The wizard is reincarnated last Time

Chapter 22

I was dragged out of the room, held captive in a vise-like grip.

“Ow!”

The pain in my wrist was excruciating, and I struggled to break free.

“Stop whining. Didn’t I tell you? You’ll die if you wander around this manor alone.”

I swallowed, my breath catching in my throat, and clamped my mouth shut.

“I doubt you want to lie down next to these fellows.”

The man sneered, gesturing down the hallway.

Dozens of bodies were strewn across the long corridor.

A severed arm still clutching a sword, mangled metal armor torn like paper, blood-soaked rags.

The walls, floor, and ceiling were stained crimson.

Nausea welled up inside me, and I clapped a hand over my mouth.

Even turning my head, holding my breath, couldn’t erase the gruesome images seared into my mind, the metallic stench clinging to the air.

“Come along.”

The man strode down the blood-soaked hallway as if nothing was amiss.

My arm trapped in his grip, I had no choice but to be dragged along.

“What… what did you do here?”

My voice trembled.

I kept my gaze fixed upwards, trying not to look down.  Something sticky kept clinging to my bare feet.

“I just tidied up a bit.  Needed to establish a base of operations.  This is just the result of a bunch of imbeciles running wild, completely clueless.  Their table manners are atrocious; no one taught them any better. You’ll have to excuse the mess.”

The man chuckled, as if he’d just told an amusing joke.

His answer made me realize that no matter what I asked, I wouldn’t be able to understand him.

Yes, this was the true nature of demons.

Driven by a primal hatred of life, they slaughtered without hesitation, consuming the life force and mana of their victims.

“Ah.”

The man suddenly yanked me into a narrow, unlit hallway.

“Stay here for a moment.”

He turned his back to me, blocking the hallway like a human shield, his long shadow engulfing me.

“Sir Grivis, there you are.”

An unfamiliar man’s voice.

Someone stopped in front of the man. I couldn’t see his face clearly, but I knew he was a demon too.  A large figure radiating a sinister aura and malevolent mana.

“Khan. Still lurking about, I see.”

The man called “Sir Grivis” replied casually, his posture unchanged, as if trying to conceal me.

But the man called Khan was suspicious.

“Hmm. What’s that behind you? I smell something different…”

I froze, clamping both hands over my mouth, holding my breath.

He can smell me.

He had warned me that if I left the room, the other demons would smell me and attack…

The large man’s red eyes glinted as he tried to peer behind Grivis, but the man didn’t budge.

He glared back at the larger demon, a low growl rumbling in his chest.

“Keep your fangs to yourself. Before I pull them out.”

The murderous intent in his words made my blood run cold, even though it wasn’t directed at me.

Khan flinched and stepped back.

“If you have nothing to do, why don’t you go on patrol?”

“R-Right.”

The man backed down and retreated meekly.

Grivis didn’t move until Khan had completely disappeared down the hallway.

“…Idiot.”

He muttered under his breath, then grabbed my arm again and resumed walking.

His grip was merciless, the pain excruciating, and I couldn’t suppress a whimper.

But I couldn’t even look up at his grim face.

He walked with a determined stride, his gaze fixed forward.

I could barely keep up, practically dragged along by his relentless pace.

Hallways, rooms, open doorways…  everywhere I looked, there were bloodstains and corpses.

And demons.

Most of the demons avoided Grivis.

They would glance at him from afar and quickly move away, or they would fall silent, their jeering laughter dying in their throats, the moment they saw him.

Some eyed me with hungry gazes. But a single glance from Grivis sent them scurrying away in fear.

Sir Grivis… was it?

I cautiously studied his cold profile.

He was clearly different from the other demons.

His chilling mana, his power, and the cold intellect that wasn’t ruled by primal instincts hinted at a long history of survival among demons.

He must have slaughtered countless lives to survive this long.

We descended three long flights of stairs.

As I stepped onto the bottom step, my feet met cold, hard stone.

The air changed.  The stench of blood remained, but it was now mingled with something cold and damp.

“Drog.”

A woman, leaning against the wall near the bottom of the stairs, straightened up.

The man nodded at her.

I recognized her instantly.  The woman who had dragged me away from Prion.

She had an incredibly pale complexion, long silver-gray hair, and a chillingly aloof demeanor. Her striking red eyes seemed to reflect nothing.

She was wearing a close-fitting gray dress, and the dark, vine-like weapon that had ensnared me was nowhere to be seen.

“Adrian, are the preparations complete?”

The woman glanced briefly at me, then turned and started walking.

The man followed, dragging me along behind him.

A damp chill emanated from the stone walls and floor.  Fresh bloodstains were visible everywhere.

I felt dizzy… the metallic scent of blood wouldn’t leave me.

More lives had been lost here.

Footsteps echoed softly in the hallway. The number of people around us had increased.

Several figures were following us. Unlike the demons in the manor, these individuals seemed to be subservient to the man.

They occasionally glanced at me with chilling red eyes but didn’t approach.

The deeper we descended into the underground hallway, the more intense the sense of unease and foreboding became.

Something ominous and dangerous lay ahead. My heart pounded painfully. I felt like I shouldn’t go any further.

But I couldn’t break free from the man’s grip.

Soon, the source of the ominous feeling revealed itself.

At the very end of the hallway, in a large stone chamber, a horrifying sight awaited us.

A scene far more gruesome than anything I had witnessed in the manor so far.

Countless bodies were piled inside a circular pit, forming a lake of blood.

A sinister mana, amplified by the sheer volume of blood, swirled slowly around the crimson pool.  It was a powerful magic ritual fueled by countless sacrifices.

Its purpose was singular.

At the center of the pool, a mass of black mana, like a clot of blood, pulsed and throbbed.

Although it was only the size of a fist, its power was overwhelming, pushing against the very air.

I froze, my feet rooted to the spot.

How could that be here…?

My mind went blank.

“S-Sir Grivis!”

My attention had been so captivated by the scene in the chamber that I hadn’t noticed the person in front of me.

A portly man in a blood-soaked robe prostrated himself before the man, calling out his name.

He didn’t even flinch as the blood pooling on the floor splattered onto his body.

“Have you undone the magic?”

Sir Grivis asked casually, but the mere act of speaking seemed to fill the portly man with terror, his body trembling uncontrollably.

He was the only human alive in this chamber.  A mage collaborating with demons…

“Y-Yes…  P-Perhaps.”

“Perhaps?”

Sir Grivis’s sharp tone made the mage prostrate himself even further, as if trying to merge with the blood-soaked floor.

“I-It’s…  complex, and it’s imperial magic, incredibly powerful… Yes.  P-Please, spare me…”

“You’ve done your best, then?”

“Y-Yes…  Of course…”

Those were the mage’s last words.

Something flashed through the air, and his head was severed cleanly, barely a drop of blood spilling.

I stifled a scream, a choked gasp escaping my lips.

“Adrian, he might have been of further use.”

Sir Grivis turned to Adrian, his voice laced with reproach, but she simply shook her head, her expression impassive.

The vine-like weapon slid back under the hem of her long dress, disappearing from view.

“I was watching. That was his limit.”

“Really? I brought him here because he claimed to know imperial magic.”

“Did you actually believe him?  Regardless, he managed to weaken the seal, after we fed him dozens of lives.  We have no choice but to try now.”

“Alright, let’s begin.  Faigin.”

Grivis nodded at the demons surrounding them.

“Hmm.”

At his summons, a figure stepped forward.

One of the individuals who had been following us. A shadowy man in a long, black robe and a hooded cloak.

He carried heavy chains in his hands.

“So this little one is the ‘vessel.'”

Red eyes, hidden beneath the shadows of the hood, flickered towards me.

“He’s certainly different from ordinary humans… but are you sure this will work?”

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

I have to escape.

I have to get out of this dangerous place.

I pulled at the arm Grivis held captive with all my might, but it didn’t budge.  He didn’t even seem to notice my struggle.

Grivis started walking, pulling me towards the swirling mass of dark energy.

“No…”

I knew what it was.  I knew what they were planning to do.

I didn’t know if it was even possible, but they were going to use me to try.

Was this why I was reborn?  To meet this end?

The thought made my mind go blank. And at the same time, it unleashed an unexpected surge of strength.

In the brief moment that Grivis’s grip faltered, I miraculously wrenched my arm free.

I spun around, trying to escape, pushing past the surrounding demons.

*Thwack.*

A blunt impact, and searing pain exploded in my chest.

“Ah…”

I looked down at the metal spike protruding from my chest.  It wasn’t large, but it was sharp and deeply embedded, slick with blood.

Blood poured onto the floor, the metallic stench filling my mouth.

*Clank.*

My body was yanked backward.

The man who had thrown the spike pulled sharply on the chain attached to it.

I couldn’t pull out the spike embedded in my chest, nor could I resist the force dragging me backward.

As the agonizing pain intensified, I realized there was no escape… it was too late.

My body was thrown mercilessly into the heart of the swirling darkness.