(Arin's POV)
"Come with me."
Duke Edwin's voice cut through the panic in the room. He was already standing, donning his thick fur coat with quick, militaristic movements. His usually calm face was now filled with undeniable urgency.
I was stunned for a moment, pointing at my own chest. "Me? Lord Duke, with all due respect, I am just a business partner. National security and infiltration matters are not my domain. I should go home and sleep."
"Don't be stupid, kid," Edwin interrupted sharply. He walked quickly toward the door, motioning for us all to follow him. "Our enemies are using biological weapons. Blood Rust Plague and poison. They don't fight like knights but like... lab rats."
Edwin stopped at the doorway, turning to me with a serious gaze.
"My mages can detect magic, and my knights can cleave iron. But not one of them understands how 'little creatures in the blood' or chemical poisons work like you do. If they left biological traces there, I need your eyes to see what my foolish people cannot see."
I looked at Ghislain who was picking his nose indifferently in the corner of the room. "Then there is someone else more suitable and stronger."
"I want you to come," insisted the Duke, his eyes flashing impatiently. "That old man is too unstable. I need an analyst, not an anarchist. Understood?!"
It seemed Edwin was very reluctant to bring that Old Man along. He preferred a snot-nosed brat like me over Ghislain.
"Fine," I answered resignedly, grabbing the emergency medical bag I always carried. "I will come. But if I die, my shares go up to ten percent."
"Move!"
(Capital West District - 30 Minutes Later)
The Rhyms Family's high-speed Golem Horse carriage cut through the quiet streets of the capital. No sirens, no conspicuous escort. We moved in silent mode, gliding like ghosts in the night.
If the East District in the distance looked like a burning hell with the sky reddened by residual magic explosions, the West District was the opposite.
This place was silent. Too silent.
This area was a restricted zone for civilians. A complex of sturdy ancient stone buildings, surrounded by a ten-meter-high iron fence flowing with protective magic. This was the location of the Royal Ancestral Tombs and the Forbidden Artifact Warehouse, the heart of the kingdom's history and secrets.
When we stepped out of the carriage, the cold air immediately pierced our bones. Not because of the night wind, but because of the absence of life.
"Where are the gate guards?" whispered Elena, her hand gripping her magic staff tightly. "There should be two elite squads here."
The giant iron gate in front of us was closed tight. The guard post looked pitch black.
Edwin did not answer. He walked quickly approaching the guard post, his hand already on his sword hilt, ready to slash anything that moved. We followed him in a tight formation.
When we arrived in front of the post, I saw them.
Two elite guards in full plate armor stood stiffly at their posts. They did not greet the Duke. They did not even move a muscle as we approached. Their spears were still gripped tightly in their hands, their backs perfectly straight.
But their eyes were wide open, staring blankly ahead. No breath vapor came out of the Guards' mouths in this cold air.
They died standing.
"No signs of struggle," hissed Karim, checking the surroundings warily, his sword drawn. "No blood. No scratches on the armor. Is this soul-reaping magic?"
I stepped forward, ignoring protocol. My medical instincts took over. I touched the neck of one of the guards.
"Cold," I mumbled. "Rigor mortis hasn't set in yet, but body temperature has dropped drastically. They died less than an hour ago."
I examined their necks more carefully, looking for invisible causes of death. There, right in the small gap between the helmet and neck guard, I found a small red dot. Almost invisible to the naked eye.
"Not magic," I said softly. "Needle."
I pulled out a super-fine needle stuck there with tweezers. The tip was dark purple. I sniffed it slightly, very carefully so as not to inhale it directly.
"High-dose neurotoxin," I explained to Edwin who was waiting for my analysis. "Instant nerve-paralyzing poison. Fired from a distance, maybe using a blowgun or air rifle. They died in seconds due to respiratory failure before they could scream or sound the alarm. Silent and efficient assassination."
"Rifle..." Edwin's face hardened. "Revolutionary Army weapon. Are they working with the Sect?"
"The Revolutionaries strongly oppose the Sect; it seems impossible for them to cooperate," refuted Selena, shaking her head. "Their ideologies are opposite."
"Nothing is impossible if interests align," answered Edwin coldly while stepping toward the main gate. "Or maybe the Sect stole their technology."
He pressed his family seal ring against the magic panel. The gate creaked open with a long screeching sound.
We entered the underground warehouse complex. Stone corridors were lit by gloomy glowing moss. The deeper we went, the more guard corpses we found. All died the same way: fast, clean, and silent.
This was not the work of religious fanatics running amok blindly. This was the work of a trained special operations unit.
We arrived in front of the main vault door. A metal door one meter thick coated with thousands of protective runes. This door should only be openable by the combined mana signatures of the King and the Three Great Dukes.
However, the sight before us made Edwin's blood boil.
The door was open.
Not blown up or cut. The door was wide open, its hinges still intact. The locking mechanism had been officially deactivated.
"Traitors..." growled Edwin, his voice trembling with overflowing rage. "There is someone at a high level who gave them the access key. Or they have a way to mimic our mana signatures. Whoever it is, I will take their head."
We stepped inside the royal treasure warehouse.
Gold bars piled high in the corner of the room, glittering under the light of Karim's torch. Legendary weapons lined up neatly on racks. Ancient magic tomes stored in glass cabinets. The value was perhaps billions of gold coins.
But everything was intact. Not a single coin was scattered.
The enemy ignored these worldly riches as if they were worthless trash. Muddy footprints on the floor led straight to a special corridor at the very back of the warehouse.
Biological Containment Sector.
The place where the kingdom stored the remains of legendary monster body parts or cursed artifacts too dangerous to destroy.
We followed the tracks. My heart beat fast. The bad feeling in my stomach grew stronger.
At the end of the corridor, a two-meter-tall cylindrical glass container had been shattered. Shards were scattered everywhere. Green preservative fluid pooled on the floor, soaking our shoes with a stinging fishy smell.
The container was empty.
I crouched down, reading the ancient plaque mounted below the broken container. Dust covered it, but the writing was still clearly legible.
[SUBJECT 001: DEMON KING'S HEART (STATUS: DORMANT)]
"By God..." whispered Selena, covering her mouth with her hand. Her face paled instantly, losing her elegance.
"Demon King's Heart?" I asked confusedly. "You mean... the Demon King from the fairy tales a hundred years ago who destroyed half the continent?"
"That is not a fairy tale, Arin," answered Selena with a choked voice. "That heart... cannot be destroyed. It possesses eternal regenerative properties. For hundreds of years, we sealed it in stasis fluid so it would not grow back into that monster."
"And now..." another heavy voice sounded from the entrance direction.
We all turned in shock. Karim and the other guards alertly aimed their weapons.
A burly old man in a military uniform full of medals walked in. His face was full of scars, and his eyes implied immense fatigue. The aura radiating from him was so dense it made the air feel heavy and suffocating.
General Douglas Smiths. Supreme Commander.
He arrived too late.
"Now," continued Douglas with a horrified voice, staring at the empty container with a blank gaze. "They have taken it. The nightmare is loose."
"Douglas!" exclaimed Edwin angrily, stepping closer to the General. "Where are your troops?! Why is this place empty?! You pulled all guards to the East!"
"I was fooled, Edwin. Admit it, we were all fooled," answered Douglas calmly, not defending himself. He walked closer to the glass shards, his boots stepping in the preservative fluid with a splash.
"I just realized their pattern in the medical tent earlier," said Douglas while glancing at me briefly. "They did not attack the East to seize territory. They attacked to make noise. And that plague..."
Douglas looked at me. "That plague was fuel."
"Fuel?" I asked.
"The Demon King's Heart Resurrection Ritual requires massive amounts of death energy," explained Douglas. "Their original plan was to spread the plague in the capital tonight. Creating a sea of corpses and panic. They would use the negative energy from thousands of deaths to awaken this Heart here, this very night."
I fell silent. The final puzzle piece finally fit perfectly.
"But that plan failed," continued Douglas. "Because of you and that mushroom medicine of yours."
He pointed at me.
"Your antibiotics held back the rate of death. The plague failed to spread explosively. Casualties in the East were minimal thanks to quick handling. They lacked 'fuel' for the ritual on the spot."
"So..." Elena mumbled, her eyes widening realizing the implication. "Because they could not resurrect it here..."
"They stole it," I cut in. "And took it away to find a new slaughter ground."
"Exactly," Douglas nodded. "Plan B. Run away with the subject, and find another place to perform the ritual. It might take months or years for them to gather enough death energy in their hiding place."
Heavy silence fell on the room.
It felt strange. We won, but also lost.
I (unconsciously) succeeded in thwarting the apocalypse that should have happened tonight. But in exchange, the enemy now held a time bomb that could explode anytime in the future. I just bought time for this world, but the price was high.
"Where did they escape to?" asked Edwin, his hands clenching tightly until his knuckles turned white.
"The trail was lost in the underground sewers," answered Douglas. "They had planned it for months. They are ghosts."
I looked down, seeing the glass shard at my feet. The spilled preservative fluid... smelled strange.
There was the fishy aroma typical of ancient organs, but there was also another smell mixed in it. A very specific smell. Like the smell of modern synthetic chemicals.
I crouched down, picking up a shard of glass that was still wet. Then brought it close to my nose and sniffed carefully.
Formalin. Pure ethanol. And faint traces of... synthetic Mana-Suppressant extract?
My heart beat fast.
This was not an ancient potion. This was a newly developed modern preservative.
"Arin? What are you doing? Do not touch that carelessly," scolded Elena.
I ignored her. My eyes swept the floor around the broken container. There, hidden in the shadow of glass shards, I found something left behind.
A used syringe tube that was empty. Made of glass and chrome metal.
I picked it up. The design was... very neat. There was a small engraving on the syringe handle. Not a magic symbol, but a row of numbers and production codes. This object was made without mana residue.
This was modern technology made without magic.
"This sect..." I mumbled softly, my eyes fixed on the syringe. "They are not just religious fanatics praying to ancient gods in dark caves."
"What do you mean?" asked Edwin, approaching.
I stood up, showing the syringe to them.
"Look at this tool. It was used to keep the Heart stable while being removed from the container. This is not magic, but science," I said coldly.
"They have a scientist," I continued, looking at Douglas and Edwin alternately. "They have a genius on their side. Someone who understands monster biology and technology as well as our team. Or maybe better."
Douglas stared at the syringe with a stiff face. "This technology... no mana residue, I have never seen it."
"This war..." I whispered to myself. "Is no longer just a war between Knights and Mages."
I clenched my hand, feeling the cold metal of the syringe prick my palm.
Our enemy retreated into the shadows, carrying the seed of the apocalypse. But they left a clear message that they evolved. They were no longer an ancient sect.
And if I wanted to defeat them when they returned later... antibiotics alone would not be enough. I needed a stronger weapon. I needed crazier science.
"We must prepare," I said, breaking the silence of the tomb. "They bought time, but so did we."
Edwin looked at me, then nodded slowly. In his eyes, I saw acknowledgment. Tonight, inside this looted treasure warehouse, our alliance was no longer mere business. It was a defense pact for the survival of humanity.
"Return to the dormitory, Arin," ordered Edwin softly. "Rest. Starting tomorrow... we will work harder than before. I will double your research funds."
I nodded.
As we walked out of that silent tomb, I stared at the cloudy night sky. The storm had passed, but the wind still felt cold.
The war had just begun. And this time, the battlefield was the laboratory table.