Chapter 88 : Chapter 88

Chapter 88 - An Unexpected Guest

The Scripture of the Dark Wheel’s temple within Pantheon.

The only temple with the prefix 'Grand'.

A member of the bloodline entered that Dark Wheel Grand Temple.

The place was desolate and empty for its size.

At a glance, it was a scene where a Mind Demon could arise.

But compared to a Mind Demon, this place was a metropolis.

“Welcome, practitioner. What brings you to the Grand Temple?”

Within the walls of the Grand Temple, there was no title of Young Master.

Everyone was a practitioner, a monk, a nun, a believer.

“I have come to meet the Vice-Patriarch.”

“Please wait a moment.”

A believer who had come like the wind disappeared just as quickly.

The Dark Wheel sorcery of the Scripture of the Dark Wheel’s believers.

A sorcery constructed from clues obtained by the geniuses and prodigies of Millesdusk as they clung to the Scripture of the Dark Wheel.

It was different enough to be distinguished from the Six Paths, but it was true that it was born from the Six Paths.

‘I need to learn that someday. But I don't know much about that side.’

For a Millesdusk player, a Scripture of the Dark Wheel route did not exist at all.

The Scripture of the Dark Wheel was the Scripture of the Dark Wheel, and the player outside the monitor could neither touch nor lead them.

‘Although it might be different now.’

My bloodshot eyes scanned the surroundings.

As if I had come to a salt desert.

The floor was so white and transparent that I could see my own reflection.

A subtle feeling of floating on water lingered at the tips of my toes.

Beyond the fence was hidden by a thick fog, which revealed the seclusion of the Scripture of the Dark Wheel.

They never stop anyone from entering from the outside.

But looking out from the inside is strictly forbidden.

“Even if you stare at it so intently, you won't see anything clearly.”

My eyes, which had been directed towards the fog, naturally moved in the direction of the voice.

“This fog was created to reduce, even slightly, the chain of cause and effect that the believers must feel. Trying to be conscious of what lies beyond it only increases the size of the chain.”

“A fog that erases both night and day. Were those two also erased because they expand the chain?”

“It means not to stop training day or night. The sky, divided into day and night, sets limits for humans.”

To cut to the chase.

“You've come to see me earlier than I thought. And so brazenly, through the main gate of Pantheon’s Grand Temple.”

“Pantheon is vast, and the elders' ears are just as large. I couldn't avoid all nine pairs of ears by coming in secret.”

So I came openly.

Riding a Griffin, swiftly crossing the daytime sky.

Graham, who let out a hollow laugh, stepped back slightly and gestured inward.

“Please come in. It must be your first time at the Grand Temple, so I will guide you at least to my room.”

“Excuse me.”

I put the sunglasses I had been wearing in my pocket.

There was no sunlight here, where a thick fog covered even the sky.

Only a fog that chilled the lungs when inhaled was dense around me.

But as I followed the Vice-Patriarch.

With just a few simple steps, it disappeared, changing the background.

“…Is this Dark Wheel sorcery?”

Like the description of a Taoist immortal in my memories.

With a single step, I moved as if disappearing, and the space changed.

There was no fog; I had entered a warm, reddish-brown wooden building.

It was a method of movement that elicited admiration.

“Amazing.”

“Do you wish to learn it?”

“If I say yes here, won't my status and power as a blood relative be stripped away immediately?”

“Hahaha. What a shame. You're quick-witted.”

“……”

A Scripture of the Dark Wheel-style joke.

From the perspective of a blood relative hearing it, it only sent a chill down my spine.

In fact, isn't that single joke more powerful than any curse?

[Watch your mouth. I don't want to live in this fog for the rest of my life because of one mistake of yours.]

I nodded inwardly.

I agreed with that.

With that subtle tension, I followed Graham.

Then, a large human skeleton statue with three heads and six arms was revealed.

Simple tables and chairs were placed here and there.

It seemed like a very personal space, but there was enough room for a cushion.

“Should I have taken off my shoes before entering?”

“It's fine. Please sit comfortably.”

“There's no need to sit. I was just going to deliver a simple message and leave.”

“I meant for you to sit before this statue, not me.”

I had to show respect.

As you can see, the highest being here.

Was neither the Vice-Patriarch nor the Youngest Son, but that skeleton statue.

Ssk—

I sat down without a word.

The Vice-Patriarch smiled faintly and continued.

“What is the message you intended to deliver briefly? I hope it is effective, even if it is brief. Since you have drawn the attention of all the elders.”

“It's fine. I've also visited all the other elders and delivered it briefly.”

“…Pardon?”

“I'm saying you're not the only one.”

A letter of a stiff material that I took out from my pocket.

As I held it out, I shook my other wrist.

“I had a hard time writing it by hand.”

“What is this?”

“A justification. It seems the family elders are curious about my land, so I've come to give them a justification myself.”

“Hoh hoh.”

A more serious move than expected.

Bold. Unrestrained.

His driving force was extraordinary.

But if one doesn't know when to stop it, that driving force is death.

I wonder where its end lies.

“I will accept it for now. It's a shame I couldn't see the faces of the elders who received this letter myself.”

“I didn't see most of them either. Some of the elders were not in their seats, so their representatives received it.”

And among them.

“Elder Kian was one of them.”

Graham gently stroked the beard that flowed down from under his hood.

The gesture, which had continued for a while, soon stopped.

His hand took the invitation instead of the beard.

“Seeing that you bring up Elder Kian here, it seems you have prepared a different ‘justification’ from this one.”

The Youngest Son, as if he had been waiting.

“This is it.”

He took out a bottle of potion from the spatial artifact.

However, its contents looked very impure on the outside.

There were many impurities, and it seemed to lack any purity whatsoever.

In a word, it was very dirty.

“It is a truly profane thing to show before the statue.”

“Do you know what it is?”

“It is a smell I can detect even if my nose were cut off right now.”

The deepest part of some sewer.

A smell like something scraped from the very bottom of the bottom within it.

In addition, if you burn it a little, a smell like the one now stings the nose.

“Where did you collect this?”

“An unknown village.”

“…It must have become a village that no one knows now. Since its site would not have remained properly.”

He was right.

Although I couldn't see the face under the hood clearly.

The corner of his mouth, revealed by the flickering flame of the candle, was firm.

“If it is not too much trouble, would it be all right if I examined it for a moment?”

As he spoke, he had already grabbed the bottle.

Of course, the reason I came here was to deliver this.

There was no need to stop him.

“As you wish.”

The Vice-Patriarch, as soon as he grabbed the bottle, opened its lid.

The smell, which had been present despite being tightly sealed with a cork, became dozens of times stronger.

As if it had aged while in the bottle.

The smell of that scene was condensed as it was.

“……”

But the Vice-Patriarch brought his nose to it without any change in expression.

Inhaling the scent.

And exhaling.

In his mind behind his closed eyes, he imagined the scene where the contents of the bottle came from.

“…Irresponsible.”

Even if it was a monster treated as a flying insect in hell, it was still a monster.

To release such a thing into a private house without a second thought.

And without even the desire to control it.

A simple experiment to suit his own taste.

I knew from the fact that I couldn't feel anyone else's magic in this bottle.

In the first place, it's strange to even question the responsibility of someone who would do such a thing.

But this served as another piece of counter-evidence.

“At least it's not the work of a demon worshiper.”

“Yes. They would use even a flying insect from hell as a limb to gain power.”

“You seem to know quite a lot.”

“There are many documents about them in the Dark Moon Grand Castle. I studied them.”

“……”

His shoulders, which hadn't flinched even at the curse cluster potion, shook.

His knees trembled and his buttocks fidgeted.

I knew why.

“If this matter is resolved well. I can help you study what I have studied.”

“…!”

The twitching grew larger.

At the same time, the candle revealed the corners of his mouth grinning foolishly, unbefitting his age.

“I-If you would do that for me. I will gratefully accept.”

“So take a closer look.”

“Of course. In the first place, tracking and killing heretics like demon worshipers is the role of our Scripture of the Dark Wheel. I will do my best.”

“Then perhaps.”

The Youngest Son paused.

He shifted his eyes from the potion to him.

“Could you take this potion with you to the next elder's meeting?”

The old veteran, seasoned with experience, immediately saw through the Youngest Son's scheme.

“Are you saying I should sound out Elder Kian? You believe this is the work of Elder Kian's faction, Young Master.”

The Youngest Son smiled and stood up.

“That's open to interpretation, isn't it? It could be sounding him out. Or it could be a report of the discovery of signs of demon worship in the East.”

“I do not yet believe so. Until direct evidence emerges, I will not make any rash assumptions.”

“That is also up to you, Vice-Patriarch.”

I turned around with my hands clasped behind my back.

There was no problem with him taking the potion.

The problem lay elsewhere.

A very large one.

“Vice-Patriarch.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

The old man, with a thoughtful expression, looked back at the Youngest Son.

A very young age. Yet, broad back. And shoulders.

Those shoulders, which had only recently formed, were already carrying too much.

“I have something to ask.”

That weight was carried in the words of the one who bore it, creating another weight.

A pressure that was naturally applied and exerted.

Even the flames of the candles seemed to shrink.

“Where is the way out.”

“……”

“I didn't walk here, so I don't know the way out.”

“…If you push that door, you can go outside the Grand Temple.”

“Is that so. Next time, I will send you a new justification.”

Kuuuung—

I pushed the great gate engraved with the Dark Wheel.

Light seeped out.

The Youngest Son disappeared into it.

***

While the master was away.

A guest arrived at the Dark Moon Grand Castle within Eclipse.

The man, who was the Captain of the Royal Guard but also served as a gatekeeper, as soon as he confirmed the guest.

“Please enter.”

“Thank you.”

He simply stepped aside.

His face was his credentials, so there was no need for that.

In the first place, he wasn't someone who could be stopped even if one tried to.

The gatekeeper let him in, and the one who greeted him was not the Head Maid.

“Ooh?”

It was the Butler.

“What's with this old geezer?”

First rude remark chalked up within five seconds of meeting.

Even though he himself was much older, except for his appearance.

The Marquis of the demon world, whose mental age had become as young as his appearance, went hmph! and propped up his chin.

“Are you a guest?”

“That is correct.”

“Follow me! The Head Maid is currently busy with other matters. Let's go to the reception room!”

“Very well.”

The guest obediently followed the demon Butler's guidance to the reception room.

The way there was fascinating.

“Hoh.”

To the extent that even someone who had seen and grown up with quite a lot in his old age was amazed.

Anyone would be, seeing the outer walls move back, stairs appear, and the number of floors increase in time with their steps.

It felt not like a person adapting to a house, but a house adapting to a person.

“Is this the reception room? It's smaller than I thought.”

“Ha! Making it bigger is no big deal!”

Tak—!

He snapped his fingers.

Though small, the echo was huge.

That echo spread throughout the reception room.

And as soon as it touched the outer walls, it began to expand the interior as if pushing them out.

Kuwaaaaaaaaaa—

As if a thought was expanding.

The reception room, which had been a moderate size, squared its height and width as if to create a grand conference hall.

To the point where a jousting match could be held here right now.

“Hmph! How about that?”

“It's amazing. As expected of the rumored altar of Eclipse. And the demon of the altar.”

Haa.

A sigh escaped the old man's lips.

“Why did I oppose it? No matter the result, should I have obtained it even if it meant sacrificing tens of thousands?”

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

As he turned his head sharply.

The Butler's ears twitched first.

“The Head Maid is here! I have to go report. You! What's your name?”

In the reception room that had literally become vast.

The old man with deep shadows under his eyes answered.

“Kian. One of the ten elders of Millesdusk.”

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