Younger Sibling (1)
Chapter 101
The flames erupting from the shattered Dragon Heart incinerated everything, swallowing an entire mountain whole.
Everyone observing the battlefield hastily fled to evade the surging heat.
The vast torrent of energy spread so far that it soared into the sky.
Hoooww!!
A fierce heatwave swept through the mountain range, turning it upside down.
Even at a considerable distance from the source of the heat, breathing was difficult.
As the heatwave gradually subsided with time, people began to turn their eyes toward the center of the battle.
Half of the mountain was collapsed and bubbling.
All the Rangers shared a similar certainty: no one could have survived such an explosion.
However, they soon had to change their minds.
Above the place now resembling a massive crater,
a figure cloaked in black robes reappeared.
Trudged!
Ray stepped onto the magma-like ground.
Though the surroundings were boiling, the cold emanating from Ray’s core remained unpenetrated.
With every step Ray took, a frozen path formed beneath his feet.
At the site where Carinus met his end, Moros stood alone, steadfast.
Ray once again seized Moros tightly.
Next to Moros, something small glimmered faintly in red.
Ray picked up the tiny red fragment.
It was a shard of the Dragon Heart, the last trace left by Carinus.
Due to Carinus’ disappearance, this small fragment no longer carried the power of the devil.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Ray pocketed the small fragment and looked around.
Rangers had gathered, encircling the mountain transformed into a crater.
Clutching his chest, Ray felt his heart pounding violently.
This was the limit. Although Ray’s core and magic circle were still spinning as a precaution, continuing the fight was nearly impossible.
Ray secretly chuckled at the realization that he now had only young Ropheiren to rely on.
Surrounded by Rangers, six swords were pointed at Ropheiren’s neck.
Just as Ropheiren was about to speak, flicking his tongue,
one of the Rangers spoke first.
“This matter is none of our concern.”
The Ranger threw a corpse towards Ray.
*
Command Blade.
An artifact used by a past Apostle known as a Necromancer or Commander of the Undead.
Arthur used this Command Blade as a medium to bestow the Blessing of Greed upon Carinus, resurrecting him.
However, even Arthur did not anticipate Carinus awakening as an Apostle.
Furthermore, Arthur could not have foreseen that shortly after his awakening—though still quite inadequate—an existence would suddenly appear capable of confronting the Apostle of Greed alone.
The moment Carinus began using all his powers against Ray, Arthur immediately fled.
But the Rangers, being no fools, quickly tracked and captured Arthur.
The Rangers intended to torture Arthur for information, but when they caught him, he had already died for some unknown reason.
The deputy captain of the Rangers glared at Arthur’s corpse and continued speaking.
“This incident is unrelated to us. We detained a suspect involved in devil worship, but he committed suicide.”
Zones of irritation and shame rose on the deputy captain’s face.
It annoyed him to be explaining himself to an assassin sent by the Empire, and the excuses he was giving sounded shamefully self-serving even to himself.
Ray quietly observed the deputy captain and then casually said a single sentence.
“Surely, he wasn’t the only one?”
“…!”
Are the Rangers, or even the entire Rubia Kingdom, planning to pin the blame of devil worship on everyone?
Sweat beads formed on the deputy captain’s forehead at that moment, but then Ray stored Moros into A-Space.
“Beware. Darkness is descending upon the world. Neither the kingdom nor the empire is safe from the mockery of the devil. Always remain vigilant. The devil is cunning and cruel.”
It was a statement too grave to dismiss lightly.
The Rangers’ expressions grew serious once more.
When Ray casually waved his hand, the Rangers who had pointed their swords at Ropheiren hesitated, then reluctantly lowered their weapons.
If the news that Carinus, who sought asylum in the kingdom, accepted the devil’s power were to become public, it would undoubtedly put the kingdom at a disadvantage.
However, attacking Ray to cover up this fact would be both shameless and burdensome.
Unless the Empire had gone mad, they wouldn’t send someone like Ray alone to a foreign country.
There were likely several more of the Empire’s assassins lurking nearby, unseen by the Rangers.
The deputy captain doubted whether even sacrificing most of the Rangers would be enough to capture and kill all these hidden enemies.
Ultimately, a path opened.
Ray and Ropheiren started retracing their steps under the watchful eyes of the Rangers.
The Rangers made no move to chase them. At least, that’s how Ray perceived it.
Ray walked slowly, trying to regulate his breathing.
He had killed the Crown Prince, but Ray couldn’t predict how the leadership of the kingdom and the empire would react to this situation.
‘The news of the exiled Crown Prince becoming a servant of the devil isn’t something either the Empire or the Kingdom would want to publicize…’
Perhaps, it might just pass quietly.
Moreover, the Empire was already sufficiently chaotic without the issue of the Crown Prince.
The fact that forces sent to recover the Crown Prince’s body haven’t moved yet clearly indicates they lack the capacity to focus on external matters.
“Hey.”
Brandil’s voice came from atop a tree.
“What do you plan to do with me?”
“I was just thinking about that.”
Ray glanced upward briefly.
Brandil knew far too much compared to other Rangers, which meant eliminating him in the short term seemed necessary.
“If only you could have inscribed a contract seal on him, I wouldn’t have had such concerns.”
“That turned out to be unfortunate.”
Since Brandil wasn’t a Mage, he couldn’t enforce anything with a contract seal.
Ray stared at Brandil as he descended from the tree and clicked his tongue.
“Life seems pretty boring, doesn’t it? How about using your life, which you were going to throw away anyway, for my benefit?”
“Ooh, you trust me?”
“Do I look that naive?”
Ray generally didn’t trust people, and Brandil was no exception.
Still, despite the risks, Brandil’s assistance was needed.
“Well… if you follow me, I’ll ensure your name goes down in history.”
“An appealing offer.”
The thrilling scene of defeating the Apostle of the Devil head-on was still vividly imprinted in Brandil’s retinas.
Even if complete loyalty to Ray wasn’t possible, Brandil had sufficient willingness to remain as Ray’s supporter.
“If you let me live, I’ll cooperate as much as I can.”
“The things I need right now are threefold.”
First, erase any traces of Ray and Ropheiren’s visit to the Sigini Mountain Range.
Second, when agents from the Empire come looking for the Crown Prince, feed them false information.
“Lastly, if the kingdom encounters another irreversible problem related to demons, send a discreet letter to the Manor of Phillip’s County. I’ll inform Count Philip beforehand.”
“Hmm…”
Brandil, who roughly understood Ray’s intentions, answered honestly.
“I’ve already been suspected of being a spy for the Empire once, so I may not be as helpful as you think. If my luck runs out, my head might get chopped off entirely.”
“That’s something you’ll need to manage yourself.”
“Alright, got it.”
Brandil stepped back slightly and bowed deeply.
“It was an honor meeting you.”
Ray nodded, and Brandil disappeared among the trees.
Ray wondered if he’d made a mistake but shook his head almost immediately.
Dangerous though it was, having a helper on the side of the Rangers was essential.
Without Brandil’s help, Ray would leave too many traces for both the kingdom and the empire to track.
Someone was needed to erase those traces, spread confusing information to the empire, and sound the alarm if anything unusual happened in the kingdom.
Trying to forget the immediate unease, Ray sighed deeply.
“Hoo…”
“Are you alright?”
“My body’s not holding up well. It’s tough.”
Ray recalled the battle with the Apostle.
If Apostles were beings who continuously received powers from devils in real-time, it would have been easier to counter them.
After all, spatial blades could sever the force transmitted from another dimension.
However, Apostles were beings imbued with part of a devil’s power.
No matter how powerful a Spatial Blade might be, it couldn’t destroy the essence of a transcendent being like a devil.
Ray handed over a potion that Ropheiren had brought.
It wasn’t particularly potent, but he gulped it down nonetheless.
“We should go to the Church right away…”
Ray held out the fragment of the Dragon Heart responsible for causing so much trouble.
“This thing caused a lot of suffering.”
The inferno created by the mingling of the devil’s power and the Dragon Heart would have prevented anyone but the strongest from approaching Carinus.
Ray couldn’t immediately understand why the Dragon Heart fragment was embedded in Carinus’ heart, something he’d only seen before in Saria’s Artefact.
However, Ropheiren, upon seeing the fragment, gave a small sigh of admiration.
“Oh, rumors are true then.”
“What rumors?”
After exchanging glances, Ropheiren spoke again.
“That… isn’t it a piece of Dragon Heart? There’s a rumor that the royal family implants Dragon Hearts into their hearts to handle the dragon blood flowing within them.”
“Aptel.”
Ray twirled his finger, summoning Aptel to create a barrier.
Once Ropheiren maintained a respectful distance and turned away,
Ray asked Aptel,
“What does he mean?”
[The bodies of the royal family contain mixed dragon blood. Pure dragon blood is closer to a lump of mana than regular blood, and human bodies have limitations in handling it.]
“So they implant Dragon Hearts into their hearts?”
[More precisely, the Dragon Heart of the ancestral dragon of the royal family.]
“When is it implanted?”
[It’s classified royal information, but it’s estimated to occur around the age of ten.]
“Do you know the method of implantation?”
[Again, it’s classified royal information, but the general process is understood.]
“What happens if it’s not implanted?”
[Survival until adulthood is impossible.]
“Does this guarantee the safety of the royal family?”
Ray extended the fragment of the Dragon Heart.
Aptel paused briefly.
[It’s ambiguous. If the child’s talent is average, it should suffice, but if the concentration of dragon blood manifests strongly, it might be insufficient to endure it.]
Grinding his teeth, Ray dismissed the barrier.
Upon hearing the footsteps, Ropheiren turned around to see Ray tossing him the fragment of the Dragon Heart.
“Ropheiren, occasionally borrow my bracelet, work with Aptel, and perfect the method of implanting the Dragon Heart into the heart.”
“Erm… implanting it into non-royal bodies might cause unforeseen side effects…”
“I’m not planning to implant it into my own body.”
Ropheiren nodded briefly.
Ropheiren was always ready to comply with Ray’s orders.
“Haha…”
Just thinking about researching the fragment of the Dragon Heart made the corners of his mouth twitch involuntarily.
The ascent resumed.
After a strenuous climb without rest, Ray and Ropheiren finally approached Phillip’s County.
Seeing the familiar landscape in the distance, both Ray and Ropheiren simultaneously sighed.
Both were completely drained of stamina.
Looking up, the sun shone brightly.
Given their disheveled appearances, they tried to avoid people while entering the county when a small child appeared blocking the mountain path.
Ray smiled warmly.
“Luna, what brings you here?”
In truth, Ray already knew why Luna was guarding the mountain trail.
She was exceptionally sensitive to mana.
Despite the battle taking place far away, it was a fierce clash involving highly concentrated mana, and Luna evidently sensed the mana waves.
Luna approached silently and spread her arms forward.
“It’ll smell bad, won’t it?”
Despite feeling awkward, Ray lifted Luna into his arms.
Under normal circumstances, Luna would have been incredibly light, but today she felt unusually heavy.
Luna tapped Ray’s chest a few times.
Typically, these taps might not have been noticeable, but each punch landing on Ray’s chest made him grunt “Ugh ugh.”
His body was in a terrible state.
After stopping her punches, Luna quietly looked at Ray before suddenly speaking.
“…I’ll work hard on my stamina.”
“Spending too much time indoors isn’t good for you, Luna.”
“I’ll build up a lot of stamina, so next time, take me with you. I can help Ray.”
Ray looked into Luna’s silver eyes.
Despite her various shortcomings, even accounting for them, excluding Ray, Luna was close to being the highest power in Phillip’s County.
‘Yet why didn’t I bring her along?’
Ray questioned himself.
Primarily because he judged it too risky to drag a legendary orphan into a dangerous battlefield only to lose her pointlessly.
And still, to Ray, Luna was a child to protect.
Ray wondered anew.
‘What kind of future was originally drawn for you?’
And further,
‘By guiding you to this point, have I fulfilled my role here in the county?’
Questions that would never yield answers.
Ray gently set Luna down, intending to stroke her hair but stopped upon realizing his hands were dirty, tapping her forehead instead.
“Next time, I’ll consider it.”
“Will you take me next time?”
“I said I’ll consider it.”
Dissatisfied with the answer, Luna rarely complained genuinely, puffing her cheeks.
“Keep pushing yourself too hard, and you won’t grow. You’ll stay a little kid. Ray is a little kid.”
“You’ve been learning all the wrong things from Johanna.”
“Auuuuu…”
Ray pinched Luna’s cheeks and resumed walking.
Returning to Phillip’s County stirred up a mix of emotions in his chest once more.
The day of the Unboxing Day is approaching.
The day revealing what breed of sibling awaits him is drawing near.
In a voice barely audible to others, Ray muttered,
“I hope I haven’t made my sibling fatherless with my own hands.”
Ray didn’t wish for his already complicated family affairs to become even more tangled.
