Volume 4 Chapter 104 Let’s Fight!
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Against the backdrop of the Shidarkan remnants being systematically slaughtered, Gensou hopped lightly from the ship’s deck. He offered a casual wave to the female warrior monk waiting on the shore.
”Gyokukan, it’s finished on this end,” Gensou said. “As you can see, I’ve secured the ‘strongest’ specimen Nizaam ever bred.”
The warrior monk, You Gyokukan, turned her gaze toward the beautiful fox-girl following in Gensou’s shadow. Usually, a host hollowed out by parasites would suffer total organ failure and a swift death. Yet Rita stood tall, looking almost exactly as she had before the infestation took hold.
The milky haze that had clouded her eyes like mold was gone. The blood that had been leaking from her nose and mouth had already clotted.
”How much of her intellect remains?” Gyokukan asked.
”See for yourself,” Gensou replied. “But keep in mind, it was Rita who incinerated this ship with magic. That suggests a remarkably high level of cognitive function.”
”To command High Magic¹… she must be capable of calculating and constructing spell-formulas based on the ambient environment?” Gyokukan mused. “My word. She might be capable of more than just simple brute-force commands. We could potentially use her for complex infiltration.”
”I was thinking the same,” Gensou said. “It’s not like she’s going to wear out. Sneaking her into Crete is a solid move.”
These parasites possessed a powerful reproductive instinct. However, it didn’t involve Rita’s own anatomy; rather, it was a parasitic drive to propagate. Specifically, they used mouth-to-mouth contact. The parasite would extend germ cells from its own maw, pumping eggs directly into the victim’s throat. Any eggs that survived the stomach acid would settle in the lower tract, hatch, and eventually burrow into the spinal cord to begin the process of assimilation.
Since Rita was a former member of the Lightning Knight Order², sending her back as a sleeper meant they could eventually turn the entire Order into a collection of puppets.
And that included Princess Guria Selda herself.
”I am uncertain if the Princess possesses physical capabilities comparable to this fox-woman,” Gyokukan noted. “Once the symptoms manifest, she might not last a year.”
”I (Ore) don’t particularly care,” Gensou said with a shrug. “We’ve still got plenty of spare ammo. Guria Selda has two younger sisters back in the Royal Capital. Any royal will do. Besides, a bratty little princess is much easier to manage as a puppet queen anyway.”
”With all due respect, my Lord, using and discarding Princess Guria Selda might backfire,” Gyokukan warned. “We shouldn’t unnecessarily court the resentment of the Cretan populace.”
”Hmm… fair point. But there’s something else I’m dying to test.”
Gensou watched as the Nile warrior monks dragged the wailing camp followers of the Shidarkan army off the ship, herding them into a huddle on the sand.
”According to those incinerated Inspectors, this Rita is supposedly the ‘Compatible One’ for the Blade of Dust³,” Gensou said.
”So they claimed,” Gyokukan replied. “Though it sounds like a tall tale to me. I have no idea how they determined her compatibility. If it were true, the Cretan leadership would have had her wielding that Magic Sword long ago, if only out of sheer desperation.”
”Medea and Circe probably didn’t trust her loyalty. That’s why they kept her away from it,” Gensou said. He turned to the fox-girl. “Rita, what do you say?”
”I declined the honor,” Rita replied in a chilling, flat monotone. “I (Watashi) am a traitor who conspired with Shidarkan. Therefore, I believed I lacked the qualification to touch it.”
”Ha! Did you hear that? She’s practically ready for deep-cover work already, isn’t she, Gyokukan?”
”Indeed,” Gyokukan said. “Her memory recall is intact, and her Azrael pronunciation is flawless. We’ll need further testing, but the intelligence is undeniable. Umar was a truly terrifying man to have engineered such a thing.”
”Jibril was the one who actually perfected it,” Gensou corrected. “So the one we should really fear is the ‘Smiling Young Noble.’” He added as an afterthought, “Though, technically, both of them have been erased from Azrael now.”
”Gensou-sama!” a voice called out.
”Ah, Seishi.”
A female warrior monk wearing a hood emblazoned with the character for ‘West’–Seishi–descended from the military road. Gensou and Gyokukan turned to face her. Seishi offered a deep, respectful bow.
”The Vahid fleet anchored in the Suez Canal has changed formation,” Seishi reported.
”Oh? So Christophoros reached them with Jibril’s body?” Gensou asked. “I wonder if they’re preparing a state funeral.”
”Assuming Jibril is actually dead,” Seishi countered.
”He’s dead. I saw him,” Gensou said. “His body was split clean down the middle and hardened like black onyx. He looked more like a mineral than a man. I don’t know what he absorbed, but there wasn’t a trace of mana or a soul left in him.”
”Hanami insisted we save him,” Seishi said. “It wasn’t a normal corpse. There might be some method of resurrection.”
”Hmm…”
Gensou clasped his hands behind his back and stared up at the stars, lost in thought. If Jibril lived, his power base would be significantly crippled. If Jibril was dead, the prospect actually carried a more frightening possibility.
The fear of Kian.
That man had brought down the ‘Almighty Jibril.’ If the power players in Vahid’s territories decided to call Kian back to the motherland… could Gensou actually stand against him?
Gensou recalled Kian’s face from their last chess match. That unshakable, expressionless void had terrified him. Jibril and Umar were dangerous enemies, but Kian inspired a deeper, more primal dread.
Why kill him, though? Gensou thought. He could bring him into the fold. That was much better. The Kian Merchant Guild is still small. They lacked capital. If he welcomed Kian as the cornerstone of his national defense, the man would have to accept. Gensou had the wealth, and he had the charm. I (Ore) can satisfy Kian Vahid better than Maribel ever could!
He wanted him. Not as a parasite-controlled husk, but Kian, exactly as he was, on his general staff.
If Kian fell under his banner, even the military conquest of Asterios⁴ became a reality. He needed to make his move before Rita’s body decayed and became useless. Between the elite Nile troops, his naval supremacy, and Kian’s legendary warriors and witches, he would be invincible. He could even dream of conquering the great eastern empire of Shin.
”Gensou-sama?” Gyokukan asked.
”Ah, sorry. It’s nothing.” Gensou flashed a wide, toothy grin. “While the Jibril camp is paralyzed, prioritize purging the parasites from our own allies. If they activate like Rita did, they’re walking corpses. We need to save them before that; they’re essential for the new administration.”
”Ha!”
”And Seishi.” Gensou pointed toward Shidarkan’s flagship. “I know I said to burn it, but I’ve changed my mind. Put out the fires. Scrape up as many pieces of Shidarkan and his men as you can find and stitch them back together.”
”Ha!? Y-You mean right now!?”
”Right now! Before they turn to ash! Hurry up! Hurry up!”
”Ha-ha!”
”They might come in handy,” Gensou mused. “If we can’t find a blood relative of Lord Nizaam, I’ll just have to use a parasite to pilot Shidarkan’s corpse as a temporary figurehead.”
Gensou clapped his hands decisively. “Now, get to it. As for Crete, just send them a formal demand for surrender and let them stew for a few days. They’ve lost eighty percent of their fleet; they’re finished anyway.”
The two warrior monks bowed and sprinted across the sandy beach. Gensou watched them go, but suddenly felt a cold touch against his back. He spun around to find Rita.
”Gah! Watch it! Don’t touch me with those tentacles, that’s disgusting!”
He recoiled, putting distance between them. I take it back, he thought. They’re too revolting. Once the war is over, I’m exterminating every last one of these parasites. The ban (teishi) must be absolute.
* * *
Having transformed into Asterios, Kian dove into the murky depths. Masking his presence, he struck out toward the northwestern horizon.
The sea was vast, dark, and deep. Even in his monstrous form, the weight of the ocean was humbling. An ordinary man would have lost his mind swimming through this lightless void, never knowing what lurked beneath his feet. But Kian felt only the faint, rhythmic electrical pulses of nearby sea life. He swam on, dispassionate and steady.
Behind him, the haunting calls of war horns and gongs echoed across the water. A new force had arrived, though he didn’t know whose. Was it a Jibril ambush, or had Gensou returned for blood? Regardless, since Mansoor’s fleet had begun its retreat, Kian followed suit.
He hadn’t charged the enemy fleet to satisfy some bloodlust. His goal had been purely tactical: protect the retreating Cretan rear from High Magic bombardment. With Mansoor’s sorcerers in retreat, his mission was complete.
To pursue further would be reckless. If the newcomers were indeed Gensou’s main force, Kian risked being incinerated by a concentrated magical strike. He had made the right call.
After ten minutes of cutting through the water with the speed of a shark, the ship he had received from Scipio finally loomed in the darkness. It was the only one left. While he and Rita had been dismantling the northern base, the rest of the fleet had charged into Mansoor’s forces to the east of Cyclops Island. It was a miracle even one vessel remained.
On deck, he sensed the warriors of the Tiegel family, the Lightning Knights, and the Garrison. But they weren’t all there. Many of the severely wounded had likely been left behind or lost to the sea. He could feel the mana signatures of Guria, Eugenia, and Meimei, but the total count was barely a hundred and fifty.
As he watched the survivors, a grim thought crossed his mind. Between the injuries and the exhaustion of the swim, more would surely die before morning. Kian wondered if their desperate charge had actually been worth the cost.
By the numbers alone, the result was a catastrophe. Kian knew they had sent several times more men into a watery grave than the few survivors they had managed to haul back. If Scipio kicked the bucket now, this would officially go down as the worst trade of lives in history.
”──Who goes there!?”
As they pulled alongside the ship, a Beastman soldier from the Tiegel household swung a Mana Lamp⁵ over the railing, catching them in its harsh, magical glow.
”It’s just me,” Kian growled. “Lower your damn spears.”
”It’s the General! General Asterios has returned!”
”Hup…”
Kian vaulted from the sea like a dolphin, catching the anchor hanging from the ship’s side before leaping onto the deck. Since this was his ship, he made sure to land softly. He wasn’t in the mood to go through the floorboards.
”Kia… Lord Asterios!” Guria cried out.
Accompanied by a black panther warrior, Guria came sprinting toward him. Behind her followed the dwarf girl-knight Meimei, the fishman Shark, and Eugenia, the small girl with hair like fire. Guria didn’t stop for pleasantries; she shoved the Tiegel warrior chief—a massive tiger-man—aside and lunged at Kian, her fingers digging into his arm.
”Rita! Rita’s mana signature… it’s gone! There’s no reaction at all! Rita, she hasn’t come back yet-ssu!” Guria screamed, her voice cracking.
She was a wreck. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen, her face smeared with tears and snot. Behind her, Meimei and the others stood frozen. Eugenia was biting her lip so hard it looked ready to burst.
”I felt it too-nmo,” Kian said, his voice low. “Rita used her Battoujutsu⁶. Then she unleashed a massive sorcery… and a few moments later, her presence just flickered out.”
”Then… what happened to her?” Guria asked, trembling.
”Princess,” the warrior chief muttered, “not even the General can answer that right now.”
”Answer me! What happened to Rita, Asterios-sama!?” Guria demanded.
Kian said nothing.
”Rita…. Rita…! ugh… hngh… WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHH!!”
It wasn’t a cry; it was a jagged, guttural howl—a curse born of pure resentment. Guria slumped against Kian’s waist before collapsing onto the deck, screaming as if she had lost her mind. No one could find the words to comfort her. Meimei eventually knelt down, pulling the girl’s shaking shoulders into a silent embrace.
(Talia, what’s the status of Rita’s clothes?) Kian projected mentally.
‘They’re still intact,’ she replied.
(What?)
‘Keep this between us for a moment—we don’t need a panic. But the replica garments I gave her are unharmed. Rita is still wearing them as we speak.’
Kian looked down at the sobbing Guria, his brow furrowing in confusion.
(So she wasn’t blown apart? Was she decapitated? Or maybe a clean thrust through the heart?)
‘No, that isn’t it. She’s alive. I wove a spell into the fabric—if she dies, the clothes are set to detonate before they can be looted.’
(Damn, you’re a real piece of work, aren’t you? You’re completely cracked in the head.)
‘Kian, listen. Rita is alive. But she’s masking her presence so we can’t track her. And right now… she’s moving toward that new fleet that just appeared on the horizon.’
(You’re kidding me.)
Which meant… had Rita surrendered?
‘Or,’ Talia added, ‘there’s a chance she’s turned on us.’
”────”
”The General is back,” the officer shouted. “We can’t wait for more survivors. Weigh anchor! We’re retreating to Crete!”
”No! Wait! Rita is still out there!”
”Princess, it’s freezing out here. Please, come inside.”
”No! Let me go! NOOO!”
”Meimei, hold the Princess down-nanodesu,” one of the knights ordered. “We’re going to administer a sedative-desuno.” “Understood-nanodesu,” Meimei replied.
The girls of the Lightning Knight Order⁷ were forced to restrain the wailing Guria, dragging her down into the belly of the ship. The Tiger Beastmen warriors kept their faces like stone as they raised the sails and began the wind-magic incantations, but Guria’s agonized voice echoed across the deck long after she was gone.
(Shouldn’t we tell them she’s alive?) Kian asked.
‘It could be a trap. Or the survivors might throw their lives away trying to “rescue” a traitor. ──Oh.’
(What now?)
Kian heard Talia let out a faint, sharp sigh through his right arm.
‘The clothes were just destroyed. Either Rita stripped them off… or she’s been killed.’
(────)
Kian let out a long breath. So that was that. You don’t exactly stop for a bath the second you defect to the enemy. But he couldn’t see Rita stripping for a group of Azrael’s warrior monks just to save her skin. The most likely answer was that the enemy had captured her and executed her on the spot.
(This is the worst. She goes and dies before I can even prove I’m the better warrior monk.)
‘If you were competing in skill, she’d have wiped the floor with you, pig-d**k,’ Talia snapped. ‘You only win because of your raw physical power and spatial awareness.’
(Ugh, shut up!)
‘Quiet.’
(Dammit! Dammit all! Fine, I’ll just have to kill someone else in her place.)
‘You’re a handful. Fine. I’ll beat you to a pulp myself later. Maybe that’ll end this pathetic obsession of yours.’
(Don’t call it pathetic-nmo!)
As Kian was busy arguing with the voice in his head, a guard officer approached and gave a deep bow.
”General. Thanks to you, Lord Scipio survived. He’s still in critical condition, but… thank you.”
”Is he conscious?”
”He woke for a moment, but he’s out again. He’s completely drained. He won’t be fit for command for a while.”
”Figures-nmo,” Kian muttered. “By the way, I saw Scipio’s flagship burning. But he made sure to save those ‘legendary’ magic tools and treasure spears he was so obsessed with, right? The stuff he spent all that time hoarding?”
”Ah…”
”Don’t tell me-nmo.”
”I-I’ll go check! Hey! Did anyone grab the crates!?”
The officer scrambled back toward the survivors huddled on the deck. Kian didn’t need to wait for the report to know the truth. Every legendary combat tool Scipio had brought out had gone straight to the bottom of the sea with his flagship.
* * *
After speaking with the warrior chief, it turned out the reserve ships hadn’t been sunk by the enemy at all. The second the signal for the assault went up, they’d turned tail and fled.
Those ships were a ragtag collection of private vessels—mercenaries Scipio had scrambled to hire from coastal cities. And that’s the thing about mercenaries: if the wind blows the wrong way, they’ll sell you out in a heartbeat. The only reason they’d hung around as long as they did was because they were too confused to move, and they didn’t want to risk losing their paycheck if there was still a chance of winning.
But with the main force decimated and the commanders missing, there was no reason to stay. Even the “General” who would have hunted them down for desertion was busy elsewhere. When they’d met before the battle, they were all “Let’s do this, General!” and “We’ve got your back!”
All lies.
Kian had almost forgotten, since he hadn’t dealt with that crowd in a while, but that’s just how humans are. He wasn’t even mad. If anything, it felt nostalgic—it reminded him of the bottom-barrel adventurers back in the East End.
* * *
Hours later, the Kian-go was cutting a path back across the open sea.
The morning sun was just starting to warm Kian’s back when the merchant ship carrying Talia and Isthbaran finally crested the horizon. The relief on deck was palpable as they linked up. After brief greetings, the Kian-go—now protected by the Lightning Knight garrison Talia had secured at ‘Grass Island’—slipped into the harbor at ‘Water Island’.
By then, the sun was already past its peak.
The situation was grim. Not counting the deserters, nearly seventy percent of their fleet was at the bottom of the ocean. Almost no one had made it out of the water. All that was left was Balinars’ fleet—which was still missing—and a few civilian merchant ships being pressed into service.
The Crete military had been effectively wiped out in a single night.
On the other side, the Mansoor and Shidarkan forces were also gone. But a massive, unidentified fleet from the south was still lurking out there as a hostile power. It was a war with no winners. Crete had lost its sea power, and now they had absolutely nothing left to hold off the coastal nations if they decided to move in.
As the Kian-go navigated the Coral Path⁸—a maze of underwater stakes Crete had installed to keep enemy ships out, now a jagged, slime-covered mess of seaweed and barnacles—Kian could see a crowd waiting at the pier.
And they were dressed to the nines. Even for a wealthy place like Crete, it looked like every power player on the island had shown up.
In character as Asterios, Kian gave them a big, dumb wave. The rest of the crew just stared at the dock with dead eyes, too exhausted to even acknowledge they were safe. The crowd on shore seemed to already know the score. They looked up at their battered ship with funeral faces.
Guria was led up from below deck, looking like a ghost, supported by Eugenia and Shark. Meimei had already transferred to another ship with the rest of the knights when they met up with Talia.
”General Asterios, Commander Circe still hasn’t woken up-desuno.”
”Nbo-bo…. General, sorry to trouble you, but once we land, please get word to Vice-Commander Medea immediately.”
”Don’t look at me-nmo,” Kian grunted.
”We’ll handle it,” the Tiger warrior chief interrupted. “You there—send a messenger bird to Lady Medea the second we dock. She should be recovering at the Grass Island base.”
The ship bumped against the pier, and the gangplank hit the wood. Kian didn’t bother with it, jumping straight onto the dock. A few people shrieked and scrambled back, but when he just stood there with his arms crossed, they went back to ignoring him, waiting for the next “important” person to disembark. He figured everyone knew Asterios was an idiot, even the high-and-mighty types.
”Panzer!”
”Master, we have returned.”
The Tiger chief who’d come down before Guria bowed low to another tiger-man. This guy was middle-aged, draped in gold and jewels, looking like a wealthy sorcerer. Amora’s father, Kian assumed.
”Out of the way! Move it!” the guards shouted.
They pushed through the crowd, carrying the stretcher with Scipio’s unconscious body toward the city.
At the same time, a violent tremor of unrest finally rippled through the dignitaries on the pier. They crowded around Scipio, who was a grim sight in his blood-soaked bandages. Men and women clutched their heads in dismay, their voices a low, panicked thrum. “My God…”
”Is my daughter safe?!” Madam Tiegel shouted, lunging forward. “She told me she would be the first spear⁹ to charge the Cyclops!”
”Madam Tiegel…” Eugenia said, her voice trembling but hushed. “Of the Lightning Order¹⁰, only seventy from the elite unit survived~desuwa. All the other rank-and-file… they are all gone.”
”That’s a lie!” the woman screamed. “Eugenia, tell me it’s a lie!”
The woman lunged at Eugenia, then turned her desperate eyes toward Guria. The girl sat there like a hollowed-out husk, silent and staring. Perhaps sensing that Guria was beyond reach, the woman stumbled back, reeling as if struck.
Eugenia and Shark eased Guria onto a nearby wooden crate. Guria kept her head down, her gaze fixed on the dirt. Her lips, usually bright with balm, were cracked and shriveled. Her face was a mask of salt-crusted tracks where tears and snot had dried, and her hair hung in matted clumps.
”General Asterios, over here!” a voice called.
”It’s Lady Priscilla,” Kian muttered. “And Cardinal Homolka.”
Kian raised his head, responding to the voice whispered directly into his ear via magic. Across the crowd, on the gentle slope of the beach, he spotted a portly man guarded by a white-haired witch and an Inquisitor.
”I’m gonna burst-nmo!” Kian shouted suddenly. He leaped down to the water’s edge, splashing his way toward the sand. The dignitaries continued to ignore him, but the commoners crowding the outer circle raised a sudden, frantic chorus. “It’s the White Bull¹¹!” “General Asterios is here!” They cried out, but they kept their distance.
”Ah, General Asterios,” Homolka said as Kian climbed onto the dry sand. “Is your bladder quite alright?”
The Cardinal stood between the ‘Burier of the Cursed’ and ‘Sick Cat.’ The Burier was as grotesque as ever, bound in a full-body leather harness. Sick Cat looked on with total indifference, her one visible eye fixed on her polished nails.
”Oh, Cardinal,” Priscilla said with a dry smile. “Surely you know he’s joking.”
”Lady Priscilla, I am aware,” Homolka replied. He turned back to Kian. “I simply… ah, I didn’t know how else to start the conversation. General Asterios, what happened was not your failure. In fact, you were victorious. It was Crete that chose to leap into the flames.”
”I appreciate the concern-nmo,” Kian said. “From the look of it, do you already know the gist of what happened?”
”More or less,” the Cardinal said. “Though all the observers on Underworld Island—mine included—were killed, so the details are thin.”
”Nffufu,” the Burier purred. “Lord Kian, you certainly keep some talented witches besides Aliona, don’t you? I’m starting to realize you’re someone I really can’t turn my back on.”
”Stop that-nmo,” Kian said, his voice hardening. “I was just protecting my private info. I have no intention of picking a fight with the Western Church. Wait, Cardinal Homolka, did you tell the Burier?”
”Cardinal Augusto told her,” Homolka sighed. “Not me.”
”I see-nmo…”
”So, what’s the move?” Priscilla asked. “You aren’t planning to throw in the towel, are you? Even if we talk peace, it’ll be a hard sell unless we deal with the Gensou¹². They’re still basically untouched.”
”Ah, so those newcomers were the Gensou-nmo,” Kian said. “That’s a problem. They said they’d retreat, and I expect them to keep their word.”
Kian hated liars. As someone who had never told a single lie since the day he was born, he felt like giving the Gensou a piece of his mind.
”I guess it depends on Crete,” Kian continued. “As for me, I can’t really say. Though, you all mentioned you’d help us out if we won the first round—what’s the plan?”
”I’ll win this, even if I have to throw in my own private militia,” Priscilla declared. “If Crete won’t fight, I will. I’ve already sent a letter to Guy.”
”Lady Priscilla,” Homolka asked, “why are you so desperate?”
”Cardinal, that involves my personal affairs,” she snapped. “I’m afraid I can’t answer that.”
Kian watched her. He knew the truth: Priscilla had commissioned him to steal the real Asterios’s heart. That theft had prevented the Lightning Order from being properly reinforced, leading directly to their slaughter.
Priscilla was the literal definition of an evil witch in everything she did, yet she had this weird streak of responsibility—a strange, jagged sort of earnestness. She clearly felt Crete’s crisis was her fault and was trying to balance the scales. Kian remembered when they first met; she had smuggled Abbas and Demete into Châtillon and was ready to do whatever it took to help them escape if Guy caught on. In the end, she couldn’t protect them, and Abbas had ended up a prisoner.
Wait, Kian thought. So the fact that I almost got blasted to death at Flower Mountain is technically her fault too?
She was a charming woman, but she was dangerous. With her wealth and status combined with her habit of getting tunnel vision at the worst possible moments, she had a knack for making everyone around her miserable. Even so, she was his benefactor, and he wanted to stay on her side if he could.
”Lord Kian,” Homolka said, his voice low. “I wish to deploy troops as well, but it is difficult. My authority doesn’t reach far enough here. I can offer funds, but I doubt that’s what you’re looking for. Mercenaries and gear bought with gold are trivial compared to the military might you command.”
”Not at all, Cardinal Homolka,” Kian replied. “The sentiment alone is enough.”
”At the very least,” Homolka said, “I intend to release a formal condemnation regarding the attack on Crete while we were present. And if Princess Guria Selda asks for aid, I will tell her I’ll do anything within my personal power.”
As Homolka squeezed out those words with a pained look, Guria’s voice, sharp with rage, rang out from the pier.
”Tiegel!” she screamed. “How can you even think about surrendering?!”
Kian, Priscilla, and Homolka turned toward the pier.
Before the murmuring dignitaries, Guria stood tall upon the wooden crate. She gave her tear-stained face a rough, violent wipe, looking down at the crowd with eyes that burned with fierce anger and profound grief. She took a deep, steadying breath and shouted so all could hear:
”Even if my brother has fallen, I am still here! I made a promise to my friend—that I would protect this Crete that I love! I will fight! This is not over! For the sake of those who died to protect our soil, we must fight on!”
—
Summary:
Gensou celebrates the capture of Rita, now a high-functioning parasitic puppet, planning to use her to infiltrate Crete. He contemplates bringing Kian to his side out of respect and fear for Kian’s power. Meanwhile, Kian escapes via the sea in his Asterios form, reflecting on the heavy casualties and the hollow victory of their recent charge.
The Crete military returns from a disastrous battle, having lost 70% of its fleet and its legendary magic tools. Guria is devastated over Rita’s apparent death, unaware that Talia has a way to track Rita’s status through her clothes. The scene ends with the survivors arriving at Water Island to a somber reception by the island’s elite.
At the same time, the survivors of the Lightning Order return to the pier, bringing news of a devastating defeat. Kian meets with Cardinal Homolka and Priscilla to discuss the next move against the Gensou forces. The chapter ends with Princess Guria Selda overcoming her despair and rallying the people for a final stand.
—
Trivia:
- Rita was the ‘Compatible One’ for the Blade of Dust, though she previously refused it.
- The parasites reproduce via mouth-to-mouth egg transfer and burrow into the spinal cord.
- Jibril’s body hardened like black onyx after death, suggesting a non-biological transformation.
- Gensou intends to keep the parasites but ban their use for others after the war.
- Only 150 survivors remain of the force Kian was leading.
- The reserve forces didn’t actually sink; they deserted because they were unorganized mercenaries.
- Talia’s clothes have a self-destruct mechanism that triggers upon the wearer’s death.
- Rita’s mana vanished right after she used a massive sorcery following her Battoujutsu.
- Scipio is alive but unconscious, and his flagship (containing all the loot) is gone.
- There is a new unidentified fleet appearing from the south.
- Priscilla’s secret mission to steal the heart of the ‘real’ Asterios directly weakened the Knights.
- Kian’s obsession with honesty makes him a wildcard in political negotiations.
- Homolka acknowledges his lack of actual authority in Crete compared to Kian’s military might.
- The ‘Burier of the Cursed’ is an Inquisitor, adding a darker theological element to the scene
—
Character Insight:
Gensou reveals a pragmatic but deeply narcissistic streak; he believes he can ‘satisfy’ Kian better than Maribel. Kian shows a growing weariness and cynicism, questioning the value of his own tactical successes when the human cost is so high.
Kian (Asterios) shows a cynical side, reflecting on the nature of mercenaries and human betrayal, likely due to his past as a low-rank adventurer. Talia demonstrates a ruthless pragmatic streak, having rigged her friend’s clothes to explode to protect technology.
Priscilla displays a complex moral compass—she is manipulative and ‘evil,’ yet feels a burden of responsibility for those she has inadvertently harmed. Guria Selda transitions from a broken victim to a determined leader.
—
Behind the Scenes:
The mention of ‘Shin’ refers to a great eastern empire, expanding the world-building beyond the current Mediterranean/Western fantasy setting.
The ‘nmo’ tic is a common trope for minotaur characters in Japanese fantasy, often used to bridge the gap between human speech and animalistic grunts.
The term ‘White Bull’ (Shiroi Oushi) is a direct nod to the Minoan myth of the Cretan Bull, grounding the fantasy setting in classical Greek themes.
—
TL Notes:
Notes:
• Shidarkan – Gloomy, bearded son-in-law of the Malc family (Flora’s clan); once a modest Malc magician, ordinary next to Shajar’s elites. Attends the Cyclops Island war council after losing his wife, Flora, and sisters-in-law in the northern base’s destruction. First appears Vol. 4 Ch. 45. Reminder: bereaved Malc son-in-law—sober, doubtful, and dim but dutiful.
• Gensou – Eccentric young Eastern monk-general in Azrael’s army, playful yet ambitious. Wields sun-like magic, swordsmanship, and assassination tactics. Linked to three masked wives—Seishi, Oushoukun, and Yougyokukan (Head Magician). Ally of Mansoor and Oji, serves under Jibril, proposes Operation Assassination. First appears Vol. 4 Ch. 45. Reminder: playful Eastern general with masked harem wives, always late but magically explosive, contrasting serious monks with his bathrobe vibe and schemes.
• Nizaam – A former member of Azrael’s Twelve Divine Generals and the current head of the Malc family, though he has passed both titles to his daughter to return to the battlefield. He is a prominent warrior noble in Azrael, known for his love of beautiful boys and fierce battles.
• You Gyokukan – A female warrior monk serving under Gensou. She is pragmatic and cautious regarding political optics.
• Rita – Female warrior monk with fox ears, last direct disciple of Nizaam, wears a fox-ear hooded jacket. A ‘killing doll’ beastman created by Nizaam.
• Mag – The wolfwoman under Yelmar—the one who was caught by Kian’s group earlier.
• Seishi – A female warrior monk. She wears a hood emblazoned with the character for ‘West’ (西).
• Mansoor – Crimson-eyed elder monk and Azrael’s Divine General from the Shakerdoust domain near Dacia. Wielding mist form, blood-drinking, rapid healing. He ties to allies like Ryoma and Hanami Tsai. First appearing in Vol. 4 Ch. 25. Quick tag: vampiric red-eyed grandpa-general who mist-forms and drinks blood, obsessed with rescuing his captured son unlike other human monks.
• Eugenia – Red-haired girl with a ponytail, serving as a messenger pigeon for Sir Scipio.
• Meimei – A dwarf girl-knight and member of the Lightning Knight Order (Raiko Knight-dan).
• Tiegel – An influential woman on the pier. Mother of a daughter who charged with the first spear.
• Talia – A high-ranking vampire spirit currently possessing the body of Lyritisse. In this form, she has flaxen hair, blue eyes, and thick lips.
• Isthbaran – The High Warlord of the ‘Storm Herd.’
• Amora – Scipio’s fiance, and the knight of crete.
• Ali – The oldest of the elite warrior monk trio, referred to as General Ali.
• Demete – A male dark elf shaman and a servant in the Umar household.
• Abbas – The heir of the Shakerdoust family, a prominent clan within the Twelve Divine Generals.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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