Chapter 92
Chapter 92
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: The One Seeking Fate (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
92
Chapter 19
The One Seeking Fate (1)
1
Even the harshest winter that freezes the entire world eventually comes to an end. As the new year dawned and time passed, the snow and ice gradually melted, and hints of green began to appear here and there.
It was April, when the colors of spring were in full bloom... Azel finally decided to set off on his long journey.
‘Thinking about it, it’s exactly one year.’
Azel thought as he gazed out the window. It had been exactly one year since he awoke in the Ballan Forest—today.
Quite a lot had happened since then. He wanted to leave early and verify certain things, but before that, there were many tasks he needed to complete for the connections he had formed here.
Over the past three months, Azel had immersed himself in training with Kairen. He taught him a great deal, and that knowledge extended to Arietta and Sei, and even to Zail.
Three months is a long time if considered long, short if considered short. But during that period, everyone’s skills had improved dramatically. Having gone through the chaos of the Nadik Empire’s fall, the Great Darkness, and the forgotten techniques and concepts from the Dragon Demon Worshippers, this was an opportunity they might never encounter again.
“Then, shall we go?”
Azel’s luggage was light. Normally, long journeys involved packing a lot, but Azel only took what he deemed absolutely necessary.
“Hmm. You’re really leaving?”
As Azel came out with his packed belongings, Zail, who had been waiting outside, asked.
“Yes. Honestly, I’ve stayed too long already.”
“Thank you for everything you’ve taught me. I don’t know how to repay this favor.”
“No need to get sentimental.”
Even during the Dragon Emperor War, when techniques were actively shared and exchanged, it wouldn’t have gone this far. Though it was a precious bond formed after awakening across long years, they weren’t family or disciples.
“Surely, the time will come when you need that power. Until then, select reliable people and train them to their full potential.”
He taught generously because he believed it was necessary. The remnants of darkness lurking in the world’s underbelly would surely rise again. It was better to have as many people as possible who could fight alongside him when that time came.
Zail nodded.
“I’ll do my best.”
Azel patted his shoulder once and walked down the corridor. As he reached the main gate, Arietta and Sei, along with Enora, were waiting.
Arietta spoke, her expression slightly pouty. Her face looked so much like a girl her age—unlike her usual self—that Azel couldn’t help but smile unwittingly.
“Is it true that you’re refusing the horse I gave you as a rare gift?”
“Yes. I appreciate the thought, but horses are too slow.”
Azel grinned as he replied. That was the reason his luggage was so light. He had no intention of traveling like an ordinary traveler along the roads. His plan was to reach his destination in the shortest time possible.
Arietta let out a disbelieving chuckle.
“Too slow? Anyone who doesn’t know you would think you’re insane.”
“Fortunately, Your Highness knows me.”
“True. As regrettable as it is, I have to admit you’re right. If I’d known, I would have prepared something else.”
“I’ll treasure the sentiment.”
Azel grinned. Well, though Arietta said that, he hadn’t left empty-handed. She had given him more than enough money for travel expenses—overflowing, in fact.
At that moment, Azel sensed a gaze and turned his head. Sei was staring at him with a sullen face.
Unlike the others, Azel and Sei’s relationship hadn’t improved much. Sei had acknowledged Azel after being thoroughly defeated when he first arrived at the Tarantos Duchy, but he hadn’t shown any friendliness. From Azel’s perspective, there was no particular reason to try to get close to him.
Still, having learned much from Azel, respect showed in his attitude. Sei extended his hand and said,
“I wish you good fortune. I’ll train hard to get my revenge by the next time we meet.”
“I look forward to it.”
Azel smiled and accepted the handshake.
Enora had been quietly waiting until then. She wouldn’t speak until those of higher status permitted it—that was the position of a subordinate. Knowing this, Azel spoke first.
“By the time I see you again, Miss Enora, you’ll probably be a slender lady. With your skills, you’ll be a veteran royal maid by then, commanding a bunch of underlings, right?”
“You’re not coming back until then?”
Enora asked, her eyes wide. The year had changed, but her birthday was in summer, so she was still thirteen. Though she had grown a lot compared to when they first met—being in her growth spurt—she was still a young girl with baby fat. For her to become a slender beauty, how many years would that take?
Azel laughed.
“Well, it’d be nice to see you before then. Anyway... I owe you a lot, Miss Enora.”
“You know it.”
After bidding farewell to Enora, Azel greeted those he had become acquainted with during his stay at the mansion, including Hasban. As he was about to go see Kairen last, Hasban gave a wry smile and told him to go outside.
“You’re late. You’ll waste the whole day on goodbyes.”
Kairen had already gone outside early to wait for Azel. The problem was his attire.
Azel asked,
“...Is the Duke going somewhere today too?”
Kairen was fully armored, with two Dragon Swords at his side. Moreover, he had used magical tools to conceal his horns, ears, and Dragon Demon Stone, disguising himself as a human knight. With a travel backpack on his back, he clearly looked ready to depart somewhere.
Kairen said,
“I’m probably heading to what was once called the Karzark Marquisate, the Demonic Realm.”
“...Duke?”
“The territory will run fine without me, thanks to capable personnel. Don’t worry—you know how competent Hasban is. It’ll be no problem even if I’m gone for a while.”
“No, wait a minute...”
Azel frowned. He hadn’t expected this at all. For a great noble of the kingdom, who served as the shield against the Dragon Demon Worshippers in the shadows as a member of the Guardian Shadows, to follow him?
But looking around, no one seemed surprised. Everyone except Azel must have been informed in advance by Kairen.
Azel asked in a voice laced with a sigh,
“Are you serious?”
“Of course I am. I just hid it to see that expression on your face—there are serious reasons too, so don’t look at me like I’m some immature kid.”
“...Thank you for the exquisitely accurate description of my feelings.”
Kairen ignored Azel’s words and gave his reason.
“As a member of the Guardian Shadows who has fought the Dragon Demon Worshippers... I feel I must go with you.”
“......”
“Your presence, and the events we’ve been through, feel like omens of something bigger beginning. Reacting in confusion after something happens, without understanding what’s going on—that’s not my style. I have a hunch that staying with you will bring me to the heart of it.”
Kairen spoke with genuine sincerity. Despite fighting the Dragon Demon Worshippers for decades, he had never gotten close to their core. He didn’t even fully know the true nature of the Guardian Shadows he belonged to.
But since Azel appeared, the situation had changed drastically. Key figures among the enemy had gradually revealed themselves, and he had learned secrets of the Guardian Shadows he never could have imagined.
How could he not follow him? Kairen wasn’t the type to patiently wait in the back for results. He always charged to the center and seized outcomes himself—that’s why he was the living legend of the Lurein Kingdom, the Dragon Sword Duke.
Hearing his resolve, Azel silently gazed at him for a moment. Then, he finally laughed.
“If that’s your mindset, I won’t stop you. Though I feel bad for Hasban.”
“This isn’t the first or second time the Duke has done this. Please take good care of him.”
Hasban said with a sigh.
And so, the two set off on their journey toward the Karzark Marquisate. Though it was a long road crossing two borders, the psychological distance for Azel wasn’t far. They crossed mountains and fields together, racing like the wind.
2
Just an hour ago, that forest had been dominated by silence, stillness, and the darkness of night. But an explosion rang out from one spot, flames erupting and devouring the darkness, spreading in all directions.
Durang, in the guise of the Black Swordsman, was carrying out a massacre in that forest.
“Aaak!”
In the burning forest, Durang struck down a boy who hadn’t even passed puberty. Severing the boy’s breath in one blow, Durang immediately advanced toward his next target.
Then, a bolt of blue lightning struck, blocking his path.
Kwa-gwang!
“Hmm.”
Any ordinary human would have died instantly. But Durang dispersed the lightning with insulation and glared at his foe.
It was a young girl. A freckled young girl trembled in terror.
“Don’t you know this resistance is futile? It would be easier to accept it quietly.”
At his sigh-like words, the girl flinched and summoned her mana. Though young, she was a mage with strong mana.
Pa-hat!
But to Durang, it seemed utterly immature. Before her concentrated mana could manifest, his sword cleaved her throat. The wide-eyed girl collapsed, spraying blood.
“You demon!”
A bloodied young man charged from the side with a scream. He wasn’t a mage. He was a Spirit Order user like Durang.
“To think a traitor who betrayed his faith and murdered his master would speak such nonsense.”
Durang easily blocked his sword and said. The young man’s eyes blazed.
“You mad demons! You have no right to speak of loyalty or filial piety!”
“You’re wrong. The mad ones are you. Given the chance to follow the true faith, you abandoned it yourselves.”
The young man was an apprentice combatant raised by the Dragon Demon Worshippers. Trained in the correct ideology from childhood, for some reason he had ambushed and killed his master, incited those around him, and attempted to flee.
But he wasn’t the true ringleader. He was just another pitiful soul who had fallen for sweet words and committed a great sin. Knowing this, Durang asked,
“Yuren—the insidious rebel who chose such a sinful name—what did he do for you? What words led you to this folly?”
Yuren was one of the recent headaches within the Dragon Demon Worshippers. He had massacred his comrades in his organization, fled, and destroyed connected bases at will.
The Dragon Demon Worshippers were strictly compartmentalized; even the Dark Snowfield at the top couldn’t grasp everything. But connections linked the compartments, and Yuren had figured them out, continuously attacking the Worshippers.
From their perspective, it was astonishing beyond words.
Just half a year ago, Yuren had been an apprentice at a secret mage training facility built by the Dragon Demon Worshippers. In other words, not even officially recognized as a mage.
Moreover, he was a human youth who had just turned twenty-four. Unlike Dragon Demons, he wasn’t born with abundant mana, and as an apprentice, he hadn’t received true secret arts. Even among combatants raised by the Worshippers, precious knowledge wasn’t imparted without proven talent and merit.
Yet he had already killed over a hundred Dragon Demon Worshippers, including many Dragon Demons.
‘An incomprehensible guy.’
Durang hadn’t seen Yuren in person yet. It was only recently that higher-ups had deployed him and other elite personnel.
Tracking Yuren’s movements, Durang grew increasingly unable to understand him.
At first, he wondered why Yuren had betrayed the Dragon Demon Worshippers and turned against them, and how he achieved such feats. But as time passed, that became irrelevant.
“We know the truth now. How viciously insane you all are!”
The real problem was existences like this young man pointing a sword at him.
Ordinary human Dragon Demon Worshippers fell into two categories: those raised internally and those like Durang, who encountered the truth externally and embraced the faith.
The internally raised ones were usually orphans taken at an age knowing nothing. They learned to speak with the mindset of Worshippers. Grown in a strictly controlled environment with brainwashing education, there was no room for personal desires.
Yet... Yuren had somehow turned their minds.
‘Even mental magic requires immense time and effort to break hardened minds. How is this possible?’
“Die!”
As Durang pondered and observed, the young man unleashed a sword strike. It was a desperate blow, disregarding his own safety to take them down together. However...
“Foolish to the end.”
Before the young man could fully swing, Durang severed his throat.
As Durang felled the young man, a Dragon Demon youth approached. Wearing pitch-black armor of the same design as Durang’s, the Dragon Demon youth said,
“Yuren is fleeing with the Cold-Blooded Empress.”
Durang was of high rank even among humans, so his subordinates included not just humans but Dragon Demons. All respected him as their superior without resistance, knowing his skills and achievements.
“He threw the weak young ones into the dragon’s maw to ensure his own safety?”
“Not exactly...”
At those words, the Dragon Demon youth gave a wry smile. Durang looked at him quizzically.
“Hm?”