Chapter 727: The Prelude that Began Within (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 727: The Prelude that Began Within (2)
Kwai-an of the Secret Palace’s 7 Swords wiped the cold sweat from Siris’s forehead.
“Captain, were you hit with a mental attack, just like Sir Jin?”
“...Yes. It seems Rosa’s mental attacks have begun targeting the Barmul Alliance and our temporary allies. Las, go to Tikan and check on the situation. I’ll let you take Mort.”
“Understood.”
Siris immediately rose and headed for the training grounds.
She saw Jin, still sitting cross-legged in meditation. He was drenched in a cold sweat, his face contorted in agony, but he appeared to be enduring it.
However, screams soon erupted from the quarters where Gilly, Valeria, and Quaul were staying.
Among them, only Valeria had fallen victim to Rosa’s mental attack.
She seemed to be suffering even more severely than Siris, her body wracked with violent seizures. She was clenching her teeth so hard to maintain her sanity that a trickle of blood ran from her lips.
Gilly was using her entire body to hold the thrashing Valeria down. Uncontrolled mana spiraled from Valeria’s body, leaving faint cuts across Gilly’s skin.
“Oh, my, our Valeria! What do we do?!”
“Stop making a fuss, Quaul, you’re being a distraction! This is Rosa’s mental attack,” Siris barked.
“A mental attack?”
“Gilly, hold her just a little longer.”
Siris summoned a wave of chilling energy to cool Valeria’s body. Several minutes passed before Valeria’s eyes finally fluttered open.
“Hah, hah, hah…!”
Valeria gasped desperately for air.
In the illusions created by Rosa’s mental attack, she had witnessed not only the slaughter of her current comrades but also the annihilation of the Gray Owl Mercenaries—the only family she had ever known.
“Are you alright?”
At Siris’s question, Valeria nodded with a dazed expression. Like Siris, she felt a profound sense of pity for Jin.
From that point on, the same phenomenon began to occur in Tikan, Drakka, the Kinzelo headquarters, and the Empire.
One or two individuals from each faction started to suffer from Rosa’s mental attacks.
In Tikan, it was Casimir. In Drakka, Veradin. At the Kinzelo headquarters, Margiella. And in the Empire, Dante.
Surprisingly, the group hit hardest was Kinzelo.
“D-Duke! You’re here! Margiella is going berserk again…!”
“Please, do something about Lady Margiella!” Ainas and Bubar shouted urgently.
Boom—! Thud!
The basement of the headquarters was being demolished by the purple energy erupting from the rampaging Margiella.
Verakt, Jo, Bianca, Lanke, and Vishkel were all struggling to suppress the violent energy.
Unlike the others, who remained relatively composed despite the mental attacks, Margiella was completely out of control.
Zephyrin, who had just arrived, immediately joined the effort.
“Sir Vishkel, step back now,” Zephyrin said, rushing to his side. Vishkel was already severely injured.
“She is my sister.”
Normally, Vishkel was the most cold-headed member of Kinzelo, but he always lost his composure when it came to Margiella.
“I know the guilt and debt you feel toward Lady Margiella. But if she recovers and sees you in this state, do you think she’ll be happy?”
“I’m still fine… cough.”
Zephyrin struck the back of Vishkel’s neck. Tossing the unconscious man to Bubar, she surged her energy forward.
Of all times for a rampage like this… I hope the Evil God hasn’t recognized the entity bound to Lady Margiella.
Even with Zephyrin’s help, it took a long time to subdue Margiella’s rampage. Though Zephyrin had grown stronger as Orgal regained his power, suppressing Margiella without causing serious harm to her or the headquarters was no easy task.
It was three hours later when Margiella’s rampage finally ceased.
By then, Orgal had returned to the headquarters after finishing the meeting in Tikan. Surveying the scene, he pressed a hand to his forehead as if nursing a massive headache.
[You all worked hard. The Vice Captain, in particular, must have suffered greatly.]
“Master, did the meeting produce any countermeasures for the mental attacks? If Lady Margiella keeps going berserk like this, our temporary allies might discover her true identity. Above all, carrying such an unstable factor into the final battle against the Evil God is a huge burden.”
[The existence of a countermeasure was confirmed. However, it is not something we can implement.]
“Then who can?”
[Jin Runcandel. He is the key once again.]
Orgal’s explanation was as follows: the mental attacks currently striking all factions at random would only vanish if Jin emerged victorious in the internal war he was waging against Rosa.
[It seems the reason the mental attacks, which were originally limited to Jin, have spread to others is that he is currently losing the fight against Rosa.]
This was something Orgal had heard directly from Jin when he stopped by the Secret Palace. Though Jin himself had called it a ‘presumption,’ it was almost certainly the truth.
—This phenomenon started the moment I began to be pushed back by Rosa. There were no issues when I was holding my ground. As you can see… I’m not in great shape right now.
—[True. If you were dressed in rags, you’d look exactly like a man on his deathbed.]
Only four days had passed since Jin began his stay at the Secret Palace. Seeing his gaunt appearance, Orgal wondered if Jin could even return to peak condition within the remaining eleven days, even if the mental attacks ended immediately.
“Hmm, Master. Then if that devil is pushed even further back…”
[The mental attacks will spread to even more people. As we confirmed in the meeting just now, the number of people exposed to the Evil God’s mental attacks is increasing in real-time.]
“How absurd.”
[It cannot be helped. Our opponent is a god. In the worst-case scenario, we may not only have to postpone the final battle… but we might also have to seek a solution other than Jin Runcandel.]
“Sigh. In the end, you’re saying the best we can do is sit still and pray for Sir Jin to win. While keeping Lady Margiella in check, of course. At least the rest of us in Kinzelo won’t lose control to that extent if we’re attacked.”
For a while, Orgal and Zephyrin stood in silence, looking down at the bedridden Margiella.
*
Veradin and Dante flew over Drakka on the back of the Water Dragon, Tuyan. Both of their faces were dark and haggard.
“The mental attacks are now spreading to the common folk, Lord of the Sword Emperor Castle. The situation in the Empire must be the same.”
Exactly one week had passed since the mental attacks began.
Now, reports were flooding in of civilians everywhere going mad from hearing Rosa’s voice. Consequently, the temporary alliance had disclosed the details of the crisis to the public—specifically, that it would only end if Jin overcame Rosa’s mental assault.
“Indeed…”
Below Tuyan as she circled the plaza, they could see people kneeling. The commoners, wearing black ribbons on their chests, could do nothing but gather and pray.
“At first, I didn’t understand why people were coming out to the plazas. What meaning could it possibly have? To be honest, I still feel the same. I just find it strange that their actions are slightly reducing the scale of Despair spreading across the world.”
Naturally, the Despair on Veradin’s map had been growing since the mental attacks began. But when people gathered to cheer for Jin or pray, the growth slowed by a minuscule margin.
“That is the power of solidarity, Lord Veradin.”
“One could see it that way. But fundamentally, the end of the Evil God’s mental attack depends on the victory or defeat of a single individual named Jin Runcandel. They are merely slowing the growth of Despair by a tiny fraction. In truth, it’s not a significant amount. It’s closer to a futile effort.”
Thwack!
Suddenly, Dante’s fist slammed into Veradin’s face.
He hadn’t imbued it with Aura, of course, but the impact made Veradin’s head ring, forcing him to lower his gaze for a moment.
“Why did you hit me? You know very well that was a grave discourtesy.”
“Ah, my apologies. It seems I’ve become sensitive lately. I’m sorry, but what you said was so obnoxious that my fist had a mind of its own.”
“I understand. But I won’t forgive a second time, so be careful.”
“But Lord Veradin, can you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Can you, by yourself, slow the growth of Despair even for a moment, like the people gathered down there?”
“I cannot.”
“Then do not speak as if they are doing something meaningless. No, even if it were something you could do alone, you have no right to insult those who have come out to do whatever they can.”
“I fail to understand, but I will take your point into consideration. It seems doing so is more effective for the cohesion of our dwindling temporary alliance.”
“You never know. Perhaps the gathering of the people truly is helping Jin, even if only a little. It might be thanks to them that Jin ultimately wins the war he is fighting alone.”
Dante believed that. He believed the strength of those people, who were slowing the growth of Despair by the tiniest margin, was aiding Jin.
“So, it would be best to encourage them and then move on to the Empire. The people are gathered in the Empire’s plazas as well. You might argue again about what meaning our encouragement has, but this is a very important matter. It is also the duty of a leader.”
Veradin nodded without a word. He didn’t truly agree with Dante’s opinion, but he didn’t want to cause a rift by getting hit again. Above all, as Dante said, if this act helped Jin even in the slightest, it was undoubtedly the right thing to do.
*
Ten days had passed since the mental attacks began.
Jin was reaching his limit. He trembled even while sitting still in meditation and couldn't bring himself to touch water or food.
Rosa’s mental attacks, which had spread across the world, grew stronger every day. The number of civilians exposed to them increased exponentially. What used to be a hundred reported cases per region per day had now reached a thousand.
Only five days remained until the final battle.
It was extremely difficult to believe that all this chaos would be resolved and that Jin would be able to fight Rosa in peak condition within that time.
Sometimes, just watching is an agony in itself.
That was how the comrades watching Jin at the Secret Palace felt. They felt as if they were walking on thin ice, fearing that Jin might suddenly drop dead at any moment.
“...I think we have to postpone the final battle. It seems impossible for the Young Master to head out in five days,” Gilly said, watching Jin from a distance in the training ground.
“I’ve already been contacted by the King of Tikan, Gilly. They said the idea of postponing the battle indefinitely until the mental attacks end was brought up in the meeting.”
“Yes. Little Palace Master, you should rest as well. You look terrible.”
“Resting won’t make it better. This mental attack isn’t something you can just sleep off,” Siris replied.
At that moment, Jin suddenly pushed himself up.
His legs trembled so violently it looked like he would collapse at any second, so Gilly and Siris rushed to support him.
“Young Master!”
“Jin.”
“No… a postponement… is meaningless.”
“Then what?”
“Lady Siris, I need to use the closed-door training hall now.”
“I told you I’d let you, but Jin, it’s impossible for you to enter the closed-door training hall alone in your state. If something happens to you in there, we won’t be able to help.”
“I don’t have the strength… to explain in detail. Just open the hall. In this reality, even speaking is a struggle…”
The fact that Jin was wasting away in reality meant the war raging within him was becoming that much more intense.
Now, Jin was preparing to end that fight alone, without the familiar sounds of his comrades who served as his anchors.
Siris gritted her teeth and met Jin’s eyes before finally nodding.
“Alright. I’ll open it for you right now.”