Chapter 467

The metropolis was engulfed in flames.

This territory belonged to the Tybun Viscounty, a border province of the Karnel Kingdom.

To be precise, it was an urban center located in a remote district.

In the past, it had been a pastoral town of significant scale.

However, as the conflict intensified, the fires of combat ultimately reached this far as well.

Settlements and hamlets were consumed by the blaze.

Homesteads that once sheltered families were reduced to cinders.

The military forces of the Pettyman Kingdom hurled blazing brands into residences, deliberately stoking the inferno.

An equestrian knight of Pettyman, who was directing the troops from horseback, aimed his blade at the column of displaced civilians fleeing into the countryside.

“Behold, valiant warriors of Pettyman! Yonder lie the remnants of the treacherous Karnel! Grant them no quarter; cut them down!”

Upon hearing the commanding knight’s thunderous order, the rank-and-file soldiers hesitated.

Observing their reluctance, the knight bellowed in fury.

“What stays your hands?! Why have you not swiftly pursued those scoundrels!”

“Commander, sir! Regardless of how we perceive them, those are displaced commoners, not the defeated forces of Karnel.”

In truth, there could not have been any lingering military units of the Karnel Kingdom in the vicinity.

The Karnel Kingdom had suffered a decisive defeat in a comprehensive engagement with the Pettyman Kingdom not long ago, resulting in a major pullout of their defensive forces.

While the armies of the Karnel Kingdom retreated to reorganize their ranks, the forces of the Pettyman Kingdom were actively taking possession of the Karnel Kingdom’s territories.

There was no active engagement taking place.

Even the lowest tiers of the military were well aware of this reality.

“You mindless simpletons! The very moment they grip a blade or a spear, they transform into an adversarial force endangering our glorious Pettyman!”

The man who held the rank of Knight Commander shouted fiercely at his troops.

With crimson veins bulging in his eyes, he spat out his commands with venomous force.

“By the decree of His Majesty! Eradicate wickedness! Validate righteousness! Such is your duty! The obligation of the illustrious Pettyman Kingdom’s military! Annihilate them completely!”

“B-but, Commander! There are elderly individuals and young youths among them…”

The Knight Commander’s gaze tightened upon witnessing the soldier attempting to reason with him.

“You insolent fool, do you presume to challenge my authority at this very moment?”

The Knight Commander swung down from his mount and closed the distance to the soldier.

“It is not defiance—”

Thrust-!

“Gahk?”

The Knight Commander’s blade pierced deeply into the soldier’s midsection.

Vomiting crimson fluid and shivering violently, the soldier collapsed onto the earth.

“Benighted simpletons who exist under the benevolence of His Majesty yet fail to honor it.”

A look of deep revulsion crossed the Knight Commander’s features.

“You miscreants who have spurned His Majesty’s favor are no longer members of the magnificent Pettyman Kingdom’s forces; you are rebels. Knights!”

Clang-!

Accompanying the Knight Commander’s sinister declaration, the Pettyman Knights unsheathed their blades.

At that sight, the complexions of the ordinary soldiers blanched.

“Chastise these defiant rebels!”

“Triumph to His Great Majesty the Monarch!”

“Righteousness sides with us!”

The knights, projecting their inner aura, prepared to massacre the troops under their own command.

“Aaaaargh!”

“N-no, mercy, do not commit this act!”

The soldiers scattered in sheer panic.

They were equipped with their own armaments.

Yet, they possessed no desire to engage the knights in combat.

Having been seasoned in warfare, they understood precisely.

How futile it was to resist knights capable of manipulating aura.

Watching the terrified infantry scatter, the Knight Commander let out a mocking laugh.

“They ought to have accepted their demise with devotion, given that they once served under His Majesty’s banner. To run away in such a cowardly fashion. Truly, there is no redeeming such degenerate filth.”

The Knight Commander shifted his grip on his blade, lowering the point toward the soldier who lay convulsing on the ground.

“Your life ends here as well.”

The precise moment he drove his blade down to claim his subordinate’s life.

Thud-!

“From my perspective, the degenerates beyond redemption are actually you individuals.”

A bare hand reached out and clamped tightly around the Knight Commander’s blade.

The Knight Commander, his frame stiffening, glared at the individual who had intercepted his strike.

Frigid crimson eyes returned his gaze unblinkingly.

“Who stands before me?! Are you an operative of the Karnel Kingdom?!”

The Knight Commander wrenched his blade with violence, bellowing in rage.

Yet the weapon, locked fast within Leo’s grasp, remained completely stationary.

‘What immense physical might!’

The Knight Commander, his eyes widening at Leo’s incredible capability, activated his internal aura.

“I shall sever your arm along with the blade!”

With those words, aura erupted from the steel like a sudden detonation.

The Knight Commander, who had been grinning with certainty at the display, watched his own expression twist into absolute terror.

The blade remained utterly unmoving within Leo’s palm.

Leo applied pressure through his fingers.

Shatter-!

“G-gahk?!”

The weapon, along with the concentrated aura, shattered violently.

Simultaneously, shards of steel and fragments of aura scattered in all directions.

The flying debris failed to leave even a minor mark on Leo, whereas the Knight Commander’s form was lacerated comprehensively.

In front of the knights who were on the verge of slaughtering the regular infantry, Lil materialized.

“As warriors on a field of conflict, you seek to butcher your own subordinates. Do you feel no disgrace?”

In response to Lil’s reprimand, the vanguard knight lunged with his pike.

“Regardless of what sort of maiden you are to obstruct our course! It appears you have a desire for death!”

With a thunderous cry, the aura-charged pike swept toward Lil.

Whish-!

Yet Lil, who had unslung her massive war hammer, was far quicker in striking down the knight than the pike was in closing the distance.

Slam-!

“G-gahk?!”

The knight, his torso directly impacted by the heavy weapon, sailed through the air before violently impacting the ground.

“You are a warrior dispatched by the Karnel Kingdom!”

Lil, casting a glance at the ten knights encircling her with their aura-wrapped weapons drawn, hoisted her war hammer and brought it down hard into the earth.

Rumble-!

Following that action, an exploding crest of stone and soil engulfed the knights entirely.

“Aaaaargh!”

The terminal screams of the knights resonated through the air.

A brief moment later, the knights emerged with only their faces visible like burrowing creatures, their mouths stifled.

Lil, balancing her war hammer casually over her shoulder, walked up to them and remarked.

“Express gratitude that my allegiance lies as a Lumerne scholar. Had I arrived here on clan business, I would have crushed your skulls entirely.”

Hearing Lil speak with such a menacing undertone, the knights shook with intense terror.

Leo, who had observed the entire exchange, retrieved a curative draft from his gear and administered it to the lacerated abdomen of the fallen soldier.

He then strode over to the Knight Commander and declared.

“I require certain answers from you.”

“You degenerates… you do not belong to those Karnel forces! What is your true affiliation!”

In response to Leo’s demand, the Knight Commander shrieked as though expelling venom.

“Are these vestments not sufficient identification?”

Leo remarked, sounding exasperated to even engage in dialogue.

At those words, the Knight Commander recoiled slightly and gnashed his teeth.

“Lumerne?! Lumerne is bound by covenant to preserve non-alignment! Ah! Those deceptive Karnel miscreants must have entangled Lumerne in this conflict! How disgraceful! Those who aspire to be champions dare to align with corruption!”

The Knight Commander, his eyes wide with frantic instability, spewed vitriol.

Leo, observing this state, narrowed his vision.

‘Reasoning with him is impossible.’

“Eternal glory to His Great Majesty the Monarch! Righteousness shall triumph with the Pettyman Kingdom!”

Leo hoisted his boot above the Knight Commander, who was shrieking venomously in a state of delusion.

“The Justice Guild shall deliver retribution upon you…!”

Crunch-!

Leo with annoyance brought his boot down upon the Knight Commander’s skull.

‘Justice Guild?’

Leo focused his thoughts on the final phrase the warrior muttered before plunging into unconsciousness.

Justice Guild.

It was an organization that Leo recognized as well.

It was none other than a champion organization.

Among the mortal hero organizations, it held the position of the 3rd ranked faction, positioned just beneath Twilight and Imperial.

‘Has the Justice Guild entered this conflict?’

It was at that juncture that a query formed in Leo’s mind.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-!

The reverberation of galloping mounts vibrating the terrain became audible.

Turning his gaze, he observed knights riding at maximum velocity, banners bearing recognizable emblems rippling in the wind.

Leo reviewed the mission document extracted from his attire.

‘The insignia of the Tybun Family.’

They were none other than the mounted warriors associated with the Tybun Viscounty, who had submitted an appeal to Lumerne.

“Hold, hold!”

The mount that the leading young warrior guided was none other than a majestic gryphon.

A warrior commanding a creature of myth.

It was evident to any observer that he held an exalted rank.

The young warrior assessed Leo and Lil’s garments and adopted a bewildered look.

“Lumerne academic vestments? For what reason are Lumerne scholars present in this location?”

Noticing the young warrior’s bewildered expression, Leo presented the mission document to him.

“We are scholars sent from Lumerne to address the assignment regarding the desecration of a champion’s resting place. We wish to consult with the petitioner, Viscount Relgen Tybun.”

Upon hearing those words, the young warrior dismounted from his gryphon and stood before Leo.

“My gratitude for answering the appeal. Nonetheless, the individual who made the request is no longer with us.”

“What is the meaning of that statement?”

Lil, standing adjacent to Leo, tilted her head in confusion.

“My grandsire passed from this world one month ago. The individual currently bearing the title of Viscount Tybun is not Relgen Tybun, but myself, Essimmon Tybun.”

Viscount Essimmon, removing his headpiece and offering a strained smile, spoke with visible effort.

“I am grateful that you accepted the task. Yet you have arrived during an exceptionally challenging period, scholars of Lumerne.”

Following Viscount Essimmon’s explanation, Lil’s expression turned grim.

Gazing at Essimmon, Leo requested.

“Could you clarify the circumstances?”

In response, Essimmon offered a nod.

“Very well. To begin, I believe we must take custody of the Pettyman Kingdom’s knights and infantry. I shall clarify the circumstances immediately following that.”

At those words, Lil adopted a solemn countenance.

“It appears the scenario is far more critical than we anticipated, Leo.”

“……”

“Leo? Is something amiss?”

“Indeed, there is.”

In response to Lil’s inquiry, Leo, who had cast a brief glance toward the heavens, made a clicking sound with his tongue.

‘An entity is observing us from a great distance.’

Leo’s heightened perception identified a lingering gaze.

“It appears an event is unfolding.”

“You are all undoubtedly well-versed in the chronicled events of the northeastern sector of the landmass, I take it.”

“Indeed. For a millennium, following the collapse of the Tarim Empire, the fragmented realms have existed in perpetual strife.”

The Tarim Empire.

It was a realm of champions situated in the northeastern sector of the landmass.

Furthermore, the Tarim Empire stood as the most dominant mortal realm following the passing of the Age of Heroes.

The individual who established Tarim belonged to the identical epoch as the Progenitor Heroes.

To be more exact, he was a champion originating one generation prior to the Progenitor Heroes, documented within the Champion Chronicles as Tamus, the Knight of the Underworld.

Yet among ordinary folk, he possessed a title far more renowned than the Knight of the Underworld.

The Hero Emperor.

He stood as the dominant champion of his epoch, with an innumerable array of champions serving under his banner.

Throughout Tamus’s life, the Tarim Empire represented a domain where so many champions converged that it earned the title of the Hero Empire.

‘Granted, he must have been a remarkable individual, though by the current era he has transformed into a subject of absolute mockery.’

Following the resurgence of the shard of Erebus.

Tamus, the Knight of the Underworld, proclaimed a campaign to suppress Erebus.

Regrettably, the Tarim Empire’s champion divisions suffered a total defeat at the hands of the forces led by the Fiend Queen and the Behemoth King, never even encountering Erebus itself.

Naturally, despite encountering defeat, the Tarim Empire managed to remain whole.

The domain persisted for an additional two millennia after the Second Advent of Calamity concluded.

That indicated Tarim possessed exceptionally vast authority.

However, the Knight of the Underworld and the Tarim Empire refrained from entering the theater of war following that initial engagement, intending to safeguard their remaining capabilities.

The justification for their mockery by subsequent generations stems precisely from that choice.

Nevertheless, as it stood as the most formidable nation in recorded history, the inheritance it passed down remained immense.

Utilizing that inheritance as a foundation, even after the realm collapsed and dissolved into a multitude of separate territories, many champions emerged within the northeastern sector of the continent.

Yet following centuries of ongoing conflict, it had transformed into a territory where the lineage of champions had entirely withered away.

Revisiting the chronicled events of the northeastern territory, Leo remarked.

“The northeast has engaged in conflict for an extended duration, yet it is also a territory where warfare has grown institutionalized, so my understanding was that they refrained from pushing boundaries completely, is that not so?”

To be more precise, they lacked the capacity to push boundaries.

It remained accurate that conflicts never truly ceased, with various domains declaring themselves the authentic inheritors of the Tarim Empire and competing to claim Tarim’s inheritance.

Nonetheless, owing to a millennium of ongoing strife, massacres involving extreme bloodshed had ceased to occur.

To be exact, they had exhausted the very means required to conduct such intensive campaigns.

For a millennium, they harbored mutual animosity and directed blades at one another, but by now, even the vital capacity to wage total war had entirely dried up.

Engagements did not cease owing to unresolved grudges.

Yet the realms of the northeastern landmass recognized that the moment unrestricted slaughter commenced, it would signify total annihilation for all involved.

The conflicts in the northeast had shifted into a variation of a ‘regional competition,’ where if one faction found themselves at even a minor disadvantage, they would choose to fall back, and the prevailing faction would halt their pursuit, focusing solely on maintaining captured sectors.

In alternative territories, it had garnered the moniker of a ‘mock conflict.’

In response to Leo’s inquiry, Essimmon released a heavy breath.

“The governing conditions within this region shifted one month ago.”

At those words, Lil manifested a look of perplexity.

“Has an outside power perhaps inserted itself?”

“Indeed.”

Receiving that confirmation, Leo folded his arms.

“Is this development perhaps connected to the Justice Guild?”

“That is accurate.”

“Your Majesty. On this day, Your Majesty’s exceptional forces have once more delivered tidings of triumph. By this means, Your Majesty’s domain has expanded to an even greater degree.”

“Quite so.”

Observing the female speaker delivering her words with an inclined head, the Sovereign of Pettyman curved his lips into an expression of satisfaction.

“In your estimation, Sir Jerom, what constitutes the underlying factor for my military’s triumphs?”

The Sovereign of Pettyman directed the inquiry toward the gentleman positioned adjacent to him.

“Is there not a singular explanation for Your Majesty’s military to achieve triumph?”

Jerom offered a mild smile.

“It stems entirely from the reality that righteousness aligns with Your Majesty. As the authentic and legitimate successor to Tarim, it is only appropriate that this entire territory comes under Your Majesty’s domain.”

“Hoo-hoo-hoot! Hahahaha! Sir Jerom’s declarations invariably elevate my spirits!”

Watching the Sovereign of Pettyman dissolve into hearty laughter, Jerom Kardium, the director of the Justice Guild, remarked.

“Shortly, an innumerable count of champions shall emerge even among Your Majesty’s followers.”

“Is that the case?”

The Sovereign of Pettyman offered a radiant grin.

Beholding the Sovereign of Pettyman in that state, Jerom signaled his assent with a nod.

“Indubitably. Authentic conflict serves to generate champions, after all.”