CHAPTER 13

Forbidden Magic (1)

Khazar told Ernolf to stay quiet and wait.

But Ernolf couldn’t sit still.

He was dying to know what the white liquid the slaves were drinking really was.

“If that liquid helps make body transplants more successful… it could be a huge help to the future world.”

Because of that strong curiosity, Ernolf had to go back to the farm and find out what the liquid really was.

When the sun went down, Ernolf secretly snuck out of the temple.
He used a light-body spell — the one Khazar always begged to learn — and jumped over the wall easily. Then he used another spell to move faster and headed straight for the farm.

In the middle of the large rye field, there were animal barns and storage buildings.

Ernolf searched each building until he found the shared sleeping area for the slaves.

Next to it were big water barrels and some large sacks just thrown around carelessly.

He walked up to a wooden barrel filled with that white liquid, sniffed it, and touched a tiny bit to his tongue.

“No way…”

Feeling uneasy, he opened one of the sacks — and found herbs and dried monster organs. The cloudy liquid was a diluted extract of those things.

“It’s not medicine… It’s poison.”

The liquid was a strong sedative — a drug used to dull the mind and suppress resistance.

It didn’t prevent side effects from body implants. Instead, it was used to hide those effects and control the slaves.

“So they give it to them to stop them from fighting back…”

Just as Ernolf covered the sack again and stood up — he suddenly heard a woman scream from inside the dorm.

He quickly gathered mana and peeked through a crack in the wooden wall.

Inside the shabby shelter — which was barely better than an animal pen — a young female slave was giving birth, helped by an older woman.
The straw under her was soaked in blood.

“Aaaagh!”

The woman’s screams were horrible, as if her flesh was being torn and bones were breaking.
Finally, the midwife lifted the newborn up.

Two guards hurried over when they heard the baby cry.

“Damn it… again?! She gave birth to a freak!”
“Ugh, gross. Get rid of it!”
“You get rid of it!”

The two guards argued while holding the baby, clearly disgusted.

Ernolf looked at the newborn — and was completely shocked.

The baby had two rows of teeth, blue reptile-like skin, and one finger attached directly to the wrist.

“Kyehh! Kyahh!”

Its cry sounded just like a venomous snake ready to strike.

“That’s not a human baby!”

It was a monster.

Hearing that disturbing cry, the nearby slaves began to stir.

Clang, clang, clang.

Chains started to rattle loudly in the darkness, and the slaves began to growl strangely.
Their eyes turned foggy and their faces twisted as if something else had awakened inside them.

One of the guards looked at the chains nervously.

Each slave was chained by the arms and legs, with the chains tied to posts.
But when many of them started moving at once, it didn’t feel safe at all.

“What the hell is wrong with them?”

One frightened guard stared as the monstrous baby shrieked.

Then, the mother suddenly jumped up and attacked the guard.

“Aaaah!”

The guard screamed and ran away, holding the baby.

“Wait for me!”

The midwife ran after him in a panic.

The mother — still bleeding heavily — tackled the guard and began to bite him like a wild animal.

“Help! Somebody help me!”

The other guard quickly poured the white liquid on the mother’s body.

“Uuuugh…”

The mother stumbled back. She looked like a beast — holding the baby with one hand while supporting herself on the ground with the other hand and both legs.

“Kyaaah!”

The baby in her arms bared its teeth and growled at the guard.

“Back off! Can’t you hear me?! Back off!”

The bloody guard grabbed a shovel.

The mother made another threatening sound.

“Kyaaa!”

“You filthy thing!”

He hit her with the shovel, making her scream in pain.

Hearing that, the chained slaves started to thrash violently.

And then… a few finally broke free from their chains and ran out.

“Help me!”

One of them jumped on the fleeing midwife and bit into her neck like a starving beast.

Piii! Piiik!

A man holding a water bucket blew a small whistle and ran into the rye fields.

The guard who had hit the mother also ran off, following his comrade — but three or four freed slaves broke a post and chased after them.

The growls of the slaves, the sharp whistle, and the screams of the guards echoed through the dark rye field.

Ernolf watched everything silently, holding his breath.

He had learned about monsters from a young age, since ancient ruins and dungeons were often full of them.

But even he had never seen creatures like these.

“Are they from some ancient species that went extinct? Or…”

He had noticed signs of body implants on the mother — and the same for the other slaves too.

Then he remembered that boy, Gilbad, who had violently destroyed the toys earlier.

“Did someone implant monster parts into human bodies…?”

Suddenly, Ernolf realized the terrifying truth.

This wasn’t just regular body modification.

This was forbidden ancient magic — a process called “cross-species body fusion,” also known as chimera creation.

If the surgeries done at the Blue Vine Temple were not between humans — but between humans and monsters — and what he saw now were the side effects, then it was a huge threat to all humanity.

Ernolf bit his lip as he looked at the blood-covered beast-woman and the monstrous newborn.

Meanwhile…

A spear flew past Khazar, just barely missing his hair.

The spear was made from sharpened bone — a weapon goblins usually use.
But the one who threw it wasn’t a goblin.

A monster — with a weird mix of human and beast features — stood in front of him, smiling with sharp teeth.

“Heh… You look soft and tasty, boy.”

Other monsters circled around Khazar, laughing like they hadn’t eaten a child in a long time.

They talked like humans, but acted like pure monsters.

Khazar quickly analyzed them.

They were half-human, half-beast — humans with monster-like bodies and instincts.

The first time he saw this “completed form” was 11 years later.

“So these things existed even 11 years ago?”

Khazar had thought that returning 50 years into the past gave him an advantage — but he was wrong.

Even now, his body was just one. He couldn’t be everywhere or know everything.

His knowledge of history was only based on what he experienced himself.

“I was overconfident.”

He tightened his grip on his sword.

Before he could move, the monster attacked — with speed faster than expected.

Khazar blocked the incoming spear and kicked the creature in the stomach with his aura-charged heel.

The monster slid back from the force.

“Tch. I meant to send him flying.”

But the monster quickly regained balance and counterattacked.

As Khazar dodged its rocky punch and tried to stab under its arm, a strange heat rose in his chest, followed by a deep rage.

He dodged a punch aimed at his head, then stabbed the monster’s forearm deeply.

“Aaargh!”

The monster screamed, clutching its bleeding arm.

Khazar mocked it.

“You’ll heal fast anyway. Why cry about it?”

Sure enough, the bleeding stopped quickly and the wound began to close.

“Oh? You know your stuff.”

The monster grinned and showed off its fully healed arm.

Khazar smirked too, but the air was still tense.

“Brother… I don’t know what’s making you so angry, but hold it in until I get back.”

The heat inside him now felt ice-cold.

He could feel Tirad’s emotions flowing into him through their connection.

His normally calm brother was completely furious — and that made Khazar uneasy.

But before he could return, he had a lot more to deal with.

Back at the farm…

“If they reach the village, it’s over. Kill them all!!”

The remaining slaves were trying to break their chains, and the escapees were fighting guards in the bloody rye field.

Ernolf stepped out of hiding — and in front of him stood the bleeding beast-woman and her monster baby.

“I know you’re angry. I swear I’ll find the ones who did this to you and your child… So please…”

Please don’t hate too much.

He swallowed the last words and raised his mana.

The white liquid from the barrels floated into the air, then formed small, tight spheres like bullets.

“Ice Bolt.”

As he turned his wrist, the liquid froze into sharp ice bolts, raining down on the woman and the other slaves.

The shards pierced their skin and slowed them down.
Soon, everything became quiet — like nothing had happened.

Ernolf closed his eyes and spoke again.

“Fire Burst.”

Huge flames shot up and swallowed the fallen slaves.

A loud explosion followed, shaking the ground and sending hot wind through the field.

Ernolf staggered from the force, but quickly regained his balance and walked away into the night.

His cold eyes stared straight at the brightly glowing temple.