Chapter 189: Miruam Elizabeth El Rath (1)

༺ Miruam Elizabeth El Rath (1) ༻

The Kingdom was in turmoil after an attempted assassination of the princess.

The astonishing incident of the Saintess's abduction was still fresh in the minds of the citizens, so something similar happening one after another warranted the royal court to take action.

It was different from how Queen Maria died 'by accident' on the mountain 10 years ago.

"There has been a letter from the Alliance asking for our participation."

Lunia brought a letter of cooperation which was declared by the royal court and signed by the Guardian Alliance. Anyone would immediately decide to follow the orders of the royal family unless they had a death wish but...

"We won't be participating in it."

"Yes. I did hear about it."

Lunia replied while shrugging her shoulders.

"I am a part of your guild, so I can follow the Guild Master's commands, but that is not so much the case for our household."

"Has a letter already been sent to the Ardens?"

"The 2nd Princess was very zealous."

It was fortunate that Lunia was officially a part of our guild.

"Have a look at this, Miss Lunia."

"Hmm?"

She appeared slightly confused by the document I gave her.

"A long-distance mission to the Duff City of the South?"

"Yes. You and Alicia will be working with the security guard in Duff City."

"Right now?"

"All the other members are all busy doing missions at a distant location. How unfortunate! Looks like we won't be able to respond positively to the letter of cooperation because we're too busy."

"Hmm~"

Looking intrigued, Lunia came closer and played with my hair.

"Are you really going to do it by yourself?"

"Senior Marie will stay behind and help. Of course, I will be the only one on the front end, though."

"What a shame that I cannot view the valiant actions of my husband."

It seemed that her way of calling me had evolved from 'fiancé' to 'husband'...

"You should go around with Alicia and enjoy some of the food there."

"Right. I will."

We had a cup of tea together inside the office before parting ways. It would be difficult to see her for the time being until everything was over.

Lastly, I put up a sign reading, 『Korin Guardians away on Long-distance Missions』 on the way out of the building.

***

The assassination attempt of Princess Miruam ended up a failure and the Xeruem Order revealed information about the demi-human union.

This was the biggest peril of history for Dana Shee.

"You stupid dogs!"

Vampire Elder Glaistig shouted while glaring at the beastmen with bloodshot eyes.

Normally, the beastmen would have retaliated back, telling those mosquitoes to go away, but they weren't thick-skinned enough to do that right now. Ku Shee heaved a sigh and sincerely admitted his mistake.

"It's my fault."

"Of course it is! If you were going to do it, you should have done it seamlessly! The Kingdom is now forming an army against us! How are you going to stop them!?"

"...The entrance of Dana Shee is a heaven-made natural fortress. We can stop them on the small pathway."

"It will be breached at one point! Unlike us, humans have infinite numbers!"

"We have hidden several wolves across the continent. While their army tries to squeeze their way in through the narrow entrance, we can carry out guerilla tactics and drain their munitions. If we pressure the South..."

"Enough."

The Chief Elder of Mound, Leprechaun, cut off Ku Shee's words with a cold gaze. He was usually a benevolent elder but was currently glaring daggers at Ku Shee with a sharp light in his eyes.

"You've been preparing for a war the whole time."

"...I've simply been preparing for the worst."

"Have I not told you time and time again, that violence gives birth to nothing but more violence?"

"However, it was only a matter of time until the Deadlands became aware of our presence. It just happened slightly earlier."

"Haa..."

Leprechaun let out a deep and exhausted sigh.

"I would still prefer to avoid a fight if possible."

"Is there a way, Chief?"

"That would be me."

That was when an outsider's voice started to echo across the union's conference hall.

"Korin Lork...!"

"Illusan! How dare you bring an outsider in here!"

Behind the young man brought by Ednar Illusan, hiding from the viciously hostile eyes of the beastmen, were a pair of blonde-haired siblings.

"It's our first time seeing each other but you know me right? I've reached out to you guys once through Ednar."

"You bastard...!"

Seeing the appearance of the one who ruined their plan to assassinate Miruam, the beastmen were on the verge of pouncing at him but Ku Shee stopped them before they could.

"You stopped the assassination of the Princess, so why are you deciding to help us now?"

"Come on. I stopped the assassination but I didn't help her kill you guys, did I? Just because I wasn't an ally doesn't mean I'm your enemy."

"..."

Ku Shee didn't say anything after that. He deemed that he didn't have much say in this hall after the failed assassination.

Continuing on was another elder, Glaistig the vampire.

"Korin Lork. The guardian of the new vampire of Dunareff, huh?"

"Not a guardian per se."

"Should I say a partner, then?"

"I guess that's better."

"Marie Dunareff was supposed to join us as one of our comrades."

"That's only for people without a background or a place to go."

"That's true too. We are very poor after all."

Glaistig thought to himself as he gazed at the young man, who was like a guardian to the newborn vampire girl.

He was very much aware of the intense blood-sucking impulse of a new vampire. It was like a curse - just like how werewolves under a Full Moon couldn't control themselves, the urge to suck blood was the same for vampires.

At least one person should have died at her hands.

'But no one did. And he's the only one that girl's sucking blood from, huh?'

As someone who knew just how painful it was for a vampire to go through their first blood-sucking impulse, he couldn't help but empathize with Marie Dunareff and Korin Lork, who helped her push through that.

Because he understood the pain unique to vampires...

"Good. I will agree to your offer."

"Glaistig?"

"What are you thinking!?"

He was met with voices of disapproval but Glaistig already made his decision.

"That is the most viable option left for us at this moment in time. Old Man Leprechaun. I agree."

"What about the rest?"

"..."

"..."

No one replied. It was natural because no one was stupid enough to risk the lives of their entire village on a single outsider. Therefore, a long battle of discussion was normal but Korin Lork had no plans to wait for them.

"I have received documents from Ednar Illusan. Everything is going well already."

"What?"

"Of course, it won't pass without your final consent. This is quite a risky fight of justification, so you have to make a decision. Right now, right at this moment."

-War? Or gamble?

The conference hall was clustered with noisy discussions. Although Ednar Illusan and Glaistig had already demonstrated their agreement, there were still many who couldn't readily come to a decision.

"What's the need for a long discussion? You can prepare for a war or prepare to evacuate. That's up to you; you just need to give me that one reason to move."

"..."

He was right. It was an offer where Mound had nothing to lose since a semi-Unique Grade knight was offering to help for basically nothing in return. All they would be doing was giving him a traditionally acknowledged justification while losing practically nothing.

"Why... are you doing this?"

Ku Shee, who ended up lighting the fuse on fire, couldn't understand Korin Lork.

He helped Miruam and yet he was now helping Mound. It was hard to consider him a selfish traitor since he had nothing to gain from either of them.

"What is it that's going through your mind? What are you doing this for?"

That was why he had to ask that question. He needed to ask why this young knight was risking his life for this.

"Peace. An end to the repetition of revenge."

"Do you think that's possible?"

"It is. I'll make it possible. Fewer people dying is always the best option."

『 Let me raise an offer. If you beastmen join the ranks of Sir Valtazar, then we will invite your union into the new world. 』

"..."

It sounded similar yet completely different to the offer given by the old druid who visited them quite some time ago.

Ku Shee blankly looked at the ceiling in deep thought.

Not killing was better than killing.

It was an obvious truth.

.........

......

...

—We will now elect Korin Lork as the 'Fairy King Finvarra', the leader of the union of five Dana Shees. Raise your hand if you are against it.

***

The army to annihilate Mound was formed in less than a week.

It was only possible because it hadn't been long since the army against the Steel Archipelago had been disbanded. The guardians, who could not contribute much to the fall of the Tower of Mages, were eager to do something this time around.

Most importantly, the biggest factor was the active participation of the Xeruem Order, one of the two biggest religions of the Kingdom.

Shouting out loud that this war was for the lord, they printed out thousands of indulgences, saying that those papers could grant them a path to heaven.

And how three papers of indulgence could erase the sin of murder.

"Your Highness. We are almost there!"

One of the future cardinals, Bishop Gress was one of the ones who had escaped to Xeruem from Estelle's religious revolution. He decided to use the attempted assassination of Princess Miruam as his ticket to success and sold information about Dana Shee and Mound without holding back.

Mound, despite their secretive connection to the New Faith, was designated as the culprit behind the attempted assassination of a member of the royal family. They were a group of vagabonds, who weren't even a citizen of the Kingdom in the first place, so they didn't even have the right to rely on legal measures.

'We can definitely wipe them out.'

There were thousands of soldiers from the Kingdom, alongside hundreds of knights and mages. Including the crusaders actively gathered by the Old Faith, their numbers reached 20,000.

Their goal was the underground city of Dana Shee and the complete eradication of Mound, which would fulfill her lifelong wish.

"Just wait a bit more, everyone. I will soon give a burnt offering for all of you."

This was her destiny. It was this moment where she would fulfill her desire, which had been promised by Lia Fail.

Even though one person was missing from the destiny she saw, that didn't change anything because she was desperate to achieve her goal, regardless of what she had to do.

"Y, Your Highness...!"

That was when a messenger arrived in a hurry at the central encampment. He was a part of the scouts, and after landing his wyvern at a slight distance, he had sprinted all the way to her in one breath.

"U, urgent news! An 'enormous Sun' has appeared in front of us. A gigantic Sun!"

"A gigantic Sun?"

What did that even mean...? But before long, Miruam made sense of what was happening.

Her skin had been prickling for a while and the air was way too dry for an autumn day like today.

"Don't tell me...!"

There were more than 30 kilometers of distance between the scouts and the central encampment so this level of heat didn't make sense unless...

Miruam immediately hurried to the wyvern that the scout was on, and soared into the sky.

And she found a large sphere off in the distance.

"Korin Lork...!"

A large sun... was blocking the path.

***

There were more than 15,000 troops in place. Considering the number of knights, mages, and priests included in those numbers, their sheer amount of power was hard to fathom.

And yet stopping an entire army, the likes of which were only visible during the final battle, was one single man.

Korin Lork.

The Hero of the Kingdom.

The knight who crushed the Tower and defeated the Tower Lord, who had been praised as the hero until just a few weeks ago, was stopping the army in its tracks by himself.

Behind him was a scorching sun.

-Guwooooo—!!

Heat rays of the sun were mercilessly scorching the ground beneath. Every living creature concealed their drying tongues, and instinctively protected their eyes and body from the sun.

"Uhht...!"

Its overwhelming weight was mightily suppressing everyone on earth, making their faces turn pale. All the soldiers understood that the fall of that sun could only mean their death.

That was the Sun.

That was Korin Lork.

The Hero of the Kingdom and one chosen by a divine artifact.

Who could possibly stand their ground without being breath-taken in front of that might?

"That much mana... Impossible."

"Is he really human?"

The sphere of heat floating intensely in the air threatened to scorch everything in existence, and the amount of mana they could feel from it was unfathomable.

Is that really a feat possible for humans?

"Korin... Lork!!"

Miruam clenched her teeth seeing the Sun and the Champion of the Sun after arriving at the front on a wyvern.

Why?

Why is he interfering with her goal?

"What are you all doing...!"

The reproachful voice of the princess urged the knight captain of the Kingdom to set up an example.

"Sir Korin Lork! My name is Rendal, captain of the Third Knights! We have come here under the stern commands of the royal court, to eradicate the heinous criminals that attempted to assassinate Her Highness the Princess!"

"..."

Despite the sonorous shout of the knight captain, Korin stayed his ground like a large, immovable boulder.

However, it was obvious that it was a moving boulder. Proof of that was the scouts who were all lying unconsciously on the ground. It was fortunate that none of them were dead.

"Why are you blocking our path, Sir Lork?"

"So noisy."

"...!"

Hearing that insult, Captain Rendal gave a deep frown.

"It cannot be helped. If you so wish to accept head-on the sword of the royal court."

"B, but Captain. Behind him is the Sun..."

"Don't worry. If he wanted to kill us, he would have killed the scouts first. I am not sure what he is thinking, but regardless, I must follow my due duty as a knight."

Captain Rendal dismounted his horse and unsheathed his sword. His post as one of the knight captains of the Kingdom wasn't for show, and he was a powerhouse at the level of Grade 1.

Korin Lork was officially a Grade 1 knight of the Alliance, which meant he was on the same level as him.

Trusting his sword, Rendal confronted the spearman as they each raised their weapon.

"Sir Korin! Prepare yourself...!"

Knight Rendal widened his eyes into circles while racing forward. He created a gust of wind behind his trail, which lifted up the dry leaves on the ground.

The charge of a heavy-plated knight was as powerful as an explosive bomb.

-Kwang!

In the blink of an eye, the knight was gone. With his explosive kick, he was already flying forward, leaving behind a big hole underneath where he was standing.

"Ohh...!"

The knights roared in admiration from the explosive burst of their captain. Rendal was so fast that his honest charge might even be taken as a surprise attack, and he arrived before Korin in a single breath.

"Huhp...!"

The sword filled with aura struck down like a bolt of lightning. It was a deadly sword that could cut down ogres but... his sword failed to have any impact.

-Tuhp!

With just one hand, Korin grabbed Rendal's wrists in the middle of his downward strike. He couldn't move any of his hands, and all he could do was make them quiver in place.

"W, what kind of power...!"

[Herculean Strength]

- Momentarily increase your Strength by 200%.

Korin overwhelmed his opponent with superhuman strength that a mere knight couldn't contend against, and used his other arm to strike his face.

"Kuhk...!"

Rendal took several steps back after having his nose crushed, but Korin followed through. Using one of his legs, Korin kicked Rendal's left leg to crush his balance before hurling a fist at his chest.

-Kwang!

A deafening thud echoed across as Rendal's body drove straight into the ground.

Hukk...! The knight gasped for breath.

"C, Captain...!"

"You bastard...!"

His knights charged forward to make Korin pay the price for beating their captain. Each and every one of them was a strong knight and veteran master of group battles, which was proven by their immediate formation.

Anti-Unique Grade Group Hunting Formation Number 7.

There wasn't a single person who had made it out of this formation alive.

"..."

That was when a smile floated on Korin's lips.

At that moment, the knights felt that something was wrong; it felt as if there was a gap in their unbreachable formation. The world surrounding them felt slower as their instincts warned them to be careful.

❰Silver Spear Resonant Activation❱

"Run—!!"

The deputy captain screamed after sensing danger, but it only reached five of them in the span of 0.1 seconds that it took.

Flames and storms soared out from the ground. The Rune Spells that had been prepared beforehand all exploded at once.

"Runes...!"

More than ten of their knights were immediately covered by those flames, making the deputy captain utter in confusion.

"How could Rune Magic have this much power...!?"

They didn't know about [Rune Amplification] and were under the impression that Rune Spells were only as strong as low-grade spells, so they were taken aback by the flames roaring in front of them.

"Hukk...!"

It was then.

Korin dashed out from the scorching flames and smacked the deputy captain with the shaft of the spear.

"Kuahk!?"

After allowing an attack to his ribs, the deputy captain flew all the way across the side. Half of the squad was immediately neutralized; both the captain and the deputy captain fell powerlessly without lasting a single bout.

"..."

He was in a completely different league.

The Master of the Sun gazed down at Miruam's army with a ferocious smile on his face.

"Is that all?"

It was the start of a rebellion.