Chapter 574: Sword Emperor (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 574: Sword Emperor (6)
“Wh-what is that?!”
“Spirit energy? No, that’s…”
The mages stationed on the watchtower of the Lucia, Zipple’s incomplete 3rd Fleet flagship, widened their eyes in shock.
They were currently crossing the Empire’s waters to reinforce the Sword Emperor Holy War—or at least, that was all they knew of the conflict.
Although Kelliark had not personally ordered the reinforcements, the war was dragging on far longer than expected. The Zipple clan had concluded that something must have gone terribly wrong at the Sword Emperor Castle.
“Inform the captain’s quarters immediately!”
Before the message from the watchtower could even arrive, another mage from inside the ship burst into the captain’s quarters.
“A report just came in from the scout ship! The sky near the Sword Emperor Castle has turned black, and an unidentified energy is pouring out continuously…”
“Unidentified? You blind fool, that’s the energy of Chaos! And it belongs to one of the Five Kings of the Black Sea!” Kadun shouted, cutting the reporting mage off.
He felt more than just shock; a sickening feeling coiled in his stomach. It wasn’t just the mages’ incompetence in failing to recognize the energy of Chaos that angered him, but the fact that he knew exactly who the owner of that immense power was.
‘The White Stone… You’re telling me it wasn’t Heluram’s chaos and records, but a sealed King of the Black Sea?!’
A throbbing headache surged through him. He knew all too well that without the power of Creation, it was impossible to contend with a King of the Black Sea.
Standing beside Kadun, Hedo’s expression was equally grim. While he didn’t know much about the Kings of the Black Sea, he had encountered Chaos before during his time in the Black Sea. However, he had never witnessed it on such a vast and terrifying scale.
“It seems the Patriarch might be in danger.”
“Father?” Sandra Zipple asked, tilting her head.
“We have to increase our speed. We need to clear a path. Hedo, you must get to the front and help me open the way.”
“Lord Kadun, if we increase our speed, it will become difficult to maintain the Young Lord’s condition,” Hedo cautioned.
Veradin Zipple. He had intentionally driven himself into a rampage for the specific purpose of preventing Kadun and Hedo from participating in the Sword Emperor Holy War.
Because of this, even after deciding to send reinforcements, Kadun had been forced to bring the restrained Veradin aboard the ship inside a sealing device. Since the device needed to remain perfectly stable, they were flying at a slow speed that wouldn’t strain the mechanism.
Zipple stood to lose far too much if Veradin truly spiraled out of control.
Nevertheless, as Kelliark’s Guardian Dragon, Kadun’s top priority was his master. While losing Veradin would be a painful blow, he was, in theory, replaceable. Kelliark was not.
Hedo, on the other hand, observed the situation with a cooler head. “Even so.”
“Please, calm yourself for a moment. In my estimation, even if it were you and I, Lord Kadun, breaking through Chaos of that magnitude would be difficult. Furthermore…”
Hedo’s eyes narrowed as he gazed at the sky far across the sea.
“I feel the energy of Creation. Someone on the battlefield has reached the Realm of Creation. It seems to be the Sword Emperor. His energy is suppressing the Chaos.”
Normally, Kadun would have sensed it as well, but his panic had caused him to miss it. Between the gaps in the blackened sky, the protective barrier deployed by Ron was becoming increasingly prominent.
There was no way to know how Ron, who had been suffering from grave internal injuries, had suddenly reached the Realm of Creation. To Hedo, however, that wasn’t the important part.
“It’s even more of a problem if the Sword Emperor has entered the Realm of Creation. Surely he already harbors a grudge against the Patriarch.”
“He is not the kind of man who would prioritize personal vengeance while such a thing is ravaging his own land,” Kadun retorted. “If he intended to kill the Patriarch first, he wouldn’t be blocking the Chaos like that.”
“Damn, what a badass old man!”
“…My lady. The 12th Flagbearer of Runcandel is likely in that living hell as well.”
“Ah, that’s right! My darling! Dammit! Hedo, what are you doing?! Do what Uncle Kadun said and speed up this instant!”
“He might already be dead, though,” Hedo stated flatly.
“Say something that unlucky one more time, and I’ll rip your mouth off.”
“Lord Kadun.” Hedo met Kadun’s eyes. “It would be best to wait.”
“What?! Didn’t you hear me, Hedo?!”
“Why do you think so?” Kadun asked, ignoring Sandra.
“The way the Chaos is spreading is unusual. A breakthrough seems impossible. I believe it would be better to take measures to ensure the Chaos leaking through the Sword Emperor’s barrier doesn’t destroy our family’s territory. At this rate, it will reach our lands soon, not just the Empire’s.”
Kadun fell into thought for a moment.
‘Hedo is right. Only the Sword Emperor can deal with a King of the Black Sea anyway, and triggering Veradin’s rampage carries too great a risk.’
Furthermore, no matter how the battle at the Sword Emperor Castle ended, either Ron or the King of Chaos would surely meet their end. Even the victor would be far from unscathed.
In that case, the side with the most remaining strength would hold every advantage. Therefore, they needed to preserve their power as much as possible, and defending their territory was a necessary part of that.
“We shall do as you say. Until there is a significant change in the situation, we will block the Chaos spreading toward our territory.”
*
The Runcandel reinforcements were in the exact same situation as Zipple. As the war dragged on, they had headed toward the Sword Emperor Castle according to the war scenario Rosa had laid out.
‘To think that disastrous power is spreading from a being called Gliek, a King of the Black Sea.’
Leading the Black Sword Council, the Runcandel second-string, and the knights of their allied families in Jorden’s stead was Dipus. He had originally been protecting Tikan at Jin’s request when the Sword Emperor Holy War began, but given the circumstances, he had no choice but to take command of the reinforcements.
The information that Gliek had awakened came not from a scouting knight, but from the Barmul Alliance members who had escaped the battlefield.
‘Furthermore, the one blocking the Chaos from spreading across the entire Empire is the power of Creation… likely Lord Ron’s.’
Dipus, too, could sense Ron’s energy holding back the Chaos.
‘It’s impossible to break through to the heart of the battle with our current strength. Since nothing short of Creation can damage it, the chances of us being helpful even if we could enter are low. We would likely just be a burden.’
This was why Rosa had evacuated all knights except for the Black Knights and the first-string of the Black Sword Council as soon as Gliek awakened. Dipus had reached the same conclusion.
“Brother, what are we going to do?” Mary asked as she stepped up beside Dipus. She had only recently begun her private training, leaving the affairs of the 7th Flagbearer to him, but she had been urgently summoned.
A hint of anxiety was buried in Mary’s voice. It was difficult for her to maintain her composure at the thought that not only Jin, but the entire family could be finished.
Dipus made his decision immediately.
“There is no rule saying the energy of Chaos will stop at the Empire’s border and not invade our family’s lands. From this moment on, the main family and our allies will focus on intercepting the leaking Chaos until we judge that entry into the battlefield is possible.”
“Dammit, of all times for my older sisters to be gone.”
Luna was in the middle of a battle with Kial, and Luntia was currently unaware of the situation while tracking Temar’s legacy.
Ruffling her hair in frustration, Mary turned her gaze toward Myu and Anne.
‘What’s with them? Why do they look so strangely relaxed? The way they’re whispering is seriously getting on my nerves.’
Mary strode toward them. “Hey, you two.”
“What?”
“What are you whispering about?”
“Ah.” Myu smirked. “We just thought everyone seemed a bit too worried.”
“What?”
“Would the 7th Flagbearer be this worried if Father were at the Sword Emperor Castle right now? Ron Hairan has reached the Realm of Creation, he will protect his own territory, and he’s even friendly toward the 12th Flagbearer. I don’t think this is something we need to stress over so much.”
“How many of our knights do you think are dying in there right now?”
“I don’t know exactly, but I’m certain they’re taking fewer losses than Zipple. Ron Hairan will be helping the 12th Flagbearer. If the situation ends with Zipple suffering relatively greater damage, isn’t that a net gain for our family?”
Mary was momentarily speechless.
There was nothing technically wrong with Myu’s answer. However, that wasn’t the reason Mary had faltered.
“Uh, yeah. I guess you could think that way, huh? You crazy bitches, how can you even say that right now? I’ll deal with you two after this is over. Get lost before I punch you.”
When Mary finally snapped back, Myu and Anne slipped away.
“…Brother Dipus.”
“Yeah.”
“Those two definitely have something they’re relying on. Something must have happened after the 2nd Flagbearer was finished. Let’s look into it once this is over.”
“Understood. We have to clean this up first, so get ready.”
*
At the mention of self-destruction, Jin faltered for the first time and looked back.
‘What did he say…?!’
Not just Jin, but everyone on the battlefield was shocked by Gliek’s voice. Ron, however, burst into laughter at the creature’s words.
“Self-destruction? You’re spouting all sorts of nonsense now that you’re cornered.”
His voice held no trace of a bluff. Ron quickly wiped the laughter from his face and refocused on slashing and tearing Gliek apart.
But for some reason, Jin couldn’t bring himself to feel relieved. An inexplicable, ominous premonition haunted him.
‘Now is not the time to lose focus over such worries. Just look at the situation. If Lord Ron really had self-destruction in mind, he would have at least told me.’
As Jin began to run again, the streams of Chaos piercing through Ron’s protective barrier entered his vision.
‘The remaining forces of the great powers outside aren’t fools. They’ll surely choose to intercept that energy instead of trying to enter. They’ll have no choice.’
Just as he was about to pick up speed again, Jin’s eyes widened.
For the first time, he felt movement from Dante, who was strapped to his back.
“Ugh… ugh…”
“Dante! Are you awake?!”
The reason Dante was able to regain consciousness was simple. As Ron began to deal significant damage to Gliek, the power of Chaos affecting Dante had become unstable.
A faint warmth returned to his cold, stiff body.
Jin was realizing once again, after a very long time, just how agonizing it was to watch a close friend hover between life and death.
“Jin…”
“Dante, don’t say anything for now. Wait until you feel better. Don’t try to speak, just hold on a little longer. I’ll get you treated…!”
A smile spread across Ron’s lips. Even though it was a small voice from so far away, and the battlefield was filled with ear-splitting explosions, he had heard his grandson’s voice clearly.
Dante looked like he wanted to say more, but he only managed a difficult exhale and couldn’t make another sound for a while. His consciousness flickered in and out, but the intervals of him waking were becoming shorter every time Ron slashed Gliek.
“It seems the time has come to end this, Gliek,” Ron said, readjusting his grip on Rashid.