Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Pandora's Box
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"A good thing?"
I peered closely at the box.
From the outside, it looked like an ordinary gift box.
The only issue was its size—it was big enough to fit a whole person inside with room to spare.
But rather than speculate, there was a surefire way to check.
[Riddle Box]
A box created by Erzebet.
Something seriously nasty is inside.
Better not to open it.
"Hmm."
No harm in listening to the system.
I was curious about what was inside, but I still had plenty of days left to gallery-post.
Judak*: Is it really something good? Feels iffy.
Soon-to-Die Vampire: It is something good.
Soon-to-Die Vampire: So hurry up and open it.
Judak*: lol okay
"No way in hell."
A yandere obsession from a beautiful girl would be welcome, but gallery-posting was more important to me.
"Just send it back."
The moment I looked back at the box to return it to SoonDeadVamp without even storing it in the warehouse.
"Umm, it's not opening easily..."
Dryer was crouched down, trying to pry open the box.
I'd forgotten.
Ever since Dryer started living in the bunker, she'd been helping out with various household chores.
She'd even taken it upon herself to check packages from gallery users and organize the warehouse...
"Stop!!!"
"Hiiik!"
I yelled desperately at Dryer, but it was too late.
-Clunk
Pandora's box had opened.
It was just a box, yet I couldn't see inside.
It was filled with an impenetrable darkness of unknowable depth.
The instant I looked inside and chills ran down my spine...
Soon-to-Die Vampire: You opened it?
Along with SoonDeadVamp's chat, something began bursting out of the box.
"!"
Long, slimy tendrils spreading out in multiple branches...
"Tentacles?"
Red tentacles.
Whether made of blood or not, bright red tentacles started pouring out of the box.
"L-Lord Judak!"
Seeing the erupting tentacles, I quickly pulled out my shotgun and pulled the trigger.
-Bang!
The bullet hit the tentacle dead-on!
"Did I get it?"
-Wriggle wriggle
But the tentacle quickly regenerated the damaged part, returning to normal.
Seemed like since it was made of blood, it could recover from physical attacks instantly.
"Watch out for the Malphite!"
Penny, hearing the commotion, rushed out with a shocked expression and shouted at me.
"...!"
But it was already too late.
The tentacles, reformed into a circle, lunged toward me at breakneck speed...
"Huh."
And missed, flying right past.
What? It wasn't hostile toward me?
On the contrary, the tentacles seemed friendly to me.
-Wriggle wriggle
Like a puppy rubbing against my cheek before darting behind me.
The tentacles' target wasn't me—it was Dryer.
"Kyaaak!"
Thin and thick tentacles completely bound Dryer's body and lifted her into the air.
"Hah, this feels too good."
"Stop saying weird stuff and save me!"
Once they'd fully secured Dryer, the tentacles began an indiscriminate assault.
-Smack!
"Ah, ow!"
One tentacle whipped forward like a lash, flicking Dryer's pale forehead.
-Thwack!
"Heeek!"
Another followed, smacking her right on the crown of her head.
Dryer flailed helplessly under the sudden attack, her face a picture of misery.
"What the hell is this all of a sudden..."
I had no idea what was going on.
That's when a chat arrived from SoonDeadVamp.
Soon-to-Die Vampire: You okay, Judak?
Judak*: What the hell is this?
Soon-to-Die Vampire: Don't freak out and listen.
Soon-to-Die Vampire: Looks like a succubus is targeting you.
Soon-to-Die Vampire: Don't worry, the blood magic I sent will detect the succubus.
"Huh?"
SoonDeadVamp seemed to have the wrong idea.
She'd jumped straight to trying to save me.
Judak*: Yeah, I know.
Soon-to-Die Vampire: Huh?
Judak*: She's my roommate to begin with. She's safe, so let her go pls.
I cleared up the misunderstanding, explaining it wasn't a dangerous succubus.
Soon-to-Die Vampire: ...Roommate?
Judak*: Yeah
Soon-to-Die Vampire: \ - /
Far from improving, the mood turned even more hostile.
Judak*: Not a creepy succubus.
Soon-to-Die Vampire: Then?
Judak*: Affection addict Dryer, you know...
Soon-to-Die Vampire: The perv who flaunts her huge tits while pretending to be shy?
"...!"
Dryer, bound by the tentacles and seeing the chat, thrashed around with a flushed face.
But the world runs on power.
In the end, Dryer hung limp, looking miserable.
Soon-to-Die Vampire: I get it's a misunderstanding now.
@: Let her go.
Fortunately, the tentacles released Dryer and retreated into the box.
"She went back surprisingly obediently?"
I'd thought a kidnapping confinement arc was about to start.
But that first time I'd tasted blood was different from now.
Thanks to that, this incident resolved peacefully.
Aside from Dryer getting smacked repeatedly and called a perv, no one was hurt.
"Guess I'll get back to gallery-posting."
I returned to my room.
Isekai Destruction Gallery's concept posts regenerated fast enough to match its massive scale.
Forget weeks—even a single day away meant skipping several pages.
"No tolerance for gallery losses."
I was about to dive back into the backlog of concept posts.
[Title: Breaking News) Noble Kidnapping Emperor, Holding Hostage...jpg]
(Clip of noble barricading with child emperor)
(Clip of armed knights swarming around the audience chamber)
Yeah
[Likes 8421] [Dislikes 102]
- Wtf why is this real?
- No but it actually is lol
- Amazing Adrian
- Thought it'd be naked male orc meme but it's real?
- Real af lol that was the Kellerton escape, damn
"What the hell is this?"
A live thread about Adrian's emperor pulling a hostage stunt with Adrian had hit the front page.
*
"Open this door and surrender immediately!"
"Fuck off, smash it down!"
Inside Adrian Emperor's audience chamber.
The noises from beyond the door were deafening.
Curses, shouts, angry rebukes—all of it.
"Heh, this is something."
Adrian's court mage, Helian, stroked his beard with an awkward smile.
All that negative noise was aimed at him.
The authority everyone once revered in him as court mage was long gone.
"I miss His late Majesty the previous emperor."
Helian stared blankly out the window.
A cloudless, clear afternoon.
A day to miss the previous emperor—more precisely, Frederick, who had styled himself emperor.
"Back then, everything was under my feet..."
Helian was a top-tier mage, close to archmage level.
Not really court mage material, though.
But he knew how to pick the right side.
As Frederick's confidant, or as the pope's long-time power partner.
"Who could've predicted this mess?"
Never dreamed he'd end up holding the emperor hostage.
"Isn't that right, Your Majesty?"
Helian stroked his faded beard and looked down.
An 8-year-old child emperor met his gaze.
A powerless puppet emperor—and now, his bargaining chip.
"I never expected this from you."
"I didn't expect this either, Your Majesty."
Child emperor Muffin didn't cry.
Instead, he stared at Helian, whom he'd thought was a loyal retainer.
"...Surrender now. I'll help you avoid the death penalty."
"As if. The madman pounding on that door out there is the Hero."
Darian—no one who mattered didn't know him.
Adrian's true Hero.
"Gallery Hero..."
The man Judak himself had chosen.
Fueled by fervent faith in Judak, he was reforming Adrian.
Uprooting and burning every rotten element, sending them to the execution grounds.
And the court mage Helian, who thought he'd hidden well, was next.
"Don't worry."
Helian spoke in a tone unclear if to himself or Muffin.
"Once I secure safe passage out of here, I'll release you."
"...Fine."
Muffin was only 8, but also the empire's sole emperor.
Muffin's little head throbbed.
Helian's betrayal, whom he'd thought an uncle.
The cathedral's crimes all these years.
The endless greed drawing in those 'outsiders' called monsters.
"Why can't everyone just eat market desserts and live happily."
Judak's market overflowed with astonishing desserts.
That alone felt like owning the world, yet here they were, hellbent on ruining others.
Muffin pondered deeply, propping his small chin on his hand.
That's when it happened.
-Boom!
The audience chamber's iron door, which even a dozen burly men couldn't budge, tore open.
Crushed like paper.
"...Crazy monster bastard."
Beyond Helian's mutter, a blank-faced man stepped through the dispersing mist.
The Gallery Hero, Darian.
"It's over, court mage. Release His Majesty and atone before Judak... no, the Nameless God."
In short: die.
Helian was a mage beyond ordinary reach.
He could snuff out a few low knights with a gesture.
But not the Hero.
Even if he landed a hit, it'd regenerate in seconds.
"Don't come any closer!"
As Darian advanced, Helian brought his hand to child emperor Muffin's neck.
Darian halted.
Then just stood there, arms crossed, staring blankly.
"I can't die here. After all I've done to survive..."
No old folks in Adrian.
Figurative, but partly literal.
Great War, famine, plague—deaths by every means.
Helian had survived them all.
"I'm not ready to die yet."
Past 60, but his attachment to life was fiercer than anyone's.
Helian vowed inwardly.
He'd survive this too, somehow.
But Darian glanced between the gallery and his watch, then spoke abruptly.
"Court mage."
"What?"
"Don't try to confine His power within your shallow thoughts."
The 'He' Darian meant was only Judak, the Nameless God he subtly revered.
Helian glanced behind.
The audience chamber sat at the empire's highest point.
But with his skill, escape wasn't impossible.
'That weird fireball can't shoot either. I've got the emperor.'
Flee to the sky—no catching him.
Such thoughts crossed his mind.
Darian stared vacantly beyond the window.
As if the man before him didn't exist, his face full of anticipation.
"What the hell are you looking at!"
Helian bellowed in fear.
Yet Darian stared in that direction for a full minute without reply, then suddenly smiled.
"You ignored my advice."
"Judak? Fine, I acknowledge his magic. But what can he do from here?"
Flee to unreachable skies.
Plus the emperor as hostage.
No way to stop it, no matter how he thought.
Then Darian met Helian's eyes with a chilling smile.
"Anything."
That instant.
-Crash!
The audience chamber window shattered.
Right as Darian finished speaking, something flew in silently.