K K CRACK BANG

  A heavy symphony was adrift in the air, the sound of massive s slithering across the floor and pilrs shaking time and time again. The ground shook and trembled as massive figures moved, their step resonating all throughout the pce.

  What apahe trembles were subtle growls and roars, crimson red eyes glimmering ihe darkness. Eyes which drive fear into one's heart at a single gaze, peering into one's soul and ready to devour it whole.

  There were just a single pair of eyes, but a multitude, an orchestra of red light shining like the starry night sky. The subtle and eerie breaths echoed in the air, the sound of dripping saliva apanying them in a symphony of fear and darkness.

  "How many of them are there... 10... No, 13?" ［Yuna］

  "Yeah. There seems to be that many of them... These bastards were all just corpses yesterday... It seems that someone reanimated them." ［Grey］

  "Hm? You reanimate corpses?" ［Yuna］

  "Well, it's a kind of summoning, you could say... However, these guys are entirely different... This isn't summoning magic..." ［Grey］

  Said Grey as he scrutihe pce, his eyes lingeri and right as he watched every little detail there was to see. It was just yesterday when he saw them all as corpses, yet now, they are alive and breathing, moving as demonic beasts.

  It was a pletely different teique from summoning. Rather than turo an undead for a short while in exge for mana, the ones before him have been fully "revived" with a new and ferocious personality, ready to go wild.

  What's alser was that there were traces of experimentation all throughout their bodies, rge scars to be found here and there and also some with burnt body parts. They were all test subjects for something they have yet to put together.

  "Have there been s of beasts being smuggled into the city? With their size, it shouldn't be hard to miss them." ［Grey］

  "I apologize, Yhness, but we have received no such reports. At best, there were body parts and materials, but we have yet to see full-grows."

  "How about infants s for that matter?" ［Grey］

  "That... I ot firm that, Yhness. Please five me."

  "No, it's alright. That's more than enough." ［Grey］

  And as it seems, it looks like the beasts have bee in captivity ever sihey were young, nourished into adults until they were ready for experimentation. It was only then that Grey realized that the beasts present were ones which grow up quickly.

  Thankfully, because of that fact that they have to grow up quickly, there weren't aremely powerful beasts amongst them. The most powerful one was a k beast, and most of them were either D-rank or E-rank.

  The knights easily hahe E-rank ones by themselves, and the D-rank could be handled by higher ranked knights. For the stronger ohey will have to be left to the Royal Guards. Anyone weaker would be easily torn apart.

  Grey... These demonic beasts... And the demonic beasts we fought from before... They're reted, aren't they? ［Yuna］

  I 't say for certain, but there's a huge possibility. ［Grey］

  Then that's more than enough. Even if Duke Schemer is able to wiggle his way out, wouldn't this make his crimes even heavier. ［Yuna］

  Creation of demonic beasts? That's for certain... I doubt anyone would side with him ohis gets out. He won't be able to get away from execution. ［Grey］

  The e was to to ighey were both puzzled by the ued increase of demonic beasts on their way to Aldengard, but seeing the sight in front of them, it was basically firmed what the reason was.

  No matter what the Duke's reasoning is, for creating such demonic beasts whiot only endangered Aldengard's, but the other tries' as well. It was the heaviest of crimes, only death awaiting him in the days ing near.

  But perhaps the most disturbing part of it all was the way the demonic beasts looked at them. There wasn't any tinge of curiosity nor caution, eae of them salivating as if they were looking at their prey, ready to pou them.

  Grey... These monsters... They've eaten people, haven't they? ［Yuna］

  ... Rather thaen, it would be more appropriate to say that they've been fed with people. I guess some of the victims were sacrificed to them. ［Grey］

  Sacrifice... Is this what they meant when they said they were gathering sacrifices? Was it all to feed them to these worthless beasts? ［Yuna］

  No, that's pletely different.... Judging from the magic circles used for the rituals, what they were most likely after were their souls. For the people who were fed to the beasts... It was most likely for discipline, curiosity, or... eai. ［Grey］

  Yuna already khe answer, yet she still asked Grey just for the off-ce that maybe, just maybe, what she was thinking was wrong. However, reality could often be cruel. The victims were treated evehan animals.

  Silence... There was only silen the air, and what followed after were cold chills, the air temperature dropping doidly as if winter had e. Yuna had yet to release her aura, her everybody already felt suffocated by her presence.

  The only thing which remained in her heart was rage, st on and ready to tear down the foes standing before her. She has to take a step yet the cold ground has already bee frozen, thin yers of frost creeping ever so slowly.

  "Hey, how many knights are present here?" ［Grey］

  "A-Ah, yes! Includihere are 16 in total, Yhness!"

  "Good. Tell them all to not open any rooms for now and focus on helping out the victims. There may be other demonic beasts present, so be careful." ［Grey］

  "Yes! As you wish, Yhness!"

  With Yuna in such a turbulent state, Grey decided to send off the knights to a further pd have them halt their iigation for the time being. They were to assist all the victims the best they could and make sure everyone was safe.

  As soon as Grey gave his word, the knight immediately bowed his head and headed off away from them. After all, though Grey could hahe ess of the air, the same couldn't be said for the knight. He wouldn't have sted a minute.

  And just when Grey was about to snap Yuna back to reality, the cold air suddenly stopped and the frost was reined in. Yuna had e back to her own sehen heaving a lengthy sigh as she rexed herself, eyes still glimmering cold.

  "I would have flicked your finger if you hadn't regained posure any quicker... Good job on holding yourself back, Yuna." ［Grey］

  "Un..." ［Yuna］

  The young dy wao be angry and decimate the beasts in front of her, but like the prisohe enemies had taken away, they were also just victims of their evil schemes. They also didn't wish to live in such a way.

  Her boiling anger had calmed downー no, it had bee dormant. Yuna had blown off all the steam towards the enemy ohey met again and didn't just needlessly turhing into frozen popsicles. It would only do more harm than good.

  "Grey, let's finish off these beasts." ［Yuna］

  "Yeah. Let's do that." ［Grey］

  There was o dwell on useless feelings any further. With her determination now set, Yu ahead with Grey and finished off the demonic beasts oer another, sending them off painlessly with just a sirike.

  Bdes of wind dahroughout the room, apanied by blue fshes of light as frozen nces bolted through the air. Some beasts tried to fight back, however, it was futile. They were all finished off in a jiffy without discrimination.

  K K CRASH CRASH BANG ROOOOAAAARRRR

  Just when they were about to finish everything, one of the beasts suddenly weremely wild and feral, tugging on the s and crashing its body towards the pilrs in which it had been bound to most of its life.

  It was the k demonic beast, Rageifell, a cerviype beast which looked much like a giant Caribou if anything. It was a Lightning-attribute beast, its lightning sparks ravaging all throughout the pce, shing out like deadly whips.

  It was usually a D-ra, but now that it has bee a demonic beast, it has beeed one rank higher, being more feral and mindless in exge. It didn't want to go down without a fight, trying to break off its s.

  BOOM BOOOM BOOOOMMMM ROOOOARRRRRR

  And well, it did. After much desperation, the demonic Ragifell finally broke off the heavy s bounding it to the pilrs and its eyes shoh danger. It rampaged all throughout the pce, its lightning bolting without any dey.

  It wasn't long before the Ragifell's eyes fell trey and Yuna, stomping its heavy hooves as if trying to threaten and intimidate the two, torrents of lightning running rampant throughout the pce as it roared once more.

  "What a ferocious fel. It sure is a lively one." ［Grey］

  However, sutimidation was far from effective frey and Yuna, Grey remaining unfazed whilst Yuna prepared for her attack. A cold storm of mana had formed in her hands, swirling into a single mass, densing stronger and stronger.

  CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRRR

  The Ragifell roared and the lightning bolts thundered along with it. Despite still being weak from being bound, it didn't waste any time and recklessly charged trey and Yuna, its horns pointing towards them as it bolted at high speeds.

  Yet despite such a terrifying sight, both of them remained calm, not budging an ind simply peering into the eyes of the raging Ragifell. The young dy then raised her hands towards it, a blue sphere of frost ah floating before her.

  ??Icicle Lance!?? ［Yuna］

  A fsh of blue gleamed throughout the pd a frozeerialized out of thin air. It bolted out at the speed of lightning with the single snap of a finger, rushing towards the Ragifell's head without aation.

  The Ragifell's lightning bolts tio sh out, however, it was futile, the icicle of frost remaining untouched and still bolting towards it, speed and trajectory unged as it tio rush. The attack soon ected and blood was soon spilled.

  The icicle pierced the Ragifell's head and bore a rge hole through it, its whole brain skewered into a frozen mess until there was nothi. The icicle was so cold, not even a single drop of blood trickled down the floor, all frozen in red crystals.

  It had e unbound from its s, but it couldn't even celebrate its freedom, the clutches of death greeting it as soon as it took its first steps. The Ragifell's rge body wobbled a couple of times before falling to the ground with a loud thud.

  "... Rest in peace." ［Yuna］

  With that, everything was over. The sufferis have beeo the other side and all that remained were cold corpses. Yuna sheathed her daggers once more and calmed herself with a deep breath, taking a final look at the massive beasts.

  "Grey, all of these have beast crystals, right?" ［Yuna］

  "Yeah, or at least they should. Unless something odd happeo them, there shouldn't be anything too different." ［Grey］

  "They seem artificially made though. Wouldn't that make a difference?" ［Yuna］

  "Poris and the others' beast crystals were also from artificial beasts. Well, I guess it's still better to see for ourselves. Let's see and find out, shall we?" ［Grey］

  There was not a single sed to waste. As soon as Grey said his piece, he then flicked his fingers and used a little bit of magic. A bde of wind came rushing forth towards the fallen Ragifell and a rge wound was made across its chest.

  What followed after the first bde was a couple more, thin and sharp winds streaking all throughout its body, slig and dig the pelt and also cutting the bones into little manageable pieces, meat sliced soon after.

  Before long, a shiny glimmer shone in the dark room, and there it was, a bright blue crystal protruding in the Ragifell's chest. It was a beast crystal, and a beautiful o that. With Grey and Yuna's mana quality and quantity as it is, they should be able to summon a B-rank High Dragon with it.

  "Grey... I want to summon this one..." ［Yuna］

  "Hm? Why so suddenly?" ［Grey］

  "Hmm... How do I say this... When it was fighting us, though it seemed very feral, I could feel its will to live. It was very powerful... It really wao live." ［Yuna］

  It wasn't just the Ragifell. All the demonic beasts imprisoned in the dungeon as well were struggling to break free of their s and escape the monotonic hellhole they have growo seeing, their fmes ignited by a strong passion.

  While Yuna was disturbed by the fact that they had eaten people, it wasn't like the beasts had any other choices to pick from. They were all just unfortunate victims of their circumstances, falling into the wrong hands at the wrong times.

  They have bee demonic beasts and they have lost their reason. It may just be a subtle trace ret left in their corrupted mind, but Yu it very clearly... Their will to live and their will to break free.

  They may not be the same after the summoning, assumiirely different bodies with no recolle of their past or lingering attats, but they at least deserve another ce. It was the least Grey and Yuna could give them.

  "... Alright, but let's summon them a little ter. There's still a lot to do, after all. Let's just get these things over with first." ［Grey］

  "... Un..." ［Yuna］

  Yuna took a final look at the beast crystal and nodded her head after Grey's words. It was quite a bit regrettable that they couldn't summon them right away, but with their situatiht now, it was for the best.

  Grey and Yuna soo around the room and dismahe massive beasts oer aaking out their beast crystals oer ahey might have to report them to the kingdom ter, but it was best to keep them on them for now.

  It didn't take too long befrey and Yuna finished dismantling the beasts, only a couple minutes passing by them. With everything done and tidied up, only a few more rooms remained in the hideout, the knights rep to them time and time again.

  "Yhnesses, we have found the dot room."

  Soon enough, only one more room was left. It was the most important one of them all, taining the supp dots and evidehey'll be using ter on. It was a rge office, a mountain pile of records, letters, and research papers here and there.

  "Have you found out whients we could use as evidence?" ［Grey］

  "Yes. We have secured dots detailing tad involvement with Duke Schemer and other nobles. We have also secured the ledgers for their crimes."

  "Good wive them to me. I'll personally hand them over to His Majesty after the day is over. Make sure to secure other physical evidence as well." ［Grey］

  "By your will."

  The Knight didn't dilly-dally any further. As soon as Grey anded him, he handed over the dots without any hints of doubts or hesitation. In just a short time, they have e to gairust of the knights, the tter following them without question.

  However, even when Grey had already received the dots from the knight, yet the tter seemed to still have something to say. Behind him was another knight, a couple of dots held in his arms, holding it securely.

  "Hm? That is..." ［Yuna］

  "Yhhere is something you o see."

  Said the Knight as he handed over a thick sb of paperwork, tons of characters and written throughout all the pages. It ile of dots the knights found after opening a safe, detailing the process as of a diabolic research.

  They were research papers which described the process of creating demonic beasts, capturis and corrupting their souls in order to power them up and turn them into plete monsters, ons of destru ready t ruin ah.

  However, it wasn't just demonic beasts for such was only the first steps. The real goal of the research was to turn people into "demons", beings whose soul has been engulfed by corruption and who are not any different than monsters.

  While they do bee stronger, slowly but surely, they will lose their reason and they will bee anisms that wahe world solely t death aru, yet still retaining skills and abilities of its former self.

  "How many of these papers have you found?" ［Grey］

  "Those are the only ones, Yhness."

  "... Keep looking. There may be more hidden elsewhere. Make sure t them all to us as soon as possible. Don't leave a siourned." ［Grey］

  "Yes! As you and!"

  Grey and Yuna tio read the papers, and the more they did, the more they found it more repulsive and more infuriating. Especially the number of i lives sacrificed to fulfill the goals of such ridiculous research.

  The process involved using magiside the prison, turning raw mana in the air into corruption. Normally, these would simply scatter throughout the world and form all sorts of monsters, however, the enemies were prepared for such.

  They have engraved runes in the beasts' and people's bodies to absorb the retly made corruption into their bodies, and soon enough, dye their souls with it. It ainful process, making the body feel like it's being soaked in a pool of va.

  The first phases only involved animals, then soon came beasts, and finally came the sacrifices they had taken away from all throughout the city. They also experimented if it would work with High-Rankis in the wild, feeding it with demonic beasts and corrupted people until they're full.

  "... And they were successful..." ［Grey］

  "So this is where all those wild demonic beasts came from... This basically firms it, doesn't it, Grey? This firms it, right?" ［Yuna］

  "Yeah, it does. All the nearby beasts and the ones in the o... This also means the one behind the Leviathan i in Ti, is..." ［Grey］

  "Duke Schemer... That irredeemable piece of trash...!" ［Yuna］

  Yuna was trembling in anger. Just remembering what happeo Marika and her people was enough to make her blood boil. Several vilges were destroyed and a rge number of lives were lost. It was unfivable.

  And just as Yuna dwelled in her anger, Grey tio read. The experimentation on people to create demons and all that took in order tress even a little. They all struck his nerves, barely maintaining his posure as he did.

  Just a month ago, the research has created a demon which had a stable mind which sted about half an hour. However, for such a progress to occur, several thousand lives were lost, blood shed all throughout the kingdom.

  Now, with the help of alchemy and more sacrifices, they have created a drug from the blood of their experimental demons that turns oo a demoill allows them to thiively reasonably, progress created from a river of blood.

  It was no wohe Duke was extremely fident. With such a drug in hand, they could turn their allies much stronger, enough to shift the bance of power betweewo opposing parties. A move only a madman would think of.

  "Yhness! We have found something else in another safe! There are other papers, and also some pills as well."

  "Pills? Give them to me." ［Grey］

  There was no time to waste. As soon as the knight returned, Grey immediately got his hands on what they brought. He read through the files at lightning speed, learning more of their atrocities, and soon enough he took a look at the pills. Surely enough...

  ??Appraisal?? ［Grey］

  -----------------------------------

  [Item]

  [Name]Dark Moon's Pearl (Partially plete)

  [Grade]Superior (Low-Tier)

  [Description]

  A pill created from the blood of demons. It tains a massive amount of corruption and is a deadly poison to all living things. Oned, it will explode the mana quantity and quality ihe body will be enforced. However, in exge, one will slowly lose their rationality. The stronger one is, the lohey stay sane.

  -----------------------------------

  ... They were the aforementioned drugs which turned people into demons. The very pills created from the blood of i people who have been turned into demardless of their wills and wishes.

  The research papers and the pills now in Grey's hands are evidehe King and the others must know of. He quickly stored one of the pills in the Iory, making sure to keep it safe. As for the other things...

  "Y-Yhness?! Wh-What are you doing?!"

  ... There was o let them exist in the world. Grey flicked his fingers and sharp bdes of wind started appearing. They shredded the papers and pills to fine power, soon ied by crimson red fmes, burnt into oblivion.

  "There's no need for ao know about these things. Other thahings which be used as evidence against the Duke, eliminate everything else. Shred them or burn them. Do whatever it takes to make sure they cease to exist." ［Grey］

  "... Y-Yes!!"  "Uood! Yhness!" "Men, make haste!"

  The dots and items were too dangerous to be left lying around, several lives at stake as soon as they fell into the wrong hands. Grey only kept one pill to tell the King of its existence, but after which, he would quickly dispose of it. It was for the best,

  After such a dark se, the times of chaos tinued, several hideouts raided and hundreds of worthless lives lost in the hands of Grey, Yuna, and their allies. It was a devastating bloodbath aermination, hidden from the eyes of the world.

  Darkness approaches close.

  CHAPTER 424 END