030. Black Prophets (5)
‘It’s done… … .’
This is what Jonathan MacAlpine thought of as soon as he saw [it].
When I last saw it three days ago, it was just a black lump the size of a person. When you touch it, it wriggles and occasionally lets out a strange moan like ‘kue-eok’.
But what about now? It was so large that it took up more than a third of the room. It swelled more than six times in just a few days. The surface of [it] continues to ripple blackly, as if it were the surface of a stormy lake.
In addition, tentacles or roots extending from [it], I couldn’t tell, were tightly entangled in the room like a spider’s web. Strangely shining moss that had not been seen before is spreading bright blue as if covering the surrounding area.
Something is wrong. Something is going very wrong. What on earth has happened here over the past three days?
It wasn’t just Jonathan who was surprised. The other prophets were also looking around with bewildered faces, as if this was their first time seeing this sight.
Only Kenneth Diggory, the man who created this unrealistic scene, was looking at them with a calm smile.
‘I shouldn’t have set foot in a place like this from the beginning… … .’
As Jonathan stepped back, sweating coldly, Prince Mores passed him and came in front of Kenneth.
“Bantra moss caterpillar. Fortunately, the channel hasn’t been opened yet.”
He seemed calmer than expected. Although his face was slightly frozen, Jonathan thought he looked a little more angry than nervous. Maybe it was because his eyes became fiercer after losing weight.
Prince Mores.
The shame of a prosperous family, the best son of a bitch in Delcross.
Compared to the last time we met two months ago, the prince now seemed to have changed to the point that he could be considered a completely different person. At first, Jonathan wasn’t sure if it was him.
It seems that it’s not just his appearance that has changed; before, he would have made a fuss and looked for Jonathan, but now he just quietly moves his eyes and scans the entire room.
Eventually, the gray eyes that met Kenneth again were not fear or surprise, but pure doubt.
“Why is the monster of Gehenna here?”
Ahahaha. Kenneth burst out laughing happily.
“Do you know this? It is as the wise man said! He said that perhaps the prince would be able to share our mystery with us. “It really wasn’t a wrong choice to bring you here!”
“Sage?”
“Yes, you will be able to see him soon.”
Kenneth answered like that and slowly began to walk towards [it]. The root-like things tangled on the floor wriggled violently as if they were earthworms the moment he stepped on them.
“Brothers, chosen prophets. There is nothing to be afraid of! “Only now is evidence that our mystery is getting closer to the moment of truth.”
Kenneth, who had come within close range of [it], turned to the prophets and said.
“Everything will be as the wise man predicted.”
His stern face was filled with unprecedented confidence, and for a moment Jonathan wondered if he was too scared.
Sure enough, the members who were just watching, not knowing what to do, noticeably regain their composure.
“Everything is as the wise man predicted.”
“Everything is as the wise man predicted.”
Ha ha ha ha ha.
A loud sound of laughter resonates and spreads throughout the large space.
“The prince is truly lucky! “Because at this very moment when the mystery of this world opens, you can be with our prophets.”
As Kenneth said that, there was a strange glint in his eyes, like that of a fanatic.
Alas, everything is going crazy. Jonathan thought as he sat down on the floor.
The roots of a strange creature whose movements gradually become stronger. The strange excitement of prophets who are anxious on the inside, but at the same time look forward to the beginning of something.
Only one, the still young Prince Mores, remained calm and stood at the center of the chaos.
He opened his mouth to Kenneth in a cold tone.
“What did the wise man say? “If we just get three people in, something will open up.”
Stop. Kenneth is startled and looks back at the prince. A grim expression appeared on his straight face for a moment, but Prince Mores continued speaking without paying attention.
“That’s not what you guys are talking about. What opens is a channel. Coordinates to connect that damn consciousness to the community, a signal to call other bantras here.”
“… what?”
“Do you not want to reform Delcross, but rather destroy it?”
At that moment, Kenneth Diggory’s face became horribly distorted.
“What are you talking about!”
“I’m saying that the so-called wise man deceived you.”
“gibberish! Such nonsense… … !”
Kenneth, trembling, began hurling harsh words at the prince. He was a promising student at the academy, but now he seemed like a madman who had completely lost his sense of reason.
“Are you going to deny the mystery of this world? Are you in league with those hypocritical priests? After all, I didn’t mean to call you here! In the end, you too are a descendant of that dirty Seonghwang family!”
However, even in the face of the violent anger aimed directly at him, the prince’s gaze did not waver in the slightest.
“Then answer me. Kenneth.”
This was the first time Jonathan knew that a person’s eyes could look colder than the metal of a sword blade.
“You really didn’t throw people to that thing as food?”
what?
For a moment, Jonathan’s mind went blank after hearing the unbelievable words.
People? what?
Then, as if cold water was seeping into him, his mind slowly regained its senses and he began to think.
Was there really no cost for the black mass underground, which had shown no change for almost a year, to suddenly grow so large in just a few days?
Come to think of it, where did the servant who stood guard at the door go every time I visited this stone chamber?
Why wasn’t the maid who always cleaned the prophets’ conference room and brought them tea today?
The expression disappears from Kenneth Diggory’s hideously distorted face like the ebbing tide. Jonathan could see the answer he didn’t want to know on his face.
“… “This is crazy!”
One of the prophets took off his hood and shouted at Kenneth. It was his junior, Astley Becher, who first founded the Black Prophets’ Association with him.
“You fed that thing on people? “Are you out of your mind, old man?”
“… what?”
Kenneth, whose face has completely lost his expression, turns his eyes around and stares at Astley. Jonathan got goosebumps because it looked like an explosive about to explode, but his passionate junior, who always expressed his opinions passionately, had no hesitation.
“How can we be sure that something so mysterious is really the mystery we are looking for? These are just wise words! But throw people there? “Is that true?”
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“… … .”
“Come to your senses, Senior Kenneth! “I always told you that there was something suspicious about that wise man, right?”
It was almost at the same time that Astley stepped right in front of Kenneth and that he grabbed Astley’s black robe.
“… “Wow!”
Kenneth Diggory smiled softly at his junior, who was struggling while being held by his collar.
“If you always had so many questions, shouldn’t you have told me sooner? Astley. “I have no choice but to give you the opportunity to be the first to encounter the mystery.”
“… what!”
Astley’s face turned pale. He instinctively knew what Kenneth was going to do.
Sure enough, he started walking towards that ominous mass, dragging his junior by the collar.
“Three people. He said it takes three lives to open the door to truth.”
“Now, wait… … !”
“There is nothing to decline. Now, as a proud member of the Prophets, please be the final key to completing this great moment.”
Jonathan gritted his teeth as he looked at Astley, struggling and helplessly being dragged away.
This guy gained a lot of weight in just a few days. I had no idea what it would be like to eat one more person.
I need to stop that… . But I have no strength in my legs.
It was then that Prince Mores opened his mouth.
“I’m sorry.”
Slurp. A well-honed sword is pulled out from within a black robe.
“No matter what you do, that channel will never open.”
Jonathan looked at his face without thinking and was at a loss for words.
The prince was smiling with his teeth exposed.
A light breeze seemed to blow from the tip of the raised sword, and at that moment, the prince kicked the ground.
* * *
Cooung-
The old mansion shook slightly from the sudden, weak vibration. Masain and Kurt, who were having a boring time sitting in the hallway, stood up in surprise.
Cooung-
One after another, vibrations travel through the floor. Dust was pouring down from the ceiling.
“… “It seems like it’s ringing from the ground?”
Could it be an earthquake?
The two pushed away the servant who tried to stop them and hurriedly ran towards the banquet hall. Although earthquakes were rare in Delcross, the prince had to be evacuated from the old mansion to prepare for the possibility of one.
“Lowering!”
But the banquet hall was empty. Masain’s face soon became distorted as he discovered a secret staircase leading to the basement in the corner of the banquet hall.
“no way… … .”
Cooung-
The vibration rings again. The epicenter was clearly right below the mansion.
The two people made eye contact and quickly ran down the stairs.
Kuehhh!
After a few stabbings, the Bantra larva started writhing like crazy and screaming like it was vomiting. It is truly a mystery how someone without proper vocal organs can make such a sound.
Because of its thick rubber-like outer shell, I couldn’t even penetrate the sword very deeply, but it was struggling as if I was going to die. Light dust fell from the sturdy-looking stone wall.
Leaving the bastard to squirm, Seongjin dragged Kenneth Diggory’s sagging robes.
Is this guy going to be okay? I forgot about the aura flowing through my body and hit the back of the head with all my strength, and suddenly I felt something unpleasant.
“Hey, don’t get distracted there and come out here.”
I spoke to the prophet who was sitting dazed and lost.
It looks like he still can’t get over the shock of almost becoming food for a caterpillar, but I still wish they would hurry up. If I were accidentally swallowed by a glowing caterpillar, I would be in trouble. As it turns into a chrysalis, the channel opens.
The rest of the prophets had already moved out into the passage.
I winked at Jonathan, who was staggering to his feet, and fortunately, he was quick to notice and quickly stepped forward to help the fallen fellow. Of course, when I stepped on what looked like a wriggling tentacle, I froze in shock.
“are you okay. It’s just like antennae or roots. “It’s not dangerous yet.”
He seemed somewhat reassured by Seongjin’s words and began to pull the prophet out, carefully avoiding the roots.
Well, the moment it turns into a chrysalis, it will become a monster tentacle that will wrap around and kill everything that moves, but even if I tell you that now, it would have the opposite effect.
Fortunately, the smart prophet soon recovered from the shock and started walking on his own feet, and the group worked together to successfully drag Kenneth Diggory out of the stone walled room.
“Now take this guy upstairs. “Go and get my escorts.”
Jonathan was surprised at Seongjin’s words and looked at him.
“yes? “What about the prince?”
“I need to do something about that guy first.”
Jonathan seemed very moved by Seongjin’s answer.
No, it’s not like that. It’s not what you think.
He could have waited here for Sir Martha and Sir Kurt to arrive, but Seongjin decided to take action himself first.
Although the final supply of nutrients to become a pupa was blocked, there was also a slight possibility that the caterpillar, feeling threatened, would open the channel during incomplete metamorphosis.
Above all, Hunter Lee Seong-jin has never left a monster alive and wriggling.
While Jonathan and the Prophet supported Kenneth Diggory on both sides, Seongjin grabbed his sword and headed back to the stone walled room.
“Uh, senior Kenneth, blood is dripping from your nose?”
“Didn’t you get hit in the back of the head? Or, why do I have a nosebleed when I’m behind?”
“Perhaps there is brain damage… … .”
It’s dangerous here. Get out of here quickly, you guys!
fantasy,
