Chapter 26 – Covered by Fog (3)

The fog started to dissipate; the moisture from the Ash Tower dispersed, creating huge dark clouds in the sky. As the fog enveloping the Ash Tower dispersed, the tower’s original appearance slowly became visible. It wouldn’t be surprising if the tower collapsed right there and then, but the golem inside was supporting the tower so that it wouldn’t collapse.

Huxle’s party held their breath as they watched Juan slide down the golem’s arm. The golem put Juan on the ground respectfully with both hands, as if serving its master. By then, Juan’s body was almost fully recovered, his skin looking like that of a three-year-old.

“How did he do that...?” someone muttered.

“Since he’s someone from outside the border, don’t you think he used some strange sorcery?” another asked.

The sight of Juan going berserk and smashing the golem’s head was still fresh in everyone’s mind. Although Juan looked like his usual self right now, his presence was still enough to make them freeze.

However, something else soon grabbed their attention. It was the Ash Tower’s treasure.

Unlike before Juan entered the Ash Tower, he now donned a gray cloak over his shoulders. They did not know what exactly it was made of, but it almost seemed like something not from this world. It was light and moved gently. Instead of looking like fabric, the cloak looked like it was an illusion made of fog that had gathered and taken the shape of a cloak.

“Grunbalde’s gray cloak...” Anya, who stood next to Huxle, mumbled blankly.

Huxle grabbed her arm reflexively, asking, “What in the world is that item? It doesn’t look like your everyday treasure…”

“...It’s an evil weapon that was once worn by the fog demon king, who swallowed up a whole city. It’s the only relic that remained after His Majesty burned Grunbalde to death, but honestly speaking, you can think of that item as Grunbalde himself,” Anya answered.

“Oh my gosh!” Huxle exclaimed.

“On top of that, he has Talter’s short sword used in sacrificial rituals. The more the short sword draws blood, the sharper it becomes, eventually becoming sharp enough to cut through even steel. Moreover, it's a weapon so evil that the Church would definitely go after it if they ever saw it. My gosh, I can’t believe I only noticed it now,” Anya commented.

Huxle wondered just who the hell Anya was, for her to know all that. It would make sense if she was after Grunbalde’s gray cloak from the start—after all, it was common for antique merchants or merchants who sold magic items to visit forbidden ruins.

Huxle gulped. If what Anya said was true, it wasn’t just a powerful magic item but a weapon left behind after His Majesty killed the gods. Unlike in the past, getting hands on powerful magic artifacts now was an almost impossible feat with the seals placed by the emperor and the Church’s interference. Now that this artifact was known to have been used to gain control over a city, it was impossible to imagine the amount of money people would be willing to pay for it.

“Boss, the item that he has...” Benson started, his eyes stained with greed.

Huxle thought that if he were to get his hands on one of Juan’s items, it would change his life. But as soon as he saw Benson’s eyes, he decided to give up his greed right there.

“...Stop. Everyone has their place in life. You can’t blame anyone if a Templar passing by decides to decapitate you. Well… not unless you’re a crazy bastard who can defeat a golem with just a short sword,” said Huxle.

Benson came to his senses as he recalled how Juan had looked as he attacked the golem, but he couldn’t hide his regrets.

“I understand… but we should at least get something out of this expedition as well, since we went through so much. It’s like his sudden appearance took away everything from us,” Benson grumbled.

Torrell nodded lightly, in agreement with Benson’s protest.

To be fair, they were the ones who had agreed to go on their separate ways with Juan and even decided to follow behind him, but were now eyeing the rewards shamelessly. Huxle felt the same.

Huxle looked at Anya. Everything depended on what Anya wanted, since she was the sponsor of the expedition and the one who had promised the rewards.

But she was expressionless.

Frustrated, Huxle approached Juan and mumbled hesitantly, “Err... Umm, good work. You’re really... strong. Sorry for not believing in you.”

“Doesn’t matter,” replied Juan.

“Hmm, okay. Then that’s good, but... how much treasure was up there?” Huxle asked, a hint of hope in his voice.

“Treasure?”

Huxle started to get anxious as he thought Juan was feigning ignorance. He had seen Juan use the golem to climb up the tower earlier. If Huxle wanted to climb up the tower, which could soon collapse, he would require the golem’s help as well.

“Umm, didn’t you promise that you would choose an item first and it was fine for us to take the rest?” questioned Huxle.

“Ah I did, didn’t I?” Juan laughed. “Though, this was the only thing up there.”

“What?”

“All of Grunbalde, as well as his city, was burnt to the ground, and all its valuables disappeared along with it. The story about the tower’s hidden treasures was all made up. If there had been a treasure, the emperor would have used it to fund the empire. Why would he do something as useless as sealing it away here?” Juan explained.

“N-No way, I saw it!” Huxle exclaimed.

“Other adventurers have been here, it wouldn’t be strange if they obtained a few items from other expeditions and took the treasures. The situation might have been different if we were talking about the Ancient Dragon Age or the Winter Age, but it hasn’t even been a hundred years since the emperor’s era and...” Juan walked past Huxle’s side and said, “Didn’t we part ways before we came to the tower?”

Huxle was speechless. Benson went up to Huxle and muttered something in his ear. Huxle looked shook.

***

The party decided to stay overnight at the Ash Tower as the sun had started to set. Although the Ash Tower had disappeared, the monsters that were affected by the tower’s mana continued to roam the forest, making it dangerous to find their way around at night.

Juan laid on top of the golem and looked up at the sky. The moisture that had been trapped inside the Ash Tower was released and had filled the sky. It seemed like there would be rain soon, as he could hear the faint sound of thunder and smelled rain in the wind.

‘Is that all of Grunbalde’s mana?’

It was unfortunate that the mana from the relic had mostly escaped when he acquired Grunbalde’s gray cloak. He could probably use at most one-tenth of its original power, which could only call forth the fog. Juan wondered if it was a side effect of being sealed over a long period of time. While it would take some time to recover the cloak’s power, it was well worth the wait.

As he mused, Juan smelled blood in the air, which soured his good mood. Something approached Juan covertly. The golem had sensed the same presence and moved almost stealthily. The incoming party halted their movement almost immediately.

“Boy, I want to speak with you,” a female’s voice could be heard.

It was Anya. The only person in Huxle’s party whose identity Juan couldn’t figure out.

Juan rolled over and looked down from atop the golem. Anya, who was covered in blood, looked up at him with a tired expression. Juan realized the smell of blood coming from her was a mixture of several people, namely Huxle’s party.

“So, you killed all of them,” Juan said.

“Yes, they were planning on killing you while you were asleep. They would have all been killed by the golem if it wasn’t for you. They couldn’t have possibly imagined that their dinner would contain sedatives. I’m not sure if this is enough to buy your trust but... Anyway, this is a present for you.” Anya dropped something at the golem’s feet. It was Huxle’s head. Anya then dropped all her armor and equipment on the ground to prove to Juan that she was unarmed.

“I’ll praise you for your courage, but you aren’t skilled when it comes to beheading,” Juan commented.

“I thought I could end things quietly, but this guy had some tolerance to the sedatives and woke up in the middle... Decapitating all of them was hard labor, so it would be good if my hard work paid off,” Anya explained.

Juan ordered the golem to kick Huxle’s head to the side. Huxle’s head rolled until it hit the tower’s wall and stopped.

“The head is useless. His head was something I could get myself easily when he insisted that we sleep here overnight. I’m more interested in your intentions.”

Juan knew from the beginning that Anya was the most skilled person in Huxle’s party; that was why during his first encounter with the party, he had held her captive. Juan also knew that she was not on this expedition just for the treasures.

“What’s your motive? Were you also after the gray cloak?”

“No, but our initial goal might be the same,” Anya smiled timidly and pointed underneath Juan.

“The golem?”

“The thickest arms that support the throne. The giants of the underworld were made in preparation for the return of the gods. They are the most significant symbols representing that His Majesty has not yet abandoned us. Yes, I came here to find a way to control the golem.”

Juan rubbed his chin. Yet another disappointment from being reincarnated was that he had no facial hair. Rubbing his bare chin just felt weird for him.

“After His Majesty, the Emperor, started his reign, the majority of the golems in the empire fell asleep and became buried in moss and dirt. But according to ‘our’ intelligence, the Ash Tower was a place where one of the remaining few still-moving golems were in this empire. I thought I would be able to find a way to control the golems at the Ash Tower.” Anya continued.

Meanwhile, Juan evaluated Anya’s skills. In his eyes, Anya seemed to specialize in assassination instead of common swordsmanship. Although she had an adequate grasp of magic, it was not of a high caliber. With these skills, she would have found a way to take on the golem. Even then, it would still have been hard for her to obtain the gray cloak, unless she found a way to control the golem.

Juan recalled all the golems that were spread throughout the empire. When he was the emperor, countless golems had been made. Particularly in the north, where an army of golems was made to become the shield against humanity’s ultimate enemy, the Crack. But right now, they were all asleep.

“You want to control the golems? Why?” Juan asked.

“So I can destroy the empire,” Anya answered unexpectedly.

Juan grinned slightly—he liked unexpected answers. Indeed, if she found a way to control the golems, she would have immense power in her hands; destroying the empire wouldn’t be difficult at all.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

“I thought you were one of those crazy people that follow the emperor since you were talking about him, but it seems like you aren’t.”

“Please don’t misunderstand. We really are devoted to His Majesty. But the current state of the empire is not what His Majesty desired. Rather, it’s being led by a group that is going completely against the will of His Majesty,” replied Anya.

“So you’re saying your group is a group of people who are crazy in a different way,” Juan remarked.

“It doesn’t matter what you think of us. Don’t you have your own complaints about the empire? If you do, please tell me how you’re able to control this golem. Does it have something to do with Grunbalde’s power? Wait… I think you were able to control it before you even got his power.” Anya appealed to Juan.

“I just did it,” Juan replied curtly.

“Boy…” Anya tried to ask further.

“Just give up if you aren’t able to do the same,” Juan responded.

Anya bit her lip. Juan could see her eyes tremble from the greed and conflict playing out in her head. Fortunately, she didn’t do anything rash.

After a pause, Anya continued, “I guess it can’t be helped. I’m sure an opportunity will come; after all, we will never stop... What are you going to do with that golem, then? Are you going to bring it around with you? It’ll be very conspicuous.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Juan replied nonchalantly.

Anya picked up the weapons she had dropped and put them on her belt. “Okay, I’m interested in what you’ll do from now on. From the Tantil Colosseum to the Ash Tower... Where will you go next? Rembelle’s underground labyrinth? Mananen McLeir’s Sanctuary? You might even go all the way to His Majesty’s throne,” said Anya.

She didn’t realize that the things she just said aloud were Juan’s real intentions. Not wanting to reveal his intentions, Juan just laughed.

“As you progress, there’ll be a point where luck and skills just won’t be enough. We’ll meet again then,” Anya told him before disappearing into the Ash Tower’s shadow.

Juan felt Anya’s presence disappear. Only the golem and himself remained. Juan slowly stroked the golem and wondered if he had just wasted his time listening to that story. He simply wanted to greet his friend whom he had not seen in a long time.

The Ash Tower would now disappear, which meant that the golem was no longer needed, since it had nothing to protect anymore. Moreover, it would cease to operate since Juan took the gray cloak. Of course, that did not mean Juan could bring the golem around with him. Not only was it too conspicuous, he did not have nearly enough mana to both move the golem and use the gray cloak properly at the same time.

Juan slowly approached the blue rune that was embedded at the top of its head and stroked it, as if that rune was something precious to him.

“You did well,” Juan whispered as he hugged the golem. He then stabbed the embedded blue rune with his short sword and pulled it out. The golem’s large body trembled, and like a dying candle’s flame, it slowly slumped over. At the same time, the Ash Tower which had maintained its unbalanced shape began to collapse, and dust surged from it along with a strange sound.

Juan held the rune fragment in his hand and stood in the middle of the newly created ruins.

“Rest now, I’ll finish what you started.” Juan turned and walked away from the Ash Tower’s ruins.

He suddenly realized that it was humans and not monsters or beasts that were in the forest surrounding the Ash Tower. Before he could identify their numbers, he felt his body suddenly become heavy. Juan stumbled and lost his balance, his vision suddenly turning red. Flustered by the sudden change, Juan tried to stand up, but it felt like a thousand pounds were weighing him down.

An unfamiliar energy pulsed throughout Juan’s body. It was Talter’s blood. Juan wondered if Talter’s consciousness had awakened, but quickly concluded that it wasn’t the case, as he couldn’t feel Talter’s consciousness anywhere.

A drop of Talter’s blood was consumed against his will, causing a large amount of mana to fluctuate within him. After that, yet another drop of Talter’s blood was consumed.

“Ughh!”

Talter’s blood drew out an incredible amount of power, and Juan had to do everything in his power to find balance between Talter’s and his own mana that was seething and flowing backward. It felt like his whole body was boiling up. He collapsed, but just before he passed out, he heard a voice.

“Ha, I thought he would already be under control by now. Amazing…”

Juan painfully lifted his head. Before him stood an unfamiliar man, as well as Sina Solvane and the Order of the Blue Rose.