Chapter 400
Chapter 400
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 400
>Chapter Title: Wait, Parasite
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After the face-to-face with Oukan concluded.
“You must have come a long way, so rest for a bit. We’ll talk afterward.”
Aster watched Oukan turn to leave and fell deep into thought.
‘What the hell... did he see?’
Had he figured out his true identity?
He pondered it briefly, but no, he hadn’t noticed his identity.
If he had, he wouldn’t have asked about the ‘Aul’—he’d have drawn that sword and taken his head right then.
Oukan had no way of knowing about the deal between Aster and Yurubuke, but slicing the throat of a mage who’d infiltrated their main camp in disguise required no justification whatsoever.
So then, really...
“Aul.”
That’s what he was curious about.
“What the hell is an Aul anyway?”
Arriving at the tent under the warrior’s guidance.
Yurubuke, who was unpacking his things, reacted to Aster’s mutterings.
“Aul... to put it simply, it’s a mission.”
“A mission?”
“That’s right. It encompasses things like ‘fate,’ ‘duty,’ ‘responsibility,’ ‘destiny,’ but I interpret it as ‘mission.’”
“Fate, duty, responsibility... destiny.”
At first glance, it sounded like superstition. You know, like those fortune-tellers peering into fake crystal balls and spouting nonsense.
But there were too many unsettling parts to dismiss it outright.
First off...
- Is it heavenly punishment... or heavenly fortune? A strange fate indeed.
The words of Great Sorcerer Pushyk. When asked in detail, he’d replied:
- Your Aul is not my Aul.
Breaking that down...
‘Our missions aren’t intertwined, so I won’t interfere’—something like that?
Pushyk the Great Sorcerer wasn’t the only one who’d mentioned Aul.
- Kain, I want to hear what your Aul is.
...Oukan.
He’d asked about the ‘Aul,’ and when Aster said he didn’t know, he’d threatened him. As if he absolutely had to know.
‘So it’s not just superstition?’
Come to think of it, he recalled what Pushyk the Great Sorcerer had asked him to pass on to Yurubuke.
So, surely back then...
- Young warrior, just as true sorcerers are rare on the plains, those born with Aul are few and far between. That’s why an ignorant, arrogant one like you became a Driman.
...Something like that.
In other words.
‘There really are people born with true Aul.’
Alright, let’s assume.
If Oukan had asked about the Aul because he’d sensed something in Aster himself... a destiny? A mission? Something like that?
“...Hm.”
Aster let out a groan at the situation that suddenly felt complicated. Given Oukan’s reaction, it didn’t seem like he’d back off easily.
But such worries lasted only a moment.
Aster shook his head vigorously and looked at Yurubuke.
“Still, let’s stick to the plan.”
To Yurubuke, who had no idea about the train of thought leading to this, it was an out-of-the-blue statement missing all context, but he nodded anyway.
What needed to be done hadn’t changed.
“I’ll rescue my comrade, and you...”
“...will save the tribe.”
“Yeah, let’s focus on that for now.”
Yurubuke’s role was over.
From the start, he’d risked everything to come find Oukan just to guide Aster deep into the main camp.
From here on, it was Aster’s turn.
‘Wait, parasite.’
Aster exchanged a glance with Yurubuke, then spread his senses wide. Soon, they extended across a vast area.
As a result, finding Shain wasn’t hard.
The problem was...
‘...What the hell.’
The presence of Shain, faint as if it might vanish any second.
Aster hardened his expression and swiftly suppressed his aura.
“...Wait here.”
“You found your comrade?”
Aster didn’t respond.
His figure scattered like a mirage.
Left alone, Yurubuke stared with a stiff expression at the spot where Aster had stood, then swallowed hard.
In the instant before Aster vanished, he’d glimpsed it in his eyes... the emotion there.
Surprisingly, it was anger.
A seething, vicious rage on the verge of exploding.
* * *
Returning to his own pavilion, Oukan sank into the massive throne. His eyes flickered with an inscrutable turmoil.
‘Kain, Kain...? Hraman’s third son, Kain?’
If it was Pushyk’s Hraman, then Oukan had at least heard the name of that renowned great warrior.
His two sons who roamed the battlefields alongside him were also famous...
‘...He had a third son?’
He’d never heard of it.
If a warrior of that caliber had a child, he would’ve heard about it somehow.
“Is that story true, then?”
Oukan recalled what Driman Yurubuke of Pushyk had said.
That after his first hunt, he’d wandered the great plains.
But even so...
‘...No.’
Oukan stopped his musings there.
Right now, the identity of this young warrior called ‘Kain’ wasn’t what mattered.
‘Aul.’
Oukan had sensed a bizarre ‘Aul’ from the young warrior ‘Kain.’
It was a sensation he could feel precisely because Oukan was innately gifted as both a warrior and a sorcerer.
- Don’t just stand there—come inside. The sun’s good, but the wind isn’t favorable.
As he’d said that and turned to walk away, a chilling shiver ran down his spine.
Glancing back suddenly at the young warrior ‘Kain,’ Oukan had been overwhelmed by an indescribable sensation.
It was... Aul.
An enormous Aul.
One that didn’t pale in comparison to his own—the one that would unify the great plains and usher in a new era for the Maharpat tribes. No, perhaps even surpassing it...
“...Nonsense.”
Oukan cut off the trailing thoughts.
He couldn’t accept it.
A warrior with an Aul comparable to his own, the ruler of the great plains?
Impossible.
Having thought that far, Oukan raised his head and called for his attendant.
“Who’s outside?”
“Yes, Geyar Driman.”
“Go fetch Great Sorcerer Dran.”
“Yes.”
As the footsteps receded, Oukan lowered his head slightly once more and sank into thought.
Dran was the Great Sorcerer of the Shurk tribe under Oukan’s command, and privately, his sorcerous mentor.
Even after Oukan became Geyar Driman, he’d continued to offer sage counsel. But today, Oukan hadn’t summoned him for wisdom.
“You called for me, Geyar Driman.”
Oukan looked at the elderly sorcerer Dran, who entered the tent and bowed, then continued.
“We’ll divine the Aul.”
“The Aul, you say?”
The old sorcerer looked up at Oukan with puzzlement.
And rightly so—Oukan’s Aul had already been divined multiple times. There was nothing left to check.
However...
“Not mine.”
“Then...”
“Hraman’s third son, Kain.”
“Kain...?”
The old sorcerer voiced his doubt. But instead of explaining, Oukan rose from the throne and prepared the ritual tools for divining Aul.
“Just assist me.”
“The subject is...”
“If I could summon the subject, I wouldn’t have called you.”
Oukan’s sorcerous prowess rivaled that of a Great Sorcerer.
Divining Aul with the subject present was no issue.
But doing so without them was tricky even for him, hence the need for Great Sorcerer Dran’s help.
“Let’s begin.”
Oukan laid out the ritual tools on the ground and beckoned the old sorcerer.
The old sorcerer sat before him. He gazed at Oukan for a moment, and soon his mouth opened.
“Geyar Driman, your heart seems to tremble.”
“My heart trembles...?”
“Yes, it’s as if...”
The old sorcerer trailed off there. And for good reason—the emotion he’d glimpsed in Oukan was far from positive.
That emotion was...
‘...Fear.’
And anxiety.
Even without him finishing, Oukan knew what the old sorcerer meant to say.
That’s why his lips twisted into a crooked smirk.
“On these plains, there is nothing I need fear.”
“...Quite right.”
“But we must confirm it. What I saw. What that young warrior bears.”
As Oukan spoke, he pictured the young warrior Kain.
The sight of him struggling to withstand his presence was utterly pathetic, eventually dropping to his knees.
But...
‘...No ordinary bastard.’
How many warriors could endure even that much against his aura?
And at that young age!
He couldn’t let it slide carelessly.
“Now, let’s get started.”
“...Yes, as you command.”
The old sorcerer said, gazing at Oukan.
And intuited.
He didn’t know who this warrior Kain was...
‘...This could lead to bloodshed.’
Whether Kain lived or died depended on the Aul they were about to divine.
If it was pathetic in Oukan’s eyes, he’d live. Otherwise, he’d scatter on the wind today.
...And so, the old sorcerer aligned his ritual with Oukan’s to divine the Aul of the warrior ‘Kain.’
Oukan pictured the young warrior ‘Kain,’ visualizing the ‘Aul’ shimmering behind him, imprinting the ‘existence’ in his mind, faintly sensing that ‘Aul.’ Now, all that remained was to draw it out through sorcery.
How much time passed?
When the ritual concluded.
“Great Sorcerer.”
“...Speak, Geyar Driman.”
Oukan gazed at the wooden tablet bearing the ritual’s result and issued a quiet command.
“We must offer a sacrifice to the wind.”
“...”
The Great Sorcerer closed his eyes tightly instead of replying.
Offering a sacrifice to the wind meant Oukan had resolved to accumulate karma of slaughter. And not just any—inescapable, grievous slaughter.
“You intend to... erase Pushyk. Pushyk himself.”
“It can’t be helped.”
The moment he killed the young warrior ‘Kain,’ Driman Yurubuke would never bow to him.
That’s the kind of man Driman Yurubuke was.
Even if ten warriors died on the battlefield because of Oukan, he’d bow willingly. Even a hundred—he’d do the same.
But if a warrior met death off the battlefield...
‘...He’s the type who’ll never yield.’
“Geyar Driman, this is too hasty. We should ponder fully what this Aul signifies before deciding...”
“Those were your words to the previous Driman. Thanks to that, I survived him. And I reached this position today because you said it.”
“...”
The old sorcerer’s chest tightened as if clogged.
‘In the end, it comes to this.’
Two suns cannot coexist under one sky. This young warrior’s Aul was far too vast to ignore.
...Vast enough for Oukan to choose erasure alongside Pushyk.
“After the deed is done, we’ll offer to the wind. Focus only on that.”
At that resolute tone, the old sorcerer could say nothing. All he could manage was...
“...Understood.”
To affirm it.
Once the old sorcerer withdrew, Oukan alone stared piercingly at the wooden tablet, lost in thought.
He was no longer a warrior.
Nor even Geyar Driman.
Just a sorcerer intoxicated by power, bereft of composure.
But he didn’t know.
That the warrior named ‘Kain’ harbored the same thoughts toward him.
...Somewhere in the camp.
‘Kain’... no, Aster stood stock-still in the dark tent, taking in the sight of the being bound in iron chains.
“...”
Reflected in his eyes was Shain, dying from sorcery and poison.