Chapter 311: You Don't Notice My Kindness? (5)

“If Keter appears, ignore ally casualties and use your ultimate techniques.”

That was the order General Colton gave to knights of Master-level or higher and the Royal Mage Corps.[1]

Following Colton’s command, the Master knights unleashed a barrage of sword aura toward Keter. Though fired without prior coordination, not a single trajectory overlapped. It was proof of how much training the swordsmen had undergone and how seasoned they were.

The mages were no different. All of them were at least five-circle, and all twenty cast the same spell simultaneously: Thunder Bird, a four-circle lightning spell.

Because Keter’s movements were incredibly fast, and his arrows even faster, they attempted to counter him with lightning magic. But it was all meaningless.

Countless blades of sword aura and bolts of lightning couldn’t even reach Keter’s vicinity. Thousands of Milky Ways exploded, and the light they produced melted everything away like snow under the sun. It was as if a sun had risen atop another sun. There was no boom, no explosion sound at all—even the sound itself seemed to have been swallowed by the blast.

What the royal army witnessed was light. The entire world was dyed in a radiance so overwhelming that even squeezing their eyes shut was useless.

All twenty-five thousand soldiers—those who had pushed into the inner courtyard and those stationed outside—felt the same thing.

We’re going to die.

If one fell from a bottomless cliff, death was inevitable. Just as that was common sense, those engulfed by the light calmly accepted their own deaths. Soldiers began dropping their weapons, which were as precious as their lives. Their bodies simply went slack. And yet, for some reason, the death they awaited never came.

“...?”

Those who had shut their eyes against the flash slowly opened them.

“I’m... alive?”

“I’m alive...”

Not just the regular soldiers, but knights, mages—even Colton himself—had all believed they were certain to die, but they hadn’t. If anything, surviving was what felt strange.

“Was it all a dream?”

“No. This is Sefira. And that person floating up there... that’s the Divine Bow of Sefira.”

The fact that no one rushed to pick up their fallen weapons was proof enough: the royal army’s fighting spirit had already vanished, melting away like snow under spring sunlight. What replaced it was curiosity—curiosity about why they were still alive.

Whistle!!

Then, a strange wind blew. The wind on the ground was sucked upward into the sky. Naturally, everyone looked up. Soon, all of them stood there with their jaws on the ground.

“The sky...”

“There’s a hole in the sky?”

Just moments ago, it had been a clear blue sky without a single cloud. Now, what loomed overhead was pitch-black darkness. The divine might Keter had shown was no illusion. He had simply fired his attack not at the ground, but at the sky. A single strike from Keter tore a hole through the heavens; if that strike had been aimed downward, how many would have survived?

From the lowest soldier to the Grandmasters, everyone trembled. Fear—no, reverence—overflowed in their chests before Keter’s overwhelming divinity.

“Prime...!”

“A Prime has appeared in Sefira...”

“Is this... the power of the Divine Bow?”

They were convinced that Keter was a Prime. They believed the arrow that shattered the sky was Authority itself. There was no other way to explain such power.

“Why do you think I didn’t kill you?” Keter asked, as casually as a professor questioning students. “Killing tens of thousands might be bothersome. Or maybe I didn’t want to damage Sefira’s land. Honestly, I could tack on reasons endlessly.”

Keter walked down from empty air to the ground and stopped in front of Colton. Among tens of thousands of soldiers, not a single one tried to stop him.

“It’s a bit disappointing that not a single person thinks I might be exhausted. Does anyone want to step forward bravely? I’ve come this close for you, and I’m an archer.”

Keter poked the chest of a knight from the Grand Corps beside him with a finger, taunting him. The knight didn’t even twitch. With a look of pity, Keter turned back to Colton.

“So then, General Colton, why do you think I spared you and the royal army? This is a question, so answer it.”

Tens of thousands shivered in the cold as they waited for Colton’s reply.

He answered without hesitation, “I don’t know. Sparing us brings Sefira no benefit in any regard. But it doesn’t seem like you kept us alive just to toy with us, either.”

At his honest response, the sound of people swallowing spread through the ranks.

“I like your honesty, and I like smart people too. You’re both, General Colton. So I’d like to ask for some advice: why should I spare you?”

Keter was seeking advice from the enemy general who had come to annihilate his entire family. Such a thing had never happened in thousands of years of history.

Colton looked into Keter’s eyes. If the intent behind this question was merely to torment them with false hope, then it would be better to fight and die.

This man... he’s serious.

Rumors that Keter was insane were widespread throughout the kingdom, and they weren’t wrong. From his first appearance until now, nothing about him had been ordinary. This moment was no exception. He wasn’t joking at all. He waited for Colton’s answer with a solemn expression.

Is there a reason to spare the royal army? If there is, would he really let us live?

Even a veteran like Colton couldn’t immediately answer such a mad question.

Surrender to Sefira and become prisoners? Impossible. How would Sefira house thirty thousand men? They lack manpower, food—everything. Retreat back to the royal palace? Then the commanders will be beheaded, including me. And the returning soldiers would just be sent back to the front lines against Sefira. If we can neither surrender nor return...

The conclusion Colton reached was absurd, but Keter didn’t look patient enough to wait.

“We will defect to Duke Lerkin, the king consort. He does not oppose Sefira, so we will never attack it again. More importantly, if Duke Lerkin’s power grows, the two princes won’t be able to rashly form a second army to strike Sefira.”

Colton didn’t decorate his words. He knew that embellishment only backfired with a madman. But decorations or not, Keter was already displeased.

“That only benefits Duke Lerkin.”

“...!”

“What about the mess you made? You didn’t finish, but the Seeds of Hell are still here. When do you plan to neutralize the poison you put in our water source? And the material and psychological damage Sefira suffered? In monetary terms alone, that’s easily tens of millions of gold. You expect to just wipe your mouths clean and leave?”

“If compensation is what you want, we’ll leave behind all supplies except our clothes. Sefira can use them, or sell them. There should be at least one million gold’s worth.”

“You say that like it’s generosity, but that’s obviously ours as spoils of victory.”

“If you want ransom, go to our families...”

“Just contacting them and negotiating would take a month.”

“Hm...”

Colton was left speechless. Keter’s rhetoric far exceeded his expectations.

The divine power of a Prime, an unreadable mind, and flawless logic on top of that. What kind of monster is he?

Colton hadn’t expected to be able to placate Keter easily, but at this rate, it seemed like Keter intended to kill everyone. As the negotiations made no progress, the soldiers’ faces darkened.

“From what I hear, you really want to live. There is exactly one way for you to survive,” Keter said as if he had no choice.

As if he had been waiting for this from the very beginning, Keter began laying out his terms. Upon hearing them, not only Colton—but everyone present—stared at him in utter disbelief.

* * *

“Are you saying we’re to be exiled to an island?” Colton asked.

“Yes.”

“And from there, all the resources produced on that island will be offered to Sefira as a form of war reparations?”

“You’ve understood perfectly.”

“Ha...”

The method Keter proposed for allowing twenty-five thousand royal troops to survive was exile to an island. Not only exile, but Keter was demanding that all resources produced there be handed over to Sefira.

“Including the supply corps, that’s thirty thousand people. Relocating all of them to an island...”

“I’ll handle the how. You just choose. Will you accept the offer, or will you all die by my hand?”

“...”

A commander did not consult his subordinates. The commander’s decision represented everyone’s will. And Colton wanted to accept Keter’s proposal. Setting aside how to move so many people, he simply did not want to die like this.

If it were an honorable death in battle, such as falling to a superior enemy, it would be a death with dignity. But dying here would be nothing but a dog’s death.

Even if Keter truly had been lying in ambush, had Colton proceeded with his original plan of slowly tightening the noose around Sefira, this situation would never have arisen. They might have had to sacrifice the Grandmasters, but most of the troops could have withdrawn alive.

Instead, Crown Prince Rukan’s damned coercive order to charge had ruined everything. Colton didn’t want to die unjustly, and he was being honest. Above all, his creed was simple: even rolling in a dung heap was better than being dead.

“I want to say a few words to the soldiers.”

“Go ahead.”

Keter extended a hand and stepped back, giving him space.

Colton swept his gaze from side to side. From this low ground, he could only see a few dozen faces, but he could feel the consciousness of tens of thousands waiting for his words.

“...Defeat is not shameful, and death is not something to fear. Retreat is not cowardice; it is merely a strategic withdrawal.” He paused, letting the silence stretch. As if drawing up emotion, his voice grew louder. “We have been defeated. No excuse will change that fact. The victor has shown us mercy. He has given us a choice: live, or die. And I have chosen to live.”

“Khh...!”

“General...!”

Here and there, soldiers sniffled, and others groaned under their breath. Colton waited until the noise subsided before continuing.

“Do not call this humiliation. Do not say death is better than life. While you live, you can do anything. When you die, you can do nothing. So I ask you—no, I beg you—live. Come with me. No matter what kind of place it is, I promise I will keep you alive and return you to your homeland.”

“We’ll follow you!”

“I will follow you as well!”

Soldiers across the field wept openly, shouting Colton’s name. The roar was so great it seemed to push back winter itself. Then Keter raised a hand slightly, and the noise vanished as if it had been a lie.

“Anyone who doesn’t want this and wants to die, raise your hand.”

“...”

No one spoke. No one raised a hand. They merely glanced at one another. Then...

Swish.

Someone raised a hand. Whether he truly wished to die or was simply trying to ask a question was unclear. What was certain was that the moment he raised his hand, a hole appeared in his forehead.

“I sent him off painlessly in one shot, out of respect for his courage. Anyone else?” Keter asked.

With one man dead in the blink of an eye, no one else dared raise a hand.

“Good. Unanimous agreement, then. Dork.”

“Yes!”

Daat, who had been watching everything from the bell tower, appeared beside Keter the instant he was called.

“Teleportation?!”

“So fast and discreet...!”

“Sefira truly is a den of monsters.”

Royal mages murmured among themselves, but Daat was not the one opening the gate.

“Six, you come out too.”

Six, the homunculus hidden under invisibility magic, revealed himself. That wasn’t all. Keter took a glass orb from his pocket and poured mana into it, and suddenly, a gate formed in midair.

“So it’s finally my turn. Huh?”

The man who stepped out of the gate looked like a middle-aged man, but the childishness in his speech made it unmistakably Ivan. He stared at Keter in disbelief.

“You didn’t call me here to fight these guys, did you? What’s your intention?”

“I need you to open a gate to this coordinate.”

Keter handed him a paper with coordinates written on it.

The moment Ivan read them, he frowned.

“From here to there? It’s not impossible, but... don’t tell me you’re planning to move everyone here.”

“Bingo.”

“That’s impossible. Even a genius mage like me would have his brain explode trying to move thirty thousand people. Even for you, I can’t do that.”

“That’s only if you’re maintaining the gate alone.”

“Hm?”

Without waiting for Keter to explain, Daat stepped forward.

“I’ll handle fixing the gate’s coordinates.”

“Hah, kid. Do you even understand spatial magic? Fixing coordinates on both ends continuously requires extreme concentration. And with thirty thousand people passing through, the space will become even more unstable. Maintaining that without the slightest deviation is something only a genius like me can do.”

“Heh. If we’re talking geniuses, I’m one too.”

“Fine, say you fix the coordinates. Where will the mana come from? Keter. I know a way: your dragon heart. If you hand that over to me...”

“That’ll be handled by this one.”

Keter pointed at Six. Ivan clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“Hm. If it’s a homunculus core... then yes, not impossible.”

The Syndicate was already aware of Six. A homunculus mana core was the pinnacle of arcane engineering, the closest thing to a dragon’s heart. Its mana affinity was excellent, so it was usable enough.

“Well, all of that only works because I’m the one performing the operation.”

Voooooom!

As Ivan raised both hands to the sky, a colossal gate formed in the blink of an eye.

“Alright, kid. Let’s see how good you really are at fixing coordinates.”

While the three adjusted the gate, another group approached Keter—the Royal Order of the Dragon and the Grand Corps.

“Lord Keter. Are we also going to the island with them?”

“Where else would you go? The afterlife?”

“N-no, sir. But we were told all equipment must be left behind. We can’t leave the drakes. Without masters, they’ll quickly go feral and rampage. That would only cause Sefira more trouble. We’ll take them with us.”

The famed Royal Order of the Dragon addressed Keter with respect, asking permission to take their drakes.

Keter let out a deep sigh and muttered, “I was hoping not to bring this out.”

From Keter’s trouser pocket emerged something long, thick, and solid. It was a fire poker.

“You don't notice my kindness?”

Before sending them to the island, Keter intended to generously educate them on a few lessons of etiquette.

1. Previously Royal Mage Battalion. ☜