My Disciples Became Scoundrels - Chapter 68

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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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Jenia lay cradled in Cesare’s arms, gasping for breath. Angry red welts—like burn marks—mottled her entire body.
The fever seemed severe as well. I tried shaking Jenia awake, but she didn’t stir.
Red welts. Could it be that? I’d seen wounds like these before.
“Come this way, quickly. We need to submerge Jenia in water.”
There was much I wanted to ask, but treatment came first. We rushed toward the Oasis.
Splash!
I held Jenia in the water, supporting her head. As her labored breathing continued, Cesare fumbled for words.
“Why is she like this? Will she get better if we keep her in the water?”
“Yes. It’ll cool the fever and draw out the jellyfish poison. She should improve.”
At that, Bella’s eyes sharpened. She examined Jenia’s wounds and spoke.
“Wounds like these aren’t caused by any monsters we’ve encountered here.”
Cesare’s face paled.
“But I’ve never seen a jellyfish… Jenia just suddenly threw herself in front of Arkel—”
“She must have sensed the Phantom Jellyfish. They’re invisible, you see.”
The Phantom Jellyfish was a troublesome creature in many respects. Its mana aura was faint, it made no sound, and it left no trace to see.
Jenia had somehow detected it. Being a Monster Hybrid, she was sensitive to monsters in ways others weren’t.
“Where’s Arkel?”
“He’s in the Desert. When Jenia collapsed, I was told to bring her back. The three of us together didn’t have enough mana.”
Cesare’s abilities demanded vast quantities of mana. In the midst of battle, it made sense he’d run dry.
Cesare bit his lower lip hard. The look on his face was one of frustration—he didn’t know what to do with himself.
“I’ll go get him.”
“Rest. You’ll collapse too at this rate.”
“I’m fine. Arkel is—”
I gently pressed Cesare’s shoulder, making him sit back down.
His condition wasn’t good either. He was drenched in sweat and bore wounds in several places.
“I’ll bring Arkel back. Jenia needs someone at her side.”
At that, Cesare flinched. He looked at Jenia, hesitated, then finally nodded.
I patted Cesare’s shoulder reassuringly.
“Jenia will be fine once time passes. Bella, you come with me.”
“Yes, Master.”
I returned to the encampment with Bella. Part of me wanted to rush straight to Arkel, but I held back.
Running out unprepared would do him no good. Bella kept pace beside me, surveying the area as she spoke.
“It seems someone artificially summoned these monsters, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. Either to obstruct another group, or—”
I looked toward the scoreboard where the Management Bureau staff recorded Monster Subjugation counts. They were busily writing something.
「1st Place. Rending Lion. 220 slain
2nd Place. Nidus Hirundinis Crepuscularis. 92 slain」
“They multiplied the monsters, then hunted them all at once.”
Phantom Jellyfish were hard to locate, but they died easily from a single hit.
They could split and reproduce, their numbers snowballing in an instant. Perfect for monopolizing the core count.
Bella also looked at the scoreboard.
“Should we investigate the Rending Lion?”
“We lack both time and people for that.”
First, I needed to find Arkel. He could survive alone, but the situation now was dire.
There was the option of requesting the Management Bureau’s intervention, but I didn’t know who was behind this. Without evidence, it would be difficult to persuade them.
“Then perhaps we should abandon the search for the mastermind.”
Given a choice between two courses, Arkel came first. Yet I couldn’t simply let the ones who’d done this to my disciples slip away.
“We’ll use another method. Just as you suggested.”
I passed through the barriers and moved deeper into the camp. There stood the Swallow Nest Guild.
Among the injured, Cassian lay collapsed. His body too was covered in red welts.
Gaspar’s face darkened as he tended to his son. When I approached, Gaspar only rolled his eyes to glance at me sideways.
“What is it?”
His gaze was fierce. Knowing his state of mind, I got to the point directly.
“We should talk. I know what happened to Cassian. I also know how to treat it.”
At that, Gaspar looked at me urgently. His face was a mixture of shock, desperation, and rage.
“Tell me what it is.”
“Let’s make a deal.”
We were stronger than the Swallow Nest Guild. If it came to fighting all their members at once, we’d prevail.
But that didn’t mean the Swallow Nest Guild was inferior to us. They had advantages we lacked.
For instance, headcount.
“Find me the person responsible. The one who orchestrated this.”
I leaned close to Gaspar’s ear and whispered. His eyes flickered with recognition.
He looked between Cassian and me, then nodded slowly.
“Tell me everything you know. I’ll find them.”
The mastermind would be found by the Swallow Nest Guild. That left me with only one task.
Finding my student in the desert. Revenge could wait until after.
* * *
Two suns blazed overhead. The sand had turned white-hot, and waves of heat rose up to scorch the soles of feet.
Human shouts and monster shrieks echoed across the parched sky. The monsters held the advantage.
And on the Sand Dune, watching the chaos below, stood observers.
“The gap between us and the Swallow Nest widens. At this rate, first place seems assured.”
Greta, guild master of the Rending Lion, listened to her subordinate’s report in silence. She gazed out across the desert as she spoke.
“What of Balanus?”
“Around eighty. No real concern, I’d say. Two of them have already fallen.”
“A lion does not lower its guard.”
Greta turned away. Her subordinate bowed their head beneath that chill stare.
“Keep monitoring Balanus. Report back regularly.”
“If I may ask, why do you watch Balanus so closely?”
They’re barely five people in a Domus. Two of them are wounded besides, and one has fallen behind here.
Greta answered plainly.
“My mother often spoke of Dein Balanus.”
With only those words, Greta descended the dune. Her subordinate’s face remained unconvinced.
A figure fought alone near the clustered groups. It was Arkel.
He pressed forward against the monsters with a single Dagger, his technique passable but strained against the stone-bodied desert creatures.
The Dagger’s edge, already notched, finally shattered.
—Crack!
With his last Recovery Potion frozen solid, he drove it into a monster’s throat. But more came on.
One. Two. Three. Blood dripped from their eager jaws as they circled, waiting.
He had nothing left to use. Only sand surrounded him now.
Arkel, covered in blood and gritting his teeth—
—Bang!
The sharp crack of the Long Rifle sent a monster spinning. Arkel spun to look back.
Bella stood in the distance, Long Rifle in hand. Dein rushed forward, throwing something.
“Arkel!”
A Water Container flew through the air. Dein’s blade struck it clean, splitting it in half as water sprayed everywhere.
—Crash!
The ice blade carved straight through the monsters. Dein caught Arkel as he staggered.
“Master, where is Jenia—”
“She’s fine. Cesare has her.”
Dein poured Recovery Potion over his wounds. Arkel tried to stop him, but Dein was faster.
“Don’t use it on me. Save it for where it’s needed.”
Bella arrived beside them, Long Rifle slung across her shoulder as she looked down at Arkel.
“Use it all. You’re part of my plan, so I need you whole.”
“Your manner of speech still—”
A scream pierced the nearby air.
“Aaaaah! Help!”
One of the hunters in the area. He thrashed on the ground in agony.
His entire body was covered in a spreading red rash. Others saw it and immediately tensed, raising their weapons.
“Damn it, fall back everyone! Something’s here!”
“Anyone have Detection Magic?”
“Our mage is down!”
They sensed something was wrong but couldn’t respond properly. As they slashed at empty air and hurled spells, screams multiplied.
Those marked by the rash faltered, and the monsters seized the opening, surging forward.
Dein whispered then.
“Arkel, do you have enough Mana?”
Arkel drained a Mana Recovery Potion in one gulp. He dropped the empty bottle and pressed his palm to the sand.
“I have enough to burn.”
The moment his Mana flowed into the ground, it rippled across the sand.
The earth beneath them grew scorching hot. Here, freezing would be difficult—but heating was simple work.
Heat shimmer rose and wavered through the air. And beyond it, something became visible.
“What… what is that? A jellyfish?”
Transparency is affected by light. As the light refracted from the temperature differential, heat shimmer bloomed into view, and the outline of the Phantom Jellyfish began to emerge.
The moment they were exposed, sharp gunfire cracked through the air.
―Bang, crack!
Bella squeezed the trigger without pause. Arkel had already rushed forward, dagger in hand—one she had handed to him moments before.
The jellyfish fell limply before gun and blade. A guild member watching from the dune’s crest stared, mouth agape.
‘So that’s why he told us to pay attention.’
He wavered between shock and admiration, though his expression soon settled into composure.
‘But there’s no way they’ll catch hundreds with just those two. First place is still ours.’
Given enough time, perhaps—but a gun and a dagger had their limits. Then Dein, who had been holding back, drew something from his pack.
A Blue Flower. A flower that lured Monsters.
“Bella. You said south, yes?”
“Yes, Master.”
The moment Dein grasped the bouquet and shook it, all the Phantom Jellyfish turned to regard him.
At once he bolted south, and the jellyfish, as though enchanted, gave chase.
A tide of jellyfish surged toward him as if to consume him whole. Yet he did not look back—he only ran.
Then, far ahead, something began to come into view.
The Cactus Field lay to the northwest. It was dangerous; better not to go there.
Towering cacti clustered together, their spines sharp as dagger blades, a forest of thorns.
Dein plunged into their midst, then crushed the Blue Flower and scattered it across the ground. Petals accumulated thick at his feet.
A rich fragrance spread across the desert, and the flower water dampened the sand in faint traces.
The jellyfish were nearly upon him now, writhing with their translucent entrails exposed, swarming from all sides.
But Dein did not retreat. He was simply waiting for something.
Then he felt it—a faint tremor. Something was rising vertically from beneath the earth.
“Are the cacti really that dangerous?”
“What’s dangerous is what lies beneath them.”
As the jellyfish extended their tentacles, Dein leaped onto the largest cactus.
Tentacles coiled around his ankle. He felt the pull downward. At that instant.
―Rrrrraaaagh!
The desert opened its jaws.
A massive chasm roughly thirty meters across tore open in the ground. Dozens of razor-sharp teeth gleamed.
The Desert Maw. A Monster that lured and devoured other Monsters.

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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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