on the ceiling?"