Free Web NovelChapter 1384
A communication crystal showed a woman in front of Davey.
- Bzzt... Your Highness, the conference ended safely. However, I couldn't hide it until the end. I apologize.
“It's fine. You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
- No. And, we allocated time for Princess Maria to meet her father, so her return will be delayed a few days longer than planned. There are other things that happened at the conference that I'll report separately, but... it seems there was a technology leak from Heins. Apparently, Contas's side was damaged because of it...
“I’ll send Megalodria as soon as possible.”
- Ah! you don't have to do that...
“You should go back quickly and rest. You need rest to work.”
- Sob...
Davey grinned faintly while looking at a visibly dejected Amy. He then slowly gazed at the souls bound in front of him.
The Goran Kingdom had been wiped off the map. Countless amounts of blood was shed in the process, and vast stretches of land vanished as if they had evaporated.
“Didn’t I tell you? That death isn’t the end?” As Davey stared at the clusters of souls faintly convulsing in fear, the space next to him opened up, and Jeo-Seung appeared.
“The guidance of the souls is complete, but... what should be done with these ones?”
“I was thinking of using the pit of hell Willow made. Is it still there?”
“Excuse me? Ah. Yes.”
“Toss them in.”
Thinking how convenient it was that she already had a space prepared, Davey couldn’t help but realize that Willow had a ruthless side too.
“Will that be enough to punish them?” Jeo-Seung was hesitant.
Davey smirked and asked, “Have you been there?”
“Oh heavens no. I’m not foolish. Don't say such horrible things.” frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
“Then stop talking and send them.”
When Davey guided the souls, they shook violently, struggling not to go to Jeo-Seung. However, he mercilessly stored them in a small artifact and disappeared.
“Well, that leaves one last thing to take care of.”
Prince Vashas El Lyndis.
Though he had no good impression of the man, he couldn't just leave Empress Redimia neglected forever. He wondered what Vashas would say to him, since he had completely screwed over his son.
‘Will he completely lose it? Feel heartbroken? Or will he understand everything and become detached? Perhaps he won’t care at all?’
Regardless, it didn’t matter. If he had nothing to do with what had happened, Davey would simply let the three—Empress Redimia, Emperor Deorte, and Vashas—meet.
If not, although he’d be sorry to his mother-in-law, he wouldn’t be able to let her see her son.
“So. Where the heck did this guy go?”
“We believe he left to investigate independently after learning that a close aide who followed him died, leaving him disconnected from Belluard.”
“So you’re telling me he’s so quick-witted to the point you lost his trail?”
“No, it’s not that. He just suddenly... vanished. And we have no idea where he went.”
“Haaah. What a pain.”
Aeria was doing a good job of protecting and preserving Empress Redimia, but he had no clue how long that could last. The power she used was originally for purification and ascension, not for storing souls like that. The longer it went on, the more of a burden she would have to endure.
“For now, keep looking. Even if he hadn’t intended it, there's a chance he's connected to this incident.”
“Yes. But... may I ask one question?”
“What is it?”
“What do you plan to do when you meet him?”
Davey kept quiet at her question.
‘Even if I do find him, would I just walk up to him and tell him that his mother’s soul is still here and ask if he wants to meet her and talk? Will anything actually change?’
As he continued to contemplate, Amy spoke up to say, “Grand Duchess Aeria seems to want to reconcile with him.”
Reconciliation was truly difficult. Even more so when it was a hatred dating back nearly a decade.
The situation became even more tangled.
“If Aeria wants it, then I’ll have to help her. Go back and rest, Amy. I need to think for a bit.”
‘If he didn't disappear on purpose, there's only one possibility.’
“I should consider the possibility of kidnapping.”
The Goran Kingdom had been wiped off the map, but the old man he had seen wasn’t among them. He had been a member of the Goran Special Operations Unit. Davey hadn’t managed to take them out yet.
He didn’t think they would act with any greater cause since Goran was finished. In fact, they had no support, so it was only a matter of time before they were caught.
The real question for him was whether to wait for them or find another way.
* * *
Davey wiping the Goran Kingdom off the map wasn't just a simple figure of speech.
“It's chilling... Is this really something a human being is capable of doing?”
Just a few days before, the place was a nation and its capital. It wasn't merely the ruins of a mass invasion of barbarians that destroyed and broke everything.
What the investigators saw was what used to be a city, yet all that remained was a massive crater, with nearby mountain ranges blown apart and left riddled with enormous holes. It was a catastrophe.
It had become clear why the higher-ups told them never to antagonize Heins.
Even though they’d known Davey O’Rowane was powerful, they also questioned whether it made sense for the entire continent to fear him so much.
Yet, seeing the scene before them struck those thoughts down immediately.
“Should we investigate further?”
One needed something left to investigate. Seeing nothing but an empty pit offered no opportunity for potential answers.
“For now, let's take pictures and submit them with the report. There's a reason why all the nations scrapped their plans to challenge Heins in a power struggle...”
Everyone was being quiet about it, but many assumed Heins Territory might make unreasonable demands or pull some aggressive moves. Naturally, they secretly researched the most effective countermeasures in case of hostility with Heins Territory. One of those entailed targeting the Grand Duke's weak spot, his Grand Duchess, who was the weakest and most vulnerable in terms of force.
The Goran Kingdom most likely had committed the atrocity for that very reason. However, if the scene of their capital city was the result of that, everyone decided it was better not to pursue that direction of thought at all.
“It's certain that the Grand Duke of Heins is a man who can make decisions outside of common sense.”
From that day forward, most kingdoms abandoned any notion of using or targeting Davey’s people during a confrontation with Heins Territory.
The same was true for Earth, which had heard some of the news on Tionis through Willow.
It became a joke that provoking the main base of the Church of Neltarid, a real god, would actually be more reasonable and survivable than messing with the madman of Tionis.
* * *
Splash!!
A man, tied up and covered in blood, was drenched in cold water.
The old man who threw the cold water on him asked the woman next to him with a stern face, “You sure this is okay?”
“The situation’s already out of control. Haven't you heard the news that our homeland was turned into a sea of fire overnight?”
Other members had already witnessed the scene of the tragedy.
“Not only His Majesty, but all the other nobles were murdered as well. If we let this man go, there's a high chance our location will be exposed.”
They were people who could dedicate their lives for their nation, but since the Goran Kingdom vanished overnight, the object of their devotion was gone.
What remained was to survive somehow.
“But we can’t kill him either. I’ve heard that a member of the Lyndis imperial family carries an artifact inside their body that triggers a massive disturbance if something happens to them. Something could go wrong before we even get away.”
Whether that fact was true or false, leaving any variable behind would be an issue for them.
They had no choice but to keep this uneasy, ambiguous situation where they couldn’t kill him, yet couldn’t let him go either.
Prince Vashas had absolute faith in his own power, and thus pursued those who killed his close aide alone. In the process, he accidentally ran into the Special Ops Unit, and a fight broke out.
Although he was a Swordmaster, the woman leading the Special Ops Unit was no different than a secret weapon of the Goran Kingdom. By the standard of Dokgo Jun the Heavenly Destroyer, she was a being above a Swordmaster.
She was a Sword Saint. In Tionis, she would also be called Mind Master. She was a being who could control telekinetic blades and possessed power that was, in fact, superior to a Swordmaster.
There were few humans on the continent who had reached such a level, including Firefox Kathryn Carabella the Grand Duchess of Lyndis; Reina, the Hero of Light, who could freely control energy swords; and a few other high-level Swordmasters.
It was astonishing that a powerful person of her level had emerged from the Goran Kingdom.
That was why she had been secretly operating within the kingdom as well. Still, if asked whether she reached that stage through proper means, her answer would be no.
She had been lucky, having absorbed a massive energy crystal when the Goran Kingdom transferred a mana bomb.
Prince Vashas, unaware of her true identity and ridiculous skill, was ultimately subdued by her.
“Listen up! I won't stop you if you want to throw your life away like an idiot, but I have no intention of dying so pointlessly. In the past, the royal family held my leash, but now? My life is what matters most.”
“But we can't hide like this forever. The longer Prince Vashas is missing, the wider Lydnis will expand their search.”
In fact, with the noble faction led by Prince Vashas being heavily pressured by his brother Alberth, the nobles would also be growing desperate.
Prince Vashas, still tied up, let out pained groans, unable to even open his eyes.
“Hey, Prince.”
He didn't respond.
“Aren't you curious about the news outside? About what happened to your son?”
Still, he didn’t react.
“Hah. So then you’re not even worried about your son? Okay, well allow me to inform you anyway? Your son was demoted to a commoner after having his arm cut off, with the charge being attempted regicide. Well, Aeria el Lyndis may have married, but she was still royalty. Plus, she's the Grand Duchess of Heins, right? The Lyndis Empire couldn't afford to only give him a slap on the wrist.”
He slowly lifted his head. Despite being told his son had lost an arm and been demoted to a commoner, he showed no sign of distress.
He spat in her face.
Thud!!
The woman kicked him in a fit of rage. She took out a handkerchief to wipe her cheek, and then turned away. She told her companion, “We're moving. Erase all traces and bring him along.”
“Understood. But where are we going?”
“Remember the magic bomb that was transferred to the Goran Kingdom before?”
“Yes.”
“If it came over to us, there's no rule saying we can't cross over to another world the same way, right? We're taking Prince Vashas with us until we successfully cross, to be safe.”
The woman and her subordinates left the room, leaving the prince alone while they prepared. He coughed painfully, his voice hoarse and failing.
‘That woman’s too dangerous. Even judging by pure power alone, I don’t think she’s even shown everything she’s capable of. I can sense she holds something twisted.’
He gritted his teeth. While he was foolishly caught and held here, his son ended up suffering such a devastating fate. He hadn’t said a word in front of her, but there was hardly any father in the world who wouldn’t be shaken by news that his son had been harmed.
Voice completely hoarse, his eyes burned with rage as he muttered, “Ah. Bellu... Belluard.”
His anger wasn’t directed at Aeria Davey, who had directly ruined his son. Instead, he resented those who had captured him and orchestrated the entire scheme.
After being repeatedly force-fed a potent poison that suppressed his mana, he could feel that his body was damaged beyond recovery. Even if he returned, with his body in such a condition, he knew he’d never be able to regain his former strength.
‘In that case, I have no attachment to this body.’
Clank. Clank.
The chains moved with a heavy sound.
Those bastards were likely already coming back to get him. He was too weak to even stand up against an Expert-level fighter, so overpowering them was impossible.
‘Then...’
He gritted his teeth and slammed his arm down, breaking the bone at his shoulder. It was a crazy act that required immense mental fortitude, but he didn't stop. He kept at it, eventually dislocating multiple bones.
Either his captors hadn’t expected him to still have that much strength left, or they never thought he’d go that far. Whatever the reason, he shattered his body without hesitation. Then, using his tattered body, he slipped free from the chains and struggled to his feet.
Thud!!
“Ugh!!” A terrible pain engulfed him. His body screamed for him to rest, to just wait comfortably, but he didn’t stop.
If he didn't take immediate action for his freedom, he’d never be found, or they’d be gone after he was found, and his life would be over.
The frustration and resentment were too overwhelming for him to endure. It was so unfair that he, who had lost his mother meaninglessly long ago, would be made to crumble away without doing anything.
Crack. Crack.
He forcibly set the dislocated bones one at a time, each time a horrible, eye-popping pain surging through him. Nonetheless, he didn't stop. Once finished, he looked around and forced himself to move one foot in front of the other.
He was currently in a space the Goran Kingdom had created to scout the interior of Lyndis. If he could just get outside, he could somehow send a message.
He dragged his agonizing body and kicked over a nearby oil drum. Then, he began to burn his vitality in place of the mana originally inside him.
‘Even if I die here, I’ll make sure Lyndis wipes these bastards out.’
He quickly forced his vitality to collide with the oil, creating friction.
Fwoosh!!
A massive fire instantly spread, belching black smoke.
There were about ten Goran Special Ops Unit members who ran in once it broke out. Half of them were visibly flustered by the sudden fire.
“F-fire!! Move quickly!!”
“Prince Vashas!! Save Prince Vashas!! If he dies, everything we've done will be for nothing!!”
Prince Vashas, still breathing roughly, showed a momentary flicker of hesitation on his face. Yet, he quickly cuffed himself up again.
On the surface, it looked like the handcuffs were tightly secured, but he had left them loose enough to slip out of at a moment’s notice.
Purposely hyperventilating to drum up his courage and get his blood surging, he stared at the flames and held his breath for a moment.
Fwoosh!!
He then threw himself into the blaze.
FWOOOSH!!!
“Damn it!! Save him!!”
Those who arrived late hurriedly extinguished the flames, but he had already suffered severe burns. His once glossy hair had been completely burned away, his eyes had almost lost their light, and his skin was covered in horrific burn marks.
“Damn it!! He's going to die at this rate!! Move him, fast!!” one of the leaders shouted.
A subordinate responded, “B-but, Master Owl!! We have no one who can treat him!!”
“Idiot!! Look at his face!! Who would think this man is Prince Vashas?!! Just keep him alive!! As soon as we stabilize him somewhat, we'll take him and leave. Got it?”
The old man Owl frantically stripped off Vashas’ tattered, burnt clothes and covered him with a commoner's outfit. Then, they placed him on a stretcher and moved quickly through the passages.
They hadn’t expected something like that to happen while the woman was away.
If Prince Vashas died there, it’d be disastrous. The pursuits would never end. If they were going to be exposed either way, it would be better to take the risk and keep him alive.
Entering a temple for divine healing wasn’t an option for them, so they had no choice but to find a skilled physician.
As Prince Vashas slowly died, they began escorting him to a doctor who would quietly treat him for money.
While they covered his rough appearance with cloth, they couldn't hide the smell of burning.
That was what he had been aiming for.
Afterward, he forcibly whipped his barely moving body to spit something out.
A small seal fell onto the floor, but no one paid it any mind.
‘Please, anyone, find this...’
* * *
Davey waited for news about Prince Vashas while drinking tea with Aeria.
The air shimmered, and Aina Helishana slowly materialized. “I’m back with information.”
“Okay, good. Tell me what you’ve got.”
“It's not a hundred percent reliable, but I picked up some strange news in Lyndis.”
“Strange news?”
“Yes. A bizarre incident broke out in Conrad, a western territory. Apparently, it was in an ordinary house. A loud boom was heard, and then someone was seen hastily moving a victim who was charred black. They hid him with a cloth, but the smell of burnt flesh was overwhelming.”
‘At an ordinary house? Ha.’
“Did they head for the temple?” he asked curiously.
“No,” she responded. “They headed toward a physician.”
“What were their characteristics?”
“They were ordinary-looking people.”
‘Hmm? This is starting to smell fishy.’
She showed Davey a drawing of a small stone-sized golden artifact. “And they say someone picked this up there.”
As soon as Aeria saw it, her eyes widened. “The Imperial Emblem!!”
It was an artifact that royalty swallowed when they were young, both to protect them and to allow others to find their bodies if they died. It was a unique Lyndis technology that was harmless to the human body and even prevented minor illnesses while being carried within.
“It's the imperial family's crest!! It causes a huge disturbance when you die, signaling your location!!”
“Do you think this could be Vashas’ handiwork?” Davey asked Aina.
“I’m not sure, but the people moving the patient seemed quite desperate and agitated.”
“That prince is a pretty smart guy.”
If they were truly flustered, and if Prince Vashas had really been kidnapped, then he must’ve gone to desperate lengths for his own goal.
‘This must've been the only SOS signal he could send.’
Davey stood up.
“Are you going?” Aeria asked. “Then take me with you.”
Her request was quite firm, and her resolve was solid.
“I don't know if it was my brother or not... but I can't just stand by. Besides, no matter what happens, my mother's soul can't last much longer at this point.”
Davey was silent for a moment. The balance between overprotection and neglect was certainly difficult to maintain.
“Alright. Let's go together.” Having agreed, he picked up Aeria in a princess carry.
“Kyaak!”
“Hold on tight, you might get a little dizzy.”
With a flushed face, she buried her head in his chest. “Yes...”
The opportunity Prince Vashas had created by destroying his own body had worked.
