Black Killer Whale Baby [EN]: Chapter 269

269

An hour before the Crown Prince announced the murder of the Emperor.

Eckion and his group were inside the temple.

It was a full hour after Calypso came out of the conference room that evening.

They were all able to infiltrate the temple using Eckion’s power.

The team, which had been just Eckion and Atlan, was joined by Bellus, Lilibel, Rebai, and Hauser.

“As you all know, our goal here is to find anything or destroy anything we discover,” Bellus said, and no one raised any objections.

“But, I have one question. You’re also a Dragon Duke, so why did it take you half a day to get in here?”

“Because the power of the dragons is overlapping here,” Eckion answered Bellus’s question, spreading his fingers.

“This number, or more, is combined.”

That was the power felt in the temple. Everyone was silent at the answer, trying to process the shock.

There were countless traps inside the temple to prepare for intruders, but because Rebai was with them, they were able to avoid them safely.

They agreed to get out as quietly as possible, even if they got caught in the traps, because destroying the traps carelessly could alert those outside.

Atlan rotated his stiff neck.

He had to use a lot of water power to get here, so slight fatigue settled on his face.

“But there’s not a single rat in sight, really.”

It was almost pointless to use the power of water to hide their presence and signs, as there were no living beings here.

The only things there were traps filled with a murderous will to grind intruders to dust.

Moreover, the traps were elaborately made.

If it weren’t for several Orca shifters who could float in the air and Rebai, who contributed greatly to recognizing the traps in advance, there were countless traps that would have certainly turned them into corpses.

It even felt malicious.

“Maybe there’s something here that even the guards or allies shouldn’t see,” At Rebai’s words, the group, except for Eckion, had heavy or stiff faces.

“Is this the last room?”

Unlike the center of the temple, which was made like a maze and riddled with traps, walking straight along a straight path, only one room appeared.

Atlan opened the door as a representative. There could have been traps that shot hidden weapons the moment the door opened, but Rebai judged that there was nothing like that.

When they finally entered the opened room, everyone was silent.

Because countless bones were piled up like mountains before their eyes.

It was a sight that silenced even Bellus, Atlan, Rebai, and Hauser, who had memories of war.

“…Crazy bastard,” Atlan gritted his teeth. This one word did not properly capture everyone’s feelings.

How many people had died until this huge bone mound was created?

The number was unimaginable.

“There was a Madrum-like… laboratory here too?”

“I suppose we should think so,” Anger and disgust were mixed in Bellus and Rebai’s short conversation.

Only Eckion, unlike everyone else, searched for the source of power with a calm expression.

“Wait a minute, look at that,” Hauser raised his hand and pointed at something.

Everyone had no choice but to be surprised once again.

Because in the place Hauser pointed, there was a corpse sitting and dying miserably.

It was an old, decayed corpse. There was no one immature enough to cover their mouths or noses, so they stared intently.

They judged without difficulty.

“It’s the Emperor,” Rebai said first. As someone whose job was to identify key figures, he was the first to notice.

“Huh? Right? Right? Isn’t that hair color only for lions?”

“Although it’s decayed, the shape of the face and the fact that one finger is missing match.”

“I remember that outfit.”

Lilibel tilted her head, watching the others talk as if they knew the Emperor well without any qualms.

But she didn’t spoil the mood. She just strengthened her resolve that she must have been negligent in identifying key figures.

“He appears to have been murdered, and the time seems to be roughly a few years ago.”

“Of course, the Crown Prince must have killed him,” Everyone could easily deduce the culprit.

But if he killed the Emperor, why didn’t he ascend to the throne?

Rebai pondered carefully. He was the one who knew the most about the Crown Prince after Calypso.

“How about taking that corpse with us for now? I think it might be helpful.”

“I’ll do it. And Dragon Duke, where do you think the source is?”

It was the moment Bellus floated the Emperor’s corpse in the air with the power of water.

“Right there,” Eckion stared at the chair the Emperor had been sitting on.

“And it feels like… the binding has been released.”

Was the Emperor’s corpse in charge of sealing something? The whole group turned to one place.

The huge bones were being pieced together piece by piece on their own. Finally, what was created was the figure of a person made of bones, holding a sword in one hand.

But it was ominous. A sinister green light was flashing from the heart. It gave an ominous feeling.

“…The source is there. In the heart.”

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute. So, all the power you felt is in there?”

“Yeah.”

Atlan, who barely recalled the number of fingers Eckion had spread out a little while ago, turned pale.

The other members of the group were the same.

Atlan chuckled in vain.

“Wow, we’re screwed.”

That was a monster made by collecting the corpses of the previous Dragon Dukes that the Imperial Family had gathered.

Whether to eliminate it, or to go out like this and go to Calypso.

But the monster did not give them a choice.

Eckion drew out his power even more, and at the same time, somehow, he had a feeling that this wasn’t all there was.

‘Weak.’

Why does it feel less than the size I first felt the moment I saw the temple this afternoon?

“Everyone, get out of the way! Ugh!”

“Lilibel, make a net!”

“I know!”

He had a feeling that there might be something more than this.

‘Calypso.’

Eckion looked at the door. Soon, Eckion released the being he had been carrying in his body all along.

A blue snake passed through the wide-open door.

“It’s going to attack.”

No sooner had Eckion’s warning ended-

Bang!

The battle began again.

* * *

“I killed the Emperor with my own hands.”

A silence like death descended on this hall.

The Crown Prince’s admission of murdering the Emperor. Who could speak in the face of this unprecedented situation?

“So, my words are the same as the Emperor’s.”

From a smiling voice to an icy voice, no one could speak in shock, because the face of the one declaring that he had killed his father was so bright and peaceful.

Calypso blinked. In fact, she wasn’t as shocked as the others, because he was a son of a bitch who was capable of that.

What she was paying attention to was why he was proudly announcing this in this official place.

Why would he say such crazy things?

There were already plenty of people who had turned against the Imperial Family even before the announcement.

Of course, they were the representatives and heads of the shifters of the same species as her who had lost their people.

But why?

“My father had no interest in the eternal glory and peace of the Empire. So… he deserved to die.”

However, there were plenty of people here who were capable.

Someone raised their hand. It was impossible to tell what kind of shifter they were just by their appearance, but their animosity toward the Imperial Family was undisguised.

“Excuse me, Your Highness. We were summoned here to hear the Imperial Family’s position. It is certainly unfortunate and sad that His Majesty the Emperor has passed away, but I don’t know what that has to do with Madrum’s human experimentation.”

The one who was speaking uprightly suddenly seemed to remember something, and hardened their expression.

“Surely, His Majesty the Emperor ordered that experiment?”

“No, that’s not it,” The Crown Prince answered. But his smile was a little stiff.

It was clear at a glance that he was displeased with the one who had interrupted his words.

“Rather, my father also made a sacrifice, yes. A noble sacrifice. Because he died at the end of the experiment?”

“…Yes?”

Horror spread like a wave through the banquet hall, which had been as quiet as a mouse.

Didn’t that mean the Crown Prince was admitting that he had ordered the experiment?

Above all, he had unhesitatingly used his father as an experimental subject!

It was no longer quiet. As the commotion spread, the Crown Prince casually unbuttoned his cloak and dropped it to the floor.

And then he took off his jacket and threw it on the floor.

Everyone was embarrassed by the unknown behavior, but only one person, Calypso, reached out her hand.

“Damn it, everyone get back!”

The power of water that had gathered in the air created a huge shield, but it was already too late.

“Keheok…!”

The shifter who had bravely raised an objection met death with a scream of agony from the huge thorns that sprang from the ground.

“Kyaaaa!”

Someone screamed.

The one who couldn’t overcome their fear and panicked ran to the door. But no one could leave this hall, because a huge wall rose up and blocked all sides.

The Crown Prince, who had killed one person in an instant, was calm. He smiled beautifully.

“Everyone, in fact, this life is a world that has been repeated once.”

Those who were trembling with confused faces or had hardened were forced to stare at the Crown Prince.

What, what crazy [nonsense] is that?

“I think of this life as ‘practice.’ So… the real game hasn’t started yet.”

His eyes gleamed. Eyes that had already lost their peace and normality.

Calypso knew that face and those eyes well, because it was the same face he had when he lost completely in the 3rd round, went berserk with the Dragon Duke, and burst into mad laughter.

That’s why she had dropped Eckion off. As expected, that sly bastard had found another way to mess up the world.

But the direction was strange.

The Crown Prince spread his hands wide with a blissful expression like a cult leader, with a generous gaze as if looking at his fanatical followers.

“I have chosen to end this life and repeat it once again!”

“Then, it will be a good world.”

A good world would be a world completed as the Crown Prince wished and hoped.

It was his own stubbornness that no one here who was shocked could agree with.

Calypso opened her mouth slightly.

She had expected it, but surely that bastard.

‘Crazy, does that bastard think he’s a regressor?!’