Book 5 Chapter 20
Episode 122
“Kiran…?!”
Seeing Kasena blink her eyes in disbelief, I scrutinized the young man’s face once more.
Oh, this person…?
Isn’t this the young wolf I saw at the executive meeting earlier? The one who said he saw Kasena at the family meeting…
“Kiran, is that really you, Kiran?”
“I’m the one who’s surprised. To think that the tomboy who climbed the outer wall throughout the family meeting, making it impossible for the adults to hold their discussions, has grown into such a lady.”
Kiran smiled sweetly at Kasena, then turned to me and offered a gentle smile.
“We didn’t even get to properly introduce ourselves earlier, Rein. I am Kiran Wolf Blado.”
Blado, the Blado Marquessate.
They were a magic family that wielded great power in the North, possessing blood magic as a family trait, which amplified magical power by using blood.
There was one more interesting point: the existence of the middle name ‘Wolf’.
Because that wasn’t an ordinary surname; it was a title of honor given only to mages who graduated at the top of their class from the magic academy <Winterhold> in the North.
“Actually, I greeted you during the family meeting too, but you ignored my greeting…”
“Ah, that… I apologize. At that time, well, how should I put it, I was in my rebellious phase.”
“No, it’s alright. You were very young back then, so it’s understandable that you were shy.”
I heard later that Kiran first met a five-year-old Kasena at a family meeting when he was around our current age.
They even said that because she was so rambunctious during the adults’ meetings, Kiran was tasked with babysitting her…
They became as close as siblings, but later Kasena injured her leg, and Kiran enlisted in the White Wolf Corps, so they had no opportunities to meet.
“But… do you trust us? The other executives didn’t trust me earlier.”
Instead of answering, Kiran pulled something from his pocket.
Into the darkness, a treasure of the gods that emitted an inscrutable black light to illuminate its surroundings… a pair of Black Yang-Lin.
As Kasena and I exchanged dumbfounded glances, Kiran grinned.
“With these, who could possibly say you’re not a Page?”
“…!”
“But a pair with Kasena? Did you two get engaged when I wasn’t looking? To charm the empire’s most beautiful girl, Rein, you must be quite capable.”
An awkward silence fell for a moment.
The story of how I received them is truly long, but how could I explain every detail?
“If Lady Madelia recognized him as her son-in-law, then he must be an incredibly powerful mage, right?”
“No, that’s not, that’s not it! It’s just that I, well, Rein was pitiful, so I gave it to him!”
Seeing Kasena vehemently deny Kiran’s engagement theory, screaming her protest, it seemed she really did dislike me.
Since Kasena denied it on my behalf, there was no need for me to deny it either. Now was the time to discuss matters more important than such trivial topics.
With a mix of urgency and relief, I pressed my face close to the bars and asked.
“But what did you just say? Alakish is alive?”
“Yes, there are three survivors who saw Lord Alakish moving west in the form of a dragon.”
At that moment, a sigh of relief escaped my body, and all strength drained from me, causing me to slide down onto my knees.
He’s alive…
Alakish is alive…
It was a mystery why he didn't come to the Wall but went west, but if I considered that he judged it necessary to protect Ravenfell from that monster, it wasn't entirely incomprehensible.
“Now it’s my turn to ask questions. No, honestly, the situation is urgent, and I want to release you immediately, but there’s something I need to confirm.”
“…?”
“What did you do to the Commander-in-Chief earlier? I know you didn’t mean to harm him. But when you used your power, I heard a strange voice.”
“Kiran, did you hear it too?”
“Of course I did. It seems the other executives couldn’t hear it because their magical sensitivity is low, but…”
To avoid repeating the same mistake as before, I calmly recounted the hypothesis I had formulated based on my experiences in Harbadonia.
Something clearly orchestrated the relationship between humans and beastfolk… and what I eliminated earlier was a 5-Star (Formed) Possession Spirit.
Kiran, who had been calmly listening without Kasena needing to interject, finally furrowed his brow.
“So my suspicions were correct…”
“So if we leave things as they are, it will play right into their hands. We have to open the Wall’s gate somehow.”
“If the beastfolk are indeed moving to the barracks base as you say, then the closest gate from there is…”
Kiran then nodded in that direction, and another wolf immediately ran over and unlocked the prison door with a key.
“The situation is urgent, so let’s talk as we move. Alphonse, free their hands too.”
I could only blink, as a plan I still didn’t understand was unfolding too rapidly, but Kiran handed me the dragon egg basket and the Black Yang-Lin, my hands now free.
“The very fact that you were entrusted with these is proof that you received Lord Alakish’s trust. So I can trust you.”
“…?”
“Actually, I’ve harbored the same thoughts as you. And it seems you’ve confirmed them to be true.”
“What do you mean by that, Kiran?”
“This Commander-in-Chief was actually friendly towards the beastfolk until he was elected. No, if you look at the history of the Wall, most Commanders-in-Chief were like that.”
“…!”
“But as soon as they were elected to the position of Commander-in-Chief, they would change, becoming severely hostile… Not many people deeply suspected it. They just dismissed it, thinking they must have realized the harsh reality.”
Most Commanders-in-Chief…?
Before he could even finish that sentence, my mind went cold.
“It’s them. The practitioner of that Possession Spirit must have done it.”
“Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing.”
“So what are you trying to do now? Why are you suddenly letting us go?”
“To send you west.”
“West?”
Following him out of the prison, two wolves who had been keeping watch nodded to Kiran.
Three wolves, presumably the prison guards, lay unconscious in a corner, their mouths and bodies bound with ropes.
The Wall, bathed in twilight, shone with a golden hue, scattering an eerie light across the world, and from it, a strange unease welled up.
‘Twilight already…’
How much time had passed? Surely only half a day? It couldn’t have been longer. And it shouldn’t be.
As I was thinking that, Kiran cast a magical fog screen and led us past the guards’ eyes to a stone archway on the other side.
It was a structure connecting to a basement, and the wolf who was leading the way picked up a lantern hanging on the outer wall and opened a large oak door.
“This is an underground passage leading west. You can travel all the way to West Gate (Seogyumun). However, it’s interrupted once due to Silverhorn Bay, so we’ll have to go above ground there.”
It was a passage so wide that it made me wonder if it truly was underground, and it was even bright due to the regularly hung lanterns.
Furthermore, there were five more wolves in front of the basement, along with ten ponies, which were convenient for moving in such a space.
Unable to fully grasp the situation, I could only stare at Kiran, who was the last to enter the basement, closing the door firmly and locking the bolt.
“There’s no need to be surprised. It means there are people among the White Wolves who think the same way as you. More wolves than you’d think have received help from beastfolk.”
Kiran, murmuring those words as he mounted his pony, wore a sad smile.
“I was one of them, too.”
Kasena, who was mounting her pony with my help, showed interest in his demeanor.
“What happened?”
“It’s a story from when I was nineteen. I got caught in a fierce blizzard during my first patrol and was separated from the main unit.”
“And? What happened then?”
“But a beastfolk warrior helped me get to the Wall. He was a polar bear beastfolk, a very kind, strong, and interesting friend.”
Listening to Kasena and Kiran’s conversation, I was stepping into the stirrup to mount my pony when I suddenly paused and had to lift my head.
A polar bear?
A polar bear beastfolk?
In that moment, I recalled Opuss, the one-eyed polar bear, who had vented his rage, claiming his son had been murdered by the wolf he helped.
“But then, the senior wolf who opened the gate for me just plunged a knife into that beastfolk’s neck without a word. He claimed the beastfolk was trying to trick me and enter the Wall. When I demanded to know what he was doing, he told me to be grateful.”
Kasena and I exchanged stunned glances, then turned our gaze to Kiran. Kiran shook his head, motioning for us not to say anything.
“This could be an apology for that day… and in the long run, it might be about upholding the wolves’ honor. If we let ourselves be played according to the plans of these unknown entities, what will be recorded in history later?”
“…!”
“Let’s go to West Gate. There are only 150 administrative troops and three executives there. It’s close to the barracks base. Bring the beastfolk there. We’ll leave the gate open.”
* * *
The White Lord Shar’kash, who had quietly stepped out onto the snowy field barefoot, looked up at the structure he had never seen before with an indifferent expression.
Hmm, so this is the <Snow Spirit Great Wall>…
Those minions of the Genesis God, how dare they build such a ridiculous thing in the King’s territory?
‘According to the memories I’ve extracted, the keys to break the seal fled beyond this wall…’
The Queen of Time, who had just awakened, also pursued those brats… and Karenden intervened there.
For the new millennium kingdom, I must capture those human brats and look into their souls.
‘But this blocks my way.’
It was the moment he approached and placed his hand on the ice wall of the <Snow Spirit Great Wall>.
A faint streak of light seemed to flicker on the outer wall, then it swiftly converged into a fierce flash and exploded, causing Shar’kash’s eyes to widen.
Suddenly, his left arm was severed, then instantly incinerated into ashes within the light, scattering aimlessly into the air.
‘What…?!’
In that very instant, if he hadn't severed his left shoulder with a spiderweb, that light might have spread throughout his entire body like a potent venom, inflicting a fatal wound.
Shar’kash’s brow, as he examined his body, furrowed slightly, a rare sight.
‘Super-fast regeneration is not happening.’
Spiderwebs eerily shot out from the severed surface of his left arm.
Those spiderwebs quickly wove new flesh up to just above the elbow, but the lower part stubbornly refused to form.
Super-fast regeneration is the authority of immortality bestowed upon the Abyssal Transcendent Beings by the Abyssal Lord, and the power that can so strongly resist that authority of immortality is…
‘Is it Karenden’s power? No, Telsia? Either way, this is troublesome.’
He had no attachment to his arm.
He had to recreate it anyway after suffering a fatal wound in the battle with Ashura’s avatar. It would be recreated anew within a week regardless.
‘Presumptuous beings, did they truly think they could imprison the King’s power with mere walls like this?’
Hmph, it’s futile… The fact that they built such walls is proof that those guys no longer have power. Or they might have left this world.
I’ll tear it down soon enough, once I’ve re-established the King’s army. The talents to be newly conscripted were countless, scattered across this land.
Was the woman who wielded that ridiculous weapon called a holy sword named Enuel? The descendants of those who invaded the King’s land, following that woman.
“Let’s go to Ravenfell.”
The moment Shar’kash turned, a colossal transcendent being, standing like a mountain behind him, bent its legs so the boy could comfortably mount its back.
Had anyone seen it from afar, they would surely have identified it as a Red Dragon.
However, its dragon scales, which once blazed fiercely like flames, were covered in slimy spiderwebs and reeked, and its noble, shining golden dragon eyes were dyed dark blue, emitting an eerie malice.
Yes, before it was swallowed by the Abyss, this being was said to have been called Alakish.