Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 262

Right before the main cannon fired, my second sister and I quickly escaped into the sky on the Black Swan.

KWA-KOOONG!

A beat later, the main cannon erupted, and a tremendous roar echoed.

I felt as if every hair on my body stood on end.

With trembling eyes, I looked down.

‘This is insane….’

An unbelievable sight was unfolding.

A color scheme that looked like all sorts of paints mixed together, just before turning completely black.

A murky and unpleasant aura pulsed and swept across the ground.

“Kkeuaaaack!”

“Save, save meeee!”

The screams of the allied forces swept up in that aura echoed madly.

Looking down at it, my second sister frowned.

“It’s disgusting. What on earth is that?”

“……”

Unable to find an answer, I closed my mouth and stared down at the scene.

My second sister didn’t seem to know, but I recognized that aura.

A feeling of ominousness, as if all the unclean things were gathered together.

Just looking at it made the undigested remnants in my stomach churn.

‘It’s the black aura Yormungandr was emitting.’

The aura emitted by the Rank 1 monster I saw in the unexplored regions of Northern Europe.

The power that threw not only the Paladins but also the warriors of the Russell family into chaos.

It was the black aura that originated from the primordial monster.

“Kkeuaaaaack!”

“Kkeoeeoeok!”

“S, save… Keueok!”

The aura flowed like lava, engulfing the mobile fortress.

The speed of its advance was rapid, and above all, the troops in the midst of battle had no choice but to be caught up in it without being able to escape.

-Squeak! Squeak!

“Ugh!”

Wobble!

At that moment, my second sister, including the Black Swan flying in the sky, cried out in pain.

Momentarily, the Black Swan’s wing movements lost strength and began to shake from side to side.

“Sister? Are you alright?”

“I, I’m fine. But it’s strange. My head is throbbing, but I feel like my body is filling with strength… Ugh!”

I knew what phenomenon it was.

The blood of the Soongmoo Lee family was awakening.

Because the blood of the Soongmoo Lee family and the origin of that aura were the same, it reacted.

‘What should I do?’

My second sister’s eyes gleamed.

She was vomiting, but her eyes were filled with a strange energy, like someone immersed in joy.

My sister was a problem, but so was the Black Swan.

It was struggling to move its wings, but it was also crying out in pain.

At this rate, it was obvious that we would fall onto that aura.

Swish!

My second sister’s hair color seemed to have darkened slightly.

The color of her eyes, from a pale yellow, felt like it was becoming more and more transparent.

‘I don’t know why, but I feel like I need to do something quickly. I can’t leave my sister like this.’

I opened my eyes wide.

And immediately drew out the Dark Qi [a type of dark energy or life force].

“Sister, give me your hand.”

“H, huh? Why suddenly?”

“Quickly.”

Woo-oong!

I drew out the Dark Qi and wrapped it around the Black Swan and my second sister.

It was similar to the knack for handling magic power. Before coming here, I’m glad I read some of the ‘sorcery’ in the land of the Soongjung Choi family.

‘It’s like magic power, but with a different feel… Use it carefully, as if handling a living creature….’

Following the operating method written in the secret manual, I checked my second sister’s pulse.

The power of purification that she possessed as a descendant of the Choi family.

It was my first time using it, but I instinctively knew how to use it.

‘Draw out the aura that has penetrated inside.’

Weak auras resisting the Dark Qi.

Perhaps it was because we escaped on the Black Swan in time.

The size of the aura that had penetrated my second sister was quite small.

The Dark Qi wrapped around the aura like a rope and pulled it out of the Black Swan and my second sister’s body.

“Huk! Uh, ugh!”

-Kkyak!

My second sister let out a strange groan, and the Black Swan also staggered for a moment, blinking its large eyes and trembling.

Wrapped in the Dark Qi, I stared down at the wriggling, fingernail-sized aura.

Crack!

Soon, the Dark Qi devoured it.

As if salt dissolving in water, the foreign substance was soon absorbed into my body.

“H, huh? Wh, what was that just now?”

My second sister blinked.

The changing hair and eye color of my second sister returned to normal.

“Hoo….”

I barely managed to exhale.

“I’ll explain it later… for now.”

I felt more exhausted than when using magic power or Dark Qi.

I swallowed hard and glanced towards the mobile fortress.

-Kkeuaaaaaack!

That place was hell on earth.

The screams and cries were still incessant.

The aura gushing out from the main cannon showed no signs of stopping and continued to spread around.

And… those caught up in that aura did not die.

Like zombies, they simply stopped on the ground, their eyes devoid of light.

Looking at them, I felt nauseous.

‘Cabal! These crazy bastards. Just how far have they strayed from the path of humanity!’

Leaving my second sister, who was breathing heavily as if exhausted, I watched the fate of those swept up in that aura with my Mana Eyes [eyes that can perceive magical energy].

Their bodies were being transformed differently from what they originally had.

Their hair color, regardless of race or primary color, was dyed completely black, and their eyes were turning a pale, yellowish color, as if bleached.

…The same appearance as the Black Knights I had seen when facing the Puppeteer before.

‘It’s already contaminated. But… it’s different from then.’

Unlike the Black Knights I had seen in the unexplored regions of Northern Europe, their bodies were being distorted in a heterogeneous way.

One arm or leg was disproportionately large, or a part of their body was transformed like a monster.

-The test subjects originally had broken bodies and couldn’t be used. And when the original body is broken, the soul is bound to be broken as well… I was just doing as I was told. So….

I frowned, recalling the story I had heard while interrogating the Puppeteer.

I would rather have their heads cut off and killed; this was truly an unacceptable act.

* * *

After flying for a while, my second sister suddenly pointed to a spot on the ground.

“Maknae [youngest sibling]! There!”

Where my second sister pointed, I could see the main force of the Soongmoo Lee family.

I nodded and stroked the back of the Black Swan.

“Yes, I see it too. Black Swan, let’s go that way.”

-Kkyiak!

I was able to join the main force of the Soongmoo Lee family, who were fleeing.

I lightly jumped off the Black Swan with my second sister and immediately approached my first brother.

“Maknae, you’ve arrived.”

I immediately asked my first brother.

“What is the extent of the damage?”

“…There are some who were caught up in it. They were injured during the battle, and their escape speed was slowed. Half of the Taebaek Warrior Unit [elite warrior unit] and some of the Cheongung Unit [archer unit] were affected.”

The Taebaek Warrior Unit was one of the main family’s elite warrior units, and the Cheongung Unit was one of the Four Gods Units.

“…Eudeuk.”

I clenched my teeth.

Fortunately, the main family’s forces didn’t suffer much damage, but almost all of the enemy forces were swept away.

Easily hundreds of people. No, maybe even four digits.

The Cabal had completely contaminated them all.

‘They’re out of their minds.’

It was clear that the international community would become noisy because of this.

There were more than twenty countries affiliated with the alliance, so the Eiffel Magic Tower and France would have to be prepared for enormous criticism and compensation.

‘No, from the start, the Cabal guys don’t even care about that.’

If they were like Behemoth.

Perhaps they were trying to come to the surface this opportunity.

“Hoo, it’s not approaching anymore.”

The main force of the Soongmoo Lee family all stared at the mobile fortress in the distance, where the unclean energy was surging.

The aura had spread to about 10 kilometers, but it was slowly receding like the tide.

“Maknae. Do you know what that is?”

“It’s an aura that’s emitting the energy of a Rank 1 monster. Other than that, I don’t know either. Does the eldest brother know?”

“I don’t know either. The main cannon’s power was strong purely because of its firepower, not because of such bizarre power.”

I frowned.

At that time, when the operation was successful, instead of recognizing the ominousness and leaving the spot, it might have been better to fight back.

‘No, I don’t know what would have happened if I had.’

It was my second sister who felt the contamination of her body even though she was quite far away.

I don’t know what would have happened if I had fought there more and failed to stop the main cannon’s bombardment.

Avoiding the spot was not a bad choice.

“There was a sorcerous power in that bombardment.”

At that time, the Caretaker said with a bottle of alcohol in his hand.

“What do you mean by that?”

“That was the kind of power that sacrifices humans as offerings, not destruction. I don’t know the original form of that aura, but the way it’s handled is the kind of sorcery or black magic that sacrifices humans as offerings. The others don’t know, but you two know, don’t you?”

The Caretaker looked back at me and my first brother and said.

Sacrifice.

That word suited it.

“Anyway, that’s an external object that has deviated from recognition in a bad way. It’s a power that has touched an area that shouldn’t be touched. It’s truly disgusting.”

Perhaps because he was an existence derived from nature.

The Caretaker clicked his tongue and drank from his bottle.

-And you know what that is. It’s gone now, but it smelled a lot like the scent you used to spread around.

The Caretaker’s voice was only audible to me.

Of course, I know.

That’s Dark Qi.

I want to explain to my brothers what that is right now, but… I knew that even if I explained it, no one would understand.

“Anyway, let’s reorganize for a while and go back to the main force. I need to contact the main family’s command and have a meeting. Everyone, scatter and gather the troops.”

My first brother gathered his brothers and told them.

I immediately headed towards the Cheollyeong Unit.

No, I stopped walking at the moment I was about to go.

In my eyes, I saw a warrior sitting on the floor receiving first aid.

On that warrior’s forearm, the ‘black aura’ from earlier was attached like a leech.

“Ch, Chung [honorific title]!”

“The salute is enough. More than that, you… did you come into contact with that aura earlier?”

I said, looking at the man wearing the blue uniform of the Cheongung Unit.

The man was startled but answered in a trembling voice.

“Yes, I, I brushed against it a little. I’m injecting magic power to remove it now.”

“Stop it.”

I immediately sat down in front of the man and looked at the wounded area.

Because I saw it up close more than anyone else, I know that this is an aura that shouldn’t even be brushed against.

It was the moment I was about to see the affected area.

“Young Master?”

I turned my head at the familiar voice.

Kim Bo-sung.

A classmate from Class 5 of the Cadet Corps and a warrior belonging to the Cheongung Unit.

At that moment, I recalled the story that some of the Cheongung Unit were caught up in the aura emitted by the main cannon.

‘Could it be…!’

I looked at Kim Bo-sung’s leg.

The black aura was also attached to his leg.

Squirm!

And soon, that aura began to move.

“Uh, uh? Euaaaack!”

Soon, a violent scream began to erupt among the Soongmoo Lee family’s troops.

As soon as I approached them, another change occurred.

“Hey! Kid!”

The Caretaker, who was following next to me, shouted urgently and pointed to one side.

I immediately looked there.

Koo-ooo-ooo!

The Aerial Fortress.

The silent Aerial Fortress was emitting a strange light and changing.

* * *

Bottom of the Aerial Fortress.

The barrier surrounding the Aerial Fortress was slowly peeling off.

The seven residents looked around and began to mutter as if chanting a spell.

“Everyone has gathered.”

“Now we have to open the way.”

“We’re ready.”

With those words, the Aerial Fortress began to vibrate violently.

They were opening the way.

The Aerial Fortress where anyone who wants to come can come.

Those who enter will prove their qualifications and become the owner of this place.

“They’re going to release us….”

“…Or they’re going to bind us again.”

“What will happen….”

Koo-ooo-ooo!

The Aerial Fortress began to vibrate again.

It was the sound of the door finally opening to enter the Aerial Fortress.