Chapter 326 171. The Preparations for the Future -1 (Part Two)
Chapter 326: 171. The Preparations for the Future -1 (Part Two)
Translated by A Passing Wanderer
Edited by RED
A deafening roar reverberated throughout the heavens.
And then, giants, their heights ranging from ten to well over fifteen metres tall, were advancing forward ceaselessly. All of them seemed to be carrying huge boulders, and continued to throw the huge rocks into the center of the city.
Those boulders crash-landed and rolled around, destroying the city. Dozens upon dozens of people were crushed to death.
The giants invaded the city, trampled on it, picked up struggling humans and ripped them apart before devouring them.
And the biggest giant of them all…
This creature’s entire figure was covered in ice. Every time it took a step forward, this bone-chilling air spread out to its surroundings and literally froze everything in the giant’s vicinity.
It even shoved aside and flung away some giants nearby, as if this humongous creature found their presence annoying.
-All of you, turn into blocks of ice!-
The huge giant raised both of its hands before slamming them down on the ground. The earth split apart and huge ‘icebergs’ exploded from below the surface.
These icebergs, dozens of metres high, destroyed the surrounding villages and trapped the fleeing villagers in ice.
-Ahahahahaha!- the Frost Giant roared in cruel laughter. But then, it suddenly flinched before lifting its hefty head up. Its glare met with Seran’s gaze, looking through the pool.
“…!!!” Seran gasped in pure shock and stumbled backward. The Frost Giant furrowed its brow, then extended its massive hand up into the empty air.
It was reaching across space itself!
The lake that allowed her to see into the future instantly froze up and shattered. A humongous hand appeared around Seran’s position after breaking straight through the fabric of time and space connecting her to the future.
‘But, how…?!’
Her body shivered uncontrollably at the sudden rush of the cold air. This creature’s incredible power was even distorting time and space!
Seran shrunk back and held herself. Whitish breath leaked out from her slightly parted lips.
No.
“…NO-!”
And then… the giant’s hand closed in on her, grabbing her.
…….
….
…
-…Escaped, huh.-
——-
“Hah…!” Seran’s eyes flew wide open.
Thick droplets of sweat trickled down her forehead. Her shaky eyes were now taking in the sight of a familiar ceiling.
She was back in her own room, where her two younger brothers, the twins, were sleeping on either side of her. They had thrown some childish tantrums and claimed they wanted to stay by her side earlier.
Seran’s trembling hands shielded her face, then she curled up into a ball and began sobbing away.
That deathly cold air she felt within her dream… It engraved an unspeakable terror deep into her soul.
The end of the world. It was rapidly approaching them!
**
(TL: In 1st person POV.)
It had been a month since the Farmer incident came to an end.
The Theocratic Empire was being governed without any incidents by the combined efforts of Luan, White, and Seran’s mother, Runan Ariana. As for Aslan, Hilda paid a ‘friendly’ visit down there and took the army by the horns, then quickly stabilised things, according to the report I received.
As for the Duchy of Ariana…
I was still stuck in Seran’s executive office. Hans was right next to me, busy inscribing a warp magic circle on one of the office’s walls.
In the middle of his scribbling job, Hans suddenly started chatting to me. “The experiment the ancient Holy Emperors initiated, sire… In truth, it began around five hundred years or so ago.”
I leaned against the couch’s back, then rested my cheek on my fist. My other hand brought the teacup near my lips while I watched Hans diligently draw the warp magic circle.
I had been asking him about the Second Imperial Prince’s matter for the past month, and Hans seemed to have finally cracked under the pressure.
He continued on as a sheen of cold sweat coated his face. “But all those experiments ended up as failures, sire. However, there were no individual rights to speak of, even as recently as one hundred years ago, so… our predecessors were able to come to several findings in their research conducted through such unethical experiments.”
“What kind of experiments are we even talking about here?”
After I pointedly asked that, Hans’s hands, which were still scribbling the magic circle, came to a stuttering halt and he visibly hesitated. In the end, however, he still cautiously opened his mouth. “The… sanctification of vampires, sire.”
“…”
“Vampires, existences of pure contradiction that, even though they worship their chosen god, they still desire to kill that very god and ascend to godhood themselves. The plan was to make them completely submit and have the Imperial Family tame them. That is…” Hans resumed drawing the magic circle. “…the Holy Vampire Initiative, as coined by our predecessors, sire.”
“…”
“Such a thing would be impossible to pull off, if we follow the natural laws of this world. Well, it’s practically the same thing as bending the contradiction of all contradictions one more time, you see…”
Absorbing the demonic energy found in nature to use magic, and preying on the blood of humans to become even stronger. That was a vampire in a nutshell.
To these creatures, human blood was like their lifeline, while the gods were merely positions they believed they would ascend to sooner or later.
So, rejecting human blood and worshipping the gods honestly would mean death itself for them.
“Yeah, that’s completely impossible, isn’t it?” I muttered back.
“Yes, sire. It should be impossible, normally speaking. However, the pathway to potential success has opened up recently with the appearance of a common sense-breaking individual.”
“…A common sense-breaking individual, is it?” I asked in a puzzled voice.
Hans stopped drawing the magic circle, turned around to look at me, then frowned rather deeply. His expression practically blared, ‘Sire, are you asking me that because you honestly can’t tell?’
“I’m talking about Your Majesty the Holy King. None other than Allen Olfolse, of course.”
“…”
“You could argue that the whole Imperial Family is an organisation of superhumans who have transcended the limits of regular human beings. The blood belonging to this family is included in the category of ‘very, very rare’. And finally…” Hans spat out a lengthy groan and resumed his magic circle drawing. “Your Majesty’s holy water is also quite beyond common sense, as well. Goodness me… Where would you even find holy water that makes everyone who drinks it turn into zealots that worship Your Majesty and exalt the gods? Even through the very best alchemic techniques available, such a substance is simply impossible to create.”
Hans shuddered theatrically.
“That’s almost on the level of brainwashing, you know? Just as importantly, do you think it makes any sort of sense for holy water to push someone to the brink of awakening their ability to wield divinity just by drinking some of it?”
“…”
“Even if you’re a Saint, all these things are simply too unprecedented in the history of this continent, sire!”
Yup, I was sure that was the case.
There was the power of the Saint at play here, sure, but then my game-like system was added on top of it as well, pushing that holy power to the extremes as a result. That’s what I believed had happened here.
I smacked my lips ruefully.
“When Your Majesty showed up, His Imperial Majesty the Holy Emperor became hopeful again and tried the experiment one last time, sire. The end result is what you saw.”
The birth of a Holy Vampire, in other words. Definitely not a human being, but still a top-tier predator nonetheless, which drank holy water and devoured other vampires.
…The absolute and undeniable natural enemy to all vampires out there.
The Imperial Family had been continuously researching for the last five hundred years, hoping to create an existence like that. It had finally succeeded with the vampire that had inherited the Imperial Family’s bloodline, with a healthy dose of Hans’s expertise in alchemy heaped on top to make it happen.
The resulting product was Second Imperial Prince Ruppel Olfolse, currently the infant named Roy.
“…What a devil that old man is. To think that he’d even use his own grandson for research purposes.”
“His Imperial Majesty said that the moment Ruppel became a vampire, it was no longer his grandson.” A satisfied smile formed on Hans’s lips as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. It seemed that he had finally completed the warp magic circle. “And then, His Imperial Majesty told me something else, as well.” Hans turned around to look at me. “In order to become the Holy Emperor, one must become a merciless devil first.”
“…”
As long as the end result was favourable, one should not mind the process of getting there or the level of sacrifices one must make. That was the unwritten rule of the Imperial Family.
That would be my fate too, after being installed in that position later.
Knock, knock…
Just as I began falling deeper into contemplation, the sound of someone knocking on the door filled the office. I got up from the couch and walked over to open the door.
I discovered Seran with a faltering expression standing there.
“…Please help.” Her sobbing voice caused my lips to clamp shut instantly. “Help me, Allen.”
She grabbed my shoulders and her head rose back up. As tears continued to stream down her face, she began pleading with me.
“Please, please… protect my family.”
< 171. The Preparations for the Future -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.
(TL: Only one chapter today.)