[Trantor - Helga ]


    [Proofreader - Lucky]


    Chapter 103


    Kane’s eyes shifted from joy to rage.


    As he looked at Harald, memories of the past resurfaced.


    "How should I kill you?"


    Kane’s grip tightened.


    "Ugh…"


    Harald''s face turned red, and a vein popped on his forehead.


    He struggled to free himself from Kane''s grasp, but it was futile. The more he resisted, the more the pain intensified.


    "I’ve got a good idea."


    Kane released Harald, but instead, a streak of purple mist seeped into Harald’s heart.


    The purple mist also prated the hearts of the members of the Red Spear Knights.


    "Ugh!"


    "Gah!"


    They groaned in unison.


    Kane smiled at this and promptly severed the threads of mana that connected them.


    "Gasp!"


    "Argh!"


    Blood spurted from their mouths. Some of the lower-ranking knights even fainted.


    Kane then addressed them.


    "I wonder if you’ll manage to leave this ce with your mana destroyed."


    He chose to spare the Red Spear Knights but rendered thempletely incapable of using mana. This ce was a high 4th-level hidden territory. Without mana, survival was impossible.


    Although Kane hadn’t killed them with his own hands, it was no different from sentencing them to death.


    "Ugh… just kill me!" Harald shouted, enduring the pain.


    "Are you frustrated?"


    In response to Kane’s question, Harald replied,


    "If I ever get another chance, I will definitely kill you."


    "That’s what I once said. But you won’t get the same opportunity as I did."


    The BloodSky de was drawn and then sheathed once more.


    A sh of light sliced through the air, cutting Harald’s throat.


    Thud.


    His head fell to the ground.


    Kane, having lost interest turned away, Cami and ta followed him.


    Kane vanished from the sight of the Red Spear Knights.


    As they tried to regain theirposure, skeletons and liches began to rise from the ground.


    "Ugh…"


    "R-Run!"


    The once-brave Red Spear Knights were no longer there; only cowards without mana remained. Their eyes were filled with nothing but fear.


    The skeletons soon overwhelmed them.


    "Aaaah!"


    The screams that echoed across the void wastnd soon faded into silence.


    * * *


    Having escaped from the Void Wastnd, Kane and Cami continued on.


    ta, eyeing the situation cautiously, finally spoke up.


    “Kane, do you have a grudge against them?”


    “Many.”


    “Did they do something bad enough for you to hold a grudge?”


    “You could say that.”


    “Is that why you killed them like that?”


    “Was it too cruel?”


    “If it were me, I would have ripped out their tongues, gouged out their eyes, and cut off their fingers one by one to make them suffer... Kane, you’re too kind.”


    Kane chuckled. ta was exaggerating his gestures to lighten the mood, but there was a surprising sensitivity behind the act. For someone who usually only acted foolish, he had his moments.


    ‘I wonder what Dirk’s expression will be like.’


    Dirk had lost his entire ‘right arm’, not just a part of it. One of the reasons Dirk had always been so brazen was the Red Spear Knights. But now that Harald was dead, how would Dirk react?


    ‘He’ll probably make a big fuss, won’t he?’


    Knowing Dirk’s personality, he’d turn the royal pce upside down. He would immediately try to send an investigative team. Kane could already picture Dirk’s reaction in his mind.


    ‘He’s also lost the Fire Star, so he’ll likely overextend himself to make up for it.’


    Dirk’s mission was to overthrow the Fresia Empire. His job was to incite the nobles to rebel and start a civil war.


    ‘I need to anticipate their moves. And soon, another one of the Executioners will make a move.’


    [TL/N: Executioners, they are also called Seats of Judgements. Prolly the guy training Dirk is one of them.]


    One of the Seven Seats of Judgment had been killed. This was something they hadn’t anticipated at all. Moreover, Marquis Tegelo was dead, hisnds reduced to ruins. Even the spies nted within the Empire had been eradicated. Everything Hatzfeld had entrusted to him was in shambles.


    One of the Executioners was bound to make a move.


    ‘I have to kill the Executioner this time.’


    Though Kane had borrowed the Crown Prince Isaac’s hand to deal with the Seventh Seat of Judgment before, now he could handle them alone.


    ‘I’m curious to see what form the Executioner will take this time.’


    The Executioners appeared in various forms, assuming multiple identities. This time, too, they would approach under one of these disguises. Although Kane had a hunch about one possible form, it was just a guess. He couldn’t be certain yet.


    “Kane, are we going back home now?”


    “There’s somewhere we need to stop by first.”


    “Where? I’m hungry…”


    “It’s a ce you’ll like.”


    “Really? Where is it?”


    ta’s eyes sparkled with excitement.


    “Flovin Vige.”


    Hearing Kane’s words, Cami was startled.


    “That’s in Hatzfeld’s territory!”


    “It’s on the outskirts, far from the border, so Hatzfeld doesn’t pay much attention to it.”


    “No, it’s too dangerous!”


    Cami tried to dissuade him.


    Hatzfeld was an incredibly powerful kingdom, far stronger than Tegelo. While the Fresia Empire was in decline, the Hatzfeld Kingdom was rapidly growing. In terms of military power, Hatzfeld had long surpassed the Empire.


    “Even the Guardian Lord wouldn’t recklessly enter Hatzfeld’s territory.”


    “He didn’t go because he chose not to. There’s no ce a Guardian Lord can’t enter.”


    “Well, that may be true, but… Either way, Your Highness shouldn’t go.”


    “It doesn’t matter what you say.”


    “Do you really have to go?”


    "I have business there."


    "You’re not nning to turn it into a wastnd like Tegelo, are you?"


    "Do I look like an idiot?"


    "Your Highness is unpredictable, that’s why I’m asking."


    "Hehe, Kane’s personality is a bit strange."


    Even ta chimed in. Kane’s eyebrow twitched for a moment, prompting ta to leap into Cami’s arms.


    "Promise me you won’t cause any trouble."


    "I have no intention of doing so."


    "Really? You swear?"


    "I promise."


    Despite Kane’s reassurance, Cami couldn’t shake her unease. Entering enemy territory was a grave mistake, one that could trigger a war just by setting foot on theirnd. But what could she do? Her master was so resolute. She couldn’t let him go alone, so she had no choice but to follow.


    "Because of Your Highness, I won’t live long," Cami sighed.


    Kane smiled at herint, seeing the worry and concern for her master thaty beneath it. He muttered softly to her,


    "You’ll live longer than I will."


    * * *


    Beneath the Sian Mountains in the north of Rehinar, there was a small vige.


    "I never expected to find a vige in a ce like this," Cami said, surprised.


    Kane nodded in agreement.


    "Neither did I"


    As Kane began to enter the eerie vige, ta wrinkled his nose and covered it.


    "Kane, this ce smells weird!"


    "Can you sense the malice here?"


    "Ugh, it’s worse than the smell of those guys who y with fire."


    ‘Those guys who y with fire’ referred to the Red Dragon Legion.


    "Can you purify this energy?"


    "Um…"


    ta hesitated. Normally, he would have confidently imed he could handle it, but now he seemed a bit unsure.


    "You still can’t do it?"


    "The thing is… I’m not sure what will happen if I try to absorb this energy."


    ta could devour bloodlust, demonic energy, and malice without discrimination, but only in amounts he could digest. He never took more than he could handle. The fact that he hesitated here meant that the malice pervading this vige was potent enough to give him pause.


    "If even you, a ferocious species, can’t neutralize this energy, then sealing it might be the only option."


    This was no ordinary vige. It was where the Elixir of Oblivion was being produced. Most of the vigers were involved in its creation, a fact even Hatzfeld was unaware of. Those who orchestrated this were members of the Sun n. Hatzfeld believed they were conquering the continent, but they were merely puppets of the infamous Meyer Family. When they discovered this truth, it was toote—they were doomed.


    "No, wait! I’ll give it a try!"


    "This is just the vige entrance, where the malice is still weak. Are you sure you want to try?"


    "I’m the mighty, mightiest guardian of the demons! Do you think I’ll lose to something like this?"


    ta spoke with confidence, but in truth, he was a bit scared.


    At some point, ta’s character had settled into that of a coward. While there were times when he disyed the ferocious nature of his kind, most of the time, he was just a boastful, scaredy-cat.


    “If you change your mind after we go in, just let me know.”


    “Humph, I’m… the great guardian of the demons, dimir Bu…”


    His words grew longer the more frightened he became. Kane shook his head and continued walking inside.


    The vige waspletely deserted. There wasn’t a single sign of life.


    “Your Highness, the sun is out, but the air is so cold…”


    “It’s the energy of Oblivion.”


    The malice here carried a negative attribute. That’s why the air was so cold.


    As they moved further into the vige, they came upon a shrine nestled beneath a steep cliff. Vigers were gathered in front of it, carefully opening sks and capturing the energy from the air. These weren’t ordinary sks—they were magical containers, specially crafted to draw in the malice from the air, which caught Kane’s attention.


    “It’s not the first time I’ve seen this, but it’s still fascinating.”


    Those sks were custom-made by the Meyer Family, designed to attract only the power of Oblivion.


    “Ugh, that smell!”


    ta grumbled in annoyance. The energy of Oblivion was the opposite of the blood energy he thrived on, so it was only natural for him to despise it.


    “First, we need to stop their work.”


    Kane began walking forward. The vigers, sensing his presence, turned around in shock.


    “Wh-who are you?”


    “How did you get here?”


    “Did youe from the heavens?”


    At the mention of "heavens," Kane couldn’t help but chuckle.


    ‘So, you''ve been calling yourselves beings of the heavens, Huh Disgusting Meyer Family?’


    “I’m not from the ce you’re thinking of.”


    “Th-then, where are you from?”


    “I’m here to rescue you from this ce.”


    “W-what?”


    Kane turned his head and looked at the emaciated man lying on the altar.


    “Ugh…”


    The man was writhing in pain as the power of Oblivion continued to be extracted from his body. The vigers were carefully capturing this energy in their magical sks.


    “Don’t you want to save Karl Agzent, vige chief?” Kane directed his question to an elderly man, who was the grandfather of Karl Agzent and the vige chief. The old man had sacrificed his grandson to save the lives of the vigers.


    “When all that energy is drained, your grandson will die. You’ve noticed how weak he’s be, haven’t you?”


    Kane had heard this story from Dirk, who had boasted about it when Karlter became renowned as the Mercenary King, the Immortal.


    [Trantor - Helga ]


    [Proofreader - Lucky]