Chapter 616
Chapter Title: The Traitor's Price
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616.
To a knight who wielded a sword, his sword arm was his very life.
And now, that arm had been brutally severed.
Ridd, falling into a panic, could do nothing but clutch the stump and scream.
The pain spreading from the wound was agonizing, but the mental shock was far greater.
“Where should I cut next?”
But the deadpan voice that followed snapped Ridd back to his senses.
He, too, was a knight acknowledged by the gods, one who had risen to the rank of a hero.
No matter how great the shock, he couldn't just keep screaming with an enemy before him.
Clutching his severed arm, Ridd put distance between himself and Leo.
He retrieved the sword still held in his severed hand.
Ridd’s sword was a Jerdinger family heirloom.
The weapon itself possessed immense power.
Gripping the sword with his left hand, Ridd gritted his teeth.
‘I can reattach the arm!’
With the power of magic, a severed arm could easily be reattached.
And whether it was a stroke of misfortune or fortune, Leo had cut his arm off cleanly.
‘That should make reattaching it easier!’
Ridd’s eyes shot open.
‘For now, defeating the monster before me is the priority!’
“Knights! Execute this lawless man!”
At Ridd’s command, knights appeared, surrounding Leo and pointing their swords at him.
Looking at the knights, Leo spoke with a flat expression.
“If you are knights of Jerdinger, stand aside. I am only here to punish a traitor.”
“Foolish whelp!”
Ridd sneered at Leo with a twisted smile.
“These are my loyal knights! Do you think they would follow your command? And a traitor? Don't make me laugh!”
Ridd screamed, filled with malice.
“I am only trying to make Jerdinger the greatest hero family! The current head! Seld Jerdinger is too soft! He has power, yet he doesn't use it! He pointlessly wastes strength on the front lines against Tartaros! And it’s not just Seld Jerdinger! That foolish Llewellyn! And the Imperial Family!”
A glint appeared in Ridd’s eyes.
“Why waste meaningless power on the likes of Tartaros! Rodren is not an empire that should remain in the western part of the continent! It is a nation with the potential to become a great empire that commands the world!”
Agitated by the pain, Ridd launched into a fervent speech about his beliefs.
“We, the Jerdinger, must take the lead! We must rise to become the empire's greatest family! We must assist the Imperial Family and command the continent! By doing so, we will make Jerdinger the world's greatest hero family! This is not for my personal greed! If one truly cares for Jerdinger, one must have such ambition!”
“Is that why you joined hands with the world's threat, the one that has killed countless heroes in the past?”
“I didn't join hands with them! I am merely using them.”
“That’s what they all said.”
Leo let his sword hang low.
“Never realizing they were the ones being used.”
Tartaros wanted only one thing.
The world's division.
If people like this were to move the Jerdinger family, the empire would undoubtedly be shaken.
‘Is this his work, too?’
Leo thought of the Necromancer King, Hel Kaiser.
The Necromancer King was skilled in covert schemes.
He spread his poison throughout the world in this manner.
The elves' Pureblood Society was no different.
They claimed to be using their allies, but…
The very act of using their power became a ‘weakness.’
But those who joined hands with Tartaros did not see it as a weakness.
‘Because they think they can just crush any problem with force.’
In the first place, the Necromancer King doesn't use the weakness of their alliance as blackmail.
He merely pretends to be used.
Just as he tried to slowly bring down elven society by using the Pureblood Society.
He slowly makes them tear each other apart.
“I don’t care about the empire's history or the family's history.”
“Indeed. For a whelp like you, the right of the direct line is too much to bear.”
“Perhaps. But that’s not something for you to say.”
“What?”
“The successive emperors of the empire… and the heads of the Jerdinger family… furthermore, even the heads of the Llewellyn family.”
Leo's red eyes turned to Ridd.
“They never invaded other countries. Do you know why?”
“The predecessors unfortunately lacked ambition.”
“No.”
Leo narrowed his eyes.
“It was to make this land a better place to live.”
5,000 years ago, during the Age of Calamity.
The land most brutally trampled was not the eastern continent where Tartaros first appeared, nor was it the northern or southern continents.
It was none other than the western continent.
The most developed land.
And for that reason, it was the most thoroughly destroyed and desolate land.
Most of the Rodren Empire's current territory, both during and after the Age of Calamity, was the region where Tartaros's influence was strongest.
The reason the Rodren Empire occupied such vast territory was not because it conquered other nations, but because it drove out Tartaros, which had occupied this land for ages.
And now, it has become the most prosperous land.
This land, which even Lisinas had shaken his head at, saying it seemed impossible to restore.
It had now become the most prosperous and best place to live in the world.
Leo, who knew what it had looked like in the past, knew all too well how much effort the people who lived in this country had poured into this land.
There were the ancestors of Jerdinger who cultivated the desolate land and risked everything so that the people living there could live in peace.
Too noble to be judged as simply lacking ambition.
And for that foolish reason.
‘That must be why they’re a hero family.’
“The flames of the phoenix are noble. It is a power that burns itself to destroy evil. Long ago, the first Jerdinger likely received the phoenix's power for that very reason.”
“What dreamlike nonsense. If you have power, why must you sacrifice yourself for others? That is a foolish act.”
“Yes, it is foolish.”
Leo closed his eyes.
“But do not forget. It is because of the heroes who unhesitatingly risked everything for that foolish act—the very act that your kind, who rot the world, mock as foolish—that the world continues to exist.”
“Ridiculous. A hero is merely someone who has achieved great deeds. If I am rotting the world, then how do you explain the fact that I am a hero!”
“A hero?”
Leo’s head tilted slightly.
“Who?”
“An unknown hero dares! No matter how much you deny it, I was chosen by the gods—!”
Ridd, who had been mocking Leo, froze.
“You don't even deserve to be called a hero.”
[Your qualification as a hero has been revoked.]
He instinctively realized it from the message that appeared before his eyes.
“You… you! What have you done to me!”
He didn't know why, but Leo's declaration had stripped him of his status.
“I simply denied that you were a hero.”
“Uwaaaaargh! Knights, what are you doing! Why aren't you executing him!”
“Sir!”
The knights of the Council of Elders closed in on Leo.
*Step—*
Leo took a step forward.
At that moment.
*Fwsh—!*
The heads of the council's knights all flew into the air at once.
Algs, the Northern Shadow Lord, who was watching the scene, muttered.
“Beautiful.”
Leo’s sword held no emotion.
Just a dry, detached air.
As if doing what had to be done, he dealt death equally to the traitors.
To Algs's eyes, the sight looked like a divine judgment.
*Thud—!*
Leo’s gray eyes, having cut down the knights in a single stroke, turned to Ridd.
*Thump—!*
Ridd collapsed to the ground without realizing it.
His body trembled violently.
A chattering sound came from his mouth as his teeth clacked together.
*Step— Step—*
“S-save… save me…”
“You only have two options. Die peacefully, or die in agony.”
Ridd knew instinctively.
That the being before him was absolute death.
That he could never survive.
“I-in one… go…”
As Ridd begged, squeezing out his voice with all his might, Leo said nonchalantly.
“You already made your choice.”
*Stab—!*
“Guaaaargh!”
Leo's sword pierced Ridd's mouth.
Leo’s sword, having precisely cut out the area around his mouth and his tongue, was withdrawn.
Ridd’s left arm was severed as he writhed in agony on the floor.
Leaving Ridd twitching on the ground, unable to even scream, Leo headed for the Hall of Elders.
***
‘It’s all over! I have to get out of Jerdinger!’
Hearing the sounds of flames and screams echoing from all over the Hall of Elders, Ekerson’s face hardened as he hurried toward a secret door.
The reason he thought it was all over was simple.
[Your qualification as a hero has been revoked.]
That was the source that had taken everything from Ekerson.
And it wasn't just Ekerson.
For some unknown reason, every member of the Council of Elders had lost their title of hero.
After that, the elders scattered, each trying to flee Jerdinger.
For a hero, the title of hero held an influence far greater than one could imagine.
A special existence chosen by the gods for the sake of the world's well-being.
A hero was, by definition, a superior human.
And the title of hero was in itself a guarantee of being a noble person.
The reason Ekerson had used the Hero Slayer was simple.
Even if this incident were to be revealed in the future.
Ekerson was a hero.
Even if he had already seized control of Jerdinger, as a man chosen by the gods.
He could create the justification that he had used the Hero Slayer for the sake of the world.
Even if he were to be scorned.
It would only be for a moment.
History is written by the victors.
He was certain he would be remembered by posterity as a noble hero.
But he had lost that title of hero.
The elders had lost the most powerful means of protecting themselves.
‘Damn it! Why! Why!’
Ekerson felt a sense of injustice welling up in his chest.
It was then.
*Step—*
Someone emerged from around a corner in the hallway.
Ekerson’s face contorted as he recognized the person.
“Regas!”
Seeing Ekerson grinding his teeth, Regas spoke.
“Give up.”
“Don't be ridiculous! What did I do wrong to deserve this? I just wanted my grandson to become the family head!”
“Since you plotted behind the scenes for your own selfish desires, you cannot be forgiven.”
“Hmph! You believe the words of those lowly shadows! I told you, I don't know any Hero Slayer!”
“Hero Slayer, you say. The Shadow Lords who have guarded the world’s darkness for so long are truly fearsome. To think they found out that much in such a short time.”
At those words, Ekerson flinched.
Regas’s eyes grew cold as he looked at Ekerson.
“You seemed to think you controlled all of Jerdinger’s shadows.”
*Sshk—*
Someone emerged from the shadows of Jerdinger.
Ekerson's face hardened at the sight.
“But you don’t. There are shadows that exist in the deeper darkness of Jerdinger. Everything you blabbered about in the halls of the elders has reached my ears.”
At those words, Ekerson gritted his teeth.
“It’s because of you! If you had just done things properly, our Jerdinger would have surpassed Llewellyn long ago!”
“True. Our family has been overflowing with talent since our generation. But is surpassing Llewellyn so important?”
“Hmph! Of course it’s important! Surpassing Llewellyn isn't the end of it! We could make Jerdinger the greatest hero family! And yet you just cowered! What? Shedding blood!? You foolish man, you don't understand the small sacrifice for the greater good! You, your wife, and your children! All of you spouting such dreamlike nonsense! If I had been the head, Jerdinger would have already become Rodren's greatest hero family!”
“Is that your last will and testament?”
“You baaaastard!”
Ekerson charged at Regas.
Watching him, Regas said calmly.
“You seem to have forgotten one thing. My father was not the type to pass down the position of head just because I was his son. Just like our grandfather.”
Originally, Regas's father, the head of the Jerdinger family two generations prior, had been the second son.
“There is only one reason I became the head.”
*Slice—!*
*Fwsh—!*
“Gack?”
Ekerson’s head flew into the air.
“It is simply because I was better than you. Just as my father was better than your father.”
*Thud— Clatter-clatter-clatter—*
“That’s… impossible…”
Watching Ekerson, who seemed unable to believe the fight had been decided in a single blow, Regas spoke nonchalantly.
“Not all heroes are the same. With skills like yours, you would have done a fine job making Jerdinger the greatest hero family in Rodren.”
***
Leo moved through the Hall of Elders, executing the traitors without exception.
When he finally arrived at Ekerson’s office, Anyas, Kirin, and Regas were waiting for him.
“Grandfather?”
“The more I learn about my grandson, the more dumbfounded I become. To think you held the world's darkness in your grasp. No wonder you never showed much interest in the family's legacy.”
Regas let out a hearty laugh.
‘This grandfather of mine. He’s quite something.’
He hadn't expected him to reach this place so quickly.
While Leo was marveling,
Anyas approached him.
“Lord Leo, here.”
Leo took the communication crystal Anyas offered.
“It’s an item made by the Hero Slayer.”
“…I should be able to track the residual mana.”
Normally, such a thing would be impossible.
But Leo had been tracking and executing countless traitors for thousands of years.
Before being the strongest hero, he was the strongest shadow.
His overwhelming tracking ability, as demonstrated today by hunting down and executing the traitors, was something even the Shadow Lords wouldn't dare to attempt.
It was then.
*Vwoom—!*
The crystal reacted.
Seeing this, Leo narrowed his eyes and infused mana into the crystal.
The crystal's vibration stopped.
A moment later.
[Are you Leo Flove?]
The Hero Slayer had initiated contact.