Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor - Chapter 666

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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 665. What’s Inside the Triangular Box
Rain pattered down steadily.
Young Berik lay collapsed, breathing in ragged gasps, while his two sisters stared down at him with pleading eyes.
Time lost all meaning. Everything felt exhausted and unbearable. Without realizing it, Berik wiped his eyes and let his strength drain away. As his mind grew hazy, he found himself hoping this was a dream—yet simultaneously wishing it wasn’t.
A soft touch.
His older sister grasped Berik’s arm carefully. Small, warm hands. The younger boy beside them embraced his sister and shook his head. A gesture saying not to come closer. This was precisely what made it worst.
“Come to your senses.”
“Sister, don’t.”
If they had tried to kill him instead, if they had shown malice without filter, Berik felt he could have cut them down.
But these things wore his sisters’ faces and genuinely existed in this bizarre timeline. …Undoubtedly, they were alive.
“Ugh.”
Then, young Berik awoke. He had vomited everything from the brutal blow to his abdomen. The boy staggered and barely managed to brace himself on his knees. His sisters rushed over and helped support him.
Berik etched that image into his eyes. When he was young, looking at all three of them—had his mother’s gaze been like this?
“Kill me, sister, move away…”
“This is so damn hard, so just stop. I’m not trying to hurt you. I’d sooner put a hole through my own belly than harm you, you damned mage bastard.”
“Then why are we even—”
“I don’t know either, damn it!”
Young Berik furrowed his brow and examined Berik carefully.
In that moment—
Knock, knock!
“…!”
Someone knocked on the cabin door. His sisters gasped and covered their mouths, while young Berik froze, staring only at the door.
Knock!
It was identical to ‘that day.’ The sound of debt collectors knocking, searching for his father. His sisters startled violently and pulled at Berik’s arm.
“Hide, quickly hide!”
“Wait, it’s fine. You don’t need to hide.”
“No! If you open that door, we all die! Please!”
“Come over here, hurry!”
Young Berik hid his sisters beneath the bed. They had truly come—’them,’ those who would actually kill them.
To the terrified children, Berik murmured that there was nothing to worry about now.
“Why else did I become strong?”
He had always yearned to grow stronger to protect those he cherished. That mage bastard—despicable, yes—but in another way, he was grateful for this.
…If he had been there on that day, what would have happened?
Berik had imagined it countless times. The laughter of his mother and sisters, alive. And perhaps his own life, ordinary like any other family’s.
Whoosh!
As Berik drew his mana greatsword, young Berik’s eyes widened. The boy stumbled backward and hid his body in the storage room.
Knock!
“Who is it?”
“…came. Open up.”
“Ah, yeah. Alright. But—!”
Crash!
Whoooosh!
The moment Berik threw open the door, he charged forward with his sword raised. In an instant, the dark world twisted, and the falling raindrops froze mid-air.
Berik’s body outside the hut was no exception. A violent wind swept past his side and surged inward through the hut’s entrance.
‘No.’
An attempt to kill his sisters and his younger self. Berik clenched his teeth and blocked the rushing wind with his body.
But it wasn’t enough. The hut crumbled, and furniture flew through the air. Then came his sisters’ piercing screams and cries.
Berik shed tears.
‘No!’
Darkness rose higher and higher. Berik wanted to rush to his sisters, but he realized his body was being erased.
Then, from a distant place, a beam of light flashed. It struck down directly toward Berik, and surprisingly—
‘Huh?’
It was warm.
* * *
Whoosh.
Ian flew higher into the sky.
The night wind was cold and fierce, but there was no way to avoid it. If he deployed a protective barrier with magic, it would illuminate the night sky brightly. Just like those flames rising from one side of the forest.
‘Fire? Torches? They look like Ruswena Soldiers.’
Was it a simple fire, or was it related to Berik? The latter seemed far more likely. More and more people were pouring into the Mage’s Forest. It was unclear whether they were trying to extinguish the flames or had some other purpose.
Ian descended and entered the forest. A place filled only with the rustling of leaves. But the aura was far from ordinary.
‘Forbidden power. And Berik too.’
An ominous aura permeated the entire forest. My bad premonition was correct. Ian concealed his presence and aura as much as possible and followed the traces.
“This way, this way!”
“Su, there’s a fire in the forest! Inform the Royal Palace! Hurry!”
“There’s nowhere we can draw water from!”
Crackle crackle!
Ian hid himself in the trees and pursued the soldiers. And soon, he discovered Berik locked in combat with the Forbidden Mage. The soldiers saw it too.
“Mage! Over there! There’s a Ruswena Mage over there!”
“Please hold back the flames, Mage!”
“I, I beg your pardon?”
But despite the soldiers’ urgent cries, the Mage only rolled his eyes, remaining motionless. Looking closer, a black aura flowing from his body was connected to Berik.
‘Hidden Form magic.’
Magic that possesses the opponent’s memories and inflicts mental shock.
Since it could directly pierce the opponent’s vulnerabilities, it was easy to extract information, and if desired, it was suitable for inducing carelessness and leaving psychological scars.
One fatal weakness was that while bound by Hidden Form magic, the caster himself could not move easily.
‘Berik must have been discovered.’
The situation became somewhat clear. He must have encountered the Forbidden Mage while searching for something in the hut.
The soldiers panicked and circled around the Mage, but he remained rigid with his eyes rolled upward.
“Why, why is this happening? Isn’t this Bariel the Mage Knight?”
“That’s right. What should we do? Kill him?”
“Wait. Don’t touch it. What if something goes wrong?”
“Stop! Wait until someone comes out from the Royal Palace. First, let’s put out this urgent fire—”
Whoooosh!
“Gasp, gasp—!”
“Ugh!”
As the Soldiers cautiously approached Berik, I leaped down from beneath the tree and unleashed a wave of lethal mana. The Soldiers didn’t even perceive the sudden opponent emerging from the darkness before their bodies were sliced open.
Thud.
Wiping my blood-soaked sleeve, I gazed at the Forbidden Mage. His pupils were also fixed on me. He had sensed my presence long ago, but the silver concealment magic had rendered him immobile.
I briefly surveyed my surroundings, then checked Berik’s pockets first.
Swish.
A small, triangular box. It was so light I wondered what could possibly be inside.
As I took hold of it, I felt something falling beneath Berik’s chin. Was it blood flowing from a deep wound?
No. This was—
“…Berik.”
Tears.
Berik remained frozen in the exact state he’d been in just before the silver concealment magic took hold, tears streaming down his face. Where in the depths of your memories are you wandering right now? I furrowed my brow as I turned back to the Forbidden Mage.
‘…An opportunity.’
He stood there as if offering his neck to me. All I had to do was sever his head and tear out his heart from this very spot. Eliminating the Third Forbidden Mage would deal a significant blow to Ruswena’s forces.
But—
‘Berik would be in danger.’
One misstep and he could remain trapped within his memories, or his mind could collapse entirely.
I observed the flames spreading rapidly behind me, then cast Idgal to create a barrier. It would temporarily block the fire and prevent the Soldiers from approaching.
“Nabu, you’re there, aren’t you?”
“…Yes, I am.”
Nabu, who had been hiding in my shadow, slightly poked his head out. He no longer hesitated or cowered in hiding. After all, he had witnessed with his own eyes just how powerful I was this afternoon.
“Block any external approach. If a problem arises, you may hide both me and Berik in your shadow for a time. And you can explain to the Mages that it’s silver concealment magic. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I understand.”
Whoooosh!
「Silver Concealment」.
I immediately activated the silver concealment magic. The target was naturally Berik. Darkness enveloped my surroundings, and soon an unfamiliar cottage came into view.
‘There it is.’
Pushing through the rain, I arrived at the cottage and knocked on the door. I heard movement from inside.
Knock!
“Who is it?”
It was Berik’s voice. I answered with relief.
“I’ve come to get you. Open the door.”
“Oh, yeah. Alright. But—!”
Creak!
Whoooosh!
A crimson greatsword came flying the moment the door opened.
But Ian knew better. That reckless, wild man—stirred up from wandering through all manner of past memories—would never simply open a door and wait.
Ian stepped back lightly and dodged, catching sight of the children beyond the doorway.
‘Damn.’
Young Berik and his sisters.
Ian made his judgment. Those children were the only exit through which Berik could break free from the invisibility spell.
「Gust Wind」.
Whoooosh!
A sharp wind swept past Berik, targeting the young ones’ necks. Berik, who had been sinking into darkness, spun around desperately trying to block it, but how could anyone outpace the wind?
A young girl caught in the gust’s grip rolled her eyes wildly. She was the Forbidden Mage hiding her form.
“Aaaahhh-!”
Zing! Zing!
Flash!
Ian gathered mana abundantly in both hands. Since it was a child’s body, no particularly strong force would be needed. He released the mana all at once.
The mana projectile shot in a straight line, piercing through Berik and striking the Forbidden Mage directly. Light exploded across all directions.
Boom-!
Everything touched by the light burned white. The cottage existing in darkness, the rain streaks, and the young children gradually vanished, while blue leaves sprouted forth in all directions.
The Mage’s Forest.
They had returned to the real world once more.
“Uh….”
Huh…. Berik, unable to comprehend reality, looked around with tears streaming down his face. He had pleaded for it to disappear, but now that it had, his chest felt hollow as if carved out.
Ian grabbed his arm and muttered.
“Get yourself together. We’re leaving.”
“I-Ian. Why are you here?”
“Thought you might be lost.”
Ian embraced the swaying Berik and took flight.
Nabu, who had been hovering nearby, startled in shock and threw himself into Ian’s shadow, while Berik stared down at the motionless Forbidden Mage and asked.
“Why isn’t that bastard moving?”
“Because he’s dead while still under the invisibility spell. If you were dead, you’d be like that too.”
“…So that’s a dead state?”
“More precisely, his mind is shattered.”
“Put me down for a moment. I want to kill him with my own hands.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Ian gestured with his chin toward the far side of the forest. Dragons were converging due to the fire that had broken out in the Mage’s Forest.
Moreover, the Forbidden Mage whose joints twisted grotesquely—the author’s consciousness had been invaded by the Puppeteer, so even if the mind shattered, it would soon move again.
“You’ve done well, Berik. Your mission is accomplished and my purpose is fulfilled. Further combat here would be a waste of strength, so we return to the mansion as planned.”
“Damn it, Ian. I don’t care about anything else, but I’m really going to make that bastard suffer before he dies.”
“Do as you wish.”
…At least wipe away the tears from your eyes. Ian glanced at Berik but said nothing more.
Berik fumbled through his pockets, then suddenly shrieked in a convulsive outburst.
“Aaaaah! Ah! I’m losing it! The box is gone! Ian, turn back! Damn it, am I really that scatterbrained?! I think I left it behind!”
“You mean the triangular box?”
“…What? Brown?”
“I kept it safe, so stop moving around. It’s exhausting.”
Ah, of course! Berik felt relieved, yet something seemed odd, and he tilted his head in confusion.
“But wait—did you grab the box before rescuing me?”
“…We’re here now.”
“Huh? Hey, wait a minute!”
In front of Hielo’s mansion, a few Mages who hadn’t slept from worry were pacing about. Upon spotting Ian and Berik, they began waving their hands frantically.
“Ian! Berik!”
“Inma, what were you doing clinging to Ian like that?”
“Huh? Did this bastard cry?”
“I don’t know, shut it. What would you lot know anyway? Huh?”
While the Mages welcomed Berik, Ian opened the triangular box first.
“Ian, is that it? What Berik was looking for?”
“It seems to be…”
The Mages furrowed their brows in bewilderment, and Ian himself paused.
The inner surface of the box was covered densely with writing. Inside lay only a few beads and a single sheet of white paper, neatly folded.

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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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