Translator: Pai_

Turan was at a loss for words at the shocking news that the Dark Elves had raised an army and even destroyed three cities.

Considering that a single city usually encompassed dozens of nearby villages, it was difficult to even imagine how many lives had been lost.

Meisa seemed to feel the same way, as she remained silent for a long time before speaking with great difficulty.

"…Alright. Tell them I’ll return soon."

"You must leave right awa-"

"I said I’m going!"

At her sharp voice, the man flinched, deeply bowed his head, and left the garden.

Letting out a deep sigh, Meisa spoke to Turan.

"It seems I’ll need to return soon."

"Please be careful."

The reason for summoning Meisa when the Dark Elf army appeared was clear.

It was to have her join the subjugation force.

Turan didn’t bring up the idea of joining Meisa in fighting the Dark Elves.

More than the need to hide his bloodline, there was another reason: House Arabion wasn’t the kind of place that would rely on outsiders to deal with something as trivial as subjugating another race.

To them, Turan would likely look like some thief trying to latch onto their efforts and sneakily steal the spoils, magic power.

"Thank you. Oh, now that I think about it, I won’t be able to give you what I owe you for the information on the Decay Magic at this rate."

Meisa hesitated for a while as if pondering something, then carefully opened her mouth.

"Turan, do you happen to know that electricity flows through the human body?"

"Electricity… ?"

Seeing Turan’s puzzled expression, Meisa’s face brightened.

"You don’t know, do you? Then how about I teach you about it properly to settle my debt? It’ll definitely be a great help."

"Understood."

When Turan accepted, Meisa immediately began explaining the theory.

"When a person sees or feels something, that part of the body sends electricity to the brain. If they see something, the eyes send it to the brain; if they smell something, the nose sends it to the brain. The brain then understands the sensation through that electricity and sends electrical signals throughout the body to command it to move."

The more he listened to her, the more absurd the explanation sounded.

Why would something like lightning-like energy flow through the human body, and how could it transmit sensations or commands?

However, since Turan had frequently come across this type of knowledge in the library, he knew there were truths that were hard to grasp intuitively. Rather than trying to understand it outright, he decided to embed the information into his memory.

This, without a doubt, seemed to be a part of the natural laws that House Arabion had passed down through generations.

"And if you accelerate this electricity with the power of magic?"

"The speed at which you perceive and react would increase."

"Exactly. Want to give it a try?"

Though half-skeptical, Turan immediately attempted to test the theory Meisa had explained.

First, he imagined a very faint lightning current flowing through his body, then willed the lightning transmitted through the pathway to speed up while channeling his magic power into it,

"Ho-w i-s i-t-"

The moment he activated the magic, Meisa’s voice, coming from the opposite side, distorted and stretched bizarrely.

Turan realized that even his blinking had slowed and cautiously took a step forward.

It felt as though his body was submerged in water…

As he enjoyed this slowed world for several seconds, a sharp pain stabbed at his temple.

Quickly canceling the magic, the world returned to normal in an instant.

"Did it work?"

"Yes, this is…."

Even with just a brief attempt, Turan could feel the immense potential this magic held.

It was hard to understand why something so powerful had been traded for mere information on Decay Magic.

"You’ll probably struggle to adapt for now due to the headaches, but once you get used to it, you’ll be able to maintain it for quite some time."

"This is… no matter how I think about it, it feels like far too much compared to what I gave you."

Turan's words made Meisa smile knowingly as she nodded.

"That might be true. But in that case, you can just pay me back later when you learn an even better magic spell, right?"

After saying that, Meisa flew out of the garden in a flash, leaving before Turan could respond.

"Ah…"

Only then did Turan realize that this was her way of promising their next meeting.

In the distance, the voice of the Arabion family man who had left earlier echoed mournfully, calling out for the young lady.

* * *

After finishing his magic practice alone, Turan was on his way back to his room when he ran into Ashiz.

From the fatigue evident on Ashiz’s face, Turan guessed that his friend had just come from an uncomfortable or demanding event, such as a family meeting.

"Turan, I’m not sure if you’ve heard the news…"

"The Dark Elves?"

"What? Where did you hear that? I only just heard it from my mother."

"I was training with Meisa earlier. Could it have been because of the two I killed back then?"

"I don’t know. It’s not like those bastards go around explaining the reasons for their massacres."

Even as he said this, the dark expression on Ashiz’s face hinted that he also suspected the conflict from that time might have been the trigger.

Of course, Ashiz was merely a victim in that incident, but emotions don’t always follow logic.

"Is House Berg going to join the war?"

"Huh? No, we’re not going. We’re busy with magic artifact production. Uncle Haram is staying at the main house too."

In other words, this meant that the production of the magic artifact Turan was waiting for wouldn’t be delayed.

"More importantly, what are you planning to do now?"

"Do about what?"

"What do you mean, ‘what’? It’s a war! Traveling alone on a pilgrimage in this situation is practically suicide. If you run into a necromancer's army during your journey, you’ll find yourself ascending to the Celestial Palace that very day."

In other words, Ashiz was suggesting that Turan remain a guest of House Berg for the time being, at least until the current situation was resolved. Perhaps a few months to a year, long enough for the issue to settle down.

"No, I can’t do that."

"Why not?"

"Because I’m someone who has his own things to take care of."

And, if possible, Turan didn’t want to further burden House Berg.

As long as he didn’t belong to this household, any help he received would turn into a debt he couldn’t repay.

Realizing that Turan wouldn’t be persuaded, Ashiz let out a deep sigh.

"Ugh, if you say so, I guess there’s nothing I can do…"

"It’s not like I’m leaving forever. We’ll see each other again eventually. I could even come back to visit."

"True."

Ashiz seemed somewhat comforted by those words and smiled as he patted Turan’s shoulder.

"Now that I think about it, I didn’t notice since we see each other every day, but your body’s gotten a lot bigger lately."

"Does it seem that way?"

"Yeah. You’re starting to look a bit like Uncle Haram."

Indeed, over the past three weeks, Turan’s once lean body had undergone a significant transformation.

As Ashiz said, he hadn’t yet reached the bulky build of Haram, but if his body used to resemble a deer, it now looked more like a leopard.

This was thanks to the physical training equipment prepared in the Berg estate, as well as Haram’s rigorous coaching, something that wouldn’t have been possible in an ordinary setting.

After all, it’s not easy to provide the kind of stimulation that builds muscle on a noble’s body in most places.

"Now that you mention it, I do feel about twice as strong these days. My stamina’s improved a lot too."

"…That much?"

"Yeah. If you ever get the chance, you should ask for some training too."

"Hmm."

Ashiz pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

"On second thought, I’ll pass."

It wasn’t that Ashiz was particularly lazy; rather, Haram’s physical training was genuinely that grueling.

In fact, Turan accepting Haram’s training despite not having a bloodline specialized for melee combat made him something of an anomaly.

“Well, in any case, it’s a good thing we made it a bit larger in case you grew more. It should fit you just fine.”

“What are you talking about?”

At Turan’s question, Ashiz grinned mischievously and shook his head.

“You don’t need to know. Just look forward to it.”

No matter how many times Turan asked what he was talking about, Ashiz refused to answer.

* * *

A few days after Meisa left for her family’s main estate, Turan accompanied the members of House Berg to Morgen City, the central area of the Takein Plains.

They were there to send off the subjugation force that was departing to defeat the Dark Elf army.

Twenty-seven nobles from the main family of House Arabion, four hundred knights...

When joined by the vassal houses’ nobles and knights who possessed bloodlines suited for combat, the scale was staggering.

Wasn’t it said that during the past war against House Zahar, several times this number of nobles and knights had fought?

“For the glory of Arabion!”

As the subjugation force marched, people on the sidelines shouted and raised their clenched fists into the air.

Not long after, Turan caught sight of Meisa’s face at the front of the procession.

Unlike her time recovering at the Berg estate just a short while ago, her skeletal face now looked as fatigued as it had when he first saw her, full of exhaustion.

It seemed her time at the main estate over the past few days hadn’t been particularly enjoyable.

“Oh, it’s Meisa! Meisa! Over here!”

Excited, Ashiz waved his hands wildly, but the head of the Midella family, standing nearby, quickly pulled his hands down.

Ashiz was then subjected to a long scolding about maintaining dignity as a noble.

Around that time, a noble from House Arabion soared into the air and shouted loudly.

[“The family head is entering!”]

Perhaps utilizing wind magic, the voice was perfectly conveyed to the tens of thousands of people who had gathered to see off the subjugation force.

In an instant, silence fell over the crowd, and Turan watched as an old man walked to the front of the subjugation force.

‘So that’s…’

The current head of House Arabion, Badal Arabion.

Meisa’s father looked to be well over sixty years old at first glance.

How many years must a powerful noble have lived to show such signs of aging? And just how immense must the magic power he had accumulated over that time be?

“Ashiz.”

“What?”

“The head of House Arabion doesn’t look well. Is he in poor health?”

His face was unusually pale, not just due to old age, but pale enough to make it seem like he could collapse at any moment.

At Turan’s question, Ashiz scratched his head.

“Well, I did hear that he got injured in a duel with the head of House Zahar a long time ago… But with his age, who knows?”

“Hm.”

Shortly after, the head of House Arabion spoke in a weary, aged voice.

[“Warriors of Arabion, you are now departing to protect humanity. I command you, do not return alive until you have slaughtered every one of those vile, inhuman beings. For humanity.”]

“For humanity!”

Everyone echoed the family head’s words, anticipating a follow-up speech. But to their surprise, the head simply stared silently at the subjugation force, not continuing with his address.

Could it be that this was all he had to say? With such a massive force gathered here?

The murmurs of discontent rippled through the gathered crowd, as if Turan wasn’t the only one who felt this way.

But as soon as the family head raised his hand, silence fell over everyone.

It was an instinctive reaction, everyone could feel it.

Something extraordinary was about to happen.

“Ah…”

At some point, the clear skies, once bathed in sunlight, began to darken, casting shadows over the crowd.

Turan realized that the family head was manipulating the high winds in the sky to gather clouds.

How skilled must one be in wind manipulation magic, and how much magic power must one pour into it, for such a feat to be possible?

After a moment, the family head murmured quietly and lowered his hand.

[“Move forward with the belief that I stand behind you. This is the power of Arabion.”]

Rumble. From a distant horizon came the sound of thunder rolling.

Soon, the clouds in the sky turned pitch black, and then bolts of lightning began to rain down, one after another.

Once. Twice. Three times-

What started as scattered strikes soon turned into a torrential downpour of lightning, as if the heavens were unleashing their wrath.

Could the rage of celestial gods resemble this sight?

Witnessing such a spectacle for the first time in their lives, the people descended into a kind of frenzy, shouting anything and everything.

“Uwaaahhhhh!”

“Arabion forever!”

“For humanity-!”

“Thunder Lord, bless your descendant!”

Some shouted out of fear, others out of awe, and in the midst of their chaotic cries, Turan too stood still, unable even to breathe, watching the raw display of power before him.

Hadn’t Keorn once said that he saw the head of Arabion crush a small hill with just a gesture?

This magical display was no less astonishing.

The destructive energy imbued in each bolt of lightning could be felt even from where Turan was standing.

It wasn’t hard to guess why the family head was exerting such power despite his deteriorating physical condition.

It was undoubtedly a show of force aimed at the various factions that might dare target Arabion, primarily those connected to House Zahar.

It was his way of saying, I am still strong. Don’t even think about targeting Arabion, just because part of its forces have left.

Not long after, the skies cleared, and Ashiz, his face half-dazed, mumbled to himself.

"Wow, I don't think even the Preah God Tribe descending would be this impressive."

Turan agreed with his sentiment, but even as he nodded, another thought emerged in his mind.

The words the spirit of the library had once told him, that he possessed a bloodline closest to the gods.

'One day, I too…'

Turan longed to become a being as mighty as this.