The Genius Son-in-law of the Swordmaster Household—Blessed by Authority-Chapter 50 : Taken (4)

Taken (4)
Darkness.
― Sniff... Cough.
A damp, musty smell of mold.
― Drip. Drop... Drip...
The sound of water droplets falling.
― Ugh, ugh...
― Ahh...
Endless groans echoing from all around.
"Ugh, ugh..."
Yuria awoke from her sleep.
"Ugh...!"
The moment she opened her eyes, a dull ache and numbness throbbed through her neck.
"Ow..."
Apparently, her head had been bent over for a very long time.
"Ugh..."
Yuria tried to move her hand to massage her numb neck.
"Huh?"
― Creak!
But her hand wouldn't move, as if bound tightly by something.
"What the..."
After wriggling her arms a few times, Yuria's mind instantly sharpened, and her eyes flew open wide.
"Where am I...?"
A world submerged in darkness, not a glimmer of light.
― Uhhh...
― It hurts... It huuurts...
Groans of pain resonated from every direction, impossible to tell front from back.
"What, what the...!"
Yuria tried again to move her hands.
― Creak!
A suffocating pressure wrapped tightly around both her wrists.
Something was firmly binding her wrists together.
"Ugh! Damn it!"
― Creak!
No matter how much strength she used to wrench free, it was impossible.
"What is this...?"
Yuria, bearing the strong blood of Hisperion more than anyone, had enough strength to break most iron chains like pulling up grass roots.
― Creak!
"Ugh!"
But whatever was binding Yuria's wrists now, no matter how hard she tried, it neither broke nor even stretched.
Was it made of adamantium?
― Clang! Clang!
When she struck the cuffs binding her wrists against the ground, a dry metallic sound rang out.
Was it really adamantium?
'Damn... What the hell happened?'
― Ugh.
Yuria straightened her body from where she'd been pressed to the floor to assess the situation.
'First, let's figure out where I am.'
Narrowing her eyes, Yuria looked around.
Though everything was pitch dark, it didn't matter.
The Hisperion bloodline had night vision as sharp as any vampire's.
This level of darkness was trivial for her to pierce through.
'Iron bars?'
The first thing she saw were the iron bars confining her.
She was surrounded on all sides by iron bars—just like a cage for a wild animal.
'Damn it...'
Yuria widened her view, peering beyond the bars around her.
"Ugh!"
Without realizing it, a gasp of horror escaped her lips.
'What is this place?!'
All around her, people were locked in cages just like hers, but not a single person was uninjured.
'This is bad...'
Some, missing arms and legs, crawled along the ground like caterpillars; some were shuddering, skin peeled from their bodies; and some appeared already dead.
'Shit.'
Her assessment of the situation was immediate.
'Why am I in a place like this? Kidnapped...? By whom? When?'
Yuria closed her eyes and traced back her last memory.
Her last recollection was cultivating her aura in the afternoon.
'Did I get hit while concentrating on my cultivation?'
Being attacked during aura cultivation would make even a high-ranker defenseless.
Cultivation required intense concentration, as mistakes could lead to energy deviation.
It seemed likely that someone had knocked Yuria out and kidnapped her while she was focused on internal healing.
Given how stiff her neck was, she must have been struck on the back of the head and lost consciousness.
'How could this happen...'
Yuria furrowed her brow.
'There were surely Heavenly Sword knights guarding me. Did they break through all that to kidnap me?'
How?
'Hm.'
Yuria's expression darkened bitterly.
'If the Heavenly Sword knights on guard were in on it, it's not impossible...'
Could knights loyal to her siblings have aided in her abduction?
Yuria gritted her teeth.
'Who's the culprit...? There's no way to find out just yet. What about the time...? Damn, my neck hurts... How long have I been out?'
Yuria scowled and looked around beyond the bars again.
'No windows. Underground, maybe? No idea what time it is. Haaa...'
But she couldn't just sit here.
'I have to escape.'
― Thump.
Yuria leaned against the iron bars.
"Ha!"
She gathered strength from her lower abdomen to her waist and pushed with all her might.
"Ugh!"
― Sizzle! Sizzle!
But all that happened was her feet slipping against the floor—the bars didn't even creak.
'Why are these this sturdy!?'
Ordinary steel would snap like a corn stalk.
These seemed like magically reinforced alloy, probably made in a mage tower.
'Haaa... Guess I have no choice.'
Though she was still in pain from internal injuries, she'd have to use her aura.
If she summoned her Heavenly Energy, even these reinforced bars would at least bend enough to let her slip through.
"Hrrrr!"
Yuria focused to draw the aura from her dantian.
"Huh?"
But there was no trace of aura felt in her dantian.
Without thinking, Yuria's mouth fell open in disbelief.
"What the..."
Why was her aura like this?
As she stared in confusion at her lower abdomen—
― Brrring! Brrring!
Suddenly, a loud alarm bell blared throughout the cell-lined chamber.
― Thud! Thud! Thud!
At the same time, heavy footsteps pounded above from the ceiling.
― Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Someone was clearly rushing down in response to the alarm.
― Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!
Soon after, the harsh stomping of someone hurrying down old wooden stairs followed.
― Ugh, aaah!
― No! Nooo!
As the footsteps drew close, the detained people began to scream and wail.
Those horribly wounded thrashed in agony.
Only the corpses slumped in cage corners remained silent.
'Tsk.'
Clearly, whoever was coming was bad news.
― Thud!
As Yuria glared at the heavy iron door at the end of the row, it banged open violently.
"Ha, haah! Finally, finally you've woken up! Yuria!"
A shadowy figure appeared from behind the door, arms outstretched, voice hoarse with anticipation.
Though the face was shrouded in dusk and backlight, the thick, rounded outline made it clear the figure was a man.
"I kept waiting for you to wake up! You slept so long! It was driving me crazy!"
The huge man strode toward Yuria, grabbing hold of the bars with a clang.
"Aaaah...! Yuria! Yuriaaa! I can hardly wait to start working on you!"
"... What is this?"
Yuria looked at him coldly.
As her eyes adjusted, the man's face became clear.
A face riddled with warts, thick glasses, eyes gleaming with madness.
"Who are you?"
Yuria had never seen him before.
"Me? Hah! Are you curious about me!? So you are interested! Fine, I'll tell you!"
The man giggled and introduced himself.
"I am! Ruuu! Deus Delmora!"
"......"
"I'm the most outstanding artist in this whole city!"
― Klang!
The man stuck his face almost through the bars, as if trying to squeeze past them.
"Ahhhh...! To think I can talk with you like this! Feels like a dream come true!"
"... I see. Rudeus Delmora."
Yuria wanted to smash his face right there with a headbutt, but she held back for now to extract information.
"Where is this? Did you bring me here?"
"Huh? Whattt?"
Rudeus recoiled from the bars, as if he'd seen something filthy.
"Who tells you that sort of thing in a place like this? Are you stupid or something?"
"......"
A vein bulged on Yuria's temple.
'This bastard...'
"A-ahh! Not good! You can't be stupid! You're supposed to be the ingredient for my life's greatest masterpiece! If I use a fool as a material, I'll only get a foolish result!"
Rudeus scratched his head in agony.
"I thought you'd be more perfect!"
Then, he suddenly froze like a paused video.
"Hm? Maybe it doesn't matter? A puppet doesn't need intelligence anyway. That's right. As long as the body is perfect. Mm."
― Wobble, wobble.
Rudeus began to hum and dance awkwardly.
"... Ingredient? Puppet?"
Yuria frowned and asked, and Rudeus answered while twisting his head creepily.
"Yeah! You'll definitely become the greatest puppet of our age! I'll use every strand of your hair, nothing wasted!"
"... You mean you'll turn me into a puppet?"
"Oh! Not just yet. Timing is important for a true masterpiece!"
Rudeus pointed a finger at the ceiling.
"In two days, the full moon will rise! When magic power is most abundant in the air! That's when I'll turn you into my beautiful puppet, Yuria!"
"......"
Yuria realized she'd been kidnapped by a profoundly deranged man.
"Hah. He really thinks I'm some kind of pushover."
― Klang!
Yuria slammed against the bars.
"Eek!!"
The boom was like a lion battering a cage—so deafening that Rudeus fell over onto his butt.
"Open this cage. Now, you filthy worm."
Yuria's red eyes blazed like coals in the thick darkness, staring down Rudeus.
"You'd better open it. If I break out, I'll pluck out those disgusting eyes first."
"H-hee! Heeheeheehee!"
Rudeus laughed as he met her gaze.
"So chilling! Yuria! I almost wet myself!"
He shuddered as if covered in goosebumps.
"I poisoned you with Hollow Peak Poison, and cast a Weakening Spell! How are you still so monstrous? You're a freak! Yuria! Hehehe! Ah! I can't wait to make you my puppet! You'll be my greatest masterpiece ever!"
Rudeus started to reach out to Yuria, then quickly retracted his hand.
"Oh! I can't touch you! No!"
He grinned slyly.
"Not until the full moon rises, Yuria! You must remain pure! In two days, you'll be completely and only mine—just as you are! Ohoho!"
With those words, Rudeus vanished from the basement.
"Ha, haah..."
Yuria stared at the closed door, sighing deeply.
"... He said two days?"
He planned to turn her into a puppet on the night the full moon rose.
'At least I have two days.'
She had to find a way out in that time, no matter what.
'Ssss...'
But...
'Hollow Peak Poison? And a Weakening Spell?'
That pervert had just mentioned Hollow Peak Poison and a Weakening Spell.
'So right now, hollow Peak Poison is in my system, and a Weakening Spell is also in effect?'
Hollow Peak Poison was an especially vicious toxin that scattered the aura inside the body, and the Weakening Spell, as the name suggested, sapped the target's physical power, sometimes so much that they couldn't even use a fraction of their strength.
'No wonder, damn it!'
She was unable to draw on aura or strength at all.
'Haaa, shit... How the hell am I supposed to escape?'
She pondered awhile, but couldn't think of any solution.
'Damn... This is really the worst.'
A suffocating sense of hopelessness pressed in, and anxiety gnawed at her.
Yuria's shoulders began to tremble.
'No... There has to be a way...'
Though she told herself so, her body trembled ever more violently.
No matter how much tough training had disciplined her will since childhood, she was, in the end, only a fourteen-year-old girl.
Even Yuria was not used to such extreme situations, and, like anyone, she grew anxious when no way out was in sight.
"Ha, haah..."
What should I do?
What am I supposed to do?
As time passed, Yuria's spirit slowly weakened.
At the same time, fear and despair began to bloom inside her.
Those emotions began to flicker in her heart like embers.
* * *
Yuria had been kidnapped a few times in her previous life, but this incident was unprecedented.
This event was a butterfly effect of Ian returning to the past 15 years ago.
In other words, Yuria's kidnapping was essentially caused by Ian having knocked her out.
'I was too complacent.'
Just a month ago, Yuria had been chosen by Genesis, putting her under even greater scrutiny by the other direct descendants.
Her talent was already subject to immense wariness, and now she'd pulled the founding patriarch's Divine Sword—no wonder.
Those who feared Yuria's growth would have been watching for a chance to eliminate her.
She should have predicted something like this might happen, and remained vigilant at all times.
'Still, though...'
Ian, honestly, felt a bit wronged.
Who would have imagined she'd be abducted right in the heart of Heavenly Sword Palace, the seat of Hisperion?
Was there nowhere Yuria could truly rest in safety?
To be kidnapped the moment the Lord left his seat.
'No, no! Now is not the time to be thinking about this.'
Ian shook his head vigorously.
'Now, focus on finding Yuria.'
If there was any small blessing, it was that Ian was a master at tracking people, thanks to the countless real-world situations he'd experienced in his past life.
'Rudeus. Now that I know this bastard is involved, finding Yuria is only a matter of time.'
No matter what, he would find her within two days.
'Let's hurry.'
"Hyah!"
Ian spurred his horse.
― Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!
A fine steed raced swiftly toward the Warp Gate.
"Hyah!"
"Hiyah!"
Behind him, swordmaster Javier and four elite Heavenly Sword knights followed close behind.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Yeah, butterfly effect...
Also, Yuria no longer has the Authority of Projection, so she couldn't escape using it, like how Ian escaped in the early chapters...
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】