Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 321

Weapon-Devouring Illegitimate Son – Episode 321

The first person to rush to me as soon as I arrived was Nanny.

“Young Master!”

Nanny burst into tears and hugged me tightly.

“Yes, Nanny. I’m here.”

“Young Master! It is really you, isn’t it?”

“You’ve suffered a lot, Nanny.”

Nanny hugged me even tighter, as if trying to confirm that I was really there.

“You’re the one who suffered, Young Master. You’ve done so well… really, really…”

Following her, Aunt approached.

Aunt walked briskly without a single tear, hugged me tightly, quickly stepped back, and looked up at me.

“Did you do well?”

“Yes, Aunt. But Aunt…”

I sensed the magic power when I hugged her and widened my eyes in surprise.

I was genuinely amazed by her high achievement.

Aunt simply smiled without a word.

“Shh! It’s a secret!”

Following that, everyone who had gathered ended up in a hugging mood.

It was thanks to Uncle Lee Tae-hong and the twin brothers playfully rushing in.

There were plenty of warriors who seemed to have come from the Soongmoo House, including Jung Jin-soo, Lee Young-sung, and the Ironclad Brigade.

‘That’s a relief. The Black Crow had contacted them before they returned to the family. There are many guys who fought together in the Aerial Fortress.’

The Mountain Keeper was not there.

However, I felt the power of the ‘name’ the Mountain Keeper had given me in the south. It seemed he was probably in Jeju Island.

In any case, I felt relieved that they were safely settled here.

Fortunately, the arrangements I had made seemed to have worked out well.

-Squawk!

Just then, the Black Crow flew over and pecked my forehead.

“Ugh. Okay, I knew it. Thanks, you protected Nanny, right?”

-Squawk! Squawk!

The Black Crow stood on my forehead, puffing out its chest.

Anyway, even though it’s called a divine bird, it understands human words so well.

-Squawk! Squawk!

“Okay, I’ll give you as much Dragonkin meat as possible. Have I ever lied?”

-Squawk!

The Black Crow flapped its wings, circled around the top of my head, and then plunged into Eun-han’s pocket.

But then.

“Hmm. I guess I’m invisible. Lee Chul. I’m starting to feel a little sad.”

Anastasia, who had been waiting behind, said with a slightly sulky expression.

“That can’t be. I’ve been wanting to see Anastasia so much.”

“Yes, yes?”

“Come on, Anastasia, would you like to come too?”

When I playfully opened my arms, Anastasia paused with a blank expression, then her face flushed red.

Because of her fair skin, the blush was even more noticeable.

“Ah, no. I, I’m fine. Anyway, you’re here. Lee Chul.”

Anastasia cleared her throat and smiled.

After ending the joyful reunion, I was guided inside.

“…”

Meanwhile, I looked around at the people and felt an unpleasant sense of unease.

“Anastasia.”

“Yes, Lee Chul.”

“Has Valerie not come here?”

“Fortunately, she has arrived. She is currently doing research related to the Soongmoo House’s Spirit Sword Unit in the back laboratory.”

That was a relief.

It was just a thought, but still.

“Then my second sister or eighth… no, other siblings besides the twin brothers must be somewhere else.”

I expected to hear that they were somewhere, of course.

But Anastasia’s expression hardened.

* * *

Fortunately, I had joined the Black Crow, but there was no time to relax or catch up.

Everyone gathered was scattered here and there to prepare for the suddenly moving Soongmoo House.

So, only Anastasia remained.

As soon as she brought me to the conference room, she sighed and began to speak.

“Should I start by explaining the situation? How much does Lee Chul know about how things are going right now?”

“I know what’s been made public. I heard some of it on the way here.”

“Come to think of it, how did you find this place?”

“I wandered around a lot.”

I slowly began to explain.

In fact, I had been traveling around and listening to stories before arriving here.

It was to make contact with the Black Crow, but all the contact points and safe houses I knew were empty, so I searched everywhere and finally joined them here.

“I see… I ordered them to hide in East Asian branches in case something happened. Anyway, Lee Chul roughly knows the locations of important hideouts, so I thought you would find us.”

“That was a good decision. If you had left any openings, you would have been discovered quickly.”

“Then let’s get back to the story. First, tell me what you know.”

What I heard on the way here was roughly this:

News of Father’s death, the eldest brother’s abandonment of the position of head of the family, the death of Madam Baek, the Soongmoo House’s closure, Lee Goon-sung’s succession to the position of head of the family, and the existence of the Spirit Sword Unit, which began to be called the Undying Legion.

It had only been a year. The time I was inside the Aerial Fortress.

But so many things had happened.

“So you know about that.”

“So it was all true.”

“Yes, it’s roughly correct. Of course, the closing of the gates ended just before Lee Chul arrived. The Spirit Sword Unit destroyed the Onmyo Agency [a traditional Japanese esoteric cosmology] today and began to riot.”

I chuckled.

Was it all the same?

In my past life, Lee Goon-sung started by destroying nearby organizations.

Perhaps this life was a little late.

‘History has been twisted so much due to regression… but it flows so similarly.’

I had to click my tongue as I listened to those stories.

The good thing is that many defectors occurred in the Soongmoo House due to the variable called me.

“The survival of Twin Stars Lee Myung-jung warrior… is currently unconfirmed. There are many questions, starting with the sudden acceptance of Lee Goon-sung. Does Lee Chul know anything?”

“That… I’ll explain it later when everyone is gathered. Anyway, the people gathered here need to hear it.”

Lee Goon-sung had moved one step faster.

No, it was because I didn’t know that there was a secret hidden in the depths of the main family.

“Then I’ll explain the other details. First, the international situation.”

The international situation is currently in chaos.

It was the aftermath of the Aerial Fortress.

The balance of power was broken by the atrocities of the Eiffel Magic Tower and the deaths of key personnel from each organization.

The Eiffel Magic Tower and France, which housed it, were almost isolated, and thus the balance of Europe was broken.

The broken balance spread throughout the Western world.

In addition, while Behemoth’s terror continued to occur around the world, shocking news was delivered to the Soongmoo House, which maintained the balance of Asia.

A touch-and-go situation continues.

No, small-scale conflicts are already occurring here and there.

It was the prelude to war.

Next, the northern unexplored zone.

Originally, the area was shrinking, but around the time the Aerial Fortress began to move, a phenomenon was suddenly observed.

The ‘black clouds’ that had appeared near Europe and West Asia had fallen.

As a result, the surrounding area was filled with an unidentifiable miasma [a noxious or poisonous atmosphere] that could not even be seen with the naked eye, and the area of the unexplored zone was expanding again.

I could tell what it was.

‘Jormungandr [a sea serpent of Norse mythology].’

Class 1 monster, king of the unexplored zone.

He’s the only one who could be called a black cloud.

Now that I know what kind of land the unexplored zone is, I could also understand why the area of the unexplored zone suddenly shrank and began to expand.

‘For some reason, the Class 1 monster disappeared from the unexplored zone. The awakened Jormungandr took its place.’

And that Jormungandr was used by Cabala to mass-produce dolls with the bodies of the main family.

As I expected, the appearance of the Class 1 monster was likely the work of Lee Goon-sung.

“And… the story related to Lee Chul’s brothers that Lee Chul asked about earlier.”

Anastasia narrowed her brows slightly and began to speak.

She hadn’t even brought up the story, but she had to swallow hard.

“First of all, Moo-gwang Lee Jin-yoon warrior has joined us. However, she suffered a critical, no, serious injury and is currently unable to move.”

“…Yes?”

Seriously injured? Unable to move?

Besides, Anastasia clearly tried to say critical injury but mumbled instead.

She is the second sister, who is evaluated to be better than the eldest brother depending on the battle situation.

Moreover, she has the strongest body among the Soongmoo House’s bloodline… If she can’t move, I can’t even imagine how badly she was hurt.

“What happened?”

“When Lee Jin-yoon warrior came down from the Aerial Fortress, there were no particular signs of abnormality in the Soongmoo House. So, we didn’t make contact in advance.”

Of course, for some reason, Lee Jin-yoon massacred the Soongmoo House’s troops who came to greet her, and took the main family’s troops who followed her and disappeared.

Some time after that.

It was not known to the public, but Lee Jin-yoon returned to the family.

And there was a battle.

“Who… did she fight?”

“That, Lee Chul. Please, don’t be too surprised.”

Looking at Anastasia hesitating to say that far, I closed my eyes tightly.

It was because I could understand why she was hesitating so much.

“It’s the eldest brother.”

“Did you… know?”

“I hoped it wasn’t.”

In the end, has it come to this?

I sighed and rubbed my forehead.

“Lee Jin-yoon warrior can still talk, but she has closed her mouth saying that she can’t talk unless it’s with Lee Chul.”

“Where is my sister?”

“She’s here.”

The reason why my sister couldn’t speak.

It must be because of the causal restriction I heard in the Aerial Fortress.

If so, only I, who have passed all those tests, will be able to talk to her.

“Then what happened to the other siblings? What about Seo-hyun?”

“They all refused to accompany us. They realized something was wrong and made contact, but…”

Anastasia recalled the story she had heard at that time.

The sixth and seventh refused to contact her, who was completely unknown.

The eighth…

-I know it too. That it’s getting weird.

-But even if that’s the case, I have to stay in the family. At least one person has to protect this family.

Anastasia conveyed the contents of what Lee Seo-hyun said as it was.

“According to the story of Chief Manager Lee Tae-hong, who defected after that, fortunately, there seems to be no problem with her life. I heard she was imprisoned underground.”

I sighed.

The Soongmoo House’s underground. That was also a problem.

Could it be that dark underground prison where those who have reached the realm are imprisoned?

‘Hoo, you idiot.’

It’s good to be fair and square, but you should have listened at times like this.

“So, what’s here now are the warrior squads and the Ironclad Brigade who participated in the Aerial Fortress.”

Fortunately, I had already confirmed Choi In-ha, Kim Han, and Kim Bo-sung.

Besides, I could see the troops of the Four Gods Brigade.

The preserved power was more than I thought.

Of course.

‘Spirit Sword Unit. If they are the same as in my past life… it’s still going to be difficult.’

Besides, I know the undead that Cabala [an ancient Jewish tradition of mystical interpretation of the Bible] was creating.

If the completed form of that is the Spirit Sword Unit, which is called the Undying Legion… the situation is not good.

I don’t know how Lee Goon-sung took control, but if there was no rebellion in the main family, there was a difference in the absolute number of troops.

“Lee Chul. I’m sorry. I should have followed Lee Chul’s request more diligently. I’m really sorry about your siblings…”

Anastasia looked at Lee Chul with trembling eyes.

She knew how much Lee Chul cared about his people.

Lee Chul trusted her and entrusted them to her while he was away.

But she only achieved half the results.

She clenched her hand hidden under the table and lowered her head slightly.

“You don’t have to say that. Thanks to Anastasia, I was able to prepare this much. Against those stubborn people… Thank you so much.”

I sincerely thought so.

Still, this much has survived.

“Now that I’m here, take the burden off your shoulders, Anastasia.”

So much has happened while I was away.

Then it will be up to me to sort out the chaos now.

* * *

When it was somewhat deserted.

I gathered all the key members who could be called my people here.

In the dark night sky, only a crescent moon was shining brightly.

The conference room was filled with silence, and I could only open my mouth after taking a moment to catch my breath.

“What I’m going to talk about now is the truth and history related to the depths of the Soongmoo House family. And it will also be the answer to the questions you have.”

The story I heard in the Aerial Fortress.

I slowly began to unravel the story I heard from the 2nd ancestor of the main family.