Chapter 175. The Solaid Kingdom (3)

“I have been rude to the one who upholds the will of Lord Kailam Juan.”

Commander Karap bowed his head before Evan, who was much younger than him.

And the surrounding Solaid soldiers did not find this scene strange at all.

That was how absolute the weight of the name Kailam was in this kingdom.

“I will tell you everything I know about the Karnak you mentioned.”

“Thank you. This is solely for the sake of the kingdom, so please, cast aside any remaining doubts.”

“Doubts? I would not dare to think such a thing. How could I harbor even a shred of doubt towards the one who carries on Lord Kailam’s will. However……”

Karap took a moment to catch his breath, then began to unravel the story about Karnak that Evan was unaware of, and the current situation of the kingdom, one by one.

“First, I must tell you this. In fact, Karnak has not moved a single time since Lord Kailam passed away. To be precise, no one has been able to move it.”

“Does truly no one know? It is an ancient weapon that protects the kingdom, after all.”

“There must be a way to activate it, but… no one has been able to figure it out so far. Even when we mobilized the mages of Remshait, they could not grasp its principle.”

“Even when the reclusive scholars of Remshait stepped in?”

Evan’s eyes flashed sharply for a moment.

“Hmm……. That’s.”

Just as he had not passed down the fist technique Sertuan, Kailam had not even left behind how to activate the ancient weapon Karnak to future generations.

‘Come to think of it, that’s strange. Why didn’t Kailam pass on the activation method of Karnak even to his descendants?’

Come to think of it, Kailam had not told Evan exactly how to move Karnak either.

He might have hidden it because he was from an enemy country, or there might have been another deep reason.

But the fact that he had not left behind not only his own martial arts but also the activation method of a weapon that protects the kingdom was a difficult part to accept.

Although a few questions arose, there was no time to ponder now.

“So where is Karnak?”

“It is not far from here. It is in a small village to the southwest, Hohen.”

“Hohen…? It was that close.”

The village of Hohen.

That was the place where the emissary delegation was presumed to be, and where he had sent the rest of his party.

“It seems Lord Kailam judged that the true enemy of the Solaid Kingdom would be the Empire. That is probably why he placed Karnak close to here.”

“That statement is not wrong.”

“That’s right. It can only be that he had foresight.”

A memory flashed through Evan’s mind.

In the past, after a bloody battle on the battlefield, he had left a sincere warning to Kailam, who had become both an enemy and a comrade.

—As long as the Empire exists, it is an eternal enemy. So, always be prepared.

And Kailam had taken those words to heart.

‘Now…….’

Evan’s gaze hardened.

It was Evan’s turn to carry on the will he had protected.

“Now that I know the location of Karnak, I must go there.”

“I will provide a guide and an escort……”

Karap stepped forward to repay those who had saved them.

But Evan shook his head and firmly refused.

“It’s alright. In a situation where even one more hand is not enough, how can I take away your forces? I have only one request. Please protect this place until I return.”

They were barely holding on now, but soon, the Empire’s reinforcements would arrive.

Of course, Evan and his party had rushed here in less than a day, but the Empire’s large army, consisting mostly of infantry, would take time to move.

Nevertheless, time was not on the kingdom’s side, so Evan had no time to waste.

‘There’s no need to tell them that the Empire’s reinforcements are coming.’

While knowledge can be power, this fact was more likely to be a poison that would crush the soldiers’ morale.

Rather, before the enemy’s reinforcements arrived, or at least before this Ramacht Plains was completely captured, Evan had to bring Karnak here.

“I can go and come back on my own.”

“Then at least I will write you a letter of guarantee along with a pass. With that, you should be able to talk to the elders of Hohen village.”

Since it was a matter of handling the kingdom’s secret weapon, Karap wanted to provide Evan with as much convenience as possible.

He intended to give him a letter stating that he guaranteed him, without the need for a detailed explanation.

“If you do that, it will be convenient for me too. It’s not like I can use Sertuan anytime I want.”

“Very well. Please wait a moment. I will prepare the pass and the letter.”

As Karap left, Evan turned his head to the two who would remain here.

“Gaiard, Rorn. I have a favor to ask.”

Evan decided to leave one safety measure here.

That was to leave the two non-humans here.

“Stay here and help them. I will bring something to break this deadlock.”

“Will you be alright alone?”

As Gaiard asked, Evan silently nodded.

At that, Rorn looked at him, then slowly closed and opened his eyes and said calmly.

“Go.”

Leaving the two of them here, Evan looked in the direction of Hohen village and raised the energy of his entire body.

‘There’s no time to conserve strength.’

Finally, he nodded to Karap, who had returned with the pass and the handwritten letter, and made a request.

“Please… hold on.”

With those last words, Evan launched himself with explosive speed and ran towards Hohen village.

* * *

Mei, who had separated from Evan’s party, was heading straight in the direction from which the Empire’s reinforcements were coming.

This mission was a grave and dangerous one that required her to infiltrate the heart of the enemy camp, but Evan trusted her, and Mei herself was calm, befitting that trust.

‘There it is. Wow… the number of heads is no joke. Is this an army, or a horde of monsters?’

There was a reason for her thought.

The Empire’s reinforcements were leading not only vampires but also beings that could be called monsters.

Of course, these monsters were not like vampires, possessing intelligence and moving independently.

They were bound by chains and carried in prison wagons, being moved as if they were weapons.

‘They’re using all sorts of things. The Kandahr were monstrous humans, but those are real monsters.’

In any case, Mei did not just watch from a distance but decided to get closer and observe the enemy closely.

Moving stealthily, using the night sky covered with dark clouds as her shadow, she ambushed and subdued a soldier who was unlucky enough to be on guard alone on the outskirts of the enemy’s main camp.

Then, Mei, who had changed into the soldier’s clothes, calmed her gaze and nonchalantly infiltrated deep into the enemy’s camp.

—Rustle!

Since such a large army was moving all at once, no one noticed that one soldier had been replaced.

Of course, it would be discovered eventually over time, but she had some leeway until then.

So, Mei moved quickly to gather all the necessary information before sunrise and leave.

—Thump, thump.

As she naturally walked through the main camp, she disguised her identity from a simple soldier to a centurion, then a chiliarch.

Thus, Mei, who had widened the scope of her movements by deceiving the hierarchy, gathered information in sequence.

‘Dozens of vampires, and many monsters of grade 6-7, there are also quite a few elite soldiers of aura level or higher. But this can’t be all.’

In addition to these, there were siege weapons to capture the fortress, and a vast force that included many mages.

They alone were threatening enough, but there was someone else Mei had to find.

‘A being that can turn the tide of war… My employer said the Seven Extreme Stars are such people.’

She had to find out if there was an overwhelming powerhouse here who could dominate the battlefield like Bakan of the Kandahr.

However, there were many restrictions to searching this entire vast camp.

‘And usually, such a person wouldn’t be hiding as an ordinary soldier. It’s highly likely they are the commander.’

Just as Bakan of the Kandahr was, just as the Executor of the Kaien Kingdom was, it was the way of this world that the strong naturally rise to high positions.

‘I have to find him.’

And so, Mei headed towards the center of the main camp.

“Commander!”

At that moment, hearing a soldier’s shout from a distance, Mei sharpened her gaze and listened intently.

And she soon discovered a middle-aged man who appeared in response to the call of commander.

‘He’s strong, but not to the extent Evan was worried about.’

Mei observed the middle-aged man before her sharply.

As a result of gauging his approximate aura, he was a skilled individual at the level of a Sword Expert.

He was undoubtedly a strong person, but it was embarrassing to compare him to Bakan of the Kandahr.

‘Could it be that Evan was worried for nothing?’

She judged that there was no more information to be gained here.

She immediately turned around and made her way out of the main camp to convey what she had seen to Evan.

However, just as she was about to leave the camp completely, a chill ran down Mei’s spine.

‘……This feeling?!’

An unbelievably powerful aura instantly pressed down on the air and spread.

Mei’s instincts were clearly warning her.

That the true threat of the Empire was in this vicinity.

‘Where? Where is this aura coming from?’

Mei scanned her surroundings sharply and confirmed that there were only ordinary low-ranking soldiers nearby.

However, this sense of pressure that pierced deep into her heart was by no means a delusion.

‘Could it be…….’

With a glimmer of hope, she slowly raised her head and looked up at the sky.

And Mei, whose gaze was directed upwards, saw something and her eyes widened.

A silhouette rapidly descending towards the main camp, parting the dark clouds.

The form of that being came into clear view.

‘Ah…… this, this is really bad…….’

Evan’s request flashed through her mind.

If there is a dangerous being like or even more dangerous than Bakan, let me know unconditionally.

Because if there is such a person, he might have to reconsider the plan he had made.

However, Mei had thought she would doubt whether she could recognize such a person at a glance.

After all, she had only heard rumors and had not seen one in person.

Of course, such worries were truly nothing more than a useless thought as she looked at the being that had just appeared.

Because a person who perfectly matched the rumors had appeared.

‘No, did that monster really exist? And assimilated into human society?’

The being she saw.

It was undoubtedly one of the Seven Extreme Stars.

However, it was not human.

A being that flew freely in the sky and exuded a ferocious aura that could not possibly belong to a human.

A half-breed of a dragon, called the strongest monster on the continent, and a human.

A non-human species called the Dragonkin.

—Flap!

The being that descended from the sky, spreading its blue wings, was one of the Seven Extreme Stars, called the ‘Tyrant of the Sky’.

It was Varkanon.