Chapter 101 : Chapter 101

Chapter 101 - A Place to Die

Kian did not leave the altar.

He stood before it, motionless.

Kuuuung─

The Youngest Son folded his red wings and landed.

Though it was my second visit, the place had become far more desolate than before.

Despite being daytime, it wasn't bright, and the ground was dark as if cast in shadow.

It was as if a demon had settled here.

Though the one before me was merely a man who committed demon-like acts.

“Elder Kian. It’s all over.”

Or perhaps.

“Have you run out of preparations? Is that it, is this all you have? You’ve shown your hand. Which of these three sounds best? I’ll say whichever one you want.”

The words Elder Kian must have hoped for flowed smoothly from the Youngest Son’s mouth.

The Elder was silent for a moment, then burst into a hollow laugh.

“Did you come here knowing everything? This makes me feel rather foolish.”

“I came to see your commendable devotion. The lure you sent as a decoy was so clumsy it was hard to watch.”

Kian smiled and bowed his head.

“I can only apologize for offending a bloodkin’s eyes.”

But his two eyes.

One eyeball was clearly exposed, but the other side was his ordinary eye.

Those eyes were very pleased with this day.

“My eyes have had a feast for the first time in a long while. To think you would have the Third Prince, who was known to be dead, appear today, at this very moment.”

Clap, clap, clap.

The applause echoed across the altar.

“I, Kian, was impressed time and again. When I planted an altar in this land, you, Young Master, planted the seeds of doubt to lead to this day.”

“I was lucky.”

“You are even humble.”

Kian smiled and slowly shook his head.

“The dead Third Prince has returned alive… I had thought it must be a baseless rumor spread by you, Young Master.”

It was, without a doubt, real.

“Young Master, you used even my plan as a foundation to reinstate the Third Prince and schemed to swallow this kingdom whole.”

“And I almost succeeded.”

“Yes. Almost.”

Kian stepped aside.

The stone altar that had been hidden behind his robe was revealed.

It was the place where the First Prince had laid his body just a short while ago.

And now, something new was placed upon it.

“I thought this. The Fifth Son would not miss the chance to capture me, weary from carrying out such an act alone.”

But there was one mistake.

“The Fifth Son was far stronger than I thought, and so, an ambiguous bait was instead dangerous.”

“You intentionally made the bait weak. Is that what you mean? That must be the reason it had to be weak.”

A purple crystal rested on the altar.

It was a familiar object to a player.

A Demon Orb.

Used by a non-Main to become a Main.

It was a far more cost-effective item than summoning a demon.

The process of luring a demon with offerings, making it submit, and then wielding its power was unnecessary for that thing.

“It is a byproduct from the process of creating a Main and disposing of its remains.”

That would make sense.

‘The Main-ified First Prince was not durable because he lacked that.’

The somewhat empty feeling of my strike was due to the absence of that thing.

Kian picked up the Demon Orb and spoke.

“I will try to become a Main with this. I expect something far stronger than the ruffian you just faced will emerge.”

“I know.”

The object known as a Demon Orb was peculiar.

If the consumer was strong, a powerful Main would be born even from a small amount.

If the consumer was weak, a large amount was needed for a powerful Main to be born.

In that sense, that pebble-sized Demon Orb was.

[…It’s dangerous.]

Even Enad sensed the gravity of the situation from my gradually quickening heartbeat.

That heartbeat grew fiercer the closer the Demon Orb got to Kian.

“I will become a demon.”

He would become a demon and turn this place into a second Eclipse.

“Young Master, please stop me and grant the family a second demonic realm.”

“…Is that your answer?”

The misjudgment of the past is erased by the choice of today.

By offering a second Eclipse to the family, he atoned for his mistake.

By laying down his life within the mistake, he substituted an apology.

By repaying the sin of attempting to forcibly take the land of a direct bloodline with a similar land, however meagerly.

Kian swallowed the Demon Orb with a smile.

“Thank you, Young Master. Thanks to you, my place of death has become perfect.”

He wore the smile of a victor.

***

The cursed sword pierced the monster.

The objects it had coveted fell to the ground.

The royal scepter fell unceremoniously.

The crown rolled and rolled on the ground, stopping only when it hit the tip of someone’s foot.

That foot was tiny.

Compared to the feet of the mercenaries positioned around, it looked like a doll’s.

The girl who had only trembled and cried in her mother’s arms.

She had cried like this when she had nightmares in the past, but her mother would always tell her.

That Prince William, who had become a star in the sky, was watching over her.

That her daughter should not worry and just sleep.

After that, the nightmares disappeared.

Even if the night was scary, the star that floated higher than the high sky, the prince, was there.

But today, the star came down and drove away the nightmare she faced with her eyes wide open.

Ssk─

She returned the crown, which sparkled like a star, to that star.

“Thank you.”

Smiling gently, he accepted the crown heavily with both hands.

The sun-like round object was much heavier on his head than in his hands.

When he held the royal scepter as well.

It felt as if the value of the kingdom and the lives of its people were crushing his head and shoulders.

Even so, he had to lift it.

He had come here for that, and had cut down his own flesh and blood.

He had come this far because of a person he met one day as if by fate, as if by chance.

Could he have come this far if not for that person?

He didn't know.

It was hard to think straight, dizzied by the people’s gazes.

But if there was one thing that was clear.

‘I must repay him.’

As much as the weight of the royal scepter and crown, he had to repay a gratitude that was hard to measure.

As a first step.

He raised the royal scepter before the people of the kingdom and the soldiers.

High, as if to pierce the sun.

He stretched out his arm so that he could see from anywhere.

───!!

Cheers like thunder followed.

The crown had thus found its rightful place, but.

Kuo-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh─

The forest had not yet found its form.

The purple pillar of light visible from here in the central square.

For a moment, a chill that made the fine hairs on my arm stand on end made my body tremble.

“…Young Master….”

The Third Prince muttered without realizing.

His gaze naturally followed the pillar upwards.

Because it wasn't just the pillar that was visible.

“…A floating, castle?”

A Black Floating Castle descended, breaking through the clouds.

But the thing descending from the sky, as large as the royal castle, was not the only one.

The only one here who carried the blood of Millesdusk.

Anthia broke out in a cold sweat.

“It’s the Fourth Son….”

***

One hour ago.

The Fourth Son’s faction’s camp, the Black Giant Castle.

Among them, the Black Floating Castle floated up into the sky, heading for a hastily decided destination.

Something about a party, or a festival.

Since it was a letter from his youngest brother, with whom he had recently grown closer(?), he had to go even if it meant staying up all night.

“I wonder what’s going on~”

He couldn't sleep from anticipation anyway.

The flying time was just joyful.

But when he actually arrived.

“Woah. I heard this was a kingdom's capital? Why is it in this state?”

It seemed it wasn't just a joyful affair.

But still, the corners of his mouth turned up, and a smile leaked out.

“So this is why he called it a festival!”

He clapped his hands.

The reason was right below.

In the forest outside the capital.

A chill that made his breath visible even here was over there.

Furthermore, the Fourth Son keenly sensed who the owner of this chill was.

“Elder Kian! I heard he settled in this forest, he must be very closely related to this incident. Right, Mother?”

Moirena, who had been standing behind him at some point, looked back and forth between the ground and her son.

With a mother’s heart, she desperately wanted him to just stay here.

To match his desire to grow taller.

She wished he would just put on an eye mask and lie down in his bed.

But those words were cut off by someone else's, unable to come out.

─Because the one and only family member can't trust her child and runs wild like this. From the child's perspective, wouldn't he instead doubt himself?

─You yourself, Mother. You are stifling your son's talent.

They were words that still made her grind her teeth.

But she couldn't refute them.

Because no words to refute them came to mind.

“…Young Son.”

“Mother! It’s okay! Nothing will hap—”

“Go on.”

“—pen…. What?”

This time, the son looked back at his mother.

His mother said it once more.

Clearly, so that it would be conveyed for certain.

“Go on. Stay healthy.”

“Is… that all?”

Moirena gave a bitter smile that no one could see.

“Yes. You are the son I believe in. What more worries are needed? Go on, Young Son.”

“Hmm, okay. I’m really going, then?”

“Yes. Go on quickly.”

The Fourth Son scratched the back of his head and walked towards the door.

And Moirena, lest she grab him again out of habit, turned completely away…

Warak─

“…!”

“I’ll be back!”

After an embrace he didn't know when happened.

The Fourth Son dashed out of the room.

It didn't even take a few seconds for him to exit the floating castle and fall down below.

The mother watched her son recede into a dot.

Recalling the warmth from a moment ago.

She answered belatedly.

“Be safe.”

***

Kuuuuuuung─!!

The altar in the forest.

He fell there, splitting the two apart.

“Dante! Did you wait for your big bro?”

A small doll, faintly visible through the dust cloud.

Beyond it, a Main with a vicious demonic energy in its glowing eyes was letting out a beastly cry.

To think that those small shoulders could be so reliable at this moment.

The corners of my mouth naturally formed an arc.

“Very much so.”

“Heh heh! Don’t worry! I’ll take care of it.”

As he spoke, the Fourth Son’s eyes stared at the thing before him.

He spoke confidently, but it was still a chilling yin energy.

The canvas for that monster was one of the 10 Elders of Millesdusk.

Even if he was exhausted, he was by no means an enemy to be taken lightly.

Therefore.

“The two of us must face him together.”

I stood next to the Fourth Son.

Just as Kian had prepared the card called the Demon Orb.

We had prepared the card called the prodigy.

Whose card was stronger?

That was something we had to find out from now on.

“Dante! I’m not good at fighting delicately! It’ll probably be easier for me to move thinking I'm also a potential enemy! Follow my breathing slowly!”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The current duo was hastily formed.

But even if the other person didn't know, the Youngest Son was confident.

‘I already have a grasp of the Fourth Son’s combat patterns.’

The beginning of that pattern was the Bone Giant.

“Come forth!”

A hole appeared in the not-so-distant air.

I thought a pure white pillar was falling, but it soon spread its four limbs.

Kuuuuuuung─

The sound of it landing on the ground alone was enough to tell its weight.

The Youngest Son glanced at it.

‘A medium-sized one, even though it's the first? It seems he’s trying to be considerate so I can keep up.’

There was no need for that.

And there was no need to say it out loud either.

Seeing is believing.

One action is better than a hundred words.

One slash of a sword is better.

Hwarurururururuk─!!

[Magic Assimilation - Blood]

[Pure Water Attribute Magic - Samche]

The blade, thickly soaked in the blood called magic power.

It swam gracefully through the air.

The blood, as a liquid, undulated along the blade and followed the sword's tip.

As if it were not the tip of a sword, but the tip of a brush.

It painted the area in red.

“Da, Dante….”

“My apologies. I’m not very good at delicate attacks either.”

That Bone Giant might get a little scratched.

[Limitless Blood Sword]

Chwaaaaaaaaaak─!!

A technique that infused pure magic instead of a curse into the Gatekeeper's Limitless Sword.

The slash of blood, hardened from liquid to solid, cut through everything in its trajectory.

The red torrent that had undulated like a wave.

The sight of it transforming into a blade was by no means common.

Kuuuung─

The medium-sized Bone Giant didn't just open its mouth; it was split in two.

But the Main was not yet defeated.

“…Was it a bit shallow?”

Purple blood flowed from its shoulder blade.

But it was not a fatal wound.

Especially since it would regenerate quickly if left to rest.

[Isn't it because you swing your sword around like you have emotional instability?]

Otherwise, that Main would have reacted.

Then the meaning of a single strike would have been lost.

“Older Brother.”

“Uh, uh…?”

“This is not the time to be dazed.”

The breathing I mentioned earlier.

“You have to keep up.”

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.