Chapter 569

“Waaaaah!”

The soldiers who had been waiting for the wall to collapse seized the moment and charged forward with a fierce roar.

For a brief moment, some stumbled over the shattered remains of the golem and the broken bricks, but they quickly regained their footing and sprinted toward the climbable sections of the wall.

“The wall has fallen!”

“Climb up! Get on top and push Burgos back!”

“No ladders needed! Just crawl up!”

“Ha ha ha! Finally!”

Boom! Bang!

Thud thud thud!

Despite the ongoing aftershocks and mysterious explosions, the soldiers didn’t hear a thing. Their eyes were locked on the gap in the wall like racehorses, and all they could do was shout thunderous battle cries as they ran.

Only a short distance away, in Bariel’s camp, an uneasy feeling rippled through the ranks.

“Something’s off.”

“There are small explosions coming from inside the collapsed wall. Is everyone okay?”

“Don’t worry. These aren’t men who’ll die easily.”

Simon, one of the three commanders, replied with a grim set jaw. He understood the emperor’s intentions and had a clear grasp of the situation.

Now wasn’t the time to clear rubble or rescue comrades. They had to trample over them to seize victory. That was Bariel’s shortcut to triumph.

“They’re pouring in! B-Bariel’s soldiers!”

“Damn it! To the second gate! Move!”

“The entrance twisted when the wall fell! We can’t get in from the north side!”

“Fall back! Go around the other way!”

“Ahhh! Bariel’s soldiers!”

“Charge! Keep going! Eyes forward!”

“Waaah! We’ve come to claim victory, you bastards!”

Swish! Swish!

Bariel’s soldiers and Burgos’s troops met at the broken wall, swords drawn, shouting at each other.

The battlefield was a chaotic tangle of hot groans and cold death. The Bariel soldiers standing atop the rubble quickly scanned their surroundings.

“There aren’t many Burgos soldiers left!”

“Maybe they’re all buried underneath?”

“If that’s true, then this is a blessing!”

Swish! Swish!

Thud thud. Thud thud.

“Close the formation.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“We’ll press harder on the collapsed side! Charge!”

Jin lightly kicked his horse’s side. The white steed reared and let out a majestic cry before galloping forward, mane flying.

High-ranking officers of the Imperial Defense Corps followed closely behind, while the palace guards slipped between them, keeping a tight formation around the emperor.

Clack clack!

Jin Verosion. This was the first war he led since ascending the throne. The significance was immense, and to deepen that meaning, there was something he had to show.

Swish!

“Ugh!”

The emperor’s sword stained with enemy blood.

Not just the blood of Bariel’s soldiers, but the emperor’s own bloodied blade writing glory alongside them.

Jin smoothly cut down a Burgos soldier who had fallen behind the group, and the soldiers following him pushed past the corpse and surged forward.

“Your Majesty! This is a good stopping point! Going further is dangerous!”

At Tweller’s shout, Jin pulled back the reins. They had reached the foot of a hill, a vantage point where the fallen wall looked even larger. If arrows rained down, they could be hit from here.

Jin and the commanders halted their horses, but the soldiers behind them pressed on, charging straight ahead.

“Waaah!”

“Go! Erase Agiar from history!”

“When the 11th Legion enters, I will follow!”

“Yes, Your Majesty. We’ll prepare.”

Jin wiped his nose with his sleeve. The dark blue smoke seeping from the collapsed wall smelled far worse than expected. What on earth was that? Even the excited soldiers were starting to notice how thick and pungent it was.

“Your Majesty!”

At that moment, Ian’s voice rang out from above.

“Gypsy is dying!”

A phenomenon caused by Gypsy’s death?

Rutherford had finally plunged his blade into her belly.

If that was true, then the palace guards, including Bonita, might have been attacked as well.

“Then don’t get any closer—!”

Jin was about to shout that it was better to observe the situation than to charge forward.

Ian felt a chill in his chest. It was hard to explain, but an unknown sensation seemed to brush against the lower part of his heart.

And then—

Boom!

Kraaaang! Bang!

A massive explosion erupted beneath the collapsed wall.

The blast was so powerful it sent huge chunks of rubble flying. Soldiers standing atop the wall were torn apart and scattered in all directions. It was impossible to tell Bariel’s soldiers from Burgos’s anymore.

“Your Majesty!”

Sshhh!

Boulder-sized stones shot out like a volcanic eruption, and the palace guards summoned their magic swords, slicing the falling debris in half.

Boom! Thud!

“Ahhh!”

Soldiers were crushed, torn apart, and exploded beneath the rain of rubble.

Screeeech—

Jin clutched his ringing ears and stared up at the sky. What a sight. It was as if the stars that once drifted across the night sky had all fallen here and faded away.

“Your Majesty! Duck your head!”

Ziiing! Ziiing!

Crackle!

“Ugh!”

Several palace guards who were cutting down incoming debris were knocked out by falling stones.

They say humans are powerless against nature’s forces, but to be frozen in place by mere flying rocks? Jin pressed himself close to the trembling earth, silently praying for divine protection.

Ziiing!

Swish!

At that moment, Ian descended beside Jin and conjured a massive protective barrier. The relentless barrage was stopped by the invisible wall and slid harmlessly down, unintentionally creating a new barrier in front of Bariel’s camp.

“W-What is that?”

“Is that… a monster?”

“Look up! Up there!”

But that wasn’t the real problem.

The true issue was—

Kraaaak!

“What… what is that?”

“Cover your ears!”

“Ugh, damn it.”

A humanoid figure formed from the dark blue smoke. The explosion had somehow given shape to the mist, and it was tens of meters tall.

Around it, various other shapes poured out frantically, scattering in all directions as if they knew exactly where to go.

Kyaaaak!

The creatures’ screams were deafening. Everyone covered their ears and shrank back. Only Ian stood tall, facing the dark blue figure.

“Your Majesty.”

Ian’s muttering was barely audible over the chaos. Jin frowned deeply and turned to him. Ian exhaled softly and continued.

“Gypsy is dead.”

“What? Sir Ian! I can’t hear you well!”

“These are all secrets.”

The thousands of shapes were the secrets someone had hidden inside Gypsy’s belly. Now that they had burst out into the world, the rotten things were trying to return to their original owners.

The problem was that their forms had changed drastically.

“With the explosion, I felt an unknown stimulus. An instinctive sense that the secrets will come back.”

“Sir Ian!”

“And I believe that one is my secret.”

Jin caught only bits and pieces of the rest, but he heard that last part clearly. That enormous dark blue entity was Ian’s secret.

Kyaaaak!

“It’s coming! It’s coming this way!”

“Ugh! Stab it!”

Meanwhile, the smaller shapes busily tried to return to their owners.

The soldiers swung their swords or dodged, fearing attack, but since these were secrets, no physical blows could affect them.

Thud.

Ian removed his robe and muttered,

“Secrets return to their owners and bring chaos to the world.”

The way they returned was hardly graceful, but Gypsy’s words were roughly accurate. He had wondered how rotten things inside a belly could cause chaos, but now he understood.

“Your Majesty. Please wait a moment.”

“Sir Ian! We can’t stop now! Attacks won’t work!”

“That’s because we’re not the owners of these secrets. I can tell.”

They were enormous. The presence was so powerful and intense it could be mistaken for a demon lord.

Or, put another way, Ian’s secret was so massive it could shake the world—his true name and everything that had happened in the abyss.

“I will reclaim my name.”

Clack clack!

Ignoring the sharp pain in his abdomen, Ian began to run slowly. While everyone else fled, the golden-haired boy ran against the tide. His hair shimmered so brightly that everyone there couldn’t help but stare.

Swish!

The massive secret reached out for Ian like a desperate hand, and he lightly leapt up, climbing onto its arm.

The Eidgal he conjured from his hand shone even more brilliantly against the dark blue mass, like a small star ascending into the sky.

“…My god, insane.”

“I-Ian-sama.”

The battle between the mages of Luswena and Bariel was halted by Gypsy’s explosion. Burgos’s soldiers barely survived death’s door and touched the earth, while Bariel’s soldiers stood dazed, watching Ian’s defiant advance.

“What’s the current situation?”

“Rubble has piled up in front of Bariel’s camp! It seems to be the mages’ protective barrier!”

“Any friendly casualties?”

“Most debris from the explosion fell on civilian facilities, and most soldiers on the wall are injured from the blast.”

“When the Minister of Magic is occupied on the other front, this is our chance! Bring in the dragons from Luswena!”

Meanwhile, behind the Agiar Barrier, efforts were underway to assess the situation and regain control.

The thousands of agonized screams that had filled the air had faded away, and Bariel’s forces had dropped their guard. If not now, then when?

Whoosh!

At the commander’s order, massive dragons soared up from behind the barrier.

Seeing this, Minister Tweller drew his sword and shouted fiercely, “Are you not part of Gaia? The Dragon Non-Aggression Pact is clear and binding—how dare you drag dragons into this war!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Once you’re dead, none of this matters! And weren’t you the ones who first deployed dragons in battle? Stop spouting nonsense about them not being weapons of war! Even if it wasn’t intentional, if the dragons’ aid led to casualties, then you used them as such!”

Tweller clenched his jaw and turned to Jin. They had already discussed the unfolding events at the palace.

“The dragons we have aren’t purebloods. Therefore, this doesn’t violate the sacred non-aggression pact. These are tribute gifts from Luswena, so their kingdom guarantees them.”

“What did you say?”

What nonsense was this?

Bariel was laying the groundwork for post-war recovery, but Agiar’s commander only wore a puzzled expression, unable to grasp the implications.

But what choice was there? There was no turning back.

“All units—!”

The surviving Burgos soldiers staggered and slipped down beneath the barrier. The tide of power had shifted. It was no longer Bariel charging Burgos, but Burgos charging Bariel.

“Advance!”

Whoosh!

At the same time, Luswena’s dragons swooped in at high speed. The mages snapped back to focus, drawing magic circles to bind the hands and feet of the Bariel mages before them.

“They’re coming!”

“Everyone, ready your weapons!”

Clang!

Only the palace guard had the strength to hold back the dragons here. Gripping the special weapons crafted by the Dera tribe, they concentrated on the rapidly approaching beasts.

—Kruuu!

Kraaaang!

And then—

Kyu slammed his massive body forward with all his might.

The Luswena dragons hastily raised their tails and veered away, but Kyu bared his enormous fangs and pursued them relentlessly.

Whoosh!

The darkened air thickened with swirling black-blue smoke. A war unlike any other—between irregular humans and spiritual beasts—raged high above in the sky.