Chapter 80: The hit list
Chapter 80: The hit list
Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: Himanshu02
The award ceremony of the martial arts tournament was postponed for a few days because of the attack in the final match.
It was not possible to end the festival among the corpses and the injured. They needed time to clean up.
And an urgent war council was convened.
The topic was, of course, about the terror of Calihara Kingdom.
“This is unprecedented! We have to form a large-scale punitive force and search the entire desert to annihilate them.”
“Now that the northern front has entered a stable period, we have to show them the power of the empire!”
Today, both the bureaucrats of the emperor’s faction and the nobles of the Grand Duke’s faction agreed to request the punishment of Calihara.
The bureaucrats of the emperor’s faction could not tolerate them for daring to touch the emperor and Eurius, and the nobles were angry with them for threatening their lives in the VIP seats.
“Enough!”
The emperor shouted with a furious voice.
The war council was silent at once.
And he opened his mouth.
“I have no objection to punishing them. But do you have any clever ideas to do what the troops on the southern front have failed to do for over twenty years?”
“…”
Of course, there was no concrete solution.
The emperor continued with a frustrated tone.
“Of course, it’s easy to wipe them out. But what if they retaliate with a large-scale massacre in a southern city like Shahar after we anger them?”
The officials were all speechless.
How could they root out all of them in that vast desert?
It was physically impossible.
But they couldn’t just leave them alone after they did such a bold thing in the capital of the empire.
It was a tricky problem.
“Hmm…”
As groans of worry and sighs flowed in the war council, Eurius was deeply immersed in his thoughts.
‘Open help.’
[Help – Viewing Heimdall Sect.]
[Heimdall Sect – A sect that worships Heimdall, the God of Darkness who created the world with Mars, Medit, and Odin in ancient times. More information is available when you raise your achievements.]
[Dark Sacred Power – Heimdall’s power given to his followers. A more aggressive type of sacred power than other sects.]
‘So I know their name and that their base is in the south, right?’
Until now, they had only sent assassins, but this time they deployed their real forces with sacred power.
He couldn’t be sure yet, but it seemed certain that there was a powerful force in Calihara Kingdom.
‘And Calihara is probably a subordinate force of this Heimdall sect, like the assassin sect that Wallace mentioned before.’
He reviewed various thoughts and finally made a decision.
“May I say something?”
The emperor’s eyes widened. How many cases had Eurius solved so far?
“Speak.”
“I oppose punishing Calihara right away.”
“…!?”
The officials looked at Eurius with surprise.
They heard that he had received a life-threatening attack this time. But he opposed punishing them?
“As His Majesty said, unless we have a way to annihilate them, sending a punitive force right now won’t solve much.”
“Then do you have another idea?”
Eurius got to the point.
“I think we should ask for cooperation from other kingdoms in the desert.”
The emperor looked puzzled.
It was true that other kingdoms in the southern desert had trade and friendly relations with the empire.
But would they lend their power to the empire while antagonizing Calihara, who were crazy fanatics?
If they did that, their target might change to their nearby kingdoms.
“Of course it’s not easy. But isn’t it better than doing nothing?”
It would be much easier if other kingdoms in the desert cooperated with the empire.
The supply lines would be diversified and more importantly, it would help the soldiers adapt to the harsh desert environment.
“So please send me as a goodwill ambassador to the desert kingdoms. I’ll ask for an alliance.”
“You want to go by yourself?”
Eurius smiled pleasantly at the emperor’s question.
“I thought my knights needed some rest after working hard for this tournament. I heard that desert kingdoms are famous for their resorts. I’ll take them with me.”
‘What is Eurius thinking?’
There were three kingdoms in the eastern part of the southern desert where Calihara Kingdom, which was hostile to the empire, was located.
Parthia, Amon, Kenta.
They were called desert kingdoms because they were so close to each other.
It meant that he had to persuade not one, but three kingdoms at the same time.
It was a difficult task.
“But you also persuaded those barbarians in the north, right? Maybe it’s possible.”
“You already have a high reputation, do you need to earn more merit? You’re just going for a vacation, right?”
The emperor was skeptical and the opinions of the officials were divided.
“Well, if it’s just for vacation, I don’t mind… but if you have such a thought, it might be good to try it.”
The emperor reluctantly agreed.
If he went as a goodwill ambassador, he could give him some escort troops besides his knights, and Eurius had his own power, so it wouldn’t be easy for something big to happen. But the emperor felt something uneasy.
‘I don’t think the Grand Duke will stay still…’
***
“Wallace, which kingdom did you say the influential person you captured in the desert belonged to?”
The Grand Duke spoke quietly, but he emitted a murderous aura, so Wallace stuttered as he opened his mouth.
“Pa… Parthia. It’s the one with the strongest voice among the three kingdoms, so I’m sure His Highness won’t be able to form an alliance.”
That’s right! The desert kingdoms were originally connected to the Grand Duke through Wallace.
That’s why he didn’t stop Eurius from going to the south..
‘He’s going into the tiger’s den by himself. Why should I stop him?’
The Grand Duke was determined to get rid of Eurius this time.
If he was gone, the emperor would only have Leonhart left.
He wouldn’t need to start a civil war.
‘And if we end up going to war with the desert, that’s even better.’
What would the emperor’s mood be like when he heard of Eurius’s death in the desert?
He probably wouldn’t spare Calihara or the desert kingdoms.
“Use all the forces you captured to erase Eurius this time. Got it?”
The Grand Duke clenched his teeth and vowed revenge.
Wallace felt the Grand Duke’s terrifying gaze on him once again and answered nervously, unable to do otherwise.
“I will try to contact the Tohos of the desert. The desert is their territory, so there must be a way.”
It was not an unrealistic thing to say.
Why else would the empire still leave Calihara alone despite the overwhelming difference in national power?
There was a world of difference between facing the warriors of the southern desert in their own backyard and in other regions.
The Grand Duke had lost half of his Shadows in the Northern War and practically lost Dmitri in this martial arts tournament.
On top of that, the knights of the Golden Lion Order had also suffered considerable damage.
‘It would be better to use the card of the desert kingdom to eliminate the First Prince.’
He had already suffered enough damage to make it difficult to guarantee victory in a direct confrontation with the emperor after starting a civil war.
And above all, there was the existence of Eurius.
‘If he defeated Dmitri, he must be at least close to a superhuman… or maybe even more.’
Then he might have to revise the power gap with the first prince.
Even if a war could not be changed by one or two people’s strength, the power of a superhuman could not be ignored.
This was the biggest reason why the Grand Duke had decided to eliminate Eurius at any cost.
‘I have to get rid of the First Prince’s Knight Order as well. Only then can I restore the balance of power.’
“Good job. So the Grand Duke said that?”
Eurius smiled as he sat down and reviewed the documents.
[Parthia Kingdom – Al Karim, Al Ibrahim, Al Hazard…]
“I don’t doubt you, but are these all the people involved?”
“Of course. How dare I lie to Your Majesty? Haha…”
Wallace wiped his cold sweat with a handkerchief and cautiously opened his mouth again.
“But Your Majesty… what should I do about this?”
His lifeline was in Eurius’s hands.
But the Grand Duke had ordered him to kill him.
It was a dilemma where he couldn’t do anything.
But Eurius’s reaction was very blunt.
“Well, you have your position too, so I can’t help it. You can do as the Grand Duke asks.”
“…?!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Really, Your Highness?”
“I swear by my name. I won’t hold you responsible for this.”
‘No, you bastard! He ordered me to kill you, you damn first prince!’
Wallace had nothing to say. How could he not know what would happen when Eurius died and the report reached the emperor?
Eurius looked at him with a contemptuous expression.
“So are you going to disobey the Grand Duke’s order?”
“…”
No matter how much Wallace thought about it, if he didn’t do anything, the Grand Duke wouldn’t let him go.
“There won’t be any trouble, right?”
“Do I look like someone who would let it happen knowingly?”
“Then I’ll send an assassin… But my life is on the line too, so please be safe?”
It was a strange conversation to watch.
The one who sent an assassin to kill him was asking for his safety.
When Wallace left, Eurius burst into laughter.
He thought it was too funny.
‘Then shall I start planning to catch those rats in the desert?’
He spoke lightly, but Eurius was carefully reviewing his plan with his memories from his previous life.
The Heimdall Cult and the warriors of the desert were not enemies to be underestimated.
‘They say there are three kingdoms, but in reality there is only one enemy to face!’
He picked up a pen and circled the word Parthia on the document.
The influential people of the desert kingdom on Wallace’s document were those he would inevitably clash with if he went down to the desert.
But on the other hand, wasn’t it like this?
Eurius recalled his meeting with Jamir.
Wallace was conspiring with Parthia’s influential people to prepare for a civil war.
And that prince of that kingdom was a pawn of that cult. Could this be a coincidence?
‘So if I get rid of these guys and that cult here, an alliance with the desert kingdom wouldn’t be impossible?’
Of course, going down to the desert now as the Grand Duke wanted was like jumping into a tiger’s den.
‘I need thorough preparation.’
The first place Eurius visited after making his decision was Azure Dragon Sect’s capital branch.
He was soon led to the reception room and greeted them warmly.
‘It’s good that the chief is here. It’ll make things easier.’
“Huh? The representative came up to the capital this time?”
“Your highness participated in the martial arts tournament, and we couldn’t help but come as your business partners. It was an impressive match.”
Jegal Hwayoung greeted him politely. But Eurius tilted his head.
‘The representative and that woman, why do they look so serious?’
Usually, they would welcome him with a business smile. But Jegal Hwayoung and Jegal Geon looked very grave.
“I have a question for Your Majesty.”
“Go ahead.”
Jegal Hwayoung hesitated for a moment and then opened her mouth.
“Do you know about [Magyo]?”
‘Magyo?’