Side Story Chapter 91
After the avalanche in northern Avalon and the Emperor of Avalon officially declaring his return, Carmen secretly returned to Arcadia with a few select people. Carmen knew that Joshua wasn’t in his real body as she had seen the real one herself. She had heard from the demon that destroying Joshua’s fake body could significantly damage his real one. In addition, she had another reason to come to Arcadia in spite of the risk.
“Welcome, true head of the Ducal Family of Agnus.“
Carmen looked ahead and saw a man shrouded in a black robe similarly to herself. Another thing she immediately noticed was the reek of blood.
“…Did you murder someone?” Carmen asked.
“I had traitors to take care of.”
Carmen clenched her jaw shut. At least twenty corpses were scattered around the area, and judging from how fresh the smell of blood was, it hadn’t been long since they died.
“Are you the type who takes action before thinking it through, Battle God?” Carmen narrowed her eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“We’re right in front of the Palace. I know that the people in the Palace are busy tending to their guests, but you committed multiple murders right in the center of Arcadia.”
“Don’t worry. I found a good item, so I’m not going to leave any traces behind,” the man answered.
“A good item…?
Before Carmen could finish asking again, the man searched a corpse and pulled out a glass bottle filled with transparent liquid.
“What is that?” Carmen inquired.
The man shrugged. “The only thing I know is that this is the colorless, odorless poison made by the Poison King himself. The slightest contact will make you melt without leaving so much as a drop of blood behind.”
“The P-Poison King?” Carmen's eyes widened. That corpse was the Poison King? Unbelievable! “You killed the Poison King…? Then are they…?”
“From what I remember, they’re assassins from a quite famous guild named Hashashin.”
The Hashashin Guild wasn’t just “quite” famous—it was one of the Three Assassin Guilds for a reason.
“Why did you kill them?” Carmen asked.
“They dared to betray me. When the Emperor of Avalon showed a little bit of his power, they joined his side without a second thought.”
“Mmm…” Carmen grunted.
“I do hope you won’t betray me as well.”
“…It won’t happen unless our circumstances change.”
“Yes, we promised that you’ll retake this country and I’ll devour this continent. Of course, you’ll have to become my concubine.” The man grinned.
Carmen’s eyebrow rose slightly, but it was planned. She wasn’t an idiot who couldn’t control her emotions in times like this.
“…I’ll keep my promise, so you should keep your promise too,” Carmen quietly answered.
“Good. If you help me, I’ll try my best to kill the Martial God, but…”
Their first meeting was about to conclude without issue, right until the man released a faint murderous energy.
“Why is your tone authoritative?” the man demanded. “If you want to receive the slightest bit of your dear husband’s affection, I think it would be wise to change your tone…”
“Ugh…” Despite the fury boiling up from deep within her, Carmen had to nod. “...I’ll be careful.”
* * *
“Hmmm…?” Joshua frowned.
Cain’s attention turned from the arena to Joshua and he tilted his head. “Is there a problem?”
“...The mana link of the oath has been broken.”
“You mean…”
“The Poison King is dead,” Joshua said.
Cain flinched, but his eyes were still glued to the arena; the battle taking place in the arena was very intriguing. It was very interesting to watch Kireua Sanders, the Second Prince of the Avalon Empire and the son of Cain’s master, improving himself, but it was hard to disregard the Poison King’s death.
“He’s the weakest among the Twelve Superhumans, but… he really died?” Cain’s eyes narrowed. “If such a man got into a battle near the Palace, we would have noticed it.”
“Then there’s only one answer.”
“Pardon?”
“He died before he could do anything—he went up against someone overwhelmingly more powerful.”
Cain closed his mouth.
Meanwhile, a colossal fire dragon was charging toward Kireua, but the ebon flame that Cain had seen before engulfed the fire dragon.
“He’s gotten better than the last time I met him. I guess he was affected by you, Your Majesty.” Cain commented.
“I didn’t really do anything. It’s all his own efforts.”
“Is that so? Then what would have happened if His Highness Kireua went up against the Poison King?”
Joshua glanced at the neck to neck battle. Kireua’s opponent was named Duke Uraxen of the Tetra Kingdom? The opponent was a Class A Knight and Class 6 mage, and yet, Kireua never retreated—in fact, he was actually driving his opponent into a corner. His opponent was thrown off and made a lot of mistakes when the authority of Greed swallowed the fire dragon.
Joshua nodded. “Supposing that Kireua could control that power of Greed well, he would have been able to fight the Poison King on equal ground.”
“Remarkable. His Highness is just over twenty, but it’ll only take three years for him to catch up with one of the Superhumans, the strongest people on the continent after the Nine Stars.”
“Of course he can. He’s my son. I did that, too.”
“Then how is he compared to the mysterious man who killed the Poison King?” Cain asked.
Joshua couldn’t answer so easily this time. Although he did have an idea of who was responsible since he had asked the Poison King to keep an eye on Hubalt’s delegation, it wasn’t the Four Paladins. Joshua hadn’t met any of them, but the men in white who smelled thickly of the Four Great Angels were watching the battle from the corner of the arena.
“It’s probably the Martial Emperor’s heir, right?” Cain asked.
“That is what I think, too.”
“A student who is better than their teacher… I know it’s said that the pigment from dyer’s knotweed is bluer than the actual plant[ref] It’s a Japanese idiom that is similar to the English saying, “The student becomes the master.”/ref], but the princes’ potential enemies are all monsters.”
It wasn’t just the Martial Emperor’s student. Carmen von Agnus was the Dark God’s heir; the Four Paladins still hadn’t revealed the extent of their power; and the demons with the Evil Sins’ powers were presumed to be hunting the Demon Spirit’s last spirit fragment. On top of that, there were too many things to be done. The civil war had to be ended, the continent needed to be stabilized, and the Demon Spirit must be exterminated for good.
“You’ll really recover fully within one year, yes?” Cain turned to look at Joshua.
“Why? Are my children not reliable?”
“Well, the enemies are too formidable…”
“Look over there.” Joshua pointed downward.
Kireua had nullified all Duke Uraxen’s magic spells using his ebon flame and was now charging toward his opponent. Despite the fact that Uraxen basically lost one of his weapons, he had regained his composure.
The fight was now going to be based purely on swordsmanship, and yet, Uraxen was certain that he was never going to lose. Uraxen was several times older than Kireua, allowing him to accumulate far more experience and reach a much greater level of sword mastery.
“…Your Highness!” Cain could see Kireua’s every move. Kireua was already a mess. Judging from the scorch marks all over his clothes, it looked like he hadn’t managed to dodge or nullify all of the fire magic. In addition, his left shoulder was frozen up to his collarbone, although fortunately that was not the side he was using to hold his sword.
Duke Uraxen wielded the Fire Dragon King’s authority and was also a Class 6 magic swordsman who could use advanced ice magic spells, but… Kireua came at him again and again. He might have stumbled from time to time, but he kept on advancing.
“I am Kireua Sanders, the son of the Martial God!”
“Woaaahhhhhh!”
The spectators cheered at Kireua’s fighting spirit, and the young knights’ fists clenched.
“That’s right! You’re His Majesty’s son!”
“You’re the pride of Avalon! Win this fight!”
“Who in the world called His Highness Kireua a halfwit? Come out—I’ll break your jaws so you can’t say something like that again.”
Cain quietly grinned. The battle looked like it was evenly matched right now, but the balance would shift. Although it was a tiny difference, Kireua was definitely overpowering his opponent.
“It looks like it’s about to end, so shall we go?” Joshua asked.
“Go where?” Cian asked, surprised.
“A potential problem is roaming around the Palace, so I should meet him, shouldn’t I? My plan to sound them out using the Poison King failed, too.”
“A-Are you talking about the Martial Emperor’s student?”
Joshua nodded. Cain placed himself in Joshua’s way, shaking his head.
“No, I can’t let you do that. I’ll meet him alone.”
“Why?”
“You aren’t in good condition.”
“I told you this isn’t my body.”
“Nevertheless, enough damage will harm your soul. Just… Don’t do anything dangerous for a year.”
“…Ah, what a bother.” Joshua let out a quiet sigh. “Did I tell you too much?”
“There’s no need to do that. I came to you myself.”
Joshua and Cain froze, processing the mana-laced voice.
Cain’s head whipped around. “Wh-When…?”
His voice automatically trembled.
Joshua and Cain were standing on the rooftop of the main Palace, which had the best view of the arena. On the other hand, the mystery man was standing on the outer Palace’s rooftop, which was on the opposite side of the Palace, and yet he was looking exactly at Joshua and Cain. They were at least hundreds of meters away from each other, but that didn’t seem to be a problem for the man. On top of that, the two didn’t notice his presence until the man spoke to them first.
Joshua nodded. “He’s better than I thought.”
“…Your Majesty, I don’t think this is the time for you to marvel at the man,” Cain cautioned, his hand automatically grabbing his sword.
The man was a monster. Cain had lived for a long time, but this man gave off a feeling that Cain had felt only three times in his lifetime—four, including this time. The first was when Cain had first met Duke Agnus, the Dark God; the second was during Cain’s first encounter with Joshua; and the third time was decades later. That was during his lessons for Selim Sanders, the First Prince and Joshua’s son.
“…Your Majesty, it looks like the fight against Hubalt might be more difficult than we originally anticipated,” Cain muttered.
“Well, wait here for a moment since it looks like his business is with me,” Joshua said, jumping down the roof before Cain could stop him.
“Y-Your Majesty!”
The mysterious man on the roof also disappeared as if he had been waiting for Joshua to do that.
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