CHAPTER 674

[T.L: punisher87]

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Thanks to the discovery and handling of the tunnel of chaos under the imperial castle, the Empire's popularity towards Jin and Dante reached new heights.

Articles about this incident were pouring in every day, and as always, Dino Zaglan didn't need to exert any effort to sway public opinion. Praises were coming from all over the place.

The ministers, who were dissatisfied with Dante because of overwork, became more loyal to Dante.

They knew that without Dante and Jin, no one would have been able to uncover the plot to overthrow the Empire.

Hairan 2nd Castle.

After demolition began, the empire was using this place as a temporary castle. After the long meeting that had just ended, Jin, his comrades, the nameless king Owal, and the best executioner, Bizen, were left in Dante's office.

"Sorry for the long meeting, Sir Owal."

"It's alright. We came too early anyway," replied Owal in a low voice. He looked exhausted as he continuously smoked his cigarette.

The people in the office were fixedly staring at the black object on the table. It was the item that remained after they cut off the fake Yona's neck.

Owal had seen it before.

"While we assumed there might have been a time when we lost Yona, we never expected it to end up in the Garden of Swords."

The Nameless referred to the black object as Yona's "rampage residue."

Rampage residue began to be discovered very recently, and as the name suggests, it was a kind of chaos aggregate that remained in place whenever Yona's rampage stopped.

After the subjugation of Glyek, Yona's chaos has been tormenting her again in response to his remnants.

As time went by, her rampages became shorter and more dangerous, and now it had reached a point where even the entire Nameless couldn't hold her down.

At Owal's gesture, Bizen opened the box beside him.

Inside, there were six rampage residues similar to those obtained in the underground tunnel of Imperial castle.

Although they had heard beforehand that there were six more, the group felt even more uneasy when they faced the residue directly.

The reason for their uneasiness was none other than the fact that Valeria had discovered that the false Yona was being created through these rampage residues, using the power of chaos.

"... Lord Owal, how many rampage residues are unknown?"

"At least three and at most five."

"That means there could be at least five or more remaining fakes. And in the worst case... no, there's a high probability that additional rampage residues are still being generated, ones we are overlooking."

Owal nodded heavily.

"Is there any possibility that elder sister Yona was completely captured in the Garden of Swords?"

"I doubt it. At the moment when you dealt with the fake, we were tracking the real Yona and engaging in combat."

Owal rolled up his right sleeve and said.

A black and long scar he had received while tracking down Yona a few days ago.

Since the search party consisted only of Owal and the highest ranked assassins, there were no casualties.

If Yona had aimed for the highest ranked assassins instead of Owal, Bizen could not be standing in this place right now. 

"She must be suffering. She almost killed me, she is now someone who is too dangerous to be compared to the fake you fought."

"Did you feel like elder sister Yona was brainwashed by the Prophet?"

"You must have seen it once too, how huge the power of chaos she possesses is. And I heard from Sir Chiron in the past that the chaos she has is a very special kind. It doesn't seem like something the Prophet can control easily."

"My father said that."

"Yes. Are you still unable to contact Sir Chiron's expedition team?"

"That's right."

Upon Jin's calm response, Owal closed his eyes for a moment. He also did not think that Chiron and his expedition team were still alive.

"As soon as Yona's matter is resolved, have someone from Nameless send out a search party."

"Thank you, Lord Owal."

"Anyway, even if it's possible for the Prophet to control Yona's chaos, it will be difficult to catch him in a short period of time, even with the current excellence of the Garden of Swords. However, unlike us, they may be able to generate fakes just by obtaining these rampage residues."

In terms of target tracking and assassination, Nameless had abilities even better than Runcandel before being tainted by chaos.

Such nameless had not been able to capture Yona for several years, so Owal was certain that even a prophet would not be able to find her.

"You said the last place she was seen was Akin, right?"

The current location where the nameless had last lost Yona was in the Akin Kingdom, within the Lutero Magic Federation. It was where Jin had dismantled the Tesing criminal organization and obtained Multa's rune, Schugiel's magic tomb, and Jet.

"She may still be in Akin, since the remaining search parties have not reported anything significant. Even if she has left, she is likely still within the Lutero Magic Federation."

The further Yona was from Huphester, the better. Especially now that they were able to receive help from Zipfel due to their temporary alliance. However, unlike during the Valeria incident, Jin did not want the help of the entire Zipfel group.

'Elder Sister Yona's case is different from my teacher's...….'

Valeria was someone who was essential to Zipfel. Therefore, even with only receiving the price of researching her mana traces, Jin's unreasonable demands were accommodated. But Yona was not like that.

'If possible, Zipfel would want to take this opportunity to get rid of elder sister Yona.'

Although they were currently unable to control her due to her rampage, the moment she recovered, it was obvious that Yona would be on Jin's side. Therefore, from Zipfel's perspective, there was no reason to capture her alive.

Even if Jin asked to capture her alive, there were plenty of reasons to refuse.

For example, the civilian casualties that may occur within Akin or the fact that capturing Yona was impossible due to her martial arts. Of course, the moment they killed Yona, the alliance would be terminated. 

However, it is nothing more than a struggle for the fate of the world as a whole.

Owal was thinking the same thing.

"We need Zipfel's help, but I'm worried. Unlike us, they have no reason to keep Yona alive. But if we don't tell them, there is a possibility of civilian casualties or us being caught off guard by Zipfel's weakness. It's frustratingly complicated."

"Until now, you never saw elder sister Yona go on a rampage and kill civilians...… right?"

At the heavy question, Owal made eye contact with Jin.

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I swear there's nothing. It seems that Yona has focused all her indiscriminate desire for murder on me and the nameless executioners."

Huu, Owal let out a puff of smoke from his cigarette.

"That's probably because she was thinking of you, 12th flagbearer."

Jin's chest tightened.

Since meeting Jin, Yona had not killed anyone without reason.

She had always been wary of chaos, and her efforts were still effective.

"What should we do?"

Owal felt a deep sense of remorse at the fact that he was asking Jin about the anonymous assassin. No matter how strong Jin was.

"She hasn't undergone any physical changes yet, and since she's resisting the chaos, it's likely that she hasn't been completely consumed. We need to find her as soon as possible, before it becomes impossible to use the purification device."

"So it's better to get help from Zipfel, even if it means risking Yona's elimination?"

"Yes. However, I don't intend to speak with the top leaders of Zipfel."

Owal's eyes narrowed.

"Then what?"

"I'll just get help from Tower Keeper Hedo and Sandra Zipfel. If it's the two of them, they'll probably help me find my sister without telling Zipfel."

Jin already sent a request to meet Hedo and Sandra. They had to examine Hedo's sword, which was suspected to be the entrance to the sixth tomb, and make them completely loyal to the Vamel alliance.

Could you trust them, or did Sandra Zipfel have that level of authority. Owal didn't add any further comments to Jin. 

He felt like he could sense the young Chiron from Jin's words.

That's how heavy Jin's words were.

"I see. Then, our Nameless assassins will resume their search for Akin from now on."

"Also, can we use any personnel that aren't involved in the search for elder sister Yona to infiltrate Huphester?"

"Sure. We can't maintain our neutral position in this situation. As of today, nameless will officially belong to the Vamel alliance. It's only natural that we should step up for the alliance's cause. I'll send someone as soon as you hand over the list of rescue targets."

"Thank you, Lord Owal. The Red Owl and my comrades will be on standby. Please contact Tikan immediately if you find elder sister Yona."

Owal stood up and shook Jin's hand.

"It's impressive to see a wild little boy from a few years ago who has already grown up and puts me under his feet. It's something even your father couldn't achieve, so you can be proud."

"Nameless is only a member of the Vamel alliance, and I do not consider it my subordinate. Still, I believe that you will turn a blind eye to the return of thousand-poison antidote, which was promised earlier."

"If you can save that child, I will do anything. I can honestly say that now... "

Owal cleared his throat as if embarrassed.

"You see, Yona is actually the youngest daughter of our nameless clan, a princess, and our greatest treasure. Not just me, but everyone cherishes Yona, perhaps even more than you do. Even if that child were to lose her ability to kill, that fact would never change."

It wasn't a special confession, as Owal and the members of the nameless clan had always shown an endless weakness towards Yona.

Therefore, everyone didn't feel it was anything new, but Owal continued to cough.

Yona didn't realize it, but even her subconscious regarded the nameless clan as her "family."

So, even while engulfed in chaos, she was only trying to cause trouble for her family. If it wasn't for her family, there would be no one to forgive her when she regained her senses.

"Sometimes there are people who seem to share deeper relationships than their own blood relatives. For me, it was my comrades and the brethren of the Plutonian Tribe. For Yona, it's the nameless clan. When she comes back, it would be nice if we could all welcome her together."

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