Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: The Venatio Species (1)
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As he neared the camp, he saw tents pitched around some kind of strange, unidentifiable machine.
*Something about this feels wrong.*
The central device, shaped like an antenna tower, was unsettling just to look at. He thought he could even feel a hint of demonic energy from it.
There were ten guards in total. The number of people who looked like researchers exceeded thirty.
Two guards per shift. That meant they either had other security measures in place, or their watch was just plain sloppy.
The best-case scenario would be to slip past the guards and enter, but of course, they were positioned right at the entrance.
The top priority was to get inside with minimal casualties. There was no telling what would happen if he were discovered.
The most vulnerable time would be just before dawn, but he didn't have that long to wait.
And so, just after midnight.
"Hey, hold on. I gotta go take a piss."
"Damn, you're disgusting. Go do it far away from here. I knew this would happen when you were chugging all that beer."
"Ah, what do you want me to do? The latrine's too far. Besides, in a boring place like this, you need the taste of beer. How else are you supposed to get through it?"
One of the guards on duty scurried away from the patrol area, looking rushed.
*Snap—*
Kratos, who had been holding his breath in a nearby shadow, waited for the guard to be out of sight before clamping a hand over the remaining guard's mouth and snapping his neck.
He immediately slung the body over his shoulder, slipped between the tents he'd scouted earlier, and stripped the corpse of its clothes. He then used an artifact to change his face to resemble the guard's.
"Hey, man! Where'd you go? What if we get caught? The team leader would flip if he found out. It's so clueless to just leave one person..."
But the guard couldn't finish his sentence. Kratos had closed the distance and simply grabbed his neck and twisted.
*The light seems to be absorbed by them both. That must mean they're tainted by demonic energy.*
He hid this body just like the other, then searched the pockets for anything useful.
An identification card, and a piece of jerky in a pouch. He popped it into his mouth; the salty, meaty flavor filled his senses.
Maybe it was because he was hungry, but it tasted pretty good.
And a key card. Just as he suspected, there was some kind of security inside.
He moved cautiously toward the entrance.
His heart pounded. This was the place from his memories. He had finally arrived at the destination he'd been so desperate to reach.
There were certainly more supplies inside than out. There were even machines he'd never seen before.
The information he could glean from this was that these people hadn't managed to breach the place yet.
If they had, it wouldn't be this quiet. They would be exploring inside day and night, trying to pull something out.
As he went deeper, he found a surprisingly long corridor. From the outside, it had looked like the glass pyramid at the Louvre.
The structure seemed to descend deeper underground.
At the end of the long corridor, a faint light was visible.
A security device was installed in front of a massive door. This was probably what the key card was for.
There were no guards. It made sense that security would be lax here, considering one had to pass through the camp at the entrance to even get this far.
*Beep—*
He held the key card to the red security device. The light turned green, and with a click, the door opened.
Inside was another door and a desk cluttered with books and piles of paper. It looked like they had tried various things to open this second door, but to no avail.
A massive door. He couldn't even guess what it was made of.
He could sense traces of explosives and magic, as if they had tried all sorts of experiments, but the door remained solid, without a single scratch.
First, he swept all the research materials from the desk into his inventory. He could read them slowly later; they might be helpful.
"But how do you open it?"
The entire surface of the wall was engraved with an unknown geometric pattern.
There was no keyhole or any other visible means of opening it.
"Show me your true nature, door. What's the way to open you?"
He stroked the smooth surface.
In that instant.
*WEEEEEEE—!*
A loud alarm blared from the direction of the entrance, and the emergency lights in this room turned red.
The next shift of guards, or maybe the one who went to the bathroom, must have discovered the missing sentries.
His heart raced. An alarm like that meant the news wasn't just spreading here, but likely to the capital as well.
"What in the world is it? What's the secret hidden in this door?"
He traced the faint lines engraved on the wall with his fingertip. There had to be some secret in these grooves.
*So where is the starting point of these grooves?*
The moment he placed his hand on a tiny circle in the center of the door, which seemed to be the origin point for all the grooves.
"Agh—!"
Something shot out from the wall, pricked his finger, and absorbed his blood. It managed to pierce his tough skin instantly?
The small amount of blood absorbed by the wall began to fill the grooves across its surface, like water through capillaries.
The geometric patterns, now clearly visible in blood. What meaning did they hold?
*Rumble—*
As the blood was absorbed, the massive door that had seemed eternally sealed began to open slowly, revealing what lay within.
At the same time, he could hear faint shouts coming from the entrance.
Without hesitation, he stepped through the wide-open door.
But he couldn't take a second step.
In the pitch-black darkness, his senses were in chaos; he couldn't tell if he was falling or floating.
*Thud—!*
He heard the door slam shut behind him, faster than it had opened.
He figured he must be falling. He could feel his clothes fluttering upward from the rushing air below.
He didn't know how far he fell, but at some point, the sensation of floating vanished. The moment he righted himself and planted his feet on the ground.
"Wow. So this is it. This is the place."
The area lit up brightly, and he could only marvel at his surroundings.
Smooth, marble-like stone pillars glowed, standing at irregular intervals, and a single path stretched out before him.
It even blinked kindly, as if to say, *this way*.
It was unmistakable. This was the place from his memories. The unique atmosphere. The smooth, marble-like stone pillars.
The lingering traces of a battle that had not been erased.
As soon as he arrived, his once-calm heart began to pound like a drum.
The surroundings were silent. Not a single sound could be heard. Not even the whisper of the wind.
Could he find the answers to his questions here? This ridiculously strong power. And his physical abilities, the system itself.
*Please, let me find the answers I'm looking for.*
After following the long path of translucent marble and passing through some kind of barrier, a massive hall appeared.
A single beam of light from an unknown source illuminated a lone pillar rising in the center of the hall.
At the top of the pillar, just like at the entrance, a circle was drawn in the very center.
He gently placed his index finger on the circle, and just as with the door, something sharp pricked his fingertip and absorbed his blood.
"Ugh—"
As his blood was absorbed, his stomach churned violently, and he felt his consciousness expand infinitely in an instant.
It was a wondrous experience. Like climbing to the top of an impossibly tall building for the first time and looking down.
No, it was more than that. Though he'd never experienced it, it was like realizing just how insignificant a being like him was in the vastness of the universe.
- *Descendant of the species.*
His mind rang. It wasn't a voice heard through his ears, but one transmitted directly into his head.
- *I do not know what has become of our species in the future, but the fact that you are hearing this must mean that the blood of the Venatio has endured through harsh persecution and suffering.*
Venatio? So, Venatio. It was Venatio, not Heracles.
- *To hunt evil is the duty and mission of our Venatio species. It is our past and our future. The calling of our people. An imprint engraved upon our souls.*
- *This place is one of the last strongholds we have left to carry on that mission. It is a library and a repository of knowledge to be passed down to our descendants.*
- *We have been granted a special power, and through the Light of Hope, we can attain limitless strength. We never retreat nor stand by when it comes to matters involving evil.*
- *Child of our species. I pray that with the knowledge gained here, you may carry on the mission we could not complete.*
With those words, the voice cut off. It was probably because a battle was raging, just as in his memories. The message was short, but there was much to infer.
The Venatio, a species that annihilates evil. And the Light of Hope.
The Light of Hope must be referring to those particles of light.
Anyway, Venatio. Still, the name Heracles Clan rolls off the tongue better than Venatio.
If I'm the last survivor of this species, isn't it up to me what we're called?
"Gyaaaaaaaah—!!"
As the thought crossed his mind, something suddenly began flooding into his head. There was no gentleness to it.
Information poured in violently, as if it were being hammered into his brain.
His brain overloaded, steam rose from his body, his eyes became bloodshot, and the muscles all over his body swelled tautly.
A map. A map unfolded in his mind like a floating hologram, and across its vast expanse, dots appeared and lit up.
The South, North Rzhev. And even the continent across the sea. Ten dots in total.
These were the locations of other places like this one, scattered not just across the continent, but the entire planet.
[Loading user information.]
[Outdated information detected. Verifying error. Checking outdated information.]
[Light of Hope will now be absorbed without restriction.]
[Updating all information.]
[All information successfully updated.]
[Absence of 'Annihilate Evil' confirmed.]
The map wasn't the end of it. The system, which he rarely heard from except when his stats increased, displayed a new window with an announcement.
[Spiritual Power is insufficient. Minimizing transfer.]
[Number of information types to be transferred: 3]
[Beginning transfer. Spiritual Power detected. Transmitting the Ring of Spiritual Power. A single stroke is drawn.]
[Beginning transfer of Spiritual Art.]
[Beginning transfer of Annihilate Evil.]
[Transfer complete.]
Of all his stats, Spiritual Power had been the biggest mystery. Simply put, it meant the power of the soul, but he had no idea what it was used for.
To put it in perspective, it was like a mage's mana or a knight's aura. And it was the very power used to fight evil.
The Ring of Spiritual Power was a cultivation method only usable by the Venatio. Spiritual Art was the practical application of Spiritual Power. Two techniques in total surfaced in his mind.
Finally, Annihilate Evil. The most important point was Annihilate Evil.
Annihilate Evil was a passive skill of the Venatio species. The kind of passive that increased damage and reduced damage taken when fighting enemies with demonic attributes.
With this, he could surely face not only Ludwig Brandt but anyone with demonic attributes more easily.
No wonder they so confidently claimed to never retreat or stand by in matters involving evil.
It was the most basic application, but it was a sufficient reward.
The flow of time felt normal again, and he began to feel things in his body he'd never felt before. A new energy, as if something was rotating within him.
*This must be Spiritual Power.*
A bright, grayish light mixed with white flickered around his fist.
"Nice."
It was very nice. If this was like a knight's aura, then at least he was on the same starting line.
The moment he passed back through the white barrier he had entered.
*What? Instead of going back the way I came, I'm heading straight for the entrance?*
What kind of strange magic was this?
*Grrrrr—*
"The door is opening!"
"Prepare for battle!"
As the door opened, he heard a commotion. The Empire bastards must have realized the door was opening long ago.
That's why they had surrounded the place.
*All the better.*
He gripped his hammer in one hand and cloaked it in Spiritual Power. Just how much strength would this Spiritual Power unleash?
*Whoosh—*
The hammer, wrapped in Spiritual Power, shot through the small gap in the opening door.
"What the—!"
"Aargh—!"
"Scatter! Scatter!"
The sound of splattering blood mingled with the soldiers' desperate screams.
Right, he had infiltrated this place. But he'd been discovered. A very common occurrence. You could even call it a cliché.
"But if there are no witnesses, isn't that just an assassination?"