Chapter 591
Episode 153: Kinzello’s Purpose (3)
“Oh, ohhh…!”
Unaware of the truth, Bubar kept marveling greedily at the machines and blueprints before him.
“This is… engineering? Ha! Hey, unlucky youth. Do you really think this is just engineering?”
The young man called Quaul felt a flush rise to his cheeks.
The products of the Goldseol tribe made the burly bandit leader Quaul look like a muscular young man. Beneath his beard, his original face was surprisingly handsome.
“It is engineering.”
“Fool! This isn’t just engineering—it’s art, art! Hah, it’s deplorable that such a precious masterpiece is entrusted to scoundrels like you. These complex, geometric codes and designs—no masterpiece could ever compare.”
The intricate codes Bubar spoke of were all created by Quaul himself, so he was receiving both insults and praise at once.
Hmph, hah, hoooh. Listening to Bubar’s grating, creepy exclamations for three hours was a torment for both the Bamel Alliance and Kinzello’s side.
Jin barely endured the noise, and the moment the time was up, he swiftly gathered the items.
“Ah, al-already!?”
“Yes, it’s over. Leave now.”
“Just a little longer, please…!”
“Hands off, before I cut them off.”
At Jin’s cold tone, Bubar flinched and took a step back.
“Ha, haha! You’ll need my help to understand those works of art anyway! When that time comes, begging won’t get you any help!”
Bubar was deluded into thinking he had gleaned a lot of information from the items. From his perspective, that was true.
Kinzello’s officers, though disappointed, guessed that Bubar’s excitement meant they had gained something.
If the trap had been set without any clues, suspicion might have arisen. Quaul had thought this through, designing the devices so that Bubar wouldn’t uncover the core information—at least by Quaul’s standards.
“Well then, this concludes the talks.”
Suddenly, Jin followed Bubar as he turned to leave.
“W-what the hell! You told me to take my hands off, so why—why are you doing this!?”
Bubar naturally assumed Jin was following him to attack or cut him down. Only he thought that.
Everyone else clearly understood where Jin’s murderous intent was directed.
Bianca Caligo.
The First Princess of Caligo, Jin passed by the stumbling Bubar and headed straight toward her.
“What is your name, demon?”
“Bianca Caligo… What do you want with me?”
“I was curious how strong one must become to earn the price of Sir Mont, the Black Knight’s left arm.”
“Who… is that?”
An invisible tension crackled fiercely between them, like a powder keg ready to explode at the slightest spark.
Jin was the first to lower his energy.
“I’ll tell you next time.”
Bianca turned away, watching Jin stride back to his comrades, suddenly realizing her own hairs were standing on end.
“Ugh, rude to the end! You lowly human! Sis, you should’ve just crushed him!”
Ainas, intimidated by the two’s aura, suddenly shouted.
If Jin had drawn his sword first and started a fight, Bianca would have been guaranteed victory every time.
But a sudden, unfamiliar unease crept in. This might be the only moment she could defeat Jin.
“Grand Duchess… Margiela.”
“Yes, Princess Caligo?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to kill him now?”
If not now, he might become more dangerous than all of Runkandel combined. Bianca was suggesting just that.
“Hmm, it seems unlikely he’ll join our side. But he probably still has work to do for the world.”
“Even though he’s rampaging like that, he seems well aware we won’t kill him yet, Margiela. We gave that demon too much information.”
“Demons are inherently absurd beings, aren’t they? When the angel awakens, he will repent.”
Even after Jin and his group disappeared on their mounts, Bianca couldn’t take her eyes off the spot where he had stood.
While Jin and his comrades held the talks, Zett moved all of Quaul’s inventions left in his cabin to Tikan.
“Bubar Gaston, was it? That disgusting bastard. Still, he was impressive in his own way. Maybe not the brightest, but his craftsmanship surpassed even mine.”
Quaul examined the inventions. Jin had destroyed a few, but most remained intact. Amela’s eyes sparkled as she looked over them.
“The traps prevented us from getting the core info, but since he’s the original developer of the demonstone and is suspected to be the reincarnation of the God of Sculpture, he’ll probably make something from what we gained. The leader of those who can’t operate openly seems to have some special power too.”
“As long as their tech development doesn’t outpace Quaul’s expectations, it shouldn’t be a big problem.”
“Good hands mean nothing without brains. They have the Grnil, a finished warship, so they’ll catch up soon enough, but a space-time device? That’s a dream for them.”
“They do have steel-door-type teleportation, though.”
The technologies that could change the course of war—warships and teleportation devices.
Now, the technological gap that had left Runkandel far behind Ziphl and Kinzello—who had neither the ability nor will to develop—would be closed or even reversed.
Strictly speaking, it was the Bamel Alliance’s technology, not Runkandel’s.
“The Beast King Orgal…”
As the two spoke, Quikantel recalled Kinzello’s leader.
He and Murakan had talked about Orgal several times. That made Quikantel’s mind especially confused.
“I was sure he was betrayed and killed by Helluram. And during the Colon massacre, Myuron supposedly summoned Orgal from hell to possess him?”
“That part puzzles me too, Quikantel.”
To confirm Orgal’s death, Jin had briefly summoned Tess, who was recovering. Tess also believed he was dead. Shuri, Helluram’s ruby cat, thought the same.
“Come to think of it, whenever Orgal’s name came up, Murakan and I naturally changed the subject. We didn’t think much of it, but maybe that was due to historical manipulation.”
“What kind of person was Orgal?”
Murakan had only heard he was a ‘great demon.’ But few beings Murakan himself called great existed.
“I don’t remember the details clearly. But Murakan and I didn’t dislike him much… in some ways, we respected him.”
“Respected? Murakan?”
“Yes. Just by enduring Helluram’s curse, the whole world was indebted to him.”
“You mean he stopped Helluram’s curse from spreading worldwide?”
“Yes. That much I remember clearly. I don’t recall him ever restraining the rampaging Temar or Murakan.”
“If he was that significant, maybe even Ziphl doesn’t know they manipulated Orgal’s history.”
That would explain why Myuron Ziphl tried to possess Orgal.
Most importantly, Myuron’s possession black magic never fully took hold. Jin cut down the hellgate Myuron summoned before the spell was complete.
“Even if Ziphl knew, it’s possible that info never reached Myuron.”
“That’s very likely. So much history has been lost or altered over a thousand years. I can’t even be sure my memory of him protecting the world from Helluram is accurate. Anyway, if Kinzello’s goal is world purification, it aligns somewhat with my shaky memories of Orgal.”
No matter Kinzello’s true purpose, the comrades agreed they must never let those madmen seize world dominance.
To uncover the truth of history, they had no choice but to wait for Valeria’s record magic to perfect and seek out the legacy of Solderet.
“When Orgal fully recovers will be crucial.”
Runkandel, Ziphl, Kinzello—all three factions’ recovery was key.
No one knew which would recover first.
Therefore, the leaders’ task during the ceasefire was to reorganize their forces as quickly as possible.
In that regard, Jin already had the best conditions. He had been lucky to gain Quaul from the start and had even signed a truce, allowing him to focus on growth without interference.
Still, Jin felt a slight unease, uncertain if he truly held the advantage.
“Yes. But don’t worry too much. The world will keep turning even while you’re gone.”
Quikantel understood exactly the anxiety Jin felt as he prepared to depart for Lafrarosa.
“If anything happens to Tikan while you’re away, Runkandel’s protection is here now, even without Murakan. And the Second Princess is focusing on recovery, so Misha will soon return to her place. Then Murakan will come back to Tikan. Relax a little.”
“Understood, Quikantel.”
“Master.”
Kashimir entered the meeting room, looking for Jin.
“Nodav Sarsang has come to Tikan.”
Nodave Sarsang—that was Sandra Ziphl’s alias.
At this sensitive time, Jin was no longer surprised by her brazen decision to show up at Tikan unannounced. She was the kind of person who could easily pull off even more outrageous stunts.
“Did you come alone?”
“No.”
Jin had naturally assumed she’d come with Hedo, but Sandra’s companion was someone else entirely.
“Veradin Ziphl. He came with me.”
Jin’s eyes widened.
He’d been worried about whether he’d get to see him even once before leaving for Laprarosa.
That meeting with his unfortunate friend depended entirely on Ziphl’s judgment, not his own.
“Technically, we’re already in a ceasefire, but still—sending those two off without any escort? Ziphl must be really anxious.”
Jin immediately understood the Ziphl leadership’s true intentions upon realizing that neither of them had a guard like Hedo accompanying them.
“Yes, I think they’re trying to use the two of them and their connection to the Duke to extract some information.”
“Let’s meet them right away.”