The Priest of Corruption - Chapter 72

old story.

old story.

One of those gathered dared to ask the four stars.

“Is there perhaps the least respect we owe to a fallen god?”

The first of the four stars shook his head and replied.

– The only honor that must be offered to the fallen god is ‘horse killing’!

The second star stomped his feet and put in a choo-im-sae.

– Don’t doubt everything!

The third star nodded.

– Don’t ask, everything!

The fourth star spread its wings.

– Just do what you’re told!

The four stars shouted in unison.

– All this for you!

***

Marnak ran towards the ancient ruins full of brass. Fossorina threw her head into his arms and quickly shook her head.

On the way, I saw the corpses of a group of cave bats that had been annihilated amongst themselves.

That meant there was no mass pursuit, except for a handful of enemies that hadn’t been identified yet. She barely took a breath and gradually grasped the current situation.

Perhaps the group that attacked him were clearly worshipers of evil gods, judging from their grotesque abilities. Judging from his bizarre ability, this topless man who saved him from a crisis situation was highly likely to be a worshiper of evil spirits.

As Fossorina swayed in his arms, she reached out and touched his firm pectoral muscles.

I really liked that it was very soft to the touch. She quickly brought out what she was thinking.

“Are you interested in excavation?”

Marnak growled and replied.

“Don’t ask useless questions. Woman. Before I ‘kill’ you.”

“My name is Posorina, not a woman. Even if I look like this, I’m the leader of the Royal Excavation Corps, right? You’re the only one I can pick out right away.”

The clumsy hand that had been groping for her breastbone began to grow bolder and bolder. Marnak quickly shouted.

“Release your hands! If you touch it there, I will kill you right away!”

Posorina slowly removed her hand and grinned.

“I was repaying you for saving me, but I guess you didn’t like it?”

The Human Butcher growled, swallowing the answer that he said it was okay.

“If you touch my body one more time without permission, I will kill you for real.”

“He’s a man of integrity. Better. Go that way, not here. My kids probably went that way.”

Fossorina answered succinctly, extending her hand and pointing at one of the brass-colored ruins’ entrances. Marnak was genuinely suspicious of the mental state of this woman who acted as if nothing had happened despite the deaths of many of her men.

In fact, Fossorina, who had been a mercenary for quite some time, was only clearly distinguishing between when to mourn the death of a colleague and when to get through what happened.

Marnak glanced back, pretending to be looking around, and ran again in the direction Fossorina pointed. Dacia was properly chasing. Now, it was necessary to gather information about this place.

“Woman. Tell me about this place.”

To Marnak’s question, Fossorina answered as if she had been waiting.

“I don’t know too much information, but I’ll tell you everything I know. This is the place where Princess Ceylon met her end. It was a large-scale laboratory and fortress she built. Her mother and emperor, Emperor Yongle. There was no problem during her reign, but a problem arose during the reign of Emperor Hui, who succeeded her as emperor.”

Marnak was genuinely surprised by this shocking fact for a moment. Fortunately, however, the mask he put on effectively covered his startled expression.

Posorina quickly continued.

“Hwijee was not the real son of Emperor Yongle, he was simply the adopted son of Emperor Yongle among his close relatives in order to succeed the throne in place of Ceylon, who had given up the throne. He inevitably faced a problem throughout his reign.”

Marnak immediately thought of a possibility.

authenticity. A problem that will inevitably come to those who ascend to the throne even though the direct line of the emperor is clearly alive.

“At the beginning of the reign of Emperor Hui, there was no problem between Ceylon and Emperor Hui. The real problem started when Ceylon created ‘Immortalium’. The immortal metal she created brought Ceylon great fame. It was. Among the people of the ancient empire, there were people who did not know the original name of Hwije, but there were no people who did not know the name of Ceylon. The problem started from there.

Fossorina rummaged through the pocket of her overalls, pulled out a piece of paper, and continued talking.

“The ancient empire established after the end of the ‘Age of the Twisted Wizards’ was a time of perfect peace with no one to compete with. There were no countries like today. As a result, as time passed, the imperial authority naturally weakened. Power was naturally dispersed. To put it simply, it was an era when the center of power naturally shifted from the emperor to the people of the empire. Hwi-je was not an emperor at all suitable for such an era. He was a man who would shine more than anyone else in times of war, but in times of peace. He was just an emperor greedy for power.”

Even as Marnak faltered as he ran, Fossorina enthusiastically explained what he had learned.

“He tried very hard to strengthen the power of the emperor. He tried to increase the size of the imperial guard and increase the size of the imperial guard, which had been shrinking. . As I said before, the ancient empire did not have an ‘enemy’ to face. Hui-je constantly searched for enemies of the empire. Those who felt fear from such a move of Hui-je finally made a big decision.”

Fossorina wet her lips with saliva and continued her explanation.

“Movements to have Ceylon as their emperor began to be organized throughout the empire. The problem here is that ‘Ceylon’ himself had no intention of ascending to the position of emperor. She could only do her own research. “It was enough. But the people of the empire were more enthusiastic about her attitude. It was clear that if she ascended to the position of emperor, at least it would be much better than the current reign of Hui-je. Demonstrations continued throughout the empire demanding the abdication of Hui-je.” I lost. How do you think you would have acted in this situation if you were Hwi-jae?”

Marnak realized the tragedy that would happen, or the tragedy that would have happened.

The army that was raised to the full despite the resistance and the enemy of the emperor who finally appeared.

“There must have been blood.”

“You got it right. Hwi-je revealed his ambition that he had been holding back deeply. The army that was supposed to protect the people of the empire raised their weapons against the people of the empire. So I stood up to the emperor. The ancient empire was torn in two and entered a civil war. Of course, as soon as the war entered, the value of strategic materials skyrocketed, and the foremost among those strategic materials was the immortal metal, Immortalium. ‘It was. Ceylon was ‘the only’ person who could create Immortalium.”

Posorina spread two fingers.

“Both of the two forces that were fiercely fighting had been encouraging Ceylon to join their side. Hui-je had no doubt that his ‘sister’ would side with them, and the anti-emperor faction was the daughter of the Yongle Emperor and ‘Immortalium’. I thought that ‘Mother of’ would not turn a blind eye to the blood of her people. But Ceylon betrayed both expectations. She resolutely declared ‘neutral’. She was just showing her true feelings. , her rash decisions without political considerations had dire consequences.”

Posorina said with twinkling eyes.

“The two opposing factions defined her as an enemy. She went from being something to be sought for cooperation to being something to be kidnapped and used at any cost. ‘Immortalium’ was such an attractive resource. It was the anti-emperor faction who wanted to make her emperor who came to her research center first. They were in a bit of a hurry because they were in a slight inferiority against the trained emperor’s army. Following the steps of the anti-emperor faction The emperor also dispatched an army a little late.”

It was only then that Marnak took a closer look at the scenery here. The brass-colored ruins, which seemed perfect from a distance, were broken in too many places as they got closer. As if there was a fierce battle.

“Ceylon locked the door of the research institute and refused to meet with the anti-emperor faction’s troops who arrived first. The anti-emperor faction tried to take her by force, but they had to face the embarrassing fact.”

Fossorina raised her hands outstretched and assumed a menacing stance.

“The weapons that Ceylon, who was thought to be nothing more than a simple researcher, created playfully were too powerful. They kept coming here after them, and Ceylon’s defenses weren’t the kind that could be penetrated in a short time. In the end, they made a very foolish choice.”

Fossorina’s fingers pricked Marnak’s chest.

“They started threatening Ceylon with the lives of the citizens who lived outside the lab. It was a very effective strategy. On the very, very negative side. The day the first innocent citizen was killed.”

Posorina read the paper she took out.

“According to the history books of the ancient empire, which only partially remain, it is written that ‘dozens of awakened giants vomited destruction all at once.’ This is probably a metaphor for the weapons used by Ceylon. Anyway, Ceylon was angry. She was determined to end the civil war in the Empire, and like a scientist, she came up with an idea that was both very simple and terrifying: rather than side with either side, she decided to eliminate both the anti-emperor faction and the emperor, both at the root of the problem. ate.”

She frowned once more and read the paper.

“According to the history book, it is written that ‘an endless army of cold metal poured out.’ It seems that the gold people sided with Ceylon. Anyway, the civil war of the empire split into a three-way war. And then Soon it was divided into two forces again. The emperor and the anti-emperor faction dramatically joined hands in front of the Ceylon army that was taking over the empire. Soon, they put in all the beings that Ceylon did not have, and only they had.”

Posorina said while looking at the brass-colored ruins.

“A unit of ‘masters’ infiltrated the laboratory to assassinate Ceylon. Ceylon resisted fiercely, but in the end she fell in front of a single sword. According to the history books, the ‘masters’ who killed Ceylon It is written that no one has been able to go back, but no one knows why. Besides, this Ceylon research institute was designated as a forbidden place by the Empire, so no one dared to touch it. And after that, the torn emperor and the anti-emperor faction became more and more The collapse of an ancient empire that flourished in the wind of intense confrontation began, but no one knows the exact history of the history since there are no detailed history books left. In fact, most of the history I have explained is not accurate because I have roughly put it together.”

Marnak, who had been listening silently, asked.

“Do you know about numbered works? Things that are said to have been created by Ceylon.”

Posorina tilted her head.

“I’ve never heard of Ceylon creating numbered works in his lifetime, have you?”

Marnak silently nodded.

‘Then he didn’t die then. Did the devil help me pretend to be dead?’

Marnak finally arrived at the entrance of the ruins and asked.

“Wait. If what you said earlier is true, isn’t this an imperial ban?”

“yes?”

“You never know what might come out.”

“huh.”

“Did your men enter such a place blindly?”

“The story of the ancient empire is a tale of the distant past. It would have remained even after being crushed by the distant years of what was here. There must be something very important sleeping there.”

His crimson eyes filled with the ruins.

“It is the recipe for ‘Immortalium’ that the ancient empire lost with the death of Ceylon.

” !!”

As soon as Posorina finished speaking, a sharp scream came from the depths of the ruins. Marnak replied in a gloomy voice.

“It seems that something happened inside. Get it right. I’ll run faster.”