Chapter 44: Succession

Warrior of <Kal-Gul>

He had no name.

Names were made for beings that did not have the ability to feel and identify each other. The <Kal-Guls> were connected to each other since birth and required no names. He had no memory after he was killed in the war against the humans before he woke up.

He focused to see what was going on around him. It looked like something had gone wrong during the <Succession Ritual>. He couldn’t believe it. Problems didn’t occur so easily.

The ritual itself was very simple. The successor eats the heart first, and puts the weapon, or the source of the soul, into the heart afterward. The successor would then acquire the power and experiences of the previous owner. This was how they continued handing down their powers.

But once in a while, an anomaly would occur.

When the successor took damage strong enough to shake their soul, the successor would lose control of the body and open the path for the previous soul to take over.

This was called <Soul Reversal>.

The event was very rare as the soul of a <Kal-Gul> was very strong. After going through the ritual, the soul would grow stronger so that no amount of damage would be able to shake the successor’s soul.

For it to be possible, there should’ve been constant stress or pain placed upon the successor. Usually, the body would have fallen first before the soul was damaged, but this was something that rarely occurred.

“…Who are you? Where’s the half-wit?”

This man looked like the one who was responsible. The Kal-Gul had already absorbed all knowledge from the successor and was able to understand the language. He quickly recognized everything and opened his mouth.

“He… he will… not come back… His conscious… is lost…”

It was a little awkward at first, but he quickly learned to speak in the Tian language. Sian realized he wasn’t lying. The energy, appearance, and everything was Kuntarian’s, but the <being> was different.

There was something different within him that was more organized. Sian’s target was the half-wit Kuntarian, not this <being>.

“Oh man… dammit…”

Sian sighed as he couldn’t beat him up for six more days and began walking toward the capital. He had no business with such a being. The man inside Kuntarian eyed Sian carefully. Then he began following Sian. Sian knew that this new Kuntarian was following him, but he didn’t care.

When Celine found Sian upon his return, she held back her delight casually asked Sian, “Hey, Sian. You’re back. So… what have you done…?? Huh? What’s that!”

Celine, who was asking Sian, stopped in the middle as she noticed Kuntarian at the back.

“It’s complicated. But this man is not Kuntarian anymore.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

Cline couldn’t understand what Sian was talking about. No matter how she looked, the man was definitely Kuntarian.

“So… err…”

Sian was irritated also. Kuntarian just disappeared and was replaced by another man. He had no idea why.

As Sian was lost for words, Kuntarian stepped up and spoke.

“I’ll explain.”

Celine frowned as Kuntarian came closer, but she felt something was different. She wasn’t sure, but it was different.

“So… you were inside the sword that Kuntarian won, and you were released? Kuntarian doesn’t exist anymore?”

“That is true.”

“Hah…”

It was hard to believe, but all the circumstances proved it to be true. Kuntarian felt like an experienced, old warrior now.

“So… how should I address you?”

“Hmm. You can address me as <Kalagul>.”

The man inside Kuntarian didn’t feel the need to truthfully explain everything, so he mixed in some lies to tell his tales. He even changed his race’s name.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“I have no idea. That’s why I followed him.”

Everything he said up until now was partially fabricated, but what he just said now was true. The <Kal-Gul>, now renamed to Kalagul, had no idea about what to do. That was why he followed Sian. When he lived as part of <Kal-Gul>, he did not need to worry. The central intelligence told him what to do and he just needed to act.

Maybe because he was now in a human body, or maybe because his race was extinct, but he had no mind connections like before and he didn’t know what to do.

He had no intention to take revenge either. These people were not from the Empire and his race had just withered away through time.

Celine looked carefully at Kalagul and spoke.

“Why don’t you meet up with the King? I don’t think this is something we can handle.”

Sian thought Celine had made the right decision. Celine did not know Kuntarian had become stronger, but even the old Kuntarian was stronger than her. It was best for them to bring this problem up to the King.

“Hmm. That looks like a good idea.”

After the talk, Celine and Kalagul began walking toward the palace. Sian hesitated about following along, but if Kalagul caused trouble, he would destroy the palace and that might mean danger to his brother, so he decided to go also.

“I see.”

King Narasha, Swordmeister Kiraine, and Count Roman were together when Celine came to the palace with Kalagul.

‘He believes the story?’

Celine was dumbfounded when she realized that all three Grand Banders seemed to believe the story and were thinking about what to do.

The Grand Banders had to believe. They gathered because they felt powerful energy slowly approaching the palace. When they saw who the owner of the energy was, they were shocked. The half-wit had returned as a Grand Bander in just a few weeks. They also felt that something inside him was entirely different.

They had no other option than to believe that this Kuntarian was different now.

King Narasha spoke.

“What should we call you?”

“Call me Kalagul.”

“I see. Kalagul, I heard you have nowhere to go?”

“That is right.”

“How about you work for Tian and think about what to do? We will help you leave if you choose to do so at any time. We also promise full support.”

“Hmm.”

Kalagul began thinking. It seemed like a good offer. He had nothing to do, and this place had the person that interested him the most: the man named Sian. He wanted to know more about him.

“I accept your offer.”

“Good. I will… have you appointed as the captain of <Dragona>. You will be the captain, but you can leave whenever you want.”

“And the conditions?”

“We will need to discuss them, but we will try to grant your wishes.”

Kalagul accepted it. He had nothing to do and he could always leave if he wanted to. Besides, he needed help adjusting to living here.

King Narasha smiled.

<Dragona> was a military group named after the legendary Seven-Horned Harijan, dispatched to resolve problems outside the country. If the Knight Guards and the other groups were the shields of Tian, <Dragona> was a spear.

It had been active when the Seven Kingdoms were active at war, but it became less useful and now only the name of the group was left.

King Narasha had been thinking about reviving this group since a long time ago. After hearing the news, he was thinking of reviving <Dragona>.

Usharan Kingdom seemed to be acting strange. The intelligence agency reported that Usharan seemed to be working on a dangerous project. All intel reported that Usharan was preparing for something.

The current military groups had their own duties to perform, so the Kingdom needed a new military group to perform the work and <Dragona> was the best fit for the job. The only problem was that <Dragona> needed a powerful captain, and they had no one to appoint.

The three Grand Banders were needed at the capital, the Taran border, and the Kharan border respectively. However, that was when this powerful being walked in.

It was as if the gods were helping him recreate <Dragona>.

If a Grand Bander led <Dragona>, its morale would rise and it would successfully fulfill its duties. The King also planned to place Rian and Sian in <Dragona>.

It was a waste to have Sian stay back at the capital. Count Roman said that Sian was always worried about his brother. That was why Rian was being put into <Dragona> too. Sian had no other choice than to join if he wanted to protect his brother.

Besides, Narasha did not trust Kalagul. That was why he needed Sian in <Dragona> to subdue him if things got out of hand.

It was now time to plan out the details.

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