novelraw Chapter 289: Engagement Ep - The One Who Knows
Chapter 289: Engagement Ep - The One Who Knows
288. Engagement Ep - The One Who Knows
"Why is this woman here?"
Ray couldn’t hide his confusion. He had clearly told her not to serve Malpas, and she had promised she wouldn’t… Then where was Ran?
He had no way of knowing. He thought of Ran, but {Tracking} wasn’t working. Suddenly, he heard the flapping of wings and looked up.
“Watch out!!”
A man with navy blue hair shouted from the fifth-floor railing. A crow the size of a cart swooped down and pecked at the spot where Ray had been.
Ray rolled away, narrowly avoiding the attack. Halpas landed on the ground, clicking his pitch-black beak and glaring at Ray and Arpen with his eight eyes, four on each side of his head. And then, he spoke.
- Fresh prey has arrived! No, upon closer look, it’s just the interlopers. The filthy god’s apostle and his little toy… Caw!
“You’re the filthy one, crow.”
Arpen taunted him, but Halpas seemed unfazed.- Malpas, that fool botched everything. How did he manage to get exposed? And how did he get here so fast? Caw!
“...”
It was a monologue. Halpas was just muttering to himself with no intent to converse. The creature lazily wiped his beak with his wings. At that moment, Prince Pablo shouted from above.
“Don’t listen to him!”
- Damn it. I wasted divine power helping Malpas evolve. What? For a greater victory? Get rid of the Swordmaster first, I said! Caw!
Ray came to his senses as the prince’s warning echoed, and he looked around.
At some point, a ‘7’ appeared above the heads of Arpen, Rera, and the knights. When Halpas cawed, the number dropped to ‘6’. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.
- Malpas has always been like this. Even when Saint Azura split us in two, he wouldn’t listen. I told him to escape to the Ice Island, but he preferred the marshlands. If it weren’t for me, Azura would have caught and annihilated us. Caw!
Ray covered Rera’s ears.
He didn’t know what it was, but he wanted to protect her from its harmful influence, and as a result, he couldn’t hear Halpas’s words. The same went for Rera, who was similarly distracted.
Though they couldn’t avoid the final caw! Ray and Rera’s numbers didn’t decrease.
On the other hand, the numbers above Arpen and the knights who had listened to Halpas all the way dropped to ‘5’. The prince issued another warning. His navy blue hair peeked over the railing, with a ‘2’ floating above his head.
“Do not listen to him! If you hear his words until the end, the numbers will decrease, and when it reaches 1, you’ll become his slave! Blocking your ears is useless; you must not focus!”
- Ah, my pitiful son, the prince. Haven’t I told you? Commoners and royalty can never be together. If she finds out who you really are, she’ll be horrified…
“Then just make sure he can’t talk! Attack!”
Arpen charged, swinging his greatsword. But even as the aura blade flared blue, Halpas swiftly flew up, looking down at Arpen as he spoke.
- Impressive aura blade you have there. I’m jealous. But you do realize it’s not truly yours, right? That’s the nature of an apostle. Mortals are just tools to be wielded. Caw!
“I can’t hear you, you idiot!”
But the number above Arpen’s head had already dropped to ‘4’. Realizing this, Arpen’s expression became troubled.
All Halpas needed to do was keep flying.
No matter how skilled a Swordmaster, he was still a human bound to the ground, while the winged creature was free from the earth. Arpen cursed and sprinted toward the stairs.
Ray also grasped the situation. It explained why the knights were scattered, fighting on the upper floors. They were occasionally waiting for Halpas to land on the railings.
“Rera, let’s go together. We’ll head up and…”
Ray tried to take Rera with him up the stairs, but Halpas fluttered down from the height of the second floor and spoke.
- Toys of the gods, aren’t you? Seems like you two are the toys that love each other… Caw, you’re surprised, aren’t you? Want me to tell you how I knew?
“Don’t listen!”
Ray covered Rera’s ears again. However, Halpas’s voice was not just sound; it drilled directly into their minds. And it wasn’t something they could easily ignore.
- Little toy girl, I can see that you’re carrying his seed. Congratulations. You’re going to be pregnant soon. Caw!
Ray hesitated, holding Rera’s head. His chest tightened, and he desperately hoped Rera hadn’t heard those words. But the number above her straw-yellow hair had dropped to ‘5’.
“I-I’m going to have a child…?”
“It’s a lie! Rera, stay here. I’ll be back.”
Ray ran. He had never wanted to kill someone so badly.
By the time Ray finally made it up to the fifth floor, Halpas was flying even higher. The tall, square hall was lined with gallery-like corridors, complete with railings. Halpas would fly from place to place, taunting someone or landing on the gallery to attack.
He was powerful even without flight.
At least three or four knights had to team up to hold their ground against him, yet Halpas would attack those who wouldn’t listen and fly away when the knights gathered. Even in the midst of battle, he kept talking, and eventually, a knight received a ‘1’.
- Caw caw caw caw! Jump!
The dazed knight threw himself without hesitation. Though the hypnosis wasn’t that strong, he came to his senses mid-fall, screaming. He plummeted, landing headfirst with a thud, and died.
A knight could land safely from a three or four-story fall. But that was only when they jumped with the intent to land safely; leaping without control like a diving entry guaranteed death.
At that moment, Ray spotted Prince Pablo de Klaus, the one who had warned them earlier, and offered a quick greeting.
[Achievement: Met Pablo de Klaus - Slight favor gained from all nobles serving the Klaus royal family. Slight favor gained from Pablo de Klaus.]
“Hello, I am Ray Dexter. You’re the prince, right?”
There was no time for formalities; he just gave a brief nod. The prince didn’t seem to mind and soon asked a question.
“Thank you for coming. But who are you?”
“We are the 1st Knight Order of the Kingdom of Astin. Baron Arpen Albacete, our commander, is also here.”
“Ah! I heard about you from Sir Jacob. First, let me thank you for the warning and for coming to help.”
“It’s nothing. It’s what we should do. However… What happened to Count Jacob Mordred? I warned you to be careful of the king. If only you had taken things slower…”
Ray asked with a hint of dissatisfaction.
Ray thought they had acted too hastily. Prince Pablo de Klaus shook his head, explaining that they had no choice.
“We hadn’t long received your warning before my father… no, the king suddenly changed. Count Jacob Mordred was removed from his position as Captain of the Royal Guards and accused of treason. Count Mordred went into hiding as best he could. I, on the other hand, sought the support of the church… but it wasn’t enough. My authority did not surpass the king’s orders. While the cardinals, priests, and holy knights were being expelled, the only thing I could do was rally the knights to my side. Count Mordred’s loyalty was a great help.”
“...”
“The king issued decrees throughout Manubium, while I went around trying to persuade the nobles… it was a highly volatile situation. I didn’t know when I might be deposed, but last night, Count Jacob insisted we go to the palace immediately.”
“Why?”
The prince shrugged.
“I don’t know. Count Jacob only said he had a bad feeling, that something terrible would happen if we didn’t go right away. He was stubborn, insisting that he’d go alone if he had to, so we moved up our plans. We led the knights and stormed the palace… and there, we found an egg.”
The prince approached the railing and pointed to the egg containing Ran’s younger sister, Anne Aviker.
“Count Jacob charged straight at it. He didn’t even glance at the king, who was transforming into a crow. The count smashed the egg and killed the person inside, seeming relieved only after that. And then… that crow pierced his chest.”
“I see… I apologize.”
The prince shrugged again. Though he shared the same navy blue hair, unlike his brother, Prince Arnolf de Klaus, who was known for his exemplary demeanor, Pablo seemed more easygoing. Now, it was his turn to ask a question.
“I suppose it’s not fair to ask someone who has just arrived, but what do you think we should do to capture that creature? We’ve been fighting it all night without finding a solution.”
“Doesn’t it ever get tired?”
“No. If anything, we’re the ones getting exhausted.”
Ray glanced at Halpas.
The creature, with its cart-sized body and feathered wings, was clearly conserving its divine power. Compared to Malpas, who had revealed his massive form and fought with steel wings, Halpas’s appearance was relatively modest. Apart from the [Call of the Battlefield] cast earlier in Manubium, it was clear he hadn’t used any divine power.
Compared to Oriax, Malpas had seemed cunning, but this one was even worse.
Still, when a so-called god disregards pride and fights in such a shameless manner, there’s little that can be done. Moreover, the ability to fly was a tremendous advantage.
“Have you tried shooting arrows?”
“Of course. We used the guards’ bows, but the arrows just got stuck in the feathers.”
“What about javelins?”
“He deflects them with his wings or dodges them. We’ve tried throwing them secretly, but with so many eyes… it seems there’s no blind spot. We even tried nets, but it was more trouble than it was worth. I’ve sent someone to fetch a wizard, but they still haven’t arrived.”
Understandably, the prince wasn’t foolish; he’d tried everything possible. Ray sighed and said,
“Don’t expect much from the wizard. Against such dark gods, magic is useless.”
As Ray pondered how to capture Halpas, despair threatened to set in. Suddenly, a shout rang out from above.
“I’ve been waiting for this, you damn bird!”
It was Arpen. Ray looked up and, to his shock…
“Die!”
Arpen ran along the gallery, leapt onto the railing, and jumped! From the ninth floor! He somersaulted in mid-air and swung his sword.
Everyone gasped. It was practically suicide. But it was so unexpected that Halpas couldn’t avoid Arpen’s aura blade and ended up with a small cut on his belly.
And Arpen?
He fell.
But with the momentum from his sprint, he managed to barely cling to the fifth-floor railing, sliding across the square hall’s edge.
He succeeded only by using the rebound of his rotation to toss away his heavy greatsword, which crashed down around the third floor with a resounding clang.
“Haha! At least I got a hit in!”
“Are you all right?”
“Oh, perfectly fine. Who am I? I’m Arpen Albacete! The greatest genius born of the Albacete tribe, the Swordmas... Ah! Blood! Damn, how embarrassing.”
Arpen, hanging from the railing, wiped his nose. He must have hit something in his desperate grip. He climbed up, roughly wiping away the blood from his nose.
And as fate would have it…
“...Nice to meet you. I’m Pablo de Klaus.”
It was right in front of the prince.
The prince was caught in an awkward position—ignoring the situation would be rude, but addressing it was equally embarrassing. Arpen seemed to realize this too and, with a flushed face, extended his hand for a handshake.
“Ahem! Our first meeting is rather ungraceful, I must admit. A pleasure to meet you. I’m Baron Arpen Albacete.”
“No, it’s an honor. Your bravery is impressive. To have wounded that creature—truly remarkable.”
“Ah, well… it’s nothing. Now, I’d better retrieve my sword. Don’t worry about Halpas. I’ll take care of him.”
Arpen disappeared down the stairs to retrieve his discarded sword. Ray was left somewhat stunned.
‘What a reckless man. In both good and bad ways. But… is that really the only way?’
To catch something that flies, those bound to the ground have no choice but to leap. If arrows and javelins are useless, then maybe that’s the only option.
In fact, having Halpas indoors was fortunate. If he were outside, the thought of capturing him wouldn’t even cross their minds.
Ray scratched his head, gathering his thoughts. Despite the recklessness, maybe tying ropes around the knights’ waists and having them jump could work. As he was considering this, Halpas let out a long, mocking laugh—Caw caw caw caw caw caw caw caw caw!
- What a senseless human. I’m impressed. So… I’ll give you a proper challenge!
Halpas flapped his wings rapidly, circling the hall. At first, Ray thought he was just increasing his speed to avoid a similar attack, but then he, the prince, and the knights were horrified.
“Stop him! That maniac!”
With every beat of Halpas’s wings, the lights on one floor of the gallery went out.
The hall, with walls finished in marble on all sides, had no windows. When the lights went out, complete darkness ensued. The lanterns lining the walls were the only source of light for the knights, who became frantic.
Halpas cawed gleefully.
- Let’s see you jump now, humans. I love the feeling of defeat, but I also enjoy reckless bravery! Especially from those destined to lose, caw! Oh? My son! You’ve finally started listening to me!
In the chaos, even the prince, who had led the knights all night, had his eyes go blurry and clouded.
Ray’s vision went black.