C674
Thanks to the discovery and management of the chaos tunnel beneath the imperial castle, the Empire's popularity towards Jin and Dante reached new heights.
Articles about the incident arrived daily, and as always, Dino Zaglan did not need to exert himself to influence public opinion.
Praise came from all directions.
The ministers, who were dissatisfied with Dante due to overwork, became more loyal to him.
They knew that without Dante and Jin, no one would have been able to uncover the plot to overthrow the Empire.
Hairan, Second Castle.
After the start of the demolition, the Empire used this place as a provisional castle.
After the long meeting that had just ended, Jin, his comrades, the nameless king Owal, and the best executioner, Bizen, remained in Dante's office.
"Sorry for the long meeting, Sir Owal.""It's alright. We came too early anyway," Owal responded quietly.
He looked exhausted as he continuously smoked his cigarette.
Those present stared intently at the black object on the table. It was the object left after beheading the fake Yona.
Owal had seen it before.
"Although we suspected there might have been a time when we lost Yona, we never expected it to end up in the Garden of Swords."
The Nameless referred to the black object as Yona's "rampage residue."
The rampage residue had only recently been discovered and, as its name suggests, it was a type of chaos aggregate that remained in place when Yona's rampage ceased.
After subduing Gliek, chaos began to torment Yona again in response to her remnants.
As time passed, her rampages grew shorter and more dangerous, and it had now reached a point where even the entire Nameless could not contain her.
At Owal's gesture, Bizen opened the box beside him.
Inside were six rampage residues similar to those obtained in the underground tunnel of the Imperial castle.
Although they had heard beforehand that there were six more, the group felt even more uneasy when they faced the residues directly.
The reason for their unease was none other than the fact that Valeria had discovered that the fake Yona was being created through these rampage residues using the power of chaos.
"...Owal-nim, how many unknown rampage residues are there?"
"At least three and at most five."
"That means there could be at least five or more fakes remaining. And in the worst-case scenario... no, there is a high probability that additional rampage residues are being generated, some of which we are overlooking."
Owal nodded heavily.
"Is there any possibility that Elder Sister Yona has been completely captured in the Garden of Swords?"
"I doubt it. At the moment you dealt with the fake, we were tracking the real Yona and engaging in combat."
Owal rolled up his right sleeve and said.
A long black scar he had received while tracking Yona a few days ago.
As the search party consisted only of Owal and the highest-ranking assassins, there were no casualties.
If Yona had targeted the highest-ranking assassins instead of Owal, Bizen would not be standing in this place right now.
"She must be suffering. She almost killed me; now she is someone too dangerous to be compared to the fake you fought."
"Do you think Elder Sister Yona was brainwashed by the Prophet?"
"You must have seen it once too, the immense power of chaos she possesses. And I heard from Cyron-nim in the past that the chaos she has is of a very special kind. It doesn't seem like something the Prophet can easily control."
"My father said that."
"Yes. Are you still unable to contact Sir Cyron's expedition team?"
"That's right."
At Jin's calm response, Owal closed his eyes for a moment. He did not believe Cyron and his expedition team were still alive either.
"As soon as the matter with Yona is resolved, someone from the Nameless should send a search party."
"Thank you, Lord Owal."
"Anyway, although it may be possible for the Prophet to control Yona's chaos, it will be difficult to capture her in a short time, even with the current excellence of the Garden of Swords. However, unlike us, they may be able to generate fakes by obtaining these rampage residues."
In terms of tracking targets and assassination, the Nameless had even better skills than Runcandel before being tainted by chaos.
Such Nameless had not been able to capture Yona for several years, so Owal was sure that even a prophet would not be able to find her.
"You said the last place she was seen was Akin, right?"
The place where the Nameless had last lost Yona was in the kingdom of Akin, within the Lutero Magical Federation. It was where Jin had dismantled the criminal organization Tesing and obtained Myulta's Rune, Schugiel's magic tomb, and Jet.
"She might still be in Akin, as the remaining search parties have not reported anything significant. Even if she has left, she is likely still within the Lutero Magical Federation."
The farther Yona was from Hufester, the better.
Especially now that they could receive help from Zipple due to their temporary alliance.
However, unlike the Valeria incident, Jin did not want help from the entire Zipple group.
'The case of Elder Sister Yona is different from that of my master...'
Valeria was someone essential to Zipple.
Therefore, even by merely receiving the price of investigating her mana traces, Jin's unreasonable demands were accommodated.
But Yona was not like that.
If possible, Zipple would want to take this opportunity to get rid of Elder Sister Yona.
Although at the moment they were unable to control her due to her rampage, the moment she recovered, it was obvious that Yona would be on Jin's side.
Therefore, from Zipple's perspective, there was no reason to capture her alive.
Even if Jin asked to capture her alive, there were many reasons to refuse.
For example, the civilian casualties that could occur in Akin or the fact that capturing Yona was impossible due to her martial arts.
Of course, the moment they killed Yona, the alliance would end.
However, it was nothing more than a struggle for the fate of the world as a whole.
Owal thought the same.
"We need Zipple's help, but I'm worried. Unlike us, they have no reason to keep Yona alive. But if we don't tell them, there is a possibility of civilian casualties or being caught off guard by Zipple's weakness. It's frustratingly complicated."
"Until now, you have never seen Elder Sister Yona go on a rampage and kill civilians... have you?"
Faced with the heavy question, Owal made eye contact with Jin.
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I swear there is nothing. It seems she has focused all her indiscriminate desire to kill on me and the Nameless executioners."
Huu, Owal let out a puff of smoke from his cigarette.
"That's probably because she was thinking of you, the twelfth Flagbearer."
Jin felt a tightness in his chest.
Since meeting Jin, Yona had not killed anyone without reason.
She had always distrusted chaos, and his efforts continued to be effective.
"What should we do?"
Owal felt deep remorse in asking Jin about the anonymous assassin.
No matter how strong Jin was.
"She hasn't undergone any physical changes yet, and as she resists chaos, it's likely she hasn't been completely consumed. We need to find her as soon as possible, before it's impossible to use the purification device."
"So, it's better to ask for Zipple's help, even if it means risking Yona's elimination?"
"Yes. However, I have no intention of speaking with Zipple's top leaders."
Owal's eyes narrowed.
"Then what?"
"I will only ask for help from Tower Guardian Hedo and Sandra Zipple. If it's those two, they will probably help me find my sister without telling Zipple."
Jin had already sent a request to meet with Hedo and Sandra.
They had to examine Hedo's sword, suspected to be the entrance to the sixth tomb, and make them completely loyal to the Vamel alliance.
He could trust them, or Sandra Zipple had that level of authority.
Owal added no further comments to Jin.
He felt he could perceive the young Cyron in Jin's words.
That's how heavy Jin's words were.
"I see. Then, our Nameless assassins will resume their search from Akin starting now."
"Also, can we use any personnel not involved in searching for Elder Sister Yona to infiltrate Huphester?"
"Of course. We can't maintain our neutral position in this situation. Starting today, the Nameless will officially belong to the Vamel alliance. It's natural for us to step up for the alliance's cause. I'll send someone as soon as you hand me the list of rescue targets."
"Thank you, Owal-nim. The Red Owl and my comrades will be on standby. Please contact Tikan immediately if you find Elder Sister Yona."
Owal stood up and shook Jin's hand.
"It's impressive to see a wild child from a few years ago who has already grown up and puts me under his feet. It's something even your father couldn't achieve, so you can be proud."
"The Nameless is only a member of the Vamel Alliance, and I don't consider it my subordinate. Still, I believe it will turn a blind eye to the return of the thousand-poison antidote that was promised before."
"If you can save that child, I'll do anything. I can honestly say now..."
Owal cleared his throat as if embarrassed.
"You see, Yona is actually the youngest daughter of our nameless clan, a princess, and our greatest treasure. Not only me, but everyone cherishes Yona, perhaps even more than you. Even if that child lost her ability to kill, that fact would never change."
It wasn't a special confession, as Owal and the members of the nameless clan had always shown infinite weakness towards Yona.
Therefore, everyone did not find it anything new, but Owal continued to cough.
Yona was unaware, but even her subconscious considered the nameless clan as her "family."
So, even wrapped in chaos, she only tried to cause trouble for her family. If it weren't for her family, there would be no one to forgive her when she regained her senses.
"Sometimes there are people who seem to share deeper relationships than their own blood relatives. For me, it was my comrades and the brothers of the Tribe of Legends. For Yona, it's the nameless clan."
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