Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Planned Captive (1)
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As we ventured deeper into the sparsely populated mountains, Dietrich appeared before me.
“My lord.”
“Is the intel solid?”
“Of course. I confirmed it with my own two eyes.”
Dietrich replied, down on one knee.
“The Edelfelt family’s knights were using the Saturation Mana Infusion Method.”
The Saturation Mana Infusion Method was one of the mana acquisition techniques employed by the Dialogue Church.
Humans draw in mana from nature to fill their circles. A portion of that mana settles into the circles, increasing their maximum capacity. Techniques like the Holy Heaven Eight Emperors Method exist to accelerate this process.
The Saturation Mana Infusion Method uses a brutally straightforward principle to speed it up.
Submerging a human in a high-density mana solution increases the amount of mana they absorb, thereby rapidly boosting their maximum capacity.
Naturally, this method places a heavy burden on the body. Since subjects tend to drop dead, it’s standard practice to perform enhancement surgeries to improve their survival rates simultaneously.
The process is so costly that even the Dialogue Church prefers other approaches most of the time.
“The Edelfelt family has facilities for the Saturation Mana Infusion Method set up in their stronghold, Gayerant Citadel.”
“They talk about replacing the Holy Knight Order, yet they adopt the Dialogue Church’s methods. What a bunch of contradictions.”
“They might be rationalizing it as not directly allying with the Dialogue Church itself.”
Exactly.
As Dietrich said, the Edelfelt family wasn’t directly in bed with the Dialogue Church.
That’s why I was heading to Gayerant myself.
“Still, the Saturation Mana Infusion Method defies the natural order—it’s heretical. If the Holy Spirit Church finds out, they’ll excommunicate them.”
“To prevent that very scenario, they aim to topple the Holy Knight Order and seize global hegemony. Once the Edelfelt Holy War Knights dominate the continent, the Holy Spirit Church won’t dare talk about excommunication.”
“At that point, they might as well wipe out the Holy Empire and Holy Spirit Church to found a new nation.”
“That’s…….”
“I know. It’s not that simple.”
In any case, the Edelfelt family harbored grand ambitions.
They’d even adopted Dialogue Church methods to realize them.
“Dietrich, Gayerant still has a hefty garrison, right?”
“Yes. Even if Serxes and Est defeat Greta Edelfelt, taking Gayerant won’t be easy.”
“Good.”
I spotted Gayerant Citadel in the distance.
For the Holy Knight Order’s victory—and for my own sake—there was something I had to do.
“We infiltrate.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Dietrich vanished once more.
I headed alone into the Edelfelt stronghold.
* * *
“What’s the situation?”
“We’ve spotted a suspicious intruder inside.”
“We’re tracking him now.”
Johan Edelfelt scowled at the knights’ report.
“Who the hell sneaked in?”
“Well…….”
“What is it?”
“It’s not confirmed yet, but... word is it might be Sion Aleyas.”
“What? Sion Aleyas?”
“Oscar, the mid-tier knight, is handling it. We’ll know soon.”
Oscar was Greta’s daughter, a 5-star knight.
Having met Sion before, she’d recognize him on sight.
“Why would Sion Aleyas......?”
As he waited in bewilderment, word came quickly.
“Oscar has captured Sion Aleyas alive!”
“Bring him here.”
Moments later, the bound Sion Aleyas was dragged in.
Mana-suppressing cuffs sealed off his power, leaving him helpless.
“Sion Aleyas, is it?”
“You brought me knowing that, didn’t you?”
“Cheeky bastard…….”
Johan eyed Sion up and down.
He was young, no doubt. A well-built body, but nothing more.
How could a kid like this take down Elias, who’d reached 9-star?
“Why sneak in here? Alone, no less.”
“…….”
“Cat got your tongue?”
“To rack up merits.”
“Merits?”
“I planned to assassinate Johan Edelfelt and end this war.”
“……!”
Murmurs rippled through the room.
It was too bold a claim from a knight not even twenty.
“You came to assassinate me?”
“Yeah.”
“You thought that was possible?”
“What’s stopping me?”
“With your mere 6-star mana?”
Powerhouses like Johan maintained Mana Armor 24/7 to counter ambushes.
They also grew hypersensitive to killing intent, making it nearly impossible to take their life even in sleep.
“Your intel’s outdated. I’ve already reached 7-star mana.”
“7-star? You serious?”
“You must’ve heard how I took down Ludwig in the vanguard clash.”
Ludwig, one of Johan’s grandsons, had been a 7-star knight.
But he’d led the vanguard in the first battle and lost his life to Sion.
“I heard you only hit 6-star less than a year ago.”
“So I broke through to 7-star even faster.”
“…….”
He didn’t seem to be bluffing.
What kind of freak was this guy?
“Sion Aleyas…… Regardless, you’re a prisoner now. Your assassination failed.”
“…….”
Called out, Sion fell silent.
Watching that, Johan thought he was still green after all.
“You’ve been on a hot streak. Racking up merits left and right, drunk on the idea you can do anything.”
“…….”
“You thought you’d pull off another solo miracle by killing me. But... that was reckless.”
Sion bit his lip.
“We’ll decide your fate after family council.”
Johan spoke gravely.
“Take him away.”
“Yes, Knight Order Leader!”
As Sion was dragged off, Johan sank into his chair.
‘Still green…… but bold as hell.’
Charging alone into the enemy stronghold to claim the enemy leader’s head?
Did any of Johan’s sons or grandsons have that kind of guts?
‘Makes me envious of Ianus.’
Ianus’s kids were all competent.
Among Johan’s, only his youngest daughter Greta could compete. His eldest son Victor lacked even basic knightly talent.
That’s why Johan had backed his firstborn grandson Elias early, pouring resources into 9-star mana and an immortal body.
But seeing Sion now... Elias seemed downright mediocre.
‘If Sion were my grandson…….’
Lost in such thoughts, Johan felt an inexplicable fatigue.
* * *
“You know those cuffs disrupt mana use. No tricks will get them off, so don’t bother.”
In the prison cell, Oscar Edelfelt spoke to me stiffly.
“You should’ve fought on the front lines with the other knights…… Instead, you pulled this stunt.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.”
“Assassinate my grandfather? That’s insane. How could you even......”
Oscar looked at me with a complicated expression.
She was still dressed flashily, but her gaze had softened since our first meeting.
“You’re something else, Sion Aleyas.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I couldn’t dream of trying this.”
“…….”
“Sneaking into Holy Knight Order HQ to assassinate Ianus Aleyas? Sounds like fantasy.”
Oscar, Greta’s daughter, was about my age.
She seemed to be comparing herself to me, wallowing in self-pity.
“You got caught this time for being too reckless…… but Grandfather won’t treat you harshly.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. He looked at you favorably, and you could be leverage in talks with the Aleyas family later.”
“My grandfather didn’t seem keen on negotiating with you lot.”
“Any other grandson, maybe. But you? Different story.”
“…….”
We’ll see.
If I were truly captured, would Ianus negotiate to get me back?
I wanted to find out.
“So just sit tight. No harm will come to you, so don’t......”
“No harm, huh? Guess I’ll cooperate, then.”
“……!”
The voice came from behind Oscar.
A man in glasses and a white robe approached.
“Wh-what are you doing here?”
“I already got Johan’s permission.”
Johan.
First time I’d heard anyone call Johan Edelfelt that.
“I need to investigate why you grow your mana faster than others. Could benefit your family too.”
“But......”
“Bring him out.”
He ordered Oscar, then turned on his heel.
“Who’s that?”
“Grandfather’s collaborator.”
Oscar muttered unhappily.
“We all owe him big time. Can’t defy him.”
“…….”
“He said no harm, but it’ll hurt a bit.”
With that, Oscar pulled me from the cell.
She led me up the stairs.
[All sorts of energies here.]
‘Different energies?’
[Yeah. The kind you’d only sense deep in the Dialogue Church.]
As I conversed with Igzard in my mind, we reached a spacious room.
It was filled with various magical experiment tools.
“Leave him and go.”
“But......”
“You’ll just get in the way. Don’t worry about it.”
“Understood.”
The white-robed man shooed Oscar away.
The iron door slammed shut with a thud, leaving just the two of us.
“Sion Aleyas. You’re really 7-star now?”
“Yeah.”
“Be precise. You only have two actual circles, right? Storing 7-star mana in them.”
I’d pitched the idea of having just one or two circles to plenty of people, but few bought it.
“You believe the rumors?”
“I know it’s possible.”
He leaned in close, his sallow face inches from mine.
“Has the Aleyas family adopted Dialogue Church methods?”
“No clue what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play dumb. Your circles were made with the Dialogue Circulation Method.”
“…….”
“The Dialogue Circulation Method is one of the Dialogue Church’s deepest secrets. The Holy Spirit Church doesn’t even know it exists, and only a handful in the Dialogue Church do.”
He’d pierced my secret dead-on.
“I don’t know how you learned the Dialogue Circulation Method, but 2-star level makes you fascinating. I want to study you.”
“Study me how?”
“To factor into my plans.”
He turned away as he spoke.
His gaze fell on several empty glass tanks.
“You’ve probably guessed, but I’m the one who upgraded the Edelfelt knights beyond their limits.”
“…….”
“They use the Dialogue Church’s Saturation Mana Infusion. Results aren’t great, though.”
“So you want to use me?”
“Yeah. I need your data.”
He pushed up his slipping glasses with a finger and approached.
“I’d appreciate your cooperation, Sion Aleyas.”
“You think I’ll play along?”
“Don’t be defiant.”
He reached for me.
Grabbed my hair and yanked.
“I’m desperate right now, so......”
“Remove your hand from my lord’s hair, you fool.”
At the cold voice,
The man slammed face-first into the floor.
“Gah...?!”
He tried to look up in shock, but my shoe pinned him down.
“You dare grab my lord’s hair? You must have a death wish.”
“Th-this voice...... Dietrich?!”
“That’s right.”
Dietrich, who’d been hiding until now.
He glared at his old comrade with murderous eyes.
“My lord came to see you in person. Shouldn’t you kneel and bow?”
“L-Lord?”
“Indeed, Suhaien.”
Through his cracked glasses, the man’s eyes widened.
Dietrich spoke solemnly to him.
“Our lord has returned.”