Chapter 66 - Self-sacrifice and Tri-horned Amethyst Water Serpent

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"I understand.... But, I have one request."

Grandio said seriously.

"Hm? What request?"

"Only me who will do the oath. Ojou and Lorra don't need to do it."

"On what basis?"

Mephisto-jiisama asked Grandio with a slight frown.

"Because they are just kids. For such risky things, let the adults bear it.... Let me alone carry out the ancient oath. In exchange, if there is a leak about the tortoise by the three of us, whether intentionally or not... I will die."

"What are you saying!? Why do we have to accept their demands!?"

Wennyxa snapped at Grandio and glared at us.

"Because we have no choice."

Grandio answered with a slight frown but seemed resigned.

"But!"

"Ojou!"

Grandio snapped a little and glared at Wennyxa who didn't accept his decision.

"!!??"

Wennyxa shuddered slightly and stared wide-eyed in disbelief that Grandio had shouted at her.

She then lowered her head.

Lorra is the same.

Meanwhile, Grandio closed his eyes silently in resignation.

Because he knew that if they refused and moreover tried to run away, they would actually have an even worse fate.

Especially when everyone on my side is currently much stronger than the three of them.

And he must have realized that this had to be done because apart from protecting our secret, it was also to protect the three of them and their people.

And Wennyxa and Lorra should have realized that too. That's why eventually they just kept quiet and lowered their heads.

"Hah~.... Huh~...."

Grandio took a deep breath and then slowly opened his eyes.

"...."

Meanwhile, Wennyxa and Lorra also raised their heads again and looked at Grandio with slightly worried frowns.

Then Mephisto-jiisama looked at Grandio seriously.

"Are you really sure?"

"Yes."

Grandio answered briefly and gave a small nod but his facial expression was assure and firm.

"Okay. Swear that you will die if the three of you tell anyone, anything, and anyhow about that tortoise, Spirit Tortoise, whether intentionally or not without our permission."

Mephisto-jiisama said and then extended his left hand to Grandio.

Grandio nodded again slightly and then stretched out his left hand to grabbed Mephisto-jiisama's left hand.

Then Grandio put his right hand on his chest and said,

"I, Grandio Orobas, swear that the three of us will not tell anyone, anything, or anyhow about Spirit Tortoise whether intentionally or not without the permission of Lord Mephisto Pheles and Lord Rey Rofocale! If this oath is broken, this ancient curse will activate and make me die instantly!"

After Grandio finished saying his oath in the ancient Devil language, suddenly a glowing red-black chain appeared that tied his left hand and the left hand of Mephisto-jiisama which grabbed each other.

But only about three seconds later the magical chain disappeared.

"Alright. It's done."

After saying that, Mephisto-jiisama stopped grabbing Grandio's hand.

"This curse can only be removed by me or Rey. If we think that the three of you are truly trustworthy, we will consider lifting this curse."

"...."

Hearing Mephisto-jiisama's words, Grandio nodded slightly.

""....""

Meanwhile the two little girls lowered their heads slightly again as if feeling guilty.

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"Kukuku.... Okay, little girl. Stop sulking. Aren't you looking for water serpent? I'll give you a little help as a little compensation."

Kulshedra-san said with a small smile and patted Wennyxa's head.

"Hm? Kulshedra-san?"

I was a little surprised and confused as to why she suddenly took the initiative to help.

Besides, there was no reason for her to do that.

Moreover, she is usually a person who is quite lazy and indifferent to strangers.

"No problem right, My Master?"

Kulshedra-san asked me with a wide smile.

"Well, it can't be helped. As you wish."

I answered with a slight shrug of my shoulders.

Although I don't know why Kulshedra-san suddenly act kindly, I didn't stop her from helping Wennyxa.

Maybe she did it because a whim or something.

"Alright.... You heard that, right, little girl?"

Kulshedra-san asked Wennyxa.

"How do you want to help?"

Wennyxa asked still looking a little sullen and looking at Kulshedra-san.

And Kulshedra-san responded with a chuckle and a small grin.

"Kukuku.... That's easy for me. What kind of water serpent you want?"

"Amethyst Water Serpent. A purplish-white water serpent with a purple crystal horn on its head. I want an adult one."

"Okay."

After hearing Wennyxa's answer, Kulshedra-san gave a small nod and then walked towards the edge of the lake.

While the rest of us, some followed her and some just watched from a distance.

And after arriving at the edge of the lake, Kulshedra-san squatted down and then stretched her right hand into the water.

And then, she seemed to close her eyes and became silent.

"...."

We didn't understand what she was actually doing, but we just kept quiet and watched her.

But it is possible that she is focused on searching Amethyst Water Serpent which lives in the depths of Lake Tlaga and is in accordance with Wennyxa's request.

While how she could do it, I also don't really know.

But the possibility is that since Kulshedra-san herself is actually a Water Dragon/Serpent-based Spirit, she can also track and subdue creatures with the same base as well.

"Gotcha."

After a few minutes, Kulshedra-san said that and then withdrew her hands from the water and stood back up.

"Now just wait."

Kulshedra-san said to us with a small smile.

And not long after, suddenly a large whirlpool slowly appeared on the surface of the lake

And we also saw a large and long silhouette rising from the depths of the lake to the surface.

*Boom!!!"*

Suddenly water seemed to gush out from the whirlpool like a geyser and we also saw something large and long that seemed to be pushed up with it.

And then something that seemed to be a huge snake monster fell to the surface of the lake.

*Byuurrrr!!!!*

The fall of the huge monster caused waves for a moment but soon the lake surface returned to normal.

And we were finally able to clearly see the appearance of the aquatic monster.

The monster looked like a giant purplish-white snake but had webbed fins on both sides of its head and along its back, as well as three purple crystal horns in the middle of its head.

But it seemed that the large monster was dead or unconscious because it just floated on the surface of the lake without any movement at all.

"This is what you want, right?"

Kulshedra-san asked Wennyxa.

But Wennyxa, her two servants, and Mephisto-jiisama instead looks stunned and wide-eyed.

"Wha!?"

"T-That's....!?"

"....!?"

"Tri-horned Amethyst Water Serpent!?"

Because of the surprised reaction of the four of them, the rest of us were confused because we didn't understand why they seemed so shocked after seeing the large water serpent monster.

Is it because it has three horns and not one like it should?

But if it's just because of that, they shouldn't be that surprised, right?

"Hah~.... Tri-horned Amethyst Water Serpent is Amethyst Water Serpent which mutated and become stronger and larger.... But even most Amethyst Water Serpent only mutated into Twin-horned Water Serpent which has two horns. While mutation to Tri-horned Amethyst Water Serpent is extremely rarely happens. The chance is only one in a million."

Mephisto-jiisama explained while facepalming after taking a sigh.

"So this one is very, very rare?"

I asked with a slight tilt of my head.

"You think?"

Mephisto-jiisama asked back with a stiff smile and slightly twitching the corner of his lips.

"...."

I was silent because of that.

What have you done Kulshedra-san?

"Is this enough, little girl? You haven't answered me earlier."

Kulshedra-san asked Wennyxa again.

"Nn. Nn."

Wennyxa eagerly nodded at her.

"Good then. Kukuku...."

Kulshedra-san said while smiling and patting Wennyxa's head.

"Uhh.... Lady Kulshedra, didn't this girl just want an ordinary Amethyst Water Serpent? Why did you get a Tri-horned Amethyst Water Serpent instead?"

Mephisto-jiisama asked with a bit of hesitation and a slightly awkward facial expression.

"Oh. Actually, I was only looking for one-horned ones. And I've managed to find a few of them. But that three-horned one suddenly appeared angrily. Maybe because he sensed my aura and felt disturbed. Of course I warned him to not bother me either. But he got even more impudent. How dare an eel like him dare to challenge me? So I beat him up."

Kulshedra-san answered casually but also seemed a little annoyed.

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We all fell silent hearing Kulshedra-san's answer.

Then Mephisto-jiisama seemed facepalming again.

"Uhh.... Lady Kulshedra, Tri-horned Amethyst Water Serpent is like the King of Amethyst Water Serpent, you know."

"Oh? Is that so? How do I know...."

Kulshedra-san answered with a slight shrug of her shoulders as if what she had done was just a small, insignificant thing.

Then she looked at Wennyxa and her two servants.

"Please keep what I just did a secret too, okay? .... Don't worry. You don't need to bother making an oath or anything like that this time. Kukuku...."

Kulshedra-san chuckled and the three of them eagerly nodded in understanding.

Well, I'm sure they won't want to cause any more problems.

Right?

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