Chapter 49: A Century

While Li En’s knight squad fought desperately in the underground cavern, the surface of Huicheng remained anything but idle.

In noble circles, there are no true secrets.

Or rather, as long as you have channels and connections, any secret can become gossip.

There are too many intermarriages, spies, and informants between them; once a scandal breaks out, if someone helps spread it, the entire circle knows by the next day.

Everyone lives under scandals—it’s just a matter of whether your power is strong enough and whether someone dares to confront you directly.

“I never expected it to be Lord Loen. His family’s reputation was quite good.”

Li En was using the Hero’s Blood as bait, while the people behind Li En were using Li En, this small fish, to catch a bigger one.

Outside the mansion of Hilda, the city’s Deputy Finance Minister, city guards had already surrounded the estate—they even dragged in ballistae and sealed off key areas.

Passersby pointed and whispered, but no one dared interfere.

After all, the several knights standing inside the inner circle could walk freely through Huicheng.

Black armor with white lion helmets, shields bearing brown griffins guarding the royal crown, shoulders adorned with griffin claws symbolizing slaughter, and capes emblazoned with the city’s griffin-head emblem.

They were known as the “Huicheng Guard,” high-rank knights.

The Huicheng Guard were the count’s personal bodyguard force, effectively private troops; yet to the city’s residents, they were also seen as the bedrock of Huicheng’s stability.

Each Huicheng Guard was at least a fifth-rank Grand Knight, of impeccable lineage and battle-hardened, capable of leading entire armies alone.

And this time, four of them participated in the blockade of the lord’s mansion!

“What crime could he have committed to prompt both the Count of Huicheng and the royal house to act together?”

The sharper-eyed paid closer attention to the black-clad figures on the surrounding rooftops.

They wore tight black bodysuits with no visible insignia.

Only now, under daylight, did they reveal a white lion badge on their waist.

That was the royal emblem—only royal spies would dare wear it and move openly in daylight.

“Clang.”

When a carriage bearing the same white lion emblem pulled up to the lord’s gate, even the onlookers averted their eyes, unable to meet it directly.

“The royal house has arrived!!” Now, everyone’s anticipation rose even higher.

The current royal family had only two members; neither the princess nor the queen was theoretically in this city.

When had they arrived?

The person who stepped out of the carriage surprised and slightly disappointed the onlookers.

The delight came from the serpentine rhythm of her graceful curves—Salliman S Daer , the city’s most radiant pearl. The disappointment: it was not a royal lioness who descended.

This mesmerizing S Daer Lord moved down from the carriage with the predatory sway of a hunter, entering the lord’s mansion—yet still, no one dared meet her gaze.

After all, though she was mockingly called the royal dog-snake, she remained a true great noble of the city, not someone ordinary nobles dared offend.

And her very presence here, stepping down from the royal carriage, was itself a royal declaration—she had acted as the princess’s proxy more than once.

“This time, the matter is too grave. No one can save Lord Loen Hilda.”

The serpent woman entered the heavily sealed mansion, where screams and explosions had already been echoing for some time.

As the princess’s proxy, Salliman arrived at the front line just as one battle neared its end.

A “human-beast” at least three meters tall roared in madness, yet was firmly restrained by a spear-wielding Huicheng Guard, while another Huicheng Guard held a shield to cover him.

A bit farther away, a squad of crossbowmen kept firing arrows imbued with a strange woody fragrance, each piercing the monster’s body—but no blood flowed from the wounds.

Yet these wounds were far more terrifying than bleeding.

“The flesh is turning to wood?” The wounded areas had become wood.

This bizarre sight left Salliman baffled—was this the “undead beast” the princess had described?

A bit farther still lay a fully transformed wooden statue of a human-beast.

Tattered remnants of fine clothing still clung to him, but his body was riddled with arrows—he must have been a noble member. Was he one of Lord Loen’s kin?

“Is this Lord Loen?” Salliman pointed at the raging monster and asked.

The intelligence she received claimed this lord was the shadowy seller behind the “serial killer.”

Greedy, he had sold the killer Maria for the Hero’s Blood and the bounty—and in doing so, exposed himself.

In a normal case, no one would have pursued a noble lord over such a matter—but this time, the princess herself intervened, even visiting the count to summon the Huicheng Guard.

“No, the statue lying over there is.” The Huicheng Guard spoke kindly to the princess’s trusted aide.

“Then this one?” Salliman pointed to the monster, half-wooden yet still roaring with vigor.

“Old Lord Hilda, Lord Loen’s grandfather. He was said to have died over forty years ago, but we found him in a secret chamber—by now, he should be over 130 years old.”

“Hmm, truly still vigorous,” Salliman murmured, watching the monster, wielding a massive hammer, attempt to break free.

This was undoubtedly the worst news—not because the old noble’s fall was so profound (these things had long since lost all limits), but because…

“...they’ve been connected to the ‘Beasts’ for decades already.” That meant the forces and organizations tied to them had been lurking in this city for a very long time.

Salliman sighed. Sometimes, the more you know, the more troubles you carry.

She unconsciously touched the crystal necklace at her chest, remembering the man who had charged ahead—he would surely face a formidable opponent.

“I hope they succeed.”

Time passed swiftly. When Salliman hurried back to the carriage, only a few noticed the brief flash of golden hair, like sunlight, inside the opened door.

News would soon spread: the princess had not only arrived in this city, but had personally taken charge of the matter.

“Are they all dead?” Dainya closed her book and set down her coffee cup, hoping for a good answer.

“Yes, but much of the data has been destroyed. And when I entered, he was already completely insane—I couldn’t extract anything useful.”

“Expected. If this were easy to resolve, these gutter rats wouldn’t be called the world’s poison.”

Dainya sighed, taking the book and notes Salliman handed her—the newly recovered materials.

Knowledge of the Beasts was what she had specifically requested, and only she could keep it.

【When the Horned King awakens, heaven and sea will invert, and all life will bathe in His benevolent light.】

Yes, this was it—found it.

When that day comes, everyone will die. She still couldn’t understand what these madmen were thinking.

But what she saw next made her furious.

【Those who ingest holy water, the living, will merge with the Horn of Life. If the being has horns, they will swell and enlarge; if hornless, all life will concentrate at the coccyx, forming a “Little Horn” (tail), suitable for harvest.】

【The Little Horn is the purest manifestation of the King’s power. If offered into the mother’s womb, it can gestate the King’s young beast.】

【Horned Disciples are the lucky few who successfully integrate the “Little Horn” into their bodies and achieve symbiosis. Current technology yields less than a ten percent success rate; failures become irreversibly insane beasts, to be executed immediately.】

【Horned Disciples can replenish their vitality by continuously “feeding” on Little Horns—our lifespan has no end.】

Further entries detailed numerous experiments on mass-producing Horned Disciples: how many lives yielded how many disciples, how many experimental subjects and traitors were executed, and so on.

After a quick scan, Dainya knew the problem was not limited to the Hilda family—this was a systematic, organized operation.

Behind it lay at least one full supply chain.

“...It began in the old kingdom. It wasn’t that Lord Loen became a Horned Disciple—it’s that only Horned Disciples are eligible to become Lord Loen.”

At that moment, even as a princess, Dainya felt a chill run down her spine.

This Beast cult must have long parasitized the kingdom, waiting for the moment the monster below would awaken.

It had only recently become active—because the time was drawing near.

“Evil that plans on a scale of centuries.”

At that moment, Dainya remembered the knight squad.

Could just these few people truly oppose such darkness?

Probably not. The serial killer labeled “Experiment 113” was far more dangerous than he appeared.

“Salliman, you go too. Deliver this intelligence and this item.” Among these research notes lay combat-critical data—Experiment 113’s modifications were grotesque.

As she spoke, the princess removed a personal item and handed it directly to Salliman.

If that man truly was the one recognized by the Heroic Soul, he would be able to use it.

——

“We need intelligence.”

Post-battle debriefs were always painful, for looking back revealed too many foolish choices.

Though the human-beast was powerful, it shouldn’t have nearly killed the entire squad.

“Sorry, I was reckless,” Li En spoke first, offering apology.

Had he known the monster would grow calmer after being struck by Long Zhao, he wouldn’t have charged so aggressively.

Had he known it could strengthen itself using his blood, he wouldn’t have been so passive.

If he could do it again, Li En was confident he could do far better—but life is only lived once; such luck has no justification.

“I, I actually relaxed on the battlefield.”

This was the one thing Li En most regretted and could never forgive himself for: after confirming Long Zhao’s lethal effect, he had relaxed on the battlefield!

Had he remained fully alert, the monster’s bear hug might have been avoided—then he wouldn’t have nearly been torn apart.

“From now on, I will never relax my vigilance on the battlefield.”

Dying with a final burst is glamorous—but being forced into that state is itself a massive failure.

He had no admiration for heroes who grew stronger at death’s door—those things always backfired eventually.

You might win once, twice, ten times—but one failure, and you’re dead.

Rather than desperate last-minute breakthroughs on the battlefield, Li En preferred steady victories achieved through sufficient intelligence.

He thought, he calculated—how to fight such a monster to win with minimal cost.

The monster’s behavior alongside the small beast had confirmed his earlier hypothesis.

"Maria doesn't just have helpers—she's backed by an organization. We can't handle this with just two of us; we must prepare to face multiple such monsters. There may even be stronger ones."

(End of Chapter)