Disaster Level: Claudi (2)
On the walls of Antonium.
The soldiers gazing out over the plains swallowed their sighs.
In the end, the enemy had come swarming in.
In the end, the Black Dark Dragon had stepped forth alone once more to defend the Empire.
Standing alone.
The enemy forces charging toward Hoyeol on the open plain.
No matter that he was the Black Dark Dragon.
"Do we really have a chance of winning, General?"
"……."
Those watching could not hide their anxiety.
Soon, a faint vibration climbed from their toes to the crowns of their heads.
At the same moment, a massive cloud of dust rose with Hoyeol at its center.
"Wh-what the hell just happened?!"
"Damn it, I can't see a thing!"
"Lord Naysh, you can't see through the telescope either?"
"Don't rush me. I'm trying!"
No matter how tightly they gripped the magical device, their vision didn't clear.
All they could do was clench their fists harder and grit their teeth.
Because everyone had witnessed that final moment.
'In the end, the leaders moved.'
'What conversation could have led the enemy commanders to charge out like that?'
'If they all attacked together...'
Gazing at the dust cloud, ominous thoughts began to sprout.
If Hoyeol fell, Antonium would be next.
How could they hope to stop enemies that even the Black Dark Dragon couldn't block?
They wished the dust would never clear.
But contrary to their growing unease, the dust was swept away by the wind.
It spat out the battlefield it had swallowed.
And the sight that met their eyes left everyone in Antonium—including even the Emperor—in utter disbelief.
"……Kneeling?!"
Even Antonium couldn't believe it, plunging into chaos.
"Why……?"
The atmosphere on the battlefield was indescribable.
No one could easily continue speaking. It was only natural.
No one could grasp the situation right away.
"……Why would the family heads……?"
Radiant silver hair.
Skin white as ice.
Beneath it, clothes so ornate they could pass for formal banquet attire, not armor.
The family heads were kneeling and bowing their heads before such a man?
For the loyal retainers who had trusted their family heads without question, the shock was all the greater.
In the end, those who managed to think straight reached a conclusion.
"……This can't be happening!"
The first to move were the golden elite soldiers of the Maxima family.
Shing!
They raised their keenly forged golden swords.
Ignite Maxima—he who clutched all the continent's wealth as head of Maxima.
For him to kneel voluntarily to another was impossible.
"Save the family head from this pathetic trick!"
Yugric, Kansel, Akmond.
The loyalty of the other three families was no different from Maxima's.
Even if their names and blessings had been stripped away.
They believed the power they had built was due to their own efforts.
It looked as if the four families were barking orders in unison.
But.
Kududuk—
While their masters might forgive, the incarnations—the embodiments of the four families—had no intention of pardoning their descendants' transgressions.
The incarnations that had emerged from the cracked earth raised their heads, which had been bowed before Claudi.
Some flinched.
"……Wait a minute."
The statues' appearances were unfamiliar. No, more than that—they were familiar.
The first to recognize their identities were the twin sun and moon attendants who served Yugric.
"Yugric……?"
Yugric's generous mercy was comfort enough for the wounded.
Even for the heartbroken sun and moon twins, abandoned by the heavens…….
The statue was unmistakably Yugric.
Yugric, who had long passed and been buried beneath the territory.
A statue modeled after him now blocked their path, leaving the twins in confusion.
"It's definitely the face from the portrait."
"What?"
"It's the statue of the founder—the progenitor himself……!"
It didn't take long for everyone in the four families to realize the statues' true nature.
The burning loyalty to rescue their ensnared family heads began to waver.
Then.
Words they had let flow in one ear and out the other resurfaced in their minds.
—"If you've forgotten your place, I shall remind you."
—"Receive him."
—"I am your master."
Assuming that bluff was true…….
"……!"
The scene before their eyes began to make sense.
The family heads kneeling before him.
The statues modeled after the four families' founders bowing to him…….
They shook their heads fiercely.
'No, that's absurd nonsense!'
No matter how they tried to shake it off, their minds were a whirlwind of chaos.
But time, fair to all, flowed on even as they agonized.
"……."
A subtle silence hung over the battlefield.
Soon, all eyes turned to one place.
The only being who could break this stillness.
Hoyeol.
*
Stripped of everything by procedure.
The four family heads could not escape their liege-vassal bond with Claudi.
So a single word from me…….
Forces them to kneel like this.
See? I didn't step out alone for nothing.
'But the soldiers aren't my servants.'
Someone might ask.
Why not just order the family heads to halt their troops?
If it were me, Lee Hoyeol, I would've done it without hesitation.
'That's just how office life is, right?'
But would our noble Grandfell Claudi tolerate subcontractors upon subcontractors?
Moreover, the soldiers' choice to serve the four families came with their own pride.
Grandfell, who overlooks no one's pride as much as his own, would never ignore it.
'Having allies sure makes it reassuring.'
That's why I gladly accepted the help of the statues—the incarnations.
Plus, a scolding from the family elders would be more effective than from me.
'I just need to focus on the family heads.'
Even that's overwhelming enough.
I'd forced them to kneel with the status ailment [Subjugation] via the liege-vassal bond.
But their expressions looked murderous enough even at a glance.
Do I avoid grinding my teeth against such foes?
No, I'm the type to charge head-on and shatter every tooth.
Clack—
So I stepped forward without delay.
Passing the bewildered soldiers, I approached one of the kneeling family heads.
A massive build, golden-adorned armor, and most tellingly, the empty center of his helmet.
His identity was obvious from appearance alone.
'Maxima.'
Who knew the detailed settings I'd crafted would prove so useful?
I uttered the name from the recent system message.
"Ignite, I omit the surname stripped from you."
Look at that even now.
Ignite Maxima.
Calling him by his full name—what's so hard about that?
'……Starting right off the bat by scraping at old wounds.'
Of course, that didn't mean I'd stop speaking.
I was pissed, after all.
I won't fault their ambition.
But declaring war on the Empire to seize the throne at this timing? That's no pride—it's shamelessness.
I expressed my feelings without restraint.
"Your past glory has faded, leaving only ugliness."
"……!"
"Blame not the passage of time. Your change of heart is solely your own fault. And I am your master, who judges and punishes your wrongs."
Mage Tower Topaz Hall.
During the pre-verification at regular conferences.
My tongue, which tormented skilled mages like rats, spat venom.
"……!"
His shoulders trembled—he was cursing inwardly.
Without my permission, Ignite in [Subjugation] couldn't speak.
He seemed unlikely to reflect or even respond properly…….
'But he's not a demon, after all.'
For the pure-hearted Grandfell, who still believed humans could always reform.
I opened my mouth.
"I grant you one final chance to defend yourself."
"……Kuhk."
Ignite drew a ragged breath.
Then, he lifted his head stiffly.
And met my gaze.
*
—"……Never get involved with him. If you ever cross paths in the future, never raise your head."
Finally, his father's words made sense.
Not a single cell in his body obeyed.
Trembling in fear, no doubt.
Silver hair fluttering in the chill wind.
Movements exuding dignity.
A gaze overlooking all creation.
Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo.
Claudi himself.
Before such a man.
Granting a final chance to defend himself?
The moment he heard it, Ignite bristled.
Not content with stealing Midas's Gem with a cheap trick disguised as a past ghost.
Now he was playing master for real?
But when their eyes met, his thoughts changed.
'……Damn it.'
He'd made an irreversible mistake.
Ignite seethed.
'What are those idiots, the golden elites, doing?'
Damn.
Trusting subordinates too incompetent to even assess the situation—that was the error.
Yet Ignite didn't avert his gaze.
'Even so, I can't accept this.'
Ignoring his cells' warnings.
Without flinching from his master's—Grandfell's—gaze.
He forced his mouth open.
"Trying to play master now? Ridiculous! A great family? Claudi, your prestige has been trampled like rags—not just in the Arcana Continent, but in the filthy underworld too!"
It was provocation.
A shout at himself as well.
I'm not submitting to Claudi.
Ignite squeezed out more words.
"Look! Excluding us former heads of the four families, no one on this battlefield remembers the name Claudi. A supremely great family? Does it make sense to you that such fame could be utterly forgotten like this? Not even the Empire, not even the Emperor, knows your family properly?"
The one who noticed the change fastest on the battlefield.
Was Yong Seong Rak, the sole player there.
……What is this?
Lee Hoyeol.
Something is flowing from behind him.
……Wh-what the hell is that?
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
At the 'black something.'
The answer came from a system message.
The Empire's capital, Antonium, is engulfed in endlessly deep darkness.
"……!"
Darkness blankets Antonium.
The Empire is engulfed in endlessly deep darkness.
No, the Empire.
Yet the spreading darkness showed no sign of stopping.
In the pitch-black darkness.
Yong Seong Rak's vision flickered one last time.
The Arcana Continent is engulfed in endlessly deep darkness.
"……!!!"
*
Mana of perfect affinity, thick enough to suffocate.
A voice echoed from the darkness.
Not mine.
"Ignite Maxima."
"……?"
"From now on, choose each word, each syllable with care."
"……!"
"Else I shall deny your very existence."
Grandfell Claudi Arpeus Romeo's voice.
"Have you prepared to face the consequences of insulting my kin with that lowly mouth?"
Status Ailment, Blackening occurs.