Episode 105 Mountain Escape (3)
Harley quickly assessed the situation, calming down the power he had raised to conserve energy.
His presence was so overwhelming that Harley could sense it, but it was still quite a distance away, and its speed wasn't that fast.
'At this speed, about 10 minutes? It's an ordinary level compared to the power I feel. It must be quite large.'
And judging by the fact that it could sense the signs of battle from that distance, penetrating the magic tool's interference, it had a surprisingly good sense of detection.
Harley turned his head and looked at his companions, who were still unaware of the approaching danger.
"Whew… Whew… No, Mr. Harley! What was that? I knew you were strong, but I didn't know you were this strong! And that flying axe!"
"As expected, there's a reason for his notoriety… no, fame. Now that I see it, the rumors seem to have been downplayed."
"…Beyond expectations…"
They were exchanging compliments, even though they were exhausted and hurriedly reorganizing.
"Ugh, Bordo… to die like this here…"
"…It can't be helped, Hans. Let's collect his belongings first."
"My friend… I promised to buy you all the beer you could drink when we got back…"
The Rangers and the Dwarf were grieving over the body of their deceased comrade.
"Marcus, how far are we? Didn't you say we were almost there?"
"There were too many battles. We were inevitably delayed. But we should be able to escape the mountains within a day."
Even those discussing future plans.
They were experienced, so they were doing what they had to do and preparing to leave as soon as the battle ended…
But the situation wasn't good for immediately engaging in another battle with a strong enemy.
He could handle it alone, but if they encountered that guy in their current state, they wouldn't last long and would die.
'This won't do. We need more time.'
It was a desperate situation, but fortunately, there was someone in the group who could turn things around.
Harley clapped his hands to get their attention and opened his mouth seriously.
"Hahaha—! Friends? Unfortunately, the situation isn't good, so we need to move quickly!"
…He spoke more excessively than usual because of the aftereffects of unleashing his madness, but that wasn't an important issue right now.
"Harley? What's wrong again? Don't tell me…"
The group members, considering the situation, focused more on the content of his words than his tone.
None of the warnings Harley had given so far had been wrong.
The atmosphere, which had been a bit relaxed, became tense as their vigilance increased.
He briefly explained the situation to his companions, who were already ready to move and were looking at him.
And then, someone stepped forward at Harley's words…
"10 minutes? 5 minutes is enough!"
It was the Dwarf, Zaonic, who had already avoided the monsters' advance once.
______________________
Azeria Empire, located in the central part of the continent.
Tobea City, one of the imperial territories surrounding the capital Jeron, was some distance away from the capital, but it was a prosperous city, a hub for transportation.
Clatter, clatter—
A carriage stopped in front of the main gate of a mansion in the city's wealthy district.
The carriage, which entered through the opened gate, quickly drove inside, skipping all security procedures.
It finally stopped in front of the building after crossing the garden, and the door opened…
Slide—
A beautiful woman with long, shiny pink hair neatly tied up carefully stepped out.
She looked around with a bright smile and then entered the mansion with calm steps.
"Welcome, Miss."
"It's been a while, Terry. Do you know what Andrew is doing right now?"
"He's in the playroom. Should I let him know?"
"Yes, can you tell him that I'll be waiting for him in the study on the second floor?"
"Yes, I understand."
She naturally greeted the servants who were moving around inside the mansion and slowly went up to the second floor, walking down the hallway.
The moment she entered the area where no one was allowed except for those with permission,
Wooong—
A strange vibration and the resonance of a special barrier momentarily scanned her body.
And…
As if changing masks, the benevolent smile on her face instantly transformed into a sticky, sensual grin.
"Hmm~ It seems like Olivia has started to move. This could be troublesome."
She glanced out the window of the hallway and muttered softly.
She had expected this to happen since the undead unrest began, but she couldn't help but be concerned now that it was actually happening.
She had been with her once, so she fully acknowledged her abilities.
Banshee Queen Olivia was a being who was incredibly reassuring as a comrade but equally dreadful as an enemy.
Originally, ghostly undead were aggregates of specific thoughts, and it wasn't that difficult for those above a certain level to detect them because of the murderous intent they inherently possessed.
'But the ghosts that Olivia commands are different. She can temporarily remove the thoughts from them, except for the specific purpose of gathering information.'
It was difficult to even detect an ordinary spirit that didn't possess any particular desire or murderous intent.
Of course, that would lower the individual's thinking and judgment abilities, making it difficult to even extract useful information…
But that was also one of Olivia's strengths.
The pink-haired woman organized her thoughts as she walked down the hallway.
She could detect them more easily because of her innate characteristics, but there weren't many who could easily notice it.
'Well, humans aren't completely incapable of learning. She won't be able to do as much as she did before.'
If they paid special attention to barriers, they could block their intrusion, so the higher-ups who already knew about the Immortal King's resurrection must have taken separate measures for important facilities.
It was the same for her.
Not only was the entire mansion protected by a barrier, but this area she had just entered was equipped with all sorts of security measures.
Burst—
She opened a door on one side of the hallway and entered the study.
'The current Immortal King's goal must be the same as his predecessors, so we can assume Olivia is also moving accordingly.'
It was like an instinct for an Immortal King to want to turn the continent into a land of death.
They gained immense power by accepting the Immortal King's Heart, but they became even more blindly obsessed with greater power, consumed by it.
'But the situation is different now. Not only are there forces established in various regions, but the Church's influence is also much greater. This time, it'll probably end with them suffering heavy losses, just like before.'
And that was exactly what they, 'Oath of Heaven's Defiance', wanted.
And it was also the reason why she had gone into hiding instead of responding to the Immortal King's signal.
'I don't want to be part of that immortal army again. It's dirty, smelly, and there's nothing delicious.'
She had been summoned to the surface and ended up being subordinate to the Immortal King, but she didn't want to do that again after three hundred years.
Her position was different from the other undead under his command.
"Well, I'll just lay low for a while. His Majesty will be busy planning to conquer the world~? Would he even care about parasites like us?"
As she chuckled to herself, unaware of the ghosts' true purpose,
Knock, knock—
"Sister Siana, I'm here!"
"Come in."
A sly man with dirty blonde hair and green eyes opened the study door and entered.
"Wow— You're beautiful as always, Sis! But what brings you here so suddenly?"
He approached with a mischievous grin, reeking of alcohol and perfume, as if he had been out partying in the middle of the day, but Siana didn't even frown and smiled brightly instead.
"Andrew~? You're out playing after finishing all your work, right?"
"Ah… about that?"
The blonde young man, Andrew Weber, awkwardly smiled and scratched his head at her gentle voice and chilling purple eyes.
"It seems certain that the leader of the Brokoslack Clan has changed, but it's not easy to find out about him."
"Let's hear what you've found so far."
"Yes… his name is Heinz. His power is at the level where he can subdue a True Blood alone without much damage, he's surpassed ordinary True Bloods, but he doesn't seem to have reached Sacred Blood yet. He suddenly appeared in Talaria a little over a month ago and swallowed up the clan in an instant… but his whereabouts before that are unknown."
It was impressive that he was able to find out that much, considering that the Brokoslack Clan was completely controlled by "Refined Blood Essence" and that Heinz had been keeping a low profile since then…
"Aren't you getting too complacent? I gave you enough time."
But it just seemed like he was making excuses to Siana, who didn't know the details.
"Ah— Come on, Sis! My ability isn't that convenient! I can indirectly observe them now that my ability has become stronger, but I'm not at the level where I can directly track a True Blood!"
He was able to complete the fourth enhancement of "Trajectory Observation" after accumulating Karma by contributing to the recent abyss opening.
'The Karma I received was less than I expected because I didn't directly participate.'
But it was still enough to enhance his unique skill by one level, combined with what he had accumulated before.
Thanks to that, he was able to indirectly 'see' even powerful individuals at the True Blood level by specifying the time, place, or people around them.
'But it's not like True Blood vampires are just walking around leisurely. They disappear all the time and reappear somewhere else in the blink of an eye, how can I keep track of them all!'
It was purely by luck that he was able to grasp the moment Heinz entered Talaria.
His ability was basically like analyzing CCTV footage.
He had dozens of eyes spread throughout the continent, and he could change their locations and read the past whenever the conditions were met…
'But I'm the only one who has to examine them all. Even though my mental strength has increased, how long would that take?'
But he couldn't just stay silent when his superior was scolding him.
"Well, I'm not sure, but… judging by the direction he arrived in Talaria, I think he might have departed from Raffella City nearby…"
"Don't tell me things you're not sure about. It'll only complicate things."
Andrew looked dejected after being scolded for saying one more thing, and Siana frowned, lost in thought.
Those she had planted in the Talia Kingdom after the clash with the Church had all been eliminated.
And it became even more difficult to interfere as the Brokoslack Clan started to gain more power under the new regime.
It was only natural that the plan she had been preparing was disrupted.
She needed to take drastic measures.
"It can't be helped. It's too risky to contact them again now, so we have no choice but to eliminate them."
"Huh? Are you sure, Sis? Didn't we form an alliance with the vampires?"
"We formed an alliance with the Ufersh Clan. And since their political influence isn't that great compared to their military power, it wouldn't be bad to push Brokoslack aside and entrust the Talia Kingdom to them."
They were a clan that was based in the Empire and active throughout the continent, typical vampires who lived hidden in the darkness of cities.
"Hmm… I think they also have a Sacred Blood. Wouldn't the damage be too great?"
"Even so, they're just remnants of the past, sleeping and waiting to die. And the Ufersh Clan has four other True Bloods besides Visque Ufersh, who properly inherited the Sacred Blood, so they can finish things before Brokoslack's Sacred Blood even wakes up."
Siana smiled slyly, her purple eyes gleaming mischievously.
"If necessary, we can help them a little."
"Well, you can take care of that, Sis. Then should I just go back to what I was doing before and periodically observe the movements of the higher-ups?"
"Hehehe, do that."
As she smiled sinisterly, like a mastermind plotting a scheme, Andrew cautiously spoke.
"But, Sis? Your… horns, they're out…"
"…Ah? Oh my, I must have relaxed too much. I'm always so tense outside, so I tend to do this when I'm here."
"Hahaha— Th-that's right. It's important to relax. I shouldn't have said anything."
"No, it's good to be careful. We don't know what might happen."
The pair of sharp horns that had sprouted from Siana's head slowly retracted and disappeared.
"Then, I'll be going?"
"Don't play too much, Andrew. Or, should I play with you?"
"Ah… I'll pass, Sis. …I don't want to die yet."
Andrew Weber, saying so, stealthily stepped back, quickly opened the door, and disappeared outside.
Anyone could see that he was afraid of her, but it was a common occurrence, so she didn't mind.
And Siana, the succubus from the demon race who had been summoned to the continent over three hundred years ago, was left alone in the study—.
She picked up the communication magic tool to contact the Ufersh Clan.