Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 386

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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 386
Fire. Bariel and Ruswena
“Ian!”
The Mages spun around in alarm. Ian’s shoulder was torn, blood seeping through. Crimson droplets fell steadily from the cuff of his sleeve.
Having already weathered a grave crisis in the Kingdom of Clipoford, their resolve to keep Ian unscathed proved hollow in this moment.
As they faltered in confusion, Ian shielded his left arm slightly behind him and shouted.
“Eyes forward! Focus!”
Even as the Mages turned their gaze toward Ian, Idgal arrows rained down without cessation. Gaps formed in several protective barriers, and soon more Mages bore grazing wounds from the arrows like Ian.
Ian withdrew the magical formation meant to assault the Sorcerer and alone conjured an enormous barrier across the sky.
Zing. Zing.
Boom! Bang!
Burning golden eyes unwavering.
Soon a barrier enveloped the Mages in warmth. Hundreds, thousands of Idgal arrows shattered against it, yet the wall that materialized in an instant could never harm the Mages.
A bead of sweat trickled down Ian’s jaw. Yet no one noticed, and Ian himself was unaware. He straightened his subordinates’ resolve with an unwavering voice.
“I have not shed blood, nor shall I. So do not concern yourselves with me—continue your work. If you falter, it is as though I falter.”
Moving with mutual trust was paramount. So Ian made his request: that they maintain composure, allowing him to move with faith in his subordinates.
“We, we apologize!”
“We shall reactivate the barriers!”
Zing! Zing!
The Mages who had gazed at Ian with concern suddenly startled and looked forward. Without Ian’s barrier, they would have been pierced entirely by Idgal arrows. They lent their strength to maintain the barrier in his stead, blocking the fresh onslaught of attacks.
Ian furrowed his brow, trying to ignore the throbbing in his left arm.
The arrows crafted from Idgal carried an unfamiliar magical aura. Likely Ruswena’s Mages. If they drew near, greater chaos would seep in, and the war would spiral toward catastrophe.
“Ian, are you truly all right?”
Akorelra flew close, speaking with her back turned. She too was lending her strength to aid the Mages.
In that moment, Nakina’s incident surfaced in my mind. During the previous rebellion, hadn’t Nakina been struck by an Idgal arrow and temporarily lost the ability to wield magic?
“It was just a graze. My senses have dulled somewhat, but I’m fine.”
“Ah, is that so? Perhaps Nakina was hit directly. Then it would be best to end this quickly, wouldn’t it? Honestly, if you’re injured, what reason do we have to be here for Clipoford or anything else?”
Instead of answering, Ian ascended higher by channeling his magical power.
「Huoluo」
Flames extending from his shoulder blades formed the shape of wings, then slowly transformed into the figure of a person, enveloping Ian. The tangled masses of soldiers and Synthetic Monsters fell beneath him, all within his sight.
Boom! Bang!
Following Ian’s gesture, the flame figure moved in unison, driving its fist downward at a single point.
The location of the first Sorcerer that Hasha had revealed. Next, the point to the left, then toward ten o’clock, another one….
Zing. Zing.
“That, that fire! The Fire Deity!”
“Ahhh! Flee! Flee! We’ll burn to ash in an instant!”
“It’s the same one we saw before!”
The Soldiers descended into chaos, and the Sorcerer too stood bewildered, merely gazing upward at the descending hand of the Fire Deity. How could they discern their own positions in a forest so densely packed with trees?
They moved to shield themselves using Synthetic Monsters as cover, while the General moved with keen awareness, turning his head left and right.
“The Sorcerers are being targeted! Retreat and defend!”
“P-protect it? How?”
“How pathetic!”
The General gripped his sword tighter and charged toward the Sorcerer, but it was difficult to push through the soldiers. And more than anything, Ian’s assault was relentless and decisive.
Kwaaang!
Boom!
“Aaaaagh!”
The Flame God completely crushed the Sorcerer, and immediately after, the synthetic monster was engulfed in flames alongside him. Soldiers threw sand to extinguish it, but this was no ordinary fire demon that would be so easily quelled.
One Sorcerer burned alive, and at that same moment, the synthetic monster lost its strength and collapsed. A mass of impurity that should have returned to the earth long ago. It lay sprawled, and Tiefe’s tongue hung limp and motionless.
The General’s eyes blazed as he glanced back. The main force of Burgos still hadn’t moved. The King was still watching.
‘The Mage knows the exact location of the Sorcerer. How?’
Then, a man with striking blue hair caught his eye. Hasha, from Astana. He was controlling the synthetic monster, but his gaze remained fixed on Ian.
A prickling sensation ran down the General’s spine. He instinctively drew his sword and charged at Hasha, and in that moment, another Sorcerer was consumed by flames and perished.
Shwaaack!
The left flank was completely destroyed.
Berik struck upward from below while Ian methodically eliminated the Sorcerers from above, leaving the soldiers unable to advance, frozen in place. Entirely unlike the Clipoford Soldiers charging forward like enraged bulls.
“Kill the Sorcerer from Astana!”
“What? Ah, yes!”
The Subordinates heard the General’s command and all rushed at Hasha together.
Look at him, so focused on giving hand signals he doesn’t even notice the attacks coming. He’s a traitor. I’ll report this to the King and have Astana completely annihilated.
Ian saw the flow of battle and twisted his body. The Flame God turned its head to follow him as well. Just as he was about to strike down again to protect Hasha.
Boom! Boom!
The Flame God’s hands exploded in mid-air, releasing tremendous heat with a deafening roar. It was like pouring cold water on oil.
The impact severed the connection. The Flame God ignited itself and vanished, and the Mages found themselves bewildered once more, staring straight ahead.
They wanted to look back at Ian, but hadn’t he warned them? If they failed to do their part properly, it would be like exposing his back. The Mages shouted as they blocked the Idgal arrows.
“Ian! What’s happening?”
“Are you alright? There are still many synthetic monsters left!”
“Damn it! Stop firing, you bastards!”
Ian turned his head toward where the attack came from. They were Mages from Ruswena. He’d never seen foreign Mages return before, and the timing couldn’t have been worse.
Led by an Elder, they flew in formation at regular intervals. Guarding the Elder’s side was a Young Child, appearing similar in age to Jin or perhaps slightly younger.
Ian swept back his tingling left hand through his hair and sighed.
‘…Why would they bring something so young to a battlefield.’
Their movements were stable, as if trained. The Ruswena Mages didn’t live in the royal palace but secluded themselves together, so their coordination was likely as refined as the Magic Bureau’s.
“Are you Count Ian?!”
Blue light flickered across the Elder’s withered hands.
What magic is this? Is it ‘Cold Block’? Since I haven’t been hit directly nor witnessed its activation, it was difficult to identify immediately.
“I am. I am Ian Hielo, Minister of the Magic Bureau of Bariel. You appear to be Mages from Ruswena. Are you officially entering the war between Burgos and Clipoford? Do you understand the meaning and the price it will bring?”
Ian clearly stated his affiliation. If further attacks came, he was making it known that this would be considered an attack on Bariel.
But the Elder’s golden eyes gleamed as she charged at Ian. And the Ruswena Mages escorting her.
‘It is Cold Block.’
“Among those gathered here, is there anyone who doesn’t understand the meaning and price of war?”
Chilling Devastation—a spell that literally launches a sphere of cold mana to destroy the opponent. As I deflected it with my mana-sealed sword, icy snow scattered through the air.
The Burgos General assessed the situation and issued his command.
“Idgal, cease your attack! Ruswena mages are mixed in! Stop! Hold your arrows!”
Excellent. Reinforcements had arrived at precisely the right moment. While Ruswena mages engaged Bariel’s spellcasters, they could face the Clipoford forces with the synthetic monsters leading the charge.
The rain of Idgal arrows that had been pouring down gradually subsided. The Bariel mages realized that I was fighting against Ruswena mages.
“Count Ian!”
“Damn birds! Where did these come from!”
Boom! Bang!
A young mage from Ruswena’s side confronted them all at once. The child’s black hair whipped about as her bright eyes flashed with intensity.
“Don’t you dare come near Grandmother!”
“Hey, you—!”
“What do we do? She’s just a kid!”
“That brat’s trying to kill us, you idiot!”
Boom! Bang!
Mana collided with mana, and brilliant colors exploded across the sky, while below on the ground, Burgos and Clipoford soldiers clashed in desperate combat. And once again, a golden arrow aimed at my heart.
Whoosh!
I felt the arrow graze past me narrowly and turned my gaze toward Eriponi.
She stood on the hill, drawing her bowstring with elegant grace, as if she had come to her favorite hunting grounds.
“How unfortunate. Next.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Arrows infused with the mages’ mana were prepared in abundance. At Eriponi’s gesture, Eldetr handed her an arrow, and she closed one eye to aim at me.
“Be careful of the Ruswena mage, Your Highness.”
“She seems rather weak for her age. If Ian were to restrain her, we could pierce right through them both.”
Eriponi’s murmur was swallowed by the chaos of war. It was fortunate. Nothing made soldiers more wretched than the king’s cruel disposition.
At Eldetr’s signal, the Ruswena soldiers also joined the ground battle. Clipoford continued to fall as they fought against Burgos, Ruswena, and the synthetic monsters.
Clang! Clang!
“Ahhhhh!”
“Prince Noah! They’re attacking from the flank as well! We’ll be surrounded at this rate! Please order a retreat!”
Whoosh!
Noah, having severed a Burgos soldier’s neck, looked toward the advancing Ruswena forces.
The sky spun so dizzily that one couldn’t tell if it was day or night, and the enemy’s numbers had grown. Certainly, at the beginning, Burgos’s left flank had been in disarray, appearing beyond recovery.
With the arrival of reinforcements—and mages at that—the balance of the battle had shifted once more.
“Damn it.”
Drip.
A drop of blood fell onto Noah’s cheek as he looked up at me. Whether it flowed from my arm, I couldn’t say, but Noah was seized by an ominous premonition, as if time itself had stopped.
Had I entrusted Clipoford’s autonomy too easily to Bariel? Had I relied too heavily on outside forces?
Realizing only now that with Count Ian and the mages struggling, they could become so helpless, Noah ground his teeth as he cut down the soldiers rushing at him, and was about to order a retreat.
Boom!
Having blocked the elder’s magic head-on, I reached into my inner pocket with my right hand.
What emerged in my palm was a very small pill. My condition had improved considerably, yet it remained incomplete, and my left hand was beginning to grow sluggish. I judged that I needed to draw strength from the depths.
“Amplifiers!”
Akorelra cried out upon seeing it.
“Everyone, take out your amplifiers!”
The Bariel Mages, following my lead, bit down on the elixir simultaneously, and their golden eyes deepened in intensity.
The Elder, sensing the disturbance in the enemy’s energy flow, urgently gathered his mana and unleashed a barrage of attacks. The Boy beside him did the same.
Soon after, a torrent of freezing cold swept through, and the soldiers were forced to flatten themselves against the ground, ceasing their combat.
Whoooosh!
“…!”
But my resurrected “Huirok”—the Flame of Return.
The wings of flame lightly brushed away the cold, and then a far more colossal Flame Deity materialized. The extreme heat made it seem as though all things in the world would burn to ash.
I felt my left hand grow light, and my golden eyes blazed. That gleam was as if one were witnessing the wrath of a god itself.
“All understand the meaning and price of war. Yet to truly comprehend it, one must perish. Witness well. This is the consequence of your choice.”
The descent of divinity and divine punishment.
All who beheld it were consumed by terror.
I clenched my teeth and charged toward the Ruswena Mages, and the mages followed in my wake, roaring fiercely.
“Arrows, arrows!”
Eriponi’s expression hardened as she cried out urgently. The moment she drew her bow at me—
Whoooosh!
Barsabe, drenched in blood, leaped up and severed her bowstring. The arrow, robbed of its trajectory, pierced through Barsabe’s flank, yet her momentum remained undiminished.
Eriponi, startled, swung her bow and launched an attack at her.
“You….”
Bariel and Ruswena.
The true collision of two nations had begun.

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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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