Chapter 169
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: Viper's Shredded Prey
The broadsword Mu Chai had been holding shattered into fragments.
The clothes draped over him turned to rags in an instant, torn to shreds.
Naturally, Mu Chai's body, standing at the epicenter of that raging storm of blades, couldn't possibly remain unscathed.
Pipipipipit!
"Graaaah!"
A mist of blood erupted from Mu Chai's body, drenching the surroundings in crimson as blood streamed down in rivulets.
"Mu Chai!!"
The young vipers cried out his name in horror at the gruesome sight.
"D-Do you think you'll get away with this?! We're members of 'Ye'!!"
One of the cornered young vipers belatedly screamed out that empty threat in desperation.
Ian's lips curled up even more chillingly.
"Those fools who whined about processing people officially invited by 'Ye's leadership right here on the spot—they sure can talk. Isn't it ridiculous?"
"……!!!"
"And to say that... this guy's not dead yet."
Thud!
Like kicking away trash, Ian rolled over Mu Chai's body, which was drenched in blood from head to toe, resembling a blood-soaked corpse. A faint groan leaked out.
"Ughhh…."
"M-Mu Chai!!"
"I barely scratched anything but the surface, so quit your weak whimpering and get lost. For the sake of 'Ye's reputation, I'll spare your life."
The young vipers hesitated, glancing at Ian's expression, before supporting Mu Chai. Ian fixed them with an icy glare.
"And relay this to the one who sent you. Consider it a warning. If you pull this childish stunt again on the way to meet Lien, testing the waters... then every last one of you crawling pests will have to leave your heads behind."
"……!!"
The young vipers' eyes shook all at once.
Because of the threat to forfeit their heads? No.
It was because of Ian's words: relay this to the one who sent you.
He... knew?
But they couldn't let that realization show on their faces like idiots.
The young vipers hastily dragged Mu Chai away into the mountain forest. As Ian slowly sheathed his Twin-Headed Blood Serpent, the Latent Dragon Squad cautiously approached.
"…Captain, you okay?"
Ryu An asked in a worried tone, unnerved by Ian's unusually agitated demeanor compared to his normal self.
"…I'm fine."
Dismissing Ryu An's concern, Ian urged the group onward as if nothing had happened.
"Let's go. We've wasted too much time on those fly-like pests."
While the winds of purge swept through Toolgur, the capital of Pang Kingdom, and Ian ascended the Baekra Mountains toward Ye's stronghold.
In the heart of the Khan Empire, Kahorin, the bloody events in Pang Kingdom reached Kaidu Ballak as well.
"…Total annihilation? Including Karawonas?"
Unable to believe the urgent report, Kaidu tilted his head and asked Arslan once more.
"Yes, Your Grace. Pang Kingdom claims that while it is true they clashed with Karawonas in the process of dealing with internal rebels, they had no intention whatsoever of antagonizing the Khan Empire. They insist they only feigned attacks without pursuing aggressively until Karawonas left Toolgur. They suspect it might be Ye's doing."
"…No aggressive pursuit?"
"It's a one-sided claim, of course."
"Heh, heh heh heh… These backwater weaklings must think I'm some kind of idiot."
Kaidu tore the letter from Pang Kingdom's envoy to shreds, laughing with murderous intent as if it were utter nonsense.
What had been Kaidu's reason for deliberately attaching Karawonas to the Alvarez Ducal House?
It was a mercy and a warning: to wash away the disgrace from the Lichtenauer Martial Clan.
Tarik, sharp as he was, couldn't have missed that intent.
Would Tarik have truly ignored the Alvarez Ducal House amid the bloodshed in Pang Kingdom and slipped away unscathed?
No way.
If he'd returned to the Empire like that, he would've died by Kaidu's hand.
In other words, even if the heavens fell, Tarik wouldn't have backed down when things erupted in the Pang royal family.
He must have clashed in earnest.
Thus, Pang Kingdom's letter was nothing but bullshit not worth reading.
But the dead tell no tales.
With Karawonas escaping Toolgur toward the Baekra Mountains, there was no way to know if they'd been slaughtered by Pang Kingdom or by Ye.
"'Suspected to have fallen to Ye's bandits'… Well, even if we sent investigators, anything that happened in the Baekra Mountains would've been erased by wild beasts by now. Right, Arslan?"
"……."
Instead of answering, Arslan quietly bowed his head.
He knew the Grand Duke wasn't truly asking for his opinion.
"Interesting… very interesting…."
Tok, tok!
Kaidu's fingers drummed rhythmically on the armrest.
When Pang Kingdom summoned the nobles, Kaidu had a strange premonition and attached Karawonas as both protector and watchdog.
No matter what absurd scheme Pang cooked up, he had to prevent his plans from going up in smoke.
He figured Karawonas could handle any ordinary Pang forces.
But the results spectacularly defied Kaidu's expectations.
The nobles he'd painstakingly turned into puppets for the Khan Empire were all crushed, leaving him at a loss on how to revise his plan to devour Pang from within in just a few years.
I wonder who it is. The one who poured cold water on my plans.
Pang Kingdom's involvement was certain.
Even a village idiot could see that.
What Kaidu wanted to know was who had lent a hand.
Excluding the royal guard, did Pang Kingdom have any group with the might to decisively defeat Karawonas?
Kaidu's answer was a resounding no.
If they did, he would've known about it by now.
And if Pang had the spare capacity to secretly nurture such a force, they never would've accepted this humiliating system tantamount to subjugation in the first place.
That said, Ye couldn't have wiped out Karawonas. Those thieves only care about picking others' pockets—they wouldn't pick a fight with the Khan Empire on that scale.
In the end, only one conclusion remained.
Outsiders. And not just any—ones with real power.
Power fearless of the Khan Empire's name.
Who?
Who dared obstruct him?
Siegfried? That bastard again? No… maybe Cassandra of the Holy Kingdom. She's the one who'd fear me growing as big as Siegfried most. But the Western Continent—Dharma Kingdom and Torpenhaum alone would leave no room to meddle in the East. Then… the Southern Continent?
The Lichtenauer Martial Clan.
They had the power to interfere, even as a single house.
But did the Lichtenauers have reason to sabotage him at this juncture?
"…Speculating without seeing for myself is just confusing."
He wasn't dim-witted, but he could never match Siegfried's cunning machinations.
This scheming wasn't his style anyway.
"Right, I shouldn't have tried wearing clothes that don't fit from the start."
Sorting his thoughts, Kaidu looked up.
"Arslan."
"Your command, Your Grace."
"Investigate every suspicious entrant to Yinhepo within the last year. No exceptions, even if it's the slightest suspicion."
If someone had moved to aid Pang Kingdom, they'd have scattered and entered via Yinhepo en route to the kingdom.
Following their trail would lead to the culprits.
"Yes, understood."
"And tell Turmur Shurga to advance on the border zone as soon as preparations are complete."
"Yes…?!"
Arslan reflexively questioned the unexpected order.
"Do I need to say it twice?"
"N-No, sir."
Arslan bowed hastily and exited Kaidu's chamber.
"Looks like I've been too quiet for too long. More fools than I thought see me as soft."
The reason Pang Kingdom claimed they'd acted first to purge nobles voluntarily was simple.
A battle of pretexts.
Even with their official declaration of no desire to cross the Khan Empire, marching border troops into what they called an 'internal matter' risked condemnation from countless nations in Aagena.
However.
So what?
It would take ages for word to spread across Aagena.
By then… he could unify the East before backlash hit.
Pretexts are easy to fabricate.
Once Turmur Shurga advanced and 'confirmed' Pang had drawn blades on Karawonas, he'd announce it.
Truth didn't matter.
Pretexts and truth… were ultimately forged by those with power.
Yes.
Just like twenty years ago, when Aagena's heroes marched to conquer Northern Continent's Krohoka.
On the mountainside near the great branch of the Baekra Mountains.
Bandits covered in minor wounds knelt before a man scarred from head to toe, delivering their report.
"So… you failed?"
"Y-Yes!"
Pain throbbed from their wounds, sweat beading coldly, but the bandits couldn't utter even a faint groan.
No matter that these were Ye's promising young vipers—the man before them made them seem like fireflies before the sun.
He was a towering figure even among Ye.
The man wasn't one of Ye's founders like Great Chieftain Lien, healer Kawin, or assault captain Talor.
Yet he'd risen to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them.
Ye's rank 4, Ren.
That was his name.
Ren silently watched the young vipers sweating bullets and glancing at him, then let out a scoff.
"Well, that's hardly surprising."
"…Pardon?"
The young vipers were the confused ones now.
They'd been sent on a mission and failed—yet his reaction was far too calm.
As if he'd expected failure from the start.
"Why so shocked? The guy's coming to parley with the Great Chieftain. If he was someone your level could block, we wouldn't have bothered watching him in the first place."
Come to think of it, that made sense.
A nobody who'd turn tail at young vipers wouldn't qualify to sit with the Great Chieftain.
"I sent you for one reason only. By seeing how he treats opponents clearly weaker than him—like you—we can gauge his temperament. You volunteered for a dangerous mission that could get you killed, so thanks are in order, not punishment."
"N-No, sir!"
The young vipers swallowed dryly without thinking.
F-Fuck… that was a suicidal mission?
If that brat they'd faced had been a reckless maniac, they'd have been torn apart on the spot.
They'd jumped at the chance to impress Ren, but it turned out to be a one-way ticket to hell.
Ren added as they sighed inwardly in relief.
"Anyway, that Mu Chai doesn't seem in mortal danger. We should get a rough read on his style… Can't just brush off a job well done like this. Gotta show some appreciation, right?"
Ren gave instructions as if for his adjutant's ears.
"Those captives we grabbed from the Khan Empire recently—are they still around? Before selling them off, let these guys have a few days with them. They earned a little reward."
Color returned to the young vipers' faces at Ren's words.
Forgetting their wound pains, they left the room beaming. Ren turned to his adjutant.
"So, what do you think?"
"Letting those idiots live… he seems like the Great Chieftain's type. Fair, doesn't cross lines."
"Exactly."
Ren stretched languidly at the response.
"Tsk tsk, that's no good. A thief's gotta act like a thief. What's the point of playing the gentleman?"
Ren had been saved by Ye and raised by them.
Yet he never endorsed Ye's ways.
"Plunder, kill, steal… that's a thief. Half-assedly dipping into state affairs? That's no thief."
Cold killing intent flickered in Ren's eyes.
"Guess I need to show that good-family saint what happens when you toy with thieves."