Chapter 184
Chapter 184
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: Breaking the Seal
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Arthur arrived in front of Shaman and immediately asked,
“What did you do to the children?”
“What do you mean, what did I do? How many times do I have to tell you before you understand……!”
In that instant, Shaman’s face twisted horribly.
Immense pain surged from her thigh at the same time as the ‘bang!’ of a gunshot rang in her ears.
“Arrrgh!”
Arthur pressed the muzzle of his Sig Sauer into the spot where his aura had pierced and demanded,
“What did you do to the children’s souls?”
Arthur’s face contorted like a demon’s.
Shaman trembled all over in terror, and even Blizan looked slightly startled by Arthur’s chilling expression, which he had never seen before.
“Speak!”
Arthur shoved the muzzle in even deeper.
“Arrrgh!”
Shaman screamed and thrashed wildly.
Arthur subjected her to torture with eyes filled with venom and murderous intent.
Of all things, she had used children.
She was no different from a devil.
She deserved punishment to match.
“Feel it again.”
Arthur pulled the muzzle from the gunshot wound and aimed at another spot.
Shaman flailed her hands in abject panic.
“No! Stop!”
“Speak! What did you do!”
“I put a seal on them!”
“You bastard!”
Arthur slammed his fist into her face.
Then he grabbed her by the collar and demanded,
“How do you undo it?”
“Go to Kyapur Castle and…….”
Unable to endure the excruciating pain any longer, Shaman revealed how to release the seal.
Keda, who had been listening to Shaman alongside Blizan, grew increasingly grim-faced.
The moment Shaman finished speaking, he told Arthur,
“That won’t do!”
“……?”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Keda.
He glared at Shaman with venomous eyes.
“You’re Sorceress Fron!”
“The traitor who betrayed the empire…….”
“Who pinned the label of devil worshipper on her? It was you!”
Keda’s hand trembled on his sword hilt.
He barely suppressed the urge to drive his blade into her chest right then.
As he did, he told Arthur,
“The place she mentioned is Artisan’s underground lair. It’ll be riddled with all sorts of barriers, so once you go in, you won’t come out. More than that, it’s not a distance you can cover from here to Kyapur Castle in a single day.”
“Damn it! Then the children…….”
Arthur seized Shaman by the throat and bellowed.
“Tell me another way!”
Pale-faced, Shaman shook her head and forced out words.
“It’s…… already over. No matter…… how much you struggle, you can’t stop it.”
“You damn bitch!”
Arthur smashed her into the ground.
Thud-.
Her neck snapped, and she died.
Arthur asked Keda,
“Is there really no other way?”
“If you can’t destroy the medium that placed the seal, the only option is for someone superior to the caster to find the child connected to the medium and undo the spell.”
“The child connected to the medium……!”
It had to be the one who appeared at the altar with Shaman.
“If we find the child, there’s a shaman tribe not far from here. Their chieftain might be able to break the seal.”
“Both of you, follow me.”
Arthur quickly descended.
Keda followed right behind, and Blizan glanced at Shaman’s corpse smashed into the dirt.
She recalled the words Shaman had spat at her.
Beast Mode.
Helka’s descendant.
And her reactions.
‘There’s definitely something I don’t know!’
Blizan followed Arthur, doubts weighing on her chest.
When Arthur reached the battlefield, the children had all collapsed into sleep.
The Horcamun tribesmen had bound them in preparation for what might happen when they awoke.
Arthur told Millerph what he had heard from Shaman and searched among the sleeping children for the one who had sent him the message.
The child lay curled up beside a tree, sleeping soundly.
Arthur scooped the child into his arms and told Keda and Blizan,
“Lead the way.”
Then he looked at Millerph.
“Take care of the children.”
“Be careful.”
Arthur nodded and signaled Keda.
Keda and Blizan shot forward like arrows.
Arthur gazed at the sleeping child in his arms.
‘I’ll save you for sure.’
***
“Huff, huff, huff.”
Keda had climbed to the summit of King Mountain—the tallest peak in the Nanshar Empire—without a single break, so his throat burned with exhaustion.
In contrast, Blizan and Arthur had only a few beads of sweat on their foreheads, their breathing steady.
Blizan looked around and spotted lights below the mountain, then asked,
“Is that the place?”
Keda let out a long breath and nodded. Arthur immediately dashed downward.
“I’ll take the lead!”
Blizan hurried after him.
“This is insane.”
Keda followed with a deathly grimace.
A short while later.
Upon reaching the village entrance, Arthur told Blizan and Keda, who were catching up,
“Find the chieftain.”
Blizan glanced at Keda, who ran in the direction the spirits indicated.
Deep in the village, a large house appeared.
Over ten people stood there holding torches.
As if they had been waiting for Arthur.
Among them, an elderly man with white hair cascading to his shoulders stepped forward, leaning on a staff.
He bowed politely to Arthur, who held the child.
“We’ve been waiting.”
“……?”
As Arthur looked puzzled, the elder met his eyes with a gaze deep as the sea and replied,
“We received a revelation from Lady Karen.”
Sensing an extraordinary presence from him, Arthur asked politely,
“What was the revelation?”
“To join in reducing innocent sacrifices.”
“Was there nothing else?”
“No.”
The elder smiled kindly, glanced briefly at Blizan, then shifted his gaze to the child in Arthur’s arms.
“Come inside first.”
Arthur entered the house with him.
The elder looked at the child laid on the bed and asked,
“What happened?”
Arthur hesitated a moment before cautiously speaking.
“Do you know of the Barbarians?”
“I do. So this child is a descendant of a valiant warrior.”
“Their souls have been sealed.”
Arthur recounted everything that had happened at Munar Mountain without omission.
The elder’s face darkened as he listened, his hand trembling on his staff in rage.
“That wench…….”
“You know her?”
“She’s my daughter.”
The elder lifted his staff with fury blazing in his eyes to examine the child’s condition and continued,
“She abandoned this place for Artisan, and in the end, sold her soul to the devil…….”
“Can you save the child?”
“We need to find where the seal is anchored.”
“She said it’s underground at Kyapur Castle, but as you know, we can’t get there.”
“Then the seal’s medium must be this child.”
Arthur nodded silently.
The elder stared at the child, pondering gravely.
As heavy silence settled,
He nodded as if he had decided.
“Breaking the seal will release the dormant nature. Though a child, the temperament in their subconscious will activate, so we need a countermeasure.”
“I can handle that.”
“Understood. Step back.”
The elder donned a crown made of feathers and prepared the ritual.
Arthur retreated and whispered to Keda and Blizan,
“Keep watch around us.”
“Yes!”
The two swiftly went outside.
A moment later, the elder circled the child’s head with his staff, chanting unfamiliar words.
He took a bell from his pocket and shook it once to each side.
Then the candles at both ends of the bed ignited.
All the candles in the room burst into flame simultaneously, and his voice grew louder.
He kept shaking the bell.
His voice and the bell’s toll began to resonate through the house.
As the sound buzzed in their ears, the child reacted.
“Ugh…….”
The child grimaced in pain.
Arthur frowned as well, silently watching the mystical scene.
‘Just hold on a little longer.’
***
“Mm…….”
Whenever the children stirred, Millerph cast Sleeping again.
So far, no issues.
But dawn would break soon, and if Nanshar Empire soldiers happened to pass by, discovery was only a matter of time.
He could only hope Arthur resolved this.
As Millerph checked the children with a worried expression,
Bukas came sprinting from afar.
An ominous premonition struck.
‘Please, no…….’
Alteon spotted Bukas and followed.
Bukas reached Millerph, panting heavily, and said,
“Knights are coming.”
“Damn it.”
Alteon’s face twisted.
Millerph asked with a hardened expression,
“How many?”
“That’s…….”
Bukas hesitated, then answered gravely.
“I couldn’t see the end of the procession. It looks like reinforcements from Nanshar.”
“How long until they get here?”
“By their speed, within 30 minutes.”
“Millerph!”
Alteon looked at him.
Millerph checked the children.
They lay motionless in sleep.
From their state, the seals hadn’t been broken yet.
They couldn’t wait here for Arthur.
“Move to the mountain summit.”
“Understood.”
Alteon ordered the Horcamun tribesmen to carry the children one by one to the summit.
The rest gathered around Millerph, excluding those who had left with the children.
Millerph told Alteon and Bukas,
“We’ll wait at the summit with the children. You two lie in ambush here and monitor their movements.”
“Understood. If combat breaks out, I’ll send Bukas up, so leave immediately.”
“Got it. Before you go, I’ll buff you. It lasts 20 minutes, so use it well.”
Millerph cast buffs on them and headed to the summit.
Over ten men, including Alteon, received the buffs, their faces set with resolve.
“Scatter and watch them. If they send forces to the summit, Bukas goes up, and the rest assemble at mid-mountain to deal with them.”
They nodded heavily and dispersed in all directions.
***
The moment Millerph arrived at the summit, a Horcamun tribesman came running in a panic.
“Millerph!”
“What……!”
Millerph’s eyes widened.
The children were waking one by one.
Including the one he had just put back to sleep.
‘What’s happening?’
Millerph hurried over with a puzzled look.
Most children had awakened, their eyes turning blood-red as they snapped their ropes and exuded a murderous aura.
‘Put them back to sleep first.’
He swiftly cast Sleeping.
But their auras grew even more ferocious, and they roared like beasts.
“Raaargh!”
The magic failed.
“This is…….”
As Millerph’s face stiffened, one child lunged at him.
Tagnum, watching, quickly cast Petrification.
The child turned to stone.
Then all the children roared and charged the Horcamun tribesmen.
“They’ve awakened.”
Millerph realized the seal on the child Arthur took had been broken.
This caused their suppressed natures to rampage.
That explained why mental magic didn’t work.
Tagnum and his group kept sealing the children’s movements with Petrification.
But Petrification couldn’t fully subdue them.
In this state, it would wear off soon.
Only one magic could stop them.
Overwhelming them with Tyrant’s Temperament.
Millerph watched the children breaking free and thought of Arthur.
‘You must hurry. Or else…….’
Children freed from Petrification lunged at the tribesmen like arrows, biting their throats.
“Arrrgh!”
“Gaaah!”
Screams erupted everywhere, and Tagnum’s desperate shout rang out.
“No one dies—not them, not us!”