Book 1 Chapter 467
467.
The city was burning.
This was the Tybun Viscounty, a frontier territory of the Karnel Kingdom.
Specifically, it was a city in an outlying district.
Originally, it was a farming city of considerable size.
But as the war became severe, the flames of battle finally reached even here.
Cities and villages burned.
Places that had been people's homes turned into ashes.
The Pettyman Kingdom's army threw the torches held in their hands into homes, fanning the flames.
One of Pettyman's knights, who was on horseback commanding soldiers, pointed his sword at the procession of refugees outside.
“Behold, proud soldiers of Pettyman! There are remnants of the wicked Karnel! Do not miss a single one; strike them down!”
At the leading knight's booming shout, the soldiers flinched.
Seeing their hesitant reaction, the knight roared.
“What are you doing?! Why aren't you chasing those rogues quickly!”
“Sir, sir! No matter how we look at them, they are refugees, not remnants of Karnel.”
There couldn't have been any remnants of the Karnel Kingdom's army in the first place.
The Karnel Kingdom had recently been defeated in a full-scale war with the Pettyman Kingdom, having significantly withdrawn its soldiers.
While the Karnel Kingdom's army withdrew to regroup, the Pettyman Kingdom's army was occupying the Karnel Kingdom's land.
There couldn't have been any battle.
Even the low-ranking soldiers knew that fact.
“You foolish wretches! The moment swords and spears are grasped in their hands, they become an evil army threatening our proud Pettyman!”
A man who appeared to be the Knight Commander roared at the soldiers.
With blood vessels bulging in his eyes, he spat and shouted.
“In His Majesty's name! Uproot evil! Establish justice! That is your mission! The mission of the proud Pettyman Kingdom's army! Slaughter them all!”
“B-but, Sir! There are old people and children there too…”
The Knight Commander's eyes twitched as he saw the soldier trying to persuade him.
“You wretch, are you daring to disobey orders right now?”
The Knight Commander dismounted his horse and approached the soldier.
“It's not insubordination—”
Thump-!
“Gahk?”
The Knight Commander's sword plunged into the soldier's abdomen.
The soldier, spitting blood and trembling, collapsed to the ground.
“Ignorant fools who live under His Majesty's grace yet do not recognize it.”
Disgust rose in the Knight Commander's eyes.
“You wretches who betrayed His Majesty's grace are no longer part of the great Pettyman Kingdom's army, but traitors. Knights!”
Shing-!
Along with the Knight Commander's ominous voice, the Pettyman Knights drew their swords.
Seeing that, the soldiers' faces turned pale.
“Punish these insolent traitors!”
“Glory to His Great Majesty the King!”
“Justice is with us!”
The knights, radiating aura, tried to slaughter the soldiers under their command.
“Aaaaargh!”
“N-no, please don't do this!”
The soldiers fled in terror.
They each held their weapons.
But they had no intention of fighting against the knights.
Having experienced battle, they knew very well.
How meaningless it was to fight against knights who wielded aura.
Seeing the terrified soldiers fleeing, the Knight Commander sneered.
“They should have met their deaths reverently, as they were once under His Majesty's name. To flee so shamefully. Indeed, there's no way to save these vulgar trash.”
The Knight Commander re-gripped his sword, aiming it at the soldier who lay trembling on the ground.
“You, too, shall die.”
The moment he swung his sword to take the life of his subordinate.
Thud-!
“From what I see, the irredeemable trash are you guys.”
An outstretched hand gripped the Knight Commander's sword.
The Knight Commander, his body flinching, looked at the one who had grabbed his hand.
Cold red eyes stared back at him.
“Who are you?! Are you an agent of the Karnel Kingdom?!”
The Knight Commander violently swung his sword, roaring.
But the sword, gripped in Leo's hand, did not budge.
‘What power!’
The Knight Commander, his eyes wide at Leo's unimaginable strength, unleashed his aura.
“I'll cut off your hand along with it!”
With that, aura burst forth from the sword as if exploding.
The Knight Commander, who had been smiling triumphantly at the sight, watched his face turn to horror.
The sword still didn't budge in Leo's hand.
Leo put force into his hand.
Crack-!
“G-gahk?!”
The sword, along with its aura, exploded.
Along with it, fragments of the sword and aura flew everywhere.
The fragments couldn't inflict even a scratch on Leo, but the Knight Commander's body was torn to shreds.
In front of the knights who were about to slaughter the soldiers, Lil appeared.
“As knights on the battlefield, you try to cut down your own subordinates. Aren't you ashamed?”
At Lil's shout, the leading knight swung his spear.
“Whatever kind of girl you are, to block our path! It seems you wish to die!”
With a roar, the aura-infused spear lunged at Lil.
Whoosh-!
But Lil, who had pulled out her battle hammer, was faster at knocking the knight away than the spear was at reaching her.
Thwack-!
“G-gahk?!”
The knight, whose body was struck by the battle axe, flew into the air and then crashed into the ground.
“You're a knight sent by the Karnel Kingdom!”
Lil, who had glanced at the ten knights surrounding her, wielding aura-clad weapons, raised her battle hammer and struck the ground directly.
Crash-!
With that, a surging wave of earth swallowed the knights whole.
“Aaaaargh!”
The knights' dying cries echoed.
A moment later, the knights poked their faces out like moles, their mouths gagged.
Lil, with her battle hammer resting on her shoulder, approached them and said.
“Be thankful that I am a Lumerne student. If I had come here on a family matter, I would have smashed your heads in.”
Seeing Lil speak in such an ominous voice, the knights trembled in fear.
Leo, who had been watching, took out a potion from his pocket and treated the injured soldier's abdomen.
Then he approached the Knight Commander and said.
“I have something I want to ask.”
“You wretches… you're not those Karnel guys! What is your identity!”
At Leo's question, the Knight Commander shouted as if spitting venom.
“Can't you tell by these clothes?”
Leo said, as if annoyed to even answer.
At those words, the Knight Commander flinched and ground his teeth.
“Lumerne?! Lumerne is supposed to maintain neutrality! Aha! Those wicked Karnel wretches must have dragged Lumerne into this! Shame on you! Those who aim to be heroes dare to side with evil!”
The Knight Commander, his eyes wide with madness, spat venom.
Leo, seeing that, narrowed his eyes.
‘Conversation won't get through to him.’
“Long live His Great Majesty the King! Justice will be with the Pettyman Kingdom!”
Leo raised his foot toward the Knight Commander, who was yelling venomously in a frenzy.
“The Justice Guild will punish you…!”
Squish-!
Leo irritably stomped on the Knight Commander's head.
‘Justice Guild?’
Leo narrowed his eyes at the last words the soldier uttered before losing consciousness.
Justice Guild.
It was a place Leo also knew.
None other than a hero guild.
Among human hero guilds, it was the 3rd ranked guild, after Twilight and Imperial.
‘Has the Justice Guild intervened in this war?’
It was then that Leo felt a question rise.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-!
The sound of horse hooves shaking the ground was heard.
He turned his head and saw knights galloping at full speed, flags embroidered with familiar crests fluttering.
Leo checked the request form from his pocket.
‘Tybun Family's family crest.’
They were none other than knights belonging to the Tybun Viscounty, who had submitted a request to Lumerne.
“Whoa, whoa!”
What the leading young knight was riding was none other than a gryphon.
A knight riding a mythical beast.
Anyone could see he was a high-ranking knight.
The young knight checked Leo and Lil's attire and made an embarrassed expression.
“Lumerne school uniforms? How are Lumerne students here?”
Seeing the young knight's puzzled expression, Leo showed him the request form.
“We are students dispatched from Lumerne to solve the request for investigating the grave robbing of a hero's tomb. We'd like to meet the requester, Viscount Relgen Tybun.”
At those words, the young knight dismounted his gryphon and stood before Leo.
“Thank you for responding to the request. However, the requester no longer exists.”
“What does that mean?”
Lil, standing beside Leo, tilted her head.
“My grandfather passed away a month ago. The current Viscount Tybun is not Relgen Tybun, but me, Essimmon Tybun.”
Viscount Essimmon, taking off his helmet and giving a wry smile, spoke with difficulty.
“I appreciate you responding to the request. But you've visited at a truly difficult time, students of Lumerne.”
At Viscount Essimmon's words, Lil made a serious expression.
Seeing Essimmon, Leo said.
“Could you explain the situation?”
At those words, Essimmon nodded.
“Understood. First, I think we should detain the Pettyman Kingdom's knights and soldiers. I will explain the situation afterwards.”
At those words, Lil made a serious expression.
“It seems the situation is more serious than we thought, Leo.”
“……”
“Leo? Is something wrong?”
“Yes, it is.”
At Lil's words, Leo, who had briefly looked up at the sky, clicked his tongue.
‘Someone is watching us from afar.’
Leo's hypersenses detected a gaze.
“It seems something is happening.”
***
“You all know well about the history of the northeastern part of the continent, I presume.”
“Yes. For 1000 years, since the fall of the Tarim Empire, the divided kingdoms have been in constant conflict.”
The Tarim Empire.
It was a nation of heroes located in the northeastern part of the continent.
And the Tarim Empire was the most powerful human nation after the Age of Heroes.
The one who founded Tarim was none other than from the same era as the Heroes of Creation.
More precisely, he was a hero one generation before the Heroes of Creation, recorded in the Hero Records as Tamus, the Knight of the Underworld.
But among people, he has an alias more famous than the Knight of the Underworld.
The Hero Emperor.
He was the strongest hero of his time, with countless heroes under his command.
During Tamus's lifetime, the Tarim Empire was a kingdom where so many heroes gathered that it was called the Hero Empire.
‘Well, he must have been an amazing fellow, but by now he's become an object of complete ridicule.’
After the fragment of Erebus was resurrected.
Tamus, the Knight of the Underworld, declared the subjugation of Erebus.
However, the Tarim Empire's hero legions were defeated by the armies of the Monster Queen and the Giant King, let alone Erebus itself.
Of course, even after being defeated, the Tarim Empire remained intact.
The empire continued for another 2000 years after the Second Coming of Disaster ended.
That meant Tarim held such immense power.
But the Knight of the Underworld and the Tarim Empire did not take to the battlefield after the first battle, in order to preserve their forces.
The reason they are ridiculed in later generations is precisely for that reason.
But in any case, as it was the most powerful nation in history, the legacy it left behind was also immense.
Based on that legacy, even after the empire fell and fragmented into numerous nations, many heroes were born in the northeastern part of the continent.
But after long years of war, it was now a region where the seeds of heroes had dried up.
Recalling the history of the northeastern continent, Leo said.
“The northeast has been fighting for a long time, but it's also a region where war has become normalized, so I understood they wouldn't cross the line, correct?”
More precisely, they couldn't cross the line.
It is true that wars never ceased, with nations claiming to be the legitimate successors of the Tarim Empire and vying to monopolize Tarim's legacy.
However, due to 1000 years of conflict, bloody slaughter had ceased to occur.
More precisely, they had even lost the foundation to wage such wars.
For 1000 years, they had hated each other and aimed swords, but now, even the strength to wage war had completely dried up.
Wars didn't stop due to lingering resentment.
But the nations of the northeastern continent knew that the moment full-scale slaughter began, it would mean mutual destruction.
The wars in the northeast had become a kind of 'territory game,' where if a side became even slightly disadvantaged, they would retreat, and the winning side would no longer pursue, only securing occupied territories.
In other regions, it had even come to be called a 'fake war.'
At Leo's question, Essimmon let out a deep sigh.
“The political situation in this area changed a month ago.”
At those words, Lil made a puzzled expression.
“Has an external force perhaps intervened?”
“Yes.”
Hearing that answer, Leo crossed his arms.
“Is it perhaps related to the Justice Guild?”
“That's correct.”
***
“Your Majesty. Today, Your Majesty's great soldiers have once again brought news of victory. With this, Your Majesty's territory has expanded even further.”
“Indeed.”
Watching the woman speak with her head bowed, the King of Pettyman curled up the corners of his mouth.
“What, in Sir Jerom's view, is the reason for my army's victory?”
The King of Pettyman asked the man standing beside him.
“Is there not only one reason for Your Majesty's army to be victorious?”
Jerom smiled gently.
“It is simply because justice is with Your Majesty. As the true rightful heir of Tarim, it is only natural that all this land becomes Your Majesty's.”
“Hoo-hoo-hoot! Hahahaha! Sir Jerom's words always make me feel good!”
Watching the King of Pettyman burst into loud laughter, Jerom Kardium, the head of the Justice Guild, said.
“Soon, countless heroes will be born even among Your Majesty's subordinates.”
“Is that so?”
The King of Pettyman gave a bright smile.
Seeing such a King of Pettyman, Jerom nodded.
“Of course. True war gives birth to heroes, after all.”