Chapter 102: The Human Regime
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 102: The Human Regime
“You are… a far more virtuous man than I thought.”
Lieutenant General Ebon’s words came out of nowhere. His intention was unclear, and since the Lieutenant General was far from a beautiful woman—not even a woman at all—the Undying paid him no heed.
“Keep it to yourself. I gain nothing from a man’s praise.”
“I see. Yes. That’s right.”
Lieutenant General Ebon muttered to himself, nodding. As he continued his cryptic muttering, the Undying lost interest.
“Well then, I’ll be off to stop the fight…”
“Ah. No, you can’t do that.”
In that instant, without a word of warning, Lieutenant General Ebon shot out his hands. Claws had emerged from them, and they glinted coldly as they aimed for the Undying’s back.
Just as the claws, like the jaws of a beast, were about to tear into the Undying’s body.
“Hmph! Not a chance!”
Sensing the killing intent, the Undying immediately twisted his body and raised his prized right arm to block Lieutenant General Ebon’s attack…
…having forgotten that his right hand was still detached.
“Ah! My right hand!”
Unimpeded, the claws pierced the Undying’s body. The blades, shaped like talons, ripped through his organs and thrust deep without mercy.
Impaled by six blades due to a moment of carelessness, the Undying cried out in anguish.
“Kugh! A careless mistake! I’d grown too used to not having a right arm!”
“This alone is a fatal wound. However, my opponent is one of the Undying. He won’t die from this anyway…”
Lieutenant General Ebon muttered coolly.
“I’ll just make sure you can’t interfere, my virtuous friend.”
As he said this, Lieutenant General Ebon drew up the energy from within his body.
The mana squeezed from his body glowed blue. Dozens of Qi-infused slashes diced the Undying’s body. Shoulders, thighs, chest, flanks. Dozens of bloody lines were drawn one after another across his large frame.
For a brief moment, the Undying’s body froze, suspended in mid-air. He gaped, trying to say something, but no words came out.
Immediately after, his body exploded, scattering in every direction. A storm of flesh filled the corridor.
It was a merciless yet efficient attack. If his entire body was torn apart like this, it would take even an undying half a day to regenerate.
“Ah, aaaaaah! Rasch!”
The sight of the Undying exploding before her eyes was too much for Callis. Panicking, she screamed.
Lieutenant General Ebon spoke to her firmly.
“Grown attached? Don’t worry, Lieutenant Colonel. He’s an undying, is he not? He’ll revive eventually.”
“B-but… this… He was helping us.”
Lieutenant General Ebon didn’t even listen to what Callis said next. Instead, he folded his fingers one by one, ticking off a mental checklist to see if he’d forgotten anything.
“Alright. The Cat King, that nuisance, is out of the way. The Undying, just dealt with. The Progenitor seems uninterested in us, as expected. Now, all that’s left is…”
His voice trailing off, the lieutenant general’s gaze slowly turned toward me. Our eyes met awkwardly.
The lieutenant general spoke.
“By the way, do people often tell you that you have a faint presence? Or are you using some kind of camouflage technique? I almost missed you completely.”
So close.
Ah, damn. I was reading everyone’s thoughts and hiding in their blind spots to avoid being noticed. But I guess since he’s from a secret organization, the lieutenant general is more meticulous than I thought.
Counting on his fingers is cheating. He should be competing fair and square with just his memory!
Busted. What should I do? Can I just get away with it?
“Necessity is the mother of discovery, they say. Doesn’t the fact that you didn’t notice me mean there was no need to? I’m just a simple, ordinary laborer. If you let me go, we can all be happy…”
“Sorry, but I can’t do that.”
‘A laborer… Just a lucky civilian who happened to survive. If the lieutenant colonel had died, it might be a different story, but we don’t need a guide now. There’s no need to leave a witness.’
The killing intent swelled. It was the unmistakable bloodlust of a general, said to be the Military State’s strongest weapon, directed at me.
Just as one cannot block the starlight, I have no way of stopping his attack. It might be different if it were Chun-aeng, but this attack was from claws with tangible weight. Even if I blocked it with my power, I’d be pierced right through.
If I were the me who first fell into the Abyss, I would have died without a doubt.
“Blame your own misfortune.”
However, I have powerful backing. Backing stronger than most nations—no, backing that is a nation unto itself.
Just before I could call for Tyr, Callis shouted first.
“You mustn’t attack him, Lieutenant General Ebon!”
Without even thinking of retracting his claws, Lieutenant General Ebon said,
“Lieutenant Colonel, I’ve told you time and again, put aside your sentimentality. For the great cause…”
“No, that’s not it. He is under the Progenitor’s protection.”
“The Progenitor?”
[That is correct.]
Immediately, every shadow cast by the light formed a voice. A thin, high voice emerged from the long, stretched shadows, while a heavy voice flowed from the wide, thick ones.
The chorus of darkness shook the entire space before gradually converging into a single voice.
[He is under my protection, and his heart is my heart.]
Three dark knights rose from my shadow and stood protectively in front of me. Three swords forged from darkness stood at the ready.
[I declare this: I will collect a blood debt from any who harm him.]
The energy was so immense it sent shivers down my spine. Just as no one would feel competitive in the face of a natural disaster, any ordinary person would have bowed their head, not daring to even think of resisting.
However… even that primordial darkness was not enough to frighten the general.
Lieutenant General Ebon spoke, his voice full of surprise.
“Laborer, it seems you didn’t survive by mere chance. Did you seduce the Progenitor?”
“Haha. You could call it a desperate struggle for survival.”
“A bit large-scale for a desperate struggle. In that case, of course, I must treat you with the respect befitting such an achievement!”
Saying this, Lieutenant General Ebon swiftly swung his claws. The savage talons, like those of a beast, tore through the darkness.
The dark knight lasted exactly two exchanges. Its weapon, forged from gathered darkness, shattered in a single clash against the blue edge, and a second claw strike, following a split second later, destroyed the dark knight.
The other two dark knights attacked Lieutenant General Ebon. However, the colonel, who had approached at some point, blocked one of them.
“How dare you attack the Lieutenant General!”
Thud! The colonel planted his feet firmly and struck the dark knight repeatedly with both fists. Under the rain of blows, the dark knight’s entire body scattered and reformed over and over.
A forefist strike imbued with blue energy landed squarely on the dark knight’s face. The dark knight staggered, then vanished into smoke.
In the meantime, Lieutenant General Ebon had finished dicing up the last one and now faced me with no obstacles between us.
…You know, now that I think about it, aren’t these dark knights way too weak? Their feebleness was a welcome sight when I was fighting Tyr, but right now, they’re not very reassuring.
The lieutenant general gave me a benevolent smile.
“However, we could use a hostage, couldn’t we? Your cooperation would be appreciated.”
It was a smile similar to the one he’d shown Callis—benevolent, yet coldly calculating.
Now I get it. That’s the smile he gives people he finds useful. It was the kind of grin a merchant would make upon finding an unexpected windfall, pleased yet coolly calculating the profit and loss.
It meant I had become a useful existence to him, but I wasn’t particularly happy about it.
“Rest assured, Progenitor. For the sake of our well-being, I promise he will be kept safe. Not a single hair on his head will be harmed… provided you do not interfere with us, Progenitor.”
[You bastards… You had better keep that promise.]
The shadows seethed as if in warning. Lieutenant General Ebon gave a nod in the direction the voice came from, then beckoned to the colonel waiting behind him.
“Colonel. Bring the rope. We need to tie him up.”
“Yes, sir!”
The bear-like colonel took a rope from his leather bag. It was a State-made special rope that was resistant to fire and blades. After testing its strength by pulling it with both hands, the colonel nodded and approached me.
The colonel gave a cold smile. I met his approach by quickly holding out my arms together so he could tie me up easily.
“Here! Tie me up, quickly!”
“…What are you doing?”
“This is active cooperation with the Military State! You were going to tie me up anyway, right? Let’s get this over with quickly! For the sake of restoring the peaceful Tantalus of old!”
The colonel looked suspicious, but it didn’t change what he had to do. Eyeing me warily, he tied my wrists tightly, and as if that weren’t enough, he pulled the knot with his bear-like strength. He tied it so damn tight my fingers hurt.
It was a perfect binding, the kind that made you think, ‘That’s the Military State for you.’ Lieutenant General Ebon spoke.
“You’re cheerful even in a situation like this, laborer.”
“It’s because it’s a situation like this that I have to be cheerful. What’s the point of frowning and acting all serious in the Abyss? It just adds another layer of gloom.”
“Is this how you seduced the Progenitor, too?”
“That’s a trade secret… is what I’d like to say, but honestly, I’m not sure myself. Maybe because she’s a lonely old woman who’s lived by herself for twelve hundred years, she completely opened up when I stuck by her side and chattered away to keep her from feeling lonely. She’s ready to give me her liver and gallbladder… Ack!”
A shadow over there threw a tin can at me. Struck suddenly on the head, I went to rub the stinging spot, only to remember my arms were tied and let out a groan instead.
Lieutenant General Ebon watched me and the shadow with interest.
‘I should remember this. It might be useful later.’
Tearing his gaze from me, the lieutenant general said to Callis,
“Now, Lieutenant Colonel. Lead us to the Dog King. We need to be ready before the ‘path’ opens in thirty minutes.”
“Yes, sir. Please follow me.”
Callis took the lead and guided them. Lieutenant General Ebon was about to follow her at a leisurely pace.
Suddenly, a small blade fragment on the floor caught his eye. Lieutenant General Ebon narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the blood-stained shard.
The thin, sharp blade created by the suicide packet from the escape packet.
After looking at it for a brief moment, Lieutenant General Ebon glanced at the wound on Callis’s right hand, then gave a small snort and walked out.