The Swordmaster Who Returned After 1,000 Years

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]

Chapter 140

A provincial city of the Geysir Empire, Darkhan Castle.

A flash of light flickered in the forest outside the castle, revealing Kaylen and Theresia.

“Theresia. I didn’t expect you to follow me. Isn’t the Saintess busy with her duties?”

“How would you return without me? You should at least consider coming back.”

Theresia stretched as she looked around.

“Besides, I’ve been overwhelmed with work lately. I needed some fresh air.”

“Why is there so much work?”

“The Holy Sword has disappeared. Even if a replica takes its place, the energy source powering the Sanctuary has been reduced by half… There’s a lot to take care of.”

With that, Theresia pulled out a memo from her robes.

“After investigating the Geysir Empire, I found out that its original name was the Kingdom of Akinsor.”

“The Kingdom of Akinsor? I know that place. My second wife was a princess from there.”

“Yes. Historical records mention that after that, Lord Ernstine’s number of wives suddenly increased.”

Theresia shot a glare at Kaylen, but he remained unfazed.

“Marrying into former royal families is a useful strategy when merging nations. If you grant the fallen royal family privileges and govern the annexed region with care, the resistance from the conquered land isn’t as severe as one might expect.”

“So marriage was just another means of conquest?”

“That’s right. My goal back then was to unify the Aberian continent. Whether it was marriage or anything else, I had to use every possible means.”@@novelbin@@

Taking in dozens of princesses as wives, he had ultimately unified the continent under Meier’s banner.

But looking back now, he wondered if it had really been necessary.

Though the empire’s unification happened swiftly—

After Ernstine disappeared, his wives incited their sons to restore their former royal families.

“If I had lived for centuries with the body of a Grand Swordmaster, supporting Caius and his descendants, my sons wouldn’t have acted so recklessly. It’s a shame.”

“…That’s true. If that were the case, the Meier Empire would still rule the entire Aberian continent. No—perhaps the continent itself would have been renamed the Meier Continent.”

“Oh, that was something I planned to do when I turned a hundred.”

“…You were actually considering that?”

Kaylen smirked and shifted the topic.

“Anyway. So Akinsor became Geysir, huh?”

As they walked toward Darkhan Castle, Kaylen recalled his second wife from the Kingdom of Akinsor.

Princess Bellania, renowned for her beauty.

She had great ambition as well and was quite the nuisance, constantly claiming that the first wife—who came from a noble family—was unfit to be Empress.

When Ernstine firmly rejected her demands, she quieted down for a while.

However, when the firstborn, Caius, showed no talent in swordsmanship, and her own son, Baldrix, displayed exceptional skill, she revealed her ambitions once more.

Even if she couldn’t become Empress, the next Emperor should at least be Baldrix.

-“The Emperor of the Meier Empire must at least be a Swordmaster.”

Using that justification, she orchestrated numerous schemes to undermine Caius’s position in the imperial family.

‘In the end, I exiled her back to her homeland for trying to destabilize the royal court.’

-“Your Majesty. You will regret this. You will regret it.”

Kaylen recalled Bellania’s venomous expression as she departed and let out a bitter smile.

In the end, it was her son who first led the rebellion that brought down the unified empire.

“The newly established Kingdom of Akinsor, which declared independence from the Meier Empire, did not have a smooth beginning. There was conflict between the former royal family of Akinsor and the newly crowned King Baldrix.”

“…I see.”

Even though the Akinsor royal family was Baldrix’s maternal lineage—

When it came to power struggles, blood ties, whether paternal or maternal, meant nothing.

In the face of power, even siblings betray each other.

Kaylen could easily imagine the political mudslinging within the New Akinsor Kingdom without even seeing it.

“In the end, the conflict between the two factions escalated sharply, leading to a civil war. King Baldrix emerged victorious and executed all members of the old Akinsor royal family. He then renamed the kingdom after its capital, Geysir, thus establishing the Kingdom of Geysir.”

“So, the Geysir Empire is essentially a nation founded directly by Baldrix.”

“Yes.”

“Baldrix again, huh…”

In the Helmeier family of the Demon Realm, they had altered the faces of all criminals to resemble Baldrix.

Now, even the Geysir Empire, which was picking a fight with the Meyer Kingdom, seemed to be connected to him.

It was likely just a coincidence, but Kaylen couldn't shake the feeling that these entirely separate incidents occurring in the Demon Realm and the Middle World were somehow linked.

“Is that Darkhan Castle?”

“Yes. But…”

Emerging from the forest, Kaylen and Theresia's expressions hardened as they gazed upon Darkhan Castle.

Below the massive castle walls, human skulls were lined up in a neat row.

Atop the walls, enormous black crosses stood tall, with human bodies impaled upon them everywhere.

“My god… crucifixion! That’s the most agonizing method of execution for heretics!”

“I know. The Holy See’s inquisitors used to favor it, didn’t they?”

“No. The cruelty of crucifixion was so extreme that the method was abolished long ago.”

Other execution methods did not prolong the pain for too long.

But in crucifixion, the condemned suffered for an entire day or two, enduring constant agony until death finally claimed them.

Because of this, families of the executed would often bribe the guards, begging them to end their loved ones’ suffering quickly.

“There’s something in the sky.”

Kaylen, having momentarily stopped to observe the situation atop the castle walls, suddenly spoke.

Hearing this, Theresia turned her gaze skyward.

A small speck in the distance rapidly grew larger as it descended toward the castle walls.

“That’s… a drake…”

“That’s right.”

—KIIIIIEEEEK!

The flock of drakes spread out, each one swooping down on the crucified humans.

“Kaaargh!”

Drooling with excitement, the drakes greedily tore into the bodies hanging on the crosses.

Theresia furrowed her brows.

‘If Lord Ernstine intervenes, those dragon beasts could be wiped out instantly…’

However, they had come here for reconnaissance, and such an overt action would only draw unnecessary attention.

Besides, those who had been crucified were already dead.

Attempting a rescue now would be meaningless.

Instead, she activated her divine power to magnify her view of the drakes.

Each time they devoured a human, their horns glowed red.

“That’s…”

“A Blood Drake. I thought they had been exterminated.”

Blood Drakes.

Unlike ordinary drakes, which consumed any kind of meat, these dragon beasts fed exclusively on humans.

They were smaller and weaker than regular drakes, but they moved in coordinated packs, and whenever they appeared, entire villages and castles were razed to the ground, making them a calamity-level threat.

Even the Meyer bloodline had no means of controlling them.

Because of this, during his reign as emperor, Ernstine had launched a massive extermination campaign, eradicating the Blood Drakes completely.

But the fact that they had returned…

There was something even more surprising.

—KIIIIIEEEEK!

After completely devouring the crucified humans, the Blood Drakes, as if satisfied, took to the skies once more.

‘There were at least a hundred drakes…

And yet, after eating just that many humans, they simply flew away? Blood Drakes despise consuming corpses.

Normally, after feeding, they should have charged further into the human castle.’

The behavior of this Blood Drake pack was undoubtedly unusual.

“They just ate their fill and retreated. In the past, they would have lost all sense of reason in the presence of humans.”

“You’re right. Their habits seem to have changed.”

“We’ll have to enter the castle to find out more.”

—Whoooosh.

Wind mana wrapped around them.

The light of a greatsword flickered, concealing their presence.

“Pardon me for a moment.”

Kaylen lifted Theresia into his arms, and her face immediately turned red.

She was no longer a young girl, yet in front of Kaylen, her heart refused to settle.

Especially when he suddenly acted like this—she was completely defenseless.

“I-I’ll be relying on you.”

She tried to sound composed, but she couldn’t hide the tremor in her voice.

Ederna, the child of the former Demon King and the overseer of the colony’s observation post, had spent the past year observing Kaylen and had reached a single conclusion.

‘This man… he might not be a descendant of the Hero—he could be the Hero himself.’

From what she had overheard in his conversations with the Saint and the one-eyed elf, there were too many things that didn’t align with him being merely a descendant.

‘If he truly is the Hero… then he is my father’s enemy.’

There were many suspicious aspects regarding the "White Demon King" and his involvement in the death of her father, the "Crimson Flame Demon King."

However, it was the former Hero who had personally beheaded her father—her direct enemy.

Should she allow her father’s enemy to grow stronger, just to obstruct the White Demon King?

That thought weighed on Ederna’s mind.

But…

‘At this rate, no one will be able to oppose the current Demon King.’

The Demon Realm had even invaded the Celestial Realm and established footholds there.

The White Demon King commanded absolute support in the Demon Realm.

If he continued his unchecked rise to power, there would be no one left capable of opposing him.

‘Perhaps… he will ascend to the vacant seat of the Demon God.’

The thought of the White Demon King rising to the position of Demon God…

—Fwoooosh!

Just imagining it made Ederna shudder, and flames erupted from the scales covering her body.

‘For now, I’ll assist the wielder of the Holy Sword. I’m still not certain if he is the former Hero.’

If he was indeed the former Hero, then she could plan her next move accordingly.

Ederna flicked her tongue, continuing her observation.

Kaylen entered the castle as if he owned the place, completely at ease.

‘I’d better warn him soon. If I don’t… he’ll be dead before long.’

[Translator - Kiteretsu]

[Proofreader - Kyros]