Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Great Hero
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“The Count is here! Open the gates!”
A guard on watch at the ramparts shouted.
The massive iron gate, reinforced with the remaining steel after erecting walls around Grada Territory, swung open majestically.
Moments later, Arthur returned with the Del Knight Order.
Skevin and the other key figures had all come out to greet him.
But when they saw the woman riding Kan alongside Arthur, everyone looked taken aback.
Skevin approached with a stern expression.
“Young Master.”
Arthur dismounted from Kan with her and walked over to him.
“What about Millerph and the Devil Squad?”
“They’re recovering under Lord Aild’s care.”
“No one’s seriously hurt, right?”
“Well, Lord Millerph...”
As Skevin hesitated, Arthur headed straight for Aild’s treatment room.
***
“You absolutely cannot use magic.”
At Aild’s firm words, Millerph’s face hardened.
Had pulling up his mana too hastily to counter Altros’s attack been the problem?
His mana refused to settle, boiling endlessly.
Using magic in this state would lead to a mana overload.
And what might happen after that...
With the march against the Emperor looming, this disaster had struck again.
The thought that he might derail all their plans tormented him.
“What a mess.”
As worry piled onto Millerph’s face,
The treatment room door burst open, and Arthur entered with the others.
“My lord.”
As Millerph tried to stand, Arthur raised a hand to tell him to stay put and asked Aild,
“How is he?”
Aild glanced at Millerph before replying.
“His mana won’t calm down.”
“It’ll settle after some time, right?”
“I can’t guarantee it.”
Arthur’s face hardened at the skeptical response.
Millerph was a core figure in the Julius Count House, alongside Skevin.
Knight Helm, the Bow Master, would greatly boost their forces, but he wouldn’t directly affect the knights’ morale.
Millerph and Skevin were different.
Especially Millerph—he was a mental pillar for Skevin and the knights.
If word of this spread to the knights before departure, morale would plummet visibly.
“What about the alchemy potions?”
“We’ve tried them continuously, but they’re having no effect this time.”
“So aside from the elixir we used before, there’s no immediate cure.”
Aild nodded.
Arthur recalled the sub-space inside his helmet, which he’d forgotten about lately.
Van had altered its appearance, but the sub-space function from Rumakas remained intact.
He peered into the sub-space, hoping for another elixir, but found none.
He needed another way.
Arthur turned to Millerph.
“Don’t do anything. Just rest and recover.”
“I’m sorry.”
Millerph couldn’t lift his head, ashamed.
He felt nothing but self-loathing for holding Arthur back.
A heavy silence filled the treatment room.
Aria, who had unwittingly followed Arthur all the way here, peeked out from behind Skevin and cautiously spoke up.
“Are you... in pain... anywhere?”
Everyone’s eyes turned to her at the voice breaking the silence.
Arthur, who hadn’t expected Aria to follow them here, frowned.
“Forget everything you’ve heard in this room.”
“I-I thought maybe I could help...”
“Help?”
“...Yes.”
As Aria shrank back with a timid reply, Aild approached and asked,
“Who are you?”
“Oh, yes. I’m...”
She glanced around nervously, then locked eyes with Millerph, who had raised his head.
Both their eyes widened simultaneously.
“Huh!”
“You’re...”
Millerph closed his eyes and looked again, wondering if he was seeing things.
But she teared up and spoke.
“Uncle...”
At the word “Uncle” from Aria’s lips, Millerph struggled to his feet and bowed deeply to her.
“It’s been a long time, Lady Aria.”
Aria sniffled and sobbed before collapsing to the floor in tears.
“Waaah!”
“What’s going on?”
“Why the sudden waterworks?”
Everyone was baffled by the sudden turn.
Millerph approached and gently patted her back.
“I don’t know what happened, but you can rest easy now.”
“Waaah, Uncle!”
Aria clung to Millerph’s neck and wept openly.
Arthur, Aild, and the others waited silently until her sobs subsided.
After a few minutes,
Aria wiped the tears pooled in her eyes with the back of her hand and pulled away from Millerph.
“Uncle, stay still. I’ll heal you right away.”
Aria clasped Millerph’s hands tightly with both of hers and closed her eyes. The headband on her forehead began to glow brightly.
The light intensified, making her long purple hair sway as if in the wind.
The headband unraveled on its own and fell away.
A cross-shaped light blazed fiercely from her exposed forehead, enveloping both her and Millerph.
It was a mystical, holy light that warmed the heart just to behold.
The light lingered around Millerph for a while before fading.
She opened her eyes, her expression grave.
“Two clashing energies of different natures are tangled inside you. It’s not something that can be simply healed.”
“...!”
Millerph’s mind flashed.
He’d assumed it was just a side effect from hastily drawing mana, since he hadn’t taken direct hits from Altros.
But her words suggested otherwise.
Lately, to advance to the next stage, fine cracks had formed in his mana circle.
During the clash with Altros, when the shockwave pushed him back, Altros’s energy might have seeped into those cracks...
That seemed the most likely cause.
And now confirmed by her holy power.
To heal himself, he needed to overpower and dispel Altros’s mana with force.
“Damn it!”
A curse slipped out unbidden.
Arthur’s face hardened at Millerph’s reaction.
Before questioning him, he turned cold eyes on Aria.
“Who are you, exactly?”
Aria stood and bowed formally to Arthur.
“I am Aria, servant of Lady Karen.”
The clumsy demeanor from moments ago was gone.
“...?”
Arthur tilted his head and looked at Millerph.
Millerph gazed at Aria and explained.
“She is one of the Seven Priests of the Holy Kingdom of Anscent.”
“The Seven Priests?”
Arthur was startled.
Just as kings had guardian knights, the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom had the Seven Priests.
Shrouded in mystery, they were said to assist her with their varied abilities.
“And so young...”
The others’ eyes widened too.
Her youthful face and behavior made her seem like a naive girl—yet one of the Seven Priests...
Well, Arthur himself looked like a boyish youth; who would guess he commanded battlefields coolly and led charges fearlessly to crush foes?
It wasn’t so surprising in that light.
But while not on the Saintess’s level, the “Seven Priests” were holy proxies of the gods.
In the Holy Kingdom of Anscent, they wielded influence rivaling the Pope’s.
For such a figure to arrive here without escorts...
Either the kingdom was crumbling endlessly due to clerical corruption, as intelligence suggested, or something gravely serious had occurred.
“Who were the ones chasing you?”
At his cold voice, Aria swallowed hard.
But she didn’t avoid his gaze—instead, she took a deep breath, steadied her voice,
And suddenly knelt before Arthur.
“They were knights brought by the Archbishop.”
“Hmm...”
Arthur’s face hardened.
Millerph, who had anticipated this from her appearance, asked calmly,
“Something must have happened.”
Aria nodded.
“A few months ago, the Pope died under mysterious circumstances, and Vulcan, the former Archbishop, became Pope. Then he recruited knights from outside and slaughtered the Holy Knights, claiming they’d fallen to corruption. He even executed the cardinals who opposed him, accusing them of demonic possession.”
“How could such a thing...”
“He rounded up priests too, calling them devil worshippers, tortured and killed them. But that’s impossible. I confirmed with my own eyes that they still held holy power. Now he’s after the Saintess too, saying she’s corrupted...”
Aria couldn’t finish, rage boiling over.
“Why commit such atrocities...”
Millerph frowned, then his eyes flashed as realization struck.
“Did he perhaps appoint a new Saintess?”
“How did you...”
“Ah...”
Millerph let out a deep sigh, his face grave.
As past events resurfaced for Aria, tears welled in her eyes.
Sobbing, she pleaded desperately with Arthur.
“Sniff, sob sob. My lord Count, please help us. You’re the only one who can. And with holy water, I can heal Uncle.”
“...!”
Arthur’s eyes widened as he looked at Millerph.
“Really? Holy water can cure him?”
Millerph thought for a moment before speaking heavily.
“Altros’s dark energy has entered my body. To dispel it, I’d need to reach 8th Class.”
“With holy water?”
“If I can accept its power, the chances are good.”
“No need to hesitate, then.”
Arthur turned to Aria.
“Where’s the holy water?”
“It’s kept in the Scollas Sanctuary, but if it falls into the Archbishop’s hands, who knows. He might sell it for a fortune...”
“Damn!”
The Archbishop himself was the epitome of corruption.
From her words alone, the kingdom’s dire straits were clear.
But with his own injuries, he couldn’t help her—and asking Arthur, at war with the Emperor, was impossible.
Regret washed over him.
Millerph silently watched Arthur.
Arthur was deep in thought.
Their departure delayed by the trip to Marquis Valtre.
They couldn’t delay further, but facing the Emperor without Millerph was too risky.
The Emperor might strike first, seizing the initiative.
His mind grew ever more tangled when
Drakan rushed in.
“My lord, monsters have appeared in Kristen, the capital.”
“...!”
“Minotaurs, griffons, even ogres—thousands of them. The Emperor’s thrown his entire force there.”
“Heaven aids us.”
Arthur smirked and told Skevin,
“Prepare to march as planned.”
“But Lord Millerph...”
Arthur glanced at Millerph, then at Aria.
“You’ll come with me to the Anscent Kingdom.”