Side Story Chapter 299
Bel, whose whereabouts were everyone’s greatest question, was far away from Avalon right now. The original plan was to take Joshua Sander’s country and family captive so that Joshua would break out of the ice boulder on his own; however, that plan changed after Bel had witnessed Joshua’s family flee from Avalon.
Hence, Bel was slamming his foot into the ground with every bound, sinking the ground so deep that the sky looked impossibly distant. The Human Realm was already on the verge of destruction, so if Joshua's family’s goal was to buy time…
‘I can just bring the entire continent down, not just Avalon.’ Bel grinned.
After the Martial God got out of the ice boulder, he was going to see the world hurtling to its doom, not his family welcoming him.
“…Yggdrasil.” Bel came to a halt in front of his destination.
Yggdrasil was the tree that was the center and origin of this world. It was also the source of life, but it was withering like the collapsing Human Realm.
“Hahaha.” Bel chuckled as he landed before the tree.
The day of his final battle with the Martial God was near.
***
Meanwhile, the civil war in Swallow was also coming to an end.
“Do you… really think I’ll stop now?”
Despite Aaron’s ice-cold voice, Anna calmly answered, “Unless you surrender now, your people’s casualties will only increase.”
“My people and I will fight to the end. There are no cowards in the Killian family.”
“Weren’t you supposed to be a genius? You’re their leader, so make a wise choice; the longer you think about this, the more of your people will die.”
Anna pointed at the ground. As she said, the Killian knights were helpless before the joint attack of the Thran and Imperial armies. Aaron’s troops had been caught off guard and were being attacked from both the front and the back, putting them in a tactically disadvantageous position.
“You fight awfully dirty for an empress…”
“Wow, did you just recognize me as your empress?” Anna laughed despite the obvious insult. “And what do you mean by ‘dirty’? I know you worked hard to gain Thran’s favor, but it’s not my fault that they joined my side.”
“You coaxed them to join your side with a sweet offer that you aren’t even going to keep. Am I wrong?”
“You really look down on Thran, don’t you? But didn’t you guys work together for a while? They would be so very hurt if they heard you say that.”
As a matter of fact, some of Thran’s army heard Aaron and were looking up at the roof with eyes that radiated murder.
“Well, keep in mind that I’m willing to be a lot nastier if you aren’t planning to surrender.”
Anna gave a signal to Arash, who was with the Thran army. Arash came forward with one man being dragged by multiple people behind her.
Aaron’s eyes widened when he realized who the man was. “Haron…!”
“What choice do I have if you want to continue fighting? Unfortunately, your brother will be the first casualty.”
“Ha.” Aaron chuckled dryly. He knew that he had lost this fight. The Mercenary King, two Master-level Vaikals, and a powerful elemental spirit mage were bearing down on him. On the other hand, the army of Thran, had turned its back on him when he needed them most.
From the Flame Emperor’s death and the mercenaries’ arrival to Thran’s betrayal, it had just been one problem after another for Aaron. He got goosebumps when it occurred to him that Arash, who was looking up at him from the ground, had planned all of this.
“Brother! These people are planning to dissolve the empire!” Haron shouted at the top of his lungs, scraping every drop of mana he had left.
Aaron's eyes widened. “...You’re going to disband the empire?”
“It’s true. I believe a rotten tree should be rooted out,” Anna answered.
Aaron narrowed his eyes.
“...Is it because of Draxia bel Grace?” he asked, knowing Anna’s background,
“No, I’m not doing this for revenge. I just thought that it was more than possible for me to meet the same fate.”
Aaron silently acknowledged Anna's point. She wasn’t technically a pureblooded member of the imperial line.
‘If she means what she says… then I still have a chance.’
Aaron knew that he had lost this fight, but there was one question he wanted to ask from the man who used to be his brother.
Aaron looked at Akshuller.
“…Hey, coward.”
Akshuller tilted his head. “Hmm?”
“You said that you left the family because you wanted freedom and didn’t want to sacrifice yourself for the family. Was that the real reason?” Aaron asked.
That question had always haunted Aaron. Even if it was Akshuller’s true motive, there was no need to go through the trouble of taking the fall; given their late father’s personality, he wouldn’t have given the duchy to such a pathetic son in the first place.
“Hmm…” Akshuller looked at Aaron with mixed emotions for a moment before he shrugged. “Forget it. It’s not like you’re going to believe me.”
“That’s my call, so just answer the question. I believe I deserve that much.”
Akshuller broke his silence with a telepathic message.
-If I renounced my inheritance, everyone in the Killian family would have lost hope.
“What?”
-I believed that, being an older brother who was less competent than his younger brother, it was better to make that look like I was getting kicked out. If I left the family voluntarily, it would look like I was terrified of Grand Duke Lucifer
Aaron smiled crookedly. “Are you saying you weren’t?”
-Well, not really. I just trusted you to lead the family a lot better than I could. And I wasn’t wrong. Look at yourself. You grew up to be a fine man.
“Don’t give me that pretty bullshit. Do those excuses really make you feel better?”
-I told you you wouldn’t believe me, but since we’re already at it… my plan was to help the family from outside. That’s why I chose to be a mercenary. But I was stuck from the beginning. Just like I told you earlier, Barbarian, the Mercenary King at the time, was a monster.
“You’re just pathetic and weak,” Aaron scoffed.
-That may be so, but even he lost to a twenty-year-old man. Although I have to admit that I was lucky when I became the Mercenary King, I could finally help the family drive out Grand Duke Lucifer. I was going to take action the moment I stabilized my position as the Mercenary King, but…
Aaron knew what Akshuller was going to say.
-…Even the Crimson Sky was defeated by the Martial God. I was grateful, but it still left me feeling empty. By that time, there was no place for me in the family, and Ulabis, the Flame Emperor, was Joshua’s friend, so I was uncomfortable about returning home and making Thran my enemy.
“Hah…” Aaron shut his eyes.
-Which means that the life I live now has been my fate all along.
Aaron knew that Akshuller hadn’t told a single lie. There was no reason for him to do so right now.
The duke threw his sword on the ground. Even though he had wondered for a moment, a coward never truly piqued his interest.
“Forget it. This is enough. Spare my family.”
The knights on the ground witnessed everything. All of the Killian knights froze in shock.
“Hahahahahaha! We wonnnnnnn!” Duke Voltaire showed up from somewhere and burst into laughter. It seemed like it was only yesterday that he had been suffering from his injury, but Voltaire showed up at the perfect time to make his presence known.
“…But.” Aaron’s eyes gleamed like a beast.
Aaron shot out his energy in carefully aimed directions, revealing five presences on the ground. They were so strong that it was a wonder where they had been hiding until now.
These five black-clothed people immediately took off sprinting toward Voltaire.
“What?!” Voltaire shouted as he was surrounded.
“Wh-What in the world?”
Dozens of the Killian Family’s soldiers took off their clothes, revealing their peculiar white uniforms; this was Aaron’s secret weapon, carefully reserved until the right moment.
“What are you doing?!” Anna angrily screamed.
“…It hurts my pride to just surrender like this. Besides, you said you’re going to root out everything before you start changing things, didn’t you?”
“What?”
“Let me give you a hand.” Aaron signaled his agents with a wave of his hand.
The Imperial Knights had thought the fight was as good as over, so they couldn’t even respond properly—a testament to the sheer potency of Aaron’s secret weapon.
“Arghhhhh!”
Horrible screams rose into the air as the key figures in the court were killed off; some of Aaron’s assassins were themselves killed in the process, but they didn’t hesitate for a moment.
“I would have fought until the end if you hadn’t told me about your plan to dissolve the empire… I’ll just be satisfied with this ending.”
“You…?”
“My people and I will leave right after we’ve taken care of those hyenas. Don’t tell me you’re going to stop us.”
Instead of answering Aaron, Anna looked down at Arash. Anna didn’t have the slightest idea what to do in a situation like this.
“Let him go,” Arash mouthed.
Despite the chaos the imperial army was in, she didn’t give any instructions, so Anna had a feeling that Arash didn’t plan on stopping the massacre unfolding before her.
Nevertheless, Anna was torn. If she were to let Aaron go now, he would raise another force—no, he was going to build a new country. That was why…
“…I’ll let you go on one condition,” Anna quietly said.
“You must have misunderstood something here. Can’t you tell that your people will also suffer if we fight until the end?”
Anna could tell that Aaron’s assassins were extraordinary, but her gaze was unwavering.
“Bring it on.”
Aaron silently regarded her for a moment before jerking his chin. “Let’s hear it.”
“Your plan is to bring together the tribes whose interests align and then build a new country— maybe you’re going to build another empire?”
“So?”
“Alright.” Anna smiled, relieved by his answer. “But you need the world to be in one piece to build a country.”
“What?”
Anna pulled out a recording crystal ball from her inner pocket and infused her mana into it. The crystal ball hummed, projecting the evidence of the world’s collapse.
“...The world tree is crumbling.”
Anna shrugged. “I told you the world is headed toward its doom.”
“That nonsense is actually the truth?”
Aaron couldn’t take the situation lightly because of the evidence he was watching now.
“Stop denying reality, and let’s save the world. Do what you want with this country afterward.”
Aaron gave the crystal ball a blank look and swallowed.
“How? How in the world are we supposed to stop that?”
“The key is in Avalon.”
“Avalon…?”
Anna nodded. “So let’s save Avalon from their crisis first, for the world we live in—no, for your new country.”
***
In the underground vault of the palace of Avalon, Joshua grabbed Liper by the nape. The knight groaned in pain, but none of the Martial Knights could help him after witnessing Joshua’s overwhelming power.
“Purion, I know you can hear me.”
Purion’s power rang angrily in response.
“I’m going to kill your owner. Then you won’t be able to maintain your existence anymore.”
The ringing grew louder.
“But I’ll spare your owner’s life if you use your power to stabilize my son’s condition.”
The ringing quieted a little.
Joshua smiled bitterly. Purion’s power was a temporary measure, but Kireua needed any time he could get.
It seemed that Joshua’s blackmail had worked. Purion jumped out of Liper and then disappeared into Kireua.
“Wake up, Kireua.” Joshua gently shook his son.
“Your… Majesty?”
Kireua slowly pulled himself together as faint shouts came from aboveground.
“…It seems your mothers and reinforcements have arrived.”
“Is it… really you, Your Majesty?” Kireua mumbled.
“Yes, it’s me. I’m on my way to my last fight. “
Kireua’s eyes slowly widened.
“After all, you and the Human Realm are in this state because of me. I have to take responsibility for what I started.”
After a great deal of contemplation, Joshua had begun to speed up his defrosting using his own vital force. Despite his efforts so far, Joshua was forced to commit himself to a path that would lead to his own end for a singular reason: he wouldn’t be able to stop the Human Realm’s collapse otherwise, even if he annihilated the Demon Spirit.
“This is the world where you and the others live, so I will protect its future.”
Kireua’s lip quivered with emotions because he understood what Joshua was saying.
“Don’t look so sad. This is the karma I have to pay for.”
“Yo-Your Majesty…”
Joshua smiled gently. “I’ll trust you with the rest, my son.”
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