Chapter 274

“All troops, head to the Southern Battle Line!”

Ever since Crown Prince Chartang’s summons were declared, a strange tension hung in the Empire.

The so-called Five Masters led their respective knight orders south, and that included the mages from the Magic Tower.

“…Father.”

Yurfe Dermore, the only daughter of Count Dermore, looked on with a distressed expression as D’muehl prepared to leave for the Southern Battle Line.

“Are you really leaving?”

“Yes. It’s an Imperial Decree; there’s no choice.”

Not complying would be considered treason.

Chartang made that clear. Even someone like D’muehl had no way to wiggle out of it.

While packing his belongings, his hand stopped for a moment at the sight of Yurfe’s worried face.

“Don’t worry about me.”

Her face looked like she would burst into tears at any moment.

D’muehl gently stroked Yurfe’s head, wearing a kind smile.

“It won’t take long.”

“But I’ve heard the desert is dangerous.”

“It’ll be fine. I’m not going alone, and besides, I’m a far more capable mage than you think.”

This wasn’t just to reassure Yurfe; it was based on fact.

After serving the Lord of the Abyss, Rakus, D’muehl had quickly surpassed the barriers of an ordinary mage and was on the verge of becoming a High Mage.

‘And that’s not all.’

D’muehl had his own reliable forces.

The Abyss Worshippers, who moved at his command like extensions of his own body, along with Rakus’s minions, provided a solid backup.

So he had no real worries heading to the desert via the Southern Battle Line. Just as he was finishing the conversation with Yurfe…

Knock! Knock!

A familiar voice echoed, “Count, it’s Alond.”

The steward of the mansion, Alond.

Upon entering, he bowed respectfully and stated his business.

“The mages from the Magic Tower have arrived.”

This meant his comrades, who would also be heading to the Southern Battle Line, had shown up. D’muehl nodded and replied, “Show them to the reception room. Tell them to wait a moment as I need to prepare a bit more.”

“Yes, I will inform them.”

Alond bowed again.

After he left the room, Yurfe also took her leave to avoid interrupting D’muehl’s preparations.

At that moment, as D’muehl was left alone in the room…

Suddenly, a strange phenomenon occurred.

Swish! Swish!

D’muehl’s shadow rapidly expanded, enveloping the room in darkness. Soon enough, his study was filled with shadows.

However, D’muehl’s expression remained unchanged.

This was a familiar occurrence for him. So, he calmly knelt on the floor and bowed his head at the sight of the red eyes appearing in the air.

“I am honored to meet you, my Lord.”

The Lord of the Abyss, Rakus.

He had moved his base to the Imperial Castle and manifested here through one of his minions. Rakus looked down at D’muehl and spoke.

“My minions planted in Arsen have been compromised.”

“…What?”

D’muehl asked back, looking dazed at the abrupt news. After a moment, as he grasped the situation, his eyes widened in surprise.

“Who could have…?”

It was only natural for him to be shocked.

After all, Rakus’s minions had cloaking abilities that could easily rival the strongest in the Empire, like Saxen Yul Orden, the Imperial Sword, who couldn’t even decipher their presence.

“Only one person could pull something like this.”

Meanwhile, Rakus seemed to have an idea who had harmed his minions. He narrowed his red eyes and whispered.

“The Sixth Star.”

“You don’t mean Sven Isaac, do you?”

“Indeed. Among the Star Warriors, he’s the only one who can sense me and my minions.”

This was exactly why Rakus had intended to eliminate him earlier.

He swallowed his disappointment, knowing it was futile to regret. Nevertheless, his red eyes regained their composure.

“So what do you plan to do now?”

After hearing that his minions had been compromised, D’muehl asked cautiously.

“If you’re planning to plant them again…”

“No, that’s not my intention.”

Rakus decisively cut him off.

While monitoring Arsen Academy was one of his main goals, he realized it would be pointless now that Sven Isaac was around.

Even if he were to deploy more minions, it would only lead to meaningless attrition. Thus, the red eyes shifted toward the southern sky.

“For the time being, I will focus on the desert.”

“I see. I understand.”

D’muehl nodded without further argument.

Monitoring Arsen Academy was important, but he recognized that the Southern Battle Line and the desert took precedence at this moment.

“In that case, if something unexpected occurs besides your later instruction, I’ll contact you through the minion.”

“I trust you, my Apostle.”

With those parting words…

The red eyes flickering in the air were engulfed in flames and vanished. The shadows that had engulfed the study returned to normal.

…

Afterward, D’muehl wrapped himself in his cloak and left the room, headed to join the mages waiting in the reception room.

Some time later, a group of individuals stepped out from Count Dermore’s mansion, disappearing towards the southern castle gate.

2.

Three days after joining Sven.

The final exam schedule at Arsen Academy had completely finished. Soon, winter break was about to begin, and Ulan’s party left the academy early in the morning.

“Wow, I’m seriously surprised.”

“I can’t believe Ulan managed to pass without failing.”

Inside the carriage heading towards the capital city.

Ivella and Delia exclaimed in amazement.

Just like that, Ulan scored only 1 point above the failing mark.

Thanks to this, he could confidently leave through the main gate without the need to run away from a re-exam. Meanwhile, Ulan simply smiled at their reaction.

“Well, it’s thanks to my hard work.”

“You did bleed a lot, though.”

Noa awkwardly laughed.

In reality, Ulan had shed an enormous amount of blood through his nose during the exams. It was as if all his blood had poured out through his nostrils.

“Still, that’s impressive.”

Of course, it was highly probable that most of the answers were guesses, but just not failing was still a significant accomplishment.

As they admired Ulan, the carriage suddenly came to a halt.

“Guests, we have arrived.”

At the announcement of their arrival, the party got out of the carriage, silently gazing at the massive mansion before them.

It was none other than Count Dermore’s mansion.

The reason Ulan and his friends came here was to investigate the underground area of the mansion, one of the most suspicious places before heading to the desert.

“Well, let’s go in.”

“Yes, let’s.”

Leading the way, Ulan and Noa walked with serious expressions towards the mansion.

But at that moment…

“Uh, um…”

A voice called out, gripping the party’s feet.

The owner of the voice was a girl with grey hair who had been ominously silent in the carriage.

“I’m sorry, but why was I brought along?”

It was Silfi Rudrik.

With a visibly nervous face, she awaited an answer from Ulan and Noa.

This was a perfectly reasonable reaction.

Count Dermore was the one who had brought Silfi into the Empire. So, they had no idea how to respond when they encountered her.

Just as a torrent of worries swirled in their heads…

Noa finally responded as expected.

“Because we have something for you to do.”

“W-what is it?”

“It’s not a difficult task. It’s just to have a chat with Yurfe Dermore.”

D’muehl Ron Dermore’s only daughter.

Talking with Yurfe Dermore was Silfi’s mission.

Upon hearing this, Silfi looked taken aback. She wanted to ask if they had brought her along just for something so trivial.

But for a moment, that thought faded.

Arriving at the mansion, Silfi soon came to realize why Noa had given her such a task.

“Hehe, thanks to what you all told me back then, I was able to ask my father for permission to take the entrance exam at Arsen Academy. So now…”

Yurfe rambled on without a pause.

Hearing the endless chatter made Silfi feel her mind go blank.

‘She talks too much!’

It had only been half an hour since the conversation started, but she already felt mentally drained.

In desperation, Silfi looked towards Ulan for help, but he ignored her. He had something else to focus on.

‘Searching.’

He heightened his senses to thoroughly scout the area around the mansion. Even more so, his gaze was directed toward the mansion’s underground.

At that moment, he caught the faintest presence and tapped Noa’s hand.

This was a previously agreed signal.

To translate it simply:

「Sven successfully infiltrated.」

The one assigned to investigate the mansion’s underground was Sven, who excelled at infiltration. This indicated that Sven was the true body behind their investigation.

Therefore, Ulan’s party’s task was to keep Yurfe and Count Dermore occupied so Sven could conduct his investigation smoothly.

‘But…’

No matter how thoroughly he scoured the mansion with his senses, he couldn’t detect Count Dermore’s presence.

Ulan wanted to relay this and made eye contact with Noa, quietly shaking his head. Immediately, Noa jumped into the conversation.

“Sorry to interrupt, but isn’t Count Dermore not in the mansion this time either?”

“Oh, yes, that’s right. Father left for the Southern Battle Line three days ago. So he probably won’t be back for a while.”

“Huh? The Southern Battle Line?”

Why was it suddenly about the Southern Battle Line?

Noa looked at Yurfe with a puzzled expression, and then her response came back.

“Yes, an Imperial Decree was issued. I don’t really know the details, but I heard they summoned the masters and high mages to the Southern Battle Line.”

Upon hearing that response, Noa quickly pieced everything together.

‘So it has to do with Fertisha!’

Currently, Fertisha was hiding in the Arpen Duchy, but on the surface, it was reported that she was kidnapped by desert cultists.

Thus, it made sense that the forces would be concentrated to reclaim Fertisha from the desert.

‘It’s quite an aggressive move…’

If it were Chartang, that would certainly make sense.

He was infamously obsessed with Fertisha in the original story. He would probably go to great lengths to find her, even if it meant stirring up the entire desert.

‘I didn’t intend for things to escalate this much.’

Things had developed far beyond expectation.

However, it wasn’t all bad.

If they could utilize this situation well, it might result in a two-for-one benefit. With that thought, Noa’s eyes sparkled as she began to devise a plan.

Then suddenly…

Tap! Tap!

Ulan’s hand gave her shoulder a light tap.

This was also a previously agreed signal.

To clarify: Sven had emerged from the underground.

In other words, there was no reason for them to stay at the mansion anymore, so Noa stood up immediately.

“Then we should probably get going.”

“Oh, are you leaving already?”

“Yes, I have some errands to run.”

Now, they had no business left at this mansion.

Upon hearing the results of Sven’s investigation, Ulan’s party intended to head straight for the desert.

“Next time we visit, I hope Count Dermore will be in the mansion.”

“Indeed. It would be difficult if we came a third time after making the effort to come twice.”

After exchanging smiles and farewells…

Ulan’s party left Count Dermore’s mansion behind.

3.

A little while later.

Ulan’s party moved to an alley away from the mansion. This was the designated meeting spot for Sven.

After some time passed, a shadow emerged without a sound.

“I’m back.”

The hunter in robes, Sven Isaac.

As he brushed off the dust from his clothes, Ulan immediately asked, “Did you get followed?”

“Nope, there were no Abyssal Monsters suspected in that mansion at all.”

Sven shrugged as he replied.

Considering his words, it was certainly credible.

Ulan nodded as if he understood and then Noa asked, “How about the underground? Did you find anything related to the Lord of the Abyss?”

“Nope, nothing at all.”

“…What?”

“There were no traces at all. Not even a single sign. It was as if someone had deliberately erased everything.”

Everything felt unnaturally clean.

Summarizing the findings, Sven’s eyes glimmered sharply. He then pulled out the talisman he had received from Noa before sneaking into the underground.

“There wasn’t any Power of the Abyss either. It looks like they cleaned things up since your last visit.”

The talisman was used to detect the Power of the Abyss.

If any remnants had remained, the talisman should have turned pitch black.

But the talisman held in Sven’s hand looked just like when it was first handed to him.

“Ugh, this is troublesome.”

“If that’s the case, we won’t have any evidence.”

Ivella and Delia frowned.

Meanwhile, unlike the two, Noa remained unfazed. Calmly holding the talisman that Sven handed her, she murmured.

“But at least now, it’s confirmed.”

“Huh? Confirmed what?”

“That Count Dermore is not just collaborating with the Abyss Worshippers, but is also Rakus’s Apostle.”

The fact that all traces in the underground had been cleaned up indicated someone had sensed the presence of Spirits.

But only minions couldn’t accomplish that.

After all, the only ones who could grasp the presence of Spirits were half-humans like Fertisha or the Lord of the Abyss who was sensitive to the powers of Spirits.

‘Currently, the remaining Lords are two.’

The howling eyes and the Giant King.

Yet, the Giant King was said to always operate from a base in the desert in the original story. Thus, the mountaineers had to narrow down to one possibility.

‘…Rakus.’

The 6th Lord.

A wicked creature that lurked in the shadows, controlling the Abyss Worshippers to torment the Heroes.

As Noa identified the presence of this creature, it was Ulan’s turn to speak up.

“This might actually work out in our favor.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I mean the Count heading to the south.”

Sven looked mystified by Ulan’s sudden comment as he explained the meaning.

“It was hard to handle things while he was in the capital, but now it’ll be much easier.”

Noa added.

When Count Dermore was inside the Empire, it was unwise to act against him. However, now that he was outside the Empire, that changed everything.

Accidentally eliminating him would be easy.

And if needed, they could even use Silfi’s power to make it look like cultists did it.

“Hmm, that does make sense.”

Sven nodded silently.

It seemed he finally understood Ulan’s point.

After wrapping up their talk regarding Count Dermore, Ulan opened his mouth again.

“Then let’s set off now.”

This served as a signal, and the party began to move in unison. They were heading to the border of the Empire, adjacent to the desert, in search of a carriage heading to the Southern Battle Line.

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