Taking the demon's medicine is akin to surrendering one's life to him (3)

Chapter 19: Taking the demon's medicine is akin to surrendering one's life to him (3)

Beelzebub's party traversed far and safely and soon reached their destination, staring at their finishing line.

The entrance to The Underground Kingdom Of Blue Ants didn't appear any different from the usual caves. It was round and uneven, ushering boundless darkness inside. At its feet, a silvery blanket of colorless dirt stretched toward the greenery lands of the forest, seemingly separating two different worlds.

Bruno told everyone that the tunnels of this dangerous nest were made of the same soil.

He added that upon venturing inside, one would quickly notice blue dots glimmering all over the place, which might seem like an easy and safe finding of blue crystals… unfortunately, that was not the case! Blue ants have eyes similar to those precious resources, which they use to bait naive and inexperienced humans and monsters.

Those crystals can be tasty food for some monsters: for humans, it's a precious ingredient.

Beelzebub was a demon that hadn't chosen this place as their point of destination for no reason, and he would love to get his hands on those blue crystals as well. He could use them to their fullest potential — a potential which aligned with his schemes against demons of the chasm.

"We shall be careful, then." Beelzebub thanked his friend for his knowledge and shifted his eyes to Yale, who understood it was time to enter the cave's mouth.

And so, he and his party quickly prepared to move. They took out unique lanterns of much higher quality than what Bruno had shown to his teacher. They were also ready to mark their own path without relying on signs left by other mercenaries, then checked their medicines and other useful stuff.

Bruno equipped his warm clothes, just like the rest of the mercenaries. He then grasped his pickax tightly and took Beelzebub's right side, standing abreast of his teacher, whose expression and eyes were unreadable.

At last, Yale took the first step toward the most eventful adventure of his life.

-

It took only a few minutes for Beelzebub's party to clash with the first monsters.

Feigning to be blue crystals by sheathing their bodies in the darkness, blue ants waited for their prey like a patient and well-disciplined army. Of course, humans could use tricks too, and following the perfect example of the blue ants, The Ghosts acted as though they had seen the blue crystals instead of the ants, naively skipping toward them.

But when they were close, all unsheathed their weapons, thrusting sharp edges at the shining eyes of the monsters. This attack was also well-timed and deliberate, costing the monsters a lot of health points. Moreover, the mercenaries managed to wound the ants' weak points - their vision.

Soon, the tunnel became full of sparks and loud banging of seemingly metal weapons clashing against each other. And while it was mainly because The Ghosts were a team without any mage or healer, the side of monsters had natural sharpened weapons sticking out from their mouths.

"Their pincers can be made into good weapons… that requires a lot of skill, though." Beelzebub was naturally on the back line, overseeing the battle with his experienced eyes.

Unlike him, Bruno was tense and nervous, his eyes trembling from fear and doubts, which were a natural part of the fantasy world adventures. However, as Beelzebub glanced at him with a faint smile, Bruno recalled how awesome his teacher was and how powerful his flames were.

He grew more confident.

And then, Beelzebub pointed at genuine blue crystal perched not too far away from them. "If you could, Bruno."

"Yes!" Bruno energetically did the demon's bidding, wearing a gleeful smile.

He clenched the handle of his pickax, raised it high, and then swung it down with his whole weight. Such a force inevitably would hurt the crystal's quality and value, but no one here had any other method of picking up those precious resources yet.

Beelzebub could try a few things on his mind, but that wouldn't be worth it.

His good friend soon had the blue crystal rolling on the ground. He picked it up and ran toward him like a loyal student to present his first finding to him.

Beelzebub ignored the clash happening not too far away from them and studied the first gain. "Thank you… it seems you have some experience with mining, Bruno."

"Yes! I even swung pickax in the chasm!" Bruno proudly shared the achievement that would have made his peers look at him like an oddball.

Even Beelzebub looked at him oddly before curving his lips into a smile. "It's not a proper time to explain how blue ants build their nests which sprout those crystals… but those guys take so much time I can share a few good stuff with you."

"Shouldn't we lend a hand?" Bruno nervously glanced at the mercenaries who had been still swallowed by their battle against the blue ants.

Beelzebub had his reasons to not help them and shared a convincing one with his friend. "I must see what they can do without my help. They aren't known to be the best for no reason, so they should survive the first clash… yes, it's just a first clash, too."

"Oh, I understand!" Bruno nodded.

And he soon perked his ears to listen to Beelzebub's lecture.

"Blue crystals are pretty good ingredients for poison antidotes… but only in the hands of a skilled alchemist, for around seventy percent of blue crystal's constitution is actually poison."

While Bruno's attention was on his teacher and the mercenaries were busy with the monsters, David sent his soul slave to scour more tunnels and find the largest deposit of blue crystals. He'd done it secretly because the black dog's soul would have thwarted Beelzebub's plans and revealed his origins.

That slave was, for now, used as a secret weapon and guard, which Beelzebub used to protect himself and Bruno during their camp when both of them were asleep.

Soon, the first monsters perished under the mercenaries' blades.

At that time, David finished his talk with Bruno.

"Good job, guys. I expected nothing less from the best mercenaries. We have found just one blue crystal, so let's rest for a while and go for more." Beelzebub kindly expressed his views.

Bruno silently listened to him… and when the mercenaries agreed and tended to their wounds, he turned to his teacher and secretly whispered. "Aren't they the best mercenaries? They should have dealt with those ants much faster, right?"

David recognized those suspicions, as Bruno also used to be suspicious of him. It was nice to see how tides had changed and how Bruno suspected others, to protect not only himself but his teacher as well.

Bruno added… "Mercenaries… they never go out, do they?"

Beelzebub grinned. "They ought to save some strength and skills… but I agree they should have killed the first monsters faster. Well, not like we aren't holding back, either. It is what it is, Bruno."

Hearing more honesty from the man he respected was even more poisonous than blue crystals.

Finally, Beelzebub's party continued going deeper into The Underground Of The Blue Ants…

And then, Beelzebub reunited with his soul slave, which told him about his fortuitous finding.

Beelzebub instantly adapted as his eyes shone with new schemes.