Chapter 115: Egg

"An egg....?"

That sounded ridiculous.

Just a moment ago, Killac had mentioned there might be another factor behind all this happening. But it wasn’t something he wanted to say directly in front of the great families.

Perhaps because Killac trusted Julian’s strength, the man had decided to tell Julian about the factor most likely to be the cause.

And, more shocking than anything else, it was something caused by an egg.

Was Julian surprised? Of course.

’There’s no way those Invaders suddenly got hungry and decided to seize an egg held by a cult member, right?’

Right, besides, the egg in question surely wasn’t just an ordinary egg.

"Yes," Killac nodded, then hesitantly explained. "It’s an egg the size of a human, with a shell colored red, white, and gold. I tried to grab it, but because of the chaos caused by those Invaders, I decided to hold back."

"Hmm... so the only clue is that egg?"

Still, an egg that large and that capable of drawing the attention of those Invaders was genuinely suspicious.

Julian recalled one of the great family parties’ theories, which apparently had reached the right conclusion. The cult members had somehow found something they shouldn’t have possessed and attracted the Aliens to chase them down.

This also gave Julian another possible picture, that since the cult seemed to have no intention of giving up, it could only be because they had enough confidence and strength to accompany them.

"How strong is this cult, actually?" Julian decided to ask, this would give him a much clearer picture of what he was actually up against.

"They don’t have a single Rank-A, but because of an artifact, they’ve become extremely difficult to kill and capture. The strongest among them is likely only at Rank-B."

"That’s relieving to hear..."

Right, far better than facing them if they were also at Rank-A. At least, they only relied on an artifact, and it seemed that artifact was the kind that made them act like cockroaches.

’That doesn’t mean it makes them any less dangerous.’

In fact, because they could always escape like that, it made them far more dangerous than they should be.

Julian let out a small sigh, about to continue his conversation with Killac, but stopped when he suddenly found himself looking at empty air showing a translucent light blue screen.

It was something that froze Julian’s entire body in shock, and he couldn’t help an awkward smile forming in his mind.

[System]

Disciple Skill Progress detected.

Skill: [Unbidden Prophecy]

Source Skill Rank: [D]

Progress Gained: [+62.40%]

MASTER Authority activated.

Return Multiplier: [100×]

[Status Update]

[Unbidden Prophecy] — [C] — [6.1%] → [Unbidden Prophecy] — [B] — [53.0%]

"Heh."

Wasn’t he seeing this wrong?

Julian put on a thin smirk outwardly, unable to hold back feeling something trembling inside his own body.

’What is that girl doing?’

Julian certainly understood that this was fundamentally probably related to some sort of enlightenment, but at the same time, it could also be a clue that Ilunia might have done something related to the future, present, and past.

With all that, how could Julian possibly stay calm?

Perhaps because Julian’s reaction was somewhat startling, Killac blinked a little, confused, and tried to understand the meaning behind it.

The man thought hard about it, but couldn’t find anything meaningful and simply stayed silent, then decided to ask hesitantly.

"Lord Julian...? Is something wrong?"

Hearing that, Julian finally snapped back from his thoughts. His completely empty gaze met Killac’s again, the thin smile on his face persisting.

"It’s nothing, something good is just happening." ℴℴ𝘮

Julian felt genuinely delighted, since one of his disciples had apparently done something extraordinary.

Even though the impact needed questioning, this was still something worth celebrating.

"Something good?"

Meanwhile, Killac on the other side pondered that statement.

’Clearly he’s just standing here, what could possibly be called something good?’

He clearly hadn’t discussed anything that felt like good news. Everything felt more like a problem that needed solving instead.

But, the man in front of him said something good was happening?

What exactly did that sentence mean?

Killac looked at Julian. Once again, he only found that same blank face, only smiling thinly in a way that sometimes made Killac feel pressured for no clear reason.

Then, Killac returned to their conversation, trying to find something that could possibly be the "good news" in question.

Their conversation seemed to revolve only around that unknown egg and also around the cult.

Then, after considering it for a moment, Killac arrived at a conclusion difficult to comprehend.

’Could it be he knows about that egg? Then, why would that be good news?’

Because the existence of that egg was drawing so many breaches at once, throwing the abandoned territory into chaos, filled with Invaders.

The number of those creatures kept increasing significantly day by day.

And now, those creatures were hunting that cult.

What was the advantage in this situation? Something worth celebrating?

’...If looking for a situation that’s actually beneficial for us, then it’s the Aliens chasing the cult instead of us.’

Could it be...?

Killac found himself momentarily unable to speak, especially when he thought about how this situation might be even more than what he’d considered.

Maybe there was still more... And, there actually was.

’Just how strong is Lord Julian, who is he, and why did he suddenly show up at a time like this and help us?’

Suddenly, all of that returned as questions filled with mystery for Killac.

He didn’t want to think about this, but on his face, he was actually spilling a bit of cold sweat, forcing a smile.

’...Is Lord Julian even human?’

Then, that question emerged, leaving its mark in his mind, forming a kind of pure fear that made him lower his head unconsciously.

If the man in front of him truly was an Alien...

How strong was he, exactly?

Was... humanity’s greatest fear actually already happening right now?

The fact that there was a strong possibility an Alien too high in rank would be able to find this Earth’s coordinates in the universe, and eventually come here on their own.

Killac no longer understood anything, but he at least understood one thing.

’Humanity depends on Lord Julian, whether it’s salvation or destruction, it all depends on the goal he holds.’

Maybe that’s why Aveela backed Julian. It wasn’t because the woman did it voluntarily, but it might be because Aveela had discovered something the same or even more.

But, all of this wasn’t yet confirmed truth. There was still a possibility Killac was just overthinking it.

However, that didn’t mean Killac would just discard all those thoughts. Not when he felt that... his line of thinking felt genuinely reasonable and quite possibly true.

He just needed to see it in the future, and how all this situation unfolded would determine whether that assessment was correct or not.

For now, Killac only knew he must not act carelessly.