He and It Chapter 84: Dark Sky Sanctuary (19)

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Addis note: This book ends with chapter 104.

 

Chapter 84: Dark Sky Sanctuary (19)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

Crusade tried to move towards him, but he was still getting used to the feeling of having his heavy armor off, and lifted his leg, stumbling forward a bit, before crushing Yu Mengzhou into a pancake.

Falchion hastily bit down on Yu Mengzhou’s collar, and dragged him backward. Striker did just as Falchion had said, he quickly forgot the reason for his earlier anger, and popped up to run over and watch the fun.

“Crusade! You got clean!” Striker yelled in surprise. “So you can talk now?”

“If you’re so free, why don’t you help prop up your brother,” Falchion said without moving. “It’s something to be happy about.”

Striker cheerfully held up Crusade’s body until after the two horses had stabilized, Yu Mengzhou stepped forward, he took off his gloves and ran his fingers through the soaked, haze-colored mane. The wounds on Crusade had started to seep and his palms were stained with a scarlet red color that he didn’t know if it was blood or sweat, as he rubbed them together.

After a moment of silence, he smiled slightly, “By the time I’m done trimming Crusade’s hooves, why don’t I give you two a brush?”

Ignoring Striker’s happy grunts, Yu Mengzhou put his gloves back on and began to concentrate on fixing Crusade’s spell spikes. He pried open the encircling spines, shaved off the thick buildup of scars and dirt on the soles of his hooves, and then, one by one, plucked off the binding implements the Demon Prince had set up.

By his count, Crusade was now the seventh Demon Horse to be unbound, and the spikes were no longer a powerful obstacle for Yu Mengzhou. From this point of view, Yu Mengzhou felt strange.

As early as when he freed the fourth demon horse, the hell Lord named The Weaver warned him, ordered him to leave the demon world quickly and not to open the box of calamity. However, now that he had freed the seventh Demon Horse, Angola, who was at the center of the dispute, hadn’t reacted at all, and only dispatched an army once, which was barely more than a nuisance…According to reason, if the Demon Horse had all of their seals lifted, his days would come to an end, so why did he…?

Yu Mengzhou’s hand unconsciously paused.

“Great demons can only be killed by concepts they don’t understand.” Could it be that Angola’s understanding of the herd was so thorough that he wasn’t afraid of their vengeance?

As soon as he thought of this, Yu Mengzhou’s heart couldn’t stop muttering.

He continued without stopping, as he repaired the two hooves in front, then the ones behind.

This situation…Falchion should have prepared for it as well, right? Because from the beginning to the end, he had been very sure that the herd was a sharp knife to end Angola, and on the day they regained their freedom, they would surely send their hatred towards the heart of the Demon Prince…

As the diseased hooves fell away, revealing brand-new hoof surfaces, Yu Mengzhou applied ointment, wrapped gauze around them, and wiped his sweat away with difficulty.

“Whew,” he straightened up. “Okay, next I’m brushing you guys!”

Unexpectedly, there were actually quite a few natural hot springs that existed in hell, the spring water that was bubbling with hot steam was turquoise, so colorful that it caused his heart to palpitate, exuding a rich sulfuric scent, and when contrasted with the crimson earth, the sense of magic instantly overflowed.

With that kind of water quality, it certainly couldn’t touch his skin directly. Yu Mengzhou used a fine brush dipped in the hot water, and then grabbed Crusade’s hooves, one by one, to scrub his dirty fur.

The large brush ran through and pushed out waves of fluctuating water ripples on the Demon Horse’s velvety fur. Yu Mengzhou brushed out the knotted mane, letting the stains and blood flow down the body. Crusade comfortably shook his ears, and Striker’s tail was also high up, as it swayed left and right in triumph. Falchion watched all of that, but still calmly buried his head to drink and didn’t utter a sound.

Having finished the grooming, Crusade stood glistening at the hot springs while Striker jumped down out of the blue and went inside for a clattering wash. Mud-colored bloodstains spread diffusely, and Yu Mengzhou stifled a giggle as he glanced back at the herd’s chief, just in time to see Falchion raise his head patiently and breathlessly, as he breathed deeply into the sky.

“Bath!” Blasphe and Gao’er couldn’t find it, and were chasing the trail all the way across. “We need a bath too!”

Immediately after that, the two Demon Horses also shouted, jumped into the hot springs and smashed heavily into Striker, who squealed and struggled, then turning back to take two vicious bites. The three war machines immediately twisted together in the spring, churning the surrounding ground with the momentum of overturning a river.

Yu Mengzhou was happy as he watched them, but urgently hid behind Falchion for refuge. That hot spring water wasn’t something for him to play with. If it were to splash onto his skin, it would burn him and swell up in a short time. Only a native Demon Horse from Hell could withstand such a thing.

“‘Cause you a problem?” Falchion asked. “Don’t worry about it, that’s just how they are. As soon as they leave the battlefield, they become…What’s that word, a moron for life?”

Striker protested loudly between twists, “Hey, we can hear you!”

Falchion said indifferently, “Well, yeah. It’s not like you guys are deaf. Surely you can hear us.”

Yu Mengzhou hesitated, then removed a glove from one hand and gently poked Falchion’s hind leg.

“So, Falchion, I have something I want to ask you.”

The piece of fur he poked twitched minutely.

Falchion turned if nothing had happened, incidentally shrouding the human as much as he could in the shadow of his torso. “What is it?”

Yu Mengzhou deliberated on the wording and whispered, “I’ve been thinking about the words you told me, the words that…Great Demons can only be killed by concepts they don’t understand.”

“–A great evil can only be killed by concepts it doesn’t understand.” He whispered in unison.

Yu Mengzhou rubbed his hands together, a little nervous for some reason. “So, I was wondering…Why is it that after I lifted the spell nails from so many Demon Horses, that the Demon Prince, Angola, hasn’t made any big moves?”

Falchion stared at him, waiting for what he was going to say next.

“Does he know you all?” Yu Mengzhou asked. “Such as your powers, your, your, your…I mean, would you be able to kill him?”

Falchion contemplated for a moment.

“You do have valid concerns,” he said. “But that’s okay. I’m sure enough.”

“Really?” Yu Mengzhou asked.

“Really.” The Demon Horse looked at him with a very gentle gaze. “No matter how much Angola knows me and the herd, there was only one chance for him to imprison us. Once we are out of our cage, we are a force he no longer has control over.”

Yu Mengzhou looked at him, and he couldn’t help but curl the corners of his mouth as he brushed Falchion’s forelock with his fur brush.

“I think…”

Those were the only two words he said before a large group of Demon Horses staggered wildly across the area.

“Hot water!”

“Hot water! Punch!”

“Haha! Hot water! Hi, guys!”

“Hi, water…Haha! Hot water! Punch!”

Yu Mengzhou, “…”

As if a repeater-like wild hurricane blew by his side, Deathstar led the remaining Demon Horses back, and added them to the already unforgiving hot spring pool. Truth be told, according to the original size of the spring, accommodating a hundred and eighty people wasn’t a problem. However it was stretched and overcrowded trying to hold eleven huge Demon Horses.

Crusade stood haughtily on the bank. The churning mist adhered to his mane and hide, condensed into fine droplets, which under the refraction of the light, made him seem to be coated with glittering diamond dust. Only half a dozen times did he move noiselessly, oblivious to the stupid companions of his group who were obsessed with fighting for hot water, but at last Crusade too collapsed his horse’s face, and spat out a word obscurely and vaguely from the tip of his tongue.

“Expand.”

In a flash, it was as if the invisible force of creation had distorted the void and reshaped cause and effect. Yu Mengzhou’s vision was trance-like for a moment, and when he was able to focus again, the size of the hot spring pool had strangely and silently expanded by nearly double!

He couldn’t describe the strangeness of that ability. He hadn’t moved, and the shape of the hot spring walls didn’t change, it just seemed like the hot spring itself was enlarged with ps software, only ps was used in a two-dimensional plane, while Crusade manipulated a three-dimensional reality.

At this, the herd had lifted their heads from the hot springs and finally recognized Crusade’s change.

“Wow,” Iron Scepter said in surprise. “Congratulations, Crusade. You can talk again!”

“Pretty…pretty much.”

“Not bad,” said Deathstar. “Way to go.”

The lackadaisical stallions then proceeded to flop around in the hot spring pool.

Yu Mengzhou was beside him, and when he saw that scene, he couldn’t help but lean against Falchion, as he shook uncontrollably with laughter. Since he was afraid of hurting Crusade’s pride, he held back his voice, and endured it very hard.

It wasn’t until dark that the herd climbed out of the hot springs. After the ordeal, they had almost turned into a pool of mud, while they jogged back to the campsite in twos and threes.

The night breeze in the Demon Realm was rare and gentle for once. Yu Mengzhou sat on Falchion’s back, as he held a large bunch of berries in his hand. The purplish-red berries were full and bright, falling from iron-black branches like miniature starlight. He didn’t know what variety they were, but anyway, as soon as he said look, Ether yanked the whole thing off.

The wilderness was endless and flat and straight, the twilight clouds low in the sky, the crimson earth waving a blood-colored afterglow, and in the distance, an abandoned earth-colored fortress. There couldn’t be a bleaker, lonelier sight, enough to cause the impulse to shed tears. However, the Demon Horses that were walking in all directions along the side livened up the empty wilderness.

“Maybe…This is our daily life from now on,” he said suddenly.

Falchion asked, “Really?”

“Yes. The peach source is set in the depths, and the streams float with fallen flowers…” Yu Mengzhou laughed again. “But it’s not lonely at all.”

After dinner, it was finally Sevenfold Eyes’ turn to get his hooves trimmed.

He wasn’t as petty as Ether about another horse being treated ahead of him. Sevenfold Eyes’ seemed very open, and anyway, when he returned, the human was still willing to lift the spell nails. As long as he did as before, the human could get rid of his torture devices.

“Brother,” Deathstar hissed, as he stepped to his side like a sullen black wall.

Sevenfold Eyes was expressionless. “…Hey, bro.”

Yu Mengzhou, wearing an apron full of hoof-trimming tools, didn’t understand what Deathstar was doing here.

Each Demon Horse had their own distinct personality, and it was obvious that except for Crusade, who couldn’t speak previously, Deathstar was the most reticent one here. He was also a dark-colored Demon Horse. However, while Falchion’s horns had blood-colored lines running down them, Deathstar’s appearance was as deadly as his name, black to the core.

“What’s the matter,” he asked. “Is there a problem?”

Deathstar nodded to him in greeting before turning to Sevenfold Eyes.

“Brother,” he opened the door. “Can I remove my spell nails first?”

Sevenfold Eyes, “…Why?”

Deathstar truthfully confessed, and every word that came out of his mouth felt like a stone that could be smashed to death, “Your confinement is loosening, and for the past two days, the torture device that Angola imposed on me has been stirring with more intensity than ever before, and I’m tired of it.”

Yu Mengzhou’s feelings were somewhat novel. Generally speaking, he was used to the euphemistic, what the herd called courtly phrases like those from Blasphe and Ether. Falchion’s responses were succinct and forceful, but no less soft and gentle. Only Deathstar…Their previous encounters hadn’t amounted to much, and he’d rarely heard Deathstar speak.

Sevenfold Eyes was a little helpless, “You’re cutting in, aren’t you?”

“I’ll owe you one,” Deathstar said. “Bro.”

Sevenfold Eyes couldn’t help but gasp, “I haven’t answered…”

He thought for a moment and said, “Forget it. You’re first, but there’s no next time!”

Yu Mengzhou smiled and patted his large head, then turned to Deathstar.

He found some lights in the fortress that still worked, and got Falchion to help light them up in a circle around the perimeter.

“Come here.” He patted the stone that would hold up his leg. “Let’s see your hooves.”

Deathstar obediently knelt his leg on it. Yu Mengzhou looked down to take a closer look. He’d made a cursory observation of the herd before. Each Demon Horse had their own difficulties, but the torture device on Deathstar’s hoof was the one that moved him the most.

“Are these…thorns, or vines?” He wrenched the flexible swimming vines with pliers and found they had bloody mouths with teeth on them which were practically like self- regenerating plants that were stationed like Deathstar’s hooves were flowerpots.

“Living things,” Deathstar said. “The Demon Realm’s most vital parasitic matriarch, with the ability to suppress me.”

Yu Mengzhou looked up, “Then your ability is…”

“I am the embodiment of the demise of all things,” Deathstar said. “Are you scared?”

Yu Mengzhou smiled slightly as he comfortingly touched Deathstar’s withers. “I’m not afraid. I’ll have to figure out something to get this off for you.”

Deathstar was silent for a moment.

Yu Mengzhou was still working on it. He tentatively snapped off a hard-as-iron vine with a pair of pliers, but in the blink of an eye, the vine grew again.

“You know,” Deathstar suddenly spoke. “Flirting with a demonic warhorse is an extremely dangerous thing.”

Yu Mengzhou choked and almost slammed his tongs on the back of his feet.

“Wh, what?!”

If Sevenfold Eyes had a face, then at this moment, he would definitely be ashen, killing chickens and making faces at Deathstar.

“Flirting,” Deathstar said uncertainly. “Like you and the chief. You just rubbed my back and comforted me…”

“It wasn’t flirting! It’s not, it’s…” Yu Mengzhou was incoherent. “I didn’t! I wasn’t–”