Chapter 158: Remains of the Past (2)
JfH6oAn enormous eyeball was hanging in the air.ipVe6
327mHThe eye was so huge, that large rakes were being used to pull the skin surrounding the eyeball to force it open. That was how enormous and heavy the eye was.ywhd5
KnaxThe pupil looked extremely profound; in fact, the cross-shaped pupil appeared so deep and profound that it seemed like it could see through everything it laid its gaze upon. Anyone alive would feel their heart skip a beat.rQSOhs1
HU8KCGH“Calm down. As you can see… it’s already dead.”tUdN
95eMaster’s words called for a deeper inspection. When we looked closely at the thing that was the size of the giants we saw on the floating island… if not bigger… we realized the obvious.eMOR1o
0cxGLEThere was no way that one eye could move by itself.g9Raj
tcXXR“Korin… This is… very different from the giants we saw on the floating island. This eye is already as big as one of those giants.”hhRo
TrS31x“It’s in a whole different league, right? That’s the original.”fW2Ud
nAVGiants were actually the descendants of the Sky Titans, the Titans of the past.E0Alfe
4cqeRAfter being defeated by the gods, they were forced to conceal themselves in tiny places and banish themselves from the world, which resulted in their gradual decline. Unlike the time when they had control over everything and didn’t have to worry about food, they had trouble scavenging for food so their race was forced to decrease their size, and the elders died before they could pass down their wisdom and knowledge of magic.3unR2s
LN6682There were less than ten titans left by now, including Searbhan the Sky Titan we saw in the east, and the Frost Titan of the Northern Kingdom, Utgard.uvoogZg
im3They were as rare as dragons.ClgtnAT
M8ILAnd that was exactly why the Tower of Mages’ plan of reviving the Titans was dangerous.rmEWrTo
dOw“This eye… I have seen it before.”z5Fs
HCatDMaster said while looking at the leftover trace of the titan to reminisce about the past. She was one of the few survivors that actually lived through the era of Titans.Pzi
8ZOYJfw“Did you also fight against the Titans?”ggM8d9
Q3xzu“Of course not.”J2TW
BoaIErin pinched my cheeks and said while giving me a death stare.o7Vdpx
6jvbXt“Does your master look that old?”zRF
cklUWM“Nuooo… Not at all…”QptqYv
2UmyOActually… it seemed that it all finished before she was even born.FCHOQul
bUZ“The war between the Titans and the ancestors started after the Sky Titans went recluse. After two big fights at Mag Tuired, the King of Titans fell, thus ending the war.”HTcc
9ojV5v5“King of Titans…”8OH64
WrGy“Right. King Balor. Or Balor of the Evil Eye. He was a strong demon who killed the King of Gods, Nuada, and eventually lost to the Danann of Light, Lugh.”Eu1U
vWn6The one who killed Ard Ri, Nuada the Danann of the Sun, huh… I did remember seeing that in the records.ZVHhdHB
dvOmgZIt was quite ironic, actually.fouLW
7T1hpzThe reason why the Tower of Mages could even attempt to revive the Titans was because of the long preparations made beforehand by Tates Valtazar.hLj
NHSQYValtazar, the one who was continuing the legacy of Lugh who killed the King of Titans, was now trying to revive that very king.RFI5tYU
ONYe“Korin… I know the Tower is trying to revive the past Titans but how are they doing that? They died a long time ago, right?”dbHP
K9Qy“It is possible. As long as they have Undry, the cauldron of abundance and life… which the New Faith calls the Holy Grail, along with ‘divine blood’.”oXxnOEf
HMTI8However, it won’t be a full resurrection. It was hard to find an intact corpse anywhere apart from the Steel Archipelago and the Northern Kingdom, and even those would have half-rotted away already.4NCdT
7qUPR“But those bodies would be missing a few parts, so they need other things that can make up for the joints and the flesh.”58lZ
wP5“So that’s where the Gold Cult’s golems come in.”5Ro
6SKx2GChanging the attributes of a material and mixing them together was right up the alley of the Gold Cult and their alchemic pursuit. If you add to that the Green Cult… which would have learned the secret skills of the druids thanks to Valtazar, the result would be the resurrection of Titans that could be controlled by the mages of the Tower.aUsof4
nlCxfGUI had done something before, which was why I knew about it.PR0I
sKuZA“Master.”LAxQ
E2M“You want to destroy it, right? But no. We cannot.”5F8LB9
61Aj“What if we ignite runes at the same time, right as we are about to run away?”kYJj0P
7cMLLM“Impossible. Rune Resonant Activation is what Tates and I used to often use when attacking the Tower of Mages. Just like teleportation, it cannot be used here.”WYVuCd
vygS“What about physical flames? If we pour bucket loads of oil, that could work, right?”M2ws
ZASf“Most problems would be dealt with immediately in a laboratory of this level. This place is overflowing with mages, after all.”MW2J
4I7MTwo of my proposals were turned down and that was when Marie raised one of her own.OMy
iKRzrS“What if I take Doggo out from my shadow, let him destroy everything, and retrieve him back?”A8GrnT8
Sjy“I would refrain from that unless you were willing to sacrifice Doggo for it. Capturing familiars and forcibly getting rid of the connection between them is pretty easy for someone at the level of an elder.”Cmw8
5Jf“I can make Chunsik do it then!”jObK
P6pEFlinch! For some reason, it felt like I saw her shadow flinch a little.eti3
k8yrNZ“If you give the power back to the ghoul, it would be able to use most of its previous potential. It will probably be at the level of a professor, but if you want to scorch the eyeball of the King of Titans, you will need 4 or 5 professors.”Gfy3
ZvPXQMarie pondered after hearing that the ghoul also had to survive the attacks from countless mages that would come here to defend the eyeball while destroying it. She seemed to be finding it wasteful to throw a mage of that level away as a one-off use.dLp
wbSBKK2“The salt pond has seen an increased efficiency thanks to Chunsik’s flame magic. I don’t think it’s worth throwing him away for something uncertain.”H6CXs95
kEWUsing an elder mage to boil salt water, huh…euY
nK3k-Creak!WhRicc
c7PgVThat was when someone walked in through the doors that we had used ourselves.C5t
k7z08“Korin. Hide…!”J0Gsy8h
4nEzMaster hurriedly pulled my hand to conceal us inside a mountain of experiment materials. Marie also looked around for a bit in a hurry before crawling underneath a nearby desk.9gp
pGR“Hihi. So just a little bit more and it’s done?”XMM6dqK
tNPskvZ“Exactly. But Mr. Scaith. The damage done to the body is too big. For the other Titans, it’s okay, but this is the only part of the King of Titans that we…”tkI
n91“Ahh ahh~. That’s why I’m lending you this, right??”2qYa
1skzyIDun Scaith said while taking out a large cauldron from his body.uLIbw
xZdHcy“That’s…”zQhfha
owj“Undry.”U0myiH
35AaMaster and I immediately noticed what that was.IFBT
3KjThe treasure of the King of Gods, Dagda. One of the 4 treasures of the Danann and the pot of infinite life.dkWqcf
Exdsiz“Absorb a little bit more of the divine blood, and I can fill the rest with my flesh. Kihihik!”o7iN6uu
aueEHis unique laughter which sounded like that of a lunatic faintly left his lips. As always, he was a disgusting guy.qss3Oub
NkE“I see… something like that was born from Undry.”xUytgq
XqTkWMaster lamented at the sight of her ancestor’s treasure being misused. We were so close that our shoulders were touching, so I felt her breath as she sighed.fZxMd
i8W“Oops, sorry.”lmzg6Z7
bTnV“Don’t worry. It’s a bit cramped in here.”Vjzu
TmdoqL“I’m fine. More importantly…”zbfuoF
UAfVFll“Shh…!”20yrkz
J0C6The guy started to move so I quickly covered her mouth with my hand, so that we wouldn’t let out a single sound.RY6
vcWlY“What’s wrong?”EllX0x
MgM“Shh… Wait a second.”4auP
keIWarp warp! I could hear the change going on in his body. It seemed that he had changed into a demonic cow or a dragon.ShkNxdW
ndxRW“Are there some rats in here… or maybe not?”CmcgE
LpSpThe splashing sound of his footsteps slowly drew near.VS7xH
o9f4KyWStarting a fight here… would make things quite tedious. Unless the seeds were starting to sprout, fighting against them with only the three of us was no different from an act of suicide.lBqL
njvPlease don’t find us.UFAy
UKPYjS“Is there someone here? Or no?”uNBLf
YqikHis mouth was right in front of the mountain of materials we were hiding in, evident from the disgusting odor being given off by his breath. Right as his eyes were about to find us through the gap…aBNmwj
NSg6-Squeak!Lte2Vq
VvcvTwt“Got ya!”CgG
YoB9XOScaith let out a breath at where the sound came from as the scent of something being reduced to ashes reached our noses.MDGNTw
Oz5U-Squeak! Squeak squeak!WaR
UOXBgcA group of rats started running across the room.CaX0j3
uog6s“Ehng? It was actually rats?”EbNaIo1
woq1dC“They’re our experimental rats. They must have escaped their cage because someone didn’t do their job properly.”mpZddq
FIF“Okkay~?”gvz
Am69Dun Scaith turned around from where we were hiding. That was a close call… Glancing at where Marie was hiding herself, I saw that Doggo was crawling back into her shadow.oQYq
YTGKlGIt must have been Doggo that brought those rats from somewhere.VKNOVX
yEkvJpY‘Great job Doggo!’ZfS8yRH
3Q8Ejil-Clomp clomp!r6wm
t5XCsxSoon, his footsteps returned to that of a human as the two of them opened the door of the laboratory to go outside.EDV
xdSRB3dHowever, it was too early to be relieved, because there was a chance that they were faking it.7ZYQ
0b5“Let’s stay like this for a bit more.”ruDr
YJ4“…”0AYU8zj
D30KY1“Master?”wGT1J
LW5C5WShe wasn’t saying anything. When I turned my eyes towards her… I realized that for some reason, her eyes were nervously rolling around as her face started to turn red.WDJqvj
Np4t“What’s wrong?”kEQu6AX
xZm“H… huh? No… I… was just thinking about how big your hands were…”jUSKSU
Zgdz“Your face is just too small, Master.”9su
0Wlk7DEven though my hands weren’t massive like the lid of a cauldron, they were slightly bigger than the hands of an average male. And Master was on the petite side in terms of both her head and her body compared to an average girl so that was probably why.26BpQ
A7aj6r“It’s incredible, actually.”pyy
W6Bsy“Hmm? W, what do you mean?”V1aq
Plk0“The fact that you can do such things with a spear with such a small body… I really respect you a lot, Master.”I1PkX
ABLK“Ughh…”0wF0
9dBNLTAShe twisted her body from embarrassment.MSTClU
8Y0Umm, if you twist your body when we are this close, that’s not so good to your disciple!RA1s3g
JadGSZ“Korin… 10,000 more swings when we go back.”h7DnDIG
1cJOJvK“Wait… why? I can, but can I ask why?”bm9
Iue“I… will be guiding you one-on-one, so… look forward to it.”gLw
cxjmEEMaster? Wouldn’t ‘Prepare yourself,’ make more sense in this context?1Kw6
g1hgkf***CpWr
RPtGAt last, we arrived at the 8th floor and were forced to make a decision.kJaAt
cAw“T, there are a total of 19 laboratories. They are not personal laboratories and all have different equipment installed, so it is hard to say which rooms would be occupied and stuff…”tPdkqM
hBkuHearing the words of Elder Admelech, who was now Chunsik, the ace of the Dunareff family’s salt pond business, we felt the need to separate ourselves.peo7at
nrWRNiH“What do you think? Staying in a group of 3 would definitely be safer.”A3QAS
j4O“No. It’s not a good idea to stall a secret mission for too long. It would probably be a better idea to separate and create a commotion if things go south, before grouping back together.”SNycajD
pNxxH5“I agree with the chairman. Doggo and I can also separate and search for the saintess.”30O
RM19PLike that, we all split up to search through the vast 8th floor of the Tower of Mages. As for how to go all the way underground from the 7th floor, we already had a plan in mind.2YaGcZx
27fFc66“Hmm…”Z2Vk
ouESxThe 8th floor only consisted of the laboratories of the Tower Lord and elders, so there were a lot less people walking around than on the other floors.J35ycnR
MoM4AcUEven so, I kept my footsteps as silent as possible as I walked across the laboratories of the elders, which were therefore enormous and full of all sorts of strange experiments.i6uz
oOW0‘Estelle… Big sis Estelle. Where are you?’lM3tBZ
K7u9sdShe probably wasn’t being mistreated except for being forced to provide some blood, but she was someone I had forged a good relationship with alongside Miru in the previous iteration, so I couldn’t help but feel concerned about her well-being.2pe3
mekSnI was slowly advancing forward and at one point when I entered another laboratory… I noticed that the air felt rather different.qMwHM
D8dFlk0It felt like a ranch… a chicken coop.cNXV91
O51WuThe defecations were clearly overstaying their welcome. They gave off a disgusting odor and I could hear the faint growl of creatures.GrpGr4
aYJAJyAt first, I was surprised that they could survive in an environment like this, but unknowingly frowned after seeing what they were.bqHun
KffpESmall creatures that were still connected by umbilical cords… blended mixtures that looked way too eccentric to be called an organism were crawling across the floor.0pP
8MbgH“Chimeras…”787wir
XrLuFThey were a commonly used familiar of the mages in the Tower, who actively undertook such experiments for their benefit.5Sw4
3e9NEver since the Witch Revolution, the Tower of Mages had been regularly getting inspected by the Guardian Alliance, Academy, and the Royal Court.At8Fby
qMQfXInhumane experiments and unauthorized tests were prohibited, and that was why the mages of the Tower had secret labs outside.i1odMCJ
aErWwHowever, chimeras were different.lIiKO
YvmDespite being a horrible blasphemy to life, this act of combining organisms went unrestricted. The common consensus was that it was fine as long as it didn’t concern or involve humans.WM5
5H5“Purruru…”n3ZY
r4Y8xAI looked at the poor animal that had its neck and body restricted by the planks of the cage, that was only allowed to eat and give birth.4Dt
OugIt was a unicorn.hqi
7nDWSA fairy pony with a horn.MchL
GBBRather than a demon, it was closer to being a spiritual beast.P8h
x2OEven this existence that had a mysterious and holy presence was nothing but a viviparous organism that could give birth to chimeras in the hands of the Tower of Mages.cNgs
rhNmCdC“…”eNX
UsvWIt looked at me with a clear gaze. The unicorn gave off a pure and innocent aura despite being forced into this disgusting cage. It conveyed to me with its gaze its pure will, and its hope of death.4k5l
K0O9“Personally, I’m the type of person who thinks everyone should strive to live no matter the circumstances.”8PS
eXcCPsBPururuk. The unicorn somehow shook its head despite the restrictions on its neck, after seemingly understanding what I said.Oe3x
fDx34t“Krrrng…!”tZh2E2w
urSm2yPIt pleaded while looking at the spear in my hands. When it looked back into my eyes with a resolute gaze, I realized that there was no other option.e5PwS8J
f0g4I lifted my spear as it lowered its forehead in response, allowing for an easy stab to its brain.Q3VNk2
9aibpVB-Stab!gLxLNqn
0kfzAHonestly, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. The warmth of life seeped out of its body. The head of the unicorn dropped low, matching my line of sight with the horn on its forehead.Mu1nJvk
Kc18Horn of a unicorn.MLF
VOTIt was a legendary material that could be used when crafting high-end equipment that could cleanse every poison but…rVM1ZCF
E2tTJ“I hope you have a better life next time.”N6An
Jz8I didn’t feel like damaging the corpse of the unicorn who had already had a hard life. It might be hypocritical but that was what I felt.lRRydTE
J72***ufiKbIW
ZvWtsJRight when I turned my back to the unicorn that entered an eternal slumber, white light enveloped my surroundings for a bit before quickly going away.OtWOP
BMFDrop!y5U
qTcLCZCHearing something drop, I turned to the ground and found that the horn of the unicorn was right next to my feet after being cut off clean.X4dN
kV7“…”VzDXA2C
fh7Was this some kind of revelation? Or perhaps the will of the unicorn?S2W6w
EWE6O“I’ll gratefully accept it.”zhsFubr
wcVrwTaking the horn, I left the laboratory, enveloped by a myriad of emotions.sR4eOd
9RR………MX8wIVg
m52rg……Rxv
YEPc…czuhj
dM1QI came across an elder once after that, but I managed to stay hidden thanks to my amazing stealth skills.1jmid
ACRcAnd I found Princess Estelle when looking through the third laboratory.LjmIT9
AzlCV“Well, I knew you weren’t being mistreated but…”V3A9M
hdN9Yu“Uuun?”TW0We6k
5yvbH5Prison bars were the only thing here that resembled anything from a prison. Sitting down on an elegant mattress of fine silk… the pink-haired saintess had a glass of wine in her hands while enjoying the ocean view.nREv
Zr1Seeing her enjoy a luxurious life by herself while others suffered made me feel a little frustrated, despite knowing well that it wasn’t her fault.KV0pfWf
vPFdFNe“Wah! Junior! You’re here to save me!”2Emw
noO2Her eyes and face turned bright the moment she saw me.oqm
gKfRqzABut seriously, how unfortunate and hard was the life of a saintess?VTehpU
2IMzJWc“Quick! Get me out of this place!”hkr
OyA“Your Highness.”26afS
DRTn“Yes?”s1IQ
qiH7V“May I get a kiss on my cheeks if I save you?”Hn0FpwP
LpJIt’s every man’s dream to get a kiss from an actual princess, right?WWTp
KyP1npY“I will give you one on your lips if you save me. That will be my first kiss by the way.”9h9s
WDBmyB“…I’m on it.”dfgfJMd
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