Reason to Become Stronger (3)

The northern region of Hisperion.

A demon realm where, even in April, fierce knife-like winds and blizzards rage relentlessly.

A fortress steadfastly defending Hisperion’s territory from the endless monster hordes flooding in from beyond the north.

Winterhelm.

This was the base where Darkan, the Heavenly Sword Lord, was staying for this northern expedition.

—Whiiiiii!

—Hoooooooo!

The wind in Winterhelm’s audience chamber howled like the wailing of ghosts.

—Kuuung!!

The massive, heavy door to the audience chamber flung open violently, as if it might shatter at any moment.

—Whooooom!

Bitter cold and flurries of snow swept in through the doorway.

The man who threw open the door stood for a moment, facing the fierce wind.

The raging gusts thoroughly disheveled his silver hair without respite.

He didn’t care in the slightest, but fixed his blood-red eyes, crimson as spilled blood, on the throne.

“Father!!!”

The man’s name—who burst in, as though he’d smash down the door—was Theo Hisperion.

He was the eldest son of the Heavenly Sword house, and the traitor behind the recent Yuria abduction case.

“My son.”

The Heavenly Sword Lord stood beside the throne, his gaze resting outside the window.

“Was this your intention from the beginning!!?”

Grinding his teeth, Theo stomped towards Darkan—thud! thud!

With every step Theo took, the floor of the audience chamber cracked and crumbled like eggshells.

“You must be pleased! You must be very pleased indeed!”

Theo didn’t quite dare approach right up to Darkan’s side but, instead, pointed accusingly at his father from just below the throne.

“You finally have solid justification to kill me!! How does it feel?!”

“Hmph.”

Darkan didn’t even turn to look at Theo but simply scoffed.

“You never stop disappointing me, Theo.”

“Haa…”

Theo contorted his features, so similar to his father’s, in frustration.

“Did you ever have any expectations of me to begin with!?”

“I still do.”

“What a joke!!!”

Theo’s shout echoed out from the audience chamber all the way to the northern mountain range.

“If so, why didn’t you appoint me as your successor earlier?”

Theo thumped on his breastplate—thump! thump!

“What exactly do I lack!?”

Martial skill? Impossible. He was counted among the strongest on the continent.

There were only a handful in the whole world who could defeat him.

Mastery? He, though only at an early age, had already reached late-stage Grandmaster.

If he trained for just a few more years, he could easily reach the highest level, and with more effort, even attain the demigod state like his father.

Leadership? Since childhood, he had lived solely to become the head of the family. Now, he commanded a faction second only to the house leader in Hisperion.

So was it fame? Deeds? Or legitimacy?

He could say with confidence that he lacked none of these.

If he didn’t deserve to be successor, then who did?

—Ssshh.

The Heavenly Sword Lord finally drew his gaze from the window and looked at Theo.

“Impatience.”

Within Theo’s chest burned a fire hotter than the breath of a volcano.

That heat was certainly a powerful source of strength, but mishandled, it was a double-edged flame that could consume all, friend or foe alike.

Just as Theo had tried to kill his youngest sibling.

A fire poorly handled is nothing but a disaster.

How could he appoint someone harboring such a disaster as successor?

“If you killed Yuria… did you really think I’d appoint you as my heir?”

“… Krrgh!”

Theo glared at his father, grinding his teeth.

“If only things had gone according to plan… Even you, father, would never have realized!”

There were enemies targeting Yuria not only within Hisperion.

Whether they managed to turn Yuria into a puppet or, if the plan faltered slightly, killed her early—

As long as her self was erased, he could have pinned it on some external force.

“Hahaha.”

Darkan let out a low chuckle.

“How foolish you are, my son.”

Darkan had known of Theo’s designs against Yuria even before departing on the expedition.

That was why he’d left Aris with Yuria—and Katrina, the head of the Bellator, with Aris.

There had been only one unforeseen variable in this Yuria abduction incident.

That the one who resolved it was Ian Greysel—the boy he’d been most interested in recently.

‘If only Javier had written a more detailed report.’

The report was filled with Ian’s achievements, but the whole process was summarized so vaguely he had no idea what Ian had actually done.

‘Honestly, I’d like to summon either Javier or Ian right now and hear it directly…’

But the incidents arising from this expedition were more serious than expected—he couldn’t leave his seat so easily.

‘But… it’s not as if Ian is running away anywhere.’

He could deal with this matter after finishing up the expedition first, and savor it slowly.

He’d summon Ian to hear about the incident in detail, and properly thank him for saving his daughter.

“Krrrrgh!!”

As Darkan smiled absentmindedly while thinking of Ian, Theo ground his teeth even harder.

“If you’re done mocking me, then just kill me already! Why do you still keep me alive?! How much longer do you plan to laugh at me!? Is there still something left to ridicule!?”

“…?”

The Heavenly Sword Lord blinked.

“I have never mocked you, Theo.”

“Then what’s with that smile!”

“Hmm.”

The family head’s lips grew heavy again.

“Theo. You’re my son. How could I kill you?”

“Th-then why…!”

“After spending a few days in the north, you came to my mind quite a bit.”

Darkan turned again to look out the window.

“In this biting, harsh storm, perhaps the fire within your chest will lose some vigor. Then it might become easier to handle. For you, yourself.”

There were endless tasks to be tackled beyond the northern border of Hisperion.

There were countless neglected gates stranded in the wilderness and many belongings and remains of missing swordsmen to retrieve.

“I’ll entrust you with what lies beyond the north.”

“… You mean.”

“That’s your sentence.”

“Exile, then.”

“And an opportunity.”

There were many in Hisperion who followed Theo, nearly as many as the Heavenly Sword Lord himself.

Thus, sending Theo northward without reason was impossible.

But this incident had provided strong justification.

That justification was ‘treason’.

With such justification, the branch elders and high vassals who supported Theo could say nothing about this punishment.

“Go beyond the north, and become a greater man. You are still allowed to reside in this fortress, but you are forbidden from going any further south. Understood?”

“K… krrrrgh…!”

Though it was a rather lenient disposition, Theo still ground his teeth.

“S-so you planned this from the start! You knew what I was plotting from the very beginning! You intended to send me beyond the north from the outset…!!”

“Half correct, Theo.”

Even now, the Heavenly Sword Lord answered, eyes fixed out the window.

“This was simply one among many countermeasures. You just walked onto the stage I’d prepared on your own.”

“Kuh… If you don’t kill me now, you’ll regret it someday!!”

“We’ll see…”

Darkan’s demigod’s intuition told him otherwise.

“I… will come back from the north much stronger! I’ll surpass even you, father!”

“I hope so, my son.”

By the time Theo rivaled him in strength, both Yuria and Ian would be even stronger as well.

And if Theo returned with a resolve to use the fire within him for the family, not for himself, Hisperion would enter an era of prosperity and strength.

“If I return from beyond the north…! Then I will take the position of family head by strength, not petty tricks!”

“Then get out of here! How long do you plan to keep yammering on? Go become stronger, and prove yourself through action!”

“Krrrrgh…!”

—Chuk!

Theo placed his palm over his left chest.

The distinctive salute of Hisperion to the Heavenly Sword Lord.

“…”

With that final gesture, Theo withdrew.

“My child. Still gives his respects, at least.”

Was it gratitude for being spared after coming expecting to die?

Or perhaps simply etiquette for a position he intended to claim someday.

“Haah…”

“You sigh deeply, my dear.”

“Hmm?”

To Darkan’s right.

A woman in a thick black fur coat descended the stairway in the wall.

She was Estella Hisperion, the main wife of Darkan.

“My lady. When did you come in?”

“Just now. I wanted to see my eldest son’s face after so long, but it seems I just missed him.”

“Hmph.”

Darkan scoffed and looked to the window again.

“I just sent him beyond the north.”

“You did well.”

Estella came over and leaned on Darkan’s side.

Darkan glanced at her, surprised.

“I thought you’d say something.”

“As if.”

Estella quietly linked her arm with Darkan’s.

“Theo will become stronger—thanks to you. And… someday, he may even surpass you.”

“Hmm…”

Darkan looked out beyond the window once more.

“I truly hope so myself.”

Now it was Estella who looked up at Darkan in surprise.

But he was still gazing intently at something beyond the window.

Estella, too, followed his gaze outside.

But all she could see was—

Endless mountains stretched out beyond the north.

But Estella quickly picked up on her husband’s mood.

“You… must have seen something, out in the north?”

The Heavenly Sword Lord’s eyes flickered briefly at her words.

Estella’s guess turned to certainty.

“What did you see?”

“…”

Darkan recalled what he’d witnessed beyond the north.

“There’s more than one.”

At first, it was the gate.

Not the familiar type of gate he’d seen before, but a bizarre one.

If there was a gateway to hell, it would probably look like that.

Its color was like molten lava, it reeked with a vile stench, and it flickered with the screams of the damned.

The structure encasing the gate looked eerily organic, like living tissue, with fine nerve bundles writhing around it.

There were other features, but most grotesque… were the faces.

On the gate’s surface, bubbles shaped like agonized faces swelled and burst in perpetual succession.

“I saw a strange gate for the first time, but that itself was not noteworthy.”

The problem was that Cultists were there.

Cultists, who committed atrocities and terrorism on a national scale—their presence there was never a good sign.

“I saw them around, and it seemed they were plotting something…”

Darkan had slaughtered the Cultists and entered that grotesque gate.

Inside, foul, dirty energy and evil magic power filled the space.

The monsters within were nothing special.

Just a few enormous undead.

“I may have been a step too late.”

For all its terrifying aura, the gate was closed surprisingly easily.

It felt as if whatever horror resided inside had already left and vacated the space.

If that had been all, Darkan may not have considered it so grave.

After all, what’s lost can be found.

However…

“I saw an altar at the end of that gate.”

And that—

Was what most troubled Darkan.

With the senses of a demigod, Darkan could sense what the altar was connected to.

He wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but…

“It was linked to a being nearly as strong as myself.”

Still, if he fought with all his might, risking serious injury, he believed he could win.

“But it wasn’t just one.”

There were seven.

And…

“Their energy… was supremely evil.”

Darkan had encountered many villains in his life, but never had he met such an overwhelmingly evil energy before.

He felt as though all the malice in the world lumped together would still fall short.

“This expedition will take longer than planned.”

After witnessing something like that, there was no way Darkan could return home just yet.

He would need to dig up concrete information before he could rest easy.

‘I’ve neglected my training for fear of touching divinity…’

Because if he ascended, leaving his place vacant, a civil war would break out in Hisperion at once.

‘But the moment I sensed that evil energy, I realized how arrogant and careless I’ve been.’

Darkan would have to become even stronger.

Fortunately, he already knew the path to greater strength.

‘And…’

He couldn’t neglect nurturing the next generation either.

At once, someone popped into Darkan’s mind.

It wasn’t Theo, who’d just left for the northern wilds, nor his youngest daughter Yuria, renowned as the greatest genius in history.

‘Ian.’

His demigod’s intuition was telling him—

‘From now on, I suspect I’ll truly be in need of your help.’

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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