Wizard of the Abyss – Ch. 219

Wizard of the Abyss

[Extra Novels]

Chapter 219 - Rakshasa (5)

The subjugation force was assembled with the Knights I selected.

However, the Knight commanders themselves did not come. It was only natural. They filled positions that issued orders. They would lend their Knights, but not participate directly.

All except one.

"And why are you here, Sir Jahan?”

"Haha. I simply wished to be of help to you, Sir Jern.”

The boisterous commander, who had shown a liking for me from the beginning, laughed heartily as he answered.

He had insisted quite strongly on coming along, so in the end, I had no choice but to bring him.

Well, since he was a commander, he’d be more useful than most Knights anyway. After chatting with him for a while, we made our way toward the last known location where Rakshasa had conducted their dealings.

I had expected an ambush, but nothing happened along the way.

Well, until we arrived.

"...The smell of blood.”

"Yes. I can smell it too. Let’s move.”

The moment we arrived, the stench of death hit us. The Knights’ expressions hardened as we rushed toward its source. 

What awaited us was a massacre.

"Such brutality…”

"Rsk. Hard to even look at.”

Each Knight grimaced, shaking their heads as they took in the scene.

The sight of countless cut-up corpses, piled in neat groups by severed parts, was indeed a grotesque sight, enough to make one’s stomach churn.

"Sir Jern. Do you think this is Rakshasa’s doing?”

Jahan asked, his face twisted in disgust.

After examining the remains for a moment, I shrugged.

"Yes, well…more or less?"

"I thought as much. What shall we do?”

"We’ll bury them.”

At that, a faint warmth crossed the Knights’ expressions.

"Indeed, we cannot leave them like this. We must lay the dead to rest…”

It seemed like they were misunderstanding something.

I drew my dagger and threw it straight at one of the corpses without a hint of hesitation.

-Thud!

Nice shot.

The blade embedded itself in the forehead of a corpse whose eyes had yet to close.

Blood trickled down. The Knights froze, mouth agape, but I was the first to speak up.

"That’s a pretty disgusting hobby. Get up.”

"...Hmm. This is the first time I’ve seen someone stay wary even of mere corpses.”

The face with the dagger lodged in it curled into a grin before letting out a voice.

I had seen this when conversing with Aksha as well, but how did they produce sounds without a lung?

"What in the—”

"Am I dreaming right now…?”

The scattered pieces of the corpse began to move, slowly drawing together and reassembling, as the Knights stared in wide-eyed disbelief.

Hands that leapt across the ground, rolling heads, and walking legs all came together, assembling into four ordinary-looking people. A farmer, an old man, and even a child—people you might see anywhere.

They were so plain that no one would be able to tell them apart in a rural crowd. Among them, a deeply wrinkled old man stepped forward with a friendly smile.

"So you are Jern. How did you figure it out?”

"I ran into one of your colleagues recently.”

"...Aksha, I suppose. I went out of my way to give him something worthwhile. What a disappointment.”

As he casually closed the distance, the Knights finally snapped out of their shock and drew their swords.

"Stop! One more step and we’ll cut you down!”

"Sir Jern! Fall back!”

"I’m fine. Surround the area for now. It looks like they have something to say. We can still kill them after we hear it.””

"Hmm..."

As I raised a hand to hold the Knights back, the old man stroked his chin, clearly amused.

"You’re far younger than I expected and far more cunning. How did you know we wanted to talk?”

"If you came to fight or assassinate me, you wouldn’t have shown up with just the four of you.”

"Hoh, quite the confidence."

"It's just a logical conclusion. I heard you are so obsessed with getting stronger that you mix things together, experiment, and try anything you can get your hands on.”

Rakshasa had somehow succeeded in granting Aksha the power of a Fallen. 

It was something even Dercia couldn’t do. In other words, they had done extensive research on the Fallen.

"Then you already know what I am.”

As I lightly pressed down on the guy’s arm, the old man’s expression immediately turned cold.

"Four of you won’t be enough. As long as you're in your right mind, you didn’t come here to fight.”

"Correct. We'd like to have a conversation. But first, would you mind releasing this restraint?”

"No. If you make even the slightest mistake, I’ll crush you on the spot. That’s non-negotiable."

"Haah…”

Letting out a sigh, the old man spoke as if he had no choice.

"It seems there’s been a slight misunderstanding between us. I’d like to extend an invitation.”

"An invitation? To where?”

"Deva. You could call it our headquarters, I suppose.”

"Hm. That much, I can accept.”

My goal was to find them and wipe them out anyway. As I agreed without any hesitation, the old man’s smile widened grotesquely.

"However, Jern, you must come alone.”

"It’s not worth listening any longer.”

Jahan immediately stepped forward, teeth clenched.

"That’s practically taking a hostage. We should kill them here and track down this ‘Deva’ place…”

"Knight. There’s no need to worry. You may be too dull to understand, but we cannot kill Jern. He himself should already know that.”

That was true.

But there was no guarantee the same rules would apply in their base.

Tilting my head, I asked flatly.

"And why should I accept your invitation?”

"Well, if you’re that concerned, we’ll leave something of ours as collateral.”

-Crunch

The old man plunged his hand into his own chest as if it were nothing.

He pulled out a heart, slick with blood. The problem was that the old man hadn’t died from it. The heart still continued to beat even outside his body.

"Our hearts. Even we can’t survive if these are destroyed. We’ll leave them with you, so…”

"Really? Shall we test that?”

-Crack!

I instantly crushed the heart the old man had pulled out using water pressure.

His face turned deathly pale. He stared at me blankly, then clutched his throat, writhing in agony before collapsing to the ground.

"..."

When I closely observed him using Tide Sense, I confirmed that he was truly dead this time.

As I watched in slight disbelief, the Rakshasa member who looked like a farmer stepped forward and calmly pulled out his own heart.

"Is that proof enough? I’d prefer it if you didn’t crush mine as well.”

"And if I crush all of them until you’re all dead?”

"Then you won’t be receiving our invitation. For reference, Deva isn’t anywhere nearby. No matter how much you search, you won’t find it.”

"Hm…”

"We aren’t particularly numerous. If you kill all of us here, Rakshasa will suffer a significant blow. In that case, to avoid further losses, we would simply go into hiding for a time.”

-Crack, crunch, tear.

The other Rakshasa members ripped out their own hearts without a second thought and tossed them away.

"So choose. Think of this as us repaying the lives of the Knights you lost. Will you kill us all here and end it or accept our invitation?”

They had come prepared to die.

Certainly, killing four Rakshasa assassins here wouldn’t be a meaningless endeavor.

However, as long as the root remained, they would keep lurking somewhere, waiting for another chance.

And that would be quite troublesome. Letting out a sigh, I casually tossed the hearts into my workshop.

"Fine. I’ll go alone.”

"Sir Jern!”

"Don’t worry. No matter what happens, I can get myself out.”

That wasn’t an exaggeration.

Even if they had tampered with Fallen abilities, they still weren’t on my level.

* * *

After separating from the Knights under the Rakshasa’s guidance.

The assassins walked in silence before entering an abandoned house.

Inside, there was a small hatch leading underground. Feeling slightly dumbfounded, I asked,

"I thought you said Deva wasn’t nearby.”

"That was a lie.”

"..."

For a moment I seriously considered just leaving, since I now knew their whereabouts and could come back whenever I wanted.

But there was a good chance they’d abandon this place and disappear if I did. Letting out a sigh, I descended.

Crawling through a narrow tunnel, I eventually arrived at a space that felt less like the headquarters of a legendary assassin organization that had lasted for centuries and more like the burrow of some mutated moles, filled with nothing but turbid, murky air.

Of course, I could see everything inside with my Tide Sense.

"...Disgusting."

I could think of no better word for it.

The underground chamber reeked. And for good reason. There wasn’t a single living person inside.

No furniture, no lamps, nothing meant for human life.

Only pieces of corpses.

What set it apart from before was the sheer volume.

Tens of thousands of legs, feet, arms, heads, tongues, and organs of every kind were strewn across pools of blood, twitching slowly as they clicked and squelched against one another.

For the first time, I felt like turning off my Tide Sense. Though even if I did, the image burned into my mind wouldn’t disappear.

"My apologies for showing you something so unpleasant. This is simply more convenient for us."

As I covered my nose, a voice suddenly came from beside me. A handsome young man with long, bluish hair had appeared, smiling gently as he spoke.

"Are you the leader of Rakshasa?”

"We don’t have the concept of a leader here. But in terms of deciding our directions…I suppose I am in a similar position. You may call me Latry.”

"What the hell is all this?”

From what I’d seen with Aksha, I had already figured out that their bodies could be separated and reassembled.

But this pile of dismembered parts was something else entirely. A far too gruesome sight.

"Ah…I’m not particularly fond of it either.”

Latry scratched his head and sighed, then waved his hand lightly, to which the writhing pieces retreated.

"Everyone has different talents. It can’t be helped.”

"What kind of nonsense is that?”

At my deep frown, showing my dissatisfaction, he elaborated even more kindly.

"In the end, talent is tied to the body, right? So if you borrow a body with talent and attach it in your place, you can still use it to some extent, even if it’s not perfect.”

"Are you insane?”

"Why blame me? Blame my ancestors. At first, they tried something simpler. Cutting off limbs and attaching blades instead, like artificial bodies… But eventually they realized they couldn’t surpass truly talented individuals that way. So they took a different path.”

A hollow laugh escaped me as I heard him speak as if it were something unavoidable while looking around the room.

There was no visible escape route. Not for me and not for them.

If this was all there was, it would end sooner than expected—but there were still things I needed to confirm.

Since Latry seemed strangely friendly toward me, I stepped closer and asked,

"So why did you invite me to a palace like this?”

"Did you know? The Empire has dealt with us before. They sought our techniques to make their Knights stronger, and we gladly accepted.”

"I’d prefer if you answered the question I asked.”

"The point is, we both benefited from that exchange. The Empire created what they call the Knights of Heavenly Retribution, and we learned the techniques of Knights, growing stronger in turn.”

Even under threat, Latry continued smiling, speaking at his own pace.

"I apologize for using somewhat excessive methods to harm your Knights, but we can cooperate in a way for both of us to benefit.”

"Is that so? Let’s hear it.”

"It’s faster to show you.”

"...?”

Latry clapped his hands. Then, from the darkness, something began to approach us.

For something he presented so proudly, it was merely a severed wrist, dragging along five human heads.

"U-uugh…”

"Kgh."

"Hehe, heh…”

Some were laughing mindlessly, some were choking, and some groaned in agony.

What the hell were these? Why were they showing me something like this? These were the thoughts that crossed my mind as I examined the heads. And then, slowly, a chill crept down my spine.

These guys.

They weren’t Rakshasa assassins.

"Don’t tell me…”

"Go on, take a good look.”

Latry scratched his palm with an innocent expression, like a child showing off to a parent.

"...K-kAAaAAAAgh, kAaaaAAAAAAGH!”

One of the heads that had been giggling suddenly began screaming in agony, tears of blood streaming from its eyes.

At the same time, the blood that had been flowing from Latry’s plam began to reverse, seeping back into place as the wound closed.

"How is it? Isn’t it useful?”

"..."

"You see, Rakshasa and Fallen bodies are highly compatible. In the end, it’s the main body that bears the burden.”

That was when it clicked. Rakshasa weren’t borrowing power from the Fallen.

They were using the bodies of the Fallen themselves.

It wasn’t that they had formed some kind of symbiosis after Scarlet Abyss’ upheaval—

They were simply hunting Fallen and using them.

"Are they alive?”

"They have to be.”

Latry’s playful smile faded into something more serious.

"We can cooperate, right? When you hunt Fallen from Scarlet Abyss, we’d like you to keep them alive and send them to us. Since they’re targeting you, we can’t encounter them no matter what we try.”

"And the price?”

"We’re assassins. In the end, the only thing we can offer is killing.”

He shrugged lightly, then smirked.

"The eradication of Scarlet Abyss and every Fallen aligned with them. Would that suffice?”

"Interesting."

"Heh. Good thing I had the Knights stay behind. I had a feeling you’d understand.”

There was only one thing worth saying in response.

"You really don’t understand your place.”

"...What?"

Rakshasa—

These bastards were far more foolish than I had thought.

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