Chapter 70

‘What exactly is going on?’

Theo was deep in thought, trying to figure out how to interpret the situation.

Then, several ideas flashed through his mind.

The hostage incident that had spiraled out of control.

The previous rescue team that had been wiped out.

The disappearance of Balmung.

The unexpectedly weak power of Black Skull.

Ed Troyban’s unknown motives.

.

.

‘What if, unlike in my past life, Soaring Dragon was trying to “use” this incident for his own benefit?’

One hypothesis came to mind.

While secretly transporting Balmung, a terrorist group called Black Skull suddenly took control of the situation.

Originally, they should have moved to rescue him, but coincidentally, the rescue team turned out to be the White Armored Dragon Cavalry.

This unit was led by Julius, Ed’s political rival, and it included Theo, the enemy of his nephew.

Ed, who was always fond of plotting, might have quickly come up with an idea.

Killing two birds with one stone.

Using someone else’s blade to take out both his political rival and his enemy.

‘If Balmung has already been retrieved, and if he’s using Black Skull as bait to maximize the casualties of the White Armored Dragon Cavalry…!’

Suddenly, Theo felt a chilling sensation run down his spine.

– A reverse trap.

This place was a Venus flytrap that Ed had created.

A hell meant to devour the entire 5th squad of the White Armored Dragon Cavalry.

Theo’s mind snapped back to attention.

“Selperd, Arin!”

“Whoa! What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

“Evelyn! Where are Captain Evelyn and the other squad members? We need to find them immediately!”

“They’re probably still engaged in the suppression. Why…?”

“We can’t stay here! We need to escape quickly!”

Theo shouted urgently.

“The fortress! The fortress is about to be attacked!”

“…!”

“…!”

* * *

A forest not far from Blanky Fortress.

“Huff, huff, huff…!”

Kiran, a member of Black Skull, was running with something tightly wrapped in a black cloth in his arms.

– You must, you must protect this, Kiran! This is the treasure carrying the hopes of the villagers who died because of those Ragnar bastards. You must…!

Just before they left the fortress.

The captain had entrusted it to him, emphasizing it over and over again.

He had ordered him to escape from the enemy’s grasp by any means necessary.

To get as far away from the fortress as possible while they distracted the Ragnar forces.

He didn’t know what this object was.

Ever since they had taken it from the Ceres Trading Company, it had remained wrapped in this mysterious cloth.

Judging by its long shape, he could only guess that it was a sword.

He would find out its true nature when he reached his destination…!

“Uh? Why is the world…?”

Kiran’s thoughts didn’t last long.

All of a sudden, his vision began to spin as he ran.

It was the last thought he ever had while alive.

Puhuu—

Thud!

Kiran’s headless body collapsed to the ground.

And then,

Tap!

Around the corpse, about twenty figures cloaked in black robes silently descended.

One of them retrieved the object buried beneath the body and unwrapped it from the cloth.

A sword with a dark blue scabbard and a golden hilt.

Sreung—

He slightly unsheathed the blade to check its condition before sliding it back into the scabbard and turning to one side.

“This is indeed Balmung, the target. The retrieval is complete.”

“Well done.”

“Thank you.”

At the captain’s words, the subordinate bowed sharply and returned to his position.

“All this trouble over just one sword. Well, thanks to it, we’ll get to knock the White Armored Dragon Cavalry down a peg.”

The captain pushed back the hood of his robe.

He looked quite similar to Ed, but also had the distinctive crimson eyes of the Ragnar family.

Sidra Evoyle.

A first-class agent of the Central Intelligence Bureau, and one of Ed Troyban’s closest confidants.

“Everyone, to your positions.”

Fwoosh, fwoosh—

The twenty cloaked figures scattered in all directions.

Each of them swiftly assembled the parts they had brought with them.

Magic Cannons (魔火砲).

An artifact of war, imbued with explosive magic, it was said to be over ten times more powerful than ordinary cannons.

Sometimes even referred to as the Grim Reapers of the battlefield.

A total of ten barrels were all pointed directly at Blanky Fortress in the distance.

“The explosives we planted in the fortress should be going off any moment now.”

Tick, tick—

The captain checked his pocket watch, then quietly lowered it.

“Fire.”

The order was given in a calm voice.

But the result was far from calm.

Bang! Bang! Boom!

Rumble—

All the barrels erupted with flames simultaneously.

Like the roaring cry of a dragon.

* * *

Thunk!

Emil Troyban, the former Lady of Camellia Palace, frowned deeply as the stem of the golden orchid she was wiping with a dry cloth snapped.

And then,

Crash!

She shattered all the flower pots on the shelf.

The blue porcelain and orchids she had imported from the East at great expense were now completely destroyed, yet the maids and butlers waiting on her remained expressionless.

They had grown accustomed to this sight, which occurred nearly every day.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Emil pounded the shelf with her fists for quite some time, then kicked the remaining flower pots with her foot before she finally managed to calm herself.

She then turned to the butler with a crazed look in her eyes.

“Huff… Huff… By now.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“By now… Theo Ragnar and his rabble, they must all be buried alive, right?”

The plan to lure the 5th squad of the White Armored Dragon Cavalry into a reverse trap and bury them alive was entirely Emil’s creation.

A masterpiece she had devised to exact brutal revenge on the man who killed her beloved son, Axion.

There was a considerable risk that Balmung could be damaged in the chaos, but…

Who cared?

Without Axion, any plan was meaningless.

‘To think she turned a coincidental theft into such an elaborate scheme… In the end, Emil too carries the blood of the Troyban family.’

The butler swallowed hard, nodding at her question.

“Yes, that’s likely.”

“They must be dead, right? Hm?”

“The Central Intelligence Bureau handled it. The ones who inherited Soaring Dragon’s legacy would never make a mistake.”

“Yes. Of course. The children touched by my brother’s hand, blessed by the Troybans, wouldn’t make mistakes.”

“But…”

“What? Is something bothering you?”

“N-no. Nothing at all.”

The butler suppressed the urge to ask, ‘How should we report that we moved the Intelligence Bureau without Ed’s authorization?’

Asking that question now would almost certainly cost him his head.

Emil finally seemed to relax, a faint sneer forming on her lips.

“So then.”

The butler tensed again.

“Let’s wait until his head arrives. Ohohoho!”

That laugh always meant something ominous was about to happen.

* * *

Before Selperd and Arin could even ask Theo what was going on, the sound of cannons firing erupted all around them.

“What the…?”

Both of them quickly turned their gazes toward the window.

They could see cannonballs arcing through the sky, falling in long parabolas.

Bang! Bang! Boom!

The cannonballs began pounding various parts of the fortress.

And then the tremors started.

Rumble—

The walls of the fortress crumbled, and thick, billowing smoke rose into the air.

“Damn it! I’m going ahead!”

“Theo!”

Before Selperd and Arin could stop him, Theo kicked off the ground at lightning speed.

The wind wrapped around him.

Gentle Breeze.

The power of the Wind Lord had been activated.

Fwoosh—

‘I have to save Evelyn no matter what!’

Theo didn’t want to lose the first sword that had brought him this far in such a meaningless way.

No, he didn’t want to be crushed like this by Ed.

‘I’m running low on magic power. What should I do?’

The problem was that he had exhausted most of his magic power in the battle against Slow Gang. Tracking down Evelyn and the squad members while navigating through the fortress, and even trying to sense if any explosives were planted in the area, made his body feel like it was about to collapse.

Still, gritting his teeth, he somehow managed to endure.

Then,

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a vitality he hadn’t felt before began to awaken little by little throughout his body.

‘…Shadow Demon Poison!’

Theo realized that his body was undergoing a transformation, fueled by the energy of the Shadow Wyvern, which had dispersed through his magic circuits.

Whirl, whirl!

That energy quickly melted into his magic power, spinning in unison.

As a result, the wind that had been enveloping Theo reacted as well, becoming stronger and stronger.

(E/n Wind Lord is the person, Wind God is the technique)

The second stage had opened wide in an instant.

Fwoosh—

Thanks to this, Theo was able to find and reach Evelyn in no time.

“Captain!”

“Theo Ragnar? Why are you here…?!”

“There’s an ambush! This whole place is a trap! We need to escape immediately!”

Evelyn didn’t hesitate to question him.

Just hearing Theo’s words was enough for her to grasp the situation.

“Everyone, retreat imm—!”

But Evelyn’s order to withdraw was cut off.

The explosion from a cannonball hitting the top of the building they were in drowned out her voice.

And then,

Rumble—

Even the floor they were standing on started to tremble for some unknown reason.

It wasn’t the aftershock from the cannonball.

It was an earthquake caused by an explosion much deeper underground.

Flames were shooting up everywhere.

“Did they plant explosives inside the fortress too?”

Evelyn’s eyes trembled violently.

If explosions were happening inside the fortress and cannonballs were falling from the outside, there was no way to escape.

At that moment, Theo quickly placed his hand on the sword of a dead Black Skull member.

What was he trying to do?

Evelyn didn’t ask.

Theo’s expression was far too serious.

[‘Skill: Hatchling Synchronization’ is reading the lingering thoughts of the object.]

As Theo continued to read the lingering thoughts of the Black Skull member, he rapidly compared them to the thoughts he had read from Slow Gang.

‘Slow Gang understood the layout of this fortress too well. That means Black Skull must have used this place for quite a while.’

And places like that usually always had one thing.

‘A shelter. I found it.’

Theo suddenly stood up.

“Captain, we need to hurry and head down.”

“What? Down?”

Evelyn was about to question what Theo meant, but another squad member next to her shouted in frustration.

“What are you talking about, rookie! Are you trying to get us all killed?”

The other squad members nodded in agreement.

From a logical perspective, Theo’s suggestion didn’t make any sense.

But he couldn’t reveal the details of his skill.

He had to persuade them in another way.

“It’s more dangerous outside! Think about why there’s been no word from Black Snow, who was stationed on the outer perimeter!”

“…But we could fly out on the wyverns!”

“They would’ve planned for that too! Captain!”

“Captain! This is reckless! Are you really going to trust a greenhorn with no experience?”

Both Theo and the other squad members turned to Evelyn at the same time.

Their gazes pressed her to make a decision.

Boom!

Explosions continued to rumble in the background.

Crack!

A disturbing sound of something breaking echoed through the building.

Evelyn had to make a decision.

“We follow Theo Ragnar’s suggestion.”

“Captain! This is too dangero—!”

“It’s an order.”

“…Yes, understood.”

The protesting squad member nodded.

In a crisis, following the chain of command was an absolute rule.

From that moment on, their fates were bound together.

“Theo, remember, the lives of all 33 of us are on your shoulders.”

Looking into Evelyn’s deeply serious eyes, Theo realized she was testing him.

This was his chance to prove himself to the squad.

– A chance to demonstrate if he truly had the ability to one day take the throne.

If he performed well here, it would greatly help pave the way for his future.

‘She’s trusting me without a shred of doubt.’

Evelyn’s eyes were telling him:

Wield your first sword freely.

And win over their hearts.

‘…I can’t afford to show any weakness.’

Thump, thump, thump!

Theo’s heart began to pound wildly.

“Follow me.”

Theo took the lead, clearing the way.

Evelyn followed right behind, while the rest of the squad maintained their positions, forming a wedge-shaped formation.

Whoosh—

“Huh? Wait, Captain? Where’s everyone going?”

“Shut up and follow! There’s no time to explain!”

“Alright, damn it!”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Selperd and Arin, who ran into them later, quickly joined up as well.

– Aah!

– Why are things suddenly exploding…?!

– We have to get out of here!

– Move to the shelter! Head to the shelter, quickly!

The remnants of Black Skull, still not dealt with, were visible in the chaos, stumbling around in confusion.

The 5th squad swiftly eliminated only those who got in their way as they ran.

Meanwhile, Theo quickly located and called back any squad members who had not yet joined the group.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Rumble—

The chain of explosions continued without pause.

Cracks spread all over the ceiling, walls, and pillars, with debris falling everywhere.

The collapse had begun.

Rumble…!

“Theoooooo!”

“Just a little more! We’re almost there!”

Theo’s mind was racing hotter than ever before.

So hot, it felt as if his crown was on fire.

‘Left, right… no, is it diagonal from here? No, there’s a cannonball flying that way. And over there, explosives are planted… I need to turn in a different direction. Once I find the path, where should we go?’

With his heightened senses, granted by Dragon’s Heart, Theo quickly absorbed the surrounding information. He then compared it with the internal map of the fortress that he had grasped through Hatchling Synchronization.

Even though Theo’s information assessment skills, learned from Black Snow, were remarkable, making the right decision in such an urgent situation wasn’t easy.

Luckily, after enduring the Purge Cleansing Technique, his mental faculties had sharpened, allowing him to keep up. But even a small mistake here could lead to the entire squad being wiped out.

‘Where is it? Which way…!’

Then, as he reached a confusing junction, Theo’s ability to make decisions hit its limit.

Snap!

A sound of something breaking echoed in his mind.

Zzzzt!

At that moment, the Shadow Demon Poison surged up his spine, past his neck, and into his brain.

Boom!

With a loud explosion ringing in his ears, his skull buzzed with a sharp resonance.

And then, the heat that had overwhelmed him reached a critical point, turning his mind blindingly white.

It was white heat.

Ding!

[‘Skill: Hatchling Synchronization’ proficiency has greatly increased, and the skill’s grade has been upgraded.]

[Skill Grade: C+]

[You have attained White Heat.]

[Your thought process will now accelerate.]

[Your computational processing speed has improved.]

[Your judgment has increased.]

Theo had no time to fully grasp the changes happening within his body.

However, thanks to his drastically enhanced mental acuity, he quickly assessed the surrounding information and shouted,

“Over here!”

Boom!

He led them to the underground shelter just in time.

And the moment the last person entered and the shelter door was sealed,

Rumble—

The fortress completely collapsed.