Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: White Dragon Knights (5)
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‘What the hell is going on?’
Theo pondered how to make sense of this situation.
Then, a few thoughts suddenly flashed through his mind.
The hostage crisis that had spiraled out of control.
The previous rescue team that had been completely wiped out.
The missing Balmun.
Black Skull’s forces, weaker than expected.
Ed Troyvan’s inscrutable intentions.
.
.
‘What if, unlike in his previous life, the Anti-Dragon decided to ‘use’ this incident?’
One hypothesis came to mind.
While secretly transporting Balmun, they get ambushed and taken over by the terrorist group known as Black Skull.
Normally, they would move to rescue it, but it just so happens that the rescue team is the White Dragon Knights.
To Ed, it’s the unit led by his rival Julius, and the group that his nephew’s killer, Theo, belongs to.
Ed, who always loved scheming, would undoubtedly seize the opportunity.
Cutting down both rival and enemy with one stroke.
‘They’ve already recovered Balmun, and if they’re using Black Skull as bait to maximize the White Dragon Knights’ casualties……!’
In that instant, a chill ran down Theo’s spine.
—A reverse trap.
This place was a hell Ed had crafted.
A hell designed to devour the entire White Dragon Knights Squad 5.
His mind sharpened.
“Selphard, Arin!”
“Wah! What’s with the sudden shout?”
“Evelyn! Where are Squad Leader Evelyn and the other squad members right now? We have to find them!”
“They’re probably still mopping up. Why……!”
“No! We need to escape this place immediately!”
Theo shouted urgently.
“The fortress! The fortress is about to come under attack!”
“……!”
“……!”
* * *
A forested area not far from Blanc Fortress.
“Huff, huff, huff……!”
Black Skull member Kiran ran, clutching something tightly wrapped in a black cloth to his chest.
—You must protect this at all costs, Kiran! It holds the dying wishes of the villagers killed by those Ragnar bastards. You must……!
Just before leaving the fortress.
The leader had entrusted it to him, repeatedly emphasizing the importance.
Escape from the enemy’s demonic beasts somehow.
While they bought time against the Ragnars, get as far from the fortress as possible.
He had no idea what the item was.
It had been wrapped in this suspicious cloth ever since they seized it from the Ceres Merchant Group.
Based on its long shape, he guessed it might be a ‘sword.’ That was all.
He’d learn its true nature upon reaching the destination……!
‘Huh? Why’s the world spinning?’
Kiran’s thoughts didn’t last long.
He suddenly stopped running, his vision whirling around.
That was the last thought he ever had.
Pfooo—
Thud!
Kiran’s headless corpse collapsed to the ground.
And then,
Tap!
Around twenty figures in pitch-black robes landed silently around the body.
One of them extracted the item from under the corpse and unwrapped the cloth.
A fine sword with a dark blue scabbard and golden hilt.
Shing—
He slightly drew the blade to check its condition, then sheathed it again and turned to the side.
“We’ve secured the target Balmun. Retrieval complete.”
“Well done.”
“Thank you.”
At the leader’s words, the subordinate bowed crisply and returned to position.
“What a mess over a single sword. Well, thanks to it, we get to humble those White Dragon Knights bastards.”
The leader flipped back the robe covering his head.
A man who strongly resembled Ed, but with the Ragnar trait of crimson eyes.
Sidra Evoil.
A Grade 1 agent of the Central Intelligence Agency, known as Ed Troyvan’s right-hand man.
“Everyone, to your positions.”
Fwhoosh, fwhoosh—
The twenty figures scattered in all directions.
They swiftly assembled the parts they had brought.
Magic Fire Cannons.
War artifacts imbued with explosion magic, boasting over ten times the power of ordinary cannons.
Sometimes called the reapers of the battlefield.
All ten muzzles turned toward the distant Blanc Fortress.
“The gunpowder we planted inside the fortress should be exploding about now.”
Tick, tock—
The leader glanced at his pocket watch, then quietly lowered it.
“Fire.”
His voice was soft.
But the results of the command were anything but.
Boom! Boom! Kwarung!
Rumble—
The muzzles spat flames in unison.
Like the roar of a dragon.
* * *
Crack!
Former Camellia Palace Lord Emil Troyvan was wiping the leaves of her golden orchid with a dry cloth when a branch snapped off, making her grimace.
And then,
Crash! Clang!
She smashed every pot on the shelf.
The expensive celadon and orchids imported from the East were ruined,
But the waiting maids and butlers remained expressionless.
They had grown accustomed to such scenes happening almost daily.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Emil pounded the shelf with her fists for a while, kicked over the remaining pots, and only then managed to calm her rage.
Her gaze then turned to the butler, wild with madness.
“Haa……! Haa……! By now.”
“Yes, Palace Lord.”
“By now…… Theo Ragnar and those vermin should all be buried, right?”
The plan to lure White Dragon Knights Squad 5 into a reverse trap and bury them alive was entirely her creation.
Born from her desire to gruesomely kill the enemy who took her precious son Axion.
There had been a great risk of Balmun being damaged in the chaos.
But what did it matter?
Any plan without Axion was meaningless anyway.
‘To think she’d escalate a mere theft into something like this…… Lady Emil truly is Troyvan blood after all.’
The butler swallowed dryly and nodded to Emil’s question.
“Yes. It should be so.”
“They’re definitely dead, right? Yeah?”
“Who else but the Central Intelligence Agency? They’ve inherited the Anti-Dragon’s lineage. They wouldn’t make a mistake.”
“Right. Of course. They’re under my brother’s guidance, blessed by Troyvan blood. No room for error.”
“However…….”
“What? Something bothering you?”
“N-No, nothing.”
The butler swallowed back the urge to ask, ‘How should we report moving the Intelligence Agency without permission by impersonating Lord Ed?’
Asking that now would cost him his head.
Emil finally seemed pleased, a faint sneer curling her lips.
“So.”
The butler tensed again.
“Let’s wait for that bastard’s head to arrive. Ohohoho!”
That laugh always heralded something ominous.
* * *
Before Selphard and Arin could ask Theo what was going on, cannon fire erupted from all directions.
“What the—?”
Their gazes snapped to the window.
Shells arcing through the sky were visible.
Boom! Boom! Kwang!
The shells began pounding the fortress in various spots.
Dust and debris rose.
Rumble—
The walls crumbled, thick smoke billowing everywhere.
“Damn it! I’m going ahead!”
“Theo!”
Before Selphard and Arin could stop him, Theo kicked off the ground.
Wind enveloped him.
Wind Thunder God.
Fwhoosh—
‘I have to save Evelyn somehow!’
Theo didn’t want to lose the first sword that had brought him this far so meaninglessly.
No, he didn’t want to be broken like this by Ed.
‘Mana’s almost gone. What now?’
The problem was that most of his mana had been depleted fighting Slow.
Locating Evelyn and the squad while moving, and even detecting possible gunpowder in the fortress—it made his body feel heavy.
Still, he gritted his teeth and pushed on,
Whoosh!
Suddenly, vitality stirred in parts of his body.
‘……Spirit Demon Poison!’
Theo realized it was the Spirit Young Dragon’s energy, transforming his body and scattered through his mana circuits.
Whirl, whirl!
The energy rapidly merged with his mana, spinning.
The wind enveloping him reacted, growing stronger.
[Wind Thunder God – Gale]
The second stage opened fully.
Fwaaah—
Thanks to it, Theo swiftly located and reached Evelyn.
“Squad Leader!”
“Theo Ragnar? Why are you here……!”
“It’s an enemy attack! This was a trap! We have to get out now!”
Evelyn didn’t question him.
She grasped the situation from his words alone.
“Everyone, withdraw—!”
But Evelyn’s retreat order never fully landed.
A shell struck above their building, drowning out the sound.
Moreover,
Rumble!
The very ground they stood on trembled for unknown reasons.
It wasn’t the aftershocks from the shells.
An explosion from far deeper below had caused the quake.
Flames shot up from various places.
“They planted gunpowder inside the fortress too?”
Evelyn’s eyes trembled fiercely.
With self-destruction inside and shells from outside, escape would be nearly impossible.
Then, Theo quickly touched a dead Black Skull’s sword.
What’s he doing?
Evelyn couldn’t ask.
Theo’s face was too serious.
[‘Skill: Hatchling Synchro’ reads the lingering thoughts of the item.]
Theo continued reading Black Skull’s lingering thoughts, rapidly comparing them to Slow’s.
‘Slow’s gang knew this fortress’s layout too well. Meaning Black Skull had been using this place for quite a while.’
And places like that always had one thing.
‘Shelter. Found it.’
Theo shot to his feet.
“Squad Leader, we need to head underground now.”
“What? Underground?”
As Evelyn started to question it, another squad member bellowed from the side.
“What are you saying, rookie? You trying to get us all killed?”
The other squad members nodded in agreement.
Theo’s plan made no sense logically.
But he couldn’t explain it involved a skill.
He had to persuade them another way.
“Outside is even more dangerous! Think about why the Black Skull on perimeter duty went silent!”
“……Even so, if we ride wyverns!”
“They’ll have countermeasures for that! Squad Leader!”
“Squad Leader! It’s reckless no matter how you look at it! You’re going to trust some green rookie with no experience?”
Theo and the squad members turned to Evelyn simultaneously.
Gazes urging her decision.
Rumble!
Explosions continued even now.
Creak. An ominous sound of something breaking joined in.
Evelyn had to decide.
“We follow Theo Ragnar’s plan.”
“Squad Leader! It’s dangerous—!”
“That’s an order.”
“……Yes. Understood.”
The protesting squad member nodded.
In crisis, chain of command was ironclad.
After that, they shared the same fate.
“Theo. Don’t forget thirty-three lives hang on your shoulders.”
Seeing Evelyn’s deeply sunken eyes, Theo realized she was testing him.
This was his chance to prove his worth to the squad.
—A chance to prove if he had the caliber to claim the throne.
He had to shine here for it to pave his future path.
‘She trusts me without a shred of doubt.’
Evelyn was saying:
Wield your first sword freely.
And win their hearts.
‘……Then I can’t show weakness.’
Thump thump thump thump thump!
Theo’s heart pounded wildly.
“Please follow me.”
Theo took the lead, clearing the path.
Evelyn supported right behind, the other squad members holding positions in wedge formation.
Fwhoosh—
“Huh? Wh-What? Squad Leader? Where’s everyone going!”
“Shut up and follow! No time to explain!”
“Got it! Damn it!”
Selphard and Arin, who they ran into late, joined as they went.
—Aaaah!
—Why the sudden explosions……!
—We have to get out!
—To the shelter! To the shelter! Hurry!
Even the remaining uneliminated Black Skull remnants were plunged into chaos everywhere.
Squad 5 swiftly cut down only those in the way as they ran.
Along the way, Theo quickly gathered squad members who hadn’t joined yet.
Boom! Boom! Rumble!
Rumble—
Chain explosions raged ceaselessly.
Cracks spiderwebbed across ceilings, walls, and pillars, rocks pouring down.
The collapse had begun.
Groooan……!
“Theeeeoooo!”
“Just a bit more! Almost there!”
Theo’s mind burned hotter than ever.
Scalding the crown of his head.
‘Left, right…… No, diagonal here? Wait, shells incoming that way. Next to it has planted explosives……. Turn another way. Once I find the path, where to……?’
Using the Dragon’s Heart’s acute senses to read surroundings rapidly,
Comparing with the fortress’s internal map from Hatchling Synchro to navigate.
Even with his exceptional info-analysis from Black Skull training, judging properly in such urgency was tough.
Fortunately, the beehive ordeal had quickened his mind enough to endure,
But one small mistake here could mean total annihilation.
‘Where? Which way……!’
Then, at a tricky junction.
Theo’s judgment hit its limit.
Crack!
Something shattered in his mind.
Tsss—
Right then, it moved.
Spirit Demon Poison surged up his spine, through the cervical vertebrae, into his brain.
Bang!
An explosion rang out, his skull throbbing.
And then.
Heat transcending limits bleached his mind white.
White Heat.
Ding!
[‘Skill: Hatchling Synchro’ proficiency has risen sharply, upgrading its rank.]
[Skill Rank: C+]
[You have comprehended White Heat.]
[Thought speed increases from now.]
[Computation processing becomes smoother.]
[Judgment improves.]
Theo had no time to grasp the new bodily change.
But with far faster thinking, he rapidly analyzed surroundings,
“Here!”
Boom!
They barely reached the underground shelter.
And the moment the last person entered and the door sealed,
Rumble—
The fortress fully collapsed.