Chapter 127: Ouroboros (1) |
TL/Editor: Rungir
Schedule: none
Illustrations: none
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Inside the Order of Light's branch within the Imperial City, a woman who appeared to be a priestess was kneeling in prayer before a massive statue of the deity of light. The sanctity and devotion emanating from her served as a testament to the depth of her faith in the deity of light.
"Ha, perhaps consider taking a break from your prayers now and then. Wouldn't the deity of light be saddened if you were to harm your body from too much devotion?"
Such comments were made by fellow priests, showcasing the woman's exemplary conduct that served as a model for others. However, ironically, the true identity of this devout woman was far from being a priestess. In fact, it was the complete opposite.
General Serkia of the Half-Demons.
One of the commanders overseeing all demonic beings that had infiltrated the empire, that was her true identity.
Who could possibly imagine that a leader of the creatures opposed to the light was using holy power and praying to the deity of light?
But recently,
"Ha..."
The word 'completely' seemed to lose its meaning, all because of one person.
"This is driving me insane."
Serkia quietly cursed as she prayed.
"That fanatical bastard."
Prince Rubrious Agnes.
The only person in the entire empire, let alone the Imperial City, who suspected her true identity.
After a quiet period following their encounter near the garden of the Changseong Palace, he had recently been seeking her out continuously.
Specifically, he visited the Order of Light's Imperial branch under the guise of offering prayers, but she could feel Rubrious's gaze fixed on her each time he came.
'What does he mean by not feeling the touch of light?'
She would have understood if he had simply questioned why she was there at that time.
But to doubt her because he couldn't "feel the touch of light" was infuriating.
'Not even holy power.'
Thus, she saw no way to resolve the situation.
'I need to make contact with Utekan at least once...'
Rubrious, despite his arrogant demeanor, was persistent.
Even when he wasn't visiting the order, he kept a watchful eye on her, preventing Serkia from moving freely and making it impossible to properly contact her demonic subordinates, let alone Utekan.
The most troublesome royal family member.
While it had initially been Prince Zion Agnes, recently, her concerns were gradually shifting towards the First Prince.
"Things are getting more tangled by the minute."
When had it all started to go this way?
The ultimate goal for Serkia and all the demonic beings that had infiltrated the empire was simple. To covertly take control of the empire and plunge it into as much chaos as possible. Then, during the full-scale invasion of the demonic forces, they would strike from within in a coordinated attack.
'But before the grand plan could even begin, we keep being discovered and eliminated.'
Without the support of the demonic realm, they couldn't afford a direct confrontation. It was a frustrating situation from all angles.
Then,
-Serkia-nim.
The voice of a subordinate demon reached Serkia's ears, not through sound but transmitted directly into her mind, suggesting they were cautious of Rubrious's eyes nearby since no form was visible.
Knowing she couldn't respond, the demon continued speaking.
-We've located Diral.
"......!"
At that moment, Serkia's eyes began to emit a strange light.
---
At the central branch of Ouroboros where Sharin May stayed.
This place was different in nature from the other branches located in the capital. While other branches were responsible for executing parts of a plan, the central branch oversaw all the plans. Thus, its size was second only to the main group, and the caliber of its members was incomparably high.
In the top-floor office of this central branch,
"What? It failed?"
Sharin May asked this to Jansen, the captain of the Red Scorpion unit, incredulously. Her eyes were filled with disbelief.
"......Yes, I'm sorry."
Sharin knew how capable Jansen was, which made the failure even more baffling.
How could they have failed?
The Red Scorpion unit had been sent with contingencies not just for the target but also for any forces around the target.
"Did the target manage to perfectly control pieces of the Frost Queen's power?"
The only conceivable possibility.
Yet Jansen shook his head.
"No. The target didn't use the Frost Queen's power at all."
"Then why... why did it fail!"
With Sharin's shout, the air around them trembled as if in sympathy with her anger.
"......"
Jansen, responding with deeper silence and a further bowed head, had a mountain of things he wanted to say, starting with the target's unbelievable strength. However, bringing any of this up now would only fan the flames of Sharin's anger, so he remained silent.
"Not going to answer?"
"I'm sorry. The target was just too strong... However, we managed to capture one of the people close to the target."
Jansen finally diverted the topic by quickly revealing the existence of a woman they had kidnapped, in response to Sharin's irritated questioning.
"A person close to the target?"
"Yes, a woman with brown hair."
"…That woman from before?"
Murmuring to herself, Sharin recalled the image of a woman who had been by the side of their masked target during a previous encounter at an auction house. She hadn't paid much attention at the time, but she remembered the woman had brown hair mixed with red hues.
"Resume tracking the target immediately and bring that woman to me. I need to see her for myself."
After a moment of contemplation, Sharin instructed Jansen as she stood up from her seat.
'Having brought the target directly would have been ideal... But since things have already gone awry, we must extract the greatest efficiency from the current situation.'
To do so, focusing on the woman Jansen had kidnapped was more prudent than blaming him for the failure and venting frustration.
'It doesn't matter if she's not the same woman from before.'
As someone close to the target, she would likely have some information about them. Sharin intended to extract that information personally.
"Understood, right this way!"
Jansen quickly got up and started to lead Sharin.
As she watched his back, a flash of killing intent briefly flickered in Sharin's eyes before disappearing. Although she was willing to overlook the situation for now, given the circumstances, she planned to hold him accountable later.
"I'll come too."
Diral, who had been watching the scene, also began to follow them. Unlike Sharin's eyes, filled with annoyance and anger, his bore a discomforting light.
'Why does this feel so wrong?'
Even though Sharin's plans weren't going well, it shouldn't have mattered much to Diral. He had joined Ouroboros out of curiosity, rather than returning to the demonic ranks, and the collapse of this place wouldn't affect him. However, the unease he felt now was similar to when his life had been threatened by the woman with red eyes back in the Imperial City.
Driven mostly by interest, Diral still valued his life and couldn't help but feel more sensitive than usual.
'Is it just a baseless feeling?'
It was likely.
The woman from before would be in the Imperial City, and other variables wouldn't bother to seek him out, quietly curled up here.
Meanwhile,
"We're here."
Jansen, leading the way, stopped in front of a room secured with a heavy iron door.
Clearly, it wasn't a regular room but one designed for torture or other special purposes.
"Open it."
Sharin commanded coldly, staring at the door.
Clang!
As Jansen opened the iron door, a surprisingly spacious room was revealed, complete with torture instruments along both walls and a single iron chair in the center.
And tied to that chair was a woman, her head covered with a hood.
"Interrogation hasn't started yet. Would you like to check?"
"Yes."
At Sharin's words, Jansen immediately started walking towards the woman.
'What?'
Diral, watching from behind, frowned slightly. Although the woman's face was hidden by the hood, something about her silhouette felt familiar.
'It feels like I've seen her somewhere...'
In the meantime, Jansen had approached and swiftly removed the woman's hood.
In that moment, swish-
Black hair cascaded down.
And with it, slowly revealed were piercing red eyes.
"…Eh?"
Jansen's face turned puzzled at the sight of the woman's eyes and hair color, different from just moments before.
"Didn't you say she had brown hair..."
Before Sharin could finish her sentence,
"You, you are!!!!"
A scream almost like a wail erupted from Diral at the back.
His face, pointing at the woman with trembling fingers, was filled with an astonishment he had never shown before.
It had been a while, but he recognized her immediately.
No, it was more accurate to say he had never forgotten her.
Why was this being here of all places?
The woman with red eyes who had taken his arm and pushed him to the brink of death in the Imperial City.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Looking at Diral, the corners of the woman's, Liushina's, lips curled up in a blood-red smile,
"What…!"
And at that moment, with a chill that sent shivers down Sharin's spine, her eyes widened as the room burst into a blaze of crimson.
Simultaneously, Boom!
A massive explosion began from the entrance of the branch.
"Intrusion! It's an attack!"
The entire building shook with the blast, and the combatants inside the branch hurried towards the source of the explosion at the entrance.
Confusion was evident in their eyes.
'What the hell happened?'
This central branch was one of the most secretly hidden among all of Ouroboros's branches.
Moreover, the branch's defenses were densely arranged around it.
And yet, how could the entrance explode so suddenly without any warning?
Soon after,
"…!"
The scene that met their eyes was the entrance of the building, completely destroyed and collapsed.
With it, gray dust spread in all directions.
As the organization members, with baffled eyes, moved towards the rubble to grasp the situation,
Thud-
Footsteps sounded from within the spreading dust.
The sound was faint, but it clearly reached the ears of everyone present. As if enchanted, people's heads turned towards the source of the footsteps. Then, at that moment, the figure responsible for the footsteps slowly emerged from the dust.
Step, step.
His expression was impassive, his gray eyes filled with a listless light, and his presence naturally suppressed the surroundings.
It was Zion.
For how long did they blankly stare at Zion approaching?
Soon, the organization members regained their senses, and malice began to fill their eyes.
"Kill him!"
With a short cry, dozens of organization members started charging towards Zion. They were unaware of the identity of the man who had broken through the entrance, but that didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that an intruder had breached their secret branch, only accessible by Ouroboros, and it was their duty to eliminate him.
Boom!
The movements of these skilled members were so fast that shockwaves followed behind them.
Zion continued to move slowly, his eyes still as tranquil as ever, watching the approaching members.
"This is no place for you!"
In an instant, the members reached Zion and launched their attacks without hesitation.
Just as their weapons were about to strike Zion,
Slash!
The throat of the member leading the attack on Zion was slit without any warning.
Before the severed head of that member could hit the ground, Slash, slash, slash!
Dozens of silver flashes burst forth, slicing off the heads of all the members who had swung their weapons at Zion.
It was a series of strokes so clean and free of any unnecessary movements.
But it wasn't Zion's doing.
Thud!
As the bodies of the decapitated members fell to the ground, Shh-
Dozens of figures revealed themselves around Zion.
Each wore a strange expression hidden behind black masks.
The Twilight Sword Guild.
The mightiest shadow swords of Ascalon.
"We will clear the path from here."
The guild leader of the Twilight Sword Guild, Lucas Ascalon, slightly bowed his head towards Zion and spoke.
Then, his cold eyes beneath the mask turned towards the newly appearing Ouroboros members.
"Do not halt His Highness's stride."
With those words, almost like a vow, Slash, slash, slash!
The Twilight Sword Guild members charged forward, cutting through the attacking members, advancing swiftly.
The corridor quickly stained red.
Step, step.
Over this blood-drenched corridor, the emperor who once devoured the world slowly walked on.
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