Ch.2828. Emil Albieu (1)

After bringing down the Ogre Bear with the crude but effective method of decapitation, Bjorn could finally lie down on the ground to catch his breath after delivering a final stab to the heart to confirm the kill.

Lying spread-eagle on the ground while regulating his breathing, Bjorn felt certain as he looked at the corpse of the Ogre Bear that he had defeated using only his own strength, without Ma-Duk’s divine power.

His current self had become stronger than when he was a tribal chief—even excluding his power as an apostle—having survived numerous life-threatening situations about three times a week.

Whether it was because he absorbed power (experience points) from the creatures he killed, as passed down in his tribe’s traditions, or simply because he had built up his skills by fighting worthy opponents, he wasn’t sure.

What was certain was that he was steadily growing stronger through Ma-Duk’s trials, and he could inwardly assure himself:

‘If I can just maintain this growth rate, if I can… I’ll be able to achieve my revenge.’

This was the sole driving force that moved Bjorn, who had lost everything.

…At least, that’s what he believed.

※ ※ ※

The holy capital of the Rom Empire, which had blossomed into a brilliant civilization.

The Rom Empire, one of the few hegemonic nations in this world, naturally has its dark side, but its true nature is more grotesque than one could imagine.

The Empire’s Empress sells her body “as a hobby” in high-class brothels, becoming a prostitute is the most common career aspiration among young girls in the slums, and various unidentifiable “meats” are openly sold in back-alley markets.

The ones who most prefer this meat are none other than the upper class—priests and nobles who have gone mad with culinary indulgence and hedonism, touching what should not be touched.

Even the gods themselves take human children as sacrifices and “consume” their flesh and souls.

It’s no coincidence that one of the Seven Arch-Fiends, the Evil God of Pleasure, was born in this holy capital—a place where even atheists would feel the urge for the punishment of the Tetragrammaton (the sacred four letters).

In this place where sulfur and fire could rain down from the sky at any moment without surprise, living under all sorts of absurdities and injustices is the daily norm, not just for the poor in the slums—

“Papa, Papa, PAPAAA—!!”

“JULIAAAA!!!!”

“Shut up, I said be quiet!!!”

SMACK!!!

The injustice that befell Emil Albiu (31, male), an ordinary family man who ran a small produce stand in the market and supported his family after his wife left, was not uncommon but happened frequently.

Julia Albiu, who had just turned 14 recently, became Emil’s emotional pillar in their family of two, as Emil’s wife had died giving birth to her.

Fortunately, Julia grew up to be a kind and diligent child without becoming twisted.

Also, resembling her deceased mother, she was very beautiful, and the third son of Mr. Maximus, who ran a nearby trading company, fell in love with her at first sight and proposed.

The proposal was accepted, and Julia was scheduled to have her wedding soon, though a bit early, but…

“Oh, she’s quite the looker?”

“What should we do, boss?”

“What do you mean what should we do? We take her, of course! Our Lord Pothos would want that too… hehehe!”

(*Pothos: God of Fear, Coercion, and Submission, one of the three major deities of the slums)

Tragedy began in earnest when Julia caught the eye of low-level thugs from Pothos Temple’s direct organization.

These well-backed thugs barged into his shop in broad daylight, claiming they would offer Julia as a sacrifice to Lord Pothos and enjoy her beforehand—an absurd pretext.

They snickered among themselves, crippled Emil as he resisted, and then kidnapped Julia while still laughing.

Naturally, the city’s authorities ignored Emil, who had residency but no citizenship, and the trading company, which wasn’t that large, decided a single girl wasn’t worth facing such threats.

Without money, solid connections, or even temple protection, he ultimately lost his daughter, who was his everything.

According to information he gathered by pounding the pavement, his daughter was used as a plaything for the thugs for months before becoming a holocaust sacrifice.

Holocaust (燔祭), meaning a ritual (sacrifice) where the offering is burned.

And from that day on, only pain existed in Emil’s life.

He lost everything in an instant—his healthy body, his daughter who was his life’s pillar, and even the reputation of the shop he had inherited from his parents and devoted his life to.

Even if he wanted revenge, there was nothing a mere commoner could do against one of the three major organizations in the holy capital’s slums, so he resigned himself and finally… decided to take his own life.

After placing a rope around the beam and standing on a chair, he took a deep breath and, mustering his last bit of courage, kicked the chair away.

“Gack! Gaaack! Guk!”

As Emil dangled in the air, feeling his windpipe being compressed and his consciousness gradually fading… he heard a snapping sound like fibers breaking—

THUD!

With a pitiful sound of flesh hitting the floor, the rope he had used to hang himself broke because it was too old, and he fell to the ground. Unable to even die as he wished, he silently screamed.

“————————!!!!!”

Frustration? Grief? Sorrow? Negative emotions beyond such words seized him, and because oxygen to his brain had been temporarily cut off, he couldn’t think clearly at that very moment.

“…?”

Suddenly, an idea—or more precisely, a conviction—flashed through his mind and struck his consciousness.

And that conviction became his new principle of action.

As if strongly enchanted by something, he got up, hurriedly put on his coat, and reached a park on the outskirts of the holy capital.

He immediately began frantically digging under the largest tree in the park with a shovel he had brought.

“It, it’s here! It’s really here! It’s really here!!!”

And when he discovered a small wooden box under the excavated ground, and confirmed that inside was an ornate ritual dagger with a red handle,

Emil cackled madly at the confirmation of his conviction and carefully tucked the dagger into his breast pocket.

Now that he knew his conviction was true, all he had to do was follow it.

※ ※ ※

The dagger that Emil had found through such a bizarre method was certainly not ordinary.

Simply holding it caused blood-red energy to flow from the dagger through his veins,

enhancing his worn-out and crippled body to a level comparable to veteran legionnaires of the Rom Empire.

Additionally, the ruby embedded in the center of the grip, engraved with the number 10 (X in Roman numerals), stored energy that enhanced his body and allowed him to use various special abilities…

‘…Found them.’

First, it had the quite unique and effective ability to show Emil the exact location of those thugs who had taken his daughter—more precisely, it could locate anything he desired.

With this, despite being unfamiliar with the vast slums of the holy capital, Emil could not only pinpoint the thugs’ location but also identify potential dangers in advance and reach them safely.

The second ability was a kind of perception alteration that hid him from those dangers and prevented him from drawing attention.

It was so powerful that when mixed with crowds, he would be seen as just a natural part of the scenery—even if he were walking around naked.

Moreover, even if he were in a place where he shouldn’t be, no ordinary person would feel any sense of incongruity.

With this ability, he could not only walk straight into the Pothos Temple thugs’ lodgings without any issues but also stroll naturally through the streets even if he were covered in blood after killing them.

Of course, Emil had no intention of immediately killing these thugs who had their own uses.

Anyway, having entered the small inn in the back alley where they were staying, Emil proceeded to stab each of the thugs who were sprawled out sleeping soundly, apparently exhausted.

Shunk! Shunk! Shunk!

Surprisingly, the dagger appeared to cause no visible changes despite penetrating their bodies and not just inflicting wounds.

Or more precisely—they were stabbed by the dagger’s blade and paralyzed by its special ability, remaining frozen despite being conscious.

While most of them were rigidly frozen with their eyes closed, having been paralyzed in their sleep, Emil quickly prepared the ritual.

First, he cut his hand with the dagger to draw blood, then used this blood as ink to draw two large pentacles on the floor, overlapping yet not overlapping, in symmetrical opposition.

An enormous amount of blood flowed from the wound made by the dagger, yet strangely, Emil seemed completely unaffected.

Then he placed ten brass cups he had stolen on his way here at the star points of the pentacles, and drew a circle encompassing both pentacles, completing the ritual preparation.

Now all that remained for Emil was to end his life with a glorious revenge.