Chapter 53: The New Demon

In the summer of the 825th year of the Altera period, two sizable carriages arrived at the imperial capital, carrying the Lugall and Kadaha squads, both comprising atonement soldiers. These carriages made their way through the main street of the city and came to a stop at a large mansion. Upon receiving orders to disembark from the carriages, the soldiers obeyed and stepped out with bare feet onto the ground.

Although the mansion’s exterior appeared average-sized, its interior was entirely dedicated to the study of spiritual arts. Spiritual circuits were engraved onto instruments scattered all around the place, and numerous bottles filled with colorful chemicals lined the shelves.

Despite the mansion’s main focus on the study of spiritual arts, the owner, Orvo, had a specialty in creating synthetic beasts. This resulted in the presence of numerous cages containing a diverse collection of creatures. Surprisingly, the number of creatures housed in the mansion exceeded a hundred, including dozens of beasts captured by the infamous hades scorpion demon.

The cages were located on the second floor of the mansion. Thanks to the sedatives and spiritual arts used on the creatures, there was no sound emanating from the area. However, the second floor was filled with an undeniable beastly stench, and all servants, with the exception of Orvo and Mika, who were accustomed to the smell, avoided the second floor as much as possible.

The barefoot atonement soldiers obediently walked on the polished stone floor, making soft slapping sounds with their feet. They were then ordered to wait in a large room until preparations were complete.

After the imperial soldiers on escort duty left the room, a blond man with an intimidating gaze spoke to another man of similar age nearby. “Hey Zald, good to see you alive again,” 

“Tigar, huh? Good to see you too.”

Zald was also an atonement soldier, with short silver hair and sharp blue eyes that could be mistaken for a woman’s.

Zald and Tigar, who led the Lugall and Kadaha squads, respectively, were among the few surviving members of the earliest formed Atonement Soldiers. They often found themselves on the same battlefield and were not only familiar faces but also some of the few comrades in arms outside their own units.

“I thought it was only us, but you’re also losing soldiers… How many do you have left?” Tigar asked.

“Twenty-one, including children who can’t fight, and thirteen combatants, excluding myself, who are not injured. How about you?” replied Zald.

“We have twenty four in total, but only eleven can fight. Some of them suffered severe injuries. We’re grateful that they survived, but…” Tigar trailed off, glancing at the eight men and women sitting in a corner of the room. They were the warriors of the Lugall squad who lost limbs in battle against the invading army.

Although their wounds had been treated with first aid and subsequent spiritual healing, there were few people who could use powerful spiritual arts to regenerate lost body parts. And those who could do such arts did not offer their services to heal the atonement soldiers.

They wouldn’t be able to fight anymore. However, they could still provide crucial support to the unit from behind the scenes. Their responsibilities included preparing meals, maintaining weapons, and caring for the children while the adults were engaged in battle. This sense of purpose prevented them from succumbing to despair, even though it may have been inconvenient for them.

“Exactly. So…what do you think we’ll be asked to do now?”

“I don’t know. But since Sharl has a bad feeling about it, it’s certain that something bad will happen.”

“Your wife’s intuition is usually spot on…”

Zald groaned, crossing his arms. Since they had only strolled through the mansion’s corridors until now, they were still unaware of the hazardous chemicals and tools concealed in the other rooms. Had they been aware, their growing sense of unease would have transformed into absolute certainty.

Meanwhile, the companions in their units engaged in casual conversations with individuals from the other unit, relishing the rare opportunity to interact with people outside their own group. The children, in particular, were thoroughly enjoying themselves and playfully frolicking around.

Their voices, however, were quite low, as they didn’t want to attract the attention of the Imperial soldiers outside and cause any trouble. The children also understood this and refrained from running around the large room or playing any noisy games.

“Captain, someone’s coming,” 

“Everyone, be quiet.”

When one member of the Kadaha squad, who had a good ear, whispered to Zald, not only the Kadaha unit but the lugall unit as well abruptly ceased their conversations, moved to the wall, and stood motionless. Taking a break and quickly regaining composure were both familiar practices for them.

Orvo entered the large room with Mika in tow, pushing a cart loaded with various tools. The faces of the atonement soldiers paled at the sight of the cart, but Orvo smiled warmly without any concern for their reactions.

“Hey there, atonement soldiers. Sorry to do this right away, but I need to investigate a few things. Also, I’ll need to take a blood sample, so please cooperate with me. Let’s start from the end and work our way through, okay?”

Orvo aimed his staff and emitted a white light at each person in turn. Tigar was the first to receive the light, and while he was nervous, he was surprised that it didn’t hurt or cause him any discomfort.

After jotting something down on a piece of paper, Orvo moved on to the next atonement soldier and emitted the light. Then, Mika took their arm after they finished and said “Excuse me,” before inserting the needle to draw blood. They did this for everyone, including the children.

The atonement soldiers could naturally use their fighting spirit, so any injection wounds would quickly heal. However, the children couldn’t do this yet. Children who couldn’t yet master their fighting spirit couldn’t heal as quickly as adults, and especially the young children who had yet to begin combat training were frightened by the sight of the sharp needle pointed at them.

“Uuu…”

Among them was also the son of Tigar and Sharl, but he endured without shedding a tear despite the fear in his eyes. Seeing his son enduring, Tigar felt a twinge of pride amidst his worry.

As there were only forty-five people in total, the examination and blood collection didn’t take too long. After collecting blood from everyone, Orvo and Mika quickly left the room.

The atonement soldiers, who had been on guard, were surprised that everything had gone more smoothly than they had anticipated. Tigar thought that Sharl’s intuition had failed her this time, but his wife still had a complicated expression on her face.

“What’s wrong? Everything went well, right?”

“The light everyone was exposed to… that was a method of testing their aptitude for spiritual art. Why would they need to test that? I just can’t shake this bad feeling.”

Tigar wanted to tell his wife that she was worrying too much, but he had been saved by her intuition many times before. Therefore, Tigar decided to remain vigilant and not let his guard down.

As Tigar and the other atonement soldiers relaxed, thinking that their mission had been an easy one, Mika came into the large room alone. He was wheeling a cart, but instead of tools, it contained plates of food for everyone.

“Please, help yourselves. I’ll be holding back, so please let me know if you need more,” 

Mika’s mannerisms, which did not break his polite language even towards the atonement soldiers, seemed strange to them. However, they couldn’t help but focus on the delicious-looking food that they had never tasted before. They hesitated to eat at first, but eventually brought the food to their mouths. In that instant, a wave of satisfaction surged through their taste buds as the flavors exploded in their mouths, surpassing any previous culinary experience they had ever encountered.

Mika prepared the food using only the ingredients that were scheduled to be given to the atonement soldiers, without any special ingredients or seasonings. Nevertheless, the food was unbelievably delicious. Even Tigar and Sharl, who were cautious and watchful, devoured the dishes greedily.

As they ate, they felt a growing sense of happiness, and the more they ate, the more they wanted to continue. Anticipating that they would run out of food, Mika silently moved from the large room to the kitchen and quickly prepared the same amount of food to serve them.

“Here you go,” he said.

The atonement soldiers were completely satiated and lay on their backs, their bellies swollen. Mika, with a kind but sad expression in his eyes, tidied up the cart and plates before leaving.

For the next few days, they were given ample meals in the comfortable, large room without any disturbances. Their wounds from their previous battle had mostly healed, and their complexions had improved due to adequate nutrition. Currently, the atonement soldiers were in the best condition of their lives.

And so, as the atonement soldiers’ wariness began to wane, Orvo appeared again in the large room. Standing next to him was one of the imperial soldiers in charge of controlling the atonement soldiers. As they saw him, tension ran through their faces, but Orvo paid this no heed. He carefully observed each of their faces before nodding in apreciation.

“Good, good, your nutritional status has improved. Then, the first one… that person with blonde hair over there.”

“Follow me.” The Imperial soldier ordered.

Despite his reluctance, Tigar knew he had to follow the order and stood up. He couldn’t help but wonder if it was finally his turn. He felt the other atonement soldiers’ gazes on his back, especially the gaze of his son, who looked up at him with an anxious expression. Tigar comforted him by patting his head and whispering, “It’s going to be okay,” before following Orvo.

He was taken to one of the small rooms on the second floor of the mansion. Tigar’s unpleasant feeling grew stronger as he smelled the scent of beasts wafting around the second floor, but the moment he entered the room, he instinctively tensed up. The reason being that, in that room, a white tiger more than twice his size was sleeping inside a cage.

The strength of the tiger’s fighting spirit and spiritual power could be felt even as it slept. Tigar noticed a collar around the tiger’s neck, identical to the one he wore. Although there was a cage, Tigar couldn’t help but imagine the worst-case scenario: that he might become the tiger’s next meal.

“Come over here. Sit right there,” Orvo said.

“Sit down.” The Imperial soldier gave out the order.

 However, Tigar’s fears were unfounded. Orvo directed him to a chair beside the cage using his staff. The chair was adorned with intricate spiritual circuits on its protrusions, clearly intended for some kind of spiritual art.

Although he knew he wouldn’t be eaten, Tigar was certain that he would be subjected to some form of spiritual art. He couldn’t help but wonder if Sharl’s intuition was right after all, yet he couldn’t disobey the order. As soon as he sat down, the armrests and leg supports of the chair unfolded, and his limbs were immobilized.

“Now, shall I explain what we’re going to do now? You guys are going to stop being part of the human species.” 

“…..What?” 

Atonement soldiers typically refrain from speaking unnecessarily as it can escalate into violence. Nevertheless, Orvo’s statement was so perplexing that Tigar couldn’t hold back and blurted out.

Upon seeing Tigar’s bewildered expression, Orvo appeared pleased and reached into his sleeve, revealing a rough bracelet and a thick rope adorned with complex-shaped fittings and stakes at both ends. These items, like the chair Tigar was seated on, were inscribed with intricate spiritual circuits, indicating that they were tools used for some sort of spiritual art.

Orvo affixed the bracelet onto Tigar’s left wrist with a cheerful disposition. With a satisfying click, one of the protrusions on the bracelet securely fastened onto the metal clasp at the end of the rope.

“I’m a specialist in synthetic beasts, and you’re going to synthesize with this Heavenly Thunder Tiger from now on. Don’t worry, your personality and memories will remain intact since we’ll be using your soul. You’ll become stronger as a living being, so there’s no need to be afraid,” Orvo explained.

“No, stop…!” 

“Here we go!” 

Orvo disregarded Tigar’s plea and entered the cage where the Heavenly Thunder Tiger resided. He swung the stakes attached to the rope and bracelet combo with great force, striking the back of the beast’s head. The Heavenly Thunder Tiger convulsed and twitched violently before finally collapsing, losing all its strength.

Simultaneously, the spiritual circuits on the stakes, rope, bracelet, and chair began to glow. The inside of the bracelet clicked, and six needles pierced Tigar’s arm, causing a thick, viscous substance to flow into his body. Overcome by fear, Tigar screamed in agony.

“Guaaaaah!?”

“A tool for creating demons, made by downsizing the invading army’s technology… It’s really convenient. Although I’ll have to make some adjustments, I don’t need extensive preparations like before. Still, I should thank grandpa for this!” Orvo remarked, pleased that his new tool was functioning correctly.

Ignoring Tigar’s continuous screams, Orvo was completely satisfied with his creation. After a while, Tigar’s screams stopped abruptly as a needle from the chair’s backrest punctured his neck, causing him to lose consciousness. The last thing Tigar thought of before passing out were the faces of his wife, child, and fellow comrades.

*********

TN: What mad scientist….well for Tigar’s name, his Japanese pronunciation is Tigaru; this could be translated as Tigar and Tigar; the latter seems more fitting since he’s synthesized with a tiger beast 

TN: Orvo calls the old carftsman Ji-chan; he’s not his actual grandfather; he just calls him that, as it’s like saying “old man” probably out of respect.