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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 231: Let’s Go to Thousand-Faced Fox
The Vassal Clans had all left.
They vanished as if fleeing, carrying with them the horrific memories of today etched into their minds like a brand.
I didn’t bother chasing after them.
While they disappeared, I simply sat on the half-melted cloud, gazing absentmindedly at the sky dyed in sunset.
“Were you really planning to go all the way?”
Black, who had quietly sat next to me, asked.
“Probably.”
Honestly, I’m not even sure how things would’ve turned out.
Maybe I would’ve lost my temper mid-fight and killed them all, or maybe not.
What mattered was that the Vassal Clans that exist now are not the Vassal Clans I once knew.
“Did you figure out who in the Myriad Demon Assembly it is?”
“It’s not the Red Tyrant King. The other three are more likely.”
It was still possible that Hyark had been infiltrated by the Myriad Demon Assembly, but at the very least, the Red Tyrant King wasn’t one of their lackeys.
Among the four Clan Heads, he was the only one whose eyes still carried the spirit of an old comrade.
Judging by how the Dominion Swords treated him, his authority as Clan Head still seemed intact.
The real problem was the other three…
Could one of the Seven Demons be among them?
‘It’s not Thousand-Faced Fox or Asura. That leaves Phantom Thief, White Heron, and Wolf.’
Solsar Clan Head. Gaion Clan Head. Ziek Clan Head.
Clowns that didn’t even compare to the former Vassal Clan Heads.
No matter how I thought about it, it didn’t seem likely that any of them were one of the Seven Demons.
If there was one among those clans, it would be someone other than the Clan Head.
Black murmured as if contemplating something.
“…Three among the Vassals. Four, including Bellusia.”
“They won’t be able to act carelessly for a while. They suffered too many losses today.”
By the time Black had shown up, most of the reasons I had to kill them were already gone.
Killing a Clan Head wouldn’t end it. In fact, this event would likely fracture the Vassal Clans even further.
It made more sense to let them go.
More importantly—
I suddenly smacked the back of Black’s head.
Smack.
“Is disappearing without a word your specialty now?”
“There were circumstances.”
I briefly glanced at the standard-bearer behind us, his eyes wide with surprise.
A plain white banner with nothing but a single drawn sword—no crest, no ornamentation.
The symbol of Baltahar, who pursues nothing but the ultimate essence of the sword.
The fact that Black had appeared bearing Baltahar’s banner carried a very clear meaning.
“…So, you’ve decided to become the heir?”
“Probably.”
“You’ll be restricted in your movements.”
“There are times when a name carries weight.”
The look in Black’s eyes was deeper than before as he replied.
“I see.”
“The First Northern Barrier has fallen.”
“Giants?”
“Three of the Four Giant Kings appeared simultaneously. It was beyond our expectations.”
“That alone wouldn’t be enough reason to summon the Vassal Clans.”
Black nodded in agreement.
“A civil war has broken out.”
“A civil war?”
“A Guardian Knight of Arihama killed one of the main family’s Heavenly Swordmasters.”
My mood dropped instantly.
“When?”
“It happened suddenly while they were confronting the Four Giant Kings.”
“What happened to the Guardian Knight?”
“He’s dead.”
“By whose hand?”
“He took his own life.”
“…That stinks.”
A name from the Seven Demons suddenly came to mind.
“Asura.”
Black met my gaze and nodded.
“I thought the same. It could be his doing.”
I recalled the conversations I had with the Seven Demons within the Myriad Demon Assembly.
I knew they were preparing something in the North, but the timing was too fast. Way too fast.
Black rose to his feet and spoke.
“It’s time to go. Why don’t you come with me?”
“I’ll return to the main house first and then join you.”
“Understood. See you soon.”
“Black.”
Black, who had started walking with his standard-bearer, turned back.
“What?”
“I need to meet the Clan Head.”
“…I’ll relay the message.”
Black disappeared with his standard-bearer.
I turned my eyes to Fichte, who was still waiting nearby, yet to depart.
“Let’s go.”
Saaa—
As I stood at the bow of the Flower Sword Ship, the fierce wind whipping against me, Fichte approached and bowed his head.
“Lord Ruin. You need not worry about Khaoto.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. I was never worried in the first place.”
As I gazed at the slowly rising moon above the bow, I asked Fichte for his thoughts.
“What do you think, military commander?”
Fichte raised his head and spoke in a low voice.
“There’s a discrepancy with the information you provided before. The timing is far too early.”
“So you think the same. I don’t know if the situation has changed or if they deliberately withheld information.”
After a brief moment of thought, Fichte spoke with a serious expression.
“With both a Heavenly Swordmaster and a Guardian Knight involved, this is a grave matter. It could very well be the spark that ignites a Divine Clan war. The fact that the Four Giant Kings appeared simultaneously is also too much of a coincidence. If the Myriad Demon Assembly orchestrated this, there’s no doubt they have a clear objective. In my opinion…”
“……”
“They’re rushing the Revelation. They want to complete their preparations as quickly as possible.”
“So they’re desperate too.”
A silence settled.
Only the fierce wind continued to lash against the bow.
As the Fire Sword Ship cut through the clouds, I watched the fully risen full moon for a long moment before bidding Fichte farewell.
"Head to the North first, military commander."
"Are you planning to stop by the South?"
"I can’t leave an enemy at my back."
"I’ll send word."
Without hesitation, I kicked off from the bow of the Flame Sword Ship and let the wind carry me.
Saaa—!
Cutting through the clouds, I sped past Poeta, heading straight for the main house.
* * *
By the time I arrived at Khaoto’s westernmost region, the landscape didn’t seem too different from usual.
There were fewer people moving about, and the FullKhao Brotherhood had tightened their security, but aside from that, there were no signs of an enemy attack.
Then, as I expanded my field of vision, I spotted a fracture in the barrier far to the east—near the main house.
I rushed forward in a single bound, but the scene that greeted me made me stop in my tracks.
"Hah."
The main gate.
A Bellusia airship, half-destroyed, was impaled upside-down beneath the barrier. Below it, over a hundred Bellusia soldiers lay scattered in complete disarray.
The Crazy Mage Squad, the Mercenaries, and the Guards were all mixed together, clearing the wreckage.
"Commander!"
"Lord Ruin!"
Zion and the Guard Captain were the first to recognize me. I gave them a nod before immediately assessing the situation.
An airship marked with the emblem of a venomous insect, yellow uniforms, and silver daggers.
The Silver Assassins.
So Thousand-Faced Fox really went all in.
She used the Vassal Clan Banquet as an opportunity to wipe out Samael.
If the Deathly Venom Squad was the Clan Head’s personal elite force, then the Silver Assassins were Bellusia’s symbol of warfare.
Their specialty was a combination of assassination skills and bodily transformation techniques.
Most likely, they had planned to infiltrate the main house from above using the airship, seizing control from the top down…
But the barrier detected them, meaning their plan failed before it even started.
Parts of the Silver Assassins’ bodies had been severed, and blood was splattered everywhere, yet there were no visible signs of a struggle.
The moment they arrived in Khaoto aboard the airship, they were wiped out instantly.
The explosion marks and mana residue around the area were something I recognized immediately.
5th Circle, Fire Explosion.
Not just one or two, but at least dozens of overlapping blasts.
Mana stones.
After confirming the situation, I immediately entered the main house and reported everything that had transpired at the Vassal Clan Banquet to the Clan Head and the elders.
“…So that’s what this was all about. No wonder. At first, I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw Bellusia’s banner.”
“Uhaha! The Vassal Clans weren’t so impressive after all. We finally got to see the real battlefield potential of mana stones.”
Neither the Clan Head nor the elders showed any signs of distress.
After informing them about the situation in the North, I left the Clan Hall and went to find Blair.
"Ruin. I was waiting for you."
"Where is he? Did you capture him?"
"The back training ground. He didn’t notice anything, so we didn’t bother restraining him."
"This bastard thinks he can waltz into Samael like nothing? Let’s go."
As I followed Blair to the old training grounds, the White Horse Knights was practicing in pairs, engaged in live combat drills.
I picked up a small rock from the ground and slowly approached the man sparring against Taylor.
"Oh, Commander of the Crazy Mage Squad, you’re here."
As if he had been waiting for this, Taylor stepped aside.
The moment he did, I infused mana into the rock and charged at the man.
When I tilted my head, Satin, the man who’d stepped forward, looked at me confidently—so I immediately opened my circle and detonated a shockwave at his chest.
“…Huh?”
In a flash, Satin bent at the waist nearly ninety degrees to dodge.
I followed up with a kick to his solar plexus, then grabbed him by the collar and yanked him up.
“For a member of the White Horse Knights, your combat sense is pretty decent.”
“…Urgh, thank you.”
“You’re from Shan Kris, right? An orphan?”
“Yes, sir.”
I nodded and asked,
“But don’t you feel anything? Your comrades all died and you’re perfectly fine?”
“Pardon?”
“All your friends from the front gate are dead. No sense of camaraderie, huh.”
“I don’t have any friends.”
“Well, considering you betrayed your own clan, I guess that makes sense.”
He kept his expression neutral, pretending nothing was wrong, but he couldn’t fool my eyes.
I stared directly into his face and said,
“Number Six.”
“……”
His pupils didn’t even flinch, like someone who had been through brutal training—but the hand I held by the collar was trembling ever so slightly.
Just as I sensed an unusual aura in his right arm, as if something didn’t belong there—
I activated Dark Palm and stabbed him in the forearm.
Thwuck—
“Gyaaaagh!”
Silence.
“Kuhh!”
Slice—
I severed his entire right arm from the shoulder in one smooth motion, then asked,
“This bastard really thought he could play me. Thought you wouldn’t get caught?”
“…Kh, kuh.”
“No answer, huh?”
I thrust my knife-hand into his abdomen and felt his mana core collapse.
“Kh… kuhh!”
“Let’s go.”
His eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging to the surface. They were filled with both pain and confusion.
I hastily stopped the bleeding using a high-grade potion nearby, then grabbed him by one hand and dragged him across the ground. I turned back briefly.
Taylor was watching me, his gaze heavy and calm.
“Ruin.”
“Prepare for deployment. The Clan Head will fill you in on the details.”
“Understood.”
“See you in the North.”
There was no time to waste.
When I got down to the main gate, the Flame Sword Ship I’d requested from Kazen had already been prepared.
In the distance, the Crazy Mage Squad was approaching, so I gestured toward them.
“You blockheads, get on.”
Zion’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“Oh, are we going on a trip?”
“Get on before I beat the hell out of you.”
When I raised my hand like I was going to smack their foreheads, the Crazy Mage Squad members boarded the Flame Sword Ship one by one like it was the most natural thing in the world.
I threw Number Six down at the bow and said,
“Let’s go see Thousand-Faced Fox.”
* * *
Saaah—!
We sped through the air, heading full speed toward the South, and before long, hot and humid air began to rush in.
The Bellusia Clan.
Tucked deep within the remote southern jungle, it was said to be hard to find—but for me, that wasn’t an issue.
At the level of 7th-circle sensitivity, I could detect even faint traces of mana from hundreds of meters away.
While circling above the southern jungle, I suddenly sensed a subtle mana fluctuation far off to the left.
“There it is.”
As I drew closer, I could feel the presence of a transparent barrier with strong rebound resistance.
I immediately detonated an explosion at the perimeter to weaken the outer layer and began heading deeper toward the core of the barrier.
News of the collapsing barrier would surely reach the Bellusia main house, but I’d arrive far faster than any response they could muster, so it didn’t matter.
I pulled a small stone orb from inside my coat.
It was still glowing red.
It had been emitting a red light continuously since several hours ago.
‘…The Seven Demons, maybe?’
I couldn’t be sure.
It might simply be a summons for a Council meeting, but being this far from Black Mountain, there was no way I could attend now.
It wasn’t a big issue.
I could always confirm it later.
“Commander, what do you want us to do?”
Zion’s voice reached me.
Fwaaah—
As stifling humidity and scorching heat surged around us, I looked down and saw Bellusia’s banner swaying amidst the thick underbrush.
“What should we do?”
“Destroy everything.”
Standing at the bow of the Flame Sword Ship, I leapt forward and began an incantation.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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