Chapter 196
Chapter 196
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 196
Chapter Title: Long-cherished Wish
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“You bastards must be born with the talent to surprise me.”
Ruan’s smile never left his lips.
Artisan, the greatest obstacle for the Oscar Empire, had been taken over by one of the Demon King’s Guardians.
It was something he couldn’t have imagined.
What he was truly curious about was whether Artisan had known.
From what Mangblo said, he was even stronger than Jangjarban, so the chances were high that he had reached the Grand Sword Master realm.
A guy that impressive wouldn’t fail to detect dark energy.
He was dying to know how the Guardian had approached him.
So he waited for him to awaken.
Quite some time passed, and as the dark sky began to brighten little by little.
“Ugh…….”
Regaining consciousness, Artisan let out a low groan as he raised his upper body.
Rocaus blocked Ruan’s front like a shield, growling like a beast as he glared at him.
If Collepton had failed to awaken, the guy might attack, making it dangerous.
But Ruan had Nightmare, so there was no need for him to go that far.
His massive body was just blocking the view and getting in the way.
“Step aside. I’m not so weak that I need your protection.”
“I’m sorry.”
Rocaus, looking dejected, lowered his tail that had been raised toward the sky and stepped to the side.
Artisan stood there.
Ruan met Artisan’s eyes and grinned.
“That’s not the look I remember from that guy.”
Artisan smiled faintly and dropped to one knee.
“Collepton greets Lord Ruan.”
“Did the awakening go well?”
“Thanks to your help, it ended safely.”
Satisfaction radiated from Collepton’s face.
Ruan immediately asked what he’d been wondering about.
“It couldn’t have been easy approaching that guy. How did you manage it?”
“Artisan has five subordinates like the Demon King’s familiars. I infiltrated one of them and entered when Artisan had a seizure, creating a temporary opening.”
“A seizure?”
Ruan had received countless reports about Artisan over time.
But he’d never heard of Artisan having a chronic illness.
“Two years ago, he was on the verge of entering Grand Sword Master when his mana backlashed in a moment of carelessness. That’s when the intermittent seizures started. That’s when I infiltrated.”
“With a guy like that, he’d notice right away and forcibly drag you out or destroy you if he couldn’t.”
“I took a position where he couldn’t do that. Right here.”
Collepton pointed to his left chest with a finger.
Once you seize the heart, no matter how strong the opponent is, they can’t do a thing.
Instead, you can reveal your presence and apply pressure.
So every time a seizure hit, he pressured him while biding his time.
Artisan had also been waiting for a chance to absorb the power of darkness.
That’s how their symbiotic relationship began, each eyeing the other.
After three long years of waiting, the perfect opportunity arrived, and he finally took him over.
But he resisted to the end.
Without Ruan’s help, who knows how much longer it would have been delayed.
In any case, he had acquired the strongest being among humans and monsters combined.
His subordinates came as a bonus.
He couldn’t have been revived more perfectly.
“Just give the order.”
“Confidence overflowing, I see. So Artisan is dead, then?”
“Not quite. Think of him as a vegetable.”
“Any chance his consciousness returns?”
“None.”
“Even if you die?”
“Then we die together. Even if he wakes, it’ll just be death.”
“I see.”
It seemed Artisan wouldn’t wake up to interfere with him.
The greatest obstacle crumbling without even crossing swords left a hollow emptiness in his chest.
“What a boring end.”
Mangblo, Hera, and Rocaus, who had been silently listening to the conversation, lined up beside Collepton.
Mangblo, the leader among the Guardians, spoke.
“The remaining one seems to be somewhere else.”
“Where?”
“My guess is the Sharcres Continent is most likely.”
“Haven’t heard that name in a while.”
The only thing Ruan remembered about the Sharcres Continent related to his imperial coronation, when he met the delegation from the Kast Empire.
After that, there hadn’t been any special exchanges.
The Sharcres Continent was far away, and even after the war with the Demon King, they’d been locked in fierce battles with monsters up to now.
So the Kast Empire probably hadn’t had time to worry about elsewhere.
Thinking of it suddenly reminded him of something in the Golden Emperor’s diary.
[The Sharcres Continent has no heroes like Tehran, but it boasts a unified empire’s massive forces, with even common soldiers approaching Sword Expert upper level. If they were nearby, we’d have become their vassals or been destroyed.]
Not to be trifled with.
Once the Oscar Empire was sorted, he’d have to clean up the five continents one by one.
When the Demon King revived, he wouldn’t obediently submit.
In the end, he’d have to subdue them by force.
To prepare, he needed to minimize troop losses and subjugate them one at a time.
“Who’s the last one?”
“His name’s Umbarsha, a black mage. He was killed by Kanmurasas, but impressive enough to face him alone.”
“Where are the Demon King’s forces now?”
“On the Kanura Continent.”
“How many troops?”
“Approaching 100,000 now, and by the time he revives, it’ll be a million.”
“A million…….”
Ruan’s face hardened slightly.
To face that many, he’d have to absorb rather than kill the enemies ahead.
Even combining his current forces with Tomoya and Julius Kingdom’s, they wouldn’t reach 500,000, let alone a million.
Anscent Kingdom was out, so he’d have to gather maximum from the other two continents.
The Demon King’s Guardians had given great gifts, but it was still woefully short against the Demon King himself.
“Let’s head back to the castle for now. Everyone but Collepton, return to your duties.”
The Guardians bowed politely and vanished.
Left alone, Collepton expected Ruan to give him a special mission.
“Just give the order.”
“Attack Tomoya Kingdom.”
“Kill them all?”
“Until I give new orders, pressure them slowly and drag it out. Meanwhile, I’ll go deal with Valtre.”
“Understood.”
“And keep our connection secret until I say otherwise.”
“Then upon reaching camp, we’ll advance on Tomoya Kingdom.”
Collepton bowed politely and descended the mountain.
The day had fully brightened by now.
Ruan gazed at the vast plain stretching out.
The earth shone brilliantly in golden light.
This golden glory should exist only for him.
He would make it so, and all would worship him like a god.
Ruan stared intensely at the sun rising high in the sky and declared.
“I am the sun soon.”
***
Before leaving Shangrni Territory, Arthur called Rasety to Ban’s tent.
The Ventarr Merchant Group also had to depart for Vulcan Territory today, so it was bustling since morning.
Rasety finished preparing to leave and entered the tent.
“You called for me?”
Arthur nodded and sat facing her.
He looked at the map spread on the table and asked,
“Can you tell what it is?”
“Ragbeit Continent map.”
Rasety recognized it immediately.
“Right. Have you ever been near the border between Grada Territory and Kanura Territory?”
“No.”
“But you know there’s a sea route there?”
“I do.”
Arthur pointed to the spot on the map with his finger.
“Could the Ventarr Merchant Group’s ships pass through?”
“It’s surprisingly wide and deep there, so yes. Why do you ask suddenly?”
Rasety looked puzzled.
Arthur told her about the idea he’d had while scouting Kanura Continent.
Nothing was decided yet, but her help was essential to proceed.
“That’s a great idea.”
“We’d need ships for it.”
“Based on our merchant ships, you could load up to 500 troops. We already carry up to 700 to Vulcan Territory. But we don’t load horses there, so that’s possible.”
“That’d take all day just transporting troops.”
“The Ryu Man Merchant Group’s ships could handle twice that easily.”
“Still only about 1,000. We need other options.”
“I’ll look into it.”
“When will the Vulcan Territory migration finish?”
“We haven’t fully assessed there yet, so it’s hard to say now. I’ll report as soon as we have an outline.”
“Got it. Don’t rush—safety first.”
After parting with Rasety, Arthur set off for Tomoya Kingdom with his group.
They rode nonstop without rest.
After half a day,
Tomoya Kingdom’s border came into view, corpses scattered everywhere.
The rotting stench like a sewer swarmed with bugs.
Flags of Tano Marquis Family and other houses were found here and there.
Signs of a battle.
Deeper in, it was like a massive tsunami had swept through—nothing left.
Just traces of enormous power passing.
Skevin’s face darkened as he surveyed the battlefield.
“Tomoya Kingdom launched the attack.”
Arthur nodded in agreement.
“With this much power, it looks like an ultimate technique. Who has that kind of skill?”
“Kamel, leader of the Bursta Knight Order, isn’t this strong.”
“Then he must have come himself.”
“Any guesses?”
“Valtre.”
“……!”
‘He’s been hiding his power all this time?’
Even concealing aura has limits, but these traces suggested Sword Master upper level.
As Skevin looked shocked, Millerph approached and added,
“With mana surge like this, he couldn’t control it with his own ability. Probably has something to control mana.”
“If he can control the surge…….”
Arthur’s face hardened.
He recalled the Altros and Skazana’s Spear incident.
Back then, Valtre couldn’t control the surge, making it dire.
The Valtre Marquis Family’s mage had collapsed in despair, as if accepting death.
That showed Valtre held immense mana.
And now he controlled it?
He’d found a way to tame the surge in that short time?
Either way, the situation had gotten tricky.
With such power, he might brazenly reach out.
But Arthur wasn’t worried at all.
No matter how strong he’d become, Arthur was several times stronger.
If he rampaged relying on that meager power, Arthur would teach him what true strength was.
Of course, after achieving his goal—as a congratulatory gift.
Arthur gazed toward Tomoya Kingdom and murmured lowly.
“Spirits…….”
As he called the spirits,
Parsia’s voice rang in his ear.
-They’re coming.
“How many?”
-Doesn’t seem like they want to fight. And the ones coming now are from Grand Duke Natarshian’s side.
“He was waiting for me?”
Arthur’s eyes deepened, then a smile curved his lips.
“Looking forward to it.”