Turning-Chapter 833

It was strange. He had clearly had so many brainwashed followers around him that losing a few wouldn't even make a noticeable dent. So where had all of them gone?

The Sage had come here alone, but he hadn't doubted that he'd leave with several people. He barely remembered that realization now.

‘Right... here, I was going to make allies by contacting the nobles... and thought I’d be living with them from now on.’

But those same nobles had already been taken down by the Cavalry's hands long ago.

As the Sage was unable to speak, Yuder looked at him with cold eyes and said,

“There’s no one left to come and save you now, Kal Enphile. You’ve discarded all of them with your own hands.”

“No... No, that’s not...!”

The Sage, who was about to protest, suddenly realized a beat too late what Yuder had called him.

His brain, overheated from the overload of power, stopped for a moment in shock.

“...What did you just call me?”

“Your name, isn’t it? Kal Enphile.”

The voice was calm, as though stating an obvious fact.

The Sage, Kal Enphile’s eyes trembled greatly.

‘How does he know that name?’

The name Kal Enphile was something he had discarded when awakening his powers and leaving the capital.

Discarded, not just figuratively. It meant he had erased it so thoroughly that it couldn’t even be found legally.

Even a low-ranking official could easily pull records and remove information.

Anyone who could remember Kal Enphile’s name and blab it out had long been brainwashed into forgetting, and no one from the Star of Nagran knew about the Sage’s past. Even if Naham tried to sell the information about the Sage, he wouldn't be able to speak about things he didn't know.

When he had come back to the capital to meet the Crown Prince, he had even erased all traces of himself again, just in case. So how could his name come out of the mouth of a member of the Cavalry?

‘The Cavalry met me just... not long ago. How could they have found out so quickly in such a short time...!’

The Sage had assumed the Cavalry had only learned about him when he had met Naham in the capital. What he didn’t know was that the Cavalry had been tracking him much earlier, and even inside the Crown Prince’s palace, Yuder’s reluctant assistant, Kiole, was keeping an eye on him.

The suspicious pharmacist, Ilnon, who could see into every dark alley of the capital, and Kanna Wand, the top information reader in the library who worked under Kal Enphile and was biologically related to the highest-ranking administrator, were all involved in gathering that information.

If only the Sage had known that all his movements had been meticulously analyzed and predicted by Yuder and Kishiar, he might have gone insane.

But that didn't happen. Yuder didn’t push him to the brink like that.

Instead, he simply spoke to the confused Sage:

“The only thing that matters is one thing. There’s only one more person the Cavalry needs to deal with here.”

And that person was the Sage himself.

The Sage wasn’t a noble, nor was he a non-awakened person who the Cavalry had no jurisdiction over. If he {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} were to vanish here by some unfortunate accident, no one would know.

Of course, Yuder wasn’t implying that he was going to kill him right here, but just hearing those words, an image of the Sage’s pitiful, dying body flashed in his mind. It was impossible to erase the image of Yuder Aile, who had ruthlessly crushed awakened ones.

No more human shields to hide behind. An awakened one who could use his abilities freely without worrying about the aftermath.

Was there an easier opponent than this?

Whether or not it actually happened didn’t matter. The important thing was that it made the Sage feel like he was the kind of person who would be completely defeated the moment he was caught.

The Sage quickly raised his hands.

“...Wait, please. I don’t know how much the Cavalry knows about this person, but not all of it can be true. The Cavalry wasn’t made for awakened ones, was it? Pushing people into this kind of corner...!”

Thud.

At that moment, the ground under the Sage’s feet crumbled, and his body fell.

Unknowingly, he screamed and squeezed his eyes shut, but after a moment, he realized that only his head remained above the ground, and in shock and humiliation, his head felt like it was about to explode.

“Wh-What is this...!”

“Old man. If you’re still alive after making excuses in front of Yuder, consider yourself lucky.”

“Ever decided to handle this. At least we’ll let you live for now. But we’ll need to muzzle you before taking you.”

The Elder siblings muttered as they pulled a suspiciously stained cloth from their pockets. Seeing the foul-smelling cloth, the Sage’s face turned pale as if he were about to faint.

He shook his head and struggled to move his body, which was embedded in the ground, and Yuder’s cold voice came.

“Just get to the point. If any more useless noise comes out of you, I’ll consider it an attempt to use your abilities.”

The next step would be shown to him by Ever, who was lowering his head with his cold, violet eyes and clenching his fists. Yuder’s gaze briefly shifted toward Ever, implying this.

“We know what your abilities are and what the activation conditions are, so stop trying to think your way out.”

The Sage’s body ached as if every bone had been shattered. He had lived easily before his awakening, and after it, he had naturally secured decent food and shelter thanks to his brainwashed followers. But experiencing this level of pain was something he had never gone through before in his life.

He trembled his lips, spat out the snow that had entered his mouth, and screamed with a miserable face.

“I... I can tell you things that will help Naham!”

“Why didn’t you say that to me?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

At Yuder’s response, the Sage quickly turned his gaze toward Ever. Ever raised the corner of his mouth with a strange expression.

“Really? Things that will help.”

“Yes, this person...!”

“This person?”

The Sage immediately changed his wording after hearing Yuder's indifferent murmur.

“I! I am different. Naham would have only told you about things inside the Star of Nagran, but I know things about the Cavalry... the Duke of Peleta’s help, for sure! I swear! Naham is someone who will always oppose any noble faction, and he’s insane. Making deals with him will only harm the Cavalry!”

“Did you say the same to Duke Diarca?”

“No, I didn’t. This person... no, I was at... the Guanghui Palace. And there...!”

“You used your abilities on the Crown Prince, right?”

“...W-What. How did you...?”

At Ever’s question, the Sage’s head froze. Ever slowly knelt and met the Sage's eyes before speaking.

“Do you think we don’t know anything more? I don’t think you have anything useful to offer. Just keep your mouth shut.”

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

At the same time, the Elder siblings forced the Sage’s mouth open and stuffed the cloth inside. The Sage struggled to spit out the unbearably sharp-smelling cloth, gagging.

“I can’t...! Uuugh...! Uuuuugh!”

Compared to the pain his brainwashed followers had to endure, this was nothing, but the frail old man couldn’t take it. Tears and snot streamed down his face as he crumbled completely. It was impossible to even recall the humble figure he once had as the Sage.

“Mmm, I think we need to put more in.”

“Wait. It’s hard for me too, not touching it and prying open the jaw.”

“Should we just bury it in dirt?”

“AAAHHH...!”

Yuder glanced indifferently at the terrible scream, then turned his gaze to Ever.

The Elder siblings were busy taking out the soul of the Sage while Yuder had to say what needed to be said.

“The technique we used today. It will be one of the best feats the Cavalry will ever achieve.”

“I thought it would be useful, but... that’s a bit too much praise.”

“Just keep it like this. The Sage is too weak to endure physical pain, so keep him in this state and extract any useful information. If there’s nothing, just knock him out and leave him until we can clean it up.”

“Got it.”

In Ever’s smile, there was both the joy of finally catching the despicable person they had been chasing and the deep fatigue of the long pursuit. Still, Ever stood tall on both legs.

“If he gets cornered too much, he might use some hidden trump card, so we don’t need to get too greedy.”

“A trump card?”

“It means he might use the same method he used to brainwash those who had no trust in him to brainwash us. We don’t know how yet, but I can tell by his eyes.”

Even though he was confused and disoriented, having been struck by Yuder, just a moment ago, the Sage had been watching them with an eager, calculating expression. He would have immediately attacked the Cavalry the moment he got any chance.

Yuder concluded that simply knocking him out for now was just a temporary measure. A person like him had to be thoroughly broken down the moment he was captured.

“...Ah, that’s true. He’s too dangerous. Should we just knock him out now?”

“I think I can answer that. No need to.”

Before Yuder shook his head, the answer came from an unexpected direction.

“-You all did well. Sorry for joining in now.”

“Kanna!”

Breaking through the heavy snow, Kanna ran towards them, her face tired but smiling faintly. She said she had just arrived and helped Suns and Emon read the last of the Sage’s brainwashed followers, revealing the Sage’s final brainwashing ability.

“As Yuder said, the Sage could brainwash even people he had no trust in, but only for a short time. Though, it wasn’t easy. His condition worsened rapidly after using that ability.”

“Did you read how he did it?”

“Physical contact with both hands, and he used a certain word related to belief three times in a row.”

“So...”

“If he’s stuck in the condition he is now, he won’t be able to use it on us even if he wanted to.”

Kanna winked playfully. Ever laughed.

“Thank goodness.”

Even so, when cornering an awakened one, caution was necessary.

They might either lose control and awaken a stronger power or break free from the runaway. Having seen Hosanra escape, Yuder decided he didn’t need to say more and turned his head.

Finally, when he looked back, there was no one behind him. Only the fierce wind and the snowflakes swirling around him.

‘That’s right. Since Hosanra joined, there’s no need for me to stay in one place and fight...’

Yet, he wasn’t overly anxious.

If Naham’s situation had been better, it wouldn’t have been this calm until now.

Behind the fierce wind and snowflakes, Kishiar was somewhere.

That was the only thing that mattered. This ominous weather and the falling snow didn’t matter to Yuder.

‘Now I can leave the rest to Kanna and Ever...’

Without hesitation, Yuder wrapped himself in the power of the wind. Had Kanna not grabbed his sleeve, he would have unleashed the power to head straight for Kishiar.

“Yuder. Wait a moment. There’s something you need to hear!”

“If it’s about how Hosanra escaped, we can talk about it later.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s about Naham’s identity!”

At last, Yuder stopped. Kanna didn’t miss the opportunity and quickly relayed the information.

“Princess Mayra knew who they were.”

“...So that means Naham was connected to the Hern family, after all.”

“Yes, but it’s not just a distant connection like we thought. It’s much deeper. Naham is... the illegitimate child of the current Duke of Hern.”

Only then did Yuder understand why Kanna had felt the need to share this information, even in this urgent moment.