◈ Episode 329. Disaster Level: Claudi (2)
Atop Antonium’s walls.
The soldiers gazing out over the plains swallowed their sighs. In the end, the enemies had come swarming in. In the end, the Dark Dragon—he had once again stepped forward alone to protect the Empire.
Standing there.
The enemy army charged toward Hoyeol, who stood alone on the plain.
Even if he was the Dark Dragon.
“Do we truly have a chance of winning, General?”
“……”
Those watching could not hide their concern.
Before long, a faint vibration rose from the tips of their toes to the crowns of their heads.
At the same time, an enormous cloud of dust billowed up around Hoyeol.
“Wh-what just happened?”
“Damn it, I can’t see a thing!”
“Sir Nash, can you not see even with the telescope?”
“Stop rushing me. I’m trying!”
No matter how tightly he gripped the innocent magic tool, his view did not change.
All he could do was clench his fist a little harder and grit his teeth.
Because, at the final moment, everyone had seen it.
‘In the end, the leaders moved.’
‘What kind of conversation passed between them for the enemy commanders to step forward immediately?’
‘If they launched a joint attack…….’
As they stared at the dust cloud, ominous thoughts began to sprout.
If Hoyeol fell, Antonium would be next.
How were they supposed to stop an enemy even the Dark Dragon could not?
If anything, they wished the dust would never clear.
Sssss—
Contrary to their swelling anxiety, the dust was washed away by the wind.
It spat out the battlefield scenery it had swallowed.
And soon, on the battlefield that came into view, a sight unfolded that no one in Antonium watching—
not even the Emperor—
had expected.
“……
Th-they’re kneeling?”
Even Antonium fell into confusion, unable to believe it.
“Why……?”
The scene was unfolding right before their eyes.
The atmosphere on the battlefield was beyond description.
It was only natural that no one could easily continue speaking.
Because no one could immediately grasp the situation.
“……
Why are the family heads……?”
Radiant silver hair.
Skin as white as ice.
And beneath it, before a man wearing clothing so splendid it could hardly be called armor, but rather would not seem out of place at a banquet—
they were kneeling with their heads bowed? The more loyal the retainers who had never doubted their family heads, the greater the shock could only be.
At last, those who had been racking their brains reached a conclusion.
“……
This cannot be!”
The first to move was
the Maxima Family.
The Golden Elite Soldiers.
Shing!
They raised their sharply forged golden swords.
Ignite Maxima was the head of Maxima, the family that held all the wealth of the continent in its grasp. There was no way he would submit to another and kneel of his own will.
“Save the Family Head from this pathetic trickery!”
Yugrik, Cancel, Akamond.
The loyalty of the remaining three families was not much different from Maxima’s.
Even if their names and blessings had been stripped from them.
They insisted that the fact they had been able to build such forces was thanks to their own efforts.
It was as though the Four Families were shouting them down.
However.
Kuguguguk—
Whether or not their masters thought so, the incarnations of the Four Families had no intention of forgiving the sins of their descendants. From the split earth, the incarnations that had revealed themselves lifted their heads, which had been bowed before Claudi.
Then there were those who flinched.
“……
Wait.”
The appearance of the statues was not unfamiliar.
No, beyond that, it was familiar.
The first to recognize their identities were
the twins of the sun and moon who served the Yugrik Family.
“Yugrik……?”
──────
Yugrik’s generous mercy was enough to comfort the wounded. Even if they were the twins of the sun and moon, heartbroken after being abandoned by the heavens…….
──────
The statue was undoubtedly Yugrik.
Yugrik, who had died long ago and been buried beneath the estate. When a statue carved in his likeness stood in their way, the twins could not help but fall into confusion.
“That face… I definitely saw it in a portrait.”
“What?”
“It’s the previous generation—no, it’s definitely a statue of the founder……!”
It did not take long for everyone of the Four Families to realize the statues’ identities. The burning loyalty to save their family heads from a scheme began to waver.
Then.
The words of the man,
which they had let go in one ear and out the other,
began to surface in their minds.
-“If you have forgotten your place, I shall remind you.”
-“Receive them.”
-“I am your master.”
If they assumed that bluff was the truth……
“……!”
The scene before their eyes began to make sense. The heads of the Four Families kneeling before him, and the statues modeled after the founders of the Four Families bowing their heads to him as well……
Shake, shake.
‘No, that’s impossible nonsense!’
Even when they shook their heads to cast the thought away, their minds remained in utter chaos. Yet time, fair to all, continued to pass even as they agonized.
“……”
Only a subtle silence hovered over the battlefield.
Soon, everyone’s gaze turned to one place.
The only being who could break this stillness.
Hoyeol.
*
Now that everything had been stripped away according to procedure.
The heads of the Four Families could not escape their liege-vassal relationship with Claudi.
So with a single word from me……
They had no choice but to kneel like this.
See? I didn’t step out alone for no reason.
‘But the soldiers aren’t my servants.’
Someone might ask. Couldn’t I just order the heads of the Four Families to stop their forces? If I were Lee Hoyeol, I would have done so without hesitation.
‘Isn’t that just how working life goes?’
But there was no way our noble Sir Granfell would tolerate subcontracting upon subcontracting. Besides, the soldiers must have had their own pride in deciding to serve the Four Families. Our Sir Granfell was someone who did not overlook the pride of others any more than his own.
‘As expected, it’s reassuring to have allies.’
I had gladly accepted the help of the statues, the incarnations, for fear this might happen. On top of that, I thought being scolded by the elders of their houses would be more effective than anything I could say.
‘I only need to pay attention to the family heads.’
To be honest, even focusing only on this side was overwhelming.
According to the liege-vassal relationship, I had made them kneel with the status abnormality, [Obedience],
but even at a glance, their expressions were no joke—ferocious as hell.
But was I the type to avoid someone grinding their teeth at me? If anything, I was the type who would charge straight in and break every last one of those teeth.
Tap—
So I moved without delay.
Passing by the soldiers with bewildered expressions, I approached one of the kneeling family heads. A massive build, armor adorned in gold, and most decisively, the center of the helmet that had been hollowed out.
Just by appearance alone, I could guess his identity.
‘It’s Maxima.’
So having made detailed settings was actually useful in a situation like this?
I uttered the name I had seen in the system message moments ago.
“Ignite, I shall omit the surname I stripped from you.”
Look at this, even now.
Ignite Maxima.
How hard would it be to call him by his full name?
‘……
You’re really scraping the pot from the very first word.’
Of course, that did not mean I intended to stop speaking.
Because he was outrageous.
I had no intention of criticizing ambition itself. But to declare war on the Empire at a time like this, saying he would seize the Emperor’s throne—that was an act in which no pride could be found.
I expressed my feelings without restraint.
“The splendor of the past is gone, and only ugliness remains.”
“……!”
“Do not think to blame the passage of time. Your change of heart is wholly your own sin. And I am your master, the one who judges your wrongdoing and passes sentence upon it.”
The Magic Tower’s Topaz Hall.
The preliminary verification held before the regular conference.
Each time, as if catching mice,
my tongue, which had tormented skilled mages, now spewed venom.
“……!”
Seeing his shoulders tremble, he must have been cursing up a storm inside.
Because I had not permitted it, Ignite, in his state of obedience, could not open his mouth.
He did not seem like he would reflect, let alone answer properly, but……
‘In any case, he isn’t a demon.’
Because of the pure Granfell,
whose head was still filled with flowers,
believing that any human could turn over a new leaf at any time, I opened my mouth.
“I shall give you one final chance to plead your case.”
“……
Kehuk.”
Then Ignite took a ragged breath.
Soon, he lifted his head upright
and met my gaze.
*
-“……
You must never become entangled with him. If, one day, you should happen to face him, never raise your head.”
Only now did he understand his father’s words.
Not a single cell in his body obeyed him.
They must have been trembling in fear.
Silver hair fluttering in the bleak wind.
Movements that exuded dignity.
Even the gaze that looked down upon and observed all things.
Granfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo.
Claudi.
Before the man who seemed to be that very name itself.
He would give him one final chance to plead his case?
The moment he heard those words,
Ignite flared up.
As though it were not enough that a ghost of the past had stolen the 『Jewel of Midas』 with some pathetic trick.
Now he thought the man intended to truly act like his master.
However, when their gazes met, his thoughts changed.
‘……
Damn it.’
It seemed he had made an irreversible mistake.
Ignite seethed with rage.
‘Those fools, the Golden Elite Soldiers—what are they doing?’
Damn it.
If there had been a mistake, it was that he had trusted subordinates who could not even grasp the situation.
But Ignite did not avert his gaze.
‘Even so, I cannot acknowledge this.’
He ignored the warnings sent by his cells.
Without looking away from the gaze of Granfell, his master,
he finally opened his mouth.
“So now you intend to act like our master? Don’t make me laugh! A great family? Claudi, your standing has long since been trampled like a rag, not only on the Arcana Continent but even in the filthy underworld!”
It was a provocation.
At the same time, it was a shout directed at himself.
I have absolutely not submitted to Claudi.
Ignite wrung out his strength and continued.
“Look! Aside from us, who were the heads of the Four Families, no one on this battlefield remembers the name Claudi. A family so great it cannot be measured? Do you truly think it makes sense for such fame to be forgotten so completely? Even the Empire, even the Emperor, knows nothing proper about your family!”
The one who noticed the change faster than anyone else
was Yong Seongnak, one of the only two players on the battlefield.
……
What is that?
Lee Hoyeol.
From behind him, ‘something’ was flowing out.
……
Wh-what is that?
Had he seen wrong?
It was a ‘black something’ so vivid that he rubbed at his innocent eyes.
The answer to his question was given by the system message.
[The imperial capital, Antonium, is engulfed in an endlessly deep darkness.]
“……!”
Darkness covered Antonium.
[The Empire is engulfed in an endlessly deep darkness.]
No, it covered the Empire.
And still, the spreading darkness showed no sign of stopping.
Within the pitch-black darkness,
one final message flickered before Yong Seongnak’s eyes.
[The Arcana Continent is engulfed in an endlessly deep darkness.]
“……!!!”
*
Mana so dense it was suffocating.
A voice rang out from within the darkness.
Not mine.
“Ignite Maxima.”
“……?”
“From now on, be careful with every sentence, every word, every syllable.”
“……!”
“Otherwise, I shall deny your very existence.”
It was the voice of Granfell Claudi Arpheus Romeo.
“Are you prepared to pay the price for insulting my elder sister with that vile mouth?”
[Status abnormality, ‘Darkening,’ has occurred.]