Chapter 106
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: The Outbreak of War
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The Outbreak of War
Waning Moon City.
Even in Odobaekryeong, where the sun had long since vanished, this was a city shrouded in a particularly deep darkness.
It was due to this very characteristic.
At a station on one side of the city.
A castle that shone brilliantly through all four seasons.
This was why the Nightless Castle (不夜城), the domain of the Blood Princess Elise, stood out so conspicuously even in Waning Moon City.
But where there is light, there must also be shadow.
Opposite the Nightless Castle, there was another castle, one submerged in an exceptionally deep darkness.
A soundless stillness.
Shades untouched even by moonlight.
And a chill as cold as ice.
The Moonshade Castle (月陰城).
“—All important information related to Elise is to be reported.”
“…”
“That was indeed the order I gave.”
And in the depths of that Moonshade Castle.
Though it was made of luxurious marble.
A woman was soaking in a bathtub so small compared to the vast bathroom that it seemed almost cozy.
She resembled Elise.
But she was far more mature.
With hair the blue of a glacier.
The Cold-Blooded Princess, Christina Vlad—also known as Tina—continued to speak softly, her slender, naked form submerged in the clear water.
“But is the fact that a single knight has gone on vacation truly worthy of a separate report to me?”
Listening to a report.
And wasting my time.
Are two entirely different matters.
As she pointed this out coldly, the informant kneeling in the bathroom cautiously asked.
“If that guard knight seems to be headed for the City of Deformity, wouldn't it be worth your attention?”
“…The City of Deformity, you say?”
“Yes. It's not certain, but based on the gate usage records, it's clear he went there for his vacation.”
“…”
Was it because her thoughts had grown complicated?
She closed her eyes and remained silent in the tub for a moment.
Then, she spoke abruptly.
“As you know, I despise those with no discernment.”
“…”
“But for that very reason, those with discernment must be rewarded accordingly.”
Immediately after she gestured with a hand extended out of the tub.
A maid approached and set down a heavy pouch.
The informant's eyes widened at the sight of the pouch, filled with large mana stones.
Tina spoke softly.
“You've done well. Bring me more good information next time, and you will receive a greater reward.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Perhaps it was because he never expected such a reward for such trivial information.
After the informant took the heavy pouch and departed gleefully.
From her long neck and rounded shoulders.
Down her cinched stomach and slender waist.
To her sleek legs and smooth toes.
As Tina exhaled a cold breath while submerged deep in the hot tub, her maid asked cautiously.
“What will you do, Your Highness?”
“You mean about the City of Deformity.”
“Yes. If the second young lady gets involved in the conflict there, things could become troublesome.”
Hearing this.
She was lost in thought for a moment.
After a long while, Tina finally shook her head slightly and answered.
“Pay it no mind.”
“Will that be alright?”
“A single knight joining the war will change nothing. And even if it does, that will be the extent of it.”
A high-ranking noble with a Transcendent Awakened One is certainly a force that not even the Baekdaesega can ignore, but…
They are still nobles from the outer regions.
Her position wasn't so weak that the actions of one or two high-ranking nobles from another city—not even Waning Moon City—could put her at a disadvantage.
Besides, having joined hands with the fifth young master of Unlight, she lacked the capacity to worry about other matters.
“More importantly, is there still no information on the seventh young master of Unlight?”
“My apologies. We are investigating every possible avenue, but it seems there is a faction interfering with our intelligence gathering.”
“Are you saying the seventh young master has already built up such a force?”
“Rather than his own force, it is more likely he has borrowed the strength of another faction.”
“Forming a cooperative relationship with such a faction is no easy feat in itself.”
Reviewing the information gathered by mobilizing her limited resources, Tina fell into thought.
Even if Dion had eliminated Ren's subordinates and annihilated the Soma Knights.
It was a mere drop in the bucket.
It had certainly damaged Ren's reputation, but it wasn't enough to actually harm his power base.
Those who heard this news were merely surprised that Dion, known as the shame of Unlight, had the ability to pull off such a thing.
No one thought that Dion could become a variable or a threat in the Unlight succession struggle, not even by the slightest chance.
But…
“Find the seventh young master, by any means necessary.”
“…Are you saying we should mobilize more intelligence resources than we are now?”
“That's right.”
This was already a critical time.
Squeezing out their few remaining resources to focus intelligence on Dion was problematic enough.
Why was it necessary to continue such a waste?
The maid's expression showed she had many questions, but she ultimately buried them and withdrew.
She was the Cold-Blooded Princess, Christina.
Generous to those with discernment, but never lenient with those who lacked it, not even her most trusted subordinates.
For she was the princess with the coldest blood among the many vampires of the Hyeolyama Family.
After the maid had withdrawn from the bathroom.
Submerging her ice-cold body in the tub, which sloshed with hot blood.
Tina gazed steadily through the transparent window, toward the brightly shining Nightless Castle at the far end of the dark city.
As she always had.
Just calmly.
Simply coldly.
Like that…
…time flowed on.
***
War (戰爭).
Sometimes a tool of diplomacy.
Sometimes a clash of power against power.
Sometimes a stage for political intrigue.
A vice of intelligent species that has existed since the distant Age of Myths.
But no matter how vile the vice…
No, precisely because it was an unbroken vice, war changed and evolved in various forms depending on the era, species, and nation.
Especially after the fall of the Ancient Kingdom.
And the dawn of the Odobaekryeong era.
War became both incredibly complex and simple.
The difficulty of mobilizing large-scale armies due to a drastically reduced population was only part of the change.
The greatest change was the battlefield itself.
Fighting in the middle of a Labyrinth was a suicidal act that could trigger a dungeon break, leading to mutual annihilation.
Thus, the only place to wage war was on a domain…
But the fact that domains with Drivers could move at any time made an already complex war even more chaotic.
In Odobaekryeong.
The ultimate fortress.
The optimal siege weapon.
A base that must be defended at all costs.
The course of a war changed depending on how one operated and attacked with their Divine Beast and domain.
The war between the Dogwiryeon and Nangrangseong was a prime example.
When the war first began, they shattered the families of the opposing faction with surprise attacks.
But, as was only natural.
That only worked in the beginning.
The moment they realized the war had truly begun, the two factions hastily united.
The anti-bandit coalition led by Urk centered around Nangrangseong.
The Dogwiryeon, led by Lar Arga, centered around Giamseong.
Low-ranking nobles without domains brought only their families and retainers, while mid-ranking nobles, the domain lords, brought their entire domains with them.
The result was the formation of a grand legion, an assembly of dozens of domains.
An impregnable fortress.
An invincible armada led by Divine Beasts.
And after they gathered, the clash between the two factions came to a temporary standstill.
Attacking an opponent that had already concentrated its forces head-on was too great a risk, unlike before they had assembled.
This was especially true since Urk was at a disadvantage in terms of power, and Lar Arga had not yet recovered from his injuries.
Therefore, they chose.
To start by pruning the branches.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately.
Because the war had started so quickly, there were still many domains that had not yet joined them.
They decided to whittle down the enemy's strength by dealing with these smaller domains before engaging in an all-out war.
“Fire! Don't let them get close!”
“But my lord, we're almost out of projectiles!”
“Then throw everything heavy! To shake them off, we have to increase our speed, even if it means reducing our weight!”
And so it was.
In a remote corner of the Labyrinth.
A massive, ant-shaped Divine Beast was sprinting madly.
Aboard the Black Ant Manor (黑蟻莊), a manor built on the back of the Myrmidon, a Monkey Goblin was whirling a sling with its distinctively long arms.
Keka, the lord of the Black Ant Manor, gritted his teeth.
And behind them.
Just like the Myrmidon…
No, a massive Divine Beast resembling a giant ostrich was running even more furiously, as its buildings were fewer and lighter.
From the Sword-Slasher Garden (斬劍園) on the back of the Axe Beak, the pursuers, exuding a menacing killing intent, let out twisted laughs as they watched Keka.
“Kikiki, for a Monkey Goblin, you sure are good at running away.”
“You’re just a snack for a troll! We'll catch you soon enough!”
“Surrender your head peacefully, Keka.”
“Those damn bandits…!”
Watching the bandit nobles of the Sword-Slasher Garden taunt him with their booming voices.
Keka ground his teeth.
He wanted nothing more than to turn the Myrmidon around and ram them head-on.
Whether it was the Black Ant Manor.
Or the Sword-Slasher Garden.
They were both small-to-mid-sized manors.
If they fought properly, he was confident he wouldn't lose easily, even if he couldn't win.
There was just one problem.
“Wasn't an ambush enough? Ganging up to attack someone else's domain! And you call yourselves nobles!”
“Kikiki! If you don't like it, why don't you gang up on someone too?”
“Look who's talking! The one trying to leech off Nangrangseong just so he could do some ganging up himself!”
“Kuh!”
Kunga, the lord of the Sword-Slasher Garden and head of the Bandit Goblin family.
Along with Kworaga the War Troll, and Ashatga the Kobold Shaman.
Seeing the Sword-Slasher Garden, which united three whole bandit families and held twenty high-ranking Awakened Ones, Keka let out a groan.
Even if they were both manors of the same class.
With more than double the number of high-ranking Awakened Ones, fighting them was reckless.
‘I deliberately came through the deep Labyrinth to avoid attention before joining Nangrangseong, only to run into those pirate lords...!’
Pirate lords.
The guerilla units of the Dogwiryeon faction that appeared as the war between the two powers intensified.
Their methods were that of pirates.
They lightened the load on their domains to increase their Divine Beast's speed, filled them with only combat troops, and attacked isolated domains.
For a manor of the same class, it was difficult to even escape, let alone fight back.
It was only because the sensitive Driver of the Black Ant Manor had sensed a hidden Divine Beast nearby and given a warning that they were able to flee at all.
But even that was reaching its limit.
Throwing projectiles.
Jettisoning cargo.
He had tried to shake off the Sword-Slasher Garden.
But after a half-day-long chase, the distance between them had narrowed even more, making Keka anxious.
The battle hadn't even started yet.
And yet, a few stray magic spells had already left both the manor and the Divine Beast in tatters.
“My lord, I sense the presence of a Divine Beast at our one o'clock!”
“What? Another ambush?”
“…I can't say for sure, but judging by the faint presence, it seems to be in a dormant state.”
“Dormant? There's a domain stopped deep in this part of the Labyrinth?”
Hearing the report from his Driver, who was frantically steering the Divine Beast, Keka's eyes darted around.
This area was the outskirts of a 1-star Labyrinth, close to a 2-star one.
To be stopped in such a dangerous place, where they could be swept away instantly if a dungeon break occurred.
Such a suspicious domain.
Normally, he would have avoided it at all costs, but…
“Head toward that Divine Beast!”
“What? But…”
“We'll be caught if we keep going like this! We have no choice but to trust in luck!”
“…Understood.”
In the end, Keka ordered the Driver to move toward the newly discovered domain.
Hoping that the domain.
Was a third party, not bandit nobles.
And praying they could cooperate.
***
But after desperately shaking off their pursuers and racing through the Labyrinth for several dozen minutes.
The moment they spotted the domain, stopped all alone in the middle of the Labyrinth.
Not only Keka and the members of the Black Ant Manor.
But even the pursuing bandit nobles of the Sword-Slasher Garden were left speechless for a moment.
“What is that domain…?”
“…Did someone already raid it?”
Four buildings connected.
Originally, it would have been a square-shaped mansion.
But now, one of its buildings had completely collapsed, leaving it in a ⊏ shape.
As if it had been abandoned on a battlefield for years, its walls and windows were shattered, broken, and bloodstained.
Looking at the domain, which was clearly a ruin, they couldn't help but recall a certain legend.
“…A gh-ghost domain?”
From the lord to its people and even the Divine Beast.
A domain where everyone died unjustly would not rest even in death, wandering the Labyrinth for eternity.
Devouring any other domain it encountered and making it part of the Labyrinth.
As Keka recalled this legend, feared even among the undead species, and nervously swallowed.
“Hmm, isn't it a bit rude to call someone's perfectly fine domain a ghost domain?”
“Hieeek?!”
—A ghost appeared.