Chapter 54: Once You Start, You Must See It Through (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 54: Once You Start, You Must See It Through (4)
Drip. Drip.
Blood dripped down the blade.
Before the stunned, dazed eyes of the gathered nobles, Viscount Barco rushed forward, sobbing hysterically.
"N-Nooo!"
He threw himself to the ground, frantically gathering Antony Barco's corpse into his arms.
His luxurious clothes were instantly stained crimson. With trembling hands, Viscount Barco desperately tried to stem the blood pouring from his son's ruined neck. It was a futile effort. Though the boy's flesh still held a lingering warmth, his arm fell limply to the dirt. The viscount's eyes lost their focus.
"...Ah!"
His son was dead.
He couldn't accept it. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined someone would slaughter his eldest son right inside the Barco estate, right before his very eyes.
"Aaaaargh! What are you all doing?!" Viscount Barco shrieked like a madman. "Kill this demon who dared murder the eldest son of Barco! Tear him limb from limb!"
Seeing him thrash about with bloodshot eyes, the knights of Barco hesitated, exchanging uneasy glances.
They had witnessed Roman on the battlefield. None of them possessed the courage to rashly charge the man who had struck Barco's rear, slaughtered dozens of soldiers, and slain both Berge and Homeros in a single strike. Whoever moved first would surely die. A creeping dread rooted them to the spot. Even in the shocking aftermath of Antony Barco's death, their loyalty could not overcome their primal fear.
With a sharp flick of his wrist, Roman cleared the blood from his sword.
Sheathing the weapon, he swept his gaze over the surrounding crowd.
"Is there a problem? It is quite common for the accused to die in a trial duel."
Viscount Barco had been living under a delusion. When Roman proposed the trial duel, he had never once promised to spare Antony Barco.
It was a trap from the very beginning.
Roman hadn't brought a single guard with him to the estate. Assuming Roman wouldn't dare make an extreme move while entirely alone, Viscount Barco made the fatal mistake of putting Antony on the stand. Because of this, Roman secured perfect justification. Since Viscount Barco himself had handed over the authority to mete out punishment, the responsibility for Antony's death no longer lay with Roman.
He had merely delivered a fitting punishment.
Roman then issued a chilling warning to the bewildered crowd.
"Keep what I am about to say in mind. From the day Antony Barco threatened me, I could no longer live under the same sky as the Barco family. That is the kind of man I am. I am petty, and unless I repay what was done to me, I cannot sleep at night. So, from that moment on, I pondered how to bring down Barco. And this is the result. If there are still those among you who cannot let go of your tenuous ties to this family, look closely at the kind of man you will be dealing with."
There was an old saying: a cornered rat will bite a cat.
Chris had tried to stop Roman for that very reason, just as Baek Ho-yeol had once criticized Baek Joong-hyuk's extreme methods in his past life.
However.
If one spared a rat out of fear of being bitten, that rat would only return with its pack to swarm the cat, or bide its time in the dark, waiting for a chance at revenge. Thus, Roman gave his enemies no quarter. Even if his own flesh was torn and his own blood was spilled, severing the root once and for all was Baek Joong-hyuk's way.
Viscount Barco glared upward. With eyes burning with murderous vengeance, he screamed at Roman.
"Do you think you will get away with this?!"
"What is the point of saying that now? From the moment you waged war over Lawrence, Barco and I became mortal enemies seeking each other's lives. And that relationship will not change until you die, Viscount Barco. I will not let my guard down for a single moment. I will watch how the Barco family fares from now on, and I will continue to strike until Barco is utterly ruined."
It was a blatant warning.
To the nobles watching the situation unfold, he was demonstrating exactly how dangerous it would be to aid Barco. This was his resolve. For Dmitry to go this far meant they would ruthlessly target any faction allied with Barco in the exact same manner.
Faced with Roman's threat, no one stepped forward.
The nobles of Cairo held their tongues, and the knights of Barco merely made a show of gripping their swords, none daring to charge.
"I shall take my leave."
He turned around. Just as he had walked in alone through the front gates, he departed. Though blood dripped along the path Roman walked, not a single person dared stand in his way.
And so, leaving behind the despairing wails of Viscount Barco, Roman vanished from their sight.
*
The Barco family.
Their ruin was instantaneous.
Enraged by his son's death, Viscount Barco tried everything to seek revenge, but the responses he received were ice-cold.
"I am sorry. As you know, we do not have the confidence to oppose Dmitry for Barco's sake. I admit we have shared a good relationship, but Barco has provoked far too dangerous an enemy."
They firmly drew a line.
Roman's actions had been unprecedented. He had marched right into the heart of the Barco estate and executed Antony Barco before the viscount's very eyes. It was an act that put a definitive end to any ambiguous hostility. Roman Dmitry did not merely stop at intervening in Lawrence's affairs; he made it entirely clear that he was the one spearheading this vengeance.
Furthermore, his justification was ironclad.
Antony Barco's threats. His harassment. And above all, Viscount Barco's own decision to permit the trial duel. The very nobles who were once thought to be on Barco's side became witnesses, testifying that Roman's actions were completely justified.
It was checkmate.
There was no avenue left for Barco to obtain outside help. Even though his eldest son had been killed, the viscount had lost all justification. He ran around frantically begging for aid, but not a single person took him in. It was no different with his connections in the Central Government. Even his primary backer in the capital—who was also from the Barco family—only expressed extreme discomfort, claiming that this incident had put him in a difficult position.
The painstakingly built tower of power crumbled in an instant.
Roman's judgment had been absolutely correct. Once the cornered rat was completely crushed, there was no way left for Viscount Barco to overcome the crisis.
And then came the final blow.
"Exactly three days remain until the deadline to repay the principal and interest. If you do not pay by then, Golden Bank will have no choice but to exercise our rights as a creditor. Viscount Barco, you have three days. Even if you must sell your soul to the devil, you will repay the coin you borrowed from us."
It was an ultimatum.
Faced with the notorious reputation of Golden Bank—infamous for recovering its debts by any means necessary—Viscount Barco knew he was completely finished. It was a disaster brought upon entirely by his greed for Lawrence's land. Drowning in despair, he ultimately chose his final option.
A few days later, Viscount Barco attempted to flee under the cover of night.
He ran with a minimal amount of luggage and wealth, but before long, his corpse was found abandoned on an unnamed hill.
The Barco family, which had once wielded great power in the northeast region...
This was the moment of their futile, miserable downfall.
*
It was a bright, moonlit night.
Seeing the figure of a man illuminated by the silver glow, Hans, who happened to be out in the hallway, asked, "Where are you returning from at this late hour?"
The man stopped in his tracks. Roman turned his head and smiled at his servant.
"The moonlight was bright. I went for a walk for the first time in a while."
"Is that so?" Hans smiled warmly. He approached Roman, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and began to carefully wipe away the red splatters staining Roman's clothes.
"Everyone has been very worried lately. While it brings me immense joy to see you finally receive the recognition you deserve, Young Master, I cannot hide my anxiety when you engage in such dangerous matters as war. You are the eldest son of the Dmitry family. As the one who will inherit this land one day, you must not think of your life as solely your own. Please, always be careful. And if you ever need help, please tell me. I will always stand behind you, ready to do my absolute best for you."
Rub, rub.
Hans meticulously wiped away the blood. Only when the stains were no longer visible did he take a step back with a proud expression.
Roman stared down at him quietly.
"Hans."
"Yes, Young Master."
"I told you before, didn't I? That you are my person."
"I remember."
As he began his new life, Roman had accepted Hans as his very first subordinate. That signified a truly special relationship.
The Heavenly Demon, Baek Joong-hyuk.
To rise to that absolute peak, he had slaughtered countless enemies, living a life so steeped in carnage that the blood of his foes could have formed a vast ocean. It was a path devoid of humanity. Because of Baek Joong-hyuk's tendency to utterly eradicate his enemies, the world had branded him a heinous, demonic monster—yet his side was always teeming with loyal followers.
Why was that?
Because Baek Joong-hyuk lived by one absolute principle: if someone was within his fold, he would protect them with everything he had. Rather than the lives of hundreds or thousands of enemies, the life of a single person under his wing was what mattered most.
That was reason enough. If he had left the threat of Barco unchecked, his people might have been devastated one day.
"I, too, will do my best to ensure my people are never put in danger."
Barco was no longer a threat. The dead could do nothing.
With those final words, Roman turned and entered his room.
Creak. Thud.
Hans stood in place, staring deeply at the closed door for a long, long time.
*
The capital of Cairo. Kairos.
In that grand city, where countless crowds gathered from all over the kingdom, an unbelievable piece of news arrived.
"...Is this true?"
"Yes! At first, I couldn't believe it either, but since it took place during a Great Warrior Battle, there were dozens of witnesses who saw him defeat Homeros. Isn't it absolutely mind-blowing? This guy named Roman Dmitry hasn't even made it onto the rankings—he's a complete nobody whose name is entirely unknown. Yet, he defeated a 4-Star Swordsman in a single blow!"
"Hmm."
Hearing his subordinate's fuss, Willas, the priest who managed the Cairo branch of the Temple of Valhalla, furrowed his brow.
Realistically, that is impossible.
Homeros. The 49th ranker. He was a rising star whom the Temple of Valhalla had recently been keeping a close eye on, yet he had been suddenly killed by an unknown nobody.
The real problem was the opponent's identity. The northeastern region of the Cairo Kingdom was a remote backwater barely worth looking into, and Willas had never heard of any outstanding figure there capable of defeating someone like Homeros. Just who on earth was Roman Dmitry? If the man's name had been even slightly known, Willas might have been able to make sense of this shocking news.
Willas finally spoke.
"What is certain is that Roman Dmitry is only twenty-five years old. If this report is true, it means an unprecedented genius has been born in the Cairo Kingdom. First, we need to verify the facts. Even if the probability of it being an exaggeration is high, the impact if it turns out to be true is something we can never ignore."
The Temple of Valhalla belonged to the Valhalla Empire. Normally, they strictly managed the kingdom's rankings through official 'Ranking Matches,' but for an anomaly like this, it was necessary to mobilize their personnel directly.
His interest was thoroughly piqued.
Would this turn out to be nothing more than a baseless rumor from the countryside? Or had a monstrous genius truly been born? He wanted to see Roman Dmitry's face for himself.
"Pack your bags immediately."
"Understood."
He did not know it then. He didn't realize that from the remote northeast of the Cairo Kingdom, a fierce wind was beginning to blow—one that would bring about a massive upheaval across the entire continent.
An awl in a pocket. No matter how deeply it was hidden, a sharp awl would always pierce through the fabric eventually.
And bit by bit, Roman Dmitry was beginning to break through.