READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 128 - Dragonian (3)
Chapter 128
Dragonian (3)
While the shadow he had hidden inside the Demi-human was traveling, he spent his time obtaining the materials needed to awaken the Sinister.
-We’re almost there.
-Once this is over, let’s have another round of drinking.
A voice heard through his Shadow Alter Ego.
As the Shadow Lord’s power increased, he gained the ability beyond sight alone and was able to hear sounds.
Listening to their conversation, it seems they’re nearing their destination.
“Eye of Shadows.”
As he called upon the power of shadows, his sight went black, and his vision was replaced by a new scene.
A horse-drawn wagon traveling through the dark night.
Surrounding the wagons, a group of hunters held torches to light their path.
The wagons slowed to a stop at the foot of an unknown mountain, and the hunters snuffed out the torches, plunging the area into darkness.
“Whooaa!”
Calming the horses, they drove deeper into the woods. A labyrinth of winding paths. It was so complicated that anyone who hadn’t been there before would surely never find it.
*Hiiieee!*
The horses and wagons skidded to a halt.
Where the hunters had stopped, there were members of the Church of the Demon God holding torches.
“Where are the goods?”
“Here they are.”
The leader of the hunters made a waving motion, and the remaining hunters distanced themselves from the wagons.
The demon cultist held his torch and inspected the wagons.
He looked at the different species in the wagons, scribbled something about each one, and then marched on with the wagons and the Leader of the Hunters.
The cave entrance appeared soon afterward.
Around the torch-lit entrance stood a stone statue of a demon god, and a thick stream of demonic energy flowed out of the cave.
“I can’t seem to get used to this place.”
The leader of the hunters grumbled under his breath and took out a flask and drank some holy water.
Then he followed the cultist inside the cave.
Fortunately, it wasn’t dark inside.
The torches lining the walls provided ample light.
Redin took in the layout of the cave, the positioning of the cultists, their numbers and skills.
*Whirr*
*Whirr*
The sound of wagon wheels rattling as they passed over uneven ground. He could hear something in between the jarring noise.
*Mmm…… argh.*
*Ugh…… ah.*
The deeper they went into the cave, the more it became audible.
“Aaaaaarrrgghhhh!”
“Keuukkk!”
“Uuugh!”
The screams of the Demi-human people could be heard.
Although he couldn’t understand all of it due to the difference in their language, the occasional human voice sounded like it was a good enough version of their language.
“He…… Help me! Stop it. Pleeease!”
“Pl… Please no more, please!”
Soon, a spacious chamber was revealed.
It was shaped like a cylinder with a hollow center.
A spiraling pathway carved into the walls, wooden bridges built to move from wall to wall.
The walls were lined with hundreds of iron cages, inside which the Demi-human were imprisoned.
“Kwwaaaakkk!”
The screams of Demi-humans echoed from underground, obscured by the thick darkness.
The wagons continued to travel, veering into a path on the left.
There a waiting cultist handed over a sack of money to the Hunter. Accepting it, the hunter peered inside the sack and grinned.
“It was a nice transaction,” the hunter said.
“Let’s keep it that way.”
“I would love that.”
The hunter’s leader swaggered out of the cave leaving the rest of the wagons in the open space on the side.
The demon cultists were there in advance.
As they chanted, the Demi-humans within the cage shuddered and stood still.
*Clang!*
*Clang!*
The door to their cages opened, and the demon cultists proceeded to strip them of all their clothes and rinse them in water.
They’d check each species in detail, and once they were certain that everything was in order, they would move them out.
A path leading down in a spiral.
While the Demi-human species were forcibly transferred, Redin used the Eye of Shadow to check the inside of the cages.
The traces of the experiment were evident.
The area was full of earth-shattering marks, cut, sewn, or otherwise. Rotting was the norm, but there were also Demi-human species that had been corrupted by the demonic energy.
“Go in.”
The demon cultist threw one of the Demi-human into the cage.
*Clang!*
After that, the sounds of the Demi-humans being led and imprisoned could be heard throughout the area.
The Demon Cultist, who had imprisoned all of the Demi-humans species brought this time, made his way down the path.
*Sssshhhh!*
Out of the shadows of one of the Demi-human prisoners, came out Redin’s shadow alter ego.
Moving over to the iron cage, he surveyed the surroundings, checking for any magic spheres monitoring the cages.
*Ooohh!*
A sphere the size of a person hovering in the center, moving up and down. It was definitely a magic sphere keeping an eye on the cages.
Redin measured the time of the orb’s arrival and departure.
He slipped out of the cage at the correct timing. Moving through the shadows inside the cave, he climbed to the highest point.
The higher he went, the more empty the cages were.
“If this is…..”
Redis, who would be imprisoned the longest, would most likely be further underground. From high above, he looked down and gathered as much information as he could.
The movements of the cult members.
The time of their shifts.
The defense systems and magic circles.
From what he could determine with his shadow alter ego, he mapped out a plan to navigate his way underground.
* * * Support the Translator by reading it in GalaxyTranslation97 Website, and NOT IN Aggregator Site * * *
* * * * Read in GalaxyTranslation97 Website * * * *
Demon Church Branch.
Laboratory B, Room 104.
The Demon Church priest Vharfe peered through the transparent glass at the chained Demi-human species.
The creature was an Orc.
They are characterized by their protruding teeth, massive muscles, and green skin. His parents were chieftains of an orc tribe.
He was born differently than most orcs.
Maybe because of this.
Even after several days of constant experiments, the look in his eyes never changed. Vharfe smirked as he watched him retain his vicious gaze.
“Get ready.”
At Vharfe’s command, the cultists moved. They brought clothes to Vharfe, who spread his arms wide, and helped him dress.
A specialized priests’ garb intended for experimentation.
Vharfe donned the garb, slipped a pair of gloves on his hands, and strapped a glass mask over his face.
“Let’s go in.”
He entered the laboratory with the other dressed cult members. Vharfe stood in front of the Orc and smiled brightly.
“Let’s do well today.”
“Grrrrrr!”
The orc bared his teeth and salivated, but Vharfe looked at him as if it was cute and smiled.
*Clap* *Clap*
As Vharfe clapped, a cultist stepped forward. A syringe with a thick needle. Inside was a blue liquid.
An experimental drug diluted with the blood of a half-dragon.
The syringe was plunged into the heart of the Orc, who was immobile due to his restraints.
“Test subject Orc. Number 257. Day 7. Concentration of the experimental drug at 90 percent. Let’s begin the reaction experiment.”
*Stab*
The needle injected the blue liquid into the orc’s heart. Every muscle in the orc’s body spasmed.
The chains rattled, and the orc’s entire body bent like a bow.
The orc began to shake violently, and its eyes turned blue.
“Thirty seconds elapsed. Stage 1 reaction. Eye discoloration. Muscle strengthening. Nothing unusual.”
“Kiiorkkkk!”
The orc stopped breathing, eyes widening as if in cardiac arrest. Priest Vharfe looked at the orc calmly and opened his mouth.
“One minute has passed. Stage 2 reaction. Symptoms of cardiac arrest. Count ten seconds.”
The priest beside him began counting to ten.
At the one second mark.
The orc’s eyes popped open, his green skin cracked and blue blood trickled down. The orc yanked at the chains, his heart beating again.
“Keuaaag!”
“One minute and thirty seconds elapsed. Stage 3 reaction. Skin hardening. Entering dragon form.”
The blue blood that covered his green skin changed into scales and covered the Orc, who then unleashed a malevolent force unlike anything the Orc possessed before.
With each tug of the chains, the walls trembled.
*Thump!*
*Thump!*
*Thump!*
Vharfe looked at the orc calmly.
“Two minutes have passed. Dragon form completed. Beginning dragon form duration test.”
As the rampaging orc thrashed wildly, the nearby cultist monitored the time on his watch.
After three minutes.
The Orc’s scales melted away, and the Orc’s body became slack. Looking at the orc breathing raggedly, Vharfe held up a syringe containing a red liquid.
“Three minutes duration. End of experiment.”
The red liquid was injected into its heart, and the orc’s eyes, muscles, and heart rate returned to normal.
“I’ll raise the concentration to 95 percent in an hour, and mix in some of the Elder Troll’s blood and conduct another test.”
The moment Vharfe was about to leave.
“KKEUUUAAAKKK!”
The orc’s body, unable to withstand the dragon’s blood, exploded and green blood splattered everywhere.
Wiping the blood from his face, Vharfe shook his head and spoke.
“Clean up the corpse, and let’s start over with a new test subject. Lower the concentration to five percent and get ready, we’ll start right away with a new one.”
“Understood.”
Removing his lab coat, Vharfe left the lab and made his way up the spiraling passage.
Demi-human creatures in cages.
He ascended to the top to take the one he was interested in.
“They said there was a special one…….”
Slowly looking around the cages, Vharfe smiled at the sight of a green-skinned half-orc with a human appearance.
The intellect of a human and the strong body of an orc.
A being stronger than ordinary Orcs.
Moreover, judging from its condition, it seemed to have awakened the power to use mana early.
“Let’s use this one.”
Vharfe pointed to the half-orc, and the cultist behind him opened the cage and pulled the half-orc out.
Just as he was about to head back down the path.
Something pricked at Vharfe’s sharp senses. He swiveled his head to look around, heightening his senses.
Spreading his demonic energy, scanning his surroundings.
“Did one of you feel something?”
* * * Support the Translator by reading it in GalaxyTranslation97 Website, and NOT IN Aggregator Site * * *
* * * * Read in GalaxyTranslation97 Website * * * *
At 2 AM.
A time when everyone sleeps, except for a minimal number of security personnel. Redin moved his alter ego as he observed the security personnel monitoring the cages.
*Sssshhh!*
Checking for the presence of a Demon Church priest.
Scanning the area for any priests.
It seemed like the most skilled of the priests were here.
Their senses were better than he expected, and he almost got caught. Not expecting to be detected lurking in the shadows.
‘Huu….’
The underground level came into view.
At the bottom were several dozen glass-walled laboratories.
A variety of Demi-human species shackled in chains.
The labs were quiet, as the Demon Church’s clergy are also human and needed to sleep.
“…..”
He checked the laboratories through his alter ego, but there was no sign of the red hair that was the characteristic feature of the Half-Dragon Redis.
Redin carefully and calmly checked each of the rooms.
However, the secret passage was nowhere to be seen. As long as he was using the shadow alter ego, he could not utilize the Eye of Arrakis.
His perception was less powerful compared to his true body.
Part of him wanted to switch back to his real body and conduct a search, but the moment he did, he would be caught on the Demon Church’s detection network and the emergency alarms would ring.
After thinking for a moment, he came up with an idea.
It was obvious that the reason this massive facility was able to operate was because of the Half Dragon’s mana.
Then.
If there was a minor problem with the supply, someone would move to where the Half-Dragon was to fix it.
He made his way to the facility he’d seen on his way down.
The Electrical Supply Room.
A place with a magic circle that draws in mana, converts it to electricity, and supplies it to the facility.
Apparently it’s been in service for a long time.
There was a crack in the wall where the magic circle was painted.
Using the Shadow Alter Ego, he struck the wall, causing it to crack and sparks to fly around the magic circle.
*Crackle!*
At the same time, all the lights outside went out. Darkness fell over the entire facility, and he could hear the cultists moving quickly.
Stepping outside, he watched the situation unfold.
Emergency power came on and the facility was illuminated, and the clerics of the Demon Church swarmed the electrical supply room.
“There seems to be a problem in the electrical supply room!”
“Hmph… The wall must have collapsed, causing a problem with the magic circle. We are repairing it now.”
One of the Demon God clerics motioned.
Where the underground laboratory was.
Reaching down to the floor and sending out a stream of demonic energy, a path appeared in the center of the laboratory, leading downward.
‘Found it.’