Chapter 282

Ilay Carthica was exceptional. Even during our cadet days, I considered his talent to be a tier above mine.  

No, that wasn’t just a thought—it was a fact. While I struggled desperately, Ilay achieved results on par with mine with what seemed like half the effort.  

Regardless, Ilay was not only gifted but also had a solid background to support him.  

‘And he possessed the boldness and ruthless nature befitting the Empire.’  

Ilay was someone far more suited to adapting to the Empire than I was. He had spent over ten years working at its very core.  

During that time, he must have endured despair deeper than death and lamentations that tore at his heart. He must have navigated through all kinds of horrifying conspiracies.  

The story Ilay Carthica had built was like a thick book. A mere glance wouldn’t be enough to grasp its contents.  

I leaned back into my chair and listened to Barbara’s words.  

Woo-woong.  

The spaceship we were on was moving sluggishly, like a cruise liner.  

“I don’t know when Ilay first reached out to the Empire’s Blade. But the truth is, the organization's key figures within the Empire were practically his subordinates. The funny part? Even those executives didn’t realize they were under Ilay’s command.”  

Barbara sipped her sweet drink through a straw, crossed her legs, and snapped her fingers.  

Viiing.  

A hologram, shaped by Barbara’s will, materialized. The thin strands of light converged into surfaces and lines, following her thoughts.  

Barbara excelled at expressing her cognition digitally, as expected from one of the Empire’s top electronic warfare specialists.  

Her hologram depicted the organizational structure of the Empire’s Blade. A map of Planet Novus appeared, marked with dots representing the organization’s executives in each region.  

A significant number of those within Imperial territory were linked to Ilay.  

“He targeted the organization’s blind spots. Just like I hide my identity, Ilay completely concealed himself while expanding and infiltrating its ranks.”  

I frowned as I sorted my thoughts before speaking.  

“To begin with, it was barely an organization at all. I get that security is important, but there were way too many secrets between members.”  

“It might look foolish, but it was the only way to evade the Empire’s surveillance. If their connections were too tight, the entire chain would be exposed. The moment even one person got caught, the purge would begin.”  

Barbara had a point. The Empire had countless ways to extract ‘information’ from people, no matter how absurd those methods might be.  

“Well, in any case, if Ilay had control over key figures within the Empire, then…the rebellion’s leadership was completely hijacked.”

The members of the Empire’s Blade had joined for various reasons, but their goal was singular: to overthrow Ivan Accretia, the current emperor whose legitimacy was unstable. Uprisings and rebellions were necessary to achieve this.  

“The most important thing is to trigger a simultaneous uprising within the Empire. Outside forces can rely on sequential guerrilla warfare to be effective. At this rate, the entire outcome of the operation depends on Ilay’s decisions.”  

Listening to the explanation, I began to piece together Ilay’s actions.  

Ilay must have maintained a delicate master-servant relationship under Ivan Accretia.  

‘While acting as Ivan’s problem solver, Ilay would have also subtly obstructed things from going entirely Ivan’s way.’  

Ivan must have found Ilay bothersome, but he tolerated him because the benefits outweighed the inconvenience. Ilay had managed to walk this tightrope for over a decade.  

‘And at some point, Ilay must have seen the Empire’s Blade as a usable tool after observing their movements.’  

Gradually, he extended his influence, embedding his own people within the organization. The most terrifying part was that even those infiltrators didn’t realize they were working for Ilay. They genuinely believed they were preparing for a rebellion to secure the Empire’s future.  

‘Deceiving subordinates, then deceiving them again… A trick straight out of the Imperial rulers’ playbook. You’ve learned well, Ilay.’  

Ilay must have either aided or suppressed the Empire’s Blade uprising as the situation demanded.  

‘Barbara wouldn’t be happy about Ilay’s involvement.’  

Barbara had a foot in both Nemesis and the Empire’s Blade. She probably thought she could control the timing of the uprising according to her own plans.  

“Barbara, you came to rescue me because of the Empire’s Blade power struggle, didn’t you?”  

“That’s right. Ilay agreed to hand over the list of key officials within Imperial territory, along with his control over them. This entire operation was planned with Ilay’s death in mind. Your brave friend intended to turn into space dust alongside Mushir al-Kashura.”  

I narrowed my eyes.  

‘Ilay threw away everything he had built to come here.’  

I had expected as much. But hearing it stated so plainly made the emotional impact even stronger.  

“From your perspective, letting Ilay die and escaping with me would have been the best option.”  

“If only you hadn’t started ranting about my birth secret and all that nonsense, that would have been the plan. Honestly, I was curious. I guess my curiosity ruined the operation.”  

Barbara pulled out a snack bag and tore it open. She bit into a cookie and crunched down on it.  

‘But curiosity wasn’t the only reason she chose to go along with my stubbornness.’

Barbara was a complicated person. Her obsessive emotions toward Giselle and her love-hate relationship with me must have driven her decision.  

I organized what I had heard from Kashura and spoke.  

“Kashura once handed over his essence—his genetic seed—to the Empire in exchange for technological transfers. The child born from that was you.”  

I didn’t add my personal thoughts that lingered in my mind.  

‘Barbara isn’t the only artificially created offspring of Kashura. But… among them, she might be the only one, or one of the very few, who inherited his peculiar mental disposition.’  

Having the genes didn’t guarantee inheriting such unique traits. It was all a matter of probability.  

The Mushir al-Kashura I knew was a product of coincidence. A man with an unusual psyche, shaped by an era of chaos, who ultimately developed the ability to use multiple brains.  

‘Kashura is merely an anomaly. Even the Empire must have concluded that artificially replicating him was impossible.’  

Mushir al-Kashura’s multi-brain utilization was deeply tied to his mental nature, and the direction of that mind was incompatible with the Empire’s rule. It was inevitable that someone like Kashura would become an anarchist.  

Barbara remained silent for a while, as if retracing her past.  

“…Interesting. It feels like a missing puzzle piece fitting perfectly into an empty space. Users of Akies Victima like you must experience this feeling all the time, huh?”  

“Well, yeah.”  

I shrugged.  

Barbara let out a rare sigh. She twirled a lock of her hair around her fingers and stared blankly at the ceiling before speaking again.  

“This is your last chance, Luka. Leave Ilay behind and go into hiding with me. The two of us can wait for Giselle’s return.”  

“You don’t even know where Giselle is, yet you’re certain she’ll come back? That’s ridiculous.”  

“That’s exactly why she’s safe. There are a lot of people looking for her—because she’s the only one who can bind you. And yet, no one has managed to find her. If… just if… if she never comes back, then we’ll simply destroy the world.”  

Barbara lowered her gaze and then smiled brightly. Her eyes shone just as radiantly as her smile.  

“…What exactly is Giselle to you?”  

“You don’t need to know. I’ll never tell anyone. Why should I explain the value of a treasure that belongs only to me? This feeling is mine alone.”  

Barbara trembled as she laughed.

I parted my lips slightly, then firmly shut them. There was no need to carelessly speculate on Barbara’s emotions and provoke her.  

‘Barbara is probably…’  

I had a hunch.  

Perhaps it was because I had confronted beings that seemed to transcend humanity, dissecting their thoughts and psychology along the way.  

My accumulated experiences had broadened my way of thinking.  

‘…Impurities.’  

Helilas’ advice resurfaced in my mind. His words had insight—insight gained from observing countless cases and countless monsters.  

“Thanks for the offer, Barbara. But… I still can’t just sit back and watch Ilay’s downfall.”  

Barbara gave a dry smile, as if she had only been making conversation.  

“This might be the last time we ever meet. If you have any final words for Giselle, let me know. I’ll make sure she gets them.”  

“Just tell her I’m sorry. That’s all. If I get too wordy, she won’t believe it’s my final message.”  

Barbara nodded, then stood up from her seat.  

“Then, I’ll activate the sublight engine.”  

I reached for the helmet hanging behind my chair.  

*         *         *  

The spaceship, now running on its sublight engine, reached Planet Novus in an instant.  

Chhhk. Chhhk.  

As soon as we arrived, Barbara left the ship, entrusting herself to an assault pod.  

Woo-woong.  

Meanwhile, the vessel I was on automatically followed its course—toward the Empire.  

Thump. Thump.  

Intermittent metallic sounds echoed as the ship entered the planet’s atmosphere, resembling the pounding of iron plates.  

Other than that, silence reigned. If anything, the ambient noise helped my thoughts settle even further.  

For the next hour or so, I had ample time to think.  

‘I’m heading to Akbaran, the imperial capital, where Ivan Accretia awaits. Not because I was forced to—but because I chose to.’  

Ever since waking up in Border City, I had constantly avoided the Empire.  

If I were truly determined to hide, even the Empire would struggle to find me.  

It was only natural that I, Lukaus Custoria, had tried to escape the Empire’s grasp. I had never doubted my judgment or my actions.  

And the moment the Empire discovered my existence, it wasted its intelligence and surveillance resources on me.  

…Even now, nothing had changed.  

Because of me, the great Ilay Carthica had been reduced to nothing more than a boy.  

Emperor Ivan Accretia had used the Empire’s public resources on me.  

Who stood to benefit from all of this?  

‘Kinuan.’

One of Ilay’s missions was to track down Kinuan. Even Ivan had used the Empire’s resources to search for Kinuan’s whereabouts.  

‘Ever since I woke up in Border City and started moving… the Empire’s forces, which should have been hunting Kinuan, were instead diverted to me. The Empire’s tightly woven net of pursuit became disrupted, giving Kinuan the chance to move freely.’  

On top of that, in my efforts to escape the Empire’s grasp, I had created new interests and relationships, adding to the chaos.  

‘This is no different from the Storm Era. It’s the same pattern all over again.’  

While I struggled desperately, drawing attention to myself, Kinuan was leisurely advancing toward his goal.  

‘The same goes for Mushir al-Kashura.’  

Kinuan had been Kashura’s first candidate for Union. But when a more suitable candidate—me—appeared, Kashura shifted his focus away from Kinuan.  

‘By stepping onto the stage, I pulled Kinuan out of both the Empire’s and Kashura’s pursuit.’  

It took stepping back far enough to see the full picture.  

Kinuan’s specialty as an Akies Victima user wasn’t combat. He remained silent, observing from the shadows, and at the crucial moment, he twisted the flow of events in his favor with the slightest push.  

Kinuan influenced great movements with only his own abilities.  

‘No one wields Akies Victima better than Kinuan.’  

Of course, Kinuan never held more power than the Emperor. Even now, his influence was likely less than Ilay Carthica’s. If Mushir al-Kashura seriously targeted him, he would have no choice but to flee.  

‘Kinuan is weak. He acts carefree, but in reality, he’s constantly calculating, desperately hoping his decisions are the right ones.’  

A master of Akies Victima was always on the run. They lay low, waiting for the tide to turn in their favor. He had done the same in front of me, his student.  

Kinuan, from a position of weakness, manipulated the flow created by the strong.  

Swish.  

I opened my eyes.  

Kiiiiiing.  

The ship’s engines were shutting down—without any manual input from me.  

Through the front window, I saw an Imperial reconnaissance aircraft approaching.  

Chzzzt. Chk.  

The ship’s communication system was being forcibly accessed.  

- Welcome back to the Empire, Lukaus Custoria.  

I had arrived in the Accretia Empire.

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