# Chapter 94
—
Arthur stretched as he looked down at Balans’ corpse.
“Uuugh—!”
With a crackling sound, his stiff bones screamed in protest.
After savoring the lingering sensation for a moment, Arthur collapsed to the ground without realizing it.
“Wow… I’m dead tired.”
Just how many battles had he fought tonight?
Arthur began counting, but soon shook his head.
‘Pointless. It was nothing but one brawl after another.’
It had been a long time since he fought so hard that every muscle in his body trembled.
That complicated mix of refreshment and exhaustion thrummed through him, when suddenly, the ring on his chest began to vibrate.
Woooong—!
At that instant, the overflowing mana began to envelop his screaming muscles.
Arthur let out a gasp of surprise and muttered.
“It’s still… overflowing with mana?”
With those words, he closed his eyes.
In the lowered world of his consciousness, he saw the five rings set upon his chest.
Woooong—!
Beside those five rings, an unrefined mass of mana stirred restlessly.
Arthur watched it for a while, then the corner of his mouth curved upward.
‘If I can forge that mass into a ring, that makes six circles.’
That would finally mean reaching the realm he had attained in his past life.
‘Barely two years since returning to the past… and I’ve reached six circles already.’
Could any genius in history boast of such a feat?
Not even the so-called greatest Swordmasters could have experienced something like this.
‘Of course, I was lucky. I ate a Dragon Heart, and plenty of great elixirs too.’
Though that “luck” only mattered because he had survived and fought with his own skill up to this point.
With that thought, Arthur opened his eyes again.
“Whew.”
As he let out a steady breath, his body already felt better than before.
“Rest can come later. For now, I should keep moving.”
There was still so much to do.
He had to clean up the aftermath here, and escort Shuga back to the Prime Kingdom.
Thinking about those tasks, there was no time to waste resting.
Just as Arthur turned to head toward the half-destroyed train—
His eyes landed on Balans, dead with eyes still open.
“Ah, right. Need to take Mr. Balans’ card.”
Arthur turned back and searched Balans’ corpse.
Soon, he pulled out a black card.
‘He said I could take half of what’s in here, didn’t he?’
He had no idea how much was stored, but it couldn’t be a small sum.
After all, this was the card of none other than Balans, Third Seat of the Seven Sovereigns.
Arthur smiled faintly, then gently closed Balans’ eyes, which had never shut.
“I can’t tell you to go someplace better, Mr. Balans. But at least… may you sleep in peace.”
Offering his respects, Arthur resumed walking.
In the distance, Shuga lay collapsed.
Arthur approached her side and brushed his hand lightly across her forehead.
“Hmm… just fainted.”
At that moment, Undine appeared and whispered.
\[Arthur, are you alright?]
“I’m fine.”
\[But still…]
“First things first, heal Shuga, Undine.”
Undine reluctantly nodded.
Woooong—!
A refreshing aura flowed from her hand, wrapping around Shuga’s body.
As Arthur watched for a moment, he slowly turned his head.
“…Donn?”
Kassel was limping toward him, using his sword as a cane, blinking wearily.
Arthur clicked his tongue unconsciously at the sight.
“Mr. Kassel, you’re really useless, aren’t you?”
“…Huh?”
“What were you even doing until now, showing up only at the end?”
At Arthur’s scolding, Kassel shouted indignantly.
“What do you mean what was I doing! I had my hands full! The train exploded out of nowhere! I got poisoned and couldn’t even move…”
Pouring out his grievances, Kassel suddenly fell silent.
Then, with widened eyes, he asked—
“…Donn, you?”
“Yes?”
“T-that… what is that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why do you have… five rings?”
Arthur’s lips curled upward.
“While Kassel was slacking off, I worked hard, took on jobs, and earned some fateful encounters.”
“Fateful encounters?”
“Yes. Ever heard of a Dragon Heart?”
Kassel’s eyes nearly popped out.
“Y-you mean… you ate that!?”
“Yep.”
“For real!? No… seeing those five rings, maybe it really is true…”
At a loss for words, Kassel stumbled closer to Arthur, muttering in awe.
“It’s real… I can feel the scent of a Dragon from you.”
At that, Arthur asked.
“By the way, Kassel. I’ve been curious for a while—what’s your relationship with Dragons?”
“…Huh?”
“It’s weird. Normal people don’t say things like ‘scent of a Dragon.’”
Kassel’s eyes widened.
After hesitating, he shook his head and muttered.
“…No relation at all.”
“Really?”
“Really!”
“That’s disappointing. After all we’ve been through together, you can’t even tell me that much?”
“…When did we ever go through life-and-death together?”
“This much counts as life-and-death. We each nearly died, and still met again, didn’t we?”
Kassel fell silent.
Conflict flickered across his furrowed brow, but in the end he didn’t speak.
“…Sorry. At least about this, I can’t tell you. It’s my destiny.”
Arthur shrugged at that heavily-laden answer.
He was curious, but faced with such a reaction, he no longer wanted to press.
Just then, Shuga stirred with a pained groan.
“Urgh—!”
With a moan, she sat up.
Arthur and Kassel asked at the same time—
“You alright?”
“Are you alright?”
Shaking her head for a moment, Shuga lifted her gaze—then flinched when she saw Kassel.
“…You’re okay?”
“Who, me?”
“Yes, you, Kassel.”
“…Ah! I’m fine! The wound poisoned me, but it’s nothing serious.”
Shuga’s expression clouded with guilt.
Kassel only blinked in confusion at her reaction.
Watching from the side, Arthur thought to himself.
‘He forgives the woman who stabbed him just like that? Guess this is what you call being a pushover.’
Then Shuga, startled again, turned her gaze to Arthur.
“Donn! My father….”
“Your father?”
“Yes! Balans….”
Arthur hesitated, then answered.
“It’s not really something I should say. Can you stand?”
Her eyes widened.
Next to her, Kassel gasped.
“Balans? Don’t tell me—Balans, Third Seat of the Seven Sovereigns, came here!?”
Arthur didn’t reply, but began walking.
Shuga and Kassel followed after him.
When the scene finally revealed itself, Kassel held his breath.
“…What in the world?”
The land was split apart, as if beaten down by something massive. Flames rose from everywhere.
But that wasn’t what drew Kassel’s attention.
‘The aura… mana. My god… what kind of battle happened here?’
The aftershocks of a clash between two forces capable of miracles lingered in the air.
At minimum, it was the kind of devastation born from a fifty-year magician and a five-circle swordsman colliding.
‘No… maybe more. This is just the residue left behind.’
Kassel swallowed hard. Just then, Shuga cried out.
“Fa… Father?”
Her shout turned Kassel’s gaze.
“What?”
With a gasp, he involuntarily stumbled back.
For lying there was Balans, one of the Seven Sovereigns, with one of his two heads severed.
‘Who on earth…?’
Shuga stumbled toward him, staring blankly before whispering.
“Is he really dead, Donn?”
“Yes. Unless he was immortal, he’s truly dead.”
At Arthur’s words, Shuga fell silent.
So did Kassel.
‘D-Donn killed a Seven Sovereign’s Third Seat?!’
As he gawked at Arthur in disbelief, Arthur suddenly clapped his hands.
“Alright, now it’s Shuga’s turn.”
At that, Shuga looked up from her father’s cold corpse.
“My turn…?”
“Yes. I’m good at many things, but cleaning up isn’t one of them.”
Arthur smiled brightly.
“So Shuga, you take care of the aftermath. As crown princess, that much should be possible, right?”
—
—
The cleanup ended quickly.
Because the train explosion spread news faster than expected.
“Hah…”
The soldiers of the Prime Kingdom, called in by Shuga, were stunned.
“What… what is this?”
Hundreds of pirate corpses.
And among them, the corpses of the kingpins who ruled Arcane’s underworld.
Each one of them shocking.
“Th-this is… Balans, Third Seat of the Seven Sovereigns, isn’t it?”
“Other Seven Sovereign lieutenants are here too!”
“…Insane! Everyone, look! Aaron Frail, the pirate vice-captain, is dead too!”
As the shouts rang out, those gathered to handle the aftermath clicked their tongues in disbelief.
“…What the hell happened here?”
The clash of pirates and Seven Sovereigns was astonishing enough.
But in the process, no fewer than four of Arcane’s underworld leaders were killed.
Among the pirates, even Aaron Frail, known as the second-in-command, lay dead.
“…Who… who could’ve killed all these people?”
Could it be that a Swordmaster or Grand Mage had been here?
As the soldiers trembled at the thought, Shuga wept before her father’s body.
‘Why am I crying…?’
She had only watched the death of the wicked sorcerer who used her.
So why did tears fall?
As she gazed endlessly at Balans’ corpse, she whispered.
‘As I thought… I’m not normal.’
At times like this, she was reminded that she was not human, but a homunculus.
She bit her lip softly. Just then, someone approached.
“Crown Princess, you must rise.”
It was Kedan Hashivin, captain of the Prime Kingdom’s knights—her husband’s closest friend.
At his counsel, Shuga wiped her tears and stood.
“The cleanup is finished, Kedan?”
“Yes, all done. The only thing left…”
Kedan’s gaze turned to Arthur and Kassel.
“…is them.”
“……”
“I don’t know what exactly happened here, but Crown Princess, in my experience, it’s never wise to let witnesses of such matters live.”
Her eyes widened.
“You mean…?”
“We must erase the traces.”
“……”
“This is a huge matter. If word spreads that Arcane’s underworld forces dared touch the Crown Princess of Prime, the consequences will ripple far and wide.”
At his declaration, Shuga’s widened eyes slowly narrowed.
“…No, Kedan. Let them go.”
“But Crown Princess—!”
“I don’t exactly trust those two I only met last night. But one thing is certain, Kedan.”
He tilted his head.
“And that is…?”
“If you touch them—no, if you touch Donn—maybe not you, but all these soldiers will die.”
“……!”
“How do you think I’m standing here after meeting Balans? And how do you think those two survived him?”
At her words, Kedan’s eyes narrowed sharply.
Shuga let out a quiet laugh.
“So don’t stir up a hornet’s nest. That’s an order from your Crown Princess.”
—
