Chapter 105
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Tag (2)
*Rumble—*
As I stepped out of the entrance, the ruin, as if its purpose had been served, vanished just as it always did. Along with it went the corpse that had followed me and the communication device connected to Ludwig Brandt.
The Empire now knew for certain. Van Helsing knew how to open the ruins. And he had obtained something from within. Though they didn't know what it was.
Now that they knew Van Helsing held the key to the ruins, they would surely think they had to capture him at all costs.
“They’ll come tearing after me like a colt with its tail on fire. Heh heh.”
The order to capture me might have already been given. After all, I had provoked them quite intensely over the communication device.
Ludwig wasn’t the type of man to take something like that in stride. His capacity for tolerance was nowhere near as vast as his arrogant tongue.
If he had possessed the character to properly wield that arrogant tongue of his, who knows how things might have turned out.
In any case, it wouldn’t be easy for them. I planned to use everything at my disposal to continue this game of tag.
Right up until the brink of war.
Revealing my destination and showing them the ruin opening was part of that plan. It was to confirm for them that I could indeed open the ruins and give them a taste of it.
Perhaps they would think they couldn't catch him because they lacked the manpower. That their preparations were insufficient.
Ultimately, they were bound to dance in the palm of my hand. Of course, they wouldn't even realize that fact.
I chuckled, clenching and unclenching my fists. The afterglow of the spiritual power that had swept through my body inside the ruin still lingered.
This ruin hadn't given me anything new. It had simply imprinted upon me a way to wield the spiritual power within my body with more precision and detail.
It felt like a kind of advanced course in spiritual power. And that was exactly what I needed most right now.
Muscular strength and spiritual power. These two stats were the foundation and main pillars of my abilities.
Things like Annihilate Evil and spiritual techniques were based on my monstrous strength and spiritual power. To be more precise, to add detail within actions that, on the surface, appeared bold and destructive.
It would undoubtedly deceive my opponent's eyes and, at the same time, create a significant difference.
Besides, I had made a considerable gain in handling spiritual power this time.
“Seems fitting for an experiment on my next opponent.”
My next destination was the border. The border region between the Holy Kingdom and the Empire. And stationed there were soldiers, knights, and dark mages.
I chose this target because Van Helsing’s first hunt had been a success.
Not in the sense that the target was hunted well, but in terms of implanting an image in people's minds.
In other words, even if I killed all the soldiers and knights in that border region, people wouldn't see it as a massacre.
It meant I could make them wonder if all the soldiers he killed had been tainted by demonic energy.
I mounted the horse they had ridden, set my direction, and connected the communication device to Hattie Shaw.
- Is the job done?
“Perfectly. The Empire took the bait, hook, line, and sinker. So much so that they’ll never be able to spit it out.”
- I’ll confirm things on this end as well. There’s bound to be a reaction. You said the border region is next, right?
“Yes. I need to get rid of the sword hanging over the Holy Kingdom. Oh, and I have a favor to ask.”
- What kind of favor?
“Details on the Emperor’s public activities. When was the last time he made an official public appearance?”
- Public activities? That’s easy… Huh?
Hattie Shaw answered as if Kratos’s request was trivial, then suddenly fell silent.
The sound of rustling paper, as if she were handling documents, was accompanied by a small mumble.
- My goodness, public activities. Yes, why did I overlook that?
“For reference, focus on the period after he started calling himself a god.”
- No, even without that criterion, the Emperor has hardly made any public appearances in recent years. Unless it was absolutely necessary. And even then, it was just a brief showing of his face. Even on days like the Founding Day.
The Emperor had made almost no public appearances in recent years. What did that mean?
A question arose. Why? There was no reason for him not to. No, in fact, after killing me and throwing the Empire into chaos, he should have been making *more* public appearances.
There was no surer way to stabilize the situation than for the Emperor to show his face in person. Whether for the nobles or the common people.
- Sometimes Shiv Pandit, that bastard, even showed up instead.
“Not Shiv Grewele?”
Why would he deliberately reduce his public activities?
Was he simply exhausted? Or ill? Was it by his own will? Or someone else’s?
The potential outcomes varied greatly depending on the answer.
“What about his appearance? Did he look sick or anything?”
- No. At least not the one time I saw him. And I’ve never received any internal reports about it. Not even from the spy inside the Imperial Palace. Though security around the Emperor’s quarters has become several times tighter than before.
“Come to think of it, I infiltrated the palace once before. I made it to the Emperor’s bedchambers, but I couldn’t find him.”
- What? You were the one who broke into the palace and smashed the spire back then?
“Ah, did I not mention that?”
Well, that was long before I knew Hattie Shaw, and even before I joined the White Mercenary Corps.
But hearing her words, there were more than a few suspicious points.
The empty Emperor's bedchambers. And an Emperor who doesn't make public appearances.
- Just thinking about that time… Ugh. Of all things, a rumor spread that some bastard had broken in using Lord Prometheus’s face, so the Empire tore the capital apart like they were hunting rats, trying to catch the remnants of the resistance.
“Hey, it’s all in the past. Anyway, it’s suspicious, right?”
- Ugh… Well, yes. It certainly is. The Emperor, who should be running wild with excitement after becoming a god, is being quiet.
The completion of the body was still just a possibility, so I pushed that thought to the back of my mind.
History repeats itself. Perhaps the mad king of the past was this generation's Shiv Grewele.
“Perhaps he’s not a perfect god just yet. That’s why he’s refraining from public activities. So he doesn’t get exposed.”
- Pfft. Exposed. But, not a perfect god, you say…
“He might be in the process of becoming like that mad king who created the Demonic Realm in the past.”
- That’s a horrifying thought. Turning the entire continent into a Demonic Realm. Such madness… Hah, maybe not in the past, but now, he’s more than capable of it.
“…That must not happen.”
And I will make sure it doesn’t. I will.
***
Ditto and I are connected. We don't converse, but we can communicate.
And recently, Ditto has started to act on its own. Instead of just sleeping in my arms like before, it moves around with me, or transforms into a bird and flies through the sky on its own.
So, when I thought about how to coordinate with Ditto, the first thing that came to mind was a game made by those guys with the big ears.
*Assassin's Creed*. And as a bonus, the hunter class from another game. Hunting together.
“Ditto, if you please.”
After I put our heads together and made my request, Ditto transformed into a bird and soared into the air.
*Caw—*
“Are you a crow? You look like a hawk.”
After the Lubeck incident, the security at all Imperial facilities had been tightened several-fold. Well, it was obvious that guilty parties would act this way.
But the place I was sending Ditto wasn't the base itself. It was outside the base.
No matter how tight the security was, what did it matter? It wasn't like I couldn't break through. This was just to determine if they had set traps in the vicinity or if there were support troops on standby.
If I was going to crush them, I might as well crush them all together. Every last one. Without missing a single one.
I climbed a tree and observed their base. They were there to defend against invasions, but they were also the type to stab the Holy Kingdom in the back if they ever got the chance.
The number of troops was quite large; it seemed they had gathered all the forces they had been siphoning off from here and there.
It made sense, since the most influential power in the Northern Alliance was, without a doubt, the Holy Kingdom.
If they invaded the Holy Kingdom's mainland, the effort they could pour into the Northern Alliance would naturally decrease. The homeland always came first. They probably planned to swallow the Northern Alliance easily that way.
“I’m not sorry, but it won’t be that easy for you.”
I had to turn their plans upside down, all while pretending to know nothing.
*Caw—*
Ditto, still in the form of a hawk, landed on my head with the cry of a crow.
“Hmph. Just as I thought.”
According to Ditto’s reconnaissance, a significant number of ambushers were hidden in the forest surrounding the base.
It wasn't that they knew I was coming here, but rather that they had made preparations in various locations, using the southern ruin as a reference point.
I hadn't leaked the information that I was coming here today. It was about controlling the flow of information. If I always leaked everything, they would become suspicious.
They’d think it was information deliberately leaked to cause confusion. They might suddenly slam shut the door I had been carefully watching.
“And I worked so hard to open that door. I have to make good use of it.”
I shook my body, and the tree swayed back and forth in response.
*Crack—*
And at the moment the tree could no longer bear the strain and a breaking sound echoed.
I focused the spiritual power circulating in my body into the tips of my toes, pushed off the tree, and flew toward the base.
*CRASH—*
Having fallen from a considerable height, a loud sound that shook the earth rang out. The personnel inside the base, who hadn't expected something to come flying from the sky, were momentarily stunned and just stared blankly at the scene.
“Enemy!”
“It’s Van Helsing! Sound the alarm!”
Only when the dust settled did they notice my presence, sounding the alarm and simultaneously rushing from all directions with weapons in hand.
And I just stood there, calmly watching the whole process unfold.
“Ten minutes? These bastards have gotten soft.”
Slow. They were so damn slow. It took them a full ten minutes to assume their battle formations. Even considering it was a surprise attack.
The process in between was predictable. Utter chaos. Their chain of command was a mess; the so-called knights were the last to arrive, and the soldiers just stood there, stammering and pointing their weapons.
“Back in my day, ten minutes would've meant we were all eating dirt.”
The discipline of the Imperial army had clearly grown lax. It could be because the Commander-in-Chief of the military was gone, or because their new head was the Director of Intelligence. Or for some other reason.
In any case, the important thing was that their discipline was lax. That alone was enough to gauge their level.
That was why I had deliberately just stood by and watched. This was right in front of the border, the very front line. Meaning, this was the army that would be the first to fight.
And if a place like this was in this state, well…
Demonic energy began to waft through the entire base. At the same time, smiles appeared on their faces.
Silly, grinning smiles, as if they were on drugs.
“Don’t tell me this was what you were counting on.”
I took out the hammer and crowbar from my inventory, one in each hand.
Yes, with demonic energy backing them, they must feel like they could do anything.
Becoming strong easily is like a drug. Because they gained strength so effortlessly with that power at their backs, because they had seen people crumble so easily beneath their feet.
Their necks must have stiffened as if in a cast. Shoulders squared, noses held a little higher.
“This is as good as won before it even starts.”
There was no way I could lose to scum like this.
A strange standoff continued.
They were bewildered that I wasn't attacking, yet they couldn't erase the tension from their faces.
I just quietly raised my hammer.
I infused it with spiritual power.
*ROOOOAR—*
Ditto, who had transformed into a bear, swiped its sharp claws at the frontline troops.
And, in concert with Ditto’s attack, a torrent of raw spiritual power erupted from the fully charged hammer, shooting toward them like an explosion.
And I silently, concentrating on every single strand of that spiritual power, was controlling it all.