NOVEL NEXT Chapter 361: To the Empire (5)
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 361: To the Empire (5)
Rumble!
A deafening roar echoed.
The ground collided with something distorted, twisting and collapsing into an unnatural form.
Ketal frowned.
"Annoying thing."
With every move it made, Ketal’s fantasies were being destroyed.
It was unbearably unpleasant.
Crunch.
The twisted entity tried to heal its scars.
But they did not heal.
As if erased, like scratches made by an eraser on a drawing, the scars remained on its body.
With a groan, it began to rise.
[…You’ve grown stronger. That strange power of yours remains unchanged. Truly, you don’t belong in this world.]
"And yet, you’ve grown weaker."
The twisted entity wasn’t in perfect condition, likely having exhausted itself to emerge from the White Snow Plains.
Absorbing those two elders had caused considerable deterioration.
Above all, the restrictions binding it to the imperial capital seemed to limit its strength.
Ketal’s eyes darkened.
Could he kill this twisted being in its current state?
He quickly assessed the situation in his mind.
And the answer came:
It was possible.
If he used all his strength, including his powers, he could erase the abominable being before him forever.
But—
Ketal hesitated to act.
The reason was simple.
The aftermath was the problem.
If he unleashed his full power to kill the twisted being, it would do the same in response.
The clash of their powers could break the restraints binding it to the capital.
No—Ketal was almost certain it would.
His power was specialized in erasing such things.
If that happened, the twisted being would scatter its apostles across the entire world.
The apostles of the twisted being were powerful.
They wielded the authority of distortion.
Some of the stronger ones, like that of Magnarein, could even kill hero-class beings.
Even the weaker ones would require superhuman elites to handle.
If hundreds of such apostles were unleashed upon the world simultaneously, what would happen?
The answer was simple.
The world would be destroyed.
Even before he could kill the twisted being, it could devastate more than half the world.
‘That’s a problem.’
It was a huge problem.
In the current state, killing the twisted being was possible.
But not being able to stop its apostles meant his world would collapse.
So, not yet.
Ketal lowered his axe.
The fiery emotions that had been burning within him suddenly subsided, leaving the twisted being bewildered.
[What is it? Why don’t you attack?]
"For now, I’ll retreat."
"What?"
"I need to make some preparations on my end. A little time would benefit you too, wouldn’t it?"
[I won’t deny that, but...]
The longer time passed, the more complete the twisted being would become.
Ketal retreating wasn’t necessarily bad for it.
But it didn’t understand.
[This is your chance. Are you throwing it away yourself?]
"You wouldn’t understand."
Ketal’s decision to retreat was to protect the surface.
The twisted being couldn’t fathom his intention.
To it, Ketal was merely someone from elsewhere, someone who wouldn’t care about the surface.
That suited Ketal just fine.
If it couldn’t understand his intent, it couldn’t exploit his weaknesses.
"But before I go, I’m taking someone with me."
Ketal stomped hard on the ground, shattering it as he descended deep underground.
The twisted being assumed he was targeting its apostles and moved to defend them.
But Ketal wasn’t heading for the apostles.
Instead, he reached a small chamber slightly away from them.
Crash!
Breaking through the ceiling, Ketal arrived in the room and swung his axe down.
He shattered what seemed like a twisted prison.
[Kugh, gah...]
The prison broke apart, revealing a being made of bones: the Tower Master.
Ketal inspected him and sighed lightly in relief.
"Half-corrupted. A little later, and it would’ve been dangerous."
[You moved to save a mortal? Someone as insignificant as that?]
The twisted being murmured, puzzled, as if it couldn’t comprehend Ketal’s actions.
Ketal didn’t bother to answer, instead hoisting the Tower Master onto his shoulder.
"This one’s coming with me."
[A shame. I was going to make him my first apostle.]
"I don’t need your permission."
Ketal raised his axe, and his aura surged, filling the room.
He unleashed his full strength in a single blow.
Slash!
The aura streaked through the underground, aiming for the apostles' location.
The twisted being used its power to block the attack. Ketal used the distraction to leap away.
"Well then, see you again. Probably not too long from now."
Leaving a light farewell, Ketal escaped the capital.
True to his prediction, the twisted being no longer had the strength to pursue him.
"…Phew."
Ketal rubbed his shoulder.
Though he pretended to be composed, the exhaustion was evident.
He was running dangerously low on mystery.
"I’m charging you a hefty price for this, Tower Master."
With the Tower Master on his shoulder, Ketal trudged onward.
* * *
"My goodness!"
Helia was shocked upon seeing Ketal return with the Tower Master slung over his shoulder.
"Is that... the Tower Master?"
"Yes. He’s half-corrupted by that thing. There’s no way to save him for now, so I need you to seal him."
"Is there no way to rescue him?"
"I don’t know."
The Tower Master wasn’t entirely corrupted.
If the twisted being was killed, he might return.
But it wasn’t certain.
"If trouble arises, we’ll deal with it then. Just seal him for now."
"Understood."
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Helia hastily invoked the sacred scripture, sealing the Tower Master within the dimension of divinity.
Catching her breath, she asked a question.
“So… what exactly happened?”
Ketal calmly explained the events that transpired in the capital.
The victorious entity from the War of Eternity, known as the Elder of the White Snow Plains, had emerged.
And it had completely consumed the empire.
No, to begin with, the empire itself had always been a group devoted to the existence of the Forbidden Lands.
Hearing this, Helia’s expression twisted grotesquely.
“The empire… from the very beginning… worshipped those things?”
“It seems the very reason for the empire’s existence was for those abominations. How does that make you feel?”
[Be quiet.]
The abomination spoke with a tone of displeasure.
Helia clutched her throbbing head.
“Wait a moment. If the empire served the Forbidden Lands all along… then… their lack of action during the war with Hell…”
“Makes sense, doesn’t it? And their proactivity in issues related to the Forbidden Lands also aligns.”
“Oh my god.”
Helia, unable to stand, collapsed to the ground.
Ketal waited patiently for her to regain her composure.
Once she had barely recovered her senses, she asked in a trembling voice,
“Ketal… do you think you can confront that being?”
The strongest entity on the continent.
The empire, it turned out, was never on their side.
Even after learning such a horrifying truth, Helia, who could still analyze the situation rationally, was undoubtedly a hero.
Ketal admired her lightly before responding.
“If I had to face it, I could. If I had to kill it, I could. But there’s a problem.”
“A problem?”
“It’s not alone.”
The people of the empire.
It had turned them into its apostles.
There were hundreds of them.
“If I go all out to kill the Old Man, the aftermath could very well break the seal. Then, in desperation, it might unleash its apostles.”
And they would spread across the continent.
“It’s not that I can’t handle them alone, but it would be like burning down a house to catch a flea.”
That was why Ketal posed a question to Helia.
“Helia. Could the continent withstand an assault by dozens of hero-level entities and hundreds of superhuman-level ones?”
“…No.”
Helia shook her head grimly.
“It would be absolutely, utterly impossible.”
The war with Hell had drained countless strong heroes.
The number of superhuman-level individuals had become almost meaningless.
Even the Tower Master was in such a state, making it no exaggeration to say that the surface’s strength had been halved.
“What about the gods’ help?”
“They used up much of their power banishing Hell. For them to intervene again on the surface… it would take at least a month.”
“By then, everything would already be over.”
Even if Ketal succeeded in defeating the Old Man, the collapse of the surface was inevitable.
Realizing this, Helia’s face turned pale.
“Hmm.”
Ketal stroked his chin.
Amid the silence, he finally spoke.
“There’s no helping it. I’ll have to use another method.”
“A-another method?”
“It’s not impossible.”
In truth, he had already concluded that this was the only viable solution.
Despite his reservations, he kept questioning Helia, hoping for another answer.
But there wasn’t one.
He could no longer avoid it.
Ketal spoke.
“I know a place where we can seek help.”
“B-but even if we do ask for help, the enemy is too strong. There isn’t anyone on the surface who could…”
“It’s not the surface.”
“What?”
Helia’s eyes widened.
Ketal spoke softly.
“I’m talking about inside. The place the Old Man came from.”
“Oh.”
Only then did Helia understand what Ketal meant.
In a trembling voice, she muttered,
“The Ashen Barbarians of the White Snow Plains.”
Ketal spoke softly.
“They’re ignorant, brutish, foolish, and dull… but they’re strong.”
The three barbarians who had come out of the Forbidden Lands to find Ketal.
Each of them possessed the strength of a hero.
But even they were not the strongest among the barbarians inside.
“By the standards of the surface, there are dozens of hero-level warriors and hundreds of top-tier superhumans inside. They’d be more than enough to face the apostles of the Forbidden Lands.”
“You’re saying… you’ll bring them outside?”
“It’s not impossible. The seal has weakened. Even if it’s still there, I could forcibly tear it open and bring them out.”
“If it’s you, I’m sure you could.”
The barbarians of the White Snow Plains.
They would be enough to counter the apostles of the twisted one.
But Helia’s face was filled with shock and unease.
“…But, is that really okay?”
The barbarians were certainly powerful.
But they were not on the side of the surface.
Helia knew well that the three barbarians who had emerged had clashed with surface dwellers repeatedly.
She even knew that they had attacked the Tower Master, disobeying Ketal’s orders.
If just three could cause that much chaos, what would happen if hundreds of them broke loose?
Could the surface even handle such a thing?
Helia couldn’t be sure.
“Well, there’s no other choice.”
“That’s…”
It was true.
Ketal’s expression was uneasy as well.
“I’m not thrilled about it either. But there’s no other way.”
If they could handle the apostles, Ketal would be able to focus entirely on the twisted one.
The lesser evil was preferable to the worst-case scenario.
Ultimately, Helia accepted Ketal’s proposal.
Ketal turned his gaze toward the horizon, where the White Snow Plains lay.
“I never thought I’d return to that place.”
The White Snow Plains.
A dreadful, nightmarish location—not a fantasy but a prison.
He had sworn never to even spit in its direction after escaping it.
But now, of his own will, he would return to that place.
And by his will, they would emerge.
“Time to see those detestable faces again.”
Ketal muttered to himself.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]