Chapter 27 Pursuit (1)

Translator: BaeBae Editor: BaeBae

Needing to assess his current predicament, Juan gathered up all of his strength.

He didnt feel any strange energy emanating from Sina and the blue rose knights.

However, it was different for the man in front of him.

To be more exact, Juan felt a familiar scent from the glass box that the man held in his hands.

Juan realised something inside this glass box had taken control of his body.

Keu-uk!

The mana inside him showed no sign of calming down. Juan tried suppressing his mana from consuming anymore of Talteres blood.

Whatever weapon the enemy possessed, it was able to control Talteres mana.

He knew this as his own mana inside him was calm.

Looks quite painful. Know this. The only thing waiting for anyone who doesnt obey authority is pain.

With a distorted face the man smiled. Juan could do nothing but listen to the mans taunting words.

Unable to see more of this, Sina stepped forwards.

Thats enough Kato nim. Your assignment is to help me capture Juan, not anything else.

Capture? Ah, yes. I did all the capturing, while your group of knights were practically useless.

Kato sneered at Sina. Sina wanted to argue that he only captured Juan by using the emperors power. But thought twice after remembering he was an inquisitor, someone that even ranked higher than a paladin.

Juan continued to struggle, trying to force his body to stand.

It looks like we cant afford to be careless with him.

Kato smiled foully, and lifted the glass box higher. Something from inside the glass shined even brighter and suppressed Juans body.

Juan finally recognised the glass box.

The sheath of Talteres sacrificial dagger.

At the time when Juan killed Taltere, he wasnt able to find the sacrificial dagger. The dagger was a good medium that could lead to Talteres revival, so Juan had put a spell on the sheath as a countermeasure.

If Taltere revived, the sheath could be used to suppress Talteres power.

Juan had never imagined his own measure would be used against him like this.

Juan felt as if his body was rupturing into pieces. The uncontrollable mana inside his body had nowhere to go. Here and there, Juans skin was splitting apart as beads of bloods started to form.

Juan glared at Kato with bloodshot eyes.

Seeing his eyes, Kato flinched and stepped back. As if hed finally decided it had to be done, Kato grabbed his dagger on his waist. As he advanced towards Juan, Sina quickly grabbed him.

What are you doing?

Exterminating a cultist.

Our orders are to capture him, not to execute.

Kato sighed. He recalled Sinas profile. A demoted child. Her frequent arguments with priests during her time at the capital made them question her faith. If shed acted more responsibly, she would have already been appointed as a Paladin.

Look. This sheath only reacts to Talteres mana. Not yours. Not mine. Not anyone elses for that matter. The sheath uses our powerful emperors magic to suppress Talteres mana, but it does not affect anything else. A clever method designed by the emperor, I can tell you with confidence, this bastard would not be in submission like he is now if he wasnt Talteres follower.

But its not a justification to conduct an execution.

Sina kyung[1], Bishop Rieto nim gave you this valuable chance. People higher up are examining your actions closely. You would do well to pick your words more carefully from now on.

Kato looked at Sina with a livid expression. Sina knew from the beginning Kato was intent on killing Juan.

And that he was ordered to do so from someone higher than even Bishop Rieto.

Someone pulled at her arm. It was Ausrey. Ausrey shook her head as if to say dont.

Ausrey respected Sina. He couldnt bear himself to watch her disobey the inquisitor in order to save an apostate boy.

Sina weakly backed off. With a satisfied expression, Kato turned around to look at Juan once again.

.A little exhausting.

Katos pupils suddenly widened.

Juan was slowly pulling himself up to stand.

*****

While Kato and Sina were arguing, Juan closely listened to Katos words. The principle behind Talteres sheath, that it was able to suppress his mana.

He had forgotten about it as it had been a very long time ago. At the time he had only just started using magic so the method he had thought of was a little sloppy.

But the principle behind was quite simple. Even now, he would be able to use that spell..

And plus, Juans body was in the same state as the sheath.

While Talteres mana was running wild, it was still contained within Juans mana heart.

As Juan tightened his grip around it, Talteres mana continued to struggle.

Kueek

Blood flowed out from Juans mouth. His body was rupturing internally.

Juans plan had succeeded. Juans mana slowly wrapped around Talteres and tightened. And this resonated to the sheath as well.

Weakened.

Talteres dagger sheath shuddered, but Kato didnt notice.

Juan felt the power holding him down slowly weaken. Juan redirected the power back to the sheath.

Cracks started forming on the sheath.

Kato turned around to finish off Juan. But by then, Juan had already managed to stand up.

.A little exhausting.

And right after, the sheath in Katos hand exploded.

With a strange screech, the glass box broke into a million pieces. Shards flew into Katos body, cutting apart and digging into his body.

His hand that was holding the glass box disappeared without a trace.

Aughh ahhhhk

A deathly shriek screamed out. The face that was smiling foully, was replaced with a bloodied red face in tatters.

The blue rose knights quickly drew out their swords. All around, swords were being drawn out but Juan had another thing to worry about. His body spastically convulsed.

This is not good.

Juans body had already used Talteres blood twice. Juan once again tried to gather some semblance of calmness within his body.

Suddenly, Sina and Juans body simultaneously were pulled together.

Kwa-Jjack! An eerie sound of metal crashing into each other echoed. Sina felt like shed slammed into a giant cliff.

Before, shed even realised, her body was flung back into the group of knights behind her.

Kughhk..!

Sina couldnt even breathe. The collision felt like shed been trampled by a stampede.

Her blue rose knights quickly came to help her up. Sina looked at Juan. He was also in a sorry state.

Juans bloodshot eyes turned towards Kato frighteningly. Even his exhaling breath was red.

From the power shown in the collision just now, Sina knew Juan could break through the knights ranks and kill Kato.

Juan stood still, hesitating. Kato was still screaming while looking at the spot where his hand was.

While the Blue rose knights were also hesitating, Juan wearily turned his body towards Kato.

Stop him!

With Sinas shout, the knights hurried to stop Juans advancement.

Blunt sounds echoed. The Blue rose knights didnt fly off like Sina did just a moment ago.

To their surprise, they handily met Juans strikes with their swords.

The nervous knights found themselves startled. It looked like Juan was in great pain each time he moved. Sina soon realised, Juan was devoting most of his power to suppress his own strength.

Juan never relinquished his consciousness. Even as his body jolted, his blade never jittered. Using every ounce of his strength, he kept Talteres mana in bay to stay in control of his body.

It would be easy if I could just kill them all.

Killing one of two people was an easy task, but once that happens, Talteres madness would start to take over his body. He had to look long term.

While he fended off the Blue rose knights, he thought what course of actions to take next.

Well at the very least, that guy needs to die.

Kato.

Juan felt something unpleasant about him. Not because he was strong, but he radiated something foul like madness.

Juan felt if he didnt take care of him now, he would come to regret it later on. He slowly gathered his strength.

Just kill him! Someone Kill him!

At Kato barking orders, the knights nervously crept forwards. But once they saw Juan back off, they found courage to begin their attacks.

Juan dodged and stayed on the defensive. A few of the strikes from the knights nearly missed which boosted their conscience making them become more aggressive.

Sina felt something was wrong.

Juan was an opponent that usually went for the kill right away, or disengaged to look for an immediate counter. Stubbornly holding out defensively wasnt like him at all.

Her nervousness won her over. She grabbed her sword and stood up, ready to jump into the battle.

But she instantly fell back down finding no strength left in her legs. Ausrey quickly supported her.

Sina nim, you dont need to participate. It looks like the knights will take care of this one.

.Fog.

What?

Sina looked at the thin layer of fog slowly covering her hand and mumbled.

She recalled the strange story about the Gray tower. That the tower interior was not filled with stone walls but with fog.

Upon approaching, Sina found it strange she wasnt able to see the Gray tower anywhere. Something clicked in her head.

Protect inquisitor Kato!

The knights had a perplexed look at the sudden cry of order from Sina.

Juan grinned. He flapped his Grey cloak and all the fog that was drifting close to the ground ascended.

What.What is this?!

The knights all backed off in panic. While the fog wasnt dense, it was enough to deter vision.

Amongst the panic, Juan used blink to swiftly move through. After slithering past everyone like a snake, Juan flew straight towards Kato.

Kato simply looked on as Juan dagger became bigger and bigger. Like an arrow, Juans dagger was headed straight for Katos forehead.

Kwa-Jjjiick! The attack was blocked with a heavy thud. Juans expression scrunched. Ausrey had just gotten in between to protect Kato with his shield.

Juan pulled and swung his dagger again but rather than breaking, the shield outer layer peeled off revealing a crest.

A white crow with red eyes.

Paladin..A shield from the White crow order?

One of the Blue rose knights murmured in disbelief.

Juan found a gap where the shield wasnt covering to attack once more. However, an eerie energy was covering Kato and Ausrey.

Frustrated, Juan used blink once more to get out of the encirclement.

Luckily for him, as quite a bit of Talteres mana had been consumed, he didnt have to worry about losing his mind.

Especially, when hed struck Ausreys shield, his breathing got easier as some strength left him.

It seemed that magic had been put on Ausreys shield to allow incompatible energy absorption.

I felt my mana.

Juan felt the shield that Ausrey was holding onto was blessed with the emperors grace.

What are you doing! Hes getting away! Kill him now!

Kato screamed out an order. The knights unconfidently made incremental steps to surround Juan once more.

Juan gave up on killing Kato for now. So he had no reason to stick around any further.

Nice toy you had there. Kiddo.

Juan spoke at Kato. The surrounding Blue rose knights faces had a confused expression that said, youre the only kid here.

Juan ignored their questionable facial expressions, turned his body around and fled.

A few Blue rose knights tried to stop him but in a flash Juan used blink and disappeared into the fog.

[1] kyung another Korean term used after someones name. (Kinda hard to explain but its associated with honor)