Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Counterattack (3)
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The scars of that day's battle and the breeding grounds remained, abandoned and grotesque.
It seemed the Empire's bastards had only surveyed the scene without cleaning it up. All that remained were signs of their vented fury.
“Good heavens. Oh, God.”
“Wretches who don't even deserve a place in hell.”
Iron bars, massive carcasses, the charred remains of people. Gleb closed his eyes, gently drawing upon his holy power to sense the spirits.
“It's horrifying. So many souls are still bound here, unable to reach His side. So many innocent souls.”
Wrinkles formed around Gleb's eyes, his expression growing more sorrowful, as if he could feel the spirits lingering in this place.
“We will hold a requiem. Prepare yourselves.”
Gleb directed the priests, reciting prayers. The paladins stood guard and set up camp while the priests prepared a requiem for the souls who had suffered and died here.
With high-ranking priests performing a requiem, perhaps they could find some peace.
“Take a good look. This is the true face of the Empire you serve like a dog.”
I said to Adson’s son, still bound limb by limb to one side.
Of course, he must have known. The Hounds were a unit created for this very purpose. He might have even led this operation.
“And you think you can stop the Empire's grand design by doing this?!”
The man shouted, his eyes wide with fury. Was this genuine loyalty welling up from his heart? Or just a reflexive cry?
“Absolutely. Stop it? No, we'll overturn it. Step by step. Isn't that how the Empire was built in the first place? Then it must be torn down step by step.”
When I met his sharp gaze, which looked ready to kill me at any moment, with a blank expression, he flinched but didn't look away.
“Other people's lives are just as precious as yours and your father's.”
“You. How do you know my father?”
Ah. Of all the things to be curious about in this situation, it was how I knew Adson Inken.
It was absurd. What kind of person was his father to him that, even now, he obsessed over him instead of the horrific scene before his eyes?
“Puhahaha—Right. At least you're consistent. How could I not know your father? We once fought for our lives together. Though I never imagined he'd become a traitor.”
“Bullshit—! Almost everyone my father knew is dead! Don't try to fool me with your nonsense—! Who the hell are you—!”
He screamed furiously, as if Adson Inken were his Achilles' heel, making his previous silence seem meaningless.
“Do you really think they're all dead? Well, it doesn't matter if you don't know. I don't care. I'm not here to condemn Adson Inken's choice. But you should know this: if something happened to him, it was a consequence of that choice.”
“What do you know! How dare you spew such nonsense! If you knew the pain we endured, you wouldn't talk so carelessly!”
When you make a choice, you must bear the responsibility that comes with it.
Did Haveron live through all those harsh moments because he didn't know that?
Did Hattie Shaw live in hiding for nearly a decade because she didn't know that?
“But remember this. That choice you talk about? These people never even had a moment to make one.”
Wouldn't it be so? When the day comes that I face Adson Inken, what will he say?
That he didn't know? That if he had known, he never would have made such a choice?
Nothing changes.
“Hoo…”
Pushing aside my heavy thoughts, I watched the requiem.
A haze of holy power, emanating from the priests' bodies, blanketed the land.
As a low, hymn-like prayer began to fill the desolate Demonic Realm.
The paladins, too, knelt on one knee and prayed for the departing souls.
*May you go to a better place. And be reborn in a better place. Not now, but maybe in a few decades.*
For now, and for the foreseeable future, the continent was going to be a very noisy place.
***
After several attempts, I finally managed to connect with Hattie Shaw.
-The atmosphere in the capital is... just so-so. It's like people are adapting. Surprisingly, it's not that loud.
Hattie Shaw's voice, which I hadn't heard in a while, sounded incredibly weary. The conversation kept breaking off, as if she were yawning mid-sentence.
It was understandable. Every unprecedented event happening in the capital was a target for intelligence gathering, and that information was being collected, processed, and steadily piling up.
“It's the capital, after all. No one would dare try anything foolish. It's a situation where you could be judged on the spot and no one would bat an eye.”
-Right. All of the Holy Kingdom's temples have officially withdrawn from the Empire. A considerable number of citizens followed them, too. And yet, the Empire hasn't made any particular statement.
“They probably don't care. My guess is, since the Holy Kingdom is also a target for subjugation, they can just capture all the citizens who followed, enslave them, or use them as test subjects.”
A legal supply of materials. As long as the Empire and the Emperor stood, the experiments would surely never stop.
“By the way, do you know the name of Adson Inken's son?”
-That bastard? I do. His name is... Ah, Adson Defector.
Adson Defector. I'd finally learned his name.
-He's in Umber Team 0. The Empire's Hounds. A special unit formed with the relatives of the nobles who chose to become the Empire's dogs during the Night of Slaughter, held as hostages. 'Special unit' is just a nice way of saying they're disposable cards.
“What about Adson Inken?”
-What's there to say? He's living because he can't die. He agreed to be the Empire's puppet, but is it that easy? Not after all those years he spent with Lord Prometheus. So now he's desperately trying to survive, even offering up his own son to Umber Team. I hear he's just holed up in his mansion in the capital, literally just breathing.
My guess was right. Sending skilled kids like that to their deaths wasn't a choice one could make easily unless they were disposable cards.
Hadn't they swarmed us as if it would be a disaster if they failed to hold us back?
“In any case, I'm counting on you. There will probably be a major disturbance in the capital soon. I'm in the Demonic Realm right now.”
-The Demonic Realm? *That* Demonic Realm? You crazy bastard. You went all the way into the Demonic Realm?
“I came with the Holy Kingdom. I plan on tearing off one of the Empire's arms here.”
-You crazy bastard. You really are a crazy bastard. You're the spitting image of your master.
“Heh. I know. That I'm a crazy bastard. I'm definitely not in my right mind.”
After the communication ended, I headed toward Adson Defector. I had all the information I needed.
I placed a hand on the nape of his neck. Lightly. Just enough to feel his pulse and his breathing.
“Adson Defector.”
His eyes widened before returning to normal.
“You're a pitiful one, too. Joining Umber Team 0 just to survive.”
I used the information from Hattie Shaw to rattle him. Shaking him up while he was calm wouldn't yield any real information.
“No, should I say you were abandoned by your father, Adson Inken, rather than joining of your own free will?”
Not just begging for his life, but offering up his son?
The man's eyes trembled. Adson Inken was his trigger. A true raw nerve.
“North.”
While unsettling him, I suddenly stated a direction. His pulse quickened and his breathing hitched. I memorized both the pulse and its rhythm. I couldn't catch it all at once.
Only by reviewing what I remembered and comparing it with my memories from Earth could I properly discern the result.
“Breeding ground.”
Again, his pulse became irregular. His breathing hitched before returning to normal.
I threw out numerous words, memorizing his body's reactions.
“Thank you. You've been a great help.”
I had gathered enough information. I left the tent where he was held, closed my eyes, and reviewed the data. What was true, and what was false?
“Help with what! What the hell did you learn!”
The thoroughly disheveled Defector thrashed about and screamed like a madman, but he received no answer.
***
Three hours north of the base camp.
“Ha. Would you look at that.”
“It's really here?”
Last night, after meeting with Defector, Kratos had suddenly announced there was an enemy base to the north.
He hadn't seemed to torture him, nor had he used magic, yet he'd pinpointed the direction.
Wasn't it just like magic?
When a base-like facility appeared before them, everyone was astonished. Should I call it a research lab?
Unlike Granok, they'd built it extravagantly, as if they had nothing to hide. And on land brimming with demonic energy, no less. What could that mean?
It meant they were all the same kind of scum, and I could demolish this place and crack their skulls without a second thought.
“This is just the beginning. We're not going to stop after destroying just this one place.”
This would be a very long fight. After all, we came here prepared to destroy the entire Demonic Realm. If we were only going to smash one or two places like this, we would have gone elsewhere.
“Step by step. One by one. We need to proceed without anyone getting hurt. I'll strike first.”
It no longer mattered how many guards there were or how strong the enemies were. I was confident I wouldn't lose to just about anyone. No matter who they were.
“It's a battle—! Everyone, prepare for combat!”
As I ran toward the base, the enemy also scrambled into a defensive posture.
Though I doubted it would make any difference.
I enveloped my body in my Spiritual Power, which was now close to 100, and leaped onto the building.
Ignoring the shouts of the men below, I brought my hammer down on the building with all my might.
Places like this never had tall buildings. Two or three stories at most. Of course, a lord's castle or the imperial palace would be a different story.
*Ruuuumble—*
Which meant. A building of this size was something I could destroy in a single blow with power to spare.
“It's collapsing—! Get back! Retreat!”
The enemies' voices rang out in a chaotic chorus as the soldiers of the Holy Kingdom charged in, creating pandemonium.
Atop the ruins of the building, from which dust clouds rose, I purified the surrounding demonic energy so the enemy couldn't use their powers.
Isn't the first rule of battle to remove the enemy's buffs? That's the path to a more overwhelming and certain victory.
“We don't need hostages! Don't leave a single one of them alive!”
“Yes, sir—!”
Just as expected of the Holy Kingdom's paladins and inquisitors, there was no mercy in their hands. They cut down every enemy they came across with a single strike, and if that wasn't enough, they made sure to finish off anyone who didn't die instantly.
Hundreds of soldiers were being wiped out in a single battle. They were completely outmatched.
The demonic energy that empowered them was blocked by my Spiritual Power, preventing them from using their full strength. In that state, they were utterly defenseless against the opposing holy power.
Every time the priests' swords and hands emitted a sacred light, the enemies screamed as if their bodies were on fire, their skin turning a dark, bruised red.
“Why! What is this! Why is my power—!”
“S-save me! Run!”
The dark mages and knights who drew upon demonic energy were rendered mere scarecrows, completely helpless.
The soldiers couldn't support their knights at all and were swept away just as helplessly.
If the knights stood no chance, what difference could the soldiers make?
“Go ahead and beg King Yama until your fingerprints wear off. See if he'll send you to a slightly less hot place. Ah, wait, they don't have King Yama here, do they? Well, whatever.”
Who cares. When we all die—this guy, that guy, and me—we'll all see each other in hell anyway. We can all hold hands and have another friendly brawl then, can't we?