#275
Re-battle (4)
After the arrival of the Imperial Palace Magic Tower lord Marquis Lawrence and the battle wizards.
The incident that occurred in the slums on the outskirts was quickly resolved.
Stave, who resisted to the end, could not hold out for long and was subdued, and the few masked people who attempted to commit suicide as soon as they realized that they could not escape the Archmage’s invasion…
“Big!”
“Ugh!”
“Huh, where! “Stay calm.”
Before I knew it, every part of my body, including my mouth, was entangled in the thread of the curse, and I was soon taken away by the magicians who had joined me, with all my means sealed.
‘As expected, it’s very useful.’
Hesperon glanced at his right hand, which was giving off a stronger energy than before, and nodded.
It may have been because the Masked People let down their guard at the moment before committing suicide, but even taking that into account, the fact that they were able to completely suppress those who were at a fairly high level was all thanks to the growth of the “Right Arm of Craving” and the increase in output.
Being able to use detailed curses like ‘paralysis’ used this time more skillfully was also a significant benefit.
-Situation over! Thanks to you, I survived. Thanks Riley.
-Haha— I’m glad it’s not too late. … And since this is my fault, I should apologize. I should have taken care of it from the beginning so as not to cause any inconvenience…
-It’s okay, it’s okay. That’s the way things are in the world, right? If you did your best at that time, that’s it. From now on, I will do my best to deal with it…!
Hesperon, who was leisurely encouraging Riley, who was blaming herself, suddenly stopped talking.
Soon his eyes turned to his right arm again.
Sigh—
the black aura of curse creeping up.
The “Right Arm of Longing,” who had swallowed up his resentment and was satisfied, was slowly raising his head again and protesting.
-Heron? Why is it like this all of a sudden? are you okay? As expected, you got hurt somewhere…!
-Oh sorry. not a big deal. I just made eye contact with Stave for a moment. I gave him a little glare.
However, while Hesperon answered her words consistently, he quietly looked at his right arm, which was now beginning to twitch noisily.
‘Oh, this is dangerous.’
Contrary to what he had said to her, he had a pale complexion that was slowly losing its color.
Drip, drip –
The nosebleed from his face was full of cold sweat and his expression was peaceful, dripping onto the floor.
Some wizards who were cleaning up the area hurriedly came over, but they didn’t have the presence of mind to pay attention to that right now.
Saaaa—
Eventually, the curse that seemed to be slowly growing began to rage more and more violently.
“Is this… a side effect?”
Even in that situation, he maintained his cool using the “Mind Herb” and carefully inspected his body one by one, frowning slightly.
No matter how successful the curse was through the contract, its very nature was like a double-edged sword from the beginning.
Isn’t it not even an ordinary curse, but a special being with spirituality and a status of its own?
Unless you were someone like Hans, the Immortal King, who completely ignored curses, it was an ability that you always had to be careful about handling.
‘…I definitely used it a little too much this time.’
He not only used his power, but also used it for defense, colliding head-on with attacks containing dark magic several times.
The impact alone was enough to shake my internal organs, so the cumulative damage to my arm must have been appalling.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu of –
the black dragon with its arm wrapped around its arm that had appeared at that time looked intently at me.
Unlike his usual dignified appearance, his eyes shine brightly like a snake.
Then, the curse that was limited to the right arm began to slowly expand its area.
“Sheesh, this is why I should have listened carefully to the doctor’s words to be careful.”
Hesperon quietly clicked his tongue at that behavior.
Of course, this was an emergency situation that could not be helped, but it was still necessary to prepare countermeasures in some way.
I really didn’t know what would happen later when the curse grew further.
“But there’s no point now, you guy.”
Pajjik—
And as expected, the curse that was trying to expand its territory failed to go beyond the shoulder line and continued to squirm.
His skill, “Curse Predator,” began to fiercely resist attempts to invade his body, as well as the bandage seal wrapped around his shoulder.
‘now!’
Paralarak—
while the curse hesitated for a moment.
According to his will, the bandage on his shoulder came off in an instant, and in the blink of an eye, his right arm was wrapped without any leaks.
Pajjik—Pajjik!
Soon, black sparks flew out as if in repulsion, and the arms flapped noisily.
The black dragon appears and disappears repeatedly like a fluorescent light blinking accordingly.
At the same time, tremendous pain began to surge from his right arm, but his “Mind Herb” and “Soul Firewall” completely blocked it and protected his mind.
However, unlike the mind, he could not help the reaction of the body, which was directly affected by pain.
He wasn’t a Harley who could control every single muscle and cell.
The pain that had taken over my brain and nerves caused my pupils to relax and the muscles of my entire body to twitch.
Contrary to his pale complexion, a thin stream of blood flowed from his mouth and nose, and his entire body was drenched in cold sweat as if he had fallen into water.
About 5 minutes like that.
Is it because he continues to tighten the reins with the “chain of covenant” that is linked to the curse?
The “right arm of longing” that had been running wild finally began to slowly calm down, and his body also gradually regained stability.
‘Whew, if this had exploded during the battle, there would have been no answer.’
He soon breathed a sigh of relief and massaged his throbbing right arm.
Then, carefully move your bandaged arm around to check its condition, then raise your head.
“Are you… are you okay?”
Marquis Lawrence, who had been here for some time, spoke cautiously with a strange expression on his face.
“Yes, it’s okay now.”
I had often encountered him while learning magic at the imperial palace, so it could be said that the relationship was somewhat familiar.
Perhaps because he was conscious of Riley being the next highest authority, he sometimes gave him various advices.
“Um… I don’t mind if it’s okay with you.”
“Haha, I’m late in greeting you. Thank you for saving me like this. “I was just starting to feel that it was really dangerous.”
“Why do you always fight? “I heard that it hasn’t been long since you started training, but you are already at that level.”
He continued speaking as if he was surprised, then stopped talking and slowly looked at Hesperon again.
The dirt and dust all over my body, the blood stains left here and there, my pale complexion, my whole body soaked in cold sweat, and my muscles still trembling intermittently.
No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t look okay at all.
‘No, even if that’s not the case, anyone would think that if they saw what happened earlier.’
Lawrence stroked his beard and narrowed his eyes.
The conflict between a curse that runs wild and loses control, and the will to suppress it somehow.
Just by looking at the body’s reaction, it was possible to guess the level of pain inflicted at that time, but Hesperon’s face was extremely calm, as if something like that had never happened before.
‘Your mental strength and self-control are beyond words. It’s a waste, it’s a waste.’
It’s the same with the growth rate that I’ve been watching, and the fact that he held out against Starv until he arrived this time.
If I take him as a disciple and teach him well, I think I can make him a successor…
‘Well, I guess I’ll try to sneakily talk about it later.’
But now was not the right time to bring up such a topic.
It would be a good idea to be clear about what you decided to do.
If something goes wrong because of the side effects, wouldn’t he be able to save the princess and hear the princess’s resentment?
“That can’t be said.”
“…yes?”
“Come on, let’s go.”
“Ah… yes.”
In this way, Hesperon could not overcome Lawrence’s pressure and was forced to be admitted to the imperial hospital.
Riley, who heard the whole story, immediately decided on his long-term hospitalization.
Along with the worried nagging message conveyed as “chain of oath”, asking why I said it was okay.
***
Base prepared on the outskirts of Seoul.
Tap, tap, tap—
The sound of fingers tapping the table was heard in the quiet room.
I stared at the monitor where the report that came via secure email had been printed out, and then quietly fell into thought.
‘Outerica has now reached its conclusion.’
There were still quite a few minor incidents left, but events that could cause major changes in the world had been roughly concluded.
What is to be done in the future is for the avatars in their respective positions to steadily increase their influence and to successfully finish the small screen?
‘The biggest thing is the sanctions against Duke Hermanhart…’
In fact, it didn’t seem like it would last that long.
Riley must have been really angry and was acting more aggressively than ever before.
Although she was still at the Great Temple of Roselia, she began to make large-scale movements by commanding the forces she had gathered under her command.
Not only the political world, but also the business world, academia, magic towers, and even mercenaries.
They even told the church about Starv, who became a dark knight, and even asked for a Heretic Inquisitor, so what more can I say?
‘I also had a grudge against that side, so I accepted it coldly.’
These were words spoken directly by someone who came as a representative of the empire.
Wouldn’t that be enough of a justification for the denomination to intervene directly?
‘Then, if you feel like it’s not enough, you can just plant a few connections with the immortal army there.’
If you do that… Oh no!
A prestigious operative could easily become a traitor to humanity!
A traitor who was so blinded by power that he even joined hands with the Immortal King.
No matter how much of a duke the empire was, it was easy for a family to end in an instant.
Moreover, if the Hwang family has turned its back on the situation, the chances of recovery are zero.
‘But if you think about it, it’s not wrong, is it?’
After thinking about it carefully, I realized that it wasn’t a false accusation.
It had already been confirmed that Duke Hermanhart was one of the executives of the Oath of Yeokcheon.
What did these guys do with the oath of Yeokcheon?
This is an evil group that not only resurrected the Immortal King, but also opened the door to the abyss to bring out madness, and planned the sinking of the Enamel Continent and the Great War of the Aeon Continent.
‘I don’t know how much he knew and cooperated with, but the facts are facts.’
It was no longer an important question whether they really cooperated even though they knew that the continent could be destroyed, or whether they only tried to make a profit by creating a moderate crisis.
This has now become a just execution of sentence.
‘…My thoughts wandered somewhere else. Then, let’s do that…’
My eyes turned to the secure email on the monitor again.
Then, the feeling that I had forcibly pulled up for ventilation sank back to the floor.
The sender is Andrew Weaver.
A slave with the unique skill “Trajectory Observation” useful for information gathering… no, he was a talented person.
And the report that came this time contained content that made recruiting him worthwhile.
〈Confirmation of the location of the East Asia branch of Beoncheonhoe〉
〈List of candidates for the position of the East Asia branch head Yulryeongja〉
‘Yulryeongja….’
Suddenly, the image of him being completely ruined by Hans, whom he encountered in Japan, came to mind.
And I thought back to the past that had passed me by while experiencing the hospital terrorist attack that had occurred not long ago.
Flames, explosions, heat, screams and the smell of blood.
A voice calling your name, a look at you, a warmth, a memory.
“Huh huh—.”
As I took a deep breath, the emotions I had tried to bury in an urgent situation bubbled up.
It wasn’t the right time yet – the anger and resentment that had been buried in “Persona” slowly began to raise its head.
‘Okay, I’ve endured a lot like this. Slowly… It’s time to show results.’
The corners of the mouth that had been twitching slowly moved upward.
Yulryeong-ja, East Asia branch head.
And that means.
〈Operation Plan: Seoul Station, August 20XX〉
Doesn’t that mean he was the decision-maker and person in charge of the terrorism that took place at that time?
I don’t plan on ending it with just that one, but it should be enough to quench my thirst.
I closed my eyes and leaned against the back of the chair.
Darkened vision, small sound of the computer running.
and.
“Hans.”
In the room.
Darkness fell.
***
The deepest part of Outerica.
abyss.
The place where the standards of time, space, material, and concepts were disrupted and floating meaninglessly was, as always, full of chaos.
It has always been that way and it will always be that way.
Pajik!
however.
Suddenly, strange events began to occur in a place that seemed to remain unchanged forever.
Passasasak—
kwaduk—kwajik!
The space was shattered and the sound of something breaking rang out.
No, maybe what is broken is not space.
This was a place where even such a concept could not fully exist, so even the sound might have been an illusion.
But whatever the reason, unknown changes are still continuing.
It finally spit out another surprise in its place.
“Hmm.”
A man who suddenly appeared there without knowing how long he had been there.
Unaffected by the space where everything was noisily mixed up, he slowly looked around and let out a soft sigh.
“Is it a failure this time too?”
But I wasn’t sure yet.
This is because there have been similar cases in the past, as they did not make an official visit but instead used an expedient method to break in.
Originally, security vulnerabilities were located in remote places where administrators could not see.
The man who thought so… A being that seemed both ordinary and intimidating, but also felt vaguely—.
The head of the Beoncheonhoe twitched the corner of his mouth and opened his mouth.
“I hope there is some useful harvest this time…”
But before the words were even finished.
《XXXX is looking at you.》
Thump—
The space shook with a strong beat.