East Road Quest

Chapter 43: The Horn of Saph

Kapf dragged Saph by the nape of her neck through the dark tunnel. As he walked, he muttered to himself, “I didn’t expect them to follow so quickly,” “How did they realize so soon?” “How did they know she wasn’t human? I thought they would hesitate.”

At the end of the tunnel was a ladder. Kapf threw Saph to the ground and climbed up alone, pushing open the heavy wooden door that sealed the ceiling.

“Fortunately, a sandstorm is starting. It will erase our tracks. No, our tracks,” he corrected himself.

He descended the ladder and grabbed Saph’s hair.

“Climb up. Or I’ll pull you up by your hair.”

“Alright,” Saph conceded, barely managing to rise and start climbing.

“Hurry up. If you’re stalling, it’s pointless. They don’t know where we’ve escaped to.”

Saph climbed the ladder laboriously.

‘Them? Who is he talking about? Other thieves? Or other demons?’

Outside, as Kapf had said, a sandstorm was blowing.

The hope of breathing easier once out of the gloomy tunnel was not fulfilled. With every breath through her nose, it felt like a fistful of sand was being sucked in, and she couldn’t open her eyes properly.

“Follow me. We need to redo it in a safer place.”

Kapf roughly grabbed Saph’s wrist and pulled her along. His grip was so strong it felt like her bones might break.

Now almost stripped to her undergarments, she had no time to cover herself. She was repeatedly rolled on the ground and dragged by Kapf’s rough handling.

Outside the passage was not Redhill Village but the middle of the desert again. With the sandstorm and the darkening sky, it was impossible to tell which way the village lay.

Kapf dragged Saph to a large rock and let go. She collapsed to the ground.

“This body won’t last long. Weaker than Pendale, what a mistake. I thought the boss would have the strongest body… but I killed them all for nothing! The one I spared is useless too…”

Kapf grabbed both of Saph’s cheeks and forced her mouth open.

“Open your mouth! We have to do it again!”

Kapf exhaled black smoke into Saph’s face.

‘Doing this again, like in the cathedral? I hate this.’

Saph reflexively held her breath and clenched her mouth shut, but it was futile. The dark spirit entered her mouth and nose. The terrible feeling she had experienced before returned.

But she coughed out the black smoke after a few tries. It was indescribably unpleasant, and the foul stench nearly paralyzed her nose, but that was all.

Unlike when Pendale had taken over Kapf’s body, Kapf could not take over Saph’s.

The smoke that had entered and left Saph’s body returned to Kapf’s mouth.

Kapf, with a bewildered look, asked, “What are you? Why can’t I take over your body?”

Saph could only continue coughing in response.

“And this horn! What is this horn?” Kapf drew his knife and pointed the tip at the horn.

Instinctively, Saph covered her crown. Accustomed to wearing a hat even in sleep, she couldn’t bear her horns being exposed for so long. It felt like being barefoot.

“I can only take over human bodies. And that horn… Humans don’t have horns on their heads. So, it’s simple. You’re either a beast or…”

He gripped Saph’s hand, which was trying to hide the horn, and brought his face close.

“…or a demon like me.” Kapf’s pupils darkened.

His breath was hot, like steam from a boiling kettle.

Saph faced his breath head-on without turning away.

“A demon?”

“Yes, a beast wouldn’t have a human form. Tell me, what kind of demon are you?”

“That’s what I want to ask.”

Despite trembling with fear, Saph also revealed a lifelong doubt.

“Am I a demon? Then you, a demon, should recognize me! Am I a demon? If so, what kind?”

Saph was surprised at her own words. Normally, she couldn’t raise her voice even to slightly difficult people, but here she was, shouting at a demon!

Kapf smiled meaningfully.

“All the more reason to believe you’re a demon. Humans usually freeze in terror in such situations. But you, you don’t even flinch. You must be a demon.”

Kapf tapped Saph’s horn with his knife. She couldn’t move for fear of cutting her head on the blade.

He wiped his nosebleed and said, “But watch your words. I could kill you right now and just leave. I can take another body later.”

Saph saw through his bluff. The fear that he would take her body or kill her vanished.

‘He can’t kill me. I don’t know why, but it feels like I understand.’

Saph just blinked, listening to his threats.

“I could cut your throat right now. Compared to the thieves I killed earlier, you’re no more trouble than cutting the neck of an insect.”

Kapf and Saph looked at each other closely, their foreheads nearly touching. Behind him, black energy rose and formed a massive shape. Despite the strong sandstorm, the smoke’s form did not disperse.

The trembling smoke came to life and covered Saph’s body.

The stench and discomfort continued. But that was all.

Kapf’s face twisted in confusion.

“Damn it! There can’t be a human who can look me in the eye for so long. It’s not a realm where fear can be endured and spoken of. You must be a demon.”

Kapf stepped back and asked, “How can you perfectly mimic a human without any sense of incongruity? Even with my powers, that’s impossible… What method did you use? Shapeshifting? Body theft? Soul swapping?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you really not know, or are you pretending not to know?”

Kapf, annoyed, asked again.

“That horn? When did it start growing?”

“I don’t know. I’ve had it since I was a baby.”

“Hmm, now I understand. The body you got when you passed through the gates of hell happened to be a human child! Part of the body remained in the form of a demon, and the rest assimilated into a human as it grew.”

Kapf, arms crossed and muttering to himself, eventually gave up thinking and shook his head.

“What does it matter who you are?

I’ve talked too much. If I can’t take your body, whether you’re a demon or human, you’re useless to me…”

Kapf raised his knife and continued,

“If you’re a demon like me, I’m sorry. If not, oh well.”

Saph thought for a moment that if she really was a demon, it might be okay to die like this. But then she changed her mind at Kapf’s next words.

“That kid earlier, and that guy named Jade… after finally getting free, I only meet such creatures.”

“Jade?”

Black smoke rose from Kapf’s hand and wrapped around the blade. He swung it towards Saph’s neck without much force. It was the same attack that had sliced through many bodies in the Redhill Cathedral.

The blade struck precisely at Saph’s neck. At that moment, a white light emerged from Saph’s horn. As the blade touched her neck, it shattered, and Kapf staggered backward.

The white light that began at Saph’s horn…

A sphere of energy enveloped her body.

“Could it be… did you… kill Father Jade?”

The sphere around Sapph swelled, repelling even the sandstorm around her. Her torn clothes and hair fluttered in a direction contrary to the wind.

“What is this…?”

Kap dropped his broken-bladed sword, retreating step by step.

Sapph shouted, “Tell me! What have you done to Father Jade?”

The sphere exploded, and Kap was thrown back about twenty paces.

Tumbling over the sand, Kap rose abruptly and muttered, “White horns on the head… a white light… a demon… blue hair… Good heavens!”

Kap’s eyes widened in shock.

“I’ve heard tales in hell. Horns that cast out demons with their light. Blue hair as close to the color of the sky. Only one demon possesses such features.”

Kap stumbled backward.

“Why have you, of all beings, taken a human form? Surely you didn’t appear just to kill a lowly demon like me?”

“What are you talking about now? Speak of Father Jade.”

Sapph took a step forward.

That slight movement made Kap jump back as if he had faced a terrifying threat. Now, the sandstorm obscured his vision, and the wind muffled his voice.

“I was just following Byphel’s orders. He pulled me from hell to guard the temple! You saw it. I didn’t even know who you were. Had I known, I wouldn’t have thought to take your body.”

Unable to bear it, Sapph yelled, “Say it again. Do you know who I am? Who am I?”

Kap ignored her words.

“Even if I meet Byphel later, I won’t speak a word. Whether I encounter an angel or another lord of hell, I won’t mention you! I don’t know what you’re doing in the human world, but I won’t interfere. Just let me go, alright? I’ll leave.”

Kap spoke loudly over the sandstorm as he stepped backward.

Sapph, on the contrary, wanted to hold him.

“Wait! Tell me more. Who do you say I am?”

Kap laughed.

“Do you really not know? They say demons often lose their memories when they pass through the gates of hell. Even a demon of your caliber can suffer that fate. If you don’t know, then it’s better I leave.”

Kap turned to leave, and there stood another demon, his red hair billowing in the wind, his crimson eyes shining.

“Where do you think you’re going, you little pest!”

The boy’s face was hidden by his wind-tossed hair, his expression and eyes unseen, but it was clear he was grinning.

Kap froze upon seeing the red-haired boy. To Sapph, only his back was visible, but his tension was palpable.

Kap and the boy stood still as if the first to move would lose the standoff.

Unable to keep her eyes open in the dust storm, Sapph turned her head briefly before looking again. In that brief moment, Kap lunged at her. But the boy, as if waiting, threw a chain that hooked around Kap’s ankle.

Kap hit the ground face-first.

A dull thud sounded, and broken teeth scattered from his mouth.

“Trying to take hostages again? Your kind’s actions are all too predictable.”

The boy laughed as he yanked Kap closer. Kap planted his hands on the ground to resist, but he was dragged helplessly toward the boy, leaving long marks in the sand.

“Damn brat!”

A sword of black smoke formed in Kap’s hand and flew towards the boy’s neck. The boy, named Ruby, deflected the blade with the chains in his hands.

“Who are you calling a brat? You flowerbed bug!”

Sapph thought she misheard.

‘A bee? A caterpillar?’

The blade of black smoke shattered, and its fragments vanished like extinguished candle flames. In that moment, Kap leaped up and vanished into the sandstorm.

Ruby casually twirled the chain, scanning the surroundings like a cat leisurely watching dust particles.

The chain’s rotation sped up, its sound growing louder.

Whirring, whirring, whirring.

Ruby threw the chain into the sandstorm and pulled it back, dragging Kap out and face-planting him into the sand.

Ruby quickly wrapped the chain around Kap’s limbs.

“Got you at last!”

Ruby laughed loudly as he pinned Kap down with his foot.

“You!”

Kap’s shouts echoed through the wind as black smoke poured from his nose and mouth, quickly enveloping Ruby.

“Trying to take my body too? Go ahead and try.”

Ruby scoffed.

The black smoke wandered aimlessly around Ruby’s face and body before being sucked back into Kap’s nose and mouth.

“Damn it!”

Blood gushed from Kap’s nose and mouth.

“Damn it all! Why can’t I take over your body or hers?”

“Hers?”

Kap and Ruby’s gazes simultaneously turned to Sapph.

With a curious look, Ruby asked, “Who are you?”

“I… I’m Sapph.”

“I’m Ruby. Where did you come from…?”

“Argh!”

Kap writhed and screamed beneath them, cutting off Ruby’s words.

Ruby tapped Kap’s head with his toe and said, “Give it up. Do you think you can break chains that even I can’t?”

“Who are you? How are you so strong?”

“I’m an angel. Haven’t I said it a hundred times in the temple?”

“No, you’re not an angel. Angels don’t look like you!”

Kap sneered, then suddenly addressed Sapph.

“O White Horn! This one claims to be an angel. Use your power to deal with him. Even if you are a demon that kills demons, angels are still your enemies, aren’t they?”

“What nonsense is this about a white horn?” Ruby looked at Sapph for an explanation, but she just shook her head.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying…

“Don’t worry about it. Demons are known for twisting words and fabricating lies. More importantly, don’t extinguish the light from your horns.”

Sapph belatedly covered her horns with both hands.

“This isn’t something I can control,” Poe said uncertainly.

“Since when does a mage use magic without knowing?” retorted Ruby.

“It’s not magic…”

Poe slowly removed his hand from the horn and asked, “Jade?”

“Ah, saying the name won’t make you know who it is. That guy is really slow.”

Ruby squinted through the sandstorm that made it hard to see even ten steps ahead and said, “Jade? Did you just say Jade?”

“Yes, Jade. Tell him thanks when you see him. He’s the one who followed the light here, hurt himself just to save a stranger like you.”

Just as the light from the horn was about to fade, a man emerged from the swirling sands, walking slowly. He approached Ruby, shielding his face with his hand against the harsh wind.

“Good, you caught him.”

He looked down at Poe and replied with a smug tone, “Of course. This guy is hardly a workout for me.”

“Is the woman who was taken safe…?”

He turned his gaze towards Poe and removed his hand from his face. His face was dirty, and his clothes were in disarray, but Poe recognized him instantly. It had been years since they last met, but it was as clear as if it were yesterday.

“Father Jade!”

“Poe?”

Jade approached with a surprised expression.

“Is it really… you, Poe?”

“Yes.”

“How did you end up here…?”

“I followed you. I followed Father.”

Poe was so excited he didn’t know what to do, clutching his hands tightly and trembling. But only his hands moved; his legs wouldn’t, so he couldn’t stand up.

Jade knelt on one knee in front of her.

“Seeing such an expressionless face, it’s definitely you, Poe.”

Jade hugged her tightly. She closed her eyes and returned the embrace with all her might.

Ruby cocked her head and asked, “What? You two know each other?”