Chapter 558

House Lakion

Lord’s Manor

“Are you okay?” Huan asked as he looked at Beltz’s torn cheek with a worried expression on his face.

“It’s just a superficial wound. Don’t worry about it.” Beltz wiped away the blood flowing from his cheek and shook his head. “They wouldn’t have been deceived if we didn’t go this far.”

He briefly exhaled, while looking down on the empty carpet.

“Yes. Fortunately, it looks like we averted the crisis,” Huan said as he nodded gently, as if his fiery pressure had never happened.

“It’s too early to be relieved.”

Beltz furrowed his brow while grabbing his left wrist.

“Raon Zieghart and the Sword of Rakshasa noticed that the White Blood Religion wasn’t the perpetrator right after they saw the corpses in the Sinigan branch. They are extremely insightful, so they must still suspect us.”

“They probably do, but they won’t find anything.”

Huan and Bletz casually continued their conversation as if they’d already expected that the Light Wind division would notice that the White Blood Religion didn’t attack the Sinigan branch.

“Since there are no clues, they will suspect us and the five demons, and even start to think that there’s an unknown enemy. They’ll fall into a swamp of thoughts. In the end, they will simply end up as our sacrifices.”

“By sacrifices, you mean…”

Beltz tilted his head, showing that he couldn’t understand what he meant by sacrifice.

“I told them that the Light Wind division is visiting us, and he said he will personally arrive.”

Huan leaned back in his chair and curved his lips into a smile.

“I thought Siollen ruined the plan we’ve been preparing for dozens of years, but this is even better. We will take this opportunity to get rid of our humiliating role as a vassal house.”

“I respect your will, father. However, it’s a bit regrettable.” Beltz briefly clicked his tongue while looking up into the air.

“It’s true that the preparations aren’t perfect, but we can’t wait forever. Since all Five Demons are restraining Zieghart right now, this is the perfect time to proceed.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He slowly shook his head at Huan. “If this was going to happen anyway, I should’ve stopped them from bringing the corpses in Sinigan to Zieghart.”

“Hmm?”

“Because we could’ve used those corpses to fill Kriatus’s stomach.”

“Kuhahahaha!”

Huan laughed like a madman and patted Beltz’s back.

“Yes, that’s how you should think as Huan’s son, as Lakion’s successor.”

His gentle smile was unbefitting of his appearance, showing that he was truly satisfied with Beltz’s statement.

“But feeding the blood of those vermin to it won’t achieve any impactful growth for Kriatus. It’s soon going to devour the flesh and drink the blood of the Sword of Light and the Dragon Slayer, so you don’t need to worry about it.”

Huan shook his hand, telling him to look forward to it.

“When are we getting started?”

“He said that he was going to head this way immediately, so everything will be over by tomorrow evening.”

He tapped on the throne's armrest with his finger and curved his lips into an evil smile.

“Watch Siollen carefully until then and make sure that she doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“She’ll never be able to escape since I’ve dispatched Basion.”

“My second son is way too aggressive. I’m worried about what he will do.”

“I’ll go see.”

“Yes. The one who will become the head of Lakion needs to know everything at all times.”

Huan finished talking and looked out the window. His lips curved into a frightening smile as he watched the moon floating in the sky.

“Our Lakion is going to rise on its own soon enough.”

* * *

Raon looked around after he put on a mask.

“Oh...”

Dorian blinked, in a daze. He was with him because he used the same room.

“I’ll be back, so I leave it to you in the meantime.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Dorian took a human-sized doll wearing a blond wig from his belly pocket.

He put the doll in Raon’s bed, covered it with the blanket, and gave him a thumbs up.

“It’s perfect, isn’t it?”

“I-it’s perfect indeed, but why do you even have a doll like that?”

“It’s a necess—”

“Whatever, stop it.”

Raon couldn’t understand how far his concept of ‘necessity’ stretched.

Raon rapidly shook his head, opened the window slightly, and escaped through the small opening.

The things you were looking for, you might be able to find them in his pocket.

Wrath gasped, dumbfounded by Dorian’s belly pocket.

‘That might be true.’

Raon smiled faintly and nodded. He felt like he could just ask him to give him a dragon heart, and Dorian would take it out of his belly pocket while saying that it was a necessity.

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the mansion on the opposite side from above the auxiliary building’s roof.

‘I knew it, they are observing us.’

He could feel the presence of people observing the auxiliary building from the mansion’s window.

Since he escaped from the window while their gazes were elsewhere, none of them had noticed Raon’s presence.

Raon concealed himself inside the shadow of the night and headed to the lord’s manor, where he’d met Huan.

Huan and Beltz were nowhere to be seen because it was early in the morning, and the warriors standing guard were glaring around with straight postures.

‘Let’s start here.’

He used the Snow Flower’s Veil on top of minimizing his presence to start probing into House Lakion.

He investigated how many people were on guard, where they were guarding, and which area was the most defended before he returned to the lord’s manor.

‘How strange.’

Even though he’d thoroughly searched House Lakion, he couldn’t find any demonic energy, blood energy, or anything special like a formation. It was a completely ordinary house of warriors that was simply rather powerful.

Raon leaned his back against a wall where the moonlight didn’t reach and bit his lip.

‘I couldn’t have been mistaken about that demonic energy…’

The stench of corrupted demonic energy that he’d felt from Beltz was the real deal. Even though he couldn’t sense it, there was definitely something inside the house that was spreading the demonic energy.

‘Shall I look for it tomorrow?’

The sun was going to rise in a few hours. He started to think that he should stop for the time being and resume the next dawn.

‘No. I can’t drag this out when I have no idea what Lakion is planning.’

Nothing was determined yet—the relationship between Huan and Beltz, what they were plotting, and the perpetrator of the attack on the Sinigan branch.

Since he couldn’t predict how the situation was going to unfold, gathering information as fast as possible was the right course of action.

Raon climbed the high and straight pillar of the lord’s manor.

He looked down on the entirety of House Lakion from the highest spot.

‘I couldn’t find it in the buildings, gardens, lakes, or facilities. Then where could it be…?’

He looked around and noticed a small mountain to the east, adjacent to House Lakion’s territory.

‘A mountain? Is it private property? In that case, it would be the best location…’

Since it was right next to the house and no one lived around it, it was the perfect place to hide something.

It was going to take a long time to search the entire mountain, but Raon estimated that he could return by sunrise if he moved quickly.

Raon made up his mind and went over the Lakion’s wall to head towards the mountain.

‘Hmm?’

Once he reached the base of the mountain, a terrible stench similar to sewage stimulated his soul.

‘This stench…’

It was weaker than the stench he’d gotten from Beltz the day before, but it had almost the exact same nature. It was definitely corrupted demonic energy.

‘Wrath.’

......

Raon called for Wrath, but he didn’t respond. He seemed to have fallen asleep already. He was seriously useless when it counted.

Raon frowned because of the stench and climbed the mountain. The scent of the corrupted demonic energy originated from a boulder located halfway up the mountain.

‘This place…’

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the boulder. The stench was endlessly leaking from it, but he couldn’t feel any mana.

However, his assassin's eyes were grasping something.

‘The color of the soil differs very slightly.’

The soil surrounding the boulder was a shade different from elsewhere.

It must’ve been the result of the boulder’s movement pushing up the soil.

‘Which means it’s a mechanism.’

Considering the fact that he couldn’t sense any mana at all, it must’ve been a device made purely of machines.

‘Shall I go back?’

He managed to learn where to touch to move it after a close examination of the boulder.

However, the ones inside might notice his presence if he opened the path. That was why he couldn’t hastily decide to enter.

Raon jumped down from the boulder and climbed a tree nearby. Someone was bound to enter, so he figured it would be best to wait until that happened.

He waited about an hour on the tree before he sensed a presence from above the mountain instead of underneath.

His presence was almost perfectly concealed, but he couldn’t hide from Raon’s aura perception since he was using the Perception of the Snow Flower.

Raon waited while holding his breath, and a bulky man wearing a robe quietly came down from the mountain and stood in front of the boulder.

Raon furrowed his brow while looking at his back.

‘Beltz Lakion?’

His entire body was covered by his robes, but he was Beltz Lakion. Even though he was hiding his presence, there was no way Raon wouldn’t recognize him since he’d only met him the day before.

Sssh.

He seemed to have noticed that the soil around the boulder had different colors. He carefully mixed the soil with his hand and put his finger into the hole carved at the edge of the boulder.

Sssh!

The boulder was smoothly pushed away, and a hole leading inside opened up. As Raon expected, it was a mechanism that didn’t use any mana at all.

Raon followed Beltz like a shadow as he entered the hole.

‘This is terrible…’

The stench was even worse inside. Raon could guess that they’d used some kind of sorcery or magic to keep the demonic energy inside, then used the mechanism to keep intruders at bay.

‘They are extremely meticulous.’

Even though it was in their own home, they spared no effort in making it covert. It was clear that they were no ordinary people, just like he’d expected.

Raon went down while only stepping on the stairs that Beltz stepped on, and he could see a cavern illuminated by vivid yellow lighting.

There were a significant number of rooms connected to the cavern. The sound of breathing could be heard from inside, and the stench of corrupted demonic energy was leaking from their breath.

‘What are they even doing here?’

Raon followed Beltz while wondering about what they were doing with the corrupted demonic energy and how they were controlling it.

Beltz was walking towards the biggest door at the center of the cavern as if he weren’t interested in anything else.

Wham.

Once he opened the door, a place that looked like it was covered in red paint was revealed.

* * *

A little girl wearing ragged clothes was bound by chains in the dusty corner, and a middle-aged woman was floating in the air, tied with thin threads like a marionette.

“Huh? Beltz, you’re here.”

The young man who was tearing off the middle-aged woman’s flesh raised his chin sharply.

“Huff…”

The middle-aged woman’s flesh was torn off, but she bit her lip to the point of bleeding to swallow her scream—probably because of the girl in the corner.

“Basion, what are you doing?”

“It’s boring to just take care of a child. I was having some fun to relieve my boredom.”

The young man called Basion flicked his finger to launch the flesh and blood from his hand. The flesh flew at the little girl and dropped at her feet.

“I’m pretty sure I told you to simply observe Siollen.”

Beltz furrowed his brow while looking at the little girl, who was groaning.

“I didn’t do anything after I saw the blood yesterday. You should understand this much.”

Basion complained and shrugged his shoulders.

“......”

Beltz looked at Basion for a moment before he approached Siollen, who was tied up in a corner.

“B-Beltz! Please, I beg you! Let my nanny go!”

Siollen didn’t even care about herself. She went on her knees in front of Beltz, pleading for him to save her nanny, who was tied up by threads.

“I’ll never do it ever again! I won’t do anything, so please!”

“Actions have consequences.”

Beltz calmly shook his head.

“If you didn’t go to the Sinigan branch, no one in there would’ve died and your nanny wouldn’t have ended up in that state. It’s all your fault.”

“B-Beltz…”

Siollen’s lips trembled, terrified by Beltz’s emotionless eyes.

“Yes, that’s right. If you hadn’t done anything, I wouldn’t have needed to waste my time here.”

Basion frowned and shook his hand.

“But you are rather lucky. I would’ve cut your head off already if you weren’t my little sister.”

He mimed drawing a line on his neck with his hand as if it were a shame that he couldn’t do it.

“Basion.”

Beltz turned around and looked down at Basion.

“Zieghart’s men are on the move. Don’t leave this place for a while.”

“Why do I have to stay in here like a mole? It’s boring!”

“Just endure it a bit longer. What you want is going to happen soon.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Our father made up his mind. Even that person is going to arrive soon.”

“Finally! Are we removing that dirty title of vassal house?!”

A grotesque laugh leaked from Basion as he said that he was looking forward to it.

“If you understand, stay quiet.”

Beltz grabbed the doorknob. He turned around to briefly look at Siollen, then he opened the door and left the room.

“Too bad for you.”

Basion approached Siollen with heavy and shuffling steps.

“My youngest sister, you must’ve been waiting for those bastards from Zieghart, but it looks like our father is planning to offer them as sacrifices.”

He caressed Siollen’s cheek and rolled his lips into a smile.

“It’s all over now, and you are also going to become like me soon enough.”

Basion licked his lips while looking at Siollen, madness leaking from his eyes.

“You’d better get used to it in advance because the family you used to know doesn’t exist anymore.”

He sneered at his little sister before he went outside.

“I’m sorry......”

Siollen lowered her head and the tears that she’d been suppressing flowed from her eyes.

“I-I’m fine, my Lady.”

Her nanny, who was tied by threads, twitched her dry lips.

“You were trying to do the right thing. I’m fine, so please steady your heart.”

The nanny forced herself to smile while looking at Siollen.

“I’m really sorry.”

Siollen’s hands were shaking uncontrollably. The shackle binding her wrist trembled, making a faint sound echo throughout the room.

‘If only I didn’t do anything…’

It was because she went to the Sinigan branch that everyone who’d helped her escape had died and her nanny was being tortured, her flesh being torn off.

She even wanted to end her own life because she felt guilty for the death of everyone in the Sinigan branch.

“Sniff......”

Siollen scratched the ground with her bloody nails when a man wearing a black mask emerged from the shadow behind the door. His nonchalant eyes were revealed, his finger placed in front of his mouth.

* * *

Raon created a thin aura barrier to prevent Basion from hearing them and walked up to the two.

“Ah......”

“Wh-who are you?”

Siollen simply groaned, and her nanny barely managed to open her mouth.

“I’m from Zieghart.”

Raon took out the tablet with Zieghart’s emblem on it and showed it to them.

“Ah, aah…”

The nanny let the tears that she’d been suppressing for the sake of the girl fall, exhaling her desperate breath.

“Please, please save our lady!”

Raon looked at the girl who was shackled by chains while listening to the nanny.

‘Is she the one who delivered the information to the Sinigan branch?’

Raon managed to acquire a significant amount of information from the conversation between Beltz and Basion.

That girl was called Siollen, and she was the little sister of the two. She seemed to be the one who tried to reveal Lakion’s evil deeds to the Sinigan branch.

“Tell me what’s going on here.”

Raon went on one knee and met Siollen’s eyes.

“Uhhh......”

Siollen’s shoulders trembled, overwhelmed by emotions, but she realized that she didn’t have much time and immediately nodded.

“O-our house has joined forces with the Holy Sword Alliance.”

“Holy Sword Alliance?”

Raon frowned while looking at Siollen.

‘Is she really mentioning the Holy Sword Alliance now?’

He’d thought that it was obviously the Black Tower that was backing them up because of the demonic energy filling the space. That was why the name of Holy Sword Alliance was completely unexpected.

“Yes, it’s the Holy Sword Alliance. Our house changed after their swordsman visited us and gave a sword to my father.”

“What do you mean by changed?”

“The swordsmen who couldn’t recklessly swing their swords at people started to commit murder for no reason. Th-they only focus on swords, and getting stronger is their only concern. They are completely uninterested in other matters.”

Siollen forcibly opened her trembling lips and continued.

“The people who didn’t change like that disappeared overnight, and people whose faces I don’t know replaced them. My home is gradually becoming a completely unknown place…”

“Is that why you went to the Sinigan branch?”

“I-I was trying to tell them that the Holy Sword Alliance was behind it, but everyone… Everyone was killed…”

She lowered her head while telling him about how Beltz went to the Sinigan branch to destroy them. The girl couldn’t even make a sound as her mind cried in despair.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone to them. It’s because of me that they…”

“That’s not true.”

Raon shook his head while holding Siollen’s shoulders, which were trembling so violently that it made him anxious.

“You did nothing wrong,” He said, observing the demonic energy emerging from other rooms at the same time.

‘Is their demonic energy influenced by that sword?’

A sword that created corrupted demonic energy. It wouldn’t be strange to call it a demonic sword.

‘But why did they give a sword like that to them?’

Since the Holy Sword Alliance was a group of insane sword demons who only cared about gaining powerful swordsmanships and swords, it wouldn’t be strange for them to possess a sword like that.

However, Raon couldn’t understand why they would ever give it to House Lakion.

‘Considering the fact that he said that person is coming, they might be a trade.’

Who was backing House Lakion and what they were doing were revealed, but it seemed difficult to resolve the issue.

‘No, there’s an easy way to resolve it.’

Considering what Beltz has said, Huan seemed to be planning to hand over the Light Wind division to the Holy Sword Alliance.

That meant he just needed to take over the house as quickly as possible and make a trap to attack the Holy Sword Alliance when they arrived. That should create the best results without taking any damage.

“Where is the sword that the Holy Sword Alliance gave them?”

“It disappeared after I saw it, and I don’t know where it is. I’m sorry…”

“It’s fine.”

Raon put his hand on Siollen’s head and smiled at her.

“I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to rescue you right now. I’ll be back tomorrow morning. Can you endure it?”

Since the Light Wind division wasn’t aware of the situation either, taking action right away wasn’t a good decision.

The best course of action was to finish the preparations perfectly and take action while the enemy was unprepared.

“I’m fine, but......”

Siollen bit her lip while looking at her nanny.

“It’s okay. I can endure it.”

The nanny smiled awkwardly and nodded her head.

“I’ll be back soon, so please endure.”

Raon nodded at them and hid away in the darkness. His eyes glowed red as he left the room filled with demonic energy.

‘I have much to do.’

* * *

The next day.

Huan Lakion frowned while sitting on his throne.

‘What’s the matter?’

Most of the warriors in the house were gathered in the lord’s manor in the morning because Rimmer suddenly asked him to summon everyone in the house.

“Since it was Rimmer’s request instead of Raon Zieghart, it shouldn’t be a big deal.”

Beltz calmly shook his head.

“Even though his energy center was repaired, he’s still living like a punk. I’m sure he’s only going to say stupid shit like he did yesterday.”

“The Sword of Light’s craftiness is second to none. We need to be careful. Did you check on Siollen and Basion?”

“Yes, they both haven’t moved from there.”

“Haa.”

Huan furrowed his brow and lightly drank the tea on the table.

“The day is near. We only need to endure a bit more, so be careful with your actions and words.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

Beltz nodded, and a knock could be heard from the audience chamber’s door.

“Enter.”

Huan nodded. The lord’s manor’s door opened up, and the Light Wind division and Rimmer made their entrances. The swordsmen’s eyes were shining dangerously, like generals on a battlefield.

‘Hmm?’

Even though Rimmer and most of the Light Wind swordsmen could be seen, Raon Zieghart and another person were missing.

“Why are you missing people after asking us to gather every—”

“We found the culprit.”

Rimmer cut Huan off and smiled cheerfully.

“Culprit…?”

“Culprit?”

“I’m talking about the culprit that we were all looking for. We found out about the evil fiends who attacked the Sinigan branch and killed countless people.”

His eyes were brimming with confidence as he advanced through the central path, acting as if he’d figured out the truth behind the incident.

“Who is it?”

Huan suppressed his pounding heart and asked the question with bloodshot eyes.

“The son of a bitch who caused this is…”

Rimmer’s smile deepened. Just as he was about to open his mouth, a huge vibration occurred from the eastern mountain of House Lakion.

Whaaam!

A huge sound of explosion followed, and everyone inside the audience chamber looked in that direction.

“What is that?!”

“We’ve unleashed a mad dog.”

Rimmer bared his white teeth while looking up at Huan.

“He will bring the perpetrator soon enough. Of course......”

‘I can’t guarantee his life.’

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Writing Ant, 글개미]

[Translator – Kyangi]

[Proofreader – Harley]