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Side Story Chapter 56

Lilith nodded, but she couldn’t help him with that since the Moon Gate was no longer under her command.

“I’m sorry. It looks like I can’t be much of a help.” Lilith shrugged.

“Speaking of which, what authority did you manifest?”

“…It’s…” Lilith hesitated for a moment and then let out a sigh. “...It’s the power of a demon king.”

“A demon king…?”

Both Joshua and Iceline\'s eyes widened. Zero smiled bitterly because he already knew.

“The daughter of the most likely candidate for the next pope manifesting the authority of a demon king… This is problematic,” Joshua mumbled.

“I left Hubalt immediately, but I’m actually glad I did if I can help the two princes.”

“I suppose so. The princess of the Hubalt Empire helping the princes of an enemy country could become an issue in the future. On that note, have you revealed your demon king’s power in public?”

Lilith shook her head. “No, I also hated the power at first. I felt like I was cursed by a god.”

“You’re the perfect person to pull off a job without revealing your identity,” Joshua said.

Joshua took a look around them and raised an eyebrow. The forest had gone quiet at some point, and the only thing he could see was crushed remains. Nevertheless, the other monsters would catch wind of the blood and could come to attack them at any moment.

“Let’s move first,” he suggested. “This isn’t a good place to talk.”

“You said that you have four more people to look for, right?”

“Yes; I think I can figure out where one person is, but I have no idea where the other three are. Well, Iceline used to work for him, but even she doesn’t know…” Joshua trailed off.

Lilith instantly realized who Joshua was talking about. Her eyes narrowed. “You’re talking about Thetapirion Whitesox, the first Class 8 human mage and Master of the Magic Tower, aren’t you? You say that your goal is to stabilize Avalon, but it sounds like you’re planning on starting a war with him by your side or something.”

“My goal is deterring war, not starting one, but I’m willing to if necessary.” Joshua shrugged.

The pool of blue light around Joshua and the others became brighter and bigger, indicating an imminent Mass Teleportation.

“I realize I’m putting you through a lot today,” Joshua said to Iceline.

Iceline shook her head. “Not at all. Where shall we go?”

“It seems I’m not the one who can answer that question.” Joshua turned to look at Lilith. “Let’s deal with the matter that will benefit both of us first.”

“Excuse me?” Lilith tilted her head.

“We’ll be able to get the information we need and get rid of some bothersome flies.”

Lilith looked askance at him.

“Assassins are after you.”

Lilith flinched.

“Zero was in danger because of their pursuit. Shouldn’t we get payback?”

“…Of course, but isn’t it too dangerous?”

Joshua began to list the facts that he knew: “They were from one of the three assassin guilds that specialize in assassinations and interrogation. The Poison King, one of the Twelve Superhumans, is their leader, and the guild’s assassins are willing to take any reverse hit requests for the right price.”

“Mmm…”

“Did I get that wrong?”

“…No, it’s exactly right, but if the person that put out a contract on me is a high-ranking official in Hubalt, we have to consider the possibility of them putting out a double reverse hit request on us.”

The pool of light around them became impossibly bright..

“Someone from Hubalt putting out a double reverse hit request?” Joshua smirked. “Against me?”

* * *

Like a bolt out of the blue—literally—blue lightning bolts struck the ground one after another, shaking the ground with each impact.

The rebel leader swallowed nervously as they watched their commander. He had come to the battlefield, overwhelming everyone with his energy. He had been like that ever since he received the emergency message a while ago.

“L-Lord Drenius.”

Marquess “Azure Dragon” Drenius, the ruler of eastern Avalon, had an authority which allowed him to freely command lightning bolts, one of the most destructive attributes of mana, from the sky.

“A man presumed to be the emperor was reported in Arcadia, and it only took the First Prince and one hundred knights to breach our border…” Drenius trailed off. “Is the information I heard correct?” Drenius coldly asked.

There were hundreds of rebel knights and their commanders in there, but not one said a thing. Drenius was popular for always maintaining his composure. It was their first time seeing him this furious.

“The news from the capital hasn’t been verified, so let’s forget about it.” Drenius slicked back his hair. “What exactly happened at the border?”

“Umm… we received a report that Selim Sanders himself appeared on the battlefield.”

“In other words, the knights delayed their report because they were blinded by their desire for glory, but then they were devastated. Am I correct?”

“I-I apologize.” Drenius’s aide bowed.

A blue lightning bolt struck on the top of the rampart not far from the group.

The aide froze, his breath catching in his throat, and nervously stared at the black smoke rising from the ground.

“It was a fight between one hundred and one thousand. Since our forces outnumbered the enemy ten times over, I understand why they felt that way, but our men were exterminated. On top of that, none of the enemies were harmed. What should I make of this situation?” Drenius raised an eyebrow.

From their position on the ramparts of Drenius’s castle in the center of eastern Avalon, they could easily see exactly one hundred black dots scattered across the wide-open horizon.

“Hahahaha! Does the east have nothing but cowards? Why is no one coming out?” A two-meter-tall man loudly jeered at the rebels from atop his black horse. “You guys stayed cooped up in your castle, so I, Downbeck, came here myself! Is there really no one brave enough to fight me?!”

“We can hit him with arrows at this range. Please give the order and we’ll turn that man into a porcupine,” the aide said.

He wasn’t good at reading the air.

Drenius frowned. The Blue Dragon Knights’ commander grabbed the aide by his nape and threw him off the ten-meter tall walls.

“Arrghhhhh!”

The aide landed head-first, his neck bending at a bizarre angle. He was obviously dead on impact.

“Those bureaucratic ink heads… My lord, I will fight him myself if you allow me.” The Blue Dragons’ commander saluted.

“…Yulnius,” Drenius murmured.

Yulnius Alzen was the commander of the Blue Dragon Knights, the best knightly order in eastern Avalon. In fact, he was the second strongest man in the east after Drenius. Yulnius had already surpassed the level of a Class A knight and had manifested an authority, although it belonged to a low-ranking god.

“Are you sure about this?” Drenius asked.

“Of course. I’ll show the Emperor’s son that even his grandfather wouldn’t be able to mess with the east.”

“…I give you my permission.”

Yulnius snapped a salute and ran downstairs.

The castle gate creaked open, and Yulnius rode his horse into the horizon, lit by the cold winter sun.

Yulnius and Downbeck didn’t need to say anything else since this battle itself was a sort of greeting before they went to war.

“Good!” Downbeck kicked his horse into motion.

The two knights quickly closed in on each other. The rebels watched with bated breath—the First Prince’s Black Knight Order and the Blue Dragon Knight Order of eastern Avalon were among the most powerful knightly orders in Avalon.

It was a fight between an ordinary knight and a knight commander, so all of the rebels believed that it would take one strike from Yulnius to send the giant man tumbling down to the ground.

The air thrummed. Yulnius’s authority belonged to Oracle, the low-ranking god of strength, so every muscle in his body bulged as if they were dancing. With that spirit, Yulnius raised his sword high above him.

‘I’ll finish this with one strike,’ Yulnius thought.

They were almost in position to strike. Yulnius was going to use the momentum of his charge to cut off Downbeck’s head in the first pa—

A violent clang

A ray of black light abruptly flashed through the air and Yulnius was struck with such a strong force that he almost fell off his horse.

“Wh-When…?” Yulnius mumbled. A greatsword whipped right past his eyes. Downbeck spun and thrust with a greatsword that was as tall as he.

“Hahahahahahaha!”

Every one of Downbeck’s attacks hit Yulnius like a ton of bricks, and Yulnius could feel his muscles suffering. Yulnius gritted his teeth. Unbelievably, he was losing in a battle of strength.

‘I’ll never be able to bring myself to stand in front of Lord Drenius again at this rate,’ Yulnius thought.

“I am Yulnius Alzen, commander of the Blue Dragon Knights!”

Yulnius spurred his horse into a gallop. He leaped gracefully into the air, his arm muscles bulged so big that it looked like they were going to burst out of his skin. He left his horse behind on the ground and drew up his mana to use the technique he had learned from Drenius himself. After that lesson, Yulnius had been developing the technique to make it as destructive as possible, befitting a member of a prestigious family of swordsmen.

The Alzen Family Secret Technique Number One: Simple Lightning Strike.

“Ahhhhh!” Yulnius turned into a lightning bolt.

Downbeck, who was still on the ground, grinned, but he was in a disadvantageous position. The right thing to do was run even if he had to roll off of his horse—however, he had no intention of avoiding it.

Their swords clashed, the ground-shaking concussion muffling every other sound in the nearby area.

Downbeck, to Yulnius’s bewilderment, wasn’t pushed backward in spite of his disadvantage. Albeit only slightly, it was actually Yulnius that was pushed backward.

“Ugh…!” Yulnius gritted his teeth.

Downbeck’s smile grew. “I am Downbeck, the Giant of the Black Knights and Prince Selim’s right-hand man!”

As soon as Downbeck finished shouting, Yulnius was catapulted away.

“It doesn’t make any sense…!” Yulnius muttered to himself.

Downbeck wasn’t done. He whipped his horse into a gallop and went hurtling after Yulnius as he flew through the air.

“Hup!”

Yulnius swung his sword, but it was easily deflected away by Downbeck’s greatsword. Downbeck opened his mouth creepily and leaned close to Yulnius.

The giant man’s jaws closed with a sickening crunch.

“Ahhhhhhh!” Yulnius screamed.

Red blood dripped from the gaping wound where his ear used to be.

Downbeck crunched on his grisly prize and then spit it out with a noise of disgust. “It doesn’t taste good,” he complained.

“Urggh…!” Yulnius rolled around the ground for a long time and then sprang up from the ground, his eyes filled with fear.

“Go back and tell everyone that the next thing I’ll eat is your leader’s eyeball.”

“Fuck, you’re a fucking crazy bastard! I heard that the First Prince’s Black Knights are all nuts, but—!”

“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth? By the way, it’s ‘His Highness’ to you. Do you want me to take out your teeth too and eat them like popcorn?

Yulnius shut his mouth, speechless.

“I would usually have cut your head off on the spot… but I want to see my master becoming emperor. So I’ll wait for the right time. Tell your yellow-bellied worm of a marquess that he won’t end up like you if he surrenders willingly.”