Chapter 164: Critical Point (1)
It was a day, two weeks after the Saintess of Harmony received her revelation.
Naias was traveling through the Centurion region in the south of the empire, carrying a glass bottle filled with her own blood.
She was going to trade with the Apostle of the Evil God, who had kidnapped the Saintess of Order using dragon blood.
Normally, she would not have been allowed to leave alone, but this time, thanks to the efforts of Laiteria, the Saintess herself, she was able to get out without any trouble.
If they had known Naias’s purpose, they would have stopped her from leaving the holy land.
In fact, Naias herself felt frustrated as she embarked on this journey.
“I really don’t want to do this.”
She was a dragon and a hero.
It was natural for her to feel repulsed by the idea of trading with the cult that was disrupting the world.
If it wasn’t for the trust that the Saintess had received, she wouldn’t have had to draw her blood and go out like this.
Why did the Goddess of Harmony choose to trade with the cult?
And why did the Evil God agree to accept this unreasonable deal?
The more she thought about it, the more questions she had.
“…”
Of course, having doubts didn’t change anything about the situation.
It was a matter that had been agreed upon between the Goddess of Harmony and the Evil God.
Even if the Apostle of the Evil God appeared here, he was nothing more than an agent who received orders from the Evil God.
Their opinions didn’t matter at all in this trade.
Hoo.
Naias sighed to relieve the frustration that was rising in her chest, when she felt a presence in the noisy forest where trees were lined up.
She saw a strange man at the place where she had received the revelation.
“You’re later than I expected.”
The man also noticed Naias and started walking towards her.
Thud. Thud.
The sound of his footsteps echoed in the dense forest.
A cloaked man approached me with a relaxed attitude, showing no signs of nervousness. He was followed by a girl in a nun’s dress, who looked pale and sick.
“Are you the Apostle who agreed to meet me today?”
As the distance between us narrowed, I scanned his figure and weapons with my dragon eyes.
He had two swords on his waist, one much heavier than the other.
They looked difficult to wield with both hands, but he was an Apostle, so he could use any kind of weapon skill.
I prepared myself to subdue him if he drew his swords, and measured the gap between us with my eyes.
“Well, yes. I’m Peter Enklov, the Sixth Apostle.”
He introduced himself casually as he came closer.
Peter Enklov, the Sixth Apostle.
He was supposed to be a hero of honor, but he betrayed the holy land and joined the cult as an Apostle.
And now he was the top priority target for elimination by the holy land.
I barely kept my expression from crumpling as I faced the Apostle and introduced myself.
“I’m Naias, here on behalf of the Temple of Harmony.”
“Naias, huh? Nice name. By the way, this is… what was your name again?”
“…Eileen Asnoff.”
“Did you hear that? She’s the Saintess you’ve been looking for.”
Peter pointed his finger at the Saintess of Order behind him.
My eyes followed his gesture and met hers.
Had she been tortured horribly by the cult?
She looked so blue that she couldn’t even look at me properly.
My heart sank at the sight of Eileen’s pale face.
‘What kind of torture did she endure…’
I was opposed to rescuing her, but seeing her in person made me feel pity for her.
I would have agreed to save her if someone suggested it now.
I looked away from Eileen and turned my gaze back to Peter.
Then I casually mentioned the hidden presence of another Apostle.
“It seems like there’s one more hiding somewhere.”
“You have a good sense for a dragon. He’s an insurance for emergencies.”
“Is that so? I don’t think it matters if one more comes out.”
There was one Apostle who showed himself.
And another one who was watching us from behind the trees.
Even if something went wrong, I could escape by myself.
It was a different matter whether I could rescue the Saintess or not.
“You’re pretty confident in your skills.”
“I’m different from mediocre humans. I can easily overpower you.”
With a half-serious provocation, I looked at the Apostle who was hiding in the forest.
I wanted to see how he would react to my taunt.
But my taunt didn’t elicit any reaction from the hidden Apostle.
Instead, Peter, who was right in front of me, showed an unexpected response.
“Uh… yeah… I can overpower you.”
He said with a serious face, as if he was pondering my words.
I felt embarrassed for provoking him.
He looked back and forth between his swords on his waist and me.
He didn’t seem arrogant at all.
The situation was getting weird.
I shook my head and changed the topic.
“Enough with the idle talk. Let’s talk about the trade first.”
“Anyway, did you bring what I need for the trade?”
Peter took his eyes off his swords and went straight to the point.
He was talking about the dragon blood that I had drawn from myself.
The item that he would exchange for the Saintess who was held by the cult.
I reached into my bag and took out a glass bottle filled with blood.
The dragon blood glowed in my hand, radiating a strong life force.
“Is this what you mean?”
“Good. You brought it properly.”
Peter smiled as he saw the dragon blood in the bottle.
I was sure then.
Just like I had heard from the trust, they really wanted my dragon blood.
There were many legends about dragon blood in the human world since ancient times.
But they were mostly symbolic, not practical.
Dragon blood itself couldn’t do anything amazing.
Yet the cult wanted my dragon blood.
It was a suspicious situation.
“There’s no benefit to dragon blood. Why does the cult want it?”
I asked him directly.
Why did the cult want dragon blood?
I thought they might tell me the answer since they got what they wanted.
But Peter snorted at my question.
“That’s none of your concern.”
He stepped closer to me and raised his right hand in front of my eyes.
Snap.
He snapped his fingers and looked down at me.
“Hand it over.”
***
The northern part of the empire, Alterius region.
The duke’s mansion of Colt, which boasted an ironclad security.
In the darkness where only candles faintly lit up the surroundings, Daniel, the Fifth Apostle, stood shrouded in shadows.
Three knights lay fallen around Daniel.
They were the ones who guarded the entrance to the prince’s office, where he was working.
They didn’t even know who had come, and collapsed on the floor with pale faces.
“…”
Daniel watched them and swung Laitimeria in the air, drawing a line.
A dark crack opened in the air, splitting the darkness.
Beyond the crack, a huge eye stared at them. It was the eye of the reaper, who led the dead souls to a place of no return.
Daniel shook off the blood on his weapon and ordered the reaper’s eye.
“——Devour them.”
Sssss—.
The knights around Daniel turned to ash and scattered in the air.
They were sacrificed for a great being, who had been hit by Laitimeria.
The knights who entered the reaper’s eye disappeared without a trace in an instant.
The reaper’s eye also closed the crack and vanished after consuming all the offerings.
There was no sign of anything happening around Daniel, as if nothing had happened.
‘Now there’s only one left.’
Daniel’s eyes fixed on the closed door of the office, after dealing with the knights.
He was originally a farmer who raised cows in Everlint region, but he was now in the north for a certain mission.
Eutenia, who was planning to plunge the empire into chaos, had given him a mission personally.
It was a mission that suited Daniel, who specialized in moving secretly.
And his mission was one thing.
To play a ‘cruel prank’ on the prince who was inside the office.
‘It’s hard to understand this order, no matter how I think about it.’
Daniel remembered the ridiculous content of his mission and grabbed the handle of the office door.
Clank. Squeak.
The tightly closed door of the office made a noise, announcing the intruder’s arrival.
He would have found a way to make no sound at all, if there were any threats left.
But he had already taken care of them all.
As he opened the door and entered, Daniel’s eyes met with the prince’s.
“Sir Beodor?”
The prince raised his head, thinking that it was one of the knights who guarded outside.
He called out the name of the knight.
But it was Daniel who faced him, wrapped in darkness.
The prince realized that something was wrong and frowned.
He grabbed a dagger that was on his desk.
They both held daggers, but they felt different distances from each other.
“Who are you? Where is Sir Beodor?”
“——Laitimeria.”
Daniel’s cold voice echoed in the silent office.
Right after that, a storm of coldness swept through the room.
It was a cold storm that slowed down everything in Daniel’s area.
Frost began to settle on the floor of the office where the prince and Daniel faced each other.
“What, what is this…!”
Sizzle.
The prince’s limbs began to freeze as he cried out in panic.
His body was getting colder as the coldness settled in.
He felt something was wrong and tried to move his body to resist the coldness.
But his hand that held the dagger was frozen and couldn’t swing it easily.
“…Pray.”
“Wha, what are you talking about! Is there anyone there!”
“I won’t kill you. But pray.”
Daniel approached the prince who was immobilized and took out something from his pocket.
A small glass bottle filled with red blood.
It was something he had received from Eutenia as an important item.
He knew well what the blood inside was.
The blood of a vampire bound to the ancestor.
It was something that was hard to obtain unless you were in the cult.
“What are you trying to do to me…!”
“It’s a blood contract.”
“What did you say…!”
Thud.
Daniel pulled out the cork that sealed the bottle.
A thick scent of blood rose from the bottle.
The prince’s eyes trembled as he saw the tilting bottle.
“Pray. Pray that you can survive after drinking this.”
Daniel dropped the blood into the prince’s mouth.
Plop.
The red blood fell on his red tongue.
The prince’s eyes were filled with horror as he drank the vampire’s blood.
