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Chapter 258: Hungry Children

‘Hunger…?’

The decision that they had made was simple. According to the quest window, the only thing that they needed to do right now was to listen to Conir’s story. So they listened as Conir began to speak in his slow and muffled speech.

[Collo… dis… Empire… Peru… Count…]

With the name that was mentioned, his story began.

***

There were three most influential people in Blackstone’s Korean server branch.

The Envoy of Incarnation, Kaistra.

Pharaoh.

And the tower’s unofficial successor, Barchel.

Barchel was considered as an unofficial successor to the tower, since he was aiming to become the deputy chief in the Knight’s Tower.

The towers were spread all over the Empire. There were even various types, including the Chef Tower, Sculptor Tower, Bard Tower, Knight Tower and Mage Tower. However, there were only a few of the players that were affiliated with the towers. It was because the towers were a source of ‘strength’, as well as ‘proof’ of one’s abilities.

A tower would usually have dozens of people affiliated with them. Every single one of these people would have a strength that transcended that of the general population.

One could take the Athenae Temple as an example, after all, it had a lot of similarities with the towers. In the Athenae Temple, only those that had achieved the highest rank would be allowed to enter and serve their faith. The same was true for the towers.

In fact, some would say that the people that belonged to the Knight Tower far exceeded the knights of the empire in terms of rank and strength. Some would go as far as to say that those from the Knight Tower could even surpass the Sword Emperor Ellie.

The two most outstanding towers among all were none other than the Mage Tower and the Knight Tower. The Knight Tower was located at Collodis Empire, while the Mage Tower was located in Eivelis Empire.

Currently, Barchel had received an order from Calauhel. Calauhel wanted Barchel to bring the members of the Blackstone one by one to the Demon World. The first person to ever set foot in the Demon World was none other than Calauhel. Just like Beas Village, the Demon World was also a meeting place where players from all over the world could gather together.

However, the order that was given to Barchel was to make contact with Count Peru and do what he was told to do. Calauhel had told him that he hoped that he would know what he would do by himself once they met. While following his orders, Barchel was able to learn about the ‘Essence of Flavor’.

As a result, he was standing in front of Count Peru whose chin was high up in the sky.

Count Peru was a respected and envied noble in the Collodis Empire. However, Barchel knew the sinister plot that he was keeping under wraps, as well as the cruel nature that he was hiding. Right now, he was talking about the Essence of Flavor.

“The Essence of Flavor is a power that emerged from the ‘Seven Deadly Sins, Gluttony’ that Great Mage Arfield had left in this world.”

“…Seven Deadly Sins, Gluttony?”

The Great Mage Arfield?

Barchel had spent a vast amount of silver, gold and treasures to get close to the Count. This was the reason why he could talk to him with a leisurely tone.

“Yes. He hid the Seven Deadly Sins all over the world. Their powers were expressed through the artifacts Great Mage Arfield had also left behind. For example, one of the Seven Deadly Sins ‘Wrath’ that he created could be expressed through the ‘Treasure Box of Wrath’. Those that entered the sphere of influence of this artifact would be influenced by Wrath and would not be able to hide their anger and fury. Just like that, Great Mage Arfield had created seven artifacts that corresponded with the sins that he created. Six among the seven of them had already been destroyed from this world. Except for one. There was one artifact that had been left behind.”

“What is it?”

“It’s none other than the Cup of Essence.”

“Cup of Essence…?”

“Yes. The Cup of Essence will not contain any liquid when it’s first obtained. However, there’s a simple method to fill this Cup of Essence.”

“How?”

“It’s with pure ‘hope and desire’. We… no.”

Count Peru corrected his words as he handed him a teacup.

“You know that I’m making chimeras in secret.”

Barchel nodded.

“It’s none other than the Cup of Essence that’s creating the chimeras inside the ‘Dungeon of Sin’. What the Cup of Essence needs the most is a man’s pure desire and longing. If there are a lot of people that purely longed and craved for water near the Cup of Essence, then the cup will be filled with water.”

“Ho?”

“When do you think would be the time when they purely long for something?”

“…Who knows.”

“It’s when children are feeling extreme hunger.”

“Hunger…”

“Children will crave purely for something when they are hungry. I want to eat something delicious. I want to eat food. I won’t wish for anything if I just have a bite. The hungrier the children get, the more essence we get. And the essence that we get has more ‘power’ than any other force. And when their hunger reaches its peak, they will receive power from Arfield’s ‘Dungeon of Sin’ and they will become the horribly powerful ‘Chimera’.”

“…What the hell is in that dungeon?”

“It’s an extremely ferocious dragon. It’s a huge dragon that’s over 20 meters long. The dragon will devour the children and the children will be transformed in the dragon’s belly into chimeras by the ‘desire and longing’ that they had built up so far. Once the dragon finishes its preying on that longing, it will vomit the children out. The children that came out of the dragon’s belly will then become a fully functional weapon called a chimera.”

“Interesting. But…”

The Cup of Essence was an interesting artifact. However, Barchel was more curious about the Essence of Flavor. It was literally the essence that came from the cup.

“What powers does the Essence of Flavor have?”

“It is said that it can let a person rise above their limitations. So, do you want the Essence of Flavor? Can you do what I ask you to do, then?”

Ring!

The quest window popped up in front of Barchel. He immediately checked the contents and was shocked after seeing the Essence of Flavor.

‘I…It can let me evolve into a legendary class?!’?

Barchel was really shocked.

He currently had the secret class, Tower’s Successor, which allowed him to become the Knight Tower’s unofficial successor. He was even able to reach this level thanks to the endless support of the tower. However, when compared to legendary classes and God classes, the limits of his class were very glaring.

A swordsman player had to go through a variety of sword stages and what Barchel wanted to do was to surpass those levels and climb even further than his limits. If he drank the Essence of Flavor, his Tower’s Successor could evolve into a legendary class. This meant that his skills and stats would change and would allow him to grow stronger again.

‘What a great item!’?

This was the information that he had gotten from Calauhel. The strongest powers in the country that was affiliated with Blackstone, which were Kaistra and Pharaoh, had either turned away from them or collapsed. It was clear to him what Calauhel wanted to do to him. He wanted to turn him into the best in the country.

Barchel was now blinded by greed. He clearly knew that what Count Peru was doing was something that should not be done. After all, he was experimenting with children and it was an extremely atrocious deed. He also knew that Count Peru was selling those chimera as weapons and held hands with the demons.

However, Barchel still accepted the quest. He thought, ‘You want me to hunt the dragon?’?

Hunt the dragon. That was what was in the quest. It seemed like Count Peru wanted him to hunt the dragon that was creating the chimeras.

According to Count Peru, the dragon would no longer produce chimeras after it preyed on 30 people. That was the reason why he had to kill it. However, he was told that he needed to feed the dragon a person with high holy power before doing so. On top of that, it had to be a man, not a woman. He was told that it should be a man with pure and high holy power. If he did that after the dragon swallowed the 30th child, the child would become the most powerful chimera. Once the dragon was killed, it would lay huge eggs. The existences that would come out of the eggs will also become dragons that can produce and make chimeras again.

“We’ve already captured a male priest as a sacrifice. As for Sir Barchel, all you need to do is wait for the man and the child to be eaten before entering the dungeon. That’s when you will hunt the dragon. Anyway, my goal is to produce chimeras, so it doesn’t matter whatever you do.”

“Good.”

Barchel smiled. Then, he asked, “Ah. Then, how many times has this happened already? Killing the dragon?”

“Yes. There’s a guy that did this before you. He’s also a chimera, but not too long ago, I sent him temporarily to someone that needed him. He’s the most powerful chimera that I have ever created. He was also a natural sword genius before he became a chimera.”

“Hoo. A sword genius… May I know his name?”

Count Peru smiled confidently at him. He said, “It’s Conir.”

***

Rats and cockroaches were swarming around the five starving children. Count Peru had raised these five children to make them into chimeras. The oldest among the children was named Haze. She was a 19-year-old girl.

Hard bread and water were distributed to them every day. However, the bread was coated with an alchemic potion that could ‘promote hunger’. The alchemic potion would always make them hungry but nevertheless, the only thing that they could do was to keep eating. They could not control their hunger and craving.

“Hungry…”

“If I could just have a piece of meat…”

“S…something delicious… I want to try something delicious before I die.”

The children who were brought here were either kidnapped or bought from the slave market. They were chosen to become chimeras so they needed to have ‘talent’. That way, a great and powerful chimera would be born.

Then, at that moment…

Creaaaaak—

…the huge door opened as one of the soldiers kicked a man inside.

Bang!

“What a loud man!”

“Aaaaaaaaaack!?S…save me! Help me!”

This was the first time that an adult male was sent inside. The man stuck to the door as he continued to scream. He was dressed in a priest robe that was engraved with the symbol of the Athenae Religion. The priest’s robe was covered with dirt and kick marks.

“A…Athellujah!?God, please save me from this mess and mete out the divine punishments towards these sinners…”

He trembled as he continued to pray.

‘God? There’s no God.’

That was what Haze believed. If there was a God, then they would not have become lab rats trapped in bars. She was someone that was forced to grow up quickly despite her young age.

Tomorrow was the day when everyone here would lose their emotions and turn into a chimera. In other words, tomorrow would be their death. Then, at that moment…

Creaaaaak—

…the huge door opened again.

“These children are the ‘materials’ for the chimera.”

An unpleasant-looking man suddenly came in. In just a glance, Haze knew that the man was a foreigner. The foreigners that lived with immortality! That foreigner had even called them ‘materials’. He then looked around before stopping his gaze at the man who had just came in.

“So, this is the ‘sacrifice’?”

“That’s right.”

The man, who looked to be a knight, nodded his head as the foreigner asked him a question, “It’s been quite some time since Count Peru’s experiment had started. It seems like the number of knights and guards are no less than the knights in the Knight Tower.”

“Hahahaha. If we get caught, then won’t we be dead?”

When they turned around, the doors closed again.

“Sooooob… Sa, save me… I don’t want to die. God Athenae, please save me.”

When she saw the priest was still terrified, Haze slowly stood up and approached him. She said, “It’s alright. It’s alright. It’s not that scary.”

Haze smiled wryly. If there really was a ‘hero’ in this world, then they should have been rescued long ago. If there was a ‘God’ in this world, then they would have never been here. Haze only told him that because there was nothing they could do, but to accept that fact. It was because she did not believe in any of them.

“Th…thank you…”

The trembling priest slowly raised his head.

“Wh…what is your name, child?”

She turned to look at him and answered, “Haze.”

“It…it’s a pretty name. May God Athenae be with you.”

After the priest tapped his head and his chest with his fingers, he clasped Haze’s hands as he started praying.

Haze then looked down at him and asked, “What’s your name?”

The man raised his head and said, “Minhyuk.”