Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: The Heir's Abduction
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“What's going on?”
Arges' expression hardened at his guard's reaction.
The guard hadn't panicked even when Hatan had launched a surprise assault on Gaia. For him to come rushing in like this...
'Did Hatan launch a full-scale attack?'
But the guard's answer surpassed even Arges' wildest expectations.
“Young Master Shu...”
The moment Shu passed the guard's lips, Arges' already tense face grew even more frantic.
“Shu? What's wrong with Shu! Did something happen to him?!”
Shu.
Arges' only son. The future pillar who would defend the Tomorrow Mountains alongside the Cyclops tribe.
Not even mobilized during the war with Hatan, he had been raised with utmost care within the tribe's embrace, training obediently.
“Did he get seriously hurt during training?!”
Frustrated by the guard's silence, Arges demanded an answer first.
But what came from the guard's mouth was utterly unforeseen.
“Young Master Shu... has been kidnapped.”
“......?”
They say extreme shock leaves people speechless.
“...What did you just say?”
Shu was... kidnapped?
Arges' body jerked like a broken puppet.
Not long before Arges received the news and pandemonium broke out in Gaia.
“Chwiik! Th-this way. Chwiik!”
I was slowly closing in on Gaia, using the orc Hatan had assigned as my guide.
“Grrr, Jerome. Cyclops stench 500 meters ahead.”
The guide orc charted the overall path, then the lycanthropes scouted ahead, picking safe routes as we crept forward cautiously.
“Hey, this can't be right. This feels totally off.”
“Yeah, Young Master Jerome. If we get encircled like this, we're finished.”
Saladin, Aria, and the others grumbled, radiating unease.
Hm.
Perfect division of labor.
“You deaf or what? This is suicide!”
I kept ignoring them and pressing on until Saladin, finally losing his cool after a while, bellowed.
“Fighting Cyclopes is already pushing our luck to the brink. But marching right into their turf to kidnap the chief's kid? How many lives you got, like ten?!”
Beskin and Set stayed silent, but the mood tacitly agreed with Saladin.
“Cyclopes may be monsters, but their wits rival any humanoid race—no, surpass them in many ways. You really think the chief's heir has zero defenses?”
“Don't sweat it. I've got a plan.”
I brushed off Saladin's worries, casually tossing a few stones around him.
“Kyaak! Then spill it, you punk! If you've got spares, share with us—glub glub?!”
Saladin, mid-rant at my nonchalance, suddenly started gurgling oddly.
The sound was so vividly like someone drowning that everyone's eyes naturally turned to him.
Flail, flail.
Saladin was madly thrashing his arms at thin air.
“......?”
“Young Master, what's wrong with Lord Saladin?”
As everyone stared in bewilderment, Beskin was the first to snap out of it and ask me.
“Oh, that? Think of it as a technique that shows another world.”
“......?”
Beskin still looked puzzled, but he nodded in acceptance anyway.
'If it's the Young Master, he must have a reason.'
Buoyed by my retainer's steadfast trust, I gazed at Saladin—who was flailing so desperately he looked on the verge of drowning for real.
'Way more effective than I thought.'
The Heterogenous Power from the Philador Kingdom report: Formations.
Great Sea
Target trapped in oceanic illusion / Vulnerable to external shocks
One of the formations in that manual: Great Sea.
Saladin was caught in my hastily deployed formation, probably seeing himself stranded in the middle of an endless ocean right now.
'Formations are incredible.'
Trigger conditions were tricky, but once pulled off, they'd be a game-changer in battle.
“Y-Young Master... Saladin won't actually die like that, will he?”
“Ah.”
Got lost in thought too long.
Saladin, trapped in the formation, was now foaming at the mouth and going limp.
I stretched out my hand as if releasing the power, then secretly kicked a pebble at his feet when no one was looking.
“Glub glub... Gasp!”
Like magic, Saladin's eyes flew open as he whipped his head around.
“Wh-what the hell? I was just in the middle of the sea... No way?”
Flustered and confused, Saladin whipped his head toward me and glared.
“You bastard! What did you do to me?!”
“Mm, a test? To see if it'd work.”
“A test, huh. Fine, can't be helped then... You saw that coming, you psycho!”
Everyone except the test subject Saladin had watched my formation in action, and their anxiety had visibly eased compared to before.
But unlike them, I couldn't just grin.
'It's potent, but still unstable.'
Testing it on a seasoned Black Lion like Saladin revealed two things.
First: It conjured illusions so refined even he fell for it.
Second: So fragile a single kicked pebble shattered it.
Powerful, yet brittle as glass—a double-edged blade.
“Sigh, nothing for it. We'll make it work.”
When have things ever gone exactly to plan?
We reached a ridge overlooking the Cyclops village at a glance.
“Chwiik! This is the Cyclops stronghold. Chwiik!”
The orc Hatan assigned pointed at the village.
“Chwiik! Human. What you want, chwiik! Chief's lair, chwiik! Over there!”
My gaze followed the orc's finger to a house.
Compared to the others, it was conspicuously massive.
More fortress than house, it sat at the deepest part of Gaia.
“The chief's kid in there too?”
“Chwiik! No!”
Small mercy.
“Cyclops! Raise whelps separate, train 'em! Chwiik! That building, chwiik!”
The orc pointed to a structure smack in the village center.
Thanks to the guide, I clocked it—otherwise, it'd be hidden perfectly amid the others.
Lock it down tight, and the layout's camouflage is wasted.
'It's like they're advertising "Nothing important here!"'
So they left it unguarded, relying on optical illusions from surrounding buildings and scale.
'Clever.'
Without the guide orc, I'd have missed it entirely.
“Chwiik, and over there, that's...”
Hatan's guide didn't just know the heirs' quarters—he had the full village layout down pat.
'This orc's no ordinary grunt.'
Hatan's kid had balked at first—warrior pride and all—when I suggested targeting Cyclops families.
“Alright, that's enough. We'll hash out the rest after we nab the target.”
“Chwiik! Then I, chwiik! Prep escape route as planned, chwiik!”
The orc bolted before I could reply.
As he departed, a blue greatsword tattoo spanned his back.
“Blue Sword... Hatan sent a proper one.”
Only then did I peg the guide's identity.
Full grasp of Cyclops terrain. Power to solo prep an escape. That tattoo wrapping his back.
Blue Sword Tribe chief, Vardol.
'Hatan's come a long way.'
Past Hatan, the pure warrior, would've rejected kidnapping an enemy's child as dishonorable.
Now? He prioritized tribal victory over personal honor.
The path of a king.
Then I had to deliver.
“Time to meet expectations.”
This was war, not kids' play.
From the ridge, we plotted our path and moved at dusk.
Basing on Baucalarc and the lycanthropes' scouting, we avoided all contact meticulously.
We reached the building housing the Cyclops whelps.
Slipping inside, rows of young Cyclopes slumbered.
Kids or not, their race's massive frames meant each topped 2 meters of muscle—no slouches as warriors.
One stood out, matching Hatan's description: 'You'll know him when you see him.' Towering even among them, exuding promise even in sleep.
Not fully mature, but his latent ferocity leaked out relentlessly.
'That's the one.'
No hesitation now.
I nodded to Aria. She murmured her incantation softly.
"May you revel in happiness within your dreams. Sleep."
⟨ Sleep ⟩
Shwaaaaa—
Mana spread gradually, deepening the Cyclopes' slumber visibly.
But couldn't relax yet.
Formations' weakness to shocks? Irrelevant against sleeping foes.
Tok! Tok!
I dropped stones around the young Cyclopes and activated the formation.
Dream Demon
Dulls senses for pleasant dreams / Low potency, sensory dampener
A simple formation—dulls external senses, lets them dream sweetly.
'Nothing surer right now.'
With the lord's heir rebound securely—except him—we had the lycanthropes hoist him.
“Nngh!! H-he's... heavy...!!”
Even five burly lycanthropes strained; the kid weighed a ton.
"May the burdens of life before you lighten, even a little. Light!"
⟨ Light ⟩
Aria cast her weight-reduction spell at the sight, and only then could they lift him easily.
“Whew... Got him. Now then. Let's begin.”
We carefully hauled the lord's son behind the building, staying vigilant as Aria began etching a magic circle.
“Ugh... How'd I end up doing crap like this...”
“All for some wyvern wing scales, right? Quit griping and draw faster. Screw up, and we're all dead.”
“Fine!”
Aria snapped back sharply, her voice thick with irritation.
“......”
“......”
We held our breath, waiting for her circle to complete.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
One Cyclops lumbered toward our building.
“Wh-what?! Why's that one coming here?!”
Saladin freaked at the sudden move, but even I had no clue.
'We didn't make a sound.'
Heedless of our panic as we ducked behind the building, the Cyclops entered the whelps' quarters.
“Lemme see, my little dream trees. Sleeping soundly?”
Not dreaming we'd be lurking there, he beamed contentedly, checking each sleeping child(?).
“Hm, all tucked in nice and quiet tonight... Huh?”
Smiling at their deep slumber, his face drained of color at the empty innermost bunk.
“Y-Young Master?!”
He bolted outside, frantically scanning for the missing boy.
And then.
Reaching the back, his eye locked with mine.
“......?!”
“......!!”
Before my brain caught up, my body moved.
Tat!
I sprang high off the outer wall, slamming a kick into the Cyclops' face.
Baaaang!
“Guhk!”
Kuuuung!
True to his bulk, the Cyclops crashed with a thunderous boom.
“Lady Aria, hurry!”
“D-done!”
Heaven's providence?
Her circle finished just as she poured mana in.
"With naught but white silk and wind, we can go anywhere in this world! Mass Teleport!!"
⟨ Mass Teleport ⟩
Flaaash!
The circle lit up with Aria's chant.
“St-stop!!”
The kicked Cyclops sensed something, lunging desperately, arms flailing.
But.
Flaaash!
Thankfully, we were faster.
His hand sliced empty air.
“Th-this!!”
His lone eye betrayed raw panic.
“E-emergency!! Alert!! The young master's been kidnapped!!”
And so, chaos erupted in the Cyclops village on this unexpected night.