The Butcher of Sargon (Patreon)

Volume 2 Chapter 68: An Astrologer Cannot Foresee Their Own...

The Ascension Power within his body was being rapidly consumed. For Garde, maintaining this gigantified form took an enormous toll.

According to his calculations, he could only sustain this form for a few minutes at most. Even if he squeezed out a bit more Ascension Power from his body, it would not last much longer.

As the crystallization of Terra’s technology, the sturdiness of the high-speed battleship was beyond doubt. Pure brute force alone, without any weaponry, meant Garde could only rely on his sharp teeth to tear the battleship apart.

Even so, the speed at which the Columbian soldiers aboard surrendered was faster than he had expected. Garde had thought they would hold out a little longer.

If they had resisted just a bit more, and his Ascension Power had run out, maybe they could have even turned the tide.

The shells had left no wounds on Garde's body. After the ship ceased its fire, Garde paused his assault. His body, nearly a hundred meters tall, maintained its form for a few seconds more before slowly shrinking back to his normal appearance.

He did not look at the Columbian soldiers crawling out from the wreckage. Instead, he walked over to the location where the director of the Trimounts branch of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Arts Units and Originium was and dragged him out from the sand.

Charles looked at Garde with fear in his eyes, but pride as a man kept him from bowing his head at this moment.

"Columbia will not let you get away with this!"

Charles glared at Garde, his neck stiff, speaking defiantly.

"Even if you are a Feranmut, challenging Columbia means you must pay the price!"

"But if you're willing to spare me..."

"I can negotiate with the higher-ups on your behalf..."

Garde’s large hand gripped Charles’s neck, a little helplessly.

"That’s not the kind of talk I wanted to hear."

A small point of light appeared on Garde’s fingertip. He transformed a portion of his remaining Ascension Power and lightly pierced it into Charles’s head.

"This is a part of my power. I’m leaving it in your brain. It doesn’t serve any other purpose—just a marker."

"You've seen my strength, so don't doubt the authenticity of this power. Normally, it won't affect your life in any way. In fact, it might even make you healthier."

"But, if I want to..."

Garde made a grasping and blossoming motion with his hand.

"It will instantly destroy your brain and blow up everything within a radius of over a dozen meters, like a small Originium bomb. You can think of it as my Originium Art."

Over the past few days, through studying the use of Originium Arts, Garde had learned to more skillfully control his Ascension Power.

This method of implanting Ascension Power into someone's brain was actually a very simple and crude application, it’s barely even considered an application.

Ascension Power was usually a very gentle force. If Garde didn’t deliberately interfere, it wouldn’t affect Charles at all.

However, if Garde ever wanted to take action, the implanted energy would turn into a bomb, blowing off an Elafia's head would be no problem at all.

"Honestly, I still don't understand, why go to so much trouble to deal with me? I'm just a creature that finds a suppressant for Oripathy. Is that really worth all this?"

Samples and products were two very different things. Even if Rhine Lab managed to produce a product, without the Columbian government's approval, would they really dare to sell it privately?

So, this wasn't the reason Columbia's officials were after him.

"Let's hear it," Garde said, looking at Charles with a slightly encouraging expression. "After all, I just joined Rhine Lab, and finally found a place where I can rest and recover, I’m not looking to go on the run so soon."

"If you’re willing to offer me some compensation for tonight’s interrupted sleep, I might even overlook this little rude disturbance."

"After all, it’s already the year 1091. Even Feranmuts and gods are expected to follow the law these days."

"Have you ever seen a report in your collected intel of me leaving a supermarket without paying?"

Garde patted Charles on the shoulder. He understood that some people harbored deep patriotic fervor, even willing to sacrifice their lives for their country.

But whenever possible, normal people didn’t choose the most extreme form of patriotism.

"I follow your rules, so I hope you’ll follow your own rules too. No need to jump straight to violence all the time, that’s just bad for everyone."

"Of course, you’re welcome to try and preserve your ridiculous pride by attempting to kill me if you're willing to pay the price."

"How about we have your battleships race me?" Garde said lightly. "See whether your ships run faster or I do. To really deal with me, you’d probably need seven or eight high-speed battleships. But I'm not an idiot—if you bring too many, I can always run away. Surely Columbia’s many mobile cities aren’t each guarded by seven or eight battleships, right?"

This land was not lacking in strong individuals. Whether it was Yan, Ursus, or Kazdel—if it really came down to an all-out fight, he would definitely die in the end.

Because each of those countries had powerful individuals capable of restraining him.

Once he was pinned down, even someone like Garde would be at serious risk of death.

However, even if he could be dealt with, as long as he wasn't posing a direct and major threat to those nations, how many would actually be willing to risk losing their top combatants just to kill him?

"I’m a law-abiding citizen, you know!"

Garde looked at Charles with an earnest face.

If it weren't for the half-destroyed battleship Garde had just gnawed through, Charles might have actually believed him. But every single word from the crocodile man sounded like a threat to Charles.

Yet, with the strength Garde had displayed—and more importantly, the intelligence he had shown—Charles found himself completely unable to think of any effective way to deal with him.

The speed Garde had shown might not be the absolute fastest in Columbia, but even their top speedsters wouldn't be able to defeat him.

He could easily escape the combined Originium Arts cast by more than a dozen Stasis Casters!

Unless… they could find his weakness...

The moment Charles had this thought, a sudden surge of pain exploded in his head, as if something was squeezing his brain. The agony sent him rolling on the ground.

"Oh? You were just thinking something bad about me, weren’t you? My power is very sensitive to hostility. I’d suggest you avoid provoking it."

Garde smacked his lips, and instantly, the pain in Charles’s head vanished.

"No matter what reason you have for trying to capture me, in a few days I’ll be heading back to Trimounts City. I hope you can give me an answer before then."

"Also, I asked a 'friend' of mine to help protect Saria, the head of Rhine Lab’s Defense Division, just in case the Sargon people try anything against her."

"Just now, I seemed to sense some... movement from my ‘friend.’"

A sinister smile crept across Garde’s face.

"I trust Columbia wouldn’t deliberately target a patriotic entrepreneur who's made tremendous contributions to the nation’s Oripathy treatment, would it?"

When Garde was fighting the battleship, he had noticed that the black dragon residing in his axe had appeared briefly, but there hadn't been any violent clashes.

Saria made it back safely!

Although Garde wanted to meet with Saria, he was a bit concerned—if he left for too long, would Ishar'mla find an opportunity to escape?

After all, their relationship was purely physical. Strictly speaking, there were no feelings involved. It was hard to expect a Seaborn like her to truly understand concepts like affection or love.

Still, Garde was almost ready.

He was planning to build a consciousness network of his own.

Among Terra's many secrets, there existed a mysterious realm known as the "Empire of Consciousness." The Nightzmora only occupied a portion of the Empire; countless other consciousness worlds also existed within its vast territory.

The Empire of Consciousness was sustained by Originium—wherever there was Originium, the Empire would endure.

Similarly, wherever Originium existed, the Empire could connect itself.

Having once experienced the nightmare worlds of the Nightzmora Knights, Garde’s deepest understanding of Originium Arts lay in the art of constructing consciousness worlds.

What he wanted to do was use his Ascension Power to carve out a new world within the Empire of Consciousness, and through that world, maintain contact with the people he cared about.

Of course, this was only Garde’s initial idea.

To truly carry it out, he would need to work much harder—and he wasn’t even sure if his Ascension Power was strong enough to carve out a world of his own within the Empire.

However, he knew of someone who could move freely through the Empire of Consciousness.

He'll ask Ho'olheyak for some tutoring when he get back.

With such an outstanding Originium Arts master at his side, it would be a waste not to make use of her knowledge.

Meanwhile, several kilometers away, at a border marker between Minos and Columbia, a black-haired Liberi woman and her Seaborn companion were watching the entire battle between Garde and the battleship.

"The reason it stays by that Adakrys’s side... is because that Adakrys is actually a Feranmut?"

Amaia murmured to herself. She still couldn’t fully understand why It chose to stay with that Adakrys, but if It had done so, there must be a reason behind it.

"More observation is needed,"

Amaia whispered under her breath.

Back in the town, while the remaining Columbia soldiers were cleaning up the aftermath, Ho'olheyak was casually watching from the side, facing off against Ishar'mla and the others with an "I'm injured, so I can't help" expression.

She heard the sounds of cannon fire and impacts coming from outside the town. Even though it was dozens of kilometers away, she could still sense the vibrations in the air thanks to her Originium Arts.

If it weren’t such a hassle to catch up with Garde, she might have been interested in seeing how he would deal with Columbia’s high-speed battleship.

But the cannon fire stopped after just a few minutes.

Ho'olheyak froze, a strange sense of unease creeping up on her.

Even if Garde really was a Feranmut, shouldn't it still take longer to destroy a high-speed battleship? Wasn’t this too fast?

She couldn't help but start a divination with astrology.

As the honorary president of the Columbian Astrological Research Association, no one was more proficient in astrology than her.

In fact, she could use it to glimpse fragments of the future—though only glimpses, even those were enough to deduce much.

Surprisingly, what was usually a blurry image this time appeared crystal clear in her mind.

She saw Columbian soldiers, shattered streets, and that girl who was always by Garde’s side.

Is this the future?

Or something that's about to happen?

Ho'olheyak frowned. Why wasn’t Garde anywhere in the scene she saw?

No, wait—

In a corner of the town, through the glass and curtains of a house, she could vaguely make out a blurry silhouette—a crocodile-like figure swaying slightly as it stood.

Maybe because the divination's vision wasn’t very clear, but she felt like this crocodile figure seemed a little smaller than usual.

Almost like…

The outline of a young crocodile boy floated into her mind, and Ho'olheyak’s breathing unconsciously grew heavy.

Impossible.

How could that be possible?

If the figure in the room was Garde turned into his younger form, then who was the one lying across the bed, tail being grabbed and body swaying?

No!

She absolutely refused to acknowledge it!

How could she possibly—

“Ho'olheyak?”

A large hand suddenly landed on her shoulder.

Holding her staff and standing frozen in place, Ho'olheyak shuddered violently, as if an electric current shot from the base of her spine straight up to her head. 

If Garde hadn’t quickly supported her, she would have collapsed onto the ground.

“Hey, hey, it was just a pat on the shoulder—was that really necessary?”

Garde grumbled as he half-hugged her to keep her steady, assuming she was just startled. 

He definitely didn’t mean to take advantage of her.

Or… had he accidentally hurt her when he threw her into that house earlier?

“Take me to a room!”

“Huh?”

“Just find some empty room and put me inside!”

With ler legs feeling a little weak, Ho'olheyak send a fierce glare at Garde.

No way that ridiculous divination could actually come true, right?

Then she watched, horrified, as Garde—perhaps to avoid anyone seeing the two of them together—simply carried her into an empty, secluded house on the edge of town.

The exterior of the house—

Why did it look exactly like the one she had seen in her vision?

Could this really be the future she was destined to experience?

She clearly didn’t want anything like that to happen!

No—

She understood now.

It must be because Garde forced her!

That damned Adakrys deliberately picked a secluded corner just so he could assault her more easily, didn’t he?

Of course Ho'olheyak wanted to resist.

But she knew she didn’t stand a chance against Garde.

If he could take down a high-speed battleship in just a few minutes, then no matter how much she resisted, it would be completely useless!

Realizing that she had no way to fight against fate, Ho'olheyak calmed down.

Even if fate was so cruel, she would not surrender so easily.

If that Adakrys thought he could take her so easily, then he would be dead wrong!

Ho'olheyak watched as Garde carried her into the house and carefully cleaned up the place.

Since it was an abandoned and forgotten house, no one had lived here for a long time.

Garde even had to use his Ascension power just to barely get it clean enough.

If it were Ho'olheyak, with just a little use of her Originium Arts, she could have restored the room to spotless condition in under a minute.

But she didn’t lift a finger.

In her mind, it didn’t matter how clean the room was—it would just be wrecked again soon anyway.

Garde was only tidying up so he could enjoy her in a more comfortable environment.

Since she was the one being "violated," why should she help him at all?

What she didn’t expect was that, after cleaning the room, Garde didn’t pounce on her like a beast.

Instead, he asked, “Ho'olheyak, are you hungry? Should I go find some food for you?”

“I don’t need anything!”

Ho'olheyak snapped coldly.

Bring her food? He must be planning to torment her for a long time again, wasn’t he?

Did he really want to wear her out until she couldn’t even get up from bed?

Ho'olheyak remembered those past three days and nights—how she had been like a caged bird, trapped, forced to watch Garde come and go as he pleased, bringing her meals whenever he felt like it.

And as if that wasn’t enough, when she eventually went out, some female students even came to her, trying to gossip about her and Garde because he had walked out of her office!

Since there was no way to resist, and fate had decided she was to be "ravaged" by him, she might as well resign herself.

If she had no choice but to accept it, then she would at least try to enjoy it.

At the very least, she thought, she should make him take on his younger form.

Not to mention, it would be much easier on the eyes.

Honestly, Ho'olheyak couldn’t even imagine how anyone could survive Garde’s current massive form.

Just the thought of him "entering" made her wonder if it would be lethal!

Ho'olheyak couldn't help rubbing her overly plump and soft thighs, the image from her earlier divination surfacing again in her mind.

But to her surprise, Garde just shrugged.

“Alright then, rest up. Let me know if you need anything.”

Garde had thought it over: Ho'olheyak had helped him so many times—even though she acted like it was just about repaying favors—If he continued to bully her, that would just be way too cruel.

So he decided to keep his distance and treat her with the respect he would give a teacher.

What happened before—he decided—would just be considered a regrettable accident.

However, when Garde turned to leave, Ho'olheyak wouldn't allow it.

“Wait.”

She grabbed his hand, disbelief in her eyes.

“You brought me all the way here—and you’re just going to clean the place and walk away?”

“What else would I do?”

Garde scratched his head.

He was just doing what Ho'olheyak asked: finding her a place to rest.

What more was expected of him?

“...Stay.”

A voice, as soft as a mosquito’s buzz, escaped Ho'olheyak’s lips.

Garde didn’t catch it clearly.

“What?”

“I said, stay!”

Ho'olheyak’s embarrassed and angry voice echoed through the room.

Biting her lip, she got up from the bed, walked up to Garde, and took a deep breath, trying hard to maintain a composed expression.

“Because—this is the choice of destiny!”