Chapter 167 - The Approaching Second Processing

The underground of Dusk Citadel.

The fight against the unidentifiable slime monster in its abyss continued for over half a day.

Edwin, still wearing the Twilight helmet, was still confronting the monster's consciousness.

The clone Young Master and Cailin were engrossed in defending him, who could not move.

“Why are these things so tough? No matter how many times I hit them, they don't die!”

“Only the one wearing the Twilight helmet can kill it.”

I answered while swatting away a clinging slime monster.

The main body had explained it that way and even told me its name.

“This creature, called Hunger, has an organ like a heart somewhere in its body, and it moves it at will to avoid fatal blows.”

“So it won't die unless that heart is destroyed.”

“That’s about right. It’s not easy to specify without the ability of the Twilight helmet.”

“I see how it survived to the end among the monsters that flocked to the underground!”

She kicked Hunger with an annoyed voice.

Its body shattered into fragments from the formidable force, but it soon squirmed and reassembled, regaining its shape.

It was a truly annoying recovery ability.

Cailin, with her brow deeply furrowed, extended both her fists forward.

“O, wolf that chases the moon. Scatter your cold spirit.”

Ice fragments, spreading like a gale from both fists, piled up on the ground.

It soon took the form of a wolf and played around the underground, leaving a trail of coldness as its afterimage.

Crack─

Crack─

Frost formed on footprints the size of a human face, affecting the surroundings.

I knew it from the fact that Hunger’s fragments had noticeably slowed down.

The creatures flinched at the sudden change in environment and were reluctant to attack.

“Thanks to you, I’ve caught my breath. Thank you.”

“I just tried it, thinking whatever happens, happens! I’m glad it worked!”

What would have happened if it had failed?

The question rose to the tip of my throat, but I didn’t bother to ask. It worked, so that’s what mattered.

The ice wolf, shaped by the werewolf shaman, ran through the abyss, pushing back Hunger’s fragments.

I could feel the main body’s admiration even from here.

“Still, that’s impressive. It can’t have been long since you started studying werewolf shamanism. You can already infuse an attribute.”

“That’s true, but my dad says it's a reckless spell that relies solely on a young body.”

I could tell why he said that from Cailin’s carefully hidden hands.

Her two hands, which had turned deathly pale from the shamanic spell just now, had lost their warmth.

Since she was a young werewolf, she would recover with time, but it was impossible to use it consecutively.

“Rest for a bit. At least until that wolf disappears.”

A blood-colored magic circle floated above my hand.

Fortunately, the main body’s battle had ended without any problems. The main body also didn't use much magic power, thinking of this side.

Right now, both were either in the middle of a battle or on the verge of one.

I had to refrain from using big techniques and instead display finesse.

“I’m fine! I can provide support as much as I want.”

“Don’t exert yourself and wait for your hands to heal. If I borrow a daughter and return her with her hands in that state, I won’t be able to face Remus.”

Ssk─

I grabbed a thread from the magic circle and pulled it out.

And yet, the thread didn't break and came out as I pulled.

A thread can’t go without a needle, so I made one with magic power and hardened it with Samche to create a long needle.

“Your wolf has slowed them down a lot, so I can lend a hand too. You’ve done your part.”

Shwaaaaaaaaaaa─

The needle with the thread attached moved.

It moved swiftly through the air, piercing and sewing the divided fragments of Hunger.

Even when the needle passed through its body, the thread remained, and on the thread, a curse remained.

“These things…. Why aren’t they moving?”

“They are under the curse of slowing.”

To conserve as much magic power as possible, I bound Hunger’s movements with a single thread and needle.

However, there were still some left, and I repeated this process several times.

“Wow….”

Cailin, who watched from behind, was quietly amazed.

With a few of his hand gestures, the fragments were sewn onto the thread, as many as they were divided, and couldn't move an inch.

The thread, which glowed faintly with a red light, soon illuminated the dark floor of the underground.

“Who taught you something like this?”

“I didn’t really learn it from anyone. I just tried it, like you.”

“For something you just tried, it was incredibly neat! I thought you would fight by laying out the undead like the first time we met.”

“The enemies I’ll face from now on can’t be dealt with by such a simple method. I’m making a change.”

And to make another change, the clone was here, and the main body was at the border.

It seemed it would take some time for the main body to achieve results, but the clone was just around the corner.

How much time had passed?

The ice wolf disappeared, and the fragments bound by the curse of slowing began to tremble.

“It seems the results are starting to show.”

I removed the red threads.

Ssk─

The fragments of Hunger that were scattered around gathered towards the largest fragment in front of Edwin.

Jumping and kicking off the floor as if to attack, they eventually merged into one.

“It’s surprisingly big, huh?”

“Indeed.”

The clone Young Master also calmly acknowledged it.

The vampire and werewolf, with their good night vision, witnessed the unified Hunger.

Its height was so great that if it stretched straight up, it could easily reach the bridge over there.

Ssk─

However, its massive body soon shrank and compressed to the size of a single person.

It transformed into the same size, height, and appearance as Edwin.

Even so, it was just a slimy body that had taken on a human form, but Hunger reached out its hand.

Edwin did the same, and the two could touch.

“…It’s done.”

A relieved voice flowed from the Twilight helmet.

“The power of the helmet is truly amazing. From the moment I put it on and faced the creature until the possession began, I even felt a sense of becoming one with it.”

That feeling still tingled at his fingertips.

“Its name is Hunger. You’ll be managing it, so you should know.”

“Hunger…. I understand.”

Edwin, who answered, was still wearing the helmet and looking down at his own hands.

He was still drunk on the sense of unity and omnipotence he had tasted upon succeeding in the mind control.

There was a solution for such times.

“Cailin.”

“Yeah!”

Answering brightly, she stealthily approached Edwin from behind.

“Chairman-nim~. How about taking off the helmet now?”

He pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

“No. I think it’s right to keep wearing it. To use this power even outside the citadel─”

Thwack─!!

“…!!”

A kick that struck his thigh like a thunderbolt.

The superior genetics that had fought on par with a vampire with physical ability alone exploded on his leg.

His body collapsed with a gasp, unable to even scream from the shock.

The helmet naturally came off and rolled on the floor a couple of times.

“Dante! Here you go!”

“Well done.”

The clone Young Master, who had received the Twilight helmet, approached Edwin.

“Are you alright?”

“Ye-Yes. Thank you for saving me.”

“It seems that wearing it for more than a day would result in complete domination.”

“…Yes. At that point, it would be difficult to wake up even with a kick of this magnitude.”

“It’s alright! If that time comes, I’ll kick you with a force that can’t be compared to now!”

Cailin promised, clenching both her fists.

Edwin couldn’t help but think for a moment.

He wondered if he would die if it was stronger than this, but it was better than being dominated by some helmet.

“Thank you.”

“Get up.”

“Ye-Yes.”

Edwin took the hand offered by the clone Young Master and barely managed to stand up.

“Does the control seem to be working well?”

“Fortunately, yes.”

Hunger still stood blankly in human form.

Edwin looked at it and moved his arms.

It was a simple motion of just raising and lowering them, with no particular meaning.

Hunger followed his movements like a baby bird imitating its mother.

“This seems stable enough. I can bring the items now.”

“Where are you going?”

“There are items I entrusted to the Forest Witch. I’m going to place them here.”

“Should I wait here?”

“Yes. It won’t take long.”

He climbed the blood stream like stairs and reached the bridge where he had first fallen.

Now he had to go to the first processing site where the Forest Witch was.

Fortunately, Edwin’s control was established in a short time, shortening the time until the next stage.

Likewise, the end of the second processing was approaching even faster.

***

Messenger Ransis stood behind the Family Head today as well.

She had been doing so since the past when the Family Head was not yet the Family Head.

Her place was always by the Family Head’s side and behind him, always assisting him.

So she could sense even the smallest changes in the Family Head. Today was just like that.

“You have been going for walks frequently lately.”

“Walking is a hobby for everyone.”

A hobby for everyone? What a ridiculous thing to say.

“Among those everyone, you, Family Head-nim, were not included. Furthermore, you even smile while walking. At least, it’s a sight I’m seeing for the first time.”

If it was a sight the messenger was seeing for the first time, then no one in this world had seen it.

“Lately, the situation with Wisdom has become increasingly unstable, and there are continuous signs that the West is trying to rise, yet you, Family Head-nim, seem quite happy.”

“It’s because the hobby I picked up recently is quite amusing.”

“…A hobby, you say.”

When she asked again, Family Head Kulsian smiled gently.

Even with age, that smile was still as innocent as ever.

That pure smile, which all his children had inherited, also held the same meaning.

“It looks more like a nefarious scheme than a hobby.”

“You’re making assumptions without even hearing what kind of hobby it is.”

“What kind of hobby is it?”

“Raising children.”

“……”

As if she had expected it, Ransis’s expression immediately wrinkled.

The Family Head, without erasing his smile, unclasped his hands behind his back.

“I realized at the banquet. Seeing the children only through the General Manager of Intelligence’s reports had a considerable discrepancy.”

“To think you realized that at the banquet. It seems you have no talent for hobbies.”

“I met the youngest occasionally and saw the first son yesterday, so I knew as much as I needed to, but the daughters and the fourth son were unexpected.”

The ghost sisters and the little giant.

They were called by grand names in the world, but the Family Head knew their true nature.

They were still young, burdened by the weight on their shoulders, and bound to their maternal family.

However, after clashing with the youngest, they were freed from that bondage.

Like birds freed from a cage, they soared freely and began to display their talents like crazy.

As the situation with Wisdom had recently become unstable, all the clan members were further honing themselves below the surface.

“The achievement of the first son I saw yesterday was remarkable, but the other children are also worthy of the title of Family Head.”

“Isn’t that why you guided them to grow together by uniting, rather than having the clan members fight each other?”

“Yes. That’s why I set myself up as the target, but now it seems Wisdom is stepping up on its own. This, too, is a welcome event.”

Of course, the first son had charged at him several times, as if to kick away the decision made at the banquet.

He had done so yesterday, and he would probably do so again in a few days.

Even though he had been given a Bone Dragon, he had stubbornly appeared with a sword and had achieved results there again.

It was a great talent, but it couldn't keep up with the youngest's steps.

“The youngest is at the foremost border right now, isn’t he?”

“That is correct. He met with the Empress of Blood recently and went up right away.”

“She must have given him some kind of hint. Whether it’s about the youngest’s current state. Or about the Magic Dragon.”

“Therefore, it seems that the Young Master is trying to advance somehow before the situation with Wisdom comes to the surface.”

The Family Head chuckled.

“It’s obvious just by looking at how he reduced the volume of Dark Elixir and increased only the other new potions to buy more time to advance.”

“Didn’t that strategy actually work? Wisdom has cooled its jets a little.”

“Even so, it’s a heat that will rise again. The youngest, who returns after achieving something at the border, will no longer care about Wisdom’s mood.”

The Family Head waited for that moment to come.

Since he was waiting for something, his eyes were full of life.

The messenger also noticed it. She wanted to say that he was like a child even at his age, but she didn’t bother to stop him.

Because the present was much better than the past few years when he had lived as if dead in his room.

“Ransis. Go to the foremost border. He’ll be excited about getting a Magic Dragon, so it’s not a bad opportunity to build his foundation.”

“…As you command.”

At the thought of building her disciple’s, no. Her disciple’s foundation, a smile spread across Ransis’s lips as well.