Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 177

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 177. The Black Moon
The amber arrowhead fell limply to the ground. So insignificantly that I couldn’t believe it had even cracked the magical barrier—a soft thud.
The mages felt cold sweat running down their backs as they retreated. Draining mana itself? This was something they had never heard of, let alone witnessed.
“Just now… I wasn’t the only one who felt that, right?”
“…It felt like something was being sucked in.”
“What is this, a sealing stone? But it feels different from a sealing stone?”
“Is everyone alright? Hey? Check your mana, check your mana!”
At someone’s cry, the mages simultaneously activated their mana. Fortunately, they realized their inner power remained intact, and they could maintain their composure.
Heil spat out his cigarette with a pft and brought his sword to the amber arrowhead.
“It seems different from a mana sealing stone.”
“Heil! Don’t! Don’t touch it!”
“It’s become a raw ore lump. It’s not glowing. If Akorelra saw this, she’d faint from joy. She’d say she’s never seen anything like it.”
I knelt on one knee and looked down at the arrowhead. No matter how I examined it, it was the same raw ore as the necklace I was wearing. When it first flew in and was blocked before my eyes, it had been an ordinary piece of metal.
“Prince Marib. What is this?”
What could it possibly be—not a mana sealing stone, yet it scatters mana, and it had been in the flowerpot of the illegitimate Ian. And Lady Lien had one too. She said it was an alchemist’s failed experiment. Definitely.
“Like Wesley and yourself, it’s a human creation designed to stop the mages who disturb the imperial palace and the great empire of Bariel. Do you like it?”
Marib answered while drawing another arrow. Looking closely, the fletching was distinctly different from what the imperial family used. Marib had probably carved the fletching separately to distinguish them. As the bowstring drew taut, I shouted.
“Maintain your mana barriers!”
Ziiing. Zing.
At my command, the mages reflexively poured power into their barriers. Since they were already cracked, taking that strange attack twice in succession would shatter them completely. The mages gritted their teeth and poured their mana to maximum capacity.
“Hold on! Keep pouring mana, keep pouring it!”
“Is this really, really going to be okay!? Ian!”
“Shut up! How would Ian know that? Pour your mana!”
“Aaaahhh! Ugh!”
Marib released the bowstring with a graceful arc traced by his fingertips. This attack targeted the gaps in the barrier that hadn’t yet been reinforced.
Crackle crackle! Crack!
Lightning-patterned sparks erupted. That light made my golden eyes glow even brighter. The force of the mages maintaining the barrier and the arrow’s power to steal it clashed fiercely, creating a violent wind.
And in that moment, I gained understanding.
‘This is it. The reason for Prince Gail’s failed rebellion recorded in history!’
The feeling of a lost puzzle piece clicking into place.
In the original history, Gail had conspired to rebel with Wesley and the backing of the Magic Ministry. I couldn’t know the exact circumstances of that time perfectly, but I had always found it strange that most mages were suppressed. The mana sealing stones managed by the imperial family couldn’t have handled them all.
‘Marib must have researched this specifically to check Gail.’
Checking Gail meant checking the Magic Ministry. Thus, when trouble arose, they were able to suppress the mages.
The situation now wasn’t so different from then. The only difference was whether it was Gail’s Magic Ministry or mine.
Crackle crackle! Bang!
The arrow began draining mana again. Marib gave no opening and drew a third arrow.
“Damn it!”
It felt like blood was rushing backward. Not from anger, but from opening my mana without control.
The amber ore came from the merchant guild that employed the alchemist, so they must have researched and distributed it. But what was strange was why the amber ore hadn’t been passed down to later generations.
‘The imperial family’s only means of controlling mages was the mana sealing stone. It was unique, with nothing else whatsoever. If something like this had existed, I would have known.’
Because he was an Emperor. And because he was a Mage.
Ian coughed blood as he shouted. He didn’t know how many arrows there were, but if he continued merely blocking them like this, it would be like pouring water into a bottomless vessel.
“Heil! Nakina!”
“Your command!”
Ian’s golden eyes blazed as he fixed his gaze directly on Marib. Then he called upon the mages skilled in offensive magic.
“Rope, Ation, Kanna, Salvera!”
“Yes, Ian!”
“Your orders!”
Marib calmly continued firing arrows. Like stones cast into a deep well, each arrow continued to fracture the protective barrier.
Crack, crack, crack!
‘Such a pity.’
The mages panicked, but Marib felt regret. Had there been just a little more time, he could have severed the breath of these wretches with something more refined. Marib’s Steward, Paal, raised his hand—a signal to assume an offensive stance.
“—By order of Ian Hielo, Minister of the Mage Division!”
Boom! Crash!
“Execute Marib.”
“Execute him!”
The mages called upon leaped into the sky in unison. The protective barrier, now drained of their power, could not withstand the force of the arrows and shattered, but Ian calmly directed the formation.
“Let it break! We simply create it anew! Do not abandon your positions and concentrate your minds!”
“Kill the mages! Treacherous deceivers!”
“Demons wearing the mask of divinity!”
“Kill them! Kill them!”
“Drag out Prince Jin!”
The soldiers charged up the stairs with battle cries, determined to completely shatter the barrier. From above, they resembled an ant colony. As the mages flinched and retreated, Nakina stepped forward to block the soldiers.
Whoooosh!
「Gale Wind」
The wind wrapped in mana grew increasingly narrow and fierce, cutting through the soldiers’ ranks. It was a wind that severed exposed napes and wrists above their armor, their Achilles tendons—a wind saturated with the scent of blood.
Splatter!
“Aaaahhh!”
“Push forward! More! Advance!”
“Ugh, ugh!”
“Cover your mouth when you speak! Your tongue will be cut!”
“It’s a blade wind! Close your eyes and run!”
But the sheer number of soldiers flooding forward like a tide was overwhelming. Those who came forward using their comrades’ bodies as shields began, one by one, to swing their swords against the barrier.
Clang! Clang!
Boom!
Then Heil rapidly dove downward, seized a soldier by the hair, and slammed him into the ground. His already thick fists, hardened like tempered steel, glowed red hot. The soldier’s head shattered without even a scream, losing all form.
Whoosh!
An arrow streaked past before him. Marib. Heil tossed the soldier’s hair down the stairs and rose to his feet.
“Do you understand the meaning of what you’re doing now?”
“We need not understand. Ian knows, and that is enough.”
“How foolish. Who would call you the products of wisdom?”
Whoosh! Screech!
Not only Marib, but his Steward and those occupying positions beside him all seemed to possess amber-colored gemstones. Arrows rained down from the clear sky like a deluge.
Screech! Thud! Crack!
Clang!
“Ian!”
“W-what do we do?!”
“Ahhh!”
The arrows were arriving faster than the mages could regenerate their protective barriers. The mages who received orders to attack pushed through the soldiers toward Marib, but…
Thwack!
An overwhelming barrage of arrows shattered each individual’s protective barrier. Nakina’s left arm was pierced by an attack from an unseen assailant.
“Ahhh!”
With a pained curse, Nakina roughly pulled out the arrowhead. And in the moment she reflexively tried to unleash an attack spell fueled by rage…
“…?!”
Her breath caught short—her mana was blocked. As Nakina hesitated, a soldier attempted to slash her heart with his sword.
“Die!”
“Nakina!”
Boom!
“Snap out of it, you fool!”
“H-Heil. My mana won’t come out.”
“What?”
Nakina stood dazed, as if she’d fallen into a distant world. Heil shattered soldiers’ heads as he shouted at her.
“Nakina! Focus!”
“A-ah, Ian!”
Nakina flinched and tears fell unbidden. The shock had caused her to react reflexively without thinking. Caught in a whirlwind of reason and emotion, Nakina screamed.
“We can’t get hit by the arrows! My mana won’t come out!”
“What? Nakina, what did you just say?”
“M-my mana won’t come out.”
“Nakina! Nakina!”
Informing her allies of the truth took priority over succumbing to shock. Thus, winning and surviving came first. Nakina bellowed again with full force.
“If you get hit by arrows, you can’t use mana! Everyone!”
“Damn it! Ian!”
Boom!
The mages constructing protective barriers turned pale and looked back at me. I bit my lip hard and stepped backward.
“…Everyone, gather together.”
“Retreat! Come this way!”
“I’m activating a portal.”
This was more troublesome than a mana-sealing stone. Sealing stones simply lost their effect when one moved far enough away physically, but this—this robbed mana itself through inflicting wounds.
‘I had hoped never to use this.’
“Ian!”
“The portal is operational! The location is where I mentioned before! Bring Prince Jin here!”
The place mentioned before—Hielo Territory. The only place in Bariel’s land where I could trust and hide.
Tap, tap, tap!
I burst through the infirmary door, but there was no sign of anyone. Breathing heavily, I called out to the boy.
“Prince Jin. It’s Ian. We need to flee urgently, so please come out.”
Whoosh.
Then Jin emerged from beneath the bed, where he had been hiding with the Doctor. Unlike the trembling Doctor, Jin climbed out with a stern expression.
“What is happening?”
“I’ll explain later. We’re going to Hielo Territory. It’s the safest place.”
I extended my hand, and Jin hesitated for a moment. Hielo Territory was the remotest of remote borderlands—to go there? Alone?
“…Will you come with me?”
“Of course.”
“Doctor, you come too.”
“…Y-yes, yes!”
Jin quickly grasped my hand.
Outside, the situation was deteriorating rapidly. Countless amber arrows scattered across the floor and a transparent barrier holding back the soldiers. It meant the mages’ mana was nearly depleted.
“I will open the portal!”
“We’ll support you!”
“Support—ugh! Uaaaagh!”
Jin lifted his head sharply, staring at the black crescent moon. As the mages chanted in an unfamiliar language, dozens of concentric circles materialized beneath my feet, as if I were standing on water.
‘Wow.’
The concentric circles shone beautifully. Even more radiant than my golden hair, Jin couldn’t help but marvel. I reached out my hand. I couldn’t cover the sky with my palm, but at least I could obscure the black crescent.
Shhhhh.
Grow larger, grow larger—was I chanting? Each time I made an elegant gesture, the moon waxed fuller, until it became a complete full moon. It hung there, so large and heavy it seemed ready to crash onto the imperial palace.
“Your Highness. If you’re frightened, hold my hand tightly.”
He wasn’t frightened, or so he thought, yet his grip tightened. Just as I lifted him into my arms and was about to ascend into the portal.
Boom!
“Huh? Ian! Wait a moment!”
“Something is falling from inside!”
Meteors were pouring into the black space. I frowned and looked up at them.
What in the world was that?
“Are you certain it’s connected to Hielo?”
“Y-yes, I’m certain.”
The meteors grew larger. Breaking free from the black moon, they streaked across the imperial palace’s sky and plummeted rapidly downward. Seeing this, I couldn’t help but gape.
“Iaaaan!”
“Is that rude Berik here too?!”
“Hahahaha!”
A rough, crude laugh carrying the heat of the desert itself. Warriors poured down from the sky.
Crash! Bang!
“Demosa!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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