Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Ties of the Past (3)
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“Stabilization complete. Connection established.”
The mages stepped back from the dark blue portal.
Soldiers surrounded the portal, and Knight Rattle, preparing for any contingency, drew his sword and stood near it.
“……?”
But when a considerable amount of time passed with nothing coming through the portal, the researchers didn't hide their displeasure, their faces twisting into scowls.
“What's going on? Is it even connected?”
“Yes?! Yes, it is. I'm certain we checked that stabilization was complete…”
The mage frantically checked the magic circle in response to the researcher's question, but there was clearly no error. Stabilization was complete, and the portal was definitely connected.
“Then why isn't anything coming through?!”
There was only one reason those high-and-mighty researchers had bothered to gather in front of the portal where materials came and went.
A material blessed by mana. A young girl, at that.
It was a material so rare they had never seen anything like it.
After all, a material with such unique characteristics, rather than the same old ones, would drastically accelerate the pace of their research.
*Vwooom—*
And as if on cue, the portal hummed and something began to emerge.
“Something's coming through!”
“Damn it. How do they even manage the grunts down there? Making us wait after we took time out of our precious schedules to be here.”
“It seems there was a delay on the other side.”
“Tsk. They don't know the value of time these days, not at all. They need to be properly educated.”
“I believe the materials and the prototype will be coming through this gate as well.”
The researchers grumbled, but they were filled with anticipation at the thought of finally meeting the new material.
And when the figures finally emerged from the portal.
“Wha… what!”
Everyone present was struck dumb. What came through wasn't the material, but two dead prototypes.
Moreover, they bore clear signs of battle.
Who in the world could have done this to these durable prototypes?
They were in such a state that recycling them seemed utterly impossible.
“Th-this! What in the world happened! Who dared! To our precious prototypes!”
The director of the research institute, Victor Braak, roared in fury at the sight of the destroyed prototypes.
The amount of money, time, demonic energy, and effort that went into making just one of them… and they end up like this?
Even a decent knight wouldn't be able to defeat them easily.
They were even complete enough to be deployed in actual combat. Hundreds of bodies were used as materials just to create those two.
“Where's the other one?!”
“Uh, but I think there's something else.”
The moment a soldier lifted one of the overlapping corpses.
*Click—*
*BOOM—!*
An artifact hidden between the corpses detonated, tearing everything nearby to shreds.
***
“The demonic energy is disappearing!”
For some unknown reason, the demonic energy that had filled the cave began to be slowly sucked inward.
It was as if a hole had opened somewhere, and all the demonic energy was draining into it.
“Stand back!”
As the concentration of demonic energy lessened, Hattie Shaw stepped forward and began digging through the pile of dirt herself.
He was the one who had saved Hanna, not to mention Haveron and Anya. She couldn't just leave him here.
She had to at least see his face. And rescue him so they could leave together.
Her other subordinates had already evacuated all the captured people.
The only ones left in this damn place were Hattie, Hanna, a few subordinates for emergencies, and the unknown man deeper inside.
“Gray?”
As she cleared the collapsed entrance and the inside became faintly visible.
The first thing Hattie Shaw saw was a gray aura. The demonic energy swirled and shrank, following the movement of that gray aura.
At the center of the aura, a man sat cross-legged. He had short-cropped blond hair and looked to be at least forty. His bloodstained body spoke to the ferocity of the battle.
“Tch. It only went up by 8. I had high hopes.”
An incomprehensible mumble was heard. The mound of dirt collapsed, fully revealing the entrance.
“Who… Huh? Hattie… Shaw?”
Hearing him recognize her, Hattie Shaw's guard shot up, and she drew her sword.
In this Empire, only two kinds of people knew her identity.
Agents of the Empire, or ties from her past. However, those from her past were almost all dead, had disappeared, or had long since defected to the Empire.
“Who are you?”
Kratos seemed flustered, shaking his head before giving an awkward smile and slowly speaking.
He had been so glad to see her that her name had just slipped out.
It was perfectly understandable that she was on guard. How could she not be, when a complete stranger called her name as if they were old friends?
“Uh, well. I am Prometheus… that is, a descendant of Lord Prometheus. No, his disciple.”
As Kratos stammered, Hattie Shaw's strange expression slowly morphed into one of fury.
Her life over the past ten years had been enough to make Hattie Shaw sensitive to even the smallest details.
For her, it was a matter of survival.
“I don't know how you dare speak his name, but… a disciple? You don't expect me to believe such nonsense, do you? A disciple who shows up ten years after he died?”
He had been a man of many secrets, but she still knew a great deal about him.
At the very least, she had never heard anything about Lord Prometheus having a disciple.
“No, Mom, Mom. Wait a second.”
“Hanna. Stay back. This doesn't concern you.”
As Hattie Shaw advanced on Kratos with her sword drawn, Hanna grew even more anxious, stamping her feet.
She didn't know why the situation had suddenly turned like this, but wasn't he her savior?
“I'm grateful you saved Hanna, but I can't help but suspect you have an ulterior motive. Don't move until I've confirmed your true intentions.”
“Uh, well. We can sort out my intentions later, but shouldn't we get out of here first? There are a lot of kidnapped people outside.”
Kratos gestured toward the now-formless portal and the corpses.
“Those people have already been evacuated. Reveal your identity.”
“Ah, that's a relief. But with a mess this big, I'm guessing soldiers will be swarming here soon. I sort of made a scene.”
If he were in their shoes, he'd dispatch soldiers or knights here immediately after an incident like this.
“We're pulling out! Tie him up and bring him with us!”
He wasn't wrong, so Hattie Shaw quickly assessed the situation and tied Kratos's arms herself.
She didn't know what level of mastery he possessed, but the rope was enchanted, so he shouldn't be able to break free easily.
“You'd be wise not to try anything funny. Let's move!”
“Of course.”
He had caused all this ruckus just to find them. There was no way he would run.
“Ah. But before that, this.”
With his bound hands, Kratos picked up a faulty artifact he had prepared earlier and beamed at Hattie Shaw.
“Ever heard of Michael Bay?”
“Michael Bay? A strange name. Stop spouting nonsense.”
“Well, of course you wouldn't know him. But he's a famous explosion enthusiast. I thought you should know.”
“You, don't tell me…? Put that down, now!”
*Click—*
“Hmm. I was going to put it down anyway. But you should probably run.”
Kratos grinned, pushed his spiritual power into the unstable artifact to its absolute limit, and tossed it near a container full of demonic energy.
It might be weaker than a conventional bomb, but considering the chain reaction, it would certainly be a sufficient spark.
“The bigger the explosion, the greater the art.”
“You crazy bastard…! Run! Now!”
Kratos sprinted toward the entrance, hands still bound, and let out a maniacal laugh.
***
“Hah… hah… You absolute madman! What the hell!”
Outside was, in a word, pandemonium.
A massive explosion shook the ground, and from the cracks, an immense amount of demonic energy seeped out, flooding District 13.
Hattie Shaw's subordinates, who had been waiting outside, hastily evacuated the people of District 13.
As the artifact's explosion caused demonic energy to erupt from underground, priests and paladins from the Holy Kingdom swarmed in to stabilize the rampant energy.
With this, the Empire would surely be too preoccupied to turn its attention elsewhere for a while.
Of course, this wasn't a thoughtless act. It was all part of a bigger picture.
The explosion on the other side of that portal, whatever it did, had undoubtedly caused significant damage.
Besides, it was better to drag the Holy Kingdom into this and put pressure on the Empire than to let the Empire make a mess of things while hunting for the culprit.
Demonic energy in the middle of the capital?
And from a suspicious-looking facility, no less?
Furthermore, the existence of that facility had to be exposed. If it wasn't, the Empire would just cover it up and build a new one.
“There won't be any civilian casualties. I calculated it thoroughly.”
“You… madman.”
Hattie Shaw, still panting, shoved Kratos into their hideout.
Things having come to this, she had to settle it here. Normally, she would have blindfolded him so he wouldn't know the location, but everything had already gone off the rails.
She was almost certain she wouldn't let him leave alive. There was no way that flippant man could be Lord Prometheus's disciple.
Although, he himself had been rather flippant too.
“Wow, a secret hideout in a place like this. The Empire bastards would be sick to their stomachs if they knew.”
They were using a massive rainwater reservoir, built in preparation for a great flood in the past, as their hideout.
It was quite well-equipped with various things. Perhaps it hadn't rained much recently, as there were few signs of moisture.
Even the houses built inside the hideout were designed to float on water.
Hattie Shaw steadied her ragged breaths and glared daggers at Kratos, who was looking around as if completely oblivious to the situation.
“What in the world are you?”
For the first time in a long while, Hattie Shaw felt a true threat to her life.
The fear that the Empire's pursuit, which she had only barely managed to shake off, could start all over again was enough to make her hair stand on end.
And what's more, her daughter Hanna was with her!
“Me? Like I said before, I'm Lord Prometheus's disciple.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“But it's true…”
“Cut the bullshit!”
Hattie Shaw screamed at his nonchalant demeanor, her voice tearing.
She felt a phantom pain from the eye beneath her eyepatch, an eye that no longer functioned. It had been so long since the injury that it shouldn't have been possible to feel any pain.
Who was this man, to dredge up painful memories she had tried so hard to forget?
“You say you're his disciple?! Then where were you when he died?! When your master died! So miserably, at that!”
Hattie Shaw grabbed Kratos by the collar.
“The day… the day he crumbled to dust.”
The memory of that day remained a trauma for Hattie Shaw.
The guilt of failing to foresee such a critical event as the Director of Intelligence.
The guilt of having let the person who changed her life die in vain.
And the guilt of still being alive despite it all.
The grip on his collar trembled and then loosened.
A heavy silence fell over the hideout. Hattie Shaw collapsed to the ground, an expression of utter desolation on her face.
Just when she thought she had finally forgotten.
“Does spring come to the stolen fields?”
At that perfectly calm, monotone voice, Hattie Shaw lifted her head and looked at Kratos.
Those words were something only she and Prometheus knew.
“At the spire, I heard the story of that day.”
The playful tone in Kratos's voice was gone, replaced by a solemn expression as he met Hattie Shaw's gaze.
“He never forgot, not until the very end. He didn't resent you, either. He was only… worried and sorry.”
“He…”
He never forgot. He could never forget. He was sorry. And he was grateful.
Words he could not say now rose to his throat, then slowly subsided.