Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 113 – The Warriors of Arbalde (4)

Ergil’s throat began to glow red due to heat and started emitting smoke. Then, with a sizzling sound, Juan slowly pulled out his hand. A thick tentacle was dragged out of Ergil’s mouth along with the smell of burning flesh.

“Juan!”

At that moment, Sina grabbed Juan by his arm in a hurry, causing Juan to stare at her with freezing-cold eyes. Sina couldn’t even gulp due to fear, but she didn’t let go of Juan’s arm.

“You can’t kill him now. We still have a lot of information to find out from him.”

An ordinary person would have already died a time ago when Juan violently mutilated their body with a short sword. But Ergil was still alive and trembling.

“Shouldn’t you have told me that when he was still a little more intact?” Juan replied coldly.

Sina remained silent. While Sina also sympathized with Juan’s feelings to some extent when he was mutilating Ergil, Ergil was a valuable prisoner that Hela had been trying to capture for so long.

“He can become the proof needed to prove that the rebels are directly related to the Crack,” Sina said.

Juan closed his mouth. To be honest, Juan wondered what such proof had to do with anything.

‘What if the rebels are related to the Crack? Is the Imperial Army going to come and subjugate them?’

Regardless of the Imperial Army’s actions, Juan had decided to kill all the rebels. But Juan let go of Ergil’s tentacles for the time being. The tentacles helplessly drooped down.

Juan looked at the completely burnt tentacles which were no longer able to move and muttered. “You’re right.”

However, the reason why Juan spared Ergil’s life wasn’t because of Sina’s words.

“There’s no need to kill him so quickly.”

***

Beldeve was turned upside down at the news of Hela Henna falling over the wall. Even Horhell who had been recuperating, jumped at the shocking news. Meanwhile, Sina Solvane and one of the two guards who witnessed the incident and survived called for the soldiers to search for traces of Hela in the sea.

Despite all their efforts to find Hela, no one expected her to be alive. So, some people chose to pay a visit to Ergil instead of looking for Hela—Horhell was one of them.

“I heard that the culprit who murdered Duke Henna was here.”

Horhell’s eyes were bloodshot. Horhell rarely showed any emotions, but even he couldn’t help but lose control of his emotions at the tragic news of his master’s death, who he had been relying on for a long time.

Juan stared at Horhell and the few other soldiers for a while, and then opened the door for them.

“I was just about to start. You can do whatever you want to him.”

Horhell and the soldiers entered the room with a murderous look. Inside the small room Ergil was tightly tied to a chair.

Gasp.

The soldiers’ faces turned pale upon seeing Ergil’s current condition. Some of them stared at Ergil for a while, then ran out to vomit against the wall. The soldiers were usually confident enough to say that they were immune to seeing violent sights, since they had a lot of experience on the battlefield. However, they had never seen someone in such a terrible state before. The worst part was that Ergil still seemed to be breathing.

“Are you sure he’s still alive?” Horhell asked.

“What would be the point of torturing a corpse? Of course he’s alive,” Juan answered.

“How did you even… no, nevermind. I’d rather not ask.”

“Okay. So what are you going to do? Are you going to help me deal with this bastard or help Sina to try and find Hela?”

Few of the soldiers seemed to be trying their best to endure and watch. However, they eventually ran out of the room, unable to handle the stench of rotting wounds. The only person left was Horhell.

“Your subordinates seem to have quite weak stomachs,” Juan clicked his tongue.

“They’ve gotten used to seeing terrible sights like demons and monsters, but I guess this was too much for even them to handle. What’s going on with him right now? Can he even talk?” Horhell asked.

“I used some magic on him, so we don’t need to worry about him moving. I have reconstructed the structure of his mouth, and he still has a clear consciousness. An ordinary human being would’ve already died, but this guy seems to have extraordinary vitality and is familiar with magic as well.”

“That is very much possible if he is a creature of the Crack.”

Juan stood behind Ergil who sat motionlessly. Then he pulled out Talter’s short sword and looked at Horhell.

“What you’re about to see won’t be too pretty. Are you going to keep watching?” Juan asked.

“I’ll watch but leave everything else to the expert.”

Juan shrugged and shoved his short sword into the back of Ergil’s head without any hesitation. Ergil’s shoulders trembled, and at the same time a sloppy sound came from the back of his head. He seemed like he wanted to scream, but the only thing that came out of his gagged mouth was a grotesque moan.

Juan used his bloody hands to pull some unidentified pieces of flesh out of Ergil’s head and dropped them on the floor. Then he cut his own finger with the short sword.

Horhell frowned, wondering what he was doing. He figured that it would be better to watch for now rather than asking for explanations.

Juan shoved his hand into the back of Ergil’s head once again, and the sound of Juan’s hand digging into Ergil’s brain terrified even Horhell.

“There. All done.”

“...May I ask what you just did?” Horhell asked.

“I had tried to make him open his mouth while dragging him to this room. But it seemed like he wouldn’t open his mouth even if I tortured him physically. You know that brainwashing magic doesn’t work on the beings from the Crack, right? So I changed the method a little bit,” Juan answered as he condensed mana into his hands.

Absorbing all the mana, Juan’s fingers became entangled with Ergil’s nerves and began to connect with them quickly. Ergil’s eyes rolled over and his entire body trembled. There was no one inside the room who knew what was going on—and the same was true even for Juan.

“There was a time when my arm got cut off inside the mouth of a demonic beast at Tantil’s slave colosseum. I eventually killed the demonic beast and absorbed its energy to regenerate my arm. But I’ve always wondered what would happen… if I did the same to someone who is still alive. I am regenerating his nerves using my mana and connecting them to my hand.”

Then, Ergil’s shaking and twitching body stopped moving at once. Juan grinned and whispered in Ergil’s ear.

“Your name.”

“E…Ergil. Ergil Egabail.”

Horhell could no longer hold back his questions. However, as soon as Horhell was about to ask how any of this even made sense, Juan brought his fingers to Ergil’s mouth.

“Relax. I’ve seen someone do something similar to this in Durgal. Sit back and quietly watch.”

Horhell closed his mouth upon hearing Juan’s words.

“All right, Ergil. What did you come to Beldeve for?”

“Assassinate… Hela Henna…”

“Who ordered you to do it?”

“The Revenge King… Urkel Arbalde…”

Juan looked at Horhell. Horhell, who had been quietly listening, added an explanation upon Juan’s gaze.

“He is the one who leads the warriors of Arbalde. He’s a survivor of the massacre in Arbalde, and he’s the leader of the northeastern rebels.”

“The Revenge King, huh? What a bombastic title. Alright then, what was supposed to happen after you killed Hela Henna?” Juan continued to interrogate Ergil.

“Escape through the sea…”

“No, I’m talking about Urkel’s purpose. What is his next move? Hela Henna might be gone, but the Fortress of Beldeve is not a place you can easily take over.”

Ergil did not open his mouth—it seemed that he genuinely didn’t know of Urkel’s purpose and was not hiding it. Juan figured that it was very likely that Urkel had not informed Ergil in case an unexpected situation arose.

Juan was disappointed, but he hadn’t expected much in the first place. It was certain that the rebels sent Ergil to Beldeve, and the purpose was clear; it was common for the enemies to assassinate their opponent.

“Do you have any questions to ask him, Horhell?” Juan asked.

Horhell asked Ergil about the deployment of the enemies and their strategies in a quiet voice. Ergil simply answered what he knew, and didn’t answer what he didn’t know. The whole process was so smooth that Horhell didn’t even feel like he was interrogating Ergil.

“I wouldn’t say it’s completely useless, but the information he is giving us is nothing compared to the value of Duke Henna,” Horhell said.

“And how to use this information is entirely up to you,” Juan shrugged.

“Let me ask you one last question. Do other warriors have the ability to turn themselves into tentacle monsters like you? Even Urkel?” Horhell asked Ergil.

If that was true, the rebels that the fourth division had been dealing with so far were nothing compared to the real force of the rebels. It was questionable whether the fourth division would even be able to handle one hundred warriors like Ergil.

Fortunately, Ergil shook his head.

“No. This is a power given only to the name that was granted to me… A star burning brightly in the Crack gave me this name… The name that is only granted to the Priests of the Thornbush Priest Organization…”

Horhell gritted his teeth upon hearing the name of the Thornbush Priest Organization. It was an open secret that the Thornbush Priest Organization was involved with the rebels, but the capital refused to admit it. Now, Ergil would be the only evidence that could prove this fact.

“Is that so? Then what’s the name given to you?” Juan asked mockingly.

Ergil drooled with blank eyes and opened his mouth.

“The name given to me is ■■■■■…”

A strange tone that resembled the sound of scratching metal stirred Juan and Horhell’s ears the moment Ergil said the name given to him out loud. It was a sound that could not come out of a normal human’s mouth.

“However, that is nothing more than a fake name. Those who are not chosen receive only fake names…” Ergil added.

Juan inadvertently remembered the story Hela had told him about ‘the name.’ It was said that the lyrics of the song that the rebels constantly kept singing contained a certain name, and their power became stronger the more they called out the name—and that everyone was given a different name.

Ergil seemed to be suggesting that all those names were fake.

“Only the chosen ones like me among those who serve the king can hear the real name… The king of kings who will split the world in half and lead us on a path to destruction,” Ergil continued to speak slowly even when Juan didn’t ask him a question.

And the name muttered by Ergil shortly after was familiar to Juan.

“...Qzatquizail.”

Juan’s expression stiffened. It was a name he had already heard a few times from the stranger he met in Hiveden, as well as from Celine in Durgal. They were both those who were related to the Crack.

“What is Qzatquizail?” Juan asked in a calm manner.

“A dragon so giant, it sprawls dimensions over… Nine heads it has, but only one wears one crown…”

Ergil’s words sounded like the stanza of a poem rather than proper answers.

Juan frowned and realized that he asked the wrong question; it was natural for him to only get an ambiguous answer back when he asked an ambiguous question in a situation where he couldn’t even guess Qzatquizail’s identity. Juan decided to ask a more detailed question.

“What does Gerard Gain have to do with Qzatquizail?”

Ergil opened his mouth. But what came out of his mouth was not an answer—Ergil’s jaw suddenly opened so wide that it almost ripped. It was almost like he was a snake trying to eat an animal bigger than its own size, and thus began to widen his mouth even further. Then his jaw began to turn over as if he was devouring himself.

Horhell freaked out and stepped back at the gruesome sight he had never seen before, and Juan also pulled his hand out in a hurry. Juan looked at his hands covered in Ergil’s red flesh and nerve bundles.

Meanwhile, Ergil’s body became smaller and smaller in size as he devoured his own body.

“No!”

Juan tried to stop Ergil in haste, but he couldn’t stop Ergil’s self-devouring. Ergil’s body was sucked into the empty space that had absolutely nothing inside. Within seconds, his body completely disappeared without a trace.

***

Three days after the attack on Duke Henna.

Sina and the soldiers were soaked in seawater, returning from an overnight search. Their eyes were gloomy due to the exhausting search, and they were trembling due to the fierce winter wind.

Despite their efforts to search the sea all night, the only thing they were able to find was the corpse of the guard who fell from the wall. Some of the soldiers went to search for Duke Henna by boat; however, only a few still had any hopes left.

Nevertheless, they constantly searched for Duke Henna and didn’t give up.

“You look depressed.”

Sina noticed Juan waiting for her in front of her room. Instead of answering, Sina held out something to Juan.

“This is the eye patch I found today—it might be Duke Henna’s.”