Carpe Illusion. The ‘Golden Knight’ that had devoured the ‘Golden Warrior’ had not yet been released.
It did not take Babato long to answer.
“I will go meet Killian Eurasia. I want to speak with him at once.”
“It is not impossible.”
“Oh? Could it be that he has been waiting nearby in advance?”
“If you grant me one request, I will let you meet him immediately.”
“Kuhahahaha.”
Babato burst out laughing.
“You are placing conditions on me even at a time like this?”
“......”
“Well, fine. I am curious about something from you as well.”
Whether it was Killian Eurasia or the Agnil standing before him who knew about Bismarck, there was nothing he could do from the moment his interest was piqued.
He had to learn it, even if it meant accepting their condition.
Because it was the only way for him, who had resolved to become the true king of mercenaries, to advance to the next realm.
“As long as it does not run contrary to my convictions, I will grant it.”
“It will not be anything like that. I merely thought that if I made the Mercenary King owe me a debt, it might save my life someday.”
“It is not even worth making a fuss over. I accept. So, where is Killian Eurasia?”
Instead of answering, Agnil raised Mana.
Not golden.
Whoosh.
It was violet Mana.
When the Polymorph was released, a silver-haired knight appeared.
He was a head shorter than Agnil had been moments ago, but the pressure he gave off did not appear lacking in the slightest.
“I am Killian Eurasia, Captain of Eurasia’s Annihilation Squad.”
“Hah......”
Babato looked utterly dumbfounded.
“Could it be......? You fought me in that state?”
No, more importantly, when the man who used golden Mana released his Polymorph moments ago, he had used violet Mana.
‘Were the rumors that he uses a variety of Mana colors true......?’
Information he had obtained through the Information Guild.
He had heard that Killian used Mana’s inherent blue, violet, and green.
‘There was definitely no gold......’
“Once you stabilize 8-Star, you awaken a trait.”
“Is your trait to imitate another person’s Mana?”
“It is probably not imitation.”
“......!!”
It would be closer to realization than imitation.
The color of Mana blossomed to symbolize its user.
If he could fully understand and accept that person’s Mind Image, it was a natural outcome.
“That is almost a relief. Since I lost to a monster like you.”
He said that, as the Mercenary King, he had considered laying down the title for a while because he had lost to a mercenary, and to one who used the same color of Mana at that.
“Are knights all right, then?”
“Knights and mercenaries are different. Did I not say that I decided to walk the path of a mercenary?”
He had said that. But his method was a little different.
No, it had to be different.
“I do not think so.”
“......?”
Killian told Babato about how the name Bismarck originated, and about the Golden Knight.
The end of Mercenary King Bismarck.
Except for the fact that the sword in his hand had been Adamas.
“Ha......”
Babato let out a hollow laugh.
“Haha......”
His body began to shake more and more.
He would find it difficult to accept that he had to cast off the distrust in his heart to enter the path of 8-Star.
Understanding that feeling, Killian simply watched him silently without adding anything.
“What proof do you have that what you say is true?”
“Rudic Eurasia. I saw it in the diary of my ancestor. The fact that you use golden Mana is proof.”
There was no need to say that he had watched as Bismarck’s close friend.
“Damn it. I understand now why I could not cross the wall of 8-Star.”
He must have been a man more suited than anyone living in the present age to being the Mercenary King.
He must have been an existence with firm convictions about mercenaries, the drive to press them forward, and the ability to match.
‘That must be why he awakened the same Mana color as Mark.’
“Rudic Eurasia, my ancestor, and Mercenary King Bismarck. I wish to forge with you the same relationship they had.”
“......”
“The difference is that I am a knight who reached 8-Star, and you wish to build a kingdom of mercenaries.”
“I have no intention of becoming a vassal state.”
What he wanted was an independent and free country.
“I do not need a king of a vassal state either.”
What he needed was an equal allied nation, and a great ‘Superhuman’ who could stand with him on the battlefield.
Killian emphasized the rank of the Human himself, neither warrior nor knight.
“Kukuk, kuhahahaha!”
Babato burst out laughing.
After his body had shaken for quite a while, he extended his thick hand.
“The Lion’s Mane Mercenary Corps and Mercenary King Babato will fulfill our convictions together with you.”
“I promise as the Captain of Eurasia’s Annihilation Squad and a knight who has reached the rank of 8-Star.”
Killian clasped Babato’s hand.
“Your conviction will be fulfilled.”
***
Killian returned from the colosseum in Agnil’s form and met Miller in the same reception room.
Then.
Whoosh.
He released his Polymorph before him.
“Captain......?”
It was a reaction similar to Babato’s when Killian released his Polymorph before him. In some ways, Miller looked even more dumbfounded than Babato.
“The conversation ended well.”
“Ahem. Ahem.”
“......”
Miller opened his mouth as he looked at Hazard, who snorted.
He had realized that Hazard was the Annihilation Squad’s Detection Wolf as well.
As if fighting the Mercenary King while Polymorphed was not enough, Killian had even disguised a non-Human as a Human and called him a mercenary.
He could not help being bewildered by conduct beyond common sense.
“I am sorry that I could not tell you in advance. Something like this lives or dies on secrecy.”
“If the matter has been concluded well, that is fine.”
“That is a relief, then.”
Killian briefly caught up with him.
So much had happened that, even though they merely sat and talked, more than five hours passed before it became night.
“We should get up soon. Let us return.”
“Pardon? Me too?”
“The mission is over. Since we won the bet against Babato, Sir Miller is once again part of the Annihilation Squad from now on.”
As a reward for the long-term mission, Killian planned to return to the main castle and speak with Serena.
‘I should ask Pyrope for a treasured weapon, at least.’
As he was thinking that.
“Captain, I will remain here.”
“Hm?”
“As you said, does someone not need to remain in the Lion’s Mane Mercenary Corps and build an intelligence network?”
There was a way to use Hennessy’s or Absinthe’s Walkers, but the surest method was for the Annihilation Squad to exchange information directly.
“You said that Almadin inherited the Arden Clan, and Id inherited Elvenheim. Let me take charge of the mercenary side this time.”
“I have no reason to object. But you originally wanted to become a knight, did you not?”
Miller had lived as a mercenary because he could not become a knight.
In fact, he had accepted the position of Guest Instructor and the Annihilation Squad’s offer without a second thought.
But now, saying he would remain among mercenaries was different from before.
‘Could he have grown attached to them?’
Given how mercenaries lived and died together, perhaps his heart leaned more toward them than toward the Annihilation Squad, with whom he had spent less time.
Having risen to an executive position, he would also be far less wanting financially than before.
“Mercenary King Bismarck. I know of him as well.”
But that was not it.
“I also knew that Commander Babato had an interest in objects related to him.”
Miller looked at Killian with steady eyes.
“Captain, do I have the potential to become a Superhuman too?”
“......”
Killian quietly looked at Miller.
“Please tell me honestly.”
“In the past, I would have said no.”
The sword talent Miller had been granted was that of a 6-Star Master.
He would have firmly said it would go only that far.
“But my thoughts have changed somewhat recently.”
What was needed to cross the wall was not talent.
A lifetime of perseverance and experience.
“If one melts all of that together, anyone can cross the wall.”
Of course, even that was not easy.
‘If that, too, is a talent, then it is talent.’
“I see.”
Miller nodded with a strange expression.
His eyes trembled slightly.
‘I see.’
Perhaps it would not be Babato who inherited Bismarck’s will after all, Killian thought as he looked at Miller with approving eyes.
“Ahem. Ahem.”
Hazard made a sound as though in agreement.
***
Crusty Heinrich, the Empire’s new Sun, held a staff in one hand.
He stood at the center of a newly built laboratory in the imperial palace.
All manner of experimental tools placed throughout the quiet space gave off a faint light.
A low, vibrating aura filled the room, and beneath his feet, a magic circle in which a God’s Authority and a fragment of a Grotesquery had fused writhed.
Tap.
When he lightly tapped the magic circle with the end of his staff.
[Grrr---rr---rrr---]
The magic circle made a scream-like sound.
“......”
Tap. Tap.
[Grrr---]
After tapping it several more times and observing the magic circle’s response, the corner of his mouth curled up.
“It seems we are about halfway there. Is that not so?”
At the question, the White Duke’s form arose from another magic circle nearby.
“I can only marvel at Your Majesty’s greatness in recovering your realm so swiftly.”
The White Duke’s voice was low and calm, but a strange mixture of relief and unease lay at its end.
It was because he knew that if the Emperor was dissatisfied, the responsibility would fall upon him.
“Will a wish of a thousand years finally be fulfilled?”
The Emperor’s gaze turned to the research materials spread across the desk.
Records about Gods’ Authorities and Grotesqueries’ Curses.
And even the contents of forbidden magic developed by the two Magic Towers.
When the Emperor’s gaze touched them, the words on the old parchment rose in shining Mana. The Emperor slowly savored their meaning and traced the phrases with his fingertips.
“Gods’ Authorities and fragments of Grotesqueries.”
He murmured and slowly turned his head.
“To continue the research, we will need a new Magic Tower.”
“Forgive my presumption, but the construction of the new Magic Tower requires a little more time.”
It was not an ordinary Magic Tower, like those built all over the continent.
It had to be at least on the same level as the White Magic Tower and the Black Magic Tower.
For a Magic Tower of that caliber to be built, hundreds of years, immense research and funding, and luck were needed.
They had more than enough research and funding.
What they needed was time and luck.
“The Red Magic Tower. A truly grand name.”
“Your Majesty will surely be satisfied.”
The White Duke, who was leading the research, answered with assurance.
The Emperor nodded as though he understood.
That did not solve the immediate problem.
“Then. Which has the greater potential for use?”
The White Duke called to mind two candidates: the Holy Tower possessed by the Papal Office and Cornelia’s Magic Tower.
“The Violet Magic Tower. There has just been a reaction from a Grotesquery there.”
As though he found the answer satisfactory, a faint smile crossed the Emperor’s lips.
He held the staff in one hand, and with the other, made a light gesture toward the magic circle.
The magic circle rotated as if it had come alive, following his movement and forming intricate geometric patterns.
Before long, the panorama of Cornelia unfolded before them.
The face of a violet-haired woman appeared there.
“Sharle Cornelia.”
The Emperor’s voice spread and filled the space.
“She has laid her hands on a fragment of a Transcendent.”
An aura rose from the tip of his staff and spread like a heat haze from the magic circle.
Deep in thought, the Emperor turned back toward the laboratory.
“Secure the Cornelia girl. We will proceed with the research.”
“Everything will unfold according to Your Majesty’s will.”
The White Duke’s form, bowing deeply, quietly vanished.
The Emperor shifted his gaze to the wall.
Whoosh.
A window appeared, offering a view of the imperial capital at a glance.
Magnificent palaces, soldiers moving busily, and shining spires visible in the distance.
Everything was his, yet he was not satisfied.
“9-Star is insufficient.”
Mastering 9-Star was not enough.
“I will make every God submit.”
He would tear down the Boundary and bring about a new world.
“Is that not so, Adamas?”
The corner of the Emperor’s mouth twisted as he gazed at the northern sky far away.
Chapter 231: Chapter 231
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