How to Live as a Knight After the Ending

Chapter 138: The Full Moon (2)

Camilla’s appearance left researchers in a state of deep thought.

As relieved as they were that Osian was gone, another beast had moved in.

If Osian was a tiger, Camilla was a wolf but that was no relief. The people here are scholars who have nothing to do with combat.

If she was a wolf and not a tiger, there was nothing they could do.

“I’ve been asking for support since earlier!”

A researcher screamed as if in a seizure.

With a loud pop, a bullet lodged in the researcher’s leg.

The researcher screamed, but his screams slowly faded as the poison spread to his brain.

“Shut up. It’s not like I’m going to wipe you all out here.”

Camilla’s threats weren’t just words.

Two researchers had already died while the rest of the group could only tremble and wait for her next move.

In the meantime, Camilla’s eyes swept over the marks Osian had made.

The cold air is everywhere and the dead bodies are frozen.

The fight was already over but there was no sign of Osian. Where the hell had he gone?

“You guys.”

Camilla opened her mouth, and the researchers shuddered.

“Even if you’re idiots, you must know something. Are there any other bases besides this one?”

When the researchers looked at each other and didn’t open their mouths, Camilla sighed and loaded her gun.

“I guess I’m being a little ladylike, huh?”

“Oh, no!”

The researcher replied hastily.

“Well, there’s another place called……but it’s not a research facility, just a place to keep people.”

“People?”

“It’s where the combatants stay. There are still some off-duty guys staying there.”

“There’s no way we didn’t notice them…….”

Camilla said, then shook her head.

“Shit. Considering Arno and the other traitorous bastards, they’ve been sneaking around behind our backs. Okay, fine. So where’s the hideout?”

“Uh, we don’t know the exact location. There’s a guy who knew about it…….”

Camilla followed the researcher’s gaze and turned her head.

There was a headless body there.

“So that’s what the guy who knew. What about the call for help earlier?”

“Well, I could get a signal back to them, so I called for backup. It shouldn’t have taken them ten minutes to get here.”

Ten minutes? Well, it’s been over 30 minutes and they haven’t heard anything.

The researchers were now at a loss for words.

Even for them, the events of the day had been a series of surprises.

Camilla’s eyes lit up.

“Diolan, that bastard. I wonder where the hell he’s been.”

She curled the corners of her mouth in a grimace.

That saved her a lot of trouble since there was only one thing left to do.

“Hey, start moving now. You just saw what happens when you don’t.”

Camilla flashed her gun, and the researchers scrambled to their feet.

They realized what she was about to do.

She was going to capture them alive and hand them over to the three organizations of the 45th District.

Seeing the anxiety in their eyes, Camilla pulled the trigger.

BANG!

Another researcher died in agony.

“You think I’ve come all this way to play your games, you bastards? If you don’t want to be poisoned and gutted, move!”

*

-Boom!

The entire building was engulfed in flames but no one was surprised to see it since everyone inside was too cool to feel the heat of the flames.

Diolan stared at the burning building and slowly turned away.

He tapped the floor with his toe and checked the condition of his boots.

“Phew.”

Letting out a small sigh, Diolan turned to walk away from the flames, his eyes fixed on the darkness beyond.

The pathway was darkened by the flames, which had brightened their surroundings.

Beyond it, he could see something bluish coming toward him.

The pupils of Diolan’s eyes parted vertically for a moment, only to reopen when he recognized the other man.

“What the hell, is that you, and how the hell did you get here?”

Diolan smirked.

The blue light from beyond faded, revealing Osian.

“I was wondering where the emergency exits led, but you’ve taken care of everything?”

“Sort of. You didn’t blow the flute, did you?”

“Because I didn’t have to…but you didn’t blow either.”

“That’s true.”

Osian stared over Diolan’s shoulder at the burning building.

There had to be people in there who were part of this.

The thought of killing them all and setting them on fire gave Osian an odd sense of discomfort.

“Are you angry?”

“Hmm?”

Diolan asked.

“About what?”

“I’m just saying, you sounded angry.”

“I am?”

Diolan started to chuckle, then sighed, his shoulders slumping.

“Mmm. You’re right, I guess I am a little upset.”

“I hope it’s not because of their inhumane behavior…….”

“I’ve seen a few in my time in this business, and I don’t get emotional about them.”

“Otherwise, you didn’t find what you were looking for?”

“…….”

Diolan’s eyes narrowed.

In the scattering embers, a corner of the building, unable to withstand the heat of the flames, crumbled away.

The incomplete combustion sent black smoke billowing into the sky. But there would be no pollution. The air here was worse than that, anyway.

“I’ve noticed this before, but you have a very good sense of smell.”

“I take it as a compliment.”

“Of course it’s a compliment. How else would you know?”

“You set it on fire. You probably need something to vent your anger on, more than just covering your traces. That wasn’t your usual behavior.”

“…….”

“Besides, I heard something.”

At this point, Diolan couldn’t help but notice.

“Hah, Camilla, finally told you everything.”

“Not everything. She only told me as much as you had done to her.”

“Uh, doesn’t that mean she’s told you everything?”

Osian glared at Diolan.

“You acted like you were my friend, but it seems you realized you were causing trouble.”

“Hahaha, just kidding, just kidding. Well, I don’t think Camilla would have blown it.”

“I apologize if I’m keeping secrets.”

“Never mind. That’s what coworkers do. I was bound to find out at some point, just like Lorraine and the other seniors.”

Osian remembered that he hadn’t seen the rest of the Violet Fox fixers, the only one he’s met is Seren Gracia.

Seren was the only one with an unusual ability.

I suddenly wondered who else was left, what other abilities and powers they might possess but I suppose that’s not what matters now.

“Is that why you followed me, to find traces of Mother Goose?”

“Yes. Of course, I also wanted to help you, but my main purpose is to find her tracks.”

“I’ve heard Mother Goose is a powerful witch. Why are you looking for her?”

“I’m sorry. That’s personal, I can’t tell you.”

Osian shrugged.

“I can’t help it if it’s personal. You found her traces here, right?”

“That’s right. I sensed a disturbing movement after the power surge. I thought I’d check it out, just in case, but it didn’t work out.”

And so the fire was born.

Of course, Diolan wasn’t a maniacal arsonist, so he only burned down their hideout.

“And you, how did you handle it?”

“I took out their base and their ringleader, so I’d say it’s pretty much over.”

“You must be proud of yourself, finally rooting out the masterminds behind the power surge.”

“It wasn’t a big deal, I just blindly smashed everyone in my way.”

“That’s what I call great, so what the hell were they doing?”

“I was going to get the details, but the mole they planted among them cut off the throat of the loudmouth for secrecy’s sake.”

“I can already tell you that it’s not going to be easy.”

Osian said, remembering the agent he’d killed.

“They called themselves the White House.”

“…….”

Diolan’s usually smiling face twitched and Osian’s sharp eyes didn’t miss the subtle change.

“You know them, do you?”

“Hmph. So it was them.”

Diolan shook his head.

He’d expected to find the witch, Mother Goose, but instead he’d come face to face with another annoyance.

“What are they doing?”

“Well, it’s, um……how do I explain it?”

Diolan ran a hand through his hair to clear his head.

“Unless those guys you’re talking about are imposters……no, they’re not imposters if they’re doing this here. Anyway, that ‘white house’ bunch is literally a bunch of lunatics.”

“And most of them have something to do with science, is that right?”

“Yes. The White House is an organization that emerged from the highly advanced science of Tirna. It was once a great laboratory, a leader in knowledge that would take humanity into the future.”

“If they were, why are they now hiding and plotting this?”

“Because Tirna gave them a lot of support, but they were lining their own pockets. Even though Tirna says money is everything, there’s a line, and they crossed it, a lot.”

What happened next was obvious.

Tirna’s mayor and district governors met and unanimously voted to dismantle the White House.

“Even the great White House was helpless against Tirna’s determined sweep.”

The number of troops deployed was staggering.

With the approval of the mayor and the council, the military in Tirna took action, and the fixers within Tirna, such as Nanda Ginda, also stepped in.

In addition to the guards, there were three executioners on the scene.

‘The White House’s scientific marvels crumbled in the face of the massive force.’

“And so the White House was dismantled, and the knowledge, information, and profits from it were scattered to the winds, to be used for power generation in various parts of Tirna. You were involved with the Prometheans, weren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“What do you think got Prometheus to that point? The knowledge from the now-defunct White House.”

It was like a natural ecosystem.

A giant beast had fallen, fallen prey to bugs and microorganisms, and was now contributing to nature’s progress.

But the beast was not completely dead.

The seeds it sowed were still embedded in the darkness of Tirna, and it was still at work, doing things out of sight.

If anything, it had become more cunning than before.

It had shrunk in size and split into many pieces, making it much more stealthy.

This was all part of it.

‘They deliberately used the traitors of Emerald, Amethyst, and Topaz to hide their presence.’

They didn’t want to be seen.

The fact that no one had found their laboratory in the wastewater treatment plant was proof of that.

‘They’re definitely dangerous.’

Tirna was a huge city-state, so it was understandable that such people could be hiding somewhere and not be found.

What worried Osian was their scientific prowess.

‘They’ve extracted the power of my Moonlight and injected it into the body of wizards.’

They had imbued mages with the power of a knight, and it had worked…Now mages could use the power of Moonlight.

‘A hybrid, indeed.’

I wonder what would have happened if any of the Sapphire test subjects had survived and returned to their home base.

And what if they’d gotten the right data?

Osian recovered the essence of Moonlight, but do they really have just that?

‘Maybe they have more of my power.’

Even more surprising was the fact that they had only a cursory glimpse of the elusive knight’s power.

What if they were not only studying the [Moonlight], but also the [Starlight] or the [Sunlight]?

Osian laughed inwardly at the thought.

‘Then I’d rather be grateful, it would save me the trouble of searching.’

They had liquefied the power of the [Moonlight] and added something else to it to make it into a drug, but even then, they couldn’t extract even a fraction of its true power.

The sapphire test subject was able to draw out a little more, but it was more like forcing him into an ill-fitting suit.

The source of the power is the knight, after all.

Those who are not knights will be controlled by the power rather than harnessing it.

Osian would rather defeat them and retrieve the power.

‘I’d rather they come to me on their own.’