novelraw Chapter 122 : Chapter 122
Chapter 122 : Chapter 122
Chapter 122: The Tragedy of the Marquis's Family
“What’s going on?”
“Hmm? Didn't you feel a commotion in the inner castle around noon?”
“Pardon?”
“The signal, I mean. With your senses, I thought you'd at least have felt something.”
Anthony's stiff expression, as he looked back, furrowed even more.
“Ah……. Well, I was outside the castle. I was about to explain that……”
“Outside the castle?”
“That is……”
“No, I'll hear it later. We don't have time, so let's go for now.”
“Yes. But what in the world……?”
“It just so happened that we made too big of a scene.”
Tadak.
Anthony said so with a bitter smile and immediately began to pick up speed.
Although he had many questions, Muno had no choice but to follow him quietly for now.
Pabak.
‘Towards the inner castle?’
Anthony, who lightly leaped over the 20m high inner castle wall even in full plate armor.
‘Damn it.’
In contrast, Muno could only follow him as quickly as possible by stepping on the seams of the castle wall.
He wasn't confident he could cross quietly if he used his maximum jump or chains for no reason.
Nevertheless.
Thud.
He couldn't help but make some noise when he landed on the other side of the castle wall.
‘Keuk.’
Just in case, he looked around, but Anthony didn't seem to care at all, just nodding his head and starting to run again.
‘What in the world is going on…….’
The smell of blood coming from Anthony, and the feeling that the infamous Blood Knight was in too much of a hurry, made him feel anxious.
And that anxiety was bound to be amplified when his destination turned out to be a huge mansion in the center of the inner castle that seemed to belong to the Osnal family.
Moreover.
‘The smell of blood…….’
Even more so when the smell of blood began to be felt thickly from inside the mansion.
Tadadadak.
‘From the family of the castle lord……?’
The steel fence surrounding the garden of the splendid mansion that indicated the ruler of this huge castle.
The knights guarding the front of it froze like ice as they saw Anthony approaching like a red wind.
The emotion revealed on their faces was clearly ‘fear’.
The fact that only two knights were standing at the main gate at night without any soldiers on guard.
Paaaaang.
And the fact that they didn't stop them at all as they passed through the open gate like the wind.
‘What on earth did these people do here?’
He frowned and glared at the back of Anthony's head as he led the way.
But he never once looked back and crossed the garden as is, roughly throwing open the main door of the mansion.
Kwang!
In front of Anthony, who strode into the door.
A group of people with a much stricter security posture than outside the mansion could be seen.
“You came back really fast……”
A middle-aged man with a nervous impression spoke in a reluctant tone in front of the two knights.
“……Did you go to pick up that young man?”
Anthony didn't bother to answer the middle-aged man's words, which seemed to express his lack of understanding.
“Anything new?”
“Nothing. You are still the only one who has come up from ‘below,’ Sir Anthony.”
“I see. Keep a good watch, as is. For the sake of the Osnal family.”
At those words, which felt cold, the expressions of the knights lined up behind the middle-aged man crumpled, but Anthony didn't care at all.
“……Of course.”
“Let’s go.”
Anthony beckoned to Muno with his hand.
Muno briefly glanced at the middle-aged man and the knights and then followed him silently again.
However, when a tunnel unfitting for a noble family appeared at the bottom of the basement stairs where his footsteps were headed, he had no choice but to open his mouth.
“Demonic energy……”
“Indeed. It’s been half a day since I broke it, and you can still feel the traces. You really should have been here.”
“Pardon?”
“I've taken care of it all, but the traces……. No, let's talk as we go.”
Anthony entered the tunnel, leaving such meaningful words behind.
Muno sighed deeply and had no choice but to follow him.
Hwaruruk.
Under the torches hanging sparsely on the walls of the dark tunnel, the sight of rotting corpses strewn about occasionally came into view.
Frowning at the sight for a moment, Anthony began to speak again.
“While searching the inner castle during the day, we caught the tail of the magicians who were coming in and out of this mansion. This is the result.”
The sight of corpses lined up along the path.
Although his brow furrowed at the foul smell and sight.
Anthony's words were even more surprising.
“Are you saying the Osnal Marquis family was involved with magicians?”
“To be precise, it's the marquis's third son. As soon as we found out, we turned this place upside down.
The people above are the result of that. He made excuses that he was a disowned son, but Marquis Deort Osnal will have to pay the price.”
At Anthony's cold words, Muno couldn't laugh either.
Putting aside the impact the future treatment of the bald marquis he had met at the party would have on the 3rd Prince and Princess Roanna.
“No, that……. They didn't say anything like that.”
“Them?”
“There was a group of magicians that my party and I took care of outside the outer castle. They were even guys who could transform into strange monsters……”
Even as he was dying, that guy hadn't breathed a single word about the Osnal Marquis family.
‘No, was it because we didn't ask? You tenacious bastards.’
Recalling the sight of the lizard man(?) who had a fishy smile on his face until his last breath, Muno couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh.
“Huh? Monsters? Transformation? We have a lot to talk about with each other.”
“Yes. By the way, where is Sir Rantor?”
“He's waiting at the end of this path. Just don't be surprised when you go.”
No way I'll be surprised.
Is there anything more surprising than the fact that the marquis's family was involved with magicians, and that there was a passage like this in the basement of their mansion?
Muno thought so.
But the sight of the huge underground square he saw after running along the tunnel for a while was enough to change his mind.
“This……?”
A huge underground square that couldn't be taken in at a single glance. And the rotting corpses covering the floor with no room to step on.
The demonic energy scattered with the stench and the vibrating smell of blood.
And in the center of it all, a knight in red armor, who seemed to be drenched in blood, was sitting down.
“……Sir Rantor has become a little uncomfortable to move, you see.”
At those words, Rantor, who was forcing himself to get up, let out a hollow laugh and gestured towards Anthony.
“Isn't it mostly the Vice-Commander's work?”
“There's no need for such modesty, Sir Rantor.”
“No……. Ha. Well, this is not the time to argue about that. Sir Muno, come here for a moment and take a look at this.”
The moment he got closer to him, Muno could clearly see why only Anthony had come to the meeting place.
“Sir Rantor, those legs……”
“Ah, it’s fine. They'll heal soon. There were some tough guys.”
The condition of Rantor, one of the strongest in the Iron Kingdom, a Red Iron Knight, looked serious.
His leg armor was completely shattered, and white bones were revealed between the torn muscles in several places from both thighs down to his calves.
A horrific serious injury, as if his lower body had been almost ground away.
It was a wonder that he could even get up.
‘Ugh…….’
Moreover, a disgusting energy was clinging tenaciously to the wound, causing the affected area to rot.
“Demonic energy!? Are you alright?”
“I said I’m fine. As soon as my energy recovers, I can drive it out……”
Chwareureuk.
“No, there’s no need for that……!”
Ignoring Rantor's brave words, Muno extended his chains as is.
Chains were better than fumbling with an old man's legs with his hands.
Pasus.
As soon as he absorbed the demonic energy, Rantor's wound began to show noticeable improvement.
Of course, even so, it didn't seem like an injury that would heal in a day or two.
“Ha. I'm ashamed. I know that artifacts for hunting magicians have a capacity, so I'm sorry for making you waste it.”
It didn't matter at all.
“It's fine. But what in the world happened here?”
“What happened? We fought.”
As he shifted his gaze along Rantor's finger, only then did the large crater dug deep into the floor and the huge crack engraved on the wall come into view.
And also the remnants of demonic energy in the center of the square, spreading faintly among the countless corpses on the floor.
He couldn't even guess what kind of fight Anthony and Rantor had had.
“There were three 5-Circle magicians here. And as you can see, there were quite a few small fries.”
He couldn't help but tilt his head at the words that followed.
‘Just 5-Circle……?’
Of course, he wasn't saying that 5-Circle magicians were easy, but he was puzzled that two 6-Star Red Iron Knights had stepped up and one of them had been so seriously injured.
“……By any chance, was there a lizard giant here too?”
The monster that seemed to be a transformed magician he had seen in the mountains.
He had said that because they might have struggled if something like that had used 5-Circle level magic.
Anthony tilted his head.
“Lizard giant? What are you talking about?”
“There was a monster I fought outside the castle.”
“Ah……. I don't know what it is, but I don't think it's just that.”
While he was clueless, Rantor seemed to have noticed Muno's thoughts and gave a bitter smile.
“Did I look a bit pathetic to the Black Knight who even caught a 6-Circle magician?”
“N-no, sir.”
“Don’t say no. It’s written all over your face.”
“It's really not. I also received help to accomplish what I did before……”
He wasn't being falsely modest.
The Inquisitors and Chloe had played a large part in the Ruble incident that was known to the world.
And he had dealt with the witch named Karin thanks to her carelessness in trying to capture him and the help of the baby dragon Miya.
And yet, he had had to risk his life several times.
“Well, I suppose so. Even if you received help, it's a great feat for someone at your level to deal with a 6-Circle magician.
But generally, the combat ability of a prepared magician should be considered equal to that of an ability user one stage higher.”
“That's right. Thanks to the Vice-Commander, we won. There were seven 4-Circles, and a whole bunch of magic knights, and even guys possessed by magic.
I really felt it this time, that their combat power increases exponentially the more they band together. Ha, it was a real pain in the ass.”
As Rantor added his words, Muno could only smile awkwardly.
Extrapolating from past experiences, he thought he could somehow catch a single 5-Circle magician without anyone's help.
Of course, the trait called Demon Devourer must be that amazing.
Besides, to belittle the capabilities of the two Red Iron Knights, there were too many corpses strewn about the square.
‘At least two hundred…….’
The power of numbers was something that no strong person could ignore.
However, he couldn't help but feel a new sense of regret.
‘I could have evolved if I had eaten just one 5-Circle, no, one 4-Circle magician.’
The lizard monsters he had fought, despite their strength, only had origin demonic energy at the level of a low-level magician or monster.
As he licked his lips in regret.
“Well. This isn't the time for this. Muno, take a look at this.”
And only then did Muno's gaze turn to Anthony's hand.
To be precise, to the fist-sized red stone in his hand.
Woooong.
He could feel an unusual energy.
“What is this……?”
“Do you feel any demonic energy from this?”
He had no choice but to shake his head at Anthony's question.
“No, sir. I definitely feel a powerful energy, but I don't see any spirits, and it doesn't seem to be mana either……. There's a vaguely similar feeling, though.”
“……I see.”
“What is this?”
“It seems the magicians gathered here were trying to protect this.”
“Hmm……?”
At those words, Muno stared at the red stone again, but even so, he didn't feel any demonic energy.
“Are there magical tools that don't have demonic energy?”
“Well. We're not experts on magic either……”
Anthony, who had been clicking his tongue in disappointment, then gestured to the surroundings.
“Ah. You, don't you see any hidden passages of demonic energy here? A barrier, or traces of demonic energy flow, I mean.”
“……No, sir. I can feel the demonic energy scattering in the square, but I don't feel anything else.”
Tsk.
“If you can't feel the demonic energy either, we won't be able to find an answer here. I guess this is the last remaining clue. We'll have to look for a magical tool expert……”
Anthony sighed as he looked down at the red stone in his hand, then opened his mouth again as if he had remembered something.
“Ah, Sir Rantor. As I said before, Sir Muno also caught the tail of some guys outside.”
“Hmm? You mean the monster you mentioned earlier?”
As his gaze returned to him.
“……It wasn't an ordinary monster, it was a person who transformed into a giant lizard giant.”
“What?!”
“We captured one from their group and interrogated him, and we got information that a guy called Elder is gathering sacrifices for some ritual near the southern border of the Empire.”
“Hut!?”
“Tell me in detail, more detail.”
As the surprised eyes of the two Red Iron Knights gathered again, Muno began to recount the events of the day with a bitter smile.