Chapter 247: You Shall Not Pass (2)

As the sun was starting to rise in Grisa, the capital of the Lillian Kingdom, its border was put on alert because of the massive dust storm of unidentified origin rushing toward the capital. The thunderous noise, the rolling smoke, the shockwaves tearing across the plains—it all looked like magic, or perhaps like an unstoppable bull moving at an impossible speed.

To stop it, six-circle royal mages were deployed, and they cast seven-circle spells to completely stop the dust storm. They used the Dimensional Barrier, a supreme defensive spell that separated space from space itself, blocking all physical attacks.

However, the barrier didn’t actually do anything as the raging dust storm suddenly began to slow down on its own, then came to a halt right before the city gates. What they thought was a storm was actually people.

Keter looked refreshed, while Daat seemed exhausted, and Decameron was emotionless as usual. Behind them, the rest of their group was trying to catch their breath.

“Keter El Sefira, the bastard of Sefira...”

One of the royal mages who was floating in the air came down, calling Keter’s name. He was a middle-aged man and looked extremely strict.

“You have violated the strict laws of the kingdom. Sefira is not a family authorized to use magic. Therefore, I will arrest everyone involved, including the deputy patriarch of Sefira, Hissop.”

The person who stepped forward wasn’t Daat or Keter. It was Charcoal, the royal mage who followed Keter from the beginning to the end.

“You don’t know anything, Royal Mage Hamon.”

“...Royal Mage Charcoal, why are you with Sefira?”

“That’s...

Phew

, let me catch my breath first. I used magic to support myself, but running for an entire day is still hard.”

Splash!

Charcoal splashed his face with water he created with magic, then slammed his staff on the ground.

“Anyway! Sefira didn’t use magic, and I can vouch for that, Hamon.”

“I don’t know what has gotten into you, but it seems like you want to defend Sefira. You think you could quickly transport this many people without the power of magic? They must have used wind magic or something.”

“You won’t believe me even if I tell you; that’s just the kind of people mages are. Lord Keter, it might be bothersome, but please show them how you got here.”

Charcoal winked at Keter as if asking for his praise in setting the scene for him.

Keter chuckled. He would have shown the royal mages his Acceleration Gate even if Charcoal didn’t say anything, but it was kind of cute seeing an old man with white hair act like a puppy.

Whoosh!

With a flick of his wrist, the Acceleration Gate appeared out of nowhere. Hamon flinched as the mana moved in response to Keter’s hands, then frowned upon seeing the gate.

A structure powered by mana? No... it’s something different. What on earth is this?

From the outside, the Acceleration Gate just looked like two pillars with some kind of veil over it. It looked somewhat like a defense barrier, but Hamon couldn’t figure out what it was for.

Charcoal put his hand on one of the pillars, as if it were his own spell.

“Don’t just look at it from afar. Come here and take a look.”

“It’s not dangerous, is it?”

“Ahem, how can you be so afraid and call yourself a mage? Fine, then allow me to give you a personal demonstration.”

Charcoal picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it in the Acceleration Gate. The pebble, which was flying at normal speed, suddenly disappeared with a sonic boom as soon as it passed the two pillars.

Hamon’s eyes widened at the unexpected outcome.

“The pebble... accelerated?”

Charcoal grinned.

“This is an Acceleration Gate. True to its name, anything that passes through it becomes accelerated, including people.”

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

“The secret to your incredibly fast speed was this gate!” Hamon exclaimed.

“That’s right! You understand now, right? We’ll be on our way then.”

“Wait. Isn’t this Acceleration Gate still magic? You’ve just shown us the evidence. Thanks for helping us, Charcoal.”

“Magic? Maaagic? Ahahaha! Are you calling this magic?”

Hamon frowned as Charcoal burst out in laughter.

“What’s so funny, Charcoal? If a structure made of mana isn’t magic, then what is?”

“It seems like you really don’t know that magic refers to circle magic! Does it look like this gate was created by circle magic? I get that you want to uphold the law as a public servant, but you should learn how to differentiate between right and wrong as a mage first.”

“...!”

“Just because it uses mana doesn’t mean it’s magic. It is only magic if it has a structure. That’s the fundamental principle recognized not only here, but by mages all around the world. Anything else is considered a mere incantation or a special ability. Of course, the Acceleration Gate that Lord Keter created is something entirely new—it’s neither incantation nor an ability—but it’s still not magic.”

“Royal Mage Charcoal, why are you defending Keter so much? It’s like you received a bribe or something,” criticized Hamon, suspicious about why Charcoal was defending Keter so passionately.

However, Charcoal didn’t bat an eye and maintained his composure.

“I just remembered an old teaching that a mage must pursue the truth. What do you think the truth is? Truth is simply what is factual, and I merely stated the facts. If you believe that Keter used magic, then bring evidence that supports your claim, like I have.”

“...For now, I’ll take your word that the Acceleration Gate isn’t magic. However!” Hamon turned to Keter. “I will let you go this time, but just remember that the crown is watching you, Lord Keter.”

Hamon began to float in the air, and Charcoal followed.

“It was a lot of fun coming here thanks to you. Unfortunately, I have to leave now. After all, duty calls, and it would be troublesome to stay away from my post for too long,” Charcoal said, his voice full of disappointment.

“Come find me if you want to see me again,” Keter said nonchalantly.

Charcoal beamed, taking it as Keter giving him permission to visit him again, and nodded. Hamon gave Charcoal a strange look, sighed, shaking his head.

* * *

Though there were some Blitz knights who didn’t make it, the Sefira group safely made it to Grisa in just three days.

From the very start, Hissop had expected this journey to be dangerous and grueling, and he wasn’t wrong. He ached all over from running all day without sleep, and he felt like his mind might give out at any moment. It wasn’t just any ordinary running, either. They were basically forced to run at an incredible speed, where losing focus for even a moment could mean stumbling to their death.

Not wanting history to record his cause of death as tripping, Hissop forced himself to stay alert with every ounce of willpower he had left.

“How incredibly tiring,” Hissop murmured.

Hissop was so exhausted he couldn’t even think, but compared to the others, he was one of the few holding up relatively well.

“Hahaha! This is so fun, right? Is it just me? Ahahaha!”

Halibo, on the other hand, was abnormally energetic.

Seeing that, Katherine glanced at Daat. “I think Halibo’s at his limit.”

“He did well for his first time, though,” Daat replied.

Daat glanced at Keter, who also met his gaze. They arrived at the capital quickly, which had gone according to their plan. But they now had four days to spare. They had to decide how to make use of it, and that was what Keter and Daat were silently discussing right now.

“Dork, take my brother and head to the palace first. I’ll join you after I check on something.”

Though Keter’s words were vague, Daat, who had spent decades by his side, immediately understood what he meant: Keter was saying that he was going to cause a distraction outside to draw attention so that Daat could use that time to gather information from inside the palace.

Daat nodded to signal his understanding, to which Keter smiled ominously. Thus, the group entered the royal palace right away without even taking the time to look around the capital.

Hissop did not oppose this because he knew well that staying in the capital to avoid the palace would not lead to any good. He actually thought that it was a good thing that Keter was not entering the palace with them. This at least meant that he could rest comfortably for a while.

Keter, who was left alone with Decameron, actually stayed close to the group rather than venturing out far.

One peculiar thing about the Lillian Palace was that there was only one way leading to the entrance: an extremely long and narrow bridge over a cliff. It was made entirely of silver, and it was often referred to as Her Majesty’s Bridge.

Not long after the Sefira group crossed the bridge, another group of people appeared. It was a middle-aged man wearing a grey bear-fur coat, accompanied by four knights. The man stared at the palace with mixed feelings.

“I never thought I would come back here,” he said, his tone more negative than positive.

The man stepped onto the bridge, but before he could take another step, someone who had been lying in the middle of it suddenly stood up. It was Keter.

“...?”

The man was startled, as he hadn’t seen Keter lying on the bridge because of its slight incline. But he soon calmed himself and asked, “Your affiliation.”

The man didn’t recognize Keter, but Keter didn’t care.

“Sefira,” Keter replied.

“Sefira? Why is Sefira blocking my path?”

“Well, who are you?”

“Did you block his path without even knowing who he is?!”

The man’s escort knight stepped forward as if he were about to hit Keter.

Thud!

All the knight had done was step forward, yet Keter didn’t hesitate to punch him in the chin.

“Self-defense,” Keter said, shrugging.

Seeing that his escort knight was subdued in a single strike, the man tensed.

He subdued a four-star knight in a single punch? Even if he was caught off guard, to be overpowered that easily... He’s no ordinary man.

Appearance-wise, Keter didn’t look strong, nor did he look weak. Simply put, he looked iffy. But feeling a sense of disconnect from that for some reason, the middle-aged man stayed vigilant and introduced himself.

“I am Count Durian El Reizel, head of the Reizel family of the north. May I ask for your name?”

“Keter.”

“Keter? I’ve heard that name somewhere before.”

As Durian was thinking, one of his subordinates gave him the answer. “My lord, he is the new Sword of the South.”

“Oh, right. I remember now. I heard you are called the Bow of the South. I didn’t know that was you,” Durian said to Keter.

“The only person who has rumors about themselves in Sefira is me.”

“Strange. The Reizel family has never had any conflict with Sefira, so why are you blocking my path?”

“It’s not because you’re from the Reizel family. We’re conducting an entrance permit inspection.”

“Entrance permit...?”

Durian turned to look at his subordinate, who looked flustered.

“It’s the first I’m hearing that you need a permit to cross Her Majesty’s Bridge.”

“I see. Lord Keter, even if there is a new law requiring us to have a permit, why would you be the one inspecting it?”

“Well, that’s because Sefira is the one issuing these permits,” Keter said.

“...?”

“Do you not have a permit, perhaps?”

“I don’t,” Durian replied.

“Then go get one.”

“Hahaha, enough with the jokes. Please step aside.”

However, Keter refused to reply and stood there with his arms crossed. Seeing this, Durian also wiped the smile off his face.

“I left my sword back home since weapons aren’t allowed in the royal palace, but it seems you haven’t heard that us Northerners’ fists are sharper than swords.”

Durian was both the patriarch and a seasoned warrior; his muscular frame and weathered scars were proof of that. Even though Keter had already taken down one of his knights, there were still two more at his side. Naturally, they stepped forward with Durian. When the men in bear fur coats clenched their fists, it truly felt as though real bears were threatening Keter.

However, Keter kept his right hand behind his back, as if declaring he would only use his left.

“Well then, I suppose I should show you that Sefira’s fists hurt even more.”