VOLUME 15: CHAPER 9

VOLUME 15: CHAPTER 9

As though they planned on flaunting the formation of the Pendara Coalition, it didn’t take long for news of the alliance to spread to other countries.

It was to be expected.

The recent events that had transpired on the continent were unprecedented.

In just a short period of time, two massive alliances had formed. Even the civilians felt that something was brewing behind the scenes—that there was a deeper meaning behind the movements of these behemoths.

They could feel that the peace they were currently experiencing was nothing but the calm before the storm.

In pubs and on the streets, the Pendara Coalition became a hot topic. Naturally, debates about which coalition was stronger emerged. Some leaned toward Pendara, while the majority believed that the coalition led by Lark Marcus was superior in terms of military strength.

‘I need to inform King Lark about this!’

This was Princess Luna’s immediate thought upon hearing the news.

Although she had gained tremendous fame and power after the demon incident in the capital, she knew that her current position wasn’t stable, contrary to what was shown on the outside.

Emperor Sylvius Lockheart Mavis openly doted on her, that was true—but she knew her father could change his treatment of her in the blink of an eye.

Princess Luna believed that the only way for her position within the Empire to become unshakable was by becoming one of King Lark’s people.

Once she gained Lark’s full recognition, even that madman of an emperor would think twice about discarding her once she was no longer of use.

‘Quickly!’

She hurried to the princess’s palace where she’d recently been relocated by her father. After entering her room, she took out a massive gemstone from a sealed chest—the intercity communication device left behind to her by Lark Marcus. She infused mana into the device and patiently waited for it to connect to the other side.

‘Why is no one answering? No, I mustn’t give up here!’

She repeated this several times, and after hours of anxiously waiting for Lark to accept the call, she finally received a response.

‘It’s connected!’

She inwardly heaved a sigh of relief. She really wanted the achievement of being the first person to report the news to him.

“Your Majesty!”

The intercity communication device glowed lightly. After a few seconds, a voice was heard from it.

“Princess?”

“Yes, Your Majesty! It’s me, Luna Lockheart Mavis. I apologize if I disturbed you during a crucial moment. I’ve contacted you to deliver some news.”

For a moment, Princess Luna felt like an undercover spy for the Kingdom of Lukas in the Empire. Surprisingly, this thought didn’t disgust her. Instead, she felt thrilled, as though she could finally show some of her worth through this.

“News? It must have been incredibly important for Your Imperial Highness to deliver personally.”

Although there was no one in the room and King Lark couldn’t see her, Princess Luna nodded respectfully at the gemstone.

“Yes, Your Majesty. A massive alliance has just been formed in the north. The Mullgray Pirates, the Principality, the Kingdom of Steelwall, the Three States Alliance, and the Grand Order of the Sun God have formed their own coalition.”

Princess Luna held her breath and added in a somewhat dramatic voice, “They call it the Pendara Coalition.”

Even someone like her, who wasn’t well-versed in military matters, could see that the Pendara Coalition had been formed as a response to the coalition formed by King Lark.

Although she hadn’t met Emperor Sylvius yet, she was certain her father was probably fuming with rage by now, insulted by the recent events.

In a sense, the timing of the Pendara Coalition’s formation was akin to mocking King Lark’s efforts to unite the continent against the demons. It was the northern countries’ way of saying they didn’t need an outsider’s protection—that they would rather create their own alliance than join the coalition the Empire belonged to.

She believed this was big news, and she expected Lark’s reaction to be proportionately significant.

But to her surprise, there was hardly any change in Lark’s tone.

“Is that so?” said Lark through the intercity communication device. “Pendara Coalition. Hmmm… I must say, it’s an ingenious move. Looking at the map, those countries are proximal to each other, making it easy to send reinforcements from one territory to another. If we consider just that alone, they’re currently superior to our coalition army—for now, at least.”

Princess Luna couldn’t believe that instead of being shocked, angry, or dismayed, King Lark sounded impressed.

She also didn’t miss that last part of King Lark’s statement.

“Your Majesty?”

“Hm?”

“You said… for now. What do you mean by that?”

Lark said in a somewhat amused voice, “Ah. I’m currently at the Dwarven Kingdom, Princess. And although our schedule was pushed by several months due to some unforeseen circumstances, the progress of the floating castle has been steady so far.”

Princess Luna’s eyes widened. It took her quite some time to process what ‘floating castle’ meant.

“F-Floating castle?”

“It’s literally that, Princess. A floating castle. A fortress capable of flying in the sky. I plan on using it as a method of transporting troops quickly during wartime.”

Princess Luna gulped. She’d been looking forward to shocking Lark with her news, but she was the one stupefied instead.

A floating castle?

Is it even possible for something that massive to fly in the sky?

In the end, she couldn’t contain her curiosity and ended up asking Lark about the feasibility of the matter.

“H-How… a floating castle… is that even possible, Your Majesty?”

Lark said in understanding, “I know it sounds unbelievable, but the dwarves are already working on it. Everyone who saw the blueprints said it should be possible to create it, as long as we supply the necessary materials. It costs quite a fortune though, I gotta admit. I’m glad I didn’t have to shoulder the majority of it.”

“…Haha.”

The idea of making a castle float in the sky was so absurd that all Princess Luna could do was let out a stifled laugh.

After that, their conversation steered into other matters related to the Empire. Lark specifically asked about the current status of the imperial capital. After all, that place had been nearly destroyed by the demons overnight. He also asked about Meredith City and Volkheim City. After hearing that repairs were already underway and that in a few years the cities would be livable again, Lark expressed relief.

True to his declaration before, it was apparent that Lark wished for the Empire to remain steadfast and strong. Lark told Princess Luna that the Empire, which most considered the strongest country on the continent, shouldn’t be allowed to fall.

The destruction of the Empire could become the prelude to humanity’s downfall.

“Then… thank you for accepting the call, Your Majesty.”

“I should be the one thanking you, Your Highness.”

‘He never changes.’

Despite wielding tremendous power, she couldn’t believe that King Lark treated her the same.

How could someone be so consistent?

Hearing Lark’s humble words, Princess Luna’s heart skipped a beat. She found herself smiling without realizing it. Her fingers played absently with the hem of her skirt as she listened, not wanting the conversation to end.

Silence fell.

A bit awkward, yet at the same time, comfortable.

“Princess?”

“Ah… yes! I’ll contact you again should I receive important news in the future, Your Majesty.”

She had to say these words now, so she would have an excuse to speak with King Lark again in the future.

Actually, the intercity communication device didn’t belong solely to her. It was supposed to be a shared artifact between her and the new Tower Master, Jacob Fraser. But Princess Luna never told the new Tower Master about this fact.

It may sound selfish, but she wanted to monopolize the only means of communication with King Lark.

“I’ll appreciate that, Your Highness.”

The device lost its glow, and the connection was cut off.

Princess Luna stood motionless in her room for several minutes, her mind replaying the things she and King Lark had talked about. Most of them were mundane things—news and events hardly worthy of being reported. But strangely, she enjoyed every moment of the conversation.

“This feeling…”

In that silence, it hit her.

She was falling for him.

Not with fireworks or fanfare, but slowly, unexpectedly. Like the way night slips over the sky. Quiet and inevitable.

***

[Dwarven Kingdom]

While Princess Luna was sorting her thoughts and emotions after that call, Lark, on the other hand, immediately started preparing for his duel with Kel’ Vual.

Well, instead of a duel, it was more apt to call it light sparring.

It was agreed upon that Lark would temporarily seal a part of his mana pool and channels, restricting him from using high-tier magic.

Moreover, he wouldn’t use any of his items in this spar. This way, it would prevent them from using highly destructive spells, and they wouldn’t need to go all the way to the Uncharted Mountains to fight.

“Was that the princess?” asked Kel’ Vual.

“Yes. She contacted me to deliver news. According to her, the northern kingdoms have created their own alliance. They call it the Pendara Coalition.”

“Hah… Is it their pride?” scoffed Kel’ Vual. “They should have just joined us. The Empire is considered the strongest nation in this realm, right? Isn’t it common sense to join our coalition just for the fact that the Empire is one of its members?”

“Things don’t always go the way we expect, Kel. And politics isn’t as straightforward as you think. I’m sure they also considered that option at some point.”

“Politics, huh. How stupid. Even the Demon Realm is rife with it. Speaking of which, I wonder what Barkuvara was thinking? I didn’t expect him to order the demons to retreat into the portal after you defeated his clone in the imperial capital.”

They’d already talked about this before, but the leader of the Arzomos Tribe felt the need to bring it up again this time.

Kel’ Vual smirked. “He probably did it for you. You’ve grown so weak compared to your past self that even the current Demon Lord took pity on you, Evander! Hahaha!”

Lark smiled wryly but didn’t refute Kel’ Vual’s words. He also felt that he had greatly influenced the Demon Lord Barkuvara’s decision to order the demons to retreat into the portal back then.

Judging from Barkuvara’s personality, he probably decided to give Lark a couple of years to regain even a portion of his old strength so that when he faced the Demon Lord’s real body, their fight would be somewhat worthy.

“I’ll regain some of my former strength soon,” said Lark.

He looked outside the window of their room in the workshop. Although he couldn’t see the main forge from here, he could feel the sweltering heat coming from it.

The sound of hammering and flames crackling had become familiar background noise by now.

After Lark told Gorovir that he would reconstruct only his left arm for now, the legendary blacksmith immediately pulled out a clump of pure, untainted adamantite and readily offered it to Lark.

According to the blacksmith, the dwarves were still having a hard time mining the adamantite deposits in the Bottomless Gorge, even after they’d successfully killed the boss monster.

The relentless attacks from the other monsters aside, the metal deposits were so hard that even their upgraded equipment broke, and they’d managed to chip away only the outer parts of the deposit for now.

By estimate, it would take another month or two before they could mine the central parts of the deposit. Hopefully, the central parts would be pure and untainted by external mana.

Gorovir offered to create the bones for Lark’s left arm first, using the adamantite he’d saved up over the years while they waited for the mining team to deliver the minerals.

At first, Lark refused, saying he would feel bad taking something the blacksmith had saved up throughout his life. But after the blacksmith’s insistence, Lark eventually agreed.

According to Gorovir, since he would be creating the floating castle soon, he didn’t need the adamantite anymore. Even the adamantite the mining team would deliver soon should suffice to create the engine cores.

Gorovir said it would be better to use his adamantite for Lark’s body reconstruction.

“Initially, I planned on visiting the northern countries soon,” said Lark. “But it seems I have to postpone it for now.”

The northern countries had already formed their own coalition. Their stance was clear. It would be naïve of Lark to believe that he could convince them to join their alliance when they were outright making a show of force.

Instead of wasting time convincing them to join, it would be better to proceed with the initial part of his body reconstruction instead.
Perhaps, it would be more prudent to visit the Kingdom of Thorforge or the Dukedom of Mauko after the recent events.

“This will be our last spar with your unmodified body,” said Kel’ Vual. “How about fighting with our lives on the line today? It feels like a waste not seeing the potential of that body.”

It was tempting, but Lark shook his head. He already knew that he’d reached his body’s potential long ago.

Life wasn’t fair, and not everyone was blessed with bodies suited for martial arts or magic. Although he was from the Marcus Family, it was apparent that most of his noble blood had been diluted by his commoner mother.

Of course, Lark was already grateful that he’d been given another chance at life after his death, so he didn’t really think much of his body’s current state.

Since he’d already reached this body’s full potential, all he had to do was break the shell and reconstruct it, making it suitable for learning magic and martial arts.

And to do that, he needed to reconstruct his body using the method he’d used in his previous life.

“I’ll pass on that offer, Kel,” said Lark. “Our usual sparring will do. I don’t want to push myself to the limits right now. Who knows when demons would suddenly come pouring out of a portal.”

“Tch. You’re no fun.”

“And besides, you might die if you go all out. You’re already one step away from the grave, old man.”
“Who cares about that? It’s not like I fear death. And it’ll be a great ending to my life if I die in battle.”

Lark said mischievously, “You can’t die yet, Kel. You still have to protect my kingdom, remember? It feels so nice to have an Arzomos as my slave.”

Both of them knew that Lark didn’t mean those words. Rather, they were simple banter from a close friend.

Kel’ Vual cracked his knuckles. “Slave? I have this urge to punch you in the face, Evander. Let’s start the sparring already!”

“How scary,” whistled Lark. “Take it easy on me, alright? I’ve restricted my mana channels, remember?”

“Just unlock all of them and let’s go all out. I’ll pummel you to the ground until you beg me to stop.”

“Oho~ Talking from experience, aren’t we? You still remember that time when I beat you and Agreas at the same time back then, huh? What did you say that time? – Please stop, it hurts, I won’t do it again. Please have mercy! Hahaha!”

“You—! You’re really asking for a beating, huh!”

Lark laughed. He jumped from the workshop and ran toward the outskirts, skidding to a halt upon reaching the place where their sparrings were frequently held.

Without another word, the two of them exchanged punches, kicks, and spells.

Shockwaves blew past, and the ground was overturned, sending rocks and dirt flying about.

Without relying on flashy spells, the two exchanged moves and struck each other. Kel’ Vual purposely removed the protective mana coursing through his body, lowering his defenses to that of a mere desert troll. Of course, even that was more than enough to render Lark’s attacks ineffective.

Every time Lark landed attacks on Kel’ Vual, the wounds would close and regenerate in mere seconds.

“What’s wrong?! Is that all you can do, Evander?”

“Hahaha! It feels like you’re hitting me with a pillow, Kel!”

Wounds started forming on Lark’s body. He’d already been strengthening his body with mana, but due to his restricted channels, he was limited to low-tier spells in this fight.

Still, despite the disadvantages, Lark felt exhilarated.

Kel’ Vual was really the best!

No one else was capable of making him struggle this much.

Their light sparring continued for several hours. And in the end, Lark’s stamina hit rock bottom, and his restricted mana reserves had been wrung dry. Of course, he could easily recover from these wounds once he unsealed his mana core, but he felt too tired to do that even now.

Lark lay on the ground, huffing, his entire body bruised and swollen.

“This feels great.”

Although he’d sustained numerous injuries from the sparring, he felt exhilarated.
“If only there weren’t any threats from the demons, I wouldn’t mind retaining this body.”

His current shell had its own charm, despite its shortcomings. And honestly, he’d grown quite fond of it over the years.

Lark would modify his body soon, and this might be the last time he would feel this vulnerable. Once he’d successfully modified his entire body, normal attacks like these would no longer affect him, and it would take at least grand-scale magic to injure him.

“Tch. I can’t beat you to a pulp after today, huh?” spat Kel’ Vual.

“Wanna punch me in the face one more time? This is the last time you’ll be able to easily inflict injuries on me, Kel.”

“Do I look like some savage to you?”

“Hahaha! Says the guy who kicked me in the stomach at least fifty times!”

Kel’ Vual sighed, stared at Lark’s laughing face, then slumped on the ground. He chuckled, then laughed alongside his friend.

“Ah, I didn’t notice it before, but this place has a great view, doesn’t it?” said Kel’ Vual. “Damn it. I wish I brought my painting tools with me.”

“Yeah, it looks beautiful.”

The two of them looked at the horizon, particularly at the clouds drifting in the middle of the Celestial Mountain beyond.

“Kel.”

“What?”

“I know I asked you to protect the kingdom, but,” Lark hesitated for a moment. He added, “Don’t push yourself too far. If there comes a time when you find yourself in peril, I won’t take it against you if you run.”

Kel’ Vual was one of the strongest demons in the entire Demon Realm. But he was already old—an Arzomos near the end of his lifespan.

Handling a couple of High Demons on his own would have been easy during his prime, but it was different now.

One of the reasons why Lark refused to have an all-out battle with Kel’ Vual was also for his sake. He was worried that the old demon would sustain injuries that would be hard for him to recover from.

“You should learn from the kids, particularly from George,” said Kel’ Vual. “Don’t think too much. Just live in the present and tackle things one at a time. You sound gloomy right now, you damn bastard.”

Lark smiled. “Is that so? I’m just worried about you, you know?”

Kel’ Vual scratched his cheek awkwardly. He faked a cough. “And besides, I’m not alone. I have my fellow tribe members and the army controlled by Jaraxus. You should worry about yourself instead.”

Lark slowly sat up. He unsealed his mana core and channels and, using magic, quickly healed the wounds on his body.

“Now, that’s better. Hey, let’s grab some drinks.”

Kel’ Vual grinned. He stood up and dusted off his body.

“Now we’re talking. Let’s go, pipsqueak.”

The two of them locked eyes with each other. After several seconds, they laughed at the same time. Kel’ Vual put his arm around Lark’s neck and shouted,

“Let’s get drunk, Evander! Hahaha!”

With the setting sun at their backs, the two walked back toward the workshop, where they planned to drink until they passed out.