Reunion (2)
Chapter 77
The Empire’s divine sword, Moros.
It is said that this weapon, imbued with dragon speech, amplifies any type of energy channeled into it by its master without discrimination.
Zhaak!!
Ray’s arm swung like a whip.
Simultaneously, the sword aura flowing through Moros erupted violently like flames.
Kagagak!!
At the moment their swords clashed.
Mouse’s sword, disrupted by the sword energy, shattered into pieces.
Unable to withstand the recoil, Mouse was sent flying. The ground gave way like mud as it cushioned Mouse’s body.
Kwaang!!
“Khrrk…!”
Only after being pushed back to the cliff did Mouse stop moving and cough up blood.
Mouse’s upper body was completely battered by the broken sword fragments.
Even if he quickly sealed his wounds and applied potions and holy power, there was no guarantee he would survive such severe injuries.
The battle had ended.
Saria, who had been swaying as she stood, approached Ray and offered him a potion.
Without refusing, Ray accepted the potion.
“Thank you.”
Still, Overdrive placed too much strain on a child’s body for prolonged use.
The delayed onset of intense soreness caused Ray’s expression to wrinkle in discomfort.
Casually applying the remaining potion to his body, Ray looked at Saria.
“What exactly happened?”
Saria briefly explained what information she had.
After clicking her tongue shortly, Ray asked while shaking the half-empty potion bottle.
“Aunt, do we have enough potions left?”
“Hmm.”
Thanks to her experience in dungeons, Saria always carried plenty of consumption items like potions, which were usually cumbersome but proved very useful in moments like these.
“Can you share some potions with the others?”
“Understood.”
Nodding, Saria turned toward where Ropheiren had gathered the injured.
Her swaying figure looked quite precarious as she walked away.
Ray clenched his lips tightly and retracted Moros back into the void.
An irritated gaze turned toward the fallen Mouse.
“Aptel.”
Tsjuk!
A barrier erected by Aptel enclosed both Ray and Mouse.
Mouse, gripping his chest bleeding profusely, managed to speak.
“You… Who are you really?”
“I’m Harshia reborn, you bastard.”
“Haha. So you’re treating me the same as that foolish mage.”
No matter how powerful one’s swordsmanship may be, the seasoned refinement that time provides cannot be easily mimicked.
“Your swordplay was sharp and bold beyond your years, but… still amateurish.”
Ray was aware of this fact.
By the graduate level, one can easily discern an opponent’s skill level after just a few exchanges of blades.
While Ray had joked about deceiving the Empire, truly fooling them would require decades more of practice.
Mouse gasped for breath, increasingly labored.
“Well, even so… It’s clear you are the true successor of that person.”
Ray had inherited everything from Harshia.
Ray was the inheritor of Spatial Blade and the master of Moros.
However, the Empire would never recognize Ray.
To the Empire, Ray was nothing more than a thief.
For someone without royal blood to wield the Empire’s divine sword was itself considered sacrilege.
“You will also… face hardships ahead.”
“Enough small talk. Tell me why you attacked us.”
“Hmph…”
Mouse recalled a brief conversation with Setha.
“If we end up hunted instead, what should we do?”
Shout that it was all the Crown Prince’s doing and then commit suicide.
“Kekeke…”
Mouse chuckled and spat out a mouthful of blood.
“There was no grand reason. You were just unlucky.”
How many lower-ranked individuals have lost their heads due to the disputes of those above them?
This time was no different.
Ray’s group had merely encountered misfortune akin to a natural disaster.
Mouse caressed his blood-soaked chest.
“I was lucky until yesterday.”
And today, his luck ran out.
That was why Mouse was going to die here.
After pausing momentarily, Mouse muttered softly.
“Though it’s an unexpected outcome… The picture isn’t bad.”
Because the Crown Prince acted unilaterally, two Royal Guard-level forces were sacrificed.
It was a useless operation that only incited rebellion among the nobility.
This incident provided the Emperor with ample justification to dismiss the Crown Prince.
“Tsk.”
With eyes half-closed, Mouse grumbled.
“You’ve done Alstein family a great favor…”
Surely Ray wouldn’t openly declare that he personally killed Mouse, one of the strongest special operatives of the royal task force.
If Ray concealed his identity and abilities, ultimately, the entire credit would go to Saria.
The Royal Guards and black ops agents represent the elite forces cultivated by the Empire.
There are hardly any knights who can match them head-on.
But if word spread that Saria single-handedly defeated two graduates sent by the palace…
Saria’s renown would soar to the heavens, while the authority of the royal house would crumble to the ground.
Moreover, the Alstein family would undoubtedly demand substantial compensation, claiming the royal family unjustly attacked Saria without cause.
“The royal family will suffer significant losses…”
The Crown Prince might be completely ousted, but the Emperor himself would also incur considerable damage.
Thinking of the Emperor’s predicament, Mouse’s lips curled slightly upward.
“Because of today’s events… the Crown Prince will lose his position.”
“…”
“If you choose to stay silent about today’s events and make contact with the Crown Prince’s side quickly… Well, it could be a pretty good opportunity.”
But that would mean jumping right into the eye of the storm.
Without sufficient backing and political acumen, one would surely get caught up in the chaos and lose their head.
“If you don’t want to gamble, I recommend stepping back. Especially you… since you seem to have a lot to hide.”
“Can you step back when you want to?”
“Just… leave this place and spread the news far and wide. Then the higher-ups will naturally turn against each other.”
A storm will surely rage for a while.
Many will stumble and fall during this period, losing everything.
“But the young miss you serve… She’s from a border family of the Empire, right? If she keeps her head down, she should be able to weather the storm easily.”
Count Philip has almost no ties with the central nobles.
Thus, he doesn’t belong to any faction, nor does he possess the influence to draw attention.
Although things might be different for the Osiris family, at least the Philips family has an extremely low probability of being affected by shifts in the royal power structure.
“How about the Alstein family?”
“Worry about what you need to worry about. Thanks to this incident, the Alstein family will be able to take a big bite out of the royal family.”
“That’s true.”
Ray snapped his fingers.
There’s going to be a seismic shift in the royal power structure.
This is not a situation where one can casually intervene.
Even if Ray knew the future of this world, it would require extreme caution to approach the situation.
However, Ray had no idea how the discord between the Emperor, the Crown Prince, and the other princes would unfold.
As Mouse said, unless one plans to close their eyes and gamble, it would be wise to step back and wait for the situation to settle.
While Ray was organizing his thoughts.
Mouse continued speaking, struggling for breath.
“One more… piece of advice.”
“…?”
“The Harshia-style Spatial Blade may have been lost in actual combat, but its form still exists within the Empire. Revealing it recklessly to others will cause you headaches.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
It was helpful advice.
Since the sword technique was thought to have been lost centuries ago, Ray had somewhat carelessly used Harshia’s sword style.
However, even though the Empire failed to pass down Spatial Blade fully, it was unlikely they had entirely lost knowledge of the sword forms.
‘Now that I think about it, that was reckless.’
It seemed he should avoid showing off other sword styles or drawing a second blade as much as possible.
The distinctiveness of the Harshia-style Spatial Blade often became clearer when a second blade was drawn.
“Kruk…!”
Crack!
Having finished what he wanted to say, Mouse attempted to rise using his sheath as a cane.
However, perhaps due to the extensive blood loss soaking the ground, his body refused to obey.
Eventually, Mouse fell forward, his face covered in dirt, and chuckled weakly.
“I tried to emulate dying heroically on my feet, but it didn’t work out. Setha would have mocked me if she saw this.”
Struggling like a worm, Mouse barely managed to flip himself over.
He pledged loyalty to the Empire’s darkness with patriotism and a sense of duty.
But after years of dedication, the resolve he once cherished dissipated like dust.
From some point onward, Mouse stopped feeling anything when killing people.
Whether it was an old man or a newborn baby, he severed necks mechanically upon command.
This deep karmic consequence had finally caught up with him here.
“This should suffice… for mutual destruction.”
Regretting that he should have faced a more painful and horrific death, Mouse reached out to the sky.
The radiant sun greeted Mouse warmly.
With his last ounce of strength, Mouse whispered.
“To the Empire…”
Glory.
Thud.
The life faded from Mouse’s eyes.
The ground where Mouse lay was drenched in red.
The barrier erected by Aptel disappeared.
Turning his back coldly, Ray walked towards the rest of the group.
Seeing Ray approach, Ropheiren knelt down and began sobbing uncontrollably.
“Uhuh! Uhuhuhuh!”
Ray immediately frowned.
“Control your expression.”
“Yes, yes sir!”
“Fix your tone.”
“…”
Ropheiren quieted down as Ray passed by and sighed.
Among the group, Abensio had suffered the worst injury, having lost an entire arm while blocking a sword energy attack. His remaining limbs weren’t in much better shape either.
Thanks to the knight’s robust physique, Ropheiren’s brute-force hemostasis, and the copious amount of potion administered by Saria, he barely clung to life.
The only fortunate aspect was that Floria had regained consciousness.
“Floria-sama.”
“Yes? Yes sir!”
Seeing Floria snap to attention, Ray brushed his hair back and continued.
“Take Alesia-sama, Abensio, and Aunt. Load them onto Plang and return to the city.”
Both the horses and carriages were destroyed.
Currently, the fastest means of transportation was Plang, the intermediate wind spirit contracted to Floria.
“Once you reach the city, publicize the details of this ambush through every available channel. Then send reinforcements back here.”
Neither the instigators of the failed ambush nor the parties who realize this was a political maneuver could predict how they would move next.
Therefore, it was essential to quickly bring the incident to public attention to ensure safety.
Saria grabbed Ray’s arm.
“Come with us. Ray.”
“It’s fine, Aunt. Someone needs to stay behind and guard everyone here. And… if there’s a follow-up unit, we need to cut them off.”
Not only the people but also the evidence of the ambush scattered across the gorge needed protection. Ray wasn’t about to let it be erased.
Thanks to the existence of Circles and Aptel, long-range reconnaissance was now possible to some extent.
Ray staying alone was sufficient to secure this area.
Seeing Ray’s firm stance, Saria eventually let go of his arm.
Floria bowed deeply with a trembling voice.
“I-I’ll hurry back.”
What’s wrong with him again?
Ray watched the departing wind spirit with a click of his tongue.
“Hmph.”
Facing the winds swirling through the gorge, Ray sighed.
Suddenly realizing what was happening, Ray was equally bewildered.
Surveying the surroundings, Ray’s gaze landed on the broken carriage.
The children’s gifts were all inside.
“Ah, damn it.”
Just how expensive were the items in there?
Startled back to his senses, Ray rushed to the carriage and rummaged through the baggage compartment.
The necklaces wrapped in cloth and placed separately in a wooden box at the bottom of the compartment, along with Zephirin’s sword, remained intact.
Everything else was either completely destroyed or scattered across the ground in disarray.
“Damn, I spent all my money on these.”
Pondering how to handle the situation, Ray turned toward the fallen Mouse.
“If only I could find some platinum coins…”
Kneeling down, Ray began rummaging through Mouse’s pockets.
