Chapter 486
Episode 135: Brotherly Unity (3)
Cough, cough!
The startled cough echoed through the barracks.
“What did you say?”
For a moment, Deiphus thought he must have misheard. But as soon as he asked again, the answer came clearly.
“I said we should kill the Second Heir during this mission.”
Kill Joshua.
Deiphus had never heard such a thing in his life. Not even Merry, in his prime, had ever suggested anything like that.
‘I’ve thought it before, but this guy’s truly insane…’
And terrifying, too.
‘He’s not the type to speak without thinking. Saying we should kill Joshua means the plan is already set in stone.’
Though Deiphus had just arrived at the barracks and couldn’t immediately grasp the reasoning behind this plan, a chill ran down his spine.
“You sure know how to startle people. Why do you want to kill him? Don’t tell me you’re acting on a grudge because of your new nickname, the Black Prince.”
“Of course not, though I admit it wasn’t exactly pleasant to hear.”
“Maybe Joshua actually thought your title was cool. When he was younger, he liked being called the Black Lion the most. Said it felt like inheriting from his mother.”
Jin and Deiphus chuckled lightly.
“I never knew the Second Heir had such a cute side.”
“If you’d grown up with him, you’d find it even more endearing. Anyway, are you saying you’ll refuse my proposal?”
Deiphus composed himself and asked, and Jin shrugged.
“Why would I accept it?”
“When the infiltration of the underground shipyard begins, all Execution Knights in the Sota Desert will return to the family.”
“Because unless you’re a Black Knight-level fighter, retreat after infiltration is impossible.”
“Exactly. So the people actually carrying out the mission are you, me, Lord Murakan, the Second Heir you want to kill, and his Black Knight. That’s it. Every single person is precious if we want to succeed.”
Jin sighed.
“You speak as if we’re the poor fools who unknowingly walked into a trap set by Ziphl in this secret shipyard.”
Deiphus’s eyes narrowed.
“This mission will, at best, be only half a success. Destroying the facility and returning safely—that’s the best we can hope for. The ship’s blueprints? Do you think Ziphl would leave such things behind after deliberately leaking this location? There’s probably nothing important in sectors 4, 11, 17, or 19 either.”
Ziphl’s reason for leaking the location of the secret shipyard in the Sota Desert had been a constant puzzle for Deiphus. They knew it was a trap, but the opportunity was too big to pass up. Still, Ziphl’s true purpose remained elusive.
‘Does the youngest brother have a clue about Ziphl’s intentions? Saying he wants to kill Joshua isn’t empty talk, but what’s the real motive?’
Just as Deiphus was about to ponder further, Jin spoke again.
“Stop testing me and make your choice. Will you join in killing Joshua or not? I’ll give you five seconds. After that, even if you change your mind, I’ll act on my own. Five, four…”
“Hey, hey, youngest! Wait!”
“Three, two…”
In the end, Deiphus nodded before Jin finished counting.
Though it felt like he was being dragged along, a strong intuition told him that if he didn’t negotiate with the youngest now, he’d just be sidelined and waste his efforts in this mission.
More than anything, this was an opportunity.
The chance to ‘definitely’ kill the Second Heir—the older brother he’d wanted dead his whole life. The youngest was exactly the kind of person who would see this through.
“Damn it, fine! I’m in.”
“A beautiful moment of brotherly unity. You won’t regret this.”
Jin smiled slyly, and Deiphus cursed inwardly, thinking the kid was nothing but a devil.
“But on one condition.”
“Speak.”
“Share all the information you have with me.”
“For example?”
“Information about Joshua’s aide, the so-called Prophet, your thoughts on Ziphl’s purpose, and why you want to kill Joshua.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll tell you the first after the mission. But the second and third, I’ll tell you now. From what I see, Ziphl’s goal is to test the power of outside forces.”
“Ziphl’s purpose is to use this shipyard as bait to gauge external strength? Isn’t that a bit of a stretch? Even I can’t estimate the manpower and resources involved here.”
“That’s understandable. But I’m sure you’ve been pondering Ziphl’s purpose too. Do you have a better explanation than what I just said?”
There wasn’t one.
Deiphus, aware of the fundamental premise that ‘there will be no all-out war as long as Siron exists,’ had been troubled by this as well.
“Especially, Ziphl needed to assess Joshua’s abilities. More precisely, whether Joshua and Mother truly possess the strength to protect the family in place of Father. The world’s strongest swordsmanship clan—those days are gone.”
The mysterious power of Captain Kinzel, the chaos wielded by Bubar, the masters, the empire’s mages, Ziphl’s bio-golems, mass-produced flying ships, spacetime devices, and historical manipulation.
In this chaos, Runcandel was holding on with just a single sword. At least, that’s what appeared on the surface.
“So the moment we begin infiltration, Ziphl will have already achieved part of his goal. Without the Prophet’s power, such a perfect infiltration route wouldn’t exist.”
“I see. Then what’s the third? Setting aside how to kill the Second Heir, what’s the real purpose? How does his death benefit the family?”
Though he asked, Deiphus had already drawn his own conclusion about how Joshua’s death would affect the family.
‘If the youngest and I kill the Second Heir during this mission, the family will inevitably fracture. That’s when we purge and reorganize.’
They would remove the rotten Runcandel represented by Rosa and Joshua.
That was Deiphus’s idea of reorganization.
After Jin made the existence of the ‘First Head’s Legacy’ public knowledge through Merry.
The brothers—especially Deiphus and Merry—no longer respected Rosa’s favoritism. The premise that ‘Rosa always acts for the family’s sake’ had been shattered.
From then on, Deiphus saw Rosa’s favoritism as the biggest cause of the family’s downfall.
‘Of course, Joshua and Mother’s usefulness isn’t completely gone. After the purge, I’ll have to settle things with Mother too. The Prophet isn’t really Joshua but is effectively under Mother’s control.’
And then?
The remaining heirs would continue to fight for the throne, searching for the First Head’s Legacy to restore old Runcandel’s glory.
They had to break the curse binding the family and enter the radiant era of the magic sword Jin had hinted at.
Though they were rivals for the throne, Deiphus agreed with Jin’s declaration of the magic sword’s return.
Jin seemed to see right through Deiphus’s vision.
His series of thoughts formed a pretty solid plan.
‘Deiphus’s vision is close to the royal road. The problem is, Joshua would never send his real self—not a clone—to such a dangerous place. Deiphus doesn’t know this, so he thinks this is a perfect chance to change the family and is being pulled into my proposal.’
Suppressing a bitter smile, Jin met Deiphus’s gaze.
“Feels like I’m having my test graded, second brother. You ask what benefits the family? It’s a chance to cut off the rotten chain of favoritism and purify the family. Even if we kill Joshua, the Prophet will still belong to Mother, so we can decide what to do with that power later.”
Deiphus’s eyes widened.
He felt a strange kinship realizing the youngest thought just like him. It was only a shame that Jin wasn’t a perfect ally like Merry.
“Second brother, honestly, I didn’t plan to make this offer to you. I thought I could kill Joshua alone. But Merry asked me to. She said I must come back unharmed, and only with you.”
“Merry said that? That’s not like her. Creepy, even. Were you ever the type to be moved by such lukewarm words?”
“No, but I’m human too. Sometimes I feel family love, sometimes I want to repay kinship’s kindness. So I told you in advance, just in case you get hurt killing Joshua. Besides, our goals align.”
That was sincere.
“Is that enough?”
Deiphus nodded and extended his hand.
“As you said, a beautiful moment of brotherly unity. Even if temporary.”
Jin shook his hand, feeling a rare pang of conscience.
“Well… even if it’s the death of a clone, I’ll make sure it ultimately benefits the family. So I hope you understand, Deiphus.”
Even if he didn’t, once this was all over, only Deiphus would look foolish.
If everything went according to Jin’s plan.
“Now, tell me your plan to kill him. There’ll be many variables, so let’s put our heads together before infiltration and minimize the risks.”
February 28, 1800, 2 a.m.
After the Execution Knights cleared out of the barracks and withdrew, the operation began.
Jin, Murakan, Diffus, Joshua, and the two Black Knights—six of them in total—donned their stealth suits and raced through the underground tunnels beneath the Sota Desert.
These tunnels stretched from the old barracks all the way to a secret drying yard, a passage Joshua had pre-formed using the power of the Seer.
After running in silence for some time, they finally reached the entrance to the drying yard.
What they saw there was something they hadn’t expected.
“Looks like the rats beat us to our own den,” Joshua muttered, his gaze fixed on a round object lying at his feet. It was a human head—one of the drying yard’s supervisors.
“Seems to be Kinzel, Second Squad,” one of the Black Knights said just as—
Crash!
The sound of something breaking and shattering echoed from deeper within the tunnels.
“Sounds like those beasts are causing trouble again,” Joshua spat, eyes narrowing as he peered further into the darkness beyond the tunnel’s mouth.