Chapter 104

Chapter 104
## Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: The Lord’s Judgment

*Thud!*

*Boom! Boom!*

As the echoes of violence erupted once again, every person present, with the exception of Hudson, whipped their heads toward the source.

Those who witnessed the sight were instantly struck dumb, their lips pressed tightly together in shock.

It was a display of pure, unadulterated brutality.

The monstrous figure was systematically annihilating the berserkers belonging to the Dersian family.

In the mere space of a heartbeat, half a dozen more had been torn asunder.

“…Alt!”

Lady Dersian’s eyes stretched wide with disbelief.

Never before had Alt encountered such a desperate struggle against a single foe.

Furthermore, she had never seen an opponent who waged war with such total, scorched-earth destruction.

The man seemed indifferent to the mounting wounds on his own body, his entire existence narrowed down to the singular goal of execution.

He pulverized and shattered every obstacle in his path, refusing to grant his enemies even a second to breathe.

No practitioner of the blade could hope to endure that level of cataclysmic force.

It was an impossible feat for any mortal, regardless of their standing.

“Ah…!”

She stood frozen, unable to process the reality of the massacre.

Only a single warrior remained standing.

And even that final survivor was a fraction of a second away from a gruesome end.

“Halt!”

At that precise moment, intervention arrived.

The local garrison, alerted by the primal roars, began flooding into the area.

These were no mere conscripts, but the cream of the Darkan Territory’s military.

A wave of relief washed over Lady Dersian as she spotted them.

Regardless of how bloodthirsty this lunatic was, he was currently within the heart of Darkan Territory.

If he continued this rampage inside these borders, his life would be forfeit.

As long as one version of the warrior remained, Alt would not truly perish.

He possessed the ability to rise again, much like a phoenix from the flames.

‘He’s going to make it…’

*Crunch!*

Lady Dersian’s optimism was instantly extinguished.

The adversary had swung his massive blade, reducing the skull of the final Alt to nothing more than red mist.

“Aah…”

Her legs gave way.

Lady Dersian slumped to the stones, trembling.

Her protectors were gone.

The legendary berserker of the Dersian line, a swordsman who had never tasted defeat, was dead.

*Grit!*

The noblewoman forced herself back to her feet, her teeth bared.

She would not let this insult go unpunished.

As she stormed out of the structure, the commander of the guard intercepted her.

“Are you not Lady Dersian?”

“Indeed. I am Isabella, the feared daughter of the Dersian house.”

“Explain the situation here.”

“That filth dared to raise a hand against the Dersian name. Not satisfied with that, he slaughtered my retinue and heaped insults upon my person.”

In her world, an affront to the Dersian family was a capital offense.

The captain’s gaze drifted toward the epicenter of the carnage.

A man stood there, clutching an enormous sword, looking every bit the savage warrior.

‘The Dersian family maintains a vital alliance with Lord Darkan.’

They were partners in the very auction taking place.

The captain knew he couldn’t simply overlook the Dersian influence.

Even if the lady was the provocateur, his duty was to shield her interests.

“Now, now! What is the meaning of all this noise?”

“…Lord Pamel!”

Pamel, the Guardian Knight of Darkan Territory, had arrived.

He was flanked by his own detachment of knights.

The soldiers snapped into formation to honor him, and Pamel gave a curt nod before scanning the scene.

“Hmm? Lady Dersian?”

The lady’s indignation grew even sharper at his arrival.

“Guardian Knight Pamel. This brute has defiled my honor and murdered my men. Will you simply stand there and observe?”

“This man took down those berserkers? Wait… one moment.”

Pamel studied the warrior, then noticed Hudson stepping out from the building. He tilted his head in confusion.

“Might you be Mr. Hudson?”

“I am.”

“Would you be so kind as to show me your invitation?”

Pamel stepped down from his mount and walked toward Hudson.

Hudson reached into his coat and produced the card.

After a quick inspection, Pamel nodded.

“It is authentic. Are you a party to this disturbance?”

“The man you see there is my personal protector. And despite the narrative that woman is spinning, I was the target of the initial assault.”

“…Is that the truth?”

“There are dozens of witnesses on the same floor. Feel free to interrogate them if you doubt my word.”

Pamel’s brow furrowed.

He had committed the files of every invited guest to memory.

Hudson was a priority name.

However, the opposing party was the Dersian family.

“This is a complication that requires the direct intervention of the Lord.”

“Lord Pamel! Are you suggesting this nameless wanderer carries more weight than the Dersian family?”

“Lady Dersian. This gentleman was a personal invitee of the Lord himself. I was actually on my way to welcome him after receiving word of his arrival through the warp gate when this chaos broke out…”

“…You mean to say Lord Pamel himself came to escort him?”

“Precisely. Regardless, this situation has moved beyond my discretion. We shall all proceed to the Lord’s fortress.”

At those words, Isabella’s expression became a storm of conflicting thoughts.

As Guardian Knight, Pamel was the voice of the territory and held the power of the Lord in his absence.

He possessed the legal right to execute troublemakers on the spot.

Yet, he was intentionally stepping back, claiming the matter was too large for him.

He was effectively providing sanctuary to the man who had turned the street into a graveyard.

It was inconceivable.

Even more shocking was the fact that Pamel had been sent as a welcoming committee the moment the warp gate activated.

‘When I made my entrance, they barely sent a captain…’

Lord Darkan was notorious for his coldness toward other nobles.

Who were these people?

What kind of power did they wield to command the personal attention of a Guardian Knight and earn such leniency?

They were total enigmas.

If they were high-ranking imperial nobility, she would have recognized them instantly.

Why were imperial authorities protecting these outsiders?

“…Very well. We shall go to the castle. I am confident the noble Lord Darkan will see these rats punished. That is, if he cares to maintain his partnership with the Dersians.”

She threw down the gauntlet.

Turning a blind eye to this would destroy the bond between their houses.

She was certain Lord Darkan wouldn’t risk losing the Dersian alliance.

—

*Special Auction*

After the death of the transcendent marked with the spade and the matching fox mask, a new notification flashed in my vision.

《Massive experience points acquired (27%).》

《Feat unlocked: ‘Transcendent Slayer’.》

《Reputation has increased by 250.》

《The fallen transcendent’s star fragments have dispersed.》

《A ‘♠’ has descended somewhere on the continent.》

…

My experience bar, which had felt like it was stuck in stone, took a massive leap forward.

These were the rewards for hunting a transcendent and achieving such a rare feat.

As I processed the data, I felt a sense of curiosity.

‘The spade is being categorized as a standard star.’

In this world, stars were understood to be remnants of a goddess’s physical form.

These fragments allowed mortals to break through the ceilings of human potential.

Yet the spade sigil on the warrior I had just slain was being treated with the same reverence as a ‘transcendent’s mark.’

If it returns to the world upon the host’s death, does that imply the existence of another deity’s remains?

If that were the case, which god had fallen?

‘The Star Awakeners would have the answers.’

Those who truly understood the stars would know the origin of these marks.

The issue was that Star Awakeners weren’t exactly easy to track down.

I didn’t have the time to go hunting for them, and it would be far more efficient to force them to come to me.

The immediate problem was my level—I was still a long way from hitting 10.

Perhaps using secondary characters to scout for Star Awakeners would be a better play.

Alternatively, I could dig into the Dersian family, who seemed to be hoarding these spade-marked warriors.

‘Dersian. Isabella von Dersian.’

I caught the gaze of the woman who was currently fuming nearby.

She had identified herself as ‘Isabella’ to the guard.

But the Isabella von Dersian from my memories was a completely different person.

At this point in time, the real Isabella should be fighting for survival in the scorched wastes, trying to seize the throne of the Desert Queen.

She was one of a kind.

‘…Which means this woman is an impostor?’

It was highly suspicious.

The same house, the same name, the same reputation for cruelty.

This wasn’t a fluke.

Unless a child had been named after a missing Isabella out of grief, this felt like a calculated move.

Their ages even seemed to match.

“Now, now! What is the meaning of all this noise?”

“…Lord Pamel!”

Suddenly, the knightly order made their entrance.

I felt a jolt of genuine surprise when I looked at the man named Pamel.

【Lv. 13】

He wasn’t a transcendent who had cheated his way up with a star; he was a natural-born powerhouse who had earned his level through sheer effort.

Back when I was operating as Wilhelm, I didn’t have much to do with the Empire, so their hierarchy was somewhat foreign to me.

Did each noble house have its own secret method for tempering their warriors?

‘He’s analyzing me.’

While Pamel spoke with the lady, his focus never truly left me.

His hand was ready to fly to his hilt.

He was prepared to strike the moment I showed a hint of hostility.

I remained unfazed.

The fact that he was being so cautious meant he couldn’t get a clear read on my strength.

To me, a high-level warrior with a predictable style was far less dangerous than an unstable transcendent.

“…We shall all proceed to the Lord’s fortress,” Pamel informed Hudson.

“Fine by me.”

Hudson agreed without hesitation.

He was content to let Lord Darkan settle the dispute.

Throughout the trek to the castle, Lady Dersian never stopped burning a hole in the back of my head with her glare.

—

A throne crafted from polished white stone dominated the room.

The image of a black dragon, the crest of the Darkan line, was carved into the backrest.

Lord Darkan, a man with hair like midnight and eyes like obsidian, sat there massaging his temples in frustration.

‘This is a total nightmare.’

The source of his headache stood directly before him.

He hadn’t expected such a powder keg to explode while Pamel was on his way to greet the guests.

On one side was Isabella, the vitriolic daughter of the Dersian family—his long-standing allies.

On the other…

‘The true authority behind the Labyrinth City, protected by the White King. A human who actually understands diplomacy.’

When the reports about Hudson first arrived from his contact in Arcana, he had been skeptical.

A city within a labyrinth mentioned by the White King himself. The second official ‘territorial claim’ following Kramdel.

With the Five Leaders in charge, it should have been a graveyard for humans.

Yet, incredibly, a human was there, presiding over the trade of ancient imperial artifacts recovered from the depths.

Further digging confirmed that Hudson was the actual administrator of the city.

He was a major player who held the absolute confidence of the Five Leaders.

The White King and the Empire had never shared a bridge before.

Those entities usually had zero interest in human dialogue.

To them, humans were either prey or pests to be exterminated.

The rest of the Leaders shared that sentiment.

‘Except for the Fifth Leader, the one who communicates.’

By some miracle, only the Fifth Leader utilized a human aide like Hudson.

This led Darkan to order an exhaustive background check.

‘The former proprietor of Casino Hudson, a man who once had his sights set on a council seat in Arcana.’

The records showed a man with a clean history and no red flags.

How he had managed to charm the Fifth Leader remained a mystery, but he represented a golden opportunity.

Ancient treasures?

They were a side note.

There was something infinitely more valuable at stake.

‘…A path to the North.’

The North was the domain of the White King.

He ruled over a massive territory that included the strategic point of Kramdel.

The North’s strategic worth was beyond calculation.

The Empire couldn’t afford to ignore it, yet the White King was an unstoppable force on his home turf.

A full-scale invasion against those monster legions would result in catastrophic losses for the Empire.

As a result, they were at a stalemate.

This was the opening he needed. A direct line to the North and its King.

He had extended the invitation for this very reason, only for a disaster to strike the moment Hudson arrived.

‘Which side do I back?’

The facts of the fight didn’t matter.

This wasn’t a courtroom seeking the truth; it was a political maneuver.

If he sided with Lady Dersian, he would have to penalize Hudson.

That would instantly sever the connection to the North.

Worse, he had no idea how the Fifth Leader would retaliate.

If he sided with Hudson, he would alienate the Dersian family.

“…Lady Dersian. I have received reports that you initiated the conflict. Multiple witnesses have confirmed this sequence of events.”

Lord Darkan had made his choice.

He couldn’t risk the unknown consequences of crossing Hudson.

The Dersian fallout was something he could manage internally.

“M-My Lord! What are you saying? Are you truly favoring this nameless drifter over my family?”

Lady Dersian’s composure shattered.

Lord Darkan remained firm.

“Lady Dersian… or should I say, Isabella. He is no nameless drifter. He is here at my personal request as the envoy of the ‘Labyrinth City.’ An insult to him is a direct insult to my hospitality.”

“…!”

“I will be discussing this breach of conduct with your family elders. Despite your status as their representative, you do not have the authority to harass my honored guests.”

“The Labyrinth… do you mean the Abyssal Labyrinth…?”

“Indeed.”

As Lord Darkan confirmed it, the color drained from Isabella’s face.

‘So that explains the giant guarding him?’

The pieces finally clicked into place.

The sudden emergence of the Abyssal Labyrinth was the talk of the continent.

Even the Empire had sent elite units to probe its secrets.

Rumors had swirled that ‘Hexagon Sword Saint Riley’ had perished within its walls, and that the territory had been claimed by the Fifth Leader, a vassal of the White King.

‘The Fifth Leader’s mouthpiece…!’

According to the Lord, this unkempt man was the voice of the Fifth Leader.

*Grit!*

Isabella clenched her jaw until it hurt.

“That savage-looking beast killed my men. Those were the pride of the Dersian berserkers! Do you understand the gravity of that loss? At the very least, that barbarian must be held accountable.”

She was trying to salvage a scrap of dignity for her family.

Sacrificing the guard would be a convenient way to settle the blood debt.

“…Administrator Hudson. What is your perspective on this?”

Lord Darkan gave a subtle, warning shake of his head, but Hudson responded with a firm, uncompromising refusal.