Chapter 90
Chapter: 90
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 90
>Chapter Title: Otherworldly Apocalypse (5)
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After deciding to investigate the Heresy Tribunal's prison, they stepped out of the task force office when Masain let out a peculiar noise.
"It's still a bit worrying to set foot in the Heresy Tribunal, but since His Majesty has given his firm assurance that it's fine now."
"……?"
It sounded as if it had been a place one absolutely shouldn't enter until recently.
"Why? Is there something wrong with the Heresy Tribunal?"
Masain's face twisted into something ambiguous—not quite a smile, not quite anything else—in response to Seongjin's question.
"…No. It's all good now anyway. I spoke out of turn."
He hurriedly averted his gaze just as Seongjin was about to press further, then vanished on the spot, saying he'd fetch a carriage.
Hm, something feels off.
There was more unease. While waiting for the carriage in front of the administrative building and shaking off the perfume scent, the Demon King, who had been silent until then, let out a groan.
[What if we've been so focused on Rophroom eggs that we've overlooked something crucial?]
'Well, they're parasitizing humans, so of course we're paying attention to that.'
[If you can even call this successful parasitism. Why implant an egg in someone who's going to die anyway?]
Was it really impossible for a magic beast to have laid the egg directly? The Demon King flatly denied Seongjin's doubt.
[I told you. Rophrooms don't approach warm-blooded animals like humans. Plus, their ovipositors are surprisingly small, so they couldn't make wounds that big. This has to be an egg that was transplanted after its shell had hardened somewhat.]
Got it. And the consistent implantation site was odd too.
Right above the sternum. Seongjin wasn't sure, but maybe that was the optimal spot for a Rophroom egg to survive the longest.
The conversation paused there. The carriage had arrived.
Seongjin boarded with Masain, of course not forgetting to fling open the windows to air out the perfume.
[…It's weird. Why intentionally kill the eggs inside human bodies? Why?]
Even inside the carriage, the Demon King kept groaning in thought.
What's there to agonize over? Can't we just find the one implanting the eggs at the Heresy Tribunal and beat the crap out of them?
[It's not that simple!]
The Demon King bristled.
[This might mean there's some unknown aspect of Rophroom biology even I, a Gehenna Demon King, don't know about. The one implanting them knows. This is a clash of pride between that bastard and me now!]
Ah, sure.
Seongjin replied vaguely and closed his eyes. It would sort itself out once they reached the Heresy Tribunal anyway.
But things didn't go as planned. Seongjin's group was blocked at the entrance by knights of Saint Marthias and guards.
"The Heresy Tribunal prohibits unauthorized entry by outsiders."
A stern-looking burly knight glared at Seongjin as he blocked his path.
"Are you affiliated with the Heresy Tribunal, Your Highness? Or are you a witness or defendant in a case?"
He knew full well it was neither, yet he threw around threats anyway, his attitude laced with inexplicable hostility. Seongjin had a hunch he might be one of the knights who had surrounded the Pearl Palace during the Digory incident.
Masain stepped forward.
"This is an investigation into a grave incident threatening the safety of the imperial palace. Therefore, Sir…"
"I'm Inquisitor Paris."
"Right, Sir Paris. This is part of an investigation handled by the Magic Beast Task Force, so we request your cooperation."
Ha. Magic Beast Task Force!
The knight snorted at Masain's words and raised an eyebrow.
"Then, have you brought an official cooperation document?"
"Uh…"
Masain was at a loss for words.
Of course not.
The Holy Assembly hadn't even established an official stance on magic beasts yet. The task force had no defined duties, and the investigations were just Seongjin poking around in his spare time.
'But this is outrageous.'
As Seongjin silently glared at the inquisitor named Paris, someone passing through the Heresy Tribunal lobby spotted Seongjin at the entrance and flinched.
The man hurried over almost at a run, then stood beside Sir Paris and stared intently at Seongjin's face.
He was a lanky middle-aged priest in clerical robes, clutching a large tome. Despite his relatively young age, his back was hunched.
Seongjin's group wasn't the only one taken aback. Sir Paris asked suspiciously at the unexpected turn.
"Brother Hayes. What's this about?"
But the priest called Hayes ignored Paris's question. He simply stared at Seongjin as if entranced.
Sensing the ominous atmosphere, Masain instinctively stepped between him and Seongjin, but the man asked Seongjin with a gentle expression.
"…I didn't expect Your Highness to come in person."
Did he know Mores?
Seongjin hesitated, unsure how to respond, when the man fixed his clear eyes on him and asked again.
"Has the time finally come?"
"……?"
It made no sense.
Yet Seongjin felt an inexplicable fervor in the man's gaze and had a strange premonition that he couldn't just brush him off.
"…Yeah."
Seongjin slowly nodded, locking eyes with the man.
"I thought it was still far in the future. Have you truly steeled your resolve?"
"……?"
Eh, no idea, so let's go with yes for now.
"Yes."
Then, like ripples spreading across a still lake, a smile gradually bloomed on his face. The change was so serene yet intensely passionate that even Sir Paris stared dumbly at it.
"Ah…!"
He closed his eyes and sighed softly.
"It has been a long wait. At last, this entire ordeal of endurance draws to a close."
The man stepped back, bowed politely to Seongjin, and spoke. He seemed utterly relieved.
"All shall be done as you command."
With that, he turned briskly and strode into the Heresy Tribunal.
…What was that?
"Your Highness, do you know him? What did you just say to that man?"
Masain asked, puzzled, but Seongjin had no clear answer. He had just followed a gut feeling that letting him go would mean missing a vital clue.
Was he connected to the previous Mores somehow?
Seongjin wasn't the only one who sensed something from the man. The Demon King, silent until then, whispered slyly.
[Hey, might be my imagination, but that guy felt off.]
'How so?'
[There's a faint, familiar aura about him. Almost like a magic beast…]
'…No way?'
Was that the guy? The one implanting the eggs?
Seongjin belatedly turned toward him, but Priest Hayes had already disappeared into the building.
[Nah, I didn't sense any Rophroom eggs or other magic beasts on him.]
The Demon King's voice lacked conviction as he continued.
[Just a very faint whiff of demonic aura from him. Why?]
'……'
Seongjin itched to chase the priest right then, but Sir Paris and the guards still eyed them warily.
Can't force it now? Maybe tail Hayes when he gets off work?
As Seongjin pondered while staring at the building, Masain asked again.
"Your Highness, did that man receive some order from you? What is he going to do?"
"I don't really know."
"Pardon?"
Seongjin shrugged at Masain's wide-eyed stare.
"I just answered vaguely because it felt like the right thing to do. What could he possibly…?"
But Seongjin couldn't finish.
KABOOM!
A corner of the Heresy Tribunal building collapsed with a deafening crash.
"……!?"
Seongjin's group, along with Sir Paris and the entrance guards, gaped upward at the sudden event.
Huh?
Small explosions followed in quick succession.
Boom! Rumble! Boom! Kaboom!
The building shook from the impacts. Black smoke began seeping from the collapsed wall—something dire was happening inside.
Aaaah! Kyaaah! Screams echoed from everywhere.
Priests in clerical robes soon came scrambling out of the building.
"Aaaaah!"
"What in the world is this! What's causing this commotion!"
Sir Paris grabbed one fleeing priest, but he shook his head in terror.
"Let go! Let me go! Hell… Hell has opened! Oh Lord…"
"What do you…!"
Sir Paris gritted his teeth and turned to Seongjin's group.
"Don't move from here recklessly, understood?"
Then he led the guards and rushed into the building.
"…Your Highness."
Masain stared blankly at the rising plumes of smoke before murmuring.
"Have I ever said that Your Highness seems to attract incidents wherever you go?"
No, what did I do!
He suspected his response to Hayes might be the trigger, but still…
Seongjin felt deeply wronged.
Soon the Demon King warned him in a low voice.
[Yi Seongjin, magic beasts. Magic beasts are coming!]
Seongjin quickly sensed the familiar presence too.
Sching. His trusty walnut cracker was already in his right hand.
Buzzz. Whirr.
Harsh wingbeats grated on the ears as countless dog-sized magic beasts lifted from the shattered building.
They resembled giant bumblebees at a glance, but thorns covered their bodies instead of fur—sharp green ones—and their compound eyes gleamed with an eerie red glow. Sinister creatures, with massive black stingers on their tails that looked deadly.
"What… what are those things, Your Highness!"
Masain drew his sword, glowing faintly gold, and urgently asked Seongjin.
Sir Masain, like at the Digory estate, why assume I know everything about every incident?
Unfortunately, Seongjin did know this time.
"Call them Vespa hornets! Gehenna magic beasts! They're tricky because they fly fast and dart around."
They weren't usually aggressive toward humans.
They rarely attacked first, but they counterattacked hostile humans. Those stingers could kill a mid-tier Hunter in one hit.
The beasts hovered high above the building, buzzing loudly as they circled, then whooshed toward the capital's bustling streets.
The old Seongjin could have leaped up and slammed them down with fist shockwaves. Now, he could only watch them vanish into the distant sky.
What? They're heading somewhere specific without hesitation?
The puzzlement was brief. Seongjin turned back to the Heresy Tribunal.
KABOOM! Boom! Aaaah!
Crashes and screams continued inside. Something was still rampaging within.
"Your Highness…"
Masain called uneasily, wanting to stop whatever Seongjin planned.
But Seongjin glanced at him briefly, then turned and charged toward the building.
[Yi Seongjin! There are multiple types inside! Spiders and ants! And hornets!]
The Demon King shouted excitedly in his head.
[I get it now! I figured out the common thread with these magic beasts!]
Entering the lobby, bloodied guards limped past Seongjin. Holy knights supporting priests glanced at him before rushing out.
KABOOM!
The floor collapsed, and a hard arthropod leg studded with vicious black spines jutted out. Each segment was nearly three meters long.
It braced against the floor, widening the hole with a rumble as it hauled its body up. Eight red glass-bead eyes emerged.
Fully revealed, it filled the vast lobby. Standing tall, it nearly touched the ceiling—easily seven meters long.
Tap-tap. Clack-clack.
Seongjin could never forget that friction sound as it moved its legs.
The spider bastard that had slaughtered his comrades on the Paju frontline.
Hahaha.
Seongjin laughed aloud without realizing it. Was it rage or joy? He couldn't tell. His limbs tingled, blood boiling throughout his body.
As Masain, following behind, blanched at the spider and raised his sword straight.
"Your Highness!"
Thud.
Seongjin ignored Masain's cry and kicked off the floor.