Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Poison, Well Used, Becomes Medicine
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Phantom Thief.
There was no known name for him.
No one could tell if he was a man or a woman.
He had gained notoriety by raiding the treasure vaults of nobles.
No matter how tight the security, nothing could stop him.
Even under the strictest watch, he would slip away with whatever treasure he desired.
He prided himself on having the fastest feet in the world, so capture was out of the question.
Having plundered over a hundred nobles in total, he believed there was nothing in the world he couldn't steal.
Emboldened, he set his sights on the imperial treasury, where the world's treasures were said to gather.
But he failed at the final hurdle.
In the end, he was caught, his tendons severed, and thrown into the Special Prison.
'I'll make them regret setting me free!'
Yet Crown Prince Reinhardt had healed him and even helped him escape.
A map to the imperial treasury was nothing compared to freedom.
Grind!
The Phantom Thief gnashed his teeth.
The imperial dogs who had caged him for so long—he would steal every last treasure from them. Down to their undergarments.
'Now that I've escaped the palace, there's nothing that can catch me...'
Ssssh!
Thud!
It happened as he fled down a forest path.
A sword flew through the air and embedded itself in the tree right in front of him.
A fraction of an inch off, and it would've pierced his skull.
'Pursuers?'
He glanced back to see a knight charging toward him with terrifying momentum.
Of course. He never believed Crown Prince Reinhardt would let him go that easily.
Swallowing hard, the Phantom Thief broke into a mad sprint.
'No matter how fast they are, they can't outrun me.'
No human in the world could be faster than him.
But there was something the Phantom Thief didn't know.
The knight wasn't human.
She was Arel, heir to the blood of elves—the race said to move fastest in the forest.
Swish!
'W-what?'
In the blink of an eye, Arel overtook him, turned, and came to a stop.
It was simply unbelievable.
That full plate armor and helmet must have weighed dozens of kilos at least.
Could anyone really outpace him while fully armored?
And somehow, she now held the sword that had been lodged in the tree.
'Monster.'
A monster.
Her bottomless gaze sent chills down his spine.
She was clearly a killing doll, one who had murdered dozens, hundreds, maybe more, without a shred of emotion.
He'd seen countless knights and killers, but never eyes so devoid of feeling.
Even they showed some flicker of emotion in the moment of killing.
"Spa..."
He didn't even finish begging for his life.
Thud!
The Phantom Thief's head rolled across the ground.
*
At Reinhardt's command, Arel immediately gave chase to the Phantom Thief.
The thief fled the capital in an instant and plunged into the forest. But the forest was elven territory. Even for a dark elf, that didn't change.
Arel swiftly caught up and severed his neck without hesitation.
"..."
Arel stared down at the corpse for a long while.
The Phantom Thief. A man who knew every path to the imperial treasury by heart.
Reinhardt had extracted the map from him. Scribbled with ways to bypass or disable security, it was worth a fortune.
The treasures amassed by the continent's hegemon, the Empire, over a millennium.
Their value was beyond imagination.
Though the thief was dead, the map remained.
Moreover, Reinhardt had released someone else besides the thief.
Afterward, he'd deliberately let the thief out beyond the capital just so he could hunt him down.
Was there another motive?
If so, should she report it to Grand Duke Persepho?
"..."
A new master.
The human she now had to serve and follow...
It was a contradiction for someone raised solely to kill humans to serve one.
From the moment she opened her eyes and became aware, she had killed humans.
To survive. To live on.
After Grand Duke Persepho took her in, she honed her killing talent even further.
She had an innate sense for murder, surpassing even the other dark elves he'd trained.
—Don't think. Don't doubt.
—You are a blade that kills everything.
—Born to be nothing but a blade.
...That's what she'd been taught.
But her new master said something different.
Think. He didn't need a doll.
Whose words should she heed?
Whose words were right?
"..."
Suddenly, the banquet came to mind.
The memory of holding hands and dancing.
She'd never worn such a frilly dress before.
And right now, the one she had to follow was Reinhardt.
So she thought it over.
First off, the fewer people who knew about the Phantom Thief, the better.
If word spread, Reinhardt would be in danger.
If it got out that the crown prince had freed two Special Prison inmates and was targeting the imperial treasury, he could even face deposition.
To protect Reinhardt, she couldn't tell anyone—not even Grand Duke Persepho.
Grrrr! Grrr!
That was when it happened.
Two massive wolves prowling the forest bared their fangs and approached.
Drawn by the scent of blood.
Whine! Yelp!
But the ferocious wolves hesitated at the edge of Arel's presence, too wary to come closer.
They whimpered in fear of her.
Caught between hunger and instinct, they wavered.
Slowly, Arel pointed at the Phantom Thief's corpse with her fingertip.
Grrr! Growl!
As if given permission.
The moment she pointed, the two giant wolves lunged and tore into the body.
Starved, they crunched even the bones, erasing every trace of evidence.
"..."
Arel watched in silence, then quietly retraced her steps.
*
A twitch ran across Eugene's face.
'No one knows I have the void attribute.'
Yet Crown Prince Reinhardt had pierced right through it, as if he'd known from the start.
But that was impossible.
No one left alive knew he was a void-attribute mage capable of chantless spellcasting.
He'd killed them all.
"...Who told you?"
Eugene changed his tune.
This man knew his secret.
And from the way he mentioned dragons, he wasn't just anyone.
He'd been famous for madness since childhood—was it all a mask?
"Take a guess. How do you think I found out?"
"How should I...?"
Eugene tilted his head at Reinhardt's words, then hardened his expression.
After staring intently at Reinhardt for a long moment, Eugene spoke.
"You possess the void attribute."
"As expected, you can tell."
Recognizing the void attribute.
In other words, detecting another 'Epic'.
Even the dragon and demon hadn't been sure of Zero's existence until they entered his body. Baal had only suspected, not pinpointed it.
Zero, on the other hand, could detect if someone nearby was an A.I.
[The 'Eugene' conversing with Master right now is not an A.I.]
[However, scan results detect unstable electrical stimulation in his brain.]
Yet Eugene wasn't an A.I.
An Epic that hadn't been devoured by human nature.
He'd seen a few Epics, but this was the first who'd kept their humanity intact.
"That thing in your head. The Epic that let you become a chantless mage—did it tell you I have the 'void attribute'?"
"...!"
Eugene shuddered.
He thought there were no more surprises, but he'd seen through everything.
Was he a dragon here to kill him?
He shook his head inwardly.
No. The man was the Empire's crown prince.
A fellow void mage would know about dragons well enough.
But recognizing the Epic in his head was another matter entirely.
That was a function unique to his own Epic.
"...What do you want to know?"
Eugene half-gave up.
Whatever his intent, Crown Prince Reinhardt would get it all.
"Everything. Starting from how you got that thing in your head."
"Then promise to kill me before the dragons do."
"You want a human death?"
"Dying to a dragon as an Epic means losing everything. You can't even imagine."
Eugene hugged his arms in terror.
After witnessing a dragon kill an Epic, he'd holed up here.
Better a quiet death in obscurity than that.
"Very well. I'll grant your wish."
"...Your Highness, I was an orphan. Utterly talentless."
Eugene began his tale.
*
Eugene had no magical talent from birth.
What talent does a penniless orphan have? Even if he did, survival left no room to awaken it.
In his beggar days, he was taken in by a kindly-seeming couple—a chance to at least fill his belly. But they turned out to be infamous black mages of the demon cult.
After that, every day was hell.
Human experiments so brutal he wished for death.
Of 24 hours, he was sane for less than one.
About five years passed like that.
One day, Eugene awakened.
His mind cleared, and he gained chantless magic.
He killed the two black mage spouses experimenting on him and founded the Tower of Spirit, carving out his place.
Pretending to be an archmage, he even became a palace mage. For an orphan, it was a success story.
Money, fame—everything came to him.
Truly happy days.
Until 'that' appeared before his eyes.
'A map?'
A continental map floated up.
Dots marked various spots, including a red one at his location.
Instinct told him it showed positions of others like him—'awakened' ones, or Epics.
Unable to resist curiosity, Eugene sought out another red dot.
There, he met another Epic, 'Bella'.
Bella had adapted to the human world. Unlike him, she was an Epic dominating a human body.
She lived nomadically, shifting homes periodically, and treated Eugene kindly.
Meeting another Epic wasn't easy, she said—especially a good one like her was rarer than stars from the sky. She answered all his questions freely.
Eugene was drawn to Bella.
Bella was drawn to Eugene.
Perhaps because of the Epic in his head.
He was happy.
True happiness, felt for the first time in his life.
Bella accepted him as he was. Even his false palace days couldn't compare.
But that time didn't last.
"Wasn't it this bitch?"
Returning to the palace, he found the village razed.
Everyone dead, Bella and a 'dragon' in the midst.
Gazing at dying Bella, the dragon tilted its head.
"Detection signal came clearly. But you don't seem to have the 'detection Epic'."
Eugene eavesdropped from hiding.
He soon realized the 'detection Epic' the dragon mentioned was his.
The map revealing Epic locations.
The map he'd activated to find Bella had drawn the dragons too.
And others.
"One step too late."
"Tch, detection Epics are rare. Dragons who absorb them become Twelve Gods, right?"
"Balmun. First in five hundred years—nice to see you, but I'll take it before you do."
"...No need to fight among ourselves. She's not a detection Epic. Low-grade trash."
Balmun.
The one who'd annihilated the village and killed Bella tossed her corpse like a sack.
"Tasteless even if eaten. But memories are shared. Hunting 'detection Epics' is something we should cooperate on, not compete."
At Balmun's words, the dragons approached and began absorbing Bella.
Placing hands on her, her bones and flesh peeled away, melted, vanished.
The sight was gruesomely horrific.
One dragon who'd absorbed her then spoke.
"Lucky some strong memory fragments remain. Epics deliberately wipe memories periodically—makes tracking contacts a pain."
"...Eugene."
"Not far. First to find claims him."
The dragons left the village.
Eugene had erased his presence completely—his stealthy approach to surprise her had paid off.
Afterward, he returned to the palace and volunteered for the Special Prison.
He didn't want to lose memories of Bella.
Didn't want such a gruesome end.
Couldn't bear his precious memories stolen and mocked by dragons.
Ten years passed in the Special Prison.
*
"That's my story, Your Highness."
Reinhardt nodded along to Eugene's tale.
Now he understood why Eugene hadn't lost his humanity to the Epic.
Years of agonizing human experiments.
Sane for less than an hour a day—similar torment to his own, perhaps seizing control of the Epic in turn.
Some brain change from prolonged suffering allowed him to wrest dominance.
Not time regression, though.
'A map showing other Epics' locations. But activating it draws dragons.'
Tempting function.
But eating it would cause a stomachache.
Of course, finding Epics was essential for his growth.
Psionic energy from Baal, dragon armor from the holy site's dragon, bond dragon stolen from Damon.
All invaluable.
And Epics were more common than expected, hiding in human society, manipulating humans while evading dragons and men.
The power to absorb Epics rivaled dragons'.
The force dominating Zero's nanomachine.
He'd even glimpsed fragmented dragon memories—Epics should fear Zero more than dragons.
Anyway... Eugene was a medicine laced with poison.
But maybe that was for the best.
The best poison makes the finest medicine.
He gathered his thoughts and spoke.
"Activate the map, Eugene."