East Road Quest

Chapter 29: Light

“It might be possible that the Emperor’s dream of a demon appearing in the heart of Rome is a prophetic dream. For now, we are in an underground cave in the desert, but there’s no law against such things appearing in the middle of the city soon.”

Jade thought with a shudder as she heard the terrible noise.

The two monsters continued their casual chatter as they feasted on Brother Franco.

“Indeed, humans taste better than horses. It’s been days since I’ve had one.”

“The horses have been dwindling lately.”

“They’re catching too many, which is why fewer people are coming through the desert. The others don’t control themselves like we do.”

Jade had no desire to distinguish which creature was saying what, nor did she care to listen to the content of their conversation.

“When did you two start living in the human world?” Jade asked.

Busy eating, the monster with rope-like hands approached the bars to answer.

“I don’t know how to count the days of humans, so I don’t know. But since Fury was here, the number of people we’ve eaten is about this much.”

Bits of Brother Franco’s bloodied clothing were stuck in the creature’s teeth.

Jade tried not to look as she asked, “About this much? How much is that?”

“About this much. Can’t you see?”

“It’s not visible from inside here.”

The rope-handed monster asked its companion.

“Can I take it out?”

“What for?”

The sharp-clawed monster retorted.

“To show her this.”

“Why bother?”

“It’s fun, isn’t it? She can’t run away anyway. Remember that time? When that one sawed off his own leg with a saw and tried to escape.”

“Hmm, that was funny. He left a trail of blood as he crawled away, and he didn’t even know it, crawling for almost half a day.”

They both laughed heartily.

“If we’re lucky, we might see that again.” The rope-handed monster looked at Jade and pulled a torn piece of Franco’s clothing from its teeth. Jade nearly vomited as she saw flesh clinging to the fabric.

“Look here.”

The monster opened the bars and wrapped its long fingers around Jade’s waist, lifting her to one side of the wall.

“Look at this.”

Human skulls hung on the wall like hats. At a glance, there seemed to be at least a hundred. The rope-handed monster hung the skull it had been rolling in its mouth in an empty spot.

“We’ve eaten about this many,” it said. The sharp-clawed monster disagreed.

“If we’re being precise, there are more because we’ve also crunched up the skulls. And lately, there aren’t many people passing by, so we haven’t eaten much. You can’t count the days by these.”

“Don’t you have a rough idea? How many years, at least?”

Jade asked.

“How many years? I haven’t counted that finely. Do you know how many years you are?”

The sharp-clawed monster asked the rope-handed one holding Jade.

“How many times does the sun rise in a year?”

“About two hundred times.”

The sharp-clawed monster replied, and Jade asked.

“A year is said to be three hundred and sixty-five sunrises. Is two hundred times some kind of hellish calendar?”

“There’s no sunrise in hell. So we don’t really know your way of counting days.”

Jade pondered deeply while caught in the creature’s grasp.

‘It’s like a street thug bragging about his past deeds. Judging by the way they talk, they seem like lower demons. I’m not sure if this is enough to distinguish between higher and lower demons.’

The demons Jade had encountered so far only manipulated people’s hearts to act like humans or mimicked human crimes. In other words, most of them belonged to the spirit category of demons. These large ones were new to her, as was meeting a demon from the dark category.

‘Perhaps this is what Father Daniel wanted to teach me more about.’

From now on, there was no one to teach her. She had to figure everything out on her own.

“Who ordered you to capture me?” Jade asked.

“Was I supposed to tell you that?” the rope-handed monster inquired.

“There was no instruction not to tell, but it’s basic not to.”

The sharp-clawed monster replied.

Jade took the initiative.

“Who is Fury?”

“Hmm, you already mentioned it earlier. Fool!”

One creature got angry, and the other joined in.

“I didn’t say it! You did!” Jade couldn’t tell if these creatures were genuinely foolish or just pretending to be to mock her.

The sharp-clawed one leaned in close to Jade, still held by the rope-handed monster.

“Suspicious. This one, she’s not scared and keeps asking us questions.”

“Let her be. I think I can figure out her purpose soon. She’s investigating Fury, isn’t she? Look at her eyes. She looks like she wants to kill Fury!”

“How foolish. Humans can’t kill demons.”

“Only the Angel Chief can kill demons. And angels can only kill their own kind.”

They chuckled and snickered together.

Jade asked again.

“Is Yol your master? Is he also a demon?”

“Soon you’ll meet him. Yol lives nearby, so if we shout loudly, he’ll quickly come to take you away. Then our job is done,” replied the monster with pointed claws.

Jade inquired further.

“It’s clear that Yol is a stronger demon than you.”

“Terrifyingly powerful!”

The monster with rope-like hands trembled as it spoke, and the one with pointed claws snorted heavily in agreement.

“Yes, strong and fearsome. So we must hand you over quickly. To ensure we don’t see him for a while!”

Jade held a book in one hand and grasped the rope-like fingers wrapped around his waist with the other.

“If you fear him so much, I stand no chance. Then I must abandon the plan to pretend to be caught and wait for him.”

“Huh, what are you babbling about?”

The book turned its pages on its own and stopped midway. Jade silently read the ‘Verse of Light that annihilates demons of the dark realm’ written on the page.

After reading the Verse of Light, the book was enveloped in a bright glow. The light traveled along Jade’s body and concentrated in his palm.

The moment the light transferred from Jade to the rope-like fingers holding him, it exploded silently. Flesh burst in all directions, and Jade fell to the ground. He landed on his legs but failed to land properly and fell on his backside again.

The rope-handed monster staggered backward. One of its thick, pillar-like arms had vanished without a trace.

“Huh? Ho? Huh?”

The creature gasped for air, clutching at where its arm had been.

The burning light did not cease. The white flames spread from the shoulder to the chest and neck, and then to the other rope-like hand that had tried to stop the flames, burning it from the end. It resembled paper catching fire, unable to stop burning once ignited.

This slow disintegration was something Jade had never witnessed before.

The creature could do nothing but sit and watch as its body gradually disappeared.

“Huh? Ha?”

The monster with pointed claws cried out in more terror.

“Hey, look. Your body, uh, it’s vanishing.”

The rope-handed monster had already lost both arms. It blinked its dozens of eyes simultaneously, looking up at its companion. Soon, its neck and head burned, leaving it unable to speak, and shortly after, its torso and legs completely burned away. Only a dark shadow remained where the monster once stood.

The pointed-claw demon said to Jade.

“What did you just do?”

Jade’s concern was that the other creature would retaliate immediately after he dealt with one. With those massive claws, a mere graze could be fatal, leaving no chance to apply the power of light to the demon’s body.

As soon as Jade fell to the ground, he immediately read the dark realm demon’s annihilation verse. But there was no need to hurry.

The remaining creature couldn’t even approach him.

“What have you done!”

Expecting the creature to charge in a fit of rage, Jade extended his palm forward. A bright light shot forth.

The monster shielded its face with its arms and stumbled backward. It wasn’t the brightness but the pain-inducing light.

Wherever the light touched, white steam rose from the creature’s body.

“Didn’t you say that Yol is nearby? Where is he?”

As Jade stepped forward with his hand outstretched, the pointed-claw monster screamed and pressed its back against the wall.

“I don’t know! I don’t know. Yol only seeks us when he wishes to meet. We can’t meet him just because we want to.”

The creature pleaded with its arms covering its face.

“That’s the magic of annihilation, isn’t it? No, that can’t happen. If I die by that, I can never be resurrected.”

“So, have you spared the many people who begged for mercy?”

“What are you talking about? I can eat humans. But I can’t be killed by one. So stop that!”

The pointed-claw monster swung its clawed hand. It was nothing more than a gesture to shoo a fly, but to Jade, it seemed like a powerful merchant swinging an iron spear.

Jade reflexively ducked and blocked the monster’s arm with his glowing hand. Even a slight touch sent him flying backward.

But the monster’s arm was also grazed by the light. Just that was enough to burst the palm, including the pointed claws. The light burned, tearing the creature’s forearm as if pulling apart a piece of gauze.

“No, no! I need to eat more,” the monster wailed.

“Ah, if I had known, I would have gone to Postrum and caught all the humans there. I shouldn’t have been sparing…

The light burned its mouth, silencing it. Soon, its head and body completely burned away.

The creature disappeared just like the rope-handed monster, leaving only black ash behind.

‘If it had hit my head instead of my hand, I would have been dead.’

Jade sat down, unable to get up for a while.

The surroundings were smeared with the blood of humans and demons, and a foul smell pervaded the air. Sitting there did not feel restful. Moreover, the gems embedded in the wall were losing their light.

‘Indeed, it was the demon’s power that lit the flames. So now that they’re dead, the light should disappear in order.’

Jade managed to stand up and picked up Franco’s backpack that had fallen to the floor. It was what the creatures had taken off when they caught the horse. Inside were a few items like a pickaxe, an axe, rope, and bread.

Jade slung Franco’s backpack over his shoulder and retraced his steps back the way he had come. The gems in the wall gradually lost their light. A sense of foreboding quickened his pace.

He soon reached a dead end.

Jade looked up at the ceiling. The walls were made of stone, but the ceiling was sand. For some reason, the sand did not trickle down.

‘They must have come down through here.’

He recalled the moment when the monsters had captured the two people. Not having to hold his breath for long as he passed through the sand, it was clear that the distance from the ceiling to the outside wasn’t far.

Soon after, the light from the gem embedded in the wall disappeared, and Jade was plunged into complete darkness.

Having always lived in the dimness of the monastery, such perfect darkness was a first in his life. Even on a stormy night without a single starlight, not all light in the world vanished.

Being in the same space with two monsters was frightening, but now was even more terrifying. He set down his backpack and took out a pickaxe from inside. He checked that the book was still in his embrace and gave up on the rest.

Jade began to climb the wall, striking it with the pickaxe. In the situation where nothing could be seen or heard, only the rough sound of his breathing and the pickaxe hitting the wall could be heard.

Then, sand began to trickle down from the ceiling, soon pouring down like a waterfall.

‘It’s like a light-emitting stone. This space, sustained by the devil’s power, is returning to its original state.’

Jade stepped on the accumulating sand and struck the wall with the pickaxe again. The speed at which the sand piled up on the floor was faster than his climbing. Stepping on the mounting sand allowed him to rise above the ceiling height quickly, but gradually, his body became buried in the sand, and he could no longer climb.

‘Good heavens, to have met two devils and survived, only to die buried in sand here.’

Father Daniel had told Jade stories of the far northern lands and the mysterious culture of the eastern kingdom since he was young. Of sea monsters and ghosts of the night, pirates and treasures, dark forests and great plains, red deserts and rocky deserts, angels and devils, heaven and hell…

The excitement of embarking on such adventures was buried in the sand before it even began.

‘I must not give up.’

Jade desperately swung the pickaxe, embedding it in the sand as he climbed upward. But the rising sand was so much faster that he felt no progress.

Soon, his face was covered with sand, and he could no longer breathe. When the sand covered his arms, he could no longer swing the pickaxe.

Jade let go of the pickaxe and flailed, reaching his hand upward. Finally, his hand broke through the sand and emerged outside. But with his feet, body, shoulders, and face all filled with sand, he couldn’t exert any strength. He couldn’t pull himself up or leap from the ground.

As the surrounding sand engulfed his face and body, the fear of enclosed spaces grew greater than the agony of suffocation. He thought it would have been better to be eaten by that devil earlier than to die trapped in the sand like this.

He pathetically waved his hand that had escaped the sand. As he became breathless and felt the urge to fill his lungs with sand instead of air, someone grabbed Jade’s hand.

U | 99

That hand pulled Jade upward.

After several struggles against the weight of the sand, his upper body was finally pulled out. Just having his face emerge from the sand felt like he could live. It took longer for his lower body to come out, but being able to breathe dispelled all fears.

Once completely free from the sand, Jade placed his hands on the ground, vomited the sand, and continued to gasp for air.

Unable to open his eyes, he lay face down, speechless for a while.

“Are you alright?”

A familiar old man’s voice approached. The old man’s voice was also tired from pulling Jade out.

Jade shook the sand off his face and barely opened his eyes.

It was Rendl, the horse merchant from Postrum village.

It was already night outside. But to Jade, the moonlight and starlight illuminating the sky felt blindingly bright.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Rendl sat down next to him only after confirming that he was safe.

“My goodness, thank the Lord. Haha.”

Rendl laughed weakly for a moment before continuing.

“I was over there when I heard the sound of sand collapsing. I thought it couldn’t be, but when I came to look, I saw a hand. Normally, I would have run away at the sight of that hand, but today… Haha.”

Rendl laughed weakly again for a while.

Jade was surprised by Rendl’s appearance, but the fear of suffocation he had experienced for a brief moment freed his mind from any prolonged thoughts.

“Thank you.”

That was all he could say.

The two sat there for a while, catching their breath. Once Jade had somewhat gathered his wits, he asked.

“But how did you come here?”

“I didn’t intend to at first,” Rendl said slowly.

“Not long after you left, a rough-looking man asked where you had gone. I said I didn’t know. Then he asked to buy a horse. I found him suspicious and his demeanor was rude, so I didn’t want to sell. I asked for 200 has for one horse. But he immediately put down 20 gold has.”

A gold has was worth 12 times more than a silver has.

“I didn’t want to sell even after receiving that money, but I had no excuse to refuse. When I said I couldn’t accept it because I didn’t have change, he said he didn’t need the change. After he left, I kept thinking about you, and my wife said something. She was too concerned about the prayer she had received earlier.”

“My prayer?”

“Yes. It was too much for 5 has. And anyway, the man who just bought the horse and received the prayer seemed like a young priest from some cathedral. He said that someone who could offer such a good prayer couldn’t be an ordinary person, my wife said.”

Jade listened with a bitter smile.

“So my wife said she had to return the prayer to me. She transferred the blessing she had just received to me. And she told me to go and return it to that priest.”

Jade couldn’t hold back and interrupted Rendl.

“Prayer is just words. I only taught you those words; I didn’t actually transfer any blessing.

And it was too dangerous for Rendl to come here. You were the one who taught me that there are thieves and monsters in the wilderness!”

“I didn’t take your prayer that seriously either. As you said, it was dangerous for me to come here alone. While I was hesitating, that word came back to me!”

Rendl pointed to where two horses were standing. One of them was Jade’s horse, which had run away when the monsters captured Brother Franco’s horse.

“Seeing your backpack hanging there, I thought, ‘Oh no, something must have happened—

“It seems I had no choice but to come,” said Leopold Browne. “How could I have found this place alone? It was the horse that found its way here, to the spot where it lost its master.”

Leopold gestured to the empty expanse around them, continuing his tale.

“To be honest, I was searching for you and as the sun set, I was about to give up and leave. But then, did I not hear the sound of sand giving way? Ha-ha. To think a hand would suddenly burst forth from the sand—I nearly fainted. What in the world happened?”

“I encountered a monster.”

Jade stated it simply: she had met and slain a monster.

Leopold did not ask ‘how did you kill it?’ He was too astonished and frightened.

“I must be going now.”

Jade rose first, and Leopold followed suit.

“You’re continuing on after such an ordeal?”

“I must.”

“What could possibly be in the Red Desert?”

“I’m searching for an angel.”

“An angel?”

Leopold licked his lips.

“I have nothing to say to someone who claims to have vanquished a demon. I was going to offer you to spend the night at my place since the desert is dangerous at night and continue your journey tomorrow, but…”

Jade shook her head.

“Delaying is more dangerous for me.”

“Then at least take the horse back. It was yours, after all.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, right. I almost forgot why I came here.”

Leopold suddenly grasped Jade’s hand.

Jade pulled away.

“There’s no need for prayers.”

“It’s my wife’s request.”

“Even so, I cannot accept. The blessing belongs to Him.”

“A prayer is just words, right? Then let me offer a mere verbal prayer to ease my mind before you depart.”

Leopold said with a smile. Jade could not argue.

The old man prayed quietly and slowly.

“Lord, if I have any blessings,

bestow them upon this person, and if any illness is to come,

let it come to me, um, uh, um… What was that word again? Right! If any calamity is to come, please let it be bearable, and if an unbearable calamity is to befall, um, I should change this part, right? If an unbearable calamity is to come, please send a friend to help. Grant this person the strength and courage to safely complete their journey. In Your name, I pray.”

Leopold finished his prayer with a laugh.

“Whew, I feel like steam is coming out of my head. How was it? Did I pray well?”

Jade, with tears glistening in her eyes, said,

“It was the most beautiful prayer of my life.”

“Really now? Then I can tell my wife I prayed well?”

Jade nodded.

“By the way, I never asked for your name.”

“I am called Jade.”

“Then Jade, may you indeed meet an angel.”

“And you, Leopold, take care on your way back.”

They mounted their horses and departed in opposite directions, waving until they could no longer see each other.

Jade felt as if she was leaving the safety of a lighthouse that had been illuminating her path.