Chapter 234: Rani Salome (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 234: Rani Salome (3)
If they weren't human, what were they?
Monsters, beasts, or something else entirely. Whatever they were, the heavy footsteps were thick with hostility. Murakan glared at the firmly shut door.
“Kid, look after the holy woman.”
Even as he spoke, Murakan didn't set down the glass in his hand.
“Got it. I don't care what it is, just handle it as quietly as possible.”
“You got it.”
Thump, thump!
The footsteps stopped directly in front of Rani’s door.
Bam!
Murakan swung the door open first, a smirk playing on his lips. Or rather, he tried to smirk… but the moment he saw them, his expression froze.
The owners of the footsteps walked on two legs and had two arms each, yet they could be called neither human nor monster.
If one had to categorize them, they were closer to frail, wretched humans. They were also beings Jin had encountered once before at the Colon Ruins, back when he was still a Reserve Flagbearer.
‘Bio-Golems…?!’
Suddenly, the faces of the soldiers Murakan had put to sleep flashed through Jin’s mind—the utterly ordinary faces of two men who had been leisurely standing guard.
They were people who never should have suffered such a fate.
It was just like when he first encountered Bio-Golems in Colon. Mercenaries he had merely knocked unconscious had suddenly transformed into Bio-Golems and lunged at him.
Back then, the mercenaries-turned-Bio-Golems had pleaded:
Please, kill me.
‘Zipple, you insane bastards!’
The moment Jin gritted his teeth, the Bio-Golems' claws, sharp as blades, slashed at Murakan’s face. The strikes were fast and fierce, proof of the significant progress they had made in the years since Colon.
If this had been the Murakan from before he regained his strength, he might have suffered a small scratch. But to the current Murakan, their movements were as slow as drifting clouds.
Swish!
Murakan, shaping his hand like a blade, gave a light flick. Four arms were severed simultaneously. Before the severed limbs could even hit the floor, Murakan reached out again.
Crunch!
His hands, cloaked in black Spirit Energy, plunged into the Bio-Golems' dantians. Murakan had instantly realized that their core—their ‘heart’—was located there.
“Tsk. Can’t be saved.”
As Murakan lightly clenched his fists, the Bio-Golems' hearts shattered. They couldn't even let out a scream.
As soon as their hearts broke, their bloated bodies began to shrink rapidly. All that remained were blackened husks; no trace of their former humanity was visible.
The three of them stared at the remains in silence for a few seconds.
Naturally, Rani was the most shocked. She gagged, barely managing to steady her trembling body as she remembered who she was.
The foster daughter of the Holy King, a Paladin of the Dawn Order of Doctrine Protection, a subject of the kingdom, and a daughter of Ayula.
Rani pulled a holy scripture from her robes, opened it, and knelt beside the husks.
“O Ayula, my pitiful brothers have found their peace and now head toward You. Please look upon their souls with mercy, comfort them for their unjust and hollow deaths, and…”
A bright yellow light flowed from her, enveloping the corpses.
Whoosh…
The light soon blazed into the holy flames of Ayula, turning the bodies of the deceased to ash. Having suppressed her nausea and finished the short eulogy, the flush of alcohol had completely vanished from Rani's face.
The fragments of the hearts Murakan had shattered did not disappear; they remained on the floor.
“Ha, Bio-Golems. I can’t believe my eyes. What in the world are things like this doing in the Holy Kingdom? Did we accidentally wander into the wrong country?”
Murakan picked up a fragment and examined it. Jin also leaned in to look at a piece. Inside the fragment, blue, glowing Aura was condensed.
It triggered a chilling sense of déjà vu, but now was not the time to bring it up.
“Rani Salome. We should move to a safe place. They’ll be sending more people soon.”
Rani squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them and nodded.
“…Understood. Follow me.”
Stepping out into the empty corridor, they followed Rani, but they did not leave the Eastern Temple.
“If they realize I’ve disappeared, there will be nowhere to hide within the Holy Kingdom. This place is actually the safest.”
Rani began to climb the giant statue of Ayula that decorated the central wall of the first floor.
“They would never imagine that I, of all people, would dare to climb the body of Ayula. Besides, very few people know about this secret passage.”
Since childhood, she had been skilled at hiding herself or her belongings. After becoming the Holy King's foster daughter, it was a skill that developed naturally as she tried to escape all sorts of malicious bullying and burdensome gazes.
Rumble!
Rani turned the giant statue’s head with all her might.
The head of Ayula slid to the side, revealing a hollow space inside. Once they entered and returned the head to its original position, they were plunged into pitch-black darkness.
The interior of the statue connected to a ‘Double Underground’ that led to the Eastern Temple’s drainage system.
After walking for a few minutes, they reached the drainage tunnel. Rani stumbled, leaning against the wall.
“Ha, haa, ha…!”
She was being crushed by the feeling that her lifelong faith had been utterly betrayed. Her father, Holy King Miklan, had been kidnapped by Zipple, and Vankella had become so corrupt that it could no longer be called a ‘Holy Kingdom.’
“The Holy Kingdom… is finished.”
Jin didn't answer but met her eyes.
‘She’s on the verge of a breakdown.’
He fully understood why she had collapsed.
However, there was no way he could comfort her. How could he possibly console someone who had lost her only family, her country, and her faith all at once?
Instead, Jin could offer practical help.
“Choose, Rani Salome. If you are so exhausted and weary that you don't even have the heart for revenge, I will send you to a land where you can live out the rest of your life quietly. I’ll provide enough money so you never have to work and guarantee your safety for life. You can leave with us right now.”
Jin locked eyes with her.
“But if that’s not what you want, then pull yourself together and give us something to work with. How many enemies are there? How long have they had the Holy Kingdom in their grasp? Is there anyone left in this kingdom we can trust?”
“…It’s true that you helped me in Santel. But I can’t use that as an excuse to ask you to save my father and fight Zipple with me.”
“Why not?”
Rani was speechless for a moment.
“You would risk your lives for me and the Holy Kingdom? A Runcandel, truly?”
“Yes, I am a Runcandel. Therefore, Zipple is already my enemy. Helping you is partly to repay a debt, but as a Runcandel, it’s also a way to bring the Holy Kingdom to our side. Letting Zipple rule the Holy Kingdom is ultimately a loss for me and my clan.”
“Whoa there, kid. You’re right, but isn’t that a bit cold? The holy lady is pretty distressed right now…”
“That’s why you should be pragmatic as well,” Jin continued, ignoring Murakan. “I’m saying we should make a deal. As the successor of Runcandel and the successor of the Holy King.”
Silence fell.
Catching on to Jin’s intention, Murakan adopted a somber expression and looked at Rani.
By the time the stench from the drainage tunnel became familiar, Rani spoke again.
“…Please forgive my shameful display just now, Jin Runcandel. Fine. I will do as you say. I will strike a deal with Runcandel.”
In the short time before she spoke, a great change had occurred within Rani. This Runcandel Reserve Flagbearer, who looked much younger than her, certainly didn't love the Holy Kingdom as she did. Yet she felt ashamed that he was considering the peace and interests of the Holy Kingdom far more keenly than she had been.
“Good. I’ll decide what I want after we rescue the Holy King or drive Zipple out of the Holy Kingdom. What you get is reinforcements in the form of me and Murakan. This guy, especially—he’s gotten quite sturdy since you last met him, so feel free to work him to the bone.”
Jin let out an inward sigh of relief. If Rani had given up and asked to leave, he would have had to figure out where to start from scratch. If he drove Zipple out of the Holy Kingdom, he would not only be helping a benefactor but would also have a major achievement to boast about when he returned to his clan.
“…First, I will explain the situation as I understand it.”
Several years ago, Zipple had begun recruiting key figures and organizations within the Holy Kingdom one by one. Among them, the first group to become Zipple’s dogs was the Dawn Order of Doctrine Protection—the very paladin order to which Rani Salome belonged.
“That’s why Father sent me to the Dawn Order. He told me to blend in and watch them because there was no one else he could trust. It seems even Father wasn't certain until recently.”
“Then the Holy King must have gained certainty after receiving your report on the Santel incident.”
“That’s right. Zipple kidnapped Father immediately after my report was finished. At first, they even tried to deceive me with that fake. He’s someone who can perfectly mimic Father’s way of speaking and his actions.”
However, there was one fact that only a few of the Holy King’s closest aides knew.
The Holy King could not move his left index finger. While Rani was already sensing that the Holy King’s Divine Power was weaker than before, she saw the fake using his left index finger perfectly during a meal.
The moment Rani questioned it, Zipple cut off the Holy King’s left index finger and sent it to her room. They even had it delivered by a fellow paladin of the same age, someone Rani had always trusted.
That was the moment Rani fell into despair.
“What a sick sense of humor. Perverted bastards.”
“Did you happen to keep the finger?” Jin asked.
Rani shook her head. “It burned away as soon as I confirmed what it was.”
“The Seal of Fire,” Murakan said. “That’s magic that can’t be used unless one is related to Shinu. It’s the work of Kelliark Zipple or Kadun.”
In other words, their opponent was Zipple. Specifically, the Patriarch, Kelliark. Even though Murakan had regained his strength, fighting the entire Zipple Clan was obviously impossible.
However, if it was a war of public opinion rather than a physical battle, the story was different. Even if the Holy King’s finger was gone, Jin still had the heart fragment of the Bio-Golem in his pocket.
‘Bio-Golems and shapeshifting. That is what will ensnare you.’
When Jin pulled out the heart fragment, Rani understood his intent.
“Are you planning to use that as evidence to claim that Zipple turned Holy Kingdom soldiers into Bio-Golems?”
“Yes.”
“I am the only witness.”
“No. I’ve interfered with Zipple’s Bio-Golem experiments before. I have another witness and a Great Journalist waiting to turn this into an article.”
“…What?”
“But that alone isn't enough. We need a few more pieces of solid evidence to unmask Zipple, and we have to reveal them all at once. Who else knows that the real Holy King cannot use his left index finger?”