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Chapter 260 - Paying the Price (6)

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Henry teleported to the highest point of the region from where he could see all of Highlander. He enhanced his vision with magic, meticulously going through every nook and cranny of the city.

‘I guess nothing happened?’

Despite being extremely fatigued, Henry scanned every small detail with maximum concentration, double-checking every small street and house so as not to miss something crucial.

However, despite his concerns, Highlander seemed to be completely fine, just like Salgaera. Even so, Henry couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong.

After thoroughly checking everything again and finding nothing out of place, Henry hurried to the imperial palace to meet Ten.

Ten was diligently managing state affairs with the Royal Seal. Even though Henry knew that the person in front of him was Ten, the fact that he looked exactly like Arthus still vexed him, and for some reason, his appearance was now even more aggravating than before.

Henry called out, “Ten.”

“Oh, you surprised me, sir! I didn’t know you were here!” Ten exclaimed, his surprise was visible in his expression.

Seeing his reaction, Henry felt oddly relieved, as if he confirmed that he was, in fact, Ten and not that monster.

‘Ugh, seems like my nerves are stretched to the limit.’

Henry could tell he was exhausted, but he nonetheless shook off his weariness and got himself together. He got straight to the point.

“Ten, I\'m pressed for time, so let\'s get straight to the point. Arthus is wreaking havoc. He’s unleashed mysterious monsters across the continent. If anything seems off about Highlander, call me immediately.”

“Arthus is wreaking havoc?” Ten questioned.

“Yeah, so keep that caller scroll at arm’s length. If anything happens, I\'ll come here immediately.”

“Got it!”

“Alright then.”

Henry relaxed a bit after seeing the caller scroll in Ten’s hands, so without prolonging the meeting, he left the imperial palace and proceeded to the watchtower at the castle gate. Valhald was there just as Henry had asked him.

When Valhald noticed Henry, he greeted him and gave him a report.

“We haven’t detected anything strange so far.”

“I also looked over the entire Highlander region earlier and found nothing.”

“Perhaps Arthus isn’t thinking about attacking Highlander.”

“Well, whether that’s the case or not, don’t lower your guard. I need to get to the next location, so stay vigilant, please.”

“Got it.”

Henry felt extremely reassured knowing that the continent\'s best knight was safeguarding Highlander. Following their brief discussion, Henry immediately cast Teleport for his next destination—Vivaldi Town.

The moment Henry arrived in Vivaldi, his legs suddenly gave way.

‘Damn it!’

Henry barely managed not to fall by bracing his legs at the last second. He knew that the previous battle with the Chimeras and the consecutive teleportations had taken a massive toll on his body.

He was exhausted, but he didn’t have the luxury to rest. He instead took out a healing potion and an energizing elixir from his pocket and downed them in one go.

Henry quickly felt the effects of the medication. These were the best potions from the Church of Peace, so Henry knew that they would be very effective in alleviating his fatigue. However, he was aware that this was but a temporary solution and that he would have to take different measures to recover completely.

With that, Henry cast Fly to soar high in the sky. The entirety of Vivaldi came into view, and at a glance, the city seemed as peaceful as it could be.

However, Henry could tell that this peace was shaky and potentially deceptive, so he had no intention of letting his guard down even for a second.

Just like he had done in Highlander, Henry enhanced his eyesight with magic and took a closer look at the city.

‘So he didn’t attack Vivaldi either?’

Vivaldi was smaller than Highlander, which made it easier to examine, but paradoxically, this made Henry even more anxious.

‘Geez, there’s got to be something...’

The more Henry looked into the city, the more nervous he became. It was only natural for him to feel this way; Vivaldi Town was very difficult to protect, which naturally meant that it would be easy for Arthus to destroy it.

Henry felt like he was going to break down any second, but he fought off his anxiety and tried his best to stay composed.

‘I won’t let you have it your way, Arthus!’

As Henry’s apprehension grew, his determination to end Arthus became stronger, fueled by his fury and hatred toward him.

After surveying Vivaldi Town for a while, Henry proceeded to the watchtower at the town gate, just as he had done in Highlander.

“Oh, you’re here,” McDowell greeted him.

Henry had previously asked McDowell to safeguard Vivaldi Town. Henry went through his pockets and handed McDowell a healing potion and an energizing elixir as he briefed him on his surveying of Highlander and Vivaldi.

“You sure are on the move. So what do you think? It seems that nothing bad is happening, at least not here.”

“Well, let’s hope you’re right. Better to work around the clock and put up with the fatigue than to have another city end up like Enkelmann.”

“Obviously. All in all, everything seems fine here. If anything happens, I\'ll take care of it. Feel free to go elsewhere."

“Thank you, brother.”

“No need to thank me. I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do... Oh, but Henry...”

“Hm?”

“I’m not sure if I should be saying this given the situation we’re in... But don\'t push yourself too hard. If you fall, so will everyone else...”

It felt extremely awkward to receive a comforting comment from McDowell, out of all people, as he wasn’t the type to encourage others or comfort them.

Nevertheless, Henry understood where McDowell was coming from, so he smiled slightly and replied, “Don’t worry, brother. I won’t fall before Arthus.”

Dying once had been enough; this time, Henry wasn’t going to fall for Arthus’ tricks.

Before McDowell knew it, a flash of light suddenly engulfed Henry, and he was gone. He still had some other areas in mind that he wanted to survey for potential dangers.

After Henry vanished, McDowell gazed at where Henry had been a few seconds prior and muttered while shaking his head, “Tsk, tsk, poor guy...”

It wasn\'t mere sympathy; McDowell genuinely felt sorry for Henry. He knew that this had all started because Henry wanted to avenge his master, but he ultimately ended up with a huge burden to carry. McDowell knew that Henry had never intended for things to end up this way, which was why he felt sorry for him.

“All of this just because of that one fucking bastard...” McDowell gritted his teeth in anger, promising himself that if presented with the opportunity, he would kick Arthus’ teeth in.

“Anyway, a present, huh...”

McDowell popped open the potion bottle he received from Henry, drinking it slowly as he gazed beyond the castle walls. He was curious as to what exactly had happened in Enkelmann to ruin the city.

As McDowell got lost in thought, he finished the bottle and casually tossed it aside. Then he took out the energizing elixir and opened the bottle, but just as he was about to take a sip, he stopped and immediately reached for the sword at his waist. He pivoted, swinging his sword fiercely behind him.

Clash!

McDowell hadn’t seen anything, but he was certain that he had hit something with the tip of his blade.

“Who are you?!” McDowell demanded furiously.

Soon, a mysterious laughter could be heard coming out of thin air.

“Hihihi! Impressive! How did you know?”

The unsettling laugh soon turned into the voice of a human, and a human silhouette with gray hair materialized in front of McDowell.

“Show yourself!”

McDowell didn\'t hold back; he gripped his sword even tighter, his killing intent growing more intense.

The reason he had swung his sword backward was simple—when he threw the empty bottle, he didn’t hear it shatter. Of course, that could’ve been because the bottle landed on some grass, but he felt that something wasn’t right.

So, McDowell had swung his sword just in case. His trustworthy instincts had helped him detect an invisible enemy right after Henry had teleported away.

Squinting his eyes, McDowell glared at the man who appeared before him. The situation was extremely tense as McDowell was pushing his blade against the edge of the man’s left palm.

‘What in the world...?! How the hell did he block my attack with just his hand?!

McDowell was taken aback, but the man before him was smiling, seemingly delighted with his reaction.

The mysterious man didn’t hesitate to introduce himself, “Who am I? I’m the gift that you’ve been waiting for so dearly. So, what do you think? Do you like your gift? Tell me how it feels to receive the Arthus’ gift finally!!”

‘This is the gift?’

Clash!

At the word ‘gift,’ McDowell withdrew his sword and swung it again in a downward motion. Even though he had swung his sword at the man’s bare skin, the blade failed to draw blood, and red sparks flew as if McDowell’s blade had clashed against metal.

“...!”

“Surprised?” the man asked calmly. His composed demeanor made it clear that he dominated McDowell psychologically.

The mysterious man finally identified himself.

“I\'m Gluttony, one of the nine apostles of the great Arthus.”

“An apostle?”

“Yes, I am one of the nine apostles sent by the great Arthus himself to spread his commandments. And you... Judging by your demeanor and manner of speech, I’m guessing you’re McDowell?”

“You know about me?" McDowell was even more surprised by the fact that his enemy knew who he was even though he hadn’t introduced himself.

Noticing how McDowell was confused, Gluttony said with an even more playful expression, “Of course I know you! We apostles received sufficient training to spread Arthus’ commandments.”

The more Gluttony spoke, the more confused McDowell became, which was apparent in his dumbfounded expression. However, he was at least certain about two things—Gluttony was one of the gifts that Arthus had mentioned, and he was the reason why Henry had stationed him here, in Vivaldi.

After coming to his senses, McDowell responded with a wry smile, “Good.”

“Huh?”

“I was actually worried that I wouldn’t be able to help with anything. You said there’s nine of you, right? Well, I’m glad I can at least take care of one of you fuckers.”

McDowell wore a bitter smile. Given that a fight with Gluttony was clearly inevitable, he decided to change his attitude. McDowell felt a lot better after thinking that if this man was truly one of the nine apostles, he could protect his people by reducing the apostles to eight, eliminating part of the danger.

Gluttony burst into laughter at McDowell’s bold statement.

“Pff... Phahaha! Hahaha!”

“What’s so funny?”

“Aaah... Sorry, sorry. It’s just that seeing you so riled up and confident that you’d win made me realize that I came to the right place. I love it. On that note, I’d like to make you an offer. Are you interested?”

“An offer?”

McDowell was taken aback by Gluttony’s unexpected words. He was his enemy, and yet he wanted to make him some offer?

Gluttony didn’t seem to be bothered by McDowell’s reaction, so he continued, “If you\'re willing to embrace Arthus’ teachings, starting now, I\'ll make you my right-hand man. How about it? I know, I know. It’s a very tempting offer indeed!”

“Right-hand man?”

At that, Gluttony jumped up and down like an excited kid.

“Yeah, haha! Consider yourself lucky! I haven\'t made this offer to anyone else on my way here!"

Hearing this, McDowell straightened himself.

“Is that so? Then...”

McDowell adjusted his fighting stance and enveloped himself with Aura.

Swoosh!

He swung his sword before Gluttony could even react. He had timed his strike impeccably, slashing diagonally as soon as the Aura aligned with him to deliver the most optimal strike.

His sharp blade cut clean through everything in its path.

Thud!

Roll, roll...

McDowell looked downward from where the thud had come from. The head that had made that insolent offer was now on the ground, rolling away. However, strangely enough, there was no blood on the ground and the rest of the corpse remained standing upright.

McDowell withdrew his sword and muttered, “Looks like he died while standing. I just wasted time on a weakling...”

McDowell was disappointed as he had expected more from Gluttony. He couldn’t help thinking how pathetic those apostles were if he could just decapitate them like this with no effort. At the same time, McDowell didn’t understand how Enkelmann’s military hadn’t been able to deal with such a weak enemy.

...But at that moment, the severed head burst into a maniacal laughter.

“Khihihi! HAHAHAHA!”

The head started moving and eventually rose into the air at eye level with McDowell, who was frowning.

"I’ll take this as a no, then.”

“...!”

With that, Gluttony\'s head bolted at the rest of his body and swallowed it whole just like a snake.

Burp!

Then, something extraordinary happened—Gluttony began regenerating his body. A new body was growing from his head; it was as if his body was rapidly regenerating from a wound.

“...What the f...?”

The way in which Gluttony’s body was regenerating was as eerie as it could get. McDowell was frozen in place for a few moments, horrified by the grotesque scene; he had never witnessed anything like this in his entire life.

Seeing his stunned expression, Gluttony proceeded to taunt McDowell.

“What’s the matter? You scared? That’s cute of you... Well, considering you guys haven\'t evolved much, I can understand why this might baffle you.”

"Di-did you say evolve?” McDowell stammered, still processing the strange scene.

Then Gluttony tilted his head while rubbing his chin.

“Why are you so surprised? This is nothing compared to the others. I think one of them was assigned to... What was it...? Highlander...?”

Seemingly losing interest in McDowell’s reaction, Gluttony took a step closer and whispered, “Well then, enough with the jokes. I\'ll give you one last chance. Be my right-hand man, and I can let the earlier act of rebellion slide as a commemoration of your becoming my right-hand man."

Despite Gluttony’s friendly smile, McDowell felt chills run down his spine at the terrifying offer.