The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 172
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 172 66. I’ll Destroy You (2)
“Tsk tsk. Setting the schedule like that for nothing. If it weren’t for the hunting competition, the royal palace’s forces wouldn’t have been weakened so much…”
“No, are you saying the fall of the royal palace is the Second Prince’s fault? Can you take responsibility for those words right now?”
“Responsibility? You speak of responsibility? I don’t understand how you’re shifting the responsibility you should bear onto this side.”
“This person, I’ve been watching and now really!”
The massive royal palace that towered over the capital of the Kingdom of Cairo.
Loud voices echoed from a tent set up outside it. Those who clearly seemed to be of no ordinary status sat on both sides of a table as if taking sides, tearing each other down.
The First Prince faction and the Second Prince faction. They were the candidate forces responsible for Cairo’s future. They were arguing over whose fault was greater regarding the unprecedented situation where the kingdom’s center had fallen to the Demon King.
‘This is madness. Pure madness.’
Retainers with bloodshot eyes, spitting saliva as they hurled accusations. And the First Prince and Second Prince who didn’t bother to stop them, rather maintaining attitudes that seemed to further incite them.
It was disgusting. Genter Hilton, Cairo’s First Knight and representative figure of the moderate faction, sighed and spoke.
“Everyone, please calm down. What’s important now isn’t whose fault this current situation is, is it? How we can recapture the royal palace, what methods we should use to rescue His Majesty the King and other important figures of the kingdom. Presenting opinions on this should be our priority, shouldn’t it?”
The most fundamental words.
Yet words no one had been able to bring up until now.
Everyone who heard this became as silent as mutes who had eaten honey. Seeing their state, Genter Hilton sighed once more.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand their reaction. Even he, whose chest felt like it would burst from frustration, couldn’t think of any sharp solutions.
‘It was a royal palace armed with the priests’ divine power, the mages’ protective magic, and the knights’ loyalty.’
Although the palace’s owner, Shumaha XVII, was in a mentally unstable state, it wasn’t a place so easy that it would fall into the hands of a Demon King who hadn’t even declared territorial dominion.
In fact, all the previous Demon Kings had made their bases in rural estate castles with almost no defenses, or old castles that were spacious but had been abandoned long ago. That was their limit.
But such common sense had been shattered.
What this meant was clear.
‘This Demon King is… a being far stronger than any Demon King we’ve known before, beyond common sense!’
How could they recapture a Demon King’s Castle where such a powerful Demon King lurked?
Even if the Knight King and Golden Dawn came to support together, it would probably be impossible. In a way, it was natural that the First Prince and Second Prince factions were only discussing responsibility rather than solutions.
“…Both princes.”
“Speak.”
“Do you have something to say?”
“Since the atmosphere in the hall seems overheated, how about we take about an hour’s break and then resume the meeting?”
At the words of Genter Hilton, the kingdom’s First Knight, the two princes exchanged glances.
Even in that brief moment, hatred and contempt for each other was revealed. But their opinions weren’t different.
Both turned their heads simultaneously. And with very bright smiles, they said.
“Who would object to the words of Cairo’s strongest knight? Let’s do that.”
“Everyone heard Sir Genter Hilton’s words! The meeting will resume in an hour. Until then, think fiercely about how we can recapture the royal palace and how we can rescue His Majesty!”
Genter Hilton let out a slight laugh as he rose from his seat. Throughout his exit from the tent, a bitter smile hung on his face.
He couldn’t help but laugh when the two people who wanted His Majesty’s death more than anyone were saying such things. He looked at the royal palace that had turned completely black.
‘If it was an unavoidable accident, it would have been better if one of the two princes had remained in the royal palace…’
It was a disloyal thought unbecoming of a retainer.
But thinking of the kingdom’s future, that seemed much better.
In this situation where recapturing the royal palace was nearly impossible, if a civil war between the two princes broke out as well, Cairo would truly be finished. Perhaps it could be torn into two pieces, or even more, ending its long history.
“Damn it.”
He cursed.
Despite being the kingdom’s strongest knight, he found his own appearance of not even thinking of charging, his own pathetic state of not daring to rescue his lord, utterly contemptible.
It was when he had been staring blankly at the Demon King’s Castle for half the break time.
From far away, a faint sound could be heard.
“…?”
A question mark appeared above Genter Hilton’s head.
A strange sound he had never heard in his life. An unrealistic sound as if something massive was flying across the sky.
Though he thought such a thing couldn’t be possible, he raised his head to look at the sky. And he concentrated aura in his eyes and ears, greatly enhancing his sight and hearing.
And he couldn’t help but gape without realizing it.
A large golden monster was approaching this place.
Whoooooosh-!
“What, what is that?”
“What is that thing? That’s…”
“Dragon! Is it a dragon?”
“A dragon? That’s ridiculous!”
“But that appearance, no matter how you look at it, can only be seen as a dragon…”
It wasn’t just Genter Hilton. As time passed, more and more people began to notice the being in the sky, and within less than 30 seconds, everyone had come out of their tents and was looking up at the sky as if their necks would break.
And shortly after, the creature presumed to be a dragon, a legendary being, landed in front of the tent with graceful wingbeats.
What happened next was even more surprising.
A person dropped down from atop the golden dragon.
One of the ministers who recognized his identity shouted in surprise.
“Hero Lumian Calard!”
“Lumian Calard?”
“Lumian Calard has come here?”
The First Prince and Second Prince simultaneously glared.
They had no choice. While other people showed absolute support for the young, handsome hero who had been directly appointed by the Patron Deity and had his abilities recognized by the Knight King and Golden Dawn, from their perspective, he was the main culprit who had dragged the kingdom’s dignity through the mud.
Of course, the current Lumian Calard didn’t care at all about what the Cairo princes thought.
He really didn’t give a damn.
What he had to do now wasn’t to cater to their feelings.
Officially, it was to annihilate the demons, the wicked group threatening the continent’s peace, and rescue the innocent victims in the royal palace.
Privately, it was to grind up every single one of those fucking bastard sons of bitches who had ruined his sex, the sex that had almost succeeded for the first time across two lifetimes.
“Semu, play around for a bit. I’ll finish quickly and come back.”
“Okay, got it! I’ll help with the purification later!”
“It’s fine. I can do the purification by myself now.”
“Still, I’ll help! I’ll help!”
“Alright. It’ll take about an hour.”
“Yeah yeah!”
Semu nodded and with a pop! sound, shrank his body. The creature, now about the size of a parrot, disappeared into the sky as a dot.
Everyone stared blankly at that sight. With unrealistic events continuing to unfold, they couldn’t gather their wits.
Of course, Lumian didn’t care this time either.
He was just silently walking step by step toward the entrance of the blackened royal palace.
Seeing this, the First Prince urgently said.
“S-stop! Lumian Calard!”
“What’s the matter?”
“What are you doing! Surely you’re not planning to enter the Demon King’s Castle alone?”
“By any chance, are you the current highest decision-maker of the Kingdom of Cairo?”
Lumian asked with proper courtesy.
But the answer came from elsewhere.
“No! The highest decision-maker is me!”
It was the Second Prince. He absolutely couldn’t stand to see his brother arbitrarily leading the situation.
Of course, that was just his thinking. The First Prince, who had higher official rank, thought the Second Prince’s action was overstepping his authority.
“How dare you speak such nonsense! Now that His Majesty is trapped in the Demon King’s Castle, isn’t it natural for me, the eldest son, to manage the kingdom’s affairs?”
“Ha! What are you talking about? If you were the Crown Prince it would be different, but right now both you and I are just princes with the same status.”
“You bastard! Can you take responsibility for those words?”
“You keep repeating the same words about responsibility from earlier, making you no different from a parrot.”
“What, what did you say?”
‘What are those bastards doing.’
Lumian frowned deeply.
It was absurd. He had roughly heard that the relationship between the princes wasn’t good, but no matter what, he never thought they would have such a pride fight even in this situation.
‘Old man Shumaha, you completely failed at raising children.’
Suddenly, he became worried.
He too would have children after marrying Tania, and the thought that such bastard-like brats might come out made his body tremble.
But he soon realized that such thoughts were pointless.
‘Damn, what’s a guy who hasn’t even had sex once doing talking about kids.’
You need to look at the sky to pick stars, but what he was looking at now was just the Demon King’s Castle radiating a gloomy and dark atmosphere.
Hot anger began to rise in his heart once again.
‘Those damn bastards… even tearing them apart wouldn’t be enough…!’
He couldn’t endure it any longer.
Lumian drew up his aura. Then he spoke to the two princes who were arguing without paying him any attention, and to Cairo’s ministers who had gathered behind them, pointing fingers at each other.
“I’ll go recapture Cairo’s Royal Palace.”
“…”
“I heard the general situation from Goddess Allia. I’ll suppress the demons secretly and swiftly so I can safely rescue all personnel inside, including His Majesty the King.”
“…”
“Well then, see you later.”
“W-wait!”
What are you talking about! The Second Prince shouted urgently. His face was colored with shock.
And it wasn’t just him. The retainers on his side, the First Prince, and the retainers on the First Prince’s side too.
Even the moderate people who were truly thinking about the kingdom’s future and King Cairo’s safety couldn’t help but contort their expressions.
Genter Hilton rushed out at a terrifying speed and stood before Lumian.
Thud!
“What are you saying! Did you just say you’d charge into the Demon King’s Castle alone? Do you think that makes sense?”
“Yes. I think it makes sense.”
Lumian answered carelessly. The expression he had been forcibly managing also crumbled. Irritation and anger were plastered all over his face.
Damn, I need to finish this quickly and go have sex, so why do they keep interfering.
Of course, he couldn’t say that outright. Even in his reckless state, that would be somewhat embarrassing.
Even while having such thoughts, Genter Hilton continued speaking.
It was all predictable content. The forces guarding the kingdom’s border were coming to support, and they had sent requests for reinforcements to Jenas and Rodisia, so wait. Charging in together would have much higher chances of success. What he was doing now was crazier than hitting a rock with an egg.
He didn’t want to listen anymore.
Lumian strongly and rapidly drew up his presence.
Whoooosh!
“Hup!”
“…!”
“…!”
Everyone’s movements stopped.
Like birds trapped in a cage, no, like fish trapped in ice, they couldn’t move a muscle. The weight of the energy Lumian emitted was that tremendous.
“I’ll be back shortly.”
“…”
“Please wait.”
Flash!
With those words, Lumian moved into the Demon King’s Castle.
It was an amazing speed. Even Genter Hilton, one of the top five skilled individuals on the continent, couldn’t track his movement.
“Have you ever seen such a reckless bastard!”
“Isn’t he crazy! Does being chosen as a hero mean nothing is visible to his eyes?”
That young brat can’t distinguish between heaven and earth. What should we do about this…”
“Shouldn’t we follow him in right now? At this rate, we’ll be in big trouble!”
“But if we follow him in carelessly, we’ll only accumulate more damage…”
About a minute passed after Lumian left. Then people began criticizing him and spewing curses without exception.
The resentment they originally had toward him, his completely insincere tone that showed no courtesy whatsoever, and his arrogance that crossed the line.
These elements were enough to explode the anger of the Kingdom of Cairo’s people. Especially the reactions of the First Prince and Second Prince were so violent it was hard to think of them as prospective monarchs to lead a nation.
Of course, there wasn’t much they could do about it anyway.
They just hoped that the young and ill-mannered hero wouldn’t cause bigger trouble.
They only wished he would die alone, quietly alone, without harming the people trapped in the Royal Palace.
But in a time too short for their anger to even subside.
In less than 30 minutes.
Kyaaaaaaaaaah!
From deep within the Demon King’s Castle, a scream echoed.
And shortly after, Cairo’s Royal Palace, which had been completely dyed black, began to regain its original color.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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