CH 18

Seongjin stood in the center of the back garden with the Holy Emperor.

Either way, there is only one choice. Blocking the passage even temporarily to block the possibility of congestion. As long as he doesn’t deliberately touch the blocked aura, he’ll be safe forever. There was no room for worry.

The Holy Emperor gently pressed the lower part of Seongjin’s right collarbone with the palm of his hand. Probably the closest location to the open passage.

“If the flowing flow of Aura is strong, breathing may be a little difficult. However, keep in mind that it is only an illusion caused by the flow of aura, not bodily sensations.”

Seongjin nodded, trying to hide his tension.

“Let’s begin.”

Suddenly, a large stream of water poured into his chest. It was a surprisingly large amount, but it was still a refreshing flow that did not burden the body.

The stream of water hovers near the chest and then hisses under the right shoulder blade before disappearing.

That’s the passage. For Seongjin, the position that had been ambiguous until now was now clearly felt.

The amount of Aura starts to increase little by little. As soon as it disappears into the passage, it fills the chest again.

However, it was still lacking. All the Aura that was still pouring in was clearly sucked through the passage.

“Hup.”

Seongjin controlled his breathing, trying hard not to breathe as much as possible.

Even though there is actually no restriction on breathing, the feeling of water filling his lungs somehow made his chest feel stuffy.

Whoosh. His breathing is getting heavier, but his hair sways lightly as wind swirls around the back garden.

‘How long will this go on?’

Suddenly, Seongjin became curious. No matter how successful an Aura user is, as long as he is a human, there must be a limit to the Aura stored in his body.

However, the volume of input shows no sign of ending at all. The passage was still sucking in every sip of Aura, and the amount of Aura flowing in was still increasing.

A little worried that he might be overdoing it, he glanced at the Holy Emperor, but he still looked down at his hand with a normal face.

Or, perhaps, he is staring somewhere beyond Seongjin’s chest, somewhere in the invisible passage.

Splash.

There was an illusion that he could hear the sound of the waterfall pouring in his ears. The amount of influx of Aura is so large that confusion arises in the senses.

Now, rather than water pouring into his body, it felt like his body was crawling into the river.

‘I’m out of breath……’

He was constantly holding my breath so that he wouldn’t hyperventilate just in case, but he heard the demon lord muttering in his head.

[This, this is crazy. There’s no way this is possible for humans……]

‘I also think it’s insane.’

Trying to forget his increasingly painful breathing, Seongjin looked away. But a strange sight came into his eyes.

He heard that the wind around them was getting stronger little by little from earlier, but when he looked closely, the wind was swirling around them in a circle. The grass on the floor lay on its right side and rose above the ground.

The long robe worn by the Holy Emperor also floated in the air on the wind. It was as if the whole air around them was rising.

The flying hair mercilessly hit his face, and the grass stalks that flew here and there whirled around, and then soared into the air in a counterclockwise direction.

For a moment, a possibility popped into Seongjin’s mind.

How can the Holy Emperor continuously pour out Aura that far exceeds the amount that one human being can accumulate.

‘No way, this guy. Is he pulling the Aura around us now?’

They were literally the eye of a typhoon.

The garden trees that were a little further away swayed as if they would soon break in the strong wind. Even so, the grass of the support that was empty is starting to be pulled out. The small table where they had eaten until earlier was blown away weakly by the wind and tossed into the corner of the back garden.

‘Anyway, I think this is a bit dangerous……’

Seongjin, who was breaking into a cold sweat at the chaos around him, rolled his eyes and looked back at the Holy Emperor.

This guy, too, closed his eyes and furrowed his brow, as if he was feeling a little tired now. He feels a slight trembling in the hand touching his chest.

And yet, the rushing torrent is still getting stronger!

The demon king screamed in his head.

[Oh crazy! He’s thinking of pouring more here!]

Rumble rumble!

A handful of garden trees were broken and thrown to the ground, and the small table that had been bent on one side bounced around and soared into the air.

They were now in the stormy sea. He felt his body being pushed backwards by the strong waves, and his breath caught in his throat.

He can’t keep to his senses. In an instant, Seongjin’s spirit was being swept away by a fierce current.

[Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]

When he heard the screams of the demon king, it went away in an instant.

And it went dark before my eyes.

* * *

“… Huh?”

Marthain, who was beating the resident knights of the Pearl Palace in the middle of the drill hall, quickly raised his head and frowned.

Suddenly, the wind was blowing strong, but the Aura in the air was shaking like crazy.

“Is it the main palace? no way……”

He glanced at the resident knights, who were exhausted with spirit, and then turned around and started running toward the main palace.

* * *

Crash!

Suddenly, the prayer room door was opened violently, and the paladins who were standing on the alert were startled and corrected their posture.

Katrina, the leader of the Knights of Saint Aurelion, who had just been in private prayer, strode out with a stiff face and began putting on the short armor.

“What about the lieutenant?”

The knight, flustered by her behavior, who seldom violated the prayer time, replied a beat late.

“Sir Francis is now at the academy. Regarding the relic……”

“Well, okay. If he feels something, he’ll catch up.”

She kicked the sword belt with one last click and pointed at the door with the tip of her chin.

“I’m going to the main palace right now. You guys follow me.”

* * *

“What the hell is this, chamberlain!”

Balthazar, the commander of the 1st Knight of the Imperial Guards, rushed to the support with fearsome momentum, howled.

Suddenly, all the Aura in the air seemed to be swept away somewhere, and then a storm came down on the back garden of the main palace. It was a whirlpool of Aura that was colossal to look at.

In the fierce momentum of trees being pulled and blown away, the servants are gathered at the edge of the storm, unable to do this or that, and are only stomping their feet.

What kind of lightning strike is this all of a sudden in the peaceful imperial palace!

In Balthazar’s opinion, only the Holy Emperor himself could perform such feats on all continents.

So, he grabbed the person who was most likely to know the whole story and started to shake him.

“What the hell is he doing again? Come on, answer me!”

But Louis, who was caught by the collar, was muttering while looking at the storm with a dazed face.

“Over, over there…… Over there His Majesty the Holy Emperor, His Majesty and Prince Morres……”

“Even Prince Morres?”

The strength in the grip of the old knight, who was strong, was drained. In a situation where even the young prince was involved, he thought that this would never be what the Holy Emperor intended.

Balthazar looked back at the storm, and for the first time there was a light of nervousness in Balthazar’s eyes.

* * *

Crackle crackle.

With the sound of burning flames in the background, he slowly moved.

A mess of broken wooden fences, torn down barracks, and overturned military trucks.

And all around are covered with corpses.

The corpses of comrades strewn with monsters here and there.

This place is definitely a place in Seongjin’s memory.

The place where the superhuman unit, who decided to fight for the last time, left with tears behind. The last outpost that was completely in ruins.

There was only one thing that was different from that time.

All of this was engulfed in a red fire that was not there at the time.

Crackle. The tree of the slanted wooden fence split open and fell to the floor scattering sparks.

Seongjin stopped walking and looked down at his hands and body.

Battle clothes and combat boots stained with blood and bodily fluids of monsters.

A scarred hand with a tattered bandage wrapped around it.

This is Lee Seongjin’s usual appearance. But why does it feel so strange?

When he raised his head again and looked at the dark red flames covering the tent, the flames that danced here and there as if they were alive came slowly towards Seongjin.

As he put his hand to greet it, the flames were sucked in and stuck to his hand.

This heat. It’s a familiar heat that he’s experienced before. As he stared blankly at the burning hand, the flames crawled up his arm and began to spread.

The sleeves of the combat uniform are on fire, and the skin on the forearm is distorted.

And a calm voice was heard.

“It is indeed a flame that burns up even the soul.”

Fwoosh.

Suddenly, a rush of cool air came from behind, and the flames were pushed out in an instant.

“No matter how much I pushed it, the heat hardly went away, so it was no wonder that the inside of the passage was completely burned and empty.”

The dark red flames burned more and more fiercely and struggled, but they could not invade the border drawn round around Seongjin. All of a sudden, the flames that had spread to his body completely disappeared.

Surprised, Seongjin looked back and saw a man who should never be here standing with his arms crossed and looking this way.

An involuntary voice came out of his mouth.

“… Father?”

No, why is this man here?

“This is the story of when you had a fever. I wondered where this kind of fire came from, but it really is a flame from hell.”

The Holy Emperor looked around for a while, then slowly approached Seongjin. As he gets closer, the flames are pushed a little further outward.

The light of the fire was reflected on the long white robe, giving off an unrealistic red sheen.

Coming closer, he was almost at eye level with Seongjin.

Like pouring cold water on the head, it gradually clears his head.

The Holy Emperor is in this world.

He sees the true nature of Seongjin.

He……

“… Your Majesty… The Holy Emperor.”

A suppressed sound escaped Seongjin’s mouth. His own voice was full of fear that was difficult to explain.

At Seongjin’s call, the Holy Emperor stared blankly at him for a moment, then tilted his head slightly to the side and answered. As if a little puzzled.

“Yes, Morres.”

What?

“No, this… But……”

“You seem to need a bit more training, son, to be pushed all the way here without being able to withstand that level of Aura.”

“Son… Um, Father?”

While he was stuttering in embarrassment, the Holy Emperor turned away from him and waved his hand.

“Open your eyes now, I’m a little tired too.”

“Yes?”

That was the end.

Swoosh.

A strong stream of water rushed in from somewhere. In an instant, the scenery in front of his eyes disappears.

The ruined outpost.

Bodies filling the base.

The Flames of Gehenna struggling in red darkness.

Seongjin’s spirit began to drift helplessly again.

[Morres.]

Like a dream, the voice of the Holy Emperor resonated in my brain.

[Keep in mind that when you pull water in a canal, things on the opposite side are drawn together.]

* * *

“…nce!”

“Lord Morres!”

He woke up to the sound of someone calling loudly.

As he blinked and focused for a moment, he saw a familiar gentle-faced knight smiling brightly.

“You’re awake, Your Highness!”

“… Sir Marthain?”

For some reason, Seongjin was lying leaning on Marthain’s arm.

He tried to get up, but he just gave up because of the spinning feeling. His whole body is languid, he has no energy.

“Ohh, Your Highness the Prince!”

“How fortunate!”

Looking around, he was surrounded by old knights and servants of the main palace, who had never seen him before. Only then did he slowly begin to remember the circumstances behind it.

Ah, we… completely blew away the main palace’s back garden. There must have been an uproar.

“… How’s Father?”

Yes, where is the person responsible for this accident?

At his question, Marthain and the old knight met eyes for a moment and then spoke to Seongjin.

“Relax, Your Highness. His Majesty will be safe.”

“……”

Seongjin, who followed Marthain’s gaze as he moved around unsteadily, found the Holy Emperor surrounded by another group of people from a little distance away.

He, too, was being supported by the knights of the Imperial Guards, but somehow his eyes were closed and his head hanging down as if he was completely unconscious.

A middle-aged woman in silver short armor is holding his hand and pouring divine power that shines white, while the chief chamberlain next to him hovers around restlessly.

The old knight, noticing Seongjin’s gaze, spoke in a soft voice that did not suit him.

“Don’t worry. He’s just a little exhausted.”

“… Okay.”

Seongjin nodded.

It will be fine. He’s a guy who pretended to be proud until the end.

Unknowingly, he put his hand on his chest where the passageway was.

It was as if he could hear the sound of water droplets splashing somewhere inside his body.

T/N:

The cat’s out of the bag now….. Or was the cat in the bag in the first place? In fact, was there even a cat at all?

Thanks to this whole mess though, Seongjin can finally begin to use his Aura. There’ll be a lot of exciting action (aka reckless fighting by our beloved Third Prince) in the future, definitely look forward to them!