Chapter 544
Episode 145: Omen (13)
“My lord!”
“My lord…!”
All the knights of Hailan knelt down on one knee in unison.
Before them lurked an overwhelmingly powerful enemy they could hardly hope to withstand, yet they turned their backs and bowed their heads to Ron.
Such a thing should never happen in wartime. But in this desperate moment, the knights could only express their faith and respect for his sudden appearance.
With him here, even Keliak Ziphl wouldn’t dare attack the Sword Emperor’s Castle recklessly. The knights struggled to suppress the surge of emotion welling up inside them.
Step, step…
As Ron took a step forward, the knights rose and assumed their stances once more. Though he exerted no visible force, both friend and foe could hear his footsteps as if they were the beating of their own hearts.
Jin, standing beside him, bowed respectfully, and Ron clasped his shoulder once.
“I owe you again, Paul Gray Mick.”
Jin smiled at Ron’s use of his alias. Somehow, it made him feel closer to the legendary giant known as Ron Hailan.
“I trust you’ll repay me someday.”
“Please don’t die. Live to repay me,” Jin’s words carried a hidden plea, which Ron caught and chuckled softly.
“Commander of the Hailan Sword Emperors, Luyan.”
Ron then called out to Luyan.
“Yes, my lord!”
“Answer me. As acting commander-in-chief of the Sword Emperor’s Castle, did you intend to accept Keliak’s terms?”
“Absolutely not.”
Without hesitation, Luyan replied firmly.
She truly had no intention of accepting Keliak’s conditions. Doing so would betray the Balmel Alliance that fought for Hailan and disgrace Hailan itself.
The momentary wavering of the Sword Emperor’s Castle was solely because Ziphl claimed to know a way to turn back the Lesser Lord.
Ron nodded approvingly.
“Well done. And you endured admirably.”
Luyan felt her throat tighten at Ron’s sincere praise.
She thought she had done nothing. Until Ron stood, she had been powerless against Keliak’s Ziphl in the first battle. Without Jin, Hailan would have been finished long ago. She was merely filling the ranks…
Not just Luyan, but all the knights of Hailan felt the same. If only they had been more capable, the Sword Emperor’s Castle wouldn’t have been made a mockery like this.
“Knights of Hailan, that feeling is mine as well. So stop blaming yourselves and obey the orders of the Sword Emperor’s Lord, even if they come late and burdened with guilt.”
“…We will follow any command.”
“Dragon Knight Commander Kalmain Aita.”
“Speak, my lord.”
Kalmain answered, gripping his sword with his left arm. He instinctively knew what order Ron would give.
“Dragon Knights, immediately withdraw from the Sword Emperor’s Castle, taking all Hailan knights and those gathered for Hailan’s sake—except the Sword Emperors themselves.”
Kalmain did not resist the order.
It was clear that in the coming battle, neither he nor the knights below the Sword Emperors would be of any real help.
But even if the knights of Hailan were unnecessary in this fight, they were indispensable for the ‘rebuilding’ to come.
When Ron was unconscious, they stayed in the castle despite facing near-certain death because there was no future without him.
Now, however, they could think of the future. They had to prepare for it. When the Lord and Lesser Lord returned, there needed to be people to welcome them.
“Dragon Knight Commander Kalmain Aita, I entrust this to you.”
Suppressing the desperate desire to fight and die alongside Ron, Kalmain saluted him with his sword.
“Ron Hailan…”
At that moment, Keliak narrowed his eyes and spoke.
“I didn’t expect you to wake. I thought you’d already gone to hell.”
“I came back after making sure your brother and sons are doing well.”
Keliak’s immortal phoenix, Bellot, had shown fierce hostility from the moment Ron appeared. Ron glanced between Keliak and Bellot, stroking his beard.
“Seems like you’re quite eager to join them soon. Unfortunately, your summoned form—the one who cut off my neck and wings—won’t be able to come along, thanks to its immortality.”
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Bellot’s two wings expanded, growing as large as a warship. Under Keliak’s will, the phoenix sought to engulf the Sword Emperor’s Castle in flames.
The massive wings wrapped around the castle from front to back, spewing fire relentlessly.
It looked as if the entire castle would melt away at any moment.
“Do you think I’ll allow your knights to flee?”
Ron slowly drew Rashid from his waist.
In the thick smoke that filled the air, the sound of Rashid’s blade sliding from its sheath was chillingly clear.
The gleaming blade sliced through the air once, sending out a calm ripple.
From the sword, countless invisible gusts of wind poured forth in all directions.
Tens of thousands of formless sword winds began to push back Bellot’s flames.
Bellot clenched his wings and roared, but Ron remained calm despite the fierce clash of power.
At that moment, Keliak was gripped by a dreadful suspicion.
‘Could it be… Ron has crossed the threshold…!’
Changsung.
The transcendent and absolute realm granted only to Siron. For a moment, Keliak glimpsed the domain Siron had reached within Ron.
Though Ron’s hand holding Rashid was pale and frail from long illness and unconsciousness—unthinkable for the Sword Emperor himself—and his body was so emaciated it could barely be covered by clothes,
the achievement of the Sword Emperor shone with unprecedented brilliance and dignity. Even Keliak Ziphl momentarily mistook him for standing within Siron’s realm!
‘No, Ron has not yet… reached him.’
Had he not experienced Siron firsthand, Keliak would have been certain that Ron had stepped into Changsung’s land.
Keliak’s lack of panic and helplessness now was solely because Siron existed in this world.
Changsung was a realm proven only by Siron, and the power Ron displayed had not yet reached that proof.
Still, thunder rumbled through his body, sending shivers down his spine as if blades pierced his back.
Not only Keliak but everyone felt the same shock—dragons and mages of the fleet, allies, Run Kandel watching from afar, and Talaris guarding Dante’s seal.
Especially Bellot, who fought Ron directly, could not accept that his mortal enemy who had severed his wings had grown so strong.
[Kahaaak—!]
Finally, Bellot’s wings, wrapped around the Sword Emperor’s Castle, spread wide and tore apart.
Bellot let out a pained scream as burning feathers rained down like hail.
The strongest phoenix summoned by the absolute master of magic suffered the humiliation of having its wings torn by the same man—again.
And Ron had yet to swing his sword even once.
The Ziphl’s main force could hardly believe their eyes—that this was the result of Ron merely drawing his sword and revealing his power.
Bellot flailed his shrunken wings in rage, and Keliak felt an invisible sword wind graze his neck.
“…You’ve grown stronger, Ron Hailan.”
“I haven’t been lying around all this time.”
“The power of the White Stone?”
“No. It’s the power of Hailan that’s holding him down.”
Jin focused on Ron’s meaningful words.
—This is a barrier born from rejecting chaos. Your friend, Ron’s grandson, is fighting chaos within himself. So I still have a mission to fulfill.
Dante’s inner war with chaos began after he followed the voice of the White Stone and took possession of the White Stone Ron once held.
Naturally, until then, it was Ron Hailan who fought the chaos of the White Stone.
Through that fierce and terrible long battle, Ron reached a new level.
The power of Hailan that ‘holds him down.’
That phrase meant one thing:
The chaos of the White Stone could not defeat Lord Ron and instead tempted Dante—or was defeated by Ron and passed on to Dante.
Perhaps Dante, like Ron, could also win the fight against the White Stone. The hope that his friend could shake off that evil and return.
“If I lose to you in this fight, my retreating knights will surely meet death. So why not prepare to defeat me and just let my knights go? It would look better when historians record this battle later.”
Keliak showed no reaction to Ron’s provocation.
“Historical records… an interesting story. They’ll be written to suit the victor’s will anyway. If it saves your face, I won’t interfere.”
“Today is the first time since we met that we can actually talk.”
Keliak waved his hand, erasing the fiery seal hovering in the air.
“Knights!”
Ron turned to face the knights of Hailan still looking at him and shouted. His booming voice shook the sky.
The knights all saluted with their swords, gritting their teeth to hold back tears.
“I, Ron Hailan, Lord of the Sword Emperor’s Castle.”
Slowly, Ron returned their salute.
This wasn’t a gesture made by the Sword Emperor Lord to receive the respect of his subordinates, but a heartfelt offering from someone who, despite everything, never betrayed Hailan—an act of humility from a late sinner, a man who saw himself as lesser.
“To those who leave Hailan for Hailan’s sake, I offer my deepest gratitude and respect.”
Enduring a pain sharper than bones breaking or skin peeling away, not a single one of Hailan’s knights shed a tear.
They held back their tears because if they cried now, it would feel like the very last time.
As the Sword Master lowered his blade, the knights followed suit, but Ron kept his sword raised in salute.
“…Hailan! Everyone, fall back and follow the Dragon Knights… we will retreat.”
At the Sword Master’s command, the knights withdrew, their figures disappearing beyond the ruined cliffs past the back gate.
Only then did Ron lower his sword and survey the battlefield once more—a desolate field filled entirely with enemies.