[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
Chapter 164
"Violet. This child is as peculiar as her mother."
A chilling voice echoed in Violet’s ears.
It was a voice she had heard countless times in her nightmares—one she knew all too well.
The voice of Black Skull Cesar, the one who turned the Bormian royal family into mere pawns of the Demon Realm.
‘Is this another nightmare of Cesar?’
Violet listened as if she were used to it. Even after the fall of the Bormian royal family, she would dream of this from time to time.
The dream where Cesar branded her forehead and transformed the blood flowing through her veins into demonic blood.
"Peculiar, you say. Does she possess regenerative abilities like her mother?"
"No... she doesn’t have the same regenerative power as that woman. However, unlike an ordinary Bormian, the demonic blood is taking root more easily in her. At this rate, the process of her turning into a demon will advance much faster in her generation."
But today, the dream was different from usual.
Unlike before, when she would lose consciousness and miss parts of the conversation, she could now hear it faintly.
"Since the demonic blood has settled, the mana of water is also emerging alongside it."
"Not dark magic, but water mana?"
"Yes. Quite unusual. As if water mana was always latent in her blood. Now that it has merged with the demonic blood, it's manifesting. How fascinating."
Cesar let out a satisfied chuckle.
"Demons are not a single unified species."
"Yes. I have heard that demons have distinct traits depending on their lineage, and that higher-ranking demons possess even more pronounced characteristics."
"Our Bormian lineage, even if demonized, would barely reach the level of ordinary demons... But if our bloodline inherits this child's unique constitution, we may be able to aim for a higher rank."
This dream was definitely different from the ones she had before.
‘I need to listen further to what they’re saying.’
Violet, who would normally try to wake herself up from such dreams, instead focused on the voices.
However—
"To achieve that, she must produce exceptional offspring."
"What do you intend to do?"
"There are many ways, aren’t there? Heh... First, we must marry her off to a highly talented mage. And then..."
The conversation that followed was practically treating Violet like a breeding mare—an utterly meaningless discussion.
She quickly lost interest.
‘Demonic blood and water mana…’
Instead, she mulled over what Cesar had said.
‘Is that why I was chosen by Glacia?’
She had always wondered why she, of all people—who wasn’t an outstanding mage—had been chosen by the S-rank mana suit, Glacia.
Was this the reason?
But if that were the case, she had never noticed her blood reacting to water mana in any way…
"…Well then, let’s leave her be."
"Understood, Lord Cesar."
While Violet was deep in thought about her own body—
Step. Step.
Footsteps echoed, and soon, all presence disappeared.
Enough time seemed to have passed for them to leave.
She could see nothing.
Hear nothing.
All external stimuli had vanished.
‘…By now, I should have woken up from the dream.’
A question arose in Violet’s mind.
Why wasn’t she waking up?
“……There are no abnormalities in terms of life. Lord Royen is stable.”
The Grand Cathedral of the Holy Capital, Alzass.
Saint Theresia was examining the unconscious Royen and Violet.
“Is that so? I definitely sensed dark mana.”
“Yes… While there are no abnormalities in terms of life, Lord Royen’s body has undergone significant changes. It was already unique when I examined it before… but now, it has been altered to better absorb mana—especially dark mana.”
“What does that mean?”
“There is a type of being with such a body—demons.”
Kaylen looked at Royen with wide eyes.
Outwardly, he appeared no different from usual, yet…
“A demon…?”
“He does not fully exhibit the traits of a demon. More accurately, he could be considered a half-demon. For example…”
Theresia’s hands glowed with a pure white light, which was then absorbed into Royen’s body.
Immediately, Royen’s complexion became more at ease.
“If he were a demon, he would repel divine power, but as you can see, Lord Royen accepts it without issue.”
“I see… We’ll have to ask him what exactly happened when he wakes up. And what about Violet?”
“You said there was an explosion of dark mana?”
“Yes. The dark mana lingering in Royen’s body erupted. It wasn’t meant to kill, but rather to erase its own traces.”
It was more like a mana fusion entity composed of dark mana had detonated itself to vanish.
The presence of dark mana had been so faint and subtle that Kaylen had only noticed it at the moment of the explosion.
“But this is strange… What kind of effect did that have on Lady Violet? I can see traces of dark mana on her body. No… rather than traces, it’s more like germination.”
“Germination?”
“Yes. As if it had been dormant inside her body and was awakened by the dark mana explosion. The dark power and water mana are intertwining, forming an unusual flow.”
At those words, Kaylen examined Violet’s body.
As a mage, the only place mana should be stored in her body was her mana heart.
Yet undeveloped mana roads throughout her body—even her bloodstream—were now entangled with both water mana and dark mana.
‘The Bormian royal family was under Black Skull’s control. Is that why this happened?’
Black Skull’s prince, César, had worked to demonize the bloodline of the Bormian royal family.
Had the effects of those efforts still lingered within Violet?
Kaylen attempted to extract only the dark mana from her body.
“……The dark mana has fused too deeply with her body.”
“Yes. Removing it immediately would be impossible. For now, we should wait for both of them to wake up before deciding on a course of action.”
“Understood. Please take care of them.”
“Yes. Both of them should regain consciousness soon. In the meantime, I will personally watch over them.”
“Thank you.”
For now, there was nothing more to be done here.
With a heavy heart, Kaylen left the Grand Cathedral.
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‘An attack… in the heart of the capital, within the royal palace itself.’
The Holy Capital, Alzass, had the strongest defenses of any city on the continent.
With the Grand Cathedral of the Celestial God, priests constantly patrolling the city, and the World Tree’s roots embedded within the capital, any abnormalities should have been automatically detected.
Not to mention, even Lahendra, the director of the Abyssal Observatory, was aiding Kaylen.
He had never imagined they would suffer an ambush like this.
‘…Was I too careless?’
The ones responsible for this incident could only be the Geysir Empire.
To have broken through the security of a city protected by three layers of defense…
As expected, the enemy was powerful.
‘There’s no guarantee that something like this won’t happen again. We need to establish at least a minimum defense force in the capital.’
The kingdom’s military strength was overwhelmingly concentrated around Kaylen.
Of course, even without him, the kingdom’s forces were strong compared to other nations.
There were numerous advanced mage towers, knights of exceptional skill, and highly developed mana suits…
But those were only effective against humans.
The enemy, the Geysir Empire, was practically equivalent to fighting a marquis household of the Demon Realm. Against them, such forces were nearly useless.
‘…There isn’t enough time to build up a force capable of blocking their attacks.’
Kaylen’s gaze darkened.
If he were to fall, the gap in power between the two empires would be stark.
And even if several years passed, this gap would not be easily bridged.
In the end, there was only one solution.
‘Annihilate the enemy as quickly as possible.’
If the enemy was that powerful, then they needed to be dragged down to a manageable level.
Kaylen’s Six Blades flashed ominously in his mind.
Three days later.
—Kaylen. The Geysir Empire has moved.
Kaylen received the report from Ederna.
“They said before that they couldn’t track their movements, didn’t they?”
—Yes. But now that they’ve mobilized their Dragon Knight Order by sea, they’re clearly visible. They’re advancing simultaneously from two locations—the southern sea and the northern sea of the continent.
“They plan to cross the sea and seize the land beyond Starn. What’s the strength of their two forces?”
—The northern force has greater numbers. And… it looks like the Emperor of Geysir himself is marching to battle.
For the emperor to personally lead the Dragon Knight Order…
It seemed that the Geysir Empire was growing desperate.
Kaylen quietly listened before asking Ederna a question.
“The Emperor of Geysir… Count Helmeier. His name was Caius, wasn’t it?”
—Yeah. An arrogant bastard.
‘Caius…’
Kaylen felt a deep turmoil within.
Caius, his eldest son.
The heir to the Meier Empire.
‘The son of a Hero has become a demon and now leads the Geysir Empire…’
Unlike Melvria, who had been forced to join the Helmeier family through coercion, Caius had taken an active role in their ranks.
‘I have so many things I need to ask him.’
A part of him wanted to capture Caius immediately and demand to know why he had done all this.
But he calmed himself and made a rational judgment.
With Geysir having split its forces into two, the best way to annihilate them efficiently was to strike the weaker side first.
On the battlefield, it was a fundamental strategy to eliminate the weakest link first.
“Then the northern force is the stronger one, right? Since the Emperor himself is leading it.”
—No, the stronger force is in the south.
“…You’re saying the southern force is stronger than the one the Emperor himself is commanding?”
—The ruler of Helmeier isn’t the Emperor of Geysir. The true master of Helmeier… is the Marquis of Helmeier.
At the mention of the Marquis of Helmeier, Kaylen’s eyes widened.
Now, it was clear that Geysir had mobilized its full strength.
“The Marquis of Helmeier is also on the move… What kind of being is he?”
—I’ve never seen them in person. But I’ve heard stories. Their body is made of fire, and they’re said to be as beautiful as a goddess.
“…Is that so? The Marquis is a woman?”
—That’s right.
Considering that Caius, the former Emperor of the Meier Empire, had become a Count of the Demon Realm, the Marquis of Helmeier was likely the true mastermind behind all this.
Kaylen was curious about her identity, but no one came to mind.
A body made of fire?
Could she be an actual elemental?
‘Perhaps something like the Fire Spirit King once wielded by a dragon…’
If she was at the level of a Spirit King, it made sense that she could hold the position of a Demon Marquis.
Especially since the newly risen Helmeier family had managed to establish itself so quickly—undoubtedly, the Marquis had played a crucial role in that.
‘The root of all evil that created Helmeier…’
Kaylen felt a surge of murderous intent toward the one who had turned his children into demons, but he controlled it.
‘I’ll see her soon enough.’
Once the northern forces were annihilated, he would use the Path of Light to move south.
Whether he wanted to or not, he would inevitably face her then.
“For now, I’ll deal with the weaker northern force first. Give me the exact locations.”
—Understood.
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]