My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 128

§ 128 – Forest Keeper

Drip.

Thoughts cease.

No more stray thoughts or afterthoughts. The flow of all thought halts.

Crash─!

The layered barrier shatters.

A defensive barrier created by drawing on the power of Insteeze [a magical energy source].

Though hastily erected without a fully completed spell.

The layered barrier possessed a strength that was not easily breached.

But now, it was nothing more than a shattered glass screen.

Dyson slowly turned around.

The landscape of the world split diagonally.

A massive scar was etched across every visible part of the world.

And that place was where Dyson had been just moments ago.

Dyson wondered if this was truly the power of a human.

And if it was truly unleashed with a crude weapon called a ‘sword.’

If that were the case, then this could no longer be called swordsmanship.

Brutal, merciless, and widespread violence.

How could one call such a terrifying force that swept away the very space itself swordsmanship?

It was so absurd that it made Dyson think of death just now.

That’s why Dyson couldn’t believe what had just happened.

A moment that split time itself.

If the layered defensive barrier hadn’t bought him that moment.

If he hadn’t escaped using the space-warping magic, Blink.

If the power of Insteeze hadn’t completed the imperfect spells.

If even one of these things had gone wrong.

Dyson wouldn’t be standing here unscathed.

Unscathed?

Dyson chuckled at the sudden thought.

The word ‘unscathed’ was quite amusing.

In that moment of time.

Splat!

Even with the power of Insteeze, he couldn’t completely evade it.

Red blood splattered across Dyson’s entire body.

A part of his right shoulder was cut off, and red blood was dripping out.

Terrible pain surged, distorting Dyson’s face.

Dyson’s gaze slowly turned forward.

There stood the blonde human, Cyan, with his jet-black sword hanging down.

At that moment.

“Cough…!”

Cyan’s body bent sharply, and blood gushed from his mouth.

At the same time, Cyan’s body staggered and tilted.

Cyan slammed his sword into the ground, using it to support his collapsing body.

His entire body trembled.

Terrible pain shook his mind.

Just before Cyan unleashed the Asura Thousand Killings [a powerful sword technique].

And just before Dyson cast Blink.

Cyan managed to cut off a part of Dyson’s right shoulder.

However, Dyson didn’t just stand there and take it.

Dyson detonated Insteeze’s magic power in an instant.

Cyan was caught in the torrent of exploding magic.

The magic power of Insteeze, imbued with Elodie’s power.

It was something that no mere human could handle.

On the outside, Cyan didn’t seem to have any significant injuries.

But internally, he was twisted and contorted.

Dyson stared at Cyan silently.

In fact, he shouldn’t even have been able to stand there in the first place.

The power imbued in Insteeze was the power of Elodie.

An absolute and transcendental power.

No mere human, no being here could withstand that power.

He should have been torn apart.

“Cough…!”

The fact that he was standing there was absurd.

There were only two possible explanations for this.

Either Cyan’s power surpassed Elodie’s.

But that was impossible, and it wasn’t the case.

The power Cyan had shown just now was astonishing, but it wasn’t enough to approach Elodie.

Then the only remaining possibility was this.

The level of Cyan’s power surpassed Elodie’s.

‘Impossible.’

Dyson shook his head firmly.

The power of Elodie imbued in Insteeze was not just simple power.

The absolute and transcendental power of a great mage who had reached the realm of Exceed.

He surpassed the level of that power?

Then did that mean that insignificant human had seen Exceed, the realm beyond?

The realm of Exceed was a legendary realm that only six people had reached in the long history of the continent.

But the realm beyond that?

That was something that could not be, and should not be.

So it was a delusion.

Dyson turned his eyes away from Cyan.

And behind Cyan.

He looked at the group of humans gathered.

Specifically, at the very front.

He looked at the man with dark black hair, Asrandiz.

Gaze met gaze once more.

And this time, it wasn’t magic power but Dyson’s voice that was heard.

“What is the reason, Father?”

Dyson slowly continued.

“We, the Dark Elves, have always been ostracized. Because our hair is black. Because we use the mana of darkness. Because we are consumed by madness.”

Dyson calmly turned his head and looked around once more.

The gathered human army.

Dyson growled lowly and continued.

“We have been ostracized from the world because of such absurd misunderstandings.”

Asrandiz quietly stared at Dyson.

Dyson’s two eyes were stained red.

The dark red magic power that bloomed from Dyson’s entire body.

Asrandiz slowly spoke.

“Can I call it a misunderstanding… after seeing your current state?”

“You’re saying the same things as the humans, Father.”

Dyson’s mouth twisted grotesquely.

Then Dyson’s gaze turned to Sera behind Asrandiz.

Sera was looking at Dyson with trembling eyes.

Sera, who possessed the ability to see through souls.

That was because Sera could clearly see how terrible Dyson’s madness was.

Dyson looked at Sera and slowly turned his head.

“Don’t you know, Father? How much pain and suffering has accompanied the ostracism and oppression we have received? As a forest keeper, don’t you know better than anyone else?”

Dyson continued.

“One day, I saw a human noble giggling as he held an Elven child between his legs. The child struggled and screamed.”

I was wrong. Please forgive me.

Please don’t do that.

“But the human noble enjoyed it even more. He said there was a taste to resisting. In the end, the child suffered an unspeakable act.”

And like that.

“He died. He couldn’t endure it because he was too young. But do you know what that human bastard said while watching that scene?”

These beings are evil.

This is the proper treatment for evil beings.

“I suddenly had a question.”

The madness that erupted from Dyson’s entire body.

“Who exactly… is evil?”

Dyson’s eyes flashed as he continued.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t get an answer. By the time I wanted to ask, he was already unable to speak.”

I forgot that a decapitated human can’t speak.

Dyson uttered the last words quietly.

Soon, Dyson turned his gaze again and looked around.

Numerous troops.

In other words, humans.

“It was none other than humans who made me like this.”

Intense anger bloomed from Dyson’s entire body.

“Not all humans in the world are like that. Don’t judge the whole by looking at one.”

“Isn’t that the same for Dark Elves? Not all Dark Elves are consumed by madness. But humans lump us together and call us wicked beings. Humans do that, so is there a law that says we can’t?”

“Don’t act like you’re unconditionally a victim. You’re talking as if we Dark Elves are innocent.”

Asrandiz looked at Dyson and spoke.

“We Dark Elves have also given indelible pain and suffering to innocent humans. Above all, your current method is wrong.”

“Then what should we do?”

Dyson continued.

“Should we just wait quietly until humans understand us? Whether our brethren die or suffer unspeakable acts. Should we just sit and wait?”

Dyson slowly reached out his hand towards Asrandiz.

“Father. It’s not too late now. Join me. And let’s repay the humans for the resentment we’ve received. Let’s create a world for us Dark Elves.”

Asrandiz did not answer.

He simply replaced his answer by drawing up magic power throughout his body.

Dyson spoke as if he was disappointed.

“Are you… really going to do this?”

“I am the forest keeper of the Dark Elves.”

“Is the forest keeper of the Dark Elves going to kill a Dark Elf?”

Asrandiz nodded and said.

“The forest keeper does not simply mean a guardian who protects the Dark Elves.”

The Dark Elves have lived in oppression and suppression for a long time.

They have lived ostracized from the world.

Perhaps it was because they handled the mana of darkness and were consumed by madness.

And all of that stemmed from misunderstandings, but in reality, it wasn’t just misunderstandings.

That was the case with Dyson now, and in the past.

It wasn’t that there were no Dark Elves who were swallowed by the mana of darkness and consumed by madness.

And they went out into the world and massacred innocent humans.

Only the method and degree were different.

If only the number of lives taken were compared, the Dark Elves’ sin was greater.

Than the number of Dark Elves killed by humans.

The number of humans massacred by Dark Elves was overwhelmingly greater.

The Dark Elves lived with their backs turned to the world.

It wasn’t just because they were ostracized.

And every time that happened.

Asrandiz, the forest keeper, had to punish them.

That was the fate that the forest keeper, especially the Dark Elf’s forest keeper, had to bear.

Thus, Asrandiz had no choice but to take a life.

It was too cruel, too harsh, and.

The most brutal reality in the world.

“So… is that why you killed Mother?”

Because that was the fate he had to bear as a forest keeper.

“Eve…”

Asrandiz’s expression darkened.

Dyson and Sera’s mother, and.

The woman Asrandiz had loved all his life, Eve.

But Eve couldn’t overcome the mana of darkness and was eventually consumed by madness.

He tried to deny it, saying it couldn’t be, but.

In the end, Asrandiz witnessed a scene.

Sera, who was still young and couldn’t even speak.

Eve was strangling Sera’s neck, shouting, Die!

“Eve is a sin that I must bear for the rest of my life.”

Asrandiz could not forget that moment even now.

“In the end, Father is no different from humans.”

Dyson withdrew his outstretched hand.

And looked at Sera behind Asrandiz.

Sera’s two eyes were trembling.

The conversation between Asrandiz and Dyson just now.

With that, the truth that Asrandiz killed their mother, Eve.

It seemed like Sera was hearing that truth for the first time now.

Sera looked at Asrandiz and Dyson with a deeply shocked face.

But that was only for a moment.

Soon, Sera said with determination.

“Sera doesn’t know complicated things. But there must be a reason why Father did that. Because Father is the strongest and most upright being Sera has ever seen.”

Sera, who sees through the souls of beings.

“Now he’s the second, though.”

Sera’s gaze briefly turned to Cyan before turning back to Dyson.

“Sera doesn’t like it when people are sad either.”

“Yes. So you’re the same in the end.”

Dyson’s gaze fell downwards.

“It has come to this in the end.”

But.

“If that is what must be done… then gladly.”

At the same time, Dyson stretched out Insteeze forward.

Kwaaaaaaaa─!

The erupting power and presence press down on the entire space.

The soaring spirit peeks into arrogant places.

Soon, Dyson’s gaze stopped at one place.

And again.

Dyson swung the outstretched Insteeze greatly.

Kiiiiing!!

The madness of dark red magic power poured out from Insteeze.

It burst out in all directions, creating a world of magic power that did not allow even a gap.

Woooooong..!!

At the same time, the space behind Dyson began to distort.

One, two… dozens.

Woong, wooooong…!

Woong…!

The distortions of space continued to appear, and in an instant, they filled the wilderness to an uncountable number.

“Large-scale gate!”

“I, it can’t be! How can he create this many gates…!”

“Is this… is this possible? No, is this much magic power possible?”

Panat and the Arcanic Magic Corps [a specialized magic unit], including those with knowledge of magic, shouted in astonishment.

And.

Kyahaak! Kyahak!

Kyaaaaaaa─!

From within the countless gates, distorted screams were heard.

Monsters or demonic creatures.

The negative beings that exist in the abyss.

But what actually appeared from the gates were humans.

Flashing red light and expressions stained with madness.

The barbarians of the North.

They pushed through the overflowing gates and revealed themselves.

The figures of Dark Elves were also seen in between.

And they, too, were invariably stained with madness and transformed.

From the end of the field of vision to the end.

The barbarians filled the entire wilderness.

The number was roughly tens of thousands.

They thought they had driven out all the barbarians in the North.

It was questionable where that many numbers came from.

Perhaps it was because they had driven them out that it had stopped at that level.

Moreover, the power of madness that had consumed them.

It allowed them to surpass their inherent capabilities.

They were not just simple barbarians.

It was no exaggeration to call them tens of thousands of knights.

And Dyson, the magician who made this possible.

The terrible power that Dyson possessed began to be felt deeply on the skin.

In an instant, Dyson’s body heaved greatly.

“Cough…!”

And he vomited blood.

He couldn’t withstand the backlash from using the power of Insteeze beyond his capabilities.

“Keuhahaak…!”

Nevertheless, he finally surpassed his capabilities and used the power of Insteeze.

“No way…”

“T, this is…”

Deep despair settled on people’s faces.

It was not at a level that could be handled or dealt with.

They couldn’t do anything with just Dyson alone.

Asrandiz, Osli, Panat, and Cyan.

The Dark Elf sentinels, the Batenberg troops, the Arcanic Magic Corps, and Ruben’s Knights.

All of them rushed in, but all they had was a slight advantage.

But now….

Kyahaak! Kyahak!

Kyaaaaaaa─!

The madness of the barbarians spread in all directions.

At the same time, deep and deep despair settled down.

“T, this can’t be…”

“This is… this is…”

People’s fighting spirit is broken.

The despair that they cannot win digs deep.

And through that deep despair.

Thud.

Someone took a step.

#

A staggering step.

But Cyan did not stop taking steps.

Brushing away the spreading madness, he dug into the blooming despair.

Clang.

Behind Cyan, 20 knights followed.

Ruben’s knights wearing armor as black as night.

Deep and deep darkness burst out in all directions.

Soon, Cyan stretched out his left hand to the side.

“Kendrick.”

And the muttering that was uttered.

In an instant, black light burst from Cyan’s wrist, and pitch-black darkness surged.

Pitch-black mist bloomed around.

Soon, a being rose from within the pitch-black mist.

A being stained with deep darkness.

Death Knight.

-Give me your orders, my lord.

Kendrick said, flickering with dark blue eyes.

“W, what is that…!”

“Death Knight?”

People’s surprised voices were heard at the sight of Kendrick.

Dyson also widened his eyes and looked at Kendrick.

He was gauging Kendrick’s level.

Cyan paused for a moment.

And he gently raised his gaze and looked ahead.

Tens of thousands of barbarians.

Each of them was emitting a red glow and bursting with madness.

Cyan took in that scenery at a glance and said.

“Kill all those consumed by madness.”

-Understood.

Kendrick bowed his head and stepped back.

Soon, Kendrick drew his sword,

And all 20 of Ruben’s knights drew their swords.

With that, the magic power surged.

But.

Kyahaak! Kyahak!

Kyaaaaaaa─!

This time, they couldn’t brush away the spreading madness.

Ruben’s Knights were not the Black Lion Knights.

The Black Lion Knights were made up of all masters.

Compared to them, Ruben’s Knights were infinitely lacking.

But.

Cyan took out his smartphone from his pocket.

And immediately checked the accumulated fame points.

[Current Fame Points] – 32,000 P.

32,000 points.

It was the fame points that Kendrick and Ruben’s Knights had accumulated by running around the entire North.

Points worth a whopping 3.2 million gold in gold value.

Points that could upgrade Arnaize’s special ability 3 times.

But Cyan didn’t stop here.

2 million gold left over from upgrading Elodie’s Lab Lv.2.

Cyan converted all of them into fame points.

[Current Fame Points] – 52,000 P.

The total points collected were 52,000.

Cyan immediately entered the Fame Store.

【Arnaize’s Blessing】

③【: May infinite glory bless you.】

Cyan unhesitatingly poured all 50,000 points into strengthening .

『《Muriel’s Blessing》

[Enhancement Effect 1](+5) – For 1 minute, all physical abilities of the achievement holder increase by +7,000%!

[Enhancement Effect 2](+5) – Within a 100-meter radius, all allies’ physical abilities increase by +450% for 10 minutes!

《[Enhancement Effect 1] and [Enhancement Effect 2] cannot be used simultaneously!》』

.

.

《Would you like to use Muriel’s Blessing?》

Cyan pressed the Y button on the flashing notification screen.

And this time, he pressed the [Effect 2] option instead of [Effect 1].

Ding!

《For 10 minutes, within a 100-meter radius, all allies’ physical abilities increase by +450%!》

The smartphone notification sound is heard.

At the same time, deep and deep darkness spread from Cyan, including Kendrick.

And from Ruben’s knights.

“T, this is…!”

“N, no way…!”

People’s surprised eyes turn to Cyan and Ruben’s knights.

Dyson’s eyes also widen with a different light.

The black knights who do not back down in front of tens of thousands of barbarians.

Whoosh.

In an instant, black eyes flashed.

Kueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee──!!!!

Ferocious magic power

Covered the surroundings and burst out.