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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 215
“Is there no one inside the castle?”
“Yeah. After that hole opened in the sky, I evacuated everyone quickly. Theresia and Baldrix got here fast too.”
“Well done.”
Kaylen couldn't help but be amazed as he looked at the mountain of Mana Stones piling up in the ruined castle.
‘So this is the scale of a god.’
The moment he requested Mana Stones from the Celestial Demon, they had rained down from the sky like hail.
Even at a glance, the Mana Stones scattered on the ground were of the highest quality. The amount easily surpassed what the Starn Empire had been publicly acquiring across the continent.
“What… the hell is this?”
“A blessing from the Celestial Demon.”
“What? A blessing from the Celestial Demon? Why would that guy—?”
“A lot happened. Let's clean this up first, and I'll explain.”
“Alright…”
As Johannes stared at the sheer volume of Mana Stones that had practically flooded the castle, his eyes gleamed.
He had no idea what exactly had transpired between Kaylen and the Celestial Demon, but the absurd amount of Mana Stones in front of him was stirring a mage's instinct—urging him to experiment with them.
“I won’t say anything if you play around with a few, but keep in mind—these Mana Stones were given to us for the growth of the Six Sword Path.”
“W-What? Why are you suddenly saying that?”
“You were staring at them too intently.”
“Oh, I was just curious. I mean, they literally fell from the sky out of nowhere.”
Now that he thought about it, despite it being broad daylight, a massive circular hole remained open in the sky, revealing a night sky beyond it.
‘No… that’s not really a night sky…’
It looked closer to outer space.
Kaylen gazed steadily at the gaping void. An unfamiliar mana, something completely alien to this world, swirled around the edges of the massive hole. Eventually, it began filling the void, sealing it shut.
“So the Celestial Demon’s blessing is over. What a shame.”
“It’s fine. If we need more, we can always ask for it later.”
“…Just how did you manage to sweet-talk him?”
Johannes asked, sounding almost exasperated as Kaylen casually mentioned the possibility of getting more.
What in the world had happened in the Spirit Realm that made the Celestial Demon so eager to help him?
“I have something he needs the most, right here in my hands.”
“Oh? Is that so…”
“Yeah. So he has no choice but to help me.”
Step. Step.
Walking alongside Johannes, Kaylen reached out his hand toward the Mana Stones.
“Now, transport them to the sigil of the Six Sword Path.”
“You’re really… going to use all of this on the Six Sword Path? It’s already huge as it is.”
“The more, the better.”
As Kaylen stretched out his hand, the Mana Stones covering the castle slowly began to rise, drifting toward the sigil of the Six Sword Path.
Since the Six Sword Path’s domain was close to the royal castle,
Kaylen transported the Mana Stones immediately, focusing on nurturing the swords.
“Hm… I’ve never seen a Mana Stone like this before…”
“To think you’d use all these treasures just to cultivate the swords…”
Despite his constant grumbling, Johannes helped transport the Mana Stones.
“If you want some, take them. You can have a few, no, even a few hundred if you’d like.”
“No, what would I even do with them? You said growing the Six Sword Path is the most important thing, right?”
Even as he swallowed hard at the sight of these new types of Mana Stones,
Johannes suppressed his greed and continued moving them.
The Mana Stones floated in midair, moving all at once.
What had been piled up like a mountain
quickly started to clear as Kaylen and Johannes actively transported them.
And when they lifted the very last layer of Mana Stones—
“This is…”
“Huh… Is this a Mana Stone too? It’s so unusual.”
A dark-colored gem was revealed,
causing Kaylen’s eyes to gleam.
‘This… feels similar to the mana that radiated from the Abyss Gate…’
A hidden realm of the Demon World.
The Abyss Gate, where the Earth Deity resided.
The precise and refined dark mana he had sensed there
was now emanating from this gem.
“Johannes, you should research this Mana Stone.”
“The dark mana in it is refined… Wouldn’t it be better to have the swords absorb it?”
“No. Understanding this Mana Stone is more important to me. Work with Myorn and analyze it thoroughly.”
“If you say so…”
With an excited expression,
Johannes quickly secured the black Mana Stone.
He moved even faster than when he had been transporting the other Mana Stones.
In an instant, the dark gem was sucked into his subspace storage.
‘So he wasn’t even using his full strength earlier.’
Kaylen smirked as he reached for the final batch of Mana Stones.
Twitch. Twitch.
The moment he cleared away the last one, black smoke began to rise from the exposed area.
Sssss—
“What’s that?”
Still grinning as he stored the Mana Stones in his subspace,
Johannes pointed at the smoke.
It was releasing a mana similar to that of the black Mana Stone.
And soon—
The smoke started gathering, taking on a distinct form.
“That’s… a Fallen Angel…?”
The first thing to materialize from the swirling smoke was a pair of wings.
Their shape resembled those of an angel,
but their color was pitch black.
Just as Johannes said, the wings were the same shade as those of a corrupted angel.
After the wings formed, the smoke continued condensing,
fully revealing the Fallen Angel’s figure.
‘…Beautiful.’
That was Johannes’s first thought upon seeing the Fallen Angel.
Even as an undead himself, he couldn’t take his eyes off of it.
She was beautiful.
The woman with black hair looked like a masterpiece sculpted by the gods.
Johannes could only stare blankly at the Fallen Angel.
"Emperor Kaylen."
A voice devoid of emotion.
The Fallen Angel gazed at Kaylen with an expressionless face.
"The Celestial Demon has sent me in response to your request.
However, before you seek the great Celestial Demon's blessing,
you must first justify whether your request is truly warranted."
‘So earlier, when the Emperor said that if he needed more, he would just ask the Celestial Demon again…’
There was no way the Celestial Demon would grant unlimited aid.
Was this Fallen Angel sent as an overseer?
Johannes glanced sideways at Kaylen.
The one who should have answered immediately
was hesitating in silence.
‘Why is he zoning out?’
Even if this Fallen Angel possessed an otherworldly beauty,
Kaylen had seen countless beautiful figures before.
So why was he standing there, staring like that?
‘Guess I’ll have to say something.’
Thinking it might snap him out of it, Johannes was about to speak—
"…Arashiel?"
A name slipped from Kaylen’s lips.
‘Arashiel…?’
And that name—
Johannes knew it well.
She was the second wife of Emperor Ernstine,
the one who had gone missing.
Though Ernstine had taken many wives and fathered nearly a hundred children,
there was a time when even he had loved with devotion.
His first wife,
Elinne, had known him since childhood.
When he married her, he swore never to take another wife.
That vow remained unbroken
until he ascended to the throne of the Meier Kingdom.
‘That is, until Arashiel appeared.’
Arashiel Gracia.
The only daughter of the Marquess of Gracia,
she had been renowned for her beauty since childhood.
Upon reaching adulthood,
her beauty matured to perfection,
gaining fame not only in her own kingdom
but even in neighboring lands.
At the time, Ernstine, who was then merely a king of another nation,
had shown little interest in her.
‘But at the royal ball of the Meier Kingdom,
he fell for her at first sight.’
Johannes subtly examined the Fallen Angel who had been called Arashiel.
Indeed, her beauty was enough to captivate a nation at a glance.
‘They say that after meeting her, Ernstine finally understood desire.’
Before that,
he had acted as if Elinne would be his only partner for life.
But once he fell for Arashiel and took her as his wife…
whether it was because he had awakened to indulgence,
he began expanding his harem in earnest.
‘Even my sister was the same.’
Johannes thought of his younger sister, Princess Velania.
Of course, in her case—
she had been the one to approach Ernstine first,
drawn to his face and imperial power.
‘Arashiel married Ernstine, and three years later, she went missing…’
That was why Johannes had never seen Arashiel in person.
His kingdom had been annexed by Ernstine after her disappearance.
‘She looks exactly like her… Something feels off.’
A thousand years later,
a Fallen Angel sent by the Celestial Demon
bore the exact same face as Ernstine’s missing second wife?
There was no way this was just a coincidence.
And Kaylen felt the weight of it even more deeply.
“...From the beginning, were you an angel, Arashiel?”
Kaylen could sense it instinctively.
The Fallen Angel before him
did not just resemble Arashiel in appearance.
Even the aura she exuded was eerily similar.
‘Back then, I simply thought that aura was a mysterious charm…’
The fatal allure hidden behind that captivating beauty.
The once-naïve Ernstine had experienced an entirely new world upon meeting her.
This Fallen Angel—she was Arashiel.
Kaylen was certain of it.
“That is correct, Emperor Kaylen.”
And as if she had nothing to hide,
the Fallen Angel, Arashiel, affirmed it immediately.
“Why did you approach me?”
“The god desired a sample from the Meier lineage.
But you intended to have only one wife.
That was not what the god wished for.”
“...So you seduced me.”
“Yes. I helped you spread your lineage far and wide.”
Arashiel’s lips curled into a faint smile.
“But since you became too infatuated with me
and refused to take in more concubines, I disappeared.”
As she spoke of the past,
Arashiel adopted a more relaxed demeanor,
so much so that Kaylen could sense the slight hint of disdain in her gaze.
‘Does she still see me as a man she once had wrapped around her finger?’
No matter how great Kaylen’s achievements were,
from her perspective, he was just someone she had once played with and discarded.
It was no surprise she looked at him that way.
However—
‘That may have been true for Ernstine.’
But he was not Ernstine.
He was his sword.
‘This works in my favor.’
Kaylen gazed at Arashiel,
his lips curling into a faint smile.
The Fallen Angel Arashiel.
She was not an existence on par with the Celestial Demon…
but the mana emanating from her was neither entirely of this world.
It was reminiscent of the black mana stone from earlier
and the strange energy he had sensed in the Abyss.
‘She will serve as the foundation for uncovering the true nature of the Celestial Demon.’
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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