Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 176

The amber arrowhead fell weakly to the floor with a soft thud, so insignificant that one wouldn’t think it had cracked a magic barrier.

The mages felt cold sweat run down their backs as they stepped back. To have magic drained away like that was unheard of.

‘Just now, just now, it wasn’t just me who felt that, right?’

‘…It felt like it was being sucked in.’

‘What is it, a sealing stone? It feels different from a sealing stone?’

‘Is everyone alright? Huh? Magic, check your magic!’

At someone’s shout, the mages simultaneously activated their magic. Fortunately, they realized there was nothing wrong with their inner power, and they were able to maintain their composure.

Hale spat out his cigarette and brought his sword to the amber arrowhead.

‘It seems a bit different from a magic sealing stone.’

‘Hale! No! Don’t touch it!’

‘It’s become a lump of raw stone. It’s not glowing. If Acorella saw this, she’d faint with joy, saying she’s never seen anything like it.’

Ian knelt down and looked at the arrowhead. No matter how much he examined it, it was the same raw stone as the necklace he was wearing. When it first flew and blocked his path, it was just an ordinary piece of metal.

‘Your Highness Marib. What is this?’

What was it that could scatter magic, yet wasn’t a magic sealing stone, and was in Ian’s flowerpot? And Lady Rien had one too. She said it was a failed creation of an alchemist. Definitely.

‘Like Wesley and you, it’s a human creation to stop mages who disrupt the Imperial Palace and the Great Bariel Empire. Do you like it?’

As Marib answered, he took out another arrow. Looking closely, the shape of the fletching was clearly different from those used by the Imperial family. It seemed Marib had cut the fletching to distinguish them. As the bowstring was pulled taut, Ian shouted.

‘Maintain the magic again!’

*Zhiing. Zhiing.*

At his command, the mages reflexively poured power into the barrier. Since it was already cracked, it would shatter if it was hit by that strange attack twice in a row. The mages gritted their teeth and poured in their magic to the maximum.

‘Hold on! Keep putting in magic, keep going!’

‘Is this really, really okay!? Ian-nim!’

‘Shut up! How would Ian-nim know that? Put in magic!’

‘Uwaaaah! Ugh!’

Marib drew a graceful arc with his fingertips and released the bowstring. This time, the target was a gap in the barrier that had not yet been filled.

*Kwajijijik! Kwajik!*

Sparks flew in a lightning pattern. The light made Ian’s golden eyes glow even brighter. The power of the mages trying to maintain the barrier and the power of the arrow trying to steal it clashed fiercely, creating a whirlwind.

At the same time, Ian had an epiphany.

‘This is it. The reason for Gale’s failed rebellion that was recorded in history!’

It felt like a missing puzzle piece had been found.

In the original history, Gale, with the support of the Magic Department, plotted a rebellion with Wesley. Although he couldn’t know the political situation at the time perfectly, he should have wondered why most of the mages were suppressed. The magic sealing stones managed by the Imperial family couldn’t have handled them all.

‘Marib must have researched this to keep Gale in check.’

Keeping Gale in check meant keeping the Magic Department in check. Therefore, they were able to suppress the mages when things went wrong.

The situation was not much different now. The only difference was whether it was Gale’s Magic Department or Ian’s Magic Department.

*Kwajijijik! Kwang!*

The arrow began to steal magic again. Marib didn’t give them a chance and picked up a third arrow.

‘Damn it!’

It felt like his blood was rushing backwards. Not from anger, but from releasing magic without control.

The amber raw stone came from a merchant group that had alchemists, so it must have been that group that researched and supplied it. But what was strange was why the amber raw stone was not passed down to later generations.

‘The only means the Imperial family had to control mages was the magic sealing stone. It was unique, and there was nothing else. If there was, I would have known.’

He was the Emperor, and he was a mage.

Ian coughed up blood and shouted. He didn’t know how many arrows there were, but if they just kept blocking them like this, it would be like pouring water into a bottomless pit.

‘Hale! Nakina!’

‘Yes, sir!’

Ian glared at Marib with his golden eyes. Then, he called out the names of the mages who were skilled in attack magic.

‘Rope, Ation, Kanna, Salvera!’

‘Yes, Ian-nim!’

‘At your service!’

Marib calmly continued to shoot arrows. Like stones thrown into a deep pond, the arrows continued to create cracks in the barrier.

*Kwajijijik!*

‘Too bad.’

The mages were flustered, but Marib was disappointed. If he had had a little more time, he would have cut off their breath with something more complete. Marib’s aide, Paal, raised his hand, as if to prepare for an attack.

‘-In the name of Ian Hielo, Minister of the Magic Department!’

*Kwaaang! Kwang!*

‘Execute Your Highness Marib.’

‘Execute him!’

The mages who were called out jumped into the sky at once. The barrier, from which their power had been drained, could not withstand the power of the arrows and was broken, but Ian calmly directed the formation.

‘It’s okay if it breaks! We can just keep creating it! Don’t move from your positions and concentrate!’

‘Kill the mages! The treacherous traitors!’

‘They are demons in the guise of gods!’

‘Kill them! Kill them!’

‘Bring out the true prince!’

The soldiers shouted and ran up the stairs, determined to completely destroy the barrier. Looking down from above, they looked like a swarm of ants. As the mages flinched and stepped back, Nakina stood in front of the soldiers.

*Shwiik!*

「Gale」

The wind, which had been swirling due to magic, gradually narrowed and fiercely pierced through the soldiers. It was a wind that cut through the necks, wrists, and Achilles tendons exposed above their armor, filling the air with the smell of blood.

*Chwaak!*

‘Uwaaaah!’

‘Push forward! More! Go forward!’

‘Cough, cough!’

‘Cover your mouth and speak! Your tongue will be cut off!’

‘It’s a wind of blades! Run with your eyes closed!’

But the number of people rushing in like a tide was too great. Soldiers who came forward using their comrades’ bodies as shields swung their swords at the barrier one by one.

*Tuung! Tu!*

*Kwaaaang!*

At that moment, Hale quickly jumped down and grabbed a soldier by the hair and slammed him into the ground. His already thick fist was red-hot like a piece of tempered steel. The soldier’s head was crushed to pieces without a chance to scream, losing its shape.

*Shwiik!*

An arrow flew past him. It was Marib. Hale threw the soldier’s hair down the stairs and stood up.

‘Do you know the meaning of what you are doing now?’

‘We don’t need to know. Ian-nim knows.’

‘You are foolish. Who would call you the product of wisdom?’

*Piing! Shwiik!*

Not only Marib, but also his aide and those standing next to him all seemed to have amber raw stones. Arrows rained down like a storm.

*Shwiik! Thud! Thwack!*

*Chaeng!*

‘Ian-nim!’

‘W-what do we do?!’

‘Agh!’

The speed at which the arrows were piercing was faster than the speed at which they could create new barriers when they were broken. The mages who were ordered to attack rushed towards Marib, cutting through the soldiers, but….

*Puk!*

An overwhelming number of arrows flew in, breaking through their individual barriers. Nakina also had her left arm pierced by a stray attack.

‘Agh!’

With a painful curse, Nakina roughly pulled out the arrowhead. And just as she was about to reflexively unleash an angry attack spell.

‘……?!’

Her magic was blocked as if her breath had been cut off. While Nakina hesitated, a soldier tried to cut her heart with his sword.

‘Dieee!’

‘Nakina!’

*Kwang!*

‘Snap out of it, you brat!’

‘H-Hale. My magic isn’t working.’

‘What?’

Nakina stood there blankly, as if she had fallen into a different world. Hale yelled as he smashed the soldiers’ heads.

‘Nakina! Concentrate!’

‘Ah, th-that, Ian-nim!’

Nakina flinched and shed a tear. She was so surprised that it came out reflexively. In the vortex of reason and emotion, Nakina shouted.

‘You can’t get hit by the arrows! Your magic won’t work!’

‘What? Nakina, what did you just say?’

‘M-magic, it won’t work.’

‘Nakina! Nakina!’

Rather than being shocked, it was more important to inform her comrades of the truth. Therefore, it was important to win and survive first. Nakina shouted again loudly.

‘If you get hit by an arrow, you can’t use magic! Everyone!’

‘Damn it! Ian-nim!’

*Kwaaang!*

The mages who were building the barrier turned to Ian with pale faces. Ian bit his lip and stepped back.

‘…Everyone, gather around.’

‘Retreat! Come this way!’

‘Activate the portal.’

It was more difficult than a magic sealing stone. The sealing stone would lose its effect if you just moved away physically, but this seemed to take away the magic itself by inflicting wounds.

‘I didn’t want to use this.’

‘Ian-nim!’

‘I’m activating the portal! The location is the one I told you about before! I’ll bring Prince Jin.’

The place he had mentioned before, the Hielo territory. The only place in Bariel where Ian could trust and hide.

*Tap tap!*

Ian threw open the door to the infirmary, but there was no sign of anyone. Ian, who was breathing heavily, called out to the child tentatively.

‘Your Highness Jin. It’s Ian. We need to evacuate quickly, so please come out.’

*Swoosh.*

Then, Jin, who had been hiding under the bed with the doctor, poked his head out. Unlike the trembling doctor, Jin came out from under the bed with a firm expression.

‘What’s going on?’

‘I’ll explain later. We’re going to the Hielo territory. It’s the safest place.’

As Ian reached out his hand, Jin hesitated for a moment. Hielo was the most remote of the remote areas, so to go there? Alone?

‘…Are you going with me?’

‘Of course.’

‘Doctor, you come with us too.’

‘…Yes, yes, yes!’

Jin quickly grabbed Ian’s hand.

Outside, the tide of the battle was rapidly turning. Countless amber arrows were scattered on the floor, and a transparent wall was blocking the soldiers. It meant that the mages’ magic was almost exhausted.

‘I’m going to open the portal!’

‘I’ll support you!’

‘Support, ugh! Uwaaaah!’

Jin raised his head and looked at the black crescent moon. As the mages chanted spells in an unfamiliar language, dozens of concentric circles appeared at Ian’s feet. It was as if he was standing on water.

‘Wow.’

The concentric circles glowed beautifully. They were even more radiant than Ian’s golden hair, and Jin was involuntarily impressed. Ian reached out his hand. He couldn’t cover the sky with his palm, but he could at least cover the black crescent moon.

*Saaak.*

Grow, grow, was he chanting? Every time Ian gestured gracefully, the moon grew, and soon it turned into a full moon. It hung there, large and heavy, as if it would fall on the Imperial Palace at any moment.

‘Your Highness. If you are scared, hold my hand tightly.’

He thought he wasn’t scared, but the strength with which he held his hand increased. Just as Ian was about to pick him up and step into the portal.

*Paat!*

‘Huh? Ian-nim! Just a moment!’

‘Something is falling from inside!’

Meteors were pouring down in the black space. Ian frowned and looked up at them.

What on earth were those?

‘Is it definitely connected to Hielo?’

‘Y-yes, it’s certain.’

The meteors were getting bigger. They left the black moon and quickly fell down, decorating the sky of the Imperial Palace. Ian couldn’t help but open his mouth as he watched them.

‘Iaaaann!’

‘Is that sassy Beric here too?!’

‘Uha ha ha ha!’

It was a rough, rugged laugh, filled with the heat of the desert. Warriors poured down from the sky.

*Kwaaang! Kwang!*

‘Demosha!’