Chapter 514
Episode 141: The Fall (7)
Sota Desert.
The only ones carrying out the mission there weren’t just the Riders and the two Black Knights.
‘There were others…?’
Joshua barely lifted his head to look at Rosa. The darkness of the underground prison concealed her expression.
“The four Black Knights, the first squad of the Black Sword Society, others I personally hired… and I was there in the desert as well.”
“What… does that mean?!”
Not only Joshua, but Jin, Diffus, Mon, and Jane—none of them knew that Rosa and her knights had been in the Sota Desert.
They hadn’t been there from the start. They entered the desert after the main group began their operation. And their goal wasn’t just to steal the blueprints.
“I was watching you all.”
How the Riders would choose, how they would succeed in the mission.
Especially, what decisions Joshua would make.
Rosa had been hiding in the desert with the forces she led, observing the overall flow of the mission.
Acting Governor, only Mon remains in the underground dry dock. It seems the second Riders have decided to monopolize the information. But since Kinzello moved at the same time, it won’t be long before it’s revealed.
The 4th and 12th Riders, and Murakan have started moving. We judged that pursuing further risks detection by the border’s correction zone, so we’ve withdrawn.
The youngest should already know the real target isn’t the dry dock but the Second Tower. Wait nearby and monitor until the youngest’s group overcomes the barrier, then report.
Understood!
Even when the barrier of the Second Tower was shattered by the Spirit Sword, revealing a flying fleet of over a hundred ships, Rosa’s side remained completely calm, unlike Jin’s group.
That was something already known long ago. The Riders who went to the Sota Desert were unaware, but it wasn’t the first time Ziphl had tried to build a flying fleet centered on Kojek in the long history of the two families’ cold war.
How many Ziphl spies are currently in the Garden of Swords?
Precisely identified: 97 servants, 20 low-ranking guardian knights, 12 mid-ranking guardian knights, 5 high-ranking guardian knights, 15 butlers and scribes of second rank or higher, 2 second squad Riders, 5 execution knights, 7 elders, and one Black Knight. Additionally, it’s estimated there are at least 20 more spies capable of critical intelligence gathering.
And our spies planted within Ziphl?
In the Ziphl main house: 40 servants, 10 low-ranking mages, 5 mid-ranking mages, 1 elder, and 1 mage from the Tower. That’s all.
This was the last Riders’ meeting Rosa personally convened just before Sirron left for the Black Sea.
That day, the conversation between Sirron and Runtia suggested that Runkandel was far behind Ziphl in the intelligence war.
But in reality, the side extracting more critical internal information was not Ziphl, but Runkandel. The worst spy, Black Knight Barton Vichena, had been killed by Jin and Diffus.
It must have been Yona who informed Kinzello of the Riders’ operation schedule.
Most likely. I never expected to be given such a double contract, Lady Rosa.
The reason Rosa could remain hidden in the desert throughout the Sota Desert mission, evading the eyes of Jin’s group, Yona, Ziphl, and Kinzello, was none other than the one person who ruled Yubaek City—the Nameless King, Owl.
And the top assassins he hired.
I’ll take this contract.
No.
Malisher will come too, hehe.
If you insist on going, there are conditions.
Rosa sought out Owl right after Yona left.
I know that when the youngest was a trainee Rider, Lord Owl delayed Yona’s family’s return under the pretext of the Man-Dokju poison. But that doesn’t mean you could have encouraged Yona to betray Runkandel…
Betrayal? I was merely fulfilling a contract. Lady Rosa, your words are a bit harsh.
At least Sirron was absent, so my coming instead means your actions only border on harshness.
You should be grateful that I sent Yona to the Sota Desert.
In a turbulent world, if you acted purely out of will to support Runkandel, then gratitude is due.
That’s not entirely wrong.
You must have set conditions when sending Yona. To bring the original or a copy of the blueprints to Samil. You intended to use that as a bargaining chip to weigh the great powers. That’s not far from the truth, is it?
Hmm.
Even you, Lord, must pay a heavy price for deceiving Runkandel. But I don’t want to make the Nameless my enemy over this. Come with me to the Sota Desert.
That would mean my generation of the Nameless would be at odds with Ziphl, Lady Rosa.
I won’t make things too difficult for you. You don’t need to participate in the battle or the vault theft. Just help with concealment. Even Yona can’t follow you in hiding, can she?
True to her word, Owl only assisted with concealment and observation. Neither he nor the Nameless’s top assassins who came to the Sota Desert drew their swords even once until the incident ended.
Acting Governor, so far only Sandra Ziphl and four phantom corps remain inside the Second Tower. The 12th and 4th Riders have entered the Tower, so the battle should be over by now.
A first-class superhuman is exerting force.
This vibration… it’s the realm of swordsmanship. Could it be that he was here…?
The phenomenon is intensifying. Acting Governor, if this continues, the Riders and Black Knight Jane are likely to die soon. Rescue operation is ready.
Stand by.
…There was a time distortion just now in the Second Tower. The Claw of the Silver Dragon was used. Yona has joined the fight. Lady Rosa, are you sure this is alright?
You’re worried about Yona, Lord Owl.
The Second Tower is beginning to collapse. Drakka’s main force will arrive soon. Acting Governor, now is the last chance to approach.
Continue to stand by.
If the goal had been only mission success and the Riders’ survival, Rosa should have entered then.
But Rosa Runkandel wanted to confirm something else.
She was waiting for the moment Joshua Runkandel would awaken and bloom.
If that was impossible, at least she wanted to see him make a better decision than the youngest.
She believed he could at least do that much.
First-class superhuman combat has ceased, presumed due to Sandra Ziphl’s influence. The fleet is moving toward Grnil.
Second Tower battle concluded. The Riders are escaping. Black Knight Jane is confirmed critically wounded, and Sandra Ziphl has joined.
Even as the Riders met Zephyrin to request escort, Jin used his wisdom to break through the Romin Forest, and Jane sacrificed herself at the central border line—
Rosa never saw the moment she had hoped for.
In the end, it was not Joshua but Jin who led the mission to success once again.
“You made wrong decisions throughout the mission, trying to save your copies at all costs, causing the loss of the family’s Black Knight.”
“Ha… and all the while, I was watching everything.”
“Your youngest brother risked his life every moment and managed to succeed without my or the family’s help.”
“Why didn’t you help? If you had stepped in, you could have saved Lady Jane…!”
“Oh? That’s a question I want to ask you. Why didn’t you use the power the Prophet embedded in your copy when fighting Hedo?”
Joshua only used that power at the moment Jane sacrificed herself.
“Was it because you wanted to save your copies? That’s not the whole story. You had expectations. That if it were the youngest, Diffus, Murakan, or the family’s Black Knight, they could achieve better results without consuming copies. Such disgusting hope.”
“No, I… I… in the end, the volcano…”
“That was only because by that time, you had no other choice left. Weaklings like you are pushed and forced to mistake a forced choice for their own will…”
“You unfolded it… for the family…”
“If you had used that power without hesitation when facing Hedo, Jane wouldn’t have died. I was in the desert. Everyone was prepared to face death at any moment, but you saved your copies until the very end. That was your true choice and will.”
Joshua had no words.
Even if he were stripped bare, his insides exposed, he couldn’t feel more thoroughly seen through.
“Then you led your knights back to the family in fear, stammering and trembling under my questioning…? When I cut you with my sword just now, you didn’t even scream or counterattack once?”
Beyond right and wrong, the will to prevail, transcendent struggle.
Until the very end, Joshua only disappointed Rosa.
What made it all the more bitter for her was that while Joshua held those disgusting expectations for Jin, she herself had done the same. At some point, Rosa’s focus shifted from Joshua’s choices to how far Jin could go.
Jin Runkandel, her youngest son.
He always had the power to make everyone hopeful. Just like Luna had.
“It’s not just the Sota Desert, Joshua. I’ve sent eyes watching you on countless missions you’ve participated in. And I’ve never been satisfied once.”
“Kill me… I’m not worth living. Neither my mother nor the family expects anything from me anymore.”
“This is a place where you can’t die even if you want to. Your sins aren’t light enough to be resolved by death. And as you said, I no longer expect anything from you. But your prophecy…”
…
Sirron Runkandel summoned the shadow once more, and it would be his to possess…
…
…
Joshua Runkandel.
Joshua Runkandel would call forth the shadow again, and it would never leave the world, basking forever in his glory.
At last, your war would end in victory, and eternal blessings would descend upon the earth.
Bow before the one who called the shadow.
“That divine language, so absolute—it still feels worth hoping for.”
Joshua couldn’t help but laugh at that moment.
“Ha… a prophecy? After all that praise for my brilliant brothers and the honor of our family, after declaring that my rightful place is not on this earth but in the abyss… and now you say you still expect that prophecy to come true, even though it hasn’t shown itself yet?”
“You’re not dead yet. And I’m not just looking forward to the prophecy’s fulfillment—I’m also eager for the struggle that will shatter it. Your youngest sibling, Jin. I don’t think that child’s fight will fail to break the prophecy, no matter how absolute it seems.”
“Hmph.”
“Between prophecy and struggle, which do you think I’m placing my greater hope in?”
Rosa turned away.
With a bitter smile, she added quietly,
“If the day ever comes when your prophecy drags you out of this underground prison and into the real world of conflict, and if you manage to survive that world… I’ll let you return to the surface. Of course… as always, your prophecy will disappoint me once again. Just like it always has.”