Second Continental Summit (2)
“Say it straight-forward. Hey, are you originally a mercenary? I want to make a request in my secret.”
Those were the first words Morna, the high sorceress who had brought Harley to her own abode, offered him a drink.
“Well, it’s me. As long as the conditions are met, I’m welcome! However, there is one thing that has bothered me since earlier, so can I ask you that first?”
“No-no—of course, as many as you like.”
His gaze moved to a young woman sitting in a corner and staring blankly at him.
A massive muscle mass that could never be ignored exuded a presence, but her gaze was subtly misguided, as if he was invisible.
“…What is that lady doing over there? Are you a sorcerer who can even see ghosts?”
“Ah—that kid is my aide, but he’s just watching yesterday’s scenery by himself. Never mind. Kkeukkeukkeuk!”
“Well, he is an unknown nobleman. Well, aside from that, what’s my point in suddenly proposing a request to me like this?”
He asked Morna directly.
I already know that she recommended Harley and even the situation in the south, but now that I have a request, doesn’t it smell bad?
“Kkeuhm… Speaking of the existence of a sorcerer, emotion is very important, unlike a magician who values reason.”
“Huh— so?”
“Put simply, it means that a shaman like me can better feel things that others can’t. Not only the traces left on your body, but also abstract concepts such as fate and fate.”
Harley didn’t react much to the talk about his own body.
In the first place, his past history is also a story that everyone around him knows through ‘Harley’s Great Adventure’, and since he has been installed so much these days, it’s not really something to hide now.
“You seem to already know, but recommending you to the death squad was only a natural process to meet. Wouldn’t that be a matter that the person concerned could refuse anyway if he didn’t want to?”
“Well, did you really need to go that far to meet me? No, I think we just watched from afar during the first meeting?”
“…Keheuhul, that’s not to say it wasn’t that simple…”
Morna, whose expression suddenly darkened, let out a bitter laugh.
“That’s why I wanted to see you. The feeling came right from the moment I heard about his performance in the Kingdom of Tulk. You are the one who can solve the problem that Calcos is facing right now!”
For example, it was just a ‘gut feeling as a great shaman’.
And she added that the moment she met Harley in person, that intuition was confirmed, and she was looking for an opportunity and only now contacted her.
‘The problem with Calcos is a coup, right? Apparently, this old man is on the opposite side of you.’
As expected, the contents of the request were to solve the problem that was secretly going on in the southern part of the continent and defeat the ringleader.
The compensation for him was the general magic and other help that he could do as a great sorcerer.
“I brought up the story of King Tuwang to get your attention, but I really don’t recommend it. If he even carved the seal of the great warrior, he must have known the conditions to engrave it, right?”
“That’s a job worthy of that! Wasn’t becoming a great warrior meant to deal with ogres single-handedly?”
“Kkeukkeub… Ogre, that’s literally the minimum standard. Of course, if you are now, even if it is more than that, you can easily do it.”
Morna, who was laughing a little, opened her mouth again with a serious expression.
“For now, the life force flowing through your body is enough to engrave the King of Fighters. To be honest, I don’t understand it even considering that it’s Yongin, but… Huh, you’ve become more of a monster than when I first saw you. Have you picked up anything good for your body in the meantime?”
In her literature, which she encountered after becoming a high shaman, there was also information about her tolerance.
According to it, it was true that they had stronger bodies than humans, but the source of their strength was their innate talent for magical powers, not ignorant vitality like Harley.
“…Even if that goes beyond that, the load on the person receiving the procedure is said to be beyond imagination. According to tradition, it was a hundred times more painful than when the great warrior was engraved. It’s a record left by the last fighting king hundreds of years ago, so it’s trustworthy. Kkeukguk.”
But even with that, when Harley gave her a sullen expression, she licked her lips with an embarrassed expression.
“The most decisive thing is the reasonable work I talked about earlier. The Imprint of the King of Fighters doesn’t end as a side effect when the conditions are not met. He’ll just die on the spot.”
“I’ve been turning her words round and round since a while ago, stop moxibustion! Didn’t I say I was busy?”
“Kkeuing, that’s taking away the old man’s joy.”
After grunting for a moment, Morna reluctantly opened her mouth to Harley’s glare.
Of course, the condition of her karma she said was a difficult ordeal that was close to impossible.
“…That’s directly hunting a dragon that is higher than an adult! It’s not enough to just get involved in multiple fights. It’s basic to inflict fatal wounds, and you have to be satisfied with suffocating that last breath with your own hands to be recognized as work!”
—If it were the normal case.
“Of course, since you’re a dragon and dragons are hard to find these days, it doesn’t matter if it’s a similar level opponent…”
“Ah, what. That’s done! You mean you can do it anyway?”
“···Ok? That’s it, but… But, as I said before, if you don’t satisfy your karma… No, wait.”
She tilted her head at Harley’s strangely confident demeanor and continued her words, but she shut her mouth for a moment.
And she stared at him with her strange ghostly eyes…
“No, what is this again?”
Unbeknownst to me, a trembling voice leaked out.
“Since he is a dragon, I thought he would do it even if he had dragon karma involved, but this isn’t just a dragon, it’s a dragon killing, right?”
“Her? You know that?”
Should I really call it a master sorcerer?
The old shaman woman who first imprinted on him was dubious when she saw the ogre by-product, but Morna seemed to be able to determine whether he met the conditions just by looking intently.
“Yongin killed the dragon? At this level, isn’t it just an adult dragon? Not only was it a fatal blow, but it was also true that it stopped breathing. . . . What is your true identity?”
She, who had always exuded a far-sighted atmosphere, only blinked her eyes with a bewildered expression, as if she was genuinely taken aback this time.
‘That’s when it’s so helpful.’
It was Harley who, in a fight with the light dragon Heratos, burrowed into his chest and ate his heart as well as his dragon heart.
It is natural that the necessary conditions are satisfied.
“hahahaha! That’s a good thing no matter what! Anyway, now that we know roughly what we want from each other, let’s talk about it in more detail!”
Just in time, he too was looking at the situation of the tribal federation and was wondering how to intervene.
As he usually advocated as a southern barbarian warrior, he also planned to visit sooner or later.
So, at this point, it wouldn’t be bad for him to get information from Morna, a high-ranking official in Calcos, and put a karma straw in the south.
“Oh, yes, old man. You know the advance payment is separate, right?”
Of course, after making sure of the calculations.
***
The great shaman, Morna, was in a state where his movements were not free enough to have to use such complicated methods.
She was being monitored and controlled in real time, to the extent that she couldn’t do anything unless she was inside instead.
‘You mean the former warchief, who was expelled due to dictatorship, is swallowing up the tribal federation? Even without choosing the means and methods?’
When she heard her story, the level was unusual.
It is said that the situation is so serious that she not only took hostages and weaknesses from the chiefs of each tribe, but also mobilized mental suppression…
‘No matter how much they say they only targeted high-ranking officials, including the chieftain, it’s definitely not common that they controlled information this much.’
In the meantime, Morna, the great sorcerer, said that his family and disciples were held hostage and were unable to move.
In addition, the reason why she was able to participate as the representative of her tribal federation was that she was the most cooperative among the high-ranking people whose mental suppression did not work.
‘Even though the aide was attached as a separate observer. By the way, going that far means that they definitely have something to be concerned about, right?’
The place of the meeting was the center of the sacred ground of the main denomination and the Great Hall where the saint and the saintess were together.
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Of course, if there is something wrong, the environment is bound to be reluctant.
In the meantime, Morna’s choice of Harley over the cult must have played a part, as she herself said, ‘the great sorcerer’s intuition’.
Well… Even if it’s not, because of the presence of shamans, the influence of the main church is not great in the south, but if the continent is on the verge of extinction like now, it would be difficult to get much help.
‘In that sense, the old lady did a good job finding her client.’
As long as the information problem was resolved with the help of an insider, he had nothing to shy away from.
It’s a secret that I haven’t told anyone… In fact, isn’t it your main specialty to smash boards made by others?
‘Former warchief Baltheon. As if he had waited, he took advantage of the chaos and did all sorts of dirty tricks and was ambitious. I can honestly smell it.’
…Whether it was Harley’s own move.
‘Come to think of it, Siana was like that. An executive hiding in the south opened the door to the abyss.’
Just in time, out of necessity, very coincidental—whether it was the Immortal King himself.
‘I got it, you bastard.’
Sharp teeth gleamed ferociously from the corners of Harley’s long, torn mouth.
***
Buzz buzz—
People gathered in a huge conference room were chatting in groups.
Talking to other groups as if they were friendly, avoiding interactions while being wary, hiding their true intentions while laughing and finding the other person’s weaknesses, or bluffing and inflating themselves.
It was literally a site where you could see the complex current world situation at a glance.
And then…
Rattle—
The large door opened and another group of people appeared in the meeting room.
They are dressed in luxurious yet colorful costumes.
At the forefront, they were led by a beautiful woman with radiant blond hair and jewel-like turquoise eyes.
“Oh, are you here? Princess. Good morning.”
“As expected, today is also beautiful! Is this blinding? Heh heh heh!”
As soon as she appeared, those who had been conversing with each other began to sneak towards her.
I’ve already been saying hello steadily for the past few days and building my own friendship, but it was a similar situation for everyone.
The important thing in a place like this was to look ‘more’ friendly with the strong person, so this was a very natural phenomenon.
Because she was the continent’s most powerful country, the Azerion Empire, and Riley Carte Azerion, the current 1st heir to the throne there.
“Nice to meet you all. I heard that we can stay up late because we have a lot to discuss, but I don’t know how everyone got a good night’s sleep.”
hahahaha! Of course! I am confident in my stamina.”
“Are you okay, Princess? If you get tired later, I’ll ask the church to take a break.”
Those who sneakily follow along and repeat only good things to hear.
They didn’t blatantly cringe as they belonged to the highest class in the place where they came from, but the value of the name of the next emperor was enough to break their usually high noses.
Riley treated them businesslikely, but not too coldly, with a smile on her lips.
Encouraging her opportunists to side with her is something she has been working on for the past few years.
Dealing with people from other countries was no different.
At the conference venue, where each had their own plans inside and amicable conversations took place on the outside.
Rattle—
Yet again.
The sound of a door opening was heard.
“What?”
“They are…”
And those who turned their heads towards the door at the sound, unlike when the imperial delegation entered, kept their mouths shut one by one with a stiff expression.
As if a harmonious atmosphere had flowed from the reaction that spread in an instant, soon a chilly silence began to permeate the conference hall.
Bubbly—
In the silence, the sound of footsteps coming in through the door echoed quietly.
At the forefront of them all dressed in dark clothing and entering the interior, there was a beautiful man with pitch-black hair and bloody eyes shining like jewels.
While shedding an overbearing presence that is overwhelmed just by looking at it.
Gulp-
“…”
“Umm, indeed…”
The atmosphere of those who follow him in line behind him is also unusual.
Every time they took a step, I could feel the faint smell of blood along with a cold chill for some reason.
‘Right. They.’
Princess Riley, who was in the center of the crowd, looked at them and her eyes lighted up quietly.
Yes, they are the ones who are in charge of a new axis of change.
It was because they were the envoys of the Kingdom of Thalia and the Vampire Clan Alliance, Hybrid vampires.
Those who lived in darkness were finally emerging from the heart of the main church, the symbol of light.
