I am the Monarch â Chapter 304: A Bloody Battle (8)
âNo more playing with you . â
With a cold voice, Lunark glared at Kalian and took a few steps back .
Paat!
Suddenly, white light appeared from beneath his feet . Seeing the teleportation magic, Kalian kicked off the ground and ran in towards Lunark .
âWhere do you think youâre going!â
His thunderous shout shook the heavens and the earth as his right arm entered the pillar of light .
Baaaam!
With a slam, Lunark who had been inside the pillar of light bounced off until he was outside it .
Shrrk .
Soon, the pillar of light, the teleportation magic had lost its power and vanished .
Lunark put strength into his legs and regained his balance .
Slip .
His feet slid across the ground .
Kugung .
He once again put force into his legs, stopping the body that was about to fall powerlessly . While twisting his right fist, Lunark stared directly at Kalian .
âDid you just punch me?â
Hearing that, Kalian shook his hand with an amiable expression .
âSorry . It was so urgent that my hand left without me even ordering it to . â
âThis bastardâŚâ
Lunark clenched his teeth . The eyes that had been painted black emanated sharp killing intent as if he could jump in at Kalian any time . However, he only let out his killing intent without actually moving .
âI cannot be certain of victory . â
That wasnât the end .
âWe will both die . â
Even if someone survived, it was obvious that they would receive a wound that needed hundreds and thousands of years of sleep as recuperation . Kalian and Lunarkâs strength was at a similar level, and it was hard to tell who was stronger .
Those thoughts werenât just limited to Lunark .
âAlthough it was urgent and I had thrown a punchâŚâ
Kalian made a bitter smile inwardly .
âIf that crazy bastard came attacking, I have to put my life on the line . â
Besides, the one that had slightly more chances of winning was Lunark . He wasnât called a Mad Dragon for nothing .
Kalian faced Lunark and made a bright smile .
âAre you trying to attack Roan?â
Hearing the simple question, the Mad Dragon Lunark made a cruel smile .
âBecause that guy keeps on ruining my precious creations . â
Kalian shook his head .
âRoan has the Travias Spear with him . â
The spear which the previous Dragon Lord had made with the magic steel, Dionium, which God Devesis had sealed his thirteenth son Feliusâ soul into:
A magic spear and a divine spear .
The spear of a corrupt and yet a noble being .
The spear of destruction and creation .
âThe Travias Spear can cut our scales, muscles, bones and heart . You know that right?â
It was a serious topic but his voice and expression remained nonchalant .
âHmph . â
Lunark scoffed .
âNonsense . A sealed Travias Spear is nothing more than a metal stick . â
âCanât be too sure about that . â
Kalian quickly shook his head in response .
âRoan is different from normal humans . â
Hearing his voice that was filled with confidence, Lunark half squinted his eyes .
âHow is he different?â
Lunark had been curious from a long time ago .
âHumans including Latio, as well as the dark elves and orcs either quivered from hatred or fear and clicked their tongues . â
Kalian replied with a grin .
âA secret . â
He twitched his fingers and made a strange gesture with his body . Immediately, Lunarkâs expression crumpled visibly .
âKalian . Do you really want to fight to the endâŚâ
âJust joking . â
Kalian shook his hands and continued with a low voice .
âRoan, that guyâŚâ
His face turned serious .
âHas connections to not only the Divine, Demon and Middle World, but the Spirit World as well . â
âHmm?â
Lunark frowned as Kalian continued .
âFelius of the Divine World; Flamdor of the Demon World; Elaim of the Spirit World and Europas of the Middle World . All their powers are lying dormant inside his body . â
It was safe to say that the root of all powers were inside Roanâs body but Lunark formed a grin instead .
âKuk . Thereâs no need to fear dormant powers . â
Indeed, he was in fact assured because they were dormant, and because they were, he thought that this was the most opportune timing . Seeing that, Kalian formed a bright smile on his lips .
âIf you try to kill RoanâŚâ
His smile deepened .
âOne or two of those powers, or perhaps even all of them might awaken . â
âNonsense . â
Lunark replied coldly but Kalian still wore the same unchanging expression . He remained calm and nonchalant .
âNonsense? You know it as well, that from that guyâŚâ
Power entered his voice .
âYou can sense the powers of a god, a demon, a spirit and a dragon . â
His words picked up speed .
âTheir seals have been weakened . With one wrong touch of yours, Roan might awaken . â
âNo need to worry! Even if he does, he is still but a human . â
Lunark shouted with annoyance .
âI canât talk sense into you . If he does awaken, at that point, he will no longer be a human but⌠no, whatever . â
Kalian clicked his tongue and waved his hand . Realising that persuasions like this wouldnât work, he heaved out a short sigh .
âThereâs no other choice . Europas told me to never say it butâŚâ
âEuropas?â
In that instant, Lunarkâs eyes trembled slightly . Fitting his title as the Mad Dragon, Lunark did not fear a single existence in the world including the gods but he did show respect to Europas . He was the Dragon Lord representing all dragons and was also someone Lunark had never beaten from his hatchling days . It was an instinctive reaction .
Kalian made a faint smile inwardly as it was the reaction he had been expecting .
âEuropas has given Roan the token of the Dragon Lord . â
It was a bolt from the blue .
âW, what?!â
As expected, Lunark widened his eyes from hearing something he had never been expecting .
âEuropas gave the Token of the Lord to a human?â
He couldnât believe it but Kalian nodded his head with a nonchalant expression .
âAll the dragons except you were guarding the Gates of the Boundary so there was no-one to hand it over to . â
âBut still giving the Token of the Lord to a human makes no senâŚâ
When Lunarkâs complaint reached that point,
âHeâs better than you at least . â
Kalian replied shortly .
âDamn . â
Lunark glared at Kalian while spewing out profanities . If Roan had the Token of the Lord, it was impossible for him to do anything directly .
âThereâs no other way but to leave him to the Dark Regiments and the children I made . Or elseâŚâ
He made a sly grin .
âI have to open the Gates of the Boundary before he can awaken huh . â
âAnd I have to stop that . â
Kalian returned his glare as Lunark scoffed once again .
âHmph . An interesting situation . â
Rather than interesting, it was more correct to say that it was a complicated situation that induced headaches . The Divine World, the Demon World, the Middle World and the Spirit World were all mixed up right now so one mistake could mean the end of the worlds .
âGood . Letâs have a real battle then . â
Lunark breathed in deeply and so did Kalian .
âIt will turn into a very big game . â
A cold smile formed on Lunarkâs lips .
âA game with the world on the line . The winning side will win the entire world . â
His voice which was colder than his smile was carried by the wind and soon,
Paat!
Lunark disappeared along with a pillar of white light . Only after seeing that did Kalian let out a deep sigh .
âHuu . I somehow managed to deceive him butâŚâ
He placed his hand over his left chest unconsciously .
âI need to hand him Europasâ gift as soon as possible . â
Although it wasnât the Token of the Lord, it was a gift rivalling that . Quickly handing that over was his first priority now .
âIn any case, Lunark this guy, I hope he moves just like how Europas predictedâŚâ
The last words Europas had left behind surfaced in his head .
âEuropas . Even after death you continue binding Lunark . â
Kalian couldnât help but respect him .
âHuu . Then should I head off now as well . â
With a light wave of his right hand, a pillar of white light reappeared . At the same time, Kalian disappeared from there with the same teleportation magic as Lunark .
After the two dragons had left, a gust of wind replaced them . It was a breeze signalling the start of a tempest .
***
The Dark Regiments, Vance Vonte and Roan Lancephil .
The three parties were in a strange three-way confrontation in silence . Then, Peid Neil who came rushing in whispered with a low voice .
âBaron Vonte is a noble that betrayed Prince Manus and defected to Prince Reitasâ side . We cannot say that he is our ally butâŚâ
His eyes turned towards the Dark Regiments .
âThat doesnât mean theyâre reinforcements for the Dark Regiment . â
The listeners nodded their heads in agreement because the Dark Regiment also showed confusion after seeing the appearance of Baron Vonteâs soldiers .
âThen, how do we fight?â
Aerea Britz asked carefully with a frown and Peid replied with a softer voice .
âYour Majesty Lancephil and Miss Aerea should lead the troops under Romils Hotten and fight the Dark Regiments . â
His eyes faced Manus this time .
âPrince Manus should lead the Special Corps and fight Baron Vance Vonte . I will stay with the reserve forces to support in caseâŚâ
Romils Hotten near Manus chimed in after hearing that .
âWhat do you mean? The Special Corps of the Istel Kingdom is fighting with our Prince and not our troops?â
His eyes were filled with confusion and Aerea was the same . However, Roan and Manus nodded their heads with calm expressions because they saw through Peidâs words .
âThatâsâŚâ
Staring at Aerea and Romils, Peid said with a clear voice .
âItâs for Mr Romils and your soldiers . â
âWhat do youâŚâ
Romils still couldnât understand but then, Manus made a faint smile and continued from where Peid Neil had stopped .
âBaron Vonteâs soldiers are our friends who we had fought alongside with until just a few days ago . Although theyâre our enemies nowâŚâ
He looked directly into the eyes of Romils and his soldiers .
âCan you point your swords at your old brothers?â
âMhmm . â
Romils let out a low mutter . It indeed wasnât easy and besides, he had a long, deep friendship with Vance . However, Romils wasnât a fool that couldnât tell the difference between public and personal affairs .
âIf itâs for Prince, I can even point my sword at my relatives!â
As soon as he finished,
âMe too!â
âThatâs why we have been following Prince this far!â
âI have already put my life on the line!â
âTheyâre not our old brothers! Theyâre just traitors!â
The soldiersâ voices added into one but hearing that, Manusâ expression wasnât very good .
âThat doesnât mean your heart wonât suffer . I donât want to make you guys suffer any more than you currently are . â
âPrinceâŚâ
Romils and his soldiers lowered their heads with emotion . Like monarch, like subordinates . Just like how Manus couldnât fight against the citizens and the people of the kingdom and had to run away, Romils as well as his soldiers could only clench their teeth and point their swords at their old brothers out of their loyalty to Manus and by no means was it an easy task .
Peid had already seen through that .
It was then that Romils raised his head and spoke up .
âT, then, Prince should come with us and fight the Dark Regiments as well . â
However as soon as he finished his words,
âWe canât let that happen . â
Peid shook his head with an apologetic expression .
âOut of the three parties, our forces are the weakest . To make up for the lack of numbers, we need the help of Prince Manus . â
His eyes pointed at Manus .
âIf Prince Manus faces the soldiers of Baron Vonte, their soldiers would also be greatly shaken and stiffen their hands and feet . â
Pointing their swords at their lord who they had been serving out of loyalty was not an easy task and Peid was aiming for that . That was why he wanted Manus to be in charge of fighting Baron Vonte .
Romils bit his lower lips .
âThatâs too cruel for our Prince . â
Hearing that, Roan who had been standing off silently spoke with a calm yet serious, rock-solid tone .
âThat is the weight a monarch should carry and overcome . â
The gazes gathered onto Roan . Staring at the Dark Regiment and the soldiers of Baron Vonte, Roan continued his words .
âThe hopes and dreams of the people, their sorrow and pain, wrath and despair, their past, present and future⌠Carrying all that and walking straight is the task of a monarch . That isâŚâ
His voice turned powerful .
âThe road of a monarch . â
âMhmm . â
They all gasped in response . Those werenât baseless words because it was coming from the true monarch, Roan who was currently the most prestigious person of the continent . Besides, for Manus, it was something that he had to digest carefully .
His head was in a mess .
âAm I a person that is suited to be a monarchâŚâ
He asked himself, and the reply that returned was simple .
âNo . â
If he was, then he wouldnât have prolonged things this far . He had forced his followers to death because he himself didnât want to be pained .
âI canât run away everytime . â
Manus deeply breathed in and out . Then, he faced a smile towards Romils and the troop that had resolved themselves for death for him .
âI wonât run away anymore . â
His voice was hot .
âWill you fight with me?â
As soon as he finished saying that .
âOf course!â
âWe will follow you to the ends of hell!â
Hearing that, Aerea let out a small laugh from the side .
âAre you planning to go to hell?â
Suddenly, a cold wind breezed past and in silence, everyone looked into each otherâs faces not knowing what to say . Aerea turned her face away with an awkward expression and when Peid was about to tell her something as a representative of everyone,
âIt has begun . â
Roanâs voice was heard .
And at the same time,
Dung! Dudung! Dung! Dudung!
Drum beats that marked the start of a charge hit their ears . The Dark Regiments and the army of Baron Vonte raced down the hills and started marching . They were charging in towards Roan while keeping each other in check .
Tat!
Roan lightly rolled his feet and kicked off .
Paat!
His shadow elongated and continued towards the Dark Regiments . Reddish-black flames arose from his armours as he turned into an incarnation of fire .
Kwaaaaaang!
Flames soared up into the skies with deafening roars and with that as the signal, war cries left the three parties at once .
âKill!â
âUaaaah!â
âKeeek!â
It was the start of a bloody battle and at the same time, this marked the start of a war which meant a lot to Roan .
The breezes of the battlefield raged on like a tempest as the metallic smell of blood touched their noses .