Chapter 238: The Civil War in the Principality (3)

Thud—!!

Fran Lurein tore off his helmet and stormed into the room. Blood scabs were visible through the soot on his face.

“It was you!”

“Huh, you have a weird way of saying thank you,” Karyl responded without even looking at him, scribbling on a blank piece of paper. He had filled several sheets with stuff unrelated to this.

Thwack!

Suddenly, Fran snatched the pen from Karyl’s hand and snapped it in half.

“You bastard...” he muttered through gritted teeth, his face flushed with anger. He threw the shattered pen on the floor and snarled, “What the hell are you doing?!”

“You know better than anyone,” Karyl replied, twirling a new pen between his fingers without glancing up.

“...”

Fran’s face twisted in frustration.

“Even you find this ridiculous, don’t you?”

Karyl was treating Fran just as Fran had treated him when they first met.

“Why don’t you have everyone clear out of here? Even those hiding in the command center.”

Karyl looked up, smirking at Fran.

“Judging by your reaction, you must have been putting on an act as the noble duke, huh? Or are you still cautious, worried about your subordinates?”

Karyl referred to their clandestine meeting when Fran had welcomed him not as the principality’s Second Duke but as a member of the Wooden Cloud.

The polite and respectful demeanor had vanished, replaced by an arrogant and high-nosed attitude that made Karyl want to laugh.

“...”

But Fran’s face hardened at his words.

Thud—!

He slammed his sheathed sword into the floor, and everyone else Karyl had sensed in the room disappeared.

“You wouldn’t want to be embarrassed in front of your subordinates, right?” Karyl nodded in satisfaction. “I was trying to be considerate, alright?”

“Stop talking nonsense and explain. Was it you who brought the Sea King?”

“Your gratitude must be so overwhelming that you’ve lost your wits. Well, I guess it is hard to believe. I mean, who would think the Sea King could be tamed? No one on the continent managed that before.”

Karyl’s words were laced with self-praise as he spoke to Fran.

Bang—!!

The table shattered into pieces as Fran slammed it down, causing Karyl to raise his hands in mock surrender and shrug.

“Whoa, nothing will survive at this rate.”

“Do you even know what you’ve done?!”

“And do

you

know that you’re throwing away the lives of tens of thousands without a second thought, doing this idiotic thing?”

Karyl dusted off his knees and took a step toward Fran.

“...”

His suppressed anger finally came to the surface, the sheer intensity of his presence leaving Fran out of breath.

What is this...

Fran was almost unsure if the man standing before him was the same Karyl he had known, given how much he had changed in just a few years.

That was the only logical conclusion.

When Fran last met Karyl, he hadn’t yet gained Ramine’s power. Fran had heard of Tatur declaring itself an independent state but hadn’t given it much thought. After all, human growth had its limits.

Even the five Sword Masters and the four Great Sorcerers, despite their slight differences, followed similar growth patterns. In just a few years, one could, at best, become a high-level Sword Expert or an intermediate sorcerer.

But Fran couldn’t have known.

He couldn’t have known that within Karyl’s mind lay knowledge surpassing that of Sword Masters—knowledge from the ancient sorcerer who had created the repository that no Great Sorcerer had ever matched, along with the combined powers of the Blazing King and the Dark Spirit King.

“I’m quite irritated now, and the indulgence stops here. Push me a little more and I might lose my temper. So shut up and answer my questions.”

“Ugh...”

The aura emanating from Karyl was something even Fran, seasoned in battle, had never experienced before. His legs trembled like leaves in the wind. Ignorance might have been bliss, but Fran’s exceptional skill only made him more acutely aware of the chasm between him and Karyl.

A Sword Master...? No, this suffocating aura means his mana is heavy enough to be a high-level sorcerer’s...

Fran’s thoughts were running wild. Knowing that Karyl wielded a sword, the intensity of his mana made it impossible to gauge his true strength.

“Be grateful I haven’t forced you to kneel just because you’re a duke of the principality.”

Thud—

Karyl pressed Fran’s shoulder, making him sit down in his chair without resistance. Fran swallowed dryly, his back already soaked with sweat.

“...”

The rage that had filled Fran moments before had vanished, replaced by wide eyes and quivering lips.

“Alright, let’s hear your excuse. But choose your words carefully. If you don’t want a hole in your head, speak wisely.”

Karyl kicked aside the remains of the broken desk and leaned against the window, folding his arms. As he stepped away, Fran felt the crushing pressure on his neck lessen slightly, allowing him to exhale a shallow breath.

“I know Tuli’s assault came first, and I know about Lachiel’s betrayal,” Karyl said. “But can you explain why you're still stuck in Cove? Does that make any sense to you?”

Even though Karyl was way younger than him, Fran couldn’t muster any meaningful resistance against his sharp rebuke.

“Aren’t you going to answer?”

Fran, who had been dazed by Karyl’s overwhelming presence, snapped back to reality and looked straight ahead.

“Tuli’s assault and Lachiel’s betrayal were all part of the plan.”

“What...?”

Karyl hadn’t expected that.

“What kind of nonsense is that?” he questioned again with a frown. “Are you saying this whole battle is some kind of agreed-upon play?”

“...Close enough,” Fran murmured.

Karyl’s expression twisted in disbelief.

Something’s wrong... Fran dies in the Civil War of the principality. That’s why Anthem Howard goes to find Viola after the defeat.

Was there a secret he wasn’t aware of? Karyl realized that this war in the principality was not just a power struggle between the First and Second Dukes.

Could it be...?

There might be a hidden force behind the civil war. A thought flashed through his mind, causing a sudden headache.

“Did the Wooden Cloud order this?”

“...”

There was no need for an answer, for the slight twitch in Fran’s eye confirmed it.

Thud!

In that instant, Karyl grabbed Fran’s shoulder.

“Answer me.”

Fran hadn’t even managed to react. He looked at Karyl with a horrified expression.

Crack...!!

Karyl applied pressure with his thumb, quickly breaking Fran’s collarbone.

“Agh—! Aaaghh...!”

Fran let out a pained scream, writhing in agony in the chair he was sitting on. He quickly regained some composure, but Karyl’s expression didn’t change. Instead, he tightened his grip on the already broken collarbone.

“I told you to answer.”

“S-S-Spare me...!!”

As soon as Karyl let go, Fran collapsed to the floor along with the chair, gasping for air.

“You all... The moment you come out, you die. And this guy dies too,” Karyl said toward the ceiling.

“Ugh...!”

He then grabbed Fran by his head.

“If you want to save your master, get lost.”

There had been no sound, but Karyl instantly realized there were dozens of blades pointed at him. Well-trained assassins were present, and that only fueled his anger. If Fran had used such people in the civil war, the outcome with the Silver Wing Fleet would have already been decided.

“So answer me clearly.”

Drenched in cold sweat from the sharp pain that pulsed with every movement, Fran continued to nod.

“What conditions did the Wooden Cloud offer you? What did they promise you to make you do such an outrageous thing?”

“...”

Despite having been put through excruciating pain, Fran still hesitated to answer.

“Hey,” Karyl urged once more, in a low voice.

“It... It was agreed that Tuli would take the principality. In return, I would become the head of the Wooden Cloud!”

“You? Then why not just unite the principality? Why start a war?”

“Because we needed justification. Even if she’s the First Duchess, not everyone follows her. The possibility of rebellion had to be eliminated. The remaining forces would follow only after I was gone.”

“The position of the head of the Wooden Cloud was offered to you... Does that mean Tuli is currently the leader of the Root?”

Fran shook his head.

“No, she’s just one of the Roots, but she’s the most influential.”

Karyl couldn’t even laugh at the foolishness.

Imbecile. No matter how alluring the position of head of the Wooden Cloud is, Tuli wouldn’t just give it to you. You’ve sold your people for a poisoned chalice.

Finally, Karyl knew the truth behind Fran Lurein’s death.

“The war will soon end. This was just to set the stage. The principality will become one and gain enough power to oppose the empire.”

Karyl scoffed at his words. What Tuli had given him was not the position of head of the Wooden Cloud, but death.

“Stage? Did you just call this a stage?”

Karyl’s change of tone made Fran shudder.

“What is life to you people? Did you sacrifice your soldiers just to create that justification?”

Karyl grabbed Fran by the collar.

“Look closely. It’s not just your soldiers. Even the enemy soldiers fighting over there. Over a hundred thousand people are dying without knowing anything.”

More than the pain of his broken collarbone, Fran was terrified by Karyl’s glare, unwittingly holding his breath.

“You value your own life but throw away theirs? I don’t think so.”

“...Huh?”

“If they are insignificant, so are you in my eyes. Suffer like them. Struggle hard, if you don’t want to die,” Karyl hissed.

“From now on, I’ll use you for

my

stage.”