N/T: Translation made by our friend 'Irving'. A big round of applause for him :)
Chapter 396
Dorian looked back and trembled his lips.
"I didn't do anything! I swear! The skull broke on its own!"
He waved his hands frantically, claiming that he had nothing to do with the broken Death Knight skull.
Burren pointed to the crumpled Wigen throne.
"Didn't it break when you crushed the chair?"
"Oh, right! It must have been broken by the vice-squad leader!"
Dorian nodded quickly.
"The vice-squad leader was a destructive king when he was angry. He must have hit it again!"
He seemed to be eager to take advantage of the opportunity and nodded along with Burren's words.
Martha went up to the stage as if curious.
"No."
She shook her head after checking the skull that had turned to powder.
"His power is ridiculously strong, but this was broken by another power now."
"That's right."
Runaan, who was already on the stage, nodded.
"There was an explosion inside a little while ago."
Runaan rubbed the powder that was once the skull of the Death Knight with a stick he found somewhere and licked his lips.
"Ugh...."
Dorian turned pale in fear after hearing the testimony of Martha and Runaan.
"Please spare me!"
He immediately knelt down and bowed his head.
Raon looked at the skull powder that Runaan was poking with a stick, not Dorian, and narrowed his eyes.
"Runaan is right."
The aura of death that burned inside the skull completely burned the bones.
However, he couldn't figure out why the aura appeared suddenly.
'Wrath.'
Why are you calling me?
Wrath came out of the bracelet and yawned as if bored.
'Do you know why the aura of death exploded from that skull?'
There is nothing that this King of Essence does not know.
'Then why...?'
As he was about to ask why, Wrath wiggled his round hands.
'Hmm?'
There is a law that when something comes, something goes. This place is famous for its grape and blueberry dishes. First, grape jam sandwiches and blueberry pies....
Wrath sang a tune and listed the famous dishes in this place. It was really strange how he had learned about all of this and remembered it.
'I'll eat them all.'
He nodded for lack of choice.
Twice!
'Okay, so explain it to me.'
Cough!
Wrath cleared his throat unnecessarily and raised his eyes.
The reason why the aura exploded from the skull of the Death Knight is because the connection was severed.
'The connection was severed? Then what...?'
That's right. It means that there is someone who summoned that Death Knight separately.
'It certainly makes more sense.'
It seemed more plausible that someone had intervened to change the Swamp, which had remained unchanged for centuries since the first patriarch of Zieghart and Arian cleared it.
'Who summoned the Death Knight?'
The King of Essence doesn’t know.
'Then where is the summoner? Is he in that pillar we went to?'
He could be there, or he could not be there.
Such a simple manipulation can be done from a very distant place. In other words, even the King of Essence does not know.
Wrath explained that they had severed the connection with the Death Knight, so its location couldn't be determined.
'A moment ago you said you know everything.'
The King of Essence only doesn't know this!
He raised his nonexistent nose and answered very confidently that he did not know.
'Hmm…'
Raon sighed and shook his head.
'From tomorrow, I'll eat Nadine bread.'
What nonsense is that! Where did the blueberry pie go!
'Eat Nadine bread. The important thing is that you know nothing.'
I don't know why he was pretending to know everything when he didn't know the location or their identity.
Don't you know that the King of Essence doesn't know! This is a very important element….
'Shut up.'
Raon pushed away Wrath, who was struggling, and looked at the Arian family symbol embedded in the wall.
'By the way....'
When he heard that there was someone else who summoned the death knight, he remembered the information he had heard from Judiel.
'She said they fought a lich.'
The one the first head of house Zieghart and Arian family fought in the Swamp of Death hundreds of years ago was not a death knight, but an arch lich.
Raon recalled that information and approached Wigen, who was hiding in the corner.
"Wigen Arian."
"W-what is it!"
Thanks to being beaten up by Martha, he immediately came out with a bow.
"Tell me about the time the first head of hluse Zieghart and the Arian family fought the arch lich."
"Yes?"
"Tell me the history of how this Arian family was founded."
"I, I don't know that well...."
"Hu."
Raon let out a laugh.
'No, it's strange that you know.'
It was only natural that the Arian family would be ruined in this way if the head of the family did not know the history of his family.
"I know that."
Bainder, who was kneeling behind him, raised his hand.
"You know? Didn't you say you came from outside?"
"That's why I need to know better."
Bainder nodded, rubbing his bruised eyelid.
"In short, you are right, Raon-nim. The first head of Zieghart and Arian, along with their subordinates, fought the arch lich at the end of the Swamp of Death, breaking through countless undead."
He continued in a calm voice.
"After that, the first head of house Zieghart asked the first head of Arian family to protect this place so that something like this would never happen again."
Bainder told Raon a few more facts about the history of the Arian family. He was surprisingly knowledgeable about this family.
"You know that, and you've never gone scouting?"
"Knowing and doing are different."
Both Wigen, who knew nothing, and Bainder, who knew but did not move, were truly pathetic.
"That guy still hasn't come to his senses!"
Martha jumped off the stage and kicked him straight in the gut.
Poob-eok!
Armor crushed, Bainder was thrown against the wall.
"You little bastards!"
Raon turned his back on Martha, who was beating Bainder again, and tapped the hilt of his sword.
'Once this is cleared up, I'll have to go to the swamp alone.'
Since Wrath didn't say anything, there was probably no one who summoned the death knight in the swamp at the time.
However, considering that the death knight's skull was broken, the guy could return to the swamp and cause more problems.
It seemed like I should search the swamp alone before leaving the Arian family.
'Before that....'
Raon turned around and clapped his hands.
"Gather."
As soon as he said to gather, the Light Wind squad, who were scattered here and there, gathered with cold eyes.
"It's time to keep the promise."
"Promise?"
"What promise?"
The Light Wind squad tilted their heads as if they didn't understand what he was talking about.
"You couldn't defeat the death knight."
"No, how could we defeat that!"
"It got stronger and stronger, so it was hard to hold on!"
"Meanie...."
Burren, Martha, and Runaan shook their heads, saying it was impossible from the start.
"I defeated it though? That too in one strike."
He shrugged his shoulders, and the Light Wind squad trembled their shoulders with their mouths shut.
"It's not a difficult training anyway."
Raon looked at the Light Wind squad and Mark Gorton with a cold smile.
"It's a survival game where only one side dies."
* * *
[Advance chapter: Tinyurl.com/Aldbnlf]
[Indonesian: Tinyurl.com/Aldbnlff]
Zieghart's audience chamber.
Roenn placed a white teacup on the circular table in front of the throne.
"It's tea brewed with barense."
He smiled faintly as he poured the tea water that bloomed in a scarlet color. A sweet scent spread along with the sound of the tea leaves melting.
"Barense? Did you change the tea leaves?"
Glenn lowered his eyes as he looked at the tea that was gradually deepening in color.
"Yes. Tea brewed with barense has a calming effect."
"The one we used to drink wasn't bad either."
"I changed it because you seem to be having trouble sleeping lately."
Roenn smiled faintly as he put down the teaspoon he was stirring the tea with.
"Hmm, is that so."
"Yes. If you drink this tea, you will be a little less worried about the young masters who went to the Arian family."
"Khh!"
Glenn cleared his throat loudly and shook his head.
"W, what are you talking about. That's a test. I don't care what happens to those guys!"
"That's what you say, but..."
Roenn shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the window on the right.
"You've been staring out the window all day lately, haven't you? If you're going to do that, it wouldn't be a bad idea to go and see them once."
"Keum..."
Glenn frowned as if he was contemplating, then felt a smile in Roenn's eyes and hit the armrest.
“I told you! I don’t care what happens to Raon.”
“Hahaha.”
Roenn smiled faintly and nodded.
"To be honest, I'm also curious whether young master Raon will grasp the essence of this mission."
“Hmm.”
Glenn lowered his gaze and drank his tea.
"He has to make judgments and act on his own in important missions. Even though I've handed over authority, if he can't handle this mission properly, it means he's not yet fit to run the house."
"Oh, so you're worried that Young master Raon won't be able to manage this house later."
“No, I’m not!”
He shook his head as if he really didn’t care. However, he couldn’t hide the sweat dripping from his palm.
Roenn smiled thinly as he looked at Glenn’s hand.
“I somehow think that young master Raon will return after having completely changed the Arian family….”
As he said that Raon would complete his mission and return, the arched door of the audience chamber opened violently.
The red-haired elf standing at the door entered the audience chamber with a confident gait, as if it were his own room.
“You’re both here!”
Rimmer’s hair was disheveled, and his clothes were in rags like Federick's. However, his eyes were clear and still, like a lake in the mountains.
“Hmm…”
Glenn looked down at the ragged Rimmer and tapped the armrest of the throne with his fingers.
‘Now a little bit….’
Has he found his true self?
Even though he came out of that cave, he felt a different aura than before. His artificial energy center had stabilized, and the young auras within it had found their place.
He smiled slightly as he remembered the Rimmer who was once called the Sword of Light.
“The kids weren’t in the training ground. Where did they go?”
“I gave them a second test because you didn’t come out.”
“What?”
Rimmer gasped and jumped up and down.
“Really?”
“Yes. You were taking too long….”
“Wow, that’s a relief!”
He wiped his chest and grinned.
“I finished my training, but I didn’t feel like going on a mission! I was wondering what to do, but it’s all over now!”
Rimmer hummed to himself, feeling relieved that he had intentionally dragged out the time.
“Hehehehe…”
Roenn smiled his signature smile, as if he had guessed Rimmer’s future, and backed away.
“My Lord.”
Rimmer took a step closer to Glenn, who had quieted down.
“Actually, Raon can handle most missions on his own. If you leave him alone, he’ll figure it out and come back.”
He smiled as he clasped his hands behind his head.
“Hu…”
Glenn forced himself to stop his hand from leaving and sighed.
“But you’re the squad leader right? You said you wanted to be the division leader, so go now.”
“Yes?”
Rimmer dragged out the end of his words as if he was annoyed.
“Uh, the Arian family is far away, and it’s sticky and humid, so it’s not my type….”
As he shrugged his shoulders to show his clear refusal, a scarlet lightning bolt began to sprout from the ceiling of the audience chamber.
“What…?”
Rimmer opened his mouth as he saw the sparks that tore through the space.
“R, Right after I came out?”
“I was wrong. It hasn't changed at all.”
Glenn's expression hardened at the moment, and lightning bolts poured down from the ceiling of the audience hall.
Rimmer threw his hands at the falling lightning, with wind on his right hand and lightning on his left.
He spread his hands like a fan the moment he came into contact with the lightning, cutting Glenn's lightning in half and scattering it to the ground.
The floor where Glenn's lightning flowed was charred black.
“Kyaaa!”
Rimmer let out a refreshing sigh as he looked at his hands.
“It's really possible, even though I just thought about it in my head!”
He laughed as he absorbed the remaining lightning from Glenn.
Glenn didn't seem surprised as he looked at Rimmer's hands and smiled faintly.
“Now it's a little bit bearable. Actually, it's too late….”
"My lord, have you grown old as well? It didn't even sting that much."
Rimmer laughed with his arms crossed. He had a smug look on his face with his lips curled up arrogantly.
"Watch it, or I might end up taking over as the house head."
That remark made a vein pop out on Glenn's forehead. He closed his mouth and raised his hand.
Lightning began to converge on the ceiling, which was incomparable to the previous one.
Rimmer shook his chin as he raised his head.
“No, I was just joking. I can't stop that….”
He slowly backed away and turned around. Just as he was about to run out of the chamber, lightning flashed.
Before he could react, a bolt of lightning struck Rimmer's abdomen.
“Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!”
Rimmer rolled on the floor, burned by the lightning.
But Glenn's hand was not yet finished.
"I guess I can't handle it with just one strike due to my age
“Wait a minute….”
Rimmer looked at the growing ball of lightning and shook his jaw.
“There is no such thing as a minute.”
“Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!”
On that day, the audience chamber was filled with thunder and screams.
* * *
Raon stood on the west wall and looked down at the Arian family.
There were many people moving around, but he didn't feel the faint sense of unease that he had felt when he first came.
‘It's changed a lot.’
It had been a week since the Arian family's head had changed.
The first task of Wendy Arian, who sat in the seat of the interim head, was an apology. She gathered all the people of the family and revealed everything that had happened so far, and formally apologized.
Wendy revealed her own mistakes, but the family members did not curse or slander her.
They knew how Wendy had lived her life so far, so they even supported her.
Of course, some of the loyalists who followed Wigen and the executives initially resisted, but they fell silent in the face of Martha's strong fists.
'Looks like I made the right choice.'
Even though all the family executives were being cursed, the fact that Wendy was supported alone showed that her personality and sense of responsibility were real.
Wendy's second choice was to fortify the family's defenses.
That was your idea, wasn't it?
Wrath snorted and picked his nose.
'Yes.'
Raon nodded. The one who summoned the Death Knight might attack here again, so he had the family's warriors train and repair the defense equipment.
Even though it had only been a week, there was still a mountain of work to be done, but the people working had a lively look on their faces.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!
When he was watching the people working while sweating, a loud noise came from the Swamp of Death.
Raon turned around leisurely. On the rough swamp, Light Wind squad, who was operating the battle formation, and Mark Gorton, who had raised his strength, were fighting.
Tzen! Zheuaryeong!
Light Wind squad and Mark Gorton poured their powerful sword skills towards each other as if they had met a mortal enemy.
'They're fighting properly.'
You'll make them train all night!
Wrath rolled his eyes as if he couldn't believe it.
'That's a good thing.'
It's good for you, not for humans!
He shook his head, saying that it was nonsense.
Humans are not perverts like you who are crazy about training!
'I'm not a pervert.'
Raon smiled wryly and lowered his gaze to the inside. Yua and Yulius were training their physical strength in the swamp.
'This is a great place to train.'
It is rare to have the opportunity to train in a swamp. I thought I would get them used to the swamp and increase their physical strength while I was here.
Well, that's not wrong... Hm?
Wrath stopped talking and looked at the distant place.
Call them.
'What?'
Call all those weaklings!
He doesn't know why, but if Wrath was so surprised, it wasn't an ordinary matter. He looked down using the full power of legendary sense.
"Everyone come up!"
"Yes?"
"Vice-squad leader, what did you say?"
Since they had never stopped training in the middle before, everyone looked at him blankly.
"Everyone come up to the castle... Ah!"
Raon swallowed a dry saliva as he looked at the direction of the swamp of death. A giant tidal wave was approaching from the distance. It didn't seem like there was enough time to open and close the castle gates.
"Damn it!"
He immediately jumped off the castle wall and held Yua and Julius on his waist.
"If you don't want to die, hurry up and climb up!"
After saying that, he kicked the castle wall and climbed up.
"What, what is it!"
"Why are you suddenly doing this?"
"Just get up!"
Light Wind squad followed Raon up the castle wall in confusion.
Not even a minute had passed since everyone got on the wall when a huge shadow fell over the white fog.
"That, that is...!"
"It's a swamp!"
"A tidal wave of the swamp...!"
A giant tidal wave that seemed to have lifted the entire Swamp of Death was approaching the castle. If this continued, the castle itself would be swept away.
Hwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Raon bit his lip and raised the power of Glacier to the extreme. He condensed the cold to the point where his whole body turned white, and then reached out to the approaching mud wave.
If it were Wrath's technique...
