"Ancient magic..."

Muen’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Just like it had been mentioned before, although he had never seen it with his own eyes, from some traces left in history, and from the scattered words Teacher Mera—an actual firsthand witness—had let slip, Muen could still catch a faint glimpse of how brilliant the path of magic had been in that era a thousand years ago.

So after civilization had nearly been severed, any magic that could still be passed down from that time was bound to be terrifying.

Ariel was one example. She had only used some kind of ancient magic that could strengthen the body, and fighting across ranks was like slicing melons and chopping vegetables... and that definitely wasn’t the full version.

As for ancient relics... those were even harder to describe.

Muen hadn’t come into contact with many ancient relics so far, because these magic tools that had likewise been passed down from that era were naturally extremely rare.

But judging by the ancient relics Muen had encountered up to now... they weren’t that strong.

Yes, "not that strong" could completely be used to evaluate those things. The ancient relics Muen had dealt with so far didn’t seem to have any particularly terrifying destructive power or deterrence. Purely in terms of firepower, they might even be inferior to a single alchemical bomb.

But from another angle, these magic tools crowned with the name "ancient relic" all had one thing in common.

Their power was extremely bizarre.

Like that "Single’s Grudge" in Celicia’s hand.

As long as you stood under the umbrella and held the handle, you could erase your own sense of presence.

Not hiding your aura, and not making you vanish on a visual level.

But simply... erasing your presence.

You were still there, yet no one would notice you. Even magic itself would be affected by it—those extremely precise warding spells would directly ignore your existence.

This effect was completely at odds with any existing magic system. Rather than saying it was some kind of magic carved into those tools, it was more like... within a certain range, directly intervening in a certain rule.

He had asked Teacher Mera about this too, but all he got in return was her flat, inexplicable line:

"That is... the end of magic guidance."

...

The end of magic guidance, my ass. I’m a brute who only knows a light spell—why are you talking to me about the end of magic guidance?

If someone else tried to show off with that kind of thing at me, I’d definitely punch him right in the face, I swear on the name of Campbell...

"Hah. That damned old loli—whenever it’s shutdown time, she always loves turning into a riddle-spewing freak."

Muen rubbed his temples and let out a troubled, long sigh.

Another day of wanting to smack the old loli’s butt, JPG.

"But no matter what, ancient magic and ancient relics are extremely dangerous things."

After all, compared to something that’s simply powerful, these kinds of unfathomable things were what you should be even more wary of.

But now wasn’t the time to get hung up on that.

The current problem was...

"Could it be that inside the Empire, there are still people colluding with the demonfolk?"

Muen stroked those arcane-conducting materials and murmured in a low voice.

The Inner Council having ties with the demonfolk—this had been confirmed later, in a lot of the hidden truths that were dug up.

After all, that Ghostblood Grand Duchess hadn’t come to Belrand for sightseeing.

But the problem was the timing.

The fall of the Inner Council, the great purge of the Empire’s top nobles... all of that had already ended more than a month ago.

The Inner Council had long since become dust buried in history, not even stirring up a ripple in the long river of time.

Yet these arcane-conducting materials had clearly only been transported into the Abyss recently.

Because with something this valuable, even if it was disguised as rations to conceal it, the demonfolk side would definitely send some powerful big shot to personally take delivery as quickly as possible.

That gap in the middle would never be long. Vick and the others had only happened to run into that brief gap, but even so, unsurprisingly, they had run into high-ranking demonfolk and suffered a crushing defeat.

"Not long from now, the one coming to take delivery should be that so-called Demon General Lord Sorin mentioned, right?"

Muen looked at King Yintuo and said,

"Well? Interested?"

"Demon generals are around the fifth rank in the demonfolk, and their strength varies a lot, but it still doesn’t require me to step in."

King Yintuo shook his head.

"Besides, if I act in a place like this, if it draws a demonfolk grand duke, it’ll be trouble. The encirclement and kill operation targeting Duke Campbell wasn’t that long ago, so in this area there are at least five demonfolk grand dukes stationed now. Even I have to act cautiously."

"...That’s true. I was being too taken for granted. There will be plenty of chances later. No need to lose the big picture over a small gain."

Muen tapped the arcane-conducting materials with a finger, quietly listening to the crisp, pleasant sound that only came after careful smelting.

In eyes as blue as an ice lake, deep darkness was surging at this moment.

"But like this... it looks like this trip into the Abyss will be even more interesting than I imagined."

...

...

His abdomen still ached faintly, and the tearing sensation in the wound was still irritating his nerves.

But... I’m actually still alive?

Ebul’s consciousness woke rapidly from the darkness. His eyelids twitched slightly, but he immediately forced down that almost instinctive movement.

He kept his eyes closed, showing nothing, and even his breathing was controlled to be exactly the same as when he had been unconscious.

At the same time, he used every sense he could muster right now, carefully feeling himself and his surroundings.

His hand was warm.

His body didn’t feel cold, either.

From the dull sensation coming from his skin, there should be a bonfire burning not far from him.

In other words... was he currently in a captive state?

But his body felt light. There weren’t any shackles. Could it be they actually thought he was dead?

And there was the smell of meat drifting through the air. Looks like the enemy was leisurely grilling meat right now. How careless.

Maybe if he’d woken up a little later, he would’ve become meat being roasted in the enemy’s hands.

Ebul still tried hard to maintain outward calm, but the muscles all over his body were gradually tightening. His hand secretly felt behind his waist, and he discovered that a dagger he had hidden there hadn’t even been taken away.

Heh. Those damned demonfolk. How arrogant.

In that case, you should also pay the price for your arrogance.

Ebul knew that in this situation, escape was impossible, but if he could take one down before he died, that would absolutely be worth it!

So...

"You demonfolk trash—die for me!"

With his strength stored, Ebul suddenly sprang up from the ground, lavishly spending the unbelievably abundant power in his body at this moment. Like a predatory leopard, he drove the dagger in his hand toward the ugly-faced...

"Huh?"

Ebul’s expression suddenly went blank.

Even though he was still mid-lunge, he abruptly realized...

This demonfolk trash... why didn’t he look very ugly?

Also.

Why were Vick, Polly, Morris... even Gree, all sitting around this demonfolk trash, eating grilled meat with faces full of excitement and awe?

Everyone looked cheerful and harmonious, completely unlike they were about to be thrown on the bonfire and roasted?

"..."

In an instant, inside the simple tent where the bonfire’s light flickered, the atmosphere went quiet.

Everyone turned their heads at the same time, looking at Ebul with a strange gaze that was three parts confusion, three parts shock, and ninety-four parts what the hell is this guy doing.

"Th... this... what is going on?"

And only then did Ebul—whose knife was practically about to stab into someone—realize that the demonfolk trash he’d been shouting about... seemed to be nothing more than a young man so handsome it was unbelievable.

And most importantly, this young man’s face... why did it seem a little like Duke Campbell, whom everyone in the Imperial Army knew?

...

...

"V-very sorry!"

Ebul’s rough old face was burning hot, like it was about to catch fire. He kept bowing hard, stammering as he apologized to the young man in front of ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ him.

"I... I didn’t think... I... I thought you were demonfolk... to offend you like this, I’m truly very sorry."

"It’s fine."

Muen confiscated the dagger in Ebul’s hand, stuck it back into the sheath at Ebul’s waist, then smiled without caring at all.

"Being this vigilant is already impressive. That little brother over there named Vick went straight to snoring. He slept like a baby."

"Heh heh." Vick scratched his head and smiled awkwardly.

"Y-you flatter me." Ebul immediately shot Vick a glare, then continued respectfully. "This level of vigilance is something anyone gets after staying in the Abyss for a long time. Vick is just a new recruit—he understands... he naturally understands nothing."

"No need to be so respectful. I don’t have any official post right now, and I’m not your superior. I’m just an ordinary Imperial soldier, that’s all."

Muen waved his hand.

"N-no... how would I dare..."

Only then did Ebul dare to lift his head a little, secretly sizing up the handsome blond man in front of him—someone who was also completely different from what he’d imagined, thanks to the brainwashing demon-voice about Duke Campbell that echoed through the army.

With every gesture, this blond man carried an unimitable noble aura, and yet he treated people with such kindness. Even when speaking with someone as bottom-rung as Vick, there wasn’t the slightest trace of arrogance.

Because of that, Ebul still couldn’t quite believe it...

"Y-you really are Duke Campbell’s son... that legendary young master of House Campbell?"

"What,"

Muen asked back with a smile,

"in a place like this, would anyone still dare to impersonate the Lion King’s son?"

"N-no."

In an instant, Ebul’s back snapped perfectly straight. He gave a standard military salute.

"Captain Ebul of the Forty-Ninth Squad, Fourth Vanguard Camp, Campbell Legion of the Imperial Abyss Defense Line, reporting to you!"

"I already told you, I’m not your superior. There’s no need to be this formal."

Muen motioned with his hand, signaling Ebul to sit down beside him.

Ebul hesitated again and again, feeling that doing that was far too offensive... but he glanced at Vick, who had long since started wolfing down food, and now talking about whether it was offensive seemed kind of meaningless.

"Here. This is for you."

"Th-thank you."

Ebul had just sat down, and he immediately accepted the grilled meat roasted by the duke’s son himself with intense apprehension.

"Don’t mind it. It’s just ordinary horse meat. Most of it got ruined by the demonfolk, but not all of it, so make do for now. My skill’s average, too."

"N-no, no, no... being able to eat meat at all is already extremely rare for me."

Ebul forced out a smile. Maybe because it had been too long since he’d smiled, it looked a little ugly.

"Fighting in a hellhole like the Abyss, having something to eat in the first place is already good. How could we still be picky?"

"Is that so?"

Muen studied Ebul’s old, scar-covered face. His gaze flickered, and he said softly,

"Then take this chance and eat more."

"Th... thank you."

Ebul returned to that respectful look again and gave his thanks.

He held the fragrant grilled meat in one hand, and out of habit, he wanted to take out a tool to test whether it was poisoned... then he abruptly came back to himself and showed a bitter smile.

Horse meat personally grilled for him by the duke’s son—how could it possibly be poisonous? It wasn’t the meat of some bizarre Abyss monster.

Besides, even if it was poisonous, that would be an immense honor to him.

Ebul took a bite.

In an instant, the meat aroma and rich fat aroma he hadn’t tasted in a long time exploded in his mouth.

Someone who had been parched for so long wasn’t supposed to eat something this greasy, but he didn’t feel any discomfort at all. Presumably, during the time he’d been unconscious, he had already been given water.

So now he could feel even more clearly the abundant energy contained in this ordinary grilled meat.

It was exactly what his currently weakened body needed.

Drip.

Drip.

Inside the tent where the bonfire flickered, drops of water fell onto the sand.

"S-sorry, Young Master Campbell. I lost my composure again."

"What composure did you lose?"

Muen prodded at the bonfire and asked.

"I..."

As Ebul chewed and swallowed, he wiped his face hard.

"Before choosing to sneak in here, I thought I was no longer afraid of so-called death. I’d even long since gotten used to it, but now..."

Ebul looked at his trembling hand that could still touch food rich with oil, and he choked up.

"Being alive... is really good."