Chapter 249: Mantra of The Immortal

“You said that you have come to me for assistance… what do you need from me, Prince Bael?” Emerson asked while staring at Rion.

’Hmm? He agreed too quickly for someone who is the duke of Neptuma… is he planning something?’ Rion wondered as he displayed a smile and said, “I want a ship to the veiled islands.”

Hearing his request, Emerson’s face turned somber, and he mumbled, “That…”

Sensing Emerson’s distress, Rion knit his brows together and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Emerson heaved a deep sigh. “I do not think I can assist you…”

’What?’ Rion frowned. “Why not?”

“It is not that I do not want to but I cannot… none of the ships want to go to the veiled islands because of how fruitless a journey it is,” Emerson explained.

<What now?> Rion questioned Zaelyane, and she said, “What about the pirates?”

Just as the word pirate reached Emerson’s ears, he tore his gaze towards Zaelyane and asked with narrowed eyes, “What about them?”

’Pirates huh…’ Seeing Emerson’s reaction, Rion could guess that he didn’t have a great relationship with them, which was understandable.

Zaelyane stepped forward. “You must have enough pirates in your prison, right? Why don’t you let them free in return for helping us?”

Hearing her, the duke fell silent and pressed his lips together.

From his eyes alone, Rion could understand that the duke didn’t wish to free them, but he, too, had no other option.

No one else wanted to travel to the veiled islands, so the only people he could use were the ones who could be forced into doing it.

The duke glanced at his four retainers and said, “Let’s go.”

With that, he stood up from his chair and walked out of the chamber.

Rion and Zaelyane followed behind him.

They passed a corridor, took the stairs, and sat down in the guest spot of the Duke’s villa.

Duke Emerson also sat with them and stared at the flowing pond beside with a conflicted expression.

’He still can’t decide, huh…’ Rion thought with a disappointed glint in his eyes.

Emerson looked directly into his eyes and asked with a humorless expression, “Are you sure about taking pirates with you?”

Rion smiled softly. “You are asking it as if I have any other choice.”

A chuckle escaped Emerson’s lips. “Is this journey so important that you are ready to travel with those outlaws?”

Rion looked at the colorful fish within the pond and answered with a calm expression, “It is more important than anything else…”

Emerson looked at him for a few moments, his thoughts unknown to everyone but himself. “I do not think of pirates as human, but if you can truly save me from this crisis, I am ready to free them.”

A chuckle escaped Rion, and he said, “I will not only save you, but I will change everything… for centuries, Leonara had been the strongest kingdom, yet not once did it try to rule all of the continent because the previous kings were kind, they decided to follow their ancestral duty instead of self desire, but I am different… I’ve already obtained what they wished to achieve.”

He looked into Emerson’s eyes with an obsessive glint and announced, “I would paint the whole continent in the color of the Pantheon.”

Hearing his bold declaration, for the first time in decades, the south duke felt a flame in his heart. He stood up from his seat, knelt before Rion, and stated, “I do not believe in prophecies, my prince. But I do believe in power…You hold power beyond my comprehension; thus, I offer myself to you.”

Rion placed his hand on his shoulder and said, “Do not worry, Emerson. I will always be there to help you, your child, his child, and so on, for I live forever, for I am the one who governs the time.”

Emerson looked at Rion’s eyes; not for a single moment did he find his words a joke; instead, he felt like it was a mantra of some deity beyond his own understanding.

“We will serve you well,” he whispered with a lowered head, and Rion displayed a calm smile.

Sometime later, Rion followed behind Emerson as he showed him the prison chambers of the pirates.

The whole place smelt of rot, urine, and seawater, but Rion ignored all of it.

With a sudden light, they stepped into brightness, and Rion looked at the pirates behind the bars, strapped to heavy chains with a never-ending look of defiance on their faces.

He walked closer to the bars and asked in a loud voice, “Do you wish to be free?”

None of them answered.

“I see…” He nodded, looked at the duke, and asked, “My lord, I believe I would have to learn to steer a ship because I do not see any pirates… I only see weak men full of nothing but ego and defiance.”

A disgusted expression appeared on Emerson’s face, and he muttered, “My prince, what else can you hope to see in beings that lack sympathy for everyone that is not them?”

“Indeed—”

The sound of rattling chains echoed throughout the area, and the pirates, who had been silent till now, shouted at them.

“The fuck do you know, you pretty boy?!”

“We are the children of the serpent, we’d rather die than bow to anyone else!!”

“Fuck off! Duke of piss!”

Growls resounded from the chambers, and Rion hissed, “Silence.”

A shiver ran down everyone’s body, they instinctively stepped away from the bars, and Rion announced, “I wish to go to the veiled islands, and your horrid selves will be the ones to take me, so prepare yourself to bow before a person other than the serpent you speak of.”

A loud, amused laugh bombarded throughout the chamber.

Rion turned his head to the sound and his gaze fell on the man, who was strapped with more chains than anyone else.

His eyes turned red, and he asked with a puzzled expression, “Why are you still here if you have already broken your chains?”

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