BXBX NOVEL Side Story Chapter 152
Side Story Chapter 152
Evergrant was every bit as capable as would be expected of the first human Ninth Circle mage, and blocked Kireua’s ambush without much difficulty—or rather, Evergrant’s demonic power reflexively responded to the imminent danger. Evergrant himself, on the other hand, was still in shock. He only gaped at Kireua through the translucent black magic barrier around him.
-How...? The Dark God lost to a boy?
“Can you afford to talk right now?” Kireua scoffed.
-What?
Evergrant\'s eyes widened as ebon flames, even darker than his barrier, engulfed him.
-The fire of the Demon Realm...!
“It might have been different if you reached the level of Ninth Circle when you were a human, but I won’t lose to an undead.”
-You arrogant bastard!
Evergrant gritted his teeth. In all the years he had walked this realm, he had never been humiliated like this, much less by a person who was young enough to be his grandson—no, Kireua was just a baby to Evergrant!
-I’ll crush your cocky face first!
Evergrant glanced at Joshua while he quickly gathered his demonic power, but for some reason, Joshua didn’t respond at all. If Joshua was going to intervene, he could have done so already. Even a Ninth Circle mage had to obey a forbidden seal.
It may seem unfair, but that was the contract. An undead was not only forbidden from harming the person to whom they had sworn their loyalty to but also anyone who was associated with their master. Needless to say, that included their master’s child.
-Darkness shining deep in the abyss.
There was only one reason why a Ninth Circle mage would need to chant a spell.
“Are you trying to use Ninth Circle magic?” Kiruea raised an eyebrow.
‘Rascal!’ At some point, Kireua had begun addressing Evergrant as if he were dealing with a servant. Evergrant was in the middle of his incantation, so he had no choice but to let Kireua talk.
-Reveal and coil yourself in front of me! Release your breath of death which eradicates all life!
Death Breath was the most advanced mass-destruction spell in a black mage’s repertoire. It was based on Dragon Breath. Evergrant’s goal was to “unintentionally” exterminate everyone nearby. Now that things had come to this, it was do or die for Evergrant.
-Die!
The black tsunami that came rushing in and flooded the cavernous vault was an incredible sight to see. Everything swept up in the tsunami met the same end. The skeletons with their sturdy bones disappeared without leaving so much as a speck of dust behind. The dullahans, high-class undead, fared no better for all their power; the moment they came into contact with the black tide, their armor melted like a snowball in a wildfire. Evergrant’s single spell made fully ten percent of the undead legion disappear. However, the black tsunami hadn’t subsided—and Kireua was next in its path.
Kireua planted his feet firmly on the floor and gripped his sword with both hands, raising its tip above his head—the textbook posture from which to deliver a vertical strike.
Lilith’s jaw dropped to the floor when she noticed Kireua’s form.
“H-He’s crazy...!”
Was Kiruea seriously going to attack that unbelievable tsunami? He was practically trying to stop a force of nature with a stick!
‘Joshua...’
-Let’s watch for now.
Lilith pursed her lips. Although she wanted to call Kireua and Joshua crazy, the tsunami rolled over Kireua before the words could leave her lips.
“N-No!” Lilith screamed.
Kireua disappeared without a trace, never mind doing anything to the tsunami.
“...Are you satisfied now?” Lilith asked, her voice black with bitterness. “I don’t know what your parenting is like, but the Second Prince is—!”
Once again, Lilith was cut off, almost as if someone had been waiting for Lilith to speak, this time by an innocuous but clearly audible swish.
After a moment, a huge aura attack struck the tsunami. Lilith could guarantee that the black crescent of aura was the biggest and most vivid manifestation of aura she had ever seen.
“Oh my god...”
Lilith wasn’t the only one who was surprised.
-Unbelievable!
Evergrant was appalled. The damage of his spell might be lower than other Ninth Circle spells due to its wide area of impact, but it was still a Ninth Circle spell. In addition, it was black magic, which was just as destructive as any other attribute of magic.
-Arrrgggggghhh!
A splitting headache brought Evergrant down to his knees, but it wasn’t because he was hit with an attack.
“Let’s stop there.”
Joshua had finally stepped in.
-You... Joshua Sanders!
“Haven’t you done enough, Evergrant con Aswald? You’re just a has-been who has to worry about losing to my son,” Joshua casually remarked.
-A h-has-been? You... How dare you!
Despite his resentful roar, Evergrant was shriveling up.
“That’s a breach of the contract, Evergrant,” Joshua said.
-I... curse you... I will continue to hate you... even in the afterlife...!
“I hate to break it to you, but you know that I have your soul and the only end for an undead who’s sold their soul is annihilation?”
-But... I...
Evergrant’s voice became so quiet that it was nearly inaudible, even to someone who was listening for it. Even his body had been reduced to a fist-sized ball.
Joshua turned to look at his son. An odd tension filled the air as the father and son silently locked eyes. The tension was so strange that Lilith, a third party, could feel it.
“Your Majesty. We’re out of time.”
Despite the crisis threatening the Palace, Joshua continued to look into Kireua’s eyes. Since Lilith was sharing her senses with Joshua, she was looking into his eyes as well. What she saw shocked her: darkness deeper than the abyss lurked within Kireua’s orbs.
‘What in the world...?’
Before Lilith could ask, Joshua came to a decision.
“Let’s go back up there,” Joshua said. “You’re right, the situation is urgent.”
* * *
Meanwhile, a man and a woman charged Hubalt’s warriors, their murderous energy unchecked. The paladins were taken aback by the sudden ambush.
“Your Majesty!”
Kurz, previously a Cardinal but now the new emperor of Hubalt, staggered back, eyes wide. It didn’t take long for the paladins to stop the man with the multiple layers of paladins Kurz had surrounded himself with for a situation like this. However, the problem was the woman.
“Gah!”
The woman was unarmed and both her body and mind were tattered, which caused the paladins to let their guard down. Nevertheless, the woman sent the paladins bouncing away with just a few punches.
“What are you doing?! It’s just one woman!”
“Uh, uh, umm... Ah!” One of the paladins watched, wide-eyed, as Carmen soared over his head and struck Kurz like a lightning bolt.
“Kurz!” Carmen’s hand shot for Kurz’s neck like a hawk’s claw, eager to rip out his entire throat.
“S-Stop her! Stop her!”
“Die!”
“Ahhh!” Kurz squeezed his eyes shut as his life flashed across his mind. Everything felt too empty. He’d finally become the emperor, he who ruled over everyone, but he was going to be murdered before he could live out his dream!
“...Ugh!”
“This kind of thing always happens when I go away for a moment.”
Kurz cautiously opened his eyes and immediately rejoiced.
“Bel!”
“Yeah, tigers are tigers even without their fangs. Judging from your backbone, you people are definitely the best knights of the Agnus family.”
Although Bel was holding her by the throat, Carmen continued to struggle, her eyes burning with spite.
“I’m sure that all of you have seen it already, but the nobles of Avalon—no, the kin of the Duke of Avalon himself, dared to try harming our emperor!” Bel yelled, his mana-enhanced voice thundering over the audience.
The paladins—and Kurz—flinched.
“Wa-wait, did you expect all this...?” Kurz murmured in disbelief.
Bel grinned. “If we let this humiliation stand, the rest of the continent would think lightly of us. So...”
He developed his fist and mana and threw a powerful punch into the air.
“A vendetta has been made. The time for war has come.”
“Ohaaaaaaa!”
Babel, now bound once again, trembled at the implications of Bel’s plans. This man was...!
“This bad blood between us and Avalon has continued for a very long time. We lost to them on that day about twenty years ago.”
Silence instantly descended. Some people’s clenched fists trembled with frustration.
“Hubalt’s proud Martial Emperor was brought to his knees. We were even later forced to sign a humiliating agreement that prohibits us even from engaging in trivial local wars. The man who is responsible for all the humiliation that we went through still sits on the throne of the Avalon Empire.”
Joshua Sanders was a legend, so some of the paladins were horrified.
“Don’t be afraid, because I am with you.” Bel released a dragon from his fist and it ascended into the sky with a mighty rumble.
“Wowwwwwwww!”
The majestic sight made all the paladins cheer.
Bel’s smile deepened. “Now, let us go settle this vendetta and show the continent who are the true rulers of Igrant!”