Chapter 380
This was an even more surprising story.
‘Why the Dark King, too?’
The Dark King was a calculating individual.
He would know that if he were to strike Ruina’s Opalma Kingdom, he would be at odds with the three empires behind her, yet he had declared war?
“What is their purpose?”
“Uwaaah!! I don’t know either. They framed us, saying that our Opalma Kingdom had harmed the people of their faction.”
The moment he heard Ruina’s continued story, Chris realized that this situation was not a simple one.
“Uheong!! The Sword Mastery Noble House says they will kill all the people of our Opalma Kingdom. Please save me!”
They were saying they would commit a massacre.
Leaving aside the question of whether it was permissible, it was something that could not be understood.
‘Why would the Sword Mastery Noble House do something like this?’
No matter how rotten the Sword Mastery Noble House was, it was a dignified noble house of the Alliance.
Why were they trying to commit an act that only corrupt magi would do?
And that, too, without any reason.
‘…No, it’s not that there’s no reason.’
In that moment, a single guess flashed in Chris’s mind.
No matter how much a magus was steeped in evil, they would not commit such a slaughter without a reason.
The reason for such a massacre was always one.
Human sacrifice.
He was certain.
The Sword Mastery Noble House had joined forces with the Dark King and was trying to commit some terrible act, using the people of the Opalma Kingdom as a sacrifice.
***
He headed for the Gray Zone at once.
He arrived in the territory of the Opalma Kingdom with Ruina’s relic.
“This is my Opalma Kingdom!!”
“…It is a humble kingdom.”
At best, it was the size of a small territory.
And it had not even been properly organized yet.
They had not even been able to build a castle wall, so they had surrounded the area with a clumsy wooden fence.
“It’s because we’re just starting. Just you wait! People are gathering even now, so someday, it will grow into a great kingdom that is not inferior to the three empires!”
Ruina, having regained her vitality, raised her voice.
At the presence of the two, the people of the kingdom gathered.
Little children ran up to Ruina and hugged her.
“Ruina unni!!”
“Heo, to call Her Majesty the Queen ‘unni’! Your Majesty, you have returned? What of the external support?”
Although she was called the queen of the kingdom, it was a family-like atmosphere.
Ruina put down the child who had hugged her and wore a triumphant expression.
“Who do you think I am? Of course I brought him. This is the Hero!!”
“!!!”
The gazes of the people were fixed on Chris.
And then.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
“The Hero has really come to save us!!”
“All hail the Hero!!!”
“We’re saved!!”
Chris wore a bewildered expression.
The reaction was much more enthusiastic than he had expected.
It was a reaction as if something had possessed their eyes.
‘Isn’t this the first time they’re seeing me? No matter how famous I am, this is a bit much.’
He was able to find out the reason soon enough.
“Did I not tell you? That the Hero would never turn a blind eye to your plight.”
A familiar voice that was frustrating just to hear.
It was Evan!
“I believed in you.”
“……”
“Everyone, open your eyes wide and see. That youth is the Hero who will save you all. You need not worry anymore.”
“Hero! Hero! Hero!!!”
“Your voices are too small. Do you not know that the Hero is listening?”
“Waaaaaaaaaaah!!! All hail the Hero!!! All hail!!!!”
It was a cheer that felt like a madness.
‘…That whelp Evan, what on earth kind of nonsense is he up to?’
Just then, a woman with a haughty impression appeared and spoke to Evan with a fed-up expression.
It was Ranya.
“…Please do something about Evan oppa. I think he’s gone crazy.”
“…Even I can’t.”
“Shouldn’t you take responsibility? He only talks about you all day; I think my ears are going to bleed.”
“I don’t know, he’s a whelp I don’t know either.”
He sincerely wanted to pretend he didn’t know him.
If this matter had not been related to the Sword Mastery Noble House, he really would have wanted to throw him far, far away.
“Anyway, let’s talk. I will come up with a plan.”
He headed for the royal castle.
…Of course, though it was called a royal castle, it was nothing more than a slightly decent building.
“What exactly is the situation?”
Ranya answered.
“I spied on them with magic, and the Sword Mastery Noble House is preparing their knight order. They will probably advance on this place within a few days.”
“That’s tight.”
Chris wore a troubled expression.
‘It will be difficult to receive support from other factions.’
It wasn’t that he lacked the forces to mobilize.
Because Chris now had most of the factions of the Alliance under his control.
The problem was time.
There was not enough time to mobilize troops from the three empires.
‘There is a way to call only some of the elite from the Magic Tower or the Round Table, but.’
However, that method was not suitable either.
‘A great deal of blood will be shed. Whether on the side of the Sword Mastery Noble House, or on this side.’
The military strength of the Sword Mastery Noble House was comparable to that of a decent nation.
There was a story that even if all seven families of the Round Table were combined, they would not be a match for the Sword Mastery Noble House alone.
The undisputed number one noble house of the Alliance.
If they were to clash head-on, an irreversible damage would occur.
‘With the Age of Ruin just around the corner, I cannot allow such damage to happen to the Alliance.’
The military strength of the Sword Mastery Noble House had to be preserved as well.
‘It’s not like everyone in the Sword Mastery Noble House is a bastard who deserves to die.’
Although the top was rotten, if one were to look at the Sword Mastery Noble House as a whole, there were not a few outstanding individuals.
‘The problem is the rotten ones at the head.’
In his past life, because of those rotten ones, the Sword Mastery Noble House had been unable to play a proper role despite possessing a powerful military strength.
This incident, too, was likely the work of those rotten ones.
‘Just what are those whelps thinking? No matter how rotten they were, I don’t think they were this crazy.’
Chris shook his head.
For now, it seemed he would have to find out after making the Sword Mastery Noble House kneel.
“What is the overall atmosphere of the Sword Mastery Noble House like? It can’t be that everyone is in favor of this matter.”
Ruina answered.
“I had someone I bribed look into it, and it’s a mess. The majority of the ordinary knights at the bottom are suspicious of the truth of this matter and are not pleased with it.”
“What about the heads at the top? It can’t be that all of the leaders are in favor of it.”
“A few of the elders are opposing it. Ugh. I tried to offer them a bribe as a token of my gratitude, but they only scolded me, saying that they were only pursuing the right justice and were not doing it for money, and I was kicked out.”
Chris nodded his head.
Looking at the situation, a rough method was drawn up.
“Evan, have you had any achievements in the meantime?”
“So-so. I have tried to get even a little closer to you.”
Evan, surprisingly, had risen to 8-Star.
It was a wondrous achievement.
‘His talent is his talent, but it must be thanks to the blessing of the constellation.’
In this operation, Evan’s role was absolute.
Chris looked at Evan for a moment, then said something no one had expected.
“Evan, do you have any intention of abandoning the blessing of the constellation?”
“!!”
Everyone wore surprised expressions.
It was an incomprehensible request.
Without the blessing of the constellation, Evan’s military strength would drop significantly.
And yet.
“Fine. I will do so.”
“…You’re not going to ask why?”
“I trust you.”
“……”
It was a thoughtless answer.
“Aren’t you making such a proposal for my sake anyway?”
“…That is so, but.”
“Then that’s enough.”
Chris let out a sigh and then gave a detailed explanation.
“You are weak.”
A difficult story to accept.
An 8-Star, no less.
A state of an absolute being who could reign as a super-powerhouse wherever he went on the continent.
The problem was that the role required of Evan was not on that level.
“The blessing of the Sword Star you received. It is certainly of great help to you, but at the same time, it has its limits. You must now complete your own sword.”
The blessing of the Sword Star was receiving the protection of the constellation of the sword.
It enabled an explosive growth, but there was a problem.
Thanks to the overly smooth growth, on the contrary, it hindered his progression to a truly high state, that is to say, completing his own worldview and advancing to high 8-Star or 9-Star.
‘Evan has grown up until now without facing too many hardships.’
The hardships here referred to the hardships in the process of training the sword.
Usually, people would reach 8-Star only after experiencing countless frustrations and trials while training the sword, but Evan had not experienced any of that at all.
‘This is my responsibility, too. I led him too well from the side.’
It had been different in his past life.
Evan had gone through the Age of Ruin alone and had experienced hardships incomparable to those in this life.
His growth had also been much slower and more difficult than in this life, but those trials had, as a result, become the foundation for him to rise to 9-Star.
“Evan, I want you to rise to high 8-Star right now.”
“!!”
An absurd request.
However.
“Of course, I know it won’t be easy. But you have to do it. Only then can you become the head of the Sword Mastery Noble House.”
The arena grew quiet.
Right.
This was the operation Chris had thought of.
To drive out the rotten ones of the Sword Mastery Noble House and make Evan the new head.
‘It’s possible. All I have to do is make those who oppose the current leadership Evan’s side.’
However, there was one most important condition.
Evan had to prove his own skill with the sword.
In other words, he had to defeat the current head, the Sword King.
For reference, the Sword King was at the state of high 8-Star.
Although it was an absolutely impossible task with Evan’s current skill.
“I will somehow buy you some time. A fortnight, within that time, you are to reach high 8-Star.”
It was an impossible task, just the same.
What could one do with just a fortnight.
And yet.
“Fine.”
Evan said with blazing eyes.
“I will do it, somehow. Because I have sworn to be of help to you.”
“…No, there’s no need to say something so burdensome.”
“Above all, did you not make this proposal for my sake? To resolve my resentment that is tied to the Sword Mastery Noble House.”
“……”
Evan smiled.
“Thank you, Christian.”
Chris scratched his head.
He couldn't say that there was no such reason at all.
“Shut up and just hurry up and get stronger.”
***
Chris moved quickly to buy time.
First, he moved the three empires to condemn the Sword Mastery Noble House.
Whether it was the Holy Empire, the Golden Cross, or the Karn Empire, all were in a state of having fallen under Chris’s hand, so there was nothing difficult about it.
In addition, he urgently summoned the heads of the Round Table and the high-ranking mages of the Magic Tower using a gate.
“We have come, O Hero!!”
“…To think that even the Hero would try to work us like this.”
Although they grumbled, they all followed without a word, as they were indebted to Chris.
‘If the big shots of the Alliance are here like this, the Sword Mastery Noble House won’t be able to act rashly either.’
That was not all.
The other factions of the Gray Zone also made their move.
Yurian took care of this.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been to the Gray Zone.”
Yurian’s original identity was an elf. She was from this Gray Zone.
She had come to help, as she knew all about the different races living in various parts of the Gray Zone.
“You’ve gotten stronger.”
At the sight of Yurian, whom he had not seen in a long time, a strange light appeared in Chris’s eyes.
Originally, Yurian had been a 6-Star.
But in the time he had not seen her, she had reached 7-Star.
“Yes, both Jupien and I are trying our best. Though it is dangerous, just as you said.”
At their request to become stronger, Chris had forcibly activated their potential.
It had been a risky gamble, but fortunately, it seemed to have been effective.