Chapter 259
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 259
Chapter Title: Chapter 259
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 259
Chapter Title: From Count to Duke
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“Y-You... these lowly scum dare!! Do you even know who I am!!”
The one spitting rage with bulging veins was none other than the King of Koral, who claimed to carry the blood of the gods.
Beside him, aside from a scant few sprawled in pools of their own blood, not a single soul remained.
“Unconditional surrender—that's our only offer. King of Koral.”
“Shut your mouths, you filthy rabble! How dare you speak to me of surrender!!”
Even before Duke Berli, he refused to yield, his veins throbbing with fury.
Then the King of Koral's gaze locked onto me.
“You... you! You're the bastard who ruined my grand design!”
His eyes fixed squarely on me.
At once, those standing between the king and me stepped aside, leaving us face-to-face with nothing in between.
“You accursed wretch!! How dare you... how dare you!!”
I turned to him as he heaped curses upon me.
“What do you think of those who died for you?”
He scoffed at my question.
“Those incompetents who couldn't even protect me? How dare they presume to guard the blood of a god...”
[The Heart of the Machine God manifests.]
“Hey. Type O RH+.”
He grimaced at my words.
“Don't slap 'divine blood' on such run-of-the-mill blood, you lunatic. There's a whole carriage of perfectly healthy folks here who'd take a transfusion of your blood without batting an eye.”
I spoke flatly, then slowly closed the distance, meeting his eyes.
“Divine bloodline? You're delusional. You're not all that.”
Among those steeped in chosen-one ideology, plenty genuinely believed their lineage made them extraordinary.
But the truth they loathed most was that their blood was nothing special—just ordinary blood.
“Your genes, your blood. Nothing unique about any of it. You ended up on that throne by sheer luck, and that won't change.”
“How dare you... how dare a lowly cur!!!!”
Knights moved to intercept as he lunged at me in fury, but I raised a hand to halt them.
Then, as he snatched a fallen sword from the ground and charged, I drove my foot straight into his gut, sending him flying.
How much blood had been spilled because of this man?
It was only natural to boil with anger at the thought.
Kwang!!
He shot back like a soccer ball smacked by my foot, groaning in agony.
“If you wanted respect fit for 'noble blood,' you should've acted the part.”
“Urgh... I'll kill you... kill you.”
Even now, he wouldn't yield.
And soon enough, the source of his conviction became clear from the bizarre box he produced.
“Ancient one! Radon!! Manifest here and devour them all as your sacrifice!!!”
No one could call the box he drew forth even remotely pretty, not even as empty flattery.
It exuded horror, like a box encrusted with massive lumps of flesh.
“Radon?”
“Isn't Radon just some ancient monster from fairy tales?”
The startled onlookers drew their weapons in unison as the throbbing box rose into the air.
The ancient monster Radon. Bata's fairy tales told of a beast from ages past.
A gold-mad tyrant, craving ever more riches, tossed his daughter and son side by side into a boiling cauldron of molten gold. In wrath, the monster appeared and swallowed the tyrant and his kingdom in a single gulp.
Of course, it was exaggerated, and its actual existence was dubious.
But the unnatural aura emanating from that box put everyone on high alert by reflex.
Soon, an eye snapped open wide on the airborne box.
The grotesque orb scanned the surroundings wildly, as if hunting for sacrifices.
That was when it happened.
“That thing ain't waking up.”
Luna's voice cut through the silence she'd been keeping.
Srrrrk...
The eye on the box slid shut, brimming with disappointment, and the box thudded limply to the ground.
“Wh-What... what is this...?”
Everyone, the King of Koral included, was utterly baffled by the sudden turn.
“Why! Why won't it awaken!!”
“If rousing Radon were that easy, it never would've stayed mere legend all this time.”
“...”
Radon... definitely a fearsome monster.
Purely in terms of power, it rivaled the King of the Golden Forbidden Zone in the ocean depths. But unlike ordinary creatures, it possessed strange traits.
He snatched up the box and screamed in rage, but it lay inert, interest lost.
Having pinned his last hopes on this ancient entity, he crumpled. Duke Berli ordered him bound and carted off.
Thus ended the war between the two nations, sparked by Koral's provocation.
News of the king's capture spread across the front lines, splitting Koral's forces in two.
Half abandoned their lands and fled to the Eastern Continent; the other half surrendered everything.
Most of Koral's common folk, meanwhile, welcomed Bata's forces with open arms.
The royal family would be swamped coordinating Koral's territories for some time.
But rewards and punishments had to be meted out in the process.
Naturally, no one merited punishment here—but there was one all agreed deserved reward unanimously.
Even amid the victory celebrations sweeping the kingdom, this venue held a solemn, grave air.
At its heart, with most of the realm's nobles in attendance, the Princess of Bata drew a short breath.
“Leon Cascadia. Step forward.”
Clad in regalia befitting her role as king's regent, she called my name. The nobles parted like a sea, clearing my path.
Unfazed by the converging stares, I advanced calmly, knelt on one knee before the princess, and bowed my head.
“Leon Cascadia. In this war, you rendered service beyond dispute. Your devotion has illuminated the Bata royal family's future and, without doubt, saved countless promising youths of this nation.”
I closed my eyes quietly at her words and waited.
“Young Lord Leon Cascadia. Beyond this triumph, you have served the Bata royals time and again—saving His Majesty's life, shattering the heretics' plot that nearly doomed our land, and showcasing Bata's might against Koral's insolence. Thus, the crown sought to grant you fitting title and reward... however...”
As we'd arranged, no title for me.
“...as you desire no title, we offer equivalent recompense instead. Any objections? Speak now.”
Not a soul stepped forth.
In the old Bata Kingdom, half these nobles would've objected.
Many, like House Vidar, had scorned House Cascadia.
But today's Bata boasted ironclad royal authority.
“Leon Cascadia. Raise your head.”
“As you command.”
I lifted my gaze slowly to see the princess smiling at me.
“Name your desire.”
“Your servant Leon Cascadia, merely upholding the loyalty of House Cascadia to the crown, seeks nothing.”
“Noble words. Yet if we withhold reward even here, who would serve faithfully? Thus, the crown bestows upon House Cascadia—which birthed you, Leon Cascadia—part of the Balt Plains, including Karis, erstwhile capital of Koral. In light of these holdings' vastness, we elevate them from count's house to duke's house, as befits their station.”
Murmurs swelled at her decree.
A ducal promotion made sense enough, but Koral's capital lay far from Cascadia.
House Cascadia could hardly administer it easily.
But that was a matter already settled between the princess and me.
Distance?
No issue at all.
We planned a permanent gate linking Cascadia to Koral's capital fortress.
A colossal portal dwarfing standard mana gates.
Sudden as it was, the royals had little choice.
Someone had to manage Koral's emptied lands.
“Count Melissa Cascadia. Step forward.”
“As you command.”
Melissa soon joined me, kneeling on one knee.
“Count, have you objection to this?”
“How could we voice discontent at such magnanimity? House Cascadia pledges loyalty anew to the crown.”
“Count—no, Duchess Melissa Cascadia. Your fealty is witnessed. Henceforth, serve this realm not as count, but as duchess.”
She then granted me the title of Kingdom's Guardian.
No empty honor.
Unlike mere state-sanctioned Sword Master or Expert, Guardian wielded vast authority.
I wasn't thrilled, but outright refusal was impossible.
Even after Melissa and I withdrew, she summoned each war hero for their due rewards.
“Today, we purged the traitors who betrayed Bata long ago and reclaimed most lands stolen by Koral. In the crown's name, we declare this a national holiday and proclaim a three-day festival from this day.”
Cheers exploded from every side at her words.
The festival profited nobles little, but marking war's end? None grumbled.
Luna, however, took fascination with Radon's sealed box and departed with it first.
Leaving just Melissa and me in the capital.
Celebrating survival, triumph, and ancestral lands reclaimed, nobles' faces bloomed with joy.
For now, sans Cascadia, the crown would oversee most Koral holdings—but time would open doors for others.
Leaning on the second-floor terrace railing of the banquet hall, I stroked Grivi's head as it sat gnawing meat.
Grivi stuffed its maw relentlessly with tasty meats and sweets, lost in bliss.
“Our lands ballooned several times overnight. Can we even manage?”
“It's 'part' of the Balt Plains, but you know it includes that massive breadbasket region?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“No worries. We'll install permanent warp arrays for direct jumps to Karis—the old Koral capital—and the Balt Plains.”
“If someone tampers...”
“Unless it's an 8th-circle mage or higher, sabotage-proof design. Using orichalcum.”
“Sigh... suddenly swamped with work.”
Melissa sipped her drink beside me, letting out a brief sigh.
“What's eating you? You're a duchess now.”
“A count jumping straight to duke overnight? You should've taken the title and handled it.”
“That territory size? Even a marquis couldn't swing it without precedent issues. Anyway, titles can wait.”
She shot me a side-eye.
“Can't wrap my head around it, you rascal. What if Cascadia really joins the continent's thirteen great houses like Mielephon?”
Cascadia County overseeing the Demon Realm, Koral's capital fortress, and a chunk of the vast Balt Plains.
Becoming land barons overnight felt oddly unreal.
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