Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 654

Tommy and Nakina were taken aback by the unexpected sight. Stepping out of the painting, they found themselves in the hallway of what seemed to be an empty building.

It looked like a hotel, but there wasn’t a single sign of life. Not even the slightest sound from outside could be heard. And this was in the middle of the day, with the sun high in the sky.

‘Did we come to the wrong place? Did something go wrong?’

‘This is Mereloff, right? Is it usually like this here?’

‘It can’t be. It looks like everyone has evacuated.’

‘Yet, there isn’t a single building that’s been destroyed.’

‘That means the problem in Hiero was much bigger. Anyway, we came to the right place. This is Mereloff.’

Tommy muttered, looking at the address posted next to the hotel entrance.

The two of them immediately left the hotel. The outside was even quieter. The sky was clear and bright, but the city below seemed to be still asleep.

‘…Let’s go to Hiero first.’

‘Yes. It’s south, so it’s that way.’

The two of them flew into the sky. As Mereloff came into view, they could see smoke rising in the distance.

It was Hiero. Even at a glance, the situation was clearly different from Mereloff. It was collapsing, breaking, and everything had turned gray. The fires that were still burning seemed to indicate that Hiero had become a complete ruin.

‘Oh my god…. Ian’s house…….’

Now they understood why Ian hadn’t returned. He must have gone to hold the one who committed this atrocity accountable.

At that moment, Tommy, who was observing the movements in Hiero, gestured to Nakina.

‘Senior, over there!’

‘People?’

‘Yes, it looks like the people of Hiero.’

A procession had reached the edge of the territory. Looking at the direction they were going, they were trying to move inland.

The two of them simultaneously lowered their altitude and approached, and the refugees were terrified and ran away at the appearance of the unfamiliar mages.

‘M-Mages! They’re back!’

‘Aaaah! Run! Run!’

So, the mages of the enemy country had done this to Hiero. Tommy and Nakina blocked their path and calmly introduced themselves.

‘It’s okay! We are Ian’s subordinates. I’m Nakina, a mage from the Imperial Palace, and this is Tommy.’

‘Yes. We are from the Magic Operations Department and are directly under Ian. We came to support Ian, have you all met him?’

The people who were about to resist, holding sickles, pocket knives, and hammers, hesitated. Among them, a woman who was leading the children stepped forward and extended her hand.

‘Nice to meet you. I’m Hanna, the butler of the Hiero mansion.’

‘Ah, nice to meet you too. What happened to everyone?’

‘That is…….’

Hanna briefly explained what had happened. She told them that Hiero had been burned down by the attack of the Lusweena mages, and that Ian and Beric had gone down to the Lusweena border alone.

Tommy and Nakina looked at each other at the same time. No matter how strong Ian was, it was impossible for him to stop the Lusweena army, which included mages.

‘I understand. I’m sorry that we can’t take care of your evacuation. We’ll follow Ian right away.’

‘The support of the Bariel mages will probably arrive in the afternoon in the great desert adjacent to Hiero and Lusweena. There will be no more damage, so please take shelter and wait for contact.’

Hanna nodded. Then, she grabbed the two who were about to leave in a hurry and asked.

‘And, if-‘

‘Yes, please speak.’

‘If you meet any of the Thousand-League warriors, if they are alive, please tell them that the people of Hiero have safely evacuated… Please.’

Her slightly trembling voice made them guess her situation. The Thousand-League was like family to Hiero, beyond an alliance, wasn’t it? She must have had a connection with the Thousand-League as well.

Nakina patted her shoulder, telling her not to worry.

‘Of course. We will definitely return the living to their families. I swear.’

‘…Thank you.’

‘Oh, and if you meet anyone from Mereloff, please tell them. A man named Clark, whom Mrs. Lien is looking for, is currently in the Kalamat Royal Palace of Vergos. His identity issue hasn’t been resolved yet, so he will probably return through the Imperial Palace.’

‘Ah! Is that true?’

Hanna exclaimed. She knew well how Mrs. Lien had been feeling all this time. Her longing was like a forest that grew more lush with each passing year.

Hanna nodded repeatedly, delighted.

‘Yes, I understand. I will definitely tell them.’

‘Then, we’ll be going.’

‘Good luck. Please, come back safely.’

‘Thank you. May the gods be with you too.’

Tommy and Nakina made a quick eye contact, then flew into the sky. In the ruined landscape, only the Hiero mansion on the hill was intact.

At that moment, a pigeon flew out of the mansion. Something was sparkling in the sunlight, so it must have a magic stone.

‘Tommy!’

‘Yes, I understand!’

At Nakina’s instruction, Tommy went down to the mansion to find the pigeon. Judging by the time, the central area wouldn’t know about the tragedy of Hiero yet. They didn’t know where it came from, but it was right to figure out the contents of the carrier pigeon first.

Tap.

The pigeon sat on the window of the main building as if it was used to it and pecked at the window. Tommy grabbed the pigeon, untied what was tied to its leg, and quickly read it.

‘Ah.’

It was a letter from Philea to Nersarn.

-Dear Nersarn. This is Philea. Are you well? I’m sorry for not contacting you directly. A lot has happened, but it has been resolved well. It’s a shame that the letter paper is too small to tell you all the details. Nersarn! I will be going down with Roel soon. Then, as always, please hug me and stroke my hair. I miss the moment when we smile at each other so much that my heart aches. I miss you.

With love, Philea.

They didn’t know what had happened in Hiero yet. Tommy neatly folded the letter and put it inside the window. It would be better for Nersarn to read it himself after things were settled.

Tommy scratched the carrier pigeon’s neck as if he had finished his task, and then flew towards Nakina, who was waiting for him.

* * *

Whoosh!

‘Ian! Are you okay?’

Tommy and Nakina shouted at the same time, turning to look at Ian. A sudden gust of wind swirled around Ian’s hair, and the strings that were holding Ian were cut off and disappeared as if they had evaporated.

‘Tommy, Nakina.’

‘We came looking for you because you didn’t come back. We heard about the situation from Butler Hanna.’

‘Wow. Lusweena is no joke. When did they grow their forces so much? We would have been in big trouble if it weren’t for Mrs. Mereloff.’

Thud.

The two of them stood on Ian’s left and right, facing the Lusweena mages. It was a relief that the numbers seemed to be about right, but the condition of the mages on the other side was strange.

‘Ian, those guys, are they perhaps-‘

‘There’s a puppeteer behind them.’

‘They’re so annoying. Really.’

Nakina rubbed her short pink hair roughly. They had been sticking to them persistently since the siege of Agiar.

‘We’ll take care of this. Ian, go!’

‘Yes. Even if Senior Nakina isn’t as good as before, I’m here, so it’s okay.’

‘…Tommy. You’ve grown a lot, haven’t you?’

‘Oh, I still have a long way to go to catch up with you, Senior.’

Zzzing! Zzzing!

Whoosh!

The two of them stood shoulder to shoulder, taking a fighting stance and summoning their magic power.

In response, Ian also pulled his chin in tightly. His target was not the mages in front of him, but somewhere beyond them. He judged that it would be easier and more certain to take out the puppeteer somewhere rather than dealing with the soulless mages one by one.

The Lusweena mages, noticing Ian’s intention, reorganized their formation and blocked Ian’s path. Then, they gathered their magic power.

Zzzing! Zzzing!

「Sea of Clouds」.

Tommy and Nakina rushed in to break it, but it was too late. A huge magic circle began to spin around the Lusweena mages. It meant that it had already been activated.

Swish!

Whoosh!

The clouds that had been floating quietly gathered together and began to swim around Ian like a school of giant fish.

‘If I get trapped, it’ll be difficult.’

Sensing this, Ian quickly sped up and flew towards the Lusweena main force, with the cloud fish and Lusweena mages closely following behind him.

‘Where do you think you’re going! Tommy!’

‘Yes, Senior!’

Zzzing!

Nakina gritted her teeth and increased her speed to the maximum. Then, she stuck close behind Ian and put her hands together to chant a spell.

「Water Sky」.

Then, a huge arm stretched out behind Nakina. One hand held a hot sword, and the other held an iron shield.

‘Haaap!’

As Nakina shouted, her golden eyes flashed.

At the same time-

Clang!

The shield-wielding hand slammed down on the cloud mass with all its might.

‘……!’

With a bang, a gust of wind burst out, and the formation of thousands of soldiers was disrupted. When the Lusweena mages rushed in as if to tell them not to interfere, the sword-wielding arm blocked their attack this time.

Clang!

「Fierce Strike」.

Tommy also unleashed his magic power in succession. His whole body immediately turned red-hot, and steam rose from the heat.

Enhanced body. He flew towards the things that Nakina’s shield had missed, and he punched them one by one, finishing them off.

Bang! Thud!

‘Huuung…….’

Meanwhile, Mrs. Darcy was so busy moving the five puppets that she was out of her mind. Her appearance, staring blankly into the air and waving her arms, was like that of a mad pianist engrossed in a performance.

Sweat dripped down her jowls. The attacks and defenses of the mages named Tommy and Nakina were so erratic that it was difficult to keep up with them even with her five senses connected.

‘Mrs. Darcy!’

‘Shut up! Please, just shut your mouth!’

When Martin shouted, seeing Ian flying towards them, Mrs. Darcy retorted irritably.

At the same time, problems arose in the movement of the soldiers who were advancing forward.

‘Ah, we can’t go forward!’

‘What do you mean!’

‘The magic swordsman keeps pushing in!’

‘It’s just one guy! What about the black armor?’

The situation was the same as above. Just as Ian had passed by the Lusweena mages without fighting them, Beric had also ‘for now’ not confronted the black armor. His goal was to disrupt the entire formation by first digging as deep as possible.

‘Get out of the way, you small fries! Know that your lives are precious!’

‘K-Kill himmm!’

‘Forward! Keep pushing! There’s only one of them!’

‘Black armor! To the front!’

Beric leaped forward, stepping on the heads and shoulders of the soldiers as he ran. Even though the black armor attacked him in succession, he only dodged or bounced them off, not stopping and keeping his gaze fixed.

At the end of that gaze, Martin realized that he was standing there.

‘Haa.’

As if she was dizzy, Mrs. Darcy closed her eyes and sighed. The top of her dress was soaked with sweat.

‘This won’t do.’

She cut off the string of one of the puppets that she could grab.

Ding!

‘Nameless mage. Let me ask you one thing. If you answer right away, I’ll give you your freedom. How do you activate the ‘forbidden magic’? It doesn’t work even if I give the command. Ho ho…. It’s annoying.’

Another lie. She wiped the sweat off her hand and listened to the puppet’s cry. Martin couldn’t hear anything, but Mrs. Darcy kept muttering and talking to an invisible person.

‘Ah, is that so? You have to mix blood?’

Mrs. Darcy’s eyes sparkled. She immediately sealed off all five senses so that the mage who had regained his ego could not do anything.

At the same time, one of the Lusweena mages in the sky floundered and fell straight down. He could have flown with magic power, but he was flustered and couldn’t recognize which way was up or down, so he had no choice but to fall.

‘Ian Hiero-!’

Mrs. Darcy shouted in a voice filled with resentment and flicked the puppet strings. Then, she chose another one and activated the forbidden magic.

Zzzing! Zzzing!

The energy of blood-mixed magic spread throughout the area.

Feeling the evil energy from behind, Ian, who had been flying forward, stopped reflexively. Tommy and Nakina also stared at the Lusweena mages with blank faces.

Clang!

Bang! Thud!

The body swelled up and transformed into a bizarre shape. At the same time, a magic power that was unbearable just to face covered the area.

It was the power of the forbidden.