The news regarding the existence of a cure for parasitization rekindled hope within King Alvis and the Royal Court Magicians. They hadn't expected a cure to have already been cultivated at Blackstone Town.
"Frost moonlight lilies, roots of a coneflower, and leaves of a mandrake," said Lark. "At equal amounts, boil the three together under extreme heat for a minimum of five days and feed the concoction to a parasitized human. The formula's simple, right?"
Everyone in the room listened attentively as Lark recited the ingredients and the steps needed to concoct the cure for parasitization.
Although frost moonlight lilies were seasonal plants that grew only during winter, they believed that there were several of them stashed away in the Alchemist Guild in the capital. Coneflowers, on the other hand, were quite easy to find. The real problem was the number of mandrake leaves Lark could provide.
"Five days? If we wait that long…" muttered Lady Ropianna. It was a lot of time, considering the demons must be attacking the other cities of the kingdom right now. They did not even know if the demon horde had already breached the defenses of the front lines and reached the capital.
"Mandrake leaves are infused with mana. Unfortunately, even I do not know of a way to hasten the process of extracting its essence," said Lark, a bit dismayed that he hadn't bothered to learn how to hasten the process back in his previous life. Potions capable of curing parasitization were common, after all, in the Magic Empire.
"Lady Ropianna, please delegate the task of concocting the potion to the alchemists of the capital," said Lark.
"Of course. I'll work them to the bone, Lord Lark," replied the elderly female magician.
"I'll stop by Herbalist Mores' house after this, before going straight to the front lines."
"We're going straight to the front lines?" General Carlos did not like the idea of bringing King Alvis to a place overrun by demons. "Lord… forgive my impertinence, but isn't it too dangerous to head straight there?
And it'll take us longer to ride all the way to the west, instead of heading straight to the capital."
Their group hadn't heard anything from the western region since they'd left the capital two weeks ago. There was a chance that the cities defending against the demon horde had collapsed by now.
"It's not easy to destroy a pinnacle-grade barrier. Although parasitic demons have incredibly high regenerative abilities, they do not have high offensive strength. The capital should be safe, even now. Our best course of action right now is to head straight to the west, to the front lines."
King Alvis nodded. "I agree with the lord. I also believe that we should immediately head straight to the western territories."
General Carlos frowned, but did not utter another word. He knew how stubborn King Alvis was when it came to the safety of his citizens. Nothing he said here would change the old man's mind.
"To save those that can still be saved," said King Alvis to General Carlos. "Isn't this what we came here for?"
The king turned to Lark and said, "I may look frail, but this old man is still capable of riding all the way to the west. I believe my presence there would greatly increase the morale of the soldiers. Please let me accompany you all the way to the front lines, Lord Lark."
"Alright," said Lark. "I'll gather the mandrake leaves from the herbalist. Your Majesty, two hours from now, please meet me near the mines at the Endless Forest."
King Alvis and his retinue were puzzled why Lark was asking them to meet in the opposite direction of the western region, but decided to simply nod their heads regardless.
After Lark left the mansion, he headed straight to the Training Hall.
Over a hundred soldiers had just finished their daily stamina training; they were stabbing and cutting the air with their spears. Overseeing them, the recently promoted Commander Qarat and Anandra.
"Continue with your training," Lark said to the soldiers, preventing them from stopping and greeting him as he passed by.
"Young Lord."
"Master."
Commander Qarat and Anandra immediately saluted and greeted him.
"Good work training the soldiers. I came here to give you this."
Lark handed a sword to Anandra.
"This is…" mumbled Anandra as he stared at the sword in his hand. It was incredibly beautiful. An item worth at least several hundred gold coins, probably more.
"A gift," said Lark. "It's made of adamantite."
"Adamantite…" Anandra knew how valuable adamantite was. It was so rare that it was even coveted by the dwarven race. He couldn't believe that his master was gifting him something so precious without batting an eye.
"Do you remember what I taught you a few days ago?" said Lark.
Anandra nodded. "Yes."
"Try it."
Following Lark's command, Anandra unsheathed the sword, revealing a platinum blade that glimmered with the touch of light. He channeled mana into it, coating the sword with a translucent white aura. Several soldiers halted in their training and stared at the sword in awe. It was the first time they'd seen a sword so beautiful.
"It's easier to channel mana into a sword made of adamantite, right?"
Lark grinned.
"It's light and easy to use, Master Lark." Anandra swung the sword in the air, creating a sharp cutting sound. As expected of Anandra. He'd managed to learn coating his weapon with mana in days.
"I'll be gone for quite some time. Practice coating your weapon and your body with mana, until then."
"You'll be leaving, Master?" asked Anandra as he sheathed the sword.
"I need to accompany His Majesty to the Kelvin Duchy and its nearby ports. Once you've fully mastered coating your body and weapons with mana, I'll start teaching you how to open the seven gates."
The Seven Gates of Mana.
Lark had mentioned this technique to Anandra before, back when he was teaching him how to coat his sword with mana. The same technique used by the so-called Immortal Beastman who once led the Third Legion of the United Grakas Alliance.
Even that beastman general managed to open only three out of the seven gates. But Lark believed Anandra, who had an incredibly strong body capable of surviving the corrosive attacks of a male basilisk, should be able to open at least five out of the seven gates.
"His Majesty…" said Anandra. "I see."
Anandra remembered the news of the king's arrival this morning. But unlike the other residents, Anandra forbade the soldiers from going out to the streets to get a glimpse of the king.
"Increase the training of George and Austen. If they complain, tell them it was their master's orders."
"Of course."
It was subtle, but a devilish grin formed on Anandra's face for a moment. It seemed the brothers would complain about their hellish training again once Lark returned to the town.
"Commander."
"Young Lord!"
"Here. I'm giving you this first." Lark handed him a spear wrapped in a cloth. "Although it's only made of iron, it should be easy enough for everyone to use. Just think of it as something similar to the pillars of the Training Hall."
The commander unwrapped the cloth, revealing a spear with tiny runes carved on the blade and the shaft.
"It's a magic spear," said Lark. "Just will it and the runes inscribed in the spear will heed your call."
The commander's hands trembled hearing the words 'magic spear.' He knew how precious such items were. He couldn't wait to test out the weapon later.
"T-Thank you so much, Lord!" Commander Qarat said in a passionate voice. Embracing the spear with his arms, he bowed his head low.
Lark addressed the soldiers, "All of you who participated in the war with the empire, will also be given a similar spear once I've returned. Look forward to it."
The veteran soldiers were visibly excited to hear this. The new recruits, on the other hand, looked at their seniors with envy.
If they worked hard, would they receive a magic spear too?
The new recruits clenched their fists with renewed determination.
After handing the weapons to Anandra and Commander Qarat, Lark headed to Herbalist Mores' house and plucked out several mandrake leaves.
Thankfully, the herbalist had managed to grow several dozen mandrakes.
The only problem was the ear-splitting screams of the mandrakes the moment Lark started plucking their leaves one after another. If not for Lark's sound-canceling magic, the herbalist and his assistant would have probably vomited on the ground from the grating, ear-splitting sound.
*** At the outskirts of Blackstone Town, near the kalrane stone mine, King Alvis and his men patiently waited for Lark to arrive.
General Carlos and the soldiers started discussing ways to alleviate the burden on His Majesty during their travel toward the Kelvin Duchy.
Although King Alvis said that he still had enough strength to travel all the way to the western territories, General Carlos knew that it was a façade. He was worried His Majesty would collapse during their travel.
"Is everyone here?"
The Lord of Blackstone Town appeared from the direction of the mines and walked toward King Alvis and his men.
"Yes, Lord," said the king.
The other soldiers were clearly uncomfortable that His Majesty was showing such reverence to a mere lord of a town, but still kept their mouths shut.
"We've already replenished our rations and fed our mounts," said General Carlos. "We're ready to move out at any time."
"Mounts?" said Lark. His right hand held a small leather bag filled with mandrake leaves. "No. We're flying to the front lines."
The soldiers looked at the Lord of Blackstone Town in wonder. Flight magic was incredibly hard to sustain, even for Royal Court Magicians. Not only did it require fine control over mana, it also continuously consumed large amounts of it. And now, the lord was telling them that they would be flying all the way to the western territory?
"Farsight and I can use flight magic for a couple of minutes, Lord Lark," said Lady Ropianna. "But that's our limit. And it would be extremely hard for us to use other spells while maintaining flight magic."
Lark understood. Although they were Royal Court Magicians, it was impossible for them to use flight magic on several people at the same time.
Not everyone had an incredibly fine control over their mana, like Lark.
"It will be fine," said Lark. "We'll be riding a flying mount."
"A flying mount?" said Lady Ropianna.
Lark activated the gem on his necklace and transmitted a message to a creature living at the border of the Endless Forest.
"Blackie. There's no longer any need to conceal yourself," said Lark.
"Come to me immediately."
After the message ended, Farsight felt an ominous presence coming from the forest. He pulled out an arrow from his quiver out of reflex and nocked it on his bow, ready to fire at any moment.
"Old woman," said Farsight.
"I know," said Lady Ropianna.
The two Royal Court Magicians glanced at Lark warily, then in the direction where the clumps of mana were coming from. Soon, the source revealed itself. Flocks of birds flew and tremendous pressure swept through this part of the forest. A shadow loomed over the king and his men.
A seven-headed monster with two pairs of bat-like wings.
By estimate, it was almost as large as the colossal wall enclosing the town. Around fifty meters in length, the creature's black iridescent scales glimmered with the touch of light.
Time seemed to have momentarily halted as they stared at the monster.
The soldiers shuddered, their mouths agape.
"W-What… What is that?!"
"M-Monster!"
"P-Protect His Majesty!"
General Carlos unsheathed his sword and, along with the royal guards, assumed a defensive stance in front of King Alvis. Elias Farsight imbued mana into his arrow, while Lady Ropianna started casting a barrier.
Everyone was so terrified of the gargantuan monster that for a moment, they forgot that Lark had previously mentioned the existence of a flying mount.
The seven-headed monster hovered right above the king and his men.
All of its seven heads were looking at the young man with short silver hair.
The seven-headed monster spoke in human tongue, "I've come, God Evander."