C234 - Lani Salome (3)
What else could it be, if not human?
A demonic creature, a beast, or something else. In any case, the heavy footsteps sounded quite hostile, and Murakan looked towards the closed door.
"Boy, take care of the Religious Fanatic*." (*: It seems to be Lani Salome's nickname, coined by Murakan)
However, Murakan still didn't let go of his glass.
"I'll handle it. I don't know what it is, but make sure to handle it quietly."
"Sure."
The footsteps halted right in front of Lani's door.
Murakan opened the door with a smile. Or, at least, he tried to smile. But his expression froze immediately.
The source of the footsteps walked on two legs. It had arms and legs, but it was neither human nor a demonic creature.
If it had to be classified, it was a powerless and unfortunate human. Jin had encountered such beings in Kollon's historical sites before becoming a Provisional Flagbearer.
Biological golems?
Suddenly, the faces of the soldiers Murakan had drugged to sleep, the ordinary faces of the two people who had just stood guard peacefully, came to Jin's mind.
Those people didn't deserve to go through something like this.
It wasn't any different when he first encountered the biological golems in Kollon. The unconscious mercenaries had suddenly turned into biological golems and started attacking Jin.
The mercenaries had pleaded with him then.
To please kill them.
'Zipple, those lunatics!'
Jin clenched his teeth.
At that very moment, the knife-like nails of the biological golems swerved toward Murakan's face.
The strike was quick and fierce. The research seemed to have made great strides in the few years since Kollon.
If Murakan hadn't regained his former powers, he might have allowed one or two small scratches. But now, the attack was as slow as a passing cloud in Murakan's eyes.
Swish!
Murakan straightened his hand like a sword and lightly swung his arm, slashing the four arms of his enemy.
Murakan extended his hand again before the arms could touch the ground.
Crunch!
Murakan coated his hands black with Shadow Energy and aimed at the lower abdomen of the biological golems, realizing that's where their cores, or hearts, were located.
"Tsk, I can't let you live like this."
Murakan clenched his fists gently and crushed the hearts of the biological golems. They couldn't even let out a scream.
Once their hearts were shattered, their bloated bodies quickly shrank. There was no trace of their human origins in the piece of blackened leather they left behind.
Jin, Murakhan, and Lani silently gazed at the remains for a few seconds.
Obviously, Lani was the most surprised of the three. She snorted a couple of times but soon calmed her trembling body as she remembered her own identity.
She was the adopted daughter of the Holy King, a Holy Knight of the Creed Guardians Society, a sacred subject of the Holy Kingdom, and Ayula's daughter.
Lani took out the scriptures from her inner pockets and knelt beside the golems.
"Oh Ayula, my poor brethren have found peace and journeyed to you. Please have mercy on their souls, console them in their pitiful and untimely death."
A bright yellow light flowed from her and enveloped the dead bodies.
Fwoosh.
The light soon transformed into Ayula's sacred flame and reduced the corpses to ashes. Lani suppressed her urge to vomit and even delivered a brief eulogy. Now she seemed to have regained control.
The golem hearts that Murakan had shattered remained on the floor.
"Damn, biological golems, huh? I know I just saw it, but I can't believe it. How can you have things like this in the Holy Kingdom? Don't tell me we're in the wrong country." Murakan spoke as he picked up one of the fragments.
Jin also examined the fragments closely. There was a bluish aura shining within. It gave off a chilling and eerie sensation, but it wasn't the right time to discuss it.
"Lani Salome. I think we should move to a safer place for now. More people will be sent soon."
Lani closed her eyes. Then she nodded as she opened them again.
"I understand. Follow me."
They stepped into the empty hallway. They followed Lani. However, they never left the eastern temple.
"Once they discover that I'm gone, there will be no place to hide within the Holy Kingdom. This might be a safer place."
Lani began climbing the gigantic Ayula statue adorning the central wall of the ground floor.
"No one would imagine that I, of all people, would climb up Ayula's body. Besides, not many people know about this secret passage either."
She was skilled in hiding and concealing objects from a young age. Since becoming the adopted daughter of the Holy King, she had been exposed to excessive harassment and all sorts of undue expectations from others, which naturally developed her hiding abilities.
Lani forcefully turned the head of the gigantic stone statue.
Then they pushed Ayula's head aside, revealing a hollow space inside the statue. They entered the statue and placed the head back in its original position. The interior was pitch-black.
The inside of the statue was connected to a hidden passageway in the basement that led to the drains of the eastern temple.
They walked for a few minutes and reached the drain. Suddenly, Lani staggered and grabbed onto the wall.
She was hyperventilating.
Her heart was shattered by the fact that the faith she had built throughout her life had proven to be wrong.
His father, Miklan, the Holy King, had been captured by the Zipple, and Vankela had become so corrupted that it could no longer be called the Holy Kingdom.
"The Holy Kingdom has ended."
Jin didn't respond. He just looked into her eyes.
He was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
He could certainly understand why, but there was nothing he could do to console her.
How could Jin comfort someone who had lost their only family, their kingdom, and their own faith?
But Jin could provide practical help.
"Choose, Lani Salome. If you're completely exhausted and have no heart for revenge, I can send you to a land where you can live your life peacefully, without asking questions. I guarantee your safety for the rest of your life, and I'll also provide you with enough money to sustain you. All you have to do is leave this place with us, right now."
Jin then looked into Lani's eyes.
"But if not, gather yourself and give us some useful information, so we can at least help you with something immediately. About how many enemies there are, when they started controlling the Holy Kingdom, or how many people we can still trust within the Holy Kingdom."
"That's true that I helped both of you in Santelle. But I can't ask you to save my father and fight against the Zipple based on just that."
"Why not?"
Lani couldn't respond for some time. "Would you risk your life for me and for the Holy Kingdom? Seriously? You, a Runcandel?"
"Yes, I am a Runcandel. Therefore, the Zipple were always my enemies to begin with. And when I offer to help you, it's partly to repay your kindness, but the other reason is to win the Holy Kingdom to my side. Letting the Holy Kingdom fall into the hands of the Zipple is a loss for me and my Clan in the end."
"Well, hey, brat. That's true but a bit ruthless to say. Imagine how the confused Religious Fanatic present here must feel, right?" Murakan said.
"Then you should start acting in your own best interests as well. What I propose is an exchange, as the successor of the Runcandels, and you, as the successor of the Holy King."
Silence followed.
Murakan read Jin's intentions and looked at Lani with serious eyes.
They were already getting used to the stench of the drain when Lani spoke up.
"I hope you'll excuse the embarrassing state I've been in until now, Jin Runcandel. Well, I'll follow you. I'll exchange with the Runcandels."
Many changes occurred within Lani in that brief moment.
This Provisional Flagbearer of the Runcandels was clearly much younger than her, and it was impossible for him to love the Holy Kingdom more than she did. But he was more concerned about the future and well-being of the kingdom than she was. It embarrassed her to think this way.
"Fine. Let me decide my part of the deal after rescuing the Holy King or expelling the Zipple from the Holy Kingdom. What you gain is an army, in the form of Murakan and me. This guy, in particular, has become much stronger since the first time you saw him."
Jin let out a sigh of relief. If Lani had given up and asked him to abandon the Kingdom, he would have had to start from scratch.
On the other hand, if he managed to drive the Zipple out of the Holy Kingdom, not only would he be helping someone he owed a favor to, but he would also have a lot to say about it in his clan.
"First, let me tell you what I've found out about the current situation."
Over the past few years, the Zipple had been working to win over influential figures and organizations in the Holy Kingdom, one by one.
The Creed Guardians Society, the Order of Holy Knights to which Lani Salome belonged, was the first organization to become a servant of the Zipple.
"That's why my father sent me to the Society. He had no one he could trust there, and he sent me to join their organization to investigate. I think my father himself was quite unsure about it, until recently."
"Then the Holy King would have reached his conclusion upon receiving your report on the Santelle incident, right?"
"Yes. The Zipple captured my father just after he received my report. At first, they also tried to deceive me with the fake double. It can mimic everything my father does, from his words to his actions."
But there was something that only the closest people to the Holy King knew.
The king couldn't move the pinky finger of his left hand. Lani had already sensed the decline of her father's sacred powers when she saw the fake double using the left pinky while dining.
When Lani brought up the issue, the Zipple cut off the Holy King's left pinky finger and had a Holy Knight around Lani's age, someone she used to trust, deliver it to her room, no less.
That was when Lani fell into despair.
"What sick thing, those perverted bastards."
"Did you keep the finger?" Jin asked, but Lani shook her head.
"After I saw it, the finger burst into flames and disappeared."
"The Flames Seal. Only Shinu's relatives can perform that spell. It's the work of Keliac Zipple or Kadun."
They were up against the Zipple. And of all people, it had to be their patriarch, Keliac.
Although Murakan had regained his strength, it was impossible for him alone to take on the entire Zipple clan.
However, even though they couldn't match them in physical battles, they could deal a blow by influencing public opinion. The Holy King's finger had disappeared, but Jin still carried with him the shard of the biological golem's heart.
'Biological golems and transfiguration. Those things will drag you down.'
Jin took out the fragment from his pocket. Lani realized what he meant.
"Are you going to use that as evidence to claim that the Zipple turned the soldiers of the Holy Kingdom into biological golems?"
"Yes."
"But I'm the only witness."
"No. I also disrupted their experiments with biological golems in the past. A great journalist is already waiting to testify and cover the matter."
"What do you mean?"
"But that won't be enough. We'll need other irrefutable evidence to uncover the Zipple and expose them all at once. Who else knows about the Holy King's condition in his left pinky finger?"