I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 83

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 83
“This is the first time I’ve found you so frustrating, Rosien.”
Kalian cast his gaze beyond the bow of the ship, grinding his teeth.
“Fine then. Let’s go in. But don’t regret it.”
“I won’t. Not ever.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Kalian lifted me into his arms and rose to his feet. A translucent magical circle hovered above the churning waters.
Even knowing a passage lay beneath, the sight of the dark sea roiling madly sent shivers down my spine.
‘Why would they build a detention facility on the seabed? What terrible taste.’
They said Riltear Island floated in the middle of the vast ocean, but never that it rested upon the waves.
Riltear Island, where the Transcendents’ International Court and detention facility stood, had sunk to the ocean floor.
* * *
Transcendents who transcend human limitations.
Blessed by the Stars, they soar through the heavens, traverse the depths below, and walk upon water.
Their power shines brightest in extreme circumstances.
Cast into the molten lava of an erupting volcano or sunk into the lightless depths of the abyss, they emerge unscathed.
When they wrap the Stars’ blessing around their bodies like a shield, their flesh becomes harder than diamond itself—though only when wielded with mastery, of course.
For beings such as these, preserving a sunken island as if it were solid ground was entirely possible, and traversing these depths posed no obstacle.
“This place is utterly eerie.”
I rubbed my arms, which had erupted in goosebumps, repeatedly with my palms.
This was a ruin submerged at the very bottom of the deep sea, reached through the magical circle that had hovered in the middle of the ocean.
A translucent dome covered the ruins like a lid. Once inside, it was no different from solid ground. Air filled the space instead of water.
I could walk, speak, and breathe as if on land. The only difference from the surface was the dark abyss visible beyond the dome’s surface.
Rune characters inscribed on the dome’s surface glowed with a pale silver light. I clenched my fist and tapped the dome experimentally. It was remarkably thin yet solid.
‘What would happen if this dome shattered?’
Even with the Stars’ blessing wrapped around one’s entire body, could anyone truly withstand the tremendous pressure of the natural world?
‘Well, I’d just revive even if I died.’
Still, I had no desire to test it with my own body. The barrier looked as though it might crack from a single kick, so I withdrew without touching it further. Then I turned and surveyed the full expanse of the International Court.
Riltear Island’s International Court resembled the ruins of some ancient kingdom from ages past. The massive structure, encircled by dozens of stone pillars, lay broken and crumbling in places.
“I can’t fathom how they ever discovered such a place.”
“It wasn’t always buried on the seabed.”
Since descending here, Kalian spoke for the first time. His expression was utterly grim.
“It sank. During the Age of the Blind Stars.”
“Really? An island can actually sink?”
“Everything trembled—land and sea alike.”
Kalian’s voice dripped with contempt.
“The very axis of the world shook, the seas surged upward, and meteors fell from the sky. Everything burned. When the Stars returned, nearly all of Rahnar’s geography had been transformed.”
I too had studied this in continental history texts. The Age of the Blind Stars was seventeen years that changed everything on this world.
“Riltear was one of thousands of islands that sank that way, but it actually made for an excellent prison. Even for Transcendents, crawling from the deep sea to the surface wouldn’t be easy.”
“….”
“And if he had no limbs, it would have been nearly impossible.”
“Then how did he escape this place?”
“….”
“That man who was trapped here. During the Age of the Blind Star, the Wynack Family Head who received the duty to protect Rahnar. His name was….”
My mouth had gone completely dry.
“Karga.”
The name still felt like rake claws scraping across my heart. Kalian tilted his head with a smile.
“Who knows? I’m not sure.”
“….”
Pretending not to know was….
“Anyway, do you remember anything? Rosy. You said you wanted to find your past life’s memories.”
“…Still, nothing has come back.”
A small space that looked like a courtroom, and above it stood a guillotine. I deliberately averted my gaze from that direction.
‘The detention camp. I need to go down into the detention camp below this.’
I found the passage leading downward quickly. I took the lead, and Kalian followed slowly behind me.
I had come this far saying I would search for Rozentia’s memories, but truthfully, I had no certainty. How could memories that didn’t exist even in the unconscious mind come back to life simply by returning to a place from the past?
I was simply curious about the detention camp. The place where ‘Karga’ had been confined.
The Underground Detention Facility of the Ruins was a damp and unpleasant prison. Green moss clung to the iron bars, which had corroded to a sickly blue-green, lining both sides of my vision. The stench of rotting fish emanated from within.
I carefully summoned the Planetarium to illuminate the darkness.
In that instant, my vision wavered.
“Huh…?”
I blinked blankly. My vision trembled finely and split into two.
The humid corridor looked the same, but in the right side of my vision, torches flickered against the corridor wall.
A shadow stretched long beneath the torches. I swallowed dryly and slowly matched my steps to the movement in my right vision.
Even the phantom produced sound. It was someone’s muttering.
“Locking a person in a place like this…. Anyway, those so-called Transcendents, how are they all so unlucky, ugh! What was that! I stepped on something…!”
Without realizing it, my head turned downward. Instead of reinforced leather boots studded with metal fragments, a deep blue velvet dress brushed against my ankles.
A puddle had formed beneath my feet, and dark mud clung stickily to the surface.
“That startled me….”
The sound of a relieved sigh brushed past my ears.
My vision began to move again, and I hurried my steps so as not to miss it. At some point, I no longer heard Kalian’s footsteps following behind me.
Before long, I reached the deepest part of the corridor.
“Wynack?”
Rozentia called out to someone hesitantly.
Something rustled from the deepest part of the corridor. Without time to think, I rushed forward urgently.
Rozentia in the phantom had begun running frantically toward the source of the sound.
“Wynack! As I thought, you were here….”
The moment I turned the corner to the right, I grabbed the bars nearby. My breath caught.
“…Oh, Stars above.”
Rozentia whispered a prayer softly.
I bit my lip until it bled. Beyond the iron bars, something existed.
It was not human.
A lump of flesh with a head attached.
Could any description be more fitting?
Rozentia Renos inserted the key into the iron bars with trembling hands. As the door swung open, a stench of decay far worse than before assaulted my nostrils.
She let out a low moan.
“Stars above, visit divine punishment upon the Transcendents of Rahnar….”
Rozentia Renos was not alone.
She turned to someone who had followed her.
“How long did you say this creature has been confined here, Wynack?”
“Approximately twenty-one years since it was discarded.”
“Was there any reason to leave it in such a state?”
“You see, Your Highness. This one does not die.”
The iron bars of the prison rattled with a metallic clang. A man who appeared to be the Wynack Family Head at that time stepped into the foul-smelling dungeon.
He stopped before the figure sprawled against the wall and bent his waist. Forcibly lifting the chin of one whose head hung low.
Eyes of deep crimson, burning with a fierce and brilliant light, were revealed.
The moment I saw his exposed face, my breath caught.
‘That face….’
“Even if we split the body in half, it would not die. Thus, there is no other way. We had no choice but to restrain the body so it cannot move.”
“…Is there an Elixir? The Transcendents said an Elixir was essential….”
“It was destroyed by Kirges on the day it was imprisoned here, or so I heard.”
“Then there is no risk of a rampage? With such immense power dwelling within the body, the aftermath of a rampage would be considerable, would it not?”
“To prevent that danger, Seongyeol allegedly restructured the mana circulation system to cause internal implosion. Even if it rampages, it will not die, but… the body would be torn into hundreds of pieces.”
“I cannot comprehend this. Was there any need for such cruelty?”
‘My thoughts exactly.’
I clenched my teeth. The sight before my eyes was incomparably more tragic than what I had vaguely imagined.
“It is said to be a miscalculation on Kirges’s part. It became far stronger than initially anticipated, and now that the protection of Guardian Castle has returned, that power has doubled, tripled….”
“So you nipped it in the bud? I never knew the Transcendents were such irresponsible and cowardly beings.”
“Everything was for the sake of Rahnar―.”
“Close that mouth. If you have any shame.”
“…Your Highness.”
“This one was your teacher, was it not?”
In Rozentia Renos’s eyes as she regarded the Wynack Family Head, indignation burned fiercely.
“Regardless of other families, Wynack should not have abandoned this one like this. No matter how the Transcendent Families claim to be unrelated by blood, how could you treat one who was once your teacher and guide in such a manner…. I am astounded that you even have the audacity to hold your head high at this moment. Karga is your original sin!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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