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Kim Seon-Hyeok’s expression hardened as he arrived at the Imperial Capital. He already knew that a large-scale battle had taken place in the capital because he heard it from the commander, but when he saw it with his own eyes, he realized that it was much worse than he had imagined. 

Huge pits were scattered here and there as if a massive meteorite had fallen and sections of the city that had been swept up in the battle were gone without a trace. 

The western section of the splendid capital of Adenstein,[1] which had prospered and thrived in recent years, had completely evaporated.

As soon as he saw the empty space that couldn’t even be called a ruin, his worries about Ophelia interrogating him disappeared as if he had never worried about it. Anger took its place.

“How dare they…”

He was truly furious at the Trancendentals’ dirty trick of infiltrating the capital in his absence. 

And his anger peaked when he met Ophelia.

“This…”

Her already pale face was as white as a sheet of paper. There wasn’t a single bit of color in her complexion. It was as if she was suffering from a terrible disease.

[It’s a sign of the curse. He said a skeleton made of gold was among the Transcendentals who attacked. It seems like Akrich, the Heaven-Defying Seeker of Tao, was also here.]

Ophelia wasn’t the only one who was weakened by the curse. Held in his mother’s arm, Victorius’ face was no different from his mother’s.

[The Empress of the Empire has absorbed the Eternal Flower and her life force surpasses that of human beings. She will not be greatly affected by the curse right away, but it is not the same in the child’s case. Had it not been for the dragon’s blood, he would have died immediately.]

No, in Victorius’ case, the situation was even worse. The appearance of the limp and motionless child showed that he was hanging by a thread. 

Kim Seon-Hyeok felt like his head was spinning.

“O, Ophelia.”

He barely managed to catch his breath and called his beloved wife’s name.

“I’m alright.”

He felt like his entire world was collapsing at her voice, which was as weak as her complexion was sickly.

Tremble tremble.

His hand shook as he caressed his wife’s cold cheek. Even though there were many people watching and protecting them, Ophelia didn’t refuse his touch. For now, it seemed like she wanted to be true to her feelings as a wife rather than think about saving the dignity of a monarch. 

Caressing her cheek as she leaned in his hand, Kim Seon-Hyeok looked at his child in her arms. 

The cheerful child who would instantly, and scarily, recognize his father’s presence and jump out of bed to greet him wasn’t there. He didn’t open his eyes even when his most loved father was right in front of his eyes right now. He continued to breathe with much difficulty, his face so pale that it was looking bluish.

[Seeing how the curse is so strong, it seems like the Heaven-Defying Seeker of Tao is, contrary to rumors, not dead. Well, if it’s the cunning Seeker, he would have hidden the vessel of his life somewhere else. Even if we were to destroy his body, it would be pointless.]

As soon as he heard those words, Kim Seon-Hyeok stopped trembling. It was almost as if he had never trembled.

“Ophelia.”

His voice was soft but cold.

“Wait a little longer.”

“Grand Duke!”

Ophelia’s eyes widened at his sudden words.

“The caster of the curse is still alive. As long as I don’t deal with him, the curse won’t go away.”

“I heard from the fortress’ commander that there was an incident you had to deal with as well.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok took a step backward as he responded.

“I’ll give you a report on everything together once I return.”

“That is not what I mean. It would be a lie to say it is going back and forth between opposite ends of the continent. Grand Duke, I simply meant that you also need a break.”

He shook his head.

“There’s no time. Even at this moment, the curse is eating away at you and Victor.”

“Scholars who are second to none, as well as the mages of the Empire, are searching for a solution. So…”

Rudely, Kim Seon-Hyeok turned around without listening to the Empress until the end. 

“I will happily take any reprimand after I return.”

“Grand Duke!”

Ophelia’s voice could be heard behind him, but he left the Grand Hall as if he didn’t hear anything.

“I’m sorry.”

As he was walking out the door, he heard a familiar voice.

“I dare not look at you, Grand Duke.”[2]

It was the head of the Imperial Guard, Marquis Reinhardt.

Looking at how much older he had gotten in the past few months, it was clear to Kim Seon-Hyeok how much Marquis Reinhardt had blamed and pushed himself. 

That was why Kim Seon-Hyeok couldn’t bear any resentment towards the Marquis.

“I heard that the Imperial Guards suffered a lot of damage.”

He had heard from the commander that all the knights of the Imperial Guard who had responded first, had all been annihilated. Even knowing the fact they could not beat their enemies, they had gone out to buy time with their lives.

“I heard that because the Imperial Guards bought time, the others were able to respond in a timely manner.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok dipped his head. He was grateful to the old knight and the knights of the Imperial Guards for protecting his family.

“I…”

The Marquis’ voice was full of shame. The fact that he hadn’t been able to fully protect the Empress, nor the fact that he couldn’t throw his life away to repay this disloyalty seemed to be painful for him.    

Looking at the distorted Marquis’ face, Kim Seon-Hyeok once again bowed his head and continued walking again. 

After all, this was an internal demon that the marquis had to overcome on his own. There was nothing Kim Seon-Hyeok could do for him.

Not to mention that right now, there was something more important he had to do than comfort the marquis. He had to find the hateful being that had cursed his wife and child, two people he loved dearly, the apples of his eyes. 

“Summon Dragon.”

When he finished reciting that short incantation, the Fairy Dragon appeared. 

[I was just about to find additional traces of the proxies…]

The Fairy Dragon had been about to argue with Seon-Hyeok about why she had been summoned when she was busy when she closed his mouth.

[Why do I feel the proxies’ energies here…?]

She seemed surprised to find the proxies’ energies lingering strongly in the capital.

“Find them.”

Seeing her, Kim Seon-Hyeok abruptly held out his hand. But his fingertips were stained black. 

The cursed energy had transferred to his fingers while he had been caressing Ophelia’s cheeks.

“No matter what happens, find the owner of this energy If you find it in time, I will forgive you for your laziness and incompetence.”

The Fairy Dragon’s eyes wavered.

[Alright.]

As if quickly grasping the situation, the Fairy Dragon pulled out the cursed energy that had gathered at the tip of his energy. Like poison, the black energy gathered in the air before it was absorbed by the Fairy Dragon. 

“Go.”

He did not say where to find the owner of the curse or how to find it. However, seeing his unusual momentum, the Fairy Dragon left without a single moment of hesitation. 

Kim Seon-Hyeok followed her and left for the unknown. 

***

The heart of the Empire had been attacked. A countless number of Imperial Guards had died and a section of the capital had been destroyed. There had only been three assailants. If this fact were to be known, then it was only a matter of time before the Imperial prestige would be trampled into the ground. 

Nevertheless, Ophelia stated that she would publicize this sneak attack. 

Naturally, the nobility expressed their concerns. Their reason was that there was no need to hurt the Empire’s prestige by sharing that.

“Do you plan on covering the sky with your hand?”

Ophelia rebuked the nobles. Although she was frail and weakened by the deathly curse, her dignity and majesty were enough to the nobles mute as if they had a mouthful of honey. 

“A fifth of the capital has fallen into ruins and the number of eyes who watched it happening is beyond comprehension. It is not something that can be covered just because we try covering it.”

She was right. Few among the capital’s citizens and nobles hadn’t seen the monsters and assailants ravage the capital that day. No matter how hard the Empire tried, rumors were bound to spread.

“It is indeed a bad precedent. Now that the heart of the Empire has been attacked, it will be the best excuse for those who would harbor delusions in the future.”

The nobles dropped their heads. All of them had faces that were expressing a strong sense of remorse that they were leaving behind a history of indelible disgrace for their generation.

Unlike the nobles who were bowing their heads, Ophelia’s expression was placid.

“The Capital’s mages have recorded every battle that day in the video recording sphere. The record will be made public and spread throughout so that the Grand Dukes of the vassal states and all the other prominent nobles may see it.”

But the aftermath of those calm words was anything but calm and trivial.

“Your Imperial Majesty! If things go wrong, it could be a case of revealing the Empire’s power to the public!”

“Please, Your Imperial Majesty! Please, reconsider!”

It wasn’t odd for the nobles to kick up a fuss. The battle that day had been an all-out war like never before and the knights and mages of the Empire had shown all their hidden skills and talent to defeat the enemy. The video recording sphere would contain all of this.

If there was a group with wicked intentions, it would be possible for them to study the weakness and destroy the Empire’s superhumans by watching the records. 

“You only know one side of the story”

Ophelia clicked her tongue. 

“The number of superhumans mobilized by the Empire that day was as many as three thousand six hundred ninety-four men.”

The nobles’ eyes darted from side to side. They looked like they were desperately trying to understand her meaning.

“You still don’t understand?”

“We are lacking and cannot understand your deep meaning, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“How many knights and mages does a country have?”

“Ah!”

The nobles’ whose brains worked faster exclaimed. They had finally realized what she was trying to say.

“Do you really think they can harbor ill intentions even after seeing the Empire’s military strength?”

The Empire’s preferential treatment for talented people, which had been maintained since the time they were a kingdom, had fully bloomed in Ophelia’s generation. Added to that was the tale of the legendary knight who shook the continent, as well as the countless foreigners and superhumans who had decided to dedicate themselves to the Empire.

As a result, even if many superhumans had lost their lives in the successive wars and weakened the overall power of the continent, the Empire still had 4,000 superhumans as part of their manpower. 

The attack the previous day was the moment in which the overwhelming power of the Empire was clearly revealed.

“The attackers were unbelievably strong, but the Empire is just as strong.”

The nobles trembled at Ophelia’s voice. Only then did they realize what kind of Empire they belonged to. 

“There is also something you should not forget. That day, that wasn’t all the power the Empire holds.”

More than 3,000 superhumans had gone to battle. Nevertheless, Ophelia was saying that that wasn’t all the Imperial power. 

“The most powerful sword and shield of the Empire, the Indomitable Grand Duke is with us.”

***

In the end, it was decided that the video recording of the battle in the capital would be published as Ophelia wanted it. The Empire’s mages quickly copied the video and sent it to the Grand Dukes. 

When it arrived, the Grand Dukes who watched the video recordings were all astonished at the power of the assailants. But what surprised them even more was the Empire’s power. 

“If the Demon King were to appear somewhere in the present-day Empire, the disaster that occurred in the West would never happen.”

Not only were they an outrageous number of superhumans, those who were at their zenith could even be considered to be showing the same level of power that the Indomitable Grand Duke had shown previously.

“After the previous Count, the one called the Shield of Adenburg, left, a monster worse than him appeared.”

Among them, the name of Countess Julian Vanquish Mangsk, who showed the most overwhelming performance, resounded throughout the continent. 

After some of their surprises subsided, the Grand Dukes realized why the Empire had sent them a video recording. 

Warning. Peace had come and years had passed. The Grand Dukes had become impassive towards the Empire’s authority, but now, they chose to prostrate themselves in front of the Empire’s sovereignty again.  

It wasn’t only the Imperial nobles who received the warning. 

“Ha. it’s not just the Dragon Lord’s Companion or whatever. The Empire itself is a monster.”

The ambition of the proxies, who had been hiding their identities and power and was depending on the Grand Dukes, faded before it could even blossom. 

But the real warning wasn’t the trivial video. 

[All will listen!]

One day, when the wind was blowing harshly, a quiet voice was heard on the wind.

[As the Dragon’s Contractor and the Protector of the Empire, I say to you, find the Heaven-Defying Seeker of Tao and tell me! That will be the only way for you to completely cross the border and live in this world!]

Most of the people who heard that strange message had a vague guess as to who the owner of the voice was, but they didn’t know who the Heaven-Defying Seeker of Tao was, or what the boundary was.

But it was different in the proxies’ case.

They already knew what the other Transcendentals had suffered in their fight against the Dragon clan and they knew there was no law saying that they wouldn’t suffer and end up in the same circumstances as those Transcendentals. 

So they chose to make a deal with the Dragon’s Contractor instead of fighting a battle they had no chance of winning.

It was at this moment that it became hell for Akrich, the Seeker of Reverse Heaven, and his Companion began. 

1. I believe this should be Adenburg since Adenstein was the Royal Family’s surname, but kept it as it is in the original.

2. The original phrase was 내 대공에게 면목이 없네. Which can be translated as ‘I have no face in front of you, Grand Duke.’ Face meaning, honor. So here, Marquis Reinhardt is saying he is ashamed to face KSH.