Dragon Poor

Although Kim Seon-Hyeok laid in bed, wrapped in bandages, Marek looked relatively fine. Come to think of it, the only reason Marek had lost the duel was that he had lost his stamina, not because he was seriously injured.

Looking at Marek’s tired but clear and unscathed face, Seon-Hyeok was once again reminded that him winning the duel was just a fluke.

“I plan on holding the ceremony of succession on the next full moon.”

While Kim Seon-Hyeok was trying to find words of consolation as he looked at Marek’s cut hair, Marek told him his plans. 

“I’ll also tell you everything, the truth of everything you’ve been wanting to know so much about that day as well. So please, wait a bit longer.”

Before Kim Seon-Hyeok could bring up the topic, Marek brought up his promise first, apologizing for the delay. There must’ve been special restrictions placed on the Adjuster because there were no signs of him procrastinating on his face.

“Well, you’re not one to run away. There’s no reason I can’t wait for a few days.”

Marek thanked him for his straightforward response.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you seem relieved?”

Although Marek had lost the duel and couldn’t have the successor he wanted, he didn’t look gloomy. Instead, he had a soft expression as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders. 

“I won’t deny it. If I’m being honest, it’s true that I’m feeling relieved.”

Marek readily acknowledged it. 

“Hm.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok didn’t dare imagine how heavy the burden must’ve been to have lived for 200 years with only one purpose. 

By looking at Marek’s face, he could vaguely understand that the path Marek walked as an Adjuster hadn’t been an easy one. 

The more he looked, the more clearly he realized how heavy of a burden Julian would have to carry in the future. 

“In the past, there wasn’t any place on the continent where people weren’t pursuing the foreigners. At that time, I was severely wounded in a battle against the pursuers. Like the present Countess of Mangsk, I was in a situation where I had to take on the position and accept the fate of an Adjuster if I wanted to avoid inevitable death.”

Marek stared at him with a melancholy face before continuing to talk.

“You said something last time. That whatever it took, it’s better to be alive than dead.”

No matter how difficult and harsh it was, it was better to be alive and scream than to die and have everything be in vain. In the end, only those who are alive have the right to move forward. That was why Seon-Hyeok believed that it was better to be alive than dead. 

Having been at the brink of life and death countless times, it was more of a conviction than a belief for him. Even if his heart was heavy as he thought of Julian, it didn’t change his mind. 

“I agree with what you said. Even if I were to go back to the past with another chance to choose, I would still choose to survive. As you said, it’s all over if you die.”

As Marek had observed how the foreigners who died in the span of 200 years were forgotten, his words held a tremendous weight.

“Then, I’ll be back the night of the full moon.”

Marek left after leaving those words of comfort, however questionable those words might’ve been.

Kim Seon-Hyeok sighed heavily once he was alone.

The faces of the past members of the Drake Cavalry who had died first, as well as the numerous soldiers and his fellow foreigner comrades, flashed before his eyes.

“I wasn’t wrong.”

He sighed once more as he looked towards where Julian was. 

***

Kim Seon-Hyeok was recovering quickly. 

His wounds, which had once bled open if the priests stopped pouring their divine power on it for even a second, had now healed, leaving behind only scars and his once ghost pale face now had a healthy glow to it again.

But nevertheless, he couldn’t get out of his bed easily. 

Neither the holy energy that healed his wounds nor the constant vitality the earth provided him with could completely replenish the vast amounts of blood he had lost.

“But wouldn’t it be alright if I just went out over there? I’m going to suffocate to death if I’m stuck inside here.”

Ten days since he passed out, another ten days since he woke up - he was going to die if he had to spend all his days in his bedchambers. Considering how he had wandered around the entire continent saying how small it was, the rooms set aside for dignitaries in the Mangsk Castle were too small for him. 

“How can you be complaining, sir? You being alive is a miracle in itself and more so that you’re not disabled.”

Asha Trail snapped at him when he began to writhe around making a fuss and complaining. 

“No matter how much you’ve trained and strengthened your body, it cannot win against the accumulated injuries and fatigue. Please think about the future and take care of your body, sir.”

Whether he was a low-ranking nobleman or had ascended to a high position as the Grand Duke, the lady knight’s uncompromising attitude towards him was the same. 

As long as it was necessary, she was a firm woman who was capable of speaking sternly to anyone. More so if that person was a nobleman who wouldn’t learn and was frequently severely injured.

“Alright, I got it. I won’t complain anymore.”

With an exhausted face, Kim Seon-Hyeok raised his hands in surrender. He’d just grumbled a bit but had been nagged at for a long time. 

“How is it that the Grand Duke hasn’t changed a bit since you were a lowly cavalryman?”

Asha Trail softened slightly at his ceaseless playfulness. She seemed pleased with the fact that even as time passed and he had gained status, he was still the same.  

“I wasn’t born a noble, and this is the personality I was born with. How would I change that easily?”

“And yet, your words have become more suited to your station, Grand Duke.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok looked awkward when he heard Asha Trail’s unexpected words.

“How do you feel, sir? The priests said that you’ve pushed yourself too far, but you’re strong in mind and body so you’ll recover quickly and that there’s nothing to worry about. It doesn’t seem like the priests were wrong.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok frowned as he stared at Asha Trail speaking gently to him

“If you have something to say, say it.”

He realized that Asha Trail wanted to say something but was speaking in a roundabout manner because she couldn’t.

The possibility of what she wanted to say being something good was very low. A piece of news so urgent that it needs to be said to a severely injured patient who needed continuous stability, and yet, news bad enough that she had to worry about the patient’s stability.

Kim Seon-Hyeok’s expression turned stony.

Currently, the Adenburg Empire was in a state of extreme stability thanks to the powerful leadership of the Imperial family of Adenstein and the superhuman power that was incomparable to the other countries. It may change as time goes on, but for now, there were zero signs of challenges towards this powerful new empire. 

Naturally, his friends and acquaintances, who could be said to be the backbone of the Empire, didn’t face any major problems.

If that was the case, then the problem was where the Empire’s protection couldn’t be reached. 

“Did something happen to the Central’s front line?”

Then, the most likely person in trouble was Park Joon-Min who had headed west to fight against the Demon King.

“Did something happen to Joon-Min, no, the Warrior?”

Asha Trail wasn’t good at hiding things. Looking at her grim expression, it was clear that the vague ominous feeling he had had become a reality.

His heart sank. As if tossed into a frozen lake in the middle of winter, he began to feel cold.

“Please, Sir Trail, answer me.”

He asked her as calmly as possible. He felt himself weakening as he lost his energy and his breath caught. 

“The Warrior of the Holy Kingdom Astoria met the Demon King a week ago, and has disappeared after a fierce battle.”

He finally heard the news, but it wasn’t what he wanted to hear - the disappearance of Park Joon-Min.

“Details. Tell me the details.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok’s voice caught as he asked for details of the war.

“With the Warrior at the vanguard, a total of 12,000 troops of the Allied Forces, including the 1st and 3rd Templar Knights of the Astoria Kingdom, the Temple’s Imperial Choir and the priests, and 7,000 Crusaders clashed with the Demon King a month. It’s said that the Warrior and the senior Paladins battled against him and fought fiercely for a day and night.”

While Asha Trail’s voice was cautious, there was no hesitation as she told the truth. She just continued to look at him with eyes full of concern. 

“I heard that at the beginning of the battle, the Allied Forces overwhelmingly pushed the enemy. It’s said that the Templar Knights and the priests successfully subdued the monsters and beasts and that the soldiers of the Allied Forces, including the Crusaders fought against the demons courageously. However, this all changed as the ones called the Heralds of Chaos rushed onto the battlefield. Towards the end of the fight, there were more monsters and beasts that were left standing as compared to those that were slain, and with unfortunate timing, the Demon King intervened in the battle.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok could clearly visualize the Allied Forces' expressions when they saw more enemies than they had defeated rushed in as reinforcement.

They must’ve felt despair and hopelessness. Nevertheless, they wouldn’t have given up on their spark of hope. While the Holy Kingdom he had experienced was rotten to its core, the people supporting them, the Templar Knights, the Crusaders, and the priests were the real deal.

“The choir who had been singing loudly couldn’t be heard once the Demon King entered and the barrier the priests had been maintaining to protect the Allied Forces from the demonic energy broke in an instant.”

In the face of the great evil that was the Demon King, the will of the good and courageous humans were insignificant and trivial.

“The brave soldiers who had been protecting their comrades from death pointed their swords at the Allied Forces, and even in their death, they dragged down their comrades. In an instant, the damages snowballed and the Allied Forces were overwhelmingly surrounded by demons and had no way out.”

Because he had fought in the West more than anyone else, he could vividly imagine the despair the Allied Forces must’ve felt.

A comrade shoving his sword into his ally’s stomach, a dead comrade biting into the limbs of a living comrade - the mind collapses faster than the exhausted body until eventually, the demonic energy invades and they find another victim. 

The Demon King’s greatest weapon in destroying the West was his mysterious art of causing comrades to fight against each other. This was the Demon King’s sharpest fangs that the Allied Forces had to deal with.

“That was when the Warrior stepped forward.”

Embedding into the ground, the Holy Sword, Balmung, had given off a Holy Light and the soldiers who had fallen into the terrible dream were awakened by the divine power. The demonic energy that invaded their bodies was nowhere to be found and most of the monsters in the surrounding area were blown away instantly. 

However, it was impossible to save the Allied Forces that had been pushed to defending to win with just that. The priests’ barriers had dropped only for a moment, but the number of Allied Forces that had been sacrificed due to their exposure to the demonic energy was terrible. Of the 12,000 elite troops, approximately 7,000 had been sacrificed in that short time. 

“It’s said that only after the Warrior opened a path for them were the Allied Forces able to retreat. However, the Warrior didn’t retreat from the battlefield until the very end in order to secure an escape route for them. And the Demon King, who hadn’t taken part in the battle until then except for summoning a fog created from demonic energy, rushed towards the Warrior…”

Asha Trail studied Kim Seon-Hyeok's complexion before sighing and telling the Warrior's end.

“The Allied soldiers proposed to retreat, however, this is what the Warrior said. ‘Hyung-nim had once remained in a fatal situation in order to evacuate tens of thousands of civilians who didn’t know how to fight. As his brother, what reason do I have for not being able to do the same? ’ It’s said that he laughed as he went to fight against the Demon King. And that when the last survivor of the Allied Forces left the battlefield completely, a white light facing against the black mist didn’t fade at all, but rather soared into the sky.”

“Hyung-nim, I want to devote myself to the people and be called the hero once.”

At that time, when the foolish but virtuous Warrior said those words enviously, Kim Seon-Hyeok had only laughed.

But now, he was regretting not talking to Joon-Min in more detail back then. 

Seon-Hyeok regretted not telling Joon-Min that he wasn’t a dedicated or self-sacrificing hero. That he had only been ambitious and adventurous because he had been confident he would be able to escape what others called fatal situations.

However, the Warrior was different.

Although the Holy Sword was most definitely a powerful divine weapon, it wasn’t suitable for defeating numerous enemies all at once. Unlike the Dragon Knight who rode Redveryn and was able to travel freely in the sky, once the Warrior was isolated in an enemy camp, he would have no choice but to fight until he ran out of strength.

While he could be resurrected with the tremendous recuperative powers, it was only possible if the Warrior could afford the penalty. If he died repeatedly until there were no more levels for him to drop, then the Warrior would become an ordinary person. 

“Despite the Warrior's disappearance, the Allied Force’s advance has gained a considerable amount. They succeeded in taking back more than one-quarter of the ruined western region, and at the same time as the Warrior's disappearance, the Demon King also stopped.”

Asha Trail stoically explained the results of the war in the West. 

“The survivors of the Allied Forces are speculating that the Demon King and the Warrior may have irreparably injured each other.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok closed his eyes tightly. The Allied Forces hadn’t deviated from his expectations at all.

“Do you have more to say?”

When he asked that, Asha Trail looked like she had more to say. She hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“An unofficial message from the Holy Kingdom of Astoria was delivered to you, Grand Duke.”

Even as she spoke, she seemed troubled. She looked conflicted as to whether she should tell him what she was about to say.

But, she made her decision and handed him the full unofficial message from the Holy Kingdom.”

“Ah…”

Kim Seon-Hyeok sighed after quickly scanning it. 

“The Holy Kingdom seemed to believe that the Grand Duke, who’s rescued the survivors several times before, would be able to save the Warrior.”

The unofficial message from the Holy Kingdom was telling him to head West once more.