Academy’s Genius Swordmaster Chapter 213

213. King of the North (7)

#213

“This… is Zaipa writing.”

Ronan looked at the parchment and narrowed his eyes. She had seen his scribbles once while drinking in Jaifa and Farzan. It was unmistakably Jaifa’s handwriting.

‘Are you sure.’

The parchments were all letters addressed to Barka. The date that appeared to be the date of receipt was separately written in the lower right corner of each letter.

The letters, arranged chronologically, were all worn to the point where the edges were torn. Some of the pages, including the most recent letter, were in particularly poor condition, looking as if they had been torn into pieces and then glued together.

‘It seems like you’ve read quite a lot. By the way, was what Barca said true?’

Suddenly, the words Barca said in the ice cave flashed through my mind. Apparently, Jaifa had mentioned my name in his letter.

‘no way···.’

The doubts that had been sleeping deep inside were raising their heads. Adeshan tilted his head at the sight of Ronan suddenly stopping.

“Ronan? “What are you doing there?”

“Wait a minute… wait a minute.”

Ronan raised his hand to indicate that he wanted to wait. I felt like I couldn’t just pass this by. He began to read the letter like someone possessed by something. The first letter came eight years ago.

“Little brother. Are the preparations for recruiting soldiers going well? Even though I made a pact with the emperor… what the f*ck.”

Ronan, who was reading the letter in a whisper, cursed. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this was just a plan for a mock rebellion. Below the text that stated what to do, confidential information of the Imperial Army was written in full.

What Jager said was wrong. He said that after the surrender of Jaifa, the relationship between the Tergeng brothers completely split, but that was completely incorrect information. Jaipa was in closer communication with Barca than anyone else.

“This damn cat…!”

I felt like I was stabbed in the foot by an ax I trusted. Ronan continued to pick up the next letter and quickly scanned it. Truly rebellious content followed.

Until just three years ago, Jaifa was talking about the liberation of the North and an empire that would be reduced to ashes. I felt murderous intent in every word. I felt like I knew why Nabirose warned that it was so dangerous.

I felt a tremendous sense of betrayal, but at the same time, I also felt sorry. She wondered what on earth happened in the past to make a person like this. The occasional story of memories with his wife and children only vaguely gave us a glimpse of the past.

‘···Did you say the whole family died?’

In the letter, Jaipa hated the empire more than anyone else. Although Nebula Clage-related content appeared at some point, the main theme was always anger against the Empire and unity in the North. Ronan, who had finished dozens of letters in an instant, picked up the next letter.

“Today, while carrying out a mission, I met a guy named Ronan… huh?”

His eyes widened when he saw the familiar name. Looking at the date, I saw that the letter was written about two years ago. It contained the details of the day when Nebula Clazie, who was riding a wyvern with Asher and Jaifar, was dealt with.

“He was a funny guy… In terms of interest, he was on a level comparable to the prosecutor named Butterfly Rose that I mentioned before… A guy who hasn’t even turned 20 yet had a great cause…”

Ronan learned that Jaifar was watching him very carefully. It seemed like it was quite interesting for a small thing to face off against a huge organization called Nebula Clage.

From then on, the tone of the letter began to change. The main content was not hatred of the empire, but measures for the future, filling in the blank space.

“He’s a great guy. He asked me to help him move. Can you believe it?”

“I heard from a kid named Ronan and investigated. They’re a lot more dangerous than you think… Little brother, be careful of Nebula Clazier. “Now is not the time to fight among ourselves…”

By any measure, there was no more talk of rebellion in the letters. It was noticeable that the closer it got to the current date, the less toxic it became.

It mainly consisted of a brief update and the message that now is not the time for rebellion and that everyone should join forces to exterminate the fanatics. Barka must have lost his temper while reading, and all the letters from this time had traces of being torn and put back together at least once.

“Two months ago, I was drinking with Ronan… I was attacked by a guy named Darman at the top of Farzan…”

The last letter was written about what happened at the Festival of the Sword. Jaifar no longer referred to Ronan as a derogatory term, such as a brat. The letter ended with the argument that the North should unite to fight Nebula Clazier.

The reading of the letter ended in less than three minutes. Ronan took his eyes off the letter and laughed.

“…Old people come and go.”

Jaifa was not a traitor. The trusted ax did not sting the foot. Ronan realized that it was none other than she who had changed him. This was the ‘change from my previous life’ that I had been searching for so long.

Whether intentional or not, meeting me made Jaipa forget his hatred and pursue another cause. I also thought I could understand why Barca hated his brother so much.

The outline of the incident began to emerge little by little. It was the car that Ronan was about to pursue again. A cracked voice was heard from beyond the door pointed to by the blood acupuncture point.

“Did you read that?”

“Barka.”

“To chase you all the way here… you guys are so persistent.”

It was Barca. Judging by the way he was giggling, it seemed like the wound on his neck had not healed yet. Ronan threw away her letter and fired his sword energy at the door. Quang! The entire wall flew away, revealing the space behind it. A rushing stench assaulted the two people.

“Ugh…!”

“Lab?”

The space was wider than Jager’s office. The room was created entirely out of the ice sea and was filled with hundreds of shelves and countless experimental tools.

Specially treated corpses were neatly laid out on five layers of spacious shelves. Most of the odor was coming from there. Ronan and Adeshan frowned at the bizarre appearance that was reminiscent of a market.

“Come out here!”

It was disgusting, but I had no choice but to go. The two went straight into the lab. Barca was nowhere to be seen, hiding behind a shelf somewhere. His voice rang out again.

“Our brothers… wow, literally everything was taken away by the empire.”

“f*ck, where are you hiding?”

It was difficult to chase because it was wide and dizzy. Even though I was destroying everything that stood in my way, it was nearly impossible to keep going straight along the acupuncture points. Barca continued.

“I was better off because I didn’t have a wife or children… but, hehe, even the family that Jaipa thought so horribly was brutally murdered at the hands of the imperial pigs. “Aren’t you curious about what happened?”

“Shut up you bastard. “Don’t be emotional.”

“Originally, both of my brothers would have become hunters… lol, that was decades ago now…”

The chase was still difficult. Barka ignored Ronan’s words and began to talk about his past.

A tragedy that occurred long before the Night of the Fangs, when oppression against the North was severe. Barka, who was coughing violently, continued speaking.

“It was a day like any other… the border area was chaotic, but our village was in a remote area in the north… no one expected something like that to happen…”

Originally, the Turgen brothers had no interest in war. He’d never even committed murder before it happened in the first place, so he’d said it all. If he had any friction with the imperial army, it was just that he gave a little reassurance to the soldiers around him who were talking nonsense and mistreating their compatriots.

“Our wish was just to lead a peaceful life… If the imperial army wasn’t really evil, we would just give them a moderate amount of fear and send them away… Ugh, but they felt even that behavior was shameful, as if they had been raped… The Empire. The pigs of organized a separate unit just to take revenge on our brothers…”

The tragedy occurred while the brothers were out hunting. The imperial army committed a massacre while the Turgen brothers were away from the village.

What the brothers saw while hunting was a burning village, headless corpses strewn about indiscriminately, and the heads of residents proudly displayed on a guardian stone at the entrance of the village.

“The funny thing is that the revenge was not on us, but on the villagers… Among the heads with their eyes brightly open were my parents and Jaifa’s wife and children.”

Ronan twisted his lips at the obvious yet terrible story. Adeshan’s expression remained stiff throughout the story.

“At the time of the Night of the Fangs, Jaifa was a black, blazing sun… They were respectable brothers who never forgot their hatred even after falsely surrendering to the Empire… But at some point, the contents of the letter started to get strange. …Ronan, from the moment I met you.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“I guess so… but Jaifa got weird… and tried to cajole me, saying now was not the time to worry about the empire. “While saying things that did not even seem to be saying that our true enemy is different, I ended my relationship with Jaifa from that point on.”

bang! Ronan hit the shelf in front of her with his shoulder, knocking her down. I thought I saw something that looked like a tail just now, but I missed it again. The needle of the blood acupuncture needle was spinning round and round following Barka’s movements.

“I hate the Empire… and now I hate Jaifa, who has forgotten that hatred, just as much. That’s why I started calling the stars by their names. “I will destroy the empire with the power he is so wary of…”

“Aren’t you crazy?”

Ronan laughed. He became a member of Nebula Clage simply out of repulsion against Zyfar. Ronan learned that he had risen to the position of Bishop of the Northern Diocese of Nebula Clage.

“So I learned necromancy and curses. Not long ago, they developed a weapon that would destroy both the empire and Jaifa. that···”

“Now shut up. “I’m not curious.”

Ronan cut off his horse. He wasn’t worth listening to anymore. It was certainly a sad story, but it could not excuse evil deeds. There are countless people in the world who experience misfortune, but not all of them become criminals.

Ronan switched the power source and pulled the hilt of the sword. A sword body covered in sparkling mana was pulled out. He said, looking back at Adeshan.

“It sticks to me. “As close as possible.”

“huh.”

Adeshan did so without comment. I thought I knew what Ronan was thinking. He pointed the tip of his sword downward and struck the floor. Kwaaaaaaaaaa! An invisible shock wave exploded around Ronan.

“Ugh?!”

Barca’s bewilderment could be heard from somewhere. It was an Auror stolen from Bishop Terranil in the past. The shock wave, which grew stronger over the years, blew away all the surrounding shelves, laboratory tools, and corpses on display. Ronan muttered to himself after seeing the incredible power.

“It should have been like this a long time ago.”

There was nothing to block the view anymore. The two people looked in the direction pointed by the blood gauge. Beyond the hazy cloud of dust, Barka was standing in the middle of the lab that had become chaos.

“Krrrrrrr…”

He met Ronan’s eyes and growled lowly. As they were put on the defensive, their true wild nature seemed to be revealed.

The limbs that had been severed had just regenerated. She held two large swords in both hands. Ronan, aiming the tip of his sword at Barka, opened her mouth.

“The knife looks nice, so is that the end of your will?”

“Wait a minute Ronan. “Something is strange.”

It was a car that was about to activate its aura. Suddenly, Adeshan grabbed Ronan’s shoulder. He tilted his head.

“What?”

“That’s not Barca.”

“yes?”

Ronan’s brows narrowed at the inexplicable sound. She clearly heard and it seemed like there was something strange about her. She was smaller than Barca, and her energy was much stronger. She was mistaken, however, because the texture of her energy was so similar. Ronan tilted her head.

“···Then who is that?”

“I do not know either. However, this presence is clearly that of Jaifa… No way.”

For a moment, Adeshan’s face froze. It was like someone who had discovered something scary and something I didn’t want to even imagine. There was an awkward silence. The gunman who was standing still rushed towards the two people.

“Kaaaa!”

“What the f*ck…!”

Ronan took a deep breath. It was so fast that it seemed as if it had disappeared from sight. Ronan hurriedly blocked Ade Shan’s path and raised his sword. Kaaaaang-! A sharp metal sound rang out.

“Grrrrrrrrr! “Kaaaaaa!”

“This···!”

Ronan’s eyes widened. She had three blades locked together and was growling as if they were going to eat each other. A Were Tiger boy, whose entire body was covered in black fur, was competing with himself.

“Kuheuung!”

“Ugh!”

It was so powerful that only when Varen’s aura was activated could it be barely pushed away. He was far superior to Barca in terms of speed and strength. I couldn’t figure out where this monster suddenly appeared.

A deep scar was engraved all around his thick neck. Every time the boy opened his mouth, the smell of his rotting corpse wafted out. Like Barca’s other subordinates, he looked like a corpse warrior brought to life through necromancy. The boy, who pulled back for a moment, lunged again.

“Kyaaaaaak!”

“Damn, what the hell?”

Kagagak! A whirlwind of sword strikes rained down on Ronan. There was not a single loophole visible in the barrage of attacks. Barca’s voice rang out from far away in the lab.

“I’d like to introduce you to Heo Eok, a masterpiece that embodies my wishes. “I was barely able to decipher it in time…”

“Barka!”

The two people turned their heads at the same time. This time it was really Barca. His wounds were not yet fully healed.

Prosthetic hands and legs made of metal were crudely sewn into the severed limbs. I tried to run to Barka right away, but the monster in front of me wouldn’t allow it.

“Damn, get out of the way…!”

“Krarak!”

No matter what angle Ronan swung his sword at, the boy dodged or responded. Every time the blades collided, embers bloomed. Among the opponents I’ve fought recently, he was one of the top five.

‘What is this guy really?’

Suddenly, what Barca said a moment ago flashed through my mind. I was wondering what to do with a weapon that would destroy both Jaifa and the empire at the same time. Suddenly, Ronan’s face, who was making out with the boy, hardened.

“You, no way.”

The hand holding the sword hilt gained strength. I felt like I knew the boy’s identity. For a moment, goosebumps ran down my spine.

I couldn’t believe that people could be this evil. Although he was still young, the overall outline of his face was exactly like that of someone he knew. Barca, catching her breath, opened her mouth.

“Yes… I am Aradan Turgeng, son of Jaifa.”