The lantern on the table had been extinguished, so there was only the pale moonlight streaming in through the window that illuminated the dining room.
Celia blinked away the sleep from her eyes as she noticed someone preparing to slip out of the house. "Where are you going?"
Caught off guard, Seth quickly made up an excuse: “I’m going out for a walk.”
“Can’t sleep again? Let me join you.”
She was sleepy, but she still wanted to join him.
“I’ll be walking for quite a while.”
“It’s better to have company this late at night.”
“Seth, we are here!” At that moment, Leon announced his and his twin sister’s arrival loudly.
Celia was surprised to see them. “Noel, Leon, why are you here?”
“We are here to join Seth again.”
“Again? Seth, can you tell me what you three are doing this late at night?”
Seth hesitated for a moment, then decided to be honest. "We are going to investigate the mountain behind the village."
"Investigate what? It's the middle of the night."
"Remember about the curse affecting this village? It’s not a curse, but a dragon. The people who caused a commotion earlier this morning hold the dragon captive.”
“Yeah, we want to release the dragon.” Leon was slightly excited, much to Seth’s surprise, who thought that the twins would get depressed for a while after hearing about their caretaker’s death.
“I saw it, but it’s really small. Is it really a dragon?” Noel mumbled. The dragons that they heard of were supposed to be big.
“But Seth said so.”
Looking at the twins' reaction, Celia was slightly convinced: "A dragon? I thought dragons had already gone extinct."
Anyone would find it hard to believe since dragons only exist in legends.
Seth smiled bitterly. "Dragons still exist. They just refuse to communicate with other creatures. The dragon that we are investigating is currently chained in a cave nearby."
Although it was unbelievable, Celia accepted his story. "If what you said is true, then it's incredibly dangerous to investigate it, Seth."
‘I know the risk. But high risk equals high reward. If I can save the dragon, then it can protect me when I need him. However, the behavior of the dragon made me feel like it would be difficult to talk to him.’ Having already made his decision, Seth replied, "I know, so you don't have to come with us, Celia. You should stay here with Berko and Orion. If anything happens tonight, please run away from the village as quickly as possible."
Celia suddenly felt hurt. She said that she wanted to investigate the curse, so why did he not want to bring her along?
"You brought Noel and Leon, but not me. Is it because I am not useful?"
When they were mentioned, the twins looked at each other in confusion.
Seth was at a loss as he noticed the change in Celia’s mood. “It’s not like that.”
“Then why didn't you tell me sooner?”
"I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
Celia fell silent momentarily before she smiled. "I also don't want anything bad to happen to you, Seth. So please bring me with you."
He felt slightly embarrassed. He was also glad that she was the first character from The Summoned Hero whom he met and who had accompanied him for the past several days.
"Alright. Then we have to share this." Seth showed her the invincible cloak.
There were only two pieces of it. The twins shared one piece, so Celia and he had to share the other one.
The four of them ventured towards the cave, cloaked in the eerie silence of the night. Once they arrived, they noticed that there was no one at the entrance to the cave.
‘Why would it be unguarded?’ Seth didn't know how many of the cultists were there, but Lord Malgerius placed a lot of importance on the dragon. There should be guards positioned outside.
He exchanged glances with Celia, then cautiously stepped inside, treading softly on the rough cave floor.
Celia's eyes widened as she saw the cages filled with corpses inside. She covered her mouth to stifle a gasp, her eyes filled with horror. Seth felt slightly guilty for bringing her to a traumatic scene.
His unease grew with every passing moment. When they arrived at the dragon's cage, he noticed that it was empty. The chains that kept the dragon inside the cage were also gone. He scanned the cave's interior, his eyes darting from one corner to another.
Noel mumbled, "It's gone."
"Maybe the dragon had already escaped," Leon said.
Seth could feel their gaze looking at him in worry. There were two possibilities: either the dragon had freed itself on its own or the cultists had taken it away. The first possibility was unlikely, since the dragon would have caused chaos and burned the cultists alive. He was leaning on the second possibility, which explained why the cave wasn't guarded. Unfortunately, he had no clue where the cultists had brought the dragon.
They spent half an hour searching for the dragon, but to no avail. So they decided to abandon the cave in disappointment.
Looking at the cave’s entrance, Seth said, "It seems like the cultists have moved the dragon away."
Celia didn’t know the details about the dragon and the enemies they were facing. She asked, "Why did they capture the dragon? What do they want from it?"
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"They want to use the dragon's bones to make the person who uses them more powerful. But the process is not easy. The cages inside the cave that you saw are the results of their failed experiments."
Celia's face paled, while the twins were angry. They couldn’t imagine the horror Maline had gone through inside the cave.
Without waiting for their reply, Seth continued. "The cultists are called the Demon King Worshipers. They are a group of people spread around the world that worship the Demon King and offer sacrifices to him. The dragon is one of the offerings that they are planning to give to the Demon King."
‘It’s a load of information, but eventually, Celia will also need to know since she and other important characters in The Summoned Hero will face the Demon King. Meanwhile, I, an unimportant character, will live my luxurious life as the son of a marquess.’
As they arrived back at the settlement, a disturbing sight awaited them. A procession of people clad in the familiar crimson robes of the Demon King's Worshipers was marching down the path in the middle of the village with broken houses on the side.
Seth had forgotten something important. He vaguely remembered the conversation yesterday with the cultists that the twins killed, saying that Lord Malgerius would sacrifice the dragon to the Demon King today.
‘Shit. What happens to Berko and Orion?’ Seth spoke to the ring on his palm and called Berko multiple times, but there was no response.
As they hurried back to their temporary house, the worry and fear in their hearts grew with every step. Upon reaching it, they rushed inside. The room was dimly lit by the soft glow of a flickering candle, casting eerie shadows on the walls.
The house was still the same as when they had left and showed no sign of intruders. Seth saw Orion, who walked down the stairs.
“Why is it noisy outside, meow?”
“Where is Berko?”
“He is sleeping upstairs.”
‘That old geezer.’ Relief washed over him.
Celia felt a mix of worry and relief. "Seth, are they the Demon King Worshipers?"
"Yes. Today is the sacrificial ceremony for the Demon King."
"What should we do? Are we just going to let it happen?"
‘The answer is obvious. I’m a normal person from the 21st century who transmigrated here without any cheating abilities. There’s no way I can fight The Demon King Worshipers.’ Seth looked at the three people and one cat, waiting for his answer.
He sighed. "There's nothing that we can do. We have to run away before they notice us."
Upon hearing his answer, they were disappointed. Celia bit her lips in dissatisfaction. Her thoughts were colliding about whether it was better to risk their lives to save the dragon or let the dragon fall entirely into the hands of the Demon King.
"I thought something exciting would happen tonight, mrow!" Orion jumped on the table and sat down.
Seth thought the same thing. He also felt unwilling to leave without being able to do anything.
Celia refused to give up as she asked, "Is there really no way?"
"We can fight as well. Did you see how we fought yesterday? We can kill all of them easily!"
Noel nodded furiously at Leon's words.
"Meow, I can also use my claws as well!"
"I can heal too!"
Celia's conscience was shaken, and the spirits of the three children influenced her.
Seth was a pessimist who always thought of the worst-case scenario. The event today was beyond his expectations. However, he couldn't bring himself to persuade them that they were making a bad decision.
After a moment of silence, he sighed again. "Alright, then. We will go and save the dragon. But our safety comes first."
They immediately brightened up and cheered. Seth felt like we were going on a trip instead.
They followed the winding path that cut through the middle of the village, leading them directly to the outskirts of the gathering. The cultists had formed a circle around an altar in their crimson robes, their torchlights generating spooky, flickering shadows that danced like phantoms.
Their faces were hidden behind dark crimson robes, and they moved in unison as they performed the ceremony. Each cultist shouted in a language that Seth couldn’t understand, their voices rising and falling in a disturbing cadence. The dragon's scales had dulled, and his eyes were filled with resignation as he was shackled with chains and set out on a massive stone altar.
A knot of unease formed in Seth’s stomach. The odds were stacked against him and his company. The cultists outnumbered them, and it was almost impossible to sneak in and release the dragon.
The villagers were also present, who were waryly and curiously observing the gathering from a distance.
His heart pounded in my chest, and he could feel Celia's hand trembling and grabbing his hand.
Lord Malgerius, distinguished by a garment of even darker crimson and intricate headgear, raised his hands high. The frenzied crowd of cultists fell silent, their collective breaths held in anticipation.
"The Demon King, who once ruled the first civilization, was a powerful and benevolent leader. His reign was marked by prosperity, justice, and equality. He cared deeply for his people, listening to their concerns and swiftly addressing their needs. The kingdom flourished under his rule, fostering peace, knowledge, and cooperation among its citizens." The leader's voice echoed throughout the night.
"However, the first civilization had come to an end. And the second civilization has plummeted into chaos, marked by destruction, starvation, and needless slaughter at every turn. This is not the period that the Demon King desired!"
It was stated in The Summoned Hero that the cultists were fervently devoted to the idea of reviving the era that the Demon King had envisioned, a time of peace, prosperity, and equality. Their mission was to fulfill the Demon King's wishes and recreate a world under his rule. But of course, the process was not simple, and there were huge prices to pay.
"Behold, faithful followers!" He cried out, "The time of reckoning is upon us! We have waited for this moment for one hundred years. The Great Dragon, the harbinger of our salvation, shall grant us unimaginable power. Our devotion and our sacrifices have brought us to this moment."
Lord Malgerius finished his speech with tears sliding down his cheeks. The cultists erupted into frenetic cheers, their voices melding into a cacophonous chorus of madness.
If he hadn't read The Summoned Hero, Seth would have been touched by his speech. Lord Malgerius had almost convinced the villagers as well.
"Is it really true? The Demon King seems like a good king."
"If we follow them, won't we go hungry?"
"They don't seem to be that bad."
They forgot that Lord Malgerius was the one who isolated them from the outside world for years.
Originally, Lord Malgerius was a poor baron without any real power or money during his early years. However, recently, he has become more famous and had a great influence in the capital. Anyone who slandered or tried to make an enemy out of him would suddenly die. Even the high-ranking nobles weren't able to easily offend him. No one knew that he became the leader of the Demon King Worshipers.
His power had risen through contracts and support from the demon nobles, taking advantage of the fanatical cultists who were willing to sacrifice anything for the Demon King. Still, the demon nobles won't give anything for free. In exchange, they wanted the experiments of combining dragon's bones with other creatures' bodies to be successful.
"Sacrificing the dragon to the Demon King would give him tremendous strength, allowing him to conquer the world and create an unrivaled reign. This is our path to fulfilling our ideal of a utopian society led by the Demon King."
A sinister smile flashed across his lips as he stood before the altar, his black gaze riveted on the bound dragon. In a frenzy of devotion, the cultists screamed the Demon King's title.
Seth could feel Celia gripped his arm in anxiety and whispered urgently. "Seth, we have to save the dragon quickly!"
"Wait."
Lord Malgerius raised a dagger high above his head, ready to strike the final blow.
A mysterious figure who had been hiding among the cult members below suddenly burst out of the ceremony, drawing a shining blade and lunging toward the cult leader. As the blade plummeted, Lord Malgerius's eyes widened in shock.
He finally showed himself.