Chapter 149. Twisted (5)
Penen split up the soldiers that were part of the formation, assigning a portion of them to the Sword Grand Master’s unit.
“Techi, Kais, Soluna, you guys follow the Commander.” “Yes, sir!”
Kei, who was confirming the formation, momentarily stopped and looked at Desir. “What are you guys going to do?”
“We will follow you as well.”
If Desir’s group remained here and faced the enemies, Kei’s unit would be spared from annihilation.
There was a chance that Penen would be able to lead the remaining soldiers to join Kei after eliminating the enemies here. However, Desir was not about to gamble like that. He decided to join Kei without any hesitation.
‘We must not mix up our priorities here.’
For Desir, the most important thing was the safety of his party members and clearing the quest. Remaining here and blocking the enemies was too risky. Furthermore, in order to clear the quest, it was a better choice to stay with Kei and eliminate the Prophet.
Even if the other soldiers were sacrificed here, they were still virtual characters. There was no reason to put himself at a disadvantage out of concern for their well-being.
In the chaos of the hell-like battlefield, Desir motioned to Adjest, Pram, and Romantica to fall back and regroup with him. Adjest and Pram, who were holding their own in one of the frontlines, were drenched in blood.
When all of the members of the Kei detachment had gathered, Penen cried out. “We will open a path temporarily in ten seconds!”
He gave the orders and the soldiers started to move.
Kei, the few soldiers assigned to accompany him, as well as Desir’s group, readied themselves behind the front line.
“Now!”
Kei shouted his final order to the group of soldiers. They used their shields to shove the nearby Chimeras to the side and create a momentary gap in their relentless assault. The magicians swiftly invoked spells and blasted the now clumped up groups of Chimeras.
*Boooom*
The path in front of them was clear. With the explosions acting as their starting shot, Kei and Desir’s groups seized the opportunity and booked it out of the Hall of Knowledge as quickly as possible. A few of the Chimeras broke off from the assault on Penen’s formation to attack Kei, but they were able to eliminate the Chimeras nimbly.
They ran. Once they got far enough away, the remaining Chimeras gave up their pursuit and turned back towards Penen.
The Hall of Knowledge served as the focal point of the palace, connecting each section of the inner bailey. Six different passageways branched out from the one room, giving the impromptu party five areas to explore. Kei motioned towards the third passage on the left, and the party followed.
Luckily for them, Kei seemed confident in where the Prophet could be found.
As they made their way down the curvy corridor, Desir took the opportunity to ask Kei about their situation.
“Does the end of this passageway connect to anywhere else?”
“Nope. If the Prophet wants to escape from the palace, he’ll need to pass through this passage.”
Desir nodded after hearing his answer.
The Prophet was no different from a rat in a trap.
Desir deduced that they were currently headed towards the Prophet’s research lab, where all his Homunculus research material and notes would be gathered.
Desir wasn’t sure why, but the Prophet definitely had a new sense of urgency when it came to finishing his research. He had grown much more aggressive in gathering research materials, even with the risk of exposing himself. As this was the case, it was impossible for him to simply give up on his research and retreat; he had to be in his laboratory.
Upon nearing the end of the corridor, they came across an area that appeared to be a garden, once upon a time.
The atmosphere was sombre, dead. There wasn’t a single flower blooming.
All of the water seemed as though it had been forcibly dried out, and the greenery had been wilted and blackened. It was as though all of the vital force had been sucked dry.
It wasn’t just the appearance of the area that made it so unsettling. “The mana here… It’s vile, Desir.”
Romantica murmured.
Adjest and Desir also felt the mana in the area. It carried with it a foul sewer-like odor, just like Romantica described. As they ventured forward into the garden, the concentration of vile mana grew thicker and coated the area.
“I’ve felt this kind of mana before. Crow Mask used it against me in our fight.”
A Sixth-Circle magician, something rare on the continent, and one of the leaders of the Outsiders.
“That is impossible. Crow Mask can’t be alive now if he existed here.” It was as Adjest pointed out.
The Shadow World that they were currently participating in was a place from over a hundred years ago. It was impossible for a man who exists at the present moment to be in this place. “Right. But other than that, we know there’s a group who has access to this kind of mana.” “The Outsiders… ”
“Exactly.”
Even though Desir answered her, he started to doubt his own conviction on this matter. The Outsiders didn’t form until after the invention of the Magic Crystal.
Zod wouldn’t develop the [Enchant] spell for another fifty years. The Outsiders, along with their tainted mana, had no reason to exist now.
‘But it must be connected to the Outsiders in some way.’
No matter how many questions they had, they wouldn’t get any answers until they met the Prophet.
They kept moving forward diligently. They had no time to rest; to do so was a waste of the time bought by the soldiers currently holding out against the Chimeras for them.
When they finally reached the center of the garden, they came across a small dome. From it, bursts of mana were flaring out, the concentration so intense it was difficult to breath.
When Kei made a gesture, his subordinates hurriedly got into formation. Desir followed his command as well.
‘Three Rook Class swordsmen.’
The three soldiers Kei brought with them had attained mastery in materializing aura.
Including Desir’s group, all of the people present had outstanding individual ability, but due to extreme exhaustion, their actual fighting strength had been greatly diminished. Between the fights on the way here, along with the constant assault of the mana tainted air around them, it was a wonder that they were all still standing.
‘Still, we have no choice but to do something, one way or the other.’
While they contemplated over their next action, something began to emerge from the dome. They quickly realized that that something was actually someone.
His hair was pure white and his face was filled with stitches here and there. His eye bags were sagging well below his eyes and his lifeless form was reminiscent of a corpse.
He was sitting nonchalantly next to a glass tube, appearing to contain a Homunculus. “Really. This timing couldn’t be worse.”
His voice slightly quivered. Yet he didn’t seem weak. If anything, the combined effect of his voice and appearance, made him seem all the more monstrous.
“So you are the Prophet.”
“And you are the Sword Grand Master. You really managed to make it this far. This is as unpleasant as when I encountered the descendants of the Great Man.”
Kei lifted his sword.
“After you came to this country, everything started to crumble.” “And I accomplished something remarkable.”
“I have no interest in what dastardly creature you’ve created. What I do know, is that a large number of people have suffered because of you.”
“You are holding onto insignificant things. You only look at what’s in front of you.” “For me, that is everything.”
There was no need for words. This kind of confrontation would only result in both parties talking in parallel to each other.
“So what exactly are you going to do? You’re the one with the most exceptional swordsmanship in this era, yet you are a mere soldier of the Magic Kingdom. A kingdom where ironically, magic is the only standard of judgement for everything.”
Kei ignored his taunting and started to pour his strength into his sword. When his King Class aura was fully materialized, the air around his blade began to vibrate.
“You will be executed under the crime of manipulating this country and the crime of assassinating His Majesty.”
“Executed?”
He spoke with a hint of a smile. He responded as though trash had gained sentience and told him how to live his life…
“Don’t get in over your head. Even if you’re a Sword Grand Master, you’re merely one human being.”
The Prophet got out of his seat. At the same time, he took out a skull-shaped mask from his chest.
As soon as the Prophet began to move, Kei shifted his stance so that his sword strike would be within reach of the Prophet.
Kei drew his sword in a flash.
No one was able to follow the trajectory his sword made.
However, the sword never made contact with the Prophet. It was as if there was an invisible barrier blocking Kei’s blade.
*Crack*
The brooch hanging from the Prophet’s clothes cracked in response to Kei’s blade. Desir realized that it was an Artifact.
“Quite impatient. Right. Don’t think you’re the only one in a hurry.”
The Prophet held his hand out into the air, and something began to take shape within it. Within a moment, the Prophet had generated a spear out of thin air.
It was not an ordinary spear, either. The shaft and the spearhead were all made up of Blank?um.
[Brionac Offensive] *Crack*
At that moment, a bright, blinding light suddenly poured out of it. The spear shattered into dozens of thinner blades, which began to circle around the Prophet.
Desir was caught completely off guard.
Despite having cleared several Shadow Dungeons and having lived within the Shadow Labyrinth for a long time, he had never heard of an artifact like this one.
Not only did he have an artifact this powerful, but he also had the artifact that he used to block Kei’s attack.
Desir judged that he may have more artifacts and started to take precautions against this fact. Kei raised the intensity of his aura and spoke towards Desir’s group.
“My subordinates and I will attack him head-on. Please work together to surround him and attack from the sides…”
“Did you think it would be that easy?”
One of the spear fragments pierced the glass tube that was containing the Homunculus. *Crack*
Shards of glass sprayed outwards. “I’ll give you a choice.”
The Homunculus that was inside the glass tube fell to the floor, but it raised itself up soon after.
“The eternal truth that alchemy seeks or the mythical weapon that has murdered countless heroes of humankind. Choose one of these two. Whatever you choose, it will be an honorable death for you.”
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