Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Daslan August
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Daslan August.
The third son of the August family and lord of Wind Valley Island.
His eldest brother was active outside, while his second brother guarded the family estate.
In truth, the mission to conquer the Tower rested entirely on Daslan's shoulders.
So the golden generation his youngest brother had recently assembled was more than enough to stick in his craw.
From his perspective, it was tantamount to the youngest defying the family's orders.
And when they captured one of the golden generation's members, what happened?
These bastards were plotting to steal the key right out from under them.
It was beyond ridiculous—it was utterly preposterous.
To have the gall to pull a stunt like this against August.
Daslan resolved to give them a proper thrashing.
In chasing down one of them, he now faced off against Baria's crew—a man named Moebius.
And Daslan, locked in confrontation with him, simply couldn't make sense of the situation.
'Where the hell did a guy like this come from?'
Daslan scattered the horde of skulls raining down on him into clouds of ash.
His breathing came heavy and ragged.
It had been quite some time since he'd arrived here.
Yet despite the nonstop fighting, the bone wraiths showed no sign of thinning out.
Daslan fixed his gaze straight ahead.
Deep within the valley, winds whipped wildly.
Bone wraiths poured endlessly from the cliffs on either side.
He'd used his ash to track Moebius and close the gap—that part went fine.
But all he'd ended up fighting were these damn undead.
Normally, he'd shred bone wraiths like these to pieces with his ash.
Daslan was strong, and bone wraiths were fragile.
The problem was their numbers.
No matter how furiously Daslan swung his ash at the ceaseless onslaught,
he couldn't clear them all.
In the end, after tumbling all over the place, Daslan swallowed a groan.
'Was wraith sorcerer a class this monstrous?'
How much mana did you need to command a horde like this?
Daslan ground his teeth as his stamina steadily drained away.
By contrast, Moebius lounged atop a serpent of bone with an air of utter leisure.
Even wrangling a force this size, he looked like he had all the time in the world.
'Can't let this drag on.'
At this rate, his stamina would give out first.
Then that guy would just saunter off again.
'Time for the big swing.'
The opponent's complacency was his opening.
Strike now.
Daslan sucked in a breath to its limit and forcibly summoned his aura.
In that instant, ash began to whirl around him.
Soon, his form vanished entirely, shrouded in the gray cloud.
Kung!
A ferocious roar erupted from within the ash storm.
Moebius sensed Daslan gearing up for something.
He raised his hand, and the bone wraith army surged anew.
Datak, ttak!
The horde filled the Wind Valley like a tidal wave.
Poised to devour Daslan whole.
August Style Ash Swordsmanship
Ash Knight
Kuduk!
Facing the onrushing bone wraith tsunami, Daslan stomped the ground.
His silhouette blurred away.
Kwaaaaaaang!
In that moment, the bone wraith wave shattered apart.
As if struck by a falling meteor.
The horde exploded upward over the Wind Valley, crumbling to ruin.
And slicing through its heart was none other than Daslan.
With Ash Knight unleashed, his charge was a tempest.
As if nothing short of another storm could halt it.
The advance was beyond all norms.
In a flash, having pierced the bone wraith surge, Daslan locked eyes on Moebius.
He'd staked everything on this rush.
The massive sword he'd forged swung down toward Moebius.
Kagagagagagak!
The blade was so enormous.
It rent the cliff face as it crashed toward Moebius.
At this rate, Moebius would be pulverized, body bursting apart.
That was when Daslan sensed victory.
Kung!
The onward greatsword halted against something solid.
As puzzlement flickered within Daslan's ash-gray helm,
he came face-to-face with his blocker.
A knight of pitch black stood there.
A crown of jagged spikes crowned his head.
Blood-tear streaks marred the black helmet.
His frame loomed three times Daslan's size,
two axes the knight's own bulk strapped to his back—an eerie, grotesque sight.
No human, this.
Beneath the half-sundered helm gleamed a jet-black skeletal jaw.
One of Moebius's ace bone wraiths.
The Brutal Knight.
A chill raced up Daslan's spine.
A bizarre sensation welled from his gut.
The sense of confronting something forbidden in the human realm.
And it emanated wholly from that knight.
"What the hell is this?"
As Daslan blurted in flustered tones,
the monstrosity seized the flat of his greatsword.
Daslan's body launched skyward in an instant.
The Brutal Knight had hefted the blade—Daslan and all.
Then came the crushing acceleration.
Kwaaaaaaang!
"Kuhak!"
In a heartbeat, greatsword and Daslan slammed into the earth.
He released the hilt, rolling across the ground, and scrambled upright.
Bracing for the follow-up.
Thank the stars for Ash Knight's activation.
Without it, that downward smash would've pinned him flat.
Daslan's eyes darted after the Brutal Knight.
Too late, he noticed his vision blurring.
Kwaang!
Another impact sent him tumbling anew.
The head blow left him dazed, senses reeling.
He knew he'd been struck.
But by what? No clue.
Kung!
Before he knew it, Daslan lay sprawled on the ground.
And through his helm's visor, a shoe came into view.
As he slowly lifted his head, Moebius stood there.
The Brutal Knight had hauled him straight to the man.
Deep humiliation washed over him.
To suffer such disgrace.
Unbearable shame boiled to his crown.
Yet his body quaked all the same.
As before an foe beyond resistance.
"Mo... monster. Are you some kind of monster?"
Daslan realized it then.
What Penbola August had pinned his hopes on for that golden generation folly.
A monster like this.
Moebius, who had stared silently at him, let out a sigh.
"Don't throw around 'monster' like that."
Doubt clouded Daslan's eyes.
Sincerity rang in Moebius's words.
For a powerhouse like this to deny the label?
As utter incomprehension gripped him,
"Moebius!"
A voice echoed from afar.
His comrades, no doubt.
Even a titan like this had allies.
Daslan figured it was all over.
"Oh, damn."
Moebius's face hardened in that instant.
Daslan caught the man's deep fluster.
As doubt stirred in him at that dismay,
Tak!
A landing thud—before even his comrades.
So faint he mistook it for a bird alighting.
The moment Daslan peeked through his helm,
a figure with silver hair nearing white fluttered in the wind.
His presence was uncannily faint.
And strangely, the Brutal Knight beheld him and began shuddering.
The beast that had crushed him moments ago now quailed in terror.
"Already screwed it up?"
"Lord Havel."
Moebius wore an awkward grimace.
Daslan recalled the name late—Havel.
The one Penbola August had warned him about.
"The key."
Havel prompted, and Moebius fished out the key bundle.
Regret filled the man's face.
He'd staged this mess to enlist the Whisperer in aiding Havel.
With it foiled, regret was natural.
Havel took the keys from Moebius.
Then glanced at Daslan, sprawled on the ground.
Daslan couldn't grasp the scene at all.
Who was this Havel to rattle Moebius so?
Wasn't he Banpellyon's mercenary?
"August direct lineage."
Havel called, and Daslan flinched.
His summons alone made Daslan's body shrink back.
"You nabbed my people, so I'll take your keys as payback. Got a problem?"
Daslan yearned to protest the sheer absurdity.
But instinct screamed:
Speak up here, and it'd end badly for him.
And he'd approached from the August stronghold's direction, no less.
A foul premonition stirred.
The dread he'd blank out upon return.
"...We'll apologize for our actions. But snatching those keys turns August against you—me or no."
Daslan spat only plain truth, sidelining personal gripes.
The keys were as good as stolen now.
August's prestige hung in the balance.
For it, they'd strike back somehow.
Was that fine? Daslan pressed.
Havel's expression soured to boredom.
"Stating the obvious. Families scrap by default. Not under my boot? Enemies all."
In short: even alienating all Five Great Families? No sweat.
Daslan gaped in outrage.
Speechless at the arrogance.
But then he sensed it from the man:
More than Moebius's powerhouse poise.
A vibe that shrugged off the world entire as foe.
"Besides, the keys weren't yours anyway."
Havel stowed the bundle neatly in his subspace.
"Strutting like you own what was made for clearing hierarchies."
Unjust irritation pricked Daslan.
"Clear the 6th hierarchy, and balance shatters. Other families rush the tiers—chaos erupts. You equipped for that?"
The ripple would spill beyond the Tower.
Family rivalries would sharpen viciously.
Havel was Banpellyon's.
They'd weather blowback too.
"Cleared the Demonic Palace, world stayed quiet. Tower's got you panicked."
Daslan blinked in confusion.
Havel pocketed the keys and turned away, regardless.
"Grabbing other keys too, then off to Cloudmist Island. Handle yourselves."
And done.
Havel vanished in a blink.
As Daslan stared blankly, Moebius spoke.
"Hwasang, we're heading back."
Right on cue, Hwasang and Azaris Ignor arrived belatedly.
"Argh, didn't get to do squat."
Azaris pouted, lips pursed.
Daslan recognized him.
Ignor direct lineage—same Five Great Families—the Pyromaniac.
Spotting him, Daslan lurched upright, staggering.
"A-Azaris Ignor, hold up. What in blazes are those guys?"
Azaris glanced Havel's way—long gone.
Shrugged.
"Beats me?"
Daslan's lips flapped soundlessly.
What kind of answer was that?
Tailing a monster like that without a second thought.
Doubted the man's marbles.
"Ahh, wanna torch something too!"
Daslan watched him dash off gleefully, then collapsed fully.
The world had seemed his oyster.
Now it whispered of vast unknowns.
And ere long, Penbola August reached Wind Valley Island.
Surveying the trashed stronghold and Daslan's state, he thought quietly.
Ah, I was too late.