Chapter 324: Villa Raid (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 324: Villa Raid (3)
Jin reflexively caught the orb.
Upon closer inspection, it was unmistakably one of Solderet’s recording devices. The only difference was that it felt slightly heavier than the ones Jin already possessed.
Wait, why on earth is this here?
The sudden discovery left him speechless. His companions seemed equally stunned, blinking at one another in silence.
Joshua… where did that bastard get this? Did he somehow manage to access Temar’s tomb as well?
One could not enter Temar’s tomb without the proper ‘qualification.’
That qualification, of course, was being a Contractor of Solderet.
Two possibilities immediately sprang to mind.
First, the figure known as the ‘Prophet’ had used some trickery to allow Joshua entry into Temar’s tomb.
Second, Joshua had obtained this recording device from a location other than Temar’s tomb.
Either way, the important thing is whether he knows this orb is a recording device.
Jin looked down at the fallen demon.
Dead men tell no tales.
Had he been able to keep the demon alive, he might have extracted a wealth of information. However, the creature was already a cold corpse, black blood gushing from its severed neck.
It was a shame, but a victory nonetheless.
This was an unexpected boon. Compared to the near-death experiences he usually endured to obtain a recording device, this one had practically fallen into his lap.
“Young Master, it might be wise to gather the rest of this demon's belongings for now.”
“Yes. We need to investigate this demon.”
Jin searched the dead demon’s robes. Aside from a bundle of papers covered in illegible ancient script and demonic characters, and a single book, there wasn't much else worth taking.
The moment Jin unconsciously flipped the book open—
Flash!
The book suddenly erupted in an ominous violet light, and a voice with a strange, echoing resonance filled the air.
[To the one who dares pry into the grimoire of Rontelgius, a Great Ducal House of the Demon World: May you be cursed by Rontelgius for all eternity! You shall become a living statue, fated to crumble yet never die. Even as mere dust, you shall resent yourself forever.]
It was a different voice from the demon who had just died.
As soon as the incantation ended, translucent violet chains surged from the book, binding Jin tightly.
“Young Master!”
“Lord Jin!”
His companions cried out in alarm, drawing their swords. Naturally, the cursed chains could not be cut by physical blades.
Jin raised a hand slightly, signaling that he was fine.
“Don’t panic, everyone. I’m immune to this anyway.”
A Contractor of Solderet possessed total immunity to every type of curse in the world.
Jin was experiencing firsthand the authority that Valeria, in his past life, had described as ‘utterly broken.’
The chains binding Jin slowly began to seep into his shadow on the floor.
In less than five seconds, the chains were swallowed by the shadow and vanished without a trace.
His companions watched the scene with their mouths agape before one of them finally spoke.
“Young Master, are you truly alright?”
“Yes. It’s a relief, really. If anyone else had touched this book… they would have turned into a statue. Assuming these Rontelgius fellows didn't set this up as an empty threat.”
A chill had run down his spine the moment the shackles took hold. It wasn't out of fear for the curse itself, but from the realization of the irreversible horror that would have occurred had one of his comrades touched it instead.
“We’ll have to be more careful when dealing with demons or those who use dark magic from now on. We were just lucky this time. At least we learned a name—Rontelgius, likely the name of this demon’s house.”
Ssssh…
The demon’s corpse began to disintegrate. Not even a trace of the bloodstains remained where the body had lain.
“What a repulsive race.”
“Let’s keep moving for now.”
The group resumed their advance. Perhaps because of the sudden encounter with the demon, everyone seemed significantly more tense.
However, they didn't encounter a single enemy until they reached the very end of the underground facility.
The three Guardian Knights, the eight Hounds, and the rest of the resident staff were all absent.
If anything, that made Jin more uneasy.
If the facility is this empty, they might have already moved Julian’s Guardian Dragon elsewhere…
Just as that anxiety began to take root, Julian pointed toward the darkness at the far end of the basement with a trembling hand.
“Ka—Kaltor…! Kaltor!”
When they shone their lights, they saw a man hanging against the wall.
It was Kaltor, the Lightning Dragon and Julian’s Guardian Dragon, currently in human form.
The sight was so gruesome it made one want to squeeze their eyes shut. His crushed hands and feet were pinned by massive iron nails, and his entire body was covered in the marks of inexplicable torture.
He was barely breathing.
“Kaltor! It’s me, Julian! I’ll get you down right now…!”
Tears streamed uncontrollably from Julian’s eyes.
For once, even Kuzan seemed to pity him, silently helping pull out the nails. Twitch! Kaltor’s body jolted every time a nail was removed, but he showed no signs of regaining consciousness.
“Ah… Kaltor, please, say something. What did those bastards do to you?”
“He’s alive, Julian. We just need to get back and treat him. The Young Master will surely call upon the Saints of Vankella. So calm down for now and keep your voice low. It hurts to see him like this, but at least now Joshua has nothing to blackmail you with, right?” Kuzan said, patting Julian on the back.
Jin took off his coat and wrapped it around Kaltor’s gaunt body.
“We’re pulling out.”
Just before they exited the forest after returning to the surface, Jin turned back to look at Joshua’s solitary secret villa.
If Father had truly acknowledged Joshua back when he was training here… would he have turned out to be less of a piece of trash?
Jin shook his head at the sudden thought.
No. That would have been around the same time he cursed me when I was only a year old. Still, I do wonder sometimes… what exactly made him so twisted?
*
“We have discovered one of the hideouts, my lord.”
The leader of the three Guardian Knights delivered the report to Joshua.
“Where was it?”
“Surprisingly, it was in a rural part of the eastern Ekan Kingdom. A place called Donkey Village. The total population is less than a hundred, and most of them are elderly.”
“In a place like that? Are you certain?”
“Yes. We’ve already confirmed it by intimidating the residents. They had built a laboratory on one side of the village. I inspected the lab myself. The descriptions of Aria Owlheart provided by the villagers all match perfectly.”
“The darkest place is under the lamp, as they say. It fits perfectly.”
“Still, it would have been difficult to find without that demon’s detection magic.”
This was the reason the three Guardian Knights and eight Hounds, who should have been stationed at the secret villa, were absent. They had left to track the traces of Aria Owlheart in the Ekan Kingdom, which the demon had located using his dark ‘detection magic.’
Rontelgius Lampen.
Joshua nodded as he recalled the demon’s grotesque appearance.
Right. He devoured a thousand death row inmates, claiming they were materials for his detection magic, but he finally produced results. Were there no clues about Aria Owlheart’s other hideouts in Donkey Village?
“Since the paths out of Donkey Village are limited, we should be able to narrow down the suspicious areas by tracking the expected travel routes. What is certain is that Aria Owlheart has another hideout within Huphester.”
“How much time do you need to secure the next hideout?”
“We can find at least one within a month. If we keep narrowing the scope like that, we’ll eventually catch her tail.”
“Understood. Good work. Shorten the timeframe as much as possible.”
“I will bring you more satisfactory results soon.”
“Provide Lampen with more death row inmates. His magic has proven its worth.”
Joshua smiled.
Rontelgius Lampen… if he can figure out the true nature of that orb, I might even consider providing him with the inmates intended for my clones.
The Spirit Energy Orb.
He had obtained it from the Runcandel Mausoleum. It was from his time as a Beginner Cadet, when he was constantly preoccupied with his defeats at Luna’s hands.
One day, instead of locking himself in his room and cursing his fate as usual, Joshua had headed to the family mausoleum.
Even now, he didn't know why he had suddenly sought out the mausoleum that day. He had gone there as if led by fate, or perhaps possessed by something.
And there, in the deepest part of the mausoleum—in the empty tomb where the first patriarch, Temar, should have been laid to rest—he found the Spirit Energy Orb.
The moment I touched the Spirit Energy Orb, I started hearing that bitch’s voice.
The ‘bitch’ was the Prophet.
At first, she existed only as a voice—a voice that comforted and advised the young Joshua.
As Joshua grew older, the voice gradually took on a physical form. At first, it was a blurry, ghost-like shape, but by the time he became a Flagbearer, it had transformed into the clear image of a woman he saw today.
But the Prophet doesn't know she woke up from within that orb. Nor does she know that I still have it.
Even during the height of his absolute trust in the Prophet, Joshua never told her about the orb.
It was pure instinct.
The young Joshua had instinctively sensed that the Spirit Energy Orb could serve as a safety measure.
For instance, it could be used effectively if the Prophet ever betrayed him.
Looking at the Prophet’s attitude lately, I feel like she could betray me at any moment. I have to make a move—either I dispose of her the moment I become Patriarch, or I find a definitive way to control her before then.
Joshua still held onto that old intuition regarding the Spirit Energy Orb.
That was why he had entrusted the demon Rontelgius—whom he had met by chance, or perhaps by necessity—to investigate its use.
“I shall take my leave now, my lord.”
Just as the Guardian Knight finished his report and was about to salute and withdraw, someone called out to Joshua in an urgent voice.
“Lord Joshua!”
The one who entered the room and bowed was one of the Hounds.
“What is it?”
“The villa in the Abandoned Forest… it has been raided.”
“What?”
“It happened just as we were heading to eastern Ekan based on the information from the demon.”
Joshua suppressed the curse rising in his throat. The Guardian Knight, who had been about to leave, flinched and turned his gaze toward the Hound.
“…What is the damage?”
“The imprisoned Lightning Dragon and the demon have disappeared. And the two remaining personnel were found dead…”
The Hound couldn't be certain if the demon was dead or had simply vanished. This was because no trace of the demon’s corpse remained in the basement of the secret villa.
“Did you attempt to track them?”
“They are skilled; no traces were left behind. I have no excuse, my lord.”
Sigh!
Joshua took a long, deep breath to compose himself.
In the end, it was time to rely on the Prophet once more.