Chapter 239, Don’t Stop (1)

Translator: Hedge

Editor: Lizzz

 

He does not stop moving.

 

He surveys the darkness.

 

He confirms there is no one present.

 

Having confirmed that no living soul remains, the boy’s feet continue moving endlessly.

 

“I got the order wrong. I did.”

 

At the end of the blood-soaked corridor, the boy’s voice creates a small echo before quickly fading. The words sounded like regret or self-mockery, but in truth, there was no emotion contained in that voice whatsoever.

 

This was because he knew all too well that placing emotion before a sword that should be one-sided would injure the wielder as well.

 

“If I knew I would end up catching them all anyway, I shouldn’t have fought at the Royal Palace and should have just come here first.”

 

Kalian had tried to preserve Beurisen’s forces as much as possible.

 

Had he not intended to leave as many troops as possible to prepare for unknown events that would occur later? That was why he had not touched a single of Beurisen’s men when driving out Sillike.

 

If this matter escalated, he would end up killing not only the Beurisen forces at the Marquis Beurisen residence in Cyriesus, but also the troops in Marquis Beurisen territory.

 

So, if he had known things would turn out this way anyway, he should have struck Evan first instead of Sillike back then.

 

*Step step step…*

 

In that place submerged in perfect darkness where even moonlight did not penetrate, his feet stepped on the stairs without hesitation.

 

“Ah… if I had done that, the pea would have lost his mind from the scent of Reunieri.”

 

He had already been at his limit then.

 

The Reunieri fragrance would never have faded, so if left alone, that fellow would have eventually lost his mind too.

 

“Then I did well to postpone dealing with this bastard.”

 

It’s fortunate. Though I’m doing this kind of thing again because of it.

 

“… Well, saving people isn’t an easy task.”

 

He chuckles and leaves his voice on the stairs submerged in silence.

 

The soliloquy was also a habit.

 

Speaking to those about to die, voicing thoughts beside those already dead. Continuously passing through places filled with those who no longer make sounds, he had developed such a habit before he knew it.

 

*Clatter!*

 

Dozens of people appear as if they had been waiting, blocking his path. The same situation had been repeating since earlier. Evan must have also felt the movement of the Seal of Oath made with Plants, so he had prepared in his own way like this.

 

As if desperately hoping he would tire.

 

*Swoosh!*

 

Without even distinguishing whether they were Knights or soldiers, whether they had any intention to fight or not, the crimson blade flew in a smooth curve. The men seemed about to say something to the boy, but could not. The boy standing before them had decided he would no longer listen to their words.

 

*Thud.*

 

Sounds other than human voices, other than human screams. The heavy sounds of human bodies sprawling on the floor fill the corridor.

 

Passing by them, the boy with sunken red eyes checks whether their breath has ceased and turns his gaze away. His steps, neither hurried nor leisurely, continue without stopping even once.

 

After passing through the long corridor twice more and climbing the stairs once more, when he arrived at a place where light still remained:

 

“You are faster than expected.”

 

A truly welcome voice was finally heard.

 

Kalian closed his eyes once and opened them, not answering, and moved forward with his sword lowered. The sound of footsteps and the sound of the sword tip cutting across the marble floor followed.

 

Most of the Knights guarding the mansion had died.

 

He had left alone those who fled but killed without fail all who attacked. He killed them all without missing any. During the time he crossed the outer wall of the mansion, entered the main building, passed through corridors, and climbed stairs, he had not rested even once.

 

“How did you leave the Second Prince alive?”

 

Evan, who had been watching him not draw even a single breath despite this, asked.

 

“I’m quite curious why the Third Prince is interfering so much in matters with the Second Prince. I’m also curious how to use this stone. I have many questions.”

 

The black pebble he must have received from Gray.

 

Kalian, who had been walking toward Evan, smiled brightly while ignoring the stone held in his hand.

 

“I also have something I’m curious about.”

 

[I thought I shouldn’t be interrupted while dealing with you, so it took some time to catch the other guys first while coming up. So I’ll ask just one thing.]

 

“Would you happen to accept if I asked you to teach Beurisen swordsmanship to my older brother?”

 

“Why would I reveal Beurisen’s swordsmanship to an outsider?”

 

“… Right.”

 

*Step… step…*

 

“So, Third Prince—”

 

Kalian kicked off the floor and charged.

 

Killing intent that seemed to engulf the entire mansion burst forth with him.

 

The hem of the black robe embraced the wind like butterfly wings.

 

* * *

 

Arsene, who had put down the Magic Tome he was holding, turned his head.

 

“It’s working.”

 

Hina’s voice was heard.

 

She had received a bracelet from Kyrie so she could convey the situation more smoothly. They needed to respond immediately when Plants’ condition changed, but Hina, who could notice this first, could not move her hands as she was healing.

 

“It’s properly implemented.”

 

He knows that the effectiveness Hina mentioned does not mean there is improvement. He could tell even without hearing it through Hina.

 

The deathly pale complexion had not changed.

 

It was simply that he no longer felt pain.

 

“This is my first time doing something like this, so it’s a bit unfamiliar.”

 

He had cast many Spells to end people’s lives, but this was the first time casting a Spell to make someone not feel pain.

 

If one dies fighting, the dead would be the weak one.

 

If one lost in a fight but neither died nor got injured, they were weak but lucky. If the weaker one has decent luck so they did not die but only got hurt, they deserve the pain.

 

A crazy Mage living with such thoughts would not know of any pain-reducing Magic, would he? If he had known such Magic, he would have used it on himself when he was injured in the forest. It hurt quite a lot back then.

 

Arsene himself was not weak, so he believed he did not belong to the category of those who deserved pain.

 

“Thanks to you, he seems much more comfortable. I’m truly relieved.”

 

When receiving education from the healer of Tansyll, she had heard that Allan had once used Magic similar to such healing arts on Kalian. Hina, who recalled this, conveyed it to Arsene, and after searching through various books and finding the Magic Spell, Arsene, who read through it quickly, suddenly poured Mana into Plants.

 

Fortunately, it worked well.

 

It was not because he looked in great pain that he hurried into action.

 

It would be good if it worked, and if not, there was nothing to be done, so he just did it roughly thinking whatever will be will be. It was truly not that he urgently searched for and manifested it out of worry seeing that Prince, who was reportedly gentle when known, suffered severely.

 

“I’m also a Mage.”

 

Probably if Hina properly knew how bold a deed Arsene had just done, she would have driven him out immediately, and if Nidlen had known, she would have made a fuss about definitely erecting a statue of the genius Mage who calculated perfectly without mistakes and immediately implemented Magic he had encountered for the first time in his life.

 

Of course, Arsene had no intention of telling Hina the truth.

 

He knew very well that on the day Kalian somehow learned of this reckless deed, he would try to either tear open the letter of reflection in the safe or destroy Arsene. It was one of the two.

 

“If I can’t implement one Spell from a book, I can’t be called a Mage. But it’s not something to boast about, so please pretend not to know.”

 

Embarrassingly, Hina did not answer.

 

After briefly reporting the result of the Spell, she concentrated all her nerves again to examine Plants.

 

In truth, it would be correct to say she had no mental capacity to properly listen to and answer Arsene’s nonsense as she was enduring while continuously pouring her healing power into Plants’ heart without stopping.

 

Hina’s face was also becoming quite pale, so Arsene deliberately dismissed the thought that if time was delayed, Hina’s healing power would be exhausted and Plants would die. And he organized his thoughts to understand this sudden situation.

 

The presence of Mana that Arsene had also directly felt recently.

 

And another presence that he could feel when examining carefully, greatly faded with the passage of time.

 

Into Arsene’s mind, who exhaled a fragmentary breath, came the words he had heard from Kyrie just moments ago.

 

“The two of them shared a Seal of Oath.”

 

He had learned just moments ago from Allan that two Seal of Oaths had formed on Plants, and because all of them had become entangled with Syspanian’s Blessing, chaos had occurred.

 

“I don’t know what was said to activate the Seal of Oath, but this has become quite a peculiar situation.”

 

The Seal of Oath was a ‘smart’ Magic created by Syspanian. It was a power that judges whether an oath was kept on its own and constricted the heart.

 

Kalian had tampered with the Seal of Oath.

 

Since Plants had betrayed Beurisen, the Seal of Oath to stop his heart should have been activated. However, since what Plants said to the Knight sounded like he would keep the second contract, the Seal of Oath could not decide whether to leave the heart alone, seeing Plants as fulfilling the second promise, or to stop the heart, seeing him as breaking the first promise.

 

For this reason, the Magic trying to constrict Plants’ heart was repeating activation and deactivation…

 

“Is he dying and coming back to life?”

 

As Arsene appropriately understood, it had become a peculiar situation.

 

If there had been no Syspanian’s Blessing, he would not have endured long the state of the heart stopping and beating again repeatedly, but the blessing was also working hard in its own way, and Hina was also giving her strength, so as a result, Plants was somehow still breathing.

 

“I certainly have good judgment of people.”

 

Arsene muttered to himself.

 

What crazy person in the whole world would make a Seal of Oath while talking about cats and staking their heart? Arsene thought he certainly had good judgment of people.

 

Thinking this and letting out a hollow laugh, Arsene’s gaze turned back to Plants’ face.

 

Arsene, who had been staring blankly at the one who had collapsed as is by making two Seal of Oaths collide on his own, laughed quietly.

 

“Come to think of it, there’s another one like that here in the whole world.”

 

One staked his heart to save someone, and another offered his heart believing he would be saved.

 

[They’re equally crazy brothers.]

 

* * *

 

The Seal of Oath had not disappeared.

 

In other words, it was still fine.

 

“The Seal of Oath I made to constantly check that the pea is staying green wasn’t for this purpose.”

 

Kalian chuckled at the unexpected effect, organized in his mind the swordsmanship of Evan he had seen so far. He exhaled once, and extended his sword again.

 

*Clang! Clang!*

 

A short exchange for mutual exploration continued.

 

It was different from Plants’ swordsmanship and also different from the swords used by the Knights of the Royal Palace. He had never even crossed swords with Gray to begin with, so he could not know precisely, but looking at how he moved, he was different from Gray too.

 

Heavier than Taillan. Lighter than Sleiman.

 

Slower than Taillan. Faster than Sleiman.

 

The real swordsmanship of Beurisen he had never heard of was certainly different.

 

To put it badly, the swordsmanship was neither one thing nor the other. To put it well, swordsmanship that could handle both sides.

 

“Nice.”

 

Kalian smiled.

 

Swordsmanship used only by the Patriarch of the Family.

 

Taillan had also never made any special mention of Beurisen’s sword. No, was there any known content other than that Beurisen’s sword was as strong as Siegfried?

 

[Either it’s recorded somewhere or there’s another successor.]

 

[But successor. Lannen Beurisen?]

 

[Lannen is known to be unable to use a sword. Moreover, didn’t Evan share an agreement with Master to not confine Lannen?]

 

Of course, it was to the extent of not revealing the fact of confinement to other places, so he could have falsely staged a confinement, but Kalian had never felt Aura from Lannen either. Above all, Lannen’s body was too sluggish to be called one who wields a sword.

 

[Suspecting Lannen is too premature. If he hasn’t hidden a successor but simply doesn’t have one yet, until when was he planning to keep it to himself alone? Was he really planning to live and die without teaching anyone? Or is he hiding something else?]

 

*Clang!*

 

Kalian has many thoughts.

 

And if one had many thoughts during a fight, they were the ones that died.

 

Kalian naturally folded the continuing questions for now and moved his sword once more. The attack that had been extending from Evan’s back was blocked, and as soon as it was, he appeared in front of him and aimed for his Adam’s apple.

 

*Clang! Clang!*

 

Red eyes inside the hood flashed.

 

He saw everything without missing anything: Evan’s footing, the movement of his arms, the bending of his sword. He saw while putting everything into his head. He memorized everything.

 

*Clang! Clang!*

 

Evan’s sword passed as if grazing in front of Kalian’s chin. Immediately after, Evan quickly struck up the sword that approached right in front of his heart while rippling with a crimson light.

 

*Humm!*

 

Evan’s sword, containing sharp Aura, made a deep crying sound.

 

Evan’s Aura was blue.

 

To be precise, it should be said that only Kalian’s Aura is crimson. Those who were not Mages did not need to circulate and use their unique Mana and Aura in their Mana Circle.

 

*Swoosh! Clang!*

 

The exchange for exploration had disappeared before they knew it, and attacks containing lethal strikes continued. Two completely different colored Auras repeatedly entangled and separated.

 

The sword thrust toward Evan scraped the wall, and pieces of marble from the floor where Kalian had been standing scattered in all directions. The painting of someone hanging on the wall lost its form to the power of the two Auras that branched out in streams.

 

Kalian raised his sword vertically to block Evan’s sword striking horizontally. At the same time, he caught the sword bouncing in the opposite direction and this time slashed diagonally down toward Evan’s neck. Evan’s swiftly retrieved sword once again blocked Kalian’s move.

 

Then Kalian had already lifted his body and sent his sword from a completely different direction.

 

*Crash!*

 

Evan, who sensed Kalian leaping and charging, quickly raised his sword and struck back forcefully. The power contained in sword and sword continued to collide to block and repel each other.

 

At that moment when they continued a power struggle too numerous to count:

 

*Clang! Clang!*

 

Kalian’s eyes flashed sharply.

 

“No way.”

 

Soon Kalian’s feet moved as if stepping on air.

 

Clearly the one standing in front had merely moved his feet, yet immediately the next attack followed from behind.

 

Evan, whose face showed he was fed up with the speed that did not slow down at all but rather seemed to keep accelerating, bent his waist deeply and twisted backward. And just like that, he swung his sword.

 

*Claaang!*

 

As the sound of tearing air continued, the chandelier hanging from the corridor ceiling trembled faintly, and the shadows of the two swordsmen cast on the wall rippled briefly.

 

Kalian’s shadow, which had just tried to pierce through the side from Evan’s right side, scattered and disappeared. Simultaneously, it appeared in front of Evan.

 

Evan, who did not miss that movement, extended his sword, but instead of blocking, Kalian nimbly moved his body backward to avoid it.

 

*Tap!*

 

With the sound of something light touching the floor, Kalian landed. The black robe he was still wearing briefly swelled and settled down.

 

The lips beneath the deeply pressed hood moved.

 

“Now…”

 

After standing facing Evan like that for a while, Kalian’s lips contained the next words.

 

“I think you can show me something different now. Marquis.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“What you’ve been hiding.”

 

Kalian’s gaze reached Evan’s sword.

 

A long smile hung on Evan’s lips.

 

“Very well.”

 

A shortened answer.

 

With it, the long and sharp sword shadow of Evan cast on the wall twisted and moved. As if slowly cutting a long stick lengthwise just like that.

 

It was divided into two thinner and sharper shadows.

 

Kalian, who had been watching that sight, opened his mouth.

 

A small voice that sounded satisfied rang coldly through the long corridor.

 

“Yes. That’s it.”

 

Kalian, who had already dispersed his sword, swept once near his neck with his empty hand.

 

The robe string that had been fixed in front of his neck came undone.

 

The sound of something light flowing down was heard.

 

*Rustle!*

*Thud!*

 

The hem of the robe, which had not been soaked in blood despite cutting down so many people to come here, fell to the floor after brushing past Kalian’s back.

 

“I pondered for a long time trying to figure out what that was.”

 

The hood that had been blocking his view was pulled back and red eyes were revealed.

 

From the sword he created again, crimson light dripped steadily.