Chapter 161
Chapter: 161
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 161
>Chapter Title: Storm (2)
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Delcross's southwestern mountainside.
In the drizzling rain, a single girl sat alone, gazing down at the imperial capital shrouded in a faint glow.
She didn't so much as twitch, looking as if she'd been born a rock from the start, sculpted into that shape over long ages of weathering by rain and wind.
Her long golden braids, tied in twin tails, gave her an archaic air, and the black robe enveloping her small frame was the sort worn by wandering monks from the era before the Empire.
Swaaa.
The rain began to pour harder, but not a single drop touched the girl's body. The black demonic energy rising faintly from her repelled every last raindrop.
"......"
The girl was a high lord bearing the name [Greed].
A demon who had waited eons for the destruction to befall this world.
Rustle.
Moments later, a young man emerged from the underbrush before her. He was a mild-looking youth with a battered mandolin slung on his back. He raised a friendly hand toward her.
"Hey, [Greed]."
The girl seemed like an ancient sedimentary layer built up over eternal time, while the youth was ironically fresh and vibrant, like a newly sprouted annual weed.
"...Sower."
[Greed] narrowed her eyes.
It wasn't just his imagination that the young man brimmed with lively vigor. He'd swapped contractors in the meantime.
The only common traits with his previous form were the black demonic energy wafting from his body and the occasional eerie green glint in his eyes.
"Another new contractor? What a ridiculous sight."
"Contractors are meant to be harvested often and regrown fresh. You're the weird one for not changing yours in a thousand years."
Sower replied with that and plopped down onto the ground.
"By the way, [Greed], I've got a warning for you. You know that Dimensional Storyteller, right? Tell that insolent bastard to quit luring our innocent cult children into pointless schemes."
It was about Romain, who had tried to manipulate Sower's brethren to spread monster eggs throughout the capital.
[Greed] let out a cold sneer.
"How pathetic. He is no longer the Storyteller."
"...No longer?"
"It means he was once Sigurd Sigurson."
Sower clicked his tongue.
"What? So our kids got played by some mere puppet? Why do you even hang around a guy like that?"
"Because I know what such a being ultimately craves."
Without tearing her gaze from the imperial capital, [Greed] twisted her lips into a smile.
"What do you think it is? He probably wishes to erase Sigurd Sigurson and be reborn as the true Dimensional Storyteller. Among them, Romain is the only puppet nearly succeeding. With the key to the labyrinth in hand, he's certainly worth watching a bit longer."
"Ha! So that's why you keep him around."
The youth openly mocked her.
"The moment he becomes the sole Sigurd Sigurson, you plan to steal everything he has."
"......"
[Greed] saw no need to respond. It was a truth requiring neither affirmation nor denial.
That was his nature.
To devour everything outright or savor it slowly—ultimately, to take it all.
"Anyway, while you've been playing with him, the [Penitence] cult has gone quiet. Tired of toying with others' things?"
"What its master abandoned is no different from mine already."
"Then why not just make your own cult from the start? Quit messing with [Penitence]'s forces. It's a hassle to move them around, isn't it?"
"Shut your mouth."
[Greed] never created or nurtured anything from the outset. He merely stripped away what already existed. It wasn't laziness—it was simply his essence.
In his wake lingered only extreme hunger and utter deprivation. That was why [Greed]'s epithet was [Famine].
It was only natural that he would gradually devour the cult [Penitence] had built over the past millennium while that one sulked in some hole, lost in regret.
"Still, I have to say, this was unexpected. Never thought you'd request cooperation."
"I sent a worthless underling as a test not long ago, and he barely escaped with his life. The king of Delcross is dangerous to face alone."
"Hmm. Or are you just scared I'll stab you in the back?"
Sower narrowed his eyes and glanced at the girl. Another truth needing no denial—[Greed] said nothing.
Delcross was originally fated to fall to the descent of the five great demon lords.
Yet the [Penitence] who descended a millennium ago had crawled underground and never emerged; the [Ardor] meant to bring war was distracted by irrelevancies; and the [Repose] who should bestow death upon all was instead sunk in eternal sleep.
In the end, [Sower] was currently the only comrade fit to properly face Delcross's king.
At the same time, he was the only one who might strike [Greed] from behind if given an opening. The reverse held equally true, of course.
"Well, whatever. Sharing the risk is safer for both of us."
The youth nodded and rose to his feet.
[Well then.......]
A brilliant green glow flashed in his eyes, and in that instant, a torrent of black demonic energy erupted, engulfing the mountainside and surging toward the sky.
[Shall we get started?]
Rumble.
With a thunderous roar that shook the earth.
Flash!
Streaks of blue lightning plunged to the ground.
* * *
'Looks like this guy's running really late!'
Some in the banquet hall had begun sensing something off too.
Murmur murmur.
Pushing through the growing unrest, Sungjin slipped out the entrance.
Was it his imagination? Even with the lights blazing bright, the corridor felt strangely dim. One would expect servants bustling about, yet the hall was eerily silent and empty.
As he scanned his surroundings and walked slowly toward the stairs to the second floor, the rapid click-clack of heels pursuing him soon echoed from behind.
"Mores!"
It was Amelia, who had sensed the anomaly as well. Siselle followed, her face tinged with unease.
"You're all here. Something's definitely wrong!"
Logan arrived next, Cadmos's Seriser in its Cadmos mode strapped to his side. In the end, all four siblings of the Holy Imperial family had gathered at the foot of the stairs.
"There's a strange energy coming from the second-floor office. It's definitely not demonic power, but......"
As Logan said, the stairs grew progressively darker the higher they went, evoking an increasingly alien dissonance.
The landing's lights shone brightly, yet the second-floor corridor appeared shrouded in a thick black veil, admitting not a sliver of light.
"This is really odd. I don't remember anything like this before......"
Amelia, quickly recalling her past life, spoke with a worried expression.
"Still, shouldn't we go up? Father must be there."
The dense darkness choked the breath even from just looking at it.
Yet her brother's eyes fixed on it held not a trace of hesitation. Steel resolve in her heart, Amelia swiftly outlined the situation.
"I'll inform Her Majesty the Empress. For now, how about Siselle and Cadmos lead a small blessing event for the guests? I'll check if the orchestra can improvise a performance. That should calm the guests' agitation."
She then turned to Sungjin and Logan with a plea.
"I'll have to entrust Father to the two most reliable people here. I'm calling the Royal Guard knights right away, so while we stabilize the banquet hall, please check the office—just the two of you."
Sungjin nodded and bolted up the stairs.
"Be careful, Sungjin! This feels seriously off."
Logan chased right after, issuing the warning, but Sungjin ignored him.
Reaching the pitch-black second-floor corridor, they spotted servants collapsed here and there on the floor.
"What the hell is all this......"
They seemed alive since auras were detectable, but the activity was extremely faint. Exchanging a glance, the two dashed straight for the office.
At the office at the corridor's end lay Head Servant Louis.
He was breathing, fortunately, but his contorted face looked as if he were trapped in a nightmare, struggling painfully.
And.
Blocking the widely open office door like a sentinel stood the captain of Saint Aurelion's knights.
"Captain Katrina......"
She was the only one here still conscious. But she didn't look well either.
Leaning her long sword against the floor like a cane, Katrina opened her mouth with effort, sweat beading coldly on her brow.
"...How did you get here, Your Highness?"
"Captain! What the hell is going on?"
"Father? Is Father inside?"
She gazed at Sungjin and gave a faint smile.
"Rest easy, Your Highness. Rifts opening in the palace happens often. It was just too sudden this time—His Majesty simply had no time to enter the prayer room."
Rift?
"Those who collapsed will be tended by His Majesty once it closes, so don't worry too much."
Her complexion was deathly pale as she spoke, as if she might collapse any second.
So even the Holy Emperor was caught up in this. Sungjin asked her with a hardened face.
"...Katrina, where's Father?"
"He's running a bit late returning, but I'm sure it's nothing serious. Your Highnesses, staying here too long risks losing consciousness like them. Please return to the banquet hall and await His Majesty."
Sungjin had indeed felt an unpleasant ringing in his ears and a pressing headache since earlier.
But turn back after seeing this mess? Wasn't that guy at the center of this bizarre space?
Sungjin took a step toward her, blocking the entrance.
"He's inside, right? Step aside now."
"It's dangerous, Your Highness. Please go back to the banquet hall...!"
"I have to go in right now, Captain."
As Sungjin growled the words, Katrina stared piercingly at him. Her eyes trembled faintly, mirroring intense inner turmoil.
"...Is that your will, Your Highness? Do you truly feel that way?"
"Yes."
She let out a small sigh, then staggered as she shifted her stance.
"Whew. I may face His Majesty's reprimand later, but......"
Clank. Thud! She knelt on one knee, still propped on her sword. No wonder—she could barely stand.
Sungjin glanced at Katrina once, then strode into the office.
He spotted the Holy Emperor immediately.
He sat leaning against the office sofa, eyes closed. He didn't stir even as Sungjin approached. A stark contrast to how he always sensed Sungjin first and greeted him.
He truly seemed at the heart of it all—the closer Sungjin got, the sharper the stabbing headache grew.
"His heartbeat is abnormally slow. But he's definitely alive."
Logan, frowning with his own headache, chimed in.
"Strange, though. He's right in front of us, yet his presence feels distant somehow. Why?"
Sungjin had been feeling the exact same.
It was like fragments mismatched, jumbled together as in a shattered window's reflection.
His lying form was plainly visible, yet it also felt like a far-off scene viewed through a telescope or camera lens.
Just as Sungjin reached out toward the Holy Emperor, Logan suddenly flinched and looked out the window.
"Sungjin. There's something suspicious in the garden. It's directing killing intent this way."
"Suspicious?"
"Yeah. It's completely masking its aura. Probably an assassin. Of all times......"
Aura concealment meant assassin for sure.
But with the headache twisting his senses oddly, Sungjin struggled to detect it. That spoke to the intruder's skill.
In this situation, only Logan—the former Decaron Knight and Sword Master—could sense it.
As if sharing the thought, Logan glanced worriedly between Sungjin and the Holy Emperor before speaking.
"Can't leave it be, so I'll go catch the bastard. I'll subdue it quick and come back—don't push yourself, and head back to the banquet hall if you feel off."
"Got it."
Logan drew Arjuna and leaped from the office terrace into the garden below. He dashed across it and soon vanished somewhere.
Watching him briefly, Sungjin headed to the sofa where the Holy Emperor lay. He figured he'd at least shake him awake.
Though he doubted he could even grab hold.
At the same time.
'I can finally reach him...!'
With that baseless conviction surging inexplicably, Sungjin slowly extended his hand.
The instant his fingers touched the Holy Emperor's robes.
Whoosh.
The figure before him warped violently, and Sungjin's vision lurched upward as if his body were being fiercely sucked into somewhere.