Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Ironclad Rule
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Squish, squish.
Soaked in blood, our footsteps were wet and heavy.
It was easy.
Getting here.
The warriors of Ailun, said to be so stubborn and arrogant, wet themselves and fled.
Of course, it was thanks to the Magic Armor.
Without the Magic Armor?
Even I... might not have made it past the mages.
Even if I had broken through, I would have been locked in a grueling battle against 600 Experts.
It was thanks to the Magic Armor.
But thinking about it differently,
it's just Magic Armor.
Ailun, which boasted of being the strongest in Norverge, crumbled like this because of a single artifact—an artifact that was commonplace in the ancient era.
This hopelessly fragile world...
‘It makes me anxious.’
It didn't seem like it could endure.
Something dreadful and calamitous, with no visible edges, lurks somewhere in the distance...
When it finally casts its shadow, will we...?
‘I have to hurry.’
I had to take Ailun quickly.
I needed the strength to prepare.
Creeak—
I opened the largest, most ornate door in Harun's palace.
The first thing I saw through the crack in the door was bleached-blonde hair and light green eyes.
It was Harun.
"So you're alive?"
There were so many rumors that you were dead.
At my question, Harun casually raised a hand in acknowledgment.
"I'm alive."
"You seem stronger."
"But not a Grand Master."
He was in much better shape than I expected.
Did he drink an elixir or something?
As I stared at him, Harun sighed.
"Actually, I was hoping you'd come charging in like this. I thought I'd be able to kill you then."
He scratched his shimmering, pale blonde hair.
"But... you don't have a single scratch, not even a drop of blood on you."
Harun's voice was filled with a sense of futility as he spoke.
He asked me.
"Did you come to kill me?"
I shook my head.
"No."
I strode forward.
Two Sword Masters and sixteen top-tier Experts were positioned around Harun, but I paid them no mind and cut straight through their formation.
I casually sat on the steps leading to the throne and looked down at Harun.
"I came to talk."
"Talk?"
Yes. Talk.
I want to kill as few people as possible.
The more I kill, the more the public sentiment in Ailun will plummet, which means I'll have to kill even more.
I'd shown off plenty of my strength; now it was time to ask.
"Surrender."
"Surrender?"
"Yeah. Frankly, I don't have time to be tied down by Ailun. I'm aiming for something much bigger."
I honed my will like a blade and stared down Harun.
Harun, who had been about to retort, flinched and shut his mouth.
"Just think of it as enduring for about twenty years. No, ten. Once I've secured that bigger prize, I'll give this measly Ailun back to you."
Harun didn't answer.
Instead, he clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.
His light green eyes, which moments ago held a sense of futility, now burned with heat.
"Get up."
"Do we have to do this?"
"I said, get up."
What a shame.
This way, much more blood will have to be spilled.
Thud.
I slowly descended the stairs and stood before Harun. The two Sword Masters and sixteen top-tier Experts raised their auras, keeping me in check.
"Hey! Your opponent is over here!"
Katrina also drew her sword and stepped forward. The other sixteen siblings supported her from behind.
A tense killing intent coiled around the entire throne room.
But I just silently gazed into Harun's eyes.
Harun drew his sword.
He aimed it at me over his shoulder, the blade parallel to the ground.
A pale golden Aura Blade shone brightly.
That was a little unexpected.
"Going to attack first this time?"
The guy who always sent his royal guards first and tried to snatch the final blow?
At that question, Harun smiled bitterly.
A smile so bitter it was tinged with self-loathing.
"Thanks to you, I've learned a few things."
He felt like a changed man.
It's a rare thing...
Suddenly,
it felt like a waste to kill him.
Woooong—!
But auras were already surging from all sides.
Harun's aura intertwined with those of his men, emitting an even fiercer light.
‘An aura that amplifies as it flows between top-tier Experts and Sword Masters...’
Even a Grand Master would have a hard time with this.
"Selinne. Ionis. You take command and handle the small fry."
The speaker was a Sword Master I'd never seen before.
‘Is that Torban of the Thunderclap?’
The Sword Master who leads the Gale's Seven Heroes.
A great warrior who was once often compared to Ksias.
"Yes, Torban."
"Understood."
The valiant warriors known as Selinne of the Swift Kill and Ionis of the Piercing Heavens, respectively. They too were members of the Gale's Seven Heroes.
"Kuh— I'm so excited! So excited!"
Barkan the Irresistible.
He was so worked up that the pounding of his heart was deafening.
Katrina shrieked at him.
"Hey! Barkan! You're supposed to fight me!"
Barkan paid her no heed.
And so, the standoff was formed.
Harun, Torban, and Barkan—three Sword Masters and ten top-tier Experts—aimed their blades at me, while the remaining six top-tier Experts kept my siblings in check.
Harun said playfully.
"Sorry. I'd love to have a cool one-on-one duel... but I just don't have the confidence."
To that, I gave a serious reply.
"Nothing to be sorry about."
After all,
"it'll be useless."
[Sword Spirit Awakening]
[Acceleration]
[Tempest]
KWAAAAANG—!
By the time the storm that erupted behind me scattered my hair, it was already over.
"Huh...?"
Amidst the raging wind, Harun stupidly parted his lips.
"Cough..."
He belatedly coughed up blood.
"What is this..."
A single strike after an explosive charge.
With that one strike, Harun's sword, which had been filled with aura, shattered into pieces.
The shockwave that burst out with the aura must have pulverized his internal organs.
"Guhk..."
"Keuk...!"
His men, who had been sharing their aura, suffered the same fate. They staggered and collapsed, vomiting blood or groaning in pain.
"What is this... a monster? We're no match at all..."
Harun murmured as he slowly sank to the floor.
I pointed my sword at him.
"Just surrender."
At that, Harun let out a small laugh.
With his light green eyes, still shining, he asked me in return.
"If it were you? Would you surrender?"
Me?
I thought for a moment.
The conclusion was simple.
‘I would.’
I'd do it a hundred times over. If it meant I could save my siblings.
But it seemed Harun took my brief silence to mean something else.
"See? You're the same."
...We really don't see eye to eye, do we?
Harun gazed steadily into my eyes.
As if trying to read my innermost thoughts.
"Hey. Could you... spare my men?"
"We'll see."
I thought it was a rather half-hearted answer, but surprisingly, Harun smiled with satisfaction.
As if relieved, he spread his arms and lifted his head.
"Kill me. I'll die a king."
Right. This is it.
Shunk—
I stabbed Harun through the heart.
I didn't want to cut off his head.
Harun closed his eyes.
"Brida..."
Now, of all times,
Harun uttered the name of his dead lover with his last breath.
He really has changed.
For some reason, my energy drained away.
‘I don't want to kill anyone else today.’
With that thought, I looked back at Harun's retainers.
For some reason, they had all sheathed their swords.
All except for one madman.
"Hahaha! This is it! This is what I wanted!"
Barkan the Irresistible.
He alone raised his massive greatsword and charged at me, stomping the ground.
"Show me! The ultimate power!"
He asked me to show him,
so I did.
KWAAANG!
I didn't cut him with my sword.
I've cut down too many today.
Instead, I drove my free fist into his chest.
"Cough!"
Barkan's armor cracked and shattered.
He grinned, revealing teeth dripping with blood.
"Yes... this is it..."
Slowly, his body fell backward.
"That was... fun..."
Thud!
He lay sprawled on the ground, no longer breathing.
Anyone else?
I looked around with tired eyes and saw Harun's retainers slowly kneeling. Again, all but one.
What's this situation now?
The one who answered was the Sword Master called Torban of the Thunderclap.
"Lord Harun left... a will."
He approached respectfully and handed me a letter.
It was a letter written by Harun himself.
[Not much, just leaving this letter to ask a favor.]
The letter, which began that way, was simple.
"So... Harun told you to hand Ailun over to me?"
"Yes. He ordered that if he were defeated and killed, we were to cease all resistance and follow Lord Lansen."
I looked at the letter again.
[Ah, I've told them well... but there will probably be some who don't listen. If you can, please spare them. I'm handing over Ailun because... I don't want to see them die anymore. I'm asking you a favor, Lansen.]
Heh, really...
He used to treat his men like consumables.
He didn't even blink when his own lover died.
A letter like this... and his last words...
It felt really strange.
I slowly turned my gaze.
Everyone had kneeled, except for one man.
A warrior who still had his sword pointed at me.
Dark wine-colored hair, in his forties.
The upright aura coalesced on his sword was impressive.
"And you? The one who doesn't listen?"
At my question, he ground his teeth.
"Kashmir Gulak. I... I cannot acknowledge you."
Heh.
Surprising.
Isn't the Roverland style to kneel first and talk back later?
He's a very upright man. Not like the people from around here.
I sighed and shook my head.
"Go. Just go."
"...? What do you mean?"
"I said, go. We'll talk later."
I've killed enough for today.
I've also achieved my goal.
I never expected Harun would personally name me the ruler of Ailun.
It was a much better... perhaps even the best possible outcome than I had vaguely hoped for.
So it was fine.
I didn't have to kill everyone indiscriminately.
"Go."
Only then did Kashmir Gulak lower his sword.
He gave me one last sharp glare before leaving.
Now, all that remained were my slightly dumbfounded siblings and the sixteen former enemy commanders kneeling obediently.
‘The situation is quite good.’
Every one of them was a renowned warrior in Ailun, influential figures in their respective regions.
If they truly follow me, ruling Ailun will be very easy.
As I was thinking that,
Splish, splosh—
Someone came walking into the throne room, splashing through the blood.
I'd sensed their presence for a while, but they're only moving now.
The one who entered was a single civilian, and waiting at the throne room doors were two Sword Masters.
Here to fight?
I asked with my eyes,
Shhh—
‘?’
The two Sword Masters immediately lowered their gaze.
Doesn't seem like they came to fight.
Instead,
Splish— Splosh—
A civilian, from whom I couldn't feel any aura, approached me, the cuffs of his pants soaked in blood.
***
The great merchant of a thousand faces, Lenajora Chemien.
While staying in Ilunael and contemplating where to place his bet, he was the first to notice the incident unfolding at Harun's palace.
"Lansen has invaded?!"
He immediately headed for the palace, accompanied by his two Sword Master escorts.
He had to come in person instead of sending someone.
Only then could he accurately assess the situation and formulate a plan.
And it was indeed the right response.
‘This is insane. Completely insane...’
Just what in the world had happened...
The entrance to the inner castle was blocked by mages, and once he passed them and entered...
Corpses, corpses. All he could see was a hall painted red.
The once-arrogant Experts of Ailun were trembling in panic.
When he finally crossed that sea of blood and reached the throne room, what he witnessed was the corpse of Harun.
And before Lansen, Harun's killer, the valiant commanders of Ailun were kneeling.
‘Ah...!’
The calculation was made very easily, very quickly.
He composed himself and stepped into the throne room.
Splish— Splosh—
He didn't even care that his expensive clothes were getting soaked in blood.
He stopped at a suitable distance and knelt on one knee to show his respect.
"Greetings, Lord Lansen."
"Who are you?"
"This humble merchant, Lenajora Chemien, pays his respects."
The great merchant of a thousand faces, Lenajora Chemien.
He had an ironclad rule.
‘Prioritize my own judgment over the world's.’
However,
‘If that judgment proves wrong, kneel faster and differently than anyone else.’
That was his second ironclad rule.