CH 315

“Hold on a moment, Sir Cain.” Icarus made the angry knight step back; then she turned to Lugia. “Then do you mean that our master stayed missing for all this time because he was in the Demon Realm?”

“Hey, you’re kidding me, right? That’s absurd!” Cain shouted.

The spear buzzed in Cain’s direction, almost as if it were smirking at Cain.

-Why is it absurd?

“…What?” Cain asked.

-He had to verify it.

Cain crumpled up his face, frustrated by Lugia’s continual vagueness.

“Explain it in a way I can understand!”

-He knows the future, but a variable that even he didn’t expect showed up. Thus, he headed to the Tower of Trials to check it.

“He kn-knows the future? Wait, what do you mean when you said he headed to the Tower of Trials for that reason?” Cain narrowed his eyes.

-All the truths in the world are hidden on the highest floor of the Tower.

The more Lugia continued, the more frustrated Cain became. He was about to blow his top and start shouting at the demon spear.

“…I heard about that story,” someone quietly said with a voice that was as sweet as rain in a drought. Cain and the others automatically turned their heads to the speaker.

“Do you know something about it?” Icarus asked.

Lilith, the one with the sweet voice, nodded.

“The legend about how all the truths in the world are hidden in the Tower is not only famous among wizards but also around the entire continent,” she said.

“The-then, it’s really…?” Cain mumbled in disbelief.

“But it’s just a legend…” Lilith glanced at Lugia. “It is known that there is a mirror called the ‘Full Moon Mirror’ on the highest floor of the Tower.”

“The Full Moon Mirror?”

“It’s a mythical treasure from the ancient age of magic that shows anything the user wants to see. It doesn’t matter if it’s related to the past, present, or future.”

Icarus and Cain stared at her in amazement.

Christian, who had been watching the situation, interrupted.

“But, Lilith, the Full Moon Mirror is…”

“I know what you want to say.” Lilith held her hand up and nodded, immediately silencing Christian. Lilith’s eyes shone. “Everyone always has to pay a price to achieve a grand goal; it’s the way of the world to sacrifice something in order to acquire the things we want. Time, effort… it can be anything.”

“So my master had to… go to hell to pay the price?” Cain muttered in disbelief.

“It’s purely a conjecture of mine.” Lilith shrugged.

Cain gaped blankly.

“I’m not sure what the variable is, but using the Full Moon Mirror surely has an upside. Using that mirror, we would be able to get to the bottom of every shady event that happened over the past three years—like the disappearance of Emperor Marcus and the death of the Dark God. The ancient wizards tried to overcome the hurdle of Class 9, where they would practically be considered gods, using the Full Moon Mirror for a reason,” Lilith said.

Some old memories of hers seemed to come to mind.

“The Joshua I know would have collected information before he moved. He’s known to always finish his job perfectly, but it’s only possible because he prepares very thoroughly and collects every possible piece of information before he makes a move.”

-Do you want to know one more thing?

Lugia finally broke his silence.

-The Emperor you mentioned didn’t disappear on his own.

“…What?”

-To be accurate…

Lugia trailed off for a moment and hummed again. Shortly after, it followed up with yet another shocking remark.

-He got killed.

“…What?” Everyone’s jaw dropped.

-He was close to the truth. It was good for him, but just like I said, the problem was that the unexpected variable repeatedly occurred.

“The Em-Emperor has been killed?! No, go back a little!” Cain shouted at the top of his lungs. “Then do you mean my master really reached the highest floor of the Tower?!”

When Lugia saw Cain’s reaction, it chuckled.

-…Well, hahaha.

Was Lugia ever going to tell them the full story?

-I’ll cut to the chase. He ended up in the Demon Realm but returned to the Human Realm before he could finish the job he was supposed to do.

“What in the world…”

-In other words, he could go back to the Demon Realm at any time once he takes care of his business in this realm…

Lugia shook in the hands of the doppelganger as he continued.

-Hey, you silver-haired woman. I advise you to keep your vain dream of mating to yourself.

When Lugia finished speaking, silence descended.

* * *

In the Avalon Empire’s outer palace, there was an old gray stone building, the headquarters of the Auxiliary Battalion of the Imperial Knights Order. A sharp, purple-haired man that seemed to be in his mid-thirties stood in front of the building.

“Commander Cazes.” A bald man approached, making the man flinch.

“…Didn’t I tell you to not call me by that name?” Cazes growled.

“How else should I call my commander?” the belligerent-looking bald man grumbled; it seemed like it wasn’t the first time they were having this kind of conversation.

Cazes shrugged.

“You should use that name for someone else,” he told the other man.

“Here we go again.” The bald man quietly snorted. “How long are you going to keep living in a dream?” he angrily shouted. “It’s time to wake up now; you should let the dead man go!”

“…Even if you’re right…” Cazes nonchalantly said, “Only one man is our—no, my commander.”

“Urggh…!” The bald man groaned in frustration.

“He’s definitely alive,” Cazes said with certainty.

With a scarlet red face, the bald man quickly turned his head away from Cazes and loudly snorted.

“Why do we have to care about that? If that were true, he would have told us at least once over the past three years!”

Cazes narrowed his eyes. “Did you come find me to talk absurdities in broad daylight—”

“His Highness the Second Prince Kaizen’s messenger just dropped by,” the bald man reported.

Cazes sighed quietly. “…Again?”

“Do you know that everyone is exhausted now?” The bald man bit his lower lip for a moment before he continued, “The messenger told me that His Highness himself is going to visit us the next time.”

Although Cazes hadn’t even flinched until then, that made his eyes lose focus. The bald man gave a look.

“We’re constantly forced to choose, but over the past three years, we’ve been busy tiptoeing around the princes as they fight,” Cazes’s subordinate bemoaned tiredly.

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Cazes scratched his head.

“…That is why I allowed the knights to leave the battalion if they wished to.”

“And that is also why there are only half of us left,” the bald man sarcastically replied. Cazes could not reply. “That’s not the only problem. The remaining knights aren’t sure about their decision to stay anymore since we all won’t be safe if one of the princes wins. On top of that, they all have families, so they’re constantly worried. However, they can’t bring themselves to leave the battalion. Do you really want these men to get hurt?” the bald man fervently asked.

Once again, Cazes couldn’t say anything because the bald man was right. The battalion’s knights had been tiptoeing around without helping any of the princes, so there was no way that one of the princes would not retaliate once he gained power. The knights were at the limit of staying neutral.

“Berche’s Bloody Battle will soon take place,” the bald man told Cazes.

“…What?” Cazes flinched, shocked.

“I don’t know all the details. Maybe they’re trying to have a power struggle out in the open… The important part is that if the battle is actually taking place, then we can’t stay neutral anymore.”

The bald man looked straight into Cazes’s eyes and carefully enunciated each word: “I understand what you’re saying, but the current Auxiliary Battalion Commander is the man in front of me, you.”

“Umm…” Cazes closed his eyes. He knew it was time to make a decision. He was silent for a long time before he opened his mouth again.

“I…”

At that moment, Cazes felt the ground tremble faintly, making his eyes widen.

“…Thunder in this weather?” the bald man murmured. “The timing is…”

“…No.” Cazes shook his head. The bald man tilted his head in confusion.

“It’s mana, not a lightning bolt.” Cazes concisely murmured. His eyes shone with thrill.

The shockwave had come from at least dozens of kilometers away from them, but it was strong enough for Cazes and the bald man to feel it, even though they were in the capital. After he noticed how powerful and familiar the shockwave was, he realized it resembled that of someone who he missed very much. Cazes unconsciously clenched his fists. He needed to go to the origin of the shockwave and check it out himself.

“Tell everyone to prepare to depart!” Cazes instructed and sprang forward, disappearing in a flash.

The bald man just blankly stared at Cazes’s back, dumbfounded by the unexpected order.

“Huh?” he mumbled.

* * *

A raging wind that was powerful enough to turn the ground upside down blew toward Draxia, but he simply swung his sword to defend himself. The gale subsided with a pop! like he’d burst a leather drum. He smiled.

“Are you really the famous Hero King? You’re not even pulling out your red spear… I guess it was a false alarm.”

Joshua remained silent.

“Or did you really get injured in the Great Plain of Kraden?” Draxia asked.

“It’s a little bit disappointing,” Anna, who was near Draxia, quipped. “If that’s all he’s got, it looks like I could deal with him.”

“Do it,” Draxia suggested.

“…Father?” Anna’s eyes widened.

Draxia shrugged.

“From what I know, you recently took an interest in someone.”

“…Ah!” Anna gaped.

“Isn’t he a perfect opponent to test it on?” Draxia looked straight ahead without waiting for Anna’s answer.

“You must be wondering why I’m confident in front of the famous Hero King,” he said to Joshua. “It’s simple: while you disappeared from the continent, a new power, one that is powerful enough to crush the Nine Stars, has shown up.”

Joshua still remained expressionless, but Draxia’s smile only deepened.

“It’s called materialization of aura. I’ll give you a taste of my power.”

As soon as Draxia finished speaking, a loud rumbling shook the sky.

“Besides, you would have no intention to answer my question, so I’ll have to get my answer after I make you kneel…” Draxia smiled contentedly.

“You talk a lot,” Joshua replied, finally breaking his silence.

Draxia’s eyes widened slightly.

“Are you going to fight with your mouth? Come.”

At the same time, Joshua created a thrumming sound that was incomparably louder than the one Draxia created, filling the sky.

“The materialization you talk about is just a cheap trick. Yes, you all thought I was using a cheap trick when I was using my spear. In other words, the important part in a fight is who is using a weapon, not what the weapon is or what technique that person is using.” Joshua shrugged.

Draxia flinched as the same raging wind started to blow from everywhere, threatening to hack him to pieces.

“I admit that even cheap tricks come in handy from time to time because even dog poop can be used as medicine.[1]”

“D-dog poop?” Draxia stuttered.

“If you truly think that your dog poop is the sky...” Joshua said, the humming sound swelling with every word.

“...I’ll show you the real sky now.”

1. In 동의보감 (ancient Korean medicine book), there is a record of using dog poop as medicine, so there is an idiom in Korea “개똥도 약에 쓰려면 없다 (One cannot find dog poop when they try to make medicine out of it)” ☜