Chapter 38
“Dad, there’s no need to go this far, is there?”
“If we don’t listen to them, our colony and caravan won’t survive.”
“Do you really think they’ll keep their promise if we do this?”
The sound of the two arguing echoed throughout the caravan.
The voices belonged to none other than the son, Demian, and the father, Belov.
Demian clenched both his fists and looked up at Belov.
Belov gave his son a slightly troubled expression.
Demian spoke.
“You’re the one who said the life of a caravan is trust, Dad.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you listening to them? They don’t even treat us like humans.”
“Haah! What can I do? That is reality.”
Belov let out a deep sigh.
His face looked suddenly much older.
Belov stole a glance at his feet.
Deadeon and Jeon were lying there side by side.
It was because of the sleeping agent mixed into the jerky and alcohol they had consumed.
A sleeping agent powerful enough to instantly put even a giant demonic beast to sleep had been mixed in.
Because it was not poison, even an Awakened with powerful resistance was helpless against it.
Demian bit his lip as he looked at the two lying there.
His eyes were filled with resentment toward his father.
It wasn’t as though he couldn’t understand Belov’s position.
He was the leader of the caravan, bearing the heavy responsibility of overseeing the Kamchatka Colony’s economy.
Everything had to be thought through and decided from the perspective of the Kamchatka Colony.
“Haah! I really don’t get it.”
Demian let out a deep sigh.
“You need only leave everything to your father. I shall bear the blame and hatred, so you need only hone your abilities.”
“Dad?”
“Only with you can this caravan endure. So please, do not entertain other thoughts and focus on your duty.”
At Belov’s words, Demian shook his head back and forth and walked to the front of the warehouse.
It was where one drove the mammoth.
Belov gazed at his son for a moment before giving orders to his men.
“Hurry. We don’t know when the sleeping agent’s effects will wear off. We must arrive at the promised location before then.”
“Yes, sir!”
The men answered and moved busily.
In the meantime, Demian gave commands to the mammoth.
“The area ahead is quicksand. Turn slightly to the right.”
At that, the mammoth turned to the right as though it understood Demian’s words.
The warehouses attached behind followed the mammoth one after another, changing direction.
After that, Demian’s directions continued as well.
“Turn here and head north.”
The mammoth faithfully followed his directions.
Demian’s ability was very special.
Navigator.
That is, a guide.
The very reason the caravan could keep its bearings and travel long distances even in the vast desert was because a Navigator existed.
Large caravans all had Navigators.
But even among them, Demian’s ability was very special.
Namely, he could detect hazardous elements in advance.
He could detect quicksand in the desert and the habitats of demonic beasts ahead of time and avoid them.
Thanks to that, the caravan led by Belov had been able to make it this far.
Without Demian, it would have been impossible.
“Hoo.”
But the emotions swelling in Belov’s heart as he watched Demian were endlessly complex.
Because his son’s ability was both a blessing and a curse.
In this world transformed into a desert, a Navigator’s ability was absolute.
Navigators were exceedingly rare, and not one among them could detect hazardous elements in advance like Demian.
If anyone else were to learn of Demian’s ability, they would certainly covet him.
“Huu.”
Belov let out another deep sigh.
He had achieved his goal, yet his mind was fraught with complexity beyond description.
Just then, the voices of his men snapped Belov out of his thoughts.
“The destination is in sight.”
“It’s the Valley of Death.”
Belov gathered his wits and looked to the front.
In the distance, he saw a gorge of peculiar shape.
The gorge was composed of sandstone formed from hardened sand.
The gorge flowed gracefully like waves, beautiful as a work of art.
No one had known such a place existed in the heart of the desert.
Belov, too, would never have found this place were it not for Demian’s ability.
This was their destination.
Just then, a band of soldiers came rushing out from the Valley of Death.
They, too, wore turbans on their heads and Deraa garments, just like Belov and Demian.
It was an unavoidable choice for moving about in the desert.
The only difference was that they wore leather armor beneath their Deraa.
Those who came out of the Valley of Death were humans.
Humans with skin tanned brown by the sun and sharp gazes.
Their builds varied, but a firm, formidable aura radiated from their entire beings.
When facing them, Belov felt his entire body cringe inward.
He hurriedly climbed down from the warehouse and approached the humans from the Valley of Death.
Belov lowered his head and spoke.
“I-I brought them as promised.”
“Are you certain?”
The man who appeared to be their leader spoke.
In that instant, Belov felt a chill, as though the desert temperature had dropped sharply.
That voice held no emotion whatsoever; it contained no warmth at all.
Instead, it was brimming with venom and killing intent.
It was as if the desert’s rattlesnake had evolved into the man standing right before him.
Belov hurriedly gestured to his men.
At that, his men brought over Deadeon and Jeon, who hung limply.
“It……truly is……!”
The leader’s eyes gleamed upon confirming Deadeon’s face.
He drew a scimitar from his waist and walked toward Deadeon.
At that moment, Belov blocked the leader.
“I have kept my end of the bargain. Now it is your turn. You promised you would not touch our caravan and colony.”
“Of course.”
The leader grinned, baring his white teeth.
A shiver ran down Belov’s spine.
The leader continued without paying him any mind.
“We Kurayans always keep our promises. Only to fellow Kurayans, however…….”
“What?”
Shwick!
A gruesome slicing sound rang out.
Belov’s eyes fluttered.
Because an excruciating pain suddenly pierced his chest.
He looked down to see his chest torn open, his insides exposed.
Drip, drip!
Blood was dripping from the scimitar in the leader’s hand.
Only then did Belov realize what had befallen him.
The leader had sliced open his chest with the blade.
“Why……why? We had a deal…….”
“Did I not tell you? Promises are only kept with fellow Kurayans.”
“Urk! Kuhk!”
“Dad!”
Seeing Belov vomit blood and collapse, Demian rushed over like a madman.
The leader spoke to his men.
“He’s a precious Navigator. Spare only him and kill everyone else.”
“Yes, sir!”
The men answered and leaped onto the caravan’s warehouses.
“Kuaack!”
“S-save me!”
Belov’s men screamed and collapsed.
Many of them were Awakened, but they could not stand against the Kurayans.
The Kurayan Awakened were like killing machines born for slaughter.
They wielded scimitars like their leader, and the curved blades, shaped like crescent moons, were already stained red with the caravan people’s blood.
“How can this be!”
Demian’s body trembled.
It was like a nightmare.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined losing his father before his very eyes.
The leader raised Demian’s chin with the tip of his scimitar.
“Navigator! You will now work for us. Do you understand?”
“Uugh!”
Demian shook like a leaf and nodded.
In truth, his mind was blank; he could not form a single thought.
He had simply nodded unconsciously.
A nasty sneer curled at the leader’s lips.
“Had I known Deadeon could be subdued this easily, I wouldn’t have needed to bring these others.”
Mounted troops revealed themselves from within the Valley of Death.
They wore outfits similar to the leader.
But their appearances were quite different.
Some had pointed ears, while others were short with shoulders spread wide.
They were elves and dwarves.
One of the elves came rushing over.
It was a beautiful female elf with lush golden hair and blue eyes.
She let out a sigh as she gazed at the strewn corpses.
“Did you not promise to spare them? Is this not too cruel to do to fellow humans?”
“Who says they are fellow humans? They are a wholly different species from us.”
“Sigh! Hamerson!”
The elf sighed.
The leader’s name was Hamerson.
He was a human who had crossed over from Kurayan.
He was a racist who considered Earth’s humans worse than beasts, despite being a human himself.
So extreme was his disposition that even the allied elves and dwarves who had accompanied him were taken aback.
Then one of the dwarves approached, speaking.
“Hehe! Well done. Showing consideration for the likes of Earth humans? Preposterous.”
“Sigh! Gofrey, even you…….”
The elf sighed.
At that, the dwarf named Gofrey smirked and spoke.
“Cut the hypocrisy, pointy-ears! Acting all high and mighty by yourself.”
“Gofrey.”
“We are all merely carrying out Gold Dragon HighEltun’s orders, whether elf, dwarf, or human. Pride and honor were tossed into the gutter long ago, so stop acting like you’re different, pretending to care—just stop the hypocrisy. It’s truly revolting.”
The elf pressed her lips tightly shut at Gofrey’s scathing criticism.
It was then.
“Hehe! So that’s how it was. That damned lizard bastard put you up to this.”
A voice that absolutely should not have been heard rang out.
It was none other than Deadeon’s voice.
He had clearly been passed out under the sleeping agent until just moments ago, yet now he sat watching them.
Jeon was also sitting beside him.
Hamerson’s face contorted in confusion involuntarily.
“How? Once taken, Hydra’s Tears should keep one asleep for at least three days.”
“So what was mixed in the vodka was a demonic beast’s tears? I thought something felt off. Hehe!”
Deadeon bared his white teeth.
His eyes were now flickering with madness.
Seeing that, Jeon let out a small sigh.
Because he could already see the tragedy that was about to unfold.
But regardless, he was just as furious.
He had never imagined that humans approaching them in the middle of the desert bore good intentions.
His life had been too harsh to simply trust others.
Deadeon was the same.
One trait they shared was that they never easily trusted others.
Much less eat and drink without suspicion what a complete stranger offers? Unthinkable.
Deadeon had used mana to burn away all the alcohol that entered his system, while Jeon pretended to chew the venison, then spat it into subspace.
They had pretended to lose consciousness.
It was to figure out their intentions.
So even when Belov brought them to the gorge he called the Valley of Death, they had remained still.
Jeon looked at Hamerson and spoke.
“Are all humans who came from Kurayan as ignorant and shameless as you? Do you have any idea whose fault it is that Earth ended up like this?”
“Silence!”
“You shut up! It’s been a long time since I’ve been this pissed. I don’t know where the hell you’ve been hiding before showing up, but the humans here aren’t so insignificant that the likes of you can do as you please with them.”
The more he spoke, the more furious he became.
Sure, elves and dwarves treating humans carelessly—that he could understand. After all, they were a different species altogether.
But Hamerson was a fellow human.
Even if he had crossed over from another dimension, another world.
And yet, seeing him act like some special human, like a completely different species, was an eyesore.
He didn’t care about the others, but Hamerson, at least, he wanted to punish with his own hands.
Then Deadeon stood up.
“Looks like HighEltun isn’t far. To think he’d send all these bugs at once. Hehe!”
He stretched his hand into the empty air.
Then Creion, which had been left atop the warehouse, flew into his hand and settled there.
From Creion, combined with Aikaruk’s sword, terrifying energy flowed out like threads from a spool.
“I shall cut you all down and make you fertilizer for the desert. Then perhaps a miracle will occur, and a single blade of grass might sprout.”