Chapter 21
Chapter: 21
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 021
>Chapter Title: Seclusion Prayer (3)
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The Holy Emperor hadn't actually wielded aura for all that long, but the sheer volume of it was staggering—far beyond what any person could accumulate in a lifetime of dedicated training.
“What level do you think that realm represents? How many people could even touch its fringes after devoting their entire lives to it!”
Suddenly, Seongjin recalled Masaine venting his frustration at him. He'd said to give up any hope of learning anything from this man.
As Seongjin's expression grew subtly odd, the Holy Emperor seemed to interpret it in a certain way and continued in a defensive tone.
“Hm, well, the passage consumed more than expected, so I ended up drawing in a bit more than planned. It wasn't truly a dangerous situation.”
No wonder it had felt excessively reckless. It seemed yesterday's aura storm had been an unforeseen accident on the Holy Emperor's part. Collapsing from exhaustion probably wasn't in his plans either.
“You drew the aura directly from the surroundings, then? How is that even possible?”
“Didn't I mention it before? Once you reach that realm, aura follows your will to...”
“Ah, right.”
Sir Masaine had been spot on.
Not particularly helpful as a reference.
After that, they chatted about swordsmanship training and aura cultivation, and time flew by before Seongjin knew it.
“Could you take a look at my swordsmanship next time?”
Just a brief glance from this man had dramatically accelerated his aura training. Maybe the same could work for swordsmanship?
Seongjin held out hope, but the Holy Emperor's response was lukewarm.
“That would be difficult. I never formally learned swordsmanship from the basics, so I wouldn't know what foundation to teach from.”
What? Self-taught swordsmanship?
“By the time I met someone worthy of being called a master, my sword had already transcended form and style. He said it was a blade that couldn't be refined or taught to others.”
Wow, this guy really defies all common sense.
Some people swing weapons wildly for decades and pick up bad habits, while others just swing freely and invent their own sword style?
The Holy Emperor glanced at Seongjin's dumbfounded face and added,
“Still, I could probably spar with you for fun. Once the prayer ends, let's have a match.”
In the meantime, train quietly and behave yourself. Don't cause any trouble.
That was the Holy Emperor's message.
That evening, word of His Holiness the Holy Emperor's seclusion prayer spread throughout the imperial palace.
And even after that night passed, the Demon King's soul did not return.
* * *
[Sniffle, sniffle.]
What the hell?
[Waaah, waaaah.]
Stop crying already. You're not a kid—what's with the creepy sobbing?
[Hic, sob, sob.]
I said stop crying. You're being loud, so quit sniveling and say something.
[...Call... sniff.]
What, man?
[Call me.]
Yeah, yeah, fine.
“...Ugh, so annoying. I'm calling you. I'm calling...”
Seongjin muttered aloud without thinking and jolted awake at the sound of his own voice.
Tweet, tweet. As always, birdsong drifted in from the garden.
He blinked a few times, his mind fully returning. Faint sunlight filtered through the gap in the massive curtains covering the window, dimly illuminating the room.
Rubbing his eyes, he sat up.
Had it been a dream?
It felt like that pathetic guy had been whining nonstop.
‘...Demon King?’
Still no response.
Seongjin scratched his tousled hair and sighed. It was about time to accept that the Demon King was gone for good.
But what had that guy's name been?
* * *
“I see. His Majesty mentioned it to you personally yesterday? Did he say anything about the reason for entering seclusion prayer?”
Masaine approached with a wooden sword, his expression a bit peculiar as he asked.
“No particular details. Why?”
“The timing feels a bit off.”
“Does it?”
Having finished his morning meditation, Seongjin was doing some light stretching.
Behind them, a few resident knights circled the training grounds in flawless formation. Ever since Sir Masaine started frequenting the Pearl Palace, the resident knights had been improving by leaps and bounds day by day.
Well, they probably felt like they were dying.
“My father said it's something that happens occasionally.”
Seongjin said casually while twisting his waist, causing Masaine to furrow his brow slightly.
“His Majesty, the empire's supreme authority, is stepping away. Do you think that's something that happens so casually?”
Usually, the Holy Emperor entered seclusion prayer to beseech the Lord God for aid during imperial crises or national calamities. The last time, two years ago, the southern front lines had truly been in dire straits.
“But right now, there's no clear justification, is there?”
On top of that, the Holy Emperor's birthday celebration was just two months away.
A sensitive period when envoys, royals, and high nobles from kingdoms and grand duchies were coordinating their visits.
That was why Masaine called it untimely.
“Of course, since it's His Majesty's decision, there must be an important reason.”
Masaine mumbled awkwardly, his face reluctant.
Soon, the two dove into their lesson.
They had already reached the fifth form of the Imperial Knight Order's standard swordsmanship.
Learning a new form was undoubtedly fun, but wasn't the pace a bit rushed? When Seongjin voiced his concern, Masaine looked at him with an expression of immense pride and grinned.
“You already understand the importance of building a solid foundation. Excellent. But once you form the third layer of aura, you'll need to diligently drill the first and second forms for entry-level training for a while. It'll get tedious enough, so let's push the pace lightly for now.”
Fair enough.
Seongjin fell into a trance, endlessly swinging his wooden sword through the new form.
There was a clear difference between flailing weapons wildly against beasts and the precise swordsmanship designed for human combat. That gap was what made it engaging.
The resident knights training on the grounds had gradually gathered to watch his movements one by one, but Seongjin didn't notice.
Just like that, the morning session flew by in the blink of an eye.
“By the way, Your Highness, the aura around you has become remarkably active. That means your accumulation is increasing at an incredible rate. At this speed, you might be able to form the second layer soon.”
“Hm?”
Seongjin blinked at Masaine's words.
“Oh, did I not mention it? Sorry. Actually, I formed the second layer last night.”
“...Pardon?”
He'd cut the afternoon session short yesterday to visit, which had left him a bit regretful. So he'd extended his pre-bed meditation longer than usual, and the second layer had simply formed effortlessly.
After that explanation, Masaine's expression shifted in a fascinating way.
“Feeling aura for the first time and forming the second layer in a single day...”
“Yeah, just one more layer, and I can officially start aura training entry, right?”
The minimum threshold for channeling sufficient aura from the dantian to all four limbs was the third layer. Once that was achieved, one could begin weaving aura into sword forms.
Only then could they truly call themselves an aura practitioner.
Unlike the excited Seongjin, Masaine seemed a bit shocked.
“No, someone with this much talent—why haven't you...”
Seongjin shrugged at the dazedly muttering Masaine.
Once he'd resolved firmly to draw it in, the aura in the air had flowed into his body more easily than expected. Compared to before, when he couldn't even sense it, this was tremendous progress.
Perhaps being caught in the aura storm had made his body more attuned to it. Or maybe his habit of handling beast energy made aura manipulation relatively straightforward.
Either way, at this rate, he'd grow stronger faster than anticipated.
In high spirits, Seongjin sheathed his wooden sword and turned toward the Pearl Palace for lunch—only to pause and glance at the training ground wall.
“...Huh?”
Was it his imagination? Something felt chilling.
A strange, uneasy sensation he'd never felt before.
“Is something wrong, Your Highness?”
Masaine approached with a puzzled look, but Seongjin didn't answer right away, instead sharpening his senses further.
Even back in his hunter days, he'd been praised for his superior senses compared to his peers.
Though he was far from his prime now, remnants of those honed instincts remained sharp enough to detect gazes steadily scrutinizing the training grounds from somewhere nearby.
“Sir Masaine. Is someone over there?”
“Pardon?”
Masaine blinked in confusion for a moment. But soon his face hardened, and he called out lowly to the nearest resident knight.
“Sir Kurt! Someone is spying on the Pearl Palace!”
“Pardon? Spying?”
The middle-aged knight called Kurt looked back blankly.
“I don't sense anything, though?”
“The presence is faint but definitely nearby. Someone skilled at controlling aura. They don't seem practiced at fully erasing their presence, though.”
“...Not an assassin, then?”
“Feels more like a knight, but I can't be certain yet.”
With a resolute expression, Sir Masaine issued orders.
“Search the training grounds area immediately. Split into two teams and form an airtight encirclement from the entrance to the Pearl Palace's rear gate.”
Sir Kurt still seemed skeptical but didn't argue with the renowned knight commander. Accustomed to leading the resident knights, he quickly divided the personnel and led one team charging off. Soon, all but the minimal guard knights had left, emptying the training grounds.
“They probably already know we've spotted them...”
Seongjin gauged the rapidly receding presence and gazed toward the Pearl Palace's rear gate in the distance.
Was starting such an obvious search necessary? Look at them scrambling away.
“Seems like a formidable opponent. Wouldn't it have been better for the strongest one—you, Sir Masaine—to pursue alone?”
“Precisely because they're formidable, I can't leave your side, Your Highness.”
Masaine replied grimly, hand on his sword hilt, his fierce expression matching the twitching muscles in his arm. He was clearly restraining a urge to charge out himself.
Huh, even though he seems mild-mannered usually, a knight commander is still a knight commander. When serious, Sir Masaine exudes a subtle intimidation.
‘Swinging a wooden sword in this atmosphere feels off. Maybe I should just sit and meditate.’
As he casually thought that amid the tense stiffness of everyone else, the resident knights soon trudged back to the training grounds.
As expected, empty-handed—but Sir Kurt, who had led them, wore a gravely changed expression.
“One holy knight was lurking near the Pearl Palace. He slipped away before we could even complete the encirclement.”
“Did you identify him?”
“Unfortunately, the distance was too great for that... But I clearly saw the black sword emblem on his knight uniform.”
A black sword wrapped in golden chains.
“The Marsias Holy Knight Order!”
“Likely so.”
Seongjin quietly listened to their conversation.
‘Holy Knight Order?’
Come to think of it, he recalled the Demon King grumbling before. There were an absurd five Holy Knight Orders in the imperial palace.
They were each named after one of the five great saints, carrying out independent duties in different departments to uphold their legacies.
Among them, the Demon King had particularly stressed that Seongjin beware the Marsias Holy Knight Order, because their base was probably...
“...The Heresy Inquisition.”
Sir Masaine's face twisted in fury.
“Those irreverent bastards— the moment His Majesty steps away, they pounce like they've been waiting...”
Sir Kurt murmured lowly to Masaine.
“Holy knights are strictly barred from the Pearl Palace except for a select few. Ignoring that—could Archbishop Benitus himself have ordered it?”
“Given how hastily he fled, probably not. More likely a unilateral decision from the knight commander downward.”
“Shall we inquire with the Heresy Inquisition?”
“Pointless. That department's already notoriously insular; they won't give straight answers from such a shady position.”
Masaine pondered with a stiff expression for a long while, then smacked his lips with a uneasy look.
“For now, no other options. We'll have to heighten the Pearl Palace's security until His Majesty returns.”
Then, as if on cue, both knights turned to look at Seongjin's face.
Masaine with worry, Sir Kurt with admiration.
“By the way, truly impressive, Your Highness.”
Sir Kurt clicked his tongue in awe.
“How did you even notice the spy? I didn't sense a thing.”
“Hm? Oh, just... a weird feeling, so I checked.”
He couldn't very well say he'd been a renowned hunter specializing in beast tracking back in the day.
Seongjin scratched his cheek under the resident knights' admiring gazes.
Better not mention there'd been another spy watching from even farther away. They'd fled too far anyway; no catching them now.
* * *
In a remote garden far from the Pearl Palace, a man staggered along a narrow path toward the administrative offices, panting as he collapsed to the ground.
“...Hah, huff, huff!”
The gaunt middle-aged man in white priestly robes emblazoned with the Lord God's emblem gasped raggedly.
His once-pristine garments were now soaked in sweat and caked with dirt, crumpled and filthy. He'd turned tail the moment he spotted the resident knights' movements and run like mad, even tumbling on the path a couple times.
“Huff! Hah!”
He trembled, breathing as if on the verge of death.
Yet the expression on his face was closer to ecstasy than pain. His hollow cheeks were drenched in tears and sweat.
“...At last!”
After catching his breath for a long while, a sob-like voice finally escaped the man.
“He has finally come! That one has arrived!”
Over the long years, even his steadfast faith had begun to fade. Yet upon hearing rumors that the wastrel had transformed into a completely different person, how anxiously he'd hoped.
Seizing the moment when the Holy Emperor's vigilance slackened, he'd finally confirmed it with his own eyes.
And realized: his long years of patient endurance had not been in vain.
“He said he would come... to this place!”
The wait had been long, but in the end, it had come to pass exactly as foretold.
Therefore...
“...From now on, all shall unfold according to his will!”
Thereafter, the man remained prostrated reverently on the dirt ground, unmoving for a long time.