episode_0078

Episode 78. The Imperial Banquet (4)

My right arm stopped with the glass in hand. No matter how much I signaled, my arm wouldn’t budge.

I tried to force mana into my arm, but it was blocked at the shoulder and lingered around that area.

“Kyle, what’s wrong?”

“Brother, what’s wrong?”

Lana and Evan, who were right next to me, reacted. But I didn’t have time to respond to their words.

I immediately focused mana into my eyes to examine my suppressed arm. Then I saw something black. It was completely consuming my arm.

“…….”

I know what this is. It was my first time seeing it in person, but this was a Chimera Soul created by Rayan Tianis.

Souls themselves contain tremendous power and potential. And a Chimera Soul is created by fusing two or more souls together. Therefore, it can be used in various ways.

You can exert physical force with the energy contained in the soul, and use it as a price for contracts or sacrifices. Moreover, it can 압박 and subdue other people’s souls without much difficulty.

Of course, if the target’s spiritual power is stronger than the Chimera Soul, it is not easy to take away. That’s why I’m resisting without being immediately taken over.

But my right arm has already been eaten by the Second Prince. I can’t move it as I wish.

‘I didn’t expect to be caught like this….’

He properly snatched the soul by taking advantage of my carelessness. Well, it’s not like I couldn’t solve it if I had time, but the reason he’s doing this at this timing was obvious.

Clang!!

My right arm threw the glass to the ground. The sound of glass breaking echoed through the banquet hall. In an instant, all eyes were focused on me.

“What’s going on?”

Princess Ariel, who was nearby, approached. The princess’s eyes widened when she saw my arm. Her senses were quick to notice this change.

“Rayan!!”

The princess was greatly enraged. Her voice was so loud that the entire banquet hall echoed.

The princess approached with unwavering steps and shouted at the Second Prince.

“Stop it right now!”

It wasn’t like the Second Prince would stop just because she said that. He pretended not to know.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, little sister.”

“You can’t fool my eyes! Rayan Tianis, stop what you’re doing to him!”

“You’re unusually eager to devour me today.”

The Second Prince calmly drank his wine. Unable to bear it any longer, Princess Ariel made a slightly extreme choice.

Swish─!

She drew the sword of the knight standing next to her. And then she pointed the sword at Rayan Tianis.

“Stop if you don’t want to die. You’re making a mistake. What you’re doing right now is….”

“You’re the one making a mistake. Don’t you know that fighting between royals is forbidden?”

Princess Ariel bit her lip. She bit it so hard that blood flowed.

As you can feel from Princess Ariel’s hateful attitude, he is a villain comparable to me. But she cannot execute her own brother.

As the Second Prince said, fighting between royals is forbidden. Not only directly, but also indirectly.

In short, even if you know the sins of your family, there is no way to punish them. And if you break this, you can be sentenced to death in severe cases.

At that time, another royal family member who remained in the banquet hall, First Prince Kashan Tianis, came to stop the fight.

“Ariel. Calm down for now.”

“Kashan, brother! This isn’t the time to calm down…!”

Princess Ariel shouted as if frustrated. Nevertheless, the First Prince’s attitude did not change. He was busy calming the situation.

There is a separate reason why the First Prince is doing that.

Royals do not reveal their abilities. Not even to family members.

However, she is grasping the abilities of her family through [Transcendence of Senses]. That’s why the First Prince is acting like that.

The banquet hall instantly became a mess. The excessive fighting between royals, my sudden actions. The place created for celebration and exchange fell into chaos.

In the meantime, my other arm was also eaten. It’s because the power to block the invasion was reduced as I struggled to drive out the Chimera Soul.

“Uh… Brother, are you okay?”

Evan was bewildered by my arms moving on their own. He wasn’t at a level to grasp this power yet.

At that time, I met eyes with Rayan Tianis, who was watching this situation. He smiled at me. I also gave him a smile in return.

“Kyle, help… Ugh!”

At the same time, my arm covered Lana. Two hands choking her neck.

“Kyle… It hurts….”

“Brother! What are you doing right now!!”

Lana frowned in pain, and Evan was startled and tried his best to stop me. But it was not enough to stop me.

The strength of the grip is getting stronger. I said to Lana in a calm tone.

“Lana, do you trust me?”

At that question, Lana smiled brightly even in pain.

“Yeah, I trust you.”

“Okay, that’s enough.”

The moment I finished speaking.

[Detecting danger to the wearer and companion.]

A mechanical sound was heard in my brain. He continued to speak.

[Checking status….]

[Confirming that the current wearer is in an unstable state.]

[Judging that the current situation matches Manual No. 10.]

[Activating ‘Skill: Automatic Response’.]

At the same time as the voice, the ring shines. And the magic contained within was activated.

[Unique Magic: Point Regression]

The regression point is when I first arrived at the banquet hall. The body time is turned back to that saved point.

The disguised alcohol and food are emptied, and the body’s moisture returns. The mana in the dantian, which had not yet been filled, was also returned to its original state, and power overflowed. Accordingly, the Chimera Soul that had been consuming my arm also disappears.

This is a return of my origin. No matter how good the ability is, it cannot stay attached.

I looked at my arm moving as I willed and let go. Lana breathed a rough sigh.

“Cough, cough! Kyle… Is it over…?”

“Yes, it’s over. Lana, I’m sorry.”

“Hehe, it’s okay….”

I stroked her head as a sign of apology. Lana smiled shyly.

At that time, Evan, who was watching this scene, said.

“Brother, what was that just now….”

“Wait a minute.”

I left Evan, who was asking questions, for a while. It’s because I heard a mechanical sound in my head.

[Acquired a B-grade incomplete soul during the coping process. What would you like to do?]

I muttered quietly at the ring’s question.

“Return it to the maximum extent possible.”

[Confirming the wearer’s request.]

The ring responds. According to the set manual, the ring transformed the absorbed soul into magic.

The magic that was born in that way is.

[Casting ‘Magic: Internal Explosion’.]

It was directed at Rayan Tianis, the culprit of this incident.

“Keuheok! Cough…!”

As soon as the magic was activated, he vomited blood. Of course, it wasn’t an instant death. With a B-grade soul, only a part of his stomach would have exploded.

Still, it was fatal to attack the internal organs. Blood that looked like a fatal amount was spewed through his mouth.

“Kyaaak-!”

“The prince is hurt! Someone, the prince…!”

The banquet hall instantly became chaotic. This is because the current situation was the same as an assassination attempt.

Immediately, all the passages in the banquet hall were closed. And a knight rushed in, and a priest stuck next to the Second Prince.

I sent a telepathic message to him, who was unable to come to his senses.

-I told you not to touch me.

The Second Prince, who received the telepathic message, glared. He tried to shout something. But instead of words, blood spurted out as he was being treated.

Afterwards, everyone in the banquet hall was dragged away as suspects in the assassination attempt on the Second Prince, Rayan Tianis.

***

“Where is this….”

I am currently walking somewhere in the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace was not easy to enter even in the game, so I didn’t know the way well.

Ah, I just got out of the investigation. I was also the first to be cleared of suspicion. The judgment was made that I could not kill the prince.

To explain the detailed reasons, the fact that I am from the Arden family was a big reason, and traces of magic were detected from the Second Prince.

Of course, the fully recovered Second Prince shouted that I was the culprit. But his claim was not accepted due to Princess Ariel’s ardent defense that I was the victim.

Anyway, thanks to that, I’m alone after leaving the investigation room.

“First, let’s take a look around.”

There’s not much opportunity to come to the Imperial Palace, so I decided to keep walking.

Still, should I say it’s the home of the continent’s top family? The corridors of the Imperial Palace were unique.

Not to mention the works of art, gold and jewels are decorated everywhere. The floor and curtain materials are also top-notch.

It’s really a scene where money has been poured in. Perhaps other palaces will not be able to follow even half of this. Ah, maybe the Holy Kingdom could.

After walking for a while, a portrait hanging on the wall caught my eye.

“I can’t believe I’d see it here.”

He’s really… what the hell does he look like?

I muttered my impressions of the portrait inwardly. The reason I cursed was because the person depicted was very famous.

[Kiran Tianis]

The person in the portrait was the first emperor who founded the Tyran Empire.

“……”

I kept staring at his shitty face. For some reason, looking at that face made me nostalgic. That’s because Kiran Tianis, no….

“He’s a fascinating face, isn’t he? Our ancestor.”

At that time, a familiar voice was heard next to me. It was Princess Ariel. It seems she heard I came out and came to check.

“Yes, well….”

“Actually, it’s okay to think it’s strange. I was surprised when I first saw it too. You can’t find a face like our ancestor’s anywhere on the continent.”

Princess Ariel continued to speak.

“It’s amazing. That you don’t resemble such a unique face. Even if you look at the portrait of Ruan, the child of the first emperor, there is no resemblance at all. Is it just this black hair that’s similar?”

The princess stroked her long hair. The black light was shimmering.

“So I’m sometimes curious. Where did our ancestor come from?”

“Is that so.”

“Yes. Because no one in the Imperial Family has been able to find out. The only clue is that he came from a place called Korea in the east…. Does the Arden family have any words about this?”

“I don’t know.”

The princess didn’t ask any more questions. But she seemed very interested in the birth of her ancestor.

Anyway, the topic of conversation quickly changed.

“The three will be out soon. I’ve told them that Lana was injured, so she’ll come even earlier.”

“How is Lana’s condition?”

“The priest says there’s nothing wrong. Except for the marks on her neck from being strangled.”

“…….”

The princess comforted me as she looked at me, who was speechless.

“Don’t worry too much. It was only because you were being controlled. Lana will understand enough too.”

“…That’s not it. More than that, what happened to that guy?”

“Rayan is….”

At my question, the princess made a sullen expression.

“I can’t punish him separately. Because there’s no evidence.”

“I see.”

“I’m sorry. I wanted to punish him too, but… it was impossible because there are fixed laws in the Imperial Family.”

“It’s okay.”

I already took revenge with my own hands anyway.

We were silent for a while. Then Ariel opened her mouth first.

“Did you do that to Rayan…?”

“…….”

“I’m not pressing you. I’m just asking because I’m curious.”

At those words, I nodded slightly.

“I thought so. I’ll keep this to myself.”

“Thank you.”

“No, it’s okay. Then I’ll be on my way. I have to help another student.”

“Please be careful.”

I bowed briefly and sent her away.

I face the portrait again. And I said the impressions I couldn’t bring out because the princess was there.

“Kiran Tianis….”

No, Choi Jung-soo. A fellow countryman who came from the same hometown.

To you, a transmigrator who came to a fantasy world from the modern world.

To you, the savior who saved the world and achieved peace.

To you, who suffered from all sorts of worries and pain in the process.

“I pay my respects.”

No matter what anyone says, you deserve to be respected.

That was the best courtesy I could give to the ‘former’ protagonist who completed the story of one world before the world called ‘Akacheonma’ was born.