Chapter 116
Chapter 116
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: The Hegemon's Command
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Kiririk, kiririk…
Zakura's sharp scimitar was blocked by the thick warhammer.
The Golden Eye, who had swung his axe to split Zakura's skull, couldn't reach his goal.
A long spear blade had arrived right at his chin.
The man's expression, who had blocked both their full-powered strikes, was as serene as if he were out for a casual stroll in the neighborhood.
It was an absurd situation, but neither of them was surprised by the man.
This was a human they both knew all too intimately.
"…Paon, Lichtenauer…!!"
The Sea King and the Golden Eye were unparalleled geniuses who could dominate the entire Great Flood Warzone.
For such geniuses to harbor grand ambitions of seizing even human territories was only natural.
The insurmountable wall of anguish that had crushed those lofty ambitions—one they'd gladly grind to the bone to devour.
That was Paon Lichtenauer.
"What business brings you here…?!"
Zakura growled as he roughly yanked back the scimitar blocked by the warhammer, putting some distance between them.
"…Paon Lichtenauer. I never imagined you'd be such a coward, ambushing warriors in the midst of battle."
The Golden Eye pulled back a step from the spear, glaring daggers at Paon and hurling his accusation.
"Looks like there's some misunderstanding. I came to stop the fight, not to launch a sneak attack on you two."
It was a brazen reply after inserting himself into the fray, but both the Sea King and the Golden Eye knew Paon meant every word.
If he'd truly intended an ambush, both would have suffered grievous wounds moments ago.
Confirming that both had dialed back their auras, Paon likewise withdrew his spear and warhammer before declaring,
"Let me be blunt. Both of you—stop this fight."
"Hahaha… Stop the fight?"
Zakura pressed a hand to his forehead while gripping his scimitar.
"Looks like a bit of strength has made you blind to when to interfere and when to stay out, Paon. Those pigs slaughtered my subordinates—not just one or two. And yet you have the gall to spout such drivel?"
Zakura snarled at Paon, his red eyes flickering wildly between his splayed fingers.
"Couldn't agree more."
Boom!
The Golden Eye, axe slung over both shoulders, took a heavy step forward, his killing intent surging.
"Seventy percent. Not one or two—fully seventy percent of our noble great warriors have departed for the warriors' land. You think I'd let these lizards, who committed such atrocities, walk away alive?"
Amid the two monsters' auras blazing in a hair-trigger standoff.
"Seems like you're under some delusion…"
Paon replied with his face still utterly calm.
"I'm not asking you."
Whoooooom!!
Without so much as twitching, he unleashed an aura stronger than both monsters combined.
"This is an order. If you ignore me and keep fighting… fine. I'll kill you both right here."
"……!!"
Paon's aura bore down on their shoulders like a mountain, leaving the two monsters feeling as powerless as children.
'…Damn it, this mad bastard… stronger since last time?'
'Still not enough to take on this monster…'
Paon was undeniably strong, but not to the point of subduing both instantly.
In peak condition, neither would have yielded.
But the Golden Eye and Sea King had fought nonstop for days without catching their breath—a grueling marathon.
Even for them, physical exhaustion was inevitable reality.
Bodies battered, stamina depleted from all-out clashes—not exactly prime shape.
They couldn't afford to pick a fight with that monster rashly.
It'd be nothing but foolish posturing, not a real battle.
…No, confronting Paon's aura now, instinct told them plainly.
Against that human… even at their best, even ganging up.
Victory wasn't assured.
"…Damn it! Talk about losing face."
Zakura gnashed his teeth.
"…Paon. No matter how strong you are, we're leaders of our own forces. If we halt at your command… what do you think that does to our standing?"
The more level-headed Golden Eye countered Paon's words logically.
"Hmm, fair point."
Paon eased his aura slightly at the Golden Eye's response.
The Golden Heaven had lost seventy percent of its elite great warriors.
The mighty lords ruling the Amatres River's tributaries—Takryu's pride, the Four Dragon-Serpent Generals—three of them slain.
In that context, ending the war without justification?
Their very authority within their organizations would crumble.
They'd sooner die than stomach that.
For powerhouses like them, it was a humiliation worse than death.
"No need to worry about that."
Grin!
Paon flashed a deep smile.
"I'll provide the justification."
"…What?"
Step, step, step!
The moment Paon's words ended, from the right flank of the Beast Field, a strike team from the Lichtenauer Martial Clan emerged—refined and sharp as honed blades.
And at their forefront.
Grrrrrr rumble!
A massive pillar, with a dark elf dangling from it.
Was it the sheer shock of that unexpected spectacle?
"Tch, what the hell is that?"
"Kerruk, humans… a dark elf?"
As the monsters from both forces fixated in confusion and bewilderment.
"Golden Heaven! Takryu!! You've all been deceived!!"
Paon's roar shook the entire Beast Field.
"This war, where you've slaughtered each other—it's all the Grand Veil's vile scheme!! You've been nothing but puppets in their wicked machinations!!"
The truth Ian had revealed in his private meeting with the Sea King finally reached the ears of every monster in Golden Heaven and Takryu.
"…What?"
And that truth reached the Golden Eye as well.
All of this… the Grand Veil's doing?
Unlike Zakura, who had learned it first through his daughter Rasna and Ian's visit, the Golden Eye had been completely in the dark.
His eyes twisted in shock and fury.
"By sheer chance, we interrogated that dark elf and uncovered the full truth! Not only did they aim to weaken Golden Heaven and Takryu through mutual destruction—but moreover!!"
Regardless of the Golden Eye's turmoil, Paon pressed on.
Nedyr.
The family's chief mage had used his mind magic, Secret Extractor, to reveal yet another bombshell truth.
"They've been gathering the fallen lives of Takryu and Golden Heaven as sacrifices to revive the Earth Dragon—the South Continent's calamity!!"
"……!!"
The staggering truth laid bare so abruptly left every monster from Golden Heaven and Takryu speechless.
This revelation from Paon… even the Sea King and his daughter Rasna had been utterly unaware.
"Lord of the Black Scales…" "Awaken from the abyss and devour all life, King of Destruction." "Let your breath scorch the winds, let life wither at every footprint." "We call upon you with the blood we offer—trample our foes with your undying rage." "Rend the world's light with your razor claws, burn the impure with your breath." "Use us as your instruments, sever the breath of the foolish, and claim true dominion over this land." "With eternal revival, let your shadow flow through our blood…"
⟨ Earth Dragon Awakening Prayer ⟩
"Thus, both forces must halt this pointless battle at once and prioritize punishing the Grand Veil on a grander scale! If, even after I've laid this out, you turn a blind eye to the truth and fixate on settling your grudges!!"
Shing!
Paon discarded the spear and warhammer to the ground and slowly drew his sword.
The Martial King Paon Lichtenauer's true weapon: Heaven Wall.
"Then you'll face me—Paon Lichtenauer—and the entire Lichtenauer Martial Clan!!"
The cry of one of Agana's top powerhouses, transcending the South Continent, rocked the field.
Half a day before Paon Lichtenauer and the Martial Clan's strike team reached the Beast Field.
The dark elf who had arrived first at a tributary of the Amatres River near the Beast Field gazed intently at the distant battlefield's flames.
"They're fighting splendidly."
Even more fiercely than the Head Finger had planned—like a bonfire raging out of control.
And so.
The dark elf Aelion could ease his guilt, if only a little.
If the Lichtenauer Martial Clan had taken Biyona and uncovered the truth… unless they were fools, they'd surely intervene in the clash.
And to halt their war, dangling Biyona was the only way.
The pride of the Golden Eye and Sea King wasn't so flimsy that mere words could stop them.
Once those two forces learned the full truth.
Soon or late, they'd turn their blades toward the Grand Veil and march.
Therefore.
His actions now were solely to prevent the grand design from dissolving into a useless mirage.
Swoosh!
Aelion looked down at the river flowing at his feet.
The eighth waterway bordering the Beast Field: Palro.
Still untainted—or more precisely, contaminated only with the blood of lizardmen and orcs.
Drip, drip, drip…!
Aelion slowly poured in the purple liquid.
Just as Olga had mixed it into the sixteenth waterway long ago.
Bubble, bubble! Bubbling!!
Like the Sixteen Path that Olga had tainted, Palro's waters began shifting to an ominous purple hue.
But unlike Olga's Sixteen Path, the purple's malevolent aura was far denser this time.
And the flickering light lingered much longer.
"…Perfect!"
Aelion, who had watched the reaction closely, clenched his fists in exultation.
A response this potent meant it wasn't flawless, but he could make the attempt.
Glance!
He looked once more at the distant clash of orcs and lizardmen.
Not just the rank-and-file—even the absolutes, Sea King and Golden Eye, were wholly consumed with claiming each other's lives.
The chills reached even this far, so those two had no attention to spare.
From such distance, one dark elf quietly scheming… they wouldn't notice.
"Huuuuu…"
Aelion steadied his mind and placed his hand over the river, channeling mana.
"검은 비늘의 주인이시여…."
As the entire field fell silent in the wake of Paon's shout.
"…Looks like we need some verification."
Clang!
Perhaps because he knew a sliver of the Grand Veil's plot.
The Sea King snapped out of it before the Golden Eye, sheathing his scimitar.
"Paon Lichtenauer. No matter how you dangle that dark elf as a threat… you know full well how absurd it is to march on the Grand Veil based on just that."
The Sea King alternated glances between the Golden Eye and Paon.
"Frankly, if it looks like we'll slaughter these shit-brown eyes here, maybe you'd rather we tie ourselves down exhausting each other all the way to the Grand Veil—some human ploy. Humans are a treacherous lot, after all. So… I'll accept the truce proposal for now. But if it turns out this stunt is the Martial Clan's scheme."
Flash!
Zakura locked eyes straight with Paon.
"Then, even if it means joining forces with these shit-brown eyes. I will repay this insult upon you. You'd best be prepared for that?"
"Naturally."
Paon nodded readily, unfazed by Zakura's venomous threat.
"No—why not interrogate the dark elf together right now? Our mage's spell hasn't worn off yet… cross-checking wouldn't hurt."
As Paon urged the Golden Eye and Sea King once more.
Rumble rumble rumble…!!
The earth… began to quake.