Chapter 178 - North Korean rabbit

Episode 178

Before Arpad killed the Tower Lord's body in the imperial palace shrine, I had prepared thoroughly enough.

Despite his mad actions and manner of speech, the Tower Lord was a cautious man.

During my third life, while living as an experimental subject in the Tower, I had personally witnessed him transferring his consciousness to a new body.

An explosion occurred when a homunculus, overloaded with excessive magical power, went berserk, and I was nearly caught in it.

Had Gaspard not shielded me with his own body, I would have died.

It was an explosion powerful enough to blow away the upper half of Gaspard's torso.

Covered in strangely colored blood from head to toe, I stood frozen like a stone.

My initial shock at the sudden event was brief; I had just begun to think that if Gaspard was dead, I could simply escape.

Another Gaspard, sloshing through the mess, approached and looked back and forth between me and his own corpse with an annoyed expression.

"Eeek...!"

"Ah. To waste one reserve life on such a ridiculous accident. This was outside my calculations......"

Trembling, I asked him.

"Why, why did you...?"

"Why did I save you?"

Gaspard grinned as he absorbed the remaining magical power from his previous body.

"Because you are a very precious 'Bride,' are you not? If I'd left you there, you would have been torn to shreds and died. You're worth trading for one of my lives."

He was a man who considered even his own body and life as mere tools. To the extent that he could abandon his own body once to protect a rare experimental subject.

Of course, that was only possible because he had more than one or two reserve lives.

From that incident, I not only learned that the Tower Lord's first reserve body existed within the Tower, but also its approximate location.

It wasn't difficult to surmise that there were more reserves beyond that. Hints about their locations could also be found within my memories of the Tower Lord.

Based on these memories, I gathered as much information as possible in advance about Gaspard's reserve bodies.

I mobilized every means at my disposal—the Mercenary King Gerald's guild, the intelligence organization led by Yulken, Penny Terrace, and so on—to confirm the locations up to the fourth reserve body.

And almost simultaneously with beheading the Tower Lord, I had the remaining reserve bodies destroyed.

I sent trustworthy people to every location to command the scene and gave orders to handle the aftermath as well.

Lord Beltain, Lord Müzen, subordinates from the mercenary company carefully selected by Arpad, and others.

After Isabel and Evangeline were taken away, and Gaspard's head fell.

I first checked whether the Tower Lord's reserve bodies had been properly dealt with. I meticulously ensured I received reports that the aftermath had also been handled without issue.

Of course, even so, I couldn't completely set my mind at ease.

In fact, this was also one of the reasons I met with the Duke of Teslan.

'*This man would likely know for certain whether the Tower Lord is truly dead or not.*'

Naturally, there was no guarantee he would tell me only the truth, nor any obligation for him to do so.

Ultimately, it was a matter of how well I could persuade him.

So, I decided to offer a price the Duke absolutely could not ignore.

I struck directly at the 'thing' within the eye hidden by the Duke of Teslan's eyepatch.

* * *

The Duke opened his mouth. The sound of grinding teeth and a thick aura of killing intent were mixed between his words.

"You seem to know very well what is beneath my eyepatch?"

His speech had shifted to informal.

At this moment, what stood before Hilia was not the Duke of Teslan, but a black serpent.

A man born in the back alleys, who crawled through the gutters to finally reach the pinnacle.

His killing intent was not to be taken lightly. An ordinary person would likely have found it difficult to maintain their sanity.

But it was of little use against Hilia.

Partly because Aron was by her side protecting her, but even if he hadn't been, Hilia's demeanor would have remained serene.

She had already experienced three deaths and all manner of hardships. On top of that, she had even faced the dragon Artanus.

She possessed a mind that could maintain tranquility even before the nerve-wracking tension of the Emperor and Arpad, both possessors of thick dragon blood.

'*This much doesn't even itch.*'

Hilia met the black serpent's killing intent with a composed smile.

"I'm not such a fool as to propose a deal without knowing that."

The black serpent was genuinely impressed by Hilia's composure.

It was truly rare to find someone so unflappable before his killing intent.

'*When I heard the rampant rumors, I thought they were exaggerations, but the reality is even more impressive.*'

It would have been fine if this woman, more formidable than expected, weren't currently threatening him.

Moreover, it was baffling how she knew a secret known only to the black serpent himself and the Tower Lord, and was using it to pressure his weakness.

It was to the point where he felt not just bewilderment, but a faint sense of awe.

But he did not rashly reveal these impressions.

Hilia continued her questioning.

"Does the connection between your left eye and Tower Lord Gaspard still remain?"

"...You really do know. How on earth did you find out? Surely that bastard Gaspard hasn't been blabbing about it."

"I didn't ask that question expecting an answer, did I?"

The black serpent tilted his head slightly.

And with his single eye, he scrutinized her intently.

She was indeed an ordinary woman. Of course, her extraordinary beauty was noticeable to anyone, but he was not swayed by such superficialities.

The black serpent's hand stroked the eyepatch covering his left eye.

'*Indeed, I need to check properly with 'this eye.'*'

The black serpent removed the eyepatch that had been covering his left eye.

In place of a human eyeball in the man's left eye, a strangely glowing object was embedded.

A round, reddish-glowing eyeball-shaped ore was densely engraved with complex magical circuits and magic circles.

At the bizarre sight, Aron, on high alert, stepped in front of Hilia.

"It's alright. Lord Müzen."

"Your Highness!"

"That thing has no lethal power, whether physical or magical."

The black serpent chuckled and said.

"I thank you for your kind consideration, and I shall examine you thoroughly."

The black serpent's left eye began to emit a sharp light.

His eye, hidden by the eyepatch, was a powerful magical artifact—the Eye of the Watcher.

He was a living magic circle that activated the artifact, one could say a homunculus.

The black serpent, Krau Teslan, was one of countless children born in the imperial capital's slums.

Gaspard procured experimental subjects by any means necessary, and that location included the slums as well.

Of the children lured by scraps of bread, he was the sole survivor.

The one who, after proving his usefulness and abilities until adulthood, struck a deal with Gaspard and emerged alive from the Tower.

"Fine. I'll let you go. It's also difficult to obtain new data from you anyway......"

"How revolting, to say you'll release me because you've experimented enough."

"Is that so? Then shall I preserve you as a specimen like the other experimental subjects so far?"

"......"

"Good. That's obedient. Of course, it's not free. I'll extract a hefty price. Ah, and I must naturally install a 'safety device' as well."

This was the reason the black serpent had sealed his left eye with an eyepatch and all manner of methods.

Gaspard had let him go, but not granted him complete freedom.

Through a powerful magical binding engraved on the 'Eye of the Watcher,' he could monitor his location and restrict his actions.

He could even snuff out his life without lifting a finger.

And using his life as leverage, he made useful use of him whenever needed.

Had he not found a way, albeit temporary, to seal the eye, he would still be bound by the Tower Lord's shackles.

The black serpent licked Hilia with his gaze using the Eye of the Watcher.

This magical artifact could analyze and understand even a single drop of magical power flowing through a target's veins just by looking.

It could essentially peer inside as if dissecting the body.

The moment he activated the Eye of the Watcher, what entered his vision was merely the silhouette of a woman glowing white.

He could read nothing.

"What......?"

In the moment of astonishment and momentary freeze, the light emanating from Hilia's body grew even more intense.

As if it would blind him.

Simultaneously, the black serpent covered his left eye and stepped back.

Blood trickled between his fingers.

"What in the world is this......"

Only then did the black serpent realize something strange about Hilia's appearance.

A pink gemstone was glowing on the ring finger of her left hand.

Pearls around her neck, and a brooch and mirror.

He had thought her attire rather flamboyant for someone secretly meeting him.

He had dismissed it as the vanity of a noblewoman.

But he realized belatedly that this was not the case.

"...So it was a divine relic of the goddess."

The gemstones of the Five Goddesses.

The heirloom of the Ducal House of Teslan that Hilia had demanded earlier was the final piece of it.

The Needle of Remnemia.

The other divine relics were already in Hilia's possession.

The force that repelled his attempt to look at Hilia with the Eye of the Watcher and struck him was likely that power.

He bit his lip.

"Just because you possess the other four, is there any reason I must hand over the remaining one to you?"

He tightened his grip on the eyepatch.

He absolutely could not relinquish this divine relic.

Because it was his final shield protecting him.

This time as well, Hilia said something completely unexpected.

"I know. That you are using the Needle of Remnemia to seal the Eye of the Watcher."

"...Knowing that, you still demand I hand it over? Without the power of the divine relic, I'll end up being that bastard Gaspard's puppet again!"

Gaspard had left threads on Krau that he could pull to control him at any time.

His going north, taking hold of his biological father's house which he had no interest in, was ultimately for the sake of this divine relic.

To free himself from Gaspard's grasp through it.

'*If things continue like this, I'll never escape his clutches!*'

At that point, Krau realized something strange.

'*What is this? Why do I think it's natural that Gaspard is alive...?!*'

After obtaining the divine relic, Krau had sealed the Eye of the Watcher, forcibly blocking the connection with Gaspard.

Because of that, for nearly the past three years, he had not felt the sensation of Gaspard's thoughts and will scraping through his mind.

But.......

"So you were alive? And to bring me such a generous gift."

His eye felt as if it were burning.

His limbs began to move against his will.

Krau realized in an unwanted manner.

That Tower Lord Gaspard was alive. And that right now, Gaspard was controlling his body as well.

"!"

A rough hand lunged toward the nape of Hilia's neck.

Romance, Fantasy,