The Demon King's First General
Chapter 99: Santelmo

Chapter 99: Santelmo

A couple of minutes ago, Zeno arrived at the place with a huge ape sleeping like a log. Then the moment the monster felt someone was staring at him, he began to open his eyes which had cross-shaped pupils and glance in the intruder’s direction.

"Who are you to disturb my nap?" The monster said, asking for identification.

"Hmnn, we’re almost similar in that aspect," Zeno replied, smirking.

"Like I care!" The ape exclaimed.

Afterward, he stood up and hurled three right fists towards the demon, but Zeno remained standing still. And as soon as the punches were just inches away from him, he tapped the first fist before kicking the second one, then leaped in mid-air and rotated his body to give another kick with his left foot, sending the remaining fists away from him.

"And our temperament is the same as well," he uttered, then propelled himself towards the monster’s chest to return the greeting.

The ape glanced at the small silhouette coming at him at an incredible speed. He used his other hands with the thought of catching the man. However, a pair of jet-black daggers with a single white dot on each one materialized in the man’s hands before he vanished from the monster’s line of sight.

Afterward, blood began to gush out from the creature’s mouth as a heavy fluctuation of energy caused the atmosphere to tremble. Without him realizing what happened, his eyes started to dim, and his huge body dropped on the ground, void of life, while crashing down some small trees in the process.

A large hole was present on his chest. Then the demon fell, standing at the top of his body with a jet-black gauntlet on his right hand.

He stared at the monster’s corpse for a second and uttered a comment.

"Those eyes of his intrigue me," he said.

. . . . .

"Do you really need to go that far? Even absorb his body," Tencent asked.

But Zeno laughed as he heard the snake’s complaint.

"Is that it?" He replied, staring into the monster’s eyes.

"The winner takes all; isn’t it the unwritten rule of this world?" He added, stating his point.

And upon hearing the demon, Tencent kept his silence; he found no words to rebut the man’s statement.

While Jez and Royle glanced at each other as if saying something through their eyes, the next second, Jez broke the hush with his belief.

"That’s how it normally works, but for us upright fighters, respecting the body of their opponents is considered having high moral standards," he stated.

"Yes, butchering them afterwards for their fur, tendons, bones, or any other parts with value. You humans are the best for making yourselves good. Look at yourself once," Zeno retorted as he stared at the duke.

’H-He’s right,’ Jez thought then he lowered his head.

He felt ashamed after hearing such words coming from a demon.

The next second, Zeno returned his gaze to the giant snake.

"Hey! The monsters you’re talking about to revive that hot-headed woman—is there a way to locate them in a short amount of time?" He asked with the coldest voice he could muster.

According to Tencent a few moments ago, they needed to find two different creatures to initiate the plan. One of these creatures had the ability to call back the soul of a dead person, while the other was a monster called santelmo.

A creature that had a thought of its own like any other living being. It was quite similar to a wisp, but instead of light, its entirety was made of nothing but fire, though it had a core inside that kept its fire burning. Tencent, the snake intended to use that fire to ignite the mage’s life once more.

It was the first time Zeno heard of this kind of method, and if it turned out successful, it would also be his first time despite living for so long, to witness someone aside from those foxes returning from death and a human utmost.

After all, dying was an impenetrable occurrence in Exgreia; once a living being stopped breathing, their next destination would be in the grave.

"Like what I’ve told you before, that will be impossible to do under the Deity of Abstinence’s spell," Tencent replied, shaking his slender head.

"We have no choice but to traverse this path and look at every crook and cranny. Though the pyschopomp could be found easier than the santelmo," he added.

Then he stood up with his head high and looked further at the place.

"We need to move faster; the longer we take to find them, the chances of getting her soul back diminish," Tencent said, indicating a warning to the humans.

"Tss, curiosity is really not a good thing," Zeno uttered while shaking his head, then he turned around to walk away.

The rest of the group was staring at his back when Royle conveyed the questions at the back of his mind.

"Can we really not do a thing? Maybe we can summon those creatures or make them come to us?" He paused and averted his eyes from the demon to look at Jez.

"What do you think?" He said, asking for an opinion.

Upon hearing his friend, the duke shook his head and glanced at the monster beside him.

"Is that possible?" Jez asked, waiting for confirmation from Tencent.

"Santelmo is a very elusive creature; luring it towards you is completely impossible," the snake replied and began to move forward.

The humans started to walk as well. Jez couldn’t help but admire the furball creatures playing around the place. The more they went deeper ahead, the monsters’ number kept on increasing, yet they just minded their own business; not a single one showed hostility towards them.

’Rye will be very happy having these creatures around her,’ Jez thought.

However, his daydreaming had been interrupted as his curiosity about the monsters living underneath the tunnel sank inside his mind. So the next second, he chose to satisfy himself by asking the snake who was wiggling in front of them.

"Tencent, right?" He uttered, starting a conversation.

"What is it?" The monster replied directly on point but ignoring his first question.

"What kind of creatures are you? And how come you guys are living here a hundred thousand feet below ground?" Jez replied while not halting his steps.

"Hmnn, we? We’re the chosen ones..." The snake paused and let out a chuckle before continuing his words.

"That’s what I like to believe," he said with a hint of sadness in his tone.

Jez stayed quiet and just listened to the monster.

"But based on that demon’s perspective, we were left behind here, abandoned by our own creators," he added.

"The deities?" Royle uttered, reacting to the snake’s story.

"Yes, we are their war weapons—those who did the dirty jobs for them. We are known as the Fallens because of that," Tencent said.

"Fallens? That’s a pretty cool name, though," Jez replied.

"Indeed. We’re originally just twelve in numbers, but time passed and that small quantity became an army with thousands of monsters," the snake added, hissing, and then one of its heads looked at the group of people and spoke.

"While we, the original twelve, gained our freedom to rule that sea of monsters, we did everything that the deities asked us," Tencent said.

He looked into the humans eyes, and as he saw them truly absorbed in his story, he continued.

"We eliminated all creatures they said to. We destroyed places they wanted to. We punished those who didn’t obey them, and yet after those sacrifices, we ended up locked inside this place, forbidden to move outside," he said, sharing some of his burdens with the humans.

"Why? Maybe you guys did something wrong that angered the deities?" The ruby-class mercenary joined in the conversation.

"I don’t know the real reason behind it. As far as I remember, after that certain event, we woke up in this place. We tried everything we could to escape, but our efforts were all in vain," the snake said.

’Certain event?’ Jez thought as those words captured his attention, so he asked about them.

"Can you tell me more about that certain event you’re speaking of?" He said.

However, the monster’s reply disappointed him but made him more interested in the story.

"I referred to it as a certain event because I forgot all that happened at that time. My memory regarding that is quite vague; after all, that was a very long time ago," Tencent answered.

"That’s sad to hear; I’m sorry about that," Jez said.

He wanted to know more, but given the fact that they were in an unknown place and their surroundings were beginning to change again, he let go of the idea and focused on the task at hand.

He sharpened his eyes, even enhancing his hearing, while hoping to encounter the monsters they were looking for, and Royle did the same.

However, their Ruby-class companion couldn’t read the atmosphere and still asked about Tencent’s story.

"How long is that time you’re talking about for you to forget those important details?" He said.

Upon hearing him, both of the snake’s heads burst into laughter before answering.

"If three thousand years are not that long, I don’t know either," he answered, making the group widen their eyes in surprise upon hearing the truth.

. . . . .