Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 923

A powerful force yanked at Cronie. The arrow, as if showing off, flew in a semicircle, grazed Ian’s shoulder, and pierced the air. Everyone recoiled, startled by the sudden appearance of the monster’s true form.

Cronie stood firm, his legs planted, and muttered a curse through his teeth.

“This, this, damn it!”

“Lord Cronie!”

His subordinates, regaining their senses, slashed at the darkness with their swords, but to no avail. Who could cut the sunlight? Or the water? Darkness was the same.

As he was slowly dragged away by the monster’s power, Cronie’s subordinates shouted at Ako and Ian.

“Do something!”

‘Aren’t you mages? One use of your power would be more effective than swinging these swords hundreds of times!’

Ako hesitated for a moment, biting her lip.

“…The more magic we use, the stronger the monster becomes! This is a rift!”

“That’s nonsense!”

“Lord Cronie! Grab onto me!”

Ian watched the entire situation from the dragon’s back. If Cronie was dragged into the rift like that, wouldn’t he die? It was the death of Cronie that he had so desperately wanted.

But, why?

‘This is strange.’

A sense of instinctive rejection. He felt that the Undergod shouldn’t take Cronie away like this.

He didn’t know why. He couldn’t explain it logically, but he had a strong premonition that something terrible would happen if he let Cronie go like this.

“Ako!”

Ian jumped off Kkyu’s back and called out to Ako.

First, let’s save him. They were mages from the Magic Department, and Cronie was a strong contender for the next minister of the Imperial Defense Department. There were many eyes watching. Not only the northern minority tribes but also Cronie’s subordinates and soldiers were looking at the mages with anticipation.

“Shit.”

Ako cursed and released her magic. If they did nothing here, they would surely be reprimanded. She didn’t care. She wasn’t originally part of the Magic Department anyway, so if things went south, she could just leave the palace and go back to selling things at her stall. If she got punished… that would be a different problem, but anyway!

‘Ian can’t be.’

Ian was a child. Moreover, he was a noble’s son and a genius whom the Magic Department had high hopes for as the next minister.

In fact, even setting aside these secondary concerns, she couldn’t bear to see her precious friend become the subject of palace gossip. Especially after the Undergod, that bastard, spouted such nonsense-

‘What? My child?’

It was easy to misunderstand.

The fact that Ian, that is, the Magic Department, and Cronie were in a confrontational relationship was a fact that everyone in the palace knew, even if it wasn’t public knowledge. If the Magic Department did nothing to save Cronie here? Not only would the Magic Department be criticized, but suspicion would also be cast on Ian.

‘It’s clear that he’s connected to the Undergod.’

Swoosh!

Ako flew to the opposite side as if sliding. She realized that the arrow Cronie had just shot was a magic-sealing stone. A small arrow could be more effective than using magic.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

“Shut up and just hold on!”

“Hey! Mage!”

Not knowing that, Cronie’s subordinates shouted at Ako while holding onto Cronie. ‘Damn mages! How could they do this? No matter what, aren’t we all one under the name of the Empire!’

At the shouts of the subordinates, the soldiers also began to throw their weapons and cling to Cronie.

“Hngh, Lord Cronie, just a little, just a little more!”

“Damn it!”

Cronie couldn’t find a way to deal with the darkness that had swallowed him and was pulling him in. This was a first for him in his life.

His panicked gaze darted around and met Ian’s. The child was frozen in mid-air, looking bewildered and helpless.

“Ian-!”

Cronie instinctively called out to Ian. And in a voice filled with resentment, he shouted as if for everyone to hear.

“Is this your doing!”

Otherwise, it didn’t make sense. How could the darkness, which was said to be the child of a god, target him instead of that one?

At that, the eyes of his subordinates and soldiers glanced at Ian. They didn’t realize it because it was so urgent, but deep down, suspicion was beginning to take root in everyone’s hearts.

“No-!”

‘Ian. Don’t try to deceive yourself. Didn’t you want Cronie to die?’

“Shut up!”

Ian snapped back in a fit of anger.

He certainly wanted Cronie’s death, revenge, and such, but not in this way. He didn’t want to have his fate decided by being swept up in a situation he didn’t understand.

Above all, Cronie’s death shouldn’t be accompanied by resentment towards him. There should only be regret, remorse, and a sense of defeat.

Tsutsutsut!

Cronie’s body, which had been holding on, was slowly being pulled into the rift. No matter how hard the people around him tried, it was useless. They felt that the Undergod was playing with them, loosening his grip.

‘What should I do? What should I do?’

Ian’s pupils trembled incessantly.

At that moment, he saw Ako picking up an arrow that was caught in a tree branch in the distance. She immediately turned and rushed towards the rift, stabbing the darkness with the tip of the arrow.

Whoosh!

A ripple formed in the straight darkness. It was like pouring water on a watercolor painting. Realizing that it was working, Ako continued to stab, and the darkness contracted more and more.

In that gap, Ian looked around. Idgal [a magical mineral] was sparkling everywhere. If he used that…?

‘The power to break magic!’

The earthquake had caused cracks everywhere, making it dangerous, but that could be fixed later, right?

Ian got off Kkyu’s back and picked up a large piece that was lying nearby. Then, just like at Joy Department Store, a small light began to glow.

Saaak.

“Ako, just hold on a little longer!”

“Ian, what are you trying to-”

Swoosh!

A sharp blade of darkness grazed Ako’s cheek. Blood flowed down in an instant, and before she could even realize it, Ako realized that her wrist was bound together with Cronie’s.

“… !”

Crack!

“Aaaargh! You, son of a-!”

The sound of her wrist bone breaking was clearly audible. Overwhelmed by the immense pain, Ako eventually dropped the arrow and was forced to her knees by the overwhelming force.

Thud.

The arrow lay on the ground. One of Cronie’s subordinates rushed towards Ako to pick up the arrow, but the darkness split his body in half.

Swoosh!

“… !”

The corpse, neatly split in half, fell to both sides.

Even while witnessing the shocking scene, Ian continued to pour power into the Idgal. There seemed to be an answer within the Idgal, but what should he do? Please, how?

Zzzing! Zzzing!

As if representing Ian’s confused mind, his golden and blue eyes alternated and mixed. The Idgal, filled with light, continued to vibrate, and the darkness showed no signs of receding.

In the midst of chaos and death. Because of that, no one noticed. In a very fleeting moment, a green light flickered in Ian’s eyes.

Swoosh!

A golden light gathered around Ian, and the Idgal fragments scattered on the ground slowly floated up. It was a scene like thousands of fireflies meeting their death in broad daylight.

“… !”

Everyone stopped in surprise. In the meantime, Cronie couldn’t withstand the darkness and was dragged away, rolling on the ground, and only stopped when he barely grabbed the edge of the rift.

“Save me! I said save me!”

“L, Lord Cronie!”

But no one dared to approach him rashly. Reaching out to grab him from afar was one thing, but reaching out to him at the edge of the rift was another. The corpse that had been split in half was a warning. Those who defied the will of the god would not escape death.

“Hurry!”

“H, Hngh!”

The subordinates hesitated, taking steps forward and then retreating. Meanwhile, the Idgal that had been swirling from Ian’s fingertips gradually formed a huge mass.

“Ian…?”

Ako, who was holding her crushed wrist and looking at Ian, murmured in surprise. It wasn’t a mistake. A much larger amount of Idgal than what had been broken and scattered was swirling around the child.

‘No way….’

Right now, was Ian creating Idgal? Ako could only stare blankly at Ian’s miracle, holding her broken wrist.

Thud!

The child flew towards the rift without hesitation. He looked like he was about to tear the rift apart. But what the child’s hand actually touched was-

“… !”

Cronie’s hand.

And with his other hand, he controlled the Idgal to gradually fill the gap in the rift. As the darkness grew thicker, a low laugh was heard from somewhere. It was the wave of the abyss.

“Ian.”

Cronie looked up at Ian, who was tightly gripping his hand. For some reason, his eyes looked gentle. Ian continued to create Idgal and gritted his teeth.

“Please come up quickly!”

‘I can’t let you die like this. You, you have to bear all the sins and apologize to me! And I won’t just watch as the king of the monsters, who suddenly appeared from nowhere, gets what he wants.’

‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I don’t know if that’s the right thing to say in this situation, but it seemed like going against the Undergod’s will was the right thing to do for Gaia.’

“Ian. Ah. You’re such a kind child-”

Cronie whispered softly, then his eyes flashed and he pulled Ian towards him.

“Did you think I would die like this!”

Whoosh!

Cronie struggled to climb up, pulling Ian with him. Ian’s body tilted in the air and fell towards the bottom of the rift. He could have easily flown up with magic, but his balance was broken, so he couldn’t use his power. It was because he had entered the realm of darkness.

“Ah.”

As Ian slipped, Cronie also lost his grip and floated in the air.

In an instant, darkness filled all around. The only thing that came into their sight was the golden gem, Idgal, which was slowly filling the rift. Were they going to fall together like this? Like this?

-Kkyuuuuuuuu!

At that moment, Kkyu descended vertically with all his might. The dragon’s strong claws snatched Ian, and then quickly rose up.

Ian was able to glimpse the abyss for a moment. Countless darknesses that flashed by in an instant. It was the first time the child realized that darkness had a texture.

“Kkyu! Get out of here!”

The Idgal was being created faster and faster. Kkyu’s wings were torn and his scales fell off as he pushed through the narrow hole. But he didn’t stop.

-Kkyuuuuuu!

“Aaaaargh!”

Along with a painful scream, Cronie’s roar gradually subsided.

Saaak.

At the same time, the rift was completely sealed by the Idgal.

The pounding of their hearts echoed loudly in their heads. A silence like a lie followed. The only thing that could be heard was the beating of their own hearts.

“…”

Ian carefully crawled and looked under the Idgal. It was still a space so deep that he couldn’t see the bottom. Nothing could be seen.

“L, Lord Cronie?”

“Lord Cronie!”

Only then did the subordinates, who had regained their senses, rush over and shout, but it was already too late. The Undergod had disappeared. As if they had been dreaming. As the subordinates cried out, hitting the hardened Idgal, Ako shouted.

“Stop! You bastards, what if it breaks again!”

“But, Lord Cronie is below…”

The subordinates murmured as if they couldn’t believe it. Their gaze was on Ian. As if asking him to explain the current situation.

“Is he dead?”

‘Cronie was dead?’

‘Cronie was dead.’

Ian repeated those words several times. He had clearly fallen into the rift, so he couldn’t be safe. Wasn’t the abyss called hell even for mages?

But why, why don’t I feel anything?

“I asked if he was dead!”

They asked again. They were sitting down in despair, crying. Ian answered inwardly.

‘I don’t know.’

Whether Cronie was dead or alive, if he was alive, where he had gone, and why the Undergod had taken him, and if he had taken him, there must be a purpose…

If someone asked why he thought so, Ian would answer like this.

‘My intuition tells me so.’