Chapter 124
"Grand Prince Chloe."
An inescapable madness.
A demonic energy that eroded the personality.
Grand Prince Chloe, who harbored two of the very things that made it hard to keep one's sanity with even just one.
He had awakened.
Was it because he had been the master of the Mad Dragon for so long?
Even if it was only half, a Mad Dragon was still a Mad Dragon.
He was a man who possessed the power of a dragon, even if only a sliver.
His recovery was so remarkable that it proved the physicians' words—who predicted he would never recover—wrong.
Although his body did not yet listen to him, making movement difficult, he knew who he was and what he had done.
And.
Who had saved him.
"You... no, Your Majesty... have truly endured so much."
The Queen tried not to cry.
She tried desperately.
But she could not hold back the bursting tears, the overflowing eyes.
Tears streaming down her cheeks, she took Chloe's hand with a trembling hand.
Her only remaining blood relative.
She was simply grateful he was alive.
"Grand Prince. No, brother."
"No."
Chloe seemed to know what Clara was going to say.
That was why he shook his head.
"I am not qualified."
"Brother..."
"Your Majesty... no, Clara. I still remember it vividly. Having fallen for their schemes, I can hardly call myself Bright's eldest son. The ancestors would laugh at me. No matter how much they deceived me, it was ultimately my choice, and I caused this disaster. The kingdom was thrown into deeper peril because of me, and I don't know how many knights of the royal family and citizens I have killed. Knowing this, how could I possibly rule Carpe?"
Grand Prince Chloe bowed his head.
"I have placed a heavy burden on you. Resent your lacking brother for the rest of your life."
"..."
"But, in a way, it is a relief."
"What do you mean?"
Seeing Clara grumbling, Chloe recalled an old memory.
A child who used to whine a lot.
His only sister, who would always look for him with tearful eyes.
But now, she was the queen of a nation.
"There are not many countries that have endured the Empire's invasion, but because you have withstood it, you are more than qualified to be king."
Chloe rose from the bed.
"You shouldn't move yet..."
Clara swallowed her words.
Staggering as if he would collapse at any moment, sweating cold sweat, Chloe did not stop.
Because she knew what he was trying to do, she could not stop him.
Grand Prince Chloe stood before Clara and slowly knelt.
Kneeling on one knee and bringing his right hand to his chest, he performed the salute of a God of War.
"I greet Queen Clara."
*Gulp.*
Tears welled up in Clara's pure white eyes as she clenched her skirt.
She saw Chloe trembling violently. Despite struggling to move, he had made his resolve for her sake, for the country's sake.
Abandoning the very foundation of his bloodline as the eldest son.
He acknowledged her as the Queen.
Chloe's silver hair, as he bowed his head, fluttered in the wind blowing from the window.
Clara raised her head.
She tried to stop the welling tears.
But the tears fell.
She wiped them away and nodded.
"Yes, Grand Prince Chloe."
Such a heavy burden.
If he awakened, she wanted to cast it off.
But she realized she could no longer do so.
A renewed resolve.
"To the Queen who saved my life. For Carpe, and for Jervan. I offer my life."
Jervan.
Longing tinged Clara's eyes as she recalled the Count's figure.
"I would like to meet him. Where could he be heading by now?"
"Well. I do not know where the Count's footsteps lead, but there is no hesitation at the tip of his sword, so he will surely return after achieving a great purpose."
* * *
*Snort.*
There was a man crossing the plains on horseback. The appearance of the man riding the white horse was entirely white.
A man draped in a pure white robe.
Numerous soldiers swarmed around the man, blocking his path.
"Halt!"
Easily thirty.
They were armed with spears and maces.
One of the soldiers spoke.
"We received a report about a philanderer who has been seducing women lately. A guy riding a white horse and wearing a white robe. If you are innocent, take off your hood!"
"..."
"Hurry up and take off your hood and show your face!"
"They say the philanderer's face is so handsome it looks like a god sculpted it, so we'll know just by looking!"
"Hahaha!"
The border region between the Empire and the Principality.
The man let out a deep sigh.
"You bastard! Take off your hood when I tell you!!"
A soldier shouted.
As soon as he took off his hood, the boisterous soldiers' expressions changed drastically.
"No, what kind of face..."
"Handsome..."
"I almost fell for him."
An intense appearance, handsome enough that even a man would acknowledge it.
While everyone was staring blankly, the squad leader suddenly snapped out of it and gripped his spear tightly.
"Hah! What are you all doing! Seeing that fair face, he's the notorious pervert!"
Black hair and ash-gray eyes.
He was a pilgrim who had left Carpe to embark on a pilgrimage. Callius.
At the soldiers' reaction, Callius let out a deep sigh.
'I did something unnecessary.'
It was a mistake to do something unnecessary at the place where he had stayed briefly after leaving the kingdom.
'Getting tangled up with some crazy woman.'
The truth of the incident was nothing special.
He saved a young woman from being kidnapped right in front of his eyes. But it turned out she was a noble lady of the Empire.
There was nothing good about getting involved with the Empire, so he tried to go his own way, but the lady wouldn't let Callius go and confessed her feelings.
Saying it was love at first sight or something.
Callius had no choice but to reject the lady's feelings, and that was when things started to go wrong.
'To think she would report me as a ruffian.'
Perhaps because she was a lady of a quite prominent family, a warrant was suddenly issued for him because of her.
Callius was dumbfounded.
'They say God gives trials to pilgrims...'
It was certainly a trial.
Just a lot different from what he had expected.
From the very beginning of the sacred pilgrimage, he felt like his mind was being sullied.
What made him even more anxious was the thought that this wouldn't be the last.
But what couldn't be helped was his god-like appearance and mystical aura.
Added to that was the result of the mixture of the Prodigal and Pheromone traits—so who could he blame?
'It's my fault for being handsome.'
Any woman who crossed his path or exchanged words with him was bound to lose her heart to Callius.
It was a natural consequence.
Why? Because he was handsome!
"You bastard!"
Seeing the guy just sighing and not moving, a soldier tightly gripped his spear and threatened Callius.
And right then.
-Rooooaar!!
"Gasp!"
Suddenly, a giant wolf appeared from the nearby forest, roaring like thunder and biting the soldier to death.
"M-Magic beast!"
"How is there a magic beast here...!"
The wolf-type magic beast's appearance was unusual even to the soldiers' eyes.
Lightning flowed from its two horns, dragon scales sprouted on its legs and various parts of its body, and its fluffy fur, which looked like it was shaped from clouds, made it look like something out of an ancient painting.
A magic beast that looked like a dragon in some ways, and a wolf in others.
-Rooooaaar!!
The Thunder Wolf Dragon spewed lightning.
"Aaaargh!"
"R-Run!!"
The Thunder Wolf Dragon, Bibi.
* * *
I looked at the soldiers who had been roasted whole by Bibi's thunderbolt.
Easily thirty.
They were only soldiers at best, but Bibi annihilated them with ease.
'They're Imperial soldiers, so it shouldn't matter.'
The spears in their hands proved it.
If they were innocent guys, I would feel a bit troubled, but since they were grinding their teeth at Callius, I didn't feel like sparing them.
"Good job, Bibi."
He lowered his head as if asking for praise.
Despite his now quite large stature, he still had cute aspects that didn't match it.
That's right.
Bibi had achieved a sudden growth spurt.
After not waking up from his sleep for a while, he had experienced explosive growth.
He was now taller than me, enough for me to ride him.
Slightly smaller than the Thunder Wolf Dragon, Bibi's mother, that I had seen before.
I wondered if Thunder Wolf Dragons normally grew this fast, but I thought not.
I guessed it was not only because he consumed a lot of prey, but also because of the dragon blood and troll blood I had fed him.
'Bibi ate more than enough of what the Sixth Squad ate.'
Anyway, Bibi was now quite a noticeable size.
He still understood my words and followed me well, so we were traveling together.
Honestly, when I first left Carpe, I didn't even know Bibi was following me.
By the time I noticed, we had already crossed the border, so I had no choice but to bring him along.
After repeatedly praising Bibi, I told him to hide himself somewhere again.
Because if Bibi was around, the horse would get scared and refuse to move at all.
'It should be fine to leave them.'
The soldiers' corpses were a bit bothersome, but there were many wild beasts nearby, so they would be taken care of naturally.
Besides, even if I bothered to clean up, if they were determined to chase me, they could.
This was the region where the Empire and the Principality met. Even though it was Vistro, taking out a few soldiers wouldn't cause knights to swarm the place.
Even if knights did come.
"It doesn't matter."
They wouldn't be a major threat to me.
No matter how much it was where the Empire and the Principality met, it was clearly a frontier.
There were few strong ones who could threaten me.
That was why I could afford to relax even though I had been framed as a ruffian.
Besides, who knows.
If I kept defeating the guys flocking to me, divine favor might appear.
"I need to build up as much strength as possible before reaching the Sahara Holy Land."
Sahara Holy Land.
A holy land where all paladins and knights gathered regardless of nationality.
I made that place my final destination for now.
The reason was justifiable.
'The strong gather at the holy land.'
Strong ones from all over the continent flocked to the holy land. The reason was simple.
It was a holy land bearing the traces of the gods, and at the same time, a marketplace where pilgrims exchanged their skills and relics.
Of course.
As well as connections to build friendships with, there were also Nameds that had to be killed and eliminated.
Most of them were strong, but precisely because of that, I had to go there.
'I will obtain the 《Iron Monarch》 there.'
That was my primary goal for now.
And since the location of Sahara was beyond the Empire and the Principality, I had no choice but to cross here, even if it was somewhat dangerous.
"It's not a sword I'm entirely fond of, but."
Still, it was a Phantom Sword.
The power of a sword that commanded an army made of iron was no different from holding an entire nation in my hands.
There was no harm in obtaining it.
'Because having that would make it relatively easier to obtain the other swords I want.'
Originally, it was safe to say that a sword's rank was determined by a person's potential and influence, as well as their innate power and the nobility of their soul.
Therefore, to possess a strong sword, one had to defeat even stronger enemies.
And to do that, an even stronger sword was needed.
The next three years.
I would have to strive ceaselessly.
But I was not afraid.
Even the hardships of the pilgrimage would all become trials for my sake.
"Hmm?"
*Tadadat!!*
While I stood still, soldiers and knights gathered around Callius.
"Careful! The guy controls magic beasts!"
"The philanderer is a guy who controls magic beasts!!"
"He's a minion of the devil!"
"A demon-like pervert!"
"..."
Had God abandoned me?
Why such a trial to me.
Was this the trial of the pilgrimage?
"What a goddamn god."
I let out a sigh, and Bibi growled and spewed lightning.
*Kwaang!*
"Aaaack!"
"Ugh...!"
"You bastard who only mocks women!!"
No matter how many ordinary soldiers gathered, they were no match for Bibi, who moved like a flash of lightning.
I sat on my horse and quietly watched Bibi's massacre.
"He's not human! He's an incubus!!"
"Demon of lust!!"
From a ruffian to a pervert, and now an incubus.
It seemed the rumors about me would spread in bizarre ways.
I had no choice.
'I have no choice but to dispose of them as they come.'
It seemed this pilgrimage would be far from smooth, in a different sense than the last.