小婕子的第一次好紧

Chapter 133

“What is going on here?”

The powerful voice of Duke Carl, the master of the Rehinar Family, rang out. Anger was evident in his tone. Perhaps it was because of this that the students, who had been consumed by anger and oblivion energy, snapped back to their senses just from the sound of his voice.

“Ugh!”

“Pfft!”

“Ugh…”

The Orchid students who had been attacking indiscriminately collapsed onto the ground.

The Duke turned his gaze to Elmar.

“Judging by the strange energy you possess, it seems this is all part of your plan.”

It was just a steady, unwavering stare, yet Elmar’s body shook like a trembling leaf.

‘He should be poisoned by the formlessness poison, so how is he able to display such power?’

It was Duke’s mana that inspired fear in him. With the arrival of the Guardian lord, the entire atmosphere shifted, as if the world revolved around him. Nature itself seemed to move in accordance with the Guardian lord\'s will.

‘Everything is going wrong! We were lured into the tiger\'s den. The claim that the Guardian lord was poisoned was all a lie!’

Otherwise, how could the Guardian lord appear in such good health?

It was all a setup. A play to draw in Executioners like himself.

‘I need to escape from here. Somehow, I must inform the House of the Sun that the Guardian lord is unharmed.’

Elmar abandoned any thoughts of fighting. The opponent before him was none other than one of the Twelve Star Lords, a man with power that rivaled the head of the House of the Sun. To attack such a person would be madness.

“[Merchants, hold down the Guardian lord!]”

Elmar made his decision, planning to use his subordinates as bait to make his escape. Merchants of the Continental merchant guild, who had been hiding, revealed themselves, each with magic wrapped around their wrists. A hundred merchants unleashed their magic toward the Guardian lord.

“How dare you!”

Cedric, filled with rage, moved to strike down the merchants. But the Duke Carl stopped him.

“Leave it.”

Instead, Duke Carl pushed up his sword guard with his left thumb. Ferocious energy flowed out from the barely exposed blade.

Click.

Yet it lasted only a moment. The glowing sword slipped back into its sheath, and then, cries erupted from all around.

“Aaah!”

“M-My arm!”

It happened in an instant. All one hundred disguised mages fell, their arms severed.

“Did you really think you could escape me?”

At Duke Carl’s question, Elmar swallowed hard.

‘I-I couldn’t even see his movements. The gap between us is this great?’

He had known that Carl was a monster. Even a brief encounter long ago had filled him with dread. But now, with Carl drawing his sword, a new level of fear took hold, making his heart sink.

“Regrettably, I have no intention of letting you go. The same goes for that one as well.”

Duke Carl gestured toward Heike.

With just a glance, he could make the air feel stifling.

Even Kane, who has power comparable to a 7th class knight, keenly felt helpless in front of the Guardian Lord.

He had never imagined that the difference between the 8th and 7th classes could be this vast.

In fact, he had been underestimating the Twelve Star Lords, except for the Meyer family.

But what was that overwhelming pressure?

“[5th Seat, do something! We have to inform the Sun family that the Guardian Lord is still in such good shape!]"

"[I\'m thinking of a way to escape. But the chances of getting away from that monster are extremely slim.]"

"[Even if one of us sacrifices themselves?]"

"[There’s a slight chance if we unleash the power of oblivion.]"

"[Then,]"

It was at that moment when Heike tried to continue with the secret voice.

Someone intervened between them.

"[So, you’re the ones who woke me up.]"

Elmar and Heike\'s eyes widened at the same time.

Interference during a secret voice exchange wasn\'t something just anyone could do.

Top-tier mana.

Only those who had awakened a top tier mana quality could eavesdrop on a secret voice.

And it was the Guardian Lord who had done so.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, both Elmar and Heike simultaneously unleashed their mana.

The power of Oblivion.

The combined power of the two exceeded that of Duke Carl.

“Ugh, we’ll meet again, Guardian Lord!”

“You better be prepared.”

The two attacked Duke Carl.

Elmar\'s robe flapped wildly.

A powerful whirlwind raged in the space they were in.

From one, to two.

From two, to five.

In the end, ten whirlwinds threatened to ravage the surroundings.

And that wasn\'t all.

Heike\'s hand exuded poisonous energy filled with malice.

It not only obstructed vision but polluted everything—air, trees, ground, and water.

"Now, it\'s time, 4th seat!"

In the moment their attention was diverted,

The two of them fled without looking back.

But that was only their plan.

The reason the fallen Rehinar could hold out until the end was neither the Guardian Knights nor Cedric, the Blue Flash.

It was because Carl Rehinar, who had retained his position as one of the Twelve Star Lords despite being poisoned, had not fallen yet.

The Guardian Lord\'s cherished sword.

The Soul-linked Sword was fully drawn.

The white light emanating from the Soul-linked Sword was absorbing everything around it.

Elmar\'s summoned whirlwinds and Heike\'s poisonous fog disappeared in an instant.

It wasn\'t enough; it even tried to absorb their power of oblivion.

“No, no!”

“Ugh!”

The two tried desperately to resist but couldn\'t.

What the Guardian Lord had used was his ultimate technique—The Void of Water.

As the world became silent, everything even life was sucked away from the executioners.

The two were left collapsed, completely defeated in front of the Guardian Lord.

“Cedric, clean up the area.”

“I will follow your orders, Your Excellency.”

In an instant, Duke Carl ended the situation.

Everyone was left speechless.

This was the power of a Star Lord.

It was truly a catastrophe.

No wonder people referred to the Twelve Star Lords as national-level forces.

And not a single person had died.

It seemed that the political implications had been considered.

After all, the opponents belonged to the Lycera Theocracy and Orchid Kingdom.

* * *

At Duke Carl\'s residence.

He reclined against the bed, his face pale.

Kane was quite surprised.

There was no trace of mana coming from Duke Carl.

‘I\'ve reached the rank of the Twelve Star Lords, but I was merely at the bottom. I thought there wouldn\'t be much difference even if I were in a higher seat, but I was completely mistaken.’

Even among the Twelve Star Lords, the gap was as vast as the sky and earth.

He needed to reassess the power of the Sun Lord.

Duke Carl was among the strongest, alongside the Sun Lord.

His father with no mana had easily subdued two 7th-class executioners.

It was absolute domination.

This showed just how destructive the power of a top-tier Star Lord could be.

While Kane was lost in thought,

"My son, what are you thinking about so deeply in front of your father?"

The Guardian-Lord, who just exuded overwhelming authority in the ball room, was nowhere to be seen.

There was only a father lovingly looking at his son.

"Are you feeling alright, Father?"

"Not at all. Moving after such a long time has left my whole body aching."

"Father, let me massage your shoulders."

Rose, who had been beside them, jumped up and began massaging Duke Carl\'s shoulders.

"Then me too!"

Sasha, Rose’s twin brother, quickly moved to the other side.

Duke Carl smiled at his two children\'s actions.

However, his pale complexion remained.

“You overexerted yourself using mana that you no longer have, which has damaged your mana circuits.”

“Are you worried about your father?”

“Of course, I am. Even Sara is on the verge of tears.”

“It will recover on its own with time. Don’t worry. But it seems like you have something you want to ask.”

Indeed, Kane was curious about one thing regarding Duke Carl.

He was dying to know how his father had managed to neutralize the executors’ attacks without any mana.

“May I ask?”

“If my son has a question, it’s only right to answer it.”

“When I look at you, Father, I cannot sense any mana. So how did you manage to confront those enemies?”

Duke Carl smiled.

It was the question he had anticipated.

He answered Kane’s curiosity.

“Where does mana originate from?”

“…From nature.”

“Correct. Even though I’ve lost my mana, my body still remembers it. I simply drew upon the mana from the outside, based on what my body remembers.”

Kane’s eyes shook with intensity.

He knew this theory.

But he had never been able to put it into practice.

It was easy to say but extremely difficult to execute.

Only someone as absolute as Duke Carl could achieve it with ease.

His pale complexion was simply due to his damaged body struggling to handle the immense power brought forth by the formlessness poison.

If he restored his body to a healthier state, borrowing power from nature wouldn\'t be as taxing as it was now.

Duke Carl further simplified the explanation.

“The Mana Heart is merely a support device; the true essence lies in the elements, so keep that in mind.”

The world was made up of elements.

The desk was wood.

The marble floor was stone.

The air was wind.

The liquid in the bottle was water.

All of these were elements.

‘This is a truly important lesson. King Hatzfeld kept me in check as I grew, but Duke Carl… he’s different.’

There was so much affection in him.

He seemed eager to teach even one more thing.

Once again, he realized something.

Unlike him, Kane had truly lived a life filled with love.

This foolish kid did nothing, basking in his happiness, and ended up dying by Ray’s hand.

And that made him even more irritated.

‘He should have at least put up a fight.’

Of course, his own foolishness had made him easy prey for King Hatzfeld.

He blamed Kane, but he also blamed himself.

He was furious at having lived like a mindless puppet.

‘I must never make the same foolish mistakes as in the past.’

He had to correct his mistakes.

At first, he was willing to do anything for revenge.

Rehinar was just a tool for his vengeance.

Saving Duke Carl, raising Sara, and preventing the fall of Rehinar—these were all preparations for his revenge against Hatzfeld and the Sun family.

But now, his perspective had changed.

He wanted to protect Rehinar, the land he had once ruined.

Not as a tool for revenge, but as a companion.

Perhaps the resolve in his eyes was apparent.

Duke Carl was the first to speak.

“Son, do you know the identity of those captives?”

“Do you know, Father?”

“I do. I had a run-in with them, and they weren’t ordinary. They said they were from the Meyer family. Very damn arrogant.”

‘He knew about the shitty house of the Sun?’

And yet, he had fallen so easily to them.

It didn’t make sense to him.

If he knew about the Sun family, he would have been more cautious…

“The ones behind them are just as strong as me, so you’ll need to be careful. But they won’t show themselves unless another Star-Lord dies.”

‘He even knows about those behind them?’

Duke Carl seemed to know far more than he let on.

After having a detailed conversation with him, Kane stepped outside.

Duke Carl watched the door through which Kane had left, a soft smile on his face.

“He even calls me ‘Father’ so easily now.”

“Are you talking about Lord Kane?” Cedric asked.

Duke Carl nodded.

“He’s your child; it’s only natural he calls me ‘Father,’ isn’t it?”

“Kane isn’t used to this situation,” he replied.

“What do you mean…?”

Cedric’s question lingered, but Duke Carl only smiled in response.