章節 626: CHAPTER 783
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The Holy Kingdom, Vankela.
Runcandel had received information about the explosion at the Tower of Stories and six days had passed. So far, Runcandel and the Vamel alliance had heard no news about Kadun.
"Hmm, Kadun. It seems that arrogant Fire Dragon has encountered some problems. He didn't even attend the recent federation's integration meeting. Kadun was famous for attending every integration meeting and creating a hostile atmosphere."
Talaris spoke.
She had already regained consciousness the night before, but she had to stay in the Holy kingdom for a while longer to continue receiving treatment from Lani. There were also tasks she needed to assist Lani with.
"It feels like Zipfel isn't particularly trying to hide the fact that something has happened to Kadun. Of course, he might just be fine somewhere that we don't know."
"So, my son-in-law intends to go to the scene himself tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Since you will need Mort's help, my daughter should be going with you, right?"
"That's correct."
"Well, it should be a good time, hmm..."
Talaris trailed off.
As someone who had experienced countless relationships and was known as the greatest love expert of this era, Talaris had a gut feeling that there was progress in Jin and Valeria's relationship. That's why Jin and Syris' marital issue became Talaris' main concern as soon as she woke up.
'Valeria Hister. She's undoubtedly a charming girl, but I never expected Jin, who has never shown any interest in the opposite sex, to fall for her like this.'
While Jin showed no interest in the opposite sex, and Syris also excelled in that aspect.
In Talaris' eyes, Syris had feelings for Jin. However, those feelings were not limited to romantic emotions.
As a friend, as a comrade, as a romantic interest. Syris undoubtedly had affection for Jin, but she didn't actively express it.
'Perhaps she considers fulfilling her duty as the next master of Hidden Palace more important? It's true that Jin becoming the hostess of the Hidden Palace is now an outdated notion. Well, but in this day and age, what does that matter? Since the Hidden Palace and Runcandel are in an alliance. Anyway, being too traditional…'
"Madame Talaris."
"Hmm?"
"What are you thinking about?"
"I'm just a little worried."
"Could it be that you're worried about me going to the Tower of Stories?"
Talaris stared at Jin intently. There was a moment of silence.
"Perhaps she just wants to maintain this distance for now."
"What do you mean?"
"Sometimes there are relationships that don't get closer because of the fear of losing them... There's a bittersweet charm to that too. In my long and eventful history, there were a few people like that."
"What are you talking about all of sudden...?"
"I got carried away and started reminiscing about the old days. Hehe, I suddenly miss your father and Ron. I should visit the Sword Emperor's territory. I'll also check out the construction site of the alliance's shipyard."
"If Madame Talaris examines it, it will be a great honor for the workers."
"By the way, it's a shame that the Black Dragon oppa will need more time to return. I couldn't refuse the request since I received help from the Holy King."
Lani had asked Talaris to help seal the "Eye of Zito."
"Maintaining the seal of Zito is also a matter for the alliance. So don't worry about it."
"Son-in-law, in my opinion, it is inevitable that the demon king named Zito will awaken someday. Perhaps even Elona Zipfel will wake up."
"Yes, we're prepared for all possibilities. Whenever they wake up, there won't be a crisis that threatens the world's destruction like during the appearance of the evil god."
"You're very dependable, my son-in-law. It feels like it was just yesterday when I met that boy who risked his life in Colon, and now he has become a giant."
"I've always received help from the Hidden Palace since then. If it weren't for the Hidden Palace's connection, I would have died several times by now."
"It's good that you know that. Both for me and for Syris."
"Yes, I'll do my best. If there's anything lacking, please let me know."
As Jin smiled brightly and spoke, Talaris couldn't help but let out a chuckle. It was cute that he still retained the appearance of a clueless boy, even though he had become a giant.
In Talaris' eyes, Jin was still an innocent child. Despite gaining so much power and authority, Jin had not fallen into corruption or become lonely.
"I'm glad you didn't become exactly like your father. You have a lot to prepare if you're leaving tomorrow, so go ahead."
"Understood, Madame Talaris. Take care of yourself."
"Don't get hurt, and make sure my daughter and Mort don't get hurt either. I won't just sit idly by."
"Of course."
Jin bowed his head and left. Talaris shrugged her shoulders and spoke.
"Well... the kids should handle their own affairs. A love triangle, huh? No, if Sandra Zipfel is involved, would it be a square? How astonishing, my son-in-law."
***
Early next morning.
The infiltration team gathered in the Hall of Nameless, preparing to infiltrate the Tower of Stories. Jin, Valeria, Syris, Yona, and Owal were present.
Now that Jin is included, the team has become a formidable combination that feels invincible no matter where they go on the continent.
As a result, even though their mission was to search the heart of the enemy, there was no sense of fear among the group.
"Hehe, the youngest!"
Ironically, Yona seemed to be the most excited, as she was looking forward to going out with her youngest brother and having a drink.
The group consisted of people Yona loved. It went without saying that Jin and Owal were included, but Yona also held a favorable opinion of Valeria and Syris.
Valeria was originally an nameless' benefactor, and Syris had saved Jin several times as the next master of the Hidden Palace.
Therefore, Yona was in high spirits. Skipping along without making a sound, she seemed almost like a bird hopped on the shoulders of various people.
"Elder sister, it's still hard to read your movements."
"Oh! So now you can read them?"
"I've grown up a lot."
"Does that mean there's no assassin in the world who can kill the youngest alone? I wonder if all of the Nameless could gang up on you?"
"Oh, Yona. Just stay still for a moment, you're too energetic."
"Do you want to die?"
"Well... I guess... I'll stay quiet."
"Hehe, just kidding. You look scared. And don't worry, once we enter the mission area, we'll blend in like air. By the way, I wouldn't mind slitting the throats of a few Zipfel friends while we're at it."
"Yona, that's not allowed. We're going there for investigation, not assassination."
"That's right, I'm not a fool anymore, so I know that much. Right, Valeria?"
"It seems like it."
"Then, was I a fool in the past? Do you want to die too?"
"Please spare me."
"Alright, I'll spare you."
Syris tended to have a weakness for cute things, which was why she couldn't take her eyes off Yona's foolish behavior for a while. There weren't many people in the world who could find Yona cute, and Syris was one of them.
"Acting master of the Hidden Palace! Why are you staring at me like that? Hee."
"I was just looking."
Syris couldn't bring herself to add that she found Yona adorable.
"Just looking!?"
"Lady Syris, shall we start moving soon?"
"Yes."
Syris summoned Mort.
[Boong.]
"After Mort's dimensional teleportation, we will arrive at the Theia Plain, about 15 km away from the Tower of Stories. Once we arrive, the Nameless King will complete the group concealment and then we will approach the tower."
Jin said.
Owal's ability to conceal others was far superior to Yona's. That was why in the past, in the Sota Desert, Rosa had been able to secretly observe Jin and his group without Zipfel noticing.
"The best scenario is to arrive safely, examine the records, and leave immediately without being detected. Even if we are discovered, I don't think there is a high chance of a battle, but if such a situation arises, we will escape immediately."
Engaging in a battle on enemy territory, especially fighting in the Tower of Stories, would be madness even for Jin. Once they escaped, it was best to focus on the next step.
"Hehe, don't worry about getting caught, youngest. If we get detected even during infiltration through dimensional teleportation, Lord Owal should retire. What kind of Nameless King would that be?"
"Yona..."
"Do you want to die?"
"Hehe, just trying it out. Let's go."
Without realizing it, Owal felt even more like a fool in Yona's presence. Owal didn't bother to hide that fact, and Jin found it quite enjoyable to see that side of Owal.
The group climbed onto Mort's back.
As the white dimensional portal opened, they raced through the snow garden, and in no time, the group arrived at the Theia Plain.
"...Is this the Theia Plain?"
"Mort, did you bring us to the right place?"
Jin and Syris spoke at the same time. The Theia Plain before their eyes looked completely different from what they had known.
The plain, despite its name, was rugged and fragmented, as if it had been torn apart. And scattered throughout were thick chaos that seemed to burn like fire.
Mort had undoubtedly brought them to the Theia Plain.
In that case, there was only one meaning behind this dark landscape.
"...The remnants of a battle were left untouched here. This chaos was probably spread by Kelliark Zipfel."
It seems that Kelliark's rampage turned out to be true. Mort coughed in the chaos and concealed himself in the snow garden, while Jin deployed a shield of shadow force to protect the group.
Despite bringing Owal, the Nameless King, they couldn't properly conceal themselves in this situation. The visibility was poor, and they couldn't even see the tower.
Just as they were considering how to respond, they felt a dark energy approaching from ahead. It was a human figure engulfed in chaos.
[Grooo... Ahhh...]
He had a face that everyone in the group was familiar with.
Kelliark Zipfel, Zipfel's patriarch.
He was getting closer to the group, making beast-like sounds.
"Kelliark Zipfel...!?"
[Ahhh!]
To make matters worse, Kelliark even launched an attack on the group. Jin stepped forward and swiftly cleaved him in half with a single sword strike.
Kelliark dispersed into particles and scattered somewhere. Something that would never happen to real Kelliark Zipfel.
Upon surveying their surroundings again:
They saw numerous Kelliark Zipfels, identical to the one that had just dispersed, approaching the group.
"It seems that something has gone terribly wrong."
Jin tightened his grip on the sword in his hand, no longer flustered.
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[T/L: Join $29 membership on my "buymeacoffee" page and read 55 chapters ahead and daily 1 new chapter update. I have introduced new memberships, and you can read upto 75 or 85 chapters ahead.]
章節 627: CHAPTER 784
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Countless Kelliark Zipfel filled the Theia Plain.
But they were nothing more than empty monsters created out of chaos, only resembling Kelliark Zipfel in appearance.
Jin came to the conclusion. If all of them were real Kelliarks, Zipfel should have conquered the world by now.
"What is going on?"
"Heh, there are so many of them that we can just kill them all."
Jin felt like the day he first escaped from Laprarosa and entered the Mitra Desert. The party easily fought off the swarming monsters and assessed the situation.
"Valeria, how is your record magic?"
"The chaos is too thick, making it difficult. The tower where the incident began is also too far away. We need to penetrate further inside."
"We'll have to fight our way in while dealing with everything. You don't have to worry about stealth, Lord Owal. For some reason, Veradin... I have a feeling that he knew we would come, so he just left this place alone."
It wasn't just a gut feeling.
The major factions are struggling to deal with the remaining areas of chaos contamination in the world. In the midst of that, Zipfel's heart, the Tower of Stories, has reached this point, and they couldn't just stay still.
"It seems like I'll show you something interesting, and the problem is for you to solve, Veradin intentionally left this area abandoned, right?"
"Yes, Lady Syris. The chaos may be thick, but it's not to the extent that it can't be resolved with Zipfel's abilities. Even the monsters in the form of Kelliark have low combat power."
They weren't all as weak as the initially dead monsters. Among them, there were individuals who occasionally used considerable levels of magic spells. All of them were weakened forms of magic used by Kelliark Zipfel.
Of course, even taking that into account, there was no reason for the Zipfel to leave the vicinity of the Tower of Stories alone. Owal and the others nodded in agreement with Jin's words.
"In other words, even Zipfel may not know the exact cause of how this place has reached this state."
"Yes, that's right, Lady Syris. If we go and examine the records, we will find some clues about that."
[Screeeech...!]
Swoosh!
Every time the party swung their swords, the monsters dispersed into particles.
However, upon closer observation, the particles did not simply evaporate but converged into chaos that burned like flames throughout the plain.
Then, it was reborn as Kelliark Zipfel from within the black flames and aimed at the party. They weren't a direct threat, but it meant that without "fundamental purification," this land couldn't be purified.
The party continued to advance towards the tower without hesitation.
Their justification for intruding into enemy territory without permission became even more certain. Currently, the Theia Plain was in a state where anyone can think that Zipfel "failed to create another evil god."
While on the move, Jin carefully surveyed the battlefield.
'15 km. No, with this level of chaos, problems have likely arisen even up to 30 km outside the Tower of Stories.'
It was a scene that revealed just how intense the battle had been in this place. The plains were filled with traces of dragon claws and various powerful spells.
Among them, the most noticeable were the pools of still clean water and towering pillar-like rocks.
It meant that beings with the highest authority over water and earth had participated in the battle.
The first to come to mind were the dragons of Itelmion and Rikta, Tuyan and Pinia. Coincidentally, the first sentence described in Valeria's record was the fact that they had participated in the battle.
"If Tuyan and Pinia participated, it means Veradin personally intervened, but he appeared in the recent Federation integration conference without a scratch."
The various experiments and the Demon's God's Orb that Zipfel had carried out had significantly increased Veradin's power, but in Jin's opinion, Veradin was still not a match to stand against him.
However, the traces of the battle that became more evident as they approached the tower were of such magnitude that even Jin himself would inevitably be injured.
The magic used during the battle still lingered in certain areas.
At a point where they were halfway to the tower, the party suddenly came face to face with a gigantic flame orb that was blazing in the middle of the plain.
Though somewhat distorted, the flame orb was undoubtedly the magic left behind by Riol Zipfel.
"Decimating effusive flame orb, 2nd version...."
Near the flame orb, various spells that clashed with it at the time were unfolding. They were traces of various Zipfel secret magic spells, including the azure eyes.
The fact that the magic still maintained its form meant that the spellcaster was still alive.
The record magic indicated that the owner of the flame orb was Kelliark Zipfel.
<Ten days ago, a magic unfolded by Kelliark Zipfel to confront his son, Veradin Zipfel. Decimation effusive flame orb, 2nd version continues to exist even after the battle, sustained by his grudge and spirit.>
The party's gaze fell on the record.
After reading the description and looking at it again, they noticed that the creatures resembling Kelliark were reaching out their hands, infusing mana into the flame orb, just like adding firewood to keep the flames alive.
"Since it was a magic unfolded to confront Veradin, the pieces of the puzzle are almost coming together. The center of the battle was Kelliark, the Fire Dragon Kadun, and Veradin."
"It's strange that those are the remnants of Kelliark's grudge. Does it mean that Veradin abandoned Kelliark first?"
Jin and Valeria spoke.
"If Kelliark went on a rampage, it could have been because he was in a state of resentment, hatred, or madness due to chaos."
The important thing was what happened to Kelliark, who was clearly still alive.
"It seems clear why Veradin left this flame orb alone without getting rid of it. He wanted to confirm Kelliark's life and death through this. Therefore, there is a high possibility that Kelliark fled during the battle. It's clear that Kelliark caused the rampage..."
Jin paused for a moment, thinking about the "conditions" for the rampage. Jin knew of two conditions for a rampage.
First, chaos runs rampant when stimulated by larger chaos. The rampages of individuals like Yona and Amela in the past were examples of this.
Second, a rampage caused by someone's, who can handle the power of chaos, manipulation and strategy.
Rosa becoming the evil god by accepting chaos through the prophet fell into this category. If it was the latter, it meant that Kelliark was also receiving assistance from a being similar to the prophet.
Whichever the case, it was a problem that could potentially bring great danger to the world. The party continued past the flame orb and pressed forward towards the Tower of Stories. The remnants of Kelliark's spirits relentlessly attacked, wave after wave.
Finally, the Tower of Stories came into view.
Among Zipfel's magic towers, it was the most overwhelmingly tall and gigantic tower. Even though its upper part was completely shattered, it didn't lose any of its imposing presence.
Now, the distance between the party and the tower was just about 500m.
At such a distance, the forces stationed in the tower should have been unleashing magic. Even with Owal utilizing his stealth abilities to the maximum, it was still an extraordinary feat.
However, the tower seemed completely empty, devoid of any response. It appeared abandoned, and nearby, the spirits of Kelliark writhed.
And the spirits gathered near the tower no longer attacked the party.
Instead, as the party approached, they didn't even spare them a glance but instead prostrated themselves towards the tower. More precisely, they were all bowing towards a person kneeling in front of the tower.
"A person?"
It had been the case since the Kelliark-like creatures emerged, but it was particularly eerie. The monsters seemed as if they were worshiping a god.
It was a woman.
She was kneeling at the entrance of the tower, seemingly unaware of the party's approach.
"That woman seems to be praying...?"
"Heh, how strange. Should I kill her?"
"No, elder sister. She is someone we need to investigate."
The party carefully observed the energy emanating from the woman. A golden aura faintly enveloped her, much like the power of the Bale. Clearly, it was the energy of the Sun God.
[T/L: Here comes a new character.]
Passing by the prostrated spirits of Kelliark, the party approached the woman. She remained unresponsive until the party was right behind her, but when Yona tried to touch her, she spoke.
"Please wait a moment, honored guests, until my prayer is complete."
The party couldn't help but be taken aback by her words.
It was because she knew exactly how Yona was sneaking upon her and trying to poke the woman with her finger.
At least 10-star level power was needed to vaguely perceive movements of current Yona. However, there was no sense of a martial artist's presence coming from the woman.
Jin decided to comply with the woman's words. She was an unknown figure until now, so it was necessary to carefully examine her.
Instead, Valeria opened the record window. The woman didn't seem to be bothered by the unfolding of the record magic right next to her, as she didn't ask them to stop.
<...Veradin Zipfel and the fire dragon Kadun clashed in battle.>
<During the battle, the fire dragon Kadun died once..., ..., and the rampaging Kelliark Zipfel... tried to destroy the Tower of Stories.>
As they approached the magic tower, the records in the window were being described more smoothly than before, detailing the events of that day.
<...Kelliark Zipfel... sought the power of the evil god...>
The pupils of the party grew larger as they looked at the record window. So far, the strong indication was that Kelliark was attempting to transform into the evil god.
The record paused for a moment.
Sweat dripped down Valeria's forehead as she refocused. One sentence that should have appeared in the record window was missing, causing her frustration.
<...Veradin Zipfel defeated the fire dragon Kadun... Kadun couldn't become Veradin's opponent...>
Amidst the fragmented and intriguing records appearing in fragments, the woman stopped her prayer.
And simultaneously, Valeria, in surprise, alternated her gaze between the record window and the woman.
'Why did the records suddenly start appearing so easily right after she finished her prayer?'
Others might not have noticed, but Valeria was keenly aware. The woman's prayer had influenced the records.
Turning around, the woman rose and introduced herself.
"I apologize for my discourteous appearance while I was finishing my prayer. I am Sanna, the shrine maiden of the Sun."
[T/L: You can read more chapters and support me here: https://ko-fi.com/punisher87 & https://bmc.link/punisher87 ]
[T/L: Join $29 membership on my "buymeacoffee" page and read 55 chapters ahead and daily 1 new chapter update. I have introduced new memberships, and you can read upto 75 or 85 chapters ahead.]
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