Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Hero of the Border (3)
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A curtain of fire enveloped the camp along the barricades.
They had thought they were the ones encircling the enemy, but in truth, it was the ghost agents who found themselves surrounded.
As the flames drove back the darkness, the limited stealth of the lower-realm agents unraveled first.
"W-We’re surrounded!"
"The squad leader’s fallen! Please give us orders, sir!"
"Everyone, stay calm! We’re the ghosts of the battlefield! What’s a ghost got to fear?!"
The squad leader’s adjutant tried to soothe his men, but it was no use. Their retreat was cut off, and sharp ice shards rained down from the sky like a storm.
"Just hold on a little longer—the mountain mercenaries will come to our aid!"
The adjutant clung to hope. It wasn’t until a third of his men lay dead that the mountain mercenaries’ horns finally blared, but even they couldn’t breach the mighty wall of fire crafted by the Crimson Tower Lord, Berenus Kyle.
"What are you waiting for? There are our allies inside!"
"This is at least high-tier magic! Not even I, nor all the mages with us combined, could break it!"
The mercenary centurion berated their mage, but no solution came.
His realm was advanced for a mercenary mage, but that was nowhere near enough to shatter a high-tier mage’s barrier, empowered by a unique-grade magic artifact.
While they stomped around futilely outside the flame wall, inside, the ghost unit was being overwhelmingly crushed by the 5th Prince’s guards.
"At this rate, we’re all done for!"
"Give the order, quick!"
By now, only about ten ghost agents remained. If they were to act, it had to be now—any fewer, and there’d be no hope left. At least with ten still standing, a sliver of possibility lingered.
It was time to decide. The adjutant’s gaze turned to the 5th Prince. He stood at a precarious distance, close enough to reach in a single bound, watching the ghost agents collapse one by one.
"Take down the 5th Prince!"
The kidnapping plan was scrapped. With things as they were, their only option was to target the 5th Prince. Even if the squad was wiped out, killing a scion of the Philius Empire would make it worthwhile!
"Ghosts, all hands—sacrifice yourselves to claim the 5th Prince’s head!"
Two high mages and the guards protected him. Yet the adjutant didn’t deem it impossible. They had trained from the start to pierce chaotic battlefields and assassinate enemy commanders.
"Charge!"
"For the free Isirian Kingdom!"
It was too noisy for a ghost infiltration.
They had no choice. The surroundings were too bright to wield their silent kills effectively, the guards’ defenses were ironclad, and the ghost agents were utterly exhausted.
"Guards, protect the lord!"
Gestain drew his sword, and the guards stepped forward.
"We’ll handle this!"
"Gahhh!"
While the ghost agents clashed with the guards, the adjutant plunged deep, aiming to break through their formation.
But strangely, the guards weren’t blocking his path—they were stepping aside?
Clearing a way for an enemy threatening their lord? It was suspicious enough to warrant doubt, but the adjutant had no time for that.
I’ll kill him no matter what!
In an instant, he was upon the 5th Prince. Even as the ghost agent closed in with murderous intent, Raymond remained eerily calm.
"I’ll handle this."
"As you command, my lord."
Gestain retreated with a curt reply. Only then did the adjutant realize something was wrong—but it was too late to pull back.
"I shall remember you."
A white aura gathered in Raymond’s right hand, forming the shape of a sword.
"M-Mana sword?"
The 5th Prince, known as a wastrel, wielding a technique that requires at least an advanced knight’s realm—or even a high knight’s?
Before the shocking realization could settle, Raymond swung the Soul Sword first.
The strike feinted straight on but slyly targeted the flank—a bizarre sword art that made the adjutant recoil in horror as he pulled his blade to defend.
Clang!
The Soul Sword clashed with the adjutant’s blade, sending metal shards flying. Unable to withstand the mana sword, part of the long blade shattered.
"D-Damn it!"
The adjutant spat a curse. Raymond swung relentlessly, gradually pushing him into a defensive scramble.
Was he this skilled with a sword? Were all the wastrel rumors lies?!
He gritted his teeth. His long sword was already snapped in two; he drew the dagger at his waist to resist.
Even without the mana sword, the 5th Prince’s technique demanded years of real combat experience.
"Was I always this good?"
Raymond murmured to himself in surprise, even as he pressed the attack.
[The souls of a thousand knights forming the sword wailed. At first, it was disorienting, but the more the Soul Sword was used, the knights’ lifetime experiences seeped into Richard’s memories, forging into a singular ‘swordsmanship.’]
The novel’s text and the author’s notes revealed the meaning behind the soul knights’ words of “together.”
Forged from the grudges of a thousand knights’ souls, the Soul Sword bound them together.
The more it was wielded in combat, the more their battle-hardened experiences etched into the user’s soul. It was an inevitable path to strength—a setup tailor-made for the protagonist.
And now, I’ve claimed it.
A smile crept across Raymond’s lips. As his eyes flashed, the Soul Sword swung once more. Red blood sprayed, and finally, the adjutant’s left arm dropped with a thud!
"Kuh!"
As he staggered back in agony, Gestain charged fiercely and severed his neck with a single stroke.
A high knight’s swordsmanship was beyond what an armless adjutant could handle.
"Gestain, what was that about?"
Raymond asked casually, glancing at the bloodied corpse.
He’d thought he could finish it alone, so it stung a bit that Gestain hadn’t trusted him fully.
"We have an uninvited guest."
Instead of Gestain, it was Cassius—the Imperial Army commander who’d insisted on tagging along to protect the imperial bloodline—who answered.
"An uninvited guest?"
Raymond’s mutter dissolved into the air. The two Tower Lords, Desia, Gestain, and the guards gathered protectively around him.
Raymond hadn’t sensed a thing, but the two Tower Lords, the advanced mage, and the high knight felt the sharp killing intent clearly.
"He’s coming."
Gestain warned.
Desia swung her staff close to Raymond’s side. A mystical rune circle unfolded before her—the final barrier to shield the 5th Prince if even the two Tower Lords fell.
She silently vowed to protect the man who had shown her the way.
The darkness parted amid the tension, revealing a man in black garb. No others were visible beside him, but Raymond couldn’t be sure he was alone.
As Gestain and the two Tower Lords bared their hostility, the black-clad man raised both hands, signaling he meant no fight.
"Easy now. I have ‘no intention’ of clashing with you—at least, not right now."
Not right now... His words weren’t entirely unbelievable. The two Tower Lords at his side shook their heads, denying any other hidden presences.
He’d only come to verify a report of a ghost squad’s sudden movement, stumbling upon this massacre.
The guards had proven stronger than expected, so he’d held back from direct intervention—but he’d done his ‘best.’
And what was that?
"I’m with the Hashashin. First, my congratulations. You’ve just been entered into the ‘Black Book.’"
His ‘best’ was inscribing the 5th Prince’s name into the Hashashin’s assassination ledger, the Black Book.
They delighted in recording names and warning their targets.
"From this day, true darkness will watch you."
A warning from Edriger Kingdom’s elite assassins, the Hashashin—meaning he should tremble in fear every night under their gaze.
Whoever among past Hashashin masters started this twisted tradition was a mystery, but it reeked of bad taste.
"Shall I pursue?"
Gestain asked cautiously, but Raymond shook his head and spoke.
"Carrying the ‘Black Book’ means at least squad leader rank among the Hashashin. Even if we could catch him, he’s shown himself now—the Book’s target sync is complete. Pointless."
He bit his lip slightly as he finished. Hashashin in the Black Mountains? It deviated slightly from the original Empire of the Dead novel.
Originally, only Free Isirian Kingdom troops from the Tripartite Alliance garrisoned there. For Edriger to send not regular forces, but their special ops—the Hashashin?
The Hashashin were likely involved in Marquis Kreier’s abduction too.
Things were getting complicated. The Hashashin outclassed the ghost agents. The real terror was not knowing how many had infiltrated the Black Mountains.
As Raymond mulled over his fragmented thoughts, the Hashashin before him had already prepared to flee.
He backed slowly into the rift of darkness, bowing his head slightly.
"I’ll take my leave. That makes two ‘mountain corpses’ for the Philius Empire now."
Mountain corpse.
Hashashin slang for those named in the ‘Black Book’ but still alive, assassination pending. With that, he vanished.
"Heh..."
Azure Tower Lord Risefield Dior let out a hollow chuckle, while Crimson Tower Lord Berenus Kyle gnawed his lip gravely. Both knew the meaning of the ‘Black Book’ and ‘mountain corpse.’
"I’ve heard of the ‘Black Book,’ but what’s a mountain corpse?"
Imperial Army commander Cassius asked. The ‘Black Book’ carried by Hashashin leaders was well-known, but their slang less so.
The Crimson Tower Lord calmly explained, and Cassius’s face darkened. He took it as an insult to the imperial family.
"Who’s the other one?"
This time, it was Desia, unable to contain her curiosity.
In the Philius Empire, all those entered in the ‘Black Book’ had been assassinated—save one who endured.
Raymond, who’d seen the author’s notes, knew who.
"His Majesty the Emperor."
Even the Hashashin had failed to kill the Emperor. In other words, they’d succeeded against everyone else.
It took something extraordinary to earn a spot in the ‘Black Book.’ Only prime targets were listed, and the squad leader-rank Hashashin, having witnessed Raymond’s full might, deemed him worthy—and inscribed his name.
Yet under the gaze of true darkness, Raymond carried on as usual. He had no intention of cowering as they wished.
Even the skirmish with the mountain mercenary centurion’s forces ended, Raymond led his guards into a nearby outpost.
There, Cron’s infantry and the Imperial troops under Cassius’s orders awaited.
All that remained was torturing the captured ghost agents for intel. Raymond already knew where Marquis Kreier would be executed.
But pointing it out without evidence wouldn’t convince them easily—he’d need a bit of ‘theater.’
"Preparations?"
"Not yet. About an hour more."
Cassius replied.
"I see."
Raymond nodded and turned toward the training grounds with Gestain, but Cassius hesitantly spoke up.
"Your Highness, if I may ask one thing?"
Raymond paused and looked back.
"Speak."
"I’ve heard Your Highness studied magic. How, then, the mana sword...?"
"There are ways."
Raymond smirked. But Cassius remained serious.
"Then, if I may—how long have you trained in swordsmanship?"
"About two months now?"
"My god..."
Cassius was stunned.
Just two months to master the mana sword, a mark of at least an advanced knight? What kind of absurd talent is this?!
Cassius, who’d trained a decade for the same milestone, felt a pang of deprivation.
Leaving the trembling commander behind, Raymond headed to the grounds with his retinue.
"Your Highness, I have questions too. You know, don’t you?"
Azure Tower Lord Risefield’s words drew only a smile from Raymond.