Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 183

183.

Duke James’s movements were concise.

He didn’t move flamboyantly, nor did he swing his sword with excessive power.

His movements were light and fluid, characteristic of White’s swordsmanship. The sword, cutting gently through the air, split the fiery wind in half.

I barely suppressed a groan.

‘If I can’t keep the attack going, I’ll be countered.’

Even as my skill was being torn apart, I prepared another using different spirits. If there was too much of a gap between attacks, Duke James wouldn’t miss the opportunity to strike.

Ellaim unleashed a water storm.

The water gathered instantly into a round pillar and shot towards Duke James.

Duke James once again held his sword vertically.

Kwaaaang-! Kwang-!

The water storm hit Duke James’s sword directly.

Like the fiery wind, the water storm split apart, failing to inflict any damage.

Sylphid and Ignis hovered in the sky, unleashing a storm of red wind.

Duke James advanced.

Using the flow of wind and earth, I escaped the space he controlled.

The mana in my Mana Hole [A core within a spirit master that generates and stores mana] rotated fiercely.

Klaim and Ellaim created swamp fairies, surrounding Duke James from all sides.

Dozens of strands of pure white aura blades flowed from Duke James’s sword.

Kwaaaang-!

Before the swamp fairies could do anything, they were struck by the aura blades and vanished. The distance between Duke James and me instantly narrowed.

I unleashed a glacial gale with all my might.

‘If he closes the distance, it’s over.’

Sensing my intense will, Sylphid emitted tremendous mana, completely dominating the surrounding wind.

It was as if a storm raged in Antarctica.

The cold wind, enough to freeze anything, enveloped Duke James’s body.

Duke James’s aura blade emitted an even brighter light.

Kwaaaang-! Kwang-!

The wind, which seemed impossible to cut, was being torn apart.

The aura blade gradually split the wind.

“Keugh!”

A groan finally escaped my lips.

I aimed scattering water droplets at Duke James. To stop him, now right in front of me, I created a giant water droplet.

Usually, scattering water droplets are released in dozens or hundreds, but this time, I planned to halt Duke James’s movement with a single, large water droplet created by Ellaim.

As Duke James’s sword emitted a pure white light once again and pierced the water droplet, the giant droplet burst like a balloon.

The moment I tried to defend by simultaneously deploying a water barrier and a fire curtain, Duke James’s sword was already at my neck.

I sighed, “Hoo.”

The spirits, who had been pouring out skills without rest, stopped, and the light flowing from Duke James’s sword also faded.

I felt pain in my Mana Hole due to the excessive use of skills, but I didn’t show it and said,

“It’s not easy to face a Sword Master.”

I had secretly thought that after becoming a top-tier spirit master, I would be able to compete equally with a Sword Master.

Duke James smiled gently.

“The moment you cross the threshold to become a Sword Master, your body is most efficiently reorganized. It’s a kind of molting. The appearance at that time is maintained for at least twenty to thirty years, so there’s even a saying that you don’t age once you become a Sword Master.”

Duke James continued.

“The efficient reorganization of the body isn’t just beneficial because aging stops. The reorganized body grants you a special ability in using mana.”

Not only I, but also the knights listened intently to Duke James’s words.

“The act of infusing mana into a sword itself requires time. In a battle where victory is decided in a fleeting moment, the time to infuse mana into the sword and overlay it with aura, or to draw out an aura blade, can be a weakness. But for a Sword Master, that time becomes literally fleeting because the time to send mana from a perfectly constructed body to the sword is extremely short—a time the eyes can’t catch.”

Duke James turned his gaze to Sylphid next to me.

“On the other hand, in the case of His Highness, who has not yet undergone molting, there is a gap before Sylphid uses spirit magic. This means that the process of His Highness’s mana being transmitted to Sylphid takes time.”

I pondered for a moment and replied.

“That time has also become very short for me.”

“It must be shorter than the blink of an eye. Unlike those who have just become Sword Masters, knights who have risen to that level can sufficiently seize that time and attack the gap.”

I answered with a hollow laugh.

“How many knights are there like Duke James?”

Did he feel that it was a somewhat weak statement?

Duke James’s voice became stern.

“Your Highness, the continent is vast, and there are many strong people. Duke Beregon is approaching my level, and especially during this northeastern expedition, I met a knight like me. I heard he was only twenty-four years old. His name was Karen, and he is a Sword Master. He continued to grow even during the battle with His Majesty.”

Karen’s name made my face stiff.

And Gale’s eyes also widened.

“He was a terrifying young man. His Majesty valued his talent highly and spared his life, but I wanted to kill him on the spot. However, I couldn’t because of His Majesty’s opposition.”

It was new information that I hadn’t heard.

“You tried to kill him?”

“Yes. He became stronger in the second battle than in the first, and in the final battle, he lost to His Majesty by a slight margin. Such talent… it would be the first time in history.”

The person who considered Karen a monster among monsters was none other than me.

‘Well, if it’s that monster, it’s definitely possible. His hobby is growing during battle.’

“The enemies threatening the Empire are very strong. Your Highness must not be satisfied with your current level and must become stronger. My first goal will be me.”

* * *

The sparring with Duke James was a great help not only to me but also to Gale, Olivia, and the other knights.

They received a lot of inspiration from Duke James’s battle and his words.

“Thank you, Duke.”

Even at my somewhat unexpected words, Duke James immediately understood the meaning.

“No. By the way, I would like to cross swords with Gale as well.”

The knights exclaimed.

A slight excitement also settled on Olivia’s face.

Gale was already bringing out a wooden practice sword.

I stepped back for a moment.

“Take care of it if you lose.”

Gale answered seriously to my joking tone.

“I will definitely win.”

Duke James smiled deeply and said.

“Gale, take out your real sword.”

* * *

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that today was Duke James’s day.

Duke James sparred not only with me and Gale but also with Olivia, Riorden, and David.

He accurately pointed out the shortcomings of his sparring partners and even suggested ways to improve them in the future.

-We are now one family, so it is a natural thing to do.

To my gratitude, Duke James mentioned Olivia and my new relationship.

Duke James’s teaching to me and my direct knights today showed that the relationship between the White family and the Crown Prince had become firmly established.

To my suggestion of dinner, Duke James left only Olivia and returned to his main residence.

“Thank you for everything.”

Olivia smiled faintly at my words.

“No, I am the one who is grateful to Your Highness.”

“That… perhaps the Duke or Father’s opinion is…”

Olivia cut off my words.

“To me, Your Highness’s heart is more important than the will of the adults.”

I couldn’t help but speak honestly, looking into Olivia’s eyes.

“I am very happy. I really liked it when I first met you at the banquet and when we were together on the Eastern Expedition. I think it would be even better if we were together not as the Crown Prince and the Duke’s daughter, not as the lord and the guard, but as the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess.”

Olivia smiled brightly.

* * *

Nothing had changed, yet everything had.

Duke James began to actively support the Crown Prince’s Palace, and Olivia and my relationship also started anew with a promise between the two of us.

The Great War [Political power struggle] was now divided into three forces, with the largest force still being the aristocratic nobles.

They had the largest number and a large number of influential nobles.

Duke Beregon, Duke Austin, and the counts under them were a very large force.

In addition, as the wedding with Olivia became certain at my coming-of-age ceremony, Duke Yan, who had been maintaining an ambiguous neutrality, began to meet with Duke Beregon more frequently.

As Duke Yan and the local nobles who followed him increased their exchanges with the aristocratic nobles, the power of the aristocratic nobles became even greater.

Duke Yan was wary of the growth of my power and seemed to be abandoning his ambiguous neutral attitude and joining the aristocratic nobles.

“Duke Yan’s granddaughter and Duke Beregon’s grandson are said to be getting married.”

I nodded at Ken’s words.

The close exchanges over the past few years have resulted in a marriage between the two families.

Ken continued.

“Duke Yan’s granddaughter is also a direct descendant, and Duke Beregon’s grandson is also a direct descendant, but neither of them has much influence in their families. It seems that the strategic marriage itself is the only thing that matters.”

I smiled bitterly.

It was really hard to understand the thoughts of the nobles of this era.

Deciding on the marriage of a granddaughter and a grandson for the alliance of two families.

The will of the two people involved was probably not considered at all.

‘The two of them probably don’t have any complaints about it either. They are also nobles of this era, and they think that strategic marriage is natural. They might even think that they are lucky to be marrying someone from a good family.’

I said briefly.

“The aristocratic nobles will be reorganized.”

“Yes. Duke Beregon has been the leader so far. Duke Austin was also a leader, but strictly speaking, Duke Beregon was slightly superior. With Duke Yan joining, Duke Beregon’s position seems to be uniquely strengthened even within the aristocratic nobles.”

“I don’t think Duke Austin will tolerate being pushed back by Beregon, even if he is the same aristocratic noble.”

Ken shook his head at my words.

“Duke Austin is also taking a step back. This is because the public sentiment of the aristocratic nobles has largely shifted to Duke Beregon as Duke Beregon brought in Duke Yan.”

“I see.”

“The ranking will probably be finalized soon. Duke Austin will not give up his power, but there is a high possibility that he will compromise with Duke Beregon. Duke Beregon is a person who knows how to handle people. He will probably make an offer that Duke Austin cannot refuse.”

The power of the aristocratic nobles became even greater with the addition of Duke Yan.

“The imperial nobles remain unchanged.”

“Aren’t most of them nobles who don’t show their presence in the Great War? Unlike the traditional prestigious families, most of the imperial nobles are new nobles who have grown up with His Majesty. Above all, they only support His Majesty’s decisions and don’t particularly step forward for His Majesty’s sake.”

I pondered, “Hmm.”

The reason why the influence of the imperial nobles is not great is that they all rely on Father [The Emperor].

The aristocratic nobles actively step forward to increase their rights, but the characteristic of the imperial nobles is absolute loyalty.

That loyalty sometimes works negatively.

‘Most of them are like dolls. Since all the power is concentrated on Father, they only agree like dolls and don’t do anything themselves to grow the power of the imperial nobles.’

The limitations of the imperial nobles were clear.

Because they are new nobles, they don’t advocate something more reformative, but they are just Father’s parrots.

“With the marriage of Your Highness and Lady Olivia, a new force has been created. Outside, they are called the Crown Prince faction nobles.”

“Duke James and the nobles of the West.”

I narrowed my eyes and said.

“Prepare a banquet. Now that we have a force, we need to greet each other. Send a messenger to Marquis Mike and tell him to visit the Imperial Palace with some of the Western nobles.”

It’s a full-fledged central debut.