Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 086
Chapter Title: Demon Knight
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Tower interior, reception room.
Guided by Rebecca into the room, Congressman Rockton asked again.
"So, you're saying that the stone gate of prophecy at the top of the magic tower told you to follow Iris if you want to find the answers?"
To be precise, the old man seen in the stone gate had said that, but Kyle saw no need to mention it.
"Yes. I had no idea what that could mean..."
He glanced at Gordon.
"But just now, Team Leader Gordon mentioned that Iris is the symbol of an old terrorist group with anti-Lutherus leanings."
That left Kyle unsure how to interpret it.
The path suggested by the old man in the stone gate was to follow some flower, which was absurd enough.
But for that flower to match the symbol of a very old terrorist organization...
Still, calling it coincidence didn't sit right. The man in the basement and the contact who imprisoned him both seemed deeply tied to anti-Lutherus ideology.
'Above all, that man in the basement seemed to know plenty about my sister.'
Possibly even about the city's secrets linked to Lena Clark's death.
And now the path from the stone gate...
'Seems to overlap with that bastard's anti-Lutherus group.'
Kyle rubbed the bridge of his nose.
'Is this really just coincidence?'
Gordon appeared to share the sentiment.
"It's too suspicious to dismiss as mere coincidence."
He brushed his lips and continued.
"As you heard, Congressman, the contact—who's also an anti-Lutherus ideologue—happened to have an Iris mark."
Suspicions of ties between anti-Lutherus radicals and the Marshall family were already brewing.
And now the enigmatic stone gate in the magic tower was pointing straight to Iris, one of their groups.
"Of course, it could just be a coincidence of names..."
Gordon's expression grew grave as he pressed on.
"But what if this terrorist group is the key to the Marshall family and the city's secrets?"
"......"
Rockton's gaze shifted to Kyle.
'...And Lena Clark turned out to be an anti-Lutherus ideologue too.'
He had long suspected that the key to all this lay with Kyle Clark's stepsister, Lena Clark.
His instincts hadn't changed, but things were getting confusing now.
Kyle Clark's existence had been covered up by Mayor Lutherus, yet the woman who took him in was an anti-Lutherus radical.
And now this contact, seemingly linked to Marshall, was also anti-Lutherus, with an Iris mark on his tongue.
And possibly, Lena Clark had been part of Iris too.
'What the hell is going on?'
Congressman Rockton narrowed his eyes.
'Just what are you, Lena Clark?'
Was she on Lutherus's side, or Marshall's?
'But either way...'
The anti-Lutherus radicals seemed undeniably tangled in the city's current events.
'I don't know much about that prophetic stone gate...'
But if everything converged on Iris like this...
"...It's worth investigating."
Cashie's words made Rockton raise an eyebrow.
"A problem?"
"Well..."
Gordon replied with a troubled look instead.
"Iris went underground long ago and hasn't been active... We assume they've disbanded."
He let out a small groan.
"We have zero leads on their whereabouts right now."
"So, interrogating Boris Havensky is our only option?"
"Yeah, that seems to be the only way..."
Gordon picked up on Cashie's hesitant tone.
"Complicated how?"
Inspector Roden's voice came through the phone's speaker.
Congressman Rockton nodded.
"Speak, Inspector."
"Still nothing?"
Inspector Roden contradicted Gordon.
"...?"
The guy who never cracked before?
Surprised by the unexpected response, Gordon asked again.
"What did he say?"
Inspector Roden replied awkwardly.
"What?"
Gordon frowned at that.
"Wasn't he a member of the group?"
"Hah..."
"Run the lie detector?"
The congressman asked, and the inspector replied promptly.
"Damn."
Back to square one, they wore troubled expressions. That's when Kyle, who had been silently lost in thought, spoke up.
"What if the Iris the stone gate meant really is that terrorist group?"
"...?"
He looked up and continued.
"Then the group is probably in the lower levels."
"Lower levels? Did you say lower levels?"
"Yes."
Because that's what the old man in the stone gate had said.
- Iris, hiding deep in the lower levels. Follow it.
"Iris hiding deep in the lower levels..."
"You mean the 8th Special District's lower levels?"
Kyle nodded at that.
"Probably."
"The lower levels..."
"...Then their sudden disappearance might mean they relocated the organization down there."
Cashie responded to Gordon with concern.
The Intelligence Bureau had only recently turned serious attention back to the 8th Special District.
Before that, per city policy, they'd pulled most personnel overseas, leaving minimal staff.
A proper intel network took years of patient effort to build.
No way could they cover the lower levels properly in this short time.
"...Why not commission a local expert?"
Cashie blinked over the speaker at Kyle's suggestion.
"Yeah. I happened to meet one recently."
He pulled a business card from his pocket and placed it on the table.
It read:
[Alice Coffee Shop - Manager: George Brockett]
Tapping the card as they stared, Kyle said,
"A guy who deals in any info on the 8th Special District."
Deciding to meet George Brockett tomorrow, Kyle stopped by the tower's infirmary to check on the Sage.
"...Fortunately, his life isn't in danger."
"Good."
Kyle expressed relief at Rebecca's words.
With most mages still unconscious or unable to function from the curse's aftermath, any threat to the Sage's life would only deepen the chaos.
"But the neural circuits channeling mana in his body are completely shredded, so he may never use magic like before..."
"......"
Now he understood why Blessing of Light hadn't worked fully.
'By the time I escaped the nightmare, the nerve damage was already severe.'
He recalled the skill description: ineffective on permanent organ damage.
'In that case...'
The Sage's injury was likely permanent too.
His gaze shifted regretfully to Ridge, lying nearby, still pale and unconscious.
Apparently, she'd nearly been offered—body and mana—to some bizarre pond.
'They said even a moment later and her whole body would've melted.'
And she wasn't the only mage in this state.
Rebecca spoke worriedly.
"On top of that, among the Five Founding Families, I'm the only one who can move right now..."
Marie Fleetwood was out too, recovering from curse damage and Special Forces injuries at an external facility.
"...You'll have to leave soon too, right, Mr. Clark?"
Kyle silently met her gaze.
He could sense her anxiety without Heavenly Eye.
With the Five Founding Families all debilitated by the curse, she—the sole direct descendant of Kemston—had to step up.
And Kyle couldn't stay at the magic tower forever either.
To her burdened face, he said,
"I have to leave, but that doesn't mean I'm dumping everything on you."
"Huh?"
"I'm not planning to shove it all on you and run."
"...!"
Process aside, 'Sapientia Magic Tower' was now officially his faction.
So it benefited him for it to recover function ASAP.
'Enemies might exploit the weakness.'
"I'll stay in the tower today, select suitable personnel, and assign them to reconstruction tasks."
With Heavenly Eye, he could place people optimally, like with Bowen.
"Tomorrow, someone from Intelligence—Cashie Hamilton—will arrive. Until the Sage recovers, she'll assist you in every way. She's trustworthy, so rest easy."
Rebecca's face brightened.
"Mr. Clark...!"
"Her team will handle security around the tower for a while too. Oh, and most importantly..."
Kyle handed her a small satellite communicator from Gordon.
"This is..."
"Intelligence-issue one-way signaler. Press the button if anything happens. I'll know it's an emergency no matter where I am."
"...!"
She clutched her phone tightly, visibly relieved.
"...Thank you. Truly."
'Faction-exclusive skill?'
As Kyle blinked, a detailed skill description appeared.
"...!!"
Central Administrative District, Marshall Mansion.
In the vast library at its center, Congressman Marshall narrowed his eyes while reading.
"What did you say?"
Austin Marshall, the family’s second son, bowed his head.
"...Our collaborator says the 'relay' in the 2nd Administrative District has been exposed to them."
"The relay?"
"Yes."
"Hah, that explains it."
Simon Marshall continued suspiciously.
"Rockton calls a congressman meeting on a dime, then suddenly spouts nonsense over one phone call."
He must've caught on to the 'relay' then.
Austin pressed on.
"S-So, Iris might've been exposed to them too..."
Thud! Simon slammed the book on the table.
Silence followed.
Austin swallowed hard amid rising fear, then his father's chilling voice echoed.
"...Not only did you fail to summon the demon at the magic tower, now the relay and Iris are exposed?"
"Th-That..."
"Amusing. Very amusing."
Simon’s face turned icy.
"I once reminded you what the magic tower means to our plans."
It was insurance against the military slipping control in emergencies.
A magic tower reborn as the demon's minions would make the finest army.
And no better venue for the 'ritual.'
"But you ruined it. A crucial matter."
He stepped toward his son.
"You ruined it."
"...S-Sor, I'm sorry!"
"Yet I'm trying to forgive you. You've done well by my orders so far. Unlike your brother, you're like me."
"!!"
"Filthy, vile, yet you cling to ambition and desire. For that, you'll stain your hands with blood or become a monster without hesitation...!"
His trembling hand caressed Austin's face, then...
"You scum!"
"Gah!?"
...Suddenly gripped his nape viciously.
"Urk... guh...!"
"That's why I accepted you! To escape Lutherus's shadow, atop this city built on lies from birth! To stand eternally under the heavens!"
"F-Fa... Father...! Gurk!?"
Simon shoved him away and continued.
"Do you know what the first Lutherus was praised as?"
The legendary hero had many titles, but one stood out.
"Savior of the Multiraces."
In that chaotic era,
Division and conflict over differences nearly doomed not just humans.
Races rejected by humans, races rejecting humans.
Many raced toward extinction.
Yet they united under one hero, one light—a miracle.
That allowed them to survive the harsh times.
To persist, to continue their lines.
But only that.
Time passed, seeds of division and conflict regrew.
Forgetting that miracle's day, they hated and rejected anew.
"And the 8th Special District's lower levels are paradise for those with no place on the surface."
A city of monsters driven underground by rejection.
But if all planned long ago—who'd believe it?
"...Yet even they gain great power if united."
Hence the 'Accord' to divide, distort, suppress them.
"But now you tell me the last Lutherus might know of Iris."
And if he dug into that ancient cabal, he'd inevitably reach the lower levels.
"Could be my paranoia."
But Simon fixated on him being the last Lutherus.
"No guarantee a blood heir of Lutherus won't witness another miracle."
"...!!"
"No guarantee a new savior of the multiraces, true ruler of the lower levels, won't emerge."
"Th-That's impossible! The lower levels' rulers are closely allied with us! They wouldn't betray...!"
"Exactly! Impossible! But son."
Simon glared with bloodshot eyes.
"The magic tower ritual's failure was impossible too."
"?!"
"Get my point now?"
He seized Austin's hair, yanking him close.
"Gah!?"
"Austin. The 'Accord' must hold for our goal, the 'ritual.' Understand?"
"O-Of course, Father. Ri-Right away, measures..."
"Ah, speaking of..."
Simon's eyes narrowed.
"The 23rd Sector lower levels' Demon King's envoy hasn't left the surface yet, right?"
Austin flinched.
There was only one such envoy.
"Y-You mean the demon knight?"
"Yes."
Demons: freaks reborn from the Demon King's darkness.
Knight-class demons were infamous for perpetual revival, their bodies eternally linked to the Demon King's darkness.
To kill them: sever the spiritual link somehow,
Or slay the soul itself.
They wielded highly dangerous 'Laws,' so none dared provoke them lightly in the lower levels, Accord or not.
"No telling when the Butcher might turn eyes downward."
Best to eliminate even the possibility.
"But that undying killing machine..."
Simon stared into Austin's trembling eyes.
"Even the last Lutherus couldn't handle it, right?"
"...!"