Children of the Holy Emperor - Chapter 458



Only Noblemtl

458. Kaya’s Breath (7)

When No. 21 smashed the suspicious altar, and half of the assassins led by Olivier fell unconscious-

At the same time, a similar change occurred in the assassin who was confronting Seongjin.

Thud, clang!

The woman who had been fiercely confronting him with her sword suddenly lost her strength and collapsed on the floor.

Phew!

Seongjin, who did not miss the opportunity and stuck a nutcracker into her neck, took a moment to catch his breath and looked down at the woman’s eyes as life slowly faded away.

‘Did No. 21 somehow manage to do it?’

They were quite formidable opponents. To the point where one could suspect that the souls controlling their bodies were veterans who had spent their entire lives honing their assassination skills.

‘But since it wasn’t the main body, the limits of the Auror layer were also clear.’

If the amount of aurors was similar, I could be proud that I was in no way inferior in terms of experience in operating aurors.

Of course, if the opponent had switched bodies and attacked me a second time, a third time, and a fourth time, I don’t know what the outcome would have been.

After confirming that there were no more hostile signs in the vicinity, Sungjin followed No. 21’s movements into the basement.

‘This seems like a pretty well-maintained stronghold?’

On both sides of the long corridor, food storage, armory, and living quarters come into view. Judging by the long history of the facilities, it seems likely that these forces have been active here since ancient times.

I think I have a little idea about their identity.

‘Kaya’s Breath.’

One day, I learned in detail from Dasha about the genealogy of the assassination group that was active on the continent.

Among them, ‘Kaya’s Breath’ was the most active group in the northern region including Ortona. It is a long-standing assassination group that mainly uses stilettos and once had a power balance equal to that of ‘Oberon’s Hand’.

Naturally, another question arises: What on earth do they have to do with the Freedom Underpass?

‘If you create and move secret bases all over the northern region, the radius of influence of the Free Underground will inevitably overlap.’

He’s been protecting Giovanni since he first met him, so they probably can’t be in an antagonistic relationship.

So, is ‘Kaya’s Breath’ a subordinate organization of the Free Underground? Or is it just a cooperative relationship where they help each other out?

Seongjin, who had been thinking about that, stopped for a moment in front of a large room. It was a place where he had been sensing suspicious signs all along.

I poked my head into the room and-

‘… … .’

As expected, there were a couple of men and women wearing diving suits lying there quietly with their eyes closed.

Did they all fall into a state of group lyricism? Judging by the way their auror activity was at rock bottom, it seemed like none of them were in normal physical condition.

‘… I don’t think he’s particularly conscious.’

It was also unusual that a significant number of them were women of similar age to the assassin who had rushed at them earlier.

and-

‘Salt crystal… …!’

Seongjin, who confirmed the existence of the stone shining in their heads, unconsciously clenched his fist.

Should we call this an unexpected achievement?

Even with such a grand launching show for Teosinte, we still haven’t found a single human with a proper salt crystal in Terre. And yet, in such an unexpected place, we find so many salt crystals all at once?

‘Have they also been taking stimulant drugs for a long time?’

However, Sungjin’s premonition immediately denied that possibility. They all had salt crystals in exactly the same area, making it difficult to consider them as naturally occurring salt crystals.

Left skull. Also, there are uniformly sized salt crystals shining from the midpoint between the parietal and temporal regions.

‘How could that be possible?’

According to Dacianus’ secretary, it is extremely difficult to predict the location or size of Dachion’s creation. It is determined solely by the individual’s characteristics, without any relation to the concentration of the herbal medicine or the duration of use.

If you think about it, wasn’t that the case with the Gray Plague patients? With crystals randomly generated here and there in the brain, most of the patients lost their lives as the disease progressed.

But they were all glowing in the same spot, as if someone had performed a surgical operation in the same way.

‘… No, maybe that was too much.’

This is a world where you spray perfume to prevent the spread of disease. There is no such thing as systematic medical knowledge, so there is no way that medical technology like inserting something into the brain could exist… … .

But contrary to that train of thought, Seongjin slowly approached them as if he was drawn to something.

Then, I pulled back the hair of one man who had his hair cut short and saw a rather long scar on his scalp.

‘… … !’

Seongjin hurriedly checked the scalps of the others. However, when he lifted the hair of the woman lying next to him and the other woman next to her, a long wound was revealed in the same place every time.

Conclusive evidence that cannot deny the possibility that the salt crystals were inserted from outside.

My fingertips start to feel cold, and at the same time my head starts to spin quickly.

‘In this world… in Delcross… there’s someone who actually performs mass surgical operations? Who the hell is that?’

The first person that comes to mind is Sigurd Sigurdson. He is a storyteller who travels through a thousand worlds, and he kills the personalities of sane people and uses them as his puppets. If he is that kind of guy, he should have enough motivation and the means to do it, right?

-I can’t tell you in detail what I know about the Grey Plague, because it is closely related to Sigurd Sigurdson’s future plans. However… … .

Lady Isabella, whom I met a while ago, had confessed that to Sungjin.

-At least the ignorant act of planting a monster’s egg directly in a person was not his doing.

Her words are probably true, meaning that Sigurd Sigurdson has a more sophisticated way of creating salt crystals than causing the Grey Plague.

Sungjin had vaguely guessed that this would be a long-term plan to distribute medicinal herbs to the continent.

But what if there was another way? A cleaner and more surefire way… … .

‘… No, it won’t be him.’

I don’t know much about him, but Sigurd Sigurdsson seemed to have some sort of aesthetic side to him.

If so, he might have thought it was much more foolish to open a human skull than to implant Loperum eggs.

Moreover, although it was only for a fleeting moment, Sungjin had once followed the trajectory of Sigurd Sigurdsson’s soul as he escaped from Isabella’s body.

‘It didn’t seem like he had many choices back then.’

In other words, there was no way Sigurd Sigurdsson could have created this many dolls at once.

So then the next thing that comes to mind is… … .

‘Dacianus.’

Hmm, doesn’t that make sense?

He came to the uncivilized Delcross dimension and spent a long time wandering the continent, studying the creation of salt crystals.

He was also an eccentric who willingly gave people herbal medicine at his own expense in order to observe the process of forming the soul wall.

If it had been Dacianus, he would have done everything he could to use the salt crystals he had created.

‘Of course, Dacianus is a figure from hundreds of years ago. It is highly likely that he has already been dead for a long time… … .’

What if, after his long quest, he finally succeeded in creating a Dachion that was close to the milestone? What if he thereby preserved his soul and achieved the immortality he had longed for?

‘Then, the reason why my father went to such lengths to give me information about him… … .’

That was when Seongjin thought about it.

[Lee Sung-ji, Lee Sung-ji!]

From afar, the Demon King’s flames flew towards him in a rush.

[You noticed, didn’t you? There was something really incredible over there! It was a strange device designed to easily derive the laws of the psychic world!]

Ah, yes. That seemed to be the case. If something magically inexplicable happens in this dimension, there must be some law of the psychic world hidden behind it.

Seongjin nodded obediently.

“Okay. Let’s go together. But first, let’s take care of these things.”

[…huh?]

Only then did the Demon King look around, startled, and scattered sparks in all directions.

[Huh! What are all these? Are they all salt crystals?]

“Yes, Demon King. Take a good look at them.”

[What, what… … .]

“What do you think? Do you think they have any decent souls left?”

At that moment, the demon king flinched in surprise at what he saw, curled the flames into a ball, and shrank. Then, after a while, he managed to answer in a crawling voice.

[…no.]

“okay.”

Sungjin took out his last remaining stiletto. If they have already had their souls completely taken away, it would be better to finish them off here so that they won’t be toyed with any longer.

* * *

Seongjin left the room and walked towards where he could feel the presence of Room 21.

“…lowering?”

No. 21 seemed momentarily taken aback by the foul smell of blood coming from Seongjin, but soon regained his composure and asked cautiously.

“Are you hurt? What happened to the attacker?”

“I suddenly collapsed. It’s thanks to you.”

“yes?”

“I think you broke the device that was controlling him. Good job, 21.”

It seemed that Sungjin was giving off a more gloomy vibe than expected. Number 21, who was about to open his mouth to say something more, quietly closed his mouth after observing the situation.

“Yeah. What exactly was here?”

Seongjin looked at the altar that was in shambles and the small beads rolling around on the floor. That shape looked familiar. Could it be a soul stone?

Then No. 21 responded in a trembling tone.

“I don’t know either. To my eyes, it looked like a devil worshipper’s altar.”

“… So you broke it?”

“Yes. First of all, it looked very ominous.”

“… … .”

Seongjin took a fresh look at No. 21’s face.

I thought he was young for an informant, but he’s actually quite the outspoken guy. Fortunately, this place isn’t contaminated with magic, but if there really was a demon summoning circle, it would’ve been eroded as soon as you touched it.

‘Anyway, that altar was the device that brought the laws of the world of rules to the Delcross dimension.’

Thanks to No. 21’s hard work in destroying it, it seems difficult to find out any meaningful information now.

Most of the marbles rolling around on the floor were cracked or broken. Sungjin picked up one of the green marbles that looked relatively intact and thought.

‘Also, if these are some kind of soulstone, the souls contained within them would have possessed the salt crystals and moved the assassins… … .’

Just then, Sungjin felt a group of people with highly refined prayers quickly approaching.

The true power of ‘Kaya’s Breath’ has been revealed, not the haphazard ones that have been easily defeated so far.

[Huh? All of those guys have salt crystals too? What the hell is going on?]

As the assassins, numbering just over a dozen, finally appeared in the basement, the Demon King’s flames circled quickly over Seongjin’s head in confusion.

As the saying goes, on the temples of the assassins, identically sized salt crystals were glowing brightly.

Only one person, the woman with the real eyebrows who was leading them all, was an ordinary person without any salt crystals.

“… … .”

The woman looked at the messy altar with a blank expression. Perhaps she knew exactly what the altar was supposed to do.

‘But haven’t I met that woman somewhere?’

Seongjin tilted his head with a strange sense of foreboding.

‘That’s strange. There’s no way I wouldn’t remember a face with such an intense impression.’

As expected, Dasha’s figure was visible behind her. She seemed to have lost consciousness, and her entire body was wrapped in ropes, like a pupa.

After confirming that Dasha didn’t have any particular injuries, Sungjin became a little more lenient. It meant that before swinging the nutcracker around out of nowhere, he thought about at least saying a few words to her.

So I greeted him warmly.

“hi.”

Then the woman with the real eyebrows flinched and took a step back.

‘Do you know my face?’

Although he felt that way for a moment, Seongjin calmly stated the purpose of his visit first.

“I came to get my group back.”

“… … .”

“I have a few questions for you, by the way.”

But the other person’s reaction was unexpected. The woman with the real eyebrows hesitated for a moment, then asked back in a rather polite tone.

“Asking… What, what do you mean?”

“… … ?”

Seongjin blinked. The first impression was so strong that I thought he would rush in without warning, but he came out more polite than I expected.

“First, give my group back. The conversation will come later.”

Then the woman glanced at Seongjin and protested.

“Isn’t that a bit of a stretch?”

“Why?”

“Well… that kid is our trophy. If you want the hostage back, you have to offer us a fair price… … .”

haha.

Seongjin’s soft laughter spread through the cool air.

“You’re a good talker. The price is very high. If you were planning to wipe us out of this place from the beginning.”

“… Huh!”

Number 21, who was standing behind, and the woman with the real eyebrows both gasped at the same time.

‘Please, your Majesty! Don’t provoke them any more!’

Number 21 was dying of despair. He knew that even if he died and came back to life, he would be no match for them.

On the other hand, the woman was flustered because she had been hit with the nail on the head. She looked at Seongjin and No. 21 alternately as if she was anxious, and then suddenly shouted.

“Then what are we going to do? Our power is overwhelmingly superior!”

She was right. There were more than ten assassins here who were of a similar level to the ones who had fought Sungjin on equal terms upstairs.

It’s understandable that they originally planned to rush to Terero and wipe out Seongjin and his group.

‘But why is that…?’

Seongjin looked around at them with a relaxed face.

Thinking rationally, it’s a very hopeless situation. But Sungjin’s premonition tells him that everything will somehow work out.

Despite the superiority in power, the reason Minjja Eyebrows can’t rush in is probably because of Seongjin’s incredibly easygoing attitude.

“… … .”

“… … .”

It was while the two people were standing in silence for a while.

“Don’t you think I shouldn’t just look at this?”

“Yeah, I’m dying of anxiety just waiting to see.”

Breaking the silence, a voice was heard. It was the large male assassin surrounding Dasha.

“… … ?!”

While the woman with the real eyebrows was shocked, the man, carrying Dasha, began to approach Seongjin with strange creaking movements.

“By the way, is he really reckless and without a plan, or is he just brimming with courage?”

“Maybe it’s both. No matter how much I look at it, I can’t figure out what he’s thinking.”

“Well, that’s true. Mores is Mores.”

“That’s right. Mores is none other than Mores.”

The man muttered to himself as if he were having a conversation. At first glance, it seemed like an incredibly strange behavior, but to Sungjin, it felt like a familiar tone of speech.

‘… Herna? Gades?’

At that moment, Minjja’s eyebrows, who had been blankly watching what he was doing, suddenly came to his senses and shouted.

“Marcos? How on earth are you talking? I heard that after undergoing that ‘ritual’ you will never be able to speak again?”

“Sorry, I was talking.”

“Yes, you can.”

“You… aren’t Senior Marcos! What on earth is your true identity?”

The woman growls, pulling the stilettos out of her bosom.

Then the man named Marcos turned around with a creaking, strange movement and the corners of his mouth split open.

“Oh, he kicked him out.”

“Yeah, I chased him far away.”

“Let me tell you something. The reason you can’t speak is because your physical control is too weak.”

“The one that was included in the first place was a terminal that was made very poorly.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re easy to control.”

“Yeah, we’re also enduring a lot of inconveniences.”

The man who had said that finally dropped Dasha’s body in front of Seongjin with his eyes sparkling.

“So, Mores, you must never forget our help. Do you understand?”

“That’s right. When you come back, we’ll play chess together for real. Got it?”

Even in these circumstances, these guys were still crazy about chess.