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Turning Chapter 833
🕑 Added 2024-01-22 05:19:45 +0000 UTCChapter 833
It was a strange occurrence. Clearly, there had been numerous brainwashed followers around him, so many that losing a few would go unnoticed. Yet, where had all those people vanished to?
The sage had arrived here alone, but he had no doubts that when he left, it would be with several companions in tow. It was only now that he recalled this.
'Indeed... here, I planned to forge useful alliances with the nobility... to associate with them in the future.'
But those very people had long since been vanquished, fallen to the hands of the Cavalry.
Unable to speak, the sage was met with a cold gaze from Yuder, who addressed him sharply.
"There's no one left to come to your rescue, Karl Enfile. You've thrown them all away with your own hands."
"No... that's not true... Surely...!"
As the sage attempted to retort, he realized, belatedly, what Yuder had called him.
His mind, already overheating due to an ability overload, came to a sudden halt, shocked.
"...What did you just call me?"
"Isn't that your name? Karl Enfile."
Yuder's voice carried an air of stating an obvious fact, emotionless and matter-of-fact.
The eyes of the sage, Karl Enfile, trembled greatly.
'How does he know that name?'
The name Karl Enfile was one he had discarded upon awakening his abilities and leaving the capital.
To say he had discarded it was no mere metaphor. He had erased it so thoroughly that it was legally untraceable.
Even as a low-ranking official, managing documents and erasing information was not a difficult task.
Those who could remember and speak of Karl Enfile had long been brainwashed by him, their memories erased. Even on the Star of Nagran, there was no one who knew of the sage's past. Even if Nahan had attempted to sell information about the sage, one cannot speak of what they do not know.
Even when he returned to the capital to meet the Crown Prince, he had taken extra care to erase any trace of himself. How then, could that name have come from the lips of the Cavalry?
'It's certain... I only met the Cavalry recently... How, in such a short time...!'
The sage surmised that the Cavalry must have learned of him on the day he met Nahan in the capital. He couldn't have imagined that they had been trailing him long before that, watching him even within the Crown Prince's palace, under the vigilant eyes of Yuder's coercive ally, Kiolle.
The existence of the suspicious pharmacist Enon, who could navigate the darkest alleys of the capital as if they were his own palm, and Kanna Wand, the top information reader with a biological father as a high-ranking manager in the building where Karl Enfile once worked, was equally unknown to him.
Had he known that all this information was gathered by Kishiar and Yuder, who had completely anticipated and countered his every move, he might have gone mad.
It would have been quite an effective mental attack, but Yuder had chosen not to proceed that way.
Instead, he said just one thing to the confused sage.
"There's only one thing that matters. There's only one person left here for the Cavalry to take care of."
That person was the sage himself.
He was neither a noble nor a non-Awakener that the Cavalry had no authority to deal with directly. If he were to meet an unexpected end here, no one would know.
Of course, Yuder's words didn't explicitly mean he would kill him on the spot, but the moment the sage heard them, he envisioned his own demise, fallen and dying miserably. Having already witnessed the overwhelming prowess of Yuder Aile against other Awakeners, erasing such an image from his mind was impossible.
No longer having any human shields to offer, nor needing to worry about the aftermath of unleashing his powers, he faced an Awakener, an opponent with no constraints.
Could there be an easier or simpler adversary?
Whether it actually happened or not, it was crucial that the person involved was made to think that he, the sage was the guy who could get away with it. In a rush, the Sage raised his hand.
"Wait, please. I do not know what the Cavalry has discovered about this person, but not everything they know might be true. The Cavalry isn't established for the benefit of Awakeners, is it? Driving people to this and threatening them is...!"
Thud.
In that instant, the ground beneath the sage collapsed, and he fell into it.
Screaming involuntarily and squeezing his eyes shut, the sage soon realized that he was buried in the ground up to his neck, his head throbbing with shame, shock, and fear.
"What is this.....!"
"Grandpa, you're lucky to still have your head after spouting nonsense in front of Yuder."
"It's because Ever decided to handle you that you were even spared. There's nothing left but to capture and interrogate you."
The Eldore siblings began to fuss, pulling a suspiciously stained cloth from their pockets. The sage, smelling its foul odor, turned deathly pale.
Shaking his head and struggling to move his buried body, he was met with Yuder's cold voice.
"Speak only what is relevant. But if you utter anything useless, I'll consider it an attempt to use your powers."
What would follow was clearly indicated by Ever, who, with cold lavender eyes cast downward, clenched her fists. Yuder's glance toward Ever suggested as much.
"I know what your ability is, and its activation conditions, so don't even think about it."
His buried body ached, and his bones felt as if they were shattered. The sage, who had lived comfortably before his awakening and enjoyed the best of life after his awakening thanks to his brainwashed followers, was experiencing such agony for the first time.
He spat out the sleet that had entered his mouth, his face a picture of misery, and cried out.
"This person can tell you things that would be more helpful than Nahan."
"Why would you tell me that?"
To Yuder's counter-question, the sage hastily turned his gaze to Ever. Ever's lips curled up in an odd expression.
"Really? Things that would be helpful?"
"Yes, that's right. This person is...."
"This person, you say."
At Yuder's seemingly meaningless mutter, the sage quickly changed the way he referred to himself.
"It’s me! I am different. Nahan might only have told you about internal affairs on the Star of Nagran, but I know stories that will be useful to the Cavalry, to His Grace, Duke Peletta. Truly. Nahan is a man who instinctively opposes noble forces, he's not in his right mind. Dealing with him will surely harm the Cavalry!"
"Did you say the same to Duke Diarca?"
"No, not at all. I was... ah, at the Bright Palace. And there...."
"You used your powers on the Crown Prince."
"Wha- how do you know that..."
At Ever's counter-question, the sage's mind froze. Ever slowly knelt down to meet the Sage's eyes and then spoke.
"What else do you think we know? It seems there's no helpful information, right, Hinn, Finn, just make him shut up."
Simultaneously, the Eldore siblings forced a cloth into the sage's mouth. The sage, unable to bear the stinging smell of the cloth, struggled to spit it out and retched.
"No, please...! Ugh... Ugh!"
Despite the act being insignificant compared to the agony he had forced his brainwashed followers to endure, the frail old man crumbled completely, tears and snot running down his face. He was a pitiful sight, far removed from the dignity he once held as the sage.
"Hmm, seems like we need to stuff in more."
"Wait a bit. It's somewhat tricky to pry open the jaw without touching it."
"How about just filling it with dirt?"
"Ah, no!"
Yuder, hearing the terrible screams, glanced indifferently at the source before turning his attention to Ever.
The Eldore siblings were thoroughly breaking the sage's spirit, providing an opportunity for Yuder to speak.
"Today's technique you used will be one of the greatest achievements the Cavalry has established."
"I hoped it would be useful, but that seems like excessive praise."
"Just continue as you are. The sage is pathetically weak to physical pain. Maintain this state, extract any useful information, and if there's none, let him faint and leave him until things are settled."
"Understood."
In Ever's smile, there was a mix of triumph from finally capturing the cunning prey they had pursued and deep fatigue. Yet, Ever stood resolutely on both feet.
"We shouldn't push too hard; he might resort to a desperate measure."
"A desperate measure?"
"It means he might use the brainwashing method on us, those who did not have much trust in him.”
Though the exact method was unknown, the look in his eyes was telling. Until being outwitted and overwhelmed by Yuder, the sage had been eyeing them, ready to seize any moment of laxity to strike at the Cavalry members.
Yuder concluded that merely rendering the sage unconscious while he continued to boast and bluster was only a temporary measure. Such a man needed to be thoroughly crushed once captured.
"Ah, true. He is dangerously unpredictable... Should we just knock him out now?"
"I think I can answer that. It won't be necessary."
Before Yuder could shake his head, the answer came from an unexpected source.
"Everyone's done well. Sorry for joining only now."
"Kanna!"
Kanna, having rushed through the sleet, greeted them with a weary smile. She had just arrived and immediately helped Sunz and Emon extract information from the sage's last brainwashed followers, informing them about the sage's hidden brainwashing ability.
"Yuder was right. The sage could temporarily brainwash even those who didn't trust him completely. It's not an easy technique to use, though. His condition worsened significantly after using that ability."
"Did you figure out how it's done?"
"Physical contact with both hands and repeating a specific word, 'belief,' three times."
"That means..."
"In his current state, buried and unable to use his hands, he can't use it on us."
Kanna winked playfully. Ever laughed.
"That's a relief."
Still, one must be cautious when subduing an Awakener cornered into desperation.
Yuder, having witnessed Hosanna's escape, decided there was no need for further words and turned his head away. When he finally looked behind him, there was no one there. Only the ash-gray sleet, carried by the fierce wind, obscured his vision.
'It makes sense. With Hosanna joining, there's no longer any reason for anyone to hold their position and fight...'
Yet, he wasn't overly anxious.
If the situation on Nahan's side had been favorable, it wouldn't have been this quiet until now.
Somewhere beyond the harsh wind and the thick sleet, Kishiar was there.
That was all that mattered to him. Neither the ominous weather nor the thick sleet were of any concern to Yuder.
'I can leave the rest to Kanna and Ever now...'
Yuder, without hesitation, enveloped himself in the power of the wind. Had Kanna not grabbed his cloak, he would have already unleashed his power to head towards Kishiar.
"Yuder, wait, there's something you need to hear!"
"If it's about Hosanna's escape route, tell me later."
"No, it's not that. It's information related to Nahan's identity!"
Only then did Yuder's steps falter momentarily. Seizing the opportunity, Kanna quickly relayed the information.
"First Princess Myra knew who they were."
"That means he is indeed related to the Herne family."
"Yes, but it's not just a distant relation through a branch family, as I initially thought. It's much deeper. Nahan is... the illegitimate child of the current Duke of Herne."
At last, Yuder understood why Kanna deemed it crucial to convey this information, even in such an urgent moment.
Comments
Shrak Prince
A fitting end to the sage. I love his many names, his background, his journey, all leading to this moment of helplessness buried in the ground
