Chapter 156
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: Iron Fang's New Target
The sun had yet to rise, and not even the faint light of dawn pierced the deep darkness of night.
In the imperial palace of Bergina in the Dufer Empire, a line of warriors stood at attention.
Amid the flickering torchlight, the warriors remained utterly motionless for a long while.
Thud, thud.
A middle-aged man approached them with casual footsteps that betrayed no hint of martial prowess.
"Oh, my apologies. I dozed off for a moment and ended up a bit later than planned. You all must have been waiting a while, huh?"
Though he faced warriors radiating a blade-like aura that could make anyone's nerves fray, the middle-aged man apologized as lightly as if greeting a neighborhood friend.
If anything, it was the warriors who tensed up.
It was only natural.
This man held a position in the Northern Continent second only to the emperor himself.
"Not at all, Prime Minister. For us Iron Fangs, waiting is second nature—we don't mind in the slightest."
"Haha, glad to hear it."
Prime Minister Adrian Martinel cut straight to the chase upon hearing Kardo, the captain of the Iron Fangs, speak.
"It's cold out here, so no need to drag this out. The reason I summoned you Iron Fangs at this hour... is that our new 'target' has been decided."
Adrian's words brought a glint of murderous intent to Kardo and the Iron Fangs' eyes.
Iron Fangs.
They existed for one sole purpose, living up to their name of "Iron Tusks."
"...I thought we'd already achieved our unit's objective. Or was I wrong?"
"I thought so too, but no. And this one's particularly tough to handle."
"...Just say the word. We're specialists in 'that job,' after all."
"Haha, Captain Kardo, your words are always so reassuring. Then again, we're in the same boat now... you could say we're in it together."
"......"
Ignoring Kardo's silence, Adrian pressed on.
"The target's name is Ian Lichtenauer."
"...Lichtenauer? You don't mean...?"
"That's right, the Lichtenauer."
"......!!"
A ripple of unease passed through the Iron Fangs at Adrian's declaration.
The Lichtenauer Martial Clan—the family of the War God who had recently slain Karak Tuskus, the earth dragon straight out of myth.
"...Prime Minister, forgive my impertinence, but..."
"I know exactly what you're worried about."
Adrian cut Kardo off.
"Do you think I'd send you charging into the Lichtenauer Martial Clan? That'd be suicide."
"Then...?"
"Ian Lichtenauer is currently headed to the Eastern Continent."
"......!!"
Kardo's eyes sharpened.
The Eastern Continent changed everything. Even the Lichtenauers couldn't keep tabs on every incident there.
"We don't know his full intentions yet, but his presence there is confirmed. Gather intel on-site and track him down. You know what comes after that, right?"
"Of course."
Snap!
Kardo saluted toward Adrian and called out.
"Until the day we eradicate all seeds of disloyalty from this land."
"Until the day we eradicate all seeds of disloyalty from this land!!"
"Hahaha, that's the spirit."
As the entire Iron Fang unit snapped crisp salutes, Adrian curled his lips into a smile and returned the gesture.
"Go. And wipe every last seed of disloyalty from this land."
The moment Adrian finished speaking, the Iron Fangs vanished from Bergina like a black gale.
The now-empty space.
"Yes."
Left alone, Adrian murmured to himself.
"This land has no more need for that man's traces."
He gazed toward the southeast, where the Eastern Continent lay, a murderous smile playing on his lips.
The Khan Empire, a traditional powerhouse of the Eastern Continent.
The pride of its people pierced the heavens.
That pride often crossed into arrogance, leaving foreigners with impressions of haughtiness.
Yet the Khan Empire's citizens took such sharp critiques as a matter of course.
They dismissed it as the inferiority complex of the unchosen.
Where did this distorted sense of pride in their minds originate?
The answer was simple.
In the long history of Agena, the Khan Empire had never once experienced total annihilation.
It had fallen to become a vassal of other continents' powers and dwindled at times to the size of a mere fief.
Yet since its founding, it had stubbornly preserved its lineage, sharing nearly every moment of Agena's human history with its ancient legacy and traditions.
As a result, unlike the common civilizations of other continents, it had successfully rooted its own unique culture and customs.
Tradition and history.
Those were the secrets to the Khan Empire's enduring strength and unyielding national power.
In the imperial capital of Kahorin, where all of the Khan Empire's traditions and history converged, the most grand and massive structure was the Bator Palace, residence of the emperor.
Thud, thud!
A man strode boldly through the palace corridors and flung open the doors to the audience chamber.
Clang!
To throw open the doors to the chamber of the Khan Empire's supreme ruler, the emperor, without any formalities—as if it were his own bedroom.
For an ordinary man, or even most nobles, it would have been an outrage deserving a dozen executions.
Yet strangely, the guards at the audience chamber made no move to stop the insolent man.
They parted like it was the most natural thing in the world, clearing his path inside.
Thud, thud!
The man with a massive scar crossing his face entered, marched up to the throne, and dropped to one knee before the emperor.
"Your servant, Kaidu Balak, comes before Your Majesty's countenance."
The man was Kaidu Balak, one of Agena's Four Heroes, the Sword Star.
"...You've come, Grand Duke? What brings you to see me today?"
Before Kaidu Balak stood a small, frail boy.
This unremarkable youth, who could pass for any street urchin, was the current emperor of the traditional powerhouse, the Khan Empire: Emperor Temur Altan, the Radiant Spirit Emperor.
"Your Majesty, on my way into the palace, I heard some truly bizarre rumor. To confirm the facts, I took the liberty of visiting you at this early hour."
Undeterred by Temur's somewhat prickly response, Kaidu continued.
"Word reached my ears that Your Majesty intends to entrust the development of the mithril vein discovered in the west not to Marquis Kergel, but to Count Barkud's house. Surely, this can't be true... I've simply misunderstood, right?"
As Kaidu pressed the point, Temur instinctively shrank back but swallowed hard and responded steadfastly.
"...No misunderstanding, Grand Duke. House Barkud leads Ulaan Gazaryn, the western border guard. As the saying goes, a strong border makes a strong nation. Granting such precious mithril to the count and Ulaan Gazaryn would make the western frontier far more secure..."
"Haa... Your Majesty."
Before the emperor could finish, Kaidu sighed and interrupted at will.
"Didn't I warn you? Barkud is a man of shallow loyalty who warrants caution. Yet not only do you refuse to strip command of Ulaan Gazaryn from that wolf-like cur, but you're handing him the mithril vein too?"
'...Because that loyalty isn't directed at you, Kaidu Balak.'
Unaware or uncaring of Temur's inner thoughts, Kaidu gazed at him with pity, as if at a dim-witted pupil, and stated firmly.
"Well, even Your Majesty can err. I'll see the mining rights go to House Kergel as planned. As you know, they're renowned for developing sorceries using precious metals and gems. They'll put the mithril to far better use than that brute Count Barkud ever could."
"......!!"
Temur clenched his small fists at Kaidu's unilateral decree.
Sorcery development—pure excuses.
House Kergel followed not the emperor, but Grand Duke Kaidu openly.
Even the hard-won mithril vein... he couldn't bestow it on Barkud, one of his few true loyalists.
All he could muster was a bitter sneer at his puppet-like existence.
Perhaps reading the frustration in Temur's expression, Kaidu spoke calmly.
"Your Majesty, I desire nothing more than for the Khan Empire to reclaim its place as Agena's supreme conqueror. Please... don't let stubbornness lead you astray."
Rumble!
Without the emperor's permission or even a proper farewell, Kaidu departed the audience chamber.
Faced with such behavior from Kaidu, the Khan Empire's diminutive emperor, Radiant Spirit Emperor Temur, could only tremble with rage.
"...Enjoy your reign while it lasts, Kaidu Balak."
The world hailed Kaidu as a hero for his feats in the great war against the Northern Continent, but to Temur, he was no hero.
Merely the greatest treacherous minister devouring the nation from within—a rebel.
"I have no intention of ending my days as a mere figurehead...!!"
From the corner of the little emperor's tightly clenched mouth, a thin trickle of blood slowly dripped.
Slap, slap!
Kaidu roughly shut the audience chamber doors behind him, then tore the documents in his hand while clicking his tongue softly.
"Tch... What a nuisance."
The papers bore the imperial seal— an edict granting House Barkud development rights to the western mithril vein.
"Already swamped with concerns, and now the mutt I keep starts forgetting its place... baring its teeth to slip the leash. Such a pain."
In the midst of his grand campaign to unify the Eastern Continent, it grated that the house pet back home kept trying to nip at his heels.
"Doesn't even realize who put him in that seat... tch."
There were plenty of imperial bloodlines to go around.
Temur was no different—just a puppet Kaidu had installed after quietly disposing of the previous emperor amid endless resistance.
"One or two more warnings, and if he still doesn't know his place, I'll tidy him up at the right time."
Muttering lightly as if swapping a broken tool, Kaidu was greeted outside Bator Palace by a brilliantly armed force.
"You've had a hard journey, Grand Duke!!"
Borzhin Khermen—Kaidu's elite strike force, surpassing even the palace guard Altan Selem.
"Mm."
Kaidu nodded curtly to Borzhin Khermen's salute, then boarded the waiting carriage.
He was among Agena's mightiest in his own right, yet he relished traversing the capital under their escort.
Seeing the imperial citizens bow as one to his carriage... it drove home the extent of his power and prestige.
In those moments, he truly felt alive.
"Grand Duke."
Whoosh!
As Kaidu savored his authority from the carriage, his adjutant and Borzhin Khermen captain, Arslan, approached and whispered in his ear.
"Duchess Albaret has sent a secret missive. Viscount Sozen is entering the royal palace of the Pang Kingdom."
"Oh? Finally making his move?"
Kaidu's eyes gleamed at Arslan's words.
Viscount Sozen.
Kaidu knew the name not for his mere viscountcy in Pang, but for another reason.
Bandit gangs plagued not just Pang, but the Khan Empire too.
Like summer mosquitoes, their nuisance was endless—except for Viscount Sozen, the sole man in the East free of their threat.
Every effort to uncover his secret had failed; no one had pierced it.
The man himself feigned ignorance about why the attacks stopped.
So if he'd finally unraveled it, nobles flocking to the palace was inevitable.
"Hmmm..."
But Kaidu was a grand duke who toyed even with emperors.
"Still feels off."
He wasn't naive enough to take it at face value.
"All the kingdom's nobles gathering... means all the ones I've cultivated over the years will be in one place?"
A prime opportunity to sweep away years of painstakingly won nobles in Pang.
But Arslan dismissed Kaidu's suspicion with a wave.
"No way they'd dare, unless Pang's gone mad. Why target those under Your Grace's favor...?"
True enough.
Daring to strike nobles backed by the Khan Empire would give Kaidu pretext to march troops in "protection."
Unless they killed every last one, even one escapee would spell crossing an irreversible river.
The kingdom's very survival would hang by a thread—a gamble no sane royal house would take.
"Hmmm..."
After pondering against the carriage wall, Kaidu shook his head.
"No, it's still nagging at me. Just in case."
Drumming his fingers on the window frame, he finally decided and turned to Arslan.
"Send Karauna. Even if every other noble drops dead... make damn sure the Albaret ducal house survivors come back alive."