Impertinent. Scandalous. Unpleasant. Shocking.
‘I want to tear him apart!’
Duke Lucilliv was furious as he faced Grid. Who was he? He was the younger brother of the late King Wiesbaden and the uncle of the present King Aslan. He had the most n.o.ble lineage in the Eternal Kingdom. No, even if his lineage wasn’t mentioned, he was still the most powerful man in the kingdom. He was even treated well by the prestigious n.o.bles of the Saharan Empire.
‘A guy without any lineage dares to insult me?’
It was an att.i.tude that couldn’t be accepted.
“Grid...! This behavior is too vulgar! You don’t even know filial piety and basic etiquette!”
Duke Lucilliv shouted with a red face and Grid shook.
"Even if I have manners, why should I be polite to trash? And what is filial piety? Don’t use words that are so difficult.”
“T-This...!
Again! Again! Again!!
Using the word trash for a n.o.ble like him? He couldn’t help doubting Grid’s brain.
‘Don’t you understand how n.o.ble the royal lineage is?’
Duke Lucilliv forgot the seriousness of the situation and became concerned. Grid pointed a dark blue sword at him. No, it was like a wooden sword rather than a longsword because there was no distinction between the handle and the blade. Duke Lucilliv’s tension was released.
‘That’s right. He won’t dare hurt me. If he doesn’t submit to me, the hostages will eventually die.’
“Duke Lucilliv!”
"Protect the duke!”
"Waaahhhhhhhh!"
The moment that Duke Lucilliv and Grid face each other. The Eternal troops deployed all over Bairan flocked to Grid, surrounding him by over 90,000 troops. It was an obvious crisis for Grid. Duke Lucilliv saw Grid as a beast trapped behind barbed wire.
“Experience the position of the weak who can’t resist? You are the one who will experience it.”
Duke Lucilliv pulled out a handkerchief to s.h.i.+eld his mouth and nose from the dust caused by the movements of the soldiers. He truly acted like a n.o.ble. On the other hand, dust was nothing for Grid who always lived a fierce life. He was willing to eat all of it.
"You"ll see soon."
Kwajijijik!
Duke Lucilliv misunderstood that this was a wooden sword. Grid moved with the +7 Sword Ghost. The Eternal soldiers, including Duke Lucilliv, doubted their eyes.
“D-Demon...?”
A little while ago, the sun was rising when Grid reached here. It wasn’t possible to grasp Grid’s appearance because of the shade. But now. As the sun rose in the sky and the shade covering Grid disappeared, Grid’s appearance became clear.
Darkness swelled. His white skin contrasted with that. White skin and red eyes. He was similar to the demons described in books. It was difficult to see him as an ordinary human.
“D-Duke Grid is a demon, not a human?”
“His strength makes sense now..."
The soldiers muttered. Asmophel’s expression wasn’t good as he belatedly arrived at Grid’s side.
‘The hearts of the soldiers who feel envious towards Grid are starting to shake!’
Grid had to remove the misunderstanding that he was a demon. But how? The moment Asmophel thought this. Grid judged that the soldiers had misunderstood and put on the Holy Light Crown. The crown used by Pope Franz who sealed Marie Rose, the strongest vampire. There was no need to talk about the divinity coming from it. The demonic energy Grid was giving off paled next to it.
“Ahh...”
The eyes of the soldiers towards Grid changed once more. After envy and fear, there was now awe. Grid started a spectacular sword dance.
“Pagma’s Swordsmans.h.i.+p, Linked Kill Wave.”
Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!
Black energy blades flew like a gale towards Duke Lucilliv. It was also twice in a row!
"There is one more Linked Kill Wave.”
-?
Was this a video replay? The viewers fell into confusion.
***
Was there a need to have a large piece of land on the West Continent? There was a total of 17 kingdoms and a wide variety of ethnic groups on the continent. But in the end, the influence of the Saharan Empire couldn’t overtake it. It was right to call the West Continent itself the Saharan Empire. Some scholars had pessimistic interpretations.
The power of the Saharan Empire was overwhelming. All kingdoms on the continent gave tribute to the empire, learned the culture of the empire, and some small nations even followed the empire’s orders.
"...But I will change the landscape of the continent. The Eternal Kingdom will become the focal point of all nations in the shadow of the empire.”
Eternal’s 14th king, King Aslan.
He was a prince who had studied in the empire. Of course, it wasn’t from his desire, but because it was compulsory. Throughout the time of his studying, he experienced great contempt from the n.o.bles and royalty of the empire. He didn’t want his descendants to experience such humiliation. He decided to change the world.
He had grand aspirations. He had no intention of making the sacrifice of his brother Ren in vain. After killing his brother and becoming king, he was determined to leave behind great achievements. Aslan was confident at first. He was sure that he was better than his brother after winning the throne.
‘My first goal is to build Eternal into a fully neutral nation.’
It was a challenge to become self-sufficient enough to stand up to the empire, who were able to exert pressure in the fields of economy, military, and science. This was why King Aslan was obsessed with Grid. He tried to keep their relations.h.i.+p as good as possible, despite the fact that Grid was a dangerous person who declared he wouldn’t be loyal to the royal family.
But eventually it failed. Grid caused a rebellion. The worst thing was that the most reliable person in Eternal, Earl Ashur, was acquired by Grid. King Aslan became desperate. He lost strength before he could build up his strength and he saw that Eternal was walking down the path of defeat.
‘I hate the circ.u.mstances where I had to pin my brother’s death on Grid.’
Over the past few months, Eternal had been declining. In order to recapture the territories taken by Grid, most of the kingdom’s funds were used for war supplies and developing the soldiers. In addition, the young people who were the future of the kingdom were conscripted into the war. What meaning was there in condemning Grid and successfully reclaiming the territory? In the end, the kingdom would be ruined!
“Kukuk... I’m also incompetent.”
King Aslan’s heart became sick.
The reason he’d killed his brother was because he had a big dream in mind. Now that this happened, the justification for losing his brother disappeared and King Aslan’s heart became sick. He was drinking another cup of wine when somebody knocked on his door.
There weren’t many people allowed to knock on the door of the king’s bedroom.
"Come in."
King Aslan spoke in a hoa.r.s.e voice. The man who entered his room after receiving permission was Chucksley. He was the best swordsman in Eternal and was loyal to the royal family. In addition, he was one of the few people who knew that King Aslan was Prince Ren’s killer.
"A guest from the empire has come.”
Chucksley spoke gently, while Aslan replied cynically.
"Is the payment for making me king still lacking? Ah~ that’s right. Are they here to get compensation for the solo number knight who died from a soldier?”
Aslan had borrowed the empire’s power to become king. He wasn’t being used by the empire, he was using them. But now the situation was reversed. He couldn’t escape his destiny of being the empire’s puppet.
“Kukuk... The late king must feel sorry. How terrible is it to see his son kill his own brother and hurt his kingdom.”
"Your Majesty, please pay attention to your behavior.”
Chucksley resented Aslan for killing Prince Ren. However, he had to serve Aslan. After all, Aslan became king and Chucksley had to give his loyalty to the royal family. Chucksley was concerned when he heard Aslan’s words. King Aslan’s chest hurt looking at him.
‘I’m saddened that he has met an incompetent master and lost his talent.’
Chucksley had become a great swordsman with his own abilities. This wasn’t common even in the empire. It was said that there was no one better than Chucksley except for Piaro, Asmophel, and the top three solo number knights of the present Red Knights.
If King Aslan had created a good environment for Chucksley, he would’ve become one of the best talents of the West Continent.
***
“It has been a long time. This is late, but congratulations on becoming king.”
“...!”
King Aslan was very surprised when he entered the reception hall. Was it because the guest from the empire just nodded instead of kneeling before the king? No, that wasn’t it. The guest who came from the empire wasn’t someone who needed to be polite to the king of Eternal!
"Prince Benoit...?”
The empire’s 3rd prince! Unlike the other members of the royal family, he had a weak presence in the empire. He rarely showed up for official appearances and he wasn’t someone with a loud nature. In any case, he was still a prince of the empire. It was tremendous, since he was 3rd in line to the throne. Why did he come to this small kingdom directly?
King Aslan was surprised by the unexpected visitor and asked. “Yes. I haven’t seen you since I studied in the empire. Prince Benoit, why did you come to this place?”
He spoke in a polite tone. Prince Benoit smiled at King Aslan’s caution. It was a warm smile like suns.h.i.+ne.
"Are we fellow alumni since we studied in the same place? I heard you were in a crisis and came to help.”
“Cri-sis?”
Yes, he was in a crisis. But a crisis that made the prince of the empire come running over...
King Aslan was able to question it when Chucksley came in an shouted.
“Your Majesty! It’s an emergency! I received intelligence that the rebel army is marching here!”
“What?”
King Aslan stiffened like a stone statue. Grid still had an army to fight back? Even if the size of the army was small, there were few troops stationed here. Most of the troops were committed to the war. King Aslan turned his gaze to Prince Benoit who was still smiling brilliantly.
“Is this the crisis you were talking about?”
Benoit didn’t deny it. He nodded and handed King Aslan a comb. Yes, a comb. It was a tool for combing hair.
“What is this...?”
Prince Benoit whispered to the confused King Aslan.
“It is a tool to summon a great demon. You should try it.”
In that gap, Benoit would find Piaro and the Amethyst s.h.i.+eld.