The Regressed Heir of Ravencrest

Chapter 44: Kael Mercer

Shadow didn’t move for a long time after the blade left his throat.

The cold morning wind drifted through the clearing, carrying the smell of crushed pine and disturbed snow. His breathing slowly steadied, though every breath still reminded him of the bruised ribs Ethan had left behind.

He remained kneeling for several moments, staring at the place where the Ravencrest crest had disappeared beneath the boy’s collar.

Then he got up slowly, one hand braced against his knee until his legs agreed to hold him.

"You could have killed me twice over by now," he said. "Why didn’t you."

"I didn’t come here to kill you."

He remained silent for several second’s .

"Talk about my daughter."

"Her name is Mira."

The single sentence struck harder than any blow Ethan had landed.

Shadow’s expression froze.

No one outside his family had known that name.

Shadow searched Ethan’s face as though trying to find the lie before it was spoken. Every instinct he possessed screamed that this was impossible. Yet the child standing before him had already done several impossible things that morning.

Ethan understood the hesitation.

In his previous life, Mira had been Kael’s only reason for continuing to breathe after everything else had been taken from him.

She had always been his greatest weakness.

His reverse scale.

"She’s still alive," Ethan said.

Kael didn’t answer.

His lips parted once before closing again.

Hope was a cruel thing.

It demanded belief long before it offered proof.

"Where is she?"

"How do you know?"

"I saw the count kill all my family with my own eyes."

"Did you recover your daughter’s body?" Ethan aksed.

"No... the fire..."

"She’s alive and safe, for now. Even if you knew her whereabouts, you couldn’t meet her. Count Reynold is still looking for you, and you know who’s backing him."

Shadow’s face darkened immediately. Everything the kid in front of him said was true, and he knew there was no way he could go against them.

"Then what do you want from me." His voice levelled out into something harder, more careful.

"I want your talent — an S-rank talent that’s never been trained properly, kept alive in a mine instead of pointed somewhere useful. I want your loyalty. In return, I’ll provide all the resources and help you with your revenge."

"Ravencrest doesn’t recruit men out of kindness. Nobody does. Least of all a house known as the Shield of the North."

"It’s not a recruitment from Ravencrest. I’m recruiting you personally. You won’t be affiliated with Ravencrest."

"How can a child, even if he is a Ravencrest, have the authority and resources for that..."

"Maybe a child wouldn’t. But a heir certainly does."

"Huh... what, the Ravencrest heir. The Sword of the North’s child..."

"It’s Ethan."

"And let me say it again — I don’t want any questions. Either you follow me, or you don’t. I’ll leave you the choice."

Shadow considered the offer for a few minutes, thinking through why the heir of Ravencrest would know about him and his family, who weren’t even from the north. Even the Sword of the North wouldn’t possibly know, even if he searched — the count had erased every detail regarding him and his family. Yet the child in front of him knew something even the highest-ranking nobles couldn’t possibly find. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t reach a solution. Yet if he could take revenge for his family and reunite with his daughter, even if he had to sell his soul to a demon, he’d gladly do it.

He didn’t know where this journey would lead. He thought of the art, the profound principles within it, and the child who seemed like a veteran of the battlefield — and his daughter, whose whereabouts he still didn’t know. For every question, the only answer that kept surfacing was the child standing in front of him. After a long time, his mind settled into determination rather than only rage.

"I will, my lord."

"Good."

"Let me reintroduce myself. Ethan Ravencrest."

"Kael Mercer," Shadow said.

So that’s your name, huh, Ethan thought.

"Now I’ll give you your first mission." Ethan summoned the breathing method and circulation parchment from his inventory and held it out to Kael. "This combat art is known as the Night Sovereign Art. It’s an SSS-rank art."

"What..."

"S-SSS grade..."

Kael’s hands stopped moving.

For several long seconds he simply stared at the parchment.

Even his breathing became shallow.

"My lord..."

"...do you understand what you’re handing me?"

"I’m just a fallen noble. Please give me something else."

"No."

"It will help you effectively use your talent. But there’s a condition." Ethan paused. "I’ll give you three months to break through. I’ll give you the remaining forms after you master these."

Ethan opened the War Merit store. A golden panel appeared before him. He immediately brought up a body-strengthening pill.

Rare grade body-strengthening pill.

5,000 War Merit.

He brought the pill and handed it to Kael.

"It will help in strengthening your body and healing." The moment his eyes landed on the pill, Kael recognized it immediately. His fingers refused to close around it. Men like him spent entire lifetimes chasing opportunities worth less than the object now resting in his palm.

He couldn’t believe his eyes — even though he’d promised his loyalty, he hadn’t signed a mana oath, hadn’t even done anything yet for his new lord. Yet the amount of trust shown to him settled his anxiety into sheer determination.

"I hope you break through soon. There’s another task waiting for you."

"I’ll deliver good news as soon as possible."

"Don’t worry about your daughter — she’s safe. I promise on my name, and as the heir of Ravencrest."

"I’ll help you exact your revenge and reunite you with your daughter. You’ll know everything when the time is right."

"After breaking through, leave the mine and relocate to Silverbrook. I’ll meet you there."

Kael bowed once.

Not because Ethan had demanded it.

But because he had already made his decision.

Without another word, he disappeared into the trees.

Within seconds, only disturbed snow remained where he had stood. Ethan looked at the man once known for his ruthlessness — a man who’d killed countless people, used as a tool for that bastard’s purposes — and couldn’t help but smile in return.

Ethan stood alone in the clearing a while longer, Rune finally emerging from the brush to press against his leg, ears still flat from the noise of the fight and its aftermath.

One step. The first step of the plan is finally laid. Let’s see where this leads.

And Mira — I promise, this time your father will walk a different path than before. I’ll make sure of it.

It’s time to complete the mission...

Ethan exhaled slowly and pushed the thoughts aside.

The future could wait.

The present still contained monsters that needed killing.

The notification came not long after, while Ethan checked his gear and turned toward the higher ground where the Snowclaw Bears had been sighted.

[Special Mission Available: Monster Extermination — Continuous]

Target Region: Coldvale Outer Territory

Confirmed Sightings: Snowclaw Bears (Dire Beast) — Est. 12+, Ironhounds (Elite Beast) — Est. 20+

Reward Structure — War Merit per Confirmed Kill:

Feral Beast — 10

Wild Beast — 35

Elite Beast — 100

Dire Beast — 450

Accept Mission? [Y/N]

Ethan accepted without hesitation. Every kill would pay out on its own, which made the day’s work considerably more worthwhile than the guild’s flat ten gold alone.

Rune caught the scent first, ears forward, already moving before Ethan had finished reading the panel.

A sharp bark echoed through the trees.

Six grey shapes burst from the undergrowth almost together, spreading into a loose semicircle instead of charging blindly. Their yellow eyes never left Ethan, while two more slipped wider through the trees, instinctively searching for his flanks.

Ethan drew the Eternal Sovereign Blade.

The first Ironhound lunged. He stepped half a pace to the side, the jaws closing on empty air as his blade swept across its neck in a single clean motion. Before the body hit the snow, the second had already arrived.

The Ironhounds came in packs rather than singly, breaking from cover in loose triangles that suggested more coordination than an ordinary pack should have carried. Rune didn’t slow down for them. He tore through the first cluster the way he’d torn through everything in that glacier cave — no wasted motion, each strike ending something before it had finished registering the threat. Three down before Ethan had closed distance on the second group, the War Merit ticking upward in the corner of his vision almost faster than he could track it.

The Snowclaw Bears were the real work, if only because of their number. Unlike the Ironhounds, the bears ruled territory alone. Every one of them was powerful enough that even experienced C-rank hunters preferred to avoid unnecessary fights.

Rune slowed instinctively, blue eyes fixed on the ridge ahead.

The forest became unnaturally quiet.

Ethan found the first one on the open ridge, easily three times his height at the shoulder, matted white fur scarred from whatever hunters had tried and failed against it before. It rose onto its hind legs and roared.

Ethan didn’t wait for the swing to commit. He closed the distance while it was still rising, driving the blade up through the exposed throat in a single motion, and it dropped before the roar had finished leaving its chest.

The second bear charged Rune instead.

The cub didn’t retreat.

He darted beneath the sweeping claws with surprising agility, using the bear’s own momentum against it before launching upward. His jaws locked onto the base of its neck while both forepaws slammed into its shoulder.

The bear stumbled.

Rune twisted violently.

Bone cracked.

The massive beast collapsed sideways, sliding several meters across the snow before finally becoming still.

[Dire Beast Eliminated — Snowclaw Bear] War Merit +450

[Dire Beast Eliminated — Snowclaw Bear] War Merit +450

[Elite Beast Eliminated — Ironhound] War Merit +100 (x3)

A third Snowclaw Bear burst from the treeline before the notifications had even faded.

Ethan met it head-on while Rune circled behind, forcing the beast to split its attention. Every time it turned toward one of them, the other struck.

Within seconds, its movements became slower, more desperate.

Frozen Battlefield.

Ethan redirected the final swipe with the flat of his blade, stepped into the opening, and drove the Eternal Sovereign Blade clean through its chest.

Rune finished the wounded beast with a crushing bite to the throat.

They worked the ridge in that rhythm through the rest of the morning — Ethan taking what crossed his path directly, Rune ranging wider and clearing anything that tried to flank from the treeline, the War Merit accumulating steadily with each confirmed kill rather than arriving in one lump sum.

By the time the light started shifting toward afternoon, the numbers had thinned considerably. Ethan didn’t stop to count exactly how many were left. Rune wasn’t stopping either, and there was no reason to slow a pace that was already working.