Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Planned Captive (2)
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Shuhaien still cherished the memory in his heart of first meeting that man thirty years ago.
“Shuhaien Schutburg, right?”
“…….”
“You conducted many experiments under Archbishop Aphirant. As his direct disciple, you seem to have quite the track record.”
“So what? Are you going to execute me like my master?”
“Archbishop Aphirant is the only one on the purge list. Your custody has been assigned to me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Work under me, Shuhaien.”
“……Are you trying to use me like my master did?”
“Use you?”
“Let me be clear. I’m done with human experimentation.”
“Done?”
“The stench of blood filling the labs, the sticky feel of artificial mana solutions, the screams begging for mercy—I’m sick of all of it.”
“…….”
“You probably want me to run all sorts of experiments for you based on the mana control theory I learned from my master. But I’m not doing that anymore. I only did it before because of him, and now he’s gone.”
“You really seem to hate human experimentation.”
“Yeah, so just kill me.”
“Good.”
“What?”
“I was worried about what to do if you were a human experiment fanatic like Aphirant.”
“……?”
“Shuhaien, what I want you to handle is improving the mana circulation methods of me and my subordinates to maximize efficiency. They say you have talent in mana control theory surpassing even Aphirant’s, so it should be possible.”
“That’s…… what…….”
“And I’d also like you to maintain and upgrade the magical equipment we possess. It’s not about meddling with human bodies, so it should be more palatable for you.”
“You’re…… not ordering human experiments?”
“You said you didn’t want to do them.”
“Weren’t you aiming to become archbishop? Isn’t that why you’re trying to recruit me?”
“Archbishop? That’s not important. I do want to ascend to higher realms, but that doesn’t specifically mean a position in the Dialogue Church.”
“…….”
“And to reach those higher realms, I need your help.”
“You…….”
“Unleash your talents by my side, Shuhaien.”
“You’re…… a really strange person.”
“Am I?”
“Fine, I get it.”
“Shuhaien.”
“Archbishop Hausel, Your Excellency…… from now on, I’ll take you as my master.”
* * *
“Really…… Sion Aleyas…… is Archbishop Hausel, Your Excellency?”
Shuhaien muttered weakly.
Even after hearing from Dietrich that I was Archbishop Hausel himself, he still couldn’t accept it.
“Shuhaien.”
“Really…… you……?”
Leaving Shuhaien, who stared at me in disbelief, I looked around.
The room was filled with several tanks brimming with mana solution.
“The Edelphalt family was conducting human experiments here, I see.”
“……!”
Shuhaien flinched.
“Elias and the others from the Edelphalt family possessing mana beyond their age and skill—was that because you artificially injected it into them?”
“…….”
“This method is effective but has a low success rate, sacrificing many people. You said you hated that.”
From my memory, the success rate was barely fifty percent.
Shuhaien must have improved it to sixty or seventy percent…… but it still wasn’t one hundred.
“It must have been at the Edelphalt family’s request, but the past you wouldn’t have done it.”
“Ugh…….”
“Have you changed your mind? Does the echo of screams in the lab no longer bother you?”
At my words, Shuhaien’s expression hardened.
His already pallid face grew even paler.
“Why did you abandon your convictions?”
“I…… I…….”
“You don’t have to say, Shuhaien.”
I approached Shuhaien.
And grasped his trembling hand.
“Did you want revenge?”
“Ugh…….”
“To get revenge on the Dialogue Church that purged Archbishop Hausel…… were you trying to make the Edelphalt family strong?”
Hearing my words,
Shuhaien’s face twisted.
“I’m not as strong as Dietrich or Casaria…….”
“…….”
“All I can do is use the mana control theory I know to make others stronger. So to get revenge, I had no choice but to borrow someone else’s power…….”
“…….”
“I made a plan for twenty years. Grow the Edelphalt family for twenty years to replace the Holy Knight Order, then strike the Dialogue Church with full force…… and they’d be destroyed.”
“Twenty years, and you’d be too old, you idiot.”
“But that way…… I could get revenge. I could avenge you……!”
I embraced the sobbing Shuhaien.
“You’ve worked hard all this time, Shuhaien.”
“Ugh, ugh……!”
“I’m back. You don’t need to use your power for others anymore.”
Patting the back of Shuhaien, who was even gaunter than I remembered, I spoke in a clear voice.
“From now on, live for me, Shuhaien.”
“Yes, Your Excellency……!”
Swallowing his tears, Shuhaien replied with resolute voice.
* * *
“Johan Edelphalt was hostile to Ianus Aleyas.”
Once Shuhaien had calmed down, he sat me and Dietrich down and began explaining.
He had replaced his cracked glasses with new ones.
“Their greatest point of contention was policy toward the Dialogue Church. Ianus had no intention of provoking them if they stayed quiet, but Johan believed they had to cross the Winter Mountains and completely destroy the Dialogue Church.”
“Ianus knew it. Even if the Holy Knight Order mobilized fully, annihilating the Dialogue Church over the Winter Mountains was impossible.”
“Johan rallied the hardliners within the Holy Knight Order to oust Ianus and become Knight Order Leader himself. But it didn’t go as planned, so he left the Holy Knight Order on his own.”
“But he couldn’t let it go.”
“Yes. Upon returning to the northwest, Johan formed an organization to replace the Holy Knight Order and planned to topple the Dialogue Church. I knew of this…… and approached him.”
Johan and Shuhaien shared the same ultimate goal.
To destroy the Dialogue Church, they joined hands.
“Johan knew of a method to artificially increase mana in the Dialogue Church. He demanded I apply the most effective one—the Fullness Injection Method—to his family members.”
“That’s how you boosted the Edelphalt family’s mana.”
“Yes. I recommended other methods…… but Johan preferred Fullness.”
“Johan must have been wary of the Aleyas family’s Sky Rank Knights. Fullness seemed the most likely to artificially create 9-stars.”
“Even with high potential…… only Elias reached 9-stars.”
“Creating even one is impressive.”
Even the Dialogue Church couldn’t easily make 9-stars artificially.
Making Elias a 9-star was entirely Shuhaien’s achievement.
“By the way, Shuhaien.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“The tanks are all empty. No one’s undergoing modification right now?”
At my question, Shuhaien made an “oh no” face.
“Right now…… Elias is receiving intensive care in another room.”
“Elias?”
I definitely killed Elias.
Pierced his heart with Xantia and drained his mana.
“Elias underwent advanced modification surgery at Johan’s demand. So…… as long as his brain isn’t destroyed, he can be revived.”
“He became an undead?”
“Not exactly. Though from a certain perspective, it’s not much different. If anything, he’s closer to a golem.”
“…….”
“The problem is his circles are all destroyed. So we were supplementing mana another way.”
“What other way?”
“Implanting a Holy Grail the Edelphalt family possesses into his chest.”
“A Holy Grail?”
That was unexpected.
“The Edelphalt family had a Holy Grail too?”
“Yes, they kept it strictly hidden.”
A Special Grade holy relic, the Holy Grail emits vast divine power.
Divine power is purer mana, so implanting a Holy Grail in the chest might grant power beyond normal circles.
“Shuhaien, is that possible?”
“I’ve never tried it. Theoretically, yes.”
“I know less about this field than you, but it seems like he wouldn’t retain human form.”
“Johan didn’t seem to care.”
“Hmm…….”
Listening to Dietrich and Shuhaien’s conversation, I sank into thought.
“Shuhaien.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“I have an idea. Check if it’s feasible.”
“What is it?”
“Well…….”
I explained my idea to Shuhaien.
Dietrich, listening beside me, swallowed hard, and Shuhaien’s eyes widened in shock.
“Feasible?”
“It’s…… possible.”
“Good.”
With Shuhaien’s approval secured.
Now we could proceed.
My goal from the start…… was to gain Shuhaien’s cooperation and dismantle Gayerant from within.
* * *
“Damn……!”
Elias ripped out the various tubes connected to his body and rose from the tank.
“Lord Elias! You mustn’t move recklessly!”
“My body has already fully recovered! All that’s left is mana injection!”
Last time, Elias’s heart was destroyed by Sion’s attack.
But because his body was modified, he could revive.
“More importantly, what did you just say?”
“Oh, that…….”
“I heard it from inside the tank. Sion Aleyas was taken prisoner?”
“Yes…… that’s correct.”
“Take me to him! I want to see his face!”
Elias threatened a nearby attendant knight into guiding him to the underground prison.
“Ha…… ha…….”
Sion was truly locked in a cell.
Mana-sealing cuffs bound him as well.
“Nice look for you, Sion Aleyas!”
“…….”
“Why can’t you speak? Surprised I’m alive?”
Elias burst into laughter at Sion, sitting on the cell floor and looking up at him.
“I’m immortal, Sion Aleyas.”
“…….”
“How does it feel? You took my life, yet here I am, revived and standing outside the cell, while you’re trapped inside.”
Sion said nothing for a while.
Then he suddenly spoke.
“There’s no such thing as immortals in this world.”
“What?”
“You just got lucky restarting your body. I wouldn’t want to live with something shoved in my chest like that.”
Hearing that, Elias looked down at his own chest.
There…… a wriggling tentacle monster was replacing his heart.
“This is…… just temporary until the Holy Grail implant!”
“And your speech is cruder and more vulgar than before. Your brain must have taken serious damage. Have you forgotten past events?”
“You bastard……!”
“You’re not Elias Edelphalt anymore. You’re a separate entity mimicking him.”
Bang!
Elias punched the cell bars.
“You must want to die, Sion Aleyas.”
“Touch me, and your grandfather kills you.”
“Shut up……!”
He glared at Sion, grinding his teeth.
“Once I recover my mana…… I’ll kill you first.”
“Big dreams.”
“You bastard……!”
He wanted to open the cell door and kill Sion right then.
He knew he shouldn’t, but couldn’t hold back.
“E-Elias, brother?”
Stopping Elias was his cousin Oscar, who had approached unnoticed.
“How are you here? Weren’t you in treatment?”
“What’s this about, Oscar?”
Still only 5-stars, a novice.
Not someone Elias respected.
“Oh, Grandfather assigned me to watch Sion Aleyas. And with the situation outside…….”
“Situation outside?”
“Yes, it’s urgent…….”
Oscar spoke cautiously.
“Mother was routed. We need to rebuild defenses around Gayerant’s center.”
“Aunt Greta?”
Greta Edelphalt had been defeated.
That meant the Holy Knight Order would soon reach them.
* * *
“We’ve finally made it here.”
Bernhard marveled at the distant Gayerant fortress.
“That’s the Edelphalt family’s stronghold…… Take it, and this battle ends.”
The subjugation force had at last reached the doorstep of the Edelphalt stronghold.
It was possible because while Bernhard and Est played bait, Sershes and the Assault Knight Brigade completely shattered Greta Edelphalt’s encirclement.
In the end, Greta fled to Gayerant with her remaining forces.
“The battle isn’t over yet, Brigade Leader Bernhard.”
Sershes frowned as he spoke.
“If anything, it’s just beginning. Gayerant is an impregnable fortress.”
Victory wasn’t assured yet.
Until they captured the Edelphalt stronghold of Gayerant, the fight continued.
“At least if we’d taken down Greta Edelphalt…….”
“I’m sorry, brother.”
“Is that an apologetic face?”
Sershes glanced at the expressionless Est and sighed.
“Johan Edelphalt and Greta Edelphalt—two 9-star knights remain. We can’t claim victory yet.”
“Yes.”
“And in this situation, Sion’s gone missing…… Where the hell is he wandering?”
As Sershes clicked his tongue, Bernhard spoke up from beside him.
“Do you think Sky Knight Sion is still alive, Commander?”
“Would that guy die quietly somewhere unknown?”
“Well…….”
“He’s surely up to something. His subordinates said as much.”
Frowning, Sershes looked up at Gayerant again.
“I have no idea what insane thing he’s plotting.”
Sershes’s voice mixed equal parts irritation and anticipation.