Chapter 167
Chapter 167
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: Against Heaven
Against Heaven.
An unpleasant sensation lingered in my grip.
Probably because I'd crushed his head outright.
'These kinds of things are still best handled with a sword.'
It ends cleanly.
And I had to endure that revolting texture just because of some bastard I needed to kill.
I scanned my surroundings.
Diago was still breathing, thankfully.
However, the one who'd used Diago as bait in his deal with me...
'He looked like quite the pain.'
I could more or less guess what he'd propose.
Call it intuition.
He'd offer this and that in exchange for cooperating with them. Pretty enticing terms, from their perspective.
'Troublesome.'
But those guys were connected to some organization here.
And that organization... well, even by my standards, they were utterly repulsive.
'Human trafficking, drug procurement, and cannibalism sales.'
Just like those Chinese thugs.
The first two were bad enough, but the third alone was reason enough to kill the bastard on sight.
I calmly felt the noble's corpse burning in my hand.
While keeping my guard up, I quietly stared at one spot.
"Quit the theatrics and come out."
"Well, well."
Clap, clap, clap.
The sound of applause rang out as a man approached me.
Blood-red hair.
Dressed like some butler, with crimson eyes.
'......'
I narrowed my eyes at the grinning figure.
Gave me a bad vibe.
More than that, he reminded me of someone.
'Lucia?'
Alias: Execution Princess.
I had no idea how such a modest, kind girl ended up with that moniker, but I could guess.
The power of blood.
A sinister ability that wielded it.
Those who possessed it inspired dread in people.
I got a similar feeling from this man.
"No need to be so on guard."
The man performed an exaggerated, elegant bow.
Nobility through and through.
But I'd seen that bow somewhere before.
'Chloe.'
When I met that woman who was "chosen by the world" or whatever.
Lucia's father had greeted her that way.
I hadn't met many nobles, but the greeting was so distinctive it stuck with me.
-Those filthy mosquito bastards are still around...
The Holy Palace had looked at them with utter contempt.
'Didn't you see one?'
I thought of Lucia.
She couldn't have missed him, so her reaction seemed odd.
-The mosquito bastard who became your ally and enemy aren't the same, Master.
'......'
Good thing you're the Holy Palace.
Glad you have such a flexible personality.
I stared at the man.
"I understand what you're on guard against."
"What do you want?"
As I stared silently, the red-haired man bowed his head quietly and spoke.
"......What we want is contact with Han Yuseong. That noble Alber ignored our position and tried to seize the opportunity, causing friction with Mr. Han Yuseong."
"What do you want?"
I looked at him as if to say, spit it out.
"To get straight to the point... We were originally in contact with Heavenly Death Star. Our goal was to block him from entering the imperial family and pull the other heroes to our side."
"......"
"Black Nether Duke may seem loyal to the emperor, but we can bring him over."
"So you pulled in Heavenly Death Star, and now you want Han Yuseong on your side too."
"Yes. A rare hero from humanity, isn't he? It's been since the first hero Ilro that three humans became heroes at once..."
"Enough chatter."
I clenched my fist.
Black flames roared up from my hand! The red man clicked his tongue.
"You're too hasty. Do you think we'll harm Han Yuseong?"
A strange smile crept over the red-haired man's face as he said that.
"Or are you hoping for it? That you'd side with those Demonic Cult types?"
I'm Han Yuseong.
Side with the Demonic Cult? Please.
"Well, that could be. Unlike our empire, they scrape by on barren land, grinding people into barely surviving. How about this instead?"
The red-eyed man made me another offer.
"As payment for you making contact with Han Yuseong, we'll hand over something quite nice from our side."
The man drew something from his bosom.
A dagger gleaming with black light.
Thump.
My heart pounded the moment I saw it. What was it? The Heavenly Demon Divine Art instinctively drew me to it.
'What is that?'
Some sacred relic of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?
-Whoa.
As I wondered,
the Holy Palace murmured in admiration.
-Why does that thing belong to a creep like him? Hey, you parasite living off Master. Do you know why that's there?
Seong-gong asked in a thuggish tone.
But I was skeptical. She never answered when I asked directly, so why now...?
[Acquire it.]
...A voice shook my mind.
A grating, like nails on steel, and the Heavenly Demon's soul stone demanded it.
[To let them take that... disgraceful whelps... We must rise again.]
The Heavenly Demon's soul stone screamed as if it couldn't forgive it.
'You?'
-Even in our position stuck here, I'd tell you to get it?
[Do not hand over my treasure.]
Ha, ridiculous.
Did he think I'd fall for some treasure?
'Fine, what else you got?'
Then again, might as well look.
-No, Master...!
'Just listening.'
[I'll give you everything! Even some relics I hid a millennium ago!]
Hid a millennium ago?
So this Heavenly Demon was from a thousand years back?
Table that for now.
I focused on the present.
'Some?'
[Yes, some! With part of the relics I hid, you could even beat that master of yours!]
Master would be Sword King Volkan.
If a portion of relics could match that...
[No!]
As if reading my thoughts, the Heavenly Demon's soul stone trembled and went berserk.
[How I gathered those... How dare you think of taking them all?!]
Hey, saying that makes me sound like the thug.
But I'm the Thief Hero.
Being a little thuggish is fine, right?
As I pondered seriously, the red man watched me with interest.
"Pondering even after knowing what it is... You must be close to that Han Yuseong. Well, stepping up like this without ties would be odd."
The red man smiled meaningfully.
"No need to worry. All we want is a little cooperation from Hero Thief. Han Yuseong will surely find the deal satisfactory."
Satisfactory deal?
Doubt there's much that'd satisfy me.
Especially since I'm tight with the crown prince.
"You'll be satisfied. We'll prepare plenty on our end."
His beaming smile was deeply suspicious.
I weighed it internally.
'What's the gain here.'
Hearing him out wouldn't hurt.
'Doesn't seem shady.'
Thief God's Territory.
It gave me observational insight.
Thanks to it, I could usually tell if people were lying or telling the truth.
This man before me didn't give off that vibe.
He intended to speak only truth to me.
"What deal if I let you meet Han Yuseong?"
"Simply put: status, honor, excellent mentors... and massive backing from the entire noble faction."
"......"
"Might give you pause. Honestly, the noble faction is over twice the emperor faction's size... but put differently, you'd have support from all who control over a third of the empire's pie."
I looked at the red man.
No lies there.
But why would I bother?
'The noble faction? Aren't they just scattered among many?'
The emperor faction was concentrated around the emperor. No matter how I thought about it, sticking with them seemed better.
"You seem deep in thought."
The red man handed me the black-shrouded blade.
"This is a down payment. We'll set a meeting place soon—graciously come there."
The red man bowed deeply.
I watched him, then a question arose.
"......If I hadn't killed that guy, and if Han Yuseong had come here, what then?"
"Probably what you expect."
The red man flashed a highly suspicious grin, bowed,
and—whoosh—!
was swallowed by eerie blood and vanished.
[Finally found you, my other half!]
Suddenly, the Heavenly Demon's soul stone burst from my inventory.
And as it shot toward the black blade at terrifying speed—
[What?!]
I stared at the hazy something trying to escape the Heavenly Demon's soul stone.
'What is this.'
I squinted at the hazy entity emerging from the Heavenly Demon's soul stone.
It felt awfully familiar.
Something I'd seen countless times in the Labyrinth of the Cradle.
'......Eternal Soldiers.'