Chapter 686: The Send-off
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 686: The Send-off
"The Duke understands, doesn't he... that the current Young Master Muen is the best candidate for this."
Verner coughed up blood with difficulty. Under the Lion King’s overwhelming pressure, his face had quickly turned as pale as parchment.
Yet, he was smiling.
"I simply made the right choice."
"Right? In this fortress, on this Abyss Defense Line, I am the ultimate authority on what is right!"
Lorne hoisted Verner up like a helpless chick. His beard bristled like a lion’s mane, and the entire fortress seemed to tremble beneath his feet.
"Defying my orders and letting my son... a mere child, go deep into Demon territory for something so dangerous... Verner, do you even call yourself a soldier?"
"Haha... perhaps not."
Verner tilted his head, looking toward the wilderness where the sounds of slaughter never ceased.
He knew he had done something despicable, but he didn't regret it.
"All these years, I’ve followed you, Duke Lorne, playing the role of a soldier quite well. But you seem to have forgotten that I was never a soldier to begin with. I wasn't even..."
"Shut the hell up!"
Lorne slammed Verner against the wall again.
"I don't give a damn what you are, but that is my son! What right do you have to give him orders?"
"I don't have that right, of course. But you understand, Duke... I didn't have to order him at all."
Verner turned back, still smiling, though the expression was pained.
Was it melancholy? Sentimentality? Perhaps both.
But mostly, it was awe.
"Young Master Muen has truly become exceptional—so very exceptional. More so than I, you, or any of us ever imagined. He is strong, kind, and brave... and because he is so exceptional, he understands what is right. He will do what is right, just as you always have, Duke. You’ve always led us to do the right thing, haven't you?"
"What do you mean 'just like me'? That’s my son! I’m not dead yet! The Campbell family motto: as long as I’m breathing, my son doesn't have to step onto the battlefield!"
"But you knew this would be the outcome, which is why you ordered us not to tell him, isn't it? You were hesitating between public duty and private affection. That’s why your acting was so clumsy—so clumsy even I couldn't stand to watch it."
"Since you were so conflicted, Duke..."
Verner struggled to straighten his back. "I decided to play the villain instead."
The atmosphere froze instantly.
Lorne was like a snarling lion, breathing heavily, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at Verner.
Beside them, Donnik was frantic with anxiety, yet he didn't dare utter a single word of mediation.
Everyone held their breath. They had never seen Lorne Campbell in such a towering rage.
"...Verner, do you really think you're some big shot? I am the Duke of Campbell, the Lion King! Do I need you to play the villain for me? Do I need you to—"
Lorne’s expression grew even more ferocious.
However, the strength in his hands gradually faded.
At this point, what could he do?
Kill Verner?
Impossible.
Punish him?
That would be too hypocritical.
Because, as Verner said, the thought had indeed crossed his mind.
It was the instinct of a soldier. It was the unavoidable logic of a butcher, a thug, and an executioner who had sent countless other people's sons to the battlefield.
"Dammit, every single one of you is so self-righteous. What do you take me for?"
Lorne suddenly shoved Verner away.
He staggered back a few steps, swaying unsteadily, before sitting down on the ground in a somewhat disheveled heap.
The Duke of Campbell, a man who had been strong his entire life—the Lion King who hadn't flinched even when facing three Demon Grand Dukes—now sat with a slumped back.
"Would I be afraid of such a thing? Would I lack the courage? I just... I just..."
Lorne gave a dejected, self-mocking laugh.
"...If something really happens to Muen... how am I supposed to face his mother? That’s not the kind of thing you can fix by just kneeling on a washboard..."
"Duke Lorne, Young Master Muen has grown up."
"I damn well know that."
"He is stronger than you think, braver than you think, and his life is tougher than you think."
"I said I damn well know! They say 'scourges live for a thousand years.' That kid has provoked so many girls out there and he's still alive and well; how could he die so easily? Do I need you to remind me?"
"No, what I mean is..."
Verner struggled to his feet and cleared the path for Lorne.
"Young Master Muen is leaving home now. You shouldn't be spending your time in regret and worry... you should go and give him a proper send-off. It would be too pitiful for a traveler to leave home with no one to see him off."
"..."
Lorne abruptly looked up.
In an instant, his dejected aura vanished. The majesty and pressure belonging to the Lion King radiated once more from his magnificent frame.
"You're right..."
He murmured softly.
"No matter what, as a father, I have to see my son off."
*
Demon Camp.
On a high-walled platform, a pitch-black robe billowed in the wind.
The robe was empty, save for flickering ghost-fires. However, in the area where that faint light dissipated, the very space seemed to warp. Its profound silhouette felt as though it could crush a person's soul.
"The progress is insufficient."
Grand Duke of the Dark Abyss gazed at the towering wall that the Demons considered a thorn in their side, speaking coldly.
"At this rate, how long will it take to break this wall? Don't forget, Dolonslei Fortress has three of them!"
"Please calm your anger, Lord Dark Abyss. We have done our best to urge those low-level wastes forward."
The attending High-Class Demon knelt in terror, explaining respectfully:
"But the humans seem to have replenished their supplies. Their stock of alchemy bombs and magic cannons is plentiful again. Our offensive has indeed been hindered. But please rest assured, Lord Dark Abyss—give us a little more time. Once we exhaust their supplies again, we will surely..."
"Enough. I’ve heard enough of these empty words," the black robe’s sleeve flicked dismissively. "If the likes of you could break this fortress, there would be no need for us old fossils—who can't stand each other—to swallow our disgust and join forces."
"Yes... yes. We must rely on you lords. Those low-level wastes are merely cannon fodder, after all." The High-Class Demon wiped away cold sweat.
"Speaking of those alchemy weapons... the human Kingdom is full of useless trash as well, actually allowing the Empire the spare capacity to support this front."
"Humans are all like that—experts at infighting, amateurs at external war. I heard that after the Kingdom mobilized, they did capture some of the Empire's border territories. Those fools were already discussing how to carve up the Empire's land... but as soon as the Imperial Empress went to the border to take command, the situation stabilized immediately."
The Demon, who had been trembling just a moment ago, now spoke of humans with utter disdain.
"Supposedly, the Empire has already organized a counter-offensive. The Kingdom has suffered several significant defeats."
"Do not be arrogant. In terms of overall strength, we who are trapped in the Abyss are ultimately inferior to the humans," Dark Abyss said flatly.
"Yes, I understand."
"However, what you said about the Kingdom is not wrong. If those buffoons—who can't even handle a single woman—are crushed by the Empire, it will allow the Empire to shift its focus and deal with us with their full might. That would be truly troublesome."
Dark Abyss reflected for a moment and issued an order:
"Pass down the command: increase the intensity of the siege. Halve the intervals between attack waves and double the number of troops per wave. Do not worry about the loss of Low Demons. We must exhaust the physical and mental strength of the Imperial soldiers in the fortress as quickly as possible."
"Understood!"
The Demon responded, showing no reaction to the cruel order, and hurried down to arrange the troop movements.
Grand Duke of the Dark Abyss remained on the high platform, watching the countless Demons swarm like ants toward the wall that swallowed their lives like a natural chasm.
"News came from Gutons Fortress again. We really must speed things up. Once Demon Mountain has fully recovered, we must launch the general offensive," Dark Abyss muttered to himself.
"Will the Lion King be recovered by then?" a voice suddenly asked from beside him.
"Unlikely. After all, the Lion King was besieged by us. His injuries far exceed those of Demon Mountain. Besides, he was struck by Demon Mountain's poison. It won't be that easy to recover."
"A pity..." the voice said. "I quite wanted a one-on-one duel with that Imperial powerhouse."
"Haha, this is a battlefield, not a place for duels."
Grand Duke of the Dark Abyss seemed amused.
"And the Lion King isn't a madman. Why would he run out at a time like this to fight you one-on-one..."
"YOU DEMON FILTH!!!"
Suddenly.
A thunderous, deafening roar erupted above the fortress.
The gloomy sky darkened instantly as a Brilliant Crown descended, shedding a radiance as pure as the stars and moon.
Beneath that radiance, a blood-colored lion stepped forth. Its majestic roar echoed through the heavens, causing many Low Demons beneath the wall to cough up blood and collapse dead from the sheer pressure.
The Lion King—Lorne Campbell!
"Why did he show up so suddenly?" Grand Duke of the Dark Abyss asked in shock.
The Lion King stood at the highest point of the wall, flanked by Imperial soldiers who looked upon him with reverent eyes.
He raised a hand and casually tossed the greatcoat from his shoulders. The coat snapped in the wind, drifting down to cover the mountain of corpses piled beneath the wall, as if providing a shroud for the Demons who dared offend the Empire's soil.
"Filth—COME!"
The Lion King bellowed, then launched himself directly into the air, leaping into the vast wilderness.
The lion roared, and he suddenly made a grasping motion with both hands toward the void, then heaved upward!
BOOM!
The earth shuddered violently.
It was as if an earthquake was tearing the plains apart; massive fissures spread for a hundred miles in an instant.
Inside those fissures, a mass of earth and stone as massive as a mountain was being slowly hoisted into the air by an unimaginable, titanic force.
No, "mountain-like" was no longer an adequate description... a gargantuan shadow gradually covered the entire battlefield. Every Demon trembled as they felt the oncoming pressure.
This was a mountain—a mountain ripped straight from the earth!
"Has he truly gone mad?"
Grand Duke of the Dark Abyss found it increasingly hard to believe.
Setting aside how this guy had recovered so quickly... even if he had, shouldn't he be hiding away to recuperate?
What was with coming out and throwing a mountain all of a sudden? Who was the one on the offensive here?
"Dammit, these crude barbarians! Where is Demon Mountain? Where is our own barbarian, Demon Mountain? Get over here and help!"
"Oh, I forgot, Demon Mountain is still nursing his wounds... Bastard, his recovery speed isn't even as fast as a human's. How embarrassing!"
Dark Abyss looked at the mountain about to fall, then glanced at the Grand Duke of Collapse beside him, who looked like he couldn't care less. Even Dark Abyss, who was considered refined and composed among the crude Demons, couldn't help but curse.
"Dammit... this is why I hate meatheads!!"
His black robes billowed as Dark Abyss reluctantly flew up to meet the attack.
*
The edge of the Demon army.
A patch of previously calm space suddenly rippled.
As the light distortion of the Illumination Spell and the concealment of the Alchemy Domain faded, the figure revealed was Muen, who had left without saying goodbye.
He was still within the Demon army's ranks and was not yet out of danger... but it didn't really matter now. At this moment, no one would notice a "rat" from Dolonslei Fortress trying to slip through the Demon camp to reach the peril-filled heart of the Abyss.
"No way..."
Muen looked up blankly at his father, whose presence was currently filling the entire sky. His cheek couldn't help but twitch.
"Talk about 'mountain-tossing' strength... so this is the Campbell inheritance? I love it, I really do."
Muen finally understood why the Campbell ancestors—despite having such good facial genes—were all depicted as bearded, ultimate macho men in their portraits. If you spent your time tossing mountains for fun, you’d turn into a meathead too.
But at the same time, a wave of warmth rose in Muen's heart.
He knew why his father, who should have been patiently recovering, had suddenly launched an all-out attack on the Demon army at this specific moment.
"I'll be back. Wait for me, Father."
Muen waved a silent farewell, his steps becoming more resolute as he walked toward the boundless Abyss.
*