Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Kin of Sin
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Kin of Sin.
It was an existence beyond cognition, impossible to know where it came from or when it began.
No living being could ever grasp the concept. The myths simply stated that the gods and Mir had eradicated it.
That was the only way to further idolize the great gods and Mir.
Some believe the Kin of Sin refers to the great sin amalgamated from Mir's power, but that's unconfirmed. Heretics merely revere and pass down tales claiming it's the power torn away to create the great sin, opposing the laws of this world.
Such an existence awakened. It was born. It killed.
The first to appear after Orga's death was 'Saar', a terror embodying the force that devours all things.
Likewise, after Nesheph vanished, another was born, along with the Kin of Sin paired to each Mir-totaling seven in all.
Not all were like Saar, however. Some lacked form, others existed only in the mind. Thus, no one paid them mind. They belonged outside the tale. Useless anywhere, the Kin of Sin were existences like that.
"That's all I know. Most of it I heard while living in Godel, but anyway, the consensus is that the kin exist in this world somehow, though no one knows how, and they vanished with the birth of the gods and Mir."
"Vanished concept?"
"That's what the heretics say, beastman. There are tales that the primordial El created the three gods and five Mir precisely to stop the kin. But some must have awakened, and that Agagtur you two are seeking will surely clarify what they are."
"So what does that have to do with you, the prince, heading to Godel?"
"Yeah, what does any of that have to do with me?"
Gaon paused at Gil's question, turning back to answer.
"I learned this story when I asked a seed merchant about the seeds' origin."
"Seeds? You mean the ones used to make demon marks, wandering knight?"
"Right, the seeds that only grow in Godel. I plan to stop them from spreading across the world. Ah, of course Riu and my other friends thought the same. Even as a prince, we're all from Godel. That's why it came up... but."
Gaon gave a bitter smile, clearly thinking of Riu.
But honoring her would have to wait; more pressing matters demanded attention.
"Hold on. You started with the Kin of Sin, then asked about the seeds' origin? What connection do the seeds have to them?"
"Exactly. I don't fully get it either."
Gaon answered the two, covered in sand dust behind him.
"I just said the kin are some kind of existence or concept, right? Hard to believe, I know, but the ones spreading Godel's seeds are none other than the Kin of Sin. I heard it directly from that seed merchant at the end, so it must be true. The old man clearly said he was trading with both the princess and the Demon King. I don't know if it's the Demon King buying seeds in Ennaun or the princess."
Gaon recalled the peculiar old man he'd met in Ennaun during his days as a wandering knight. He seemed to exist only at the precise time and place required by the tale, half his face covered in bizarre, cotton-like fur that made him feel like a demonic byproduct of sin.
"To sum up what you said and the info from that seed merchant: you left the knight order, tracked the seeds produced only in Godel, found them circulating in Ennaun. Then you returned to Godel to eliminate the Kin of Sin there and stop the spread. In exchange for helping, we get to meet Agagtur, right?"
"No, there's one more thing, beastman knight."
As Gaon replied, something burst from the sand before him. Large, tormented, twisted, and grotesque. Legs like a centipede's, a segmented waist like an ant's. Its eyes bulged like a toad's, its mouth torn wide, its body rooted in the ground.
"This is why I'm trying to stop the seeds from circulating. Bugs."
"Bugs? Senior knight, we'll hold them off for now."
The bug lunged at Gaon. Twice Gil's size, its claw-like limbs or hands writhing wildly, sand spraying everywhere as Bison raised his sword to block it.
"It's not just demon marks-the seeds twist humans too. Just like demons."
"You mean they actually become demons?"
Gil rediscovered the fundamental reason his justice had been shaken.
The twisted creature spewed pus-like fluid from its entire body, and the sand it touched hardened instantly like rot.
Gaon dodged with fluid grace, drawing his sword by its hilt alone.
Swoosh.
The invisible blade cleaved the bug. Its skin felt like crudely overlapping bark scales, but regardless, Gaon's single strike split it cleanly.
"That applies to all life. Anything planted with those seeds ends up twisted like that. Folks in Godel call them bugs. Judging by the shape... this was human?"
Gaon grimaced at the bug he'd just cut, kicking something out from between the corpse's chunks.
Soft and muddy, it hardened in the air into a small black stone, as if the foul energy had cooled.
"I remember."
"What?"
As Gil recalled, the pus from Haipoji Mountain had scattered something similar.
"So that's the seed."
Gil frowned like Gaon. If his words were true, stopping those seeds from reaching Ennaun was essential, Agagtur aside.
"In that case... I trust you."
Trusting Gaon was only natural. He was a knight, Riu's friend, from the same hometown. And that hometown was their destination, where he could even help. No matter how he thought about it, resolving the seeds now was prerequisite to meeting Agagtur.
The only hitch was this eerie sense of déjà vu. Why had he appeared exactly where the tale demanded?
Someone's scheme? Or the will of the great gods?
But it didn't matter anymore.
"My justice points the same way as yours, wandering knight."
He'd confirm Godel had no ties to the Empire while seeking Agagtur. There, he could realize his justice. Only then would his sword's tip stay firm.
"Good. But there's that one more thing I'mentioned. Draw your swords, knights."
Sand rose again. Like a churning massive wave or a crumbling mountain, countless filthy horrors revealed their gruesome forms. Over a hundred by rough count, each too distorted to describe.
"That's why no words can cross this land, sir knight," Bison said.
No beast or vehicle could pass here. Gil drew his sword again, thinking. If Gaon spoke true, Godel had artificially infested this land with bugs via the seeds. To distance itself from the Empire.
To become heretics.
"Keep an eye on my sword until we reach Godel's entrance. I'm a sword emperor, after all."
"Far from learning from your sword, we can't even see it. How are we supposed to?"
"Yeah, and mine's shield-shaped."
Gaon aimed his sword hilt at the charging bugs and spoke.
"Didn't Riu teach you this?"
He dropped the hilt to the ground. Sand surged up, merging with it. Sword of sand in hand, he aimed the flowing blade at the enemy.
"My sword's name is Shaba. But no matter the sword's name, its ultimate realm is one."
And he slashed.
Whoosh!
"The sword is your age. Young knights of the Empire."
In an instant, the desert swallowed the bugs again. Gil stared in shock, speechless, as Gaon smiled amid the scattering sandstorm.
***
Meanwhile, in Ennaun, the city at the end of Granblad Great Canyon beneath the great Sonain Empire.
Perched at the canyon's highest point, Ennaun itself was akin to the Empire's nearest strategic fortress. There, the seed merchant had returned.
"Ah, with the Demon King gone to Nesheph's memories, I'must hurry. Buy seeds, sell seeds. Wasn't that the deal with the princess? It's a seed merchant's job."
He revealed his true face. King of lies and demon incarnate, Hyeon. He recalled his prior deal with the princess.
He could no longer pose as a knight order captain, but he'd asked the witch who'd once sold him the curse of silence for Godel's seeds.
The Demon King, needing seeds for his new island, and seeds again.
How could this not be fate?
Hearing the tale from the witch, he awaited the Kin of Sin's awakening as they'd planned. Tales overlapped perfectly, existing only where required, evoking that eerie déjà vu.
In other words, it was inevitability. Gathering inevitabilities to forge a fate disguised as chance, the day Nesheph would descend upon this land again was near.
So thinking, Demon King Hyeon shrank his form back to the old man's guise.
"Now, shall we old captains have a little chat?"
He stepped toward one of the seven Kin of Sin newly awakened, planting black seeds with every stride, unforgotten.