I Became a Veteran Who Has to Stir Up Trouble to Survive - Chapter 52

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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[052] The Descent of the Archdevil #4
As I pushed aside the veil and stepped into the tent, the refined fragrance of jasmine enveloped me.
Above a mana stone brazier, a teapot bubbled softly, emanating gentle warmth, while an incomplete constellation embroidered with mana drifted across the ceiling in geometric trajectories.
For a Royal Mage’s personal quarters, the space was remarkably austere.
Yet the nameplate hanging in the corner radiated an overwhelming presence.
[Royal Mage Corps Commander, 6th Division — Belmont]
‘So the portal installation supervisor was this old man. I never expected to encounter him here.’
A named NPC of this world, much like Malton.
Radi, realizing the nature of the mage before us, froze solid as a corpse.
“You have encountered one of Belheim’s formidable warriors!”
“Antagon’s Rune warns you: it would be wise not to carelessly provoke his displeasure!”
Just as I finished my courteous greeting and was about to take a seat, the Knight who followed me in barked with oppressive authority.
“Remove your hood!!!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Do you understand what you’re saying?”
The Old Man restrained the Knight with a benevolent smile, but one must not be deceived by appearances.
Mages are madmen who would sacrifice thousands of lives without blinking if it served their purposes.
This man’s true nature, as I know it, could reduce every Adventurer in this region to ash whenever he wished.
To me now, he is a monster no different from the Archdevil itself.
“I sincerely apologize for the disturbance. However, I have critical information that must be conveyed, which compelled me to commit this rudeness. The demon attempting to descend here is Andras, a 63rd-rank Archdevil.”
“Your evidence?”
“Among the assailants who attacked us, some were consumed by madness. I witnessed victims of dark magic. Most crucially, I confirmed Andras’s mark upon one of their shoulders.”
“A mark, you say? Perhaps it’s among these?”
Belmont smiled knowingly and extended a wooden box.
As I carefully opened it…
“Ugh…!”
Inside lay strips of flesh stained with blood, reeking of iron.
Flayed skin bearing various tattoo patterns.
Though Radi covered his mouth, I calmly sifted through the flesh fragments and found the mark I had seen on the assailant’s shoulder.
“It matched this pattern exactly.”
“Hmm… you certainly recognize the Duke of Discord’s insignia.”
“All materials and supplies must be thoroughly inspected immediately! Andras is a demon proficient in dark magic—even a single finger joint mixed in could trigger a flesh explosion and render all materials useless.”
“A sound argument.”
At Belmont’s gesture, one of the Knights hurried out of the tent.
But this is merely the tip of the iceberg in his grand conspiracy.
I clenched my fist on the table and spoke with conviction.
“Most critically… Andras will make his move before manifesting on the Surface.”
Before Andras arrives, lesser and intermediate demons pouring through the rift will sabotage the portal’s activation.
Adventurers, Knights, and Mages will wage an all-out war to prevent this, inevitably descending into chaos.
The moment traitors hidden within begin to act freely, an uncontrollable catastrophe will unfold.
That, above all, must be prevented.
“And I have a plan to eliminate all the demons and the humans they’ve manipulated in one fell swoop.”
Somewhat troublesome, but certainly a plan worth the risk.
I met Belmont’s gaze directly and declared with confidence, and he nodded in agreement.
“Indeed, it’s precisely the sort of approach the Duke of Discord would favor… quite plausible. I’ve even read historical accounts of internal strife being deliberately fomented in this manner to topple an entire duchy.”
“Then….”
“But. Why should the lord trust you?”
Belmont suddenly emanated a chilling aura of magical power.
He pressed down with an overwhelming presence, beginning to methodically dismantle my argument.
“Portal construction proceeds smoothly. Even if demons interfere, I have knights at my command. Even if Andras schemes, that hardly justifies gambling on your counsel.”
“That’s….”
“Moreover… by your own logic, couldn’t the lord simply use the Adventurers as bait to buy time, then escape leisurely with the knights?”
“….”
“Most critically, there’s no guarantee you haven’t colluded with the demons. I have no way of knowing whether a demon’s servant stands before me now, weaving cunning deceptions with a silver tongue.”
A perfectly sound argument.
Sowing seeds of discord among humans, making them endlessly suspicious of one another—that was Andras’s way.
Ultimately, it destroyed trust, leaving no one—not comrades, not family, not lovers—anyone to believe in. A catastrophe of mutual distrust.
And this cold old man before me was entirely capable of using us and the Adventurers as cannon fodder to buy time, then slipping away himself.
The shortage of materials needed to activate the portal had been the only obstacle, but now these naive Adventurers had conveniently provided the components, unaware they were digging their own graves.
‘Damn it….’
I clutched my head, torn with conflict.
Truth be told, there was one way to break this deadlock.
Actually, the only way.
A gamble with my life on the line—something I’d desperately wanted to avoid.
I drew a deep breath, steeled myself, and spoke.
“Wait. Would a private audience be acceptable?”
“You bastard…!”
“Enough.”
The Knight approached menacingly, but Belmont raised a hand to stop him.
He sipped his tea gently and gestured.
“Everyone out. It seems this young man has something urgent to discuss.”
“Um, should we leave too, Doran?”
“Yes.”
Radi and Malton looked at me with worried eyes, but I forced a reassuring smile and sent them out.
Once everyone had departed and heavy silence settled over the tent, I took a deep breath and met Belmont’s gaze directly.
How should I broach this?
Thinking of the backlash to come, I couldn’t help but smile bitterly, but there was nowhere left to retreat.
Having made my decision, I pulled back my hood and confessed.
“I’m a malevolent spirit.”
* * *
Unexpectedly, Belmont neither glared at me with a chilling gaze nor began chanting incantations in fury.
He simply sipped his black tea with composure, his gaze fixed upon me.
Then, twisting the corners of his mouth upward, he spoke in a low murmur.
“…So you’ve finally revealed your true colors.”
“…You were aware all along?”
Tap, tap—he pointed at Secrian’s Ring fitted on my middle finger.
“An Adventurer who understands the true value of that artifact couldn’t possibly be an ordinary human.”
I quickly retraced the log from when I first obtained the item.
「You have acquired information about Secrian, a mage from the Ancient Kingdom era!」
「Only an extremely small number of mages in the world are aware of Secrian’s existence!」
A mage of Belmont’s caliber would find it stranger not to recognize an artifact of Secrian’s.
“How many years do you think I have lived? Decades upon decades are etched into every wrinkle on this face. I have witnessed countless transmigrators like yourself.”
Belmont tapped his forehead, then suddenly his eyes gleamed as he revealed his true nature.
The gaze of a scholar tinged with ravenous madness.
With the eyes of a monster thirsting for endless knowledge, he gradually leaned his head forward.
“Evil spirits always transmigrate carrying knowledge of this world.”
One span.
“I prefer intelligent individuals.”
Two spans.
“How much value do you possess?”
Three spans.
The reason I revealed my identity to Belmont.
‘This insane old fool…!’
「Mages will stop at nothing to advance their studies!」
Those who would willingly sell their very souls to demons if it meant perfecting their magic.
Joining hands with transmigrators like myself was nothing to them.
How much blood of others must have stained his hands as he climbed to this position as the Royal Mage Corps Commander.
The madness gleaming in his eyes regarded me not as a person, but as a consumable tool to extract value from.
Yet precisely because of this, if our interests aligned, Belmont could cooperate with me.
“If you grant my requests before we face the demons, I will provide you with knowledge I possess. For instance… the method to complete that unfinished constellation on the ceiling, the location of the Ancient Ruins hidden within this Dungeon, clues to ancient incantations unknown even to you.”
“Oho…? So you have some expertise in magic? Is this what you commonly call a ‘mage build’?”
“That too was merely one of countless paths I have walked through.”
“Hmm… The stronger an evil spirit was in its previous life, the more it tends to know. Well then, let me hear what you desire.”
As Belmont leaned back against his chair with an amused expression and gestured dismissively, I spoke calmly.
“First, grant me full authority to command the Knights.”
“Starting strong, aren’t you? Authority over the Knights… why is that?”
“I am a transmigrator. Naturally, I anticipate the Dungeon’s structure and from which direction the demons will attack. Here and now, I can command more efficiently than you yourself, Belmont.”
“Hmm… An insolent and bold one. Since I must respect the Guard Captain’s opinion as well, full authority is impossible, but I can adjust the deployments.”
“That will suffice.”
As Belmont grinned and gestured for me to continue, I proceeded.
“Second, the portal incantation you are currently operating requires some adjustments.”
“…Are you suggesting there’s a flaw in the magic I designed?”
“Yes, I’ll explain the details later. However, I need an earth-attribute mage and an illusion mage.”
“I’m not sure what you’re scheming, but since I’m here, you don’t need anyone else.”
“Understood. Then, finally… please share some of your spare high-grade potions with me, Belmont.”
“High-grade potions, you say….”
Belmont, who had maintained a subtle smile until hearing the second request, twisted his expression into something menacing.
“…Do you even know what a high-grade potion is before asking for it?”
“Of course I do.”
An item infused with the divine power of Agatha, the goddess who presides over healing.
High-grade potions are literally worth whatever price one demands.
Items that could be exchanged for the very fortresses of Yolk Land itself.
Though they have the drawback of a short effective period, they possess the efficacy to resurrect even those who are practically corpses in an instant.
“High-grade potions are limited in quantity—even I cannot use them freely. And I hear there’s an S-rank Adventurer in this dungeon. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to give it to them instead of you, so they can face the demon?”
‘There’s an S-rank Adventurer here right now…?’
I furrowed my brow slightly but listened to the rest of his words without revealing my thoughts.
“…To transfer a high-grade potion to you, you must have considerable value to justify it. I’ll ask directly: how strong were you in your previous life?”
“I was a ranker.”
“That tells me nothing. I won’t ask twice, so speak in a way I can understand.
How powerful were you in your previous life?”
”
Belmont stared directly into my eyes as he asked.
I answered with a smirk spreading across my lips.
As if to say his authority meant nothing to me, I leaned forward—
“Strong enough to kill you and slaughter every human and demon in this place.”
* * *
“Ah, finally coming out.”
“Why did it take so long? Did the conversation… end well?”
“Of course it did.”
As I walked out of the tent and took a few steps, Malton and Radi hurried toward me.
Radi, who had been examining my body with concern, noticed the glass bottle I was holding and asked with curiosity.
“What is that?”
“Oh, this? It’s nothing special. After I use it, do you want to keep it? You like collecting empty bottles anyway.”
“Well, I do like them, but… are you sure? It looks incredibly luxurious. Even the empty bottle alone seems worth several gold coins….”
“It’s fine. Besides, you’ll be using the contents anyway.”
“…?”
I stepped closer to Radi, who tilted his head in confusion.
As I lowered my head, swallowing the guilt welling up inside me, Radi stumbled backward in alarm.
“Why, why are you doing this suddenly? It’s unsettling….”
“You mentioned smelling sulfur this morning when you faced those thugs, right?”
“Ah, yes… though I didn’t know that was the smell of demons until now….”
Those touched by a demon’s breath carry a faint sulfur stench.
The scent is so subtle that ordinary people cannot detect it, but a Serpent-kin with a nose honed to extreme sensitivity could track it.
And….
“From this moment on, I must find those who have conspired with demons.”
Within the next few hours, before they reveal their true nature and launch their full assault, I need to reduce their numbers as much as possible.
The problem is that hunting down and eliminating the traitors scattered across this vast territory one by one will take an unknown amount of time.
I also have much to prepare for this, so I cannot help.
That’s why I’ve thought of something.
“…Your rune slot is empty, isn’t it?”
“Huh? Well… runes are so expensive and rare. I spent a fortune just acquiring that crossbow before.”
“Then… would you be willing to try using this?”
I pulled an item from my pocket and held it out.
[Night Stalker’s Claw]
｢A rune imbued with the Night Stalker’s power! Absorbing the rune will increase your basic stats and grant you the exclusive skill [Shadow Leap]!｣
｢Warning!! Extremely toxic to the human body!｣
Radi stared at the item I offered with a subtle expression.
“Isn’t this the rune you said couldn’t be used because it has a fatal flaw?”
“That’s right.”
Upon absorption, a darkness as potent as serpent venom surges through the veins, rapidly consuming and destroying both body and mind.
A cursed rune that devours the user’s flesh and spirit, swiftly dragging them toward death.
It is so infamous for having driven countless powerful warriors to their doom throughout history that few can wield it.
However….
“You… have natural resistance to deadly toxins due to your species traits, don’t you? Of course, it will still be overwhelming… but if you use this high-grade potion alongside it, you can buy time by postponing death while your body detoxifies itself.”
[Night Stalker’s Rune] lives up to its danger and rarity with performance that is nothing short of exceptional.
It provides a rare mobility tool in Belheim, and with the ability to conceal oneself in darkness, it possesses a top-tier utility skill that functions as both offense and defense depending on how it’s used.
I had originally planned to find a way to counteract the side effects and use it myself when I could handle it later, but now I’ve become a body that cannot use any rune except [Antagon’s Rune].
Radi hesitated, staring at the claw.
“Even if the potion buys time for my body to detoxify… th-this is going to hurt incredibly, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Probably… really, really hurt. More than words can express.”
Your organs will melt and regenerate, melt and regenerate, countless times over.
You’ll have to endure the agony of being torn apart, pain rivaling the worst burns, for hours—at minimum, days.
You’ll surely want to die. It will surely leave you traumatized.
It’s impossible without not just intense detoxification ability, but also unwavering mental fortitude.
Even if you survive, you’ll taste hell in a sickbed until the aftereffects completely fade.
After hearing the explanation, Radi swallowed hard and looked up at me.
“…This is the best option, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I couldn’t find a better way.”
If there had been an alternative, I would have chosen that instead.
The pangs of conscience for demanding sacrifice from my comrade pierced my heart like a dagger.
I gazed into Radi’s blue eyes with a look of regret, then spoke calmly.
“I’ll take responsibility.”
“….”
It was all I could say.
Instead, I would take full responsibility and ensure we escaped this hellscape alive.
Unable to meet their gaze any longer, I lowered my head and waited in silence. Then Radi exhaled deeply and spoke.
“Once we leave the Dungeon, I’ll be bedridden for days.”
“That means…!”
“There’s no helping it. But you’ll have to pay the price, won’t you?”
“Yes.”
Radi smiled, accepting the claw with eyes full of resolve.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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