Chapter 180
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 180
“A curfew, you say? I’m not entirely sure, but it’s been about five days. Might be longer.”
Leaving the clothing store, Turan headed straight for an inn where carriages were lined up. He expertly blended in with the merchants who were busy drinking.
After sharing a few rounds of the exceptionally potent date palm liquor characteristic of the desert region, a young merchant began to chatter, his face flushed with drink.
“A week, then... and no one knows why?”
“That’s right. Maybe those folks over at the merchant guild who handle the real money might know something.”
The young merchant pointed toward a large trading post.
Poor peddlers like them stayed in inns like this, but the major merchant groups—those who dealt in truly precious goods on a massive scale—used separate, private lodgings. When you rested among the common crowd, there was no telling what might be stolen.
“Is there any way to talk to them?”
“Who knows? Maybe if you brought them something rare, they might give you the time of day...”
“Aha. Thanks.”
Having gathered a decent amount of information, Turan finished his drink and set down some coins. He gently brushed off the merchant who pleaded with him to stay for another round and stepped out of the inn.
A total lockdown on travel...
Something was definitely happening within the Zahar family.
Stopping by this city to gather information had been the right call. Had he not, he might have wandered into Axum carelessly and been caught.
Turan vanished into the shadows of an alley, using stealth, and then took to the skies once more toward Axum City.
Before long, as if by magic, lush green fields and a massive lake appeared, followed by sand-colored walls surrounding that verdant land.
So this is it...
The stronghold of the Zahar family, the capital city of Axum.
Unlike other cities in the Enril Desert, which rarely exceeded a population of a hundred thousand due to chronic water shortages, this metropolis alone could accommodate hundreds of thousands.
Around the outskirts of the massive city, guards on horseback with swords at their hips patrolled, their eyes gleaming sharply. It was as if they wouldn't tolerate a single soul passing through.
Of course, they had no way of noticing Turan, who was leisurely flying by using wind magic after tucking Bije away inside his body.
The atmosphere in the city is terrible. Not that it’s surprising.
The markets and streets, which should have been bustling with people, were desolate. Given the city's size and the fact that people still had to eat to survive, there were some moving about, but every single one of them wore a dark expression.
It was only natural; a city was like a living organism. Imposing a blockade was, for a city, like a person skipping meals. A metropolis of this size had been doing so for five days, so it was bound to be starving.
Judging by the atmosphere, it didn't seem like people were at the point of starving to death just yet; the blockade would likely be lifted before then. Of course, by that time, the Zahar would have finished hiding whatever it was they wanted to conceal.
As he scouted the area, Turan frowned when he noticed a section of the city had been destroyed. The devastation, spanning well over several hundred meters even by a conservative estimate, was proof that powerful mages had clashed here.
This is...?
Some of the traces looked quite familiar. The damage looked exactly like what would be caused by a weapon similar to the gun Harun Zahar had used during their past duel.
As a seasoned mage, Turan could roughly guess what kind of magic had been used just by looking at the uncleared remains. It was only a possibility, but there was a high chance that those who fought here hadn't just used ordinary magic, but skills as well.
I’d like to hear a bit more about what happened here...
Turan found a market relatively close to the site of the battle and quietly observed several merchants before spotting a target: an itinerant peddler selling dried rations.
After confirming the man had sold dried meat powder to a customer who looked like a transient—wearing clothes similar to Turan’s—Turan stole a small amount of money, disguised his face, and emerged from an alley.
“Excuse me.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m the one who bought the meat powder earlier. I realized just now that I think I accidentally underpaid you, so I came back.”
“Is that so? I thought I received the right amount...”
The peddler looked down at his coin box and let out a startled cry. Since business had been slow that day, he could tell at a glance that he was missing exactly two silver coins.
“You’re right, I am short!”
“Here you go.”
As Turan handed back the money he had just stolen, the peddler looked at him with an impressed expression.
“Hah, I’ve never met a man as honest as you in all my life. Ninety-nine out of a hundred would’ve just called it good luck if they walked away without paying.”
“I couldn't do that. The Night Hunter is always watching over us, after all.”
Turan feigned piety, tracing a sacred sign with his hand, and the peddler followed suit with a similar gesture. Having opened the way for conversation, Turan gestured with his chin toward the nearby devastation.
“By the way, looking at that again, it really is terrifying.”
He didn't ask what it was, because even for a transient, it wouldn't make sense not to know the reason behind such a scene. It had happened within the five days Axum had been blockaded; even if someone staying nearby hadn't seen it personally, they would have heard more than enough from those around them.
As expected, the peddler nodded in agreement at Turan’s remark.
“It truly is... I couldn't even sleep that night. The sound of thunder kept roaring, buildings were collapsing... I thought the demons of Arabion had invaded.”
Turan was inwardly quite shocked by the peddler’s words, though he didn't let it show. Why was Arabion being mentioned all of a sudden? No, perhaps the man had mistaken the sound of gunfire for thunder. To an ignorant merchant, there wouldn't be much difference between the two.
“Did you see it yourself, sir?”
“I didn't see it directly, I only heard about it. I was fast asleep.”
“Hah, you managed to sleep through that noise?”
“I was quite drunk, you see...”
When Turan intentionally acted embarrassed, the peddler burst into laughter. While similar cultures existed elsewhere, for the men of Enril, being a lightweight when it came to alcohol was considered shameful.
“If you saw it, could you tell me about it? I’m curious about what happened, but I haven't had the chance to meet anyone who actually saw it.”
“I didn't see it directly either, as my house is a bit far, but I certainly felt it. Lights that made the middle of the night look like broad daylight flashed several times, and later, I even saw a violet flash.”
“Oho.”
As they were chatting, Turan felt someone approaching rapidly from behind. He intentionally didn't turn his head, and the peddler, noticing the presence first, hurriedly bowed his head.
“W-well, I’ve received the money. You should be going.”
“Right.”
Nodding, Turan turned around to see a woman dressed in a white robe embroidered with intricate patterns staring at him. Recognizing her as one of the Zahar knights, Turan immediately bowed low. The woman glared at him once before walking further into the market.
“Hey, you lot! What are you gossiping about! If you’re at the market, just do your business and move on!”
Judging by her sharp reprimand, it seemed they were even discouraging people from gathering and talking in the area. It went without saying that the reason was to control the spread of information like what he had just overheard.
Slipping back into a deserted alley and changing his face again, Turan reflected on the story he had just heard.
Did Badal come here himself... or was it someone else carrying Badal’s relic?
Badal Arabion. The power of the long hammer used by that old man—Meisa’s father and the head of the Arabion family—was precisely the manipulation of violet lightning.
With his curiosity deepening, Turan looked toward the mountain situated slightly north of Axum City, and the fortress perched atop it. The detailed answer would likely be inside.
The Red Fortress...
Unlike the outer walls of Axum City, this fortress, built of dark red bricks, was the true headquarters of the Zahar family. According to Berit, it was a place where measures to block infiltration via stealth were even more obsessive than at the Parsha main house.
Then again, if one were to ask who would find it easier to block a stealthy mage—Arabion or Zahar—it would have to be Zahar. Arabion could only build defense systems by imagining what an opponent might do, but Zahar could design a defense, attempt to break through it themselves, and then reinforce the weaknesses.
If I’d known I’d have to go in there, I would’ve asked Berit for a way to sneak in.
It was a miscalculation; even if something had gone wrong, he hadn't expected them to blockade Axum City itself and act in such a thoroughly closed-off manner. However, going back now to ask would waste two days, so he had to find a solution immediately.
Approaching the Red Fortress while remaining hidden, Turan shuddered at the immense magical power emanating from the outer walls. He could tell that the entire wall was imbued with some mysterious power—it was practically a holy relic itself. Much like the Sun Temple, the headquarters of the Baraha family.
Though it doesn't emit light that reveals stealth like that place does.
At the very least, it was clear that attempting to sneak in by digging a tunnel wouldn't work at all. Turan approached to see if he could infiltrate by using a disguise, but he clicked his tongue at the inspection process required to enter and exit the fortress.
“Name?”
The person trying to enter appeared to be a servant delivering food supplies to the fortress. When the knight in charge of the inspection asked, the servant didn't answer verbally. Instead, he wrote his response with charcoal on an iron plate placed in front of him.
The knight nodded and proceeded to ask about his birthplace, favorite food, and so on before letting him through.
I can’t get past that.
The reason for having them write instead of speak was likely to prevent anyone listening from a distance from hearing the answers. The correct answers to the questions would have been recorded in advance.
Normally, such an inspection process would be an excessive waste of administrative resources, but the situation was different now. Since the entire city was under control, almost no one was entering or exiting the fortress.
Turan clicked his tongue and gave up on trying to pass the inspection, as the security system seemed specifically designed to counter the abilities of a Mimic Relic.
As for a secret entrance... Berit did tell me about one, but if Berit knows it, I have to assume the enemy knows it too.
The reason he had been able to infiltrate the Sun Temple in the past and rescue Solif’s parents was that the secret passage Solif had told him about was a place only someone of the rank of a Baraha heir would know.
Unable to think of a suitable breakthrough method, Turan circled the walls, lost in thought.
Infiltrating from the sky is out, and digging underground... probably won't work either, considering what those walls are made of.
The dark red fortress was actually made from the bones of the giants that the Night Hunter was said to have shot down in the ancient past. To be precise, it was said that bricks were made by mixing bone meal with ash and stone. And he had seen with his own eyes that the remaining flesh had become the monsters of the underground labyrinth.
Whether it was true or not was impossible to know, but it was certain that the defensive power of the Red Fortress was on par with the Sun Temple, making it nearly impossible to breach by conventional means. A full-power Railgun might be able to pierce it, but doing so would alert every Zahar noble in the land.
“What to do...”
After agonizing for a while, an idea suddenly struck him.
If it was made from the bones of giants, it meant it was part of a living creature, not just an inanimate object. And Turan possessed a substance that was incredibly good at corroding biological matter.
The Water of Death—the substance the gods called hydrochloric acid.
What had Solif said about this substance, which was so aggressive it was actually difficult to use?
‘If you poured this on a person, not even their skeleton would remain.’
It was time to see if that was true.
*
That afternoon, Turan began digging a tunnel from a warehouse located about five hundred meters away from the Red Fortress. Judging by the dust on the items, it had been quite a while since the owner had visited; unless he was truly unlucky, it was a space where he wouldn't be discovered.
Turan dug a hole in a corner of the warehouse and entered the earth, advancing by digging out soil and packing it behind him to create a small air pocket. In this way, he could move underground without having to dump a large amount of soil at the starting point. It was a bit tedious, though.
As he moved leisurely through the earth, Turan clicked his tongue at a sudden thought.
“It really is a waste.”
He could feel that the scale and efficiency of the power he could exert were far lower than when he could use the power of the Earthkeeper bloodline through the Mimic Relic. Back then, hadn't he been able to dive into the ground in an instant and ambush Meisa by popping up right in front of her?
Of course, he didn't have anything among his current five bloodlines that he would trade for Earthkeeper. The Baraha of light and fire, the Ruban of physical combat, the Nagin specialized in souls, the Lavitas of healing and purification, and the Carmine of water and frost. None of the powers of the five great families were worth trading for Earthkeeper alone.
Even while lost in thought, his body habitually cast Earth Manipulation magic to tunnel through the sturdy mountain. The mountain supporting the fortress was made of hard granite that ordinary people wouldn't dare dream of digging through, but whenever Turan’s hands touched it, it crumbled like sand to create a path.
An hour later, Turan’s hand touched a dark red brick as he tunneled upward in a spiral.
“Finally here...”
Would he really be able to pierce this wall as he had thought?
Feeling half-doubtful, Turan switched his relic to the Carmine bloodline and uncorked a crystal vial from his pouch. As the Water of Death, controlled by Fluid Manipulation magic, clung to the ceiling, a sizzling sound erupted.
“Ah.”
The first thing he realized was that melting something with the Water of Death produced a massive amount of fumes. It might have been fine on the surface, but doing it in a confined space underground meant he, being directly underneath, had to bear the brunt of it.
Turan immediately cast wind magic to direct the leaking fumes into the small passage behind him.
I’ll have to hold my breath for a while.
About ten minutes passed. Finally, he saw the bottom of the Red Fortress gouged out as if scooped by a spoon. Amazingly, the Water of Death had succeeded in piercing even an ancient relic! Of course, this was only because the Red Fortress used parts of a living creature as its material.
The Sun Temple actually wasn't pierced by this.
He still vividly remembered the look of horror on Solif’s face when Turan had tested it out of curiosity. Although Solif disliked the empty formalities of the Baraha, the building itself was practically his home.
Another ten minutes or so. Just as his supply of the Water of Death was nearly exhausted, a hole large enough for a person to fit through was finally opened. Turan leaped up lightly and glanced down.
If nothing special happens, I must remember to ventilate this place when I leave...
He didn't know for sure, but the fumes created by the Water of Death burning flesh couldn't be good for the health. If he didn't want to see someone die upon entering the warehouse later, it was something he had to pay attention to.
Keeping that minor but important task in mind, Turan first checked where he had emerged. Since it was a relatively dark place, it didn't seem to be a high-traffic area. Seeing a few items that looked like cleaning tools, he guessed it was some kind of basement storage room.
It was a bit strange to have entered from a warehouse and emerged in another, but it wasn't that much of a coincidence. Places where junk was thrown were usually in the basement.
Turan, still hidden, was about to open the door cautiously when he quickly closed it at the sight of the light shining in. He felt that it wasn't ordinary light, but a magical radiance.
Wow, I’d heard stories, but this is insane.
After taking a moment to compose himself, Turan deactivated his stealth, opened the door, and poked his head out. He saw rows of light orbs embedded in the ceiling, brightly illuminating the long corridor.
The stronghold of the Zahar, the family of assassins, was shining more brilliantly than anywhere else in the world.