Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 746

“This is insane!”

“Banusa!”

Beric and the mages cried out her name in alarm. It was the first time they had ever seen a person’s body sliced into pieces like that. Even Ian, ‘he,’ was so surprised that his lips parted slightly, which said it all.

Banusa’s body lost its balance and slowly fell backward. The moment she hit the floor—

Swoosh!

Her body fragments turned into liquid and scattered on the floor. Startled, Beric and the mages hugged each other and screamed.

“Aaaah!”

“Shit, shit!”

What is this! Is this the reincarnation of old woman Darci? They had been through all sorts of battles, but there were definitely things they couldn’t handle.

The liquid wriggled and then reformed into Banusa’s body as if time were rewinding. She gasped for breath and collapsed to her knees. Her complexion was pale.

“Ha, haa. Damn, I almost died.”

“Y-you didn’t die and come back to life, did you?”

“I really stepped into the underworld and came back.”

Banusa muttered, looking down at her trembling hands. If her defense mechanism hadn’t activated reflexively the moment she touched the sharp thread, she would have truly died. Her body would have been torn to pieces, marking the end of her life in vain.

Banusa seemed to have lost all her strength, and she simply lay down, panting. A mage approached her side.

“Get a grip, you idiot.”

“…I’m fine. I’m like this because I’m fine.”

“That’s brutal. Is the entire palace like this?”

“I don’t know. Whatever it is, it’s best to focus on maintaining the barrier. Unless you’re someone like me whose body can move freely.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m already focusing and putting my life on the line for the barrier. Ian-nim, the only way is to go in and cut or burn them. I don’t know if it will work as we think, though.”

“Alright.”

That’s the only way.

Ian lightly flicked his fingertips, creating flames. Then, the invisible threads in the air swayed and burned. They were more dense and intricately woven than he had thought.

“Wow. This is no joke.”

No joke, if it weren’t for Banusa, they might have died right there.

The remains fell to the floor like spiderwebs falling weakly. Because they were special threads, they crumbled and scattered like glass shards.

“Is this the work of a puppeteer?”

“Why are you asking? Of course, it is.”

“I don’t think so. If a puppeteer had this kind of ability, the ones we’ve met so far would have shown it already. Especially since old woman Darci was on the verge of death.”

“He’s the king, the king. There must be something else.”

“That’s right. The power that was slammed outside the castle walls was also something we’ve never seen before.”

“Ian, what do you think?”

Creak.

Ian looked at the slowly closing door and replied.

“I don’t think it matters.”

Whether it was the king’s doing or someone else’s, it was meaningless to distinguish it now that they had come this far. Everything was just small pebbles on the path Ian had to take.

He turned around after seeing the door completely closed. The sound of the mages’ footsteps echoed in the silence. Beric, who was on guard, muttered that it was truly an incomprehensible situation.

“Where did all the humans go?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Did they get eaten?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“The king here is a monster. It’s possible he ate them.”

“That’s too gross…”

Ian stopped walking.

Were they too relaxed? Beric and the mages immediately shut their mouths and looked at Ian, but Ian didn’t seem to care about that. His gaze was on Banusa.

“I heard there’s a secret passage underground.”

“Ah.”

“Do you know about it?”

“Only by rumor. Who told you?”

“The king’s half-brother told me. He said there’s an underground path in the palace that leads to Mount Buk. I don’t think they would have abandoned the king and moved on their own, but it’s good to keep the possibility open-”

Tap tap!

It was then. Faint footsteps were heard from somewhere. Ian quickly signaled with his hand, and everyone held their breath, sensing the presence.

Where is it coming from? That way? Or this way? Their eyes turned in all directions, and Beric sniffed deeply, inhaling the scent.

“It’s that way.”

It was a door leading to the left side of the hallway.

As soon as Beric said that, the door burst open, and a servant ran in. She looked like she was being chased by something. She was panting and disheveled. She couldn’t even properly support her body after falling to the floor.

The mages narrowed one eye and watched her warily.

“What is it?”

“H-huh! M-mages?”

“Are you human? Bark like a basement dog.”

“Please save me! Please save me! Everyone’s gone crazy!”

“Hey, don’t come closer, talk from there.”

The servant shed tears and pleaded, but the mages cut her off sharply and kept their distance.

She pointed her finger in the direction she had come from, and soon everyone discovered a man standing tall in the distance. Beric gripped his sword.

“Who is that?”

“Everyone’s gone crazy, gone crazy and eating each other-”

“What?”

At that moment, the man’s head tilted to the side. Slowly and at a very strange angle.

It looked like his ear was touching his shoulder, and then it went down further, rotating a full circle.

“This is disgusting, really. This damn neighborhood.”

Swoosh.

As Beric gripped his sword, the guy opened his mouth wide. A long, extended tongue flew out quickly and grabbed the woman’s ankle.

“Aaaah! Save me!”

The woman cried out as she was dragged away, waving her hands to grab something.

Banusa reflexively grabbed her and then cut off the tongue with her sword.

Swoosh!

“Huh? It’s running away.”

“Ian-nim! What should we do?”

Ian continued to look around, frowning. He couldn’t figure out what kind of trick this was. It was a monster, but it had a human form.

But Ian knew. Those who were just showing their faces and running away were the lowest of the low.

‘Most of the palace officials were from the Masantar Temple. They came from the monster’s base, so there must be many who are human but not human. Is that what that was earlier?’

“Chase it, but don’t go too far.”

At Ian’s command, the mages ran after the guy.

Beric also followed slightly and peeked, but there was nothing special to see except for the backs of the running mages.

“Ian, I think… Huh?”

Beric looked at Ian and stopped. His gaze was not on Ian but behind him, towards Banusa.

Ian also turned around, puzzled, and couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

“This is something.”

There were two Banusas.

Both of them were looking at Ian as if they didn’t know what was going on. Reading their confused gazes, they looked at each other and fell backward in surprise.

“Huh!”

“What is this-!”

Appearance, voice, actions, even their clothes. Everything was the same.

The Banusa on the right pointed at the Banusa on the left in shock.

“It was a monster!”

“Shut up! If I had known this, I wouldn’t have saved you!”

“Ian-kyung, don’t be confused. That’s the monster!”

“No, look properly! Don’t be fooled!”

The two Banusas glared at each other, their teeth clenched, and pointed their swords at each other.

Beric lowered his sword and trudged towards Ian. It was truly a day of seeing all sorts of things.

“Ian, if it’s a monster, can’t you feel something?”

“You should know better than me.”

Beric, you’re an Atan [a creature that consumes monsters]. You eat monsters.

But Beric scratched the tip of his nose awkwardly.

“That’s why. I should know better, but I don’t, so I’m saying it.”

“…Me neither. I don’t feel anything special.”

The woman said earlier. They’re going crazy and eating each other. Whether this is a clue or a trap, if we think based on that…

‘It’s taking on a human body.’

The palace officials themselves might have been monsters in human disguise, or monsters that had flowed into the palace due to them might have hidden by borrowing the bodies of the servants. Whatever it was, a hybrid had appeared. Something that stood on the border between humans and monsters.

The two Banusas looked at Ian in bewilderment.

“Do something!”

“Don’t just stand there, both of you!”

“Aah, it’s noisy. Wait. I’m thinking right now.”

Who? Ian is. Beric was just using his sword to keep the two from moving rashly.

Tap tap!

At that moment, the mages who had chased the monster returned.

“Ian-nim. The guy disappeared as soon as he turned the corner.”

“Judging by the fact that he disappeared without a trace, it’s definitely-”

“Huh! W-what, what is this?”

“Two Banusas? How did that happen?”

They didn’t know what was going on and just kept looking back and forth between the two Banusas. Beric shrugged and urged them to put their heads together quickly.

“Find out who’s real quickly. Don’t just stand there dumbfounded.”

“No, well, even if you say that, how…”

Tap tap!

And then another presence was heard. Ian and Beric turned around at the same time. Footsteps were coming from the direction the mages had come from. It was ominous.

“Ian-nim! Aah, that guy was so fast, we lost him right in front of us.”

“I don’t know what they’re trying to do.”

“Beric, you idiot. You have perfectly good legs, you should have chased him too, what are you doing…”

“Huh?”

It was the mages. The ones who looked exactly like the mages who had returned earlier were opening their mouths with bewildered faces.

They also looked at each other with shocked faces, like the two Banusas.

“This is insane! You, you bastards!”

“It’s a monster! Ian-nim, it’s a monster!”

“Wow, this is really absurd. Aren’t you going to take off your skin?”

“Ian-nim! Don’t be fooled! I’m the real one!”

“I’m the real one! Recite my personal information!”

“My name is Kanchi. I live on 2nd Street, Merrill Road!”

“I’m going crazy! Ian-nim, I’m Kanchi! You bastard, how did you know my address?”

The surroundings instantly became chaotic. The mages grabbed each other by the collar and shook them roughly, and some even released their magic power.

Watching that, Beric pointed his finger.

“Oh, magic! That’s right. If you use magic, you’ll know!”

Zzzing! Zzzing!

But when both groups released their magic, Beric’s finger drooped powerlessly. How did this happen? How could a monster do this?

“It was like this with Arsen, Beric.”

“Ah. That’s right.”

Arsen was also a monster, but he was acting like he could use magic. At the time, even the mages couldn’t distinguish it, and his identity could only be revealed under the light of the oracle.

“There’s nothing like that here.”

“Would there be? It’s a monster’s lair. Think a little.”

“No, but that bastard is too annoying? He seems like the real one.”

Ian sighed and pressed his temples. It was too absurd that they were wasting time on such a trivial trick.

‘It seems like they have memories too.’

Did they copy the abilities too? That wouldn’t be easy. If that were possible, there would definitely be a time limit to maintaining their appearance.

But they couldn’t just wait with their hands tied until the guys got tired of it and showed their true forms.

“Ian-nim! These guys are monsters! I’m disappointed!”

“Disappointed or whatever, won’t you listen to Ian?”

“You stay out of this, you idiot!”

“Aish, this bastard is annoying too. He seems like the real one.”

The good thing was that they didn’t seem to have any intention of harming anyone right now. If they had, it would have turned into chaos in an instant.

Ian gestured for everyone to calm down. In the meantime, they had mixed in with each other, making it unclear which group they originally belonged to.

“First, separate into your original groups.”

“Yes, I underst- huh?”

“…Aah, damn it!”

A mage smacked his forehead and pointed behind Ian. Small exclamations burst out from here and there.

“We’re screwed. There are two of that guy.”

“What?”

“Look next to you, human.”

Beric was startled and looked to his side. Then, a guy who looked exactly like Beric was staring at him with wide eyes. One of the mages had turned into Beric.

“Y-!”

“G-!”

Bam!

Before the Berics could say anything, they headbutted each other.