Chapter 62: Plunder

The scene shifts back in time, to the moment just after the demon unit had retreated to the imperial capital, and Orvo had made his way back to his mansion. Orvo luxuriated in the soothing waters of his mansion’s bath, cleansing himself of the grime and sweat accumulated during the march. Later, he sat down to a meal prepared by Mika and relished in the flavors of her cooking, which he had not tasted in some time. Mika’s cooking, which he hadn’t had in a while, was very delicious, and Orvo was in a good mood throughout the meal.

“Ah, that was delicious. It would have been great if Mika had come with us,” Orvo said.

“I’m sorry,” Mika replied.

“Well, I guess cleaning the main house is also important, so it can’t be helped. But still… it’s kind of disgusting, isn’t it?”

“Disgusting…? Was there anything wrong with the dinner!?”

“Hmm? No, not that. I’m talking about Karelvo,” 

Orvo hurriedly calmed down the flustered Mika. He was not feeling uneasy about the meal, but rather about his brother, Karelvo.

Orvo did not consider Karelvo to be his real brother. Biologically, they were siblings, but he had never thought of Karelvo as a brother since he could remember. There were various reasons for this, but the biggest reason was that Karelvo’s approach as a researcher was completely different from Orvo’s.

For Orvo, the pursuit of truth through research was his ultimate goal, and everything else was a cost that needed to be invested in his research. However, for Karelvo, research was merely a means to achieve honor and glory.

The reason they joined the secret society “The Seventh Pillar” was the same. Their parents were members, and they became members themselves by demonstrating their excellence.

However, their actions after joining were different. Orvo used the society’s power solely for his research, while Karelvo was obsessed with expanding his network of connections through the society’s connections rather than his research. This difference was significant, and the gap in knowledge and skill between the two brothers, which was already considerable, grew even wider.

Their sibling relationship, which had already been strained by Karelvo’s jealousy, deteriorated to the point where Orvo developed a deep contempt for his brother, and Karelvo’s jealousy only grew stronger. They now viewed each other not only as strangers but as enemies.

“Well, it’s because it’s Karelvo we’re talking about, right? He’s just a piece of trash who’s always jealous and never bothers to deepen his own knowledge or research. Isn’t it strange that he would accept taking Mika out for such a long period of time without any hesitation?”

“But what if master Karelvo has had a change of heart?”

“Haha, don’t say things you know are impossible. Who knows what he’s up to… He may be stupid, but he’s good at coming up with wicked schemes. That’s the problem.”

As he savored his dessert after dinner, Orvo shook his head in exasperation. He didn’t care what Karelvo did or where he went, as long as he didn’t cause trouble for him. Orvo let out a deep sigh.

After finishing his meal and retiring to bed early, Mika, who was busy cleaning up the dishes, noticed a group approaching the mansion. He didn’t sense them like the Hades scorpion did, but rather, his detection tools placed around the mansion picked up their presence.

Mika halted his work and headed towards Orvo, but before he could reach him, someone broke into the mansion through the window. The other servants, who were apparently not informed of anything, panicked and screamed, but Mika quickly threw a hidden throwing knife from his sleeve.

The knife flew through the air, cutting through the wind and plunging deep into the intruder’s skull, killing them instantly before they even had a chance to realize it. Without missing a beat, Mika threw another knife, but this time the other intruder caught it with their bare hands.

“Oh? Not just a mere servant, are you? How interesting… I’ll play with you,” the intruder said, slowly drawing their sword from its sheath. The golden blade was etched with intricate spiritual circuits, and a deep red gem was embedded at the base. It was clear that this was no ordinary sword.

The intruder exuded a dense fighting spirit, and his sword glowed fiercely with spiritual energy. Mika knew that not only the sword but also the person wielding it were highly skilled. Despite this, Mika did not hesitate, pulling a large knife from his belt with his right hand and throwing a small knife with his left hand.

The intruder swung his sword casually at the flying knife, causing it to evaporate with a sizzle in mid-air.

“What?!”

“Useless. This sword was bestowed upon me by His Majesty the Emperor. A cheap little knife like that is of no use to me.”

Mika was surprised but didn’t give up. He was convinced that he couldn’t win by fighting head-on, so he threw a white ball he had taken out of his pocket onto the floor. The ball shattered, and white smoke filled the hallway.

The intruder swung his sword in annoyance, causing the white smoke to disappear in an instant. However, there was no one left in the place where Mika had been just a moment ago. Mika approached the intruder without making a sound and without leaving any footprints. His lethal blade, which he had honed to perfection, came dangerously close to the intruder’s side. He slashed at the intruder’s clothes, but they were protected by a chain mail that stopped the blade in its tracks.

“Damn it…!”

“Good move, it was a close call. I’ll put you to sleep with a single blow as a sign of respect for your skills.”

The intruder grabbed Mika’s neck with his free hand. Mika tried to resist with his knife, but the intruder smashed his head against the floor before he had a chance to react.

Despite the staggering blow, Mika clenched his teeth and persevered. His vision was blurry from the concussion, and his limbs were too weak to move, but he refused to succumb to unconsciousness. Driven by his unwavering determination to safeguard the master he regarded as his own son, he clung to his consciousness with all his might.

“Hmph, you can endure quite a bit. To actually surprise me twice like that… But now, go to sleep.”

“M….aster…O…Orvo……”

However, the intruder mercilessly slammed Mika onto the floor once more. Unable to withstand the double impact, Mika lost consciousness. Until the moment he fainted, he had been worrying about Orvo.

Regarding Orvo, the individual of concern, the commotion within the mansion roused him from his sleep. He let out a yawn as he got out of bed and swiftly donned his robe while standing up.

“Ah…what’s going on? Mika, what happened?”

“We found him!”

“Restrain him!”

Orvo called out for Mika in a loud voice, but instead of his servant’s figure, several intruders in black clothes arrived. The intruders drew their swords and charged towards Orvo… only to collide with an invisible barrier just seconds later.

Orvo utilized a spiritual art to conjure an invisible barrier, a technique commonly used in the battle beasts arena. Although it was a simple and basic technique, its strength could increase in proportion to the amount of spiritual power infused into it.

However, as Orvo had not poured enough spiritual power into it, the intruders easily shattered the barrier. Orvo glared at the intruders while scratching his head.

“What do you want? You interrupted my sleep… I’m really about to lose my temper, you know?”

“Don’t worry! Restrain him!”

“I don’t think so.”

Orvo nonchalantly waved his hand while increasing his spiritual power. The intruders froze in place, unable to move. Orvo then raised his arms wide and clapped his hands together. In an instant, the intruders were crushed.

Orvo was a researcher who found fighting to be bothersome, but he had a considerable amount of combat ability. This was evident from the fact that he single-handedly took control of the arena during the coup d’état. Though he could hardly use fighting spirit, he had full control over attacking and defending with spiritual arts that manipulated space.

“As expected of my foolish brother…quite impressive,” a sound of applause echoed through the room, praising Orvo for his achievement. The one who was clapping was none other than Orvo’s brother, Karelvo.

“Karelvo? What are you doing here…oh, I see. You managed to sneak in with lies and tricks again. Always up to your deceitful ways,” Orvo said.

“…You really are an infuriating person. Well, nevermind. Give me back the research materials that you stole from me,” Karelvo demanded.

“What? Stole from you? I would never do something like that. There’s nothing worth seeing in research materials from an idiot like you,” 

Kalervo’s triumphant words were met with Orvo’s bewildered response as he lashed out with a sharp tongue. Karelvo who had been grinning smugly, had his expression twisted into one of humiliation and anger in an instant.

Karelvo clenched his fists tightly for a moment, but then took a deep breath and calmed down. He regained his composure and extended his hand towards Orvo. “You stole it. The research materials on demon creation that I created. Give it back,” he demanded.

“What are you talking about? I didn’t steal anything,” 

“If you’re not going to return it, then so be it. I’ll leave it to the guards. Goodbye, my foolish brother,” Karelvo said before taking a step back.

Orvo, who was unable to comprehend being accused of stealing his own research, was still in disbelief and denied it but Karelvo abruptly ended the conversation. As Karelvo stepped back, three individuals emerged from behind him.

Orvo recognized the faces of these individuals. They were members of the Emperor’s personal guards, the so-called “imperial guardians” who were chosen from among the elite soldiers to protect the Emperor. The imperial guardians were undoubtedly the strongest force in the empire.

Orvo was not so conceited as to think he could defeat three members of the Emperor’s personal guards. He quickly attempted to escape using spatial teleportation.

“Do you think I’ll let you?” Kalervo said, having anticipated Orvo’s plan. Like his brother, Kalervo was skilled in manipulating space with his spiritual power. While not as adept as Orvo, he was more than capable of interfering with his brother’s escape.

Orvo’s attempt to flee failed, and in the next instant, two of the guardians had closed in on him. Orvo hastily constructed a spiritual art, but before he could activate it, both of his arms were sliced off, and they fell to the ground with a thud. Orvo fell to his knees, screaming in agony.

“Guaaaaah!? W-what are you doing…!?”

“Hahaha, this is a great view, my foolish brother! I’m sure you have the research materials saved in your spatial domain, right? The contents will appear in this location if you die here….so die here!” Kalervo chortled.

As Orvo lay on the floor bleeding, Karelvo ground his foot into Orvo’s head and whispered in his ear. Karelvo had thought to listen to Orvo’s last plea for mercy, but instead received a smug laughter in response.

“Ugh…hahaaha, ahahahaha! You really are a fool, Karelvo.”

“What did you say?”

“I’m …… going to die soon, I guess. I know that much for myself.  But you see, you won’t be able to inherit my research. Your ambition is too big for your stature, and it will lead to your downfall. That’s for sure.”

“At this point, you’re still running your mouth…don’t look down on meeee!”

Enraged by Orvo’s prophetic words, Karelvo repeatedly stomped on Orvo’s head as if he had lost his mind. After the floor had turned completely red with blood, Karelvo finally calmed down. He wiped the blood off the bottom of his shoe on the floor and breathed heavily.

“Phew, phew…that was close. If I had killed you now, the demons underground would have been free. I’ll keep you alive just a little longer.”

After catching his breath, Karelvo used some sort of spiritual art to keep Orvo alive temporarily. Leaving him in that state, Karelvo went with the imperial guardians to the underground basement.

Afterwards, when Karelvo returned to Orvo’s room once again, he found various materials scattered on the floor from his brother’s robe sleeve and hems. This meant that Orvo was dead.

Despite having killed his own brother, Karelvo felt no regret or guilt. On the contrary, he smirked, kicked Orvo’s body aside, and collected all the materials. He had now secured credit for creating the technique to make demons and for being the first to establish the theory behind it. Karelvo continued to laugh maniacally for some time.

********

TN : Even though I really didn’t like Orvo, his death and the manner of it had shocked me a bit when I first read this; Though, been enslaved by orvo is hundred times better than someone like Karelvo.