Translator: Pai_

Long ago, the nobles of Lavitas were troubled.

Due to the influence of their bloodline abilities, their physical bodies did not age, so why, then, were they still bound by the constraint of lifespan?

The lives of ordinary nobles, while comparatively longer, were not all that different from those of regular humans.

They would grow normally until around the age of twenty, when their magic power naturally matured, and from then on, their aging would noticeably slow, and they would live for about two hundred to four hundred years, gradually aging and eventually dying.

In contrast, the nobles of Lavitas also had an upper limit to their lifespan determined by the amount of magic power, but from a certain point onward, their physical bodies would stop aging, and one day, they would simply fall into an unawakened sleep and die.

The timing of this sleep varied by individual, but it was only a few decades longer than the death of other nobles at best.

Sometimes, they would even die earlier than nobles of the same class.

The degree to which lifespan increased relative to magic power was also subject to individual variation.

In a way, this was even more agonizing than slowly aging to death.

Their bodies remained perfectly intact as if still in youth, yet they lived each day uncertain if they would even open their eyes tomorrow, how could such a life truly be called living?

It was inevitable that the nobles of Lavitas would pour every effort into overcoming this constraint of lifespan.

They delved into every kind of human experiment, using their remarkable healing abilities, and even pursued ancient mysteries, and in doing so, they stumbled upon some foundational theories of Soul Magic, a discovery that bordered on the miraculous.

Especially considering that the fallen old gods had desperately removed clues about soul magic to protect their vested interests.

And after long research, they finally succeeded in discovering that the deaths of Lavitas nobles were related to the aging of the soul.

For those unaware of the existence of Soul Magic, the only somewhat viable approach was to utilize the Soul Manipulation Technique of the White Elves.

To that end, they even put their House's Sacred Relic on the line as a clue and spent a long time tracking leads, until at last, they acquired a breakthrough.

*

The lounge was so silent with focus that not even the sound of breathing could be heard.

Receiving everyone’s attention, Rida calmly began to explain.

“After the head of House Parsha left, I discovered that the death row prisoner who had uttered those words was gradually dying as time passed."

This was something that could not occur according to the conventional method of soul possession, which was based on the principles of Soul Manipulation Technique.

Unlike conventional Soul Magic, which parasitically invades the target’s spirit form and devours its contents, this method only temporarily suppressed the opponent’s spirit form and took control.

The most important point was that the way the death row prisoner was dying resembled the deaths of the Lavitas nobles.

Sensing a sudden spark of insight, Rida, together with the White Elf princess Nia, who was also part of the experiment, began carefully probing and investigating the death row prisoner’s spirit form over and over again.

As a result, they discovered a decisive difference between him and the other death row prisoners.

"Wait, it would be better to show this directly to those who can use soul magic."

With those words, Rida briefly focused her mind and drew out her own spirit form.

It looked similar to before, except now the "leash" had been completely removed, and there were no longer any needles embedded.

Floating slightly to make herself visible to all, she reached toward her neck.

[Between the collarbones and slightly below, a little above where the heart would be. Of course, there's no heart in this state.]

With that joke, Rida’s hand gently parted the skin and the bone that would have covered it, and retrieved something from within.

The oval-shaped transparent orb pulsed as if alive, with a liquid-like substance sloshing inside. It bore no resemblance to the term “Soul Chain”, which was meant to signify the chain connecting body and soul.

[The corpse that House Parsha’s head possessed had this organ completely ruptured, distorting even the surrounding structure. Just in case, I checked the spirit forms of other death row prisoners, and when I found this organ absent, I received some help from the Soul Manipulation Technique and figured out how to materialize it.]

In other words, the shock from the unidentified spirit form that possessed Turan’s inner self was strong enough to burn away all of the Soul Chains in an instant.

It was information that would have been difficult to discover without prior knowledge and research.

[After confirming with several other prisoners and even the spirit form of the head of House Varaha, I concluded that this is the Soul Chain. The young have it full, the old lack it, and the stronger one's magic power, the greater the total amount, so it must relate to lifespan.]

While Rida returned to her physical body after completing her explanation, no one spoke.

Partly because the facts she presented were so shocking, and also.

“You don’t have much left, do you.”

“There’s no exact way to measure it, so I can’t be certain, but I’d guess maybe one to five years. Of course, there’s also a chance the depletion could suddenly accelerate, and it might disappear entirely by tomorrow.”

The contents of the Soul Chain Rida had shown moments earlier were nearly depleted.

Though it was a discovery that anyone would be glad about, the reason she hesitated to reveal it was likely because of this.

“Have you figured out a way to replenish the contents inside it?”

“That, I haven’t solved yet. If it were something easy to resolve, those people wouldn’t have kept changing bodies.”

Even just successfully observing the Soul Chain was an encouraging breakthrough.

Up until now, they had been grasping at air, knowing only of its possible existence.

And yet, despite having taken a step forward like this, no one expressed joy.

Because none among them disliked this woman who acted like a grandmother in a youthful face, they were now faced with the stark realization of her approaching death.

“Rida nim...”

“Don’t make that face, Meisa. To be honest, I did hope I might live another fifty years or so, but even so, I’ve lived quite a long life.”

As Rida gently wiped the tears from Meisa’s eyes, Turan silently sank into thought.

That form, the way life was accumulated, everything about it was an organ completely unfit for the name “Soul Chain”...

“Perhaps even the name Soul Chain itself was intentionally given.”

“Hm?”

To answer Solif’s puzzled look, Turan added an explanation.

“We all unconsciously assumed it was some sort of chain-like organ. If not for a situation like this, even if someone had been lucky enough to find it, they would’ve just passed it over.”

“Ah, true...”

Besides, unless one compared it against the others and examined all of them, how could anyone possibly know what it contained inside?

Especially when it required knowledge of how to materialize it in the first place, then it would have been even harder to find.

“Anyway, with this, we can definitely draw Lavitas in.”

“Indeed.”

Hadn’t this been a display of research results using the White Elf Soul Manipulation practitioner that was too substantial to ignore?

Of course, if a method to replenish the depleted lifespan was not found within the next few years, Rida would die when hers ran out. But with that much time, some among the other Lavitas nobles might also awaken to Soul Magic.

Still, Turan hoped that wouldn’t be necessary, and that Rida could remain among them for at least another hundred years.

But realistically, could it even be possible to find a method so quickly, one that even the gods had failed to discover?

What was even more despairing was if they did find a method but were unable to put it into practice.

If it required sacrificing tens of thousands of humans just to extend one year of life, it couldn’t possibly be called a rational solution.

*

Along with delivering the results Rida had uncovered, Turan added a request for major cooperation from the Lavitas side.

Even if it didn’t go so far as the head of House Varaha personally participating like during the last Varaha invasion, he asked at least for assistance in attacking the southwestern part of Zahar.

Given the enormity of the discovery and how openly it was shared, they wouldn’t dare to refuse.

Above all, both keys, Rida and the Soul Manipulation practitioner, who continued to produce results, were in Turan’s hands.

Meanwhile, Solif, having returned to Varaha, also resumed preparations for war.

Since the Parsha had secured a significant stake during the previous war with House Ruvan, there was a valid reason not to refuse their support. Because of that, few criticized Solif for participating in the war out of personal feelings.

Thus, as everyone moved busily, Turan too threw himself into action with a passion that made even ten bodies feel insufficient.

Lately, what Turan had been most focused on was exploring the boundary of the world with the Librarian, using the "key" they had recently obtained.

After about three days, once the item had regained its power, Turan entered the boundary again to investigate its secrets and discovered one more fact.

To use it correctly, it had to be used not in the central area of the world like the territory of House Parsha, but near the actual boundary.

‘Maybe the reason House Nagin is located at the northwestern edge is because of this...’

If that were truly the reason, then Monarch must have been exploring the secrets of the world far longer ago than Turan had thought.

He figured that once he had the time, it would be good to visit the fog zone to the east of Varaha.

Meanwhile, Turan was not neglecting his duties as head of house either.

Lately, he had delegated most of the routine paperwork to Ashiz and some to Meisa, but there were a few tasks only he could handle.

Among them were the nearly completed development of the secret weapon, the research on lifespan extension with Rida, and,

“I shall accept Tasan, a noble of the South Sea, as a vassal of Parsha and grant him the surname Emund.”

“Thank you, head of house!”

Tasan, the former leader of the Red Whale Pirates whom Turan had met in the past, bowed his head deeply before him.

Welcoming newly joined wizards into the family was something that only the head of house could do.

House Parsha was currently a group with no accumulated legacy, sustained purely by the charm of its head.

The reason why Tasan, originally a pirate of the South Sea, suddenly pledged himself to House Parsha was, of course, because he had been contacted by Turan.

With the mermaids running rampant and making daily life miserable, the "hyung" he acknowledged had offered him and his family a place to settle. There was no way he could refuse.

Naturally, the regular pirate crew that followed him would also be given positions such as officers of the Parsha security force, where they could put their strength to good use.

This was only possible because those who had wantonly murdered and raped were never accepted as subordinates in the first place in the Red Whale Pirates.

“I’ll be counting on you from now on.”

“Mm!”

After Tasan withdrew, Turan received a report from Ashiz that the number of wizards under House Parsha had grown significantly more than it had been before the war.

This was due to wandering wizards from other regions, like Tasan just now, joining them.

What attracted them to House Parsha was the fact that, unlike other great noble houses, there was only one direct noble, Turan himself.

In other houses, these people would have been overshadowed by nobles of the great house bloodlines, but here they had the chance to secure a position within a powerful force.

Even more, as shown when Turan distributed the undead spirits he had obtained not long ago, the head of house himself was pouring in large amounts of magic power from somewhere, allowing Parsha's wizards to quickly reach their growth limits.

And that wasn’t all.

These newly joined wizards had become stronger than most others of the same level thanks to Turan’s consistent support in their magic training.

All he did was teach them basic tricks and guide them in how to train, but even that was no different from a person with sight guiding the blind.

So passed more than a month of frantic movement and repeated reorganization.

Just as Turan was wrapping up the day’s tasks, an urgent report came in.

“Head of house, an emergency report via beacon fire!”

“Speak.”

“Three cities, Bigen, Sagas, and Apello, have been attacked! The enemy is presumed to be nobles of Zahar! They are requesting reinforcements!”

All three cities mentioned were located in the southeast, bordering the Enril Desert.

Upon hearing that Zahar’s assault had begun, Turan was not greatly shaken.

It felt to him like the inevitable had finally arrived.

Most likely, the reason the head of house hadn’t been instantly beheaded and the cities hadn’t fallen was thanks to the continued supply of concealment defense magic artifacts.

And also because the enemy was sticking to Zahar’s usual attack patterns, repeated ambushes and withdrawals while remaining concealed, rather than risking large-scale assaults with heavy casualties.

For now, there wouldn’t be any major damage, but just the fact that the family’s wizards would no longer be able to leave their base would deal a significant blow in the long term. It was necessary to respond as quickly as possible.

“Confirm the size and composition of the enemy force and organize a defense unit. Issue a call-to-arms.”

“Understoo-”

“Turan!”

In the middle of giving orders, Ashiz suddenly burst into the office.

His face was drenched in cold sweat, likely from being so startled.

“I already heard. Zahar has officially launched their attack, right?”

“That’s not it!? Damn, it’s that Aravion has started moving in earnest. I just received the report from our spies moments ago.”

“So they’re planning to storm in together.”

Turan visualized a map in his head and imagined the enemies’ movements.

Aravion would descend along the forest from the Takein Plains, and Zahar would push westward from the Enril Desert.

At this rate, House Parsha would be crushed between the two forces.

That is, if they sat back and did nothing.

“First, summon Solif and the Varaha army so we can assign troops to defend against Zahar’s assault and intercept Aravion. Ideally, Lavitas will also arrive in time to join us.”

They had received a favorable response to the proposal sent along with the revelation of the Soul Chain’s secret last time, so unless something extreme happened like Osel dying suddenly, that plan should hold.

As Turan began forming his strategy, Ashiz looked at him and asked,

“What about Carmine?”

“They’re actually more helpful by staying out of it... but just in case, we’ll have them guard the northeastern coast from potential mermaid incursions. Fighting alongside them is too dangerous.”

Turan estimated the probability of Carmine betraying them during joint operations at about 20 to 30 percent.

That might not seem high, but considering their irrational obsession with the gods’ world, it was a risk too great to ignore.

A betrayal there could destroy everything in an instant.

In comparison, coastal defense was something they could afford to lose, even if Carmine betrayed them and it was breached, they could write it off as inevitable.

After all, with their current military composition, they couldn’t defend the southeast, west, and northeast simultaneously.

Having thus laid out the grand strategy, Turan assigned tasks to Ashiz, then personally crossed over using the Jade Mirror to deliver the invasion news to Solif.

Upon hearing it, Solif let out a deep sigh.

“Seriously, there’s not a single moment of rest.”

“No kidding.”

In the distant future, this time would no doubt be remembered as an era of blood, death, and chaos.

Even the previous Aravion–Zahar war was considered a great war, the likes of which hadn’t occurred for centuries, yet the recent wars far surpassed it in both scale and casualties.

Later, people might see this era as the birth of House Parsha, or as just another fleeting spark from a once-rising great house that vanished.

That would be decided by the results of the battles now about to begin.

*

“Hold them back!”

Alos Mebern, the lord of Bigen, shouted until his throat was hoarse as he intercepted an oncoming blade.

When he swung the staff in his hand, a spear of light responded to his motion and shot forward.

“Urgh-!”

Two Zahar nobles who had launched the blade attack let out low groans and glared at Alos before retreating.

After the raid ended, Alos, visibly exhausted, gave new orders to his retainers.

“If any part of the city goes dark, report it to me immediately. We don’t know where they’ll try to infiltrate next.”

“Understood, Family Head. But more importantly, you should get some rest...”

“Ah.”

At the knight’s words, Alos realized he hadn’t properly slept in days.

It had been three days since the surprise attacks by Zahar nobles began.

Fortunately, they weren’t especially powerful by Zahar standards, and their numbers weren’t great either, so the city hadn’t been completely overrun. But even so, they couldn’t break out to drive them off.

Without this place full of light orbs, it would be difficult to handle their concealment and ambushes.

“The beacon fire... it made it, right?”

“Yes, I believe it did.”

Alos closed his eyes and recalled the distant past.

The time during the war between Zahar and Aravion, when his older brother, who supported Aravion, was killed by Zahar’s hand.

And now, the irony that he himself was fighting against Zahar.

‘That doesn’t mean surrender is an option.’

Alos looked at the spheres of light installed throughout the family stronghold, and at the powerful magic artifact he held in his hand.

All of it had been granted to him by Turan Parsha.

His loyalty to Turan wasn’t born of soft sentiments like gratitude or emotional debt.

It was because he feared the consequences of standing against someone powerful enough to bestow such things, feared what would happen if he ever betrayed him.

He remembered his son declaring that Turan, the head of the Gray Zone, would conquer all the great noble houses and rise as the ruler of the world.

If that truly came to pass, he too would enjoy the benefits...

As he let his imagination drift and dozed off halfway, a thunderous roar woke him.

“Another attack!?”

“N-no... it’s reinforcements!”

“Finally!”

It had been worth urgently deploying some forces to send the beacon fire.

Though, in the end, those soldiers were all annihilated, having failed to break through the Zahar army...

Still, Alos soon realized that the roaring sound had been going on continuously since earlier and narrowed his eyes.

Wasn’t the noise a bit too frequent for just a few bursts of powerful magic?

“What is this sound?”

"Well, I'm not sure either......."

Even as they spoke, the reinforcements, scattering dazzling light, were approaching from afar.

Thanks to his noble’s keen eyesight, Alos could directly see how the reinforcements were crushing the Zahar army that had surrounded the residential district.

“Uh...”

The wizards who appeared to be the reinforcements were all holding long rods for some reason.

He remembered hearing from his son not long ago that a weapon of that shape was still under development and far from being deployed in real combat...

“Fire!”

Tatang! With a sharp noise, dozens of rods spewed smoke and thunder as Zahar nobles collapsed, bleeding.

*****

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