The Genius Son-in-law of the Swordmaster Household—Blessed by Authority

Chapter 156 : Liberation of Luminari (4)

Liberation of Luminari (4)

"What, what is this...?!"

Dangling in the air by his throat, Greenyolf's eyes shook violently in disbelief.

'Where the hell did this guy come from!?'

Greenyolf's mind flashed white.

This was the deepest part of the ancient ruins.

The innermost sanctum, thoroughly cut off from the outside world.

From the entrance to this point, over fifty elite demonic humans of the Great Cult of Sins had been stationed, and dozens of layers of the latest magical surveillance devices and multiple barriers—designed to detect even the smallest ant—had been set up.

To pierce such an ironclad defense, even the most skilled assassin would inevitably leave traces.

Yet now there had been no commotion—not even a small scream, not even the faintest trace of magic power.

He had appeared out of nowhere, like a ghost, and seized Greenyolf's throat?

'Impossible!'

But even more incomprehensible to him was this man's brute strength.

'I—I can't move an inch!'

Though Greenyolf was a mage, he was by no means a feeble illusionist who could only cast spells.

His body had been modified with all sorts of secret arts and demon artifacts from the Great Cult of Sins, boasting monstrous strength unlike any ordinary mage.

He could tear an ogre's tough skin barehanded like paper, and crush stone like an eggshell.

But now—

"Gu—ggggh...!"

Ever since this man grabbed his throat, Greenyolf struggled with all his might to break free, but his arm did not budge the slightest.

It felt as if his neck were caught in an adamantium chain.

If he kept trying to pry the man's hand off, his own neck would come off before the grip loosened.

'Ghh—grk...!'

His carotid artery was completely blocked, and his brain started to go numb.

His vision began to blur from the edges inward.

At this rate, he'd lose consciousness in seconds—and it would be the end.

'Magic! I have to use magic!'

If brute strength wouldn't work, then he had to rely on magic.

Clinging to his fading consciousness, Greenyolf hurriedly summoned up the demonic energy within his body.

'I have to use Blink to get away—then incinerate the bastard with Hellfire!'

With a murderous intent, as he tried to spin up the magic circle engraved on his heart—

– Wuuuuung! Gggrrk!

"...!?"

The circle—

Would not move.

It was as if a great mountain was weighing down his heart.

The wild aura flowing from the man's grasp had clamped tight around Greenyolf's magic circle.

'He—he blocked my circle...with his aura!?'

Greenyolf's mastery was at the opening of the 8th circle.

If he wished, he could unleash a natural disaster, erasing a whole city from the map, so fearsome was the demonic energy surging like a tsunami within his heart.

Yet he had sealed away that massive energy with nothing but the pressure of pure aura.

That was the same as stopping a tidal wave with one's bare body—a feat only a god or a madman could achieve.

To display such martial prowess, one would have to be at least an mid-stage Grandmaster—or higher.

'But that's impossible...!'

What is a Grandmaster?

Each one is a living legend, reigning at the apex of the continent, able to decide the fate of nations.

Would such noble and busy giants travel all the way to this barren, nameless great desert to dig up ruins and attack someone like him?

Practically impossible odds.

Moreover, this golem excavation was a top-secret project known only to a scant few high-ranking members of the Great Cult of Sins.

The information was almost certain not to have leaked, and even if somehow it had, to a Grandmaster such an effort would seem like petty grave-robbing for rusty junk.

Then, why on earth—

'Who...who are you? Why? How...?'

Countless questions flashed through Greenyolf's mind.

But none of them would ever be answered.

– CRACK!

A horrifying, dry crunch echoed through the silence of the underground.

Greenyolf's head twisted at a grotesque angle.

"G–grrrrk!"

Unable even to scream a proper death rattle, the Archbishop's eyes lost their light completely.

Ian tossed Greenyolf's limp body to the floor as if discarding a sack.

– Thud!

The heavy corpse rolled about pathetically.

His neck had been completely broken, but someone of the Demon Cult's Archbishop rank had vitality as tenacious as a cockroach.

This alone would not kill him.

He had merely twisted the cervical vertebrae, paralyzing the brain.

He was still alive and there'd be no problem using him as a magic power battery.

"...!"

Everything had unfolded in an instant.

Huddled in a corner, Nayuta was frozen like a statue, barely able to breathe.

The 8th-circle great mage, Greenyolf, who had overwhelmed her people with overwhelming magic and kidnapped her into captivity, had fallen helplessly with a single gesture.

It was an utterly surreal scene.

Sensing her trembling gaze, Ian slowly turned his head toward Nayuta.

'Hmm.'

Meeting Nayuta's eyes, Ian's gaze narrowed.

He had not expected anyone else to be here.

The sole reason he had infiltrated so deep was to capture the Archbishop and use him as a source of magic power.

But—

'That jewel...'

The large jewel embedded in the dead center of her forehead.

A mysterious shimmer, as if a swath of the night sky's Milky Way had been transplanted there, that glimmered in the dark.

Ian recognized her identity at a glance.

'A High Luminari.'

A member of the Luminari race so rare that one might only be born once every few centuries.

The focal point and living spiritual leader of the Luminari.

The sole being able to heal the life jewels of sick or broken kin.

A chosen lineage capable of unleashing the potential of ancient Luminari relics to extremes ordinary Luminari could not even hope to achieve.

Thus, most High Luminari served as chieftains or top leaders upholding Luminari society.

'To think a High Luminari was imprisoned in such a place.'

Ian's eyes sparkled with interest.

Nothing about this had been revealed when he extracted the overseers' memories for information.

It seemed this woman was the Archbishop Greenyolf's private, secret prize, unknown to anyone else.

'Makes sense.'

The value of a High Luminari was incomparable.

Not only were their numbers incredibly small, but they tended to seclude themselves in exclusive, artificial dimensions, creating their own insular cultures, strongly closed off from outsiders.

For an ordinary human to find or even meet a High Luminari was harder than finding a needle in the desert.

'And I needed a High Luminari's life jewel to properly use the Luminari relics anyway.'

To stumble across someone he needed to find someday anyway, in this place, at this moment, felt unreal—like discovering a gold nugget while searching for a common magic power battery.

Ian's mind raced.

'I need to make the most of this opportunity. No matter what, I must bring her to our side.'

This wasn't just about gaining an ally.

Traditional Luminari gathered and built communities centered on a High Luminari.

If he saved her and won her gratitude, many Luminari would gather around her, forming a powerful Luminari force.

Through her life jewel, the Luminari relics' power could be amplified severalfold.

Resolved in an instant, Ian's eyes filled with determination.

An unexpected variable, but as good a variable as anyone could hope for.

"Y-you are...?"

Nayuta, her lips trembling, managed to speak at last.

The mysterious man who had overthrown and felled the devil who kidnapped and tortured her in an instant.

He, too, had a Luminari-type jewel embedded in his forehead, but Nayuta intuitively sensed—

'He's different.'

She could tell because she was a High Luminari.

The black jewel set in his forehead was fundamentally different from a pure Luminari life jewel.

It was a life jewel, but its roots were distant and alien.

That alienness sent chills throughout her body.

"Who...are you...?"

Rather than answer, Ian slowly reached up and wiped his forehead.

– Sssk.

At that, the black jewel in his forehead vanished like a mirage.

"T-the life jewel!"

"Please be at ease. I haven't come to harm you."

Ian spoke as politely as he could.

"My name is Ian Greysel. I serve as a knight for the youngest lady of the Heavenly Sword family, lady Yuria."

"A—a knight? The—Heavenly Sword family...?"

Nayuta's eyes widened at his words.

"The Heavenly Sword family?! Hisperion! That Heavenly Sword family?"

"Yes. That is correct."

The history of Hisperion stretched over a thousand years.

Even a High Luminari hermit would have heard the reputation.

"You—you were sent to rescue me from there...?"

"No. That is not the case."

Ian answered honestly.

"I came here to capture the Archbishop Greenyolf. Meeting you was sheer coincidence."

"Ah...is that so..."

Nayuta's eyes darkened.

"But don't worry,"

Ian stepped a little closer.

– Crack!

Then he reached out and effortlessly snapped the thick iron shackles binding her neck.

The restraints that held her captive for months fell to the ground, useless.

"My purpose may be different, but now that I've found you, I have no intention of leaving you behind."

Ian met her eyes and spoke.

"From this moment, I'll take responsibility for your escape. Come with me."

"Ah...!"

A spark of life returned to Nayuta's eyes.

Ian offered his hand to the woman sitting on the ground.

"May I know your name?"

"A-ah! Of course, I haven't introduced myself yet..."

Nayuta hurriedly bowed her head in gratitude, then, clearing her throat, laid her hand over her heart with formal dignity.

"My name is Nayuta. I am the high priestess who serves the moon of the Silvani tribe."

As she spoke her name in a trembling voice—

Ian's outstretched hand paused mid-air.

'Nayuta of the... Silvani tribe?'

He knew that name.

He could never forget it.

'Nayuta...'

It was the real name of the "witch" who, in his previous life, drowned the southern Empire in blood and terror.

'This is insane...things are unfolding in a far stranger direction than I expected.'

Ian's memories of his past life returned.

About five years from now—

When a civil war broke out for the position of lord within Hisperion—

A calamity known as the Witch descended upon southern Roderun Empire.

Her whole body had been modified with grotesque demon artifacts; wielding dozens of Luminari relics as extensions of her limbs, she indiscriminately slaughtered every living thing in sight.

To stop her advance, three divisions of imperial troops were sent, only to be erased without a trace in a single day.

Where she passed, not a blade of grass remained, and the rivers ran red with blood.

In the end, only after several Grandmasters of the Empire intervened was she defeated.

Later, at humanity's last bastion, Ian heard from a knight who had participated in that witch-hunt.

That Witch, as she lay dying with her heart pierced, endlessly repeated but a single phrase until her last breath.

– It hurts... it hurts so much...

No resentment. No curse. Only a ceaseless cry of pain until the end.

The Roderun Empire barely managed to uncover that she was a High Luminari horribly corrupted and tainted by Demonic Energy.

But who or what had turned her into such a monster, where the tragedy began—no one ever found out.

All they could vaguely surmise from the demon artifacts stuck to her body was that she'd been a brutal sacrifice of the Great Cult of Sins.

But now, Ian had a new piece of the tragic puzzle.

'At least, it definitely started here.'

Ian looked coldly at Greenyolf's sprawled body at his feet.

'It's obvious.'

At first, she was abducted to be exploited as a high-efficiency power source for operating the Luminari golem.

Then, when a replacement was found or her mind completely broke, she was refitted into a monster and thrown into the southern Empire like a time bomb.

To stir chaos to the last, and sap away humanity's military strength.

It was the same disgusting ploy the Demon Cult always employed.

Five long years.

No matter how noble and strong-willed a soul a High Luminari possessed, to endure endless torture and malice in such isolation would break her.

Slowly, she went insane, and eventually became a monster.

'I came here to remove the Destroyer, but ended up averting the Empire's southern catastrophe in advance.'

A chill crept down his spine—and a strange thrill followed.

He had, at this moment, cut off a disaster that would have shaken the continent and claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Even more, the Nayuta before Ian had not been broken as she was in his previous life.

She was only terrified, with a few minor external injuries easily healed.

Instead of slaughtering humanity as a witch, she could stand on their side as a powerful High Luminari with her life jewel intact.

'This is more than a gold nugget.'

Ian swallowed dryly.

This was a massive turning point—an opportunity to rewrite a tragedy from his previous life.

The worst witch would disappear, and the strongest ally would be born.