366. The Second Branch (2)
366. The Second Branch (2)
- 1 -
The middle of the Western Continent's Mediterranean Sea.
A small island stood alone, buffeted by the wind.
A land unmarked on any map of civilization.
It was a desolate island where the sea wind clawed at everything all day long.
A place that ought to be uninhabited.
Beneath the ashen sky, atop a sheer cliff, a group of beings stared endlessly at the dark clouds.
Their appearance was bizarre.
They had human forms, but wings sprouted from their backs, and their legs ended in sharp, hooked talons—features of birds of prey were mixed in.
They shared blood with Saya, but their power was thin, a collateral branch of the 'Cheoneungcheongu' bloodline who had not achieved a complete form.
They were the survivors of that clan.
"Clan head, truly... will Lady Saya really come?"
The voice carried on the wind trembled. Hope and anxiety were tangled together within it.
At the young man's question, the man standing at the very front of the group slowly shook his head.
An old man with a balding head and deep years etched into his face. A resignation heavier than hope lay in his eyes.
"I do not know. We cannot know. We merely... wait here, according to Lord Gaap's 'command.'"
A man called Genki.
The voice of the warrior who, in his youth, had severed countless enemy heads and was called the terror of the skies now held only feebleness.
At the word 'command,' the young ones' faces stiffened.
They had been genuinely overjoyed upon hearing news that Saya, the sovereign of the 'main family' who had been their master in ancient times, was alive.
But they also knew that this reunion was by Gaap's design—the King of the Deep Sea, who had saved them yet simultaneously placed shackles upon them.
'My sovereign... please, I beg you, do not come.'
The clan head swallowed words he dared not utter, praying in his heart.
'This land is already defiled. It is not a place you can return to. So please...!'
"O-over there...!"
But as if mocking his wish, a small dot began to appear in the distant, cloud-covered sky.
A young Cheongu pointed a finger at the sky.
The dot rapidly grew larger.
No, it was approaching.
In an instant, it swelled into a nightmarish form.
"Wh-what is that...!"
"I-it's huge...!"
Astonished cries burst from the lips of the young Cheongu.
Something massive enough to cover the sky was approaching the island.
Without a single speck of flesh. A dragon composed entirely of pure white bone.
Kwaaaaang — !
The force of its wingbeats lashed the island like a gale.
The Cheongu took the rushing wind head-on, shielding their faces, yet they fixed their raptor-like eyes upon the giant form flying in.
A form from whose empty eye sockets ominous mana flowed, and whose bone wings, seemingly carved from rock, made the very atmosphere scream with every flap.
"A Bone Dragon...!"
The moment they realized what it was, every Cheongu's face contorted in horror.
A symbol of death and destruction that appeared only in the continent's legends.
A Bone Dragon was an extremely rare existence, even on the continent.
In an era where living dragons themselves had become scarce, witnessing a Bone Dragon—a dragon resurrected from death—was almost a miracle.
But the miracle that now appeared before them looked more like a herald of calamity than a blessing.
"A Bone Dragon...! How could such a thing be here...!"
Genki involuntarily stepped backward.
Terror froze his heart.
At that very moment, violet mana erupted from one of the figures standing atop the dragon's head, surging into the sky and intermingling with the death mana flowing from the Bone Dragon Keltarion.
In the blink of an eye, the entire island was enveloped by an enormous mass of dark clouds.
Kurrrrrng...!
Dark lightning and a dense wind began to rage across the uninhabited island.
The Cheongu steadied themselves and warily watched the sky.
"Up there... there are people!"
At the shout of a Cheongu with keen eyesight, everyone's gaze flew to the top of the dragon's head.
Three figures were visible.
The one in the center was a woman of small build, and two other women stood on either side of her.
Genki's heart began to pound fiercely.
Behind the silhouette of the woman standing on the right, golden wings emerged. Crimson-gold light blazed from that figure's eyes.
That was, unmistakably...
"Ah... M-my sovereign..."
Thud!
An exclamation of awe slipped from him, and he dropped to his knees right there.
He was overwhelmed by the sight of her after hundreds of years, but at the same time, his heart ached as if torn apart.
Though he had wished so desperately that she would not come, in the end, she had set foot on this place.
This island under Gaap's watch.
- 2 -
I looked down impassively from Keltarion's head at the Cheoneungcheongu, who were prostrate with terror.
My mana had already swept through every corner of the island.
'There's nothing.'
There were no traps on the island itself.
Just a few huts they had temporarily built, and the carcasses of one or two giant sea monsters they had hunted together.
'But there is something.'
My senses had clearly picked up a foreign power lurking inside the Cheongu's bodies.
Saya's noble crimson-gold mana.
A golden light similar in hue, yet somehow greedier and more viscous.
It was unmistakable. The Duke of Hatred, Gaap. It was his power.
"Master. What shall we do?"
Saya, standing at my side, asked in a stiff voice.
She, too, seemed to have some inkling of her kin's condition below.
"Let us descend for now."
As Keltarion responded to my will and slowly began to lower its altitude, the Cheoneungcheongu below pressed themselves even flatter.
I observed their reactions carefully.
There is always a very subtle difference between those who are genuinely afraid and those who are trying to hide something.
'Interesting.'
Most of them displayed pure terror, reverence, and sorrow.
But from a few, especially the young and strong-looking Cheongu, I sensed other emotions hidden within their fear.
Anticipation, or resolve.
'No matter how small a group—even a bloodline—it's difficult for them to be of one mind and one heart.'
I gently wrapped my arm around Saya's tense shoulder.
"Saya. Do not be nervous. As I said, whatever choice you make today, I will always be on your side."
"...Thank you, Master."
At my reassurance, the look in Saya's eyes softened slightly.
- 3 -
At last, Keltarion settled upon the peak of the island.
"Wait here."
- Kuuuu...
The Bone Dragon spread its wings and enveloped the surroundings, further strengthening the barrier already in place.
Saya, Ran, and I descended to the ground, stepping down stairs made of translucent violet mana.
The first to approach was the old man who had been kneeling.
He was an old man with fierce, glaring eyes that gave the impression of an aged eagle, but now his face was twisted with an emotion he could not contain.
"I am... I am Amakusa Genki. I am the current head of the collateral Cheoneungcheongu family. ...Are you truly the Paradox Duke, Hecate...?"
A voice trembling uncontrollably.
His eyes flickered, glancing at Saya, but he dared not raise his head and paid his respects to me.
The human impulse toward his blood kin, and the instinctive courtesy toward a new absolute being.
The sight of him, conflicted between the two, was quite fascinating.
I deliberately put on a satisfied smile and stood before him.
"Indeed. I am Hecate."
I extended my hand toward Genki, and he respectfully pressed his lips to the back of my hand.
In that brief moment our skin touched, I stirred my mana.
To confirm once more the presence of Gaap's power lodged deep within him.
'As expected.'
After glancing around at him and his surroundings, I met Ran's eyes at my side.
Wondering if I had perhaps missed something.
She, too, simply nodded.
It seemed her senses had not picked up anything else either.
"Come forward."
I tilted my chin toward Genki.
A gesture of suitable arrogance befitting a Dungeon Lord.
"Prove that you share the same bloodline as my subordinate."
Genki, still on his knees, carefully opened his mouth.
"The moment the collateral line sees the direct line, we are made to recognize and submit to them by the instinct of our bloodline. However, those of the direct line do not possess the power to recognize the collateral line. Instead... there is a bloodline confirmation ritual that has been passed down through the generations."
I tilted my head and asked.
"What kind of ritual?"
"A drop of blood is drawn from both the collateral and direct lines, placed into this ritual liquid that reacts only to the blood of our clan, and then a certain spell is used. If the blood is the same, it will be proven immediately."
I smiled inwardly and met Saya's eyes.
She released some of the tension in her shoulders and nodded.
A second passing mark.
I had already heard about this ritual from Saya.
'Accurately remembering an old traditional ritual. That means he was certain this ritual would be necessary someday.'
At the very least, this old man definitely harbored some deep feelings toward the main family.
Whether it was sincere loyalty or other ambitions, I did not yet know.
"Proceed."
Soon, a jade ritual cup was prepared, and as Genki dropped the powder he had taken from his bosom into it, the clear water in the cup instantly turned a pitch-black color.
Genki and Saya pricked the tips of their fingers with small knives without hesitation, each letting a drop of blood fall.
"「Yeongbuhae Hyeorun-gyeol Cheoncheongsi...」"
The moment the red of the blood droplets vanished into the black water and Genki chanted the spell.
A change occurred.
Pachut — !
The black water instantly surged with a strange force, taking on a white and yellow hue.
As if platinum had dissolved into the water.
"It is correct! This person is truly of the Amatsu family!"
A young Cheongu dressed as a shaman shouted in excitement.
"Oooh...!"
Genki's voice, too, was laden with genuine joy.
But I was focused on something else.
The moment the liquid transformed into a platinum color.
Inside the bodies of Genki and a few other Cheongu, the golden mana of Gaap that had lain dormant in their chests began to writhe, as if it had been waiting for this.
'As expected, it was a signal.'
A function of the mana they were carrying was now revealed.
A transmission function, to send a signal to him the moment Saya's true existence was confirmed.
Of course, that faint signal was blocked by the veil of my mana already covering the entire island and could not advance even an inch.
I slowly raised my finger and pointed to three of them.
"You, you, and you. You three, come out here."
The ones I pointed to were the Cheongu in whom Gaap's mana had been implanted particularly strongly—young ones or pretty ones.
Girls and young men whose mana was abnormally powerful, as if Gaap had personally forced his power into them, as if daring me to see through such a blatant trap.
If I was going to 'pretend to fall into the trap,' taking measures against them was essential.
The moment I accurately singled them out, Genki's face, which had been briefly drunk on joy, turned stark white.
"P-Paradox Duke, Your Excellency... wh-why are you...?"
"Well... you should know better than I why I am doing this. Is that not so?"
At my cold question, Genki collapsed on the spot as if he had given up on everything.
He pressed his head to the ground until his forehead touched the earth.
Thud!
"I am sorry...!"
That was when it happened.
Kwaaaaarng — !!
All of Gaap's mana within the Cheongu's bodies began to rampage all at once.