Chapter 390: The Unfathomable Abyss (3)

The air was stale. The smell of mold invaded my lungs. When my vision was completely swallowed by darkness, the oil lamp hanging on the wall flickered faintly before my eyes.

A flickering light. Landscapes appearing and disappearing. A minimum of air.

Pushing through it all, I descended into the depths of darkness.

Downward. Further and further down. I couldn’t tell how many floors this stretched.

Perhaps it pierced through the very crust of this planet and reached the underground core. The thought sent a shiver down my spine, while at the same time making me wonder if a human being could really survive in such an environment.

“It’s not a sight you often see, Heavenly Sword.”

The elderly man with graying hair walking ahead turned to look at me. Altair Auditore.

The fact that he was my guide made one thing clear.

“This is the Auditore dungeon.”

I was in the headquarters of the Auditore da Sicilia family.

“It’s a chilling place. Seeing it from the outside, I never would have imagined it was like this.”

“When the façade is ostentatious, it’s hard to imagine there’s an underground like this. That luxurious castle is nothing but a smoke screen to hide it.”

“I see.”

“I regret receiving such a distinguished guest in these conditions, but bear with it a little longer. We’re almost there.”

“How much farther?”

“About fifty floors further down.”

“…”

That could really crush my morale.

I suppressed a sigh. The air was thin. I had to ration each breath. I lowered the sound of my breathing and kept moving.

Step, step.

To sum up the situation — as soon as I finished the call with Knox, I headed to Italy to meet him. And, upon hearing the full story, I understood that the situation was serious.

While I was in the hospital, Chloe had carried out the tracking and pursuit of several big fish from the Villain Union.

Up to that point, there was no problem at all. Under the pretext of a “villain raid,” all governments were in agreement. But the critical point was that Chloe — that Chloe who sometimes lost her mind — had gone too far.

When she became obsessed with something, Chloe didn’t distinguish between friend and foe. Of course, she didn’t act without evidence — with solid proof that Auditore blood ran through her target’s veins, she approached him.

According to Altair, those targets turned out to be people who, to varying degrees, were linked to the Villain Union.

‘So Chloe wasn’t wrong.’

But, in the process, she skipped legal procedures. She replaced the judgment of law with personal violence. That was what had enraged the leaders of the 32 OECD countries.

“It’s not something that hasn’t happened before.”

Altair said it as if to ease my mental burden.

“Has there also been an international wanted order in 32 countries before?”

“Maybe. About a hundred years ago, perhaps.”

“So before the OECD was founded.”

“Yeah.”

He said it like it was no big deal, even though it was an event that happened, at most, once every hundred years.

“But that’s not the important part.”

Like a true Auditore, his sense of urgency was different.

“You mean this isn’t a serious problem?”

“It is, but it’s secondary priority. Within the Auditores, only Knox and I know that Chloe is locked in the dungeon. And, as an outsider, only you, Heavenly Sword.”

“The countries that issued the wanted order will find out soon.”

“They seem to have already caught wind of something. For the past hour, the supreme courts of each country have been very busy. It’s said that the governments and prosecutors of those 32 countries are jointly pressuring for a court order against us.”

“And even then, this isn’t the most serious matter?”

“I want you to understand that the immediate problem we face is much more serious… Ah, here we are.”

“…Excuse me?”

At the bottom of the stairs was an open space. No, not exactly — in an empty cavern stood an old well covered in blackened moss, logical in an underground place where no light reached.

“Don’t tell me…”

Before I could finish the sentence, I quickly turned my head. Altair spoke in a dry voice.

“It’s not normally used. On the way down, you must have seen doors here and there, right? Usually, if someone causes trouble, we send them there for a few days to reflect.”

“But you said that, by Auditore standards, Chloe hadn’t done anything wrong.”

My voice carried a trace of irritation. If Chloe had hurt a civilian, there would be no excuse. But here, right and wrong were clearly defined.

‘The ones above are angry because they feel their authority was undermined.’

I thought Altair would understand, but then he added:

“Hey, you have to listen to people until the end.”

“…?”

“As you said, according to the standards of our family in the shadows, Chloe did nothing wrong.”

Altair approached the well. I followed, but stopped a few steps away.

Creak, creak.

Altair pulled on the rope of the winch. The worn sound of wood and metal mixed with the old man’s voice.

“We didn’t lock Chloe up because she did something wrong. We locked her up because her condition is worsening.”

The rope trembled. Something emerged from the well.

It was Chloe, tied to the rope. First came her reddish hair, then an eyepatch, then a gag, and finally a straitjacket. They had completely restrained her.

“…”

Chloe’s head hung low. I hesitated to tell if she was still breathing, but was relieved to see that the gag was damp. Then, an unpleasant smell reached my nose. It wasn’t a stench from poor hygiene or from being underground.

It was a murky smell — the artificial fragrance that arises when a blessing and magic come into conflict. If I had to give an example, it would be like spraying hundreds of different perfumes until you became dizzy.

“This is…”

“Exactly.”

Altair nodded. His eyes looked very sad.

“The blessing is awakening.”

“…!”

Leon, Abel, Ryozo, Rachel. Not even those called the “Golden Generation” had touched that frontier.

“In all the history of the Auditore, Chloe is the second.”

Chloe was knocking on that door.

***

After checking only Chloe’s condition, I left the underground with Altair.

According to the explanation I heard as we ascended, the name of the well was Mugan.

It was a sacred artifact where, on occasion, members of the Auditore who were drunk on bloodlust were locked away.

It wasn’t a treasure in itself, but rather, the founder of the Auditore had built the fortress over that well, which had existed even before the beginnings of the family.

It could be assumed, with high probability, that there was a connection to the ancients. But asking experts about it would have to wait a little. For now, I had to address the concern of this man clinging to my pants — the brother obsessed with his sister, Knox.

“How was she?”

Knox asked me, panting. This man had been waiting for me at the entrance to the dungeon. I gave a bitter smile. Knox had repeatedly requested to meet with Chloe, but Altair had flatly refused.

When it came to Chloe, Knox lost his judgment. He might not be able to bear seeing her like that and end up releasing her, so they had blocked him from entering as a preventive measure.

‘This is exactly the face of someone dying of curiosity.’

I cleared my throat and replied.

“I think Chloe has discovered a new taste.”

“…What the hell does that mean?”

It was a joke to lighten the mood, but he responded as if I were speaking seriously, making me look bad.

“The awakening of her blessing is in process, but she’s fine.”

“Blessing awakening…? That shortens life expectancy!”

Wow. It was the first time I’d heard Knox without his archaic tone. He must have been truly distressed.

“The life-shortening part happens when the awakening of the blessing is already mature. Right now it’s only in process, so as long as we act before then, she’ll be fine.”

“Heavenly Sword, is this a field you’re familiar with?”

“No.”

I shook my head. Desperation was reflected in Knox’s eyes, so I added:

“But the experts are all in Korea right now.”

“Ah.”

The Joaquin Graduate School. Chloe’s awakening would be a trial by fire for that institution.

“Although it feels different from the awakening of a blessing ten years ago, they’ll be able to find an answer.”

“…I hope so.”

“It’ll be difficult. But even if it is, I’ll find a way to open a path.”

Toc.

I lightly tapped his collarbone. Knox’s center of gravity wavered a little.

“In difficult times, let’s trust and support each other.”

“…”

“It sounds corny, but trust your brother.”

Knox took a step back and turned his back on me, moving so quickly it kicked up a gust of air. Was he wiping away tears?

“I… am the older brother.”

Now? Were we really going to argue about who was older? It’s not like being older was something to brag about, but strictly speaking, I was far older than him.

“…Even so, Heavenly Sword, you are the sun that allows our Auditore family to exist as shadows, so I will trust you…”

I smiled wryly.

“Yes, yes. Trust your brother.”

“Now that I think about it, I take that back. Better that I’m the older brother.”

“You’re petty. That’s why you’re an obsessive brother.”

“O-obsessive? I’m just worried about my sister!”

Altair, who had remained silent, threw out a remark.

“That’s precisely what makes you obsessive.”

“H-head of the family!”

“Well, it’s just pure attachment to a relative, so I don’t blame you… but I’m concerned that at this rate you’ll never get married.”

While we were arguing in low voices, a presence quickly approached.

In the next instant, a masked figure appeared before us with a flash of light and knelt on one knee. It was a member of the Auditore I had glimpsed before. Knox’s stepsister, perhaps?

In any case, she lowered the mask to her chin. She glanced sideways at me before moving her pink lips.

“I report to the head of the family — just now, the 32 OECD countries issued a summons order for all those who have helped cover up for Chloe Auditore da Sicilia.”

“Hmm.”

Altair looked up at the sky. The contrails drifted lazily.

“In the end, things have come to this point. Very well, Flavia. When and where is the summons?”

Altair spoke with an apparent gentleness. Flavia, keeping her gaze fixed on the ground, hesitated before answering with a sigh.

“…They said they’ll notify us by video call.”

Altair’s graying eyebrows drew together. A summons by video call was an open humiliation to the proud leader of the Auditore family.

In this world, among nobles, it was customary to send a letter with an official seal. A video call was a blatant way of belittling him.

Altair narrowed his eyes in silence. His wrinkles rippled like waves before smoothing out.

“Let’s go to the conference hall.”

“Yes…”

Flavia lowered her head even further. Knox looked too indignant to speak.

It was my turn to step in.

“Then I’ll go too.”

Flavia’s head snapped up, her eyes trembling with surprise.

“Heavenly Sword, you are an outsider.”

“I just witnessed the cover-up of Chloe and I plan to help with it. Therefore, I am involved. I should receive the summons as well.”

“…”

“Let’s go.”

I accompanied the three Auditore to the conference hall at the center of the castle.

A wall covered in screens greeted us. In the 32 divisions of the screen, solemn faces full of authority appeared.

Apparently, the connection wasn’t very good, because they didn’t recognize me right away.

They must have thought I was just another member of the Auditore.

— Auditore Altair Auditore da Sicilia.

The man in the center opened his mouth. It was the President of the United States.

— All OECD member countries issue you a summons order.

“Understood…”

— And the people with you are also implicated, so all of you must appear.

It wasn’t worth listening any further.

Firm steps.

I moved forward. In the material world, they could look down on me.

“Who dares to order me to come up?”

…Dare?

From a cosmic point of view, I was looking down on them from far above.

“Heavenly Sword.”

The screen crackled, as if the noise reflected the emotional impact I had caused.

— If you don’t want to disappear from the map, then you come here.