Chapter 312: My Father Is Everywhere (1)

The moment Keter grasped a fire poker instead of a bow, the Dragon Knights split into two groups: those who tried to flee, and those who chose to fight.

Keter had demonstrated the divine might of a Prime with a bow, but without one, some of the Dragon Knights deluded themselves into thinking they could win, and they launched a preemptive strike against him.

The Dragon Knights’ swordsmanship—the Severing Death Sword—embodied the principle of Extreme Overwhelming Destruction, a force said to be able to shatter even orichalcum, the hardest mineral in the world. Such ferocious blows poured down upon Keter head-on. Their intent was to force him back, buying time for their fleeing comrades.

Ting! Clang!

The Dragon Knights’ swords, known also as unblockable strikes, were all deflected by Keter’s fire poker. Though retired from the front lines, General Colton was still a Master knight, and so he could see it clearly.

Just before the clash, the Dragon Knights instinctively tighten their grip. Keter precisely targeted that instant and relaxed his wrist to let the force flow past, then struck upward along a diagonal,

Colton thought.

Redirecting an opponent’s attack was an extremely reckless maneuver. A slight mistake could result in failing to deflect the blow and being struck directly; even if executed perfectly, launching a counterattack was exceedingly difficult. That was why most swordsmen were taught not to redirect, but to block or evade. Only afterward did they learn how to parry. Yet Keter had redirected and parried at the same time.

There is only one swordsmanship in this world that combines redirection and deflection...

Colton stood frozen in shock, his lips unable to part, but he wasn’t the only one who recognized the technique Keter had displayed.

“Th-this technique...?”

“Lord Deyal’s Ultimate Nullification?!”

Deyal was the Lord of the East and the Slasher of Skies. Keter had just showcased Ultimate Nullification, Deyal’s signature swordsmanship. Of course, it was only an imitation, but even that was more than enough to leave everyone present in shock.

Clang clang clang!

As the Dragon Knights’ postures were thrown completely off by the deflection, the fire poker crashed down upon their heads. The seven Dragon Knights who had stepped forward to buy time for their fleeing comrades were taken down in just three seconds.

Keter didn’t even look at the Dragon Knights who fled, perhaps because they had escaped his range too quickly atop their drakes, or because he had no intention of leaving this place. The answer was simpler: there was no need to.

Limitless Archery, Seventh Form: Drone.

Just before the drake reached top speed, an arrow pierced straight through its skull. As if that weren’t enough, the arrow continued on, punching through the neck of the Dragon Knight riding it.

“Ahh!”

The royal army, which had been watching as though it were none of their concern, gasped in shock as one Dragon Knight managed to knock Keter’s arrow aside with his sword. Shards of the shattered arrow lodged into his eye, but he was able to protect the drake. Thus, one Dragon Knight succeeded in escaping Keter alive.

Keter clicked his tongue as he watched the knight flee.

“Unlucky bastard.”

* * *

The Dragon Knights’ attempted escape ended as nothing more than a brief incident. The royal army, which had been harboring faint hope, finally gave up altogether and, on their own accord, began lining up neatly in front of the gate.

“Alright, alright. Hurry it up before the people behind you freeze to death. Put everything you’re carrying down and move along.”

Standing at the gate, Keter played the role of gatekeeper, inspecting the captives as they passed through.

The royal soldiers couldn’t run even if they wanted to. They had abandoned all their winter gear for maximum speed, so running now would only mean freezing to death. On top of that, the Sefira troops they thought had vanished began appearing one by one from every direction, forming a perfect encirclement.

“You know I can’t just let you go like this, right?” Keter asked.

“Huh?”

Thunk!

“Agh!”

Keter took special measures with the Grandmasters and the mages. He stabbed the back of their necks with a needle, sealing all the aura or mana they possessed.

“You could cross the sea barehanded if you really wanted to, so I have to put some safety locks on you.”

The eyes of those whose thoughts had been exposed darted about. That had been exactly what they were planning.

“Is this seal permanent...?” asked one of the mages with a pitiful expression.

Keter shook his head.

“It’ll disappear in a year. What do you think? You can take it, right?”

“A year...”

For ordinary people, a year was a long time. For Masters, it really wasn’t. Serious training alone usually took two or three years at minimum.

Meanwhile, Colton entered the gate first. As he passed Keter, he leaned in and gave him an astonishing piece of information.

“The head of Browning was promised independence of the North from the kingdom by Prince Rukan in exchange for cooperation. Use that information wisely, Sir Keter,” he whispered.

Colton didn’t believe Rukan would ever come to their rescue; if anything, he expected Rukan to kill them off. He also didn’t believe Rukan would win, and that was why he leaked such classified information to Keter. Of course, it was also for the safety of himself and his troops. If Sefira were to fall too quickly to Rukan, those who had surrendered and paid tribute wouldn’t be spared either.

Ivan of the Syndicate truly lived up to the title of grand mage. In just one hour, he transported thirty thousand royal soldiers to an island thousands of kilometers away.

Once things had mostly settled, Daat wiped the sweat from his brow.

“Big Brother, what about the royal troops who got separated along the way?”

“If they want to live, they’ll come here. If they want to die, they’ll try to run and freeze to death. More importantly, what were you planning? You emptied the forces and left the gates wide open.”

If Colton had heard that, he would’ve fainted in disbelief. There was never a plan for Daat to lure the royal army in so that Keter could wipe them out. Daat had anticipated Colton using the blizzard for a surprise attack and opened the gates. Pulling back Sefira’s forces had also been Daat’s call.

However, Keter appearing in the middle of everything wasn’t part of the plan; he had intervened on his own. That was why Keter was genuinely curious what would’ve happened if he hadn’t shown up.

Daat glanced briefly at Hissop, Myle, and Anis running toward them from behind.

“You fought Nether before, right? He had prepared bombs and wyvern lures meant for Sefira. I took possession of them.”

“You planted bombs in Sefira?”

Daat pointed to the ground.

“Of course Hissop wouldn’t approve. So I secretly buried them underground with spatial magic. If you hadn’t come, I was planning to blow up both the royal army and Sefira’s fortress.”

“And deal with the survivors using wyverns?”

“Exactly.”

“You...!”

Keter raised his hand. Destroying Sefira, his home, and unleashing wyverns on top of that was reason enough to be furious. But instead, he roughly ruffled Daat’s hair.

“You handled things just fine without me!”

“Of course! I’ve been with you for years, Big Brother. Thirty thousand men is nothing.”

Keter didn’t care about Sefira’s land collapsing, or if their historic estate and vaults vanished. Money could be earned again, buildings could be rebuilt, and history lived on in memory.

But the dead never returned. A strong general shed sweat to save blood, and a seasoned commander shed blood to save lives, but a brilliant strategist saved both.

“Damn it, you’re impressive.”

As Keter was turning Daat’s hair into a mess...

“Hey. You didn’t forget about me, did you?” Ivan suddenly cut in.

Having been forcibly summoned and worked like a slave by Keter, Ivan had endured it all solely to receive body modification surgery.

“Who are you?” Keter pretended not to know him.

Ivan’s face hardened.

“I think I’ve more than repaid the favor. More than transporting thirty thousand men, the world now knows that I—Syndicate’s Ivan—helped you. You don’t think I don’t understand how valuable that is?”

“

Tsk

. Too smart for your own good.”

The Syndicate had helped Sefira, and this rumor was going to be spread by the Dragon Knight that Keter had “accidentally” let escape.

“That alone means neither the crown prince nor the second prince will dare send troops again. Numbers are meaningless before Transcendentals, especially against a grand mage like me. They won’t casually deploy another Transcendental either since the princes are also against each other. You’ve got breathing room now, so do the surgery.”

Ivan made his case calmly and logically. Keter glanced at his brothers approaching.

“Fine, but the operation happens in Sefira.”

“...Ha.”

Ivan pinched the bridge of his nose. The audacity was shameless, but oddly, he didn’t feel bad about it.

“My accommodations better be first-class.”

“Ultima’s going to suffer.”

At that moment, Sefira’s three brothers arrived. Seeing Ivan, they hesitated. Ivan snapped his fingers and vanished.

Only then did Hissop speak.

“Keter.”

It was just a name, but it carried too much meaning to put into words. Myle and Anis felt the same. They stared at Keter with an intensity that words couldn’t express.

“...This is awkward.”

Keter had been feared, admired, but never looked at like this—this was respect.

As Keter smiled awkwardly, Daat clapped his hands to draw attention.

“Are we just going to stand around freezing? There’s cleanup to do. Even if this turns into a cold war, we don’t know how the princes will react. Don’t get careless.”

They snapped back to reality. The war wasn’t over. Even a cold war was still a war.

“I don’t even know where to start anymore...” Hissop finally admitted honestly.

Keter gave him a simple answer. “Start with what’s right in front of you.”

“You’d better explain where you’ve been.”

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“I was planning to brag even if you told me not to.”

Myle and Anis chuckled.

“Better prepare plenty of alcohol.”

“You also brought some miracle elixirs to sell, right?”

Laughter rippled through the crowd. It was light and out of place in war, but it was enough to melt the cold and tension. The war with the royal army had once seemed hopeless. Now, it finally felt winnable.