A strange nervousness hung on the border of the Lancephil County and the Chase County.
No. It looked as if they were scowling.
The strange nervousness too was not directed at each other.
"Should we soon begin?"
One of Count Lancephil's captains cautiously asked.
Kali Owells quietly stared at the Count Chase Troop over the border, then slowly nodded his head.
"After crossing the fief border, shoot the arrows towards the ground. The cavalry will move left and right rapidly and leave footprints, and the foot soldiers will throw away the broken spears, swords, and the shields."
"Yes. Understood."
There was no look of being puzzled even at the strange order.
Vvuuuu!
Soon, the sound of horn signalling the march echoed.
It was undeniably a military invasion.
The archer troop, which had entered the Chase County, moved around this way and that and shot arrows at empty grounds.
Pbubububuk!
Tens, hundreds of arrows futilely crossed the empty space and planted themselves into the ground.
As according to Kali's order, the cavalry moved erratically left and right and left footprints, and the foot soldiers threw broken or bloodied weapons onto the ground.
A moment later.
Jiing! Jiing! Jiing!
The sound of gong signalling retreat rang out.
Hazy dusts fell down upon the place they left.
It was a battlefield fabricated with lies.
"Excellent."
Viscount Royce Fielder, who received the role of Count Chase Troop's supreme commander, made a faint smile.
His gaze went towards Kali on the other side.
'I knew it will become like this.'
Royce knew Kali well.
He knew that Kali would betray Io.
'That bastard is probably blaming Count Lancephil.'
But that was Kali's misjudgment.
The smile hanging on his mouth began much thicker.
'There is no way Count Lancephil would pass the fief to a bastard like you.'
The existences called humans were essentially like that.
Due to that, most people didn't know what their own faults were.
Kali too was the same.
'In the first place, Count Lancephil who values people without discriminating status and you who are busy taking care of your own profit were opposites.'
Royce clicked his tongue.
Like him.
'There really is no one like our Sir Count Chase who is all wrapped up with ambition.'
Royce and Count Jonathan Chase's personalities were completely same.
If one could just fill his ambition, he valued and used any one.
'He doesn't poorly treat his retainers just because of the lowly things. He grants lots of fiefs too. Kukuku.'
If Kali served Jonathan from the start, he would have achieved a large wealth and power in his hands.
Because of that, this fief war was very important from Royce's position.
'Kali. I can't leave you bastard to raise a big merit and serve Sir Count Chase.'
He had no desire to share the wealth and power with Kali.
'You will have to die in this fief war.'
Of course, it wasn't something Jonathan wanted.
The important thing was to gain the Lancephil County in his hands.
'It should be fine to say he died during a chaotic battle.'
If he gave even that much excuse, Jonathan won't delve any further.
Coincidently, a west wind blew.
"Charge."
He spoke in a low and unperturbed voice.
The Count Chase Troop rode the west wind and charged towards the East.
Dududududu!
The sound of horse hooves noisily rang out.
The direction the horses turned to was East.
Kali raised up his right hand high.
"Charge!"
A resounding voice echoed the land.
Dududududu.
The Count Lancephil Troop, no, the Viscount Owells Troop and the Count Chase Troop massed together into one and charged towards the East.
Lancephil Fief versus Chase Fief.
Like that, the fief war that would change many things began.
'What happened to you?'
Roan still made a surprised expression.
Although seeing Kinis was also surprising, the look that was different than what he had heard was also surprising.
'Didn't she say she was only about a size of a palm?'
Those were words he inwardly repeated alone.
But it seemed that those words were clearly heard in Kinis' ears.
[I abruptly grew like this all of a sudden. Also……]
Smiling peculiarly, Kinis extended her hands towards a Kutier that had already neared them.
Puung!
Suddenly, a ball of water burst out from her hands.
That was truly an odd sight.
[My power got stronger too.]
Her voice overflowed with confidence.
A strange mysteriousness and beauty coexisted.
Pop! Pbung! Pop!
Kinis continuously shot out balls of water towards the Kutiers that were approaching.
The Kutiers either had their skull broken or shattered.
But even so, it wasn't as if Kinis' situation was leisurely.
[Uwa! There's seriously a lot!]
The Kutiers they faced with the boat lights and iron nets were at most a portion of them.
The Kutiers under the water were incredibly many to a point of being hard to count with eyes.
Pop! Pbung! Pop!
Kinis once again shot out balls of water and then turned to Roan.
[What are you doing? Are you just going to keep watching like that?]
At those words, Roan made a bitter smile.
'I want to help too, but the mana within me was completely depleted.'
[Mana? What are you talking about?]
Kinis creased her forehead.
'I spent all the mana inside me to block Sethus' atta……'
When his words had reached that point.
Kinis creased her brows as if saying what are you talking about.
[Then what's that inside your mana hole?]
'Mana hole?'
Creasing his brows, Roan focused his mind on his mana hole again.
'Just what is she saying is in there?'
The mana hole was still completely empty.
With the mana hole as the center, Roan slowly felt the energy around it.
Suddenly.
'Ah……'
His eyes widely opened.
'What is this?'
It wasn't the mana hole.
An energy that felt completely different than the original mana was there.
If the mana hole's mana tinged a pure heat due to filling it with the Flamdor Mana Technique, the mana of the mana hole's exterior was.
'Water?'
It was a flawless water energy.
A pure essence of water.
'Why is this……?'
Roan couldn't understand it.
He had also realized that it was also the essence of water that had saved his life when he lost his mind and the Flamdor Mana Technique rampaged at the end of the war with the Istel Kingdom.
After that, he couldn't feel the aura of water, the water energy anywhere in his body.
But.
'It has been wrapped around the mana hole?'
And a water energy this powerful and plenty at that?
'How did something like this happen?'
It was something that he simply couldn't understand.
So that the pure water energy won't unknowingly become active before Roan realized the essence of water by himself, she had placed a limit that wasn't quite a limit.
Although he wasn't a human that was quite likable to her, since he did inherit Biate's will at any rate, she wished to stop him from meaninglessly losing his life.
The moment Roan used up the heat that had fully filled his mana hole, he sank into the Poskein Lake where a piece of Biate was asleep.
A coincidence and a coincidence had overlapped, and he had earned an opportunity that he hadn't even thought of.
Of course, Roan as well as Kinis too wasn't able to guessed such truth at all.
'Anyway, a water energy that I could use instead of heat appeared.'
And an extremely pure and amazingly great amount of water energy.
But there still was a problem.
'Could I used the Flamdor Mana Technique to pull up and use the water energy?'
Even if he simply thought about it, it was something absolutely impossible.
At that moment.
[Roan! Hey! Just how long are you going to stay like that?]
Kinis' panicked voice was heard.
It was a situation that Kinis could be in danger if not careful.
'Damn it. To think it's a situation where I can't use the mana even when it's there!'
Even thoughts of blindly trying out the Flamdor Mana Technique came to his mind.
'I would have at least tried it if I knew any other mana techniq…… ah!'
Suddenly, Roan's mind abruptly got hold of itself as if he was hit on the head.
'There is one!'
There was one other mana technique that he knew.
The mana technique that anyone knew of as long as they are higher commander than a thousand-man commander.
'The Tale Mana Technique.'
The very man who had trained the Tale Mana Technique first right after Brian finished it was Roan.
But because he had the Flamdor Mana Technique, he hadn't separately trained it after understanding that there was no big problem to the mana technique itself.
'It should be fine if it's the Tale Mana Technique, right?'
Because it was a mana technique that exceedingly emphasized the basic of the basics, it could control all types of mana.
That there was a chance that it could collide with the Flamdor Mana Technique if not careful.
'But if it's at a state like now when the heat is completely depleted……'
The possibility of collision was very slim.
But since there was something like perhaps, there was a need to be careful.
'I don't touch the inside of the mana hole.'
Roan gulped once, and visualized the mana hole.
When he focused on the surface of the mana hole, the water energy that had softly wrapped around it soon began to move little by little.
'It's working!'
At the very moment he was about to cheer at the mana that moved as he willed.
'Hgh!'
Roan gasped back an empty air.
No, it wasn't only that.
As if the space within his body wasn't enough, the water energy that had explosively expanded tried to even jet out of his body.
'Kinis! Run!'
Roan hurriedly yelled towards Kinis.
She quickly moved below Roan's feet and curled up her entire body.
However, their desires couldn't be achieved.
The very instant before Kutiers' claws would rip apart Roan's body.
Boooooom!
An incredible water energy exploded from Roan's body.
The strength of the water energy was unbelievable.
Pbubububuk!
The Kutiers that were energetically attacking disappeared without a trace.
It truly was an incredible power.
Thanks to that, the ships above the water's surface and Kinis, who hid below his feet, could be safe.
[Ro, Roan. Your appearance……?]
Kinis looked around at the empty water where the Kutiers disappeared, then stared at Roan a moment late and made a shocked expression.
His appearance right now was undoubtedly that of Ellaim.
Of course, it wasn't a look as beautiful as her.
"My lord! My lord!"
Harrison's panicked voice echoed out.
"Shine the boat light!"
"Call the ships that retreated!"
The flagship arrived at the place Roan sank.
But however they shined the lights and shouted, Roan's appearance wasn't seen.
"The soldiers capable of diving step forwards!"
Harrison personally took off the on-water-use leather armor and stepped up for diving preparation.
Their setup seemingly looked ready to dive into the lake at any moment.
But.
Boom!
With an explosive sound, one of the ships that were approaching towards the flagship sank.
Sethus, which had blasted away Roan, had already reached near them.
"Thousand-man commander!"
The soldiers turned to Harrison and hurriedly shouted.
Harrison, who was about to jump into the water to save Roan, gritted his teeth as he looked at Sethus.
'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!'
Curses rose back up all the way to his throat.
Harrison forcefully calmed his heart that shook and gave an order.
"Prepare to attack with the arrows! All fleet hold back its legs!"
A miserable order.
But while the entire fleet stopped Sethus, he himself and the flagship's soldiers planned to save Roan.
However, Sethus was much more powerful monster than Harrison's thought.
Kwang! Kwakang!
At a swing or two of its arm, three ships were half demolished.
Roan, who had taken on the such gigantic bastard alone, newly felt amazing.
'Damn it!'
Harrison was anxious.
He couldn't stop Sethus, and he couldn't save Roan either.
"Uaaaak!"
"Throw the ropes!"
"Save our allies!"
Hell.
All kinds of screams mixed and were heard.
Kuaaaaah!
With an aberrant scream, Sethus once again raised its arms up high.
Looking at the gigantic hand large enough to block out the night sky, Harrison bit his lips.
'My lord……'
He wasn't afraid of dying.
Harrison grabbed the bow he hung on his back.
'Even if I die a timely death, I will have to leave a single scratch on you bastard's body.'
The bowstring was tightly pulled.
A single spindly arrow sharply trembled its body.
Kwaaaah!
With an aberrant scream once again, Sethus slowly swung the arm he had raised high.
It was a slow movement as if to make fun of the humans who would be crushed by its hand and die.
'Even though you're a mere monster!'
Harrison gritted his teeth and let go of the pulled bowstring.
Piing!
With a clear sound, a single arrow cut through the air.
It was an infinitely small and spindly thing compared to Sethus' gigantic body.
'Is this the best……'
Watching the arrow fly up, Harrison spat out a long sigh.
At that moment.
Booooooooom!
With an explosive sound, a column of water soared up next to the flagship.
"Huhugh!"
"Is it a monster again!"
The soldiers loudly shouted and stared at the column of water.
It endlessly soared up.
Kwah?
Sethus too, at the sudden situation, blinked its eyes and glared at the column of water.
Shwaak!
Suddenly, an incredible stream of water extended out from the column of water.
No, the stream of water that they thought had hit Sethus' arm directly passed through it.
It was a strange sight.
Kwah?
Sethus too, once again, shouted out a strange and aberrant scream.
That moment.
Paaaaaat!
Following Sethus' arm, an incredible fountain of blood soared up.
At the same time, the arm that was attached to the gigantic body slowly become disjointed and then fell on top of the lake.
Kwaaaaang!
With an incredible splash of water, a swell of water arose.
The flagship and the ships greatly swayed.
Kwaaaah!
Looking at arm that was cleanly cut off, Sethus exploded out a horrendous scream.
At that moment, a soldier from the flagship shouted.
"It, it's the lord!"
The end of his finger pointed at the column of water.
Everyone's gazes headed towards the end of the column of water.
"Ah……"
With a greatly moved look, Harrison let out a quiet exclamation.
The man proudly standing at the end of the column of water and glaring at Sethus was definitely Roan.
Although both the color of the hair and skin was different than before, he could clearly recognize him.
"My lord……"
For some reason, tears flowed.
He had soar up riding the column of water and then had cut off Sethus' gigantic arm.
The soldiers, while staying mute, looked at that sight.
A thundering roar exploded out as if it had been waiting.
"Sethus! You bitch! Who told you to touch my guys?"
Who told you to touch my guys.
They were words they really heard a lot somewhere.
< Poskein Subjugation > End.
Translator Note:
So… I'm not sure how to say this well, but firstly, I'm sorry. I'll be changing the IatM's release schedule to 2 chapters per week.
The bottom line is, I need more time to spend on my studying (as a college student, I really do need to study a bit more), so I'll be reducing the releases to one chapter each on Tuesday and Saturday. I'm sorry.
Translator : CSV
Proofreader: Kajin
I think I explained this before, but "mutes who ate honey" is a Korean phrase for a very very silent person ↩