novelraw Chapter 680 : Visit to the Grand Duchy of Atinjo V
Chapter 680 : Visit to the Grand Duchy of Atinjo V
Chapter 0680 Visit to the Grand Duchy of Atinjo V
Translator: Jay_Forestieri
Editor: Tseirp
Clang.
Rukiya batted away Zlurma’s strike with a ringing crash.
“Even though your eyes should be blind and your ears should be ruined, you still managed to block that blow?”
To Zlurma’s astonished words, Rukiya gave no reply.
He had still not restored his hearing from the thunderous roar of the trap.
Deprived of sight by the flash of light, and having his hearing sealed by the deafening roar.
Rukiya nevertheless continued to defend against Zlurma’s sword.
“As expected.”
Zlurma’s sincere praise.
Even though they had become enemies, they had grown and honed themselves together in their clan’s village.
He knew better than anyone just how talented Rukiya was.
And precisely because of that...
“Surrender, Rukiya.”
He urged surrender in a louder voice.
“You must be kidding, Zlurma?”
It seemed Rukiya’s hearing was recovering little by little.
“You were soft-hearted back then, and I guess that still hasn’t changed, has it?”
Rukiya answered with his mouth twisted into a frown.
The content of his words was mocking, but his tone was not.
Now that both had reached middle age and still had not lost their strength, there was the pleasure of seeing an old rival still standing strong, but also the bitter, vexing feeling of having such a troublesome man as an enemy.
What was more, preparing a trap of this scale and actually defending against their infiltration with the troops he had raised himself... that was, in a dimension entirely different from individual combat, superb.
And yet...
“Surrender is impossible.”
“Look carefully, Rukiya. More than half of the men you brought are already down, aren’t they?”
“As you can see, my eyes still haven’t recovered from the flash.”
“You joke in a situation like this?”
Zlurma frowned.
But at that instant, a sense of wrongness ran through his mind.
Rukiya had been raised from a young age to become a commander later on.
His individual combat ability was high, of course, but so was his ability to command.
And having high command ability did not merely mean executing a plan perfectly.
It meant being able to command in a way that kept losses to a minimum.
He would not recklessly let his allies die.
And yet, why did he not surrender?
No—why, moreover, did he not retreat?
Why... was he staying here? Drawing Zlurma and the others in...
A feint?
“Damn it, a decoy! Bash-sama!”
Royal Palace Main Building, Council Chamber.
That was the command center for this defense operation.
The Grand Duke Bash, the Supreme Commander of the national army, and others were gathered there.
Naturally, the surrounding area was sealed off by the Grand Duke’s personal guard.
But suddenly the doors flew open, and multiple shadows burst inside.
“Enemy atta... ugh!”
Before they even had time to shout, the Grand Duke’s personal guard was being brought down one after another.
“Protect His Majesty!”
“Ring the alarm bell!”
Voices flew back and forth.
But the attackers were the Gyuga clan.
People who made their living through assassination.
They would not allow the enemy to sound bells or whistles.
It was impossible to make it completely silent, of course, but compared with fighting outside the walls, the battle progressed in a terrifyingly quiet fashion.
However, the Grand Duke’s personal guard, who were attacked, were also elite.
As time passed, they steadily regrouped.
Working in concert with those guards, spell talismans began to fly.
The one sending them was the protected target himself... Grand Duke Bash of Atinjo.
That gave the personal guard a sliver of breathing room.
Piiiii!
At last, the whistle was blown.
That meant the palace had been informed that something abnormal had happened around the Grand Duke.
“Hurry! The enemy will gather here!”
At last, a voice rose from among the Gyuga clan members who had been attacking in silence.
The owner of that voice was an old woman.
It was the elder herself who was directly leading the assault on the Grand Duke.
But that also meant their commander’s position had been exposed.
Eight spell talismans rushed at the elder.
Manipulating them was Grand Duke Bash.
“You brat, and yet you can control eight talismans!”
The elder muttered bitterly.
A sorcerer controls spell talismans.
Most can manage only one.
At an advanced level, one becomes able to control two at the same time.
And if one can handle four talismans... then they may be called one of the finest sorcerers in the country.
For a human being to control eight talismans was not normal.
Of course, there was no one like that in the Gyuga clan.
Even the elder was limited to four.
The result of Bash’s desperate effort to close the gap between himself and his great father and uncle.
From the time he was old enough to understand, Bash had understood that his father and uncle were beings entirely different from himself.
He knew that it was not that there was something wrong with him, but that the two of them were extraordinary.
What arose there was not rejection of them, but admiration.
I am different from the two of them.
I cannot become like them.
He understood that. He accepted it.
And yet... he still wanted to get closer to them.
So he worked.
His intellect, martial skill, bravery... and sorcery.
A level fit for a prince, one that would not bring shame... he had long since surpassed that.
He had never once thought in terms of such a level.
When, in the future, he inherited the title of Grand Duke, what the people would compare would be the gap between himself and his father and uncle.
That was why he wanted to close that gap even a little.
The Atinjo Grand Duchy had grown into a great power during his father’s reign.
Precisely because of that, the demands placed upon the successor to the ducal title grew even greater.
He never cut corners in anything and continued to strive in everything.
And that result was now.
A spell talisman manipulation ability that even surpassed the Gyuga clan elder.
Still, as expected of the Gyuga elder.
Bash immediately understood that he could not defeat her in a talisman contest alone.
Bash shifted his talismans away from attack and concentrated on protecting his allies.
Bash’s talismans protected the Grand Duke’s personal guard, and the guards, now free to focus on offense, struck down the Gyuga clan members.
“Brat, I acknowledge your effort. But as a sorcerer, you still have a long way to go.”
After muttering that, the elder recalled the talismans she had been controlling and took two new slips from her breast pocket.
A careful observer would have realized that they were not spell talismans.
The two slips adhered to the ceiling.
And from there, something was ‘born’.
“Something strange from the ceiling!”
“Charms!”
At the guard’s cry, Bash was surprised but still saw through it in an instant.
Yes, not spell talismans, but spirit charms.
A spirit charm does not unleash sorcery...
“A revenant*! ” (TLN: Also known as ghosts, spirits, but using revenant here because they exhibit physical properties)
“Revenants in armor? They’re appearing one after another...”
From the two spirit charms stuck to the ceiling, armored revenants emerged one after another.
They held swords and wore armor, but their eyelids were shut, as if sewn closed with thread.
And they were directly above Bash.
“I’ll take down the revenants! The personal guard should focus on the assassins.”
The moment Bash shouted, he drew his sword.
The Holy Sword Tatien.
With a single flash, he cut down the revenant falling from the sky.
At Tatien’s slash, the revenant dispersed into mist.
“So magic and sorcery are fundamentally the same after all?”
Bash muttered.
The effect of the Holy Sword Tatien was to ‘ignore magic’.
The revenants born from spirit charms were, in a sense, beings generated by sorcery.
If magic and sorcery were fundamentally the same thing... then it made sense that Tatien’s slash would erase them.
Bash had not only worked on sorcery.
He had also worked hard on the sword.
So his swordsmanship was solid.
But...
“Even so, talisman control grows unstable.”
The elder muttered with a grin.
Bash had to protect the Grand Duke’s personal guard with his talismans while slashing at the revenants raining down from above.
Controlling talismans was an extremely delicate technique, and even a slight disturbance in one’s heart could have a major impact.
In truth, compared with a magician handling magic, it was an even more delicate thing.
Even if one like Bash had worked tirelessly since childhood... simultaneous control of a sword and talismans was impossible.
“This is the subtlety of a battle between sorcerers. It is not decided simply by how many talismans one can handle. The brat is, after all, just a brat.”
The elder’s murmur reached no one’s ears.
Bash’s talisman control wavered only slightly.
But his opponent was the Gyuga clan led by the elder.
That amount of instability was enough to exploit.
The talismans Bash had been using for defense wavered ever so slightly, and the Grand Duke’s personal guard was brought down.
After cutting down five descending revenants, Bash realized it too.
“So that was the aim!”
He was frustrated, but there was nothing to be done.
The difference in battle experience between sorcerers had shown itself.
The falling revenants did not stop.
As the Grand Duke’s personal guard was struck down, the gap widened with frightening speed.
Clang.
Bash’s sword deflected not only a revenant, but also a throwing knife aimed at him.
At last, the Gyuga clan’s attack had broken through the personal guard.
“Ugh.”
Bash understood what it meant.
That collapse was right at hand.
Almost at the same time, Zlurma burst into the Council Chamber.
But it was too late.
Bash met the elder’s eyes.
“Die!”
“Damn...!”
Bash braced himself for death.
At that moment.
Clang, clang, clang...
All of the throwing knives hurled toward Bash were deflected.
“What the!”
The atmosphere changed.
At that instant, no one could move.
Clink, clink...
Footsteps could be heard.
But no one wanted to turn toward them.
Because in an instant they understood those were the footsteps of death.
Clink, clink...
Without even the slightest hesitation, the footsteps drew nearer.
A slight turn of the neck would reveal the owner of those footsteps.
But no one wanted to move.
No one wanted to know.
Why would they want to know the identity of the one taking their lives?
Among them, Bash turned his head with certainty.
A man wearing pale purple clothing, his long black hair tightly bound up, held in place by a small crown that emitted a faint purple glow.
The owner of the footsteps was Duke Helb.
“Uncle!”
“Bash-sama, you have truly grown well. My elder brother... no, the previous Grand Duke would have been greatly pleased if he were here.”
As always, Duke Helb wore his cool, unruffled expression.
He also addressed the person who had just burst in through the door moments earlier.
“Zlurma, you held them well.”
“Yes, sir! ”
Zlurma replied, hastily dropping to one knee.
Up to this point, not a single member of the Gyuga clan had moved.
That was not rational.
They understood that if they moved first and seized the initiative, they might be able to turn the situation to their advantage... they understood that.
In their heads.
But that was all.
Even if the mind understood it, the body would not move.
No—some people could not even think that far.
They could not think at all.
Their heads were full of fear...
All they could wish was that time would pass without incident, and that the ‘death’ standing before them would overlook them.
It is said that when death draws near, a person’s memories run through their mind like a flashback.
That is a lie.
That kind of reward is reserved only for those who have already found some measure of satisfaction in their lives.
Ordinarily, no such reward is granted.
What remains is only fear.
Fear of being unable to do anything.
Even so, some can still speak while fully aware of that fear.
“So the monster... has awakened, has it.”
The elder’s murmur.
By ‘monster’, she did not mean some other being that was not human.
But whether one was human or not, how much meaning did that difference really have?
They could not be defeated, no matter what, and they brought absolute death. That did not change.
“A monster? Hehe. I, at any rate, am far below the two ‘true monsters’ staying here at the palace... Ignorance truly is bliss, isn’t it?”
Duke Helb glanced toward the roof a little way off.
There, hiding in secret, were a swordsman and a magician peeking furtively at the Council Chamber...
They had probably intended to intervene in Bash’s battle if things turned truly dire.
Duke Helb gave a small bow with a faint smile.
“For now, before the true monsters intervene, let us prove that there is no problem whatsoever.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“Just as you imagine.”
To the elder’s question, Duke Helb answered without changing his expression.
“Die.”
In that instant, every single member of the Gyuga clan in the Council Chamber collapsed, dead.
Something thin had pierced them from the back of the neck.
All of them, simultaneously.
How many of those present could have understood that it was done by an astonishingly thin spell talisman?
At the moment of piercing them, Duke Helb took a single large breath.
In truth, he still had not fully returned to his original condition.
Even so, he had somehow forced everything to fit just in time...
Duke Helb walked forward with a faint smile still on his face, came before Bash, and bowed his head.
An astonishingly graceful and beautiful bow.
“Duke Helb Plak, at your service.”
“Uncle...”
“Your Majesty, please order the suppression of the traitors attacking the palace.”
Without changing his expression, Duke Helb asked for orders.
Bash took one deep breath.
That completely restrained both mind and body.
The words that came from his mouth did not waver even a millimeter.
“I command Duke Helb. Exterminate the ones attacking the palace. This is an imperial command.”
“Your imperial command is duly received.”
This was the first order from the new Grand Duke Bash to Duke Helb.
After bowing deeply, Duke Helb began walking toward the outside of the Council Chamber.
A smile naturally slipped from the corner of his mouth.
The expression on his face was that of a master delighted by the growth of his disciple.
“He told me to exterminate them. Heh heh heh, as expected of Bash-sama. Elder brother, elder brother’s blood has definitely been inherited by Bash-sama.”
Of course, no one heard that murmur.
“Not drive them off, not merely remove them, but exterminate them. So that they never again even think of raising a rebellion, let us ensure that they are thoroughly ‘exterminated’.”
After that, in less than ten minutes, the noble army centered around the Babury family that had attacked the palace was annihilated.
It is said that four thousand corpses lay there.
The swordsman and magician who had been secretly watching the battle in the Council Chamber were, needless to say, Abel and Ryo.
They did not see Duke Helb’s ‘extermination’ when he headed outside.
They thought it would surely become a gruesome scene anyway, and that if Duke Helb had come out, then no unforeseen disaster would occur.
They did see the scene after everything was over.
“That is truly the way of hegemony.”
“By ‘hegemony’, you mean ruling by hegemony, instead of monarchy?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
Outside the palace, where countless corpses lay scattered.
The attacking side had been exterminated by Duke Helb alone.
Seeing that, Ryo used the word hegemonism.
“I can certainly picture it, but...”
“Hegemonism is not just about showing power. It is not enough to solve everything by force, either.”
“That so?”
“Yes. That would just be a musclehead.”
“R-Right...”
Ryo stated it flatly, and Abel accepted it more or less naturally.
There was no particular reason to deny it.
“Showing power, and that power captivating people... that is the essence of hegemonism.”
“Power captivating people? Sure, people are fascinated by overwhelming power, I won’t deny that...”
“If you think of it as that state expanded to the level of governing an entire nation, it may be easier to understand. Every citizen becomes captivated by that power. And so, being ruled by it begins to feel pleasant.”
“Feeling good about being ruled? Really?”
“Yes. The desire to be ruled by someone overwhelmingly strong is part of human nature. In some worlds, that may be a being called ‘God’... but I think that is the essence of hegemonism.”
Ryo, who had only dipped the tip of one foot into the world of history studies, had once become interested in the very act of ‘rule’ across time and place, and had researched it.
To study rule was also to understand the essence of the ‘masses’.
Why did Athens, which had adopted democracy, lose its power?
Why did the Roman Republic transition into the Roman Empire?
Why is it that even when Western countries try to establish democracy, it does not take root well in the Middle East and Africa?
Of course, each of those questions has dozens of correct answers.
Depending on which angle one looks from, the form of the answer changes.
One such correct answer is the one that focuses on the ‘masses’, and that is all there is to it.
“Abel, please walk the royal path, not the hegemonic one.”
“O-Okay.”
“Hegemonism does not suit Abel.”
Ryo declared it flatly.
“Is this really a matter of whether it suits me or not?”
“Of course. Personally, I do not think the royal path and the hegemonic path are about which is right and which is wrong.”
“Hm?”
“It is more like the suitability or unsuitability of the ruler, the suitability or unsuitability of the masses, the historical suitability or unsuitability of the people in that region... I think it is something that emerges from a very large number of complex factors all tangled together.”
Ryo explained.
Abel tilted his head.
He did not seem able to agree completely.
“Do you think the royal path is the better one?”
“Yeah, more or less.”
“If that is what you think, then the royal path is what suits Abel best.”
“I see, so that is what you mean.”
Abel must have found it convincing, because he nodded several times.
“The world is made of diversity. What is justice for some people can be injustice for others. If you forcibly impose one side’s justice, resistance will arise.”
“That much is true.”
What is right in the Central Countries is not necessarily right in these Eastern Countries, either.
One week after the Atinjo Grand Duchy’s Royal Palace was attacked, Ryo and Abel were to depart the capital of the Atinjo Grand Duchy, Cam Pho.
“Lord Duke of Rondo, Abel-dono, thank you very much.”
“No, Your Majesty Bash, we are the ones grateful for your generous hospitality.”
Bash expressed his thanks, and Ryo also expressed his thanks.
“Thank you for delivering the Holy Sword Tatien.”
“Good to hear Duke Helb also recovered.”
Duke Helb and Abel also exchanged thanks.
“From the port town of Hoi An, one of our Atinjo Grand Duchy’s long-distance cruising ships will escort you as far as Darwei.”
“Yes, thank you very much.”
And so Ryo and Abel, riding Andalusia and Faiwan, once again set out on the road back to the Kingdom of Knightley.
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