Chapter 18
Chapter: 18
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 18
>Chapter Title: Primer (2)
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>Seongjin stood in the center of the rear garden alongside the Holy Emperor.
No matter how he looked at it, there was only one choice. Temporarily block the passage to cut off any risk of rampage. As long as he didn't deliberately disturb the sealed aura, it would remain safe indefinitely. There was no room for hesitation.
The Holy Emperor pressed his palm firmly against the spot below Seongjin's right collarbone. It was likely the closest point to the open passage.
"The influx of aura may make breathing feel difficult. But remember, it's merely an illusion caused by the aura's flow, not any physical sensation."
Seongjin nodded, trying to conceal his tension.
"Begin."
In an instant, a massive torrent poured into his chest. The volume was startling, but it remained a refreshing stream that imposed no burden on his body.
The water swirled near his chest before vanishing with a whoosh beneath his right shoulder blade.
That's the passage. A location that had felt vague until moments ago now registered clearly to Seongjin.
The amount of aura began to increase bit by bit. No sooner did it vanish into the passage than more filled his chest.
But it still wasn't enough. The incoming aura was still being cleanly sucked away beyond the passage.
"Hup."
Seongjin struggled to regulate his breathing, determined not to gasp for air.
There was no actual restriction on breathing, yet his chest felt inexplicably tight, as if his lungs were filling with water.
Rustle. His breathing grew heavier, while his hair swayed lightly in the breeze circulating through the garden.
'How long is this going to go on?'
Seongjin suddenly grew curious. Even if the Holy Emperor was an aura user of lofty attainment, he was still human, with limits to the aura accumulated in his body.
Yet the onslaught showed no signs of letting up. The passage sucked in every drop without remnant, and the incoming volume kept growing.
Wondering if he was overexerting himself, Seongjin glanced sidelong at the Holy Emperor, who remained composed, eyes lowered to his own hand.
Or perhaps he was staring beyond Seongjin's chest, at the invisible passage.
Roooar.
An illusion rang in his ears like a waterfall crashing down. The sheer volume disrupted his senses.
It no longer felt like water pouring into his body—it was as if his body itself was tumbling into a raging river.
'Can't... breathe...'
He kept suppressing his breathing to avoid hyperventilating when the Demon King's mutter echoed in his mind.
[This... this is insane. No human could possibly do this...]
'Feels pretty crazy to me too.'
Desperate to ignore his worsening breathing, Seongjin averted his gaze outward. That's when he noticed something odd.
The garden breeze had been picking up, and now he saw wind circling around them in a ring. The grass on the ground bent rightward, then sprang up wildly.
The long ritual robe draped over the Holy Emperor billowed upward on the gusts. It was as if the air around them was rising en masse.
Flying hair whipped his face mercilessly, and stray grass blades spun nearby before spiraling counterclockwise into the sky.
A possibility flashed in Seongjin's mind.
How could the Holy Emperor pour out more aura than any human could store?
'No way. Is this guy pulling in ambient aura right now?'
They stood at the eye of a typhoon.
Nearby garden trees shook as if about to snap in the fierce wind. The already sparse grass began uprooting with clumps of soil. The small table where they'd eaten earlier was shoved powerlessly aside and hurled into a corner of the garden.
'This is getting kinda dangerous...'
Sweating coldly at the chaos, Seongjin rolled his eyes toward the Holy Emperor.
The man finally seemed fatigued, eyes closed and brows furrowed tightly. A faint tremor ran through the hand pressed to Seongjin's chest, growing stronger.
Yet the incoming torrent raged fiercer still!
The Demon King screamed in his head.
[You lunatic! You plan to pour in even more?!]
Kaboom kaboom kaboom!
The few remaining trees finally snapped and were flung away. The overturned table in one corner rocked wildly before shooting into the air.
They were now deep in a storm-tossed sea. His body felt shoved backward by crashing waves, breath catching in his throat.
He could barely stay conscious. In an instant, Seongjin's mind was swept into the raging current and carried off.
[Kaaaaah!]
He heard the Demon King's shriek, then it faded rapidly.
Darkness swallowed his vision.
* * *
"...Huh?"
In the middle of thrashing the Pearl Palace resident knights in the training grounds, Masain suddenly looked up and frowned.
The wind had picked up fiercely, and the aura in the air was churning wildly.
"From the main palace? No way..."
He glanced at the exhausted, sprawled resident knights and turned on his heel, sprinting toward the main palace.
* * *
Bam!
The prayer room door burst open violently, startling the guarding holy knights into stiffening their postures.
Katrina, captain of the Saint Aurelion Order, who had been in personal prayer, emerged with a rigid expression and began donning her light armor.
"Where's the vice-captain?"
A knight, flustered by her uncharacteristic interruption of prayer time, answered a beat late.
"Sir Francis is at the academy right now. Something about a holy relic..."
"Fine. If he senses it, he'll follow on his own."
She buckled on her sword belt with a click, then jerked her chin toward the door.
"We're heading to the main palace immediately. Follow me."
* * *
"What in the world is going on, steward!"
Baltazar, captain of the 1st Imperial Guard, stormed into the rear garden with terrifying momentum and bellowed.
The aura in the air had suddenly been swept away somewhere, only for a storm to descend inexplicably on the main palace garden. It was a massive vortex of aura by the look of it.
With trees uprooting and flying in the ferocious winds, the servants huddled at the edge, stamping their feet helplessly.
A bolt from the blue in the peaceful imperial palace!
As far as Baltazar knew, only one person on the entire continent could pull off such a feat: the Holy Emperor himself.
He seized the one most likely to know the full story and shook him violently.
"What is His Holiness doing now? Speak!"
But Louis, gripped by the collar, stared at the aura storm with a dazed expression, mumbling.
"Th-there... His Holiness is there... With His Highness Morres..."
"Even Prince Morres?"
Strength drained from the furious old knight's grip. If the young prince was caught up too, this couldn't be the Holy Emperor's intention.
Anxiety flickered in Baltazar's eyes for the first time as he scanned the storm.
* * *
Crackle crackle.
With the sound of flames as backdrop, he walked slowly.
Splintered wooden palisades, torn and collapsed tents, overturned military trucks.
And corpses blanketed the ground everywhere.
Fellow soldiers strewn amid monster carcasses.
This place was etched in Seongjin's memory.
The spot where the superhuman unit had resolved on a last stand and departed in tears. The final forward base, reduced to total ruin.
Only one thing differed from then.
Everything was engulfed in a vivid crimson inferno that hadn't been there before.
Crackle. A tilted palisade plank split with a crack, scattering embers as it fell.
Seongjin halted and looked down at his hands and body.
Battle fatigues and boots stained with blood and monster fluids.
Bandaged, wound-riddled hands.
His usual self, just like always. So why did it feel so alien?
He looked up again at the pitch-black flames mantling the tents. They writhed like living things, slithering toward him.
He extended a hand as if to greet them, and the flames whooshed in, clinging to his palm.
This heat. A familiar blaze he'd felt once before. Staring blankly at his burning hand, the flames crept up his arm, spreading.
His sleeve ignited, skin on his forearm blistering.
A calm voice spoke.
"Indeed, flames that burn even the soul."
Fwoosh.
A chill gust blasted from behind, shoving the flames far away in an instant.
"No matter how much I pushed, the heat wouldn't subside. Small wonder the passage interior was utterly incinerated and emptied."
The crimson-black flames thrashed more violently but couldn't breach the circular boundary around Seongjin. The fire that had latched onto his body vanished completely.
Startled, Seongjin turned to see someone standing there, arms crossed, who absolutely shouldn't be here.
A foolish voice slipped from his lips unbidden.
"...Father?"
No, why is this guy here?
"This is from when you were down with a fever. I wondered where you'd drawn such fire from—Gehenna's hellfire, no less."
The Holy Emperor glanced around briefly before approaching Seongjin slowly. The flames receded further with each step.
His long white ritual robe gleamed with an otherworldly red sheen in the firelight.
Up close, their eye levels nearly matched.
Clarity seeped into Seongjin's mind like cold water.
The Holy Emperor was in this world.
He could see Seongjin's true form.
He...
"...Your... Holiness."
A strangled sound escaped Seongjin's lips, laced with inexplicable dread.
The Holy Emperor gazed at him steadily in response to his call, then tilted his head slightly, as if puzzled.
"Yes, Morres."
What?
"No, wait... But..."
"To be swept here after failing to endure that much aura—you need more training, my son."
"Son...? Father, hold on?"
Stammering in confusion, Seongjin watched the Holy Emperor turn away and wave dismissively.
"It's time to open your eyes. Even I'm starting to tire."
"Huh?"
With those words.
Roooosh.
A fierce torrent surged from somewhere. The scenery before him vanished in a flash.
The ruined forward base.
The corpses filling it.
Gehenna's writhing crimson-black flames.
Seongjin's mind drifted helplessly once more.
[Morres.]
The Holy Emperor's voice echoed dreamlike in his head.
[Remember: when you draw water from the channel, things from the opposite side come with it.]
* * *
"...Your Highness!"
"Prince Morres!"
Noisy voices roused him.
Blinking to focus, he saw a familiar round-faced knight beaming.
"You're awake, Your Highness!"
"...Sir Masain?"
For some reason, Seongjin was leaning against Masain's arm.
He tried to sit up but gave up at the dizzy spin. His whole body felt limp, utterly drained.
"Oh, Prince Highness!"
"Thank goodness!"
Looking around, he found himself surrounded by an unfamiliar burly old knight and main palace servants. Circumstances slowly came back to him.
Right... we trashed the main palace rear garden. Must've caused a huge commotion.
"...Where's Father?"
So, where's the culprit behind this mess?
Masain and the old knight exchanged glances at his question before answering.
"Rest easy, Your Highness. His Holiness is unharmed."
"......"
Seongjin followed Masain's shifty gaze to the Holy Emperor, surrounded by another group a short distance away.
He too was supported by guard knights, eyes closed and head lolled as if unconscious.
A middle-aged woman in silver light armor held his hand, channeling gleaming holy power, while the chief steward paced anxiously nearby.
Noticing Seongjin's look, the old knight said in an incongruously gentle tone.
"Worry not. 'Tis merely exhaustion."
"...Right."
Seongjin nodded.
He'll be fine. The guy who acted superior to the end.
Unthinkingly, he placed a hand on his chest where the passage had been.
Somewhere inside, he could swear he heard a splash of water droplets.