Chapter 176
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 176
The main hall of Black Keep was filled with the sound of boisterous chatter.
Long tables groaned under the weight of all sorts of delicacies rarely seen at the Wall. It was a celebratory banquet to honor the successful expedition into the lands beyond.
Less than a week had passed since my own homecoming feast, but the atmosphere was completely different. Unlike before, when Aslan had struggled to liven things up, the air in the hall was now relaxed and genuinely cheerful.
“Alright, alright! Everyone raise your glasses and listen up!”
“The Family Head has something to say!”
Fweeeet—!
Amidst whistles and enthusiastic applause that echoed through the hall, the attendees raised their glasses high. Aslan held up his own drink and began naming those who had distinguished themselves on the expedition, praising their contributions.
“To Crossen, Hakon, Ranmir, and everyone else who participated in this expedition—you all worked incredibly hard. Ciel and Freya also played crucial roles. I thank you for your efforts.”
Thump.
Aslan slammed his hand on the table and gestured toward me.
“But the one who distinguished himself the most on this expedition was my brother, Roen. You may not believe it, but he made the greatest contribution. He burned down the entire Black Moth habitat and killed their queen. And he did it without a single casualty!”
“Ooooh!”
The knights and soldiers who had been on the expedition with me roared in approval, waving their glasses.
“……”
Of course, some who hadn’t participated looked on with suspicion, as if they couldn’t believe it, but they were in the minority. It seemed that news of what happened on the expedition had spread while I was unconscious; even the gazes of the family elders who had once disapproved of me had softened slightly.
It would be difficult to completely change their perception in such a short time, but at least the fact that Roen had changed, even a little, must have gotten through.
“Alright, Roen, you say a few words too,” Aslan urged, clapping me on the back.
“……”
I gave him a troubled look, but Aslan pressed on, refusing to let me decline.
“Everyone’s arms are getting tired. Hurry up, will you?”
I feel like I’ve been attending a lot of these drinking parties and giving a lot of toasts lately. I sighed and spoke calmly to the crowd holding their glasses high.
“You all worked hard. The outcome of the expedition was excellent, but the process was anything but smooth.”
Killing the Black Moth Queen and burning her habitat was a great achievement, but everyone had a brush with death in the process. In fact, if Freya and Ciel hadn’t been there, it wouldn’t have been surprising if several people had died.
Of course… if everyone had followed my orders from the start, we wouldn’t have even faced such a crisis. I suppose it was my mistake for not anticipating that level of insubordination.
That wasn’t all. Just when I thought it was over after dealing with the Black Moth Queen, we faced an even greater threat with Amur’s sudden appearance. I was well aware that the disputed territory near the Wall was Amur’s domain, but I never expected him to appear so openly. He usually spent his time wandering the continent, picking fights with the strong or training in the remote wilderness.
Fortunately, we were able to return without major losses, but if things had gone slightly wrong, not a single one of us would have left that place alive.
And yet.
“We don’t mind!”
“In the Devalis family, you prove yourself with skill and results!”
“The one who survives is the strong one, isn’t that right?”
The knights and soldiers who had been on the expedition with me didn’t seem to see it that way. Perhaps because they cross the line between life and death every day, they didn’t care about such trivialities. The way they accepted it so casually, without holding any grudges, was a rather refreshing experience.
Perhaps they were deeply impressed that I had sent them away to face Amur alone. A smile touched my lips as I raised my glass.
“I’m grateful you think so. Everyone, drink up!”
The banquet continued late into the night.
*
In the territory of the Demon Realm, adjacent to the Wall.
A figure visited Amur’s residence. He was a man with long, flowing dark hair, dressed in attire similar to an undertaker’s beneath his robe. He emerged from beyond a black mist—Gilean of the Black Mist, one of the Twelve Honored Ones.
“Lord Amur, how was your encounter with the successor?”
At his question, Amur, who was leaning back in a chair woven from the bones of a drake, clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, it was utterly disappointing. To think he’s a half-wit who can’t even properly control the power he possesses.”
Later, the boy had even made a pathetic display of dispersing his own power and trembling in pain. No matter how much of His bloodline he inherited, in the end, a demigod was nothing more than a human with clear limitations.
Despite Amur’s harsh assessment, Gilean remained unfazed and continued to press.
“But surely you must have seen potential in him?”
“Potential…”
Amur, who had been resting his chin on the armrest with a bored expression, recalled the fragment of Authority he had felt from the boy. When the boy clenched his fist, a vortex of Authority had manifested with a mana that seemed to constrict space itself.
I sensed the mana and avoided a fatal blow, but if I had been careless, my spirit core could have been ripped right out.
That attack would have been an extremely dangerous blow even for his true form, not just his human one. Amur recalled the chilling sensation of that moment and murmured quietly.
“It seemed to be a power superior to spatial manipulation. An Authority that distorts dimension itself.”
“Yes, it is an Authority essential for our great cause.”
“The great cause…”
Amur rested his chin on his hand and fell silent in thought.
The disciples of the Demon God, the Twelve Honored Ones. On the surface, the reason for their existence and their ultimate goal was the resurrection of the Demon God. The method to achieve that was to destroy the covenant the first emperor had made with the gods.
The destruction of the ‘wedge’—the blessing, or rather, the cursed shackle, bestowed upon each race. The purpose of the Twelve Honored Ones was to find and destroy the wedges of each race, which the gods had hidden beyond the world’s boundary.
An Authority that could distort dimensions and affect what lay beyond was an essential element in achieving their goal.
Of course.
‘I couldn’t care less about covenants, curses, or wedges.’
Amur simply wished to transcend the limits of the spirit race and reach the infinite pinnacle of martial arts. He was just curious to see how far he could go with his own power if he shattered the racial limits that this so-called wedge imposed.
“But he’s not the only candidate, is he?”
There was more than one way to achieve their cause. There was no need to be fixated on the boy. Amur looked at Gilean with a sharp gaze and said, “After all, you yourself are researching barriers and spatial manipulation separately.”
Gilean simply shrugged, and Amur’s eyes narrowed. There was nothing more irritating than someone whose true intentions were impossible to read. As Amur’s brow twitched, Gilean changed the subject.
“Have you heard the news? They say Lord Kral was repelled near Full Moon Island.”
“Kral? You can’t even call that thing an Honored One. It’s merely a phenomenon.”
Like a tidal wave, a storm, or a swarm of locusts—a natural disaster. It was nothing more than a lump of mana that had lost its reason and Authority, with only instinct remaining. Even so, it seemed that thing also possessed the will to find and destroy the wedges, to open the sealed dimension and restore its former power.
Well, it had run into the wrong guy and got beaten back, reverse-summoned or whatever. Meanwhile, Carmilla’s reason for cooperating was the insane excuse that it "seemed fun," but for a psycho like her, it was understandable. Thus, each of the Honored Ones cooperated with the Demon God for their own reasons.
‘But I have no idea what this Gilean fellow’s objective is.’
The only Honored One with a human bloodline. Gilean was involved with the manipulation of space and barriers, the Authority closest to His. The man clearly had some other purpose, but he kept his intentions so tightly under wraps that there wasn't a single clue.
“By the way, where is that tactician you favor?”
“Favor? That fool is right here.”
Flick—.
Amur took a marble from his pocket and threw it on the floor. Smoke billowed from the marble, coalescing into a familiar shape. It was Yelin, who had bought time against the Guardian of the Wall while Amur met with the successor.
Amur spoke to him bluntly. “Report.”
The man, now clad in a suit woven from mana, bowed his head and spoke politely.
“Yes, Master. I will now present my report on the battle against Aslan Devalis, the so-called Guardian of the Wall. I hope this will be of use in the future conquest of the Wall…”
*
The next day.
Knights from the Gunhild family visited Black Keep, the main castle of the Devalis family. They were there to escort Freya back to Winter Castle. Freya bowed her head to Aslan, who had come to see her off.
“I will be on my way now.”
“Alright, travel safely. Why don’t you take Roen with you? He can pay his respects to Lord Wodanaz.”
I answered immediately. “I’m not going.”
Why would I go there just to get struck by lightning by that old man? I’ll only be able to show my face at Winter Castle once my infamous reputation has faded from the continent. After all, that old man’s influence was a major reason my engagement to Freya was broken off in the first place.
Freya mentioned this as well. “I wouldn’t mind, but I’m not sure if my father would allow it.”
“What does it matter? He wouldn’t kill his future son-in-law, would he?”
“……”
That’s just your wishful thinking, Aslan.
“In any case, travel safely.”
Ciel also bowed politely to Freya. “I will see you again at the Union.”
“Yes, until then.”
*
A few weeks later.
A significant amount of time had passed since I returned from the expedition and Freya left for Winter Castle. During this summer break, I traveled throughout the Devalis territory, collecting various items that could only be found here.
I also settled the ties of gratitude and resentment resulting from Roen’s past deeds. There were those who showed me intense anger, like in Morefit Village, and there were others who bowed and scraped, accepting my apology after I tossed them a few gold ingots.
Personally, neither situation sat well with me. The former was troubling and painful, but I could feel the victims’ sincerity. The latter wasn’t unpleasant, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.
After inspecting the territory, I spent my afternoons in physical training with the knights, and in the evenings, I practiced alchemy in a workshop prepared for me in a corner of Black Keep.
Through repetitive alchemical work, I raised my Intermediate Alchemy level and continued the process of assimilating Bell’s Fireball, which had integrated into my body. Thanks to this, my Intermediate Alchemy rose to level 3, and the fireball’s assimilation rate increased to 45 percent.
As a result, I could now use basic magic in addition to the alchemy magic from my Azoth Sword. For instance:
“Light.”
Flash—.
As I snapped my fingers and chanted the spell, an orb of light appeared, brightly illuminating the dark room. The fireball’s assimilation rate was still less than half, so it consumed twice as much mana as it would for a normal mage, but since my total mana pool was so large, it was no trouble at all.
“It’s dazzling.”
Ciel looked at the orb of light before closing her eyes.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
I couldn’t tell if it was a complaint or a compliment, but I decided to take it as the latter. Ciel waved her hand, dispersing the light I had summoned, and asked, “Have you finished packing?”
“Yeah, it’s time to go back.”
It had been almost a month since I came to the Devalis estate. There were still about four weeks of summer break left, but we needed to leave soon to reach the Union without rushing. The Chairman wasn’t going to open a portal for the return trip, after all.
When I went outside with my luggage, knights in light armor greeted me.
“Are your preparations complete? Then let us be on our way.”
“Right.”
These were the Devalis knights assigned to guard the Union starting this semester. Outstanding knights, including Crossen, with whom I had a connection, were being dispatched to the Union. At the same time, they were the force that would safely escort Ciel and me on our way back.
Once everyone was ready to leave, Fernandez and other servants of the house came to the main gate to see us off.
“Please travel safely, Lord Roen.”
“I will, old man.”
We’ve only known each other for about three weeks, but it feels quite familiar. I guess it’s because this body’s original owner was close to him. Fernandez took a letter from his coat and handed it to me.
“A letter from the Family Head. He said he was sorry he couldn’t see you off.”
“…He went on another expedition already?”
I let out a deep sigh, picturing Aslan’s face. Well, he’s a character who lives a long life without any major incidents in the story, so nothing bad should happen, but I couldn’t help but worry. I took the letter, tucked it into my coat, and said, “Thanks. Let’s get going, Ciel.”
Ciel and I boarded the carriage, which was emblazoned with the Devalis crest.
Hmphh—.
As the carriage passed through the main gate of the inner wall, the soldiers lined up on either side saluted me.
“To Lord Roen, salute!”
Clack—.
It was the complete opposite of the scene when I first passed through the Wall. To think that I, who was once treated as if I didn’t exist, would now be receiving a salute. The feeling was truly novel.
As I failed to hide my smile, Ciel, sitting across from me, asked, “…Are you that pleased?”
“Is there any reason not to be?”
A good thing is a good thing. And so, seen off by the soldiers, the carriage headed back toward the Union.