The Emperor's herald did not regret what had already happened. That didn't mean he felt no emotional pain.
Azadin was in pain. How many had he killed on his way here—those who had become followers? And yet, there had been a way to bring them back to their senses? It was almost unbearable unless he could unload this frustration onto someone.
Sensing the heat of Azadin's fury, like burning coal, the Taoist from the Blue Sky Order paled in fear and hurriedly picked up the vial that had fallen to the ground.
"This is the medicine given to me by that woman who told me to keep an eye on you. I can sense the presence of another nether being inside it."
It was a quick, and rather clever excuse. Sufficient enough to prevent Azadin from venting his rage on him.
"I see. That vial…"
It looked familiar. It was the one Arael had shown Azadin, telling him to mix it into their food.
"Is what's inside the same as the elixirs you people use?"
Azadin's mention of the Blue Sky Order's elixirs left the Taoist momentarily speechless. His words hinted that he knew the true nature of the potions they used.
He had to be careful with his words. This young man had torn through the storm of the followers' rampage and arrived here—furious.
The Taoist, fearing when Azadin's power, rage, or skills might turn into a blade aimed at his neck, answered with utmost politeness.
"We were only trying to help those suffering from the plague. We've saved many people from pain countless times, and nothing like this ever happened! This must be someone's scheme!"
"That's not what I asked. I asked if what's in the vial is the same as your elixir."
"Yes. It's similar to our elixir, but it's also different. Honestly, we use it in a heavily diluted form to prevent follower transformation… but this one has an extremely high concentration."
"And yet you're fine after ingesting it?"
"Fortunately, I've always practiced blood magic, so I was able to isolate and control the potion within my body."
Blood magic. A type of sorcery that used blood as a medium—from folk remedies that used leech blood to reduce swelling, to large-scale magic summoning demons using blood.
Using this blood magic, the Taoist of the Blue Sky Order extracted the potion from his body and formed a wooden branch from his hand.
"I can store the potion I've controlled with blood magic inside this branch. Thankfully, the guardian deity of the Blue Sky Order we serve is Grimslone, the ancient tree of the swamp…"
Because it was a being of wood attribute, it was possible to isolate the potion before it could be absorbed by the body. That's what the Taoist was explaining.
'So because one cannot serve two nether gods at once, the medicine Arael gave them acted as an antidote. Despite the high concentration, this man is a blood mage, and the nether being they serve is a kind of tree spirit, so he could fully isolate the potion inside his body. Then, could it be that Arael actually mixed the drug with good intentions?'
Azadin thought for a moment about his only blood relative, but then quickly shook his head.
There was no way Arael had done it out of kindness.
'Not all of the Blue Sky Order were tainted by the nether. If you drugged their food, you'd be infecting innocent people too. Arael just didn't care if others got caught in the crossfire.'
Arael was always like that. Strong, confident, and indifferent to the weeds and ants crushed beneath her feet. Like an elephant trampling over anything in its path, Arael never hesitated. This Taoist was probably just another ant beneath her heel.
At that moment, Zebeck called Azadin's attention.
"Azadin. Look over there."
"…Ah."
Azadin saw Arael's group entering Baron Adirof's castle.
"This isn't the time for this—we need to pursue them. Hey, Taoist! You handle the rampaging tree spirits! Think you can do it?"
"I'll try. Ah, take this!"
The Blue Sky Order Taoist handed Azadin the wooden branch containing Arael's potion.
Azadin accepted the sharp and sturdy branches and placed them in his quiver before taking off in pursuit of Arael.
***
After Baron Adirof's family was wiped out by a plague, his castle had been repurposed into a sort of administrative office, with a bureaucrat dispatched by Count Lantarik as its new master.
The building, once meant to house a noble family, gradually lost its decorative charm over time, leaving only functionality in its appearance. But that was only the outer shell of the castle.
Inside Baron Adirof's castle, surprisingly, was a structure built in the ancient style of the dwarves. The castle was merely a shell built atop that building.
And Azadin could guess what it truly was—the Emperor's Treasury.
Because after Arael's group entered first, a deep, resonant rumble echoed from beneath the building, as if it were stretching awake. A deafening roar, as though the ruin itself was awakening.
"You okay, Captain? This is creepy."
Scott had somehow prepared a cart, cast magic on the surrounding corpses, and was now riding atop the cart.
"What are you doing? With that?"
"..."
Zebeck glared at Scott, who was defiling the corpses right in front of him.
But they were all rendered speechless soon enough.
Scott had combined the torn corpses in an organic fashion, preserving only their functional aesthetics.
And the cart began to move on its own.
A closer look would reveal that muscles stretched from the cart's handles to its base, pushing the cart forward. But those muscles were hidden behind the support stand, making it look like the cart was self-propelled.
"I call it: Smart Mobility!"
"…Smart?"
"Even I think it's a clever design, Captain."
"…Haa."
Zebeck was at a loss for words.
Then, in front of Azadin's party, bloodthirsty tree spirits appeared. They were once the people within Adirof Castle, but now, they had become rampaging followers tainted by the nether.
"Tch."
Azadin hurled the wooden branches given to him by the Blue Sky Order Taoist like throwing knives at the followers blocking his way.
–Puh-puh-puck!
With crisp sounds, each branch struck one person perfectly.
The attack, as neatly distributed as if giving holiday gifts to children, brought their minds back to reality.
And so, the tree beasts turned back into humans.
"Urgh?"
"No way—this can't be!"
"I… What have I done until now? D-Don't tell me, this was me?"
"Argh! Wh-What's wrong with my body!?"
They recoiled in horror at the disaster that had overtaken their bodies.
"Go to the Blue Sky Order Taoist and get help! Out of the way!"
Azadin walked past the followers who had regained their senses and headed inside.
He pitied their fate, but chasing Arael took precedence right now.
***
Below ground was a massive granite staircase.
It seemed to lead into the heart of the mountain that surrounded Baron Adirof's castle, and a continuous, rumbling noise echoed from the stairs.
On the immense, dwarven-style stone walls—clearly crafted by human hands—was a carving of Emperor Yaeslat.
And at last, the source of the rumbling that had been guiding Azadin revealed itself.
It was a massive stone gate, operated by hydropower. On either side of the gate, the very same keys to the Emperor's Treasury that Azadin had seen before were inserted. It seemed that once the keys were slotted in, a waterwheel activated to open the gate.
"If we retrieve the keys now, wouldn't the gate shut, trapping those who went in?"
Zebeck suggested. But Azadin shook his head.
"I can hear the sound of water from inside. Once you're in, there should be another way out. There's no point in trapping them. Let's go in too."
"Wait a second. If someone pulls the keys out behind us, we'll be trapped too. And besides, Arael and her subordinates are ridiculously strong. Do you have a plan? They might not kill you since you're one of the herald clan, but they could kill us to break your resolve."
Shati opposed Azadin's decision to enter.
Arael wouldn't kill Azadin, but she could torture him to force his hand. As for Shati, Zebeck, and Scott, from the perspective of the herald clan, they were disposable outsiders.
But Azadin ignored Shati's objection and marched right in.
And then…
–Creak, creak…
Scott's "smart mobility" cart rolled in behind him with a noisy rattle.
"Can't you be a little quieter? You're making it very obvious that we're coming in…"
"They're herald clan anyway, right? Let's just walk in with confidence. I'll make sure they can't get any muscle gain either."
Zebeck and Scott grumbled as they followed Azadin inside.
"Ah, damn it."
In the end, Shati had no choice but to follow Azadin.
***
Beyond the dwarven gate lay a breathtaking sight—streams of water gushing from the mountain formed a grand waterfall within an underground cavern.
Light filtered in through the high ceiling, and several dwarven machines could be seen in the vast space. Arael stood among them, utterly stunned.
"This is the Emperor's mint?"
Normally, minting gold coins didn't require such a grand setup.
Pure gold was easy to work with—it didn't even require heating. Just applying pressure was enough to create convincing gold coins.
Given the value of gold and its rarity, a mint could be something as simple as a craftsman hammering a mold with a wooden mallet. Gold coins were seldom used, so there was no need for mass production.
Considering the powerful magic imbued in the Emperor's coins, the real counterfeit deterrent lay in the enchantments. Arael, clever as she was, had assumed the mint would be nothing more than a basic press.
However, the mint here was a massive piece of machinery, integrated with waterwheels. It was the size of a stable fit for six goats.
If it were made of just wooden planks, a single strong man could lift it. But this device was entirely filled with dense metal—so solid that even an elephant wouldn't budge it. There was no way to carry it out.
"This is… far larger than expected, Lady Arael."
"What do we do now?"
Arael's subordinates were clearly shaken.
"First, let's figure out how it operates. Let's see…"
Arael approached the wall of the Emperor's Treasury. Near the place where gold bars were originally stored, several dwarven skeletons lay collapsed.
They still held weapons in their hands, and their skulls were crushed—it looked like they had fought among themselves over the Emperor's gold. Judging by the absence of gold, it seemed other looters had already taken the treasure.
"Arael!"
At that moment, a sharp voice called out to her—it was Azadin.
Azadin's party had arrived.
Just as Arael's group had come in, so too had Azadin, Shati, Scott, and Zebeck followed the same path. Though Azadin wore a mask that concealed his expression, the other three looked visibly surprised by the size and appearance of the Emperor's Treasury.
"Th-This is…"
"This is the Treasury of Emperor Yaeslat?"
"But there's not much treasure. Has it already been looted?"
"More importantly, let's keep our guard up around that woman and the herald clan, Captain. They're all monsters."
Scott, watching not just Arael but also the four Beauty of Nature members under her command, began forming hand signs atop his cart in preparation.