Chapter 116
Kuung!
The assassin and I plummeted from the building. My vision flashed momentarily, and my consciousness flickered out for a split second.
The Empire isn't the only thing vast. The world—no, the universe—is immense.
I was realizing that fact in the harshest way possible. Akies Victima wasn't an invincible combat technique. I had known that in theory, but at this moment, I was experiencing it firsthand.
Pazijik, pajik.
My legs were on the verge of breaking. When I placed my palms on my knees, violent sparks erupted.
I had fallen from a high-rise building, but I had endured the impact by taking it on my legs. Of course, my body and limbs were far from intact.
Blood was seeping out from the junctions where flesh met machine. My entire body ached so much that I couldn't even pinpoint where the fractures were.
'At any rate, I'm still alive.'
Blinking while slumped on the ground, I took a deep breath. The stench of blood surged up my throat like nausea.
"Kaak, ptoo!"
I spat out the liquid pooling in my mouth and forced myself to stand. I felt like I was going to die—but I wasn't dead yet. And my enemy was still alive over there.
Kkirik, kkirik.
My state-of-the-art prosthetic legs were still functional despite being half-destroyed. Their durability was remarkable. Truly, long live the Empire.
'My left arm is gone, my legs are barely operational, and my right hand has a broken index finger.'
I took stock of my condition and lifted my head.
My gaze locked onto the assassin, standing about twenty paces away. She was just recovering from the shock of the fall.
And her condition was far better than mine. It was almost ridiculous.
'A monster, huh.'
Just before falling, the assassin had used her blade to scrape against the building's outer wall, reducing the impact. Then, she had twisted mid-air to execute a breakfall, further mitigating the shock.
However, as a result, one of her blades had snapped, and she had lost an eye after taking a hit from my Graken Vuth, which I had swung with my foot.
Dalgeurak.
I picked up the Graken Vuth from the ground and readied myself. An eyeball, still hooked onto the weapon's tip, rolled onto the floor. It was her left eye.
'Right before we fell, I launched an all-out offensive, while the assassin focused on preparing for the impact instead of fighting.'
The difference between flesh and machine had played out here. The assassin hadn't been able to take the full impact with her legs.
Thanks to that, I had managed to steal her eye using the Graken Vuth wedged between my toes.
Kaang! Tung!
With a metallic clang, drones crashed onto the ground with hollow thuds. The only reason I had a moment to catch my breath was that the patrolling drones had lunged at the assassin.
The assassin hurled a throwing weapon, taking down the incoming drone. It looked like a needle about the length of a finger, but it must have been monomolecular-coated—it pierced through the drone in a single strike.
Fwoosh!
A needle flew toward me as well.
Kang!
I deflected it to the side with my Graken Vuth. The assassin, having dealt with the drones, turned her gaze toward me.
"You're unbelievably skilled in combat for your age, kid. You kept shifting the battlefield to your advantage no matter what."
As she spoke, she reversed her grip on her last remaining blade. Unlike before, she no longer bounced lightly on her feet.
'She injured her leg too.'
I focused on the assassin’s legs. She was pretending to be fine, but if I looked closely, she was subtly favoring her left leg.
"You're impressive yourself. You’ve got every right to be confident in your strength."
It was a statement meant to buy time. But it was also the truth. I had continuously changed the battlefield, creating variables. That was the only reason I had been able to fight her on even ground.
'But I can't create any more variables now.'
We were on the pedestrian walkway below the building. My only weapon was the Graken Vuth. There was no time to load Ruina, and Crucis was somewhere far off, having fallen away.
'If she charges at me, how many more seconds can I hold out?'
My injuries were far more severe. I had lost my left arm, and my legs were damaged to the point that I couldn't even run. The fight itself was becoming unsustainable.
"Kid, I could kill you right now and leave. I still have enough time for that."
Instead of attacking, the assassin initiated a conversation. Her tone was calm.
"Then why don’t you stop talking and try it yourself?"
I narrowed my eyes and provoked her.
"You already know the answer… I've failed this job. A professional doesn't kill unnecessarily. Don't throw your life away over some petty pride. Life is all about possibilities."
The assassin relaxed her stance, lowering her arms as if she had no intention of fighting. With her one remaining eye, she glanced up briefly. Francec was still up on the 72nd floor.
'She's right.'
I had almost let my emotions get the better of me and put myself in danger. If I died, everything would be over—the Custoria family, Giselle—everything.
…My death wasn't just my own.
I gave a slight nod but kept my guard up. She was an expert in deception and trickery. I couldn't trust that she wouldn't strike when I least expected it.
"Give me back my left eye, and I’ll leave. If I have the original, regeneration treatment will be much easier."
The assassin spoke with an empty eye socket fully exposed. The dark crimson hollow was eerie, with blood smeared across her face like a scar.
Whoosh!
I picked up the eyeball from the ground and tossed it. The assassin caught it midair and tucked it into a storage compartment on her combat suit’s waist.
…She turned her back to me and disappeared between the buildings. Soon, martial law would be declared in Akbaran. The military would comb through the city’s outskirts, searching for the crown prince’s would-be assassin.
But she would escape Akbaran unscathed.
There wasn’t any logical reason for me to believe that. It was just a gut feeling.
No—thinking about it, it was more of an emotional reason.
A warrior strong enough to push me to this point shouldn’t die in such a trivial manner.
* * *
Two days had passed since the assassination attempt.
To my great honor, I was receiving treatment at the Imperial Medical Center.
The doctors placed some strange device emitting a crimson glow over my injuries and injected unknown drugs into my body.
At first, I had no idea what they were doing. But within a day, my fractured bones had almost fused back together, and my wounds were already closing with a pinkish hue.
My personal physician proudly explained something about accelerating cell division. As a side effect, there was an exponentially increased chance of cancer developing in the regenerated areas. But it didn’t matter—I'd be getting a full-body prosthetic in the future anyway.
‘Damn, this hospital room is ridiculously huge.’
Lying down, I stared at the empty space in my ward. It was larger than most training facilities, with nothing but a single medical bed in the middle. My voice would probably echo if I spoke.
Creak.
The door to the hospital room opened. Francec entered first. I struggled to sit up and greeted him.
"Lukaus Custoria! You saved my life. Apologies for the late visit."
Francec made an exaggerated gesture and hugged me. Then, he gestured for the accompanying personnel and doctors to leave the room.
"I only carried out my duty," I replied formally.
Once everyone else had left, only Francec and I remained in the hospital room.
"I swear, I had nothing to do with that assassin."
Francec whispered, his expression genuinely remorseful.
"Did you capture her?"
"No. We’ve been combing through Akbaran, but it doesn't look like she'll be caught. And on top of that, there isn’t a single trace of her in the Empire’s database. She’s probably…"
Francec hesitated. It wasn’t something easy to say.
"…from Bellato or Corite. She didn’t seem like an Imperial citizen."
“We’re investigating where things went wrong. Ren Itanori… is also being interrogated. I doubt she’s involved in this kind of political intrigue, but you never know.”
Francec was both a ruler and a member of the imperial family. For the sake of his goals, minor immorality and sacrifices meant little to him. Ren Itanori might even be subjected to torture.
‘The assassin was hired by your trusted younger brother, Ivan.’
The words reached my throat but never left my mouth.
“One fortunate thing is that, in the grand scheme, my plan was a success. I was attacked, and you protected me. Right now, you’re a hero to the lower district! You might not feel it yet, but it’s true.”
I really didn’t feel it. And it wasn’t something I particularly welcomed. Instead, I calmly shifted the topic.
“For Your Highness’s goal of weakening the nobility, the assassin’s identity must not be revealed as a Bellato or a Coritan.”
“Haha, don’t worry about that. I’ve already planted people in every tavern in the lower district. The rumor spreading right now is that a noble tried to have me killed. But for the time being, I’ll need to be more cautious with my security. After all, we still don’t know who the real mastermind behind this was.”
Francec and I concluded our private discussion shortly after.
…The next visitor was Hemillas. He exchanged a few words with Francec at the door.
“You have a fine son, Commander of the Imperial Guard. He’s a promising talent.”
“He’s capable, yes. But I’d prefer it if you didn’t push him too hard or take him too far. I still want to keep him under my wing.”
“I’ve never been harsh on him. Besides, a child must leave his father’s side someday. Personally, I intend to reward Luka. He did save my life.”
Hemillas stood by the door, as if bidding Francec farewell. Francec nodded and left the room.
Without a word, Hemillas took a seat beside my bed. He scanned my condition and curled one side of his lip.
“There aren’t many people in Akbaran who could leave you in this state… I’m quite curious about who it was.”
“I’m curious too. I didn’t expect a mere assassin to possess this level of skill.”
I raised my left arm, now fitted with a temporary prosthetic. Soon, I would be receiving new limbs.
“An Irregular from the lower district who prevented the crown prince’s assassination… That holds significant symbolism. Do you know what it means?”
“It means the value of my existence and my political utility have increased. The likelihood of my disposal has decreased.”
At my words, Hemillas burst into laughter. He laughed for quite some time, then braced himself against his knee and leaned slightly to one side.
“This reminds me of when you had just become a cadet. I gave you a piece of advice back then.”
I remembered it clearly.
‘It’s fine to be better than others. But you must not be different from them. Not if you want to live long.’
Retracing that memory, I repeated his words aloud.
“You told me that if I wanted to live long, I must not be different from others.”
“But now, you have become different. Not just from other cadets, but even from the Imperial Guards.”
“According to your words, that means I won’t live long.”
“Well… If you’re only slightly above average, then yes, you shouldn’t stand out. But… if you become so overwhelmingly exceptional that you are irreplaceable, then it’s fine. You’ve seen a few people like that, haven’t you?”
Two names immediately came to mind.
‘Kinuan and Jin Gaw.’
They were different from others. But they were also overwhelmingly exceptional. That was why they had survived for so long.
Hemillas took a breath and looked around the hospital room. It was a single-person ward so spacious that I could probably run around and kick a ball inside.
“Lukaus Custoria, now that you’ve become different from the rest, the only way for you to survive is to become stronger. Use everything at your disposal, and never let go of what you seize.”
“I already am.”
“…The season of storms will be upon us soon. We need to prepare as well. As soon as your treatment is finished, return to the main estate immediately. We’ll meet at the Silver Moon Pavilion then. Juppe and Giselle asked me to pass on their regards. Ah, and Eva too.”
Hemillas rose from his seat. Just as he was about to leave, he hesitated.
Srrrk.
He extended his large hand and ruffled my hair lightly.
“Well done. You never fail to impress me.”
With those words, Hemillas left the room. I watched his back until the door shut behind him.
Hemillas often spoke in layered meanings. Ambiguous probing was one of his specialties, making it difficult to gauge exactly how much he knew.
‘Silver Moon Pavilion.’
Most likely, I would have to make some kind of decision there. And my uneasy premonitions were usually correct.
I slowly closed my eyes. My chest felt tight.