Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Those Who Target the King's Blood (3)
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‘Dragon Demon Prince Seiga Bail Lurein has gone missing!’
The utterly unexpected urgent report threw the Lurein royal family into shock.
The royal family dispatched a search party including Dragon Demon Princess Arietta, while also requesting aid from Kairen, who was much closer geographically to the Baden Countdom than the palace. Kairen set off immediately and sent word to Azel asking for his help.
Azel met Burein Mirkel, who had been waiting for him in his territory, and headed toward the Baden Countdom.
“I told him to leave signals on the way, so we can just follow those.”
As a grand magician, Burein Mirkel’s travel speed was incredibly fast. He could cover long distances at nearly full gallop horse speeds without regard for terrain, producing mobility that defied common sense.
But in terms of pure speed, he couldn’t compare to Kairen. And though he was a Dragon Demon Hybrid, Burein was advanced in age, so he had limits on how long he could maintain high-speed flight. That was why Kairen had gone on ahead without him.
Azel received a magic tool for tracking Kairen from him. It was a small plate with a clock hand like a second hand that pointed in the direction.
Burein asked,
“But are you all right? You don’t look to be in good shape.”
Azel was four days into starting the fourth cycle of training after finishing the third. He had pushed his body to the limit for days, and even today he had driven himself relentlessly from morning until afternoon. He had chugged mana force recovery potions like water, restored his mana force through meditation, and received treatment from healing arts practitioners before coming, but his condition was a mess. His body was covered in wounds that hadn’t fully healed.
Azel said,
“I’m fine.”
For Azel, who had so much experience fighting in extreme situations during the Dragon Emperor War, this level of condition wasn’t an issue. Real combat didn’t kindly wait for one to be in top form.
“Then I’ll go on ahead.”
“Hm? Wouldn’t it be better to go together? Catching up to Kairen is impossible anyway…”
“Still, it’s better to go quickly. Ah, could you step back a bit?”
“Hm?”
Burein complied, puzzled by the request, and Azel placed a single spear on the ground, stepped onto it, and crouched down. Then he created three clones.
Burein asked,
“What are you doing?”
“Please step back a bit more. It’s dangerous.”
With that, Azel took a deep breath. One clone picked up Azel along with the spear. The other two clones created threads of light on either side, draped the spear and Azel over them, and moved in opposite diagonal directions. The threads of light grew taut, putting strain on Azel’s body.
“I’m off.”
Azel gritted his teeth as he said it. At the same moment, the three clones exploded.
The clone holding Azel hurled him forward like a full-power spear throw and exploded. The two clones on the sides maximized the tension in the threads of light and launched him while exploding. The recoil sent Azel’s body hurtling into the sky at terrifying speed.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
A deafening boom rang out as Azel turned into a blue flash for an instant, shooting high into the heavens.
The strain on Azel’s body at that moment was immense. A normal person would have been torn apart.
Enduring it, Azel soared above the clouds in one go before his upward momentum faded. Like cresting a mountain, he angled his flight path obliquely. He then used mana force to whip up winds for control, beginning a gradual descent toward the ground. Acceleration built in an instant, and he flew toward Kairen’s direction at horrifying speed.
“…….”
Burein, who had watched dumbly from the ground, blinked and muttered,
“Good heavens. What just happened?”
Kairen was racing like a gale. The straight-line distance to the Baden Countdom on the map was 230 kilometers. If he hurried, he could ignore terrain and arrive in under four hours.
He had sent word to Azel, but he didn’t expect him to arrive on time. With the situation unclear, he had to reach the Baden Countdom as fast as possible.
It was when he had 30 kilometers left to the Baden Countdom.
‘Hm?’
Suddenly, Kairen sensed an intense mana force wave pouring from the sky. Something was approaching at tremendous speed.
Whiiiii……!
He looked up and saw a blue flash slicing through the darkening distant sky. Kairen stopped in surprise and drew his twin swords.
But the flash deployed a transparent membrane of light behind it to decelerate, and a person leaped out from within.
Paht!
He landed before Kairen, who gaped at the red hair fluttering like flames before his eyes.
“Azel?”
“Long time no see, Duke.”
Azel snatched the spear falling from the air as he greeted him.
Kairen’s mouth fell open in bewilderment.
“What did you just do?”
“I flew as fast as I could.”
“No, I mean…”
“We can satisfy your curiosity later. No time for chit-chat, so shall we go?”
“Mm.”
Snapped to attention by Azel’s point, Kairen collected himself.
Kairen said,
“Can you travel using that method you just flew in on?”
“This requires constant control even in flight, so it’s impossible unless you’ve mastered the technique.”
“Shame. But you… you’re covered in wounds. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I got the same question from Count Mirkel on the way here. I’m fine, so let’s go.”
“Very well. I’ll go at full speed, so keep up.”
The two resumed racing like gales. Kairen was astonished.
‘What on earth has he been up to?’
Just four months ago, Azel had been gasping to keep up at 70 kilometers a day. Now he matched Kairen’s sincere full sprint with ease.
‘Is it even possible for mana force to rise this much in such a short time?’
Wound-covered as he was, Azel’s body was clearly far better trained than before. Moreover, the mana force waves emanating from him were intensely powerful. In terms of mana force intensity alone, he rivaled the sixfold masters—Spirit Order practitioners with six Life Rings—that Kairen knew.
As they ran, Azel asked,
“I only heard that the Dragon Demon Prince went missing and rushed out without details. What exactly happened?”
“I didn’t hear much myself. They requested help so urgently.”
Kairen explained what he knew.
Seiga and his direct unit, who had gone to subjugate a band of thieves led by powerful variant orcs appearing in the Baden Countdom, had encountered an unforeseen mishap. Seiga, who had taken the lead in scouting, suddenly vanished, and his unit suffered near annihilation from enemies who appeared out of nowhere without warning.
Azel frowned.
“We’ll need to hear more details on site, but… it looks like Dragon Demon Worshippers were involved no matter how you slice it.”
“What’s your basis for thinking that?”
“The circumstances alone point to it. Those bastards tried to kidnap the princess before for some reason.”
No one knew why the Dragon Demon Worshippers had tried to kidnap Arietta even now. But considering the two were the era’s Dragon Demon royals and siblings from the same womb, it wouldn’t be strange at all if Seiga was also a target.
“But with the Guardian Shadows around, could they act so brazenly?”
“If the conditions you mentioned before hold, Duke… it’s not impossible for the Dragon Demon Worshippers to evade the Guardian Shadows’ gaze if they put their minds to it.”
The Guardian Shadows’ surveillance net was miraculous in itself. But its precision dropped in sparsely populated areas.
Moreover, the problem was that only non-worshippers who recognized and witnessed a target as a Dragon Demon Worshipper counted. If they were involved in Seiga’s disappearance, they would have gone to great lengths to circumvent that. No one even knew how Seiga vanished, and there was no mention of Dragon Demon Worshippers in the reports.
Azel continued,
“And the enemies who ambushed the prince’s direct unit appeared without any sign, as if leaping through space… no one else but them seems likely.”
Seiga’s direct unit included magicians, yet even they were completely fooled. Even a grand magician like Burein couldn’t pull that off.
But what about Nibiris?
Azel thought it possible. If they could even conceal presence, fooling this era’s knights and magicians wouldn’t be hard.
Azel asked,
“I hear the Guardian Shadows inform you directly of what they know, Duke. Then couldn’t we request their aid in this incide—”
He couldn’t finish because eerie presences began to emanate from the surroundings.
Three wraith-like beings in pure white robes were approaching the two at high speed.
Kairen clicked his tongue.
“Speak of the devils. Tigers come when you speak of them, they say.”
“That proverb exists here too?”
“Does it not exist anywhere?”
Kairen stopped running as he spoke. An incomprehensible whisper like children murmuring echoed around them. The being made of darkness beneath the white robe—the Guardian Shadow—spoke.
「Dragon Demon Prince… kidnapped.」
「From the dark snowfields…」
「High-ranking Dragon Demon…」
“You’re saying a high-ranking Dragon Demon Worshipper from the dark snowfields kidnapped Seiga?”
Kairen spoke to the still hard-to-parse Guardian Shadows. They whispered,
「Pursuing…」
“Do you know their location?”
「Vanished… flowing tears obscure our sight…」
「But encircling along the tear tracks.」
“…….”
Kairen’s face crumpled. He couldn’t make heads or tails of what these things were saying.
But Azel asked gravely,
“Those tears—do you mean parts of the scenery look like this?”
Azel swiped his finger through the air. Ripples like waves spread in the space, distorting what lay beyond.
A Guardian Shadow replied,
「Yes. Flowing down like tears…」
「Tears that swallowed grief…」
“…When did these bastards become poets?”
Azel addressed the irritated Kairen.
“They might really be big shots.”
“Hm?”
“If they match someone I know… we’ll have to prepare for the worst.”
“What do you mean?”
“We can talk on the way. Good thing the Guardian Shadows can track the traces. Normal people couldn’t even see them.”
Azel started running again. The Guardian Shadows followed, saying,
「Dragon comes…」
「To test you… it will.」
“What?”
Azel whipped around in surprise, but the Guardian Shadows receded as if they’d said their piece. Azel stuck out his tongue.
“Impressive, Duke. You’ve worked with those things for decades.”
“If they were my subordinates, I’d have sent them to hellish retraining a hundred times over.”
Kairen grumbled and accelerated.