MTLNOVEL Chapter 268: Tuli Lurein’s Execution (3)
Chapter 268: Tuli Lurein’s Execution (3)
“Karyl...”
Miliana barely managed to calm his surging mana. Even as a Sword Master, she found it difficult to handle Karyl, so Tuli, who was much less skilled, was on the verge of fainting.
“Hah... Hah...”
Only when Karyl’s aura subsided did Tuli finally manage to catch her breath, collapsing as her legs gave out.
It’s not just that the Wooden Cloud is connected to the empire.
But Karyl, deeply lost in thought, paid no attention to Tuli, who was clearly exhausted.
They’re cultivating plants from Demon Realm in the dungeon. This could mean the Church is also connected to demons.
The Church, the Wooden Cloud, the Demon Realm, and the empire—this entanglement between the four seemed complicated, but this could be the perfect opportunity to unravel and take them all down at once. Perhaps this was the ideal chance.
However... Karyl frowned slightly. Is Rael really the one leading the Blue Roar? In my past life, I remembered them as the successors of the Wooden Cloud after they disappeared, but if Olivurn is allied with them, then maybe he’s in a higher position.
Karyl was puzzled. He had fought alongside the knights of the empire, serving as the Ten of Oracle, and had hunted down the fanatics who worshipped Tarak. In his past life, he believed that battle was the Oracle War for the gods, and failing to destroy the Blue Roar was one of his lingering regrets.
Thus, after going back in time, Karyl prioritized dealing with the Wooden Cloud while preparing for the Oracle War.
Back then, Olivurn had seemed to him like the only human truly fighting for the gods. But that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The emperor who prophesied the Oracle was actually aligned with the Wooden Cloud, who worshipped Tarak.
Whether it’s true or false, I have to find out.
In any case, it was shocking, and evidently, Karyl no longer trusted Olivurn.
My faith in him ended the day I drove a sword into his chest.
Still, Karyl acknowledged that, even up to the moment of his death, Olivurn had, at the very least, stood on the side of the gods.
The last thing he did was offer the lives of Yula’s apostles to end the Oracle War.
Karyl closed his eyes.
Even during the endless eons spent in Pharel as he tried to traverse time, Karyl had never let go of that day. Even now, when he closed his eyes, those final moments came back in vivid detail.
“I cannot die like this. Our comrades... The comrades that you slayed will weep in their graves...!”
Karyl could still feel the heat of that day. It had been ten years since the Oracle War. Karyl remembered his cry, and the face of his only friend, the emperor he believed in, Olivurn Shutean.
“I, too, am heartbroken,” Olivurn admitted. He was disheveled, covered in sweat and grime. The sword in his hand had cut down countless Tarak, and that same sword was now pointed at Karyl and his comrades.
“Heartbroken? Don’t fuck with me!”
Karyl glared at him, looking at his fallen comrades beside him, wondering how Olivurn could say something so absurd.
He was at a loss. Miliana, Serica Lauren, Israphil... All of them were incredibly powerful, and Karyl couldn’t understand how they had died so easily.
“What the hell did you do? Did you drug them? Or was this all done with the power of the gods?”
“...”
“You're the most devout apostle who has ever prophesied the Oracle. Compared to the orders of the gods, the lives of your comrades must seem as light as feathers, right? Tell me, now that the war against the Tarak is nearing its end, does Yula want our lives as well?”
But even after Karyl's outburst, Olivurn remained silent. He just stared at Karyl.
“You’ve got it wrong. Don’t think you’re the only one who has fought for the gods. My life? Sure, if Yula wants that, then that’s what I shall offer her. But if Yula truly wanted our lives, then we should have been allowed to die on the battlefield, not like dogs at the end of your blade!”
Still, Olivurn merely watched with cold eyes.
Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands... Karyl had replayed this scene so many times that he had lost count.
Swoosh–!!
Karyl’s sword pierced through Olivurn’s chest. He vividly remembered the deceitful words that had slipped from Olivurn’s trembling lips.
“My friend... How have we come to this?”
“...”
Even in the face of death, Olivurn had never revealed his true self. Karyl still remembered his face clearly.
“Olivurn, I thought you were noble in your prophecy of the Oracle, but... as it turns out, that prophecy was false.”
From the very beginning, Olivurn might never have been a servant of the gods. Perhaps he had been just like those fanatics from the Blue Roar, who worshiped those hideous creatures that swarmed from Pharel.
Could it be that Olivurn’s attempt to kill us all wasn’t even an act of devotion to the gods, after all?
Karyl’s mind was a storm, unable to separate truth from falsehood. If everything Olivurn had done—from the battle against the Tarak to slaughtering the Ten of the Oracle—was connected to the Wooden Cloud, then humanity had been nothing but puppets in his hands.
Just like the civil war in the principality, which had been nothing more than a staged play orchestrated by Tuli and Fran, Olivurn might never have intended to prophesy the Oracle in the first place.
However, the Wooden Cloud would end up betraying Tuli, Ganeth being the one to eliminate her. From the dukes of the principality to Emperor Shutean... The deeper Karyl dug into the Wooden Cloud, the more endless and unfathomable it seemed.
“Tuli.”
“Y-Yes?” Tuli promptly replied, her voice quavering with fear, perhaps due to the oppressive aura she had felt from Karyl earlier.
“What is your folks’ purpose?”
At that, Tuli cocked her head.
Even if Rael were to lead them in the future, the current leader would be someone else. At this point in time, Tuli might have more information than Rael.
Karyl cast Tuli a hopeful gaze.
“The Wooden Cloud is known only to a select few nobles of the principality. Your organization is as old as the continent’s history, shrouded in secrecy. What is it that you seek to accomplish from the shadows?”
Tuli’s response seemed oddly indifferent, as though the secret everyone was so eager to uncover was, in fact, trivial.
“It is to serve the gods.”
“...What?”
Karyl stared at her in disbelief, wondering if she had lost her mind.
“To prepare for the prophecy of the Oracle and to carry it out—that is the purpose of the Wooden Cloud... Our purpose...” Tuli spoke with difficulty.
“You folks are crazy,” Karyl managed to mutter, his response a brief but sharp assessment of her explanation. “If you’re going to talk, make it make sense. It’s not a god you worship, but a demon. The Church exists out there blatantly, yet you claim to serve a god? You’re the real heretics here.”
However, despite his sharp words, Tuli only responded with a strange smile. Just moments ago, she had been struggling to breathe under Karyl’s pressure, but now, for the first time, she showed a faint sign of defiance.
“Well, fine. It’s clear that someone as deeply entrenched in their beliefs as you can’t be expected to make a rational judgment.”
Karyl looked at her with a gaze that seemed like he might cut her down at any moment, but surprisingly, his hand did not reach for his sword.
“I’ll find the truth. There’s bound to be someone among your lot who isn’t as far gone as you are,” Karyl said sharply.
What had once seemed like an insurmountable challenge now felt like a puzzle slowly coming together, and he began to consider his next targets.
Whether it’s Olivurn, the Church, or the emperor, they’re all in the empire.
Without hesitation, Karyl reaffirmed that his next course of action remained unchanged.
“You can go now. I’ve heard everything I needed.”
“You’ll keep your promise... won’t you?”
“Of course.”
“...Understood.”
Tuli nodded firmly and left the room, her face still tense after hearing his answer.
“The nobles of this principality... none of them seem trustworthy. Are you really going to let Tuli live?” Miliana asked as soon as the door was closed.
“Of course. I promised to protect her from the Wooden Cloud.”
Miliana frowned slightly at his response.
“She’s the First Duchess of the principality. There are still many nobles who support her. If you let her go, she’ll be a problem later.”
Karyl responded with a frosty smile, “That’s true.”
“Only Bonitos and Ruiche remain. But it doesn’t seem like Bonitos, that spineless fool, will be able to rule the principality. And Ruiche will likely stay by Fran’s side, who’s still unconscious.”
As Miliana pointed out, none of those remaining had the strong leadership that Tuli possessed. Even though she had been defeated, the nobles would naturally rally around her again.
But Karyl gave her a peculiar smile in response.
“I promised to protect her from Wooden Cloud, but I never said I’d protect her from her sister.”
“...What?” Miliana asked with a shudder.
“Ruiche, I made her an offer. It’ll take time for Fran to recover, but I told her that if she uses the antidote from the Jannabi tribe, Fran might wake up.”
“No way...”
Miliana’s gaze was fixed on Karyl.
“I also told her to bring me something valuable in return. She’s not a fool.”
Karyl pointed toward the door.
“It just so happens that Ruiche’s room is at the end of the hallway leading to the prison.”
“Haha...” Miliana chuckled in disbelief
Everything was going according to Karyl’s plan. His mind was weaving a web so intricate that escape seemed impossible.
“You’re cruel. Even if Fran regains consciousness, his brain is already in shambles. He probably won’t even recognize Ruiche. He’ll just be a shell of the Fran she once knew,” Miliana said, a rueful grin tugging at her lips.
“Though, I doubt you were kind enough to explain all that to her.”
Soon, night would give way to dawn, and as the rooster crowed to announce the morning, Karyl would receive the report.
Tuli Lurein is dead.
It wasn’t surprising at all.
“Sigh...”
Karyl let out a low sigh as the alcohol caught up with him, leaving him slightly weary.
What’s left now is...
But the fire in his eyes hadn’t dimmed. There was still one last enemy.
The empire.