– The House Owen moved the fastest. They were the ones facing the greatest danger, so in fact, it was strange they had been so slow until now.
– The House Owen had gone to the Ipa Battlefield.
– Now the second son and the youngest son, who had become the head of the family, were dividing the House Owen between north and south.
– But that was only in the past.
– The youngest had sold his future by making all sorts of promises to the noble families.
– For the youngest, who controlled the North, this was a crisis. Because the western part of the North was being joined by the House Ophern, and the eastern part by the House Gisert.
– Even if he was still young, he carried the blood of the House Owen.
– He bore the name Ieund Owen.
‘What should I do…’
– His heart was complicated.
– The Royal Court hoped the House Owen would collapse during this opportunity. To be precise, they hoped it would barely continue its lineage.
– For the Royal Court, which had been checking the Noble Faction, this was a natural stance on the surface. But.
‘Even so, if the House Ophern grows any further like this, they won’t be easy to control.’
– Considering the current military power of the House Ophern, it would actually be better to help Owen.
– Wasn’t the House Ophern originally a family with high potential? If they obtained the Owen family’s iron mine as well, the story changes.
– Hadn’t rumors spread belatedly that Rayrn had also acquired a new mine?
‘He must have seen the possibility of iron even on flat land. I don’t know how he figured it out.’
– If the House Owen were to lose a few more iron mines here, the House Ophern would come to possess several of the most prominent iron mines in the Kingdom of Malexia.
– Iron can be turned into weapons. If iron becomes easier to obtain while they are already producing mana-infused iron, the story changes even further.
– Yet the Royal Court was half-heartedly withdrawing its hand.
‘They’re not the kind to just sit still.’
– He couldn’t know why. The situation of the House Owen was too complicated to get information.
– There were occasional reports that the Royal Court was moving for something, but as for what that was, no one in the House Owen knew yet.
– It was not unusual, since the movements of the Royal Court had always been difficult to discern.
‘Are they trying to use the Orcs of the North to check us?’
– Ieund, who had been thinking about the Orcs, shook his head.
‘There’s no way the Orcs can be controlled.’
– Orcs were only fit for use as gladiator slaves. Even if you wanted to enslave them, their temperaments were fierce. They instinctively did not wish to be subjugated.
– Perhaps if the master was a strong one. But it had to be another Orc.
– So that was nonsense.
‘What are they thinking… They should at least stop that Rayrn. What…’
– As for Ieund, he simply couldn’t understand.
– Anyway, the important thing was that he couldn’t expect help from the Royal Court.
“What should I do?”
– Ieund had already sold his future.
– If he lost in this situation, the aftermath was obvious.
– His older brother, who held the South, would surely kill him. Then he would proclaim himself the Marquis of Owen.
– He would lose a considerable amount of territory, but.
‘That fox-like older brother…’
– He probably thought he would somehow find a way.
‘You fool.’
– It was actually absurd.
– How could he do anything without the territory, the foundation of a lord?
– For someone nearly twenty years older than him, his way of thinking was quite immature. He was a very shallow person.
‘It’s amazing that such a person came from under Father.’
– Because his older brothers were so incompetent, he had secretly thought he would obtain the House Owen.
– But the timing was bad.
– Ieund was confident that if he had only had a few more years, the situation would have been completely different.
– The important thing now was to come up with a plan to survive.
– Just like when he gathered the nobles.
“I’ll have to sell my future again.”
– The only thing he had to sell was his future. Whether it would be bloody or rosy, it would be one of the two. He would only strive to make it rosy.
‘It’s laughable that I don’t think about the future, but…’
– It was complicated, but Ieund had a firm grasp of the current situation.
– In the end, he had to think.
‘Ophern… is merciful, but cannot maintain their influence.’
– The Royal Court would neither be merciful nor allow them to maintain their influence. Perhaps they were even waiting for a declaration of surrender.
– The unexpected answer was only one, wasn’t it?
“…Ion.”
– Ieund cautiously called for someone.
“Yes! Marquis!”
– The knight Ion, who came in after opening the door, was one of his few loyal retainers.
‘It’s too grand to call him a loyal retainer, but…’
– He was the one who had looked after Ieund since childhood, in place of the old Marquis Owen. The only person who looked at him with affectionate eyes, not greedy ones, was Ion.
– But.
‘…Hah!’
– He was in a situation where he had to send that rare loyal person to a place that could become a death ground.
– Ieund couldn’t help but close his eyes tightly without realizing it.
“Whatever it is, just give the order, Marquis… no, Young Master Ieund.”
– At the voice he heard, Ieund opened his closed eyes.
– He looked at Ion with clear eyes, as if he had made a decision. Ion seemed pleased with those eyes, and looked at Ieund with a contented gaze.
“Ion. I’m asking you to go die.”
“Where shall I go?”
– There was no hesitation, no fear. He simply met Ieund’s eyes as if he had to do what had to be done.
“…To Gisert. Tell him I will sell my future to him.”
“Is that your decision? It could be a difficult path. Perhaps Ophern would be better.”
“They are the ones who killed Father. Going to them would only benefit my older brother.”
– It had long been a popular opinion that the House Ophern might have killed the Marquis Owen.
– If he joined with Ophern in that situation, his older brother, who was staying put, could seize a justification. That was also unacceptable.
“Then that is the right judgment. I will go. A few hours will be enough.”
– As if he had anticipated it, Ion seemed already prepared.
– Though a knight, he was no fool. He knew how to use his head.
– That was probably why the late Marquis Owen had attached Ion to Ieund as a precaution.
– As if not to burden him, Ion was about to leave with a bright smile.
– Ieund looked at him with eyes that grew hot, but.
“…I’m sorry.”
“I am merely carrying out my mission.”
– Ion ignored it deliberately and moved.
“Let’s go!”
“Yes!”
– The knight Ion departed immediately and ran toward the Northeast without hesitation. It was to convey Ieund’s will to the House Gisert.
‘To catch a lion, he brings in another lion…’
– In the end, to stop Ophern, bringing in Gisert was a bad move.
– In the midst of that, Ieund must have made his own calculations. The problem was.
‘Gisert is more greedy than the Young Master thinks.’
– The greed of Gisert ran deeper than the young Ieund imagined.
– Their greed was growing larger with each generation. Ion was deeply troubled by that. Perhaps that was why.
“I hear you have family still alive?”
“I don’t know if they are still alive. I lost.”
“No. That side didn’t engage in pointless massacres. Why don’t you go see them?”
“Excuse me?”
“Take this and move.”
– Ion pulled out something he had prepared in advance from his bosom.
– It was one of the official seals he had received while the Marquis Owen was alive. Its meaning was considerable. It held a small amount of the House Owen’s symbolism.
‘It can’t be helped.’
– The dead Marquis Owen would never have known this symbol, which he had given to Ion, would be used this way.
“If you go there, you will surely survive.”
“…Then what about you, Sir Ion?”
“I might die. But this will become the path for everyone to live. Go.”
“…I accept your command.”
– The three knights who had joined him looked at the unwavering Ion and then split off.
‘Maybe the end will be fox-like. Heh.’
– Watching them, Ion spurred his horse onward again. He, having received Ieund’s command, headed toward the House Gisert.
– And the remaining three knights moved toward the House Ophern, carrying the symbol.
– Thus, the dwindling House Owen was connecting its end to both Gisert and Ophern.
– It was unknown what would change in this situation, but.
– Many were moving to survive and plan for the future.
– In the midst of that, Ophern and Gisert were forced to face each other again over the East and West.
– It was not their own territories. It was a meeting where they had divided the Northeast and Northwest of the Owen territory.
– At the half-ruined Opero Castle.
– On the flat ground below the castle, they face each other, staring blankly for a while.
– They knew each other’s personalities all too well.
‘His momentum is good.’
‘So that’s Ophern. Hmm…’
– It would be ridiculous for either side to back down now.
Whoooosh-
– The two, raising their momentum, had no time for preparation or negotiations for a truce.
– It remained to be seen how Ion and the knights would influence these two.
“Prepare.”
– The moment Ophern gave the order in his usual heavy voice, the Duke of Gisert, as if he had been waiting, said,
“Deploy the Servants.”
“Now?”
“Ophern will take the vanguard. We must prepare. If we bring down Ophern, the story changes.”
“…There are two hundred Servants that can be deployed immediately. All are enhanced individuals. However, control…”
“Doesn’t matter. Deploy them as soon as they are ready.”
“I will execute.”
Creak, creak.
– He prepared the Servants, which had become his main battle weapon.
‘Is that them?’
Whoosh-
– Count Ophern raised his Qi and secretly measured the power of the Servants.
– The people of the world knew him simply as someone who had just become an Aura Master, but the truth was that the power he had gained through Rayrn’s cultivation method had not even been properly revealed yet.
– But.
‘They are sinister.’
– The power of the Servants, which carried a sinister energy felt by Count Ophern, was also quite strong.
– An individual might not match Count Ophern, but the problem was that there were nearly two hundred of them.
‘The sacrifices might become too great. Hmm…’
– As always, the most important thing at this moment was Count Ophern’s role.
‘This might be a crisis.’
– Steeling his fighting spirit, Count Ophern stepped forward to the vanguard first.
– That was the signal.
“Go!”
“Advance!”
– Both sides began moving forward simultaneously.
– Knights, soldiers, and Servants.
– Each formed a formation, and the moment tens of thousands crashed into each other was awe-inspiring. But that awe was short-lived.
Thwack!
“Ghk.”
Boom, crackle, crash-
– The moment they collided, the awe turned into a slaughter.
“Forward! Forward! Don’t stop!”
– No one tried to stop the brutal slaughter. They only urged onward again!
***
At that moment, when a collision that would continue until one side’s spirit fell to the ground was taking place,
“Move. We must draw it up from here.”
“I know.”
Whoooosh-
– There were those moving by manipulating a demonic mana even denser than the sinister mana of the Servants.
– Black Mages!
– Dozens of them gathered to create a single enormous magic circle.
Whoooooosh-
– The immense mana was amplifying endlessly.