The Price of Breaching the Contract - Chapter 21

Deep in the forest, where darkness had settled like a black shroud.

Swish—

With a chilling sound that sliced through the air, something tore through the void, and black blood splattered in all directions. Standing at the forefront, Santiago, who had swung his sword, was drenched in the viscous liquid.

The acrid smell assaulted his nostrils unpleasantly.

The next moment, Santiago felt an unsettling presence beneath his feet and instinctively swung his sword down. Once again, a sickening crack echoed, followed by a grotesque wail.

“Shit, damn it.”

A curse burst from Haron, who was right behind him. He brushed the demon’s blood that had splattered on him from his collar, readjusting his grip on his sword.

“Focus. They’re coming from above too.”

Santiago commanded sternly. As he spoke, an eerie wind carrying a dreadful energy blew from above.

“I knew it, didn’t I? I thought I was seeing things!”

Haron’s voice trembled faintly, laced with disbelief. Even as he spoke, he quickly ducked to avoid an attack. Winged demons, diving rapidly from the air, targeted the knights.

Led by Santiago, about ten skilled knights frantically swung their swords.

Thwack—

The demons, wounded by the swords of the knights who couldn’t use mana, were completely disintegrated by Santiago’s sword. Demons recovered from injuries caused by attacks without mana within a day at the latest and returned. Without mana, they wouldn’t die.

The few mana users were indispensable in the land of demons. Among them, Santiago, a Sword Master, was undeniably crucial.

He was the man who had entered the land of demons alone two years ago and defeated their king, Devil. All by himself, without anyone’s help.

“Even with the Commander here, it’s like this.!”

Therefore, the current situation, where they were struggling in battle with him in the expedition, was far from ideal.

Less than half a day had passed since they crossed the wall and entered the mountains inhabited by demons. In that short time, demons had appeared so frequently that the knights’ breathing was ragged.

Demons of various sizes, small and medium, attacked in groups, and they had already defeated several rare winged ones. The demons swarmed from all directions, but something felt strange.

Santiago eliminated demons within reach while sharply surveying his surroundings. It seemed like they were attacking randomly, but after several hours, a repeating pattern emerged. The demons’ movements were not simply driven by instinct.

Their movements, though subtle, were clearly closing in, and their actions seemed close to strategic maneuvers.

Crack—!

Another demon split apart in front of Santiago. And with that, the sound of insects chirping began to be heard. It was a sign that there were no demons nearby.

Santiago found a suitable flat area not far away and commanded.

“We’ll camp here.”

“Yes, Captain.”

At the command, Haron was the first to take out a large pouch from his luggage. And from within, he took out fist-sized gray stones and placed them in front of Santiago as if it were natural. They were holy stones with bumpy surfaces and emitting a faint light.

As Haron took out the holy stones, Santiago infused mana into his sword and tapped each stone with the tip of his sword. The holy stones touched by his sword absorbed the mana and glowed white.

He had tapped about twenty when Haron announced, gathering the empty cloth pouch.

“That’s all we have.”

Santiago, having infused mana into the last holy stone, nodded and flicked the tip of his sword.

“Prepare the barrier!”

And at Haron’s subsequent signal, the knights who had been preparing for camp approached and took a couple of holy stones each. The knights spread out around Santiago’s position and stood in a circle, placing the holy stones on the ground.

It was a familiar process that proceeded smoothly without any special instructions.

“That’s enough. Rest.”

At Santiago’s permission, the knights, who had still been tense while preparing for camp, relaxed a bit.

Some of the knights looked at the holy stones stuck in the ground with wonder and said.

“It’s amazing every time I see it.”

“I know, right? It doesn’t feel like anything.”

The fact that demons avoided holy stones, especially those infused with mana, was discovered by chance one day. Spreading them out in a circular shape like this didn’t create a great barrier, but it had the effect of making demons dislike being near the area.

They couldn’t completely let their guard down, so they took turns standing watch, but the rest were able to rest.

The group, having concluded the day, spent the night in a temporary safe zone. The expedition resumed the next day as soon as dawn broke, and they encountered similar patterns of demons.

On the afternoon of the fourth day, they finally emerged from the dense forest, and the plains where demons mainly resided came into view.

And what lay before them was.

“Captain, I think something big is going on here?”

“…”

Dozens of small and medium-sized demons were clustered around a demon that was almost of the highest rank. It was an order that shouldn’t exist among demons, who had no sociality and moved only according to the balance of power.

Especially after Santiago had defeated Devil, the king of the demons who had controlled them.

‘Why again?!’

What appeared before his eyes was a sight he had believed he would never see again.

A situation he had clearly resolved two years ago.

“We’re not enough to handle this on our own!”

“Retreat for now. Keep a close eye on those who follow.”

Santiago’s eyes widened at the sight.

At the same time, Yulania stopped working on her tapestry and was lost in thought.

‘Father, medicine, inheritance, demons.’

Overwhelming events were happening simultaneously. They seemed related to each other, but she couldn’t quite connect them. She wanted to go down to the capital right away and ask her royal father, but she was unable to travel due to the harsh winter weather, and she was afraid of what answer her father would give.

‘I can’t talk to Santiago.’

In the end, she had to slowly unravel the situation through conversation with him, but that was the most difficult part. Yulania turned her gaze elsewhere, feeling troubled once again. Then, she met the eyes of Vihan, who was standing behind her.

He had been Santiago’s close aide and had become her escort knight.

“Vihan.”

“Yes.”

At her call, the knight bowed his head at a perfect angle. Hair, a shade lighter than Santiago’s, fell and covered his face.

“You know where Devon is, don’t you?”

“Yes, but—”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to meet him.”

“I apologize. I overstepped my bounds.”

He, who had been about to object to her words, immediately knelt on one knee and apologized. Yulania waved her hand dismissively and took her eyes off him.

‘Santiago must have issued a gag order.’

No matter how much he was assigned as Yulania’s direct escort, his lord was Santiago. It was difficult to grasp what he was up to, but one thing was certain. Devon, the royal physician in charge of her, was being held somewhere, and the knights were in charge of managing him. And there was a high probability that information related to the king had come out, and that fact was thoroughly hidden from Yulania.

After she last saw Devon and lost consciousness, she hadn’t seen or heard his name.

Unlike the days when she was too busy trying to support herself, she had been regaining her clear thoughts for the past few days. Her own body was directly affected, and it was related to her immediate family.

She couldn’t just wait for Santiago.

It was better this way. In the meantime, while Santiago was away, she could do some investigating on her own.

‘I should call Joel soon.’

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