#274
Re-war (3)
The corridor in front of the VIP quarters of the Roselia Grand Shrine.
Bam—
There, the sound of this thin pipe resonated softly.
The imperial delegation, who had been waiting as quietly as mice, all swallowed dry saliva.
Dozens of people are standing still in the middle of the hallway, unable to move or do anything, just looking at one person.
‘What? Did someone make a mistake?’
‘I can’t breathe…’
There were no problems until the group arrived at the Holy Land through the Great Temple Gate and greeted the senior members of the sect.
It was immediately after that that a sudden change occurred.
“···Princess? Are you okay?”
It was when Princess Riley, the representative leading them, suddenly stopped in her seat.
She had been frowning with a serious expression for a while, but now her whole body was emitting a murderous aura along with discomfort.
“······.”
One of the royal knights, unable to bear it any longer, stepped forward and cautiously spoke to Riley, but she simply stared into space with an icy face, not caring about the reactions of those around her.
Quietly chewing on the boiling anger.
‘Is this how it’s supposed to turn out?’
If things had gone their way, we would have known about it only after it was all over.
Thanks to the “Chain of the Oath”, she was able to hear the situation in real time, and she was already certain who was behind the attack on Hesperon.
‘Duke Herman Hart.’
The maternal family and patron of the former crown prince, and the maternal family of the current empress and the emperor’s wife’s family.
There was no one in the Empire now capable of such a blistering act, save perhaps her greatest political enemy, the Duke of Hermanhart.
‘I tried to show mercy.’
Of course, that mercy was only based on her subjective standards.
Even the compromise that we thought was a major concession was an absolutely unacceptable submission to them.
If things continued this way, not only their honor and title, but even their lands and properties would be taken away from all sides, so of course, the Hermanhart Dukes, who claimed to be the first nobles of the Azerion Empire, could not just sit still.
Perhaps this trick is also part of a backroom operation to steer the negotiations in a slightly more advantageous direction.
‘This must have looked quite funny.’
But she didn’t know about their circumstances.
I was already feeling a bit irritated by the cause of minimizing chaos in the empire, and now I have this excuse!
“The Earl of Filthame.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
As Riley’s cool voice flowed through the quiet hallway, the archmage who had been quietly following her bowed his head respectfully.
Although she was clearly only a young girl, the air around her became heavy with the majesty she exuded.
“I have a message to send to the Marquis of Lawrence right now.”
Now, there were two extreme superhumans in this delegation, but they were there for the sake of the empire’s prestige along with the escort, so I couldn’t use them for personal gain.
But, since the tide had already turned, there were already many people who came under her command.
‘If you choose resistance rather than obedience.’
It wasn’t that difficult to find someone who would move immediately at her ‘request’.
Even if he is a strong person called a superhuman.
‘I guess I’ll have to break that stiff neck, even if it’s by force.’
Riley’s eyes glowed coldly in the suffocating air.
***
It’s annoying.
That was the feeling Stave felt as he once again missed Hesperon right in front of his nose.
“You’re running away so well, you little rat!”
Crunch—
He swung his sword, which was burning with black energy, and gnashed his teeth as he struck down a bundle of black threads that suddenly flew towards him.
The attack wasn’t a big threat to him, but it was annoying to suddenly see it appear out of thin air and fly in.
Gooooo—
Every time my heart beat violently, black magic swirled throughout my body.
It was a strange feeling, different from before when I always used to manage my energy through Aurahole.
But now it was a feeling I had to get used to.
For him, who had lost everything he had built up, including Auror, this was now his only lifeline.
To get revenge on the bastards who made him like this.
‘What the hell is that guy? It hasn’t been that long since then!’
But the project ran into unexpected difficulties from the very beginning.
Stave, who was able to control black magic unlike before, could feel the cause more clearly.
‘Of course he’s good at magic, but he’s also good at using his body, but that’s fine. The problem is those strange magical tools and that guy’s right arm. Even if we assume that the magical tools we saw last time were like that…’
When those who had first snatched him from that hell offered him revenge, he gladly took their hand and accepted their black magic.
And after becoming a dark knight and regaining some of his power, he confidently took on this task.
What’s so hard about kidnapping a lover, let alone the princess herself who receives thorough security?
Of course, because of him, everything went wrong and the situation became complicated like it is now, but that’s something that could have been resolved if we had prepared more thoroughly this time.
From what I’ve personally experienced, isn’t that bastard’s level just a bit too low?
Yeah, definitely.
That’s what I thought···.
“Ugh! What the heck is that? I’ve never heard of or seen anything like it!”
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We have prepared a space blockade that would be difficult for even a great wizard to escape by pouring time and capital into it, targeting only this moment.
All that was left was to cut off the limbs of the rebels, kidnap them, and leisurely disappear.
Sciaak—
Chomp!
Another masked man was oxidized into a handful of blood.
They were by no means capable of dying so easily, but the materialized curses that Hesperon wielded had an even more tremendous killing power.
A fatal blow under certain conditions.
Fortunately, the cooldown time is quite long, and those among the masked people who can handle magic have started to prepare magical defenses against it, which puts the brakes on.
Everyone except Stab was almost killed and the bastard was left for nothing.
‘But that’s over now!’
However, immediately after Hesperon’s attack ended, a black light flashed in Stave’s eyes as he seized the opportunity.
At the same time, black magic radiated from his body and began to spread in all directions, burning the surrounding atmosphere.
Kwaaang—!
Then, at a terrifying speed, he kicked the ground and rushed at Hesperon.
Of course, Starve and the masked men are all veterans who have been through all kinds of hardships.
Of course, the mechanism of the ability that Hesperon uses was already roughly understood.
In order to perform that unique three-dimensional maneuver, you need curses scattered around, and every time you perform the ultimate attack just before, a large amount of it is consumed, and by emitting energy like this and burning it, you can suppress the spread of curses in the air to some extent.
‘We must catch that bastard right here and now! Even if it means killing him!’
So now is the time when I have no choice but to come back down to the ground.
It was also a golden opportunity to deal with him, who was growing at a frightening rate in real time.
‘If I let go here, I don’t know how much stronger I’ll become! I can’t leave it like that!’
I had to give it my all for him.
Although he had no choice but to accept black magic, Stave also knew well the dangers of black magic.
Of course, even after gaining power, I was always wary of it and suppressed it.
‘It’ll be okay for a little while.’
I will soon make you regret your previous arrogance.
Thump—
A blackened, corrupted heart throbs and black magic swirls throughout the body.
The destructive energy began to run wild, filling every cell in his body and breaking through the limits of his physical body.
Thump—
A different feeling from when dealing with auras.
Unlike aura, which provides a solid support to allow the body to hold greater power, black magic, which has a destructive nature, has no consideration for the safety of its owner.
Only pursuing stronger power, more destructive power.
Thump—
The power of running wild finally reached the tip of his head.
I was able to prevent myself from being completely consumed by the extreme enlightenment, but I was unable to prevent some of my thinking from being contaminated by it.
Violence and murderous intent, show-off desire and obsession running wild in my head.
But Staub didn’t care.
He tore through the air in an instant, crossing space—.
“Phehhot—!”
“Huh?!”
In the blink of an eye, he reached Hesperon’s nose.
Kwakwaang—!
With one blow, the black threads surrounding the area were torn to shreds.
The gap broke the barrier that had been blocking the two.
Samgyeok, the large blast of sound that occurred as the sword and the right hand extended forward collided made the surrounding area vibrate.
“Ugh, somehow this guy called Geuk-ui was too easy!”
Hesperon, who was thrown back by him, waved his right arm with great effort, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
Dozens of black threads bound Stave’s legs, counteracting his charge, but only for a moment.
Unable to withstand the black magic surrounding it for long, it was instantly torn apart and disappeared.
‘I wish I could have bought this much time!’
Hesperon quickly recovered his lost balance using his “Martial Arts” and calmly responded to the follow-up attack.
In the midst of that fierce onslaught, he tenaciously held out using all means at his disposal, including magic, magical tools, martial arts, and curses.
Five, six, seven···.
But when Stab’s sword strike finally reached its ninth.
‘Oh, this is really dangerous.’
Now I feel like I’ve reached my limit.
I’ve held out for quite some time, but I know I won’t be able to last the tenth time.
All of this time-wasting, irregular means have already been exposed.
In front, the Dark Knight of the Extreme was rushing forward recklessly, trying not to give them any openings.
The masked assassins were closing in from all sides, blocking the escape route, and the masked magicians were even preparing something from behind.
‘This is done.’
Eventually, he had no choice but to prepare for his release from the summons.
‘Tsk, but I guess it’s not a bad thing since I gained a lot from the actual experience.’
If you think about it, disappearing for about a day and a half wasn’t that long.
Of course, I need to tell Riley in advance…
With those thoughts, he was about to leave her with a word and disappear.
‘Huh?’
He immediately flew backwards at the sudden sensation.
“Huh, what is this?”
And Stave, who sensed it too, rushed at Hesperon with ferocious momentum.
A cool intuition that stimulates instincts that have become stronger than before.
He quickly stopped himself and threw himself backwards, releasing black magic from his entire body.
Immediately after that.
Kwaaaaang—!
A pillar of fire rose from where he was going.
It is not a simple flame, but an ultra-high temperature karma mixed with genuine magical power that instantly burns those caught in it.
“Damn it! What the heck!”
Moreover, the unexpected attack was not limited to him.
Hurrrurr—
The great magic that was applied simultaneously to all the masked people in this space, including Stave, turned everyone, except for the very few who were lucky enough to avoid it, into a pile of ash in an instant without even being able to scream.
“Wow, these guys are really full of swollen livers. How dare they do something like this in this place.”
As everyone was on high alert due to the sudden change in circumstances, a voice filled with immense magical power resonated throughout the area.
At the same time, a tremendous sense of presence is felt.
At this, the evil Stab raised his head and looked at the sky.
“Marquis Lawrence…! How did you get here!”
There, the tower lord of the palace’s magic tower, Marquis Lawrence, who should have been quietly staying in the palace by now, was floating leisurely in the air.
He came in after tearing through the spatial sealing barrier that had been painstakingly prepared for this incident.
‘They say even the greatest wizard would never notice us from this distance!’
Stab gritted his teeth as he recalled the briefing he had received in advance from the planner of the operation.
Anyway, when it came to this work, nothing went right.
“Huh! Is that really Sir Starv? But he looks like this…”
At that moment, the old man, Marquis Laurence, wearing an old-fashioned robe and holding an old-fashioned cane, looked down with narrowed eyes and frowned with a serious expression.
And after seeing Stab’s body, including his eyes and arms, destroyed, he nodded slowly as if he had guessed the situation.
“···I see. I guess that’s how it ended up like that. But it’s black magic.”
But the brief glimpse of compassion was short-lived.
Soon he tilted his head slightly with a look of displeasure and slowly extended the cane he was holding forward.
“I couldn’t refuse your request, so I had no choice but to step forward… But, even if that wasn’t the case, I couldn’t just sit back and let it go.”
Black magic, an unclean power, and the black magicians and dark knights who use it.
All of these were taboo in today’s society, and in the midst of the war with the Immortal King, they were social evils that had to be eradicated on sight.
But are these people coming into the capital of the empire and doing something secret?
And one of them was an imperial noble who even served as the captain of the imperial guard?
‘I almost got embarrassed again.’
At this point, rather than granting the princess’s request, he should be thanking her.
Because there was talk of a hole in the defenses of the Imperial Palace Tower, which was responsible for part of the capital’s defenses.
It also meant that there were still slivers of outside influence within the Tower of Eden.
Just like the incident with the princess attack last time.
“Come to think of it, I owe you a debt. Do you know how much trouble I’ve had because of you guys?”
The air began to stir and magic began to boil with the Marquis of Lawrence’s irritated words.
The magic circles that appeared in an instant intertwined with each other, each implementing their own mysteries.
Woohoo—
Of course, as a great wizard, he did not suffer any direct disadvantages, but it was undeniable that the situation was difficult as the momentum of the Imperial Palace Magic Tower, which was growing rapidly, was dampened and its position was reduced.
In the process, I had to take care of many things to restore my relationship with Princess Riley, who would become the next emperor.
“···Wow, that was close.”
And in that tense, volatile situation.
Hesperon slowly pulled back and muttered calmly while wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Stave, who is not in a normal state, and Marquis Laurence, who was originally considered superior to him.
And then… the battle magicians of the magic tower joined in one by one and began to surround the surrounding area.
At this point, the situation was pretty much over.
-Heron, are you okay? I was urging you to go as fast as possible, but are you hurt anywhere?
Then Riley’s cautious voice was heard again.
It was a barely audible sound, perhaps out of concern that it might interrupt concentration at an important moment.
-Ah! I’m okay.
Then, as if the timing was right, a system message appeared before my eyes.
《The entity has achieved the condition and has attained enlightenment. The “Right Arm of Longing” has grown, swallowing the resentment and being satisfied.》
《The entity has gained enlightenment through repeated battles. The skills “Introduction to Magic” and “Martial Arts” have been combined to evolve into “Martial Arts.”》
-Well, really.
Now he’s a long way from being a true wizard, but that doesn’t matter since he was never a true wizard to begin with.
···No, not only that, but if you think about it carefully, Hesperon’s greatest ability is, after all,···.
Kuuung—!
“Khuuuuk! Lawrence···!”
dump-
I think it was a connection.
