Chapter 31. Eat
"I'm here!"
Despite Binaeril's cheerful voice, the battle was still in full swing.
Binaeril approached the man whose life he had saved.
It was Oswald, the guard who had chased them out of the village.
"Kuh…."
He clutched his injured leg and looked up at Binaeril.
Because of the backlighting from the sun, the young mage's expression was hard to read.
Guard Oswald hung his head in shame.
To think he was receiving help from the very children he had driven away with his own hands.
"Let me see."
The boy mage bent down and examined Oswald's wound.
Fortunately, it wasn't deep. But they couldn't afford to be relieved.
Wounds inflicted by demons left behind demonic energy. Without proper treatment from a mage, even a small wound couldn't be taken lightly.
"Rike! Please take a look at him."
Having confirmed the demonic energy festering in the wound, Binaeril handed him over to Rike.
Binaeril raised his head to survey the front lines.
Silvia was unleashing the loudest and flashiest attacks possible to keep the demons' attention.
It was the same strategy Binaeril used.
A Wild Hound or two couldn't harm her, but in a many-against-one situation, her talent had trouble shining through.
"Where should I start?"
With guards and demons scattered about chaotically, launching an indiscriminate attack looked difficult.
This was Binaeril's first time in such a chaotic battle.
"First, I should separate the battle lines, then wipe out the hounds all at once… that seems best……"
While he was formulating a plan, Veritas spoke to him.
-Hey, you're borrowing someone else's mana, so why so grandiose? Shouldn't you get my permission first?
'Then what should I do? It's better than dealing with them one by one.'
-There has to be something in it for me to make helping you worthwhile.
'What do you want?'
-Demon core.
"Demon core?"
Binaeril frowned.
-I need to eat those to replenish my strength too. You think I'll just hand over my mana if you demand it out of nowhere?
Veritas fed on demon cores. But when it ate demon cores, the aftereffects fell entirely upon Binaeril.
Binaeril recalled the suffering he had endured after feeding it a Dire Wolf's demon core.
-Fine by me if you don't want to. Then I won't help.
But this was no time to negotiate. Binaeril's mana alone was insufficient to handle the horde of hounds.
'In exchange, save them up and eat them a little at a time.'
If it consumed every demon core from a horde this size, Binaeril might lose consciousness and collapse.
Binaeril extracted a firm promise from Veritas before gaining its cooperation.
"Eden, catch the people."
With the negotiation settled, only the execution of the plan remained. Binaeril extended his hand and cast a spell.
"Grasping Hand."
One person in each hand. As soon as his fingertips caught them, he grabbed people by the scruff of their necks and flung them backward.
"What the!"
The soldiers in the midst of confrontation flew through the air like toys.
At their landing point, Eden created a soft, sandy beach to safely receive them.
When the soldiers they were facing suddenly vanished, the hounds momentarily lost their bearings and panicked.
Seizing the sudden lull, Binaeril leaped into the center of the hound pack.
"Let's go!"
Binaeril lightly scattered his mana.
It was bait devised from the way Gaspelt Rui had previously lured demons.
"Grr, grr!"
The hounds, excited by the scent of mana, turned their eyes on Binaeril.
Even the demons clinging to Silvia's side caught the scent and swarmed over.
Thanks to that, Silvia found some breathing room.
By the time she finished off the few remaining hounds, Binaeril had already lured the demons far away.
Like a skilled shepherd.
"What's he doing? Is he crazy?"
There were too many demons for him to handle alone.
But as Silvia approached, Binaeril shouted.
"Don't come!"
Silvia stopped at a safe distance.
She figured he must have some plan, which was why he was doing something so reckless.
"Here we go, Veritas."
This was the first time Binaeril had ever cast a wide-area spell. He wasn't confident he could control its power.
The cage that had trapped just five or six hounds earlier had consumed quite a lot of mana, and the demons chasing him now looked to number at least twenty.
-What's the plan?
"Burial alive."
Binaeril let his imagination swell.
The image he conjured was none other than an antlion's pit.
Since this was the first wide-area spell he had devised, it was difficult to gauge its range.
'Ah, whatever. Let's make it as big as I can possibly imagine.'
To do that, he had to get far away from the village.
After all, people couldn't be swept up in the spell.
"Grr!"
While Binaeril was visualizing the structure of the antlion's pit in his mind, the excited hounds charged at him.
Eden handled the defense.
The charging hounds were struck by rock fists that burst from the ground, yelping as they fell back one or two at a time.
But even Eden's help had its limits.
Binaeril could see with his own eyes that Eden's strength was waning.
"Ugh…!"
Veritas's mana was flooding into him explosively.
At the unprecedented amount of mana, Binaeril felt like his head would burst.
Eden, who had been beating back the demons one by one, now seemed to lack the strength and created a circular stone wall enclosing Binaeril.
Clang, clang!
The demons, fully excited, bared their fangs.
Cracks were visibly forming on Eden's stone wall.
Enduring his throbbing headache, Binaeril slowly began to chant the incantation to complete the spell.
Not a fixed incantation, but words best suited to manifest his image.
"Contracting earth, binding sand."
Words held power,
"Beneath your feet dwells a voracious maw."
Words held will,
"The starving maw hunts for prey. Eat, O maw. For you shall be the ones devoured."
Magic is born wearing the language of man.
Binaeril imagined a large sand pit that would suck in and bury the hounds.
A pit that would contract powerfully so they couldn't escape.
But as he chanted unconsciously, Binaeril felt his imagination running wild.
The image intensified and twisted, becoming something completely different from what it had been at first.
A feeling as if the mana itself possessed a will of its own.
In the end, the completed incantation became a lengthy chant that seemed capable of summoning a demon itself.
And.
Veritas's mana was more than enough to satisfy his chant.
The ground shook with a groaning sound.
The dirt and sand trembled finely, like the fear of prey.
Soon, amidst the crumbling earth and sand, Binaeril's magic ripped open its jaws with a crack.
It was like a maw born from within the earth.
The thing, opening its mouth with a great creak, voraciously swallowed the demons.
Eden lifted Binaeril's body high into the air to protect him.
Feeling lightheaded and his legs giving way, Binaeril slumped down.
The maw that emerged from the massive pit—so large that Binaeril looked like an ant—swallowed the demons and immediately vanished deep into the earth.
When the magic ended, only faint vibrations running through the ground remained, like the aftertaste of a predator smacking its lips.
Thud.
Binaeril fell to the ground as he was lowered.
In the surrounding silence, the sound of him collapsing rang out especially loud.
"Is that… a mage……?"
No one could answer the question someone muttered.
The villagers who had come out to watch were all overwhelmed by the scale of the magic and lost for words.
Silvia and the uninjured village youths handled the aftermath of the battle.
They repaired the barricades, tended to the wounded, cleared away the demon corpses….
The people had become noticeably deferential before Binaeril.
'What about the demon cores of the swallowed hounds? We caught so many, I should be able to salvage a few.'
-They went into my stomach.
"You promised. You're only eating a little at a time."
-I'll handle it.
Rike took care of treating the injured, and Silvia finished off the remnants of the hounds Binaeril had trapped.
Through all of this, Village Chief Billwood was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is the chief?"
"He took his son, who was injured. He is likely at his residence."
Guard Oswald showed a respectful attitude to the savior of his life.
Binaeril followed his guidance to find the chief.
It wasn't that he wanted anything in particular. It was because the chief—the so-called king of a kingless nation—was the leader of this village.
Upon opening the door to the chief's house and entering, he found him quarreling with someone.
"What do you mean? You can't heal him!"
"No, I mean it. There's nothing I can do for wounds inflicted by demons. Medicine alone won't heal them. A professional mage needs to treat him."
The chief grabbed him by the collar.
"The only doctor in the village can't even treat a mere cut like this! Save my son, I said save him!"
It was tyrannical insistence, but the doctor, grabbed by the collar, could not resist.
Oswald called the chief's name.
"Chief Billwood!"
In the rocking chair the chief favored sat a young man with a pale complexion.
Judging by the situation, he seemed to be the chief's son.
"Hm? What is it?"
"We have repelled all the demons."
"Really? Understood, now get out."
"The mage here helped us."
Chief Billwood looked Binaeril over and immediately furrowed his brow in displeasure.
"Fine. Understood. Get out."
"…What kind of reaction is that?"
Sensing defiance in the guard's voice, the chief released the doctor's collar.
"Look, can't you see I'm busy? My son is wounded. I said understood, so what exactly is your problem?"
The chief seemed to remember something, suddenly reining in his annoyance and changing his expression.
"Wait, a mage? Hey, you brat. Come here. I said look at my son's wound. Well? I told you to come here!"
Binaeril was utterly dumbfounded.
Seeing the chief raise his voice, Oswald couldn't endure it any longer.
"Chief Billwood!"
When he shouted, the chief flinched before his face flushed bright red.
"How dare a subordinate raise his voice! I told you to get out!"
Oswald's Adam's apple bobbed.
"While the entire village is fighting for their lives, you hole yourself up here just because your son got hurt? Is that something to say right now?"
"What? 'Son'? You have no respect for the chief's heir! My son is your future master!"
"Master—?"
Oswald's words trailed off, laden with anger.
Unable to watch any longer, Binaeril stepped forward.
"Excuse me, Chief. Please calm down. No matter that you are the chief, if you speak so harshly……"
"Look here, brat. Who do you think you're ordering around? Hurry up and treat my son!"
-Delicious. So good!
Veritas's digestion of the demon cores was gradually beginning.
When Veritas ate demon cores, Binaeril's emotions became volatile.
It was bad timing for Chief Billwood. Not that he could have known.
Binaeril felt his mood turn bitterly cold.
He glared at the chief with defiant eyes.
"Chief Billwood. I am not your servant. I never intended to be, but right now, my friends and I are owed words of gratitude."
Binaeril deliberately lowered his voice, imbuing it with mana.
He could feel the demonic energies from the demon cores slowly surging up.
An ominous demonic energy clung to Binaeril's voice.
Chief Billwood and the others present felt inexplicable chills run down their bodies.
Binaeril narrowed his eyes and threatened the chief.
"Do you wish to be devoured alongside your beloved son, like those demons, Chief? Mind your manners."
Oswald trembled violently a step behind Binaeril.
Having witnessed this small boy's magic with his own two eyes, Oswald was the only one who understood the true meaning of those words—'be devoured'.