Episode 901
Chapter 227: A New Enemy, the Enemy of Enemies (2)
The Garden of Swords.
“…So that’s why you sent me back in such a hurry, youngest sibling.”
Luna sighed softly.
After slashing Anne’s body, Jin had honestly explained the situation and current circumstances to Luna. Since the brothers, once thought to be suffering in hell, had now become new enemies under the name ‘Ganesto,’ there was no need to keep it from her.
“I’m sorry, sister. I was worried it might hurt you.”
“No, it’s not that. Since I showed weakness, it was only natural for you to think that way. Honestly, if it had been me instead of you, I probably wouldn’t have been able to cut Anne down so quickly. She put on such a pitiful act that even you felt conflicted. I would have suffered far more. I might even have gotten a minor injury.”
“Or maybe Anne kept up the act until the very end. Even so, you would have cut her down eventually. But the remaining brothers would have all appeared before you in the same broken, repentant way.”
If Anne, Mew, Ran, and Vigo had all sequentially shown up before Luna, broken and pretending to repent, it would have dealt a serious psychological blow to her.
“That’s possible. Biceps gave me some good intel. In a way, it’s for the best. From now on, even if I meet the dead brothers, I can cut them down without feeling sorry. Those bastards… right to the end, they’re a pain in the ass. At this point, I almost feel like it doesn’t matter that I didn’t watch over them more closely when they were young.”
“It really isn’t your fault, sister. If we dig into why they were like that before becoming Ganesto, it might be because of the cruel traditions of the Runkandel family. But even without those traditions, they would have become Ganesto eventually.”
—And tell the brothers I said hello. If any of them want to defect, they’re always welcome. After all, we were all born from the same womb.
As Anne had said, all the current generation of Runkandel were born of Rosa, who was believed to be a direct descendant of Ganesto.
Jin suspected that those who had strongly inherited Ganesto’s bloodline, or those with weak wills and dark ideologies, were the ones who awakened that blood—like an infection.
At least, in the previous life Jin knew of, this hadn’t happened. But he couldn’t be certain. Back then, he had left the family and wasn’t as well-informed about the situation of the Runkandel and other major powers.
Though his return had changed countless histories, he had a strange feeling this matter was unrelated.
“Damn it, that whole ‘born from the same womb’ thing still feels a bit unsettling, Lord Soga.”
“I wonder if someone among us might suddenly awaken Ganesto’s blood.”
Daytona and Heitona frowned.
“It’s not impossible. But if that were the case, Loki wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble. Awakening the riders here would be far more efficient. We either can’t awaken, or something is preventing our awakening.”
“Something is stopping us from awakening Ganesto’s blood…”
Mary answered Jin, and Luet nodded.
[If something is blocking the awakening, I think it might be the power of Solderet.]
“The power of Solderet…?”
[Immunity to curses. At the time, Loki was the most outstanding mage in Runkandel, perhaps in the entire world. Unlike warriors, a mage’s power isn’t judged solely by combat ability. She was called the Creator because of the incredible magic she wielded.]
Jin recalled that Loki had been called the ‘Creator’ shortly after meeting Anne.
[She was more versed in magic than the leaders of Elrona or Ziphl, especially unmatched in curses.]
Luet suspected Ganesto’s blood awakening was a type of curse.
[If the blood awakening is a curse, Lord Soga is immune thanks to Solderet’s power. And the other riders might be immune as well because of its influence.]
“Wait, Luet. Curse immunity only applies to the little one.”
[True. But Solderet might have foreseen Loki’s betrayal a thousand years ago and prepared for it. Of course, that’s just speculation.]
“If that’s true, then among us, there’s one person I’m worried about: Dr. Quaul. If Solderet prepared for this, would he be included? Although, Quaul hasn’t shown any strange symptoms so far, so it’s unlikely Loki can awaken him at will.”
[That’s my thought as well, Lord Soga.]
For now, the concern wasn’t about the conditions for awakening Ganesto’s blood. All signs pointed to the fact that ‘Loki cannot awaken the riders or Dr. Quaul at will.’
What mattered was that a new enemy had appeared after the Akmyeong tribe and the Jinma realm: the Ganesto family.
Jin activated the communicator, connecting to the barrier.
“Manager, are the Biceps still there?”
{Yes, I’ll switch you over immediately.}
{Jin, what’s the situation?}
For a while, Jin relayed the information he had gathered from Anne to the Biceps. Tillyas and Misol looked quite taken aback as they listened.
{…Huh, Ganesto? Lagal definitely thought of them as mere prisoners, Runkandel.}
“What are the chances Lagal Pun captured those four and made some deal with Loki Ganesto?”
{Well… the name Loki Ganesto isn’t widely known in the demon realm. In your world, most records about him have been erased through historical manipulation. Also, for Loki to have made a deal with Lagal, it would have had to be when Lagal was fighting Elrona—in the human world. But Lagal probably didn’t have the luxury to negotiate while battling Elrona.}
Tillyas added that it was unlikely Loki came to hell to make a direct deal. Currently, only witches could move so freely between hell and the human world.
{More importantly, Lagal isn’t smart enough. For him to find Runkandel’s secrets alone, realize the value of Loki Ganesto, and use that to pressure the alliance? Even pre-brainwashing Lagal couldn’t have done that.}
“Then there must be an accomplice.”
{Definitely. But… there’s no obvious suspect in the Jinma realm. I don’t think Jito would have acted directly. Let’s proceed cautiously.}
After ending the communication, Jin looked at those gathered in the conference room.
“If Lagal has no accomplices in the Jinma realm, then it’s probably Joshua, the former Second Rider, whom the Black Sword Society has been tracking since the Hyungshin War. The key question is how he accessed hell… If Loki and the witch are cooperating, that would explain it.”
Just as he finished speaking, a call came in from Tikan.
{Lord Jin, I just received a report from Yona.}
“What is it?”
{It seems Ainas Caligo and the phantom demon general Pirops Bahma tried to infiltrate Keliak’s dream together. But there’s something strange.}
—Ah, Bubar. I really didn’t want to, but you know I used the dream ability because I saw Dad’s face, right? It was all for nothing. Keliak Ziphl is too far away right now.
—Too far?
—It means not in the human world. Even though I confirmed Keliak’s dream exists in the dream realm, I can’t see it at all. So it’s not the intermediate world either. If it were, I’d at least see it faintly. Anyway, I just wasted my ability. Dad’s an idiot.
—Hehe, don’t hate Pirops too much. He treats me well.
—I don’t hate him, just annoyed. I like swords better, but they keep making me practice dream abilities. And Bubar is my best friend, so it’s natural Dad treats him well.
This was the conversation Yona overheard after Ainas failed to infiltrate Keliak’s dream. Yona had been persistently tailing them and gathered valuable information again.
According to Ainas, there was only one place Keliak could be now.
“Hell… Keliak Ziphl is currently in hell.”
{Ameris said the same as soon as she heard the news.}
“Any other details?”
{None.}
“Understood. Once this meeting ends, I’ll go to Tikan and relay the summarized information. Please wait.”
{Yes, Lord.}
The communicator went silent.
“Not only Joshua but Keliak Ziphl might be cooperating with Lagal Pun. And likely, Joshua and Keliak have teamed up by now. It makes sense for them to rely on each other.”
“Hmph! The fallen scum are scheming together.”
“Seems so, Murakan. If they really joined forces, then manifesting Tess through Shinu’s power is out of the question…”
At that moment, a third communication request came into the Garden of Swords.
This time, it was Valeria.
{Jin. I just finished reviewing all records about Anne left in the Oken Desert.}
Valeria had gone to the Oken Desert to investigate as soon as Jin’s battle ended.
{The records don’t reveal when Anne changed or what she experienced in hell. But there was this entry. Some unexpected names appeared.}
< Keliak Ziphl and Joshua Ganesto sent Anne Ganesto to the human world. >
< After losing her body to Jin Runkandel, Anne Ganesto’s soul returned to ‘Loki’s World.’ >
[End of excerpt.]
As Valeria explained the records, the eyes of everyone in the conference room widened.
“Lokia’s world…? Could it be that, like Lord Keitam, they’ve created their own domain in another dimension or a pocket space?”
[…Kelliac Ziphl and Joshua have joined forces, just as the Sovereign predicted. And judging by the reaction of the Demon King Shiker in the Oken Desert, he probably has no idea that Ragal is scheming with Kelliac and Joshua.]
“Joshua, Kelliac, and Ragal—Zito might be completely unaware of what’s going on with them.”
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Jin’s mind.
Perhaps the greatest enemy in this war won’t be Zito or the Demon Kings after all, but Kelliac and Ganestoga.
“In any case, I doubt Kelliac and Ganestoga will act as loyal servants to Zito. They’ll likely just use the Demon Realm for their own ends. We’ll need to keep a close eye on what they’re up to inside the Demon Realm from now on.”