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Chapter 124: Caliburn’s Military Merchant (3)

The green light flashed a few more times.

Every time the light flashed, death followed, marked by severed heads or torsos falling on Henry’s footprints.

‘Smooth as butter.’

Henry had used the holy sword Iselan had given him for good luck. When he imbued the holy sword with Aura, he sensed a cutting force that he hadn’t experienced back when he was in the military.

‘This is why people are so obsessed with Aura.’

The moonlight was bright. The wind blew and the soil of the forest where the monsters lived was full of mana.

‘This is the best!’

Henry used mana as if he were a fish in water, and it replenished itself as fast as he used it, no matter how much he used up. Thanks to this, he reached the 5th district without feeling tired.

‘Finally…!’

Henry had only been to the 5th district a few times even while he was serving since it was too dangerous. Access to this area was permitted only under exceptional circumstances.

In his previous life, the 5th district wasn\'t considered part of the Demonic Beast Forest because Henry had fought a bloody battle against the Demon King at the Demon World Gate past the 1st district.

‘I can certainly feel that the air is heavier.’

It was stuffy, as if the air was full of something odd. Henry cast White Breath, which helped with breathing. ‘That feels much better.’

It was always good to finish things early, but there was no need to rush. He had only taken 30 minutes to get here from the fortress gate, so he had plenty of time.

In addition, he could find rare materials in the 5th district if he got lucky, so it was better to move slowly.

Buzzz.

Just then, the turquoise bracelet on Henry\'s wrist started to vibrate.

It was Elagon. Henry quickly set Elagon free as soon as he felt the vibrations.

- Khuu!

Elagon now looked like a dragon with a turquoise body and a pair of horns. He stretched like a puppy and flew up into the air, circling the area.

“Do you like this place?”

- Khuu!

“Okay, okay. No one can see you here, so have some fun.”

Elagon seemed happier than usual and Henry assumed that it was because of the unique environment of the 5th district. It was rich in mana and the air was full of toxins. It was the perfect environment for Elagon since he had been born with his own venom.

Henry looked at Elagon flying in the air and noticed that he had grown bigger.

‘They say that children grow up in an instant, I guess spirits are no exception either.’

Elagon used to be the size of a small dog, but he’d grown to the size of a medium dog.

Henry felt strange when he considered how Elagon seemed like his child.

Henry was neither a formally contracted owner nor a parent. He had been a nest when Elagon was still an egg. However, Elagon was showing affection to his nest, carrying out Henry\'s orders and sharing his powers with Henry.

In a way, their relationship was much stronger than that of an owner and pet or a parent and child, which was why Henry never made Elagon do dangerous work.

Unlike other spirits, who were summoned back to the spirit world when they died, Elagon only had one life because he had been born in the human world.

- Khuu khuu khuu.

Elagon leisurely approached Henry and licked his left wrist.

“Huh?”

Elagon had licked the spot containing the spirit egg he had found in Aubert’s secret storage room.

‘I forgot about that.’

Henry took out the egg, using magic to open his wrist.

‘What could it be?’

Even Skall didn’t know anything about it except for the fact that it was from another world.

It was unexpected that Elagon would be friendly even though the egg was from another world.

‘Do I have no choice but to ask Alfred after all?’

Alfred was a master of spiritism, and it seemed that Skall was right about asking Alfred about the egg.

‘Well, I can figure it out later.’

Henry took the egg from Elagon, who was licking it, and put it back inside his wrist.

He then carried Elagon at his side and moved to the 4th district.

* * *

‘I’ve arrived.’

The ground was dark and dead, and the toxins in the air were so concentrated that most of the animals and plants had already died.

Henry looked at the dense demonic trees that towered high into the sky.

‘Ulam’s Maze.’

The Ulam was a plant-type monster that Henry had defeated in the past and was the top predator of the 4th district.

Back then, the Ulam had been so big that it was only possible to defeat it with fire. However, even as it burned, it instinctively spread its seeds, turning most of the 4th district into a dense maze-like forest.

‘Well, that won’t be here after today.’

The forest had grown even larger in the 4th district and the ecosystem had been nurtured the entire time, which made the terrain even more complicated.

Henry had no intention of going through Ulam’s Maze to find what he was looking for.

“Fly.”

Henry soared into the air, flying high until Ulam’s Maze was as small as the palm of his hand. When he thought he was high enough, he stopped and held out his right index and middle finger, drawing a circle in the air.

Henry closed one eye and looked through the circle at Ulam’s Maze with the other.

“Earth Wall.”

Rumble!

He felt mana pouring out of him like water pouring out of a glass. Large walls rose, surrounding Ulam’s Maze.

‘As I expected, I must have the Black Tear.’

The wall had to encompass the entire forest, so he needed an enormous amount of mana, more than was required for a spell like Teleportation.

The newly erected wall made the monsters hiding in the maze panic. However, this wasn’t the end of Henry’s magic.

“Fire spear.”

Whoosh!

Dozens of flaming spears formed around Henry.

Henry raised his hand high and waved it at the wall.

Whoosh!

The fire spears shot out, starting a fire that turned the maze within the wall into an inferno.

- Kaaaa!

- Kheeee!

The silence was broken by the cries of the monsters caught in the burning hell. They ran around looking for an exit, but they were only filled with despair. In the end, they couldn’t escape and died hopeless deaths.

Whoosh!

The foul smell of a forest fire spread throughout the Demonic Beast Forest.

Henry immediately attacked and killed any monsters that tried to destroy the wall, restoring the damaged wall right after.

A long time passed.

Ulam’s Maze eventually burned down and all the monsters caught in the fire died.

Henry slowly landed within the wall. The area was filled with smoke, and the ground was covered in ashes and charred demonic trees.

‘Much better.’

Henry didn’t have any trouble breathing since he had cast White Breath on himself.

Henry checked on the beings that had made it out alive.

‘As expected.’

Some of the creatures of the 4th district were resistant to fire, while others were so powerful that the fire was nothing more than a mere fireworks display to them.

Henry was looking for one of the latter.

- Kheeee!

As the fire subsided, the monsters buried in the ashes started to appear one by one. The survivors were the stronger monsters of the 4th district.

Henry drew his sword, eyeing the strongest-looking monster, and cut his forearm with his sword.

Drip.

A large amount of blood flowed from his wound and Henry smeared the poisonous blood onto the blade.

‘I should be able to play around as much as I want here.’

Henry’s poisonous blood was the strongest type of poison; unfortunately, it couldn’t be used against humans, because its potency meant that it could easily be traced back to Henry.

However, there was no need to worry about that inside the giant wall.

Ptzzz!

Henry released Aura from his core.

The Aura burned like a massive forest fire, its presence as mighty as lightning.

- Kheee?

His green Aura bloomed on top of the black ashes.

The monsters turned their attention to Henry, looking curious and scornful.

- Kheeeeeeee…

Unlike in the 6th district, the monsters in the 4th district could think rationally to an extent and they were considered evolved races, like Klever.

Henry didn’t move and waited patiently until they approached, increasing his Aura and turning it into a bigger flame.

Whoosh!

One of the monsters couldn’t hold back his curiosity and threw a boulder at Henry.

Slice!

The boulder split in half, the pieces falling on each side of Henry.

Thud!

Henry didn’t move an inch. The monster’s eyes widened.

‘How arrogant of them.’

Henry considered the monsters beneath him. It was like watching monkeys in a zoo.

By the time the monsters got closer, Henry could spot the one he was looking for.

‘Found him!’

One of the monsters was waiting for an opportunity. It had a strong resistance to fire and, like a hyena, it had a habit of stealing other monsters\' food.

It was a Palegon—a thieving lizard monster with five tails that only appeared in the 4th district.

Henry pulled his sword close to his waist. He gathered the Aura flowing outside his body and the mana flowing inside his body, concentrating the magic at the tip of his sword.

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“Sonic…”

- Kheeee!

When Henry recited half of the spell, the monsters instinctively sensed danger and darted toward Henry.

“...Cutter.”

Woong!

He swung the sword in a semicircle.

Silence enveloped the area.

The monsters running toward Henry stopped.

Tzzzz.

Henry dispelled his Aura.

He slowly sheathed his sword. As soon as the guard touched the sheath…

Shhhh…

Thud thud thud!

The monsters split into half horizontally and toppled onto the ashes.

- K-Kheee?

The Palegon was confused.

Unlike the giant monsters, it had avoided Henry’s Sonic Cutter because it was smaller than a puppy. It was bewildered and made eye contact with Henry, who sheathed his sword.

Chills.

The Palegon felt an overwhelming amount of fear. It tried to run away, but Henry’s mana was one step faster.

“What a fresh catch. Congrats on being hired, Palegon.”

Henry picked it up by the tail. The little guy was the key ingredient for making the Black Tear.