blogombal Chapter 127: Gray and Cloud
Chapter 127: Gray and Cloud
Antler didn’t claim King’s kill for himself.He intended to offer it to another.
“Let’s make a deal.
I’ll focus on tasks this time and leave the kills to you.”
He negotiated with Lily, displaying harmlessness and goodwill.
He spread his hands, palms out, signaling no hostility.
“I’ll be your assistant, your bait.
I’ll stand out to draw attention, and you can strike when the moment’s right.
If I’m in danger, you don’t need to save me.
This way, you won’t worry about me betraying you, and I’ll be your loyal teammate.
How’s that? No downsides for you, right?”
Antler knew Adaptation Path ascenders were prone to betrayal.
But hadn’t he dealt with plenty of two-faced people before?
He was used to handling them.
Those inclined to betray didn’t always do so.
Offer enough benefits, ensure their safety, and raise the cost of betrayal—they could still be useful.
Antler was certain Alastair was under twenty.
Knight was barely past twenty.
King was a rare utilitarian transcendent, gaining mystic arts but not advancing further.
That meant everyone else was dual-Path, including this “gray robe.”
Dual-Path ascenders weren’t as extreme as single-Path ones.
Like Antler, a Twilight Path ascender, he was still quite talkative.
He felt this gray-robed figure’s personality wasn’t bad.
He sensed no hostility, even a faint affinity.
It was baseless, just instinct—but his instincts were usually accurate.
Though he got no immediate response from Gray, Antler faintly heard King’s breathing stop.
A low “gurgle” followed, as if someone had gripped his throat.
Yet Antler couldn’t pinpoint Gray’s location.
A moment later, a low voice spoke.
“Done. His corpse is yours.”
‘Less than thirty seconds?’ Antler thought.
‘Such practiced strangling… an assassin’s guild origin?’
He had a guess but didn’t rule out cooperation.
Antler smiled brightly.
“What a coincidence.
Ever heard the saying? Nine Paths: three dynamic, three static, three mutable.
Wisdom, Adaptation, and Twilight are static Paths.
You’re a classic Adapter.
For a Twilight Path ascender, I’m quite chatty.”
He groped the floor, finding the still-warm head of King’s corpse.
Placing his hand on its forehead, dim yellow light crept from his fingers like worms onto the face.
“My friend, my kin, my beloved.
Those I’ve killed by mistake, those I couldn’t save.”
Antler chanted in a rhythmic tone.
“I am the sorrowful messenger of Boötes, the hound of Icarius.
The underworld has no place for you.
Return silently.”
He pried open King’s mouth with his other hand, blowing sharply into it.
In that instant, the corpse lit up like a lamp.
Dim yellow light glowed brighter across its body.
The light roamed, half gathering in the heart, half in the brain.
King’s eyes snapped open, glowing faint yellow.
He rose nimbly, following Antler, mouth opening silently.
“…He can’t speak?”
Lily, watching the “resurrection ritual,” finally spoke.
“No, he can’t.
But this is still Mr. King, not an empty shell.
He just can’t think clearly.”
Antler answered plainly.
“Speech and song belong to Beauty.
Reproduction and emotion to Love.
Thought to Wisdom, training to Transcendence.
A corpse with only its body loses four domains.
One with a soul loses six.
One without a soul loses eight, leaving only Twilight.
From this view, necromancy-revived corpses remain in the realm of the dead.”
This was necromancy’s principle, rarely explained by necromancers.
But for Antler, primarily a barrister, there was no need to hide it.
He eyed the massive door and ordered.
“Open the door.”
The revived King opened his mouth silently, then climbed the door like an ape.
“Pity I don’t have a bone staff,” Antler sighed.
“With one, I could enhance Mr. King’s corpse.
No need for verbal commands either.”
“You’re a big shot in Avalon, aren’t you?”
Lily asked coolly.
“Making a bone staff should be easy.”
“It’s tricky.
Weapons brought into rituals must be self-made,” Antler said casually.
“I’m getting old.
Learning to carve from scratch isn’t easy.”
His offhand “getting old” remark stirred something in Lily.
It was normal for big shots to be older, but she’d felt a strange familiarity when first seeing Antler.
Like she’d met him before.
Antler then asked.
“By the way, how should I address you?”
“Gray.”
Lily answered.
Her inherited [Spider Silk Codex] came from the Gray Sky Division.
The name fit perfectly.
“I’ll protect you from the shadows.”
She added softly.
“I’ll follow you, but don’t try to find me.
I’m the spider in the corner.”
Of course, this was a lie.
She was quietly observing Antler, seeking a chance for a lethal strike.
She hadn’t fully grasped the tasks, but one thing was clear.
Killing six people total guaranteed victory.
Young Master Aiwass could certainly manage that.
But Antler, the first to appear, was the least predictable variable.
No one knew his full hand.
Lily had to stick close, waiting for the perfect moment to kill him.
Still, there was something else.
“You say you’re a big shot.”
From the shadows, Lily asked.
“Do you know the ministers in the Round Table Hall?”
She was curious about her birth father, about whom she knew almost nothing.
Antler smiled confidently.
“Of course.
No one knows the Round Table Hall better than I do.”
On the other side, Gordon—code-named Thunder—Knight, and the gaunt, unstable man had already broken free.
They left the storage room without losing anyone.
“Where are you headed next?”
Gordon naturally took the lead.
“Let’s see if our paths align.
If they do, we can help each other.
If not, we’ll go our separate ways.”
“I want the Holy Lance,” Knight said without hesitation.
“Then use it to destroy the giants’ magical cauldron.
If I get the chance, I’ll challenge those evil god-worshipping giants!”
“I’ll join you to get the Lance and destroy the cauldron,” Gordon nodded cautiously.
“But I strongly advise against attacking the giants.
If you insist, I won’t stop you.
I’ll accompany you, try to protect you.
If you fall, I’ll take the Lance.”
Both harbored strong hostility toward the giants.
Compared to Knight, Gordon’s drive to advance was less intense.
The gaunt man, standing silently, let out a low chuckle.
“Evil god? Heh heh…”
His voice, despite his disheveled appearance, was steady, elegant, almost aristocratic—not mad.
“Of course, the Supreme Sky is an evil god.”
Gordon frowned but explained patiently.
“‘Supreme Sky’ is what Bear Sky Division worshippers call their deity, an Authority Path Sky Division leaning toward Love.
They crave violence, lawlessness, disorder, a world where the strong prey on the weak.
The giant kingdom of Arktos once worshipped Bear Sky Division.
Look at the result—they ate all races, even their own.
And the Supreme Sky blessed such an evil race.”
“Mr. Thunder! Did you see the ‘Successful Escape’ task?”
Knight added.
“The Serpent Father said we need a key to escape the Pancode Temple.
That’s where we are—the Pancode Temple!”
Gordon affirmed.
“This ‘giant couple’ isn’t ordinary.
They killed an apostle, live in a temple worshipping the Supreme Sky, and have a Sky-blessed cauldron.
So massive… they’re likely High Giants.”
At Gordon’s level, he had access to some records of the giant kingdom’s history.
Pureblood giants were typically six or seven meters tall.
Giants weren’t born tall but grew with age.
A three-year-old giant was under a meter, a teenage giant around two meters, like a tall human youth.
Unlike humans, giants had an extremely long growth period, lasting centuries, growing larger over time.
Their maximum height varied by talent.
As Bear Sky Division was said to be massive, giants blessed by it prided themselves on greater height.
Taller giants held higher status.
Those reaching extreme heights were called “High Giants,” seen as “gifts of the Supreme Sky.”
The giant kingdom’s ministers were taller than city walls, lean, with white beards like waterfalls, nearing twenty meters.
Human weapons barely scratched them.
Killing a human was as easy for them as squashing a bug.
Their running caused earthquakes, so they usually sat, eating constantly.
During festivals, they stood and wrestled, causing days of tremors.
Judging by the temple’s doors, this giant couple was at least twenty meters tall—three times a normal giant’s height.
“This ‘giant couple’ might be apostles of Bear Sky Division.”
Gordon looked at Knight, serious.
“Apostles guarding temples is normal, so they could kill a Devotion Path apostle and take the Holy Lance.
Like how Hippocrates or Acropolis sometimes appear in the Acropolis Temple.
The giant dynasty worshipped Bear Sky Division, building temples where apostles could fully manifest.
That’s why I don’t support attacking them.
Even if Bear Sky Division’s apostles aren’t as strong as the Nine Pillar Gods’, they’re still Authority Path apostles.
Using a Devotion Path apostle’s weapon to challenge two Authority Path apostles is reckless.”
The gaunt man laughed again.
“Authority Path? Haha…”
Gordon finally lost patience.
He turned, sternly asking.
“Sir, what’s so funny?
Speak plainly.
Riddles only sour the mood.
We’re teammates escaping together—what can’t be said directly?”
“…You sure you want to hear?”
The man’s lips curled into a cryptic smile.
“You asked for it, don’t blame me.”
Though Gordon and Knight felt unease, they wouldn’t back down now.
“You can call me Cloud.
A werewolf hunted by the Children of the Moon.
A poor writer hoping to flee to Avalon.
I hope you’ll offer some help later, Mr. Thunder.”
The gaunt man leaned against the massive, rough cyan stone wall, raising a finger with a sly smile.
“This is knowledge you’ll never find in Avalon.
The Silver-Crowned Dragon may not care, but its apostles do.
The apostles may not care, but mortal rulers must—since they didn’t wipe out the giants back then.
This is a secret from Avalon’s founding, from when the Authority Path didn’t yet exist.
The only time humans witnessed a shift in the Nine Pillar Gods.
Listen, and face the truth…”