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Chapter 184: Within the Imperial Palace (3)

“Never.”

“Me neither. Who would’ve thought we’d be up here, looking over the north?”

A fierce blizzard raged on, the biting winds almost impossible to endure. Amidst the storm, the group continued their conversation.

“By the way, it’s been a while,” said Beikan, looking at a woman.

“...Kayla Spear.”

The woman seemed unaccustomed to the northern cold, trembling slightly even though she was wrapped in the cloak made from the feathers of the Fire Wing, a monster native to the south.

“Damn... It’s so freaking cold...” Kayla muttered, pulling her cloak tighter.

As the daughter of the head of the Spear tribe, one of the Five Great Families of the south, Kayla had been tasked with gathering Clear Distilled Water since meeting Karyl at the Abyssal Rock.

“It’s hard to adjust after lounging at the Abyssal Rock, isn\'t it?” Kinu Mukari chuckled at Kayla.

“Pff, lounging... Who said I was lounging?”

Though the Spear tribe possessed the most formidable fighting skills among the Five Great Families, they were not as belligerent as the others.

“The Abyssal Rock was a battlefield in itself.”

Unlike her father, Tulu Spear, who was less combative, Kayla thirsted for battle and was thrilled to receive this mission in the north.

“What do you mean?”

“While gathering Clear Distilled Water, monsters kept being drawn by the mana it emitted. We faced monster attacks on a daily basis. At first, there were only lower-rank monsters like goblins, but now we’re seeing orcs and trolls.”

Kayla clicked her tongue in disgust.

Though orcs and trolls had similar combat abilities, the approach to fighting them was different. Trolls, in particular, needed precise strikes to take down due to their absurd regenerative powers.

“What? Then why didn’t you report it?”

“I did. Master warned us that we’d be facing stronger monsters as things progressed, and he gave us weapons made from Clear Distilled Water first. You wouldn’t know about that.”

“Huh...”

Beikan and Kinu were stunned.

“But those are just mid-level monsters. I want to hunt stronger monsters, S-rank or higher, just like you guys.”

Kayla had become envious of Beikan and Kinu after hearing their story about fighting the Minotaur at the Twin Armor. While it was partly due to her ambition, she also felt that the central plan seemed to only focus on the four great tribes of the Great Plains, almost leaving the Five Great Families on the sidelines.

I’ll show them the strength of the Five Great Families this time.

Karyl had instructed her to lead the Spear troops and join with the others while the forty thousand prisoners were being taken to the empire. The northern mountains, very close to the imperial capital, had made her both anxious and excited.

“But...” she muttered in a low voice, careful not to be heard. Arriving in the north only to wait in the freezing cold without any action was frustrating.

“Are you disappointed?”

Perhaps sensing her thoughts, Dushala came up to Kayla. She seemed pleased to have another woman to talk to amidst the rugged men.

“I think it’s the opposite. Master must think highly of the Spear tribe to involve you in something like this.”

“I know that.”

Although her tone was sharp, Kayla didn’t argue with Dushala.

“It’s just that my sword is freezing in its sheath here, which I don’t like.”

Despite her prickly response, Kayla actually agreed with Dushala.

“...”

Moments later, they saw a sort of black tide beneath the mountain range. There was no way water could flow through the frozen valley, and yet the flow of the tide grew in intensity.

“I would’ve regretted not seeing this.”

Astonishingly, the black tide was actually a mass of people running through the gorge. They all had their faces concealed by the hoods of their cloaks.

It turned out they were the northern immigrants. Usually scattered in small groups, now they were all moving toward the empire, uniformly cloaked and identical in appearance.

So this is what Master meant...

Dushala, having arrived last to the northern mountains, watched the unfolding scene with a sense of awe.

~

“Dushala, before you headed to the south, I gave Hashir a task.”

Dushala nodded at his words. She remembered waiting for Karyl in Digon’s territory after the initial phase of the southern expedition at the Twin Armor. Hashir had arrived there before Karyl.

“Yes, I remember. He went to the north, and then on your orders, he investigated how many sorcerers were in Vestal’s marquisate in the south.”

“That’s right.”

“After that, we went up to Tatur together to transport the prisoners to the north. It was tough at first because he disappeared without a word.”

Dushala shrugged lightly as she said, “He\'s always been a quiet one, unlike the other big guys.”

Karyl chuckled at her remark.

“When you reach the north, there will be an army waiting for you besides the forty thousand prisoners you took.”

“What?”

“They’re the northern tribes gathered by Hashir. I don’t know their exact numbers. Additionally, I ordered Kayla Spear to bring the southern barbarians up in the north.”

“Even the barbarians?”

Dushala was puzzled by this. She couldn’t imagine how they could manage the additional troops while already struggling with moving that many prisoners.

However, Karyl’s eyes gleamed with determination.

In the original timeline, the empire’s second Extermination Decree of Heresy would start at this time. Then, with the emperor\'s death, Olivurn would gain the people’s support, win the war, and ascend the throne.

One of Olivurn’s first acts upon ascending the throne was to rescind the Extermination Decree of Heresy. Although this initially met resistance from the nobles and the empire’s people, over time, it garnered immense support due to the widespread discrimination within the empire, particularly against slaves and servants.

That’s why we fought for you, Olivurn. Karyl smiled bitterly.

However, due to his intervention, the emperor was still alive, and with Kromen’s death, the Extermination Decree of Heresy had not been enacted, resulting in the survival of more northern tribes than in his previous life.

The northern tribes and southern barbarians, excluding the Digon tribe, are deemed heretics because they lack mana.

But Karyl knew they weren’t weak. He aimed to unite the barbarians and the tribes under his command precisely because of their formidable strength.

Unlike the Digon, who possess a large army, the northern tribes, being small-scale alliances, are especially weaker than the empire and the principality.

However, individual abilities were different. Lacking mana was definitely a weakness, but when it came to physical prowess, the barbarians and the tribes were superior.

This means that if their weaknesses are compensated for, they can become stronger soldiers than the empire\'s troops.

Karyl had found the solution in Clear Distilled Water.

The key is Hashir. It all depends on how many northern people he can gather. Even if the Wolf-Fox tribe follows me, the northern tribes won’t just lend me their strength.

Karyl wiped his eyes briefly. If necessary, he was prepared to reveal that he was an immigrant himself. That was how much he needed the strength of the northern immigrants.

“If he handles things well... Something more interesting than what happened in the south will occur.”

~

“If things go well...?” Dushala muttered to herself as she watched the endless flow of people below, remembering her conversation with Karyl before coming here in the north.

“Going well would be an understatement, Master,” she went on.

“Master didn’t come to the northern mountains just to bring prisoners into the empire,” Beikan added.

“Really... This is crazy. So everything that happened in the south was just the beginning.” Dushala’s lips twitched in excitement.

“Oh, the signal!”

At the sight of the flames shot from the imperial capital, Kinu Mukari drew his bowstring as if he had been waiting for it.

Twaang—!

The northern immigrants are heading toward the empire...

This truly was an unprecedented event in history.

Master, this isn’t just an interesting event. It’s going to turn the empire upside down

, Dushala thought as she gazed in the direction of the empire, where Karyl was.

***

The murmur of the crowd grew as dawn broke over the capital, and the sluggish nobles, acting as if they hadn’t been disturbed at all, flocked to the Sun Hall early in the morning.

“We will now resume the trial of Karyl MacGovern,” announced Chancellor Bryn Ennik.

As the doors opened, Karyl slowly walked into the hall, just as he had the previous day. However, unlike before, he was now flanked by two people, their faces hidden by their black hoods.

“Those filthy scumbags...”

“Wretched heretics. They’re not even worth killing...”

With blazing eyes, the nobles growled at the sight of the immigrants. Of course, no one dared to say anything in front of Karyl openly.

No matter what anyone said or thought, the fact was that Karyl possessed the power of Ramine, the continent’s one and only Blazing King. Besides, he had once been a Sword Master acknowledged by Azif.

“...”

Karyl glanced at the crowd, smirking.

“Walk with confidence,” he said.

“What’s there to be scared of when the scariest monster out there is right beside us?” Hashir whispered back.

The other person beside Karyl, another member of the Jannabi tribe that Hashir had brought, nodded as well.

I’m curious to see who he brought... I’m sure Hashir has prepared thoroughly, but this other individual is crucial to the plan.

Karyl had no idea who this person was, as they had just arrived early that morning. Nevertheless, he considered it a success just to have persuaded the Jannabi tribe to come along in time.

“As you claimed, the heretics have come to the empire on their own. Shall we listen to their testimony and then display their heads at the gates of the capital?” the emperor said to Karyl as soon as he entered the hall with the other two. His expression was utterly indifferent as he talked about executing them, making it clear that he considered immigrants inferior to him.

Of course. That’s exactly the kind of man you are, Titan Shutean.

Karyl sighed softly, vowing to repay the emperor’s words in kind.

“This is Hashir from my Tatur army.”

With that, Hashir slowly pulled back his hood. The nobles flinched at the sight of his golden eyes, as though they looked at something repulsive.

“And this is a witness to the current case, a person from Jannabi who handles Twilight.”

Karyl deliberately stressed that word. He knew it was a futile gesture that would go unnoticed by everyone here, but he felt a spiteful urge to do it anyway.

As she drew back her hood, the tribeswoman’s long red hair flowed like cascading flames. Her black eyes were marked by two mesmerizing red dots, sparkling akin to gemstones—clear proof of heresy. The tight black leather armor clinging to her figure left nothing to the imagination.

“Ooohh...”

Some nobles, momentarily forgetting they were at a trial in the Sun Hall, gasped softly. Even the emperor’s eyes wavered at her appearance.

They only see what they want to see... Karyl noted with a cold smile.

They were captivated by her figure, oblivious to the numerous empty scabbards on her armor. She had entered the palace without her daggers, each coated in Jannabi’s deadly poison, capable of killing with just a scratch. The many scabbards were a testament to her skill.

I’ve been graced with a greater presence than I anticipated.

Karyl nodded approvingly to Hashir, who in return, offered a faint smile for the first time in a while.

Flanking Karyl was none other than Lilliana, the Red Mane, the patrol leader of the Jannabi tribe. Karyl hadn’t expected to see her here.

“...”

Without saying a word, Lilliana slowly scanned the room, as if to memorize the faces of those she would kill.

“Then,” Karyl began, lightly tapping Lilliana on the shoulder as he stepped forward, “please listen carefully to what I am about to say.”

He was composed, his voice soft.

All the pieces were now in place.