Chapter 7
The sky at dawn was filled with snow.
Despite it being summer, Rowen shivered in the chilling cold.
Summer would soon come to an end.
Thinking about the impending drop in temperature only made him tremble even more.
Just a moment ago, Rowen saw a massive meteor.
A glowing mass of light headed somewhere beyond the snowy mountains.
It didn’t shine like a star, but its dark silhouette illuminated its presence.
Karin clasped her hands together.
“Are you making a wish?”
“Shh, make one too, brother.”
“No thanks. That’s childish.”
Karin opened her right eye slowly and glared at Rowen.
She didn’t like his response.
“Are you calling me childish?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“Must be nice to have a childish little sister.”
Karin enjoyed seeing Rowen flustered.
Though they only shared half of the same blood, the pure white hair made it clear they were siblings.
Seeing him all awkward like this brought her joy.
“I’ll just make my childish wish then. You can keep studying that magic you love so much.”
“You really are childish, aren’t you?”
“What’s wrong with a kid acting childish?”
A mocking laugh.
Rowen knew the meaning behind that laugh.
It was to tease him.
This cheeky little sister only enjoyed seeing him flustered.
“…So, what are you going to wish for?”
“Hmm… There are so many, it’s hard to choose!”
Out of countless wishes, if she were to choose the one she desired most, it would undoubtedly be for her family.
She wished for the return of her father and elder brother, whom she hadn’t seen for two years.
Kadan was said to be in a high place beyond the mountain range.
He promised to come back after ten nights.
But Kadan hadn’t returned in two years.
Cain called their father a trash who abandoned his children.
Every time he said that, Rowen would add a new bruise to his face.
Karin believed in Kadan.
She believed he wasn’t abandoning them, but was simply too busy to come back.
Their mother, Miyabi, had said something similar.
Kael’s absence was because of something very important, she explained.
Honestly, Karin didn’t really understand what that meant.
She just wanted to play with her eldest brother.
She was at the age to be playful.
But those two years were enough to leave her disappointed.
“Do you miss him a lot?”
Rowen’s question.
Karin nodded, still clasping her hands with her eyes closed.
Rowen placed his hand on her head and gently patted it.
Silently.
Before the light tail of the massive meteor disappeared.
Rowen closed his eyes in the direction where the light vanished beyond the snowy mountain.
“Didn’t you say making wishes was childish?”
“Shut up.”
“Hmph.”
“It’s not childish when I do it.”
“That’s exactly what being childish means, you know.”
Rowen focused on making his wish, ignoring her words.
***
“What lunatic dared to do this!”
“Your Majesty, that’s…”
“What did the Arcanxia scum create now!”
“I sense a powerful concentration of mana!”
The crumbling Imperial Capital.
The pure white outer walls collapsed into the crimson inner walls.
It was like a meticulously stacked house of cards falling apart, the walls of glory crumbling away.
He looked up at the collapsing ceiling.
The massive statue dominated the surroundings with its overwhelming size.
Even more shocking was the fact that it was pressing down on the Guardian of the Sky, the Phoenix, with its vicious arm.
The Phoenix was a summoned creature from ages long past, called forth by the founder of the royal family.
It resided in the Spirit Realm.
Summoning it was impossible without an immense amount of mana.
The King of Fire Spirits, the Phoenix.
It had been defeated.
The mana crystal embedded in the statue’s core glowed dimly.
It was grand and majestic.
The term “overwhelmed by the atmosphere” was not an exaggeration.
Not just its presence, but its power was also extraordinary.
“Is this what they were aiming for?”
“You had already realized, hadn’t you? We were only meant to buy time.”
“I never expected something like this to arrive.”
“Could you have anticipated this?”
“Not at all. In that sense, I might have to give them credit.”
Rahim sneered softly.
He was already bleeding profusely.
He had little time left.
He could feel death approaching.
The statue moved.
Its movements were not slow.
If anything, they were swift.
But it was not the kind of speed one would expect from something of that size.
“Its movements are unpredictable.”
“How troublesome.”
“Your Majesty, the Phoenix…”
“I know.”
“You must escape.”
Lucius stared straight at Kadan.
Escape?
Where to?
They had suspected that the enemy had some sort of scheme.
But a moving statue?
Even in dreams, he had never heard of such a thing.
He couldn’t have anticipated it, much less imagined it.
They were surrounded by enemies on all sides.
Even the Guardian of the Sky, the Phoenix, was suppressed by that thing.
There was no way to win.
If there was no chance of victory, then all that was left was to fight.
“Your Majesty!”
Kadan shouted.
The look in Lucius’s eyes was similar to the late Emperor from the distant past.
Children often take after their parents.
It wasn’t a false saying.
That reckless determination was precisely what he respected and served.
That’s why he had to protect him.
‘He’s not someone who should fall here.’
Kadan rotated his core.
He amplified mana ruthlessly.
The mana of his ancestors flowed through his entire body.
“I am Your Majesty’s sword.”
If even the Phoenix couldn’t defeat this foe, then there was no hope for him either.
He wouldn’t be able to turn the tide, let alone win.
But perhaps he could sever one of its arms or find out who was casting this unknown magic.
Believing so, he infused Frost Magic throughout his body.
“I will keep my promise.”
“Kadan, I will fight alongside you.”
“Head underground.”
“What are you telling me to do there? Just sit and watch as you’re being overwhelmed?”
“If you’re there, you won’t be able to see anything.”
“That’s not what I meant! Do you think wordplay matters in a situation like this?”
Kadan showed a faint smile.
Then, he looked at Lucius as if he were looking at his own child.
“You know better than anyone what’s down there.”
“…That’s exactly why I’m saying this.”
The kingdom’s underground.
There was a teleportation portal that connected to the capital of each continent.
A dimensional space where immense mana swirled.
That place connected to the heart of Wintera, Snowfall.
“When you reach Wintera, leave with the children.”
“Leave?”
“If Arcanxia plans to occupy this place, Wintera won’t be safe either.”
“So, what you’re saying is….”
Kadan took off the fur coat made of black goat leather.
Thud.
As soon as the coat fell to the ground, he took his stance.
He pointed his sword at the enemy, and rune words began to circle around his torso.
The dense mana and frost unique to the Balenos Family intensified the atmosphere.
The air naturally grew cold enough to emit breath.
“Are you worried?”
“Of course I am!”
“Haha, I won’t die. I’ll be right behind you, so don’t worry.”
The statue tore the Phoenix’s body in half.
A massive flame erupted from the sky, exploding outward.
In an instant, the surrounding area was stained red.
The statue did not collapse amidst the explosion.
“Kadan…”
“Go. If Your Majesty stays here any longer, it will be difficult for me.”
“The throne….”
“What does that throne matter? Oh, Your Majesty. I don’t think it’s important at all. Your life is as precious to me as that of my own children.”
“It’s my father’s legacy!”
“It’s also the legacy of my master and friend.”
So.
“Go.”
With tears in his eyes, Lucius ran out.
The path to the basement was blocked, but he knew the direction.
Seeing his collapsed home tore his heart apart, but thinking of Kadan made it seem insignificant.
“Don’t die…!”
“I will follow that command.”
Boom!
The statue stared directly at Kadan.
Kadan stared directly at the statue.
They both directed killing intent toward one another.
The statue was a soulless magic creation.
It was something created by combining magic and Mage Engineering.
So, it had no emotions.
However, the emotions of its creator faintly remained in the statue.
Kadan silently conjured a space of ice.
To fight that enormous thing, he had to utilize space.
He created an ice sheet and leaped forward.
“Block him!”
Rahim squeezed out his last breath to shout.
Then, soldiers who had come to ambush them appeared and blocked the path.
Many enemy soldiers surrounded them.
“Do you all want to freeze again?”
Those blocking his path.
Rather, he was grateful.
They were the perfect opponents for buying time.
The more enemies there were, the farther Lucius could get away.
Even if it meant sacrificing his life, a loyal subject would give everything to protect his liege.
It was an order, but also his own wish.
The statue transmuted its mana into rune language and began to cast magic.
Massive energy spheres started to form around it.
Kadan clicked his tongue and continued swinging his sword, making sure its tip didn’t dull.
“Gah!”
“Stop him!”
The soldiers were mercilessly cut down.
Ten fell with a single swing of Kadan’s sword, and dozens more were frozen solid by his frost energy.
“To think you could stop me with just this—don’t underestimate me!”
The circular mana core spun violently.
The mana grew thicker and denser.
He could feel the power of his ancestors saturating deep into his bones.
Dark energy.
The mana, which was deepening from blue to indigo, turned pitch black in an instant.
“It’s coming.”
As the sword aura formed, the statue leaped high into the air.
It struck down with tremendous force.
Dense energy spheres shot out in all directions.
Kadan twisted his body, dodging all the energy spheres.
He moved as he dodged, reaching speeds close to the speed of sound.
It was no wonder he was praised as the Great Knight.
Icicles made of steel-like ice.
Dozens of them circled around like a mandala.
With a flick of Kadan’s hand, sharp ice blades shot toward the statue’s shoulder.
The ice spear that floated in the air landed in Kadan’s left hand.
Vwoom—!
The harsh punch sent Kadan’s body crashing back.
He didn’t die.
It wasn’t a fatal blow.
But blood trickled down his forehead.
Bleeding was dangerous.
If it didn’t stop and continued flowing, death was inevitable.
But that didn’t matter at all.
“Your attacks are too simple.”
Craaaack!
Despite clearly leaping and swinging downward, Kadan was still alive.
The statue’s arm, which should’ve landed the strike, was severed in an instant.
Before it could even realize what happened to its arm—
Kadan’s sword drew a straight line before its eyes.
The relentless flurry of sword strikes pushed the statue back.
Kadan kept generating ice sheets mid-air and leaping around.
The colliding Frost Magic shattered into shards and scattered across the ground.
The statue, now missing an arm.
Kadan didn’t care and continued to pummel it.
Kadan thought.
‘Now’s my chance!’
The final strike was ready.
Kadan took a deep breath, gathering all the pitch-black sword aura.
The swirling mana in his core flowed into the ice spear and sword.
“It’s time for you to fall.”
Kadan swung with all his might.
A black dot.
A black spot formed at the point of his strike.
But then, a smile appeared on the statue’s face.
A chilling smile.
The previously invisible teeth twisted into a grin.
Horns sprouted, as if to take the form of a demon.
“What the…!”
It’s cold.
It’s dark.
Kadan’s vision was obscured.
He hadn’t entered a dark space.
Nor had he been trapped in a different dimension.
He was simply swallowed by his own attack.
To be precise, the statue absorbed the attack imbued with black energy, along with the final blow.
And then, it sent it right back to Kadan.
Kadan realized it.
The rune language that the statue had been casting from the beginning.
‘Reflection Magic.’
Kadan clicked his tongue.
He felt ashamed of himself for believing in victory just moments ago.
Now that he thought about it, even the Phoenix couldn’t defeat that thing, yet he thought he could win?
He hadn’t been wary of what kind of magic it possessed.
It was truly a shameful thing.
Just as Kadan tried to raise his head,
The statue’s fist smashed down on his entire body.
“Gah!”
Overwhelming pain.
It pummelled him repeatedly.
The vicious fists struck him relentlessly.
He couldn’t dodge them.
His body was crushed, and stones embedded themselves into his brow.
With the sound of his skull cracking, something inside him began to break.
Kadan’s consciousness rapidly faded into darkness.
It was hard to hold on to the last bits of consciousness.
In that moment, his children’s faces flashed through his mind.
‘I miss you all.’
Kadan’s brain collapsed.
His body was destroyed.
All from a single mistake.
The statue, still smiling, shot a condensed blast of mana at Kadan.
The darkness in front of him turned into light and then back into darkness.
In his severed consciousness,
Kadan couldn’t even utter his final words.
‘Your Majesty.’
The faces of his old friend and his friend’s child came to mind.
‘Please take good care of the children.’
—
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