Chapter 48
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: The Beherik Suppression Campaign (1)
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Before the Era.
The history of the Abyss began when the Absolute Being of the Abyss bestowed the thrones of kings upon its five vassals.
After the Absolute Being departed to enjoy the games of the outer cosmos, the five kings divided the world and ruled.
“Murmuring Madness, Shu’yulkula.”
Lord of the Ancient Sea.
All the oceans surrounding the land were under his rule, and he commanded the fish-men known as the Rutlwera as his servants.
“Writhing Chaos, Kel-lekshak.”
The Insect Lord.
The Idea Peninsula, where the elves now reside, was his fertile domain, and he used the maggot-like Kinwe race as his limbs.
“Blasphemous Mystery, Ashron.”
The Spider Lord.
He ruled Harbadonia, the land of snow and madness at the northernmost tip of the continent.
The spider-folk called the Nekrakne were the vassals blessed by this king.
“Twisted Scream, Anridal.”
Lord of Time.
She ruled the central part of the continent of Akrad, and her ancient hounds, the Tantalos, leaped through time and space at her command.
“Wailing Ruin, Neigalas.”
The Lizard Lord.
She ruled the entire continent of Adrion, a land now stolen and turned into a burning desert.
Those blessed by the queen had the form of humans mixed with reptilian features and were called Reptilians.
“Mankind, and all mortal beings living in the world, were all slaves to those kings.”
There was not even a trace of civilization.
Civilization was the exclusive possession of the mutant demons favored by the kings.
Mankind crawled on all fours like beasts, living in caves, steeped in fear. Humans were far from being the lords of creation.
“It was then that the Lords of Light came to this land. At the time, humanity’s language was poor and their knowledge paltry, so they simply called them [The Ones Who Came].”
The Ones Who Came.
The seven lords who shared the power of creation, which was said to have unfurled a world of light amidst the void and chaos.
Tervel, the Sun of the Azure Sky.
Shurigan, the Crimson Sun.
Karenden, the Black Sun.
Maxencia, the Pale Moon.
Jyeannir, the Noble Moon.
Tersia, the Sorrowful Moon.
Meian, the Moon of the Blue Star.
“The lightning of Tervel, the Sun of the Azure Sky, burned the ancient jungles, and the moonlight of Maxencia, the Pale Moon, caressed the scorched desert, causing leaves to sprout.”
In the War of Origin, The Ones Who Came paid a great price to seal the souls of the old kings into eternity.
“The reason we can laugh in our warm homes like this is all thanks to their love.”
But the story of The Ones Who Came…
And the story of the ‘real’ Warriors who served them, ends with the beginning of the era.
That is why, when the ‘Black Summer’ began, people whispered that there was no light left in this land.
“Dad, Old Man Gwaen said the gods have left. He said the last war was terrible, but [The Ones Who Came] didn't appear.”
“He said that, did he? Ratel, the gods are here. They are watching over us even now.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“How do you know? I want to see them too.”
In front of the fireplace, her father, who had been telling her old stories, suddenly turned his head toward the dining table.
Her mother was feeding porridge to her younger brother, and the boy, meeting their father’s eyes, broke into a wide smile.
Seeing this, her father spoke.
“When you children run to me, smiling, I feel the clear presence of the gods.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Have you never thought that way when you see Kaisen? When he comes to you with a smile?”
“That… I don’t know!”
“Ratel, this world is beautiful, and everything They created is dazzling. Within that brilliance, the love of the gods lingers like a fragrance. One day, you will come to know it too.”
Ratel remembered smiling along with her father then, because he had smiled so gently as he stroked her head.
If only she could remain in that moment forever.
The memory, wrapped in warmth, faded into the distance… and in its place, the lonely chill of reality rushed in as her eyes opened.
‘Ah…’
Ratel wiped away the tears that had formed on their own and got up from the bed.
The breathing of her young son sleeping beside her was shallow and faint, but his face was pure and clear, without a single blemish.
As Ratel quietly gazed at her son’s face, she once again felt a sharp pain pierce her heart.
Ah…
Could this be what her father had meant back then…?
After covering her son with the blanket, Ratel got up to start her chores.
The Imperial territory of Woodland was the name for the western region of the Empire.
Rich in timber, this land had amassed great wealth by exporting firewood to various regions since the beginning of the steam engine era, yet it was always short on labor.
Perhaps that was why they had not turned away the refugees who had fled to the Empire, driven by the scorching heat.
Ratel, too, was a woman who had crossed over from a village at the edge of the world, found refuge here, and married a local.
‘What good is it if they took us in?’
They were just doing foolish things… They probably had no choice in the first place. It was an order from Lady Thunderous Fragrance.
Ratel decided to take out her anger on today’s laundry.
“What a joke, ‘Religious Reformation’.”
The Holy Human Empire.
The Empire, the most powerful of all existing human nations, was divided into the True Faith and the Heretical Faith under the guise of a ‘Religious Reformation.’
“Ratel.”
The True Faith consisted of those who upheld the teachings of the Light Dragon Orthodox Church, while the Heretical Faith championed the individual freedoms that had been trampled under the oppression of religion.
“Ratel.”
While their kinsmen south of the mountains fought against the Abyss, the Empire was busy fighting amongst itself.
‘I have to go south to find Mom and my brother…’
But right now, she was barely managing to care for her own family. The pathetic sense of powerlessness made her anger boil once more.
“Ratel!”
The voice calling her name shattered her thoughts.
Lifting her gaze from the laundry she had been scrubbing, she saw her husband had arrived.
A sudden fear gripped her.
He was supposed to be at the civil engineering factory now, yet here he was, panting for breath, his face smeared with coal soot.
“What?”
“This… it’s a newspaper from down below that came in today…”
“A newspaper from below the mountains? That’s illegal. The nobles forbid us from reading them. How did you get it?”
“Shh, someone will hear. That’s not what’s important right now. You said the brother you’re looking for is named Kaisen, right?”
Kaisen.
At that name… the voice of her younger brother, who used to trail behind her, chirping, “Sister, I’m hungry… Sister, let’s go inside…,” came to mind.
The memory of her lost brother’s smile, how he would grin brightly for no reason whenever he met her or their parents’ eyes, surfaced.
Seeing Ratel squeeze her eyes shut, her husband took it as an affirmation and spoke urgently.
“Look at this. A male FakeWarrior was commissioned early this year, and they say his feats are incredible.”
“A male FakeWarrior…?”
“And his name is Kaisen, Kaisen Alter Aradamanthel. Look here. Isn’t this your brother? They said there’s a picture of him, but I couldn’t get that one.”
Ratel grabbed the newspaper and stared blankly at the black print that filled its pages.
‘Aradamanthel, Aradamanthel…’
Her mother had certainly said her own name was Raminea Alter Aradamanthel…
Could it be a coincidence…?
No, but, still…
The name Kaisen was derived from the draconic tongue; it was by no means a common name…
There was no personal information, no portrait, nothing but printed words, yet the feeling of kinship came to her so clearly.
Ratel’s eyes blurred with tears.
An irrepressible, hot sob, one that could not be cooled, trembled from the depths of her chest and burst forth.
“You were alive. Alive, you were alive…”
The Direction of the Counterattack,
The Beherik Suppression Campaign (1)
March 8th, Year 1698 of the Era.
The exact number of troops that had successfully retreated to the mountain defense line was unconfirmed.
It had been a seven-day rout that seemed as if it would never end.
During those seven days, the FakeWarriors had moved like madmen, protecting and comforting the soldiers.
Perhaps that was why.
When they regrouped, every face was deeply etched with only despair and fatigue.
“The Old King isn’t some petty bastard, is he? Hiding like a rat under <Aurelinople> and then shattering the floating fortress? I can’t even laugh, that lizard bitch.”
As Gorgotia spat out a frustrated curse, Roveris spoke.
“The very fact that she used such a strategy proves she’s more dangerous than anything we’ve faced so far. Fortunately, reinforcements are on their way.”
“Reinforcements? Who, exactly? The Empire, finally?”
Mern’s eyes widened.
“Lady Crimson Flame will be coming from Harbadonia. The Light Dragons from the Papal Office will come as well.”
“What’s the source of this information?”
“It came from Lady Thunderous Fragrance.”
At that, Tval let out a sigh of disbelief.
“Lady Crimson Flame, you mean Lady Akirea? But she’s in no condition to fight! Even the dog at my house knows the reason she’s been in Harbadonia since subduing the Lord of Time is for her recovery…”
“Roro, even if Lady Akirea comes, how are we supposed to wait? By the time she arrives, the Red Mountains will have already fallen, and we’ll be buried beneath them.”
Alidona took a long drag from her pipe, pointing out the reality of their situation. Roveris massaged his temples.
“We have no choice but to prevent that from happening.”
“You mean without Lord Blue Star’s strategies or Lady Thunderous Fragrance’s mental resonance?”
Kaisen spoke up.
At his sharp-edged point, which targeted the harsh reality of their situation, everyone’s gaze fell upon the young FakeWarrior’s face.
Roveris let out a sigh.
“Thanks for laying out our situation so starkly. So what is it you want to say?”
“My intellect is dull, so I don’t have the mind to overcome a situation like this. But Ria is different.”
“Ria?”
The valiant woman standing behind Kaisen cautiously stepped forward before the senior FakeWarriors.
Though the noble elasticity of her curly hair had vanished when it was bleached, she still possessed a refined beauty.
Even covered head to toe in blood and dust… Ria Alter Tassalpo spoke.
“I don’t know if I am worthy of speaking, but…”
“What are you waiting for, kid? Spit it out.”
“Neigalas has currently sent out three of her high-ranking nobles first and still hasn’t revealed herself from <Aurelinople>. She’s being strangely cautious.”
“Isn’t that obviously because that bitch is cunning?”
“Looking through the history books, Neigalas was indeed more cunning than the other kings. But this is excessive. In a situation where even Lord Blue Star has been eliminated, why is she hiding? What more could she be trying to lure in?”
The noisy murmuring ceased.
The members of each Warrior party stared at one another blankly.
“What we can surmise from this, no, what we can be certain of, is that Neigalas’s condition is anything but normal right now.”
“Come to think of it, I believe Lord Blue Star said he had never seen a future like this…”
“Could it be that she took some sort of measure to escape Lord Blue Star’s precognition, and in doing so, pushed herself to an extreme?”
Alidona tapped the burnt-out ashes from her pipe onto a stone.
“So you’re suggesting we go after the king in this situation?”
“Neigalas has no guards around her. Originally, Roten’s Annihilation Squad served as her royal guard, but Kaisen took care of them…”
“Sounds like you’re just asking us to go die. Let’s say she has no guards. But if the king calls, won’t the three nobles rush to her side at once? You want to fight the king while being surrounded by three nobles?”
As Gorgotia adopted a tone that seemed to dismiss the idea, Ria stepped forward firmly.
“Of course, I’m not suggesting we do this without any strategy.”
Roveris nodded.
“Go on.”
“In a defensive battle from a fixed position, humanity’s win rate is as high as seventy percent.”
“What you’ve described so far sounds like an offensive.”
“Yes, that’s right. My plan is to wage an offensive that plays out like a defense.”
The members of the Warrior parties began to whisper among themselves, their faces saying she must be mad.
“Everyone, do you all remember? The Ain were scheduled to supply us with new weapons.”
“Are you talking about the armored trains?”
“Yes. Those armored trains should be arriving soon at the coastal depot that connects to the plains. Because Lord Blue Star moved up the deployment schedule, there was no time to hand them over during the <Aurelinople> campaign.”
The armored train, an invention of Halvaron, the Master of a Myriad Machines.
It was a revolutionary creation that had shackled the chains of war onto the train, which had, since its inception, been solely a means of transport.
The engine section alone was 96 meters long.
The steam engine’s power limit was 34,000.
A weapon of war created by linking a total of 116 cars, each equipped with 56 wheels.
Ria rattled off the details as if she had the exact blueprints memorized in her head, and Roveris replied.
“Continue your explanation.”
“We will link all three armored trains together, surround the outskirts of <Aurelinople>, and then fortify them like a fortress.”
“A fortress made of trains?”
“Yes. The regular soldiers will support the Neigalas suppression from this ‘train fortress’ while simultaneously dealing with the demons pressing in from all sides. This completes the offensive that plays out like a defense.”
The surroundings grew noisy.
The atmosphere suggested disbelief that a human, not the Blue Star, had woven together such a simple yet effective strategy.
Kaisen glanced at Ria’s profile and nodded. Gorgotia spoke.
“The more I hear it, the more I’m sold. A defensive battle in enemy territory? Damn, that’s brilliant.”
“But I can’t guarantee the survival rate… The goal is to subjugate Neigalas before we are all annihilated.”
“A FakeWarrior dying is hardly surprising news. Before I bite it, I’m gonna put a big-ass hole in the back of that bitch’s head.”
Kaisen asked Roveris.
“What will you do?”
Roveris’s eyes flickered quietly in the candlelight.
With two of the three commanders-in-chief of the central front dead and one on another front, the final decision-maker was none other than Roveris himself.
To hold the final authority…
To bear the weight of countless lives and deaths altered by that single, final decision was by no means an easy task.
A renewed sense of respect for the Blue Star, and despair at his absence, washed over them.
“Commander, we cannot stay here forever. A decision, please.”
Roveris squeezed his eyes shut.
A decision…
His powerless fists trembled. Just as he opened his eyes again and took a breath, it happened.
[I approve.]
Suddenly, the candlelight split into multiple streams, forming a string of characters in the air.
In truth, that wasn’t what surprised everyone.
It was the pure white presence that, for an instant, quietly illuminated everyone’s hearts, their darkness.
“My word.”
Setsunen of Thunderous Fragrance entered the gathering point, holding the sleeping body of Mirngadia in her arms.
How arduous must it have been to enter the domain of the old nobles, volcanic ash, and sandstorms at the floating fortress’s crash site to retrieve Mirngadia?
Wounds that even a dragon’s regenerative abilities could not quickly heal marred her golden form.
“Your Grace.”
Roveris immediately knelt to show his respects, and the others followed suit.
Though his body slept, his spirit was awake, and the Blue Star’s voice was transmitted through the Thunderous Fragrance Heart Resonance Formation.
[Sealing Neigalas is my duty. To do that, you all must open a path for me, but as you can see, I no longer have the strength for that.]
“…”
[I am now telling you to die so that I may complete my mission. Will you still follow me?]
Silence fell upon the room.
Perhaps in everyone’s mind, the image of a swirling sandstorm and the king’s shadow writhing sinisterly at its heart rose like a nightmare.
‘For Lord Blue Star to command death…’
Mirngadia had never once spoken of death so directly before.
No…
In the long history of the Blue Star’s mission, this operation was the first and last time he would command death.
In the future where the king was defeated.
Did it mean that everyone present here would no longer exist in this world?
As everyone remained silent, the first to prostrate himself was Roveris Alter Scherpang.
“Your Grace, the Iron Cross will obey your command until the very end.”
Tears welled in Setsunen’s eyes.
It was not merely because she was a sentimental person by nature.
It was because when Roveris spoke so concisely and resolutely, she could read the unspoken feelings behind his short words.
“Gorgotia’s Certain Hit will go too. If I don’t put a hole in that bitch’s head, I’m gonna die of frustration.”
The members of Gorgotia’s Warrior party, taking vengeance as their guide, also lined up beside her.
“Ria’s Black Rose will go as well. I designed the operation; it wouldn’t make sense for me not to go.”
Now, everyone’s attention turned to the FakeWarrior who had not yet spoken, the one without his own troop.
The Third Seat.
Kaisen Alter Aradamanthel.
“My will has not changed from the answer I gave when you first summoned me here.”
At that moment, he…
On that distant day, now flickering in the memory of falling rain.
He was giving the exact same salute his master, Camilla, had once given when she, too, had been commanded to face death.
“Your Grace, give the FakeWarrior his orders once more.”