Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 658

Martin, at the forefront of the battle with his soldiers, quickly assessed the situation.

From the front, a berserk swordsman charged like a rabid dog, while from behind, a horde of Bariel mages swarmed, disrupting their formation.

Moreover—

“……!”

Madam Darcy had melted away like a liquid, disappearing. Or, to be precise, only her eyeballs remained, rolling around.

Martin, his face pale, waved his baton. At his signal, his subordinates tilted the Lusweena flag to the left.

“Retreat—!”

“Re, retreat! Everyone retreat!”

Without the puppeteer, they couldn’t stand against the mages; it would only lead to the meaningless deaths of the soldiers.

At Martin’s command, the soldiers turned, seizing the opportunity. They were already panicking, struggling to face just one mad swordsman, and now the Bariel mages were swarming in.

“Run! Keep running!”

“Ugh, uaaah!”

“Minister Martin! What about Madam Darcy?”

“Damn it, grab what you can!”

“Huh? Wh, what do you mean—”

“Pick them up! The puppets too!”

At Martin’s shout, his subordinates rushed towards Madam Darcy. They hastily scooped up her eyeballs and the sticky liquid into water bottles, trying to retreat.

Chwaaaak!

“Mage!”

“Captain Hale!”

Hale, having noticed this, seized the opportunity to get close, but it was too late.

Martin drew his Idgal-infused sword [Idgal is a magical substance] and blocked Hale’s path, and a fierce wind swirled as the two clashed.

“The mage is down! He’s in range!”

“Idgal arrows! Fire!”

“Black-armored knight, over here!”

“Captain, it’s dangerous! Damn it!”

“Stop firing so many Idgal arrows! It’s not even your home turf!”

Taat! Tak! Tak!

Hale parried Martin’s sword a few times, then discarded his weapon and firmly fixed his right fist by his waist.

Golden magic enveloped him. For a moment, Hale’s eyes seemed to flash, and then a powerful energy exploded.

Jiiing!

「Chaotic Bell」.

Kuuung!

Hale narrowly dodged Martin’s incoming attack and slammed his fist into the area near his heart.

Martin’s heart thumped loudly, and a massive shockwave spread out in all directions from his back.

Deeeng—!

Deeng!

With each person it passed through, the shockwave grew stronger, eventually reaching the point of destroying people’s organs. Soldiers who were retreating at the rear of the formation collapsed, coughing up blood. Like dominoes, one by one, soldiers in the entire range writhed in pain and died.

“I—!”

Martin clutched at his wildly beating heart and gripped his sword tightly. Hale, as if daring anyone to challenge him, remained in his attack stance.

But then, someone blocked his path—

Chwaaaak!

The third forbidden mage.

Hale lightly bit down on his dry cigarette, and Martin, seizing the opportunity, hastily retreated. The Bariel mages tried to pursue, but the forbidden mage emitted a toxic aura, blocking their path.

“Is that Darcy or whatever, that puppeteer, not dead? Why are they still like this?”

“Once a forbidden magic is activated, it cannot be reversed. And Ian’s side is also in a stalemate. It seems she’s not dead. Or—”

“Or it’s because of King Toolun.”

“If it’s because of the king…”

“Madam Darcy is ultimately just the king’s puppet. Even if the puppet breaks, as long as the one playing with it is behind, the game doesn’t end.”

Captain Hale sighed inwardly. Forbidden magic. Leaving aside the difference in magical power, it was questionable whether their attacks would even work.

During the Wesley incident, the Magic Department failed to land any effective hits on the forbidden mage. And what about the Clifford War? They merely gathered their magic and passed it on to Ian.

Yet, they were not worried. Ian always had the answer.

“Captain Hale. What should we do?”

But now, Ian was already facing two forbidden mages, using clones and pursuit magic. Ian had no more leeway, and the Magic Department didn’t have many options left.

‘How long can the clone technique last? If it were the usual Ian, he could manage for about half a day, but fighting against the forbidden mages will surely exhaust him.’

It wasn’t hopeful just because Ian had doubled. To maintain the clones, a certain level of magic had to keep circulating, and if the clones were hurt, the main body would suffer more than double the damage…

Forcing away his thoughts, Hale lit his dry cigarette and threw off his robe.

“Everyone, fall back.”

“Captain Hale?”

“That’s what they give the captain position for.”

He took a deep, quick drag of his cigarette. Maybe, just maybe, it could be the last time.

The forbidden mage tilted its head to one side, unleashing a powerful aura. It was a heavy, murky force that would make any ordinary human unable to breathe under the pressure.

Chwaaaak.

Meanwhile, the mages, instead of following Hale’s order to retreat, took off their robes. When Hale turned his head back, they were all in battle stances, their expressions resolute.

“We follow the captain to do this kind of thing.”

“Ian is holding off two of them, can’t we take down one?”

“Yes, that’s right. Don’t worry. We’ll provide flawless support. Let’s take care of that guy quickly and catch those Lusweena bastards who ran off with the puppeteer.”

“Those bastards, they’re all dead, for real.”

“We’ll push them all the way to the palace ruins.”

The mages gritted their teeth, showing fierce animosity. Forbidden magic. It was an unethical act beyond imagination, and furthermore, it was blasphemy, a matter of dignity.

Hale rolled up his sleeves and threw away his cigarette.

“Alright. Stay behind and protect me. Then at least I won’t fall.”

“Yes, Captain!”

Hale smiled and vowed. No matter what, no matter the cost, even if it meant giving up his breath and everything else—

He would protect the Magic Department.

“Here I goooo!”

Hale charged forward with a shout, and the forbidden mage reflexively released its magic. The two forces collided, and a deafening roar erupted. At the same time, an ominous explosion was heard from Ian’s side.

Kwaaang! Kwang!

The Lusweena soldiers, who were running for their lives, instinctively lowered their bodies and paused, then let out a despairing sigh.

“Huh…”

The world was dark, then bright, hot and cold at the same time. The aura of death permeated the sky, a sight they had never seen before.

It was a moment that was both a piece of history and a dividing line between life and death. The helpless soldiers could only pray to God and rush towards the city walls.

* * *

“Your Majesty. The mages have all left.”

“Yes. I saw it.”

Jin leaned against the city wall, looking down. The murky, dark water flowed even under the sunlight. It was a place where the winding river was visible at a glance.

The soldiers were controlling the area near the river, preventing residents from approaching, and below where the portal was set up, they were installing temporary barriers, just in case. To prevent any more of the seeping water from flowing out.

“The mages have come up with a clever solution. I wondered how they would open a portal in the river, but they had such a method.”

A minister nodded with satisfaction. The mages had set up supports that matched the width of the river and then drew the portal on them. They didn’t know that there had been nearly a dozen attempts to adjust it as it moved slightly.

Like sewage flowing out, the dirty wastewater disappeared cleanly through the portal.

“Keep a close watch on the time. If there’s no report within the scheduled time, we’ll have to move on our side.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. We will do it without any problems. Please don’t worry.”

“How can I not worry? Gaia’s land is soon to be Bariel’s land, and Clifford’s power is soon to be our power. You must not be complacent.”

The ministers bowed their heads at Jin’s small reprimand.

If the wastewater were to pour out even after the portal’s maintenance time had passed, Jin would have no choice but to form a special task force and send people upstream. Even if they couldn’t solve the problem, they had to at least grasp the situation.

“Oh no, you can’t! You’ll be punished!”

“It’ll only be for a moment, just a moment!”

“I said you can’t! Are you crazy? Where do you think you are!”

“But Lord Ian isn’t here, and there’s no one to relay messages to me right now! Let go of me!”

“Guards! Guards!”

At that moment, a commotion was heard from outside.

Was it because they had come down to the city wall instead of Kalamat Castle? It would be troublesome if it was a riot caused by some stubborn and foolish residents. Jayrut and the Imperial Guard became alert and went down towards the entrance.

“What’s going on? Is that person with a pass?”

“Ah, I apologize. It’s that—”

“…Clark?”

Jin turned his head at Jayrut’s murmur.

“Jayrut. It’s alright. Let him in.”

“But, Your Majesty.”

“I said it’s alright. Since Lord Ian isn’t here, he must be looking for me. Let him in.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Clark strode past Jayrut and up the stairs. His excited face was quite flushed, and even the wind on the walls of Kalamat Castle didn’t seem to be calming him down.

Jin scoffed at the piece of paper in Clark’s hand.

“Lord Ian has given you something too good. The pass wasn’t given to you to be used like this, was it?”

“Your Majesty!”

Clark prostrated himself at his feet and said,

“I heard that they were looking for me in Mereloff. But I don’t understand why the mages went to the border without a word to me.”

“Are you really asking because you don’t know? You were a person of Rutherford. To settle your identity, you must go through the Imperial Palace. Don’t cause a commotion. Even if you have a connection with Lord Ian, it has nothing to do with me.”

It was a way of telling him to understand his place and be quiet.

But Clark didn’t back down and continued to bang his forehead on the floor.

“Your Majesty. I apologize, but there is someone who has kept me alive for a long time. There are problems in Mereloff and Hiel, and the fact that all the mages have gone over is not a normal matter.”

“…Anyway. This one and that one are all distracted.”

Jin narrowed his eyes and muttered. This one was Clark, and that one was Siao. Jin gestured and pointed below the city wall.

“Then you can jump off from here.”

“Yes?”

“That portal is directly connected to Mereloff. I’m telling you this because I admire your courage in reciting your personal affairs in front of me. If you want, go ahead and jump down. I won’t tell Lord Ian about it separately.”

Leaving aside the height, how could he jump into the wastewater mixed with poison? Clark hesitated for a moment, then bowed his head to Jin as if he had made up his mind.

“…Thank you for your boundless grace.”

Then, he climbed onto the city wall railing as if he was really going to jump. The ministers gasped and covered their mouths, while Jayrut and the Imperial Guards pretended not to see and looked away.

“Haa. Calm down…”

…You’re annoying. Jin frowned, then waved his hand as if to say it was enough.

“Alright. If I see your corpse pickled in wastewater, Lord Ian will worry that something has happened here.”

As soon as Jin’s permission was given, Jayrut grabbed Clark’s arm and shook his head.

“Clark.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Then I’ll make a proposal.”

Clark, who had come down from the railing, knelt before Jin. A person who was going to die anyway. After much deliberation, Jin continued.

“When the wastewater stops, I will allow you to go to the border through the portal. I will grant you a new identity in the name of the Emperor. How about it, is it worth it? It seems better in many ways than jumping off from here.”