Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Chapter 13: Time of the Blue Mountains (2)
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Boom! Boooom!
Dwarves about a meter tall, but with muscular builds, marched in orderly fashion, dragging something along.
It was magic cannons.
All made of special alloys, their barrels were far longer than those typically used by humans.
Yet they were even lighter.
The dwarves handled them with practiced skill, adjusting the barrels until all twelve cannons were aimed at the south wall of Akella City.
“This is the perfect chance to strike that cursed city! Fire!”
The shout, infused with the grudge of an entire race, rang out.
Kaboom! Kaaaa-boom!
As the cannons thundered, the barrels recoiled backward, and beams of blue light poured from the muzzles.
They struck the south wall of Akella City with pinpoint accuracy, detonating in massive explosions.
Black smoke billowed up, and chunks of the wall tumbled into the moat below, sending plumes of water shooting skyward one after another.
“What tremendous power.”
Philip Alrofs, captain of the Golden Dragon Knights, watched the scene in genuine awe.
“The walls of Akella City are said to be impregnable. To think a single volley could inflict such damage.”
“No matter how sturdy they are, they’re just walls built by humans centuries ago. If we couldn’t smash through something like that, we wouldn’t dare call ourselves dwarves.”
A dwarven elder with snow-white beard and deep wrinkles grinned.
Then, as if it were nothing, he began stretching.
Philip was astonished by the sight.
“You plan to step in yourself?”
“I am a Highsmith, after all. And though they forced this role on me because of my age, as an elder, I have a duty to show these young ones something impressive.”
Highsmith—the status granted to dwarves who had awakened their unique abilities.
Among them, the elder dwarf Paolo had reached the 8th Circle.
Indeed, a fearsome aura was now emanating from his entire body.
“Even without that, any dwarf or elf would want to set that damned castle ablaze. Just like the deputy captain shouted earlier. Now that we have the chance, I can’t just sit idly by.”
“I see. I’ll watch the prowess of an 8th Circle Highsmith closely.”
“I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.”
Hummm.
Having finished stretching, Paolo activated a subspace artifact.
A massive hammer emerged from a rift in space, nearly as tall as he was.
He slung it over his right shoulder and strode forward confidently.
Boom! Kaboom!
Meanwhile, the dwarves relentlessly operated the magic cannons.
The endless barrage of light beams hammered the walls and gates of Akella City nonstop, creating huge cracks everywhere and sending debris flying.
Yet the soldiers at the south gate offered no resistance whatsoever.
Not even the knights’ commanding voices could be heard.
‘The commanders and soldiers alike are utterly incompetent.’
He acknowledged they must be panicked from the surprise attack.
With their batteries lost to the indiscriminate bombardment, resistance would be difficult.
But zero resistance at all? That was incomprehensible.
‘I should suggest to the young lord that we inspect the knights and soldiers of our domain.’
He absolutely could not tolerate the men of Adalbert Domain looking as pathetic as those fools in Akella City.
As Philip burned with a sense of duty, Paolo finally reached the gate.
Only then did the soldiers manage to pull the triggers on their magic rifles—but it was far too late.
“Hup!”
Paolo let out a short shout.
He swung the hammer at the gate with all his might.
At the same instant, a blade of indigo aura enveloped the entire mass of metal.
Kaaaa-boom!
The massive roar shook the surroundings, and then something astonishing happened.
A huge crack split the entire gate, and it collapsed inward.
‘Such power without even using his unique ability.’
Philip watched in genuine admiration.
Paolo’s superhuman strength was truly extraordinary.
In terms of physical prowess, it rivaled Vincent von Egret, said to be the empire’s finest.
As Philip marveled, a middle-aged dwarf approached.
It was the deputy captain who had been directing the attack moments ago.
“Thanks for showing us the way. We’ll handle things from here.”
“Understood. Just please avoid attacking civilians at all costs. It could turn public opinion against us.”
“Don’t worry about that. We’ve been targeting this city’s ruling class from the start. Any other targets we should avoid?”
“The city hall has knights from the Adalbert family. They all bear the white dragon crest on their chests, so they’ll be easy to identify.”
“We’ll keep that in mind.”
The deputy captain’s tone was cold—bordering on hostile.
Unlike Paolo, he harbored extreme hatred for humans and showed Philip no goodwill.
The reason for their cooperation and conversation was simple.
They had been given the chance to strike the slave market they despised most—and the city’s rulers who had allowed it.
“The gate’s down! Take city hall as fast as possible! But attacking civilians is absolutely forbidden!”
“Woooh! Let’s smash everything!”
“The time to kill those damned humans has come!”
Whoosh!
At the deputy captain’s order, all dwarves except the artillerymen charged into the city.
Philip watched the scene with a bitter expression.
‘It looks like this will take a while.’
Martin wanted to get along well with elves and dwarves, at least in the north.
But seeing the dwarves’ attitude, Philip realized something.
Proper交流 with them would be truly difficult.
How could they walk the same path?
Deep in thought, Philip set off.
* * *
“…Just when did you prepare all this, young lord?”
“The day you fled the mining city.”
“Punishing the others on the way here must have been to buy time to bring in the elves and dwarves. And to draw everyone’s attention to you.”
“Not wrong. But separately from that, I was dead serious about crushing those scum. At least in the north, I didn’t want to see filth like that.”
Martin answered leisurely.
The Dark King shook his head.
“Attacking the city outright means Jerome Mechelder is tied to the Royce Marquis family too. I don’t know how you found out, but you realized this long ago.”
“I’ll leave that to your imagination. Anyway, I kept my promise. I have something to handle briefly.”
“Off to capture Jerome Mechelder?”
“No. The one I’m after is Heinz Schwarzenbeck.”
“Hmm. That doesn’t make sense. Why does the elder of the adventurers’ guild come into this?”
“You didn’t know? He’s the Human King.”
“…What?”
“The true master of the slave market, the Human King. That’s Heinz Schwarzenbeck. He’s also the blade Nicholas von Royce prepared to kill me.”
The Dark King’s mouth hung open, unable to close.
He had lived in the underworld for decades, ruling as the Dark King for half that time.
Even he had no idea of the Human King’s identity.
No—not just him.
The other big shots with kingly titles surely didn’t know either.
‘And this guy, with no ties to the underworld, knew?’
The Adalbert family undoubtedly had intelligence networks.
But even if they were exceptional, this was too much.
“You expect me to believe the adventurers’ guild elder is at the top of the slave market? Some horrific joke.”
“Believe it or not, up to you. We’re not close enough for me to tell you everything anyway, right? If you don’t want to verify it yourself, swear loyalty to me right now. I’ll tell you immediately.”
“…Gathering intel is one of our specialties.”
“You sure know how to phrase ‘I’ll do it myself.’ Anyway, I’ve said what I came to say, so I’ll be off. Seize control of the underworld the moment the slave market falls.”
Leaving those words to ensure the deal was honored, Martin left the restaurant.
“Those who don’t intend to fight, stay inside! We won’t attack you!”
“Longtime criminals, show yourselves! And pay the price!”
The dwarves’ booming voices rang clearly in his ears.
At that, Martin snapped his fingers with thumb and middle finger, changing his clothes to the Adalbert family uniform.
To prevent any chance of them attacking him by mistake.
“Hold them back! We can’t let those damned dwarves reach city hall!”
“They’re only about fifty strong! Don’t lose heart—fight!”
Akella City’s knights shouted, but they couldn’t rally the soldiers.
The dwarves, fueled by years of pent-up rage, were terrifyingly fierce, overwhelming the soldiers.
In every clash, Akella’s soldiers were torn to shreds.
The knights left no trace.
“Jerome Mechelder can be their problem.”
His opponent was someone who had awakened a unique ability postnatally, before Martin.
He was tempted to face him directly, but now wasn’t the time.
Martin turned immediately.
He stared at the building at 11 o’clock.
His eyes saw no one there, but the detection net on the ground told a different story.
It clearly detected one presence.
“Once I beat you, everything wraps up neatly, Crimson Reaper.”
“Guess stealth is meaningless against spatial ability users.”
Step, step.
Heinz Schwarzenbeck emerged from the building.
As the Human King, he’d had a massive build, but now he was back to his smaller, original frame.
His aura had changed too.
Before, it had felt brutally raw; now it was sharp as a blade.
‘An 8th Circle is still an 8th Circle.’
Due to his age, he fell short of peak 8th Circle powerhouses.
Even so, he was definitely stronger than Martin right now.
But Martin felt no fear.
He just observed his opponent leisurely.
“How’s it feel getting duped by a green kid, Crimson Reaper? Or should I say Human King? Not sure which you prefer.”
“…I’ll admit it frankly. You got me good, young lord. Never thought you had such acting talent.”
“Who knows. Maybe less my acting and more your excessive caution? If it were me, I’d have smashed the guy in front of me before overthinking. Clears the mind.”
“Tried that since my youth, but couldn’t break the habit.”
“Guess bad habits from childhood stick till old age.”
“You’ll understand when you’re older. Anyway, a question. You didn’t seem to know my identity recently. Considering your sharp reaction at our first meeting, it feels like you knew from the start. Right?”
“Spot on. Oh, and I know your connection to Nicholas von Royce too.”
“Hoo. Can’t comprehend it. How did you uncover something only the current and former heads of Royce know? The previous Adalbert head doesn’t strike me as capable of that.”
A secret guarded for decades.
Impossible for an 18-year-old Martin to discover.
That left only the previous Adalbert head—but he was equally unlikely.
A man who couldn’t even control his own family lacked such capability.
“Isn’t that the difference between the Three Great Houses and Royce? If Klaus or Ferdinand cared to look, nothing would be impossible.”
“…Now I see why so many hate you. Born with a tongue that makes enemies.”
“Truth’s always bitter.”
Heinz’s expression turned icy.
He’d never acted officially, but he’d lived his life as a Royce Marquis family member.
He’d watched every effort of the current head to surpass the Three Great Houses.
To him, Martin’s words were unforgivable.
“No matter what you say, Royce Marquis will vanish into history. I’ll make it so. Right, time you paid for your sins too?”
“Cut the nonsense!”
Roooar!
Heinz’s aura poured straight at him.
“This time, I won’t go down easy.”
Before the words finished, Martin surged his own aura, clashing with the opponent’s.
The impact alone cracked the ground and shook dust from nearby buildings.
“Martin Adalbert!”
The underworld titan bellowed as he charged.
“Calling my name won’t change anything, you damned scum!”
Hummm.
Martin drew the holy sword Kaizen from his subspace.
And swung it at his foe with all his strength.