Chapter 188 - Central Powers (2)
Apart from his plan, Henry also told Herarion everything that would further gain his trust, such as his being the one and only apprentice of the Imperial Archmage and that he was the new master of the Magical Spire of the entire empire.
“Sir Henry, you’re quite remarkable, just as I thought you’d be, or should I say, Imperial Archmage?”
“Haha, you can call me however you want, Your Majesty.”
"Thank you. I feel like all of my worries have vanished by talking to you. Knowing that you’re the one and only apprentice of the late Archmage and that you’re the only one who’s achieved the 7th-Circle in this entire continent gives me the confidence that we might stand a chance against the empire.”
“It’s not about standing a chance. I can assure you that we will emerge victorious. On that note, Your Majesty, I would like to ask for your help in my plan of forming the Allied Powers.”
“Me?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I have already sent the archmages of the Magical Spire to deliver my message in regards to forming the Allied Powers. However, I can’t help but think that it would be more persuasive if you were the one to deliver the message. After all, the others are unfamiliar with the archmages, whereas you’re a member of the Central Powers. Wouldn’t you agree with me?”
“Hmm, you do have a point.”
“We might be in for a long haul. With that, I believe we need to build a strong foundation from the start.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“And from now on, you’ll no longer have to produce Shahatra specialties like perfume.”
"Hmm? Not even the cigarettes?”
“Hmm, I believe the Pink Swamp will be useful in many ways, so you can keep producing them, but just small amounts like usual.”
“I’m glad to hear that. What a relief.”
“May I ask what you mean?”
“Frankly speaking, I’ve used most of the money I received from you to buy rice rations and weapons, just in case.”
“That was a wise decision on your end.”
“I consider this a blessing from the great Sun God.”
"Haha! Just as you’re considered the son of the Sun God, it seems like your father is watching you from above. What remarkable paternal love.”
There seemed to be nothing bad that would disrupt their plan. Everything seemed to have aligned at the right time, and from now on, Herarion just had to do his best to prepare for the upcoming war.
“May I ask how Her Majesty is doing?”
"Of course. Thanks to you, Sir Henry, she’s been able to put a smile on her face to this day.”
“I’m glad to hear that she’s doing well.”
“But I do have one question. Do you happen to know where Hector is? I haven’t seen him for a couple of days.”
“Oh, I’ve had Hector doing some other work in the meantime. At the moment, he should be doing the work I assigned him in Salgaera. But apart from that, Your Majesty... Have you been able to hone your swordsmanship skills lately?”
“I think I’ve gotten better than I used to be, thanks to a good mentor.”
"Is that so? Hmm... Then, while we’re at it, how about we have a sparring session?”
“With you?”
“I believe I’ve mentioned before that not only am I the sole 7th-Circle mage in the entire continent, but also one of the swordsmen who have awakened Auras.”
“Uhm, since I haven’t properly sparred in a while, may I ask you to go easy on me?”
The two of them were short on time, but not to the point where they couldn’t have one sparring session. They went to the royal palace sparring hall, which was bathed in sunlight.
Herarion got ready while fixing his grip on an ordinary wooden sword. Henry contemplated for a while and eventually pulled out a small wooden dagger out of thin air.
"A dagger?"
“I’m aware that this may seem disrespectful, but this will do for me.”
Henry deliberately provoked Herarion. He knew that anger was a good catalyst to bring out the opponent’s strength. At his taunt, Herarion became slightly flushed.
‘He’s getting worked up.’
In the midst of all this, Henry thought he was being considerate to Herarion compared to how Hector treated him. He had an actual weapon in his hands, a dagger, which was a big step up from the sparring sessions the king had with Hector. The latter had told Henry that he used no weapons when sparring with the king.
‘Well, I’m better than him.’
Henry spoke up, “I’ll let you attack first. I’m not worried about getting hurt, so please do your best to attack me.”
"All right."
As soon as the sparring began, Herarion bolted toward Henry using the Hector Step he had learned from Hector himself.
‘Seems like someone paid attention to their lessons.”
However, Henry could read Herarion like an open book, effortlessly predicting his next move. It was because the damn footwork Herarion was doing was one of the things Henry had practiced for the longest time.
Herarion was pretty quick with his feet. Henry barely dodged Herarion's wooden sword and slowly admired his sword dance.
‘His feint is okay, and he makes almost no unnecessary movements.’
Since Herarion had learned from Hector, he was still below Henry in terms of skills. Thus, Henry could naturally foresee how Herarion was going to attack next.
'A bit more! A little bit more!’
Of course, Herarion was well aware of this. However, he was just like any student who thought they were special after learning something new and being complimented on it, a student who thought they might be one of the geniuses.
Despite being a Khan, Herarion himself was not an exception to this. Although he had never emerged victorious against Hector in sparring, he had received some praise from him, which was why Herarion became increasingly impatient as Henry kept on dodging his attacks.
‘Quickly losing his composure and becoming distracted... I knew it.’
This was exactly what Henry had expected—a lack of experience.
Just as Henry had thought, Herarion was woefully inexperienced, which was why, despite his outstanding talent, Henry was able to quickly hold the whip hand. This was a fatal weakness of Herarion that would be a problem in actual combat because it meant that he wouldn’t be the one dominating the fight.
Henry had gotten a good enough idea about Herarion’s skills, so he decided to end his evaluation. At that moment, Henry politely asked for permission.
“Your Majesty, please excuse me for a moment.”
"Pardon?"
Whack!
Henry then swung his wooden dagger, which he hadn’t even used for defense, to strike Herarion’s wrist. With that, the Khan's wooden sword fell to the floor. Now that Herarion was disarmed, Henry was the victor.
“...Won.”
"Well fought, your Majesty.”
As the sparring officially ended, Henry spoke with a grin on his face, “You’ve definitely improved a lot compared to the first time we did this.”
"Phew... But does that even matter? I couldn’t even graze you.”
“From what I observed, I believe you’re just simply lacking experience. I can tell that swordsmanship is part of you, your Majesty; it’s in your blood. You definitely have your ancestors' blood. So, if I may humbly suggest, how about sparring with the royal guards whenever you have the time?”
“Hmm, I’ll consider that.”
Herarion had known from the beginning he was going to lose. However, the bitter aftertaste of defeat hit differently compared to when Hector had beaten him.
Henry continued to talk, “How about we stop sparring now and get ready to leave?”
“Getting ready to leave, as in getting ready to be on our way to persuade the others to join the Allied Powers?”
“There’s a saying to make hay while the sun shines. I’m sure the messages I’ve sent through the archmages have reached the others by now, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to meet them in person sometime soon.”
"I understand.”
Although they had taken a moment to spar, Henry wanted to deal with important matters, like forming the Allied Powers, as quickly as possible.
“Clean, Charming.”
Henry used his magic to clean up Herarion's sweat and get him ready.
“I went ahead and cleaned and groomed you, so you just have to change your clothes and come back.”
“Haha, I don’t know... I don’t know what else to say other than magic is really convenient.”
“If you wait just a little longer, you’ll get a servant who can perform magic under your command, Your Majesty.”
“Just the thought of that makes me look forward to what’s going to happen, but apart from this, did you have a country in mind to visit first out of the other four Central Powers?”
“I was thinking about going to Amaris.”
“Amaris? Isn't Amaris...?”
“Yes, where the Blood and Iron Empress is. I’m planning to go to Amaris, the country of women, first.”
Amaris.
It was a kingdom comprising exclusively of women, and men were completely excluded except for the purpose of procreating. Henry was planning to have Amaris join the Allied Powers first.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen the Iron and Blood Lady. I wonder if she’s still holding the throne as the empress.’
The Iron and Blood Empress who ruled Amaris.
She was Henry's first prey.
* * *
The prison of Killive.
In the former empire of Eurasia, the criminals who committed more serious crimes than felonies were imprisoned in a large prison in Killive. For that reason, Killive had been thoroughly managed by the empire and had become renowned as the most secure prison state on the continent, not having a single escapee since the empire had been founded.
The prison was located on the edge of a cliff in the cold, northern part of the continent. The endless cliff behind the prison only led to a raging ocean of abyssal depths. Apart from the hell-like ocean, the prison was surrounded by nothing but frozen, unwelcoming land. Rumors had it that days and days of walking wouldn’t get you anywhere. Additionally, the climate was so cold that it was impossible to leave the area without some means of transportation.
In Killive, someone spoke up.
“Is this it?”
Arthus had reached Killive, the land with no master. There was only one person accompanying Arthus, namely Drakan.
The four soldiers guarding the entrance to the prison saluted Arthus at the top of their lungs, “Your Highness! The great lord of the Patrician Family, Grand Duke Arthus!”
It seemed like the news that Arthus was coming hadn’t reached Killive yet. However, Arthus didn’t seem to care and just casually spoke to the guard at the entrance.
“I came to see the Punishment King.”
“Yes, Grand Duke! May I see the entry permit you have?”
The guards were going by the books. After all, this was Killive, the prison state that managed all the felons in the entire empire. Not even the Grand Duke Arthus could enter Killive without a stamped entry permit.
At the guard’s request, Arthus’s face contorted with anger and annoyance, but Drakan bowed his head slightly and said, “Sir, let me handle this.”
Drakan was cold as ice to everyone except for Arthus. Noticing that Arthus was feeling uncomfortable because of the guard, he immediately prepared to open the door to Killivie.
Gurgle, gurgle.
“...?”
After speaking, Drakan folded his back. He then gathered his mana and let out strange sounds through his puffy cloak.
Crack, crack!
“W-what?!”
That moment, a pointed tentacle shot out from his cloak and pierced the stomach of the nearest guard.
“GHAAAAHH!!”
The soldier went flying as he let out a piercing, harrowing scream, blood spewing from his lips.
“...G-Grand Duke! What on earth do you think you’re doing?”
The remaining soldiers quickly activated their Auras and prepared for battle. However, almost instantly...
Crack, crack!
Their resistance was pointless. Drakan instantly stretched out two additional tentacles and pierced the hearts of the remaining soldiers, completely ignoring their Auras.
Drip, drip.
Drops of blood stained the snow that had accumulated on the ground. Drakan ripped out the hearts of the soldiers with the tip of his tentacles and threw the corpses far away. He then grabbed their hearts and proceeded to eat them.
Munch, munch.
Drakan's mouth opened up in all four directions and ate their hearts like regular pieces of meat. After he swallowed the hearts, he said, “Sir, allow me to open the gate now.”
Drakan had completely devoured all of the guards’ hearts, and before he even had the chance to wipe the blood from his mouth, he stretched out his tentacles toward the huge iron door that had chains and pulleys attached to it.
Clinic, clink!
What tremendous strength he had! Drakan opened the gates of Killive not by using the pulley, but with the sheer strength of his tentacles.
Thud, thud!
White dust flew off the iron door. Then, the soldiers on the other side stared at the two intruders with surprised eyes.
“Get rid of them.”
“Yes, Grand Duke.”
With that, Dracan’s tentacles burst forth once again.
* * *
Amaris.
They had quite a long tradition, and because they kept their family tree through men who were outsiders, all of their surnames were Amaris. Among them, the strongest and most beautiful woman was given the title of the ‘Iron and Blood Empress.’ In other parts of the world, she was known as ‘the Steel Queen.’
Of course, Henry had passed through Amaris during the unification war in the past. However, the citizens of Amaris had proved to be strong, and after fierce battles, he had decided to respect their culture and accept them as a tributary state. Of course, this had only happened after he had agreed to some conditions that their Steel Queen had presented.
Flash!
Out of nowhere, a thunderbolt struck the center of the palace of Amaris.
“What in the...?”
Dry lightning struck out of the blue. Everyone in the palace naturally looked at the spot where the lightning had struck, their eyes being as wide as they could be.
As the dust slowly dispersed, two silhouettes emerged. When the air finally cleared out, Henry and Herarion showed themselves. Henry then raised his hand with a faint smile on his face and said, “Greetings.”
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