Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 237

237.

The messenger’s news necessitated another gathering.

The situation on the southern front was critically important.

If any single front collapsed, the Empire risked losing all three.

Duke James’s assignment to the capital served a dual purpose: to manage the nobility and to leverage his exceptional capabilities.

Coordinating supplies and reinforcements for each front was a monumental task.

Currently, a fragile equilibrium existed across all Imperial fronts.

I lacked specific intelligence on the western front, but the absence of breach reports suggested a stable defense.

The same held true for the south.

My father commanded the front lines there.

“Duke Beregon has fallen in battle…”

His proposal to me resurfaced in my memory.

Following Ted, now Duke Beregon had also perished.

It was no exaggeration to say the Atran family faced potential annihilation.

The family head and Ted, the presumed heir, were both gone.

A major pillar of the Empire had crumbled.

The Atran family was no ordinary meritorious house.

They were one of the Empire’s four guardian families, instrumental in its founding and possessing unmatched military strength.

The head of such a family, dead on the battlefield.

Without a clear successor.

‘Judging by Mitchell’s silence from the south, he’s likely dead too.’

Outside, the weather was unusually bright, but my mind was clouded, and my heart felt darker than the night.

“Damn it.”

Even the curse offered no relief.

Beregon’s loss threatened the front lines’ stability.

My father, however capable, was not invincible.

‘What if Karen, who vanished from here, went south?’

I bit my lip.

‘There’s nothing I can do.’

What if I could defeat all the undead here?

A bitter laugh escaped me.

I was struggling to defend, even sacrificing the outer walls.

Could I, holed up in the inner castle, truly defeat the undead?

Swish-!

With a sigh, I summoned the spirits.

Undine transformed into a fairy and perched on my shoulder.

“You seem troubled, Master.”

Her statement was concise, but Undine, a spirit capable of reading my will, understood without elaboration.

“Is this truly the end, Undine?”

Undine frowned at my trailing words.

“Hmm… is that so?”

“So?”

I was thinking about the system.

Until now, the spirits were unaware of the ‘system’ and my origins as a modern person.

But Undine’s expression was peculiar.

Soon, Undine, Ifrit, Sylphid, and Krill, all miniaturized, gathered around me.

“Is it possible? Airplane? Impossible! Science?”

Ifrit’s eyes widened in disbelief, reading my thoughts.

Unbidden, memories of my modern life flooded my mind.

The spirits stiffened, particularly when the idea of writing novels surfaced.

“Novel?”

-Information previously unknown has been revealed to the spirits.

It was the system voice.

I hadn’t heard it in a long time.

The spirits didn’t seem to perceive it.

“No need to explain. Everything is flowing in.”

I nodded at Ifrit’s words.

My mana surged.

‘Why now?’

Why were the spirits ignorant of the ‘system’? And why had I assumed it?

The moment I ‘recognized’ this, everything shifted.

The violent mana surge prevented further thought.

This was not the time for contemplation.

The mana within me felt ominous.

Gooooooo-!

I desperately clung to the Breath of Wind.

-The test begins.

Darkness consumed my vision.

I couldn’t hear the spirits.

I couldn’t feel them.

A silent scream escaped me as I felt myself being pulled away.

Then, my vision slowly returned.

-You’re later than I expected.

It wasn’t the system’s rigid voice.

It was a familiar voice from my past.

The voice’s owner flickered in my memory.

‘You are…’

-Are you ready to write better now?

My mind was blank.

It had only been a year since I arrived in the Calpheon Empire, a year as Arun.

-The time for choice approaches.

Before me, Arun Cal Leod’s suffering and my former self at a desk in a studio apartment appeared simultaneously.

-I offer opportunities to many. And within those opportunities, I offer choices. The same applies to you.

Before I could respond, the voice continued.

-This choice arises the moment your spirits recognize my system.

‘What happens if I return to the modern world?’

The voice seemed to chuckle.

-Time in Calpheon will not stop. I have transformed your writing into a ‘world.’ The continent’s timeline will continue.

‘What about Olivia and Father?’

-Were they your loved ones and your father? Or just characters?

‘I never wrote such characters…’

-I only create the world; everything within it emerges as the world comes alive.

-If you return to the modern world, time in Calpheon will progress according to your writing.

‘What about Arun? What happens to Arun?’

-You are Arun. If you return, Arun’s existence will cease.

It was a literal choice.

What if I returned and wrote of Calpheon’s victory?

The deaths of countless people flashed before my eyes.

* * *

-Synchronization will begin according to the user’s choice.

A clear voice echoed in Arun’s ear as he lost consciousness.

Arun’s body floated into the air.

“Shall we read other writings now?”

With an innocent tone, an enormous light permeated Arun’s body.

* * *

I awoke in the middle of the night.

The attendant on guard jumped up.

“Your Highness!”

I looked around.

The office came into view.

“Is it night?”

“Yes, Your Highness! I’ll report this immediately…”

“It’s alright. Is there a battle?”

“Yes!”

“I’ll go to the ramparts myself. Continue your duties.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

I leaped out the window.

My body felt lighter than ever.

‘The highest-grade spirit master is not the limit.’

Using the wind and earth, I quickly reached the ramparts.

Kwaaaang-! Bang-!

A massive explosion erupted.

The battle raged.

Under the full moon, the undead’s power was at its peak.

The spirit covering the moon revealed itself.

It was Sylphid.

The wind Sylphid generated seemed to shake all of Grenian.

I jumped onto the ramparts and shouted.

“We will end the war today.”

Olivia was the first to approach.

“A, Arun!”

I smiled at her.

It was the first time she had called me by name.

Sylphid created blades of wind.

Papapap-!

Hundreds of undead were decapitated.

Sylphid was still a top-grade spirit, but she was undeniably stronger.

Both Sylphid and I.

‘Not a Spirit King, but approaching that level.’

Undine, Noah, and Ifrit appeared in turn.

They swept the battlefield.

Kwaaaang-! Bang-!

Bio-ghouls and necromancy were useless.

The four top-grade spirits and I dominated the battlefield. After an initial shock, Olivia, Lillian, and Gail joined the fight.

Swish-!

“Arun, what happened? You lost consciousness…”

“I crossed the wall.”

Olivia was as surprised as when I first appeared.

“I touched the edge of the realm beyond the highest grade. I think I overdid it with training and lost consciousness.”

The system was gone.

It had changed something within me. My soul felt integrated with my body.

I had become the true ‘Arun.’

I didn’t know where the original soul had gone.

But the blurry figure the voice had shown me was familiar.

It resembled the person I saw in the mirror.

I pushed the memory aside.

Now was the time for reality, not memories.

I called Ken.

“Ken.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Secure the United Kingdom. Then, I’m going south.”

Now it was my turn to help Father.

He seemed cold, but he couldn’t forget the woman he loved, and he loved her child as much as he loved her.

‘Wasn’t it because I wanted to live up to Father’s expectations? That’s why I became Arun…’

Beneath my fear of my father lay his longing for my mother and his love for her.

I looked up at the sky.

‘I don’t know if you’ll see my newly written story in the future, but…’