Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 567

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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 566
Fire. Gills
Treasures that rolled in unbidden.
Yes. For Rutherford, there was no better way to describe the appearance of the Gypsy than this.
Bariel’s forces surged with such ferocity they seemed ready to tear the very sky asunder, and Burgos appeared to be responding well, yet an inexplicable unease persisted.
Perhaps it was because God had offered no answer.
“Pardon the intrusion. Tsk tsk tsk. We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
It was then that the Gypsy sought out Rutherford.
She was one who had wandered the abyss alongside Ian Hielo. Too favorable to be called an enemy, too unreliable to be called an ally—a woman existing in that gray space between.
He knew she had deep ties with King Damon in particular, but this seemed to be the first time they had faced each other without that connection standing between them.
“We have met. But what brings you here? Did Ian Hielo send you?”
“Hardly! I’ve simply come because we have a mutually beneficial proposal for one another.”
“Can you feel the barrier wavering? I hope your proposal is swift and appropriate. Otherwise, I’ll throw you beyond the barrier.”
“How harsh you are.”
The Gypsy showed no fear. Though her expression could not be read beneath the robes that concealed her face so carefully, her steady voice was evidence enough.
The Gypsy drew gradually closer, then whispered softly.
“Do you perhaps have a secret?”
“A secret?”
Yes. I dare say that I possess virtually all the world’s secrets. Even the Emperor commanding that Bariel legion struggling outside has shared secrets with me.”
“That’s rather interesting.”
Ian Hielo. I also possess secrets regarding the origins of that man, the Minister of Magic of Bariel. However, once something has entered my belly, it no longer brings me joy beyond satiation. If you possess a secret of comparable worth, share it with me. In exchange, I shall give you what I know of Ian Hielo.”
“Ian Hielo’s secret.”
“You saw him in the abyss then, didn’t you?”
Ian’s appearance in the abyss was utterly different from in Gaia. Not a young boy with golden hair and green eyes, but a more mature man with platinum blonde hair and pale blue eyes.
His very form, stature, and even his aura seemed subtly different, so at that time Rutherford could not identify who that platinum-haired man charging at him was.
“Yes. I saw him. Is that Ian’s secret?”
“Of course! You didn’t simply dismiss the abyss as meaningless illusion, did you?”
The question implied whether he could possibly have been so foolish. Rutherford furrowed his brow slightly and set his long cigarette holder down upon the table.
“Of course not.”
“Then this is your chance. A chance to see the truth in one breath.”
“…Come closer.”
Rutherford gestured to indicate he would accept the proposal.
Joy emanated from the Gypsy’s footsteps as she drew near. She leaned her head in close, and Rutherford whispered into her ear.
“But is it real?”
“What is?”
“That the world falls into chaos if your belly is cut open.”
The Gypsy hesitated slightly at his cold tone, but paid it no mind. It was merely a question, after all. The Gypsy needed a great secret to delight all her senses, and Rutherford seemed ready to provide one.
“It is true. The remaining secrets still seek out their masters, and the world grows dizzy as a result.”
“Just as King Damon told me.”
Crack.
Rutherford seized her shoulder with brutal force. She reflexively tried to twist away, but the elder couldn’t escape and found herself pressed even closer against him.
“What am I supposed to do about being sorry?”
“Release me this instant!”
“I have no secrets to give. After enduring through dozens, hundreds of deaths and lives, I wish everyone would simply know me.”
Gaaaaah!
Rutherford squeezed the Gypsy’s throat hard. Between the torn robes, gills fluttered visibly. It was like the desperate gasping of something struggling to breathe, and it would not come easily.
“I have nothing to give, but you appear to have something. May I accept it with gladness?”
“Kugh, hack, damn—!”
Whoosh!
Fins thrashed violently beneath the Gypsy’s robes. For a moment, Rutherford felt her body become soft as mud, and he immediately recognized it as a gesture to flee into the abyss. He tightened his grip at once, but the Gypsy’s speed of disappearance was faster still.
“You, later—!”
When we meet again, I’ll make you pay. I’ll kill you!
Just as the Gypsy writhed desperately to vanish—
—sever the fin.
The voice of God, which Rutherford had waited and waited to hear.
Upon hearing that voice, Rutherford reflexively drew his dagger and pierced the half-vanished fin, then drove his strength into it.
—before splitting the belly, tear through the gills.
Crack!
“Aaaaagh!”
The half-disappeared form began to regain substance. From the severed fin poured something blue—blood or something else—and the Gypsy, sensing danger, crawled forward on both arms.
“It seems God does not wish for you to reach the abyss. Come now, let us see what lies within. How many secrets of Ian Hielo remain.”
“You fool, deceived by shadows—!”
“Shadows?”
Crash!
Rutherford drew his blade and severed the fin once more. The Gypsy writhed with agonized moans. Tables and chairs tumbled roughly across the floor.
Crash!
He was about to strike again but stopped himself. As payment for blasphemy, wasn’t this sufficient recompense? And more than anything—
“Go ahead and keep talking. The more you do, the more painfully you will die. I cannot fathom what confidence brought you before me.”
The God who had been silent for so long had finally answered.
The anxiety that had been rising in one corner of Rutherford’s heart was completely washed away. The divine revelation continued, merely on a different cycle.
God remained with me still, watching over me. Though the barrier had shaken greatly, even this now seemed merely a step in my ascension.
“In any case, thank you, Gypsy.”
Rutherford mounted her and pressed his blade near her throat.
At that moment, the door opened and soldiers who had heard the commotion rushed in. Rutherford laughed as if it were nothing and declared:
“I’m about to cut open some treasure that rolled in.”
“Ah, I see…”
“Leave.”
“Lord Rutherford.”
A familiar man appeared, pushing through the soldiers.
Rutherford’s brow furrowed briefly. Who was this?
“Clark?”
“Yes, it’s me. I’m relieved to see you’re unharmed.”
“How did you climb out of the abyss?”
“It’s quite a long story. Would you mind if I explained slowly?”
Clark approached gradually, his gaze fixed on Rutherford’s blade. The Gypsy stared at him with fearful eyes, and Rutherford sensed the strange tension between them.
Clark and the Gypsy knew each other. An ordinary human like Clark could never have escaped the abyss alone.
“Did Iza help you?”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”
“I see. Clark.”
Thwack!
Rutherford struck the Gypsy’s nape in an instant. She collapsed from the sharp, forceful blow, and Rutherford gestured with his dagger for Clark to come closer.
“What’s your purpose? Did you come to see me? Or to save Iza?”
“…I’ve already paid the price for my escape. There is no further connection between us.”
“Then come here and slit her gills for me, would you?”
“I beg your pardon?”
Rutherford smiled thinly and seized the Gypsy by her hair.
“He commanded me to slit the gills first, before cutting open the belly.”
“Did God speak to you?”
“Yes. I just received a revelation.”
Clark hesitated for a moment.
Was Rutherford’s vision true? In the abyss, he too had witnessed a colossal presence. But it seemed closer to a demon than a god…
“You refuse?”
This was Rutherford’s test. If he didn’t kill the Gypsy now, Rutherford would suspect him and cast him out.
Clark stepped toward the fallen Gypsy one pace at a time.
Shing.
Why not just strike down Rutherford instead?
If he feigned attacking the fallen Gypsy and killed Rutherford, wouldn’t everything be solved? He was the very source of all the tragedies unfolding now.
“Clark.”
Then Rutherford muttered, staring up at him intently.
“I’ve felt it before—you can’t hide the look in your eyes.”
That’s why you had such a love affair with that woman Merelrof.
Rutherford swung his blade at the approaching Clark, and at that signal, the soldiers surged forward as one.
Clang! Clang!
“After you finish him, you’ll slit the Gypsy’s gills and belly here.”
“Y-you mean me, sir?”
“Your tongue is too loose.”
“I-I apologize.”
Meanwhile, Clark retreated a step as blades rained down chaotically from all sides. Cold sweat poured from him like rain.
The space was cramped. Obstacles cluttered everywhere—the Gypsy and various furniture—and there was only one exit. The window was several meters high, making it not an option.
‘Can I get the Gypsy out of here?’
Clark pressed his back firmly against the wall, facing off against the soldiers. In that moment, a soldier who had received orders attempted to slash the Gypsy’s gills with a dagger, but Rutherford raised his hand to stop him.
“I’ll do it when I get out.”
“Ah, yes, yes.”
He seemed to understand what kind of shock would strike the moment the Gypsy was cut.
Clark rapidly knocked aside the soldiers’ blades and shouted.
“No! You cannot kill him!”
“Shut up! Push through!”
“An intruder dares—!”
“Kugh!”
The soldiers’ attacks pierced Clark’s shoulder, waist, and thigh. Blood gushed forth, but Clark paid it no mind as he burst through them and charged toward the Gypsy.
Seeing Clark rush forward, a soldier drove his blade even faster toward the Gypsy’s gills.
Boom!
Slash! Crash!
At that moment, a tremendous explosion erupted centered on the Gypsy. Windows shattered as a violent wind tore through the room. It was an explosion so powerful that all the furniture inside toppled over.
The soldiers crouched down, but only briefly. The soldier who had slashed the gills stared blankly into empty space before collapsing to the side.
“Hey! Are you alright?”
“Ugh! What is this smell?”
“Ugh, ugghhh! Blegh!”
The soldiers then retched and collapsed forward.
Clark had no way to escape either. He crawled toward the shattered window, desperately craving fresh air, barely clinging to his fading consciousness. The Gypsy’s belly had not been cut through yet—surely there was still hope? But how?
‘There is hope, but no way forward.’
Boom!
Clark’s body tilted beyond the window frame. He fell helplessly from a height of several meters, and at the same time, the jewel he had placed in his pocket shattered.
* * *
“The signal is lost!”
The soldier in charge of the jewel shouted loudly toward Barsabe. Melania then turned her head, and the three commanders likewise watched the barrier with grave expressions.
“A lost signal means Rutherford has become unreachable.”
“Or perhaps he was already compromised after making contact.”
“Either way, it is a bad sign for us.”
The very fact that the Emperor’s safety had been exposed to danger from an unknown attack was particularly troubling.
Bonita, one of the three commanders, pondered for a moment, then nodded.
“We cannot simply stand and wait. I will select a special task force. We will infiltrate to the location where the signal was last detected, assess the situation, and directly eliminate the source of the attack.”
“But that is deep within enemy territory. It is far too dangerous.”
“If we remain idle, His Majesty the Emperor will be in danger.”
Look at how the Astanains died. They simply stood there and perished. If we cannot find the cause, the Imperial Guards will be overwhelmed without even a chance to protect the Emperor.
“Who will go with me?”
It was as good as going to their deaths. Yet all the guards raised their hands to volunteer, with only Berik sitting idle, picking at his ear.
Bonita checked her weapons and called out names.
“Good. Berik, Barsabe, Canna, and Wakion will come with me.”
“Me? I never said I was going?!”
“The only one who knows the face of this Clark fellow is you, Berik.”
Damn. I had nothing to say to that.
As Berik stood frozen with his mouth agape, Bonita turned to Barsabe.
“The exact location?”
“Approximately one hundred meters north of the First Gate.”
“We’ll infiltrate through the sky. We’ll descend by circling around the mages’ battlefield. How long do you think it will take?”
“Well, that is…”
At the barrier, soldiers were engaged in fierce combat. Going through the sky meant we’d need a mage’s assistance, but they were all locked in battle…
“Thirty seconds.”
Hell. Berik tightened his armor and responded.
“Kyu’s coming over there. If we ride that, we’ll make it in thirty seconds flat.”
-Kyuuuu!
Kyu, carrying two record keepers who were nearly unconscious, descended toward Bariel’s forces with his tail spinning in circles.

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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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