Silence came to Astrion.

“Don’t go out for a while. Okay?”

“Honey. We need to buy more bread.”

“Yeah. Something feels like it’s about to happen.”

The rumor that started among the Inner City nobles swept through the Outer City slums in the blink of an eye.

“I hear His Highness Traysan and Lady Andromeda started a war.”

“I heard Andromeda was secretly coordinating with House Rykenta. They say even the southern war was all staged.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?! Are you on the adopted-son side?”

“The adopted-son side? His Highness Traysan led the house as the senior adopted heir for over ten years! How can a brat who hasn’t even been Sub-patriarch for two years be so arrogant!”

“That traitor! Maybe he’ll come to his senses after suffering a thousand torments.”

Traysan’s treason, Andromeda’s collusion, Kyrie’s corruption, the annihilation of the Three—countless stories passed from mouth to mouth.

Normally, insolent rumors like this would have been crushed immediately by the Goldcoin Brigade’s Blue Knights.

“I haven’t seen the Goldcoin Brigade lords around.”

“I heard Matthew saw it a while back—said every last Goldcoin Brigade lord got carried in. Blue Knights, Knights, Navigators, all of them laid up in the Cathedral, sick.”

“It’s not just them. The Outer City Guard’s forces got cut to less than a quarter.”

“Did they really clash head-on with Lady Andromeda?”

“H-hey! Come quick! They say the Inner City Guard’s Blue Knights and the Outer City Guard’s Blue Knights started fighting!”

But now, even those Blue Knights were nowhere to be seen.

“That bastard Traysan finally did it! He was nothing but greed since he was a kid—I knew it!”

“I’m disappointed in Lady Andromeda. Direct bloodline, and she tried to increase her power with such cowardly methods. At least until the mutant-beast rumors are properly explained, I don’t think I can support her.”

“Who the hell are you to decide whether you support the direct bloodline or not! Today I’m going to seize that arrogant traitor and hand him to the security officers!”

“They say the direct bloodline—who should be the most Astreos of all—joined hands with Rykenta and offered up the people to fatten beasts! How could anyone serve someone who committed such a grotesque crime as their lord!”

Public opinion split in two.

“Extra! Extra!”

Whenever newspaper boys sprinted down the streets, people craned their necks, wondering what news it was this time.

Most of it was gutter trash—someone’s in-law’s cousin worked at the Cathedral and saw Andromeda dragged into the underground, that kind of thing.

“Kyrie has arrived! Ten thousand troops! More than thirty Blue Knights!”

This one was different.

“The Lightning Blade Kyrie has arrived with an army!”

“Kyrie? Kyrie’s here?”

“Did the Three lose?”

“I knew it. What’s a light cavalry force doing trying to fight a naval battle?”

“No, it’s not like the other side was a navy either. And the Three are all magnetism-craft specialists—Heavenstrike wouldn’t work well on them.”

“And they took more than double the troops, too.”

It was a rumor anyone could confirm if they just walked around and asked.

“It’s true! They already landed. They’ll march all the way here in a day or two.”

In an instant, Kyrie became the most famous person in the capital, Astrion.

He was coming.

An ambitious man who ignored even the Patriarch’s warning, offered his eye to the Dreaming Thunder Star, and gained power.

A bastard son who was sent down south as punishment, discovered mutant beasts, and became an adopted heir.

The youngest who forced his rampaging brothers to their knees, inside and outside the arena.

A war hero who won against Princess Erica of Rykenta.

The Lightning Blade who brought down Gracus, Governor of Spiramentaon.

“He’s Kyrie of Astrion Astreos.”

Kyrie had arrived.

“He brought a witness who will testify about the incident that occurred on the southern border of Rykenta.”

He came commanding a force that had piled victory upon victory against the eldest son of Tonatio, a prestigious cadet branch, and against a princess, a governor, and the army of the Three.

“First, I will report to Lady Andromeda, the Sub-patriarch, who gave me this mission, and then I will enter the Patriarch’s presence. Open the gate.”

He came wearing an obscenely expensive cloak—one the senior adopted heir Traysan had given him—his hair grown to his shoulders over the past year, swept back and tied tight.

Like a knight from a fairy tale, who had endured a harsh adventure to rescue a princess and finally arrived before the Demon King’s Castle.

I set up camp on a low hill with the walls of Astrion in view.

It was the hill where Joi and the Seventh Hundred had stayed when we were preparing for the border patrol enlistment exam years ago.

“My lord.”

“Yeah.”

Back then I commanded a hundred. Now I commanded a hundred times that.

My impression, returning as a war hero, could be summed up in exactly three characters.

I’m fucked.

“They say Traysan used an inspection as an excuse to call Lady Andromeda outside the capital, then attacked with thousands of troops.”

“They say there was a battle so fierce it looked like the sky and the earth would split.”

“My cousin’s lover works in the main fortress—said they saw Traysan and countless Blue Knights go up to the Patriarch’s Hall.”

“They say they’re tearing the entire capital apart looking for something… I heard something about elixirs, but I don’t really know.”

Andromeda lost?

How could that make sense?

It wasn’t something I could even imagine.

Andromeda was direct bloodline.

Her mana was bottomless, and her control and the spectrum of her Authority were unmatched.

She should be able to use Authorities like Lightning Giant, Railgun, and Heavenly Scourge—so I couldn’t understand how Traysan had beaten her.

As a Blue Knight, the shock was overwhelming, but as Kyrie, the adopted heir of the Sub-patriarch faction, my mind went blank all the same.

What do I do now?

I was the Sub-patriarch faction’s “legitimacy” piece, not its “force” piece.

That was also why I could think, at times, about abandoning the army.

My role was supposed to end the moment I brought Erica to the capital.

Andromeda would take custody of Erica, then—in exchange for guaranteeing Erica’s safety and her safe return—extract Erica’s testimony at the Cathedral tribunal.

Then we’d tie Traysan together with the royal line or House Rykenta, bring him down politically, and peel away his influence in the open and in the shadows.

Naturally, that process was meant to take years.

With the help of countless Blue Knights joining the Sub-patriarch faction in real time, as it progressed.

But at this rate, I was going to become a lone hero storming the Demon King’s Castle.

What if I kneel in front of Traysan right now and beg?

Even that last resort crossed my mind—then I discarded it.

Not out of pride, but for a far more practical reason.

【Sub-Objective 2: Demon King Hunt】

【A hero is one who defeats evil. Slay the root of all wickedness you have designated—Senior Adopted Heir Traysan—and become a symbol of hope to the people.】

【Punishment upon failure: Celestial Lightning Body -100%】

【Reward upon success: Celestial Lightning Body +100%】

My “hero’s journey” was now at Sub-Objective 2 of Stage 3.

If I didn’t want to lose my Celestial Lightning Body value, I had to cut down Traysan.

Even if I decided to abandon it—think of it as giving up 100%—nothing would change.

What would happen to me under Traysan, after I had been the Sub-patriarch faction’s shining standard, was obvious.

He would cut off my limbs and make sure I could do nothing.

I would fail to complete Stage 3, die, and fall into the Bottomless Abyss.

So I really was going to end up drawing a sword against the senior adopted heir.

“Gather the commanders.”

I had Joi gather the Blue Knights and Knights.

“You’ve all noticed it, but the capital’s atmosphere isn’t normal.”

“So it seems.”

“I’ll send messengers to the surrounding cities and the major cadet branches.”

“Messengers?”

“Traysan committed treason. Tell them to fulfill their duty as vassals.”

They didn’t look pleased.

Of course they didn’t.

I wasn’t some colossal figure whose single word would bring armies surging from every direction.

If anything, I’d be lucky if they didn’t come running under the pretense of answering my call—only to join Traysan.

Even so, I had to send messengers.

If I didn’t apply even the smallest check, I’d collapse without even getting to fight.

And depending on Traysan’s response, I could learn what situation he was in.

If he panicked and sent a pursuit force, that would mean this coup was earning the Patriarch’s distrust.

If he didn’t even sneer, it would mean the tide had already turned completely.

Nereus, Frey, Joi, Peijin, Chen, Hari, and the other Blue Knights all listened to Kyrie inside the large command tent.

He’s the same.

Hari, a light-cavalry Blue Knight who had switched sides in the last battle, listened to Kyrie and thought.

You never give up.

Hari remembered Kyrie from academy days.

His looks, his aura, the place he stood—everything had changed, but the viciousness in Kyrie’s eyes was still there.

No.

It was swirling even more violently.

When Hari heard that Andromeda had lost, he thought Kyrie would give up.

Astreos did not always seek the clarity they pursued only in struggle.

Cleanly acknowledging defeat, bowing one’s head, and preserving the lives of oneself and one’s subordinates—that, too, was a Blue Knight’s virtue.

It seemed Kyrie had chosen to show a different virtue.

“My lords, my lords!”

At that moment, a Retainer came rushing in, out of breath.

“What is this commotion!”

Nereus furrowed his brow, and the Retainer continued.

“The gate opened! Blue Knights are coming. But the flag, the flag!”

“The flag what?”

“It’s the senior adopted heir’s flag. Traysan is coming!”

It felt like winter had descended on the tent.

A chill ran over Hari’s entire body, and he couldn’t even blink.

“Let’s go.”

Kyrie rose, throwing on his cloak.

“He’s coming. He’s really coming.”

“The senior adopted heir.”

The Blue Knights pushed through the soldiers and stepped out toward the front of the camp.

And truly, far away, Traysan was approaching.

He stood at the vanguard wearing plate armor inlaid with brass, his handsome face bare without a helmet.

“Kyrie of Astrion Astreos! My little brother! I’m glad to meet you again alive!”

He unleashed a Lion’s Roar from atop his horse.

“I regret that I must deliver such a miserable piece of news to you after you came from so far away. Evidence has come to light that Lady Andromeda, the Sub-patriarch, was colluding with House Rykenta. As your older brother, of course I believe something must be wrong, but since the Cathedral has stepped in, there is not much I can do.”

The voice was astonishingly confident, yet heavy with deep sorrow.

“To grasp the reality of this collusion, I need your help. Bring Princess Erica and come to me.”

Dangerous.

Blue Knight Hari let out a low sound.

“Huh? H-huh?”

“No, that’s Traysan? He’s completely different from what I imagined.”

“The Cathedral took Lady Andromeda? Not Traysan?”

The soldiers and Knights all stirred at once.

Those idiots have never seen Traysan or Andromeda in person. If someone that high comes out and speaks in person, they’ll believe every word. Damn it.

Hari foresaw military discipline collapsing on the spot.

This is bad.

Kyrie grit his teeth and made a decision.

“Shut your mouth, traitor.”

He mounted his horse and unleashed a Lion’s Roar.

“Your scheme to deceive me with a few words and drag me into your treason is contemptible. You couldn’t even repay the house that made us Blue Knights, yet you’re trying to overturn it and suck its blood.”

Alone, he charged down from the hill.

“Kyrie, Kyrie! Damn it! I’m unemployed again!”

“Bwahahaha!”

While Frey stared in shock and Nereus burst into loud laughter, Kyrie alone advanced until he stood between the ten thousand troops and the thousand cavalry.

“Lady Andromeda is the house’s rightful successor—the pillar of the state, second to one and above all others. If she bears any suspicion, it is the Patriarch who will decide it personally. It is not the Cathedral’s place, and it is not your place, to step in and issue commands.”

Under the clear blue sky, the cloak flapping behind him truly looked like a piece of the sky itself draped over Kyrie’s back.

“No—if the Cathedral took her, then why are you here? If the Manseong Church is trying to bring our house down, then why is a man called the senior adopted heir standing in front of me? Turn your horse around at once and march into that nest of rebels!”

The soldiers’ eyes changed.

Chapter 109

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