Chapter 124

Caron observed the chaos unfolding among his enemies, a faint smile of amusement playing on his lips.

This is better than I expected,

he thought.

Boom!

Bessic, the Sixth Hero, turned his massive ax toward Edward without hesitation. His fury wasn't limited to Edward alone; the latter's subordinates were also caught in the storm of indiscriminate violence. Half-mad and driven by rage, Bessic no longer distinguished between friend or foe, slashing through anyone within reach.

"So, this is what happens when pent-up frustrations explode all at once?"

Guillotine asked.

"It certainly looks that way," Caron said.

"What a nasty, evil ability you've got. Suits you perfectly."

Caron chuckled, taking in the scene. Though he had initially thought that such a technique wouldn't work on those who had reached a higher level of power, Bessic's current state proved otherwise. It seemed even a 7-Star knight could succumb under the right conditions.

"Just a matter of shattering their composure, isn't it?" Caron mused aloud.

The higher one's level was, the more important it became to maintain emotional control. Calm was the foundation of effective combat. But Bessic, despite his rank, had failed to uphold this basic principle. His loss of composure, paired with his underlying inferiority complex toward Edward, had been the perfect storm for his downfall.

Bessic's rage, directed at Edward with unyielding hostility, hadn't been born overnight. It was clear this animosity had been simmering for a long time. The Rabies only served to fan the flames, giving him the final push to let his frustrations explode.

Caron grinned and called out to Edward, his voice laced with mockery, "This is why communication is important, even among friends. You should've cleared up those misunderstandings as they came along. Now look at this mess."

Edward's jaw clenched as he fixed a sharp glare on Caron.

"Do you not even have honor as a knight?" Edward demanded. "I can't believe the grandson of Duke Halo would stoop to such underhanded tactics. You should be ashamed of yourself!"

It seemed as if his words were meant to provoke Caron, but Caron simply whistled and scratched his ear, as if Edward's words were nothing but an irritating noise.

"Honor? What, am I going to get a medal from the Continental Knights Association if I start playing fair? Why would I need honor to deal with a pack of pirates?" Caron retorted mockingly.

"I didn't think you, the grandson of Duke Halo, would be this disgrace—" Edward began.

"Please, spread the word," Caron interrupted with a grin. "The youngest grandson of Duke Halo is a lunatic with no honor. I'd love that. Seriously, it's my lifelong dream."

Caron's provocations continued relentlessly, and Edward bit his lip in frustration, struggling to maintain his composure. Caron's blatant disregard for knightly decorum was infuriating. He was an affront to everything Edward believed in, a knight with no sense of pride or duty.

"...You'll bring nothing but shame to your household," Edward growled.

"I told you that's the goal, you dumb mustachioed bastard," Caron replied brightly. "How many times do I have to tell you? Oh, speaking of which, is that ridiculous mustache of yours genetic? I feel sorry for your kids if they're doomed to inherit it—"

"You bastard!" Edward roared, his restraint finally snapping.

With a furious swing, he unleashed a wave of mana from his sword, the blade's mana forming a lethal arc that hurtled toward Caron's neck. It was an attack befitting a 7-Star knight, powerful enough to cleave through steel.

Caron smirked, raising Guillotine to meet the incoming force. With a flick of his wrist, he deflected the deadly attack with ease.

"Come on," he said with a mocking tone. "Who do you think would just stand there and take that?"

Compared to the power Kerra wielded, Edward's attack was nothing. Caron's grin widened as he taunted Edward further.

"But you've got bigger problems right now," Caron said.

"I'll take your head right here—" Edward began, but his words were cut off by another thunderous explosion.

Boom!

"Edwaaaaard!" Bessic yelled as his eyes burned with uncontrollable rage, bringing his massive ax down in a devastating blow that barely missed Edward. It struck the ground with earth-shaking force. Edward jumped back just in time, but Bessic pressed forward relentlessly.

"You're nothing but the Queen's lapdog!" Bessic bellowed.

"Bessic!" Edward shouted back, his voice commanding. "Focus on subduing Caron Leston! That's the priority!"

"Shut up!" Bessic roared. "I don't take orders from you! If the Queen wants something done, she can come and order me herself!"

"You dumb bastard!" Edward snarled, parrying another of Bessic's ferocious swings.

Clash!

After deflecting Bessic's ax, he quickly looked toward the spot where Caron had been, but his eyes only found empty space.

Where the hell did he go?

Edward thought.

Edward thought that Bessic, the fool, had ruined the encirclement. The opportunity to capture Caron Leston had slipped through their fingers. But Edward couldn't afford to pursue Caron any longer.

That was because Bessic's subordinates, now as maddened as their leader, were charging forward, their eyes wild with frenzy. It was chaos in its purest form.

"Commander! A group of crazed men is rushing toward us!" one of Edward's men warned him.

"They've all fallen victim to Caron Leston's sorcery!" another called out.

"Caron Leston!" Bessic roared, his voice echoing across the battlefield.

The culprit responsible for this mess, however, was nowhere to be seen. No one knew where Caron's meticulous plans started and ended.

At that moment, Caron's mocking voice rang out from a distance. "And what exactly can you all do?"

The battlefield had long dissolved into indiscriminate bloodshed. Most of their forces had been reliant on the White Shark Pirate Crew led by Bessic. But now, with some of those pirates succumbing to the madness of the Rabies, the situation had spiraled out of control. Some of the cursed men even turned on the naga forces stationed in the rear, baring their teeth like rabid beasts.

All of this—every ounce of this chaos—was caused by a young man not even twenty years old. It was absurd, almost laughable, how much devastation he could unleash.

If he gets away, it's over,

Edward thought grimly. He had to capture Caron here and now. If that lunatic was left unchecked, their mission's success rate would plummet.

Just as Edward steeled himself to move forward, Bessic became an obstacle yet again.

"You're ignoring me again. Fine. I'll make sure you can never overlook me again," Bessic said.

Boom!

Toxic gas erupted from several locations, spreading swiftly. A handful of Edward's men coughed up blood, collapsing as the poison took hold.

Edward shot a cold glare at Bessic, his patience nearing its limit. He said, "You've truly lost your mind."

"I've despised you from the moment we met. I should've done this ages ago," Bessic spat, his eyes blazing with resentment.

"If death is your wish, I'll gladly grant it," Edward growled as the power within him surged.

But just before he could unleash his fury—

Fwoom!

A burst of blue mana erupted from behind them, indicating that the nagas had cast a large-scale abyssal spell. The light from the spell shattered the elves' defensive barrier, and the protective shield that had encased the village vanished.

What followed, however, was a sight none of them had anticipated. They wondered if the shield had also concealed an illusion.

The moment the barrier fell, countless elves and spirits emerged from the area it had protected, armed and ready.

But that wasn't all.

Whoosh!

Behind the pirates, coming from the path they had traversed, an army of golems stood there as if they had been lying in wait. These golems were no ordinary constructs. Their menacing forms radiated an ominous presence that made it clear they were anything but trivial.

As Edward realized the reason, he let out a bitter laugh and said, "So that's why Caron Leston showed himself... To divide our attention."

Then something else also struck him. He recognized the golems. Before they came here, the Queen herself had warned them about these very constructs.

"Caron Leston... You've already made contact with the hatchling, haven't you?" Edward remarked.

There was no doubt. Those golems were the guardians of the hatchling, but realizing it now was meaningless. It was too late.

"So we were the ones surrounded all along..." Edward muttered under his breath, his voice heavy with disbelief.

Then at that moment—

Boom!

Fwoooom!

The golems unleashed a barrage of devastating energy beams. A relentless, merciless assault began, and the battlefield was consumed by destruction.

***

Earth spirits raised walls of soil, sealing off the enemy force on both sides. Ahead lay the village, and behind stood Etyron's golems.

The pirates and nagas, who had allied together, now found themselves trapped on all sides. Though the formation was rough and hastily constructed, the encirclement was complete.

"...This actually worked?" Leo murmured, a hint of amazement in his voice as he gazed at the battlefield.

At first, he had been skeptical of Caron's plan, but in the end, Caron had pulled it off.

Ssshh.

"It's not perfect," Caron said with a shrug, emerging through Leo's shadow. "It worked because they were pirates. If they'd been a trained regular army... I wouldn't even have tried."

"Caron," Leo said.

"The Rabies worked better than I expected," Caron continued with a smirk. "Lucky for us Bessic is such a defeatist. That guy's wrapped up in his own self-loathing. I'm glad I took a peek with Pluto first."

Caron watched as the spirits and golems unleashed relentless attacks on the pirates, nodding slowly to himself. The success of this plan was the result of a fortunate confluence of factors.

"Do you really think those pirate scum know how to carry out a proper operation? And this isn't even the sea—it's land. They're nothing but rabble on land. Sure, maybe they'd be trouble out on the sea, but here? They're useless," Caron added.

If their opponents had been regular soldiers, the battle would have played out very differently. The soldiers would have deployed scouts to identify threats in advance and thoroughly checked for traps, magic or otherwise.

But pirates were different. The greedy fools, blinded by the lure of spoils, had charged forward like mindless dogs.

Ironically, the White Shark Pirate Crew, led by Bessic, had been the key reason for their operation's success.

"If they'd had even one priest, they wouldn't have fallen apart this badly," Caron mused.

This battle had also provided valuable data on the Rabies. It was a power similar to mental contamination, causing confusion and chaos by affecting the mind. If there had been priests among the pirates, they could have neutralized the curse with blessings or hymns. But, of course, pirates weren't exactly known for traveling with priests.

Boooom!

Boom!

The pirates, who had succumbed to the curse and the unrelenting bombardment from all sides, faced utter devastation.

"Now this is a battle," Caron muttered, his tone tinged with satisfaction.

For the poor fools caught in the encirclement, it was nothing short of hell.

Meow!

Having completed its assigned task, Pluto returned and nuzzled against Caron's leg, purring affectionately.

"Well done, Pluto," Caron said with a soft smile, stroking the cat's velvety fur.

The operation hadn't come without a price. Nearly twenty percent of his total mana reserves had been consumed. Even after breaking through to 7-Star and seeing his mana capacity skyrocket, losing one-fifth of it was no trivial matter. It was a harsh reminder that this power couldn't be used recklessly.

Still, Caron didn't feel the least bit dissatisfied. The results were worth it.

He took a sip of water infused with diluted Dew of the World Tree, letting its restorative properties course through him as he surveyed the battlefield.

It would be ideal if the situation resolved itself from here, but he knew better than to hope for that. The likelihood of such an outcome was dismally low.

"I have a bad feeling about something..." Caron commented.

It was an instinct, one he couldn't quite put into words. That intuition had never steered him wrong before, and now it whispered a clear warning.

Why is that?

Caron wondered.

This uneasy feeling wasn't just a passing thought; it clung to him persistently. He wondered if he had overlooked something.

The two heroes they had been most wary of were currently locked in combat, trading blows with one another. Things couldn't have gone more favorably. And yet, this gnawing sense of unease refused to leave him, like the irritating sensation of leaving the restroom without properly cleaning up.

Hmm... Is it because of the nagas?

Caron wondered.

The nagas hadn't done much to stand out yet. Apart from neutralizing the village's defensive barrier, their contributions hadn't seemed particularly threatening. Sure, they were likely preparing another spell, but this discomfort didn't seem to stem from them.

"...What did I miss?" Caron muttered to himself.

His life was a magnet for chaos. From the moment he had stepped outside Azureocean Castle, a string of misfortunes had trailed him. There was no way everything would continue to go this smoothly. There had to be more.

A situation where nagas had allied with humans was an unprecedented collaboration. Surely, such a monumental event couldn't end on a whimper.

As Caron sank deeper into thought, Leon, who had been silently observing the battle alongside him, asked in a low voice, "Don't you think their forces are a bit underwhelming to be coming for a dragon hatchling?"

"You're right," Caron replied.

Although Aqua was extremely cute, to others she was merely the hatchling of the dreaded Accursed Dragon, Etyron—a being as dangerous as they came.

"They said that the Queen gets what she wants, right? If that kind of person was after a hatchling, would she really just send this kind of force?" Leon wondered.

Her words hit the mark, pointing out exactly what Caron had missed. Two 7-Star combatants were undeniably formidable, but they wondered if that was truly enough power to capture the Accursed Dragon's hatchling.

Caron thought about what decision he would have made if it was himself orchestrating such an operation.

"I'd bring every ounce of power I could muster," he admitted grimly.

And if the Queen were to bring her full power...

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"...Then the Queen herself would come," Caron finished.

But just as he reached that conclusion—

Boom!

A massive spear came hurtling from the distance, ripping through the battlefield in a single, devastating sweep. In mere moments, it obliterated the golems Caron had stationed to block the enemies' retreat.

And then, as the dust settled, a monster appeared in the sky. It was a griffon, a monster with an eagle-like head and a lion's body. On its back sat a woman, her right hand gripping a massive spear.

There was only one person on the entire continent capable of taming a griffon and hurling a spear with such destructive power. It was the Pirate Queen, Kynda Reynolds.

One of the other names she went by came to mind, sending chills down Caron's spine.

"...Godspear," Caron said quietly.

The Pirate Queen's piercing gaze found Caron amid the chaos, sharp as the very tip of her weapon.