VOLUME 7: PROLOGUE PART I

[Demon Realm—Capital of the Kingdom]

Naberius, Lord of the Fire Giants, couldn’t believe his eyes. The horn of his master, kept inside the treasure room for hundreds of years, had broken free from its chest. It was currently hovering in front of him, surrounded by a small, translucent, dome-shaped barrier. The broken horn was quivering, its tip pointing south. Toward the Great Cavern.

This was the first time something like this had happened in more than a thousand years. It could only mean one thing: Barkuvara, one of the three most powerful demons in history, was close to waking. Something must have happened to the ice prison for the horn to have such a reaction. Naberius surmised that a crack had finally formed on the seal binding the body of his master.

A smile gradually formed on Naberius’ face.

“It seems that even the magic of Agreas couldn’t win against the passage of time,” said Naberius.

Agreas, also known as Agares among the humans, was the very same demon who sealed Barkuvara during the Descent more than a thousand years ago. And that wasn’t enough for the traitor, he also killed the next demon who ascended the throne.

Agreas and his Arzomos Tribe were the scourge of the demon race. The pathetic fools who sided with the humans.

Throughout the centuries, various demon tribes had tried killing the Arzomos, but they failed every time. Even the high demons couldn’t do anything when faced with absolute power. Agreas and Kel’ Vual—the current tribe leader of the Arzomos—were simply too strong, despite their age and the injuries they’d sustained throughout numerous battles.

But Naberius was certain that the Demon Realm would soon be turned upside down. Agreas and Kel’ Vual were reaching the end of their lives. And the moment his master woke up, the Arzomos Tribe would finally be wiped off this land.

Naberius called for one of the demons under his command.

“You called for me, My Lord?”

“Send a message to all of the tribe leaders. Tell them that a chance to unseal my master, the Demon Lord Barkuvara, has come.”

The servant trembled. “R-Right away!”

***

After receiving the message from the Lord of the Fire Giants, the leaders of the various demon tribes scattered all throughout the Demon Realm gathered in the capital. This was the greatest news they’d received for several centuries.

In the grand hall of Naberius’ castle, seven powerful demons gathered around a round table.

The Lord of the Sky Demons, Malphas.

The Lord of the Corrupted Land, Digtree.

The Lord of the Parasitic Demons, Plagas.

The Lord of the Wraiths, Azrath.

The Lord of the Sea Demons, Xazal.

The Lord of the Red Tower, Elrenar.

And lastly, the former right hand of the demon sealed inside the ice prison:

The Lord of the Fire Giants, Naberius.

Although several lords from minor tribes hadn’t answered Naberius’ call, the number of those gathered had already exceeded Naberius’ expectations. He hadn’t even expected six tribe leaders to show up. With this, it should be possible to pull off his plans.

“First, I must thank every one of you for coming to the capital,” said Naberius. Although his real appearance was that of a fifty-meter fire giant, he’d shrunk himself to human size to live in the capital.

The Lord of the Red Tower, Elrenar, clicked his tongue. “Stop with the pleasantries. All of us have already read the message.”

The Lord of the Sky Demons, Malphas, nodded her head in agreement. “You’ve told us that Barkuvara is going to wake up soon. The horn, show us.”

Naberius had anticipated that the tribe leaders would demand to see the broken horn of his master. He took out a chest and opened it, revealing the broken horn which floated up slowly.

All of the tribe leaders stared intently at the broken horn, at its quivering body, and at its tip, pointing in the same direction as the Great Cavern. The place where the Arzomos village was located. The place where Barkuvara had been sealed by Agreas.

“It’s real,” the Lord of the Red Tower finally said.

“Of course.” Naberius closed the chest tight.

“Naberius, are you planning on attacking the Arzomos?” said the Lord of the Red Tower.

“That’s right.” Naberius looked at every one of the tribe leaders in the room. “The horn of my master is proof that he is close to waking up. All that’s left is an outside interference. The seal has greatly weakened. It should be easy now to destroy it from the outside. Furthermore, the portal to the Human Realm is also located inside the Arzomos village. If we succeed in this plan…”

The tentacles of Plagas—the Lord of the Parasitic Demons—squirmed from uneasiness. “The Arzomos are still guarding it. Although there are fewer than a hundred, Agreas and Kel’ Vual alone are enough to kill all gathered here in this room.”

“Agreas suffered grave injuries when he killed the Demon Lord Kalkarus. Although several hundred years have passed, it should still be impossible for him to have fully recovered from that battle,” said Naberius. “The only real threat is Kel’ Vual. That old demon who’s close to reaching the limit of his lifespan.”

Now that they thought of it, Naberius had a point. Although Agreas and Kel’ Vual were monsters capable of sealing one of the three strongest Demon Lords in history, they had become too old. Furthermore, Agreas had suffered grave injuries during his battles with the Demon Lords Barkuvara and Kalkarus. He was nothing but a shell of his former prime now.

“My tribe has run out of lands to corrupt,” said Digtree, the Lord of the Corrupted Land. “The portal to the human land protected by the Arzomos sounds… enticing.”

Xazal, the Lord of Sea Demons, shook her head in dismay. “I came here with high expectations. But, Naberius, if you do not have a concrete plan to win against the Arzomos, my tribe will opt out of this war.”

“Your father led the vanguard army during the Great War. It seems that unlike him, his daughter grew up as a coward,” sneered the Lord of the Corrupted Land.

Xazal raised her long, scaly tail and pointed its tip threateningly at Digtree. “Unlike you, my tribe will not benefit from this war. The sea of the Demon Realm is vast. We have no need for the portal to the human land. Consider this: Even if Agreas is old and injured, he’s still the demon who sealed the Demon Lord Barkuvara and killed Demon Lord Kalkarus. Don’t be foolish! All of you will die if you attack the Arzomos village now.”

“That remains to be seen. And think about this, Xazal, you and your tribe will lose the favor of Barkuvara when he wakes,” said Malphas.

“It doesn’t matter.” Xazal stood up, unperturbed by the Lord of the Sky Demons’ remark. She looked at Naberius for a moment, then left the room, leaving the six tribe leaders behind.

Naberius was untroubled despite this, as though he’d expected at least one of them to leave.

“If there is anyone else who wishes to leave…” Naberius said as he scanned the faces of everyone in the room.

“Only short-sighted fools like Xazal will opt out of this war even after seeing the broken horn,” said Elrenar. “The Red Tower will send two hundred thousand demons. But under one condition.”

“A condition,” said Naberius. “What is it?”

Elrenar licked his lips. “The bodies of Agreas, Kel’ Vual, and the rest of the Arzomos. I want them.”

Naberius had heard that Elrenar had been conducting a lot of gruesome experiments in the Red Tower for several hundred years now. He’d even heard that they’d managed to create the perfect chimera—a strong yet obedient monster capable of killing a high demon.

Under normal circumstances, Naberius wouldn’t have enlisted help from this lunatic. But the Red Tower was among the most reliable forces in the land right now.

“I promise to intercede on the Red Tower’s behalf once my master wakes up,” said Naberius. “As long as the master permits it, the bodies of all the Arzomos will belong to the Red Tower after the war.”

Elrenar grinned and laughed. “Don’t go back on your word, Naberius! Finally! The corpse of an Arzomos!”

Naberius locked eyes with Malphas.

She said, “I will mobilize all of the sky demons under my command.”

Naberius was satisfied with her answer. “My master is benevolent. You shall be handsomely rewarded for this favor,” said Naberius.

“I’ll look forward to it,” said Malphas, her voice soothing to the ears.

Plagas rubbed his chin with his tentacles. He was still reluctant. After all, the Arzomos Tribe was among the three strongest tribes in the Demon Realm.

Should he participate in this battle and earn the favor of Barkuvara? As the weakest tribe leader in this room, Plagas was not confident of surviving if the leader of the Arzomos chose to target him.

Plagas carefully considered the pros and cons of the battle. Eventually, he came to a decision.

“Very well,” Plagas said. “My parasitic demons will also lend their strength in this war.”

The Lord of the Corrupted Land touched the table using his fingertips. The part that made contact with his fingers formed cracks, before turning to dust.

“My interest lies not in the demon sealed in the ice prison,” said Digtree. “The portal to the Human Realm. I want unrestricted access to it.”

“Consider it done,” said Naberius. He turned to the last tribe leader, who’d remained silent until now—Azrath, the Lord of the Wraiths.

Seeing Naberius’ gaze, Azrath closed his eyes as he hesitated for a moment. He reluctantly said, “The wraith army will lend their aid to help unseal the Demon Lord Barkuvara.”

Naberius understood the reason behind Azrath’s hesitation. His master held animosity toward the wraiths before he was sealed by the Arzomos, over a thousand years ago. It was surprising that the Lord of Wraiths was participating in this attack since they’d suffered a lot during the reign of the Demon Lord Barkuvara.

“Like I said previously, the master is benevolent,” Naberius reiterated to Azrath. “He will surely return this favor.”

Azrath finally relaxed.

This was obviously what Azrath had been hoping for. Since it was only a matter of time before the Demon Lord woke up, the wraiths probably deemed it best to participate in unsealing Barkuvara, lest they suffer from his tyranny once again. No matter how cruel Barkuvara was, he still held the pride of an absolute ruler. He would surely show favor upon the tribes who helped unseal him from the ice prison.

Naberius spread his arms wide and declared, “And finally, my army. More than ten million lesser demons from the capital, and three hundred fire giants. A week from now, we shall launch an attack on the Arzomos village.” Naberius paused and looked at everyone in the room. “This time, we shall unseal the demon trapped in the ice prison.”

VOLUME 7: PROLOGUE PART II

The eighty-seven remaining members of the Arzomos tribe were inside the Great Cavern, where the ice prison was located. After their sentries spotted the massive army headed their way, Agreas, the Elder of the tribe, issued an order for everyone to gather.

“I’m sure every one of you is aware of this already,” said Agreas. “A massive army is headed here as we speak.”

Every one of the Arzomos held grim faces as they listened to the Elder.

Agreas touched the ice prison, and using his fingertips, traced the cracks that had formed on it several days ago. Grey-black wisp seeped out of the cracks.

“Thankfully, Kel’ Vual and I have been preparing for this day for hundreds of years,” said Agreas. “All for the sake of the survival of the Arzomos tribe.”

Agreas looked at the current tribe leader of the Arzomos. A muscular demon with numerous tattoos on his body. “Isn’t that right, Kel?”

Kel’ Vual clenched his fists. “Is this really what you want, Agreas? I don’t mind dying here with you in this war.”

Agreas smiled and shook his head. “If you die, who will lead the survivors of our tribe? Unlike a crippled demon like me, you are still needed by the tribe. Kel, you know more than anyone else; you must survive.”

The tribe leader’s shoulders shook upon hearing those words.

“Luvart,” Agreas said to the young Arzomos next to the tribe leader. “You still remember the dungeon we built underneath the lake, right?”

“Yes, Elder.”

“Jaraxus should have raised several nests by now,” said Agreas. “Seek her help. Lead our people there. That dungeon will be our tribe’s haven.”

“I will do my best to lead them to the dungeon, Elder!” Luvart said resolutely.

Although he wanted to stay behind and defend the Great Cavern until his body turned to dust, he decided to heed the Elder’s commands. The Elder had decided to be the one to stay behind to alter the portal. It was apparent that he planned on dying here, for the sake of their tribe’s survival.

Looking back, Luvart realized the extent of the Elder’s insight. Realizing that the ice prison had greatly weakened and the sealed demon would awaken imminently, the Elder quickly formulated a plan to ensure their tribe’s survival.

A few hundred years ago, the Elder entered the portal and journeyed through the Human Realm. In exchange for helping a human found his own kingdom, the Elder was given free rein and support over a piece of land. The Elder created a vast dungeon filled with monster-producing nests, which would serve as its guardians. A dungeon underneath a lake.

“Use this key to open the entrance to the dungeon.” Agreas handed Luvart a gemstone with inscribed runes. “Under normal circumstances, the entrance would only open during a full moon to limit the escape of the monsters created by the nests. But as long as you have that key with you, it should be possible to enter.”

Luvart carefully stored the key inside his pouch. He bowed to the Elder. “This key, I’ll use it well.”

Agreas gazed fondly at Luvart. The child had really grown splendidly. His resolve was more than enough for him to be called a warrior.

“Kel, I’ll leave the young ones in your hands.”

Kel’ Vual placed his hand on Agreas’ shoulders and gripped it tight. “If you’re going to die, at least take Naberius with you. It’s about time for that bastard to die.”

Agreas chuckled. “Of course. I plan on doing exactly that. The demon army will be here soon. Go.”

The members of the Arzomos tribe clenched their fists and struck their chests in salute.

“We will never forget what you’ve done for us, Elder!”

“We shall always be grateful for everything, Elder Agreas!”

After the warm farewells, the members of the Arzomos tribe started entering the portal deep within the cavern. After the last Arzomos had escaped, Agreas proceeded with his next plans.

Agreas activated the magic formations he and Kel’ Vual had been painstakingly creating for hundreds of years. Five thirty-meter magic circles came to life and started absorbing mana from the mana well below. Five pinnacle-grade spells wrapped around the two-hundred-meter portal and forcefully shrank it to a third of its size. After suppressing the portal, Agreas skillfully altered its coordinates. Even if by chance it became fully functional again, the demons that entered would find themselves right in the middle of the ocean, far away from human lands.

“I really wish I could see it,” Agreas laughed, “the look of despair on their faces when they try to enter the portal.”

Agreas still hadn’t fully recovered from the injuries he’d sustained in his battles against Barkuvara and Kalkarus. He knew that the moment he severed the pathway connecting the portal to the mana well underground, he would be left with little energy to fight against the massive army outside.

But this was something that must be done before he died.

Agreas touched the portal, and using his own mana, controlled the pinnacle-grade spells and started severing the pathway connecting the mana well to the portal.

The pathway resisted at first, but with Agreas’ skillful guidance, it was eventually destroyed.

The portal shrank even further the moment it lost its largest source of mana. Soon, it was only big enough to accommodate three carriages.

Agreas stared in satisfaction at his creation.

Without the mana well to fuel it, and with five pinnacle-grade spells suppressing it, only a limited number of demons would be able to cross over to the Human Realm. Smaller demons could probably enter, but it would be impossible for large demons to enter the Human Realm.

Before leaving the Great Cavern, Agreas cast one last look at the creature sealed within the ice prison. He knew that this would be the last time he would be seeing this demon.

***

Naberius and the other tribe leaders led the massive army marching toward the Great Cavern. If they included the flying demons in the sky, almost fifteen million demons were participating in this war. At the rear of the massive army were hundreds of thirty-meter tall fire giants.

Holding a wooden cane in his hand, Agreas stood right outside the Arzomos village as he watched the marching army close the distance.

When the demon army was only several hundred meters from the village, Naberius ordered everyone to halt. The lesser demons, flesh eaters, tormentors, parasitic demons, and wraiths stopped in their tracks. The sky demons hovered in the sky.

Sitting on the shoulder of a fire giant, Naberius looked at the old demon standing at the entrance of the village. He amplified his voice with magic. “It’s been a while, Agreas.”

Agreas also amplified his voice using a spell. He said in an unhurried, calm voice, “Indeed. How many years has it been?”

Naberius looked at the village. For some strange reason, it felt unnaturally empty.

“I don’t see Kel’ Vual and the other Arzomos,” said Naberius.

“Kel and the young ones left this village some time ago. You won’t find them here, Naberius.”

“They fled the village?” Naberius couldn’t believe it. Had he known that this demon, close to death, was the only one guarding the entrance to the Great Cavern, he wouldn’t have bothered bringing all of the tribe leaders here. He believed that the hundreds of fire giants and several millions of lesser demons from the capital would have been enough to suppress Agreas.

“Fled? No, I asked them to leave the Demon Realm,” corrected Agreas. “The warriors of our tribe are no cowards. Had I not insisted that they leave the Great Cavern in my hands, those brave warriors would have fought with me until their bodies turned to dust.”

Naberius was no fool. He realized that Agreas had done something to the portal. He wouldn’t have been as confident revealing that the other Arzomos had left this realm, otherwise.

“You! What did you do to the portal?” snarled Naberius.

“I wonder?” Agreas chuckled as he lightly tilted his head to the side. “Naberius, what would happen if the pathway connecting the portal to the mana well is cut?”

Naberius shuddered.

The answer was simple: the portal would continuously shrink in size, until it became small enough to prevent anyone from crossing over to the other realm.

Although closing the portal completely was impossible, cutting the supply of mana coming from the mana well was more than enough to limit entry into the portal.

But how did Agreas do it? Cutting the pathway connecting the mana well to the portal was no easy feat.

Naberius was enraged. “This old demon! Until the very end, you chose to side with those humans! This damn traitor!”

Naberius released the restriction spell binding his body. Slowly, he turned into a fifty-meter tall fire giant—almost twice the size of the regular fire giants at the rear of the army.

Naberius’ golem body was filled with flowing, molten lava, and fire continuously spewed out of the sockets of his eyes. Two large horns protruded from his forehead.

With a voice far deeper than before, he roared, “Kill him!”

The fire giants at the rear of the army also roared, and the sky demons above screeched. The flesh eaters jumped toward Agreas as the parasitic demons started burrowing themselves underground.

Naberius sent a telepathic message to the Lord of the Sky Demons. “Fly over the village and enter the Great Cavern. I’ll keep Agreas occupied.”

Malphas nodded her head and replied, “Understood.”

She flapped her wings then swooped down, but before she could even cross the village, a massive barrier suddenly appeared and barred her from entering the Great Cavern.

The pinnacle-grade barrier—Heaven’s Dominion—had been activated and was currently protecting the Great Cavern. Malphas fired several spells at it, but the barrier wouldn’t even budge.

Agreas grinned. “We’ve been preparing for this day for hundreds of years. Fools.” He roused the mana and miasma in his body and forcefully opened all of the pathways within his core. Like a raging river, mana gushed out of Agreas’ body and amplified his strength severalfold.

Agreas’ twig-like limbs grew bulkier, and the tattered wings on his back grew in size.

Without uttering another word, Agreas shot toward Naberius, reaching him in seconds. He grabbed his head, and despite the vast difference in size, slammed it toward the ground, creating a large crater upon impact.

The speed displayed by Agreas far exceeded anything they’d expected. Even the Lord of the Fire Giants couldn’t react to his attack.

All of the demons who saw it were stunned at the surreal sight. A two-meter large demon had just thrown the fifty-meter giant to the ground.

And Agreas didn’t stop.

Before Naberius could even stand up, a massive ball of energy had already formed in Agreas’ hand. The ball of energy shot toward Naberius and upon making contact with his body, exploded into numerous shards of ice.

The fire shrouding the body of Naberius was rendered useless, as the ice continued encasing the Lord of the Fire Giants’ body.

“H-Hey, you’re kidding right?” said Malphas.

She’d heard that Agreas had never fully recovered from the injuries he’d sustained during the Great War. But what’s this? He took out Naberius with just two attacks.

“What are you fools doing?” Naberius shouted to all the demons around him. “Help me!”

The sky demons swooped and attacked Agreas from all sides. Several parasitic demons shot out of the ground and tried ensnaring Agreas’ body, while the tormentors swung their axes at him.

And all of them missed their target.

To their surprise, Agreas suddenly vanished. Malphas shuddered, her instinct was screaming that she should fly far away from this battlefield. She looked back, and to her horror, saw Agreas right next to her. Malphas released a flurry of attacks using her claws, but they did nothing but scratch the body of the old Arzomos.

Agreas grabbed Malphas’ hand.

“W-Wait! Listen to me!” said Malphas.

Her hand quickly turned into ice, and the freezing cold flowed through her whole body. She was certain that at this rate, she would meet the same fate as the Lord of the Fire Giants.

“Protect me!” Malphas shrieked at the top of her lungs.

Several sky demons heeded her call. They flew toward Agreas at a frightening speed, but the old Arzomos simply summoned thousands of ice spears and shot them toward the sky demons.

The sky demons who were impaled by the spell turned to ice, dropped from the sky, and shattered upon striking the ground.

Malphas was horrified at this sight.

Unlike the Demon Lord Barkuvara, the Immortal Demon , she wouldn’t survive the moment her body turned to ice.

Malphas squirmed as she tried breaking free from Agreas’ spell, but her body—half-frozen by the spell—refused to listen. Eventually, her whole body turned to ice.

Agreas clenched his fist, drew his arms back, and struck her with all his might.

Malphas’ frozen body shattered into numerous shards of ice upon impact, before falling toward the ground.

She saw the Lord of the Red Tower grinning as he watched her falling from the sky. The Lord of the Parasitic Demons had already hidden himself underground—as expected of a coward. The Lord of the Corrupted Land started summoning a corrupted tower. Only the Lord of the Wraiths tried to help her and Naberius, whose body was now almost completely encased in ice.

Damn it.

Had she known that she would meet a pathetic end here, she would have opted out of this war.

Moments before her death, she cussed at the other tribe leaders.

VOLUME 7: PROLOGUE PART III

Although he looked perfectly fine on the outside, Agreas could feel that his core was reaching its limit. The amount of mana he’d expended when he altered the portal, coupled with the injuries he’d sustained during the Great War had taken their toll on his body.

“I’ve become too old,” he muttered to himself.

He remembered the times when he was still in his prime. As a demon who specialized in ice magic, he was tasked by the former tribe leader to investigate the Frost Mountains of Yleonor over a thousand years ago. And there, he met that human.

Looking back, it was indeed one of the most exciting moments of his life. He remembered the times when they journeyed through Marut and visited various monster settlements in the wasteland. They ate together, fought together. A bond that transcended the boundaries of both races.

“With this, I’ve fulfilled my promise to him.” Agreas gently smiled as he reminisced.

He looked at the flock of sky demons surrounding him and at the sea of demons below.

Now that he’d managed to take down Malphas and Naberius, he decided to end everything using the strongest spell he could muster in his current state. He decided to take as many enemies down with him as possible.

Agreas started casting his spell and a colossal magic formation that covered a large portion of the sky manifested itself. Without hesitation, he poured all of his remaining mana into it, wringing his core dry in the process. The magic formation continued sucking the torrent of mana coming from Agreas. Slowly, Agreas’ muscular body reverted to its former twig-like state. He didn’t stop, even when he became nothing but skin and bones, even when the sky demons started attacking him and cutting his body with their claws.

And finally, the spell was activated.

The magic formation glowed brightly for a moment, shattered into numerous particles of light, and turned into a massive spinning vortex of ice.

“I’ll take at least half of you with me,” said Agreas.

This was his farewell gift, as the Elder of the tribe, to the other Arzomos who’d managed to escape.

He clasped his hands together as though in prayer and willed the ice vortex to swallow everything in sight. The sky howled as a massive hailstorm struck the region and quickly froze everything it touched.

Even the fire giants, who’d been trying to break Naberius free from the ice, were helpless against the attack. Several dozen of them managed to run away on time, but more than a hundred instantly turned to ice.

The leaders of the army issued the order to retreat, but it proved futile. The wraiths and tormentors quickly managed to move back, but most of the lesser demons, flesh eaters, and a third of the parasitic demons couldn’t evade the attack.

Even the corrupted tower that had been summoned by the Lord of the Corrupted Land froze before it could infest the ground.

Eventually, the ice vortex vanished and the hailstorm receded, revealing millions of frozen demons in its wake. The demons who saw this sight shuddered not just from the cold, but from sheer terror.

They wondered how strong that old demon had been in his prime.

So, this was the might of the demon who sealed the Demon Lord Barkuvara and killed the Demon Lord Kalkarus.

Even the Lord of the Fire Giants and the Lord of the Sky Demons were rendered helpless against his might.

They looked up to the sky and saw the demon who’d cast the catastrophic spell. He looked so shriveled, as though the spell sucked not only his mana but also his remaining lifeforce.

The old demon wobbled in the air, lost consciousness, and finally fell toward the ground.

“As expected of the one who sealed the Immortal Demon.” Elrenar, the Lord of the Red Tower, chuckled. His three faces, which had been stitched together, were smiling broadly. The first face was that of a lesser demon, the second was that of a beastman, and the third a grotesque-looking monster.

It was a well-known fact in the Demon Realm that the Lord of the Red Tower used to be a lesser demon before he became the monster he was today. But unlike those mindless brutes, Elrenar had been blessed with intellect far surpassing his peers. Despite being a lesser demon, using his own abilities, he rose in rank and eventually founded the Red Tower. A place where he conducted experiments to satiate his never-ending thirst for knowledge.

Due to the limit in the lifespan of a lesser demon, Elrenar even went as far as merging himself with the body of a windigo—an ancient monster who could live for thousands of years. Even the beastman head he’d been using was a prominent figure who’d lived more than a thousand years ago. A beastman who once united all of the beastmen tribes.

Unlike the other tribe leaders, Elrenar had expected something like this to happen when he’d heard that only Agreas remained in the village. He ordered the tormentors under his command to move toward the rear of the army, preventing most of them from being swept up by the spell. Unlike the other armies, his tormentors were practically untouched.

‘ My beloved pet. Secure the bod y , ’ Elrenar gave a mental transmission to the creature hiding underground.

The creature had the head of a death worm, the body of a gryphon, and the core of a high-ranking parasitic nest.

A chimera.

The culmination of all the research Elrenar had done in the Red Tower. The strongest creature he had ever created. Elrenar was confident of surviving this war accompanied by this monster.

Under Elrenar’s command, the chimera quickly moved underground, as though it was running on flat ground. It unburrowed itself next to where Agreas’ body landed. Using its mouth filled with serrated teeth, it grabbed the unconscious body and brought it to its master.

The chimera gently placed the body of the unconscious old demon on the ground and gazed at its master with expectant eyes.

“Good work.” Elrenar stroked the monster’s head as he looked at the unconscious body lying on the ground.

Finally, he’d obtained the body of an Arzomos. And not just anyone—he’d obtained the body of one of the strongest in the tribe.

Judging by Agreas’ withered body and the faint mana oozing out of him, this old demon had very little time left to live. Since he was going to die anyway, why not become the Lord of the Red Tower’s fourth head?

Elrenar could already imagine how powerful he would become once he’d merged with this demon.

“Elrenar, we should kill him while we still have the chance,” said the Lord of the Corrupted Land.

Elrenar said, “No. It’s up to me to decide what will happen to this Arzomos.”

The Lord of the Corrupted Land glared at Elrenar. “Don’t be a fool. Didn’t we agree beforehand that we’ll be killing all of the Arzomos!”

Elrenar haughtily replied, “Now that Naberius is dead, we’re free to do whatever we want. This body, it’s mine. Instead of grabbing my prey, shouldn’t you focus on breaking the huge barrier protecting the Great Cavern instead?”

Indeed, right now, the pinnacle-grade barrier was still protecting the cavern.

The Lord of the Corrupted Land didn’t like what Elrenar was saying. In a deep voice, he spat, “Kill him. You’ve seen how dangerous that old demon could be.”

Although Elrenar could merge with an already dead body, according to his research, merging with a creature on its deathbed would always produce the most ideal results.

“I will,” said Elrenar. “But not until I’ve merged with the body of this Arzomos.”

The Lord of the Corrupted Land was clearly dissatisfied with Elrenar’s reply, but seeing the chimera by his side, he backed down. He clicked his tongue. “Do what you want.”

The Lord of the Corrupted Land looked around the battlefield. He roared, “Plagas! Where are you! Come out!”

From the ground, a tentacle demon squirmed out.

“You damn coward! There you are!” said the Lord of the Corrupted Land.

Plagas looked left and right. He stuttered, “I-It’s over, right? He’s… He’s dead, right?”

“How long are you going to keep hiding? Azrath already started breaking the barrier.”

Plagas looked at the entrance of the Arzomos village. Azrath had summoned tens of thousands of phantasms—a higher form of wraith—and ordered them to simultaneously attack the barrier protecting the cavern. Even the sky demons, flesh eaters, and the fire giants that had managed to survive started attacking the barrier.

Still, despite the number of demons trying to break it, the pinnacle-grade spell refused to budge an inch. It started forming cracks—but that was it.

“That barrier was probably created using the mana from the mana well,” Elrenar concluded. “It’s even more powerful than your typical pinnacle-grade spell.”

Plagas looked at Elrenar, and upon seeing the withered demon he was carrying over his shoulder, he shrieked in terror. Color drained off his greasy face. “T-That’s! What are you doing? Why is that monster still alive?” shouted Plagas, his tentacles pointing at the unconscious demon Elrenar was carrying.

“Calm down, fool. He destroyed his core with that last attack,” said Elrenar. “Even a weakling like you should be able to kill him right now.”

Although Plagas had several complaints, he chose to shut his mouth. The chimera sitting next to the Lord of the Red Tower was too domineering. He was afraid of becoming its meal if he overstepped his bounds. Although Plagas was a high demon, he was still the weakest among the tribe leaders gathered here right now.

Elrenar grinned as he looked at the barrier. “Now, let’s free the so-called Immortal Demon, shall we?”

Elrenar issued out his commands. The hundreds of thousands of tormentors under his command, along with the chimera, joined in with the attack.

***

[Behemoth City—Capital of the Kingdom]

It had been several months since the king’s health had recovered. Thus, he decided to partake in the hunting competition, held annually at the end of spring.

At the forest edge near the capital, just outside the barrier, over a hundred nobles gathered. Accompanied by a guard and a few servants, they all held bows—while some of the younger ones brought knives and swords.

“There are a lot more nobles attending the competition this year,” remarked Marquis Carlos. The retired general stood by the king’s side and served as his personal guard. “Disgusting turncoats. Now that Duke Kelvin’s imprisoned in the dungeon and His Majesty has recovered his health, they’re trying to jump to the royal faction.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” King Alvis said wisely, “Even if it’s only a pretext, as long as it brings peace to our people, shouldn’t we embrace it with open arms? When we were young, didn’t you hate me too, Carlos?”

Marquis Carlos didn’t expect the king to bring up the past like this. He awkwardly scratched his stubble. “I was still a kid back then, Your Majesty.”

King Alvis chuckled. “You even pointed your sword at me. What was it again? ‘You don’t deserve to be the crown prince! Someone like you! The spawn of that tyrant king!’”

The king skillfully mimicked the way Marquis Carlos had threatened him. Seeing the flushed face of the retired general, the king laughed heartily.

Marquis Carlos lowered his head and gazed at the ground in embarrassment. King Alvis patted his lifelong friend on the back. “But look at us now. We’ve been friends for four decades, right? These nobles too. Let’s give them a chance.”

King Alvis looked to where most of the nobles had gathered and saw several familiar faces.

“Carlos, what is the best archer of the kingdom doing here, in a hunting competition?” said the king.

Marquis Carlos frowned. “I didn’t invite Farsight, Your Majesty. He’s never attended a hunting competition before. That man… he hates crowded places.”

Elias ‘Farsight’, the best archer of the kingdom and one of the royal court magicians, was walking toward the king. Beside him were Priestess Thea and Lady Ropianna.

The other nobles, who’d been preparing for the hunt, momentarily stopped and stared at the new arrivals.

The three paid their respects and greeted the king.

“I didn’t realise that the three of you enjoy hunting competitions,” said the king.

Farsight remained silent. Priestess Thea smiled and shook her head. She said, “Lady Ropianna here requested we accompany her to this event, Your Majesty.”

“Ropianna did?” said the king.

Lady Ropianna slowly nodded her head. In her usual raspy voice, she said, “I’ve received a revelation from the Water God, Your Majesty.”

The elderly female magician looked around her for a moment, as though afraid of other people hearing her next words.

“Although it was not clear, the Water God told me to accompany you today, Your Majesty. And to bring the priestess with me,” said Lady Ropianna. “It’s rare, even for me, to receive a lengthy message from God Nereus. Something of great importance will probably happen today, and that’s why I forced Farsight to come and guard this place.”

Although Elias ‘Farsight’ remained as stoic as ever, as though he wasn’t even interested in the Water God’s revelation, he’d been constantly watching the surroundings should any danger arise.

“With Elias here, nothing too dangerous should happen,” said the king. “But it makes me wonder… For the Water God to ask all of these people to gather here at this moment.”

Baron Morivar, the chosen host for this year’s hunting competition, approached the King, bowed his head and obsequiously said, “Your Majesty, everything is ready.”

Under normal circumstances, very few nobles would have attended this year’s hunting competition since it was being hosted by a mere baron. But the sudden declaration of the king that he would be overseeing the competition made the nobles sign up for this event. Although they obviously came to build deeper connections with the ever-growing royal faction, Baron Morivar was still pleased that the event he was hosting had been such a huge success thus far.

Prestige was of great significance for the nobility. After hosting this event, Baron Morivar could proudly boast to the other nobles that King Alvis attended the hunting competition he’d hosted.

King Alvis went up the dais and said to all of the nobles, “It’s been several years since I last attended the annual hunting competition.”

The voice of King Alvis was soft and unhurried, but it held an authoritative air. The nobles could clearly see that he’d indeed regained his vitality.

“When I received the letter of invitation from Baron Morivar here”—the king looked at the baron, smiled, then gazed at the nobles gathered around the dais—“I realized that it’s been a while since I enjoyed a hunt. I’ve got to say, Baron Morivar has done a great job organizing this event.”

Baron Morivar raised his head upon hearing those words. After his second son, Omie, joined the small group led by the trash of the Marcus Duchy, their family had been losing their prestige. Maybe with this hunting competition, the Morivar Family would be able to recover the reputation they’d lost due to the black sheep of the family.

“As much as I miss the thrill of a hunt, I’m afraid that I can’t join the competition this time.” King Alvis stretched his arms wide. “We’ve released fifteen silver foxes and five red boars in the forest. It should be easy to identify them with the tags on their necks. Your goal is to hunt these elusive creatures and retrieve the tags. The one with the greatest number of tags at the end of the competition will receive a reward from the royal family itself.”

The last part of the statement stirred up the nobles. They all knew how generous King Alvis was, based on the previous awarding ceremonies held in the capital.

“Enjoy the hunt,” said the king. “And good luck!”

The hunting competition began.

For several hours, the nobles participating in the competition delved into the forest, accompanied by a single guard. Although the foxes weren’t a threat, the five red boars were capable of killing even a veteran soldier.

On the other hand, the female nobles gathered together over sweets and tea. While the males were busy with the hunt, the female nobles tried building connections with powerful individuals. They even invited Lady Ropianna, but the elderly female magician refused as she didn’t wish to leave the king’s side.

The event went on for several hours. And when it was almost dusk, those who were participating in the hunt finally returned. The winner of the competition was a fat noble from a declining Barony. Judging by the bloodstains on his guard’s armor, it was apparent that he’d received some help to win the competition.

But no one complained, nonetheless. Without anyone to monitor the forest, it was well-known that such things always happened during these competitions. Even the other nobles who’d lost received some help from the guards they’d brought. Only a handful of the nobles who participated didn’t pull off this kind of underhanded trick.

Nevertheless, the king decided to reward the winner as promised.

“Baron Cromwell, for winning this year’s hunting competition, the royal family bestows upon you the insignia of the silver arrow. A testament to your skills with the bow. Proof that you won the hunting competition,” said the king.

Elias Farsight clicked his tongue. He looked at the beautifully carved insignia that was now pinned on the fat noble’s chest. Disgusted that someone so unworthy was receiving an arrow emblem.

“Thank you, Your Majesty!” said Baron Cromwell. “This emblem shall become our family heirloom. A treasure we’ll pass from generation to generation.”

The king was about to hand the monetary reward to the baron when suddenly, lightning flashed, and the sky rumbled. Tremendous pressure swept through the hunting ground.

Elias Farsight pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow. He roared to the royal guards, “Protect His Majesty!”

Farsight noticed before everyone else: massive clumps of mana had formed in the sky. So colossal that it even far exceeded the mana used to create the barrier currently enclosing the capital.

The royal guards moved quickly to secure the king. Lady Ropianna cast several barriers around them and Marquis Carlos unsheathed his blade.

“What is happening, Farsight?” said Lady Ropianna.

The sky continued to rumble, as though it was going to be ripped apart at any moment. A pressure so massive that even the non-magicians could feel it had swept over the kingdom.

Normal humans wouldn’t be able to see that thing in the sky. But Farsight could see it despite the distance.

“It’s in the direction of Wizzert? No, it’s probably near the lake,” Farsight mumbled to himself.

“What’s going on, Farsight?” Lady Ropianna raised her voice as she repeated the question.

But Farsight didn’t answer. He channeled more mana into his eyes and was mesmerized by what he saw.

“It’s beautiful,” he whispered.

A vortex of lightning had formed right above the skies of the Lake of Full Moon. Judging by its size, it was probably as large as the lake itself. And inside this vortex, an azure sphere slowly emerged.

The azure sphere glowed brightly for a moment, before receding inside the vortex. The vortex rapidly spun and slowly shrank, eventually disappearing from sight.

The rumbling of the sky finally stopped, but the nobles were still rooted by fear on the ground.

Lady Ropianna was about to ask Farsight about what he saw in the sky, when suddenly, her vision turned white. She felt something warm touching her face and neck, as though someone was embracing her body.

The sensation was oddly familiar.

It was the same sensation she always had when she was speaking with the Water God.

‘My child. As we’ve promised, we shall give a revelation when the time has come. The demon sealed in the ice prison has been set free. Seek the help of the one who traveled through time. It is the only future wherein the human race survives.’

And the vision ended.

Lady Ropianna found herself standing on the hunting ground once again. She looked around and saw the nobles still rooted by fear on the ground. When her eyes met Priestess Thea’s, she realized that she was not the only one who received the message from the Water God.

“You heard it too?” said Lady Ropianna.

Priestess Thea slowly nodded her head, her face pallid from horror. “It’s the first time I’ve heard her voice. But somehow, I’m sure that it was her… God Nereus.”

“And what did she say to you, Priestess?”

“She told me”—Priestess Thea looked up at the sky—“to seek the help of the one who traveled through time.”

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 1

“William, prepare the carriage,” said Big Mona. “I shall depart for Blackstone Town right away.”

His assistant, who was still pallid from terror over what Big Mona had done to the slave, strongly nodded his head. “Y-Yes! Right away!”

After the assistant left the room, Big Mona spoke to the slave sprawled on the ground, “And you. Get out.”

The slave grabbed the hem of her clothes and ran out of the room, as though afraid of Big Mona changing his mind.

“Another recovery potion,” muttered Big Mona as he gazed at the pool of blood the slave had left behind. “A far stronger one at that.”

The fat merchant went toward the mirror next to the desk, fixed his garb, and flashed a smile. He looked dashing today, he thought.

Several knocks were heard on the door. The assistant said, “Sir, the carriage is ready.”

Big Mona cast one last look at the mirror, before leaving the merchant guild.

“To Blackstone Town,” the fat merchant instructed the coachman.

Big Mona was about to mount the carriage when suddenly, lightning flashed, and the sky rumbled. The horses neighed and thrashed about. Big Mona took several steps back, narrowly evading a kick in the stomach from one of the horses.

“What’s happening?” said Big Mona.

All of the passersby on the street were struck by terror as the heavens continued to rumble. Most of them were staring at the lightning that continued flashing in the sky, while some rushed inside the nearest house they could find. The rumbling of the sky was so loud that it muffled the screams from the terrified citizens, the sound of bawling children, and the neighing of horses. Moreover, an inexplainable, tremendous pressure swept over Lion City.

“W-What the hell is that?”

Big Mona’s eyes widened when he saw the vortex of lightning in the sky. Judging by its direction, it seemed to have appeared right above the monster-infested lake. Inside the vortex of lightning, an azure sphere slowly emerged.

It was definitely massive, for them to see it all the way here in Lion City.

Eventually, the azure sphere receded, and the lightning vortex dissipated. The rumbling of the sky stopped and the massive pressure that had swept over the entire city vanished along with it.

The citizens who’d witnessed the phenomenon started talking among themselves. Soon, buzzing and murmurs filled the streets.

Big Mona looked at the merchants guild. His merchant’s intuition was telling him that now wasn’t the best time to go to Blackstone Town—to stay in the city.

“My gut has never been wrong before,” he mumbled. After pondering over it, Big Mona had decided. He went inside the guild and gathered the shadows that had been protecting the merchants guild for years. The same people who guarded him back when he first negotiated with Lark Marcus.

“You called for us, sir?” said the leader of the group.

“You saw the sky, didn’t you? It’s in the direction of the Lake of the Full Moon. Investigate what happened.”

“As you wish.”

The shadows bowed their heads and disappeared from sight. Big Mona leaned on his chair and sighed. He really had a bad feeling about this. The scary thing was his gut feeling was always right.

Half a day after receiving their orders, the shadows returned and gave their report. Big Mona hadn’t expected them so soon. Something must have happened—and he was right.

When he received their reports, Big Mona was horrified.

“A horde of monsters?” said Big Mona in disbelief.

“Yes, sir. And it’s several times larger than the wave that attacked the city two weeks ago.”

“It doesn’t make sense! It’s not even a full moon! Why are monsters coming out of the lake? Right in the middle of the day!” said Big Mona.

According to his men, the monster horde easily passed the thirty thousand mark. It was almost ten times the number of monsters that attacked Lion City the previous month.

Big Mona remembered how the monsters destroyed a portion of the merchants guild back when they managed to breach the walls. They even broke through the underground basement and damaged several treasures kept inside.

“It’s not even a full moon,” Big Mona muttered to himself. “Is it related to that thing we saw in the sky?”

The fat merchant was certain that this was the first time something like this happened. Although the city was currently protected by the magic towers built by Lark Marcus, Big Mona doubted they would be enough against the current monster horde.

Big Mona wondered if that damnable Valcres was somehow responsible for this. He’d already told that fool to stop poking the hornet’s nest. That it would be better to leave the adamantite vein underneath the lake alone.

What if this happened because the city lord kept sending his men to that lake?

“Valcres sent more than a hundred soldiers to the lake before,” said Big Mona. “What happened to them?”

“Most of them are dead,” said the leader of the shadows. “But we spotted a few scouts who managed to escape. The city should hear of this news soon.”

A shout was heard outside the room. It was the administrative assistant.

“Sir! It’s terrible!”

Although the assistant entered the room without even knocking, the shadows managed to conceal themselves on time, disappearing the moment the young man entered the room.

“You’re too loud,” spat Big Mona. “What is it?”

“Sir! Monsters! Tens of thousands of them!”

Although the assistant barely made sense, Big Mona easily understood what he meant. After all, he’d already received this news from his men.

The assistant moved his hands animatedly as he added, “Monsters are coming out of the lake! I heard that there are more than thirty thousand of them. They’re coming here as we speak! The city will be overrun at this rate!”

Unlike the first time, Big Mona was calm. “What about the soldiers?”

“I believe Commander Daltos and his soldiers are currently headed toward the western gate.”

The city bells rang outside. They heard several shouts, probably people panicking upon hearing the news of the incoming monster invasion.

“Sir, we should evacuate the city while we still have time,” said the assistant, his voice pleading as tears started forming in the corners of his eyes.

“And what? Leave all of the treasures stored underground?” Big Mona glared at the young man.

“We can just load them on the carts!”

“Imbecile! There are treasures in the underground chamber that are impossible to move freely. Some of them are bound by spells to protect them from thieves. Are you telling me that we should leave all of those behind?” roared Big Mona.

The very thought of leaving all of those treasures behind filled him with wrath. It had taken him decades to acquire that much wealth—and yet, it’s still nothing compared to the Vont Family that ruled over the merchants guild in the capital.

“We can just come back for them later, sir! Your life, our lives, should be our priority!”

“Enough! I’m not leaving them behind. Although we fortified the underground chamber with thick iron doors, I have no intention of letting those monsters come and go freely in my merchants guild. I am staying here.”

“But, sir—”

“William, contact the mercenary guild. Five gold coins. Tell them that I am willing to pay each mercenary five gold coins each if they help repel this monster invasion.”

Although the sword saint was no longer here to lead the mercenary guild, the former vice leader who took over his role was said to be as strong as Commander Daltos. Moreover, the mercenaries under his command were experienced with monster subjugation.

Although it would cost him an exorbitant price, it was still better than losing the treasures in the underground chamber. Big Mona knew that now wasn’t the time to scrimp with the city’s defenses.

“And tell those fools in the Tower of Pollux. It’s about time they help with the defense of this city. Although they’re weaker than the magicians of Wizzert, they should be useful enough in defending the city. Tell their master that I’m willing to give him a few middle-grade mana stones in exchange for their participation.”

“Understood!”

By this point, the assistant had already given up on convincing Big Mona to evacuate the city. He realized that the fat merchant would rather die here than leave all of his wealth behind.

Big Mona gritted his teeth. If only the City Lord was capable, he wouldn’t have to spend this much gold and mana stones.

“I swear, if Valcres is the cause of all this mess, if this happened because he kept poking his nose on that adamantite vein!”

The City Lord was probably hiding again inside his castle right now, waiting for the storm to pass.

Back in his younger years, Valcres was an exemplary leader. He was the reason Lion City grew into the city it was today. But alas, those days had come to pass. Now, he was nothing but a shell—an incompetent one—of his prime.

Big Mona went toward the western gate. As expected, hundreds of soldiers were already there, ready to cut down any monsters that would be able to breach the walls.

The archers on the battlements were accompanied by several foot soldiers. By now, they were already accustomed to the patterns of attacks of the gorilla-frog monsters who could climb over the walls. This time, the soldiers had come up with tools to push the monsters off the walls. Below the walls were Commander Daltos and his men. The soldiers in front held large spiked iron shields, while those at the back were holding spears.

Big Mona also saw several carts moving toward the magic towers scattered throughout the city. They unloaded crates filled with kalrane stones, ready to replace the ones used by the magic towers once the battle went on.

The mercenaries, led by their new leader, Kain, also arrived. They exchange several words with Big Mona, before eventually assuming defensive formations near the wall.

“Mona, this will soon become a battlefield,” a hoarse voice said. “Go back. Hide in a safe place.”

Big Mona looked for the source of the voice and saw the Master of the Tower of Pollux, along with several dozen magicians.

This was the first time these men were participating in the city’s defense. It seemed that even their master couldn’t resist the middle-grade mana stones Big Mona offered.

“I plan on hiding, of course,” said Big Mona. “I simply came to check on the city’s defenses. With all of these soldiers, mercenaries, and magicians defending the western gate, it seems that there’s no longer a need for me to evacuate the city.”

The Tower of Pollux’s master’s face was grim. “Mona, do you know why we decided to come out of the tower and participate in the defense of the city this time?”

It’s because of the middle-grade mana stones promised as a reward, right ? thought Big Mona.

As though reading what was on Big Mona’s mind, the master shook his head and said, “The mana stones are enticing, but that’s not it. Mona, you saw the thing in the sky, didn’t you?”

“The huge sphere that appeared in the sky several hours ago.”

The master nodded. “It resembles the thing described in our books. A portal. And judging by the size, it’s definitely one that connects our realm to another.”

The hair on Big Mona’s nape rose upon hearing this. He finally realized why these magicians who usually secluded themselves in their tower came out to help defend the city.

The monsters were one thing. But if the sphere that appeared in the sky several hours ago was indeed a portal to another realm…

Big Mona couldn’t even imagine the fate that awaited Lion City.

“The portal closed as soon as it opened,” said the master. He stroked his ashen beard. “I wonder. Opening and closing a portal that big is no trivial matter.”

The bells of the city rang once again.

The monsters were finally spotted on the outskirts of Lion City.

***

Lark flew out of the window of his office the moment he felt the massive clumps of mana in the sky. When he saw the lightning vortex in the sky and the sphere that emerged from it, his eyes widened.

It was a portal. There was no doubt about it.

But peculiarly, the portal closed the moment it opened, as though someone on the other side had been controlling it.

Several thoughts started running through Lark’s mind.

Why did the portal close as soon as it opened? Where was the portal connected to?

Unless they’d made preparations beforehand, closing something that big was no easy feat, even for him.

The small communication crystal tied on Lark’s neck glowed softly for a second and a familiar voice was heard.

“God Evander, are you alright? Should we fly straight to Blackstone Town right now?”

It seemed that even the Scylla felt the massive clumps of mana despite its distance from Blackstone Town. The amount of mana that swept through the kingdom when the portal appeared was so large that even the non-magicians felt it.

“Hey, why are you the only one talking to him?”

“That’s right! Look at what you did! You ruined our very first message!”

“I won our competition fair and square! So, shut it!”

“What competition? You won only one out of the three!”

“This damn cheater! I’ll bite your head off!”

Using draconian language, the Scylla’s heads bickered with each other.

“I am fine,” said Lark. All seven heads shut their mouths and listened attentively to Lark. “There’s no need to come to Blackstone Town. I’ll fly over to where that thing appeared and check it myself.”

“But it might be dangerous!”

“Please at least take us with you!”

“That’s right, God Evander! Please let us accompany you!”

“Also… We’ve recently made a very comfortable chair befitting God Evander! You can use it while you ride on top of my head!”

Lark smiled. He could only imagine how odd it would look.

“Top of your head? What are you saying to God Evander? We’ve all agreed that it’s better for him to ride on top of our body! It’ll be more comfortable that way!”

“Everyone, calm down. You are being disrespectful to our God.”

With those words, the Scylla once again quieted down.

Lark said, “If my hunch is correct, the thing that appeared in the sky is a portal. Judging by its size, it could be connected to the continent of Marut, or worse, to the Demon Realm.”

“Demon Realm,” repeated the Scylla. “Then… are demons invading the kingdom?”

“It’s unlikely.” Lark shook his head. “The amount of time the portal was open was too short. Although I still don’t know why a portal opened right above the Kingdom of Lukas, it’s impossible for a demon army to cross over to this place in such a short period of time. I’ll check it all by myself. Blackie, while I’m gone, please watch over Blackstone Town.”

“Understood, God Evander.”

“Thank you,” said Lark.

Lark deactivated the communication crystal. After leaving a note on his desk informing Gaston that he would be gone for a short period of time, he flew up and shot toward the portal.

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 2

“Commander, we’ve opened the southern gates as you ordered.”

Commander Daltos, the professed protector of Lion City, nodded his head upon hearing the report of his men. Currently on the battlements, his eyes gazing at the approaching monster horde.

“Good work. You may go back to your post,” said the Commander.

The soldier hesitated for a moment then said, “Sir, is this… alright? We’re going against the Lord’s command.”

Without turning around to face the soldier, Commander Daltos, his face grim, uttered, “I will take full responsibility. Let those who wish to leave the city flee through the southern gate. I’m uncertain if we’ll be able to protect everyone this time. This is the right choice to make, even if we have to go against the orders of Lord Valcres. Do you understand?”

The soldier clenched his fists upon hearing this. He saluted. “As you command!”

Commander Daltos couldn’t shake off the ominous feeling in his chest. Although they were protected by the towers created by the Lord of Blackstone Town, for some reason, he felt that they wouldn’t be enough to defend against the monsters this time.

That creature at the back…

Commander Daltos felt uneasy whenever he looked at the creature at the rear of the approaching horde. It looked like a giant wasp with a disproportionately large belly occupying almost its entire body.

“Commander, that monster at the rear of the horde…” said one of the soldiers next to Daltos.

“We’ll need to kill that one at all costs,” said the commander.

The soldiers around him all agreed. They also felt uneasy whenever they looked at that creature. Their instincts were telling them that one was extremely dangerous.

“They’re almost within range,” said the commander. “Sound the horn.”

One of the soldiers blew the horn. Hearing it, those assigned to operate the towers scattered all throughout the city started moving the blocks located at their base, and placed the kalrane stones inside. The towers sucked in the energy from the kalrane stones, activated the sigils, and gathered the energy into their tips.

“Ready.” Commander Daltos raised his hand into the air and abruptly pulled it down. He roared, “Fire!”

The gong was struck, and the towers started firing bolts of lightning at the monster horde, one after another. Although there was only a few bolts, each of them was powerful enough to kill a monster with a single strike.

But it wasn’t enough to deter the horde from advancing toward the city. The gorilla-frog monsters in particular started running toward the walls upon seeing the humans on top of the battlement. The archers started shooting them the moment they were in range, but their muscular bodies proved to be strong enough to repel the arrows. Using their webbed hands, and sharp claws, the gorilla-frog monsters began climbing the walls.

Commander Daltos pulled out his sword and ordered his men to activate the simple devices they’d invented just for these monsters. The large logs sitting on top of the merlons were pushed out of the walls, their ends tied to a previously erected pole. The logs struck the monsters climbing the walls, crushing their bodies in an instant.

“Pull out the logs!” shouted the commander. “Crush their skulls! Beat them to a pulp! Keep hitting these disgusting bastards!”

The soldiers pulled the thick ropes tied to the logs, lifting them back to where they were, then pushed them off the walls again, crushing the next wave of monsters.

The soldiers’ morale rose seeing their simple device was this effective. Maybe, they would be able to survive this monster horde without suffering a single casualty? Such thoughts went through their minds as they repeatedly crushed the climbing monsters.

But they soon realized that they were naïve.

After repeating the same tactic over and over, the ropes tied to the logs started to break, rendering the device useless. Soon, the gorilla-frog monsters managed to reach the battlements.

“Archers, fire! Spearmen, protect the archers! Use your spears to push these monsters off the walls!” said Commander Daltos.

The commander swung his blade and beheaded the monster to his right, before leaping back to evade the claws of the monster to his left. In a second, he retaliated and stabbed the monster right in the eyes. Commander Daltos twisted his blade, pulled it out, and kicked the monster off the wall. But before the commander could even catch his breath, several more monsters jumped right at him, their maws opened wide.

Knowing that it was impossible to dodge, Daltos activated his magic—his trump card. Flames quickly covered his body, forming a shield that rendered him impervious to swords and arrows. The monsters that tried to bite his arms off were engulfed by the flames, took several steps back in panic, and fell down the walls.

Commander Daltos quickly looked around him. Unlike him, the other soldiers weren’t capable of holding their ground against the monsters. The archers were immediately ripped to shreds by their claws, and the other soldiers could hardly penetrate the monster’s hide with their spears.

Even the towers, now firing short-range, wide-area spells, couldn’t suppress the monster horde. The number of monsters that had managed to climb the walls already surpassed a hundred.

Commander Daltos knew that at this rate, the soldiers stationed at the battlements would all be dead before the day ended.

The commander channeled more mana into his spells. He roared, attracting the attention of most of the monsters. “Over here, damn monkeys! Come at me! I’ll take on all of you!”

The taunt was surprisingly effective. The gorilla-frog monsters roared, started ignoring the other soldiers, and went straight at him. Commander Daltos soon found himself surrounded by enemies at all sides.

“That’s it! Come at me, hairy bastards!”

Although the monsters held enough strength to tear the limbs off the body of an ordinary soldier, they weren’t powerful enough to penetrate the flames protecting the body of the so-called Fire Golem.

Like a cornered rabid beast, the commander fought his way through the encirclement. When his sword broke, he punched and kicked at the monsters, throwing them off the walls whenever the opportunity arose.

After the commander successfully distracted most of the monsters, the burden was lifted off the soldiers’ shoulders. With the help of the towers, they eventually managed to cut down the enemies’ number.

As for the monsters that managed to climb down the walls and enter the city, they were taken care of by soldiers stationed below. Moreover, the mercenaries and magicians from the Tower of Pollux actively took part in the defense of the city. With their help, no monster was able to break past the soldiers’ defenses. At the same time, those assigned to operate the towers relentlessly recharged it with new kalrane stones. The towers scattered throughout the city didn’t stop firing their spells at the monster horde.

“Just a little bit more,” huffed the commander as he continued to mow down the monsters using his bare fists. Although the flames protecting his body were strong enough to block arrows and swords, it drained large amounts of mana upon activation.

They’d lost track of how much time had passed by now.

Commander Daltos looked around him. At the soldiers lying dead on the battlements, at the monster horde, and at the soldiers, magicians, and mercenaries below.

It felt like the number of monsters wasn’t decreasing at all.

No matter how many monsters they killed, several more would come out to replace them. They should have killed thousands of these monsters by now, but for some strange reason, the horde looked untouched.

And the commander soon realized why.

He looked at the wasp-like creature at the rear of the army and was stunned to see eggs coming out of its disproportionately large belly. The eggs formed cracks, and from them, the same monsters they’d been fighting emerged.

So, this was the reason for the uneasiness he’d felt.

The creature at the rear of the monster horde was capable of mass-producing these monsters!

“It’s eating the dead monsters?”

From the monster’s bloated belly, tentacles would shoot every now and then and grab the corpses of the nearby monsters. It would then throw them inside the large opening underneath its abdomen, before churning out several monster eggs.

“N-No way…”

Despair slowly loomed in on the Commander. If the monster was capable of reabsorbing the monster corpses around it, it could probably produce those eggs indefinitely.

Commander Daltos looked around him. The two hundred soldiers stationed on top of the walls had been reduced to a few dozen. Even now, his men were dying pointless deaths. As long as that monster was alive, all of their efforts would be fruitless.

Sharp pain shot through the commander’s body. He looked at his shoulder and realized that a chunk of it had been bitten off by one of the monsters. Blood gushed out of the wound. He was feeling ever more lightheaded as time went by.

He was almost out of mana. The fire protecting his body had greatly weakened by now.

Unable to hold the monsters back, hundreds of them started descending the walls and entered the city. The soldiers, mercenaries, and magicians’ desperate attempt to stop them had proved futile.

Over a hundred of the monsters went deeper into the city and started attacking barricaded homes, massacring those who didn’t flee through the southern gates.

***

Lark whizzed through the sky as he flew toward where he saw the portal. Now that he’d recovered almost a third of his previous life’s mana pool and obtained the Sword of Morpheus, using flight magic for several hours was no longer a problem.

Lark’s mind was filled with various thoughts. He wondered why a portal that gargantuan had suddenly appeared above the Kingdom of Lukas. Furthermore, there was the question of how and why the portal suddenly closed and disappeared straight afterward.

Closing a portal was no easy feat. Even a portal half the size would require an astronomical amount of mana—enough to cast pinnacle-grade spells—just to suppress it.

For a couple of hours, Lark continued flying northwest. Eventually, he arrived at Lion City. When he saw the people fleeing through the southern gate, Lark realized the tragedy that had befallen the city.

Lark sped up and entered the city. He hovered in the sky as he looked at the battlefield below. He could see hundreds of monsters starting to spread out in all directions, scattering throughout the city, massacring everyone they saw.

Although the soldiers were desperately defending the western gate, it seemed that they’d been overwhelmed by the number of invading monsters. Even the towers had proved useless this time, now that the monsters had managed to enter the city itself.

Lark looked up and furrowed his brows. It wasn’t a full moon tonight. The next one should be at least two weeks from now.

“A low-ranking nest.”

Lark saw the wasp-like creature standing outside the city. Monster eggs were continuously churned out of its bloated belly. It was probably the reason the soldiers failed to defend the city against the monsters this time.

Screams of terror and anguish reverberated throughout the city. The monsters didn’t discriminate against anyone. Young and old, male and female, were massacred on sight. The stench of blood filled the air as the monsters continued killing the citizens one after another.

Lark gnashed his teeth in anger. This city was like his second home. The city that helped Blackstone Town prosper.

“These monsters!” snarled Lark.

He channeled tremendous amounts of mana into the sky, forming overlapping runes, creating two fifty-meter magic formations. Now that he had the Sword of Morpheus to act as a medium, Lark no longer feared a backlash, no matter how many spells he’d cast concurrently.

In seconds, the magic formations were created and activated. They glowed brightly for a moment, before shattering into particles of light.

Grand Scale Magic: Wrath of the Sun God.

Grand Scale Magic: Pixies Dust.

As though they had lives of their own, thousands of fist-sized orbs of light shot toward the monsters in the city, piercing their heads and bodies, killing them in an instant. At the same time, particles of golden light fell down from the heavens and healed the injuries of everyone they touched. Although it didn’t regrow lost limbs, even those on the verge of death were healed by the spell.

They couldn’t believe what was happening.

The cries of anguish that filled the city disappeared in an instant.

The citizens of Lion City looked up in the sky.

The particles of golden light continuously falling from the heavens was a breathtaking sight. It was as though the Sun God had descended to this realm and reached his hands out to the mortals.

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 3

Commander Daltos’ eyes slowly widened as the thousands of orbs of light rained down on the city and slaughtered the monsters. Even the monsters surrounding him weren’t spared from the spell’s wrath. Like a heated knife slicing through butter, the seemingly harmless orbs of light easily pierced the monsters’ bodies, killing them in an instant.

The moment the golden particles of light touched his body, his torn shoulder slowly healed, the cuts on his body closed on their own, and he felt an indescribable surge of vigor.

He amplified his eyesight using mana and looked at the sky, particularly at the figure hovering right above the city.

“The Lord of Blackstone Town?” muttered the commander.

Although most of the citizens failed to see who the magician was due to the distance, the commander recognized who it was. He was the same young man who defeated him in a duel during the United Grakas Alliance’s invasion of Blackstone Town.

Back then, the commander held contempt against the young lord. After all, numerous nasty rumors surrounded the noble. Based on what the commander had heard then, he was definitely a demon incarnate.

But the rumors were proven wrong after the commander saw how the young noble handled the beastman invasion. He realized that the Lord of Blackstone Town was not a vindictive, hedonistic, incompetent brat. On the contrary, he was a genius who would probably become one of the core pillars of the kingdom in the years to come.

“He’s become even stronger since the last time I saw him.”

Commander Daltos was certain that Lark Marcus had grown several times stronger since the beastman invasion. He was sure that a year ago Lark Marcus wasn’t capable of massacring all of these monsters on his own.

As expected of someone with the blood of the Marcus Family flowing through his veins. He’d become incredibly strong at such a young age.

For a moment, the commander wondered what it would be like, to serve under the Lord of Blackstone Town. Although the noble was young enough to be his son, for some reason, it didn’t sound too bad.

***

After taking care of the monsters that had breached the city, Lark flew toward the low-ranking nest.

Still, the nest continuously sucked in the corpses of the monsters, churning out eggs every now and then.

Lark cast his spell.

A thirty-meter magic circle appeared in the sky, right above the low-ranking nest. The magic circle glowed, and from it, a colossal pillar of ice emerged.

Lark activated the spell and the pillar of ice shot toward the low-ranking nest sitting on the ground.

The nest looked up and screeched, but didn’t attempt to evade it. As Lark had expected, the nest wasn’t able to move while it was giving birth to these monsters. This was its fatal weakness.

The pillar of ice crushed the low-ranking nest upon impact, reducing it to nothing but puddles of blue blood. The ground, along with the monsters standing on it, froze. The ice continued creeping up until it almost reached the top of the walls.

The soldiers on the walls who’d managed to survive until now were stupefied at this sight. With just a single spell, thousands of monsters had been instantly frozen on the ground.

All that was left was the portal.

After killing the monster horde, Lark flew to where the portal appeared. He flew at top speed, until he arrived at the infamous monster-infested lake near Lion City.

Lark quickly cast a concealment spell on himself and suppressed the mana from his body to avoid detection from the monsters.

“This is where it appeared,” he mumbled.

Based on the traces of mana, this was the very same place where the portal appeared a couple of hours ago.

The Lake of the Full Moon.

Lark had passed by several times before, but this was the first time he’d seen it in this state. A giant whirlpool was in the center of the lake, and thousands of monsters were swimming toward it, as though being sucked by the current.

“The lake’s entrance,” muttered Lark.

He could feel an ominous presence deep within the lake. A presence far more dangerous than any monsters he’d killed back in Lion City.

For several minutes, Lark continued watching the monsters. Eventually, he arrived at a conclusion.

There was no doubt about it.

Someone or something had ordered all of the monsters to go back to where they spawned from. The ominous presence he felt deep within the lake was probably recalling all of the monsters in this region, since even those on the ground and the nearby forest had started moving toward the giant whirlpool.

Should he just destroy the lake and annihilate all of the monsters at once?

Now that he’d reclaimed his sword, casting even a pinnacle-grade spell should be possible.

One of his five strongest spells, Judgment of the Sun God, should be more than capable of vaporizing the entire area.

Lark continued hovering in the sky, right above the lake, as he pondered on the best course of action. When he noticed that the number of monsters in the area had significantly dwindled, he finally came to a decision.

“Let’s see what’s inside. The source of all of these monsters.”

Lark was certain that there was a gate—an imitation of a portal—underneath that giant whirlpool. It explained how these monsters could easily come and go during a full moon. Since gates weren’t natural, someone or something must have created it.

Lark willed the Sword of Morpheus to wrap around him and cover his entire body, turning into a white, full body armor.

Even General Alvaren’s glaive wouldn’t be able to put a dent in this. Should anything unexpected happen within the gate, Lark was confident in his ability to escape.

“It’s starting to close.”

The whirlpool was slowly shrinking in diameter. Looking around, it seemed that almost all of the monsters had been recalled inside the lake.

With his body protected by the Sword of Morpheus, Lark flew down and entered the whirlpool. At the bottom of the lake, he saw the gate—a large black vortex.

Without hesitation, Lark entered.

***

It had been several hours since the members of the Arzomos tribe arrived at the dungeon. The haven prepared by the Elder was surprisingly spacious—even larger than the Great Cavern.

“Lord Luvart, you’ve really grown since we last saw each other,” said Jaraxus, the gatekeeper and protector of the haven. A humanoid, silver wolf. “I’m really glad that you escaped the Demon Realm unscathed.”

“I’ve told you this before,” said Luvart awkwardly. “There’s no need to call me lord. I’m not even an adult. The current leader of the tribe is not me, but my father.”

Jaraxus’ blood red eyes gazed at Kel’ Vual, then at Luvart. “Whether or not you’re the current tribe leader matters not. This servant was created using the blood of Lord Agreas and Lord Luvart. Now that Lord Agreas is no longer here, this servant shall heed only your command.”

Luvart realized that this was why the elder handed him the key to the dungeon, instead of his father.

Luvart was certain that this humanoid wolf was stronger than him. Furthermore, she held control over several high-ranking nests in this dungeon. Aside from Kel’ Vual, she was definitely the most powerful entity in the dungeon.

Luvart felt uneasy that someone as monstrous as her willingly became his subordinate.

“Well, isn’t this fine?” said Kel’ Vual. He placed a hand on Luvart’s head and gently added, “She was created with your blood. It’s only natural that she wants to serve under you, her creator.”

“Father…”

Kel’ Vual scanned his surroundings. “Agreas told me that he received help from the king of humans. But I never expected it to be like this. Impressive. It’s even more habitable than the Great Cavern.”

The dungeon was separated into five areas. The first and second areas were connected to the entrance and were guarded by high-ranking nests and several powerful monsters. The third area was a breeding ground for monsters, the fourth area was a maze, and the fifth area was a living space—the place where the Arzomos village was located.

It seemed that the human king had even sent workers to the dungeon hundreds of years ago. It was apparent because each of the houses were well-made and resembled human mansions.

Since the dungeon was conveniently built underneath a lake, securing food would also not pose as a problem for the Arzomos race.

Agreas really had thought things through when he created this haven.

“Jaraxus,” said Luvart.

“Yes, My Lord?” The humanoid wolf placed a hand on her chest and bowed her head.

“You said before that the key we used opened all three entrances,” said Luvart.

Under normal circumstances, only the main entrance would open during a full moon. But it seemed that the key handed to them by the Elder opened not just one, but all three entrances.

“That is correct, My Lord.”

“Then the monsters that managed to escape… what if they start attacking the nearby human settlements?”

“Please rest assured,” said Jaraxus. “The high-ranking nests already started recalling all of the monsters that have escaped. It’s only a matter of time before they are back inside the lake. I’ve already closed two of the three entrances. Once all of the monsters have returned, I shall also close the main entrance.”

Luvart was relieved to hear this. He’d seen the breeding grounds on the way here. In preparation for the upcoming war, Jaraxus nurtured over a hundred nests. If even one of those creatures managed to escape when all three entrances opened, it would be catastrophic for the human race.

“The monsters are coming back to this dungeon even as we spea—”

A screech reverberated throughout the village. Jaraxus stopped and her crimson eyes narrowed.

It was the screech of a high-ranking nest.

“Someone has entered the dungeon.”

All of the Arzomos froze. They’d seen on their way that the entrance was protected by a high-ranking nest. It would have been hard for intruders to infiltrate this haven.

Did the other demons manage to repair the portal?

No, that would have been impossible in such a short period of time.

Even Demon Lord Barkuvara would have a hard time breaking through the five pinnacle-grade spells binding the portal. Moreover, the pathway connecting the portal to its supply of mana—the mana well deep underground—should have been cut off by Agreas.

“I will see who it is,” said Jaraxus. Her eyes glimmered with a dangerous light. She leaned forward, planted her feet firmly on the ground, then shot toward the fifth area’s entrance. Her figure whizzed through the maze, through the breeding ground, eventually arriving at the second area.

Jaraxus skidded to a halt.

Her eyes widened at what she saw.

Thousands of monster corpses littered the ground. On the walls, she saw the remains of several middle-ranking and low-ranking nests. And what surprised her the most was the half-dead high- ranking nest near the tunnel connecting the first area to the second area. The tentacles of the high-ranking nest squirmed as it desperately tried to regenerate its mutilated body.

“Are you the master of this dungeon?”

A cold voice akin to a whisper was heard.

From behind the half-dead high-ranking nest, a figure clad in white armor emerged. Jaraxus was stunned upon realizing that the armor covering the intruder was made of clumps of mana. It was as though all of the mana in this region had been gathered and turned into armor.

No wonder even the high-ranking nest, a monster with absurd regenerative abilities, was unable to stop this intruder. Jaraxus doubted if her claws could even penetrate that armor’s defense.

The tentacles of the high-ranking nest violently squirmed as it forced its entire body to fully heal. In its attempt to protect Jaraxus from the intruder, it shot out several tentacles.

The intruder didn’t even bother to dodge the attack. Ignoring the blows, he leisurely walked toward the high-ranking nest, grabbed its head, and forcefully injected colossal amounts of mana into it. The high-ranking nest screeched in pain as it bloated up and exploded, splattering innards and blood onto the ground.

Amazingly, it was still alive. But Jaraxus was certain that it would still take several hours for the nest to regenerate after receiving that much damage.

The intruder turned toward her.

“I will ask again. Are you the master of this dungeon?”

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 4

He knew how to deal with these highly-regenerative monsters —Jaraxus thought, seeing how the intruder dealt with the high-ranking nest.

The intruder didn’t even bother destroying the nest’s outer shell, as though he knew of the monster’s incredibly high ability to regenerate. Instead, he suppressed the monster by attacking its core.

“That’s right, I am this dungeon’s master,” said Jaraxus.

Jaraxus carefully studied the intruder as she added, “A human. What’s your purpose? Why are you attacking us?”

“I should be the one asking that question,” said the intruder. A thread of golden light shot out of his fingertip and struck the high-ranking nest’s mutilated body. The tentacled monster turned flaccid, its dozens of eyes slowly closed, and it eventually stopped moving.

It was dead.

The intruder had just killed a high-ranking nest.

Jaraxus couldn’t understand how the intruder managed to pinpoint the exact location of the monster’s core. Such a feat would have been extremely hard, even for her. After all, the core of a high-ranking nest was incredibly small and frequently changed position. This was why they were notoriously hard to kill and often dubbed as immortal creatures.

“More than a thousand people died because of these monsters,” spat the intruder. There was hatred within his voice. “And you dare ask those questions?”

Jaraxus quickly connected the pieces of the puzzle. When Lord Luvart used the key to enter the haven, he opened not just one but all three entrances. And among those three, one was connected directly to the area where the breeding ground was located.

Although Jaraxus immediately ordered the high-ranking nests to recall all of the monsters that had managed to escape, there was a chance that a low-ranking or a middle-ranking nest had left the dungeon during that brief opening.

Without waiting for Jaraxus to utter a reply, the intruder suddenly shot toward her at a frightening speed. A speed way beyond human limits.

Was it possible due to the armor the intruder was wearing? Jaraxus wasn’t sure, and she had no way of trying to find out.

The intruder morphed his vambrace and gauntlet into a short sword, gripped its handle tight, and swung it toward her neck.

There was no hesitation within his movements. The human was definitely trying to kill her. He was no longer interested in hearing her answer.

Realizing this, Jaraxus shuddered. She leaped back and raised both of her hands in reflex and managed to block the intruder’s blade—or so she thought.

Her eyes widened when the short sword suddenly elongated within that split-second exchange. It cut through her flesh and bones, severing both of her arms in an instant. Without stopping, the intruder followed through with his attack. His sword morphed into a long, pointed, metallic needle. Like a snake, the needle bent and moved at will and struck her chest, missing her heart by a narrow margin.

Jaraxus leaped back once again, increasing the distance between her and her opponent. She looked at the two severed arms lying on the ground, then at the armored intruder. The needle he was holding slowly morphed into its original form—the vambrace and the gauntlet.

What the hell was that armor? Not only capable of incredibly high defense, it was also able to morph into different kinds of weapon in a heartbeat. It was not an artifact a human could possibly obtain.

“You,” said Jaraxus, her chest still bleeding. “Who are you?”

The intruder didn’t utter a reply. Instead, he pointed his index finger at her, gathered massive amounts of mana at its tip, and cast a spell. Golden light shot out and struck the large tunnel behind Jaraxus, creating a massive explosion that shook the entire dungeon.

The moment the rumbling stopped, and the cloud of dust receded, Jaraxus looked behind her and saw the hundreds of scorched monster corpses struck by the spell. The monsters must have come after hearing the screech of the high-ranking nest killed by the intruder.

“Are you really the master of this dungeon?” The intruder looked in the direction of the breeding ground. “It is faint, but I can feel the presence of someone far stronger than you.”

It must be Kel’ Vual, the current leader of the Arzomos tribe. The only Arzomos that could rival Agreas in terms of might.

“And those high-ranking nests. They’re modified parasitic demons, correct?”

Spot on.

Jaraxus wondered how this human knew all of this.

“Interesting,” the intruder mumbled. “They must have been born in this dungeon, for them to obey the orders of someone not from the parasitic demon race.”

The intruder gazed in the direction of the large tunnel connecting the second area to the breeding ground. He said, “Don’t you think so too?”

Footsteps were heard.

Jaraxus turned around and was surprised to see the members of the Arzomos tribe coming out of the tunnel. They all wore grim faces. Kel’ Vual, in particular, looked as though he’d seen the Demon Lord Barkuvara once again.

The tribe leader stared intently at the armor the intruder was wearing.

“Where did you get that armor?” said Kel’ Vual. He sounded really angry. He snarled, “Disrespectful scum! Where did you steal that treasure?”

Just as Jaraxus thought, the armor was an artifact. An incredible treasure recognized even by Kel’ Vual.

“Father, that armor…” said Luvart, wondering why his father seemed so angry to see the intruder wearing it. As though his father found it incredibly rude.

“It’s the armor of a deceased friend of mine,” said Kel’ Vual in a low voice. “You wouldn’t understand. You weren’t even born at that time.” Kel’ Vual gnashed his teeth. “Damn thief. Where did you steal it?”

Like a slime, the helm covering the head of the intruder receded, revealing his youthful face. Short silver hair, blue eyes, and a frail-looking face.

A human. A very young one at that.

“Steal it? It was mine to begin with,” said the human.

Jaraxus found it strange. There was no longer hostility within the human’s voice. Instead, she could feel a hint of longing within it.

“You said that it used to belong to a friend of yours,” said the human. “Tell me. Did that friend of yours live fifteen hundred years ago?”

The armor the human was wearing morphed into a beautiful white sword. Seeing this, Kel’ Vual froze. He croaked, “It can’t be! That’s right… It’s been so long that I almost forgot. O-Only one person should be capable of using it!”

Tears started forming at the corner of Kel’ Vual’s eyes. Jaraxus and the other members of the Arzomos tribe were stunned. The almighty Kel’ Vual, the protector of the Great Cavern, and one of the demons who sealed the Immortal Demon, was crying?

The sword turned into a bracer. The human smiled and longingly gazed at the Arzomos tribe leader. Without hesitation, he briskly walked toward the leader of the Arzomos and hugged him tight.

“It’s been a while,” said the human. “You are that kid. Kel, right?”

Kel’ Vual wrapped his arms around the human’s body. His entire body was shaking as tears streamed down his eyes. “You’re… you’re alive!”

Jaraxus and the other members of the Arzomos tribe were bewildered at the sudden turn of events.

When they first met, they were sure that the two would be trying to kill each other. But for some strange reason, the moment the tribe leader saw the white sword, his hostility vanished, and he started gazing at the human as though he was a friend he hadn’t seen for a very long time.

And now, the tribe leader was crying while hugging the human.

It was a truly surreal sight.

“When we heard of your death,” said Kel’ Vual, his body still quivering. “We tried to visit the capital several times. But the Emperor shunned and barred us at the gates and told us to go back.”

“How benevolent of him,” chuckled the human.

Under normal circumstances, any demons that entered the territory of the Magic Empire would have been killed instantly. No questions asked. Even Kel’ Vual knew that the Emperor was being merciful that time, since he didn’t order his magicians to kill the two young members of the Arzomos tribe.

The two separated and smiled broadly.

“You’ve grown really old. If not for that large scar on your face, I wouldn’t have recognized you,” said the human.

“I’ll be two thousand years old a few years from now.” The tribe leader laughed heartily. “I’m no longer the kid that followed you back then.”

“Father, this human is?” said Luvart.

“Kel’ Vual’s son?” said the human. He gazed fondly at Luvart.

Kel’ Vual placed his hand on Luvart’s head. “That man is a friend of mine.” There was an indescribable sense of pride within his voice. “You’ve heard of the Elder’s stories before, right? The stories of the magician who we used to follow around when we were young.”

The eyes of Luvart and the other members of the Arzomos tribe widened. They’d heard of the same story from Elder Agreas numerous times before. The story of a human who was once feared by all demons.

“Although his body has changed, there’s no doubt about it. That man is Evander Alaester, the strongest magician of the Magic Empire, the magician feared even by the Demon Lord Barkuvara.”

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 5

“Evander, that body,” said Kel’ Vual. “What happened?”

When they last met, Evander was a rough-looking middle-aged man with tinges of white hair. It was a stark contrast to his current body – a fragile-looking kid.

“Honestly, I don’t know. Even I didn’t expect things to turn out this way. More importantly, I heard that it’s been several hundred years since demons were last seen on this land. I didn’t expect the Arzomos to be living in this dungeon.”

“We just arrived here a few hours ago,” said Kel’ Vual.

“I see,” said Lark. “So, you were the ones who entered through the portal, and it’s somehow connected to the Demon Realm. But, Kel, how did you manage to close a portal that big?”

“It’s a long story,” said Kel’ Vual. “We have a nice little village deep within the dungeon. Jaraxus has been keeping centuries-old wines in the cellars. How about it…” He smiled, “Wouldn’t it be better to listen to each other’s story over wine?”

Lark liked the sound of it. He grinned. “The centuries-old wine sounds enticing.”

Kel’ Vual chuckled. “I knew you’d say that.”

“But before that,” Lark gazed at the humanoid silver wolf with missing arms. “Your name’s Jaraxus?”

“Yes, My Lord.”

To Lark’s surprise, the silver wolf acted subserviently to him, a human.

“I’m sorry for cutting off your arms,” said Lark. “Let me fix them for you.”

He pointed his index finger at her and started gathering mana at its tip.

Jaraxus’ ears twitched, and she shook her head. “There’s no need for that, Lord Evander.”

Silver threads shot out of Jaraxus’ body and latched onto the severed arms. Using the silver threads, the severed arms reattached themselves. Jaraxus moved her fingers.

Lark cancelled his magic as he looked at the humanoid wolf with interest.

“I see. So, you merged with a parasitic nest.”

“That’s correct, Lord Evander. Even if you cut off my head, it should be possible for me to regenerate as long as my core isn’t destroyed.”

“Agreas implanted the core of a parasitic nest when he created Jaraxus. The monsters guarding the dungeon wouldn’t listen to her, otherwise. He’s also the one who created this dungeon for our tribe,” said Kel’ Vual.

“Agreas, that cheeky demon who tried to kill me in my sleep back then.” Lark smiled as he reminisced. “I can’t believe he created a dungeon like this. Impressive.” He looked at the members of the Arzomos tribe standing behind Kel’ Vual. “He didn’t come with you?”

Kel’ Vual slowly shook his head. There was a hint of sadness and regret within his eyes. “No. He stayed behind. I’ll tell you the full story once we’ve reached the village. Come.”

With Jaraxus at the lead, Lark and the members of the Arzomos tribe went deeper into the dungeon. They passed through the breeding ground—a massive chamber that housed over a hundred parasitic nests and tens of thousands of monsters.

The humanoid wolf touched the mother nest—the origin of all the parasitic demons—latched on the wall. It screeched, and Jaraxus’ eyes widened, as though she understood what the creature conveyed.

“Two are missing?” said Jaraxus. She hesitantly said to Lark, “Lord Evander, y-you said before that the monsters attacked a human settlement near here.”

Kel’ Vual and the rest of the Arzomos tribe furrowed their brows. They were aware that the key they used to enter this dungeon opened not just one, but three entrances. And one of those entrances was connected directly to this breeding ground.

“Did you encounter the nests by any chance?” said Jaraxus.

“I killed a low-ranking nest on the way here,” said Lark. “Are you telling me that there’s another one?”

Jaraxus nodded. “Yes. Two low-ranking nests escaped the breeding ground.”

Lark knitted his brow. “It’ll be extremely hard for the soldiers of this kingdom to kill even one of those monsters,” said Lark. “I should probably go out and hunt it down, before it starts massacring humans.”

Even the low-ranking parasitic nests were capable of regenerating lost body parts. Average soldiers wouldn’t be able to kill it, unless they used enchanted weapons or magic.

“That won’t be necessary, Lord Lark. The mother nest told me that it has already lost contact with both of them.”

There were only three ways for the mother nest to lose contact with its offspring. The first was through death. If the low-ranking nest was dead, its link to the mother nest would cease immediately. The second was if it broke through the maximum distance permitted by the link. And lastly, was through magic interference. Of the three, the first scenario held the greatest probability.

Someone other than Lark had killed a low-ranking nest.

Of all the people he’d met in this kingdom, he could count the number of people who could kill one of them on one hand.

***

[Wizzert City]

Alecto stood on top of the scorched corpse of the low-ranking nest he’d killed just a while ago. The monster’s regenerative ability proved futile when faced with his strongest spell—Hellfire.

Around him, thousands of monster corpses were scattered. Half of them had been massacred by him, the Master of the City of Magic.

“This is annoying,” he mumbled.

After his beloved sister returned to the city, she sought audience with the leader of the Grand Order. The theories and knowledge she imparted that day stunned the entire community of magicians. Even he, one of the strongest magicians of the kingdom, couldn’t believe it when she disproved one of the fundamental teachings of the late Algrove Aria.

‘We do not create, we merely alterate.’

Alecto could still vividly remember his sister’s words when she discussed these theories with the magic community. According to her, it was a misconception that mana acted as a fuel when casting spells. Mana was never consumed; it was simply altered from one form to another. And to prove her theory, she performed various simple magic exercises that pointed to the validity of her claims.

Moreover, she revealed to the magic community the perfect magic formation. The answer to the centuries-old puzzle of Wizzert. This discovery alone was more than enough for his little sister to be hailed as a Grand Magician.

But to Alecto’s astonishment, Chryselle revealed that all of her knowledge had been imparted to her by the Lord of Blackstone Town. And with his consent, she revealed this to the magicians of Wizzert. This caused another uproar, since most of the magicians in Wizzert knew that Lark Marcus was the most likely culprit behind last year’s attack on the tower.

Why did he readily impart all this knowledge to the Fifth Elder?

What was his relationship to her?

How could it be possible for someone so young to be so proficient in magic?

Numerous questions ran through everyone’s minds upon learning of the perfect magic formation’s origins.

Remembering once again what happened that day, Alecto’s face distorted into a scowl.

One of the monsters that had managed to survive until now pounced at him. Alecto kicked the monster and sent it flying.

His ability to amplify his strength using magic had increased severalfold. Moreover, the mana consumption had been greatly reduced, enabling him to use it for a prolonged period of time.

Although he’d become far stronger after incorporating the perfect magic formation into his spells, the very thought that he was ‘borrowing’ the knowledge from the Lord of Blackstone Town left a bad aftertaste in his mouth.

The monster that he’d sent flying with a kick tumbled several times, before skidding to a halt. It stood up, roared, and ran toward him in utter rage. Its maws wide as it swiped its claws toward him.

“How noisy.”

A flame spear formed in Alecto’s hand. He gripped it, pulled the spear and his shoulder back, then threw it toward the monster, piercing its chest upon impact. The monster stumbled, it’s body quickly engulfed by the flames. It screeched then fell to the ground, scorched and lifeless.

One of his men approached him from behind and said, “Master, we’ve killed all of the monsters near the city. As for the ones that managed to escape—”

“Send a hundred magicians to pursue the monsters that ran away. Make sure none of them leave our territory alive.”

“Understood!”

“And clean up these corpses.”

After relaying his instructions to his men, Alecto returned to the tower, took a bath, donned a new set of clothes, and went to the guest room on the fifth floor of the Magic Academy. Where his sister was currently staying.

“You’re finally here,” said Chryselle, holding a pile of books in her hands. She placed them on the table with a thud. “I heard that a strong monster appeared among the horde.”

“Its ability to regenerate is even stronger than a desert troll,” said Alecto. “But it’s incredibly weak to fire magic. A single Hellfire spell was all it took to kill it. The City of Magic will not fall even if two more of those monsters appear.”

“I see. I was worried for nothing,” she said.

A grin slowly formed on Alecto’s face. He seemed pleased to hear his little sister was worried about him.

“There’s nothing to be worried about,” he said confidently. “As long as I’m here, this city will not fall to mere monsters.”

“How reassuring.” Chryselle smiled, her voice soothing to the ears. “So, brother. That promise of yours. Have you thought about it?”

Alecto’s grin slid down his face. “What about grandfather?”

“Grandfather already gave me his approval. You can confirm it with him, if you want.”

Alecto furrowed his brow.

When his little sister finally decided to come back to Wizzert, he made a promise to her that he would respect her judgment and allow her to continue being under the tutelage of the Lord of Blackstone Town, if she could prove that he was indeed a competent and worthy master.

Unfortunately, he’d never expected that she would suddenly reveal the existence of the perfect magic formation. The perfect magic formation was more than enough proof of the Lord of Blackstone Town’s competence. Alecto, the strongest magician in this city, knew this more than anyone else. Even he desired to see the perfect magic formation during his lifetime, and the Lord of Blackstone Town was the first to achieve this incredible feat.

Although Alecto was reluctant, he had to admit defeat.

Moreover, he knew that if he did not keep his promise with his little sister, the rift between them would deepen even further.

Although he wanted to go to Blackstone Town and beat the life out of Lark Marcus for the humiliation he’d suffered, he’d decided to take a step back and compromise this time.

His sister would end up hating him if he went that far. Moreover, the leader of the Grand Order and the current chairman of the Magic Academy—their grandfather—had already given his consent regarding the matter.

“The magic formation was indeed perfect,” said Alecto. He sighed as though admitting defeat. “But let me ask, just in case.” He looked his little sister straight in the eyes. “You’re not in a relationship with that Marcus brat, are you?”

Chryselle’s eyelids shook for a moment. It was brief, but Alecto noticed it. She gasped for air before eventually replying, “N-No, of course not!”

“He’s several years younger than you. Remember that,” said Alecto.

“O-Of course!”

He took a ring from his finger and placed it on the table. “This is the key to the treasure room in the tower. Take as much gold as you need. You can also take any of the treasures kept inside. And…” Alecto hesitated. “The perfect magic formation. Tell the Lord of Blackstone Town that I’m grateful that he imparted that knowledge to my beloved sister.”

Although Alecto still resented Lark Marcus for the humiliation he’d suffered in the tower, he was well aware of the importance of the magic formation he’d imparted to Chryselle. With this magic formation, it should be possible for their magicians to reach far greater heights than before.

“Thank you, brother,” said Chryselle. “I’ll be sure to tell him.” She smiled mischievously. “My, how wonderful it would be if the two of you became friends one day.”

“That will never happen,” spat Alecto, disgusted at the very thought of becoming chummy with that brat. “Ah, and you should probably tell him that the Thunder Lord is searching for his whereabouts. I don’t know why Nickolai is combing Daxton City and the Forbidden Region for any information regarding Lark Marcus, but I heard that he’s been on a rampage lately. That buffoon, he should just go straight to Blackstone Town if he wants to meet that Marcus brat. What a fool.”

It was well-known that Alecto and Nickolai had almost killed each other in a duel, several years ago. The outcome was a draw, but with the perfect magic formation now in his grasp, Alecto was confident of winning if they fought once again. After all, the perfect magic formation not only decreased the casting time, it also decreased the amount of mana required in casting spells.

“If Nickolai passes by our city, I’ll be sure to give him a beating. I look forward to it.”

“But, brother, didn’t you almost lose when you fought him before?” Chryselle chuckled.

“It was a draw!” said Alecto in indignation. “And I was still young then. Now, even royal court magicians are no match for your brother.”

Chryselle tucked her hair behind her ear and wrapped her arms around her brother. She hugged him tight. “Thank you for keeping your promise. I’ll visit from time to time.”

Alecto placed a hand on her head and gently stroked her hair. “You would have ended up hating me if I didn’t do this much, right?”

Chryselle bobbed her head.

Alecto sighed. “Just promise me… Don’t get too attached to that Marcus brat.”

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 6

[Kingdom of Elves—City of Aerith]

The moment the portal appeared above the Lake of Full Moon, all of the high-ranking priests in the Human Realm—humans, beastmen, elves, dragonewts, and dwarves—received a revelation from the God they served.

Priestess Siofra was among them.

She was on her way to the palace when suddenly, her vision turned white and she felt a warm sensation envelope her entire body. She heard a familiar voice, one she’d heard when she acceded the role of a priestess several years ago. It was a gentle voice, akin to that of a mother comforting her daughter.

God Gaia?

Priestess Siofra was certain that the voice belonged to the God of the Earth and the Forest. The God worshiped by the elven race.

“My child. As we promised, we shall give a revelation when the time has come. The demon sealed in the ice prison has been set free. Seek the help of the one who traveled through time. It is the only future wherein the elven race survives.”

The warm sensation wrapped around her body vanished.

The vision ended.

Priestess Siofra found herself standing at the royal palace’s entrance once again.

“Priestess, are you alright?” said one of her guards.

Priestess Siofra remained silent as she repeated the words uttered by God Gaia in her mind. According to the former priestess, the Gods would give the elven race a revelation when the portal to the Demon Realm opened once again. This was their promise to the mortals when the Magic Empire was ravaged after the Cataclysm.

“I have to see father!” said the priestess. Her whole body quivered as she realized the gravity of the situation.

The priestess briskly walked toward the throne room and barged in without notice. The ministers and the other officials of the kingdom stared at the unannounced visitor; their frowns turning to surprise realizing it was the current Priestess of the Kingdom.

“Priestess, what brings you here?” said the king.

Judging by the priestess’ pallid face and the beads of sweat on her forehead, everyone in the throne room realized that something of grave importance must have happened. They had never seen the priestess this flustered.

“I received a revelation from God Gaia,” said the priestess, huffing. “Father, the portal has been opened.”

Heavy silence fell. Eventually, the ministers and officials went into uproar. Buzzes and murmurs filled the throne room as the officials started voicing their thoughts.

“Is… Is this true, Priestess?”

“The portal has been opened?”

“Then, are the demons coming to this realm once again?”

“Y-Your Majesty! What should we do?”

“Why is the portal opening now, of all times!”

“Y-Your Majesty!”

The king snarled, “Enough!” His voice echoed in the throne room.

The panic-stricken officials shut their mouths.

“You are in the presence of the priestess,” said King Melandrach. He glared at all of the ministers and officials. “I will not tolerate any disrespect from here on out.”

King Melandrach stood up from his throne and bowed his head. “I apologize for the behavior of our officials, Priestess.”

Priestess Siofra was clearly uncomfortable seeing her father bow his head. “It’s fine, Father.”

“Would it be possible for us to know the content of God Gaia’s revelation?” said the king.

Priestess Siofra nodded her head. “Of course. That’s the reason I came.” She repeated the exact words uttered to her by the God of the Earth and the Forest.

The moment she was finished, everyone was stunned speechless.

Although they did not know who exactly the demon sealed in the ice prison was, they were certain who the latter part of the revelation was pertaining to.

Seek the help of the one who’d traveled through time. It is only the future wherein the elven race survives.

They were certain that it was referring to the so-called God of the Earth Scylla. Evander Alaester, the magician who lived during the Age of Magic.

“The God of the Border Region,” said King Melandrach.

It was a moniker given to him by the elves, considering the Earth Scylla had made the border of their kingdom its home.

“God Gaia is telling us to seek the help of that human.”

“I believe that we should seek an audience with him right away, Father,” said the priestess.

King Melandrach slowly nodded. “If it’s the will of God Gaia… This should be the correct path.”

“I will come with you, Father.”

King Melandrach knitted his brow. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have allowed the priestess to travel all the way to the border—where the monster had created its lair. But he knew that now was not the time for him to be overprotective of the priestess.

“Commander Khuumal, gather the royal guards,” said King Melandrach. “We shall depart for the border immediately.”

“Understood, My King!”

With the help of the wind spirits and elks, the king and his entourage arrived at the border region in just a week. They travelled over the newly created stone road on their way to the Scylla’s castle. A road wide enough for five carriages to pass side by side. Although several trees had been cleared upon the creation of this road, the occasional elven oaks they passed by along the way were left untouched.

“They created this road in just a couple of weeks,” muttered one of the royal guards. “Incredible.”

The road already spanned more than ten kilometers, and it pierced through the deeper parts of the Endless Forest while avoiding all of the elven oaks.

It was hard to imagine that it didn’t exist in this forest several weeks ago.

“Priestess, Your Majesty,” said Commander Khuumal. “We’ve arrived.”

At the end of the road was a half-kilometer large clearing. The elves could feel the massive amount of mana oozing right out of its center. Looking carefully, they could see the small distortions in space. This was definitely where the illusion barrier was located.

“Your Majesty!”

“Priestess!”

The five elves who’d been tasked with helping the Earth Scylla to create the road greeted the King and the Priestess. Then knelt on one knee and lowered their heads.

“You’ve done a magnificent job in creating the road,” said King Melandrach. “Good work.”

The leader of the five elves shook his head. He carefully said, “We’re unworthy of the praise, Your Majesty. We hardly… contributed to the creation of the road, you see.”

It was just as King Melandrach had expected. There was simply no way for these five to create a road that big in such a short period of time.

“Is that so?” said the king.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” said the leader of the five, a bit ashamed that they’d hardly contributed to the creation of the road. He looked up and added, “May I ask what brings His Majesty and the priestess here?”

The king gazed at the small distortions in space before them. “We’re hoping to meet with God Evander. But it seems that the Earth Scylla is still unaware of our arrival.”

The elves tasked to help with the creation of the road looked at each other. Judging by their troubled expressions, it seemed that the Earth Scylla already knew that the king and his entourage were coming. It simply hadn’t bothered to open the illusion barrier.

“We’ll… we’ll try to talk to Lord Blackie and inform him of your arrival, Your Majesty.”

For some reason, the five elves seemed terrified of the thought of speaking to the seven-headed monster. Their leader went to the center of the clearing and to the king’s surprise, prostrated himself on the ground. He was stunned to hear the words that came out of the elf’s mouth.

“Lord Blackie, the mighty and loyal Scylla of the Forest Border,” the elf said in quick succession, as though he’d memorized all of these words beforehand. “The creator of the Grand Road, protector of God’s Castle, servant of God Evander. Please grant these elves an audience.”

One of the five elves went to King Melandrach and said in a low voice, “Please understand, Your Majesty. This is the only way for that proud Scylla to initiate contact with us.”

The king and his entourage realized that this wasn’t the first time this had happened. It seemed to be a common occurrence, judging by the five elves’ reaction.

A deep, domineering voice was heard, “Loyal servant, creator of the Grand Road. That’s right.” The voice sounded pleased.

A rift opened, revealing a portion of the colossal castle hidden by the illusion barrier.

“It’s good that the puny elves understood. Very well. We shall allow five elves to enter the sacred ground.”

King Melandrach and the priestess locked eyes with each other and nodded their heads. They dismounted, and together with Commander Khuumal and two royal guards, entered the rift in the illusion barrier.

They saw the same castle as before. Although King Melandrach wasn’t certain, it felt as though the carvings on the castle walls had become more intricate. He could also see a newly built fountain, a maze garden, and a stone pavilion.

The Earth Scylla was lying right in front of the castle’s entrance. Five of its heads had their eyes closed, as though they weren’t interested in the newly arrived visitors. As for the two remaining heads, one of them was gazing condescendingly at the king and his guards, while the other one looked at the visitors with curiosity in its eyes.

The third head spoke, “What brings you here, King of Elves?”

King Melandrach clasped his hands together and lightly bowed his head in greetings. “Our priestess recently received a revelation from one of the Gods.”

The priestess grabbed the hem of her dress and made a light curtsy.

“We would like to speak with God Evander regarding this revelation, if possible,” said the king.

The first head snorted, and the seventh head opened one of its eyes.

The third head replied, “I’m afraid that is impossible as of this moment, King of Elves.” It looked at the priestess then added, “We cannot state the exact reason, but we cannot grant you an audience with God Evander.”

King Melandrach nodded in understanding. He hadn’t expected for things to proceed smoothly in the first place.

“I see. Then, is it possible for us to at least leave a message for God Evander?”

“A message,” said the third head. “Depending on its contents, we may grant your request.”

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 7

Like wildfire, the news regarding the revelation of the Seven Gods quickly spread throughout the kingdom. Rumors and speculation regarding the sealed demon and ‘The One Who Traveled Through Time’ spread among the masses. People were frequently heard discussing it inside taverns.

King Alvis issued an order for all of the nobles and officials of the kingdom to gather at the capital to discuss the revelation by the Seven Gods.

From Barons to Dukes, from administrative officials to lords—even the nobles and officials who didn’t belong to any factions were summoned by the crown. All of them were directed to come to the capital straightaway.

“Your Grace, we’ve arrived,” said the coachman.

Duke Drakus pulled open the window of the carriage and looked outside. A beautiful maze garden filled with flowers. A large stone fountain. Over a hundred royal guards were patrolling the area.

They’d arrived at the gates of the royal palace.

Looking at the palace, the duke was once again reminded of the awarding ceremony, after their victory against the Empire. Even now, he couldn’t believe that that devil had managed to amass all of those achievements. He still couldn’t understand how his exiled son had managed to lead his troops to victory.

For the past several months, Duke Drakus had been asking himself if exiling that intemperate, vindictive demon had been the right decision.

“Lui,” the duke said to the young man sitting next to him. “What do you think of your brother?”

Lui, who’d been mostly silent throughout their journey to the capital, was surprised by the words of his father. It was the first time in several years that the duke had used the word ‘brother.’

A smile slowly formed on Lui’s face. “He’s changed a lot. My little brother has grown up.”

“I see.”

Duke Drakus knew that brat had indeed changed a lot, although he didn’t know what had caused such a massive change to such an incompetent individual.

Was it the alleged ‘master’ he’d heard about?

No, even if he had the late Algrove Aria as his teacher, it was impossible for someone so incompetent to become that proficient in magic and the sword. Moreover, based on his intel, it seemed that his son born from a concubine was also knowledgeable of curses—going as far as contributing to the lifting of the curse of the royal family.

How did he learn all of these things? Who taught him? And how did he manage to gather all of this knowledge and incorporate it into battle?

He had a lot of questions, and even with his information network, the duke couldn’t arrive at an answer.

The two of them disembarked from the carriage. Two royal guards approached and escorted them inside the royal palace. Upon entering the throne room, the noisy chatters of the nobles present inside dwindled. They all looked at the opened door, particularly at the two renowned figures of the kingdom that had just entered.

Looking around, Duke Drakus realized that the king wasn’t here yet. But Duke Youchester—the youngest duke who rarely attended gatherings—was present.

Lancaster Kelvin openly glared at Lui Marcus, while Kalavinka Kelvin—the genius of the navy—was looking at the floor, avoiding the gaze of other people. It was as though he wanted to leave as soon as possible.

‘Even Kalavinka was invited by His Majesty, it seems?’ thought the duke. He found it quite peculiar.

A brown-skinned middle-aged man greeted the duke. “It’s been a while, Duke Drakus.”

“Indeed, Lord Chase.” Duke Drakus, with an air befitting his rank, nodded. “I heard that Golden Wheat City had an abundant harvest recently.”

Lord Chase smiled. “Now that there’s no longer any fear of the Black Famine, we’ve proactively started expanding the lands for cultivation,” he said. “As long as the Goddess of Harvest permits it, I expect our yield to grow more and more as years pass by.”

Now that he’d thought of it, Duke Drakus remembered that it was his wayward son who’d come up with the method of dealing with those pesky swarms.

The number of achievements he’d amassed last year could no longer be counted in one hand.

“I heard that even the Empire started employing the same method our kingdom used to cull those insects. As expected of the Emperor. His information network even reaches deep within our kingdom,” said Lord Chase.

“The Emperor planted several spies among our ranks. You heard what happened to Lancaster Kelvin, right?”

Lord Chase and Duke Drakus glanced at Lancaster Kelvin, who was currently boasting about his recently-fortified rock castle to the members of the Kelvin Faction.

“I remember the tragedy that befell him. The spy planted by General Rizel.” Lord Chase nodded. “To think that his trusted right-hand man was a mole from the Empire.”

“We’ve been weeding out all possible spies in our duchy after we heard what happened to Lancaster. I suggest that you do the same, Lord Chase.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Lord Chase noticed the nobles belonging to the Marcus Faction approaching them from a distance. He politely smiled and lightly bowed his head. “Then, I’ll have to excuse myself, Duke Drakus.”

Unlike Duke Drakus, who valued talent over lineage, most of the members of his faction held disdain over those of common origin. It was understandable that Lord Chase, a commoner who rose to the rank of lord of a major city, did not wish to associate with them.

After Lord Chase left, Duke Drakus soon found himself surrounded by the nobles under his faction. A bunch of yes men who incessantly flapped their mouths in their attempts to cajole him.

After Duke Kelvin was imprisoned in the dungeons, the balance in power among the factions tilted to the other side. Nobles started leaving the Kelvin Faction one by one.

Right now, the strongest faction in the kingdom was undoubtedly the Royal Faction, followed by the Marcus Faction. Although the nobles under Duke Youchester were incredibly loyal, they numbered less than a dozen and held very little military might. Furthermore, Duke Youchester apparently held no desire for the throne; he even declared that he would unconditionally support whoever won the competition.

There was no doubt that his son, Lui Marcus, currently held the highest chance of ascending the throne.

“The embodiment of God Nruz. The heart of the sun. His Majesty, King Alvis Lukas VI has arrived. Everyone, show your respect.”

The voice of the Grand Chamberlain echoed in the throne room. The door opened and King Alvis, who looked comparatively younger and healthier than before, started walking toward the throne. Lady Ropianna, Marquis Carlos, and Viscount Lakian followed behind.

Silence fell as the nobles and officials in the throne room lowered their heads.

King Alvis sat on the throne and said in a voice filled with vigor, “You may raise your heads.”

The nobles looked at the king sitting on the throne. Although they’d heard the rumors, they were still surprised upon seeing the king in person. Indeed, the king looked vibrant. The small purplish-black spots that used to cover portions of his skin had vanished, and there was an indescribable strength in his eyes. It was hard to believe that this was the same old man who fainted at the celebratory banquet a year ago.

Standing to the king’s right was the retired general, Marquis Carlos. And to his left was the Seer, Lady Ropianna. A step below him stood the Grand Chamberlain.

“First, I must thank everyone for coming here at short notice.” The king’s gaze swept through everyone present. “All of you have probably heard by now. The revelation we received more than a week ago from the Seven Gods.”

It was the hottest topic in the kingdom right now. The reason even Duke Drakus hurriedly came despite the short notice from the crown.

“According to the revelation, the demon sealed in the ice prison has woken from its slumber. After combing the archives and the ancient records in the royal library, we’ve come to the conclusion that the Gods were referring to the Demon Lord Barkuvara. One of the strongest demons to have ever roamed this land. And the only demon to have attained the status of an immortal.

“More than a thousand years ago, this very same demon was said to be the cause of the collapse of the largest and strongest human Empire in history. A demon that killed more than half the population of mankind.”

The nobles and officials were stricken with horror. They’d never imagined that the demon of the revelation would be such a terrifying being.

“K-Killed more than half the population of humans?” mumbled one of the nobles.

“And of the tens of millions of humans killed that time, at least a tenth of them were magicians,” added King Alvis.

Marquis Carlos’ expression turned grim. Even Lady Ropianna showed subtle signs of unease.

“It’s understandable that most of you aren’t aware of this, since this event happened over a millennium ago, and most of the records from that time were destroyed by the demons.”

King Alvis paused, looked at everyone in the room, and said, “I hope that this is enough for everyone to understand the gravity of the situation. An Empire with hundreds of thousands of magicians under its command fell under the hands of this demon. Imagine what would happen if it decided to lay its hands on our kingdom.”

The entire kingdom would be annihilated.

This was the only answer they could come up with.

Even Wizzert City would be powerless before such a powerful being.

“But, Your Majesty!” said one of the officials. “I’m certain that it’s been hundreds of years since a demon was last seen on this continent—if the records are true at all! How certain are we that this so-called Immortal Demon will show up on our doorst—”

“The Gods never lie,” interjected the king.

The high-ranking priests glared at the official who questioned the revelation. Seeing those glares, the official lowered his head and said, “O-Of course. Apologies, Your Majesty.”

“The Gods have no reason to lie to us mortals. Did everyone forget the latter part of the revelation? Seek the help of the one who traveled through time. It’s the only way for our nation—for the human race—to survive,” said the king. “Ropianna.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Lady Ropianna stepped forward and amplified her raspy voice using magic, enabling even those at the back to hear it. “Three days ago, I’ve received divination from the Water God. She left two important messages.”

Lady Ropianna’s gaze moved toward the timid-looking boy standing next to Lancaster Kelvin.

“First, we should spare no effort in fortifying the ports of the kingdom. And second, we should immediately seek contact with the one who traveled through time. These were the words of the Water God.”

Fortify the ports of the kingdom?

The quick-witted ones realized what it meant straightaway.

“I believe that the demons will come from the west, from the direction of the Mullgray Islands,” said the Seer. “This is why we should fortify the ports and naval bases at once.”

Hearing this, the gaze of nobles and officials moved toward Kalavinka Kelvin, the undefeated admiral of the kingdom’s naval forces. Realizing that he’d become the center of attention, Kalavinka lowered his head and his eyes behind his hair.

“Kalavinka,” King Alvis said gently.

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty?”

“We’ll provide you with as many men and resources as possible. I know this is probably too much for someone so young to bear on his own, but you’re the most knowledgeable regarding naval warfare in this room. Rest assured, we shall assist you as much as we can.”

The king was declaring that the nobles should fully support this kid from now on, no matter what. Hearing this, a smile slowly formed on the faces of those who belonged to the Kelvin Faction. They hadn’t expected the royal family to grant this much power to Kalavinka Kelvin.

“Can you do it?” said the king.

There were several seconds of silence.

Kalavinka was about to shake his head when Lancaster whispered, “Don’t you dare refuse this opportunity. Father will be sure to hear of this.”

Kalavinka swallowed the lump in his throat. He looked at the nobles around him. All of them were looking at him with eyes filled with expectation.

Eventually, Kalavinka conceded. “Y-Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you.” The king said to the Grand Chamberlain, “Lakian, assign several guards to protect Kalavinka. Issue a recruitment notice for the ports under the Kelvin Duchy. We shall proceed with the fortification of the naval bases right away.”

“I shall do so at once, Your Majesty.”

“Everyone present shall contribute to the fortification of the naval bases,” declared the King, his voice loud and clear. “It doesn’t matter if you belong to an opposing faction. There shall be no exceptions.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

King Alvis heaved a sigh of relief. He’d managed to take care of the most urgent matter for now.

“My King, the Seer said that we should immediately make contact with the one who traveled through time. But how are we supposed to… achieve that? We don’t even know if we’re looking for a human,” said one of the ministers.

“We’ve already sent Farsight and several soldiers to investigate the anomaly seen above the Lake of Full Moon. We believe it should give us a proper lead in the investigation,” said the king. “And think about it. If this person mentioned in the revelation is powerful enough to prevent the destruction of our kingdom, he should probably be already aware that we’re looking for him right now. Let us hope that eventually, this person will initiate contact with us.”

***

After the meeting in the throne room, King Alvis summoned Duke Drakus and Lui Marcus into his sitting room.

Duke Drakus had expected Duke Youchester to be present, but to his surprise, it seemed that only he and his son had been invited.

“Welcome,” said King Alvis. He was no longer wearing his mantle and the crown no longer adorned his head. He wore a simple tunic with minimal golden embroidery. “Have a seat. I’ve prepared tea.”

King Alvis poured tea into the cups and handed it to his guests. “It’s chamomile. I hope it suits your tastes.”

Duke Drakus and Lui respectfully accepted the tea handed to them by His Majesty. After the king was finally seated, the two of them sat down.

“How is it?” said King Alvis.

“It’s delicious, Your Majesty,” said Lui.

“Indeed,” said the duke.

King Alvis smiled gently. “This tea is great in soothing the body. The perfect tea for the evening, don’t you agree?”

The king gently placed his cup on the table. “The two of you are probably wondering why I summoned you here. Duke Drakus, have you heard anything recently from Lark Marcus?”

The Duke stiffened. He hadn’t expected to hear that name here, of all places.

He quickly regained his composure and said, “I haven’t spoken with him, since he was exiled to that town, Your Majesty.”

“I see. How about you, Lui?”

Lui noticed that his father was observing him carefully through the corner of his eye. Still, he truthfully replied, “We’ve spoken since the Coalition Army disbanded, Your Majesty. Back then, I promised to visit him once I’ve finished all of my tasks in the duchy.”

“Coalition Army,” the king stroked his beard. “That was last year.”

Seeing the king in deep thought, the duke said, frowning, “Did that brat do something shameful and repulsive again, Your Majesty?”

King Alvis shook his head. “No, no. I’m just wondering… as his father,” he turned his gaze to Lui Marcus, “and as his brother. Did you notice any… peculiar changes in him recently?”

Although Duke Drakus and Lui tried to hide it, the king noticed the subtle changes in their expressions. It was apparent that they’d noticed the drastic changes that Lark Marcus had undergone in the past several months.

“Changes?” said the duke.

King Alvis looked the duke straight in the eyes. “More than a week ago, your son, Lark Marcus, single-handedly annihilated a thirty-thousand strong monster horde.”

The eyes of Duke Drakus and Lui widened. They’d heard the news that Lion City was almost overrun by monsters over a week ago. But they’d never expected the unknown magician who killed all of the monsters was Lark Marcus.

“Daltos, the commander of the soldiers of Lion City, testified that it was the Lord of Blackstone Town who killed all of those monsters. Drakus, I hope you won’t mind the question of this old man. The Lark Marcus that you knew… The son you exiled to that small town. Would he be capable of annihilating all of those monsters on his own, in such a short period of time?”

Duke Drakus opened his mouth but failed to utter a response. He finally realized why the King had summoned him and Lui to this room.

“Lark Marcus. That young man was even knowledgeable enough to sever the curse that was running through the royal family for generations.”

“Drakus,” said the king. “Ropianna and I believe that your son is the one mentioned in the revelation of the Seven Gods.”

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 8

Lark ended up staying at the underwater dungeon for several days. He merrily chatted the time away with Kel’ Vual and the rest of the members of the Arzomos tribe. Lark found so many stories to listen to. He was really glad to have met his friend once again in this new life.

Lark also ended up modifying the parasitic nests in the breeding ground, enabling the mother nest to gain full control over all of the monsters in the dungeon. This way, these monsters would no longer come out of the lake when the dungeon’s entrance opened during a full moon. The last thing Lark wanted was for another nest to escape and attack a human settlement.

What if a middle-ranking nest escaped?

Even Commander Daltos would be killed if he fought against it.

“It was really wise of you to cultivate a mother nest in this dungeon,” Lark said to Jaraxus. “Although these monsters obey the commands of the Arzomos, in a sense, they’re still parasitic demons. But since the mother nest grew up believing that you’re its master, it’s possible to control them all.”

Jaraxus’ tail stiffened. She tried her best to suppress her glee from showing on her face. “It was an idea from Lord Agreas. I merely followed his command.”

“Is that so?” muttered Lark. There was a hint of loneliness within his voice.

He’d discovered that his friend, Agreas, had chosen to remain in the Demon Realm to seal the portal and sever its connection to the mana well located deep underground. Furthermore, he also learned that the demon who helped the first king found this nation was the very same demon. It was a surprising revelation. After all, he even heard Agreas’ voice back when he severed King Alvis’ curse.

So, that was why it felt so familiar. Even the name was almost similar. Lark felt stupid for not realizing this instantly. He regretted not asking more questions when he saw the demon’s golden eyes back in Fork Meadow.

“You’re going back to your town?” said Kel’ Vual.

“Although I left a letter in my office, I’ve been gone for quite some time now,” said Lark. “And you said it yourself, Kel. It’s only a matter of time before the portal’s seal is broken. I need to prepare some countermeasures before that times comes.”

Kel’ Vual thought that despite taking over the body of that fragile-looking human, Evander remained the same. He hadn’t even flinched when Kel’ Vual told him that the Immortal Demon was close to awakening from its slumber.

Well, Evander had managed to regain his beloved weapon. He would surely survive even if Barkuvara started invading this nation.

“Countermeasures.” Kel’ Vual nodded. “Of course. Agreas… He told me that he’ll be redirecting the portal to the ocean.”

Lark understood the implications of his words. If the portal appeared right above the ocean, the only demons that could reach their kingdom were those that belonged to the sky or sea, and parasitic demon tribes. This single move of Agreas had cut their enemies’ battle strength by half. Altering the coordinates of the portal was indeed a wise decision on his part.

There was a very high chance that Mullgray Islands—the haven of those bloodthirsty pirates—would be the first to be hit by the brunt of the demons’ attack.

Hopefully, the Kingdom of Lukas would have enough time to set up its defenses by then.

Lark said to Kel’ Vual’s son, “Your name’s Luvart?”

“Yes, Lord Evander,” Luvart politely responded.

“I have several high demon cores stored in the treasure room. They’re all well-preserved too,” said Lark. He was certain that there were at least three high demon cores stored inside the golden statue. As for where his two disciples had obtained it—Lark had no idea. “I’ll give one of them to you the next time I visit. I’ll even help you integrate your core with it. You can look forward to it.”

Luvart’s eyes widened. In human standards, it was akin to Lark swapping his initial mana pool with Austen’s. An undamaged high demon’s core was extremely valuable even in the Demon Realm. After all, it was extremely hard to kill a strong demon without damaging its core. More so if the opponent was a high demon.

But how had Lord Evander managed to obtain several of them?

Furthermore, judging by his words, it seemed that those cores had been preserved in their optimal state.

“I… I don’t deserve such a precious item, Lord Evander!” Luvart bowed his head. “It would probably be better if you give something so valuable to my father.”

“Give it to him? I’m sure you know it too. Your father is nearing the end of his lifespan. He has only around a decade or two to live, at most. Even if he consumes it, nothing will change. He’s too old to fully merge himself with another core. It’d be wasted on him.”

Lark chuckled. “Hey, Kel, how about it? Want to have the core instead?”

Kel’ Vual shrugged. “Well, I don’t really mind? Who knows, if I’m lucky, maybe it’ll extend my life by several more years, maybe even decades? I might even live long enough to see you become a hunched, old man, Evander!”

“I doubt that.” Lark grinned. “You’ll probably be dead by then.”

Lark and Kel’ Vual laughed, as though it was the most hilarious thing they’d ever heard. It was bizarre how those two could talk about their life and death so nonchalantly.

Luvart stood there silently as he watched and listened to the two’s antics.

“See? Your father doesn’t want it,” said Lark.

“What? When did I say that? Hey, give me at least one. You have several of them, right?” said Kel’ Vual, broadly smiling, his usual stoic image was gone.

“Shut up, Kel. I’m talking to your son.”

This was the first time Luvart had seen his father act without reserve in front of others. He was normally cold and hard to read, even when speaking with the warriors. Luvart couldn’t recall the last time he’d heard his father laugh and enjoy himself like this.

Luvart realized that he liked this version of his father a lot better.

Kel’ Vual had carried the heavy weight of responsibility of guiding their tribe and protecting the portal for so long. Luvart hoped that his father would continue to smile more.

After discussing several contingency plans with Kel’ Vual, Lark finally left the dungeon. The high-ranking nest’s body, which served as gate to the main entrance, opened.

Lark cast a concealment spell on himself, shot out of the lake, and flew up into the sky.

While hovering in the sky, Lark froze. He felt the gaze of someone watching him from a distance. Looking at the source, he saw a familiar face. A man with incredibly pallid skin and deep, black eyes.

Elias Farsight.

The best archer of the kingdom and one of the royal court magicians.

Although Lark was currently concealed by his spell, he was certain that Farsight knew his exact location.

“Waiting here for days finally paid off,” said Farsight, his eyes gazing at the place where Lark was currently located. He took an arrow from his quiver, nocked it on his bow, and pointed it in Lark’s direction. “Show yourself.”

Although Farsight wasn’t exuding killing intent, Lark knew that he wouldn’t hesitate to fire at him the moment he tried to escape.

Should he reveal himself?

Lark pondered for several seconds. Eventually he decided against it. It would be a pain in the neck if he had to stop and answer all of the questions of the royal court magician. Moreover, how would he explain the reason he came directly from underneath the lake?

Lark decided to escape from the kingdom’s best archer.

He pointed a finger at the lake below and cast a spell, causing pillars of water to shoot up like geyser, further concealing his presence. Using this opportunity, Lark flew toward Blackstone Town.

He tried to.

To his surprise, an arrow infused with mana shot toward him, unimpeded by the pillars of water. Looking closely, the arrow was spinning rapidly, enabling it to pierce through the water pillar without deviating from its intended trajectory.

Lark cast a wind barrier in front of him, blocking the arrow before it struck his body. The arrowhead—clad in lightning—formed cracks and exploded into numerous shards.

Impressive, Lark thought.

If that same arrow was blocked by an ordinary, metallic shield, its target would have been blown back by the explosion and pierced by the shrapnel. Moreover, the lightning spell that clad the arrow was probably meant to temporarily paralyze the opponent, rendering him defenseless against Farsight’s next attack.

Even if the first arrow failed, the second shot would definitely kill the target.

And just like Lark had predicted, a second arrow shot toward him a split second after the first one exploded.

The second arrow was faster and stronger than the first. It spun more rapidly, creating an ominous whizzing sound. Rather than an arrow, this one felt like a javelin.

Lark reinforced his wind barrier with mana, successfully blocking the second attack.

The pillars of water receded.

Farsight didn’t fire a third arrow.

Lark continued hovering there, right above the lake, as he stared at the archer on the ground below. Lark received a mental transmission from within the dungeon.

“Lord Evander, should we dispose of the human?” said Jaraxus. The high-ranking nest guarding the main entrance must have told her what was happening outside.

Lark replied, “No. He’s someone I know. Don’t touch him.”

“Understood.”

And the mental transmission ended.

Elias ‘Farsight’ was one of the strongest men Lark had met so far in this life. Judging by those two arrows, he was probably in the same league as Sword Saint Alexander—but with a bow. It would be a great loss to the kingdom if Jaraxus killed him due to this petty squabble.

Well, Lark was certain that Farsight wouldn’t go down without a fight in the first place, even if his opponent was the guardian of the dungeon.

He’s retreating?

To Lark’s surprise, Farsight suddenly retreated into the nearby forest and hid behind the trees, his eyes still locked on to his opponent. Although Lark was still concealed by his spell, Farsight was following his every movement, as though he could see him clearly.

After several seconds, Lark realized that Farsight had no intention of fighting against him any longer.

What a cunning man.

The moment he realized that Lark was a formidable foe, he instantly increased the distance between him and his opponent. He carefully studied his prey, just like a hunter concealing himself in the forest.

Well, this was much better than a useless battle.

Lark stared at Farsight for a moment, and without uttering another word, flew toward Blackstone Town.

After Lark was gone, Farsight came out of the forest.

Farsight.

Most people thought this name was given to him due to his ability to see his target from great distances. But the real reason was different. It was due to his ability to see through concealment spells. His ability to see his targets even hiding behind rocks or trees. Even if they’re hiding under water. An archer born with eyesight capable of seeing through pitch-black darkness.

Farsight was certain of what he saw just now: The person who came out of the lake was the Lord of Blackstone Town.

Farsight said to the soldiers hiding behind the trees, “Send a message to King Alvis. Tell him that Lark Marcus came out of the lake, at the place where the massive sphere of mana was first located.”

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 9

Flying at top speed, Lark finally returned to Blackstone Town. He slowed down as he noticed the migrants below. There were hundreds of them. Lark surmised that they were part of the group who’d fled through Lion City’s southern gate. Although a large number of them returned to their homes after the monsters had been taken care of, a portion of them decided to finally leave the city and migrate to a ‘safer’ territory.

Lark saw Clarkson and his men, in their police uniform, controlling the influx of migrants into the town. A temporary barricade made of wood had been put in place, deterring people from entering the town without permission.

“Sir, we’ve been waiting here for more than a day already,” said one of the migrants. “How long do we have to stay here, before the town’s entrance?”

Clarkson’s sword hanged on his waist. “Please understand. There are a lot of migrants this time. We can’t make a decision until the lord returns.” His voice was firm and resolute.

Good work, Clarkso n , thought Lark.

Lark initially doubted if Clarkson could properly perform his duties as the head of the police. After all, he’d been forced to come here to this small town by the order of the duke. But now, looking at how he was handling things, it seemed those were pointless worries.

Lark flew straight to the mansion and entered his office through the open window. He undid his concealment spell, removed his cloak, and went to the hallway. He called the first servant he saw.

“Tell Gaston to report to my office straightaway,” said Lark.

The servant was surprised to see Lark. “Young master? You’re back!” He remembered Lark’s words. “Ah, r-right away! I’ll inform the head butler at once!”

Lark went to his room and slumped on his chair. So many unbelievable things had happened these past several days.

Who would have known that even after a thousand years had passed, he would meet his friend, Kel’ Vual, at the Lake of the Full Moon, of all places? Furthermore, he’d also learned of Agreas’ fate and the imminent demon invasion.

“There are a lot of things I need to prepare for,” muttered Lark.

It was tiring just thinking about it. But these were things that must be done, no matter what. Everything was for the sake of Blackstone Town.

The gem tied on his neck softly glowed for a split second. A familiar voice spoke, “God… God Evander!”

The last part was almost a squeak, as though the owner of the voice was trying its best to contain its excitement.

“Blackie?” Lark replied through the communication crystal.

“You’re finally back!”

“Hey, let us speak to God Evander too!”

“Shut up! It’s my turn now! I won our game of hayangji!”

Hayangji was a popular turn-based strategic game in the kingdom. But how had the Scylla learned to play that game played by humans? Judging by their squabble, it seemed that they’d used the game to ascertain their rights to use the communication crystal.

“You know how to play hayangji?” said Lark.

“Yes, God Evander. The elves tasked to help us create the road were playing it. The rules are really similar to buyol, the game taught to us by the God of Poison.”

Indeed, Quervanu was very fond of playing those strategic games. If his memory was correct, he’d only managed to win around five out of a hundred games against that disciple of his.

Although Quervanu didn’t have monstrous strength like Kubarkava, he was one of his smartest disciples, probably second only to Pollux.

Lark smiled. He really missed those times.

“Hayangji, huh?” said Lark. “Let’s play one of these days, how about it? We can also invite the elves.”

“Really?”

“Of course, we’d love to!”

“We don’t mind even if God Evander invites those insects!”

“I’m the best out of every one of us, God Evander! Please let me have the first match!”

“This damn snake! Stop lying! You lost to me before! Bah!”

“That was a fluke! You lost three times before that!”

“What did you say?”

Lark chuckled. He was glad that the Scylla found a game to pass the time at least. Living alone in the forest must have been extremely dull and boring. He was glad that Blackie had discovered a harmless game to play.

“So, why did you call me?” said Lark.

The fracas died down at once.

“I apologize for the commotion, God Evander. The King of Elves and their priestess visited our sacred ground recently. They wish to speak with you, My God.”

“The King of Elves and their priestess,” mumbled Lark. “And the reason for their visit?”

“Although they didn’t tell us the exact reason, after observing them using surveillance magic, we’re certain that it was because of the demons. We believe that their priestess received a revelation from the temple.”

It would be impossible to observe the elves from the golden statue all the way to the City of Aerith. The elves must have camped near the Scylla’s lair and stayed there until Lark returned.

“The elves didn’t return to their city?” said Lark.

“No, God Evander. They’ve been camping near the sacred ground for several days now, awaiting your return.”

Lark furrowed his brow. Although King Melandrach had been acting subservient, he was still the king of a nation. Lark found it discomforting that the King of Elves had been camping in the forest for several days now just to meet him.

“Blackie, send a message to King Melandrach. Tell him that he and his men are free to stay inside the castle.”

This was the least he could do to show courtesy to the king of another nation.

“But the golden statue is being kept inside the castle—”

“I sealed the room with magic and reactivated the Hand of God spell, before I left,” said Lark.

Although the range of Hand of God was extremely small compared to other spells, it was still a pinnacle-grade spell. After taking hundreds of gold coins, adamantite ores, and a bloodstone, Lark reactivated the pinnacle-grade spell embedded on the wall using a pinnacle-grade mana stone. Anyone aside from Lark would be crushed by the spell if they attempted to take even a single gold coin from the treasure room.

“A pinnacle-grade spell is protecting the treasure room… We understand. We shall immediately relay God Evander’s message to the King of Elves.”

There were no beds or fixtures in the castle the Scylla made, but Lark deemed that staying there would be a lot better than camping in the forest.

Knocks were heard and the door to Lark’s office opened. An elderly man with ashen, brushed up hair entered the room.

“You’re finally back, young master,” said Gaston. “You called for me, My Lord?”

“I’ll visit the forest soon,” were Lark’s last words to the Scylla before he cut the supply of mana to the communication crystal.

“It’s been a while, Gaston,” said Lark. “I want a detailed report on everything that happened in my territory while I was gone.”

“Of course,” said Gaston. “It should ready before the day ends, Young Master.”

Gaston adjusted his monocle as he studied Lark’s face. “You seem to be… very pleased, Young Master.”

“Is it obvious?”

“Yes. You’re smiling from ear to ear, My Lord.”

“I see,” said Lark. “I… met an old friend.”

“An old friend? Is it Lord Omie, Lord Renz? Or maybe it’s Lord Jepsy?”

Those three were members of Lark’s little group before Evander took over his body. The self-proclaimed Masters of Lukas. His friends that partook in his hedonistic lifestyle.

Lark shook his head. “No. He’s… someone you’ve never met before, Gaston.”

Lark looked at open window. The sky was bright and clear. Just like the calm before a storm.

“I see,” said Gaston. He did not pry any further. “Young Master… there has been a rumor circulating in Blackstone Town recently.”

“A rumor?”

“Yes. Hundreds of migrants from Lion City arrived at our territory just recently.”

Lark remembered the migrants he saw at the town’s entrance.

Gaston added, “I heard that those people left the city in fear of the monsters of the lake. The peculiar thing is… some of them have been spreading rumors that the young master was the one who killed all of the monsters that nearly destroyed Lion City. There are already bards singing praises of the young master’s exploits. Some people are even saying that you’re the second coming of the Sun God.”

“Sun God, huh? It’s been a long time since people last called me that,” mumbled Lark.

Gaston shot a quizzical gaze at him. “Young Master?”

“Nothing,” said Lark. He didn’t confirm nor refute the claims. “Aside from the rumors, anything else?”

“Big Mona arrived at Blackstone Town yesterday, Young Master. He’s been waiting since then for an audience.”

“Ah, the letter.”

“Should I ask the merchant to come here, My Lord?”

“Yes, Gaston. Also, tell Austen, George, and Anandra to come.”

“As you wish.” Gaston bowed his head. “Then, if there’s nothing else, please excuse me.”

Several minutes after Gaston left, the brothers entered Lark’s office. The two of them were huffing. Beads of sweat covered their faces and their sweat-soaked clothes stuck to their skin.

“Master! You’re finally back!” said Austen.

“Thank Gods. We’ll be finally free from that hell!” added George.

Lark said, “What happened?”

The two slumped on the couch and sighed.

George spat angrily, “It’s Anandra, Master! Ever since you left, he’s forced us to wear this thing during our training! That demon!” George raised his right arm, showing the wrist weight wrapped around it.

“That old man! What does he think of us! I hope he turns bald!” cursed Austen.

“Who do you want to turn bald?” A cold voice was heard.

Austen and George looked at the door and saw Anandra standing there. The two of them froze, their faces struck with terror.

“N-No, we’re talking about Gaston! The b-butler!”

“That’s… that’s right!”

Anandra stared at the brothers for a moment, effectively shutting their mouths in an instant. He walked toward Lark, placed his right hand on his chest, and bowed his head. “You’re finally back, Master.”

“Good work training George and Austen,” said Lark.

The brothers’ eyes widened. Realization dawned unto them.

“The young master is the one… who ordered this training?” said George. He sounded as though he’d been betrayed by his master.

“Of course. Master Lark wrote it in his letter before he left,” said Anandra as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “The two of you skipped morning training. We’ll triple the laps later in the evening.”

“No!” Austen was horrified.

“Why do we have to do this… this monster freak training like you!” protested George. “We’re magicians! It’s not fair!”

“Didn’t I tell you before? If the vessel is weak, it’ll be extremely hard to cast strong magic.” said Lark. “The two of you were used to hard labor back in Lion City. I don’t see why this little training would be an issue.”

Austen and George didn’t dare to talk back to their master. The brothers had been wearing weights on their arms and feet for several days now. They made a lot of difference whenever they were forced to run around the town. Right now, their arms and legs felt numb.

It was subtle, but they noticed the small smirk on Anandra’s face after hearing the master’s words.

That old man , George and Austen cursed.

“As for the reason I called the three of you here today,” said Lark. “It’s to ramp up your training.”

The brothers groaned upon hearing the word ‘training.’

“Anandra. Starting tomorrow, you’ll start training on how to infuse mana into your weapons.”

“Understood,” Anandra readily replied.

“Austen, George. Starting tomorrow, you’ll start training on quick cast. I originally planned on teaching this to the two of you once you’d mastered all the first-tier one spells of the basic elements, but right now, we simply don’t have the time for that.”

“We don’t have time?” said George.

Although the brothers had innately massive mana pools, they would probably die if they even fought a lesser demon. Their casting speed was simply too slow.

“Here, take this.” Lark took out two metallic discs from his drawer and handed them to the brothers. Engraved on the discs was the first-tier magic formation he’d taught to them. “Apply some mana at the bottom of the disc. Not too much, not too little. Try it.”

Austen and George nodded and did as Lark had instructed. To their surprise, their mana quickly flowed through the engravement and formed a magic circle. In just three seconds, a fist-sized ball of fire appeared right on top of the magic circle.

“Easy, right? You’re already close to mastering the first-tier spells without the help of such a device. That thing is merely meant to help accelerate the learning process,” said Lark. “Keep repeating that exercise until it becomes similar to muscle memory. This is where monstrous mana pools become an advantage. Your average magician could probably do this exercise for eight to ten times a day, but it should be possible for the two of you to do more than a hundred. If the disc breaks, come to me. I’ll give you another one. Your goal is to cast that same fireball spell in half a second. Do you understand?”

Austen and George shuddered in excitement.

“Yes, Young Master!”

Lark looked at the door and noticed the newly arrived visitor. Big Mona, the head of the Merchants Guild in Lion City.

“Ah, you’re here,” said Lark.

His disciples looked at the door and saw the fat merchant. They wordlessly moved to the side as Big Mona entered the room. At first, they wondered if they should leave, but Lark wordlessly told them to stay.

“It’s been a while, partner.” Big Mona grinned.

“Please sit,” said Lark. “I assume that you came because of the letter?”

The couch squeaked the moment Big Mona sat on it. “Of course. It was amazing! How could I let go of the chance of obtaining the rights to that potion!”

For a moment, Lark was reminded of a squealing pig. Lark was not certain of it, but it looked like Big Mona had gained more weight since he last saw him.

“I heard from one of your affiliate merchants that your dream is to surpass the Vont Family ruling over the Merchants Guild at the capital,” said Lark.

Big Mona’s smile slid from his face upon the mention of the name.

“Mona, you understand it, right? That potion. That fabric. This is your chance to prove to everyone that you’re the best merchant in the whole kingdom.”

For a moment, greed started seeping from the fat merchant’s eyes. He’d already resolved himself before he arrived here. He knew that such a tempting offer wouldn’t be free.

“I’ll get straight to the point.” Lark apparated a dagger and slid it toward Big Mona. “This dagger. Use it to make an oath. Swear your allegiance to me, to Blackstone Town, to the kingdom. Do this, Mona, and I shall help you achieve what your heart desires.”

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 10

“Achieve what my heart desires?” said Big Mona. “That’s quite… a bold promise, partner.”

Big Mona inwardly reprimanded himself for showing greed on his face. He relaxed his shoulders and said, “Wealth. Fame. Power. You need all of these if you want to surpass the Vont Family.”

“I know,” said Lark. “I’m well aware of how wealthy and powerful they are. They’re the largest supporter of Wizzert, isn’t that right? And that’s not all. They’re also the largest supplier of arms for the Kelvins and the other nobles in the western territory.”

All true. Despite having a commoner background, the Vont Family held significant sway in the kingdom. Big Mona had even heard from a reliable source that they were also connected to the Grand Order. According to his intel, the younger sister of the current Master of the Tower was the offspring of a Vont and an Aria. A woman born from two of the most powerful families in the kingdom.

“So you’re aware,” muttered the fat merchant.

Although the time Big Mona had known Lark Marcus was short, he was certain that this young noble was a man of his word. Moreover, Lark’s achievements last year alone made Big Mona’s lifelong dreams seem reachable.

This noble was the same person who defeated the Third Legion and led the kingdom to victory against the Empire.

Although most nobles believed that Lui Marcus, Kalavinka Kelvin, and Lancaster Kelvin held the highest chance of ascending the throne, Big Mona thought differently. For him, Lark Marcus was currently the strongest contender for the throne. He trusted his merchant’s intuition. There was no doubt about it.

King Alvis even sent his daughter here to this region, in hopes of her marrying the young noble.

Becoming his exclusive merchant didn’t sound bad, considering all of these things.

If Lark Marcus became the next King of Lukas, Big Mona—his most trusted merchant—would naturally soar to greater heights.

He would finally be able to make those bastards from the Vont Family pay for driving his father to poverty, causing him to hang himself to save his two sons from the loan sharks.

Big Mona fell silent as he pondered.

“The oath… I assume that the dagger will pierce my heart if I break the vow,” said Big Mona.

“That’s right. And it’ll be painful,” Lark said in a cold voice. “You’ll die an excruciating death, Mona.”

Big Mona smirked. He’d finally decided.

“I trust my intuition as a merchant. Very well. I’ll bet everything I have on you, Young Master Lark.”

The merchant took the dagger and pressed it against his thumb, making blood drip down. Following Lark’s instructions, Big Mona recited the vow.

“I, Mona Gaultier, swear my allegiance to Lark Marcus, Lord of Blackstone Town. I vow to never betray him nor his town. Should this vow be broken… may this dagger sink its blade into my heart.”

The dagger shattered into numerous particles of light and dissipated. Big Mona felt a tiny seed within his chest. He knew that the moment he broke this vow, this tiny seed would grow and pierce his heart.

Lark noticed that Big Mona swore his loyalty to him only, not to the kingdom itself.

“Mona, the vow to never betray the kingdom—” said Lark.

“Isn’t this enough?” said Big Mona. He wiped the blood dripping down his thumb using a cloth. “I will never betray you, it’s impossible with this vow. But I cannot promise that I won’t kill those bastards from the capital. They still have to pay for what they’ve done to us.”

Lark understood what Big Mona meant. Killing the members of that prominent family would probably be considered treason or betrayal against the kingdom. It’d be near impossible for Big Mona to exact his revenge if he made the vow to never betray the Kingdom of Lukas. It was a goal Big Mona couldn’t compromise on, no matter what.

Lark sighed. “Very well. I guess that is more than enough.” He looked at the four people in the room. “Now that everything’s settled, let’s go and see the elves in the Endless Forest.”

“W-What? E-Elves?” Big Mona gasped. He nearly dropped the cloth he was holding. “There are elves living in the Endless Forest?”

***

It had been a couple of weeks since the priestess received God Gaia’s revelation. King Melandrach, along with the priestess, a few officials, and several warriors, had travelled to the forest border directly to meet the human mentioned in the revelation.

Unfortunately, their efforts to meet the God of the Earth Scylla had been futile so far.

Despite this, the king and his retinue continued staying in the castle located in the border, in hopes of meeting Evander one day. The God of Earth specifically told them to seek his help, that it was the only way for the Eleven Race to survive. They’d already resolved themselves to wait, no matter how long, no matter what.

The ground rumbled. Outside the castle, the sound of wings unfolding was heard.

One of the warriors stationed at the castle’s entrance said to King Melandrach, “Your Majesty! The Earth Scylla woke up! A rift has opened in the barrier!”

The Earth Scylla hadn’t bothered speaking to them during their stay here at the castle. It slept the entire time and refused to acknowledge the existence of the castle’s current occupants. All of the elves knew that the Scylla thought of them as insects unworthy of its time.

For that seven-headed monster to suddenly wake up and open the illusion barrier protecting the castle, meant only one thing: Evander Alaester had returned to the border.

“Priestess Siofra,” said King Melandrach. “It seems that he’s finally returned.”

The priestess nodded. She fixed her dress, and together with her father and the guards, went out of the castle. Looking up, they saw five humans enter the illusion barrier through the opened rift.

“Welcome back, God Evander!” the Scylla spoke in draconian language.

“Good work protecting this sacred ground,” Lark replied in human tongue.

The Scylla was an extremely intelligent creature. It immediately understood that its God wanted the four humans it brought with him to understand what they were saying.

Using human tongue, the first head replied, “As you’ve ordered, the elves are staying here at the castle, God Evander.”

The Scylla peeked at the humans behind its God. The youngest of them looked utterly horrified, his body trembling from terror. His older brother, on the other hand, was repeatedly opening and closing his mouth, his eyes swiveling between Lark and the seven-headed monster. The man with golden hair had his hand on the hilt of his sword, his brows creased as he fearlessly observed the Scylla and the elves. He looked as though he was ready to cut them down at a moment’s notice. As for the plump human—although he was clearly terrified of the Scylla, he was openly gawking at the elves, particularly at King Melandrach and Priestess Siofra.

“Ordered?” Lark chuckled. “People might start having misconceptions that I’m a tyrant.”

The Scylla was flustered upon hearing Lark’s remark. Its tail stiffened.

“Ah! That’s not what we meant, God Evander!”

“We requested the elves stay in the castle!”

“We’ve been very polite! We didn’t even threaten them this time!”

“That’s right! We only slept the entire time!”

Although Lark found the seven-headed monster amusing, his companions clearly thought differently. Those sharp teeth dripping with silvery threads of saliva. Those iridescent black scales that were probably stronger than iron. No matter how they looked at it, this was a monster capable of destroying a whole nation.

George couldn’t bear it any longer. He’d never seen something so terrifying in his life. He grabbed the arm of Lark and said, “M-Master, that… what is that thing?”

Lark placed his hand on top of George’s head and lightly ruffled his hair. Seeing this, the Scylla felt a pang of jealously. It wanted its head to be touched too. That human kid was so lucky.

“It’s fine. I told you before coming here that it’s about time you learned the truth of this world, right?” Lark reassured George.

During their the flight, Lark told Big Mona and his disciples about the elves, the monster guarding the forest border, and the upcoming demon invasion he’d heard from the Arzomos. He’d decided to disclose all of these things to his disciples in preparation for the upcoming demon invasion.

Still, although Lark had told them about this seven-headed monster beforehand, seeing it in flesh was an entirely different matter.

Even trained knights would be frozen in fear upon seeing Blackie. It was understandable that Big Mona and his disciples were stricken with terror upon seeing it.

“One of you,” Lark said to the Scylla. “Come here.”

The first head was the first to react. It immediately moved in front of Lark, its eyes filled with anticipation.

George shrieked seeing the monster up-close. Lark chuckled. He touched the snout of the first head and gently rubbed it.

“It won’t hurt you,” said Lark. “Try it.”

He gestured for George and Austen to touch it. The brothers hesitated for a moment but eventually found the courage to do it. The moment they touched its snout, the first head closed its eyes.

“See?” Lark grinned.

“It’s… beautiful,” mumbled George.

“It’s not resisting our touch,” whispered Austen.

Seeing this, Anandra finally relaxed. He removed his hand from the hilt of his sword and silently observed the seven-headed monster. Big Mona, on the other hand, was gazing at what was transpiring with wide eyes.

“Touch us too, God Evander!”

“It’s not fair!”

“It’s that stupid snake again!”

The rest of the heads moved closer to Lark, surrounding him from all sides. The brothers were startled by this at first, but surprisingly, they slowly got used to the monster. After they touched the first head, for some reason, the monster no longer felt that scary. It even reminded them of the mutt they’d picked up back in Lion City.

Lark humored the Scylla and started rubbing the other heads one after another. The seven-headed monster was definitely pleased; its tail started wagging, fiercely striking the ground every now and then. Some of the elven warriors even had to move back to avoid being hit by its tail.

“Blackie, these are my disciples: George, Austen, and Anandra,” said Lark.

“Disciples?” said seventh head.

“Just like Master Kubarkava?” said the fifth.

“That’s right. Just like Kubarkava.” Lark smiled.

Hearing this, the Scylla bowed its head before them. It said in unison, “It’s an honor to meet the disciples of God Evander.”

It was a surreal sight. Lark’s disciples couldn’t believe that the monster was lowering its head in front of mere humans like them.

“And that man over there is Big Mona, my merchant,” said Lark.

This time, the Scylla didn’t bow its head. It simply acknowledged him with its eyes as it silently gazed at him. The Scylla didn’t consider the merchant its superior, unlike its Gods’ direct disciples.

“But, Master, why is it calling you God Evander?” said George, his hand still rubbing the first head’s snout.

“I’ll tell you the details later on,” said Lark. “It’s quite a long story.”

Lark’s gaze moved toward the elves at the back. He noticed that they did not dare disrupt his conversation with the Scylla; they patiently waited as he introduced the seven-headed monster to his companions.

Lark walked toward the elves who’d been silently standing near the castle’s entrance. Smiling, he said, “It’s been a while, King Melandrach.”

King Melandrach, the priestess, and the rest of the elves immediately knelt on the ground.

“Thank you for granting us an audience, Lord Evander,” said King Melandrach.

“Lord Evander, my name is Siofra, daughter of Melandrach, current Priestess of the Elven Kingdom,” said the female elf next to the king. “I sincerely thank you for granting us an audience.”

So, this was the Priestess of the Elven Kingdom. Although she was incredibly beautiful, she looked really young.

Lark noticed the desperation within the elves’ voices. He found it disturbing to see the rulers of a nation kneeling on the ground in front of him.

“Please rise,” said Lark.

The elves slowly rose to their feet.

“This is no place to talk. Come. Let’s head inside the castle,” said Lark.

Like chicks following the hen, his three disciples, Big Mona, and the elves followed Lark and entered the castle.

“This is even larger than the king’s castle in the capital,” mumbled Big Mona, his jaw slack as he looked around.

George and Austen were also stunned by what they were seeing. They would never have expected to see a castle this colossal in the Endless Forest. Even Anandra looked curiously at the castle’s interior.

They entered the grand hall. Unlike before, it now had a large long table capable of seating a few dozen people. The table and chairs were intricately made of wood; the Scylla must have spent a great deal of time creating the furniture.

Lark sat on one of the chairs and he gestured for King Melandrach and the priestess to sit opposite him. The elves were confounded. Right now, Lark was treating their king and the priestess as his equal.

“Please sit,” said Lark.

It was only then that King Melandrach and the priestess finally sat opposite Lark. As for the other elves, they chose to stand behind their king and the priestess.

“I heard from Blackie,” said Lark. “A revelation, is it?”

The priestess and the king glanced at each other. Priestess Siofra breathed in deeply and said, “Yes, Lord Evander. Almost a month ago, I received a revelation from God Gaia. The content of the revelation is this: the demon sealed in the ice prison is close to waking up. Find the one who traveled through time. This is the only path, the only future, wherein the elven race survives.”

Lark noticed at the corner of his eye that Austen was openly staring at the priestess, as though he’d been bewitched by her appearance.

That kid, really.

“We believe that the revelation is referring to you, Lord Evander,” said the priestess.

Lark fell silent.

Had he heard of this several weeks ago, the first part of the revelation wouldn’t have made sense. But now that he’d met Kel’ Vual and the rest of the Arzomos tribe, he could surmise the identity of the demon mentioned by the God of Earth. It was the Demon Lord Barkuvara—the so-called Immortal Demon.

As for the latter part of the revelation—Lark was not certain it was pertaining to him. Well, it was true that he’d somehow traveled through time after his death.

“We beg of you, Lord Evander.” King Melandrach bowed his head low, his forehead almost touching the table. The priestess and the elves behind him quickly did the same. “Please help our kingdom, please help the elven race survive.”

Seeing the elves bowing their heads to Lark Marcus, Big Mona couldn’t help but shudder with surprise. Based on what he’d heard, the elf sitting right in front of Lark was the King of Elves. And right now, he was lowering his head and begging Lark for help.

Who was this Lord Evander ? What was the real identity of Lark Marcus? And why were the elves begging him for help?

There were a lot of questions, and Big Mona currently held no answers.

“Listen. The war that will soon engulf this continent will be on such a massive scale that it will make the last war look like petty squabbles,” said Lark.

The elves trembled.

“I’m afraid that it’ll be hard, even for me, to protect the entire Kingdom of Aerith.”

Lark didn’t lie and he didn’t want to make empty promises either. Some demon tribes were incredibly difficult to fight. Especially those that belonged to the parasitic demon tribe. Those demons were capable of taking over the body of a host—animals, humans, and elves were no exception.

Moreover, if the demons from the Corrupted Land joined the war, it would be only a matter of time before the kingdom turned into a wasteland. A land where not a blade of grass grew. A land devoid of life.

Although Lark had finally regained the Sword of Morpheus, he knew that it would be difficult, even for him, to protect everyone in the Kingdom of Lukas and the Kingdom of Aerith.

“Then what should we do, Lord Evander?” King Melandrach was desperate. His hands trembled as he waited for an answer.

“Unless the demons come at us from the east, the elven kingdom should be safe as long as the Kingdom of Lukas and the United Grakas Alliance in the South do not fall to the demons,” said Lark.

Indeed. It made sense. Right now, those two nations served as walls protecting the Endless Forest.

“Your best shot at survival is to ensure that those two nations do not fall from the flames of war. As your trading partner, I promise to help you to the best of my ability. But at the end of the day, the fate of your race rests in your hands, King Melandrach.”

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 11

Big Mona still couldn’t believe his luck. He realized why Lark had asked him to make that vow.

Today, the fat merchant had learned several things: First, the true identity of Lark Marcus. Based on what he’d heard, a powerful, ancient magician was currently inhabiting the body of the second son of Duke Drakus.

Evander Alaester.

One of the strongest magicians in the history of humankind. A magician who killed two Demon Lords during his lifetime.

When Big Mona learned of this, everything that had transpired these past several months finally made sense.

It explained how Lark Marcus had changed so drastically. It explained how a vile, incompetent noble managed to defeat the Third Legion of the United Grakas Alliance, how he managed to brew those extremely potent healing potions, and how he managed to lead the kingdom to its victory against the Empire.

The second thing the merchant learned was the existence of the elven kingdom. A nation located at the heart of the Endless Forest. Although it was composed of only one city and several garrisons, Big Mona knew, judging by the conversation, that it was a powerful nation. Moreover, all of the elven warriors accompanying the King of Elves and Priestess Siofra felt incredibly dangerous. Each of them was probably as powerful as a royal knight of the kingdom.

Big Mona was certain that there were no records regarding the existence of the Kingdom of Aerith. Understandable, since it would take almost a month by foot from Blackstone Town to reach their city. For humans, it would have been incredibly hard to navigate through the sea of trees—which was akin to a maze—for such a long period of time.

Big Mona licked his lower lip. He could already hear the clanking of gold coins. He was certain that he would eventually amass great wealth if he played his cards right. Currently, the elves were practically begging Lark Marcus for his protection. Monopolizing trade with their country was no longer a pipe dream. Big Mona couldn’t help but shudder at the very thought of becoming the elven kingdom’s exclusive merchant.

“Big Mona here is a seasoned merchant,” said Lark. “He swore an oath of death for me. You can trust him.”

Big Mona bowed his head lightly. “It’s a pleasure to meet the priestess and His Majesty.”

Big Mona was quick-witted. He immediately realized from the conversation that the priestess held a higher standing than the elven king. He made sure to greet the priestess before King Melandrach.

King Melandrach looked at the fat merchant sitting next to Anandra. “I trust Lord Evander’s judgment. Although humans are forbidden from entering the kingdom and its border, it should be fine to make exceptions.”

Lark and the elves continued discussing various scenarios and possibilities regarding the upcoming war with the demons.

According to Lark, a lesser demon was a bit stronger than an average human. The elven warriors should be capable of winning against them one on one. The problem was the demons with the ability to parasitize or corrupt their enemies. There were also some demons with incredibly fast regenerative abilities—difficult to kill with physical attacks. Hearing this, the elves couldn’t help but worry about the imminent war.

“Mydgrengia was it?” said Lark. “The black metal your race uses to make arrowheads. I believe it will be useful when fighting against the demons, especially those that belong to the parasitic demon tribe.”

The faces of the elves brightened upon hearing this. This was good news. At the very least, it seemed that their arrows were capable of paralyzing even demons.

“I see!” said King Melandrach, visibly pleased.

“King Melandrach, is it possible to secure those arrowheads for our kingdom’s army?” said Lark.

King Melandrach rubbed his short beard. “That black metal, it’s made from the leaves of a mydgrengia. Although a lot of it grows near the cavern where the carnivorous worms live, it takes a year for the leaves to fully harden into a metal. We can probably provide a hundred thousand arrowheads each year at most, Lord Evander.”

“A hundred thousand,” mumbled Lark. It wasn’t much, especially after hearing from the Arzomos that six demon tribes had allied themselves to free the Immortal Demon. “It’s better than nothing. Mona—”

“Yes!” said Big Mona. He sounded more enthusiastic than usual. His eyes were glimmering with desire.

“Coordinate with the elves regarding this matter. Procure as much iron as you can from the Merchants Guild and from the other cities. It should be possible to smelt them and combine the two.”

“Understood! Leave it to me!” Big Mona thumped his chest with his hand.

Lark had seen the arrowheads before. The black metal held an incredibly potent paralyzing ability. It should still be strong enough to paralyze a demon even if they smelt it with iron.

“Gather your most trusted men and make sure each of them undergoes the vow of silence,” Lark said to Big Mona. “We’ll establish a trading route between Aerith and Blackstone Town. As my merchant, it’ll be your job to oversee everything. I’m entrusting you with this responsibility, Mona.”

Big Mona was smiling broadly, his greed clearly showing on his face. For a moment, the elves felt disgusted upon seeing it. If not for Lord Evander, they wouldn’t have allowed this human to have that much authority over their kingdom’s trade.

“I won’t disappoint you, partner!” said Big Mona.

Lark noticed that his three disciples had been silent the whole time. Of all his companions, only Big Mona seemed to be thrilled about what they’d heard so far.

Lark said to George, “Are you disappointed?”

George looked at him for a moment before replying, “About what… Master?”

“That I’m not the real Lark Marcus. That I’m a fake, an impostor who took over this body.”

George shook his head. “No! Master isn’t a fake!” George realized that he had shouted. He lowered his voice and added, “You’re not a fake…” He looked Lark in the eyes then averted his gaze. “And you said it too… That you took over that body more than a year ago. It means that the master we knew was you all along. Master, for us, you’re the real Lark Marcus.”

“George is right, Master,” said Austen. “At least for us, you’re the real one.”

Anandra nodded his head once in agreement.

A soft smile formed on Lark’s face. He felt an indescribable warmth flowing through his body. It was a nice feeling. His disciples had acknowledged the real him.

“I agree with the kids, partner,” Big Mona said, chuckling. “Who cares about the real owner of that body! It’s better that we have you here!”

Big Mona had been sucking up to him more than usual today. He must be delighted upon learning of the trade with elves.

“King Melandrach, aside from those guardian golems, does the elven kingdom have any other defensive measures to protect it from a demon invasion?” said Lark.

King Melandrach pondered for a moment. Should he tell the humans about the artifact capable of temporarily summoning the God of Earth to this realm?

No. It wouldn’t be wise to reveal the trump card of their race.

“I’m afraid not, Lord Evander,” said King Melandrach.

“I see. Then… if you have mithril or adamantite, it should be possible for me to create a barrier to protect your kingdom. Just a precautionary measure, what do you say?”

Since Lark knew the exact location of a dragon vein, it should be possible for him to refill the mana he would spend in creating the barrier. It should be possible, as long as he had the Sword of Morpheus.

“A barrier? Of course!” said King Melandrach. “We have a few mithril in the treasure room! Please use as much as you need to create the barrier, Lord Evander!”

“That settles it then,” said Lark. “Mona, you stay here and coordinate with the elves. I’ll return the kids to Blackstone Town first, before heading straight to the Kingdom of Aerith.”

“I’ll be gone for a couple of hours,” Lark said to King Melandrach. “Please pick several men who will ride Blackie with you. We’ll depart immediately once I return from Blackstone Town.”

“B-Blackie?” said King Melandrach. “You mean the E-Earth Scylla? We’re riding that… thing?”

“That’s right.”

The elves turned pallid. The mere thought of riding that monster made them quiver from fright. Priestess Siofra, on the other hand, seemed pleased with the idea.

Lark grinned. He said mischievously, “Don’t worry. Blackie’s quite docile.”

***

Using flight magic, Lark and his disciples returned to Blackstone Town. After tasking his disciples to continue with their training, Lark went to where Herbalist Mores lived.

Lark knocked on the door. Even from the outside, he could smell the scent of medicinal concoctions.

Mores partly opened the door and peeked outside, before opening it wide.

“Young Lord?”

“Mores, it’s been a while,” said Lark. He got straight to the point, “I’m here to check on the mandrakes. Can I come inside?”

“Ah! Of course, of course.”

Lark entered the herbalist’s house and saw the dried herbs hanging from the ceiling. There was a large cabinet filled with bottles and several cauldrons were sitting on the ground. Herbalist Mores’ assistant bowed upon seeing Lark.

“Over here, Young Lord,” said Mores.

Lark followed the herbalist and arrived at a room with a large opened window. Next to the window were two large pots where the mandrakes had been planted.

“We’ve been feeding it with blood, as you instructed,” said Mores. He touched the bell-shaped flower, his fingers sliding through its ovate leaves. The base of its stem formed the face of a child—its eyes closed and smiling.

Unlike before, the herbalist no longer seemed to fear it.

“It’s grown a lot. The fact that it’s smiling shows that you’ve done an excellent job taking care of it,” said Lark. “Good work, Mores.”

The herbalist scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. He was clearly pleased upon hearing the praise from the young master.

“I’m unworthy of such praise, My Lord,” said Mores. “I merely planted it while following your instructions.”

Lark touched the mandrake’s leaves. He knew that once he pulled this plant out of the pot, that seemingly innocent face would glare at him, and cry and scream with all its might.

“Listen, do you remember the black roots I gave you before?”

“The mandrake seeds?”

“Yes, the mandrake seeds. Once the flowers turn crimson, I want you to pull the mandrakes out and cut the roots, leaving only one. Replant the roots immediately afterward. Feed them with blood just like before. Repeat this until you have at least a hundred of these plants.”

“That many?” mumbled Mores. He nodded. “I understand.”

Lark pulled out a pouch filled with gold coins and handed it to herbalist. The herbalist took the pouch and peeked at what was inside.

“T-This much gold!”

His assistant, Hans, gawked at seeing the gold coins inside.

“You’ll receive double this once you’ve completed this task,” said Lark. “I’ll leave the mandrakes in your hands.”

“Please leave it to me, Young Lord!”

Lark nodded. Entrusting this task to Herbalist Mores was indeed the correct decision.

In the Magic Empire, medicine concocted from the leaves of a mandrake was a well-known cure for parasitization. It would be really useful against the parasitic demons later on.

After leaving the herbalist’s house, Lark returned to the Scylla’s lair. The elves were already waiting for him at the castle’s entrance.

“So, who’s coming with us?” said Lark.

“The priestess and these warriors, Lord Evander,” said the king.

King Melandrach, the priestess, Commander Khuumal, and five elven warriors would be riding Blackie, together with Lark, toward the elven kingdom.

“Blackie, we’re going to the elven kingdom,” Lark said to the Scylla. “And these elves are coming with us.”

The Scylla looked at the elves below then snorted, blatantly showing it was opposed to them riding on top of it. Still, since this was the will of God Evander, the Scylla had no choice but to accept.

“As you wish, God Evander.”

The Scylla lowered its heads and body. After Lark jumped onto its back, the Scylla slowly rose, making it harder for the elves to ride on its back. The elves ended up using wind spirits to climb on top of the Scylla’s body.

“Do not touch our neck, elves,” said the Scylla in a deep, menacing voice.

Lark sighed but didn’t reprimand Blackie. He knew that Scyllas were prideful creatures. Letting the elves ride on top of it was already showing them great favor.

“King Melandrach, Priestess. Please hang on,” said Lark.

The elves did as Lark had instructed. They clung onto one of the small protruding horns on the Scylla’s back.

“Blackie, let’s go.”

“Yes, God Evander!”

The Scylla roared and flocks of birds flew out of the forest. It opened its wings wide and created a rift on the illusion barrier. It jumped up, flapped its wings, and flew toward the east, the direction of the Kingdom of Aerith.

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 12

Despite the Scylla’s reluctance to let the elves ride on its back, it flew toward the elven kingdom at top speed. Every now and then, the Scylla would grumble and tell the elves not to carelessly touch its scales, that it should just cling onto the small horns protruding on its back.

For some reason, the Scylla seemed peeved whenever the elves chatted with Lord Evander. Every time the elves laughed along with its God, growls would come from the Scylla’s mouth. Afraid of incurring the seven-headed creature’s wrath, the elves eventually decided to shut their mouths.

After more than a dozen hours, they finally arrived at the elven kingdom.

The Scylla landed at the foot of the largest eleven oak in the kingdom. It menacingly glared at the elven warriors below, who immediately surrounded it upon its arrival.

“Stop,” said a familiar voice.

The elven warriors looked at the top of the Scylla’s body. Standing there was the King of Elves, the priestess, the commander, and several guards. Beside the king was the infamous human—the alleged God of the Scylla.

King Melandrach started introducing the unannounced guest, “The Earth Scylla and its mast—”

“God,” corrected the Scylla.

King Melandrach coughed. “And its God came here today as our esteemed guests. Lower your bows. Sheath your swords. Show your respect, warriors.”

The elven warriors looked at each other, before eventually lowering their weapons. They’d heard about the Earth God’s revelation to the priestess. They somehow understood why the seven-headed monster and it’s God had come to their city.

The warriors opened up a path leading toward the royal palace.

“Lord Evander, if you please,” said the king.

“Of course. Please lead the way,” said Lark.

With the king and the priestess at the lead, Lark entered the royal palace of the elven kingdom. Unlike the king’s castle in the capital, this looked incredibly modest. Everything, from the walls to the tables and chairs, was made of wood. Thumb-sized orbs of light, which looked like fairies at first glance, hovered at the ceiling, illuminating everything with bright light. Light spirits. Hundreds of them at that.

“According to the history passed down by our ancestors, this used to be the burial ground of the elven royal family. This elven oak itself,” said King Melandrach as they made their way toward the highest floor of the palace. “We believe it grew from the body of the first King of Elves.”

Lark nodded as he appreciated the palace’s simple, yet elegant interior. “It looks amazing, Your Majesty.”

King Melandrach smiled. He’d noticed before: unlike the Scylla, this human treated them as his equals. “This palace is the pride, the treasure of our kingdom. I believe it’s impossible to see an elven oak larger and sturdier than this one.”

Lark remembered the elven oaks he’d seen in the Forbidden Region’s labyrinth. Although the elven oaks he’d seen there were larger than most of the elven oaks in this kingdom, they were still a lot smaller compared to this one.

From the corner of his eye, Lark noticed that the priestess had been stealing glances at him every now and then. Rather than the fear shown by the officials they passed by along the way, her eyes were filled with bewilderment and curiosity.

“You said that we should install the barrier in the most secure place in the palace,” said King Melandrach. “I believe this is the most suitable place for that, Lord Evander.”

King Melandrach stopped in front of a large, wooden door guarded by four elven warriors.

“Open it.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The guards pushed the door open, revealing a large room without any windows. It was surprisingly empty, apart from the six human-sized guardian golems standing next to the walls and the thick wooden pillar at the center of the room.

“These guardian golems will attack anyone that enters this room, unless they’re accompanied by someone from the royal family,” said King Melandrach. “Each of them is strong enough to defeat a hundred elves.”

“I see,” said Lark.

So, this was why this room was the most secure place in the royal palace. Probably a safe haven for the royals, in case an intruder managed to breach all of the palace’s defenses.

“The mithril shield once used by the warrior king is stored inside that pillar, along with his sword and bow. I hope the shield will be enough for the barrier, Lord Evander.”

The king went to the pillar located at the center of the room and opened the hatch in the middle, revealing a silver-black round shield, a silver-black sword, and a bow made of elven oak. He took the shield and walked toward Lark.

“Your Majesty,” said Commander Khuumal. “That’s… the national treasure of the elven kingdom.”

Unlike the king, the commander was clearly reluctant to hand the treasure to an outsider.

King Melandrach said, “This shield has been gathering dust inside that pillar for hundreds of years. Now that our race is facing the potential risk of annihilation, what use is this shield to us? God Gaia said it herself. The only way for our race to survive is by seeking Lord Evander’s help.”

“Lord Evander.” King Melandrach respectfully handed the shield to Lark. “This is the only mithril we currently have. I hope it will suffice for the barrier spell you’re about to cast.”

“A national treasure.” Lark nodded. “I’ll use it well, King Melandrach.”

The king said to the guards, “You may go.”

The guards were reluctant at first, but after seeing that Commander Khuumal was staying with the king and the priestess, they heeded the order.

The door was shut.

“Then, I’ll start,” said Lark.

The bracer on Lark’s right hand slowly morphed into a beautiful, white sword. Using the sword, he started carving the magic formation on the shield. King Melandrach, the commander, and the priestess knew how difficult this was to do. Mithril was, after all, harder than steel.

Fortunately, carving a magic formation on the round shield was a lot easier than engraving it on a phylactery. Furthermore, the Sword of Morpheus was capable of cutting through adamantine, stronger than mithril. This made things a lot easier for Lark.

Without stopping, Lark drew the complex magic formation for almost an hour. When he was finally done, he channeled massive amounts of mana into the artifact.

A torrent of mana flowed from the Sword of Morpheus into the mithril shield. The eyes of the elves present in the room widened upon seeing this. They’d never seen such massive amounts of mana before. The amount of mana was so astronomical that they could clearly see it flowing with their naked eyes.

What was that sword? And how was it possible for an artifact to store that much mana?

Soon, the runes carved on the mithril shield violently glowed and expanded. Magic formations started forming at the feet of the king, the priestess, and the commander. These magic formations overlapped with each other, with Lark at the center.

“With this spell, the three of you will be given the authority to operate this barrier,” said Lark. “Is this alright with you, King Melandrach, Priestess?”

The king and the priestess nodded their heads.

After receiving the elves’ consent, Lark activated the spell. The magic formation shattered into numerous particles of light, and a translucent bubble, which resembled glass, wrapped around the mithril shield, before expanding outward. It enclosed the pillar first, before growing in size and enclosing the entire royal palace itself. Eventually, the barrier expanded enough to enclose the whole City of Aerith, the nearby garrisons, and a small portion of the forest.

Lark placed the mithril shield inside the pillar at the center of the room and closed the hatch.

“With this, the elven race should be fine, even if by chance the demons decide to invade this kingdom,” said Lark.

Lark’s sword turned into a bracer once again. With the help of his sword, it should be possible for Lark to cast several more pinnacle-grade spells.

“I’ll be incredibly busy after this, King Melandrach,” said Lark. “Please coordinate with Big Mona regarding our trade while I’m gone.”

Lark’s next goal was the fortification of Blackstone Town.

***

The Black Expanse—An uncharted territory hundreds of kilometers west of the Mullgray Islands.

The territory of the ragiacrus, sea wyverns capable of annihilating fleets. Even the youngest ragiacrus was said to be at least five meters tall, with the adults reaching up to twenty meters in size. Arrows and harpoons were useless against these monsters’ thick scales. Furthermore, these monsters moved in shivers – a single group consisted of at least seven of these monsters.

Even the most adventurous of pirates did not dare go through this part of the ocean in fear of becoming prey to these monsters.

Right now, everyone living on the Mullgray Islands stared in the direction of the Black Expanse, particularly at the skies right above the territory of the ragiacrus.

The heavens rumbled, as though they were going to be split in half any moment now.

“What the hell is that?” mumbled one of the pirates.

Even from this distance, they could clearly see the massive vortex of lightning in the sky. The clouds were being ripped apart by an invisible force. From inside the vortex of lightning, a sphere slowly emerged. The sphere was tiny at first, far smaller than the one that appeared above the Lake of the Full Moon. But as minutes went by, the sphere slowly grew in size, as though someone was inflating it from the inside.

Seeing this, the personal guards of the current King of Pirates ran to his room and violently knocked on the door.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

The door was yanked open, revealing a tall, naked, dark-skinned man with a missing ear. A large scar, that he’d obtained from fighting against an adult ragiacrus back in his younger years, ran across his chest and back. Proof of his survival against those monsters.

The current King of Pirates.

The absolute ruler of the ocean.

Pirate King “Ragiacrus Hunter” Zayn Pierson.

“So noisy,” Zayn yawned as he picked his ears. “What is it?”

Although he currently looked nonchalant, the guards knew that he wouldn’t hesitate to cut them down if he found their reports irrelevant. This was the same man who killed an adult ragiacrus with his bare fists while swimming in the Black Expanse, naked.

“It’s… You need to see it, Your Majesty!” one of the guards finally mustered the courage to speak. “The sky! A massive sphere appeared in the sky!”

The Pirate King furrowed his brow. He grabbed his cutlass, ready to cut the heads off the guards for uttering gibberish and disturbing his sleep.

“W-Wait!”

“We’re speaking the truth, Your Majesty!”

The Pirate King stared at the guards, his eyes predatory. “A sphere in the sky? You understand that I will feed you to the lagmyx if you’re lying, right?”

“We, we swear!”

“A massive sphere really did appear in the skies above the Black Expanse!”

“That’s right!”

“The Black Expanse, huh?” said the Pirate King. It was opposite the direction of his balcony. He needed to go outside to see it.

The Pirate King donned his robe, strapped his cutlass to his waist, and went outside. Dozens of guards and palace officials were already outside, staring at the sky.

Looking up, the King of Pirates saw the thing the guards had been pestering him about.

Zayn Pierson was capable of body strengthening magic. He could easily amplify his mana senses, unlike most pirates.

And right now, he could feel it.

The massive amounts of mana oozing out of the sphere.

“Your Majesty! Monsters!” A messenger ran toward Zayn, his face pallid.

“Monsters!” huffed the messenger. His voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “Tens of thousands of them are coming this way as we speak!”

Screeches were heard. Zayn looked up and saw innumerable black dots in the sky. His instinct screamed at him that a catastrophe would soon befall his kingdom. He amplified his eyesight using magic and was terrified by what he saw.

Flying monsters. No, demons. Several thousand of them.

“Monsters from the Black Expanse are coming to the island, Your Majesty!” cried the messenger. He fell on his knees and grabbed the Pirate King’s leg, as though clinging for dear life.

“Black Expanse?” snarled the King of Pirates. “Are you telling me that there are more monsters coming here through the ocean?”

Sky demons.

Sea monsters.

What was happening?

Why had these abominations suddenly appeared?

A single look at those grotesque-looking flying demons was enough for him to realize that they were out to massacre them. There was no way those creatures didn’t feed on humans. He was sure of it.

Zayn clenched his fists.

The former King of Pirates would probably have fled by now, but not him. He’d killed an adult ragiacrus with his bare hands before. He was hailed as the strongest human in his nation. He would never run.

He said, “Gather our men! Prepare for battle!”

Zayn’s eyes glinted with dangerous light.

Monsters. Demons. It did not matter. The pirates of Mullgray Islands—the ruler of the oceans—wouldn’t give up without a fight.

He roared, “We shall massacre all these damned monsters!”

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 13

The situation turned out to be direr than the Pirate King had initially thought.

By the time King Zayn and thousands of his warriors arrived at the port nearest to the palace, the monsters from the ocean had already come ashore. Tens of thousands of humanoid creatures with worm-like tentacles as feet had already started massacring the pirates stationed at the port. Even those onboard the ships weren’t spared by the parasitic demons. Using their tentacles and claws, the parasitic demons started climbing the ships and attacked all the humans they saw.

The pirates desperately fought for their lives, but the sheer number of the parasitic demons made their efforts futile.

“R-Run away!”

“There’s too many of these monsters!”

“Eeek! H-Help me!”

It was a massacre.

The pirates of Mullgray Islands, the so-called rulers of the ocean, were being slaughtered by the dozen.

King Zayn trembled with rage upon seeing this.

Those fools!

If they knew they were going to be surrounded, they should have used their ships’ artifacts. King Zayn was certain that even demons wouldn’t be spared once hit by their lightning rods.

“Mad Eye,” said King Zayn.

“Your Majesty!” said the leader of the warriors.

“You’re in charge.” King Zayn gripped the hilt of his cutlass tight. “Lead the warriors.” He snarled, “Slaughter all of these bastards!”

“Yes, My King!”

Without another word, King Zayn fearlessly shot toward the parasitic demon horde. He strengthened his body with magic and swung his blade, beheading several demons in a single strike. Like a rampaging beast, he pounced at all of the demons he encountered along the way toward the largest ship in the port. His inherently strong body, coupled with his body strengthening magic, made it possible for him to cleave his enemies in half. Even his bare hands were strong enough to rip the parasitic demons into shreds.

At the same time, Mad Eye and the warriors under his command also started charging toward the demon horde.

“What are you all doing?” shouted King Zayn the moment he reached the flagship.

“King Zayn!” shouted the pirates onboard the Snap Lightning—one of the flagships of the Grand Pierson Pirate Fleet.

“Activate the artifact!” King Zayn jumped onto Snap Lightning’s deck. “Use the damn lightning rod! Now!”

With his words, the crew finally came to their senses. They’d been too preoccupied trying to survive by themselves that they forgot about the flagship’s infamous artifact. The same weapon they’d used to destroy several naval ships of the Empire.

The ship’s captain was already dead.

The quartermaster and the boatswain used the opening brought by King Zayn’s arrival to run toward the ship’s bow. With the other pirates and the king blocking the parasitic demons, they opened a hatch and pulled out a tubular weapon. An artifact resembling a cannon.

“It’s too heavy!” shouted the quartermaster. “We need more people!”

Several more crew members ran toward the bow and helped pull out Snap Lightning’s weapon. The metal artifact was as large as five men combined, and it took four people to finally pull it out.

“King Zayn! Where should we fire?” shouted the quartermaster.

King Zayn dodged the tentacles of a parasitic demon and retaliated by cutting off its head. Blood spurted out of its headless body, it fell on the ground, squirmed for a moment, then turned limp.

King Zayn quickly scanned the battlefield.

One of the two massive flagships docked at this port had already been destroyed by the parasitic demons. Three of its masts had fallen, and half of its body had sunk. Only this flagship—Snap Lightning—remained. Even the crew on the smaller schooner ships were struggling against the parasitic demons. Currently, more than half the ships docked in the port had fallen to the enemy.

The army led by Mad Eye was no different. Although the thousands of warriors under his command were far more skilled than regular pirates, even they struggled against the enemy’s massive numbers.

A large shadow loomed in from the sky.

King Zayn looked up. His eyes widened, seeing tens of thousands of demons flying in the sky.

That’s right—he’d almost forgotten about those monsters. He remembered that the demons from the ocean weren’t their only enemies. They also needed to be wary of attacks coming from the sky.

The flying demons screeched, swooped down, and using their talons, grabbed the humans on the ground. Even the quartermaster who’d been trying to operate Snap Lightning’s artifact wasn’t spared by the flying demons. After the sky demon grabbed his head using its talon, it flapped its wings and flew into the sky. The quartermaster struggled, his feet kicking the air with all his might. His scream was muffled by the sound of wails, screeches, and clanking metal.

King Zayn realized that at this rate, even if the ship was left intact, they wouldn’t have enough people to operate its artifact.

It seemed that they needed to take care of the more troublesome opponents first.

King Zayn had decided.

“At the sky!” said King Zayn. “Fire it at the sky!”

The three men next to the weapon inserted a low-grade magic stone into the artifact’s muzzle and pointed it toward the sky. The artifact was activated, lightning flashed and streaks of pure white shot toward the sky. The lightning spell struck several dozen sky demons with that single attack, killing them in an instant. The sky demons, their bodies charred, fell toward the sea.

“Again!” roared King Zayn. “Keep firing!”

The crew members nodded and loaded another magic stone into the muzzle. Seeing how effective the artifact was against the demons, the other crew members also ran toward the ship’s bow and opened several more hatches and pulled out three more cannon-like weapons.

The pirates kept firing lightning spells at the flying demons, one after another. Fortunately, they’d been preparing to attack another port of the Empire once harvest season arrived. They had a crate filled with low-grade magic stones at their disposal.

“Over there! Look!”

One of the ship’s crew shouted and pointed.

From the direction of the Depths of Anapos—the sea near the border of the Empire and Everfrost, an armada of ships came into view. It was the main fleet of the Grand Pierson Pirate Fleet that had left for Everfrost over a week ago.

“W-We’re saved!”

“It’s the main fleet!”

“They came back just in time!”

The pirates cheered upon seeing the armada. With renewed vigor, they started fighting back. The sound of a horn resounded through the battlefield, signaling the start of the pirate’s counterattack.

Nine massive sloops and several dozen schooners aimed their lightning rods toward the demons in the ocean and the sky. Lightning spells were fired one after another, creating deafening booms and hundreds of streaks of white light. The pirates on board the ships also started firing volleys of arrows, effectively stopping the advance of the parasitic and sky demons.

King Zayn grinned.

Monsters. Demons. Humans. It did not matter. They would not simply stand by and let their enemies take over these islands!

Now that the Grand Fleet had appeared, he was confident of turning the tides of war.

“That’s it!” King Zayn laughed. Fighting a life-or-death battle was exhilarating. His blood boiled with excitement. “Slaughter them! Keep firing our spells!”

After killing all of the parasitic demons that had boarded Snap Lightning, King Zayn jumped to the seacoast and started massacring the rest of the parasitic demons. Several sky demons swooped down toward him every now and then, but his agile movements, coupled with his inhuman strength, made it easy for him to dodge and retaliate against their attacks.

Thinking of it, these demons were nothing compared to the ragiacrus in the Black Expanse. Compared to the twenty-meter sea wyverns, facing dozens of parasitic demons wasn’t as difficult. He just needed to dodge well and retaliate when the opportunity arose.

“You’re quite the strong human. Interesting.”

A high-pitched, grating voice was heard behind him.

King Zayn reflexively turned around and swung his cutlass. But to his surprise, a silver-black tentacle blocked his attack. Other parasitic demons would have been cleaved in half with that strike, but this demon before him was left unscathed.

What was this monster?

It looked more human than the other parasitic demons. Its upper body was humanoid, with a single horn protruding out of its forehead. It also had two feet, with four silver-black tentacles squirming from its back.

King Zayn’s instincts screamed at him, telling him to run away from this creature, no matter what.

“I’ve decided,” said the demon, its voice still grating to the ears. “You shall give birth to the first nest.”

The demon’s tentacles whizzed toward King Zayn at a frightening speed. He managed to block three of them with his cutlass, but the fourth one pierced through his defenses and struck his stomach.

Mad Eye and the rest of the warriors who saw this were horrified. They disengaged from battle and ran toward Zayn.

“Your Majesty!”

“King Zayn!”

The demon with silver-black tentacles looked at the warriors running in its direction. It exclaimed in delight, “A king! What a wonderful find! I see, I see”—it nodded its head several times—“No wonder you’re quite strong for a mere human.”

Blood dripped down Zayn’s lips. For some strange reason, he lost control over his body the moment the tentacle hit him. He couldn’t move a muscle. He couldn’t even speak.

“Be honored, King of humans,” said the demon. “For you will give birth to a high-ranking nest. With this, you shall forever live and serve the parasitic demon tribe!”

Using its tentacle, the demon transferred a fist-sized egg into Zayn’s body.

It was excruciating.

Zayn could feel the egg quickly expanding inside his body, its core pulsating within him. The egg sucked in the blood and mana of Zayn, and using it as nutrients, massively grew in size.

Mad Eye and the warriors halted in their tracks, seeing their king’s body bloat and become a grotesque-looking monster. A monster with a hundred eyes, several dozen tentacles, and a large serrated mouth.

Plagas, the parasitic demon who’d transformed the King of Pirate’s body into a monster, cackled in glee. It seemed that he was right. Indeed, the body of that human was suitable to be the host of a high-ranking parasitic nest.

Truly, a great find!

Although Plagas was the weakest among the leaders of the alliance, he’d been assigned with reconnaissance in this realm, after the Demon Lord Barkuvara woke up. The parasitic demons could breathe and swim underwater, moreover, they could also move on land. They were the most suitable demons for this task.

Furthermore, since the Lord of the Sky Demons died by Agreas’ hands, Plagas had also been given authority over their tribe temporarily.

It was an exhilarating feeling. Right now, in the Human Realm, Plagas held absolute might.

“Now, my beloved nest!” Plagas spread his arms wide. He declared, “Heed my orders! Plant your seeds into the bodies of these humans! Today, we shall welcome more members to our parasitic demon tribe!”

The high-ranking nest screeched. Despite its large body, it moved toward Mad Eye and the warriors at a frightening speed. It shot out its tentacles and pierced the warriors’ bodies.

“M-My King!” shouted Mad Eye, his face drained of all color. Although Zayn had turned into a monster, his right-hand man still did not dare raise his sword against him. “Please come to your senses!”

Mad Eye had sworn loyalty to the king. Even if he died, he’d vowed to never harm him.

A tentacle from the high-ranking nest shot out and struck Mad Eye in the chest, implanting an egg into his body. Mad Eye froze as numerous veins bulged in his neck; his eyes turned crimson. Like a rabid beast, he opened his mouth and roared.

All of the warriors struck by the high-ranking nest were turned into hosts of parasitic demons.

“Excellent! Excellent!” squeaked Plagas.

Watching the so-called king massacre his own people was an amusing sight.

“Now, let’s take care of those annoying pests,” said Plagas.

He signaled the sky demons to launch an all-out attack on the Grand Pierson Pirate Fleet. Under Plagas’ command, tens of thousands of sky demons swooped down from the sky.

The crewmembers repeatedly fired their spells using their ships’ lightning rods.

The high-ranking nest also joined the fray. It jumped into the sea, and using its tentacles, started destroying the ships of the pirate fleet.

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 14

The moment Lark returned to Blackstone Town, he ordered his servants to post an announcement on the notice board at the Central Plaza. Now that the school had been opened for couple of months, a significant number of residents could read what it was about. Making announcements like this would become easier and more convenient later on, once the literacy rate of Blackstone Town rose several fold.

Mikael Garios, the knight tasked to observe the development of Blackstone Town and its Lord, read the words written on the notice board.

‘The Lord is asking us to stay indoors tomorrow, before noon?’

The declaration of the Lord of Blackstone Town was quite peculiar. According to him, all residents of Blackstone Town were mandated to stay inside their homes for a couple of hours tomorrow morning, at least two hours before noon arrived.

“A massive wall will rise tomorrow and enclose a portion of this region,” Mikael read it out loud.

‘Interesting.’

Although this would have been preposterous had other people declared it, it sounded feasible upon knowing that it came from the Lord of Blackstone Town. Mikael knew that the second son of Duke Drakus was an extremely powerful magician. Although he had yet to gauge the full extent of the young man’s power, Mikael was certain that he was at least on par with a royal court magician. He was the man who’d defeated the Master of Wizzert, after all.

Now that he’d thought of it, it was quite amusing that Lark Marcus managed to stay unaffected for this long. Under normal circumstances, someone as talented as him would have been one of the strongest contenders for the throne.

“If only the other nobles knew.” Mikael chuckled.

They would probably flock to him like hyenas.

“Hey, old man,” said a familiar voice.

Mikael turned around and was greeted by the grinning face of a short, muscular man. Based on what Mikael had heard, this man had the blood of dwarves flowing through his veins.

“Arturo.”

“So, you remember.” Arturo was pleased. “I haven’t seen you in the mines for quite some time now. Heard you quit?”

“Ah, that’s right. I’ve managed to land a job at the lord’s mansion recently.”

Arturo snorted. “The mine’s too difficult for someone like you, eh? You need strength to break open those rocks. As expected of a former serf. It’s understandable that you chose to work in the stables of the mansion instead, cutting grass and cleaning horse feces.”

Arturo laughed after spouting the last part of his statement. He was clearly enjoying this encounter.

“I work as a coachman though?” said Mikael. He was unfazed, despite Arturo’s derisive remark.

“Coachman, gardener, or whatever. Bah! They’re the same! Don’t you think the salary of the servants in the mansion is quite… lacking?”

“It’s definitely less than a skilled miner, yes,” said Mikael. “But it’s a stable and honorable job. Moreover, there’s no quota required.”

Arturo clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“You’ll remain a poor man your whole life with that mindset, I’m telling you. This is the problem with serfs!” preached Arturo. “They don’t recognize opportunity when they see one. How stupid!” He noticed the announcement pinned on the notice board. “And what’s this?”

Arturo leaned forward and stroked his short beard. Although he’d been attending classes at the recently opened school, he was still having a hard time deciphering what was written.

“Ah, that,” said Mikael. “It’s an announcement from the lord, telling all residents to stay indoors tomorrow morning, before noon. According to it, a massive wall will rise up in this region and enclose Blackstone Town.”

“I-I know. I could read that much.” Arturo coughed to hide his embarrassment. “But a wall? Is the lord taking us for a fool?”

No matter how Arturo thought of it, it seemed impossible for a wall to suddenly shoot out of the ground and enclose the entirety of Blackstone Town.

Arturo spat on the ground. He looked at Mikael from head to foot, his eyes lingering longer on the cheap tunic, and said, “I’m going to buy several ecaruits for my kid. They’re quite expensive, but my daughter really likes them. See you around, old man.”

“Of course.” Mikael smiled.

Although most of the miners held contempt against Arturo, Mikael knew that the short guy wasn’t necessarily a bad person. He’d heard before that Arturo went out of his way during the freezing winter to buy medicine for his sick daughter. And when he found out that the Central Market had ran out of medicine, he even went as far as pleading with the herbalist for help.

Before he retired from the military academy, Mikael had seen his fair share of corrupted nobles and high-ranking government officials. Arturo’s snide and disparaging words were nothing, compared to those evil bastards.

While watching Arturo disappear into the crowd in the Central Plaza, Mikael noticed a familiar face among the crowd. Although she was wearing a hooded cloak to conceal her face, Mikael was certain that she was the princess.

Princess Esmeralda, the youngest daughter of His Majesty, King Alvis.

“What is she doing here, all alone?” he mumbled.

Seeing that she wasn’t accompanied by any of her knights, Mikael decided to follow her around.

Soon, she arrived at the Training Hall. Over a hundred soldiers were already there, repeatedly training their basic movements of the spear.

“It’s the princess.”

“It’s the fourth day, isn’t it?”

“I thought she’d quit after what happened yesterday.”

The soldiers mumbled and murmured to each other the moment the princess pulled down her hood and revealed her face. No matter how they looked at it, she wasn’t suitable to hold the sword, never mind a spear.

“Sir Anandra!” said the princess. “Please let me use the Training Hall again this time!”

Mikael was surprised to see what was happening. Currently, the youngest princess of the kingdom was bowing to the man with golden hair, asking for permission to use the Training Hall to hone her skills.

“I’ve told you before. I’m no longer the commander of the soldiers of this town,” said Anandra, his brow creased as he looked the princess in the eye. It seemed that he did not mind even if he was speaking to a royal. “I’m just an instructor now.”

The princess’ face visibly brightened upon hearing this, glad that she was not turned down outright. She turned to the dark-skinned man standing next to Anandra. “Then, Commander Qarat!”

Commander Qarat scratched his head. He whispered to Anandra, “Sir, what should I say? Is this really okay? What if the lord finds out that the princess—”

“He already knows,” said Anandra. “I always make sure to report everything to my lord, no matter how trivial it may seem. It may seem insignificant to me, but to my lord, it might be a different matter entirely.”

While speaking, Anandra’s gaze moved toward where Mikael was located.

Had the disciple of Lark Marcus noticed him?

Commander Qarat nodded. “I agree. The lord is indeed wise. If he already knows that the princess is coming here every day, then…”

“Just let her come. The lord said that she did not have any talent in magic. But with the sword…” said Anandra in a low voice. “She’s already better than most of the soldiers here. She could probably beat you in a fight, Commander.”

Commander Qarat was struck speechless for a moment. If Anandra, the genius who could utilize all types of weapons to their utmost potential, was praising her to this extent, then she was probably extremely talented.

Commander Qarat sighed. For a moment, he missed the days when he was still just the Captain of Blackstone Soldiers.

“Princess, it’s alright for you to use the Training Hall,” said Commander Qarat. “I guess?”

Princess Esmeralda smiled, taking away the breath of several soldiers. They stopped stabbing the air with their spears upon seeing it.

“Thank you, Commander!”

Qarat laughed awkwardly. “But please don’t overdo it, okay? I thought I was going to die when you broke your arm yesterday.”

The princess raised her right arm. “It’s possible for everyone to use lesser healing magic as long as they’re inside the Training Hall. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine!”

Commander Qarat rubbed his forehead. “I’ll trust you, Princess.”

From a distance, Mikael watched as the princess entered the Training Hall. He hadn’t expected things to turn out this way. He already knew the youngest daughter of His Majesty was incredibly talented with the sword, to the point that she could be hailed as a genius. But unfortunately, the princess held no interest with the blade. What she wanted was to learn magic. The ability to cast even the most basic of spells.

Mikael wondered what caused the stubborn princess to willingly train with the sword on her own. Everyone who’d stayed in this town long enough knew that the humanoids the soldiers were using as sparring partners in the Training Hall were incredibly strong.

Even soldiers with mediocre talent were able to become stronger after sparring with those humanoids every day.

Mikael wondered how much the princess would grow if she continued training like this every day.

***

A day quickly passed by. All of the residents of Blackstone Town, including those who’d been working in the fields, stayed inside their houses with the help of the police. There were also several people who chose to stay at the Central Plaza in hopes of witnessing the walls rise from the ground.

Mikael looked at the sky. The scorching sun was unobstructed by the clouds.

“It’s almost time,” said Mikael.

The town’s bell clanged.

As though on cue, the ground rumbled several seconds later.

Mikael’s eyes widened as he felt a colossal amount of mana being gathered underground and in the sky. He realized that two incredibly powerfully spells were being concurrently activated.

The mana. It’s coming from the direction of the lord’s mansion.

“H-Hey, what’s happening?”

“This is why we should have stayed inside our homes! I heard they placed some defensive talismans on them to prevent them from collapsing!”

“What? You’re the one who insisted on coming here!”

“Hold on tight!”

The daredevils in the Central Plaza, who chose to watch the event unfold with their very eyes, panicked the moment the ground rumbled and the clouds completely dispersed in the sky.

“Damn, the lord should have specified something like this was going to happen today!”

“Why are you blaming the lord? He told us to stay inside our homes, but you still chose to come here to the Central Plaza! This woman!”

“Stop bickering and look over there!”

The buzz in the Central Plaza died at once. Everyone was mesmerized upon seeing a massive stone wall rise from the ground. It was probably around sixty meters in height—they were not sure. What was certain was that this wall was probably the largest in the kingdom. It towered over the walls of even the other major cities. Furthermore, its width was large enough for ten people to pass through side by side.

Judging the wall’s distance from the Central Plaza, its diameter was probably thrice that of the current size of Blackstone Town. Even if they were to expand the town further, it should still be possible for them to build structures inside this fortress.

And the massive wall was just the start.

Soon, a translucent bubble slowly expanded from the direction of the lord’s mansion. It continued growing in size, stopping just right outside the wall.

It was a truly surreal sight. Had they not seen it with their own eyes, the residents of Blackstone Town would never have believed that these walls were built overnight.

“My King,” breathed Mikael, enthralled by what he saw. “If only you could see this sight.”

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 15

Several hours after the massive wall rose from the ground, Mikael received a summon from the lord’s mansion.

He’d been working as a coachman for the lord for several months now, but this was the first time he’d received a summons from the Lord of Blackstone Town. Moreover, it happened right after the walls and barrier were erected.

Mikael thanked the servant who delivered the message, changed into clean clothes, and went to the mansion to meet the noble.

“The young master is expecting you,” said the butler. “This way please.”

Mikael was ushered to the lord’s office on the second floor of the mansion.

The butler knocked on the door. “Young Master, the coachman is here.”

A youthful voice replied, “Enter.”

Mikael entered the lord’s office. The young man sitting at the table looked up, his hand holding a quill. A mountain of documents was stacked on top of the table, and some sheets had been strewn on the floor. It seemed that after casting the spells which built the colossal wall, the Lord of Blackstone Town hadn’t bothered to rest and proceeded with his tasks concerning the territory’s management.

A work ethic that shamed most seasoned government officials. Truly, this young man was a worthy candidate for the throne.

“Welcome,” greeted Lark.

Mikael bowed his head and said, “I heard you called for me, My Lord?”

“Yes. I have a request for you.”

“A request?”

Lark nodded. When he saw that the old butler was about to silently excuse himself out of the room, he said, “Gaston, please stay. I believe it’s about time you learn everything. You deserve that much, at the very least.”

The butler was puzzled by the young noble, but he bowed his head regardless. “As you wish, Young Master.”

Lark placed down his quill, pointed a finger at the papers strewn on the floor, and cast a spell. The pieces of paper flew and landed perfectly on top of the stacked documents.

“Name?” Lark said to Mikael.

“This servant’s name is Kael, My Lord.”

“I’m not asking about your alias,” said Lark.

Mikael was caught off-guard. Although it was for a brief moment, his body stiffened.

“I’m asking for your real name. Your name as a knight.”

Mikael carefully observed the young noble in front of him. He slowly replied, “I don’t understand, My Lord.”

Lark sighed, leaned on his chair, then snapped his fingers. Three magic formations almost instantaneously appeared in the room—one on the ground and two above.

These magic formations were strangely familiar.

Soon, Mikael realized what Lark meant.

Three spells—the same spells Lark used when he fought Mikael back then, before he laid waste to the magicians of the tower.

It seemed that the Lord of Blackstone Town was already aware of his identity.

“You’re the knight who fought me back in Wizzert, aren’t you? If I’m not mistaken… an observer sent by the royal family.”

He should have expected at least this much, considering how competent this lord was. Mikael inwardly reprimanded himself for being discovered by the throne candidate he was supposed to observe.

“So, you already knew,” Mikael conceded. “Since when?”

“Since we discussed strategies to drive away the soldiers of the Empire. Although you tried concealing your face with a mask back then, I was certain. You were there, standing among the knights protecting King Alvis.”

That was a year ago.

Mikael still vividly remembered it. It was the day after His Majesty’s celebratory banquet. The day after King Alvis’ birthday. The day when all twenty-eight candidates for the throne were gathered in the throne room of the king’s castle.

Mikael smiled wryly. So, even when he’d been working as a coachman, Lark had merely pretended not to know of his real identity.

Mikael sighed. Truthfully, he was enjoying the task of observing Lark. He wanted to remain longer in this town. But alas, now that he’d been discovered, there was a chance that he would be replaced by a different knight.

“You said you have a request, Lord Lark,” said Mikael.

Lark took out a newspaper and slid it across the table, toward Mikael.

“This is?” said Mikael.

“Information available only to High Nobles and merchants,” said Lark. “I heard the news. The recent revelation of the Gods to the high-ranking priests of the kingdom.”

This was the first Mikael had heard of it. He skimmed through the newspaper, his eyes lingering longer at the part where the news regarding the revelation was written.

“Demon sealed in the ice prison?” said Mikael.

“It’s pertaining to the Demon Lord Barkuvara,” said Lark. “And the last part of the revelation…” There was a pause. “I believe it’s pertaining to me, Lark Marcus.”

Mikael unconsciously increased his grip, crumpling a portion of the newspaper, upon hearing this. For several seconds, he stared at Lark.

“…The one who traveled through time?” said Mikael.

Lark nodded. “That’s right.” He looked at Gaston and said, “It has been a year and a half since I found myself in this body.”

“W-What do you mean?” said Mikael.

Found himself in that body? There were a lot of things that did not make sense.

Seeing Mikael and Gaston’s confusion, Lark said, “It’ll be easier to just show the two of you.”

Lark snapped his fingers and a magic circle quickly formed on the ground. It shattered like glass, forming particles of light. The particles of light danced around the room and formed the image of a person.

A middle-aged man wielding a staff.

“Evander Alaester, a magician who lived fifteen hundred years ago, during the so-called Age of Magic.”

Lark’s bracer slowly turned into a similar-looking staff. The four gemstones, the golden shaft, the incredibly white core resembling a crown—everything was identical to the one wielded by the magician.

“Fate is such a twisted thing,” Lark smiled. The particles of light spun around the room and the middle-aged magician started casting a spell using his staff. “After my death, who would have known that I’d be given another shot at life?”

The middle-aged magician completed his spell and a massive ball of golden fire, resembling the sun, struck the ground. Although Mikael and Gaston couldn’t hear the rumbling of the ground, they were certain of how catastrophic the spell was. The mountain, where the middle-aged man previously stood, had been erased from the land. On the ground, a massive crater spanning several dozens of kilometers in diameter.

A spell that sundered the earth itself.

A spell that should been impossible for a human to cast.

Mikael was dumbfounded, his jaw slack. Gaston, on the other hand, trembled.

The two of them realized what the noble was trying to say. Although it sounded preposterous, they believed every word. The legendary magician Evander Alaester was inhabiting that young man’s body. This easily explained everything that had transpired thus far.

Gaston’s eyes widened. His lips slowly parted.

A year and half ag o .

When Lark was abducted by that organization. The same time when the butler started noticing the changes in the young master.

“I’m sorry for not telling the truth until now, Gaston. And I apologize for taking over the body of the young master.” Lark’s face contorted for a moment upon seeing Gaston’s pained face.

Was it disbelief, fear, sadness? Lark was not sure.

“Honestly, I do not know how or why I’m suddenly in this body. Did the real Lark die that day? I ask myself that question even now.”

The vision spell ended and the image of the legendary magician dissipated, along with the particles of light. Lark’s staff morphed into a bracer.

“You must have noticed it too, Gaston. My magic, my fighting abilities, the knowledge I’ve been imparting for the development of this territory.”

Gaston slowly lowered his head. He could no longer look Lark in the eyes.

Indeed, Gaston had been suppressing his doubts. Since that incident a year and a half ago, Lark had underwent major changes. The spiteful young master disappeared and was replaced by a benevolent and wise ruler. Moreover, the young master, who could hardly use magic, suddenly became proficient with all kinds of spells imaginable. He also suddenly became proficient with the sword. It was so utterly bizarre that the butler couldn’t help question the changes.

Still, Gaston did not pry too deep into the matter. The old man convinced himself that maybe this was for the best. That there was no way for a member of the Marcus Family to remain forever incompetent.

“Where is the true… young master?” said Gaston, his voice trembling.

Lark felt a squeezing sensation in his heart upon hearing the trembling words of the old man. He knew that Gaston truly loved the real Lark.

“I don’t know,” said Lark.

Tears started forming at the corner of Gaston’s eyes. His head remained lowered as he nodded.

“I’m sorry,” Lark said softly.

Gaston did not reply. He remained standing there, his head lowered and his shoulders quivering.

A minute of silence fell.

Mikael said, “You said you have a request.”

“Ah, that’s right,” said Lark. “Do you have a way to communicate with King Alvis?”

Lark surmised that all of the observers sent to assess the throne candidates had a method of communicating with the royal palace. It would not make sense, otherwise.

Mikael pulled out an ordinary-looking stone from his bag. He made sure to carry this item with him, no matter what.

“I can send messages.” Mikael channeled mana into the stone, and it slowly transformed into a jade-colored gemstone with swirling particles of blue light inside. “But it’s impossible to receive a reply. It’s the limit of this artifact.”

“A communication device,” said Lark as he stared at the fist-sized gemstone in Mikael’s hand. “Can you send a message to King Alvis for me?”

“A message…” said Mikael. “What is it?”

“Please tell His Majesty this,” said Lark. “There’s a high chance that the demons will come from the direction of the Mullgray Islands. Tell him that I am willing to fortify the defenses of all cities in the front line.

“The walls. The barrier enclosing this town. I should be possible to replicate it at the major cities of the kingdom near the front line.”

Mikael knew well enough the significance of that statement. If it was indeed possible to cast the same spells currently protecting Blackstone Town on the other cities, it would increase their chances of survival. No matter how strong the demons were, even they should find it challenging to breach that colossal fortress spanning more than sixty meters in height.

“Lord Lark, you do realize that I will reveal to His Majesty everything I’ve learned today, right?”

“I know,” said Lark. “And I believe it will be for the best if you reveal it to His Majesty.”

Lark stood up and fully swept open the curtains. The summer air was hot and oppressive.

“Now’s not the time for the nobles to fight among themselves over something as stupid as the throne.”

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 16

Big Mona had been in a great mood recently.

Who would have known that the young noble he’d partnered with would turn out to be a legendary magician who once lived during the Age of Magic?

He’d never felt this euphoric before, not even when he became the head of the Merchants Guild in Lion City. It felt as though the Goddess of Luck had locked him in an embrace and finally decided to grant her blessings upon him.

Big Mona’s lips couldn’t help but curl into a grin as he thought of these things.

What a once in a lifetime opportunity, indeed!

Inside a tavern near the Central Plaza, Big Mona and several other reputable merchants in the eastern territory gathered around the table as they discussed Big Mona’s proposal.

“What’s with your smile… it’s creeping me out,” said one of his affiliate merchants.

“This is the first time we’ve seen you this happy, sir,” said another. “But no wonder. These products are indeed amazing! I can’t believe this small town is producing these things!”

On the table was an arrowhead made of an unknown black metal and a fabric reminiscent of silk but stronger than leather. Although these products looked common to untrained eyes, these merchants quickly realized their true value. Just these two items were enough to bolster the kingdom’s military might. The fabric, if used by the kingdom’s soldiers, would greatly increase their mobility during battle without sacrificing defenses. Moreover, the black metal was an incredibly powerful weapon that could instantly paralyze its opponents with a graze. Not just the royals, but the other nobles would surely covet these items.

“Small town? Does this territory still look small to you?”

“Well… the wall that suddenly popped up overnight sure isn’t small, is it?”

The merchants laughed at their little joke.

“So, Big Mona, all we have to do is make sure these products reach the ears of the royal family and the nobles at the western territory?”

“That’s right,” Big Mona said after taking a sip of juice from his tankard. He had not revealed the high-grade potions to these affiliated merchants. He planned on marketing those items himself and shoving his achievements in the faces of those merchant bastards in the capital. “Easy, isn’t it? And don’t forget what I told you before. You need to spread rumors that the black metal is capable of paralyzing monsters—even demons.”

“Of course, of course. Easy enough.” One of the merchants nodded. He did not think too much about the last part of Big Mona’s statement. Demons? Such things did not exist. They’re merely myths. “A mysterious metal found only in the eastern wilderness, capable of paralyzing its opponents. Beasts, monsters, demons—all of them will fall with just a single graze. How about it? Catchy, isn’t it?”

“It’s flowery and a bit disgusting, but I like it,” said Big Mona, grinning. “I don’t care how you do it, but make sure the military learns of this metal’s potent capabilities.”

“Leave it to us, sir.”

“But, Big Mona, are you sure you don’t need our help in transporting the black metal from the mines? We are all willing to lend several dozen of our men to do the mundane tasks.”

Big Mona shook his head. “No. All transactions will be done in this town only. That is final.”

Now that he was bound by an oath, Big Mona had no intention of letting these merchants know the source of all these goods. He planned on only using the servants who’d taken the oath of silence beforehand when transporting the fabric and the black metal. Big Mona knew that at the end of the day, these affiliated merchants could still stab him in the back given the chance. Even if the chances were slim, he would never dare risk his partnership with Lark.

“There will be severe repercussions, if I catch any of you snooping around town, looking for the source of these items,” Big Mona boldly uttered a threat before emptying his tankard. Like a beast marking its territory, he was declaring that he would not tolerate anything that would threaten his position as the lord’s exclusive merchant.

The merchants who’d been planning on investigating the lord and the source of the unknown metal started having second thoughts. Now that Big Mona was protecting this territory, it would be foolish of them to act so rashly.

“We wouldn’t dare, sir.” The merchants laughed awkwardly.

One of the merchants noticed the old man who’d just entered the tavern.

“Sir,” he whispered, “Isn’t that the butler at the lord’s mansion?”

Big Mona looked at the table at the far end corner of the tavern. Although the old man sitting there was wearing casual-looking clothes, there was no doubt that he was the head butler of the lord’s mansion.

“He’s drinking by himself? At this time of the day?” said one of the affiliate merchants.

It was only an hour after dawn. Even this tavern—the most popular one in town—was almost deserted at this time of the day.

Big Mona felt something was amiss. He called one of the servers and asked her to send an invitation to the butler to join their table. After some time, the server sent back a message.

“Apologies. Sir Gaston humbly declines the offer, sir,” said the server.

Even the server recognized the old man. He was, after all, one of the most powerful figures in this town. In terms of authority, some even said that he was second only to the lord in this territory.

“Is that so?” said Big Mona.

“But he gratefully accepted the drink you sent him,” added the server.

Upon hearing those words, Big Mona became certain. Something of great significance must have happened at the mansion for the head butler to act this way.

“This concludes our meeting,” Big Mona said to his affiliated merchants. “The iron ingots. I expect all of you to deliver them to this town within the next three weeks. Understood?”

“Leave it to us!”

After the merchants left, Big Mona walked toward Gaston’s table. The old butler had already finished three tankards of ale.

“Can I join you for a drink, sir butler?” said Big Mona.

Although Gaston was a commoner, Big Mona wasn’t foolish enough to think that he was superior to this old man. Big Mona knew that in this town, the butler was more influential than any guilds or merchants.

Gaston looked up, his face flushed red. Deep within the old man’s eyes, Big Mona could see indescribable sadness—or was it emptiness? Despair? The fat merchant was not sure.

Before Gaston could even respond, Big Mona plopped himself on the opposite chair and shouted at the server, “Two more ales here! And something to chew on! Hurry!”

The server disappeared into the kitchen for a moment, then came out holding two tankards of ale and a large plate filled with bread, cheese, and roasted meat.

After the server left, Big Mona raised his cup and said, “You look horrible, sir. What happened?”

Big Mona sipped his ale as he waited for the butler’s reply.

The butler sighed. “It’s nothing you should be concerned of, sir merchant.”

“Is it related to the lord?” said Big Mona.

The butler’s face contorted for a moment, but he didn’t utter a response.

Silence fell.

Big Mona was far smarter than his peers. After observing the butler’s reaction, he could somehow surmise what had happened to this old man.

Lark’s recent revelation regarding his true identity.

The lifeless eyes of this old man

Just like to him, Lark had probably revealed the truth to his butler. This was the conclusion Big Mona came to after observing him in silence.

As expected, not everyone can so easily accept the truth, thought Big Mona.

Before partnering himself with the young noble, Big Mona made sure to thoroughly investigate Lark Marcus. He was certain that this old butler was among his most loyal servants. A loyal subject who’d followed Lark Marcus to this small town after he’d been exiled by his very own father.

It was understandable that the butler was so devastated upon learning about his young master’s real identity.

“Nasty rumors will spread if the head butler is drinking here in this tavern, at this time of the day,” said Big Mona.

The butler placed down his tankard. He smiled and mumbled softly, his voice almost a whisper, “I don’t even know if I can continue serving in the mansion anyway. This pathetic old man…”

Big Mona sliced the grilled meat with his knife and stabbed it with a fork, before placing it in his mouth. He ate silently for several seconds before saying, “Since you refuse to tell me anything, I’ll assume that this is related to the Lord of Blackstone Town.”

Gaston remained silent.

Big Mona said, “It’s hard, isn’t it? When everything you’ve believed in until now turns out to be a lie, a facade.” Gaston’s shoulder trembled upon hearing those words. Big Mona realized that his conjecture was spot on. “But at the end of the day,” Big Mona said wisely, “Isn’t it up to us to determine if everything is truly a lie?

“I don’t know about you, sir butler, but I firmly believe that the people we met in the past, in the present, and in the future are basically one and the same. Isn’t change inevitable? Humans face adversities on a daily basis. Weak creatures like us need to adjust according to the current circumstances in order to survive this damnable jungle called life.” Big Mona wiped his lips with a napkin. “Why brood over useless thoughts? If it’s too complicated, just try living in the present.”

Although it was probably bad advice, it was Big Mona’s honest opinion. The Lark Marcus he’d met over a year ago was already possessed by the consciousness of Evander Alaester. For him, the previous Lark and the current one were one and the same. He never intended on overthinking this complicated matter.

Just try living in the present.

The words of Big Mona kept echoing in Gaston’s mind. The butler had never expected to hear these words from this greedy, fat merchant.

Big Mona pulled out a golden watch from his pocket. He called the server and paid for their drinks.

“The workers I’ve hired from the city should have arrived at the gates by now,” said Big Mona. He stood up and fixed his garb. For several seconds, he stared at the old man. “This may sound gibberish, coming from someone like me, but follow what your guts are telling you. Follow what your heart truly desires.”

After Big Mona left, Gaston sat there for almost half an hour, contemplating the fat merchant’s advice.

“What am I doing… getting drunk this early in the morning?” Gaston said self-mockingly.

The last time he drank like this was years ago, when the duke told him that he’d decided to exile the young master to this town. That was one of the most painful moments in Gaston’s life. Still, without much hesitation, he’d followed the young master all the way to this faraway place.

“If it’s too complicated, just try living in the present,” he repeated the words of the merchant. “Follow what my heart truly desires…”

Gaston stood up and nodded, clearing unnecessary thoughts. Although his face was flushed, he had quite a strong alcohol tolerance.

He decided to go back to his room in the mansion, before rumors started spreading throughout the town. It would be hard to arrive at a conclusion so soon. The butler decided to take things slow, one step at a time.

Upon reaching the mansion, he saw a familiar person being ushered by one of the servants.

Crimson hair and deep red eyes. Chryselle had finally returned to Blackstone Town.

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 17

Lark had just finished looking through the documents for the morning when the door to his office opened, and a red-haired woman entered the room. She closed the door, and upon locking eyes with Lark, bowed her head.

“I hope you’ve been well,” said Chryselle. “I’m back, Master.”

She’d been gone for several months. Lark smiled. “Welcome back.”

Seeing Lark’s warm smile, Chryselle unconsciously tucked her hair behind her ear. For some reason, she felt at ease whenever she was with him.

Chryselle walked toward Lark and said, “I brought a present for you, Master.”

“A present?” Lark beamed. He playfully added, “George and Austen will grumble when they hear that only I received one.”

Chryselle handed him an item wrapped in an expensive-looking cloth.

“I brought gifts for them too, don’t worry.” Chryselle chuckled. “Please open it. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

Lark unwrapped the present, revealing an old painting of a beautiful, brown-skinned woman in her early thirties. Although she was wearing nothing but a simple white ceremonial dress, she looked dazzling, as though a celestial being had descended on the mortal realm. Unfortunately, a small portion of her drawn face, along with her right hand and legs, had faded over time.

“I heard from the residents on my way here,” said Chryselle, “that you’re the one who created that colossal wall and the barrier currently enclosing the town.”

There was a pause. Lark’s gaze moved from the painting to Chryselle.

“Master, isn’t about time you tell me?” said Chryselle. Her heart pounded in anticipation as she uttered her next words, “You’re that magician. The legendary Evander Alaester, right?”

To Chryselle’s surprise, Lark readily replied, “I am.”

Lark leaned on his chair and raised the painting, allowing the rays of the morning sun to touch it. He nonchalantly added, “Gaston, Austen, George, Anandra. Even Big Mona already knows.”

Before coming, Chryselle had prepared several contingency plans in the event that Lark refused to reveal his identity to her. She was even prepared to swear an oath of death just to gain her master’s trust. Never in her wildest dreams did she expect that her master would admit it this easily. Furthermore, according to him, the rest of the disciples were already aware of his true identity.

“They already knew?” Chryselle frowned. She felt left out, for some reason. She mumbled dejectedly, “And here I was, thinking I was the first to discover master’s secret.”

“Well… you did uncover it first,” praised Lark. “And I would have also told you the truth, had you not disappeared a couple of months ago.”

Lark’s revelation regarding his identity now felt underwhelming. Even the way he nonchalantly confirmed her speculations made it sound as though he no longer had any intention of hiding it.

Lark continued staring at the painting. Although half of it had already faded away, it still looked incredibly beautiful—nostalgic even. “Strange. The woman in this painting. She’s… oddly familiar.”

“That painting was stored in the treasure room of the tower,” explained Chryselle. “And of course, it’ll be familiar.” She smiled and softly added, “It’s a painting of one of your disciples. A painting of Leanne, the Deity of the Desert.”

Lark’s eyes slowly grew wide. His hands holding the painting lightly shook.

“I hope you like it, Master Evander.”

Chryselle’s soft voice slowly faded away from Lark’s mind as he stared at the painting in his hand. Time seemed to have slowed down.

So, this was why this woman felt so familiar. That crimson hair, that sun-kissed skin. Although she looked a lot older than how he remembered her, she was without a doubt that little girl—Leanne. The youngest of all his disciples.

“Thank you,” whispered Lark. This was definitely one of the best gifts he’d received not only in this life, but also in his past life.

Chryselle fondly gazed at Lark. “You’re welcome, Master Evander.”

Lark’s eyes were moist, still glued to the painting in his hands. This was the first time Chyrselle had seen Lark this sentimental. It seemed that taking that painting from the treasure room in the tower was indeed worth it, despite the protests of the other Elders.

I’ll send a message to my brother later to thank him for letting me have it, thought Chryselle.

According to the other Elders, the painting was extremely valuable. There had even been offers to buy it for forty thousand gold coins, a few decades ago. Had the current master of the tower not threatened the other Elders, it would have been impossible for Chryselle to obtain this item. She was really lucky to have such a doting brother.

For several minutes, Lark sat there silently, admiring the painting of his disciple. A myriad of emotions—nostalgia, longing, sadness, fulfillment—swept through Lark.

Like a father worrying about his daughter, Lark wondered if Leanne lived a happy and fulfilling life. Did she marry? Did she have children? How long did she live and how did she die? There were a lot of questions left unanswered.

“You said that you took this from the treasure room of the tower,” Lark finally said after several minutes of silence. “Do you know where the magicians of Wizzert obtained this item?”

Chryselle nodded. “Yes, Master. According to my brother, it was sold by a Mullgray pirate to a merchant from the Empire, several decades ago. The merchant—Agustus Vont—migrated to this kingdom and brought that painting with him.”

“Agustus Vont,” said Lark.

“Yes, he’s my maternal great grandfather. The founder of the merchants guild in the capital.”

“I see,” said Lark.

Over time, Lark was starting to realize how powerful Chryselle’s family truly was. Her paternal grandfather was the chairman of the Magic Academy and the current leader of the Grand Order. Her brother was the current Master of the Tower, while her maternal great grandfather was the founder of the merchants guild in the capital. Her lineage was more than enough to shame most noble houses.

“The Mullgray pirate who sold this painting to your great grandfather,” said Lark. “Did he say where he obtained this painting?”

Chryselle shook her head. “Apologies, Master Evander. Even my brother doesn’t know the details. That painting was just among the innumerable items the pirates sold my great grandfather. Do you remember the magic towers in Wizzert? The blueprint for those relics were among those items. I was simply lucky to be one of the magicians to first learn how to decipher the blueprint.” She self-mockingly added, “Although it’s embarrassing that despite obtaining the blueprint, I was unable to perfect the relic.”

Lark remembered that Chryselle was the youngest magician to have been bestowed the title of an Elder. And she’d achieved this feat by helping create the magic towers currently found in Wizzert.

So, that was the origin of those items.

“Master!” A shout was heard outside the room. It was quickly followed by footsteps. “We heard that Chryselle has returned!”

The door was opened with a loud bang. George and Austen barged into the office, their eyes scanning the room excitedly. Upon seeing Chryselle standing in front of Lark’s desk, George shouted, “I told you I saw her on the way here!”

“Does that matter?” said Austen. “She’s finally back!”

The brothers ran toward Chryselle, and from their glee, began performing a weird dance.

George clasped Chryselle’s hand and said, “You should have told us you were coming back! Why did you visit Master first?”

“That’s right! You should have told us first!” added Austen. “Master is boooring! He won’t appreciate you coming to see him first!”

George nodded several times in agreement.

Chryselle chuckled. “I brought gifts for the two of you.” She handed the brothers two small boxes. “I’m sure you’ll like them.”

The brothers gawked at the small box on their hands. It was rare for former paupers like them to receive presents. They opened the boxes, revealing the rings inside.

“It’s a ring containing an extremely strong antidote capable of neutralizing almost all poisons,” said Chryselle. She didn’t tell them that it was one of the treasures stored in the tower. Rings worth ten thousand gold coins each. Unsurprisingly, Alecto was more than happy to give these treasures to her before she left the City of Magic.

“Awesome!” George tried it on. As his fingers were too small, he ended up wearing it on his thumb.

“It looks expensive,” said Austen. “Is it really alright for us to have these?”

“I got them for free,” said Chryselle. “There’s no need for you to worry.”

Austen raised his hand and stared at the ring on his finger. It glimmered whenever touched by light. Since Chryselle said that she got them for free, then they probably weren’t that expensive. He no longer felt uneasy receiving the gift.

“I really like it!” said Austen.

“I love it!” said George.

The brothers said their thanks and started doing the weird dance once again. Lark and Chryselle locked eyes with each other and laughed.

By this time, Princess Esmeralda and Anandra had finally arrived. It seemed that unlike the brothers, the two hadn’t rushed on their way.

The princess ran to Chryselle’s embrace the moment she saw her, while Anandra simply stood next to Lark, wearing his usual, stoic face.

“Here,” Chryselle handed the princess a book. “Master, George, and Austen already received theirs. This one is for you, Esmeralda. You wanted to learn magic, right? It’s the latest edition of the book currently used in the Magic Academy. The mana exercises inside should be helpful in increasing your perception of mana.”

Princess Esmeralda gratefully accepted the book. She hugged it tight. “Thank you! I’ll be sure to read this book!”

Although the princess had decided to develop her skills with the sword, she still held deep desires to learn magic. Since Lark refused to teach her any spells, this book would be incredibly helpful to her.

“And this one’s for you.” Chryselle handed Anandra a bottle of wine. “I know you don’t drink, but the former Elder of your village— he loves alcohol, right?”

A rare smile formed on Anandra’s face. He could not wait to give this bottle of wine to Gahelpa Village’s Elder. “I’m sure the Elder will like it. Thank you. And… welcome back.”

The last part of Anandra’s statement was almost a whisper.

Lark gently wrapped the painting with a cloth then stood up. “Since Chryselle has finally returned, I’ll ask the servants to prepare a feast for us tonight.”

The brothers squeaked in delight.

“A feast!” said Austen.

“Master, may we bring our siblings along?” said George excitedly.

Lark chuckled. “Of course.”

The brothers pumped their fists in celebration.

A luxurious feast was held in the mansion that day. Various officials of Blackstone Town, merchants, and the other key figures in the territory attended the banquet.

Everyone was in a festive mood, and it continued on until the next day.

***

After combing Boris County for any information regarding Lark, Nickolai became certain that the second son of Duke Drakus had indeed gone inside the Forbidden Region.

Several people, including the guards, the server at the inn, and the armor merchant, testified that they’d seen someone with short silver hair in the city that day.

“That thieving brat!”

Nickolai gnashed his teeth. He was certain of what he’d seen that day.

The seven-headed monster.

The colossal golden statue.

And the masked figure sitting on top of the monster’s head.

All evidence was pointing to Lark as the culprit responsible for the disappearance of the statue of the legendary Evander Alaester.

He’s not going to steal the treasure?

Bunch of lies!

Nickolai cursed Lark.

After making adequate preparations, Nickolai, his disciples, and almost a hundred hired mercenaries, made their way toward Blackstone Town. They had just passed through Lion City when one of his disciples finally voiced his thoughts.

“Master, is it really alright for us… to do this?” the disciple said carefully. He was one of the three disciples Lark had confronted back then. He could still vividly remember that encounter. Although he was spared by Lark, he was not certain if that noble would be as merciful next time.

“What? Are you afraid of that brat? He’s already been thrown away by his father to that town,” said Nickolai. “There’s no reason for us to fear the Marcus House.”

The disciple looked at the other two disciples who’d encountered Lark back then. Judging by their expressions, they too seemed reluctant to join the master on this mission.

“That’s not it…” The disciple shook his head. “Master, you saw it too, didn’t you? That masked figure. Even if it’s really Lark Marcus… he’s managed to tame that seven-headed monster. We should probably tread carefully, Master.”

Nickolai snorted.

“I’m sure he stumbled upon an artifact in the treasure room in the Forbidden Region,” Nickolai said without any hint of doubt. “Do any of you really believe a human is capable of taming that monster?”

Nickolai smirked. He deemed that as long as he took the artifact from Lark, that seven-headed monster would no longer be a threat to his life. Better yet, the moment that monster submitted itself to him, he could usurp the throne and rule over the kingdom.

No, that was too short-sighted.

If he became the master of that monster, even ruling over the Empire—the entire continent—would no longer be a dream.

The Thunder Lord’s disciples thought that their master’s judgment had become clouded with greed. Even they thought that it wouldn’t be wise to confront Lark Marcus like this.

Forget the House Marcus and the seven-headed monster. Currently, people were starting to hail Lark Marcus as the kingdom’s hero. This was especially true after his victory against the Empire, after helping sever the royal family’s curse, and saving Lion City from the monster horde. It would be foolish to carelessly threaten him.

Even when they passed through Lion City, several hours ago, they frequently heard the residents talking favorably of Lark Marcus and Blackstone Town. It seemed that saving thousands of lives from that monster horde had had a great impact. Even the commander of the soldiers in Lion City saw the second son of Duke Drakus in a favorable light.

“Master,” said Videl, Nickolai’s strongest disciple.

“Speak,” said Nickolai.

“Forgive my impertinence,” said Videl. “But I believe the words of the young ones have some merit. If we carelessly attack the Lord of Blackstone Town with this army, I’m afraid the royal family will—”

“They’ll what?” interjected Nickolai. “Only Farsight is capable of fighting me on equal grounds. What can the royal family do against me, a royal court magician?”

Videl looked at the younger disciples behind him then bit his lip. It seemed that the master had been thoroughly consumed by his greed and would no longer change his mind. Videl silently prayed to the Gods for divine intervention. He vehemently prayed that the small army would fail to reach Blackstone Town.

And the Gods answered his prayer.

Their group was close to reaching Prey River when a group of magicians suddenly appeared and blocked their path.

“It’s been a while, old man,” said a red-haired man with a crescent-shaped scar running across his eye.

Nickolai ordered all of his disciples and the mercenaries to halt in their tracks. He warily said, “What are the Master of the Tower and his magicians doing here, in the middle of wilderness?”

There were a little over two hundred magicians blocking the road. It was a third of the total number of magicians in the tower. Furthermore, three Elders from the tower were at the head of this small force.

“And what is a royal court magician doing here,” Alecto retorted, his eyes swiveled from Nickolai, to his disciples, to the mercenaries at the rear, then back, “on the road leading to Blackstone Town?”

“That’s none of your business, Alecto,” Nickolai growled. “I’ll let this one slide. Step out of the way, you damn bastard.”

Alecto was clearly amused upon hearing those words. It was a well-known fact that the Master of the Tower and the Thunder Lord once dueled to the death, several years ago. Unfortunately, the outcome was a draw. Everyone gathered here knew that the two monster magicians hated each other to the core.

“Look at this!” Alecto opened his arms wide as he laughed mockingly. “The great Thunder Lord! The kingdom’s so-called strongest magician is running away with his tail between his legs!”

“You!” A spear of lightning appeared in Nickolai’s hand. It crackled dangerously and scorched the ground it touched. “Do you really think I’m running away because I’m afraid of you! I let you live before, and now you dare think—”

“Let me live?” Alecto chuckled. “Didn’t you almost die back then?”

Alecto grinned broadly. He taunted, “Hey, old man, if you don’t want to die an excruciating death—scram.”

Nickolai finally lost it.

A hundred lightning arrows almost instantaneously appeared in the sky, and without warning, shot toward the tower’s magicians. It was a spell capable of slaughtering a small army in an instant.

One of the Elders standing behind Alecto moved and intercepted the arrows with a barrier spell. The other two, on the other hand, retaliated. Two ten-meter earth serpents shot out of the ground and slithered toward Nickolai and his men.

Videl dismounted, moved in front of his master, and summoned a spear of lightning. Without fear or hesitation, he shot toward the earth serpents. He swung his lightning spear, shattering the earth serpents with a single strike each.

Although Videl did not like pointless fights, he could not just sit still when these magicians were attacking his master. His pride as the Thunder Lord’s number one disciple wouldn’t let him let these small fries fight his master, no matter what.

Everything happened in an instant. The exchange of blows happened in mere seconds. The mercenaries watching shuddered. Maybe they shouldn’t have agreed to accompany the Thunder Lord on this mission.

Who would have known that the tower—the organization even the Empire was wary of—would appear here and block their path?

They would probably die if they were swept in the fight between these two monstrous magicians.

“Why are you doing this?” said Nickolai. His lightning spear continued to crackle dangerously in his hand.

Alecto shrugged. “I don’t know. But I’m sure of one thing, old man. Right now, I’m really itching to kill you.”

Nickolai trembled in rage, but he tried to restrain himself regardless. For some strange reason, the Elders of the tower had become a lot stronger. The way they cast their barrier and offensive spells felt a lot different than before.

Nickolai realized that they would suffer great casualties if they clashed with the tower.

Alecto glanced at the east, in the direction of Blackstone Town. Although he hated that Marcus brat, he couldn’t let Nickolai attack him. His precious little sister was currently staying in that town. He couldn’t let this madman reach that place, no matter what.

And he’d promised her too, that if by chance they got a whiff of Nickolai’s whereabouts, that he would do his best to stop the royal court magician from reaching Blackstone Town.

Alecto raised his right hand. A colossal ball of fire the size of ten carriages combined appeared in the sky. It loomed threateningly toward Nickolai.

After Chryselle had imparted to them the perfected magic circle created by Lark, the magicians of the tower had become a lot stronger. Although Alecto’s previous bout with the Thunder Lord had ended in a draw, currently, he was confident of winning against these enemies.

“Turn back. Leave this place,” said Alecto. “If you don’t want to become enemies with the tower.”

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 18

It was early in the morning.

Chryselle was at the Central Market, buying ingredients for a meal she’d decided to prepare for her master, when she heard news regarding her older brother. The merchants, vendors, and even the passersby were excitedly chattering about an event that had transpired near Blackstone Town, a day ago.

“Hey, did you hear? The magicians of the tower and the Thunder Lord clashed yesterday, near the Prey River!”

“I know! My husband was there when it happened! Lord Nickolai and the Master of the Tower fought to their deaths! You should have seen the traces of their battle!”

“Ah, your husband enlisted in the military.”

“That’s right. He’s been stationed in the nearby garrison. When they heard the magic explosions, the soldiers went to check the commotion. And you wouldn’t believe it! Hundreds of magicians from the tower fought against the mercenaries and the disciples of the Thunder Lord!”

“That must have been terrifying—”

“It was. My husband told me he was frozen in fear watching the battle.”

“I’d probably abandon my post and run away. Two of the strongest magicians of this kingdom fighting each other? Didn’t they try to kill each other before, too?”

“I’m just glad my husband came back alive after witnessing that battle. I heard that the Prey River was destroyed after their fight. Really, those monsters.”

“Even though that river had almost dried-up… what a waste.”

“I’m just glad the lord built that water system a year ago. Even without the Prey River, we no longer have to fear the drought.”

“So, who won the battle? I heard it was a draw, too, this time around.”

“Stupid, do you think my husband would have returned alive if the Thunder Lord had won that fight?”

“Ah…”

“Lord Nickolai would have killed all of the spectating soldiers. That madman. I still wonder why that lunatic is still part of the royal court magicians.”

“Shhh! Lower your voice! What if someone hears you?”

“So what? Look, the Thunder Lord lost the fight. Even the mercenaries he hired ran away after witnessing the might of the tower’s magicians. Strongest magician of the kingdom? Hah! I suppose that title is gone now!”

After eavesdropping the conversation between the two women, Chryselle momentarily stood there, frozen and bewildered by what she’d heard.

Her brother must have anticipated this happening. He’d even told her that given the chance, he would do his best to stop Nickolai from reaching Blackstone Town.

He really kept his promise.

Chryselle smiled. Although she knew that hatred toward the Thunder Lord must have played a big part in Alecto’s decision, she was still grateful for what her brother did, no matter what. Not everyone had the courage to boldly stop the so-called strongest magician of the kingdom in his tracks.

And he won.

Chryselle felt indescribable warmth surging inside of her. She felt proud that her brother had won against one of the strongest royal court magicians of the kingdom.

“Young miss, are you not going to buy anything?” said the stall vendor.

Chryselle broke out of her trance. “Ah, yes. I would like two of these please. And that over there—” she pointed at meat hanging from a hook. “Four large slabs please.”

“White boar meat?” said the stall vendor. “Alright.”

The stall vendor looked extremely pleased for some reason. He glanced at Chryselle every now and then, smiling upon looking at her face.

“Making white boar stew, young miss?” The vendor skillfully cut the meat and placed it inside a bag made of weaved leaves.

“Hopefully… yes,” Chryselle said in a soft voice.

The vendor smiled and chuckled. “Hopefully? Sounds like it’s for your beau, eh? Or is it for your husband? Lucky man.”

Chryselle’s face flushed. She shook her head. “N-No. It’s not like that—”

“Of course, of course,” the vendor said mischievously. “Here you go, young miss. I added a small pouch of umami salt in there.”

“Umami salt? It’s really expensive, sir. At least let me pay for—”

“No, no. It’s fine. The pouch is almost empty. Only a pinch or two is inside, but it should be enough for a stew. Take it.”

Chryselle took the bag filled with meat, vegetables, and spices. She lightly bowed her head, her crimson hair covering a portion of her face. “Thank you, sir. I’ll be sure to come to this stall again.”

The vendor grinned at the merchants in the other stalls. His eyes saying: ‘Hear that? The pretty miss is my regular now! Blame your rotten luck, bastards!’

A chuckle escaped the vendor’s lips. He said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, “Of course, please come again! Just add the umami salt and I’m sure your lover will like it!”

Chryselle didn’t utter a reply to that statement. She left the market, her ears flushed red from embarrassment.

***

After buying ingredients at the Central Market, Chryselle went to her home in the Eastern District. After receiving a hefty sum of ‘pocket money’ from the Master of the Tower, she bought one of the newly built residences. A simple, one-story stone house.

The moment Chryselle reached her house, she noticed a familiar woman, half her face shrouded by her hood, standing in front of the door.

“Esmeralda?” said Chryselle. She hadn’t expected to meet her here, this early in the morning.

The princess looked in the direction of the voice. Upon seeing Chryselle, she beamed. “So that’s why no one is answering!”

The princess ran to Chryselle and locked her left arm with hers. “I heard you bought a house. I came to visit!” She showed her a small bag filled with sweets. “It’s from that popular stall near the newly built temple. I’m sure it’ll taste better if the two of us eat it together.”

Like an elder sister, Chryselle patted the princess’s head using her free hand. She said in a gentle voice, “How thoughtful of you. Come. Let’s go inside.”

The princess smiled blissfully after receiving a pat on her head. She remembered the times when her elder sisters weren’t yet married. They, too, indulged her wishes.

After entering the stone house, the princess removed her cloak and hung it on the wall. Chryselle noticed the sword on the princess’ waist.

“A sword?” said Chryselle.

“I’ve been recently honing my skills with the blade,” said Princess Esmeralda.

“I’m surprised that Sir Parzival allowed you to wield that.” Chryselle started preparing food in the kitchen.

“Well… I was reprimanded by the knights when they found out a few days ago that I’ve been secretly going to the Training Hall.”

Princess Esmeralda kicked off her shoes and sat on the bed. “But it’s fine now. After that golden-haired man talked with Parzival, the knights finally gave their consent and allowed me to use the Training Hall.”

Golden-haired man? There was only one person who fit that description in this town. Chryselle said, “Anandra?”

“Yes, him.” The princess imitated Anandra’s stern-looking face and his firmly shut lips. “The grumpy old man! He told my knights that I’m quite exceptional with the sword. I guess his words carried greater weight than my own.”

The princess said the last part unhappily. Parzival and the other knights were already aware of her talent with the sword. But it was only after hearing it from Anandra’s mouth that they finally allowed her to practice at the Training Hall.

Chryselle chuckled. “Anandra’s about the same age as me, Esmeralda.”

“Eh? But George and Austen said that although he looks young, Anandra is actually a middle-aged man! Forty, was it?”

“I’m pretty sure he’s way younger than that,” said Chryselle in a voice filled with understanding.

Esmeralda sighed. She was tricked by the brothers again. She stood up and walked to the kitchen. She noticed how skillful Chryselle was with the knife. Her hands moved swiftly, as though she’d cooked this particular dish hundreds of times before.

“You’re quite skilled!” exclaimed the princess.

“It’s for Master Lark,” Chryselle said happily. “Although the weather’s scorching hot, I heard before that he really likes this dish.”

The princess noticed Chryselle’s gleeful expression upon her mention of Lark’s name. Chryselle had changed, the princess was certain. For some reason, after she returned to Blackstone Town, she’d started looking at the lord in a different way.

How should she describe it? It felt as though Chryselle’s eyes were glimmering whenever she talked about the Lord of Blackstone Town. Was it admiration for his strength? She was not sure.

“I wish I knew how to cook,” the princess said in regret. “I could have helped you.”

“Visiting me this early in the morning is already more than enough.” Chryselle took a sip of the broth. “Have you read the book I gave you?”

“I read several pages yesterday,” said the princess. “The first two magic exercises were easy, but the third one…” Her voice trailed off.

“So you’re stuck at the third one?” said Chryselle. The two of them moved toward the bed and sat as they waited for the white boar meat to become tender.

“That’s right.” The princess nodded.

“I see.” Chryselle opened her hand and a thumb-sized orb of light shot out and hovered several inches above her palm. “The third exercise in the book is an insurmountable wall for most non-magicians. It’s meant to hone your mana shaping skills, just like this one.”

The thumb-sized orb of light slowly elongated then spun around, forming a thin, spiraling thread. The princess knew how hard it was to achieve this feat. When she did it back then, she could not even alter the orb of light as she pleased.

“You’re amazing,” whispered the princess.

The orb of light in Chryselle’s palm vanished. “You should be able to do it too. Here, let me guide you.”

Chryselle placed her hand on the princess’ back and slowly guided her mana into her hand.

Unlike when she did it alone, the princess easily manipulated the mana with Chryselle’s guidance. The orb of light in her palm slowly started assuming the same spiraling shape. The two of them repeated this several more times, until the princess started grasping the basics of the mana shaping process.

“Master Lark did this with George and Austen, when they’d just started,” said Chryselle. “I heard from the brothers that the master guided them the first time they mastered the magic formation for the first-tier spells.

“The ability to give shape to mana and will it to flow in the caster’s desired direction is one of the most fundamental things in magic. Without it, magic formations would cease to exist. Out of the seven basic mana exercises in the book, the third one is the most important. Remember this, Esmeralda.”

The princess nodded. She opened her hand and repeated the third exercise taught in the book. Although she was still unable to create the same spiraling shape as Chryselle, she could see the thumb-sized orb of light wriggling, as through trying to assume a certain shape.

It was an exhilarating feeling. Although Lark refused to teach her, she was finally grasping the basics of magic.

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 19

[Port Kalavinka—A naval base named after the hero of the navy]

His black hair hiding more than half his face, Kalavinka sauntered happily around his room. It was rare for him to get a chance like this. Hours of uninterrupted peace without his elder brother, Zaask, monitoring him.

“Just three more days and I can finally leave this naval base!” Kalavinka shuddered with excitement.

For some strange reason, it had been more than a week since any Mullgray Pirates were sighted near this territory. Had they gathered all of their forces to launch an all-out attack on Everfrost? Or maybe the Empire had finally decided to begin their counterattack on those savages, keeping the pirates too preoccupied to bother attacking the ports of the kingdom?

“Well, the reason doesn’t matter,” mumbled Kalavinka.

His request for a month-long vacation had been finally granted! And by his eldest brother, Lancaster Kelvin, no less! For Kalavinka, who’d been cooped up on this damned naval base for years, this was truly god sent.

Although he’d been hailed as the kingdom’s hero in naval warfare, Kalavinka believed that he was not suitable to lead all of these men. He was simply blessed with the ability to read the ebbs and flow of the tides, the movements of the creatures underneath the water, the pressure in the air, the shapes of the floating clouds. He knew that if these were taken away from him, he was nothing but an ordinary boy incapable of even wielding a spear.

Demon of the sea? Genius of the navy? Kalavinka believed that all of these titles were wasted on someone as incompetent as him.

Kalavinka looked out of his window, his eyes staring at the vast expanse stretching out to the horizon. The sea was eerily quiet today. Even the blue-spotted gulls, which inhabited the area, were nowhere to be found.

Kalavinka frowned.

The sea…

Something felt wrong.

Kalavinka continued staring at the sea for several more minutes. And finally, he was convinced of it. He was certain that ‘they’ were coming.

He knew that time was of the essence. Kalavinka ran out of his room and shouted, “Gather the commodore and the captain! Call big brother Zaask here! Now!”

The three soldiers tasked to guard his room flinched. This was the first time they’d seen the genius of the navy like this.

“Admiral Kalavinka! What’s wrong, sir?” asked one of the soldiers.

“I don’t have the time to explain! Please! Call the officers! Call my older brother Zaask here! Now!”

Under the desperate shouts of the boy, one of the soldiers ran outside to call for officers, while another one ran to call for Zaask, the second oldest son of Duke Kelvin, the man tasked to oversee Kalavinka.

A few minutes later, Zaask arrived at Kalavinka’s room. To his surprise, Kalavinka had already gathered the other officers of the navy inside. The normally-timid boy was already disseminating his commands.

“Commodore Lieson, make a tight net around the blue rock region. Be prepared to use the black fire under any conditions, at my command,” said Kalavinka in a heated voice. He’d already marked the spot with a circle on the map.

Commodore Lieson saluted. “Yes, Admiral!”

“Captain Halvar.”

“Admiral!”

“You shall provide support to the commodore’s fleet at the rear. The enemy numbers in tens of thousands. If by chance we are unable to suppress the enemy and they break through our tight net, retreat immediately. Your priority will be to secure the safety of the women, the children, and the elderly. Make sure they’re able to evacuate safely.”

Zaask, who’d been silent until now, finally spoke. “Retreat? Secure the safety of women, the children, and the elderly? Kalavinka, what’s the meaning of this?”

Kalavinka looked at his older brother, at the officers gathered in the room, then back. He said, “Big brother Zaask, they’re coming.”

Zaask closed the door and went to the table where everyone was gathered. Spread on top of the table was a large map of the western territory.

“This is unlike you, Kalavinka. What’s with that face? This is the first time I’ve seen you so terrified of mere pirates,” said Zaask.

Kalavinka shook his head. He found it hard to explain what he saw in words. “No. They’re not pirates, big brother.”

“Not pirates?” said Zaask.

What had this timid boy seen in the sea for him to freak out like this? Even now, Kalavinka’s shoulders were quivering.

“I’m not… really sure,” Kalavinka said hesitantly. “All of them are moving underwater. Tens of thousands of them.”

The room fell silent at those words.

Everyone knew of Kalavinka’s ability to read the flow of the water, his ability to predict the weather, and his ability to estimate the number of enemies—their positions and where they were hidden—during battle.

“I… I’m really scared,” Kalavinka said his honest thoughts. “I want to flee from here. Away from whatever is coming. But if I do that, what will happen to this port? To the citizens who believe in our protection?”

“Tens of thousands of unidentified creatures moving underwater,” muttered Zaask, frowning.

During the time he’d been tasked in monitoring his younger brother, Zaask learned of how fearsome Kalavinka could be during naval warfare. If he said that tens of thousands of underwater creatures were headed this way, then it must true.

“I trust your ability, Kalavinka,” said Zaask.

“Thank you, brother.” Kalavinka firmed his resolve upon hearing those words.

“So, what should we do? Just say the word. I can mobilize the Zaask Hussars for you.”

***

Under the orders of Kalavinka, they started preparing to evacuate all of the noncombatants to the Kelvin Duchy. Commodore Lieson and his fleet—consisting of thirty ships—formed a tight net at the blue rock region, ready to fire black fire the moment the admiral issued out his commands. Captain Halvar and his men were positioned nearest the port, at a perfect distance to either provide support for the commodore or to retreat and help with the evacuation. The Zaask Hussars—a light cavalry consisting of four hundred soldiers—had been summoned from the nearest garrison.

Just to be safe, the commodore insisted that both Kalavinka and Zaask stay at the port. Unlike their frequent skirmishes with the pirates, this event was unprecedented. They couldn’t risk the life of both Admiral Kalavinka and Zaask Kelvin.

For hours, they waited. None of the officers even doubted Kalavinka Kelvin’s judgment. After all, he’d never made a mistake before. They truly believed that tens of thousands of underwater creatures were approaching the port.

“O-Over there!” shouted one of Commodore Lieson’s men.

Innumerable creatures were moving underwater, forming a massive shadow under the sea.

“They really came!”

“T-There’s too many of them!”

“Commodore! Your orders!”

Commodore Lieson looked in the direction of the port. The moment a yellow flag was raised, he roared, “Ready the black fire!”

The crews of all thirty ships opened their barrel-like weapons. The viscous mixture invented by Kalavinka Kelvin was already contained inside. The tar capable of burning underwater.

“Fire!”

Loud explosions were heard as all thirty ships fired at the water. Black fire spewed out of the barrels and shot toward the creatures swimming underwater.

“Archers ready!”

Now that the sea was literally burning, they knew that those creatures would soon make their appearance.

The moment hundreds of them jumped out of the water onto the deck, Commodore Lieson issued out his commands.

“Fire!”

And the archers onboard the ship fired their arrows, piercing the bodies of the unwanted intruders before they could even get onboard.

“What… the hell is that?”

Commodore Lieson couldn’t believe his eyes. The creatures that had been swimming underwater were humans. No, they resembled humans.

They were monsters, Commodore Lieson was sure of it. He noticed the small tentacles squirming out of the human’s mouths. Moreover, there were also humanoid tentacle monsters among the bunch.

It was a truly disgusting sight. It was as though the dead had been parasitized and brought back to life.

“They’re monsters!” shouted Commodore Lieson. “Fire the arrows at will! Keep the black fire burning!”

Although the black fire killed thousands of the monsters, several dozen still managed to climb onto the ships’ decks. Soon, the fight broke into a melee.

The enemies which oddly resembled humans were surprisingly weak. Their movements were more sluggish than expected. The moment their heads were cut off, they fell onto the ground like stringless puppets. Even with their numbers, the soldiers stationed on the deck were capable of cutting them down.

The real problem was the humanoid tentacle monsters. Not only were they fast, they were also a bit stronger than an average human. Furthermore, they would not die even if you cut off all of their tentacles. The only way to defeat them was to cut off their heads—an extremely hard task, considering the tentacles protecting it.

“Aack! H-Help me!”

“Get off! Get off me!”

“Please! I don’t want to dieee!”

Cries of anguish, terror, and despair reverberated. One by one, the crew members were falling from battle.

And to their horror, some of them turned into monsters and started attacking their comrades.

“Commodore! They’re ignoring us! They’re heading directly to the port!” reported one of the sailors.

Commodore Lieson cut down the monster in front of him then looked in the direction of the port. Indeed, thousands of monsters were swimming toward the port.

Fortunately, Captain Halvar and his men were there to intercept them.

Had Admiral Kalavinka predicted this would happen just by reading the ebb and flow of the water?

He had accurately predicted that tens of thousands of underwater creatures were headed this way. He even went as far as proposing the noncombatants in the port evacuate. Truly an unseen-before genius.

“Marco.”

“Commodore!”

“I have an important task for you. You know how to send a coded message?”

“Yes, Commodore.”

“Good. Send a message to the port. Tell them to evacuate Admiral Kalavinka, along with the noncombatants, to the duchy. He should be safe there.”

Marco knew the implications of those words. It seemed that the commodore planned on taking the brunt of the attack, until everyone had successfully evacuated to the duchy. This full fleet would become bait to let everyone else live.

Despite knowing this, Marco saluted. He said with firm resolve, “Right away, Commodore!”

The commodore cut another humanoid tentacle monster. At their rear, he saw the ship of Captain Halvar capsize. Before half of its hull sank into the water, the ship blazed into flames and black fire spread deep underwater, scorching the monsters beneath the ship.

Even at his death, Captain Halvar decided to take down as many monsters as he could.

A valiant end befitting a captain.

Commodore Lieson tightened his grip on his cutlass’ hilt.

The captain must have realized it too—that this was not something even the admiral was capable of winning. A monster horde that could probably topple the entire kingdom itself. In a hopeless scenario like this, the only viable way for them to win the next battle was for the admiral to evacuate.

“Admiral Kalavinka… the boy can’t die here,” said Commodore Lieson.

The kingdom still needed him. He could not fall here, to monsters like these.

Commodore Lieson knew that he needed to buy enough time for the boy and the noncombatants to evacuate.

“Commodore!” said Marco. “I’ve sent them the message! They’ve agreed to forcefully evacuate the admiral to the duchy!”

It was good news. Now, there was only one thing left for them to do: buy as much time as possible for everyone at the port.

Commodore Lieson said, “Well done!” He roared, “Hard to starboard!”

“Hard to starboard!” echoed the other sailors.

The helmsman ran to the steering wheel and directed the ship toward the left, to the direction of the Mullgray Islands.

Hopefully the ships would be enough to serve as bait for all of the monsters.

As the surviving ships moved toward the Mullgray Islands, the sailors noticed the innumerable black dots in the sky. Screeches were heard as the black dots loomed closer.

Flying monsters. Tens of thousands of them.

Everyone despaired upon seeing the creatures.

Were those monsters coming toward their kingdom? Just the thought made everyone shudder with terror.

VOLUME 7: CHAPTER 20

The Kalavinka Navy, the so-called key to the golden age of sea exploration for the kingdom, was helpless against the demon horde.

From the sky.

From the sea.

Tens of thousands of demons continued attacking the port.

The moment the sky demons started swooping toward them from the sky, the hussars under Zaask Kelvin vanquished all thoughts of holding the front line. They knew that their spears would be useless against flying enemies. All that they could do right now was retreat.

“Fall back!” roared Zaask Kelvin. “We’re retreating!”

With trained movements, the hussars maneuvered their horses and skillfully evaded the attacks coming from the sky. They spurred their mounts forward, and under the leadership of Zaask, retreated toward the duchy.

“Wait, brother!” shouted Kalavinka, his arms wrapped around his brother’s back as he rode the same mount. He looked back at the commodore’s fleet that had been desperately fighting against the parasitic demons until now. “We can’t just leave like this! The port! What will happen to the port!”

The boy sounded so desperate. Zaask Kelvin had not expected his little brother to be this adamantly against their retreat.

“Kalavinka,” said Zaask. “In situations like these, it’s fine to be a coward. You read the message delivered by the commodore, didn’t you?”

“But, brother! We still have several hundred hussars under your command! If we escape—”

“Stop being stubborn!” snarled Zaask. As he’d thought, despite his skills in naval warfare, his little brother was still a kid. A naïve one at that. Zaask said firmly, “We can’t turn back now. If we do, we’ll be wasting those men’s sacrifice.”

Kalavinka couldn’t find the words to refute that statement. Deep inside, he knew that his brother was right. Those men—they stalled for time despite knowing the fate awaiting them. The very thought squeezed Kalavinka’s heart.

“Luckily, the Lancaster Army is currently stationed in the Kelvin Duchy, thanks to the previous decree of His Majesty to support the navy. The other nobles will send their soldiers soon, all we need to do is wait. We should be safe there,” said Zaask. “Hold on tight. Never let go, no matter what.”

Kalavinka tightened his embrace on his brother’s back. The horses galloped in the direction of the duchy. Behind them, the parasitic demons desperately chased after the retreating hussars. Although the humanoid tentacled monsters were surprisingly fast, their speed was still not enough to catch up to the hussars’ mounts. The only real threat was the demons flying in the sky.

Dozens of sky demons swooped toward the retreating army, one after another. Like a hawk hunting its prey, they grabbed the hussars using their talons and lifted them toward the sky, never to be seen again.

“Aaah! H-Help me!”

“Get off me!”

“Shit! There’s too many of them!”

“Commander, your orders, please!”

Despite their skills as horsemen, the hussars were unable to evade all of the sky demon attacks . Although the hussars were feared on land, they’d never been trained on how to deal with attacks from the sky.

Zaask gnashed his teeth. He knew that at this rate, their army would be annihilated before they could even reach the duchy.

Should they make a small detachment to serve as a rear guard for their retreating army?

No, that would be suicide. It would be impossible for them to attract the attention of the whole flock.

As he was contemplating on his next move, the boy tightly embracing his back spoke.

“Brother, we should take a detour,” said Kalavinka. He almost bit his tongue while talking. Their mount continued to gallop on uneven ground.

“A detour?” said Zaask. He removed one hand from the rein, unsheathed his sword, and stabbed the sky demon that tried grabbing him from above. The sky demon shrieked, flapped its wings, and retreated to the sky.

“Yes!” said Kalavinka. “Instead of heading straight to the duchy, it’d be better to go north, toward the Leonard School instead.”

Unlike Lancaster Kelvin, who treated Kalavinka as a puppet, Zaask believed in the abilities of his little brother. He asked, “Leonard School? The territory of that grumpy old man?”

Leonard School was a martial arts school located in the territory of the former Baron Zacharia. Along with the Military Academy and the Magic Academy, it was one of the three most popular schools of the kingdom.

“There’s nothing but grassland from here all the way to the duchy,” pointed out Kalavinka. “But it’s different if we head a bit north, toward Viscount Zacharia’s territory. Now that we’ve outrun the land monsters, the only threat to our survival are those monsters in the sky. A forest—we need to enter one.”

Zaask finally understood what Kalavinka was trying to achieve from this detour. Indeed, they were extremely disadvantaged when dealing with the sky demons while running on grassland. They would be nothing but easy, moving targets until they arrived at the duchy. But things would be different if they entered a forest. Although the hussars would lose a lot of mobility if they entered the forest, the same could be said for the sky demons. This was definitely their best shot at survival.

Zaask smirked.

Who would have known that this boy was also well-versed in battle on land?

“Hussars! We’ll shake off these damn monsters!” roared Zaask. “To the north! We’ll be entering the nearest forest!”

“Yes, Commander!”

For two hours, the small army continued moving north. During that time, more than a hundred hussars were killed by the sky demons. Despite their desperate struggle to fend off the attacks from the sky, the Zaask Army still suffered terrible losses.

Finally, they arrived at the nearest forest. A sea of pine trees located a couple of days away from Viscount Zacharia’s territory.

The sky demons flew past them, circled the forest for quite some time, and eventually stopped their chase. They screeched then flew back in the direction of the port.

The soldiers sighed in relief.

“White,” said Zaask. “Report.”

The vice commander of the army said in a dispirited voice, “A hundred and seventy-four men, Commander. We lost almost half of our hussars to the flying monsters.”

Zaask looked up at the sky, as though asking the heavens why this had happened now, of all times. Although their army was a lot smaller than Lancaster Kelvin’s, each of their members were handpicked elites. Losing almost half their soldiers was a terrible blow to their army.

Kalavinka lowered his head. He was the one who requested for the Zaask Army to be called all the way here from the duchy. “Big brother, I… I’m sorry. This happened because of me. If you didn’t call the hussars here…”

“What are you talking about?” Zaask placed his hand on top of Kalavinka’s head. “We would probably have been annihilated if you hadn’t suggested this detour to the forest. We should be thanking you instead, Kalavinka.”

“But I was the one who asked you to call all of these soldiers here…”

Zaask sighed. “Do we look like kids to you, Kalavinka? All of these men are veteran soldiers. None of them will blame you for what happened.”

Kalavinka looked at the soldiers. Indeed, he could not see hatred within the eyes of the hussars. Some of them were even looking at him with gratitude, for his suggestion to enter the forest.

“Although it appears that the sky monsters have retreated, it’ll do us no good to be complacent,” said Zaask. “Install several traps, just in case.”

Vice Commander White saluted. “Right away, Commander.”

“Mauro.”

“Sir!”

“Gather the scouts. Split into two groups. I need you to send a message to the duchy and to His Majesty.”

“To His Majesty?” said the leader of the scouts. He knew that if word got out that they’d suffered such a terrible defeat against those monsters, the name of the House Kelvin would be smeared with mud. It was something Duke Kelvin would never allow, no matter what.

“The competition for the throne, the reputation of the House Kelvin. None of that matters right now,” said Zaask. His older brother, Lancaster Kelvin, would probably beat him up for this. “Your priority will be to inform the kingdom and the duchy of what transpired here today. Leave no details out. Do you understand?”

The leader of the scouts nodded. “I’ll make sure it reaches the king and the duchy. Please leave it to me, Commander!”

Zaask patted Mauro’s shoulder.

“Kalavinka, you’re going with the scouts to the capital. Get ready. You will be leaving in an hour.”

Zaask’s intuition was telling him this was the best course of action to take right now. For some strange reason, he wanted his little brother far away from here, no matter what.

The boy slowly nodded and no longer complained.

Zaask looked up at the sky. It was only a couple of hours before dusk. He decided to camp here tonight.

***

The next day, the Zaask Army left the forest and made their way to the duchy. They did not take the shortest route, in fear of being found by the monsters. A decision they regretted two days later, upon arriving at their city.

“W-What is this! What happened here?” Zaask shouted in utter fury. His eyes were wide as his body quivered from rage.

Dead bodies of residents littered the streets and almost half the city was burning. Slabs of stone, splintered wood, and dismembered human bodies were seen in all directions.

He could not believe it. In just a couple of days, the duchy had been overrun by monsters.

Zaask and his men despaired at this sight.

Their beloved city. Their home. Their families. Everything had been ravaged to the ground.

Zaask’s eyes swiveled left and right. Judging by the state of the corpses on the street and the direction they were facing, most of the residents were eaten alive on their way out of the city, probably by the sky monsters they’d encountered back then.

Men. Women. Children. Elderly. None of them had been spared by the monsters.

“C-Commander,” said White. “Over there!”

Looking in the direction the vice commander was pointing, Zaask saw several walking corpses heading toward them. Tentacles were squirming inside their mouths, their flesh rotting, their eyes hollowed. The same monsters they fought back at the port.

“How…” Zaask still couldn’t believe the tragedy that had befallen the duchy.

The Lancaster Army was supposedly stationed here. How had the city fallen in just days?

The parasitized humans roared. As though on cue, over a thousand tentacled humanoid monsters started unburrowing themselves from the ground. Hundreds of sky demons also started appearing in the sky, their screeches reverberating throughout the city.

“We’re surrounded,” muttered Zaask.

“Every path’s been blocked, Commander,” said White.

“Damn it. I thought we’d be safe as long as we reached the duchy!” snarled Zaask. “But, what’s this?”

As Zaask was scanning the battlefield for a way out, he noticed a familiar face among the parasitized humans. A muscular, middle-aged man wearing bloodstained armor. Half his face was scorched, and his left arm was missing.

“B-Brother?” breathed Zaask.

It was Lancaster Kelvin, without a doubt.

It seemed that Lancaster Kelvin had struggled until his last breath against these monsters. His expensive armor had been cut and dented, and a large portion of his body had been scorched by flames. A testament to how much fight he’d put up against these monsters.

And it was not just Lancaster.

Zaask’s former sword instructor. The head butler. The vice leader of the Lancaster Army. The leader of the city guards. The duke’s fifth son, Amphus Kelvin. The duke’s eleventh son, Sven Kelvin. Even Zaask’s daughter was among the parasitized humans.

“A-Amelia,” he called out to his daughter. The four-year-old girl looked alive, save for the tentacles squirming out of her mouth.

Zaask lost all will to fight back. He could not bring himself to raise his sword against these parasitized humans. Even if they’d been turned into monsters, they were still his family.

There must be a way to save them. A spell. A potion. The method did not matter.

The parasitized humans roared. The sky demons screeched. They charged toward the hussars.

***

Plagas, the Lord of Parasitic Demons, leisurely sat on the throne, at a room in the royal palace. It originally belonged to the King of Pirates. A man that had now become a high-ranking parasitic nest. A servant that would unquestioningly carry out all of the Lord of Parasitic Demon’s commands.

“I was hoping that there would be more exceptional humans like this one,” said Plagas as he fondly stroked the tentacles of the high-ranking nest next to him. Using the link binding him and a few handpicked parasitic demons, Plagas watched the battle in the Kelvin Duchy unfold.

“How boring.” Plagas rested his head on one of his tentacles.

The Immortal Demon had sent him and his tribe of parasitic demons to this realm for reconnaissance. According to the Demon Lord Barkuvara, during the Age of Magic, there existed humans capable of killing High Demons. Plagas’ task was to scout the Human Realm for such potential foe.

“If all of the humans are this weak, my tribe should be enough to conquer all of the human kingdoms,” said Plagas.

The strongest human he’d encountered so far was the King of Pirates. But even he couldn’t cut through the body of Plagas.

Plagas planned on going back to the Demon Realm later to report his findings to the Demon Lord.

“Oho! What’s this!”

Plagas stood up in excitement upon receiving the visual transmission from the parasitic demon he’d sent to the Empire.

“Another one! Another one!” squeaked Plagas.

A potential host for a high-ranking nest had appeared among the humans.

Unlike the kingdom, the Empire had been putting up a great fight against the demon horde. They’d even managed to shoot down a third of the sky demons sent to their nation.

Plagas strengthened the link connecting him to the parasitic demon currently located at the Empire’s soil. He shared its hearing, its vision.

“Prince Quinn! Please stop charging recklessly to the front lines!” A human, who seemed to be a military officer, shouted at the potential human host. The officer clicked his tongue. He said to his men, “Follow the prince! Guard him with your lives!”

“Yes, General!”

The prince, along with his men, valiantly defended the city of the Empire. Thousands of imperial soldiers and magicians clashed against the parasitic demon horde.

Plagas squirmed excitedly as he watched.

This so-called prince was incredibly strong for a human. Even the general following behind him was also exceptional.

“Oho, I see… I see!” said Plagas.

He realized that the glaive currently used by the prince was a magic artifact. It seemed to be capable of nullifying magic at a certain radius. If used correctly, Plagas knew that weapon was capable of cutting even the body of a high demon.

“A maginus? How interesting. So, the knowledge of the Magic Empire still exists in this era. I need to report this to the Demon Lord Barkuvara.”

Bearing the strength and the weapon of the prince in mind, Plagas issued out a command to the parasitic demons and the sky demons currently attacking the Empire.

“Focus all of your attacks on that human,” he ordered. “No matter how strong he is, at the end of the day, he’s still a mere mortal.” Plagas grinned. “The so-called prince and his general. Bring their bodies to me, no matter what.”

VOLUME 7: EPILOGUE

The news regarding the fall of the Kalavinka Port and the Kelvin Duchy quickly spread throughout the kingdom. Upon hearing of the barrier protecting Behemoth City, tens of thousands of refugees from the west started flocking toward the capital.

In the throne room, the royal advisors, several government officials, and nobles gathered to discuss the kingdom’s current predicament—their opinions regarding the refugees were currently divided.

“Your Majesty, we should close off the city gates! Who knows what will happen to us if we keep accepting all of these refugees!”

“Are you out of your mind? If we don’t take them in, all of those people will die eventually!”

“This ruthless old fart! You know fully well that this is the only city with a barrier!”

“So what? Tell me, how do you plan on feeding all of those people? Tell me!”

Indeed, although they’d managed to cull the Black Famine last year, the capital currently only had enough food reserves to feed their current population. Taking in almost thirty thousand refugees from various towns and villages in the west seemed out of the question.

“I’ve sent a message to Lord Chase and to Duke Youchester,” said King Alvis, his calm voice was in stark contrast to the agitated officials’. The bickering in the throne room died out. “Their territories had a somewhat abundant harvest this year. I believe it should be possible for them to supply the capital with grain and meat.”

The king looked so tired, despite his calm voice. Dark spots encircled his eyes, as though he had not slept all night.

“We shall continue accepting refugees,” said King Alvis. “The capital of the kingdom shall serve as a haven for everyone fleeing from the war.”

It was a bold declaration. Everyone in the throne room knew the repercussions of letting in too many people.

“I humbly ask Your Majesty to reconsider,” said one of the royal advisors, his voice desperate. He was the leader of the group in favor of closing the city gates. “Thirty thousand people is too many for the capital to take in at once. If His Majesty really wishes to take in the refugees, we can start by letting in a few hundred—even a few thousand.”

King Alvis gripped the armrest. “I understand your concerns, Minister Randolf. But I couldn’t possibly let all of those people die. We shall take in all of them, even if we have to ration our resources. With the help of Golden Wheat City and Youchester Duchy, we should be able to hold on for several months.”

The minister looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes in defeat. For several seconds, he fell silent. He eventually said, “Then, at least let them stay outside the city, Your Majesty. As long as they’re inside the barrier, the refugees shouldn’t complain. The barrier is large. It should be possible to accommodate everyone.”

King Alvis stroked his beard and pondered over it. He nodded. “Very well. Viscount Lakian.”

“Your Majesty,” said the Grand Chamberlain.

“You’ll be tasked with making sure the refugees are given shelter at the city’s outskirts. A shack, a tent, a mud house. Anything will do as long as they have a roof over their heads.”

The Grand Chamberlain bowed. “As you wish.”

“Danack.”

The leader of the patrol stepped forward, bowed his head, and said, “Your Majesty.”

“Disorder is bound to arise with so many people gathering together,” said King Alvis. “Take necessary measures to keep security and order in check. If someone is causing trouble, I’m giving you permission to kick them out of the barrier.”

“Please leave it to me, My King,” said the leader of the patrol.

Realizing that they had not discussed any plans on retaking the western region from the demons until now, Calisto Kelvin said, “Your Majesty, how long do we have to wait before we send out reinforcements to the western region?”

Calisto was the third son of Duke Kelvin. If the reports regarding the fate of the Kalavinka Port and the duchy were accurate, the first and second sons of their house were probably already dead. With the duke currently locked up in the dungeon, Calisto currently held the highest authority in the ducal household.

“We should send reinforcements!” Calisto was close to crying. Even now, he couldn’t believe that the duchy had fallen in days. “We could still save my brothers!”

“Calm down, Calisto,” said General Carlos.

“Calm down? How can I calm down when my city is literally burning right now!” shouted Calisto. “And this! We’ve been discussing the demon invasion for a couple of days already, but what have we achieved? Nothing!”

“Lower your voice, you are before His Majesty,” growled General Carlos. “You’ve heard it yourself from those who’d managed to escape. Those demons are capable of taking over human bodies! We can’t recklessly send our soldiers to their deaths! If we charge in that hellhole without a plan, we’ll be simply adding to the number of corpses!”

Under the general’s predatory gaze, Calisto finally shut his mouth.

“And do you think it’s only the Kelvin Duchy? Even Gryphon City has been attacked by those demons. The Marcus Army is probably fighting against those monsters as we speak! Rock Castle! The Leonard School! Quasan City! It is thanks to them that the demons haven’t reached here yet!”

Everyone in the throne room wore grim faces. They knew that if these territories fell in the hands of the demons, it would only be a matter of time before the horde reached the capital.

Thankfully, according to their intel, the Marcus Army led by Lui Marcus had been holding their ground against the horde. But they knew that it would be only a matter time before the Marcus Army was defeated, unless they found a way to prevent the demons from taking over the bodies of their prey.

***

After meeting with the nobles and officials, King Alvis went to an underground dungeon underneath Lady Ropianna’s mansion.

“How is it, Ropianna?” said King Alvis.

The king stood in front of a cell, along with General Carlos, Lady Ropianna, Elias ‘Farsight’ and several guards. Inside the cell was a parasitized human. A live specimen the soldiers had managed to obtain at a village near the Kelvin Duchy.

Lady Ropianna shook her head. She said in a raspy voice, “The alchemists managed to obtain a blood sample. But it will take at least two days for the results, Your Majesty. Unfortunately, I believe that that alone won’t be enough.”

“Is that so…” said the king. He also believed that there was an extremely high chance that they would not find a cure in a few days’ time. After all, this was the first time, even for the royal court magicians, to encounter a parasitized human.

According to Lark Marcus, the current barrier barred entry to anyone that was non-human. But since they’d managed to locked up this creature in a dungeon inside the capital, it meant only one thing: this creature was still considered human. This was the conclusion everyone here had arrived at. There should still be a way for it revert to its former state.

The parasitized human in the cell roared. It grabbed the bars and tried forcefully squeezing its head through the gap. Slimy tentacles squirmed out of its mouth. The guards warily stood next to the king to protect him in the event that the parasitized human managed to break out.

“It’s still alive even after losing this much blood,” said General Carlos.

A large cut was seen across the chest of the parasitized human. Its skin was extremely pallid, as though it had lost all the blood from its body.

“A normal human would have already died by now,” said Lady Ropianna. “Taking over their will and their body. They couldn’t even die if they wanted to. How cruel.”

The elderly female magician clenched her fists. Her shoulders quivered from hatred toward the demons.

“If by chance I meet the same fate,” said Lady Ropianna in a low voice. “Please kill me.”

Everyone furrowed their brows but didn’t utter a word. They understood the feelings of the elderly female magician. They, too, would prefer death over becoming a parasitized human.

“I haven’t told the ministers and officials about this,” said King Alvis. “But there should be a way for our kingdom to survive this demon invasion.”

Lady Ropianna looked at the king. “The one mentioned in the revelation…”

“That’s right,” said King Alvis. “You confirmed it with your own eyes, didn’t you Farsight?”

Elias ‘Farsight’, who’d been silent all this time, spoke, “Lark Marcus… He’s strong. Stronger than I expected. But it’s not enough for me to come to a conclusion, Your Majesty.”

King Alvis stroked his beard. “Over a week ago, I’ve received a message from the knight stationed at Blackstone Town. From Mikael Garios.”

“The former instructor of the knights?” said Lady Ropianna. Mikael was quite famous in the capital before he retired.

King Alvis nodded. “According to Mikael, a massive wall around sixty meters in height grew and surrounded the entirety of Blackstone Town overnight. Moreover, the same barrier spell protecting the capital was concurrently cast on Blackstone Town.”

Upon hearing this, the eyes of Farsight and Lady Ropianna widened. General Carlos, on the other hand, seemed indifferent to this revelation. As the closest confidant of the king, he’d already heard everything from the king beforehand.

“Pinnacle-grade spell?” Lady Ropianna said in disbelief. She’d seen before how much mana was required to cast that spell. Even the Tears of Ubroxia alone was not enough as a source of mana. A spell even a royal court magician could not cast on a whim.

Before meeting Lark Marcus, they believed that pinnacle-grade spells were exclusive only to dragons.

The fact that something that powerful had been cast to protect a town sounded preposterous.

“And Mikael heard it from Lark Marcus himself,” said King Alvis. “Evander Alaester. A magician who once lived during the Age of Magic. One of the strongest magicians in the history of mankind. Lark Marcus himself admitted that the soul of that magician is currently inhabiting the body of Duke Drakus’ second son.”

The parasitized human locked in the cell started banging on the iron bars. Its flesh was torn, its bone cracked, but it did not stop.

“If it’s him, it should be possible for us to find a way to turn those people back to normal,” said King Alvis. He looked at the parasitized human with pity. “Ropianna, if he is indeed that legendary magician, I will abdicate the throne. Although four years have yet to pass, I shall name him the next ruler of this kingdom. The Gods said so, didn’t they? It’s the only way for our nation to survive.”

The parasitized human started banging its head against the wall. Unable to bear to look at him any further, Lady Ropianna cast a restriction spell and bound the parasitized human by a wind chain.

“Tonight, I shall depart for Blackstone Town.”

The royal court magicians looked at General Carlos. To their surprise, the retired general did not seem against the decision of His Majesty. It seemed that he already knew of this plan.

“Even if I have to kneel, I shall ask that magician to help this kingdom.”

AFTERWORD

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for reading this far into the novel. I started writing out of boredom a couple of years ago. Who would have known that people would actually read and buy my stories? I’m currently at a point in my life wherein I’m contemplating on going full-time as an author. It’s a hard decision, since I’ll be leaving my career as a medical doctor behind in exchange for this one. Being a doctor is extremely draining. I won’t go into details, but I’ve realized that working at the hospital has been extremely taxing on my body.

Well, enough of the rant. (Haha! Seriously. Why am I writing this in an afterword?)

There’s only a couple of volumes left before Legend of the Arch Magus ends. Two episodes of the webcomic for the novel have already been completed. I’ll start posting them once I’ve had enough buffer episodes. Unfortunately, it’ll be posted monthly. The studio working on the webcomic is small, and with the limited manpower and budget, it’s the best we could do as of this moment. Who knows – when it becomes popular someday (hopefully), maybe we could hire more people to make it a bi-monthly release?

The completed episodes for the webcomic are currently being posted on my patreon page. You can also read advance chapters of the next book there.

Patreon.com/crazyblackchili

If you like my work, please write a review on Amazon . It really helps a lot in the algorithm. It means a lot to me.

Thank you.

-Chili