215. King of the North (9)
#215
It was two years ago that Adeshan first felt the presence of something inside him. It was also the day I first met Ronan, so I remembered it clearly.
While caring for him who had lost consciousness after being attacked by Nabirose, he suddenly developed a headache. It was a shame that it subsided so quickly. Even thinking about it now, the pain was dizzying enough to make me break out in a cold sweat.
Anyway, ever since the headache went away, Adeshan started to feel that someone was inside his head. That ‘someone’ whose presence was only vaguely felt often spoke to Adeshan, but until now his voice was too quiet to be heard.
【okay. little bit more.】
However, it has reached an understandable size. It was a calm yet dignified woman’s voice. Her Ade Shan’s eyes widened. She opened her mouth without realizing it.
“What did you just say…?”
“Eh? What’s wrong?”
“Oh, no. wait for a sec.”
Ronan asked, but she glossed over the situation by shaking her head. A voice rang out from within Adeshan again.
【Do not suppress your emotions. It’s about forcing your raw, unrefined will on the enemy.】
[Da, who are you? Why is it in my head?]
【Calm down, Adeshan. Time is not far.】
[How can I say my name…!]
Adeshan asked a question in full voice, but there was no answer. Ronan, who had been quietly watching her, raised his eyebrows.
‘···what?’
Although it was only for a short time, I could feel the energy of the general’s days in her. Unlike her battered body, the mana blooming on her shoulders was pulsating more violently than ever before.
Her shadow drawn by the torch was reminiscent of her past life. dump. Ade Shan, who had been staring into space as if fascinated by something about her, sat down again.
“Are you sure it’s okay?”
“Ugh… I’ll catch up with you in a moment, so go after me first. Because you can’t miss it…”
The wound was healed, but it seemed like it still needed time to recover. Ade Shan held out the blood guide she was carrying. Ronan, who was holding her hand, nodded at her.
“I’ll finish it.”
“please.”
Adeshan let out a weak laugh. The hand-held needle pointed exactly to the side door through which Barca exited.
Ronan gathered his courage and took a step forward. It was a dark hallway. It seemed like a side road made for emergency escape. The blood stains left by his crossbow marked the trajectory he walked.
‘I feel it. ‘I couldn’t go far.’
I could tell without looking at the blood acupuncture needle. Barca was still around. The sound of his footsteps echoed in the long, narrow space.
The passage was not very long, so the end was soon visible. Light was seeping in from the far end. The moment I left the already open stone gate, a cold wind that made my blood freeze came rushing in.
As expected, the passage led to the outside of the hideout. The massive bottom of the ship loomed behind us. It was like crossing the ship up and down underground. A vast plain of ice, unique to the sea filled with ghosts, spread out before my eyes.
“Hmm?”
Suddenly Ronan tilted his head. Underneath the endless ice, dark chunks were packed.
They were lined up at irregular intervals and were reminiscent of raisins stuck in bread. The unusual feeling wasn’t like a rock. It didn’t take long to realize that they were all corpses of prisoners.
“What the fuck is this?”
Ronan’s brows narrowed at the truly bizarre sight. No matter how small it was, it seemed like there were thousands of them. Could it be that they settled here in the Sea of Wraiths to keep the corpses frozen?
“You bastard in a bad mood…”
Ronan twisted his lips. The more you peel it, the more its shitty side is revealed, just like an onion growing in hell.
I wondered how they had collected all this, but that wasn’t the important thing right now. It was the car he was looking around for Barca. A familiar voice came from not far away.
“I wonder if he even defeated Aradan… I have no choice but to admit it at this point.”
“ok?”
Ronan quickly turned his head. When he met Barka, his eyes widened. Barka was standing with his arms crossed not even ten steps away.
“you.”
“do not worry. “There are no scrolls left, and the crossbow that girl shot didn’t allow it to go far anyway… so it wasn’t an ordinary arrow.”
Barka said in a tired voice. Indeed, there was a crossbow deeply embedded in his right thigh.
Red blood was dripping from the abnormally swollen wound. It looked like it had been poisoned. Barca continued.
“But I didn’t kill Aradan. Because he can never find eternal rest until I allow him to. “The one that survives even if it is cut into a thousand pieces is my masterpiece, Aradan Turgung.”
“You fucking bastard.”
For a moment, a vein appeared on Ronan’s forehead. There was no need to activate the aura. bang! Ronan narrowed the distance with one leap and landed in front of Barca.
With this interval, it could be cut no matter what variables were taken into account. He growled, putting his hand on the hilt of his sword.
“Is that all you have to say?”
“It still remains. “How about we negotiate?”
“Negotiation?
“okay. “I will make you an offer you cannot refuse.”
There was a somewhat relaxed smile on Barca’s lips. When I saw him say such things in such situations, it seemed like he had a strong belief in it. Ronan, who was silent for a moment, opened her mouth.
“Tell me something.”
“good. All I want is for you to just let me go from here. It disappears without a trace. “You can either burn my hideout or hand it over to the empire.”
“Was it a begging for life? So what can you offer?”
“I will lift the curse on the entire North and put Aradan in eternal rest. I’ll tell you as much information as I know about Nebula Clage. Even so, I am the bishop of the Northern Diocese, and I plan to withdraw from this stupid group.”
Ronan was shocked when he heard the last condition. She was such an asshole that for a moment she forgot that this bastard was Nebula Clazier. He was smoothing his chin and opened his mouth.
“It’s attractive, but not irresistible.”
“Hehe… I knew that would happen and prepared for it. “Would you like to look over there for a moment?”
Barka grinned and glanced north. A strong wind was caressing the icy plain where the corpse lay. Ronan suddenly sensed a strange sound and frowned at her.
“Grrr.”
“Kkieeeek…!”
The roaring sound in the wind was familiar. Ronan narrowed her eyes and looked in the direction the sound came from. About 1km away, the corpses of prisoners were breaking through the ice. Ronan’s face hardened.
“That can’t be right…”
“okay. I lost control the moment I entered the hideout. Tomorrow night, every corpse here will wake up smashing through the ice. “They can follow my orders and create hell in the North, or they can just go back to sleep.”
Barka added that the number of bodies immediately available was more than 10,000. The fact that they are all elite soldiers who have gone through his own strengthening procedures. These were the troops that would one day be used to completely overthrow the empire.
“Furthermore, the curse that has been placed on the entire northern region is one that your abilities will never be able to lift. It looks simple, but it took over ten years to renovate it. “The moment you reject my offer, I plan to unleash all the curses.”
Barka was speaking with his arms wide open. He seemed like an intelligent protagonist whose only actions were to defeat the villain at the last moment. He concluded with a question mixed with laughter.
“What do you think? Isn’t this an offer you can’t refuse?”
Ronan didn’t answer. It was an offer she couldn’t refuse, so she had the right to flutter her mouth. Judging from the abilities Barca has shown so far, there is a high possibility that this is not a lie.
“It’s just moving on as if nothing happened. Peace will come to the North, and when the truth of the incident becomes known, my foolish compatriots will sing songs praising you.”
I could even feel the excitement in Barca’s sweetly seductive voice. It was clear that she was already intoxicated with her sense of victory.
Okay, I’ve decided.
Ronan, who had been thinking for a while, finally opened his mouth.
“Uhm…fuck it.”
“what?”
Barca’s eyes widened. Ronan pulled at the hilt of his sword. Sigh! La Mancha, who had disappeared for a moment, appeared, and at the same time his torso and limbs were neatly separated.
“Whoa! “Kaaaa!!”
There was no time to protest. Barca, who had become a turtle, rolled around on the floor. A blood-curdling scream echoed across the sea of ghosts.
“Didn’t you hear me? If I die, there will be no one to stop the corpse here! “Do you think you can cut down all 10,000 soldiers?”
“Why not try something?”
“Well, what do you plan on doing about the curse? It won’t go away if you kill me! Are you planning to drive dozens… no, millions of people into hell?”
“That’s up to them to take care of it.”
Ronan answered calmly. The composure disappeared from Barca’s face.
“Oh, damn it! Then I’ll do whatever you want. “The North will be destroyed because of you!”
As he struggled, he shouted in an angry voice. At the same time, a huge ripple of mana spread around Barka.
Like wastewater from a sewer, the nauseating energy spread across the Sea of Ghosts and to the horizon. Ronan said, pointing the tip of his sword at his neck.
“Just stop now. “At least I’ll kill you without pain.”
“It’s already too late. “No matter how you survive, hell awaits you!”
The sound of ice breaking was echoing everywhere. It was the sound of bodies waking up from their sleep. Ronan scratched her head once and raised her sword.
“Then we have no choice but to go with the primitive method.”
“No matter how much I torture you, nothing will change!”
Barka explained that a spell had been placed on him that made him unable to feel pain. Ronan, who had a feeling that it was going to be a very dirty fight, sighed. Should she first gouge out both her eyes and take her to Rodolan? It was the car he was thinking about how to transport.
“Ronan. wait.”
“···Adeshan?”
Ronan turned his head when he heard a familiar voice. Before she knew it, she had come out of the lab and Ade Shan was approaching here.
“I think I can do it.”
His unsteady gait made him look like he was drunk. She stopped in front of Barka. Barka looked up at Ade Shan and snorted her laughter.
“Ha, are you planning on messing with my mind with that strange technique? “I’m sure you’ve already confirmed that that doesn’t work, right?”
“huh. “It was like that before.”
“That’s funny. Does it happen again now? “Only those lesser-known people get caught…”
Barca was about to say something. Suddenly Ade Shan bent his knees and placed his hand on his head. For a moment, Barca’s body became stiff.
“Huh…!”
Ronan, who was watching, frightened and stepped back. The shadow mana, so intense that it made her head hurt, was blooming over Ade Shan’s shoulders.
‘What happened?’
Although the original growth rate was fast, this was too radical. It was reminiscent of the moment when Schlieffen awakened his Auror in Dainhar.
“It takes… It takes… It takes…”
Barka was repeating the same words like a parrot. Her eyes were already blurred, as if there were dark clouds. It was a phenomenon that proved that the mind control had worked. Ade Shan, who had been quietly glaring at him, opened his mouth.
“Barca. “Remove all the curses you have spread.”
“···I will do so.”
Barca nodded. Ronan’s eyes widened. His overall attitude, including his tone of voice, had become polite, like a serf treating a noble lady.
As he muttered something, the wave of mana spread beyond the horizon once again. The waves flying through the wind felt clear and clean, unlike before.
“oh my god.”
Ronan, who instinctively sensed that the curse had disappeared, let out an exclamation. This level of control was almost comparable to his previous life. Adeshan continued.
“Barca. “Stop raising corpses.”
“···I will do so. However, we cannot control the bodies that have already risen.”
“doesn’t care.”
Barka shook his head and mumbled something again. The sound of ice breaking coming from all around her suddenly quieted down. She seemed to have ceased all activities except for the corpses that had already appeared outside.
Adeshan made a few more requests after that. He dug up all the information he could and asked for the curse that was binding Aradan to be lifted.
“···I will do so.”
Barca nodded soullessly and complied with her request. There was some shocking information related to Nebula Clazier, but it wasn’t as shocking as what was happening right now, so there was no time to react. After finally finishing her question and answer, Ade Shan removed Barka’s hand from her head.
“Barca. Now open your eyes and look at me.”
“I will do that…Huh?!”
The drowsiness disappeared from Barca’s voice. When he came to his senses, his eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.
“Ji, what have you done to me now?!”
“Barca. I’ll give you one last chance. “I apologize to those who have suffered from the evil deeds you have committed.”
“Don’t be funny, you damn bug! “You can’t tell me right now what you did to me!”
Barka bared his fangs and growled. He apparently had no recollection of what he had done while he was under mental control.
Of course, because the limbs were cut off, it was not a threat at all. Ade Shan said to Ronan, who was looking down at him with cold eyes.
“Ronan. “Do you remember what you promised me?”
“promise···? ah.”
Ronan nodded. She was talking about her promise she had made in her ice den. Ronan had said she would cede the right to kill Varka.
“I remember. “I do whatever I want.”
“thank you.”
Adeshan laughed. But it was just a passing phenomenon, like moonlight shining through a storm. With a straight face again, she looked down at her barka.
“W-what…what are you trying to do?”
Just meeting those sunken eyes made my blood freeze. Barca, sensing her instinctive foreboding, struggled. She didn’t know what, but she felt like something terrible was going to happen. Ade Shan, who was staring at him quietly, opened her mouth.
“Barca. From now on, no matter what happens, you must not breathe.”
“What kind of nonsense is that? “Why would I say something like that?”
Barka was speechless. For some reason he couldn’t breathe. His throat seemed to have closed so wide that not even a drop of water could pass through. Ronan, who was watching the scene, chuckled.
“I like it because it’s shabby. “I guess it’s better than tearing limbs apart.”
“I was worried. Originally, it was impossible due to the structure of the body, but I thought it would be possible with this ability…”
Adeshan hesitated. Her eyes were fixed on Barca’s eyes. Her gray eyes reflected her own white, dying face.
“Everything you have achieved will be lost. “If there is a hell, your soul will surely burn there.”
“Gagging…! “Wow!”
“Miracles don’t happen. You die without accomplishing anything. “Until the end, he never became anything resembling a king.”
“Kaaaaagh! “Whoa, whoa!”
Barka writhed in pain, twisting his limbless body. The will to live was moving his dying body. He may or may not, but Ade Shan calmly continued his speech.
“And in the North, where peace has been restored, people’s laughter will echo again.”
“······!”
After about five minutes, the movement stopped. Barca’s lifeless face was distorted in complete despair. Ronan strolled over and grabbed her neck. After confirming that his pulse was not racing, he nodded.
“went. completely.”
