CH 259.

Kim Seon-Hyeok was in a pensive mood after reading the missive. After a long time, he finally spoke.

“Huu. Does Her Imperial Majesty know about this?”

Asha Trail shook her head in response.

“That message didn’t go through the Imperial Palace, sir. It came directly to Mangsk Castle.”

“Then that means…”

“Her Imperial Majesty has no knowledge of this missive, sir.”

It was a completely unexpected answer. Without realizing it, he stared at Asha Trail blankly. 

“Grand Duke, due to your injuries, Her Imperial Majesty has declared that you will not be allowed to leave the Imperial Palace. Orders have already been given to the Imperial Guards and you will most likely have to go straight to the Imperial Palace the moment your wounds are healed, sir.”

A look of discomfort quickly passed over the lady knight’s face as she spoke calmly. It was clear that she deliberately hadn’t reported the existence of this missive to the Imperial court.

“If Her Majesty knew about this missive, she would not have allowed it to be passed to you, sir.”

That was definitely true. 

Ophelia wasn’t pleased with her husband’s behavior of never returning home every time he went out. And seeing how he had been terribly wounded in this duel, it was clear that her patience had reached its limit.

Given the situation, it would be too much to expect her to be as wise and considerate as usual.

Asha Trail hadn’t informed Ophelia of the existence of the message because she had taken all that into consideration. 

“Thank you.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok was deeply grateful that the inflexible lady knight was being so accommodating. 

She looked like she hadn’t slept well. Her eyes clearly showed how much she thought and struggled between her loyalty to the Imperial family members.

“What will you do, Grand Duke?”

She quickly changed the topic. Forget about boasting, she wasn’t even comfortable with being thanked. Seon-Hyeok knew that any further expressions of appreciation would only make her uncomfortable and didn’t talk about it anymore. 

“I’ll most likely go.”

It wasn’t that he hadn’t agonized over it, but from the beginning, he had already known what the answer would be. It would have been different if he didn’t know it, but now that he knew, he couldn’t pretend not to see the Warrior in trouble. 

Although the Warrior was naive, the Warrior had still truly looked up to him. One thing Seon-Hyeok was certain about was that if their situation was reversed, the Warrior would have made the same decision as he had.

“I thought you would.”

As if she knew from the start how he would answer, Asha Trail took his answer as a matter of fact. 

“Do you plan on responding, sir?”

Kim Seon-Hyeok shook his head. 

“I’m heading West because of my loyalty to the Warrior, not because of the request from the Holy Kingdom.”

When he had left the Central region, the people in the Panthea base had truly wished him farewell. 

But the people’s goodness and the kingdom itself were completely different.

To him, the Holy Kingdom was a cunning country that would do everything to take advantage of him if they had the slightest excuse to do so. 

He had no intention of giving the Holy Kingdom what they wanted so easily. 

“The Holy Kingdom needs to desperately want to find the Warrior before I do.”

Even though his answer made it clear he was plotting something, she didn’t question him.

“When the time comes, I’ll distract the Imperial Guards, sir.”

“There’s no need to do that.”

He didn’t want to burden Asha Trail any further. That she had omitted the existence of the message from her report was already distressing enough for the inflexible knight. 

“I will find a way before that.”

He had talked big in front of Asha Trail, but it wasn’t something that he could accomplish overnight. 

Right now, Ophelia was furious with him for the fatal wounds he had sustained from his duel against Marek. Why else would she have threatened to forbid him from leaving the Imperial capital?

“I’m going to go insane.”

It was obvious that if he told her in advance, then she would detain him. But he was also afraid of what the repercussions would be if he crazily snuck out behind her back. Not to mention, he had to think about Asha Trail’s plight in having to take some responsibility in all this.

“Joon-Min, you damn bastard.”

He cursed out the missing Park Joon-Min for no reason, but it solved nothing.

“A way, I need to find a way.”

Even if he headed West, he could only leave Mangsk after the full moon when his business with Julian was finished. He had to think of a way to somehow convince Ophelia by then.

However, as time passed, he couldn’t think of anything. 

Even if it hadn’t been the duel with Marek, Kim Seon-Hyeok had already gotten in trouble over an incident in the West. There was no way Ophelia would allow him to make another journey into the dangerous West when he had once been missing for nearly half a year after being defeated by the Demon King. 

He had to come up with a reason to convince Ophelia. 

Time continued to pass.

The sliver of a moon slowly grew bigger until it soon became a full moon. During that time, news about the Allied Forces reached Mangsk several times. 

Disregarding the Warrior’s disappearance, the Allied Forces were on a winning streak. Thanks to the disappearance of the Demon King, the number of demons who had been rampaging around had drastically decreased. 

However, compared to the number of victories, the Allied Forces hadn’t been able to advance as much because the Heralds of Chaos had appeared from various places and were hindering them. 

After a few days, the frontline came to a standstill.  

The Allied Forces couldn’t advance further because the demons and beasts blocked their way with the Herald of Chaos in the vanguard. The Allied Forces began to focus on purifying and stabilizing the territories they occupied. 

It occurred to Kim Seon-Hyeok that the leaders of the Allied Forces might be thinking of ending the operation with this. 

It was as he expected.

News spread that the Allied Forces had started repairing abandoned fortresses and castles as well as establishing defense lines instead of pushing forward unreasonably.

The large-scale operation in which 210,000 troops composed of 117 regiments and 3,000 superhumans were mobilized was virtually over. 

This was one day before Marek’s promised day of the full moon.

***

Rumors spread that the Allied Forces, who had just begun to hold the frontlines, were already fighting fiercely over the distribution of the occupied territories. 

Considering how the Demon King hadn’t been completely defeated, it was pathetic.

But what could they do? From the beginning, it was not out of a grand sense of justice that the  Central kingdoms had gone West. They had gone for firstly, their survival, and secondly, the profits that would come afterwards.

Since they had put out the fire by dealing with the immediate problem, it was only natural for them to look at the carrot dangling in front of them. 

“Control yourselves, alright? Control yourselves.”

Whether they fought for land or threw a banquet, Kim Seon-Hyeok only hoped that the Allied Forces wouldn’t be blinded by profit and separate. 

As the situation in the West continued to change, Seon-Hyeok recovered quickly from his injuries. 

“Truthfully, I don’t think we need to worry about any consequences for your blood loss, sir.”

The priest was surprised. When the priests had seen him in the beginning, they questioned whether he was dead or alive. That’s how bad his condition had been, but now, Seon-Hyeok had completely recovered in a short period of time. 

“It’s because you, the priests, have all worked so hard.” 

He wasn’t joking, it was the truth. No matter how powerful his water attribute’s recuperative skill was, if the priests hadn’t poured their divine power into him to the point of fainting, then he wouldn’t have been able to stand up this quickly.

Come to think of it, there had been no news from the Water Spirits who had disappeared after receiving the previous Spirit King’s legacy from the Mother Tree in the west.

Well, perhaps they decided to become the Spirit King. 

Kim Seon-Hyeok wasn’t upset. 

Unlike Atiya, he didn't have a strong bond with his water Spirits. The possibility that they would give up the position of Spirit King for their master wasn’t high from the start. 

It didn’t matter since he could always make another contract with a spirit.

Unlike in the past, he now had the ability to summon the spirits of the Imperial capital whenever he wanted.

“Huu.”

Once the priest left, Kim Seon-Hyeok was finally able to leave his room for the first time in a long while. 

Thanks to the priests’ efforts, all the wounds on his body had healed, but it seemed like it would take a bit more time for his body’s condition to get better.

“I need to be better by the time I have to leave.”

The full moon was just around the corner. He planned on leaving as soon as he had finished his business with Mangsk. 

Thankfully just in time, Roland’s griffin Devon was at Mangsk, so the distance to the West wasn’t an issue. The real problem was after he had arrived.

How was he going to find Park Joon-Min in the vast Western region? He was already feeling hopeless at the thought of investing countless hours searching for him. 

All Kim Seon-Hyeok could do right now was hope that it wouldn’t take long.

***

The next day, Marek came to visit him.

“I will wait for you in the eastern spire of the castle.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok couldn’t meet up with Julian until the ceremony of her succession was completed and she was stripped of her fate as the dragon slayer.

“Please take care of Julian.”

That was why he had asked Marek to watch over her so that whatever happened, she could finish the succession ceremony. 

He wanted her to be safe. After all, it was because of him that she had to bear the burden of being an Adjuster when she didn’t need to. 

“I will definitely do my best.”

Which made sense, since Julian was equally important to Marek as the next generation of Adjusters as she was important to him. Just as Marek had said, he would treat her very well.

“But how will I know if the ritual is over?”

“You’ll know. So don’t worry.”

Once Marek left, Kim Seon-Hyeok waited for evening. Evening finally came.

Not a single shadow was seen in the eastern spire of the Mangsk castle. Since it was late, the servants were most likely sleeping. But seeing how there weren’t any guards, it was clear that Julian had emptied the castle in advance.

Which was fortunate.

Kim Seon-Hyeok didn’t want rumors circulating that the new Countess of Mangsk and the Empress’ husband was having a secret affair in the middle of the night.

Whether it was true or false, the scandal itself would damage the Imperial family’s authority. There was no need to give the already gossipy nobles a reason to talk.

“I wonder when it’ll start.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok sat on the railing of the castle terrace as he looked at the eastern highest, and the darkest, spire.

Is it there?

There was no need for him to check. Although it was so far away that it was barely visible, he could feel the peculiar and uncomfortable aura coming from it.

There was only one adversary that could make his blood boil just by feeling the faint aura.

“Huuuu, huuuu.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok took a deep breath. He had been staring blankly at the spire and without realizing it, it almost charged towards it. 

The time passed, but the feeling of his blood boiling didn’t subside.

As I thought, this is the only way. 

As his murderous rage deepened, he became convinced that Julian could only get out of this destiny by being reborn as an Adjuster. 

“Hm.”

It was unknown how much time passed as he tried to suppress his rage. 

In that time, Kim Seon-Hyeok moved several times. It was difficult for him to suppress his bloodthirst as he looked at the spire. 

However, once he became conscious of it, no matter how far he tried to distance himself, he couldn’t get rid of his murderous intent towards his greatest enemy.

Kill her. Kill her. Kill her.

Like an auditory hallucination, a voice provoked him.

“Damn it.”

If he had known this would be the case, it would’ve been easier to find tolerance after the ceremony was over. Then, he wouldn’t be suffering as much as he was now trying to control himself. 

His impulse was getting stronger and stronger.

Let’s wait a bit longer. 

Although it was painful, he trusted Marek and waited. Marek was this era’s Adjuster who could block a tragedy with just a single stroke of his sword. There was no way Marek would let him down this time either.

And Kim Seon-Hyeok’s prediction came true. 

After a certain period of time, the murderous intent coursing through his body disappeared as if it were all a lie. And at the same time, a brilliant flash of light surrounded him. 

This was the first awakening he had ever experienced and the brightest flash of light he had ever seen in all the different careers he had.