章 448: Declaration of War (1)
A dark underground space.
It is extremely quiet, except for the occasional sound of water drops falling from the ceiling hitting the stone floor and breaking.
Then. The sound of loud footsteps shattered the silence.
"heoeog! heog! keoheog!"
A young man was running down the hallway, his face distorted.
He was naked, his skinny limbs dotted with large handcuffs and shackles.
Süskind de Leviathan. The eldest son of the extremely poisonous Leviathan family.
He hid himself close to the bottom corner of the basement stairs.
Soon, several soldiers with spears were seen patrolling the stairs.
"...this is how it happened."
Süskind cursed himself as he clutched his head.
A young master of House Leviathan, he had been taken captive one day without warning and imprisoned in the family's underground facility.
As the next Householder to lead the House of Extreme Poison, Süskind was well aware of the facility.
It was a prison for imprisoning the most dangerous elements to be excluded from the family, political opponents, and those who could not be controlled among those who inherited the blood of Leviathan, and at the same time, it was also a laboratory where all kinds of terrible human experiments were conducted.
"Thomas, I was trying to connect the dots between his involvement in the demonization case and Principal Winston's outbursts at the Academy. .... There's definitely a connection to our family."
Principal Winston's outburst, the growth of a demonic plant called the Hell Tree at Colosseo Academy, and the demonization of Thomas, who attended the Night Hound's convoy.
And as this series of events was swept under the rug by the First Prince, Süskind continued to point out the absurdity of the situation.
Common sense dictated that Leviathan should not have sided with the First Prince at this time.
...But common sense came at a heavy price.
Forced out of bed before he could even open his eyes, Süskind was thrown into the dungeons here. It was here that he met many members of the family.
All of them opposed the civil war.
It was only then that he realized exactly what was going on.
Something unknown and terrifying had consumed Leviathan, and there was no going back.
…tatag!
Süskind sprinted through the darkness, taking advantage of the disappearance of the patrolling guards.
It was his strong mind and body that had allowed him to survive all the cruel experiments in the prison.
Although Süskind was an arrogant person steeped in the sense of being the chosen one and privileged, he was still an elite who did not neglect discipline.
Running up the underground stairs, he came upon a secret door hidden in a secret place.
The only people who know of this place are the Patriarch and the youg master.
Süskind pushed the door open with a glimmer of hope.
Drrrr-!
The heavy bricks shifted, opening a passage to the depths below.
Sensing a sentry approaching from behind, Süskind quickly slammed the door shut and descended into the darkness.
'There's no way out of here, but... at least there's room to rest for a while. I'll heal here, repair the damage done to my body by the experiments, and then break out.'
Süskind descended the secret staircase, thinking this and that.
But soon he came upon a horrifying sight.
A dark underground alcove.
The floor was littered with countless jars.
And they emanated an unpleasant aura that gave him goosebumps just looking at them.
The jars emitted an aura of dancing red evil spirits.
Süskind recognized it immediately.
"...Red Death!"
How could he not?
It was a terrible plague that, until a few years ago, the entire family had been obsessed with developing.
At first, it simply caused a fever and was contagious, but later it caused people to go berserk and even attack others indiscriminately.
"Unbelievable! Wasn't the Red Death abolished due to the incident caused by that bastard?"
Süskind looked at the jars in disbelief.
Each of the large jars held a person.
It was an eerie sight to see a man and a woman drenched in the red drug, their bodies curled up like fetuses, staring up from the jars, their eyes narrowed.
Every single one of them had the same look in their eyes.
'Porridge... here... give me...'
The maid who cleaned their rooms every day, the old man who tended the garden, the chef who made their desserts so delicious, the butler who was always so strict and stern, the instructor who taught them martial arts when they were young, the younger siblings of their relatives from the other families who they only saw on holidays, the distant elders of their extended families who they often greeted...
These are all familiar faces in the jar.
Süskind stepped between the jars on shaky legs.
Soon he came to the innermost jar, a huge one.
Hiss- hiss-
Two breathing sounds can be heard from inside the jar, which is half buried in the ground.
In the jar that Süskind looked down at, there were two large snakes tangled together.
Each breath they exhale sends a cloud of dancing red evil spirits into the air.
"...Are these the sources of the Red Death?"
Süskind broke out in a cold sweat.
At that time.
Hissing-
The two snakes looked up at him and began to breathe heavily.
Süskind was about to jump back in surprise.
[When is that a good smell?]
A sullen voice said from behind him.
He turned, startled, and saw a man in black robes standing there.
Süskind recognized him immediately.
"...Ah, Father."
Hobbes de Leviathan. The patriarch of an extremely poisonous family.
He looked at his eldest son and smiled coyly.
[I'm not your father, Süskind, I'm just the demon who ate your father and took his shell].
Süskind's complexion paled at the unusually honest answer.
He'd had some idea, but he'd never expected him to reveal his identity so openly.
Süskind clenched his teeth and asked.
"What did you do with the youngest?"
[He had already become like Thomas, the second son.]
"Stop talking nonsense! There's nothing we can do about Thomas because he has a terrible personality, but not the youngest! He's too good-natured and innocent to be our brother, so he'll never become a demon...!?"
But Süskind didn't get to finish his sentence.
chwaag!
Two snakes jumped out of the jar behind him, grabbed him by the neck and waist, and pulled him into the jar.
Süskind couldn't even scream as he was pulled under the jar.
[Ah, ah- I had kept him alive because he was the body I was going to change into.]
Hobbes, noticing that the body of Süskind in the jar was bent in a strange way, lamented.
[It's a shame to turn him into a poisonous person(毒人), but I can't help it, I've still got one more body to change into...]
The red evil spirits that had been floating around in the jar began to dance and crawl into Süskind's body.
His eyes, which had gone in different directions, began to glow red, and red spots began to form all over his body.
Just then.
[How's it going, this time?]
Another voice came from the top of the basement stairs.
A man covered from head to toe in black robes looked down at Hobbes.
Hobbes smiled and replied.
[It's First Corpses. What can I do for you?]
[I'm here to discuss the civil war, and it's time to discuss the succession to the throne].
[There are still many eyes watching. If you have anything to discuss, send an owl.]
[It's okay sometimes. I don't know how long it's been since I've had a conversation like this face to face with colleagues.]
[Even now, only you and I are left.]
[Yeah, because of the damn demon hunter].
Hobbes, or rather, Second Corpses and First Corpses, whose faces were covered with black robes, began to talk about various things.
[It seems that Third Corpses has been defeated, and there is a faint trace of her attempt to force open the Gate of Destruction in her magic path before her life was cut short].
[Hehehe- If I'm going to die, I'll open it and die. She seems like a pathetic wretch].
[It's not something to laugh at. No matter how alone we are without a sense of camaraderie, this is a big problem.]
[Haha. The purpose of opening the gate is the same].
[Yes. All our colleagues of them, are dead, and now it's just you and me. Now is the time to make a deal.]
Hobbes nodded.
[If it's a civil war, don't worry, I'm about to finish making a large batch of poison, and once these guys are done, the war will be a piece of cake].
[He was the first poisonous person, wasn't he?]
[He was a failure. He succeeded in strengthening the flesh and making the personality berserk, but he lacked the all-important contagion. The ones aging in the jar now are an improved version. These are the real thing].
Hobbes turned away as he finished speaking.
He turned in the direction of the two snakes that had poisoned Süskind earlier.
[The essence of my magical power is embodied in the form of a demonic beast. The Uroboros, a venomous fountain, an artifact that allows them to bite each other's tails and create an endless supply of venom. As long as we have this, we can create as many poisonous person as we want].
[That's great. It'll help us in the war.]
[Of course. A madman, plague-spreading raiding party of maniacs. It has tremendous tactical value].
Then the man who had been listening to Hobbes up until this point opened his mouth to ask.
[Then why don't we try and wipe out the 'Night Walkers' who will be in Tochka Fortress by now as a test?]
[Huh? What are they?]
[The demon hunter who recently killed 4th and 3rd in quick succession is said to be nesting there, and for some reason a lot of refugees are heading there].
[Hmm... It's a high, rugged place, but it doesn't have drinking water, so it wouldn't be a good place to shelter, let alone take in refugees.]
[But that's what they're doing. They're buying up large quantities of food and drinking water and seem to be preparing for a sit-in].
[Hahahaha! Foolish! There's no water source there, and if I let the Poisonous Person loose, they'll just barricade themselves in and die of starvation].
Hobbes bared his teeth and laughed.
He waved a hand in the air, and an army of Poisonous Person with red spots all over their backs and bodies stood in formation.
[The others have fallen victim to the Demon Hunters while standing idly by, but not me. If we know where they are, shouldn't we be the first ones in?]
[Be careful, there are many refugees there, and the Demon Hunter is a heartless man, he may use them as shields].
[The human shield strategy doesn't work for me. The more filthy humans we have, the better. Infect them all, turn them into poisonous person, and that's it.]
The black-robed man laughed with satisfaction.
[Indeed, for a Demon Hunter with so much to protect, a type like you would be like a natural enemy.]
[No problem.]
Hobbes grinned wryly and continued.
[I'll conscript all the Poisonous Person, and we'll set out a month from now at this hour. I'll go and cut the throat of the Night Hound or something. ...No, wouldn't it be better to just make him as a Poisonous Person, all of them, Even all of his limbs.]
[I trust you. By the way, can you do me a favor?]
[A favor? You to me? What?]
[... to kill a man].
The man puts a piece of paper with a face on it down in front of Hobbes.
[If he were alive, he would look like this right now].
[...? What's this? He looks like a worthless bastard.]
[I think so too. I'm asking just in case.]
Hobbes shakes his head, but he can't help but nod.
First Corpses (一番尸). Aka, the Marquis of Discord.
It was the first time in his life that the high and arrogant being in front of him had ever asked for such a lowly favor.
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