Chapter Thirty-Six: The Sealed Sacred Relic

This time, though Mulan and Erwin’s coordination was not flawless, it was certainly timely. As Erwin cast his Purification, both of them shouted to each other almost in unison.

“Find it! Quick!”

Find what? Of course, the source-point artifact.

Ignoring their exhaustion and nausea, both crouched to search the corpse of Sir Bass. They were far from safe yet—only by sealing the source-point could they relax even a little. Even Mulan knew that their meager means could not truly harm that monster; at best, they had severed it within the Inner World using the power of holy light—it was surely still lurking nearby.

They fumbled over Bass’s body, and in the next moment, Mulan felt a certain item exuding a shadowy resonance; at the same instant, Erwin found the target as well.

“The brooch!”

Erwin cried out, reaching for it. But as he grasped the crystal brooch, a shadow suddenly spread across its surface, rapidly ballooning and engulfing half of Erwin’s body.

At that moment, both Erwin and the nearby Mulan’s eyes widened in shock. Erwin’s body stiffened—half of him was abruptly dragged into the shadow. Mulan’s pupils contracted; moving faster than thought, he seized Erwin’s other half.

Swoosh...

Both were instantly pulled into the swirling vortex of shadow.

“Roar—!”

A terrifying howl, a hundredfold more intense than anything they’d heard before, seemed to tear at their eardrums. On the other side of that darkness, a monstrous claw seized Erwin’s hand, dragging both men deeper in.

They were lifted from the ground, caught in the beast’s grasp, but in that moment of crisis, Erwin’s right hand burst with holy power, allowing both of them to break free. Like two shells fired from a cannon, they were flung far away.

Boom! Boom!

They crashed into the ruins, landing a few meters apart.

“Ugh... Erwin, how are you holding up?”

Mulan felt as if his whole body was coming apart. He glanced at Erwin, who was struggling to rise from the rubble; aside from his right arm hanging uselessly, he seemed otherwise intact.

Though the surroundings were now a wasteland, the faint outlines of the Earl’s manor were still visible. But this was no longer the real manor—it was now entirely the Inner World.

“Mulan... we’ve been completely pulled into the Inner World...”

“You don’t need to tell me. Let’s focus on how to survive!”

Mulan forced himself to his feet. Were it not for being in the Inner World, their bodies might already be pulverized from that impact. His thoughts flashed quickly; before he knew it, he was at Erwin’s side, gripping his right arm.

“Don’t move. It’s just dislocated. I’ll set it back.”

Crack!

“Hiss...”

After a moment of sharp pain, Erwin found he could move his arm again.

“Roar—!”

The ancient fiend’s cry echoed from afar. The two exchanged a glance, then, without a word, supported each other as they fled.

What a joke—facing a fiend in the Inner World was certain death. Mulan didn’t know exactly what this ancient thing was, but the name alone told him enough.

As they ran, they kept glancing back and around, discussing their options.

“Why didn’t it just kill us outright? Does it want our bodies?”

“That’s thanks to me!”

Mulan couldn’t help a sarcastic jab.

“And it’s thanks to you that we’re in here at all. Now, how do we get out?”

Erwin, running beside him, shook his head in exasperation.

“I haven’t reached the ‘Reality’ threshold—I can’t break out of the Inner World...”

“The brooch?”

Erwin lifted his blood-smeared right hand.

“It’s either still on that corpse, or already in the fiend’s grasp. If it’s the former, when the fiend tries to break into reality, we can follow it out! If it’s the latter, at least Valentine is safe...”

Mulan’s mouth twitched. If it was the latter, then they wouldn’t be able to leave at all.

The source-point artifact itself could not be touched by the fiend, but since Erwin was a human with strong mental power, when he grabbed the brooch and was dragged into the Inner World, he might have brought the brooch in with him.

The two of them raced to the edge of the ruins, ducking into a room to hide, watching in the direction of the roar.

There, a four-clawed, tailed beast prowled. Its long fur was matted with exposed human limbs and entrails; countless faces twisted in agony across its body, torsos squirmed beneath its skin. Just looking at the beast made Mulan’s head throb and his mind reel with confusion.

A hand pressed over his eyes, blocking his sight.

“Right now, it’s best you don’t look at it. Most of the manor nobles turned into monsters just like this.”

Mulan moved Erwin’s hand away, avoiding a direct look at the fiend but still watching from the corner of his eye. Erwin’s explanation had a Lovecraftian ring to it, which Mulan had no trouble grasping.

If an ordinary person wandered into the Inner World, perfect control over their mind would grant them a degree of concealment; monsters and the Inner World mirrored each other in certain ways. Thus, people like Mulan and Erwin could hide themselves more effectively—but hiding alone was hardly enough.

“Hah, hah, hah... So what do we do? Wait here to die? If the monster doesn’t kill us, we might suffocate first.”

Mulan was already struggling to breathe; Erwin was little better, gasping for air as fresh oxygen seemed a rare luxury in this place.

“Actually, we still have a few bottles of holy water...”

Erwin looked toward Mulan’s pocket, and Mulan instinctively glanced down.

“Outside, the holy light can’t harm the fiend in the Inner World, but here...”

“Let’s use it!”

Mulan agreed at once—waiting to die had never been an option for him. They whispered a quick plan, then split off to circle toward the fiend from both sides.

Perhaps thanks to the fiend’s presence, there were no other strange creatures nearby, so Erwin and Mulan weren’t distracted by minor troubles and could approach the fiend closely.

Just then, a bizarre, ear-piercing sound emanated from the fiend. After a wave of agony in his mind, Mulan found he could understand the meaning within that voice.

“Little insects, did you think I wouldn’t notice you? There’s no need to run. Merge with me, and you’ll gain all that humans desire—power, wealth, pleasure... and strength beyond mortal flesh!”

Mulan, now on one side, forced his mind to focus on the fiend. Suddenly, he noticed a swirling gray mist on its right hand and, heart pounding, immediately abandoned his original plan of a desperate assault.

He couldn’t consult with Erwin now, but he trusted the priest would understand his intent.

In the next moment, Mulan stepped from his hiding place, staff in one hand, revolver in the other, but spread his arms wide, making no move to attack. He walked directly toward the fiend.

“I have little desire for power, wealth, or women—but I do crave great strength. Can you truly give that to me?”

Mulan had come to realize he possessed a certain ability—a resonance of sorts. The closer he drew to the fiend, the more he recalled his duel with the madman.

‘Mulan Jonester, admit it. You and I are the same... Admit it... Admit it...’

A crazed expression crept across Mulan’s face, a twisted smile curling his lips.

“Hehehe... Hahahaha... I want strength—strength to surpass mankind, to surpass Walton, to surpass all...”

This surge of emotion and madness seemed to be both a resonance from Mulan and the fiend’s own influence, drawing out the deepest darkness and desire within.

‘Mulan!’

On the other side, Erwin clenched his fists, nearly rushing out, but forced himself to hold back—charging out now was suicide.

Why? Why had Mulan become like this?

Erwin felt a wave of despair. Had God and the holy light abandoned him? Abandoned Mulan?

“Your body has great potential. Any strength you desire, I can grant.”

Mulan had now reached the fiend’s towering form, looking it in the eyes in utter madness.

“Is that so? But even you were left so battered by us—how can I trust you? Or perhaps, show me?”

This extreme frenzy was both Mulan’s resonance and the fiend’s influence. His sword-cane began to tremble violently in his hand.

The fiend lowered its head to gaze at Mulan, suddenly lashing out with a claw. But Mulan, who had been standing still, dodged nimbly, then darted back with impossible speed to slash the beast’s paw with his sword.

Screeeech—

The blade cutting into flesh made a shrill sound, but left a sizable gash.

“You are nothing... nothing at all...”

Mulan’s mad voice rang out as he dodged another swipe, moving like a specter.

From a distance, Erwin watched, stunned. The fiend, too, showed a disturbingly human expression—it relished Mulan’s madness, this writhing, twisted spirit, which made the body all the more precious.

But after a few taunting attacks, Mulan spun and bolted, heading straight for Erwin’s position, the fiend following at a measured, almost leisurely pace.

Erwin nearly sprang up to flee, but restrained himself. Even if Mulan had become like this, he still chose to trust him. He had already poured out all the holy water but had not yet activated it.

Mulan felt that his gamble had paid off—this state made the monster unwilling to kill him. It might even want to send him back to reality as a vessel, since he considered himself a hundred times stronger than Sir Bass.

“Hahahahaha, come on, chase me, you filthy, ugly beast! If this is all the power you have, how can I believe a word you say?”

Mulan was now in a state of delirious excitement—his reason remained, but he was gripped by madness. As he ran, he fired his revolver at the fiend.

Bang, bang, bang!

“Roar—!”

The shots seemed to actually cause the fiend pain, enraging it even more.

“Angry, are you? Humiliated to be wounded by a mere insect? You tailed lizard!”

The taunts only fueled its fury, and it suddenly sped up. Such insects could be crushed in an instant. As Mulan neared Erwin, he fired again.

Bang, bang, bang...

The revolver’s muzzle flared in the darkness.

“Erwin!”

Erwin appeared, shouting as he unleashed his holy power.

“Purify—!”

Intense holy light, like blades of explosive force, surged toward the fiend with terrifying might.

“Roar—I’ll kill you both!”

Erwin was already close to collapse, but suddenly felt himself lifted—Mulan had hoisted him onto his back and, instead of fleeing, charged straight at the writhing fiend in the holy light.

Hey, hey, Mulan, this is way off plan!

“Trust me!”

Mulan growled, pushing his body to the limit, each step a dance with death. With extreme agility and luck, he hurtled almost unscathed to the fiend’s side. In its agony, the beast lashed out, but Mulan, carrying Erwin, did not dodge.

Bang...

The holy light’s purification finally ended. The fiend’s body, as if bathed in acid, began to recover slowly. Beneath the dust of the Inner World, it raised its claw—beneath it, there was no trace of human remains, and the gray vortex in its paw had vanished.

“Roar—Mulan Jonester—!”

Rage and hatred twisted the Inner World’s very fabric. The Earl’s manor, now in ruins, was reduced to dust in the shockwave...

...

“Hah... hah... cough, ugh...”

Mulan and Erwin lay sprawled beside Bass’s corpse like two dead dogs. The brooch was now submerged in a bottle of holy water, locked inside a box.

“We... did it, right?” Erwin panted.

“If we didn’t, then let death take us...” Mulan murmured, utterly spent.