Chapter 210
Chapter 210
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 210
Chapter Title: The Nameless King's Tomb
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I remember the moment I first laid eyes on the capital.
The moment I finally crested that tall hill, the grand vista unfolding down the slope below.
Snow-white walls and dozens of rivers weaving through, a city so vast its edges vanished into the horizon.
And at its heart, that imposing reddish-brown castle.
A fortress, an ancient citadel, the imperial palace itself—and to think the day would come when I’d set foot inside.
“Huh? We’re not going into the palace?”
“Hm?”
“The Nameless King’s tomb is in the eastern manor of the palace grounds. Where most of the past kings lie in eternal rest.”
“Oh…….”
Either way, the capital was a ridiculously massive city, so we set out from the academy right away.
We got our official outing pass and hopped on the nearest streetcar at the station.
Clack, clatter……
The ride had this oddly lulling sway to it.
I shifted on my seat now and then, peering out the window at the cityscape rolling by.
As I stared blankly out at the passing views, Glen slowly spoke up.
“Reminds me of our first meeting.”
“Hm?”
“You know, the academy train.”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, yeah.
Back then, it hadn’t even crossed my mind that this guy was a prince.
“But why go to such lengths for the Nameless King? You’re a Bednicker—shouldn’t you admire Lady Cusette?”
Must be the prince thing; he knew a fair bit about our family too.
I replied in a casual tone.
“Does admiration need a reason? He was just cool. His armor was cool, his sword was cool, his exploits were cool.”
“I see.”
Glen nodded agreeably.
Anyway, our chit-chat flew by faster than expected……
But the streetcar wasn’t speedy, so by the time we reached the palace grounds, the sun was already dipping low.
“We’ll be hitting midnight by the time we get back to the academy.”
“Huh? You were planning to head back today?”
“That was the idea.”
“If it’s not urgent, stay here tonight. I’ll set you up with a room. Truth is, there are a few procedures to handle just to enter the tomb.”
“Hm. Might as well?”
Never thought the day would come when I’d be invited to the palace as a guest.
Should’ve paid more attention to my outfit?
Well, a student’s formal wear is their uniform, they say. At least I’d matched the bare minimum in my cadet clothes.
I strode forward confidently, without a hint of unease, but a knight guarding the gate with stern vigilance held us up.
“Halt. State your business at the palace.”
“It’s me, Sir Bass.”
“Your Highness?”
Did they know each other?
The knight’s eyes widened slightly in surprise before he snapped a salute.
“An honor after so long. I thought you wouldn’t return home until after graduation—quite the shock.”
“Ahaha… People change their minds, you know.”
They seemed surprisingly at ease with each other.
They exchanged greetings and small talk, until at some point Glen gestured toward me.
“This is my friend… Ruan Bednicker.”
“Ruan Bednicker… The Friday Saint!”
“…….”
The man called Bass looked at me and bowed with a smile.
“I’ve heard the tales of your renown. As one who maintains order and stability in the capital, I offer my respects for your achievements.”
“…No need.”
His greeting dripped with sincerity, but with my favor already soured, I gave a curt reply.
“What brings you to the palace?”
“Wanted to see the Nameless King’s tomb at least once. Pestered Glen about it.”
“I see. However…….”
The knight’s gaze flicked to the weapon at my waist.
“Apologies, but no weapons allowed inside.”
“Oh, this isn’t a weapon. See?”
I drew the Seven Sins Sword and showed him.
Naturally, this ancient hunk of junk looked no different from a toy sword on the surface.
Its teeth were all gone, and it was rusted to boot.
“Hmm…….”
Even so, the knight seemed uneasy about its sword-like shape……
“Please make an exception just this once, Sir Bass. I’m asking you.”
With Glen bowing his head too, the knight startled and replied.
“…Very well. If you’re a friend of His Highness, I have no choice but to trust you. That said, please avoid carrying it openly and keep it secured in your room.”
“Of course.”
The inspection finally cleared, and we stepped beyond the walls.
This was the palace, the pinnacle where even the loftiest nobles considered a single visit a lifelong glory for their house.
My first impression upon entering such a place……
“…It’s weirdly bustling, huh?”
Knights in full armor and middle-aged scholars in robes hurried about everywhere.
It was the palace, so no one dashed recklessly, but their quickened steps made them look like a flock of ducks paddling across a pond.
“Yeah. Something going on?”
“Hmm.”
Fair enough. The Demon King had nearly descended on the capital— no way the imperial family was taking it quietly.
Especially with a middle name invoked and all.
In any case, we wove through the busy crowd and headed to a palace annex.
A guest house with nothing but rooms, absurdly spacious for what it was.
“We’ll eat here tonight and come back at dawn tomorrow.”
“Sounds good. Rest up.”
We dined at the annex, then were shown to our rooms, complete with three attendants apiece.
“Let us know if you need anything.”
“Rest well.”
“…….”
I noticed the three attendants had some combat training.
Meaning they doubled as surveillance while playing servant.
Not out of suspicion toward me, but because this place could erupt into chaos any moment—standard precaution.
Frankly, I preferred this straightforwardness over backhanded schemes.
Anyway, having barely slept the night before, I dozed to kill time until deep into the predawn hours, then slipped out of my room.
Slide.
Naturally sneaking, so I’d jumped out the window.
Did the palace ever sleep?
Even in the dead of night, activity hummed from all directions.
Luckily, I’d gauged the average knight’s level well enough—their senses weren’t hard to fool.
Still, I wasn’t totally relaxed.
I was taking a pretty risky move here. If caught, I’d be lucky to get a scolding from the emperor—instead of a cell in the dungeons.
No slacking; I moved slow and steady.
It was the palace, after all. A freakishly skilled expert could pop up anywhere unexpected.
The tomb wasn’t in the main keep, just the eastern manor, so security should be lighter by comparison……
But better safe than sorry.
The tomb lay in the eastern manor off the palace proper.
The grounds were so vast it was easy to find, but security wasn’t tight—maybe two or three groundskeepers at most.
Of course, low manpower didn’t mean drop your guard.
There could be magical wards I didn’t know about.
I slipped past the groundskeepers quietly and entered the tomb. As Glen said, tombs of past kings dotted the place, but finding the Nameless King’s wasn’t hard.
I’d heard the details beforehand.
‘Cave tomb style, right?’
A cave tomb was a large stone chamber piled over with earth.
It was a royal tomb, so far grander than a common one……
But somehow, for the empire’s most revered king, it felt oddly modest.
Fwoosh……
I scanned it with Flame-Eye Golden Pupil, found nothing amiss, and stepped right into the entrance.
A short, damp corridor led quickly to the main chamber.
Spacious enough, with a reddish-brown coffin at the center… and murals on the walls.
“This is…….”
Pictures from the era when he united the seven races?
A knight in red armor going from one race leader to the next, challenging them to duels.
The epic of the human king who felled elf, dwarf, giant, beastkin, and finally even the winged folk and dragons.
But something felt off.
Red King Armor.
The king in red armor looked strangely familiar.
[You’ve come.]
Then, after so long, the Martial God’s voice rang out.
‘Yes. The Nameless King’s tomb, as you mentioned.’
[…I see.]
A tinge of melancholy laced the Martial God’s voice. I realized this forgotten god was gazing at the murals.
The Nameless King had been his first contractor.
To me, those wall carvings were history. To him, memories.
That was the moment.
Whumm……
A faint light rippled suddenly from the central reddish-brown coffin.
I startled back a step, but the Martial God spoke calmly.
[No need for alarm.]
“Uh…….”
The light spilling from the coffin was red too.
Like a star in the night sky, it didn’t illuminate its surroundings—just glowed vividly on its own.
[A fragment of Ilchu. Draw the Seven Sins Sword.]
“…….”
I held the Seven Sins Sword aloft in both hands, like an offering to a god.
The Ilchu fragment hovering nearby paused, then slowly drifted toward the blade.
Ssshh……
The instant the light seeped into the Seven Sins Sword.
My vision went white, and a bizarre sensation spread through my body.
It felt like my senses extended into the sword in my hands, though no words quite captured it.
As if the Seven Sins Sword had become part of my flesh?
Was this the legendary realm of unity between man and divine sword?
“What in the world…….”
[Hoo…….]
The Martial God’s sigh felt clearer than ever.
Now, from the light-swallowing Seven Sins Sword, a hazy smoke began to leak in reverse.
This mystical vapor soon took human shape—much like what I’d witnessed at the first forgotten god’s altar.
Back then, the Martial God had only manifested a form to demonstrate the Galaxy Sword—.
“…Huh.”
This time was different.
The shape solidified more distinctly.
[Hm.]
A red-haired man.
Around thirty years old.
His long hair tied high and draped down, clad in flowing ritual robes that felt both alien and familiar.
Like the training garb I’d worn on Spirit Mountain.
“…Martial God?”
“It’s me.”
“Why do you look so young?”
He tilted his head.
[The higher the realm, the slower aging progresses. The level I achieved in life wasn’t trivial, so even at death, my appearance remained that of youth.]
“Ah…….”
[Odd. You’ve heard my voice all this time, haven’t you?]
“…Hard to guess age from a voice.”
[I suppose.]
Truth be told, his gruff, elderly manner of speech had led me to picture an old man.
‘Red hair, though…….’
Was the Martial God royalty?
No, he predated the imperial line—maybe a distant ancestor……
[…With the Ilchu fragment, I’m a bit freer from constraints.]
The Martial God said.
[My form is clearer now. Meaning I can tell you at least the bare minimum.]
“A story?”
His gaze turned to the red coffin.
[First things first. The Nameless King lives.]
“What……?”
I blurted in disbelief.
I’d heard something similar recently, but this shocked me far more.
“Didn’t you say the Nameless King was human?”
[Indeed.]
“Can a human still be alive after all this time?”
Unlike the dark elf Cusette.
Human lifespans are finite. No realm extends them beyond centuries, let alone more.
Yet the Martial God said something unexpected.
[I learned of his survival through a contractor as well.]
“What does that…….”
[As the contractor says, no human could live this long. But surely you now know a way to transcend such mortal limits?]
“…….”
In that instant, a conversation with the Iron-Blooded Duke at the main house flashed through my mind.
—Most gods on this continent were once mortals, ascending only after death.
I thought for a moment before replying.
“…The Nameless King became a god?”
There were those who deified the five kings, sure……
But venerating the dead as objects of faith was worlds apart from an actual deceased soul becoming divine.
[Not wrong.]
“Huh?”
[Look closely at the murals. You’ve seen that armor before.]
Armor?
The Nameless King’s two famed relics were both lost, I’d heard.
One was the Seven Sins Sword.
The toy blade in my hand right now. The other: the Red King Armor.
We hadn’t found it even in the Martial God’s ruins……
‘Red King Armor…….’
Truth was, I’d felt an eerie familiarity from the murals at first glance.
But where had I seen that armor?
‘—Ah.’
Suddenly, it hit me: the scene the Blood-Moon Demon King had shown me.
In the back world, on the fourth floor of Haden-Ihar’s manor where it coiled.
That pitch-black emptiness……
My doll form, tugged in a tug-of-war between Tantata and the Nine.
Just before it tore apart, a sudden intruder cleaved both Demon Kings in one strike.
The figure who appeared, clad in tattered robes over black armor.
A Demon King surrounded by three divine artifacts all too familiar to me.
“…No way.”
I looked back at the murals.
Red King Armor.
If you blackened its hue with corruption, scarred it all over, and draped it in inky robes……
[The Calamity God is a god too.]
“…….”
[My contractor, last disciple of the True Martial God Baek Rogwang.]
The Martial God asked in a bitter tone.
[Listen closely. I will now reveal the truth of this world.]