Chapter 114: Don't Touch Me (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 114: Don't Touch Me (3)
Warriors of the Great Desert.
They were exceptional swordsmen, also known as the Wolves of the Great Desert. Every last one of them possessed strength rivaling a high-ranking knight. To have earned the title of ‘Warrior,’ one had to be at least as skilled as a member of the Royal Knights. And Calian still couldn’t fully utilize Bern’s swordsmanship. His body was still growing, and he needed to accumulate more aura.
But even so.
‘Only five?’
There was no way they didn’t know he was a Sword Master. Yet, they had only sent five.
‘With numbers like that, they must have a hidden card up their sleeve.’
Calian smiled once more.
Then, with a cold gaze that completely contradicted his beautiful smile, he began to ponder something far more intriguing than whatever trick they had planned.
“It couldn’t be… Brother Randel.”
Calian had not yet received Chase’s message about Tensil joining forces with the warriors of the Great Desert. Nevertheless, Randel was the first person to come to mind, simply because he was the most likely to want him dead.
But it was only a fleeting thought.
Calian immediately dismissed the suspicion.
‘The timing is off.’
Randel had already sent holy knights after him and failed. Besides, Calian’s party hadn’t even arrived in Tensil yet. More importantly, Randel had been trying to win him over. It had been less than three days since Calian had rejected his offer. Randel wouldn’t have considered harming him before that, so even if he had dispatched assassins immediately, they wouldn’t arrive for at least another fortnight. Therefore, it wasn’t Randel.
“And it wouldn’t be Marquis Brissen, either.”
Evan knew that Siegfried stood behind Calian. The ever-cautious Evan would never try to attack him now, not while Suleiman and his knights were in Kairisis. So, it wasn’t Evan.
As he mulled this over, a gust of wind brushed past his fingertips.
Or rather, he had already finished his analysis of Randel and Evan in the brief moment it took for that single breeze to pass.
Carried on that wind was a voice laced with a chilling presence.
“I wonder whose gift this is.”
As if in answer to Calian’s murmur, one of the warriors stepped forward. A sword was strapped to his waist, but he hadn’t drawn it.
Seeing this, Calian tilted his head slightly.
Even if it wasn’t outright killing intent, they weren’t radiating such an intense fighting spirit just to exchange pleasantries. He could grasp neither the mastermind nor their objective.
Thud!
Just then, Raven stamped his front hoof.
It was a sight Calian had never seen before. Then again, this was the first time Calian had ever felt tense while facing an enemy. Naturally, it was also the first time Raven had acted this way.
To Calian, Raven’s agitated stomp felt like a command: ‘Don’t be tense.’ As hard as it was to believe, it truly felt as though his horse was worried about him.
With everyone from Yan and Alan to Hina already fussing over him, he couldn’t very well let his horse join the list.
“It’s alright.”
Calian patted Raven’s neck and spoke softly. Then, he leaped lightly from the saddle and walked toward them, pulling back the hood that had been obscuring his face.
Black hair, red eyes.
Upon confirming his identity, the warrior took another step forward. They had been waiting specifically for him.
Stopping about three paces away, the man raised a hand and pointed to himself.
“Harnan.”
He was likely stating his name.
Calian merely nodded. He was a prince; they surely knew his name already.
“A fight or a talk?”
Instead, Calian posed a question similar to one he had once asked Franz. The man who introduced himself as Harnan gave a faint smile.
“A fight.”
It was an answer Calian was more than happy to hear.
Clang!
The suffocating silence shattered.
*
“Meow!”
I’m Prince Calian’s cat, but I like Prince Franz more.
The cat let out a long, drawn-out meow.
A savory aroma wafted from its mouth as it squeezed through the gap in the door. It seemed to have scored a treat while it was out.
Franz let out a dry chuckle, speaking his thoughts aloud. “You won’t be able to fit through there soon.”
And it was true; the cat had gained quite a bit of weight. Though it still felt small in his arms, it had grown quite hefty. At this rate, he’d have to widen the gap in the door, or it would get stuck.
Lifting the cat, which was now demanding to be held, with practiced ease, Franz’s eyes fell upon its collar once more. His gaze lingered on his younger brother’s name, etched onto the tag. As he stared at the name illuminated by the moonlight filtering into his dark room, inevitable thoughts began to surface.
How much time passed like that?
Before he knew it, his hand had stopped stroking the cat, and the feline let out a lazy yawn.
At the end of his long train of thought, a quiet murmur escaped Franz’s lips.
“I didn’t want to realize it.”
Calian had become a completely different person overnight. Franz had never forgotten the look in his eyes that day in the dining hall.
The Crown Prince of Secritia and his younger brother, and the 2nd Prince of Kairis who would have ascended the throne if not for the current Calian. What kind of event could possibly entangle such people?
What kind of event would make the Calian who had experienced it look directly at Franz with eyes that screamed he was trying his absolute hardest not to kill him?
“Meow!” the cat cried again.
Slowly stroking the scruff of its neck, Franz spoke to himself once more.
“I definitely…”
Franz knew, even without asking. He knew what he must have done after becoming king. Though the reasons were hard to fathom, he was certain his conclusion was correct.
“I suppose I wasn’t cut out to be king.”
The brothers of that kingdom… they must have died in a war that he had started.
*
Thump!
It was a sound he hadn’t felt in a very long time.
The sharp throb of his power of blessing meant the wound in his side was deep. When Harnan’s sword had slashed him moments ago, Calian had slashed Harnan’s shoulder in return. But Harnan’s wound had vanished without a trace.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Thick drops of blood splattered onto the ground.
Feeling it, Calian smirked. Paying his own injury no mind, he thrust his sword forward.
Clang!
The clash of steel shook the quiet night sky once more.
And yet, no one noticed. Unless someone stumbled directly into this clearing, no one would ever know what the 3rd Prince of the Kairis Kingdom was enduring.
The other four warriors, excluding Harnan, had surrounded them, maintaining a large-scale Silent barrier. That was why only five had come for him. That is, if one could even call the red-tinged energy they were using ‘Silent’ magic.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A red light shimmered on Harnan’s sword as he blocked Calian’s blindingly fast strikes. It was different from the red light that had enveloped the Great Shield Alan had manifested; that had been the power of fire, Alan’s primary element. This was something else entirely.
Clash! Clash! Clash!
It was the exact same light Randel had shown.
The transparent shield in Calian’s hand deflected Harnan’s torrent of strikes. Pushed back by the force, Harnan took a step back.
Haa.
Seizing the brief opening, Calian exhaled silently. He swapped his shield back to a longsword and spoke in a mocking tone.
“You use an interesting power.”
“Look who’s talking,” Harnan retorted, clearly referring to Calian’s style of constantly changing weapons, and lunged forward again.
Clang!
Blocking the incoming strike, Calian deflected Harnan’s sword and slashed downward. Harnan leaped back, dodging the attack.
Hum!
A dark red light entwined around Harnan’s sword once more. Figuring out what it was wasn’t important right now. Deciding to treat it as their version of ‘aura’ for the time being, Calian let an even deeper chill gather in his hand.
Hummm!
Then, as if by unspoken agreement, they rushed at each other again.
Calian’s figure moved at a speed invisible to the naked eye, but Harnan met the onslaught, thrusting and raising his sword to block each blow.
But he was too slow.
Thrust!
Calian’s sword, lunging like a charging beast, pierced Harnan’s abdomen.
Stepping back with a short groan, a sneer played on Harnan’s lips. Seeing it, Calian’s brow furrowed. Once again, the red energy gathered, healing the wound in an instant.
“Damn it.”
Sispanian. You really should have been less considerate.
Harnan let out a chuckle. “This will be difficult for you, 3rd Prince.”
With a voice dripping with mockery, an afterimage of red light lunged at Calian. Inevitably, it was blocked by Calian’s blue sword.
Clang! Clang!
As he put strength into his raised arm, red blood poured onto the ground. A corresponding wave of pain washed over him.
Calian paid it no mind.
With a calm face, as if he were completely uninjured, he blocked the sword aimed at his heart, materialized a dagger, and threw it without hesitation.
Whoosh!
Even against Calian’s constantly changing weapons, Harnan responded calmly. His attitude suggested he knew a thing or two about Calian’s ‘sword.’ He quickly twisted his own blade to swat away the flying dagger, then launched another attack. Calian blocked, his wound tore open further, and his vision swam.
Haa.
Taking another deep breath, Calian’s eyes turned ice-cold.
‘Just once.’
Hummm!
Amplifying his remaining aura, Calian’s figure flew forward. The afterimage of blue light couldn’t keep up, leaving a long trail in the air. The aura coating his sword surged, and the man’s red light met it.
Clang!
Blade-to-blade with Calian, Harnan smirked. He must have felt the strength draining from Calian’s arms.
“Let’s end this here.”
At Harnan’s declaration, Calian smiled back. Instead of an answer, he whispered in a low voice.
`[Wind Spear]`
Not aura, but mana.
He mobilized the mana he had been steadily accumulating in the circle the original Calian had created.
A spear of mana, brimming with the power of wind. A spear sharper and grander than any Arsen had ever created plunged down at the speed of light. Harnan, busy holding back Calian’s sword, had no way to dodge.
Whoosh!
Crunch!
The power of wind shredded the wound.
A gruesome sound erupted.
Pierced by the spell, Harnan’s body collapsed, mangled and torn as he fell. He never made another sound.
Watching for a moment, Calian turned around.
He had exhausted his power of blessing, his aura, and on top of that, the mana he had forced himself to use. Swallowing the blood that welled up in his throat, Calian flashed a beautiful smile at the four remaining warriors.
*
“Young Mistress!”
A servant ran urgently toward Demirea, who was in the training ground.
Wiping away her sweat, Demirea turned to look at him. The servant was panting heavily, his face a mask of panic.
“What is it?”
“You—you need to come outside! Right now!”
Reading the urgency on his face, Demirea sprinted out of the training ground.
Standing there was a black horse, panting heavily. The ground beneath its hooves was drenched in red blood. And on its back…
“Prince Calian.”
Pushing past the servants who didn’t dare touch royalty, Demirea rushed forward and carefully pulled Calian down, laying him on the ground.
Before she could even ask what had happened, Calian’s hand gripped her shoulder. A voice, so faint it seemed it might fade away at any moment, reached her ears.
“Call… my brother…”
The pale hand gripping her shoulder slipped away, falling limp.