Chapter 313: Alliance (5)
There was a palace that could rival the imperial palace of the Estia Empire. Within its wide garden that might even be referred to as a grassland were two men enjoying their walk.
“Must you truly be the one leaving?”
A middle-aged man with hints of white hair asked with a worried expression. He heaved out a sigh with his hands behind his back as the youth next to him lowered his head with a sorry expression.
“This time, it must be me personally.”
“Mhmm.”
The middle-aged man closed his eyes with a low mutter and soon,
“If you leave the imperial capital, who would care for the empire?”
His expression and voice remained worried but the youth surfaced a gentle smile.
“You don’t need to worry about that. Skilled personnel of the Academy are performing well in their fields with the task they were allocated. Besides…”
Quietly, he stared at the middle-aged man from the side and continued.
“Now, even without me, the Empire would have no probl…”
Before he could finish,
“Stop. I remember telling you to never utter such words out of your mouth.”
The voice of the middle-aged man turned strict and hearing that, the youth lowered his head with a short sigh.
“I’m sorry.”
A soft voice resonated and soon, the middle-aged man gave out an empty cough and waved his hand.
“I wasn’t angry at you so don’t misunderstand. It’s just…”
Staring straight at the youth, he continued.
“Count Crew Hail. I want you to remember this all the time. The fact that our Lucia Empire was able to stand back up, as well as the fact that we could raise our forces enough to be able to stand side by side with the Estia Empire was all thanks to you.”
He tightly held onto the two shoulders of the youth, Count Crew Hail.
“This call for the crusade could be considered a very important opportunity which our empire had been waiting for. It is an opportunity for us to unveil our nation’s true forces.”
His voice trembled slightly as Crew nodded with a faint smile.
“That is why I am going personally, Your Majesty.”
The middle-aged man was none other than the current emperor of the Lucia Empire, Palmer De Lucia. Crew stared deeply into the eyes of Palmer as he added more words.
“I will show the entire world the power of the Lucia Empire.”
Palmer responded with a smile as he tapped on Crew’s shoulders.
“Since you’re going anyways, go spread your fame as well.”
It was something that had always been on his mind from a long time ago.
‘We are restricting his fame from leaving the empire because he himself desires it but…’
Palmer had a desire to let the entire world know of the great personnel called Crew but instead of a reply, Crew only gave back a smile.
“You could be meeting your brothers if you get lucky.”
Thinking back on the stories he had heard from Crew, Palmer carefully stated as Crew returned a faint smile and a nod.
“If I get lucky, yes.”
While carefully digging into his memories, Palmer asked a question.
“Not blood-related but learned under the same teacher was it?”
“That is so. I was the first disciple and there were two below me.”
“You said you guys were on similar levels right?”
Palmer continued with another question. When Crew nodded his head with a shy smile, Palmer was baffled once again.
“To think that there are two more people with skills similar to yours… I would love to put them under my wings but if they have such great abilities, then they probably have someone they’re already serving or are fulfilling their dreams and goals.”
“They probably are.”
Crew nodded his head with a bitter smile.
‘One of them has already lost his life, Your Majesty.’
His heart thumped but it wasn’t the pleasant kind. Oblivious to his emotions yet also having a regretful look, Palmer licked his lips and placed his hands behind his back yet again.
“Be careful on your trip. I will be waiting for you here, inside the imperial palace.”
Hearing that, Crew kneeled on one knee.
“I will go spread the name of Lucia to the entire world.”
After a polite farewell greeting, he turned with a flick and slowly carried his feet. In a distance, he could see the entrance of the garden. The moment he stepped out of that door, it would be the start of the preparations for a marching ceremony.
‘It has been a while since I’ve gone outside.’
A faint smile hung on his lips as his sunken eyes brightly gave off light.
‘Crusaders…’
Complicated plans repetitively surfaced and disappeared inside his head.
‘A big storm will hit the continent.’
According to his prediction, a large war never seen before will storm over the continent. However, that didn’t mean that he was worried or fearful of what was to come. That was the belief and pride he had towards his abilities.
Suddenly, he thought of his two brothers.
‘Marino seems to be doing well…’
A sorrowful light touched his eyes a little as he faced up to the skies.
‘Maknae, are you doing well?’
But soon, he shook his head.
‘Rather than the skies…’
He then lowered his head and stared at the ground.
‘Is it here?’
A bitter, regretful look filled his expression as a deep sigh escaped his lips.
“If I have time, I want to place a flower by his graveyard at least but…”
It didn’t seem to be an easy task.
“Please forgive this worthless brother.”
He gave out an honest apology.
“My beloved brother, Clay.”
The small voice seeped into the ground.
***
“D, Dark elf?!”
“Dark elves?!”
The nobles filling the throne room screamed with widened eyes. Unlike Roan Lancephil and Manus Persion, they did not know that the dark elves had appeared in the world yet again. On the other hand, the king, Aived Fon Persion who was sitting down on the throne seemed to be slightly surprised but soon returned to his usual expression.
‘He was like that when the news of Prince Reitas’ death arrived as well. It somehow feels…’
Feeling somewhat strange Roan, squinted his eyes as various doubts shook his head. However, this was not the time to have stray thoughts and he gently twisted his wrist to pull the Travias Spear back.
Suddenly, the faces of the knights surrounding the throne melted away and Pseiad was the same as a deep grey skin was revealed beneath. Their true identities were that of dark elves.
“Ah…”
“How could this be…”
The nobles of the Persion Kingdom couldn’t continue their words and had faces of despair. With a faint smile, Roan stared at Duke Pseiad Cetale, or rather, the dark elf that had been disguised as Pseiad.
The dark elf returned Roan’s gaze with an intrigued expression.
“I have long heard stories about you, Roan Lancephil.”
He unsheathed the sword from his waist as it revealed the wound on his side, which was already close to being fully healed.
“My name is Lorand, a honourable knight of the dark elves.”
Lorand.
He was the dark elf that had saved Reitas after visiting Teloi Island and driving the kingdom into confusion. Roan shook his head in response with a faint smile.
“Honourable, huh…”
Roan’s sleeves gently fluttered as reddish-black flames rose up following the Travias Spear.
Hwarurururuk!
“A laughable statement.”
It truly was laughable – it wasn’t something that could be said by those who allied themselves with orcs and revered the Mad Dragon Lunark to drive the Middle World into confusion. Lorand gave a sneer and pointed at Roan with his sword.
“I wonder how long you could stay relaxed.”
He was relaxed, and was full of confidence. Unfortunately, Lorand was looking down on Roan.
‘No matter how strong he is, he is still a human…’
It was a huge misunderstanding made because he hadn’t yet heard the news of the annihilation of the Dark Regiment and its generals.
Lorand’s sword flickered with light and soon,
“Kill him.”
A foolish order fell.
Taat!
The dark elves that had disguised themselves as knights kicked the ground and ran in towards Roan. Indeed, their movements were more agile and powerful than the soldiers of the Dark Regiment, let alone humans and orcs.
The blades carried with them a sharp trajectory.
Sphat!
Dozens of swords merged into the dimension in a weird manner while flying towards Roan.
“Hiik!”
“Huhup!”
Several nobles who stood further behind gasped and turned their heads away in fright. Those were justified actions since they were government officials that had never even entered a battle but on the other hand, Manus quickly drew his sword and stepped forward to help Roan.
However, he soon realised that it was unnecessary.
“Foolish.”
Softly, Roan let out a word in rebuke and stepped forward with his right foot. At the same time, his body drew a large circle as he spun rapidly.
Slash!
The reddish-black flames that arose from the spearhead slashed the dimension apart and with it the swords of the dark elves.
When the spearhead and the swords touched one other, strange sounds of things melting entered the ears of the onlookers instead of the clash that ought to be heard. Alongside the noises were strands of smoke leaving the blades of the dark elves.
“Hup!”
“W, what!”
The dark elves that had vigorously run in towards Roan saw their blades melting into smokes and frowned. However, they couldn’t stay dumbfounded because there was Roan standing still and spinning. The spearhead travelled across the space and danced blurrily as reddish-black flames bloomed flowers of death.
“D, dodge it!”
“Fall back!”
While shouting, the dark elves urgently twisted their bodies but the force behind their vigorous dash meant a lack of space to dodge into.
Slash! Sphat!
Without any faltering, the spearhead stabbed the hearts and necks of the dark elves.
Chiiiiiiik!
They too turned into handfuls of smoke like their blades.
All of that had happened in an instant.
Gulp.
Lorand who was gazing at the scene gulped unconsciously.
‘W, was he this strong?’
It was more than the rumours.
Although he knew that Roan was strong enough to be considered one of the top amongst the humans, Lorand still thought that he would be within the realms of a human. If it was him who prided in great skills even amongst the dark elf warriors, would naturally have no problem dealing with him – that was what he thought.
In fact, he thought that his close, trustworthy subordinates would be more than enough to cut off Roan’s neck and only now did Lorand know how foolish that decision of his was.
‘Damn.’
His eyes rolled around rapidly. Currently, there were around ten of them near the throne and if it was before, he would have thought that this was plenty enough but not any more.
‘At this rate, I’ll die.’
He had to look for a different method as his heart raced from urgency.
Suddenly it hit him.
‘Right!’
Lorand’s eyes flickered in light as his gaze pointed at Aived leaning off to a side on the throne.
‘I’ll have that stupid king be the hostage.’
It was a quick decision and his hands were faster than his trail of thought. Before anyone could react, Lorand’s hand was attempting to grab the neck of Aived as it reached out.
However, Roan had already read that move.
‘No you don’t!’
He quickly kicked off and reached forth with the Travias Spear.
Paat!
Roan disappeared before quickly appearing next to the throne. It was the blink magic which he could use thanks to Brant’s Ring.
“Kuuk! Damn it!”
Seeing Roan appear right before him, Lorand clenched his teeth as his thoughts muddled up.
‘Do I grab Aived’s neck as is? Or do I attack Roan? Or perhaps I should just fall back?’
There were too many actions to choose from which had then created a slight gap. But on the other hand, Roan only had one objective.
‘Kill’
Without even the slightest of hesitations, he stabbed forward with the Travias Spear at his chest.
“Daaaaaaaamnnn!”
Lorand screamed and twisted his body. More important than victory was keeping himself alive; he kicked the ground with the tip of his toes and jumped back.
“Kill him!”
When he shouted at the remaining subordinates, the dark elves that blankly stood there watching finally ran in towards Roan. Or in fact, they attempted to until they were hindered from doing so.
“You dare!”
Manus approached them in the blink of an eye and swung his blade which danced through the air.
Kang! Kagang!
Sounds of steel clashing sounded as the swords of the dark elves were reflected back. Although he was far lacking when compared to Roan, Manus himself was also skilled in swordplay which had saved the Persion Kingdom from the brink of destruction.
The fancy swordplay suppressed and forced the dark elves back. Thanks to that, Roan could focus on handling Lorand without caring about his back and in the end, Lorand was the one caught in peril.
‘Damn, I didn’t want to use this but…’
His left hand entered his inner pocket and touched a small marble.
‘If I use the magic ball, I can escape.’
It was something that had been personally made and gifted by Lunark. It could only be used once but it had a teleportation magic that allowed one to escape whenever and wherever.
However, there was a problem.
‘If I use this, my lifespan will reduce in half!’
That was the price that couldn’t be avoided when trying to use the magic of the dragons with the body of an elf.
‘Damn, but it is still better than dying here.’
Lorand could no longer hesitate as Roan was right in front of him already. He quickly snapped the magic ball with the tip of his fingers and in that instant,
Paaaaat!
A white pillar of light embraced Lorand and soared up.
“Kukukuku! Roan! I will definitely pay you back for today!”
His strange laughter dug into the ears.
“T, teleportation magic?”
One of the nobles recognised the pillar of light and screamed.
“See ya then!”
Once again, Lorand’s voice sounded as the bright white pillar of light soon blurred away.
But then,
“Without my permission…”
Roan kicked off the ground and threw himself towards the pillar light.
“You can’t go anywhere.”
His right hand then entered the blurring pillar of light after which,
Slam!
A heavy sound echoed and the pillar of light crumbled. The light literally turned into pieces and crumbled to the ground. It was a strange scene but what surprised others more was the scene near Roan’s hand.
“Kuuk! Kuuk!”
There was a guy letting out painful groans, Lorand. With his neck grabbed by Roan, he was floundering his arms.
“H, how… I was in the middle of teleportation…”
Lorand shook his head with disbelief but Roan in response gave a faint smile while tightening his grasp.
“In the world, there are surprising things…”
His fingers dug into Lorand’s neck.
“That are hard to understand. This is just another one of those.”
“Kuuk!”
Lorand thrashed around fiercely but that didn’t allow him to escape Roan’s hand. A crimson light entered his eyes but even then, he was searching for ways to survive.
‘F, first, let’s stall out some time.’
He then stared directly at Roan.
“Roan Lancephil. You also know well how rotten this world is. If we don’t do anything, the Middle…”
But before he could finish, reddish-black flames left Roan’s fingers. The flames immediately devoured Lorand’s face and body, giving him no chance to even stall out.
“Kuaaaaaak!”
Within the intense, horrible pain, he screamed and struggled. With a calm gaze, Roan stared at that scene and opened his mouth to a whisper.
“I don’t need you to tell me more nonsense – I have already heard plenty.”
As soon as he finished, the flames became fiercer.
Chiiiiik!
Smoke rose up as Lorand vanished. It was a complete annihilation that didn’t even leave behind any ashes – it was a demonstration of perfect power.
The ones gathered within the room all stared at Roan with a surprised look and so did Manus who had been in the midst of the battle with dark elves. Manus faced Roan with a gaze filled in awe.
“You are truly ama…”
However, before he could finish, one of the dark elves that had collapsed onto the ground after a strike ran in towards Manus, desperately with a broken sword. It would normally serve no threat but the problem was that Manus couldn’t properly react to it due to his eyes facing Roan.
“Ah!”
“No!”
The nobles let out regretful groans and since the dark elf appeared from behind Manus, even Roan couldn’t do anything extreme. Manus was in a spot open to any ambush but then, it happened.
Bam!
A slamming sound resounded and the dark elf who had drawn a sharp trajectory of dash bounced off to the back.
Kwaaang!
He was driven into the wall with a thunderous roar,
“Ohh…”
“Ah…”
The nobles let out mutters as their eyes faced the figure behind Manus and that was the same for Roan. With a faint smile, Roan looked at the person that blew away the dark elves.
“I knew there was something.”
A gentle voice left his mouth. Hearing that, Manus who had been looking at Roan turned around with a curious expression.
“Ah…”
In that instant, a gasp of shock escaped his lips. There was a person guarding his back, who was none other than Aived Fon Persion, his own father.
“H, how…?”
He was so surprised that he couldn’t even find the words to continue his sentence. Aived who had been in a lazy manner stretched his arms before tapping on Manus’ shoulders and facing Roan.
“In the world, there are surprising things…”
His low, heavy voice echoed in the throne room.
“That are hard to understand. This is just another one of those.”
Those were the same words which Roan had just spoken of.
A murky silence filled the room.
Translator: Lunargrasp
Proofreader: Deathwing
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