Yura smiled and reached out her hand, but Gorsa didn’t take it. Instead, he bent down and directly picked her up in his arms.
She seed quite pleased with this and chuckled, “Were you startled? Don’t worry, I’ve prepared plenty. That way, we can start the experint without any hesitation.”
The way Yura looked at Gorsa was filled with joy.
But in the very next second, she eagerly jumped down from his arms and walked over to one of the long experint tables.
“Of course, before we begin, we’ll need to prepare a lot of companion flowers. I borrowed so seeds from my sister, but for a bulk order, you’ll have to reach out to the Land Drifters.”
Yura picked up a sheet of paper from the table. From Saul’s current perspective, he couldn’t see what was written on it.
But he could clearly see Yura’s expression.
If, just a mont ago, her gaze as she looked at the Tower Master was dancing with delight, now, as she stared at the white paper in her hands, her eyes burned with a fierce fire.
Through her trembling hands, Saul could directly sense her fanaticism and excitent.
“We can begin very soon—”
However, Yura’s sentence was abruptly cut off halfway through.
Because the man behind her suddenly struck with his hand like a blade, slicing off half of her head.
Blood splattered across the entire experint table as Yura’s body twitched and collapsed.
Gorsa, his face equally splashed with blood, gently held onto the upper half of her severed skull.
After a mont of silence, he suddenly let out a sigh.
“…The experint failed.”
Saul was instantly gripped by a chill, unable to breathe.
In the next mont, black mist once again enveloped his vision.
But when the mist cleared, Saul realized he was still within the historical mory of Little Algae.
This was a different fragnt of the past.
The sa strange laboratory surrounded by black soil.
This ti, Saul imdiately noticed that Gorsa had grown even thinner. His hair was longer and more unkempt, as though quite so ti had passed since the last mory.
He walked to the center platform and leaned down to lift a woman from a rectangular groove.
It was Yura’s corpse, missing half her head.
She was no longer bleeding, but the muscle tissue at the point of separation still looked fresh.
Gorsa gently placed her on the now-empty experint table.
First, he tenderly removed the clothes from the corpse, revealing her pale, graceful body.
Then, Gorsa raised his hand. Between his thumb and forefinger, a tiny blade, three centiters long, quietly appeared.
It was an extrely sharp and thin blade. It trembled ever so slightly in sync with the twitching muscles of Gorsa’s hand.
Suddenly, the trembling stopped.
Gorsa leaned in once more, placing both his hand and the blade at the edge of Yura’s skull. Very carefully, very tenderly… he began to peel the skin.
Black mist shrouded the world once again. When Saul opened his eyes, he saw Little Algae wagging its tongue like a happy puppy. Across from him, a massive black tentacle swayed toward the ceiling, and a Devil Vine sat surrounded by dozens of writhing tendrils, looking sowhat aggrieved.
He had returned from the vision.
Perhaps because Little Algae’s level was far lower than that of the diary, Saul was able to see much more in its historical fragnts using the last of his “History Watcher” ability.
He patted Little Algae’s head, letting it roam freely. Stretching out his arms, he worked out the stiffness in his limbs.
His gaze drifted through the air, thoughts spinning around what he had just witnessed.
“The Tower Master killed Lady Yura… and even peeled off her skin. These two scenes perfectly match what Yura told .”
From that, it appeared that Yura had not lied.
But Saul still had doubts.
In the first mory, Yura had clearly said they were about to start an experint. Yet Gorsa had cut off her head and claid the experint had failed.
What exactly was this experint they spoke of?
And were they both referring to the sa experint?
Regardless of their individual positions, one thing Saul could be certain of—
The current Yura truly hated Gorsa.
But due to Gorsa’s overwhelming power, her hatred could only manifest in sarcastic complaints and her erratic temperant.
Still, what really lay between them wasn’t fully revealed in this piece of history.
Perhaps Gorsa had killed Yura, but based on the inconsistencies in their words and behavior, it was also possible… that sothing had gone wrong with Yura.
Saul pinched the bridge of his nose. A headache was setting in—not pathological, but physiological.
The world before his eyes was always fog wrapped in more fog. Every ti he tried to uncover the truth, he found it hidden beneath yet another lie.
So what was the truth?
Saul wasn’t all that concerned with “who killed whom,” but it was clear that he had now been drawn into the eye of the storm. He was already Rank Three and about to officially join Gorsa’s research project.
He had to understand what it was he was ant to study—whether it might lead him straight to the guillotine.
Although the diary’s danger alerts had slowed from every few minutes to every few hours, or even days, he couldn’t always rely on it to guide him forward.
Especially after the appearance of Kist, the sense of crisis had deepened.
So Saul had been working hard to strengthen his connection with the diary—exploring its abilities and integrating it with his own body modifications and primary magic.
“If one day, I lose the diary…” Saul paused mid-thought, then let out a carefree laugh. “Well, no point in thinking about that. With how tightly we’re bound now, if I lose the diary, I’ll die without a doubt. So there's no need to worry about it getting stolen.”
Having exhausted the last of his “History Watcher,” Saul committed all his unanswered questions to mory and returned to his studies.
Half a month passed in that sa tense yet monotonous atmosphere.
During that ti, Buri seed intent on proving his innocence and ca to visit Saul again.
Saul still t with him from behind the Devil Vine woven wall, exchanged a few words, but made no promises.
His answer?
“I’m just the temporary master—I don’t have the final say.”
And then this “temporary master” went right back to bullying the native resident, Devil Vine, alongside Little Algae.
Buri didn’t co again after that, finally giving Saul a bit of peace and quiet.
So when, half a month later, soone knocked on the door of Black Castle again, Saul didn’t imdiately realize that it might be the new arrivals from the Wizard Tower.
At that mont, he was midway through calculating a formula and didn’t want to stop.
So he had Devil Vine check who was at the door. If it was Buri again, Saul planned to pretend he didn’t hear anything.
But Devil Vine’s report was that the visitors were indeed from the Wizard Tower.
A man and a woman had stepped down from a carriage.
Saul tossed his pen aside. “Finally, soone’s here.”
He turned toward the black tentacles cheerfully wriggling on the floor and said, “Little Algae, pack them all up.”
Little Algae, knowing they were about to return to the tower, obediently pulled all the tentacles back into its body.
The previously cramped underground space suddenly felt much more open.
Devil Vine cautiously stretched out its aerial roots, seemingly in disbelief that it had finally reclaid its territory.
[It was a pleasure to accompany you during this ti, Lord Saul.]
“Likewise,” Saul said, barely suppressing a grin.
He strode out of the underground chamber to the front gates of Black Castle.
Just in case, he didn’t open the door, or even remove the Devil Vine barrier inside.
“May I ask, who’s there?” Saul deliberately lowered his voice, making it sound tense and ominous.
“…”
“Your old buddy, you idiot!”
(End of Chapter)
Reviews
All reviews (0)