I Helped The Imprisoned Male Lead And He Became Obsessed - Chapter 90

On the second floor, the corpses of wolves lay scattered. A dense flock of crows had gathered there, black as ink.

The sight of the crows writhing like a black carpet unfurled was grotesque and sent shivers down the spine.

Emilian frowned slightly, then stretched out his hand and said,

“Sorry, Anise. I forgot to clean up yesterday.”

At the tip of his outstretched fingers, a dark crimson flame flared up. The magical fire quickly spread to the wolves’ corpses.

Caw!

Startled, the flock of crows flapped their wings wildly. Dozens of them flew out through the windows in unison.

‘Somehow, it feels like I’ve been tangled up with animals in a bad way since yesterday,’ I thought.

After clearing the second floor, Emilian turned to me and said,

“Let’s go, Anise.”

“Ah, yeah…”

Leaving behind the sound of the crows’ cries, we began investigating the rooms lining the corridor.

Creeeeak.

The iron door opened with an unpleasant screech. Inside the barred room, there was only a small, lonely bed with no window.

Not even common household items could be found in the room—a barren space that resembled a prison cell.

It was eerily similar to the rooms where the experimental children had once stayed at the research facility.

This place overlapped with those long-buried memories.

“Could this really be a research facility for transcendents?”

The growing unease in my heart intensified.

We inspected every single room lining the corridor, but ultimately found no trace of the children. Finishing our investigation of the second floor, we climbed to the next level.

On the third and fourth floors, instead of barred rooms, there were spacious chambers.

These rooms were filled with broken experimental equipment and shattered vials.

“These experimental tools… they look familiar,” Emilian remarked as he examined one of the relatively intact pieces among the wreckage.

Near the experimental equipment, tools like blood-stained scalpels and medical scissors were scattered about.

I felt a deep sense of despair, as if I could already grasp what had transpired here.

“Was this place truly used for transcendent experiments?”

“If the facilities here resemble that lab to this extent, it’s a strong possibility,” Emilian replied.

As he inspected the destroyed equipment, he swept away the dust piled on the floor, revealing a dried bloodstain underneath.

Emilian examined the stain closely and remarked,

“This bloodstain isn’t very old.”

“Then… does that mean this facility was abandoned only recently?”

“I can’t say for certain, but it hasn’t been left alone for years, that much is clear.”

At his words, I realized the dust on the floor wasn’t particularly thick.

But who in the world would build a facility like this in the middle of the forest?

Even after the destruction of that lab seven years ago, the shadowy benefactors funding it were surely still alive.

Could those figures have constructed this facility to continue their transcendent experiments?

There wasn’t enough information yet to be certain.

I need more clues.

Leaving the abandoned laboratory behind, we moved on to examine the rooms on the fourth floor.

When we opened the third door on the right-hand corridor, we found a room lined with bookshelves.

All the bookshelves were completely empty, and burnt scraps of paper littered the floor.

Most of the papers were completely incinerated, but fragments remained with bits of legible text.

Hoping to glean any information about this place or the experiments, I gathered the nearby scraps of paper.

“Magic infusion, drug adaptability…”

Piecing together the scattered words, I discovered one thing.

“This seems to be part of a lab journal.”

Hearing this, Emilian’s eyes darkened with gravity.

“Then this place truly was a research facility for transcendents?”

“Almost certainly,” I replied, my gaze falling on the burnt scraps still scattered around.

“If we collect all of these, we might learn more.”

Immediately, we set about gathering every burnt scrap of paper in the room.

Like solving a puzzle, I began matching the fragments of words together, painstakingly assembling them.

After repeating this process several times, I uncovered critical pieces of information.

But there were still gaps where the text had burned away.

I hurriedly compared the shapes of the burnt scraps, and soon found one that fit perfectly.

When I aligned it with the paper from before, the edges interlocked like a puzzle, forming a nearly complete sentence.

Though parts were missing, one section was unmistakably clear:

“March 21, 1507, Imperial Calendar. The transcendent experiment… succeeded.”

At my words, ripples spread through Emilian’s gaze, as if a stone had been cast into still water.

“Success.”

***

“Flawless,” remarked Duke Varez, his gaze fixed on the silver-haired girl before him.

More precisely, his eyes were on the devastated landscape beyond her—cracked earth and an uprooted forest, as if an earthquake had struck.

This destruction was the result of a single swing of her sword.

Her power rivaled that of the transcendent, Emilian, with no sign of being inferior.

‘No, she could likely surpass him,’ the Duke mused.

If the girl unleashed her full strength, the destruction would far exceed even this.

It had taken seven years to regain a Transcendent after Emilian, who was meant to be under his control, had escaped the binding magic and derailed his plans.

But the long wait would soon be richly rewarded.

Standing atop a cliff, Duke Varez cast his gaze toward the distant city—Imperial Central, the very heart of the empire.

Soon, the throne would fall into his hands.

The new transcendent, bound with an enhanced obedience spell perfected through years of research, would execute his every command without fail.

The corners of his lips curled into a smooth, satisfied smile.

Just then, he sensed someone behind him.

Turning, he saw a young man with a face similar to his own bowing his head slightly.

“Ah, Ruben.”

“Father, the preparations are complete.”

At the Duke’s command, Ruben had assembled an army. The knights of the ducal household and the private soldiers of the noble faction loyal to the Duke had been gathered in secret.

All that remained was to march on the capital.

With Emilian absent from the city, the timing was perfect.

Duke Varez took one last look at the distant imperial palace, his expression one of deep satisfaction. Then, with a pleased smile, he turned away.

***

“I need to return to the Imperial Palace,” Emilian said after piecing together the charred journal and discovering that the transcendent experiment had succeeded.

I nodded in agreement and added,

“His Majesty needs to know that someone has successfully created another transcendent.”

We still didn’t know who had orchestrated the experiment or for what purpose, but the emergence of a new transcendent was undoubtedly a development that could destabilize the entire continent.

When Emilian had awakened as a transcendent, even the Emperor himself had moved personally to bring him into the empire’s fold.

His Majesty risked everything to secure Emilian back then.

Transcendents were invaluable to those in power.

After all, a transcendent had the strength to single-handedly face an army of tens of thousands, coupled with near-immortal regenerative capabilities.

Rulers who gained control of such beings often used them to consolidate even greater power. King Wilhelm of the Kingdom of Malta had done exactly that.

Now, the rise of another transcendent could potentially shift the balance of power across the continent once more.

That was why Emilian decided he would report the situation to the Emperor in person.

“When I return to the palace this time, it might be a long while before I can come back,” Emilian said as we stepped out of the abandoned research facility.

During Emilian’s time in Petra, Sir Leonard had been managing his ducal responsibilities. However, there were undoubtedly matters beyond the authority of knights like Leonard that required Emilian’s direct attention.

He wouldn’t be able to return to Petra for some time.

“Are you still not coming with me to the palace?” Emilian asked, his voice tinged with both hope and hesitation.

“That’s…” I trailed off, unable to answer directly.

Now that I had been honest with him about my feelings, the idea of parting with him again felt unbearable.

But I couldn’t simply agree to go with him either.

The children—Leo and the others—still needed my care. Could I really abandon them to return to the palace?

‘But…’

My gaze turned to the ruined research facility behind us, haunted by what we had just witnessed.

After discovering that the transcendent experiment had succeeded, Emilian and I had searched further, hoping to find any remaining experimental data.

That was when we stumbled upon a sealed chamber.

“Step back, Anise,” Emilian had said before breaking down the wall.

What emerged was a wide space reeking of harsh chemicals.

As the dust settled, visibility returned, and Emilian suddenly turned to face me. He pulled me into a firm embrace and said,

“Don’t look, Anise.”

I didn’t ask what he didn’t want me to see.

I didn’t need to.

The stinging chemical odor in the air—it was the smell of preservatives used to prevent corpses from decaying.

Without seeing, I knew what lay ahead: the bodies of experimental children who had been left to die, abandoned without even a proper burial.

Innocent lives, sacrificed once again.

The memories of the previous lab flooded back, overlapping with the present, and a searing rage boiled within me.

When Emilian destroyed that lab years ago, I had believed such tragedies would never happen again.

But here we were, confronted with the same horror.

The researchers had all been killed back then. So why?

Had any of them survived? Or had the mastermind behind it all recruited new ones?

I couldn’t be certain. But one thing seemed painfully clear: as long as the mastermind of this story continued to exist, this tragedy might repeat itself again and again.

That thought filled my mind, heavy and unrelenting.

Finishing my long train of thought, I looked at Emilian. Then, resolutely, I spoke.

“I’ll go with you, Emilian.”

My expression was firm as I continued, determined not to forgive the researchers responsible for these horrors.

“I’m returning to the palace.”