Chapter 348
Chapter 348
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 348
Chapter Title: Battle for the Throne: Uniting the Provincial Nobles -4
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Hayangi explained the "education" session between her and Faceless, complete with wild gestures and hand motions.
"That's how it happened-mong."
"I see..."
"Shrug shrug."
Hayangi's eyes sparkled as if begging for praise from "Teacher Hayangi." She shrugged her shoulders all sloppy-like too. I ruffled her hair wildly while I thought it over.
From Hayangi's perspective, it was just a light scolding, but Faceless up and died from it—an absurd outcome. But flip the viewpoint, and it was straight out of a horror flick.
Your control over your own body slipping away bit by bit, opening your eyes to find suspicious spells scrawled everywhere, blood-drawn pictures grinning at you cheekily... I'd scream too.
If Hayangi hadn't used Korean, it might not have hit thriller levels, but since she'd be visiting my simulation world often anyway, wasn't it better to learn it? That snowball started rolling.
They say a child's innocence can be brutally cruel at times, and her pure-hearted mischief had sent Faceless straight to the grave.
-How is this kid so creepy? I wouldn't go that far myself.
"Says you?"
I jabbed back at Aisha, who was butting in to claim she was better than the kid. If Bennett overheard, he'd grab his hoe and charge right over.
Aisha slurped up the beef stew I'd poured into the shadow below while saying,
-Cruelty and indifference are innate. Even if there was a misunderstanding, Hayangi clearly didn't care about Faceless's suffering. If you don't teach her right, she could turn into a monster worse than the original.
She had a point.
Unlike Faceless, who called herself an emotionless assassin yet got tossed around by everything, Hayangi seemed like the type who'd calmly handle her business even if her limbs flew off.
That unflappable sort is the scariest. And strong too.
But on the flip side, with proper guidance, she could become a great person. I hoped she'd grow up to be a boon to humanity.
"Grow up big and strong to be a good daughter of Daesuluru-mong."
"Yes-mong."
"Our Aisha should take a page from her book too."
-Should I start your mornings with horror movies every day?
Oh, you cutie. If only our daughter had a bit of that charm.
Thanks to Hayangi, the biggest wildcard—Faceless—had evaporated. That left the Red Duke's hand looking utterly ragged, practically in tatters.
Now it was just time to smash them.
Aisha, lounging in the shadow with her legs crossed, said,
-At this point, we could skip the cautious approach and just charge the Redburn estate, lop off the duke's head. Right?
"........."
-What?
That part.
Virgin Killer went down 2-to-1, Corpse Flower self-destructed, and Lambkin got half-blown away by the massive energy from Yuna's rampage.
I'd never really clashed head-on and taken a head clean off. It had always been momentary luck, the enemy's karma, or chance favoring me to resolve things easily.
Of course, I was confident I'd win even in a straight fight. But it could've gotten messy. These named dark wizards each had their cheat skills, after all.
A nest stitched from provincial nobles' dreams, conditional instant-death traps, high-level necromancy summoning the target's imagined strongest foe as an ally, top-tier illusion magic, and a mental plague that endlessly cloned itself no matter how many times you killed it.
And the Red Duke's ability: imposing fate on targets who knew his info, scaled to the amount of information they had.
Powerful for sure, but compared to the consistently OP other dark wizards, doesn't it feel a bit unbalanced?
-Maybe they slotted him in considering his political clout as a duke?
"Could be."
Thinking about the named dark wizards I'd met, if they sensed he was even a smidge inferior, they'd mind-control or seduce him into a subordinate.
More importantly.
One potential application of the duke's fate ability kept circling my mind. If he could twist his own fable that way, he'd be trickier than expected.
The Red Duke had steered his illegitimate sons' fates to acquire the fable powers he wanted. That's how Roderus and Faceless were born.
And no one knows himself better than himself.
So couldn't he steer his own fate... in the direction he desired?
I entered the Hollow Earldom with Hayangi in tow. Leaving her to head home alone was too risky, so once my business wrapped up, we'd head to the capital together.
"Uncle, chicken skewer-mong."
"Sure sure. I'll even buy you five."
Hayangi looked thrilled at this gourmet trip with her shady uncle.
She'd occasionally doodle crude pictures of a family of three smiling side by side on the dirt, but when I asked if she missed them that much, she said she could hold out another week. Such a sensible kid.
I figured we'd check into an inn first, then leisurely scout the slave market, when...
Clack clack clack clack!
A noble with ten knights in tow rushed up to me. Rushed, yeah. He practically sprinted over, then rubbed his hands together briskly.
His outfit was flashy, dripping with jewels—like extravagance itself come to chat.
"I've heard the news. You're the one sent by Second Prince Irid, right...?"
"Who are you?"
"Ah, forgive the late introduction. I'm the lord governing Hollow Earldom, Finet Hollow. I've been waiting. No need to stay here—come to my manor. The saintess too. I'll host you as honored guests!"
"Hmm."
This screamed suspicious.
Since I'd been making a spur-of-the-moment visit, I hadn't announced myself as "Second Prince's proxy incoming" to the domain.
So this guy had somehow gotten wind of me on his own, then swarmed out the moment I hit town to act like old pals.
That's no easy feat.
I'd traveled in semi-kaiju form at high speed, so usually my feet outpace rumors. So how'd he clock me? And why rush out to welcome me so eagerly?
Plus.
When I pulled Hayangi from the crowd, there'd been three disguised knights watching her. Some of them were mixed in with this noble's escort knights.
I glanced silently at Hayangi and the shadow.
"Meow-mong."
-Play along for now, smash if it gets dicey.
Yeah, same thought. I nodded with a smiling face and accepted the escort.
"Lead on. Haha, such a warm welcome warms my heart. Second Prince Irid will be thrilled to hear. Oh, and might I ask if you've got women inside...?"
"Might ask if you've got lots more meat-mong."
"As much as you want! Our domain's got plenty of meat—and women!"
While playing the perfect fool.
Fooled them perfectly!
The identifier Mad Wizard and the so-called Saintess of Regeneration followed Earl Hollow without a hint of suspicion. Just lure them into the trap now, and it's over.
Originally, he'd planned to kidnap just the Saintess of Regeneration, who appeared out of nowhere healing people. Her powers were supposedly beyond even Church of the Goddess priests.
With her stunning looks too, he'd stash her in the bedroom for on-call use.
For that, he'd dispatched three knights. But some hooded guy snatched her away suddenly, so he'd raged, thinking he'd lost her.
Then the hooded guy shows up in his domain with the saintess—and turns out the hood himself was a wizard with a huge bounty in dark magic circles.
Fish eating fish, delivering more fish!
Capture them and offer to Duke Redburn, and the rewards would be massive. His heart raced at visions of more power, more authority.
There was the order: "Mad Wizard is cunning and unpredictable—gather all allies possible and kill him."
But rallying other dark wizards meant sharing the glory. That grated.
And look—they could handle it solo.
"This meat's delicious. Oh, pretty lady, rub my shoulders instead of the thigh. Yeah."
"Meat delicious-mong. Pretty sister, eat this asparagus and broccoli instead-mong."
Wizard and saintess alike were too busy carving steaks to care. So defenseless! Sure, he'd heard they were dangerous, but maybe losers hyping up the Mad Wizard to cover their fails.
Earl Hollow rubbed his hands slyly and broached,
"Um, Wizard sir. Saintess ma'am. Our domain has a big worry. Seems evil dark wizards are building underground facilities and lurking. Could you help?"
"What'd you sell your knights for?"
"...Ah, well. We sent knights, but they couldn't find the way. Probably illusion magic barriers. No nearby illusion mages to hire, so it's been dragging..."
"So you need my help. Hmm."
The Mad Wizard pretended to mull it over, then rubbed thumb and forefinger for a subtle signal. Earl Hollow summoned a servant with a chest brimming with gold coins.
"How about this?"
"Hmmm..."
Even this fortune, and the Mad Wizard haggled? How greedy—not even a Magic Tower Master.
Then the maid kneading his shoulders beside him cooed sweetly with a gentle touch.
"Handsome wizard sir. The dark wizards scare me so much I can't sleep. Please help!"
"Alright then? Earl, lead the way. I'll clean that barrier right up."
"Hayangi will clean up the meat-mong."
"Thank you! Thank you! Now my Hollow domain can finally be safe! Once you're done eating, let's go. Hey, knights—prep for the hunt!"
Lured them in!
The gluttonous Saintess of Regeneration took time polishing off ten steak plates, but finally, Earl Hollow led them to the underground dungeon.
This dungeon was his creation, packed with his dark wizard underlings inside. Lure the Mad Wizard deep, block the entrance with knights, and finish him quick.
"Where's this barrier?"
"A bit further in."
"Where's more meat-mong?"
"...You'll get all you want after."
Step step.
A bit more. Deeper.
Step step...
Perfect. This deep, no escape without beating every dark wizard and knight.
He'd even placed golems for the wizard. What could an illusion mage do? Victory. Earl Hollow patted himself on the back.
Turning his back on the trapped fools, he pressed a hand to the wall and burst laughing.
"Kuk, kukuku... hahaha!"
"Why laugh?"
"Rats walked into my trap—what's not funny! Mad Wizard, you fell for my perfect acting! You'll be a corpse for Duke Redburn... and the saintess will serve me forever!"
"Ah, I see..."
Too late for regrets. Earl Hollow turned to savor their despairing faces.
"......Huh?"
His eyes met a white monster filling the passage.
The transformed kaiju-mode Mad Wizard had already crushed all pursuing knights under 150 meters of mass.
"Man, this is tight. If I weren't all squishy, I'd be stuck. Hayangi okay? Uncle comfy inside?"
"Jelly. Squish squish-mong."
"Good, close your eyes and play texture game. As for whatever-Earl... I'll help you diet. Reach the end before I grab you, you win."
Creak.
The kaiju maw yawned wide, sprouting countless teeth. Earl Hollow paled, trembling.
"What're you doing? Run."
"Hiyaaaaah—!!"
Thud thud thud thud!
The dungeon shook as the wall-hugging kaiju advanced.
The reversed chase lasted about ten minutes, annihilating Hollow's dark wizard forces in a flash.
The Mad Wizard, who'd wrapped and captured the earl alive, dusted his hands. Hayangi mimicked him upon seeing.
"Lucky too. Jackpot on the first try."
Breaching the earl's mental barriers revealed this as the largest dark wizard faction in the provinces. Just small fry left.
Mission basically complete.
"Yawn."
"Yawn-mong."
The Mad Wizard stretched, gazing up. Wonder what the other teams were up to. Had they finished the Red Duke limb-chopping plan?
In a forest in Redburn Dukedom, Selbia thought.
"Charging in and smashing everything sounds best. Fights go south if you don't hit the head first. Straight in, lop off all heads including guards."
"Ho-how about sneaking and wiping 'em out quiet? Cut the heads, pretend we're admins running Redburn domain. Th-there might be good folks, check later and release..."
"........."
Violent.
Hard to believe this came from three women.
The Violet Magic Tower Master and Agent Yuri Lanster were brutally direct too. Plan was just charge and smash. Strong bodies mean no brain needed?
Sure, enough power makes simple best. But would Mad Wizard bro want total annihilation? Probably not.
Need a refined approach: pick off the baddies, spare the innocents.
This won't do. She had to keep her head straight, stop them from going feral.
Selbia shot her hand up.
"We persuade the citizens first!"
"And?"
"Farmer revolt..."
"........."
But Selbia overlooked one thing: she was a fire mage.
Her solutions had always been burn and smash too...