Chapter 462: People with Good Intuition, People with Bad Intuition (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 462: People with Good Intuition, People with Bad Intuition (6)
It happened in an instant, before they could even make a move.
"Murakan, after them!"
Another rapid descent began. Murakan tucked his wings tight and dived, letting out a low, irritable growl.
[Damn it, how is that thing so fast?]
He was referring to the cradle of turbid energy enveloping the Prochi siblings.
The cradle was moving far faster than Murakan’s fastest dive, and it was fleeing along a trajectory so erratic it could only be described as chaotic.
The single cradle split into two, housing the siblings separately, before merging back into one and spinning violently. The turbid energy blurred their vision, making the cradle’s movements seem even more maddening.
[Oh my, my little ones. Did you miss me so much that you came all this way to find me, hmm?]
Once again, the woman’s voice drifted toward them. It didn't come from the mouth of the giant Bubar formed on the outside, but from the turbid energy itself.
Jin and Murakan were now certain the voice belonged to Amela.
They also believed she wouldn't kill Rata and Fey immediately.
—What if it’s not affection?
—It’s hard to put into words. It felt more like she viewed us as toys or playmates. She’d say she was bored while her hands were busy swinging a blade.
—It’s embarrassing to admit, but I once had my forehead grazed by such a surprise attack.
This was exactly what they had discussed upon entering the archipelago, and exactly what Amela's cooing about "my little ones" confirmed.
To Amela, the Prochi siblings were precious toys. She wouldn't let them be broken so easily.
[Sleep tight—my little—babies—.]
Amela was even singing a lullaby.
The song echoed, resonating with the wildly moving cradle and the swirling energy, making them feel as if they had wandered into someone’s mischievous dream.
Whoosh—!
Murakan slowed his descent. The cradle had vanished from sight.
[This Amela character seems like a real headache too. Why is it that everyone I meet lately is like this? Zephyrin, that damn brat, was the same.]
In place of the cradle, a denser, blacker mass of turbid energy loomed. The cradle had disappeared inside it.
[What’s the plan, kid?]
Should they charge through that darkness or seek another way? There was no need to deliberate.
"The turbid energy's effect is a curse, and we're immune anyway. Judging by the giant Bubar's breath attacks, it has physical destructive power too, but it doesn't look like anything we can't handle. We're going in. However…"
[However?]
"Until we can communicate with Amela directly, even if we’re attacked, we only defend or evade. No counterattacking."
[What kind of nonsense is that?]
"Do you remember what Amela said as soon as we arrived at the central island?"
—[You all... have been such a nuisance.]
Though spoken through the giant Bubar’s mouth, it was unmistakably Amela’s voice.
[What about it?]
"We don't know exactly what happened when the four great powers found her before I did. But Amela described them as a 'nuisance'—enough of one that she’s fine with killing them all."
And she hadn't just expressed it in words.
While Runcandel didn't seem to have any casualties yet, the Zipple, Kinzelo, and Viment forces had already suffered irreversible damage.
The original reason the four powers gathered here was to recruit Amela. Yet, far from succeeding, the forces on the archipelago were now in a situation where a fight to the death seemed imminent.
If the word "nuisance" had come from an ordinary person, one might suspect a hidden motive. But their opponent was someone presumed to be tainted by Chaos.
Jin felt Amela was perfectly willing to completely alienate the four great powers for such a trivial reason. Much like Yona.
"The outsiders have already ruined their chances. There’s no need for us to provoke Amela and get ourselves added to her 'nuisance' list, right?"
As Jin explained his reasoning, Murakan let out a sigh.
[Ha! To think that I, Murakan, have to just sit there and take a beating. How miserable and pathetic.]
"And there’s another thing. I never heard anything like this from Sir Valkas or Sir Rata."
By "anything like this," he meant Amela’s method of combat.
She was one of the world’s top three mercenaries, a grand mercenary whom even Valkas acknowledged as the world’s best in terms of pure individual ability. Valkas and Rata had encountered Amela on the battlefield several times. Valkas had even said she was better at war than the entire Black King Corps combined.
However, nowhere in those descriptions was there any mention of Amela using curses or this strange turbid energy.
"They only said her mastery of weaponry and various war gear was peerless, and that her strategy and tactics were insanely brilliant. They said even when moving alone, she planted so many traps and devices across the battlefield that it defied logic."
[Hmm, that’s true. Does that mean Amela was hiding her abilities?]
"If she hid her powers to that extent and still managed to single-handedly overwhelm the Black King Corps in war, it would mean Amela is actually close to the realm of Creation. I don't think that’s the case. I suspect some kind of change has occurred in her for a specific reason."
[A change?]
"Perhaps Bubar Gaston’s chaos and Amela’s chaos met and created some kind of amplification. And that amplification is working more in Amela’s favor than Bubar’s."
It was a judgment based on intuition, but it wasn't entirely without basis.
It was almost certain that Amela was controlling the giant Bubar formed outside. It was unlikely she had molded Bubar out of turbid energy for no reason.
Bubar’s turbid energy—or rather, his chaos. Since she was controlling the power of chaos that Bubar possessed, it made sense she would be forced to use his form to manifest it.
Jin soon arrived at that hypothesis.
[Hmm, it sounds like a leap, but it also sounds plausible.]
"The reason Amela shows particular interest and affection for the Prochi siblings is likely because of chaos as well."
[Aren't those snake-eyed brats a bit different from your sister or Amela?]
"They are. But their father is Smarion Prochi—a man who was consumed by chaos and became a monster. Perhaps a bit of his chaos lingers on the Prochi siblings, and Amela feels a sense of kinship with it."
[Then what about Bubar? Why does she feel affection for the Prochi siblings while treating Bubar like that?]
"I wouldn't know that. Everything I’ve said so far is just speculation anyway. Well, though… Bubar honestly tends to make anyone's skin crawl. I don't think you need a special reason to dislike him."
[Ugh, my head hurts. Whatever the case, I’ll only know if your hypothesis is right once I meet her. Let’s just go. Without counterattacking.]
Kwaaaa, crack! Rumble…!
The distant sounds of explosions grew more violent as the battle between the great powers and Amela escalated.
Focusing his senses for a moment, Jin could hear the shouts of the captain-level figures.
"Form a defensive formation centered on the enforcement knights…! I will open a path!"
"The section leader is down, fall back! The turbid energy is closing in!"
"Follow the ultimate warriors and the Big Tigers! Any Red Tiger who shows their back will be killed!"
"Don't lose sight of the Tower Master’s fire! If you leave the flames, you’ll be eroded by the turbid energy…!"
Despite the distance, their voices carried with surprising clarity, as if Amela herself had paused to listen in on their reactions.
[Heehee, maybe I should just kill everyone except my cuties. That would be best, wouldn't it, sweeties?]
Amela sounded utterly confident as she spoke. Even though she was facing all four great powers at once, she didn't think she would lose; she was certain of her victory.
Just listening to the voices of the people outside, it seems Amela is indeed dominating the situation, Jin thought.
This made him even more certain. For some reason, Amela was currently possessed of far greater power than usual.
Although the various factions hadn't sent their highest-ranking flagbearers, there were only a handful of people in the world who could overwhelm so many of them single-handedly.
Even considering that the Gaifa Archipelago was her home turf, based on Valkas and Rata’s descriptions, this should have been impossible.
Murakan’s black wings sliced through the turbid energy silently.
As they entered the mass of energy where the cradle had vanished, their vision went from blurry to completely black. Even when Jin formed a flame in his palm, the darkness did not recede.
He opened his Mind’s Eye and moved forward, his nerves on high alert.
He used the distant singing, humming, and the sound of someone whispering happily from within as his guide.
[Lululu, you’re the big brother, you’re the little sister. And I’m the Demon King!]
She sounded like a child lost in a game with her dolls, talking to herself. It was chilling, but at the same time, it reminded him of Yona, making him feel a strange sense of pity.
The sound of Amela’s humming grew closer. As it did, the darkness of the turbid energy began to lift.
It was because a glowing space lay ahead. Jin and Murakan naturally realized that this glowing space was the core of the turbid energy covering the entire island.
Amela sat in the center of it.
She wore the kind of camouflage suit commonly used by mercenaries. However, this suit, woven from grass and branches, was on a scale incomparable to any ordinary one. Because of this, it looked less like Amela was wearing clothes and more like she was buried inside a giant, round thicket that concealed her entire body.
Two hands peeking out from the camouflage suit were fiddling with small wooden dolls.
There were three wooden dolls in total. Jin immediately recognized who each of them represented: the Prochi siblings and Bubar.
The actual people they represented were floating in front of Amela, moving according to her touch.
But… Bubar has no physical form, like a soul.
While the Prochi siblings looked exactly like themselves, Bubar was in the form of a glowing spirit.
Bubar’s doll was positioned far away from the Prochi siblings' dolls, throwing punches—which seemed to be the actions of the giant Bubar outside—while the Prochi siblings' dolls were depicted drinking tea and having a conversation.
Murakan transformed into his human form and landed on the ground with Jin. At that, Amela flinched and turned her head.
She had been completely unaware that Murakan and Jin had made it this far.
[…Huh? What? Who are you? How are you still alive after coming all the way here?]
Amela spoke, her eyes turning a deep crimson. She tilted her head as if she truly couldn't understand.