220
Unboxing
dripping.
The eldest son opened his wrinkled eyes at the sound of a soft knock.
‘You’re late.’
The wrinkles on many of the firstborns’ faces have deepened even further.
It took a very long time, but the report never came up.
Even though he couldn’t leave his room, his eyes and ears were always on the palace grounds.
Even though he was locked up, he could know everything that was in the palace.
But the report did not come up as if someone had blocked his eyes and ears.
There were few things that could do this. The most powerful of them was-.
‘Director Selena, what are you thinking?’
She was a woman whose inner self was inscrutable from the beginning.
As I nodded, the door opened quietly and Balhar Khan came in.
Balhar Khan, who always kept a blank expression, was not looking so good right now.
A huge man came in behind Balhar Khan.
Its huge size, almost like a monster, and its rough gait seemed to show its personality.
‘Third.’
Although it was not clearly visible because of the scar, the eldest son’s eyes deepened at the familiar face.
I knew he looked like the third one from the previous meeting, but seeing him in person like this gave me a new perspective.
At that moment, an arm as thick as the bastard’s torso caught my eye.
There are some who are born with strange bodies, but that guy at the last meeting wasn’t like that. Plus, his smell was so strong that it felt like my nose was going to rot.
‘It’s a side effect of the spirit.’
He was the eldest son who had been ruling his brothers for quite some time.
It was a rare sight to see people who, in their quest for power beyond their means, lost themselves in a fit of excessive violence.
However, although the bastard’s steps were precarious, he still seemed to be of sound mind.
‘···Because I’m the third? No.’
The third son’s body was particularly strong. That was why the eldest son chose the third son as the vessel.
However, the spirit that received the spirit directly into the body was not something that could be overcome simply with the body.
The spirit was deeply connected to the mind. When the mind was consumed by the spirit, that was the moment it became a demon.
At that moment, the bastard approached the eldest son.
His subordinates all cheered at once.
His subordinates were carefully selected from among the imperial knights. They were not only capable of handling auras, but also of handling the spirits of small areas.
There were about twenty of them around. They were all gathering their strength and pressuring him at once.
So the pressure must have been considerable, but he was still uninhibited. It was as if he didn’t feel it at all.
The eldest son moved his stiff neck and stared at the man. His eyes were deep yellow. They were out of focus. Each eye was looking at a different place. The eldest son’s eyes squinted at the strange sight.
‘It’s a dangerous situation.’
The eldest son clicked his tongue lightly.
At that moment, the guy who had everyone’s attention slowly opened his mouth.
“You called me?”
The eldest son laughed in vain at the arrogant words.
He must have felt his presence. The slight trembling of his hands proved it.
And yet you keep talking like that-.
‘As expected, it’s the third generation.’
At that moment, his men took a step forward, their spirits rising. Balhar Khan drew his sword.
However, the bastard only looked at the eldest son as if he was not interested.
It was truly the third child’s behavior. It was the third child’s doing whatever he wanted regardless of position.
The eldest son didn’t feel particularly bad. He had a lot of experience with such people.
Then, the bastard opened his mouth again.
“First, how about eating?”
“report.”
He muttered and answered himself, his eyes shining as if he was looking at delicious food. As if he had a mental breakdown.
‘This is serious.’
The first eldest son’s eyes became even more sunken. He could smell an unmixed scent coming from him.
It was a characteristic of those who increased their strength by consuming other tokens.
‘Yes, we are on the edge of transcendence.’
He was on the edge of transcendence. However, the feeling was peculiar.
‘I clearly didn’t cross the boundary, so how come I have more power than that?’
The eldest son’s eyes widened slightly.
It was the first time I had seen such a case, even as the eldest son.
‘Did you reach transcendence by consuming the token? If it was original, it would have collapsed long ago. How did you endure it?’
The bastard’s condition was extremely precarious and unstable. Just looking at him was enough to make one frown.
It was closer to a spirit than a transcendent being, but it was difficult to see it as a spirit. How could a human being walk around in a state of spirit?
It was interesting because it was a different case.
‘Tsk······.’
The first one clicked his tongue slightly. It was certainly as clear as Balhar Khan had said that it would be good to use as a vessel.
However, right now, it wouldn’t be strange if the guy collapsed at any moment. I couldn’t use such an unstable body as a vessel.
The eldest son’s head became complicated. He planned to carve a mark on the third son’s body and use him as a vessel, but it all went wrong in an instant.
“The king has come, but the treatment is not very good.”
At that moment, the bastard’s scratchy voice broke my thoughts.
The subordinates could not stand the bastard’s insolent words and stepped forward.
His subordinates were all people he personally walked with. They all received his grace, so their loyalty was extraordinary.
In the midst of the overwhelming pressure, the bastard was still staring at the eldest son. The eldest son stared at him with deep, unfocused eyes.
‘It seems like you’re definitely provoking me.’
There was no need to break it here, since it couldn’t be used as a vessel.
In any case, he was a strong man on the verge of transcendence. And considering that he was the third son, it could have been even more difficult.
If you want to deal with a guy like that, you have no choice but to risk bleeding.
There was no need for things to go wrong. There were many places where he could be used. Plus, he was the third one, so he would be easy to handle.
When the eldest son made a small sound, his subordinates retreated with their spirits lifted. Among them, Balhar Khan was the fastest. He was also the most loyal.
‘If I can’t use the third one as a bowl… I guess I’ll have to use that one.’
The first eldest son’s eyes, looking at Balhar Khan, took on a sinister aura.
I turned my gaze back to the guy. He was still confident, seemingly oblivious to the situation.
‘No, don’t you have the presence of mind to do that?’
It seemed like the simple third one was even more dangerous because he was mentally unstable.
“You are the king.”
“That’s short.”
The eldest son was momentarily speechless at the quick reply. He laughed in vain at the third son’s characteristic rudeness that he had experienced after a long time.
‘The third one is into playing king this time.’
The eldest son did not bother to ask questions.
I knew I couldn’t convince the third. How could I convince a beast? And fighting a beast was ridiculous.
The question was where to use this thing that was about to collapse.
The first eldest son remembered that they were planning something great at the coronation ceremony.
‘If I use him… I might be able to send the sword’s master a bit further.’
At that time, maybe because I thought it was too funny, he did something I never thought he would do.
The guy who suddenly approached raised the curtain.
The unfocused yellow eyes of the man quickly scanned the first eldest son.
“Did I interrupt your good time?”
I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but I felt bad.
The eldest son had to struggle to suppress his surging murderous intent.
The third one was already ignorant, and with the side effects of the spirit added to it, it was an act of rudeness far beyond what could have been expected.
“I think the thing in the back looks delicious.”
The one eye of the man who spoke like that was staring clearly at the eldest son.
‘If the guy goes beyond that-.’
The eldest son, who had been mumbling like that, shook it lightly.
There was no way that could happen.
***
‘It looks like shit.’
I pulled back the cloth to check the bastard’s top, but I clicked my tongue slightly at what was revealed.
Beyond the sky was a wrinkled old man, as wrinkled as a mummy. He had so many wrinkles that he looked like a bean worm.
That alone was horrifying, but the fact that he was stuck behind the old man was even more shocking.
There was a terrible demon attached to the old man’s back. The ceiling was quite high, and it was so big that it almost touched the ceiling.
The face was streaked with red as if the skin had been torn off, and the teeth were huge like a wolf’s. Where the eyes should have been, there were only black holes. The nose dangled as if torn off-,
I guessed who it was from the strong smell it gave off.
‘That thing is completely eroded.’
Even for me, who had seen quite a few eroded demons, this was a horrifying sight I had never seen before.
It was so powerful that it gave off a tingling sensation. The front of the devil’s waist was attached to the old man.
The appearance of the two was terrible to begin with, and the position in which they were stuck together was also not good.
‘Why of all things-.’
At that moment, the old man looked up at me with wrinkled eyes.
‘You look like the master of the sword. Was he your older brother?’
It was probably because he had been corrected during the meeting, but now he had many wrinkles. It was hard to recognize him, but he definitely looked like the owner of the sword.
It was clear that he was my older brother, or that he had suffered a lot, or that there was a connection.
At that moment, the demon behind the old man began to writhe.
The hostility he displayed was so fierce that it made my skin sting. It seemed like he was hurt because his good time was interrupted.
“Have a good time.”
He slowly lowered the cloth and stepped back, but his feelings already seemed hurt.
The bastard’s fist tore through the cloth in one go. It was quite fast.
I was preparing for him, so I pushed my left foot back and swung my right hand. If I matched the punches, I could get a rough idea of the strength.
Just before their fists met, the demon stopped dead in his tracks.
“The third one is always difficult to adapt to.”
The old man, whose face had become even more wrinkled, said:
I lightly tapped the stopped demon’s fist. Its hide was as hard as stone.
‘You’re wearing something that’s completely eroded…’
I took a close look at the luxurious sword hanging on the old man’s left waist.
There was no way that carrying a sword around with one’s appearance resembling its owner would be meaningless.
In addition, the fifth eldest son was said to have been oppressed by the master of the sword, but he was said to have great talent with the sword.
First of all, he also dealt with erosion and aura at the same time. When I think of him···,
‘A hermaphrodite? How cowardly.’
I looked back and forth between the old man and the devil. It certainly seemed like it would be very difficult if the two of them rushed at me in that state.
At that moment, my eyes met the old man’s. He looked a bit angry, but his eyes were surprisingly calm.
‘···It’ll be tricky.’
I had no intention of picking a fight.
The situation was already precarious, and there were twenty royal knights around him. The old man didn’t look easy either.
If I keep doing that, I’ll end up being manipulated by him instead of getting what I want.
I had an invincible excuse: I was the ‘third’.
If things got too tangled up, I thought I’d burst my pockets and run away. It seemed like he couldn’t leave this space that was hard to even call a room.
‘No, does that mean I can’t go out because I look like this?’
“Yes, what does Your Majesty want to do?”
At that moment, the old man asked in a flat voice. It was difficult to understand what he was thinking.
However, judging from the fact that he didn’t get angry, it seemed like the third one was the one who got through. As expected, the third one was comfortable.
“The third will go to the Central Management Office.”
At that moment, my mouth spoke. No, the tenant spoke. I chewed my lips a step too late. I opened the package too quickly.
However, it wasn’t a bad number, since I was the third.
“Central Management Office. Why?”
The old man’s eyes widened slightly.
“I will destroy the palace.”
My voice came out more earnest than I expected.
The old man looked into my eyes with wrinkled ones, as if he was trying to read something, but I was a dice-playing guy.
“Okay, I will follow your wishes.”
The old man smiled incomprehensibly. Then the devil waved his hand slightly. The cloth settled down again.
I memorized the bastard’s movements and speed in my head.
‘If you face Aura and the devil at the same time······.’
There was no need to do anything now. My goal was the Central Administration. Priorities were important.
“Balhar Khan, take the king to the Central Administration.”
A splendid sentence rolled under the sky.
“······Yes? Yes!”
The first one who asked stupidly nodded with a sad face.
‘He’s a better guy than I thought.’
He may have other plans, but mine are probably bigger.
***
“Let’s talk.”
As I left the room, the five elders caught me. I could see the straight eyes of the men through the gaps in their helmets.
“I guess you want to be eaten.”
“what.”
I asked with force through my moving mouth. The tenant kept nagging.
“You need a rest.”
I stared at the guy at the sudden warm words. The guy’s eyes trembled slightly. However, they were still upright.
My face was reflected in his eyes.
I had cross-eyed eyes, my head was funky, and anyone who looked at me knew I needed more medicine than rest.
‘It was definitely hasty.’
The first thing I did was a bit hasty towards the eldest son. It was probably because he was dizzy from the tenants.
Maybe I should have just stopped and taken a break like he said, but I knew my condition.
It wasn’t that the erosion would subside even if I took a break. No, I had to run faster. And then······.
‘What was it?’
There was clearly a plan behind it, but I frowned for a moment and then scratched my cheek.
I had to blow it up and run away from the capital. Then I could go to the abbot and get prayers, and that would be the end of the matter.
The plan was set all the way through, and now I had to fill in the gaps. With spontaneity and flexibility. I was still fine.
In times like these, you have to focus on what’s at the front.
The Central Administration, as its name suggests, was located in the center of the palace. I heard that the Central Administration was out of the way during the last incident.
Even if it was an empire, it would not have had enough time to rebuild what had collapsed. So the central administration would not have been prepared for defense.
If you blow it up there, it will be a really cool way to destroy it.
‘To make time-.’
I chewed my lip slightly. I had spent more time on the Demon of Despair than I had planned.
Before the coronation ceremony was over, this side had to blow up big time.
When I thought about it that way, my mind, which had been shattered into pieces, somehow came back together again.
“Okay, thanks for worrying.”
“I wasn’t worried about you. I said I was moving with you.”
I threw in a joke and got a rougher reaction than I expected.
‘Go to the Central Administration and talk to Selena······.’
He chewed his lip and muttered. If it were Selena, she would answer my question honestly and without lying.
I muttered softly and tapped my helmet. Knock knock. My head started ringing and my mind started spinning.
Before I knew it, I was in the elevator.
It was raining now.
I think the first one showed the sentence to the elevator in the middle.
The elevator doors opened. A clean hallway, closer to modern than medieval, with a fragrant coffee aroma. It was the central management office.
The miserable memories of that time came back to me dryly, as if I was looking at someone else’s memories.
“Please identify yourself.”
At that moment, I heard a subtle intonation. I turned my head and saw a familiar face.
‘The first star?’
He was not supposed to be here.
Of course, I had heard that the Kingdom of Byzant was destroyed and its survivors were absorbed into the Empire, but that was separate from the Imperial Family.
How could someone who was an enemy be in the imperial court, and in the central administrative office at that? Even Balhar Khan, the enemy, had no authority, so why would he be in a place where he should have gone to the eldest son?
“It looks delicious.”
Before I knew it, I was reaching out for the guy’s neck. Even though it was my hand, my hand movements were immature. It was just fast. No, it was faster than me.
Of course, that alone would have been threatening, but the opponent was the first star.
The first star quickly drew his sword. The sword was filled with the splendid aura of an imperial knight. My armor was removed in an instant-. A terrible arm was revealed between them.
The shell was torn into pieces and splattered around.
That was pretty cool.
‘Don’t be noisy and come in.’
I clicked my tongue and turned my arm diagonally. Bam. With a heavy sound, the sword he had thrust was blocked by my fist.
It was a quick reaction, as expected of desert people. They were already the desert people who had been blocking knights without Auror.
He was the first star among those desert warriors, just below the top star.
That guy even got an aura-. And that aura wasn’t even a bad one. It was clearly an aura of the royal family-. That was a pretty terrible combination.
But unfortunately, this one was more terrible.
This one was more friendly with the devil.
“Is that so?”
Boom. The guy’s aura faded at the first touch.
Boom. The guy’s sword broke on the second hit.
Before I knew it, I was holding the guy by the neck.
“The first star.”
The guy’s eyes widened as if they were going to tear apart. When I saw the look of defeat on his face, my mind became complicated.
I was about to ask why you were here-.
Suddenly I felt annoyed and clenched my fists.
Beyond that, I saw some guys who looked really nervous.
‘The first star that greets you as soon as you open it…’
It was clear that Selena had prepared this. If so, then the other guys must have been connected to me as well.
I understood him, but they were all faces I had never seen before. I felt a subtle fatigue. It felt like I was filled with things I didn’t need.
I wanted to complain about the side dishes.
“Where is Selena?”
I asked him kindly, wiping the blood on my hand against the wall.
It was somewhat difficult to feel the emotion of revenge when seeing a face for the first time.
As if they didn’t know about my consideration, they drew their swords and charged without answering.
The guys behind them were pouring out magic, and they were definitely not ordinary, perhaps because they were part of the royal family.
At that time, the five eldest sons and the eldest son tried to step forward.
“It’s mine.”
I waved my hand lightly and stepped forward.
Even though I was tired, it was impolite to ask someone else to unbox my gift.
My spirit was turned red and I was getting more and more dizzy, but strangely, it became clearer.
When I came to, I was out of breath. There were quite a few scars on my body.
I clicked my tongue and wiped the blood from my face.
There were quite a few people who raised both hands and surrendered, perhaps because their loyalty was less than expected.
At that moment, the innermost door opened softly, as if to invite us in.
The familiar scent of grass brought back my concentration.
I tried to calm my mind as I looked at the open door.
Looking back, I saw the first and fifth eldest sons, terrified. The faces of the fifth eldest sons were somewhat mysterious.
It was as if he was worried about me, and he was nervous.
‘It’s devil candy anyway.’
I clicked my tongue and headed for the door.
I heard a scream from behind, but I didn’t really care. I didn’t care who ate the remaining side dishes.
Finally, as I opened the door-.
“long time no see.”
Selena greeted me with a very bright smile.
“···okay.”
I felt a deep fatigue on her beautiful, unblemished face.
It was a neatly organized room, but in front of her was a pile of papers.
The sentence written at the very top, ‘To Aaron,’ caught my eye.
Her transparent green eyes scanned me.
He hid his ugly arm behind his back in a gaze that was full of burdensome emotions.
She looked at me for a moment, then raised the corners of her lips-.
“Do you like the gift?”
He asked with an innocent face like an expectant child.
I clicked my tongue slightly.
***
‘That kid… why does he talk so much?’
Dylan frowned as he looked at the old man up on the stage.
The Pope was an old man, and although it had been quite some time since he had been on stage, he was still giving his speech.
The old man was standing up straight for no reason, as if he might collapse at any moment, and he didn’t stop talking for even a moment.
As I listened to that long speech, my irritation reached its peak.
“It has been said that the current Pope has been exceptionally divine since he was young, and it turns out that it is not a lie.”
The Swallows guy nodded as if he knew something.
‘God… This is fucking horrible.’
There is no God, Dylan was sure of it. He cursed God every chance he got, and he was still fine.
“Ningiri… How long do I have to watch this?”
The coronation ceremony was originally planned with the intention of finding the ten pups.
But no matter how much I looked around, there was no such thing as a cub here. No matter how many people there were, there was no way I wouldn’t see that big cub.
I tried to move there, but I couldn’t because of the imperial knights circling the plaza. I saw a few people who tried to leave get caught and disappear.
“Once the Pope’s speech is over, the magic of the Magic Tower Alliance will take place, and then the enthronement will take place. It won’t be long.”
Swallows answered with a beautiful voice that did not match his ugly appearance.
“It’s almost time for the plague. I have to find the ten bastards, but I don’t have time for this. And why are there so many imperial knights? If I drag them all out, who will guard the palace?”
I didn’t feel good. I was even more anxious because I had never felt uneasy since I saw that guy, the crown prince. There had never been a case like this before-.
“Who guards the palace…? But if Aaron isn’t here….”
Swallows’ face turned pale as he muttered for a moment.
“······You went to the palace.”
“Huh? Who said that?”
“Aaron, you say.”
Dylan’s face darkened at Swallows’ answer. Even if he was a brat, why would he go to the palace? However, it was strangely believable.
Whenever the punks get into trouble, they hit hard, more so than people would expect.
“The goal wasn’t the coronation ceremony in the first place. Then why did you go to the palace?”
Dylan’s lips twitched at the confident muttering of the Swallows.
Infiltrating the palace! It was clear that something great was going to happen. Dylan felt a very complicated feeling.
Infiltrating the palace is dangerous, so it’s fortunate that I didn’t go with them, but I also feel disappointed that I couldn’t get involved in carrying out such a legendary event.
Then, when it was their turn, the Swallows disappeared inside.
Dylan, left alone, took out the bread he had packed, soaked it in rainwater, and chewed it.
At that moment, I heard an interesting conversation next to me.
“That… rumored Baron Fullfoot didn’t come?”
A group of people who were clearly high-ranking nobles were talking about Baron Pulpouts.
“I heard that Baron Fullfoot secretly controlled the entire East. How great must his control have been that no one noticed it until he himself came to the capital?”
The unusually fat man spoke in an oily voice.
‘Pulputs took over? Did they?’
Dylan blinked and focused on their conversation. They kept talking about full-footedness, and the descriptions were very subtle.
“Baron Fullfoot is such a generous man that he considers being escorted an insult! He always leads the battlefield, so his face is covered with glorious scars-.”
“I heard that he has such great stamina that he secretly brought in orcs because he thought humans weren’t enough!”
‘······?’
Dylan kept tilting his head. He thought they were namesakes, but there couldn’t be two Barons of Fullfoot in the East.
‘···That bald guy was such a great person?’
When I was listening to the story of Baron Pulpouts single-handedly destroying the castle-.
“So don’t give up because it’s dark. The sun will rise again someday.”
The Pope finished his speech.
It was indeed a long and boring speech, but those who heard it right in front of him seemed to think otherwise, and they erupted in loud cheers.
‘What is that?’
A white light briefly covered the bodies of the crowd that had been getting wet from the rain.
As the Pope stepped back, this time a man without an arm stepped forward. He was followed by Swallows and other robed wizards. They were the ones who had been babbling about the magic towers from the side.
The man who bowed deeply to the crown prince took out a huge staff with his only arm.
Dylan wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth as he looked at the cane, which looked expensive at first glance.
Guys wearing robes of different colors turned inside out stood in a certain formation centered around the gray guy.
Everyone was focused and silent, as if they were about to do something great.
Soon, the guy roughly hit the ground with his cane. Boom! Words of unknown meaning began to appear around him.
Those behind him were the same. Letters of different colors began to spread out.
White, gray, red, green, blue – the sight of letters of different colors slowly rising looked amazing even to Dylan, who had been trained by Kanna’s magic.
Soon, the letters became entangled and grew in size. At the center of them was the one-armed man.
Veins popped up on his handsome face.
Beneath the fluttering robes, I could see the inscriptions. I couldn’t make out what they meant, but they looked very similar to the ones Vivian had carved.
The atmosphere is getting more and more tense.
Letters that expanded their territory centered around them soon began to emerge.
It went up endlessly, passing through the cloth that was blocking the rain.
Eventually, it reached the sky.
The five colored letters that reached the sky began to mix and form shapes.
The sight was so mysterious that everyone forgot to admire it and just stared blankly at him.
Soon, a giant fire giant appeared. Everyone stared blankly at the giant fire giant that was so large it filled the sky.
The fire giant, made of blazing fire, was similar to Kanna’s, yet strangely different.
It wasn’t as delicate as a canna, but unlike that, its shape was really soft.
It slowly lowered its head, looking down like a fire giant from a legend.
The subject was the crown prince, sitting on a tall and ornate chair.
The fire giant slowly knelt down in submission, but given its size, the pressure was no joke.
Moreover, because his entire body was covered in fire, those below him screamed and chaos ensued.
It slowly descended, and it looked like a moving hell.
However, contrary to concerns, it wasn’t hot even though they got closer.
As they got closer, the shape became more visible. Dylan’s eyes widened in another way.
It was a huge magic that I had never seen before, but the form of the fire giant was familiar. It was a scarless youngling with flowing hair.
‘The whole world is a bunch of punks…’
Why do the great wizards of the capital use their magic in the form of a dozen pups?
“Full… It’s Baron Fullfoot!”
The sound of someone muttering.
At that moment, the giant, bent down like a knight receiving a title, was crushed in an instant.
Then, warmth spread throughout the surroundings. As if comforting those who had suffered from watching the coronation in the rain. It cared warmly for the crowd.
Dylan could see the water that had been pooling in his body disappear in the heat.
A very small cloud of smoke appeared, and something that looked like fog spread towards the crown prince, who was sheltered from the rain.
The fluffy crowd cheered and applauded, but-.
Dylan, whose heart grew colder, hurriedly looked for a route to escape.
“Oh… Aura disappeared.”
Then, someone muttered quietly.
