Chapter 53
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Heir of the Fallen Kingdom
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The Kingdom of Ephesus fell sixty years ago, defeated in war and utterly destroyed.
With that, the Empire achieved unification, and the great Sobles Empire was born.
But Ephesus XI could not accept it. He gave his life to protect the prince and entrusted the future to him.
"I leave the Kingdom of Ephesus in your hands."
The last emperor of Ephesus vanished into the pages of history.
Ephesus XII, who escaped alone from the burning royal castle, barely preserved his life while fleeing the Empire's pursuers.
'I will rebuild the kingdom no matter what!'
He was only nine years old at the time.
It was far too young an age to bear such a massive and heavy burden.
Naturally, every moment was a desperate war for him.
No single day was ever simply given; he had to seize tomorrow's sun with his own hands.
A life more grueling than death.
The greatsword left by his predecessor was the only companion he could rely on.
'I won't die. My death is not mine alone.'
He fought back and fled repeatedly, never giving up until the end.
He gathered the remnants of Ephesus's lineage, trained them, and hired mercenaries to build his forces.
Was it heaven's mercy?
Even the Order of the Goddess Bella, which had fallen with the kingdom, was revived and joined his cause.
Thus, thirty years passed in that brutal struggle.
His childlike hands, once slender as twigs, were now callused, and in those hands gathered an aura as immense as a mountain.
Sword Master!
Ephesus XII had thus proven his own qualification as emperor.
Under the banner of a new Sword Master, the Kingdom of Ephesus began to kindle the hope of reconstruction, little by little.
Does a flower truly bloom even amid war?
Ephesus XII, who had walked a harsh path his entire life, finally met his destined partner after thirty long years.
She was the daughter of a noble house of Ephesus that shared his will.
And on a certain morning when the dawn was exceptionally bright, a child was born, shining as brilliantly as the sun.
Ephesus XIII.
A child who bore the duty of the fallen kingdom from the moment of her birth.
Her name was Alize.
Was she truly a child of fate?
Shortly after Alize was born, the founding emperor of the Sobles Empire passed away.
The prelude to the Second Great War!
The newly ascended Sobles II viewed the remnants of the fallen kingdom with extreme caution.
"Extinguish every dangerous ember without leaving a single one behind."
Sobles II would tolerate no existence that threatened his throne.
He trembled in fear at even a single prophecy from his predecessor—what more needed to be said?
"3rd Knight Order Commander Rodolph, I shall uphold your command with my life."
The task of claiming the heads of the rebels was entrusted to the Black Lion Knights.
Shadows poured out across the nation in pursuit of the rebels, and countless lives melted away into those shadows.
And in the end, Rodolph's gaze reached even the heirs of Ephesus.
It was the day the princess of the fallen kingdom, Alize, celebrated her eighth birthday.
"Strike."
The black lions launched their assault.
A fateful day when even the moonlight was dyed red with blood.
Rodolph, facing Ephesus XII, barked coldly.
"Don't hold it against me. This is just the nature of my work."
Alize, hidden in the emergency escape route, turned her back to that voice and ran endlessly.
Just as her father had done, clutching a single greatsword to her chest.
Ruyan could fully understand Alize's feelings.
The enemy of her parents!
Ruyan had such an existence as well. And he had not forgotten them even now.
Alize had bottled up her rage for twenty whole years, so it was no wonder her eyes were red-rimmed.
"That day, the only survivors were me and Cloyang."
Alize tilted the bottle back in one gulp, finishing her tale.
Alize and Cloyang.
They were the same age, having been friends and like sisters since childhood.
Perhaps that's why they shared such a twisted fate.
The last bloodline of Ephesus.
The last priestess of the Bella Order.
These two women had lived bearing an unimaginably heavy burden on their slender shoulders.
"Ruyan, you knew, didn't you?"
"Knew what?"
"About the day I lost the greatsword. No matter how I think about it, I don't remember walking back. That time too..."
Alize trailed off, gazing at Ruyan with subtle eyes.
'Remembering needless things.'
Ruyan offered no reply, sitting ramrod straight as he continued tilting his bottle.
What would change even if he admitted he knew in advance? It wasn't an important question.
The past held no importance.
"He's dead now. What do you plan to do next?"
"Keep fighting. There's someone even higher up than Cage."
Alize's revenge was far from over. No, this was only the true beginning.
Rodolph!
She had no intention of stopping until she killed the enemy of her parents.
"But right now, I have no idea what to do or how. At this rate, I might die before even encountering him."
Alize confessed her frustration honestly.
It was heartbreaking, but she had to admit it.
If Ruyan hadn't arrived in time, she would surely have died.
'I haven't even reached Rodolph yet, and already...'
She felt so powerless, and the wall of Sword Master was impossibly high.
She had no idea when she might take even one step forward.
In contrast, Ruyan's back, which had filled her view in that final moment, had been utterly reliable.
'I knew he was strong, but...'
The man before her eyes was beyond even her wildest guesses, by her meager standards.
"No need to overthink it. Just do what you can, one step at a time."
Ruyan averted his gaze from Alize's burdensome stare and tilted his bottle again.
But now, even his bottle was empty.
Ruyan eyed Alize's bottle with a hint of regret before brushing off his seat and standing.
"It's late. Time to head back."
As Ruyan moved to end the conversation, the urgent Alize tossed her bottle aside and scrambled to her feet.
So far, it had all been her talking one-sidedly; she hadn't learned a thing about Ruyan.
What should she ask first?
There were too many questions, making it hard to voice even one.
"Ruyan! What about you? What happened with the Black Lion?"
Was it a desire for shared pain and comfort? Or confirmation that Ruyan was on her side?
Facing Alize's sparkling eyes, Ruyan shrugged.
"Nothing."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"He tried to kill me, so I killed him first. That's it."
"Th-that's the end of it?"
Alize stammered in shock, staring at Ruyan in bewilderment.
"Does it need another reason?"
Alize didn't know.
What it meant to draw a sword against the Divine Bow.
An act forbidden in the Central Plains.
No one who had ever broken that taboo had survived.
"Contact with the vice-commander has been lost."
The squad leader of the Black Lion Knights muttered with a hardened expression.
One dispatched squad leader had perished without even arriving, and now the vice-commander was out of contact.
In this chaotic situation, he'd suddenly become the top commander—no wonder he was flustered.
The other shadows flinched at the squad leader's hollow voice.
An unprecedented crisis!
Cage sometimes acted on emotion, but he never strayed from his duty.
"How could this...?"
Countless shadows' eyes turned to the collapsed clock tower.
Clear signs of a massive battle. Yet not a single body was found inside.
'Vice-commander Cage couldn't have fallen...'
It was absurd. Unthinkable.
Who was Cage?
A great knight expected to reach mid-tier Sword Master within years.
Even Commander Rodolph acknowledged his abilities—there was no room for doubt.
The defeat of such a powerful Sword Master was hard to imagine.
'What the hell happened here?'
Cage falling was unimaginable, but other explanations were equally baffling.
A battle this huge, yet no bodies left behind? Highly suspicious.
"Anything at all. Find out whatever you can."
At the squad leader's irritated command, several shadows slipped away silently.
With the only clue—the clock tower—completely collapsed, they couldn't grasp the situation here.
"Squad leader, shouldn't we report to the imperial palace?"
One knight stepped forward cautiously, voicing his concern.
The vice-commander's disappearance was an all-time emergency; reporting to the palace swiftly was protocol.
But the newly minted commander couldn't decide easily.
'Nothing's confirmed yet...'
What could he report? How?
He couldn't very well say the vice-commander vanished suddenly for unknown reasons.
"Hold off until we assess the situation."
The squad leader made the call independently. Of course, it was underpinned by his belief that Cage absolutely couldn't have fallen.
But in that instant, a bizarre sensation tormented his ears.
'Wait, what is this?'
No suspicious sound had reached him.
Quite the opposite.
'Why can't I hear anything?'
The presences of the Black Lions who had just left on orders were completely undetectable.
Even if they moved with utmost stealth, they were mere squad members.
Not enough to fool the squad leader's senses.
Every Black Lion Knights squad leader was a Sword Master or higher, after all.
At the very least, the squad leader should have sensed the distinctive presences of the departing Black Lions.
'Something's happened.'
Flustered he may have been, but the squad leader wasn't foolish.
From that one tiny anomaly, he coldly analyzed the situation.
But was it already too late?
Glancing back, his eyes shook violently.
'Three... are missing.'
Five Black Lions had left to gather intel. Fifteen should have remained.
But there were only twelve. Three empty spots were glaringly obvious.
"Ambush! Scatter!"
The panicked squad leader forgot even the shadows' code and shouted loudly.
Then, a sharp noise pierced the Black Lions' ears.
Shiiik.
A dirge that arrived after death.
The Silent Arrow that had already sent three Black Lions flying far away belatedly greeted them.
Pa-pa-pat.
The Black Lions scattered like locusts into a wildfire.
But it was too late.
Sunset had come for the shadows.
The Black Lions who had leaped high plummeted from the sky in a heap.
'Impossible...'
A sight so gruesome it seemed unreal.
The squad leader couldn't take a single step, staring blankly at the shower of red shadows.
Thud.
Each fallen Black Lion had a coin-sized hole drilled through their forehead.
No exceptions.
'Wiped out?'
Snapping to his senses, he snatched the incoming beam of light with all his might.
Kwa-duk.
The violently struggling arrow was caught in his hand and finally lost its power.
An arrow!
Confirming it in his grasp, the squad leader bellowed with fury blazing in his eyes.
"You bastard!"
He didn't need deep thought to identify the culprit.
There was only one archer in the world who could kill Black Lions.
"Ruyaaan!"
The squad leader roared with bloodshot eyes glaring.
Then, a corner of the darkness parted, and a man holding a bow strolled out leisurely.