Chapter 259
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 259
The demon army, which had rampaged across the continent as if they owned it, was finally cornered.
The demon legions moved according to a specific pattern. At first glance, they seemed to traverse space at will, but there was a clear regularity to their maneuvers. By meticulously tracking mana fluctuations and the flow of ley lines, the humans could predict both their destination and their timing.
After all, no matter how skilled they were at spatial magic, transporting an army tens of thousands strong was no simple feat. Large-scale teleportation magic could only be executed when specific conditions aligned at a precise moment.
The Allied Forces of Humanity deployed their troops based on these calculations, finally forcing a head-on confrontation with the great demon army. The site where hundreds of thousands of demon soldiers clashed with the Allied Forces was a vast plain near the imperial capital.
“Charge!”
Under the command of the Allied Forces' leader, Emperor Marcus, a massive pitched battle unfolded.
And at that very moment, Roen was nowhere near that battlefield.
A dark night. The imperial palace of the Cassandra Magic Empire.
Beep. Beep—.
An anomalous signal pinged on the airship control tower’s radar. An unidentified flying object had been caught in the mana sweep.
[Halt! Identify yourself and state your purpose immediately, or we will open fire.]
The control tower issued a sharp warning. However, the mysterious aircraft ignored the transmission entirely, soaring past the tower and heading straight for the main palace within the imperial grounds.
Vwoom—.
The unidentified vessel bypassed the dozens of magical barriers surrounding the palace without a moment's hesitation.
Kaboom—!
Mana cannons positioned throughout the grounds opened fire to intercept the intruder, but the craft evaded every strike with erratic movements that seemed to warp space itself. The roaring aircraft soon reached the deepest sanctum of the main palace: the Emperor’s private chambers.
CRASH—!
The aircraft’s hull slammed directly through the thick stone walls of the palace.
Inside was Beatrice, who had been managing the empire’s affairs in Marcus’s stead while he was at the front lines.
“……!”
Beatrice, who had been working at her desk late into the night, stared wide-eyed at the small airship that had suddenly demolished her wall. The intrusion was shocking enough, but the vessel’s identity left her stunned.
‘This is definitely… the airship I gave to Roen.’
It was the very ship she had gifted him as a reward for providing the cure for her Qi Meridian Blockage. She had harbored a small, secret hope that he might one day visit her in that ship, but she had never imagined it would happen like this.
As Beatrice stared blankly at the wreckage in her bedroom, the sound of metal groaning filled the air.
Screech—! KABAM—!
As if the airship's hatch was jammed, Roen kicked it open and leaped out.
Beatrice massaged her throbbing temples as she looked at him. “You…”
Emerging from the dust, Roen brushed off his clothes and spoke calmly. “Sorry. It’s my first time flying one of these. I’ll fix it and return it later.”
“Never mind that…”
The rhythm of their conversation felt nostalgic, but it was a ghost of the past. Their respective positions had changed far too much since those days.
Beatrice sighed, her expression turning grave. “Why have you come here? Your army is currently engaged in a pitched battle with the human forces on the great plain. Should the supreme commander of that army really be here?”
At Beatrice’s logical question, Roen shook his head as if the matter were beneath his notice.
“That war doesn't concern me. It is merely a means to an end.”
Shk—.
“My true objective lies beyond the seal behind you.”
Roen pointed toward a secret chamber hidden behind the Emperor’s quarters—a place known only to a select few within the palace.
Beatrice bit her lip. How on earth did Roen know about that place? Her expression hardened as she took a defensive stance.
“I don’t know what you’re after, but I won’t hand it over easily.”
Beatrice leveled her staff at Roen, her mana beginning to flare. Roen watched her in silence.
‘Beatrice cured the chronic condition afflicting her Mana Heart and has reached the 7th-tier.’
She had become a Grand Mage in the truest sense. If she continued to grow at this rate, she might even one day threaten the position of someone like Ain Soph Fingard.
But…
‘She’s no match for me right now.’
Shhhk—.
Roen extended his hand and cast a spatial barrier. A jet-black dome instantly enveloped the entire room. Sensing the shift in mana, Beatrice immediately tried to chant a spell in response, but—
Fzzt—.
“……!”
Her spell dissipated into harmless mana particles before it could even take shape.
“You cannot use magic within my barrier,” Roen said. “Don’t resist. Just stay quiet.”
Beatrice was a formidable opponent, but with her magic sealed, she was no more than a delicate girl.
Roen unleashed a pulse of mana, shattering the inner bedroom wall.
KABOOM—!
Beyond the crumbling masonry, a massive golden vault was revealed. The vault was covered in dense, glowing runic characters that looked impossible to bypass.
Beatrice managed a faint, defiant smile. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but that seal can only be broken by someone carrying the blood of the Cassandra Imperial Family. And I have no intention of opening it for you.”
“Is that so?”
Thump—.
As Roen stepped closer, Beatrice flinched. She seemed to expect him to use force to make her open the vault.
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of laying a hand on you.”
Passing Beatrice, Roen walked to the vault and reached for the seal.
“There is no place in this palace I cannot go. Because the true master of this imperial palace… is me.”
Flash—!
As Roen’s hand touched the surface, the sealing runes erupted in a brilliant light.
Chrrrr—.
The mana particles within the vault shifted according to Roen’s will, instantly unraveling the complex seal.
Clank—.
In mere seconds, the vault stood open.
Beatrice watched with a look of utter bewilderment, a realization slowly dawning on her. “I see… so that was it?”
To break a seal that required imperial blood meant that he, too, was of the imperial line. It was the moment a long-held question was finally answered.
‘In truth, I had suspected it.’
The catalyst for her suspicion had been the cure for the Qi Meridian Blockage Roen had created. He had presented a remedy that seemed perfectly tailored to her specific constitution. Developing a personalized cure for someone else was unheard of, even if they suffered from the same condition.
There was only one way such a thing was possible.
‘If they shared the same blood.’
At Beatrice’s realization, Roen gave a silent nod. “Yes. At first, I only had a suspicion myself.”
The bloodline of the Cassandra Magic Empire.
Long ago, the Cassandra family had joined forces with six other houses to overthrow a certain lineage and establish the empire. The name of that fallen house was Mir. They were the direct descendants of the first emperor, Kyrus the Great, and the predecessors of the Cassandra family.
The Cassandras had overthrown the tyrannical Mir family to start a new dynasty. However, they could not discard the imperial legitimacy entirely. Thus, the Cassandra family—a collateral branch of the Mir—still used the name of the Mir Magic Tower and incorporated 'Mir' into their own formal names.
‘Beatrice Euraphim Lorraine Le Miriel Cassandra.’
And Roen was the last of that primary Mir bloodline.
‘I heard a few hints during my battle with Amur, too.’
He had been told that half of his blood came from a Demon God, and the other half came from a legendary lineage in the human world. At first, he thought it meant the Devalis family, but it was actually the Mir family.
Hearing the full story, Beatrice let out a heavy sigh. “Then I have no justification to stop you.”
It was a case of the original owner reclaiming what had been taken. The descendant was simply receiving the legacy left by the first emperor. Beatrice could no longer find the will to stand in his way.
Clank—.
The seal fully released, and the object stored within fell into Roen’s hands. Despite the passage of millennia, it radiated a brilliant, twelve-colored light.
It was the ‘Imperial Seal.’
This was not merely the seal of the Cassandra family. This was the insignia of the first emperor—a key that could activate Humanity's Wedge and an artifact that held the power of the species' origin. This seal contained the records and history of every human being that had ever lived or died.
‘With this, even the sacrifices caused by the war I started can be undone.’
Beatrice watched Roen clutch the Imperial Seal. “What do you plan to do now?”
She didn't know the seal's exact purpose, but she knew Roen was planning something monumental.
Roen hesitated for a moment. He had a plan, yes. But he couldn't share it.
“…You don’t need to know.”
When Roen coldly refused to answer, Beatrice clenched her fists. “There must be a reason why you’re going this far.”
She hadn't let go of her faith in him, even now. She sensed that Roen had a clear purpose for starting this war. Perhaps that faith only remained because the capital had not yet been turned into a sea of fire.
Roen replied with calculated coldness. “I have already slaughtered hundreds of thousands of humans. Do you think someone like me needs a ‘reason’? And even if there were a justifiable one, do you think this choice could ever be forgiven?”
Since Roen had initiated the war, the Great Wall and Winter Castle had fallen. Countless cities and villages had been reduced to ash. The death toll was already in the hundreds of thousands. A massacre of this scale was unprecedented and would likely never be seen again.
But Beatrice shook her head.
“Forgiveness… that isn't for me to judge. I simply want to know. I want to know your thoughts—your true feelings.”
She reached out, taking Roen’s hand and looking him straight in the eye. “Will you really not tell me anything?”
“……”
Roen met her gaze for a heartbeat before looking away. He couldn't say a word. In the end, this was an act of deceiving the entire world. If Beatrice learned the truth, she might not act according to his design. He couldn't risk that.
Roen gripped Beatrice’s hand tightly. “Beatrice, I believe in you. You are capable. You will… no, you must rebuild the Allied Forces of Humanity and come to the Demon King’s castle. You absolutely must.”
Unlike previous conflicts, the demon army was not directly invading the empire; they were fighting on the nearby plains. This was no coincidence, nor was it due to human tactical brilliance. It was all part of Roen’s plan.
‘After this war, the Allied Forces will rise again, centered around the empire I left intact.’
And then, they would finally move to subjugate the Demon King, Roen.
The day they gathered their full strength and reached the Demon King’s castle to strike him down. The day Freya’s Holy Sword finally pierced his heart.
“On that day, you will understand everything.”