CHAPTER 277: THE FIRST REVENGE

“That bastard.”

Marquis Dren sat in the safe room with his eyes closed.

“And that woman.”

Marquis Dren thought of Hecate.

When he first saw Hecate, Marquis Dren was blinded by his shining talent.

He understood and absorbed all magic just by seeing it once.

It was the ideal image that all magicians had longed for.

For Marquis Dren, who had mastered both swordsmanship and magic through elite education, Hecate’s talent was awe-inspiring.

At the same time, the marquis wanted to possess that talent. He wanted to embrace Hecate, who was just about to bloom, and leap forward together.

However, Hecate’s infinite talent seemed too great to fit into anyone’s embrace.

To embrace it, one would have to become the sky itself.

“I thought I could be that sky.”

But Hecate wanted freedom. With his strong power, he refused the marquis’s offer, saying he would live as he wished according to his own beliefs.

As he said this, Hecate looked at Marquis Dren with clear eyes.

Clear and free eyes.

Although Hecate surely didn’t intend it, seeing those eyes made Marquis Dren feel ashamed. He was neither clear nor free.

It felt as if Hecate was mocking him by possessing the two things he lacked.

“That’s why.”

When other Twelve Families houses offered to join forces, he accepted without hesitation for that very reason.

“Those damn eyes, that tone of voice irritated me.”

At this point, there was no turning back.

No matter what confidence they had in attacking, it would be difficult to overcome the Dragon Knights.

Even if the Dragon Knights were to lose, by that time all the troops in the castle would have gathered to block all of Ethan’s escape routes.

If they informed the noble houses with good relations to other Twelve Families houses of this fact as soon as dawn broke, the situation could essentially be considered over.

“Their momentum will be broken, and we can use this incident as justification to prevent them from growing further.”

Of course, having never been in opposition to someone favored by both the princess and the pope, it was uncertain how the situation would end. But the marquis was confident.

At that moment, a signal came from outside.

The marquis smiled for an instant.

Judging by the time, it seemed they had even managed to capture them.

“This changes things again. If they couldn’t escape.”

The marquis fingered the sword at his waist.

“I’ll have to do what those damn Crescent Moon bastards couldn’t.”

As of today, Ethan Whiskers will cease to exist in this world.

“Thanks to him, I’ll eat well.”

He could decisively deal with the lingering Yerica von Hyde and swallow up the territory that the Whiskers family had unified.

“I can leap forward once again. Hahaha!”

Thinking of this, that arrogant and haughty Ethan Whiskers seemed like a bringer of fortune.

The marquis approached the safe room door and immediately extended his hand. The magic circle activated, and the outside of the safe room began to come into view.

But something looked blurry outside.

“What’s this?”

The marquis tried to narrow his eyes to see outside, but a sudden loud noise forced him to step back.

Sharararararak-!

A sound like thousands of book pages turning simultaneously came from outside the safe room.

“What on earth…”

The magic cast on the safe room began to shake.

The ground shook, the walls shook, and soon even the magic circle drawn on the ceiling began to shake.

“Dragon Knights! What’s happening… What’s going on out there!”

He shouted loudly, but due to the shaking magic circle, the marquis’s words inside the safe room were not transmitted outside.

“Damn it!”

The marquis hastily circulated mana throughout his body. Then he urgently put on his monocle and looked at the safe room door.

“…Someone is disabling the safe room’s magic from the outside.”

This monocle was an artifact that allowed one to see the flow of mana.

“What on earth is happening?”

The marquis’s eyes trembled. He couldn’t tell what was happening outside.

Then suddenly, he had a feeling that whatever was happening wasn’t favorable to him.

“Don’t tell me, Ethan Whiskers…”

Kung-! Kwagagak-! Kwajik-!

The sound of something shattering rang out repeatedly.

Guuuung-.

The mana spread throughout the safe room suddenly disappeared. The flow of mana was no longer visible through the monocle.

Which meant…

Kugugugung-!

This place was no longer a safe zone.

The door slowly opened, and those who were outside revealed themselves.

“So the master of House Marquis was here.”

Marquis Dren looked at Ethan with an unbelieving expression.

And behind him was Yerica.

“My mother said this. That she didn’t want to pass on this hatred to me. If possible, really if possible, to forgive. So I made up my mind. To forgive everything.”

Yerica spoke while looking at Marquis Dren.

“I will forgive you with death. Mercifully.”

“Revenge? You’re saying you’ll take revenge?”

Marquis Dren took a step forward.

“Are you saying you’re going to kill me? I am the one who leads the great Twelve Families, the Dren family…”

The marquis’s words were cut short.

Chang-!

It was Yerica’s arrow of fire that stopped the marquis’s words.

Of course, this arrow didn’t reach the marquis. His artifact reacted immediately to defend him.

“Wh-what is this…! How dare, how dare you!”

But regardless of whether he was hurt, this was a shocking event for the marquis.

How long had it been since he’d been attacked head-on like this?

The excited Marquis Dren drew his sword.

“You’ve completely lost your senses.”

Ethan clicked his tongue at this sight. Living safely surrounded by power had dulled his sense of crisis.

“Yerica.”

“Yes.”

Yerica nodded at Ethan’s call.

Taking revenge on those who killed her grandfather. It was something that supported a corner of Yerica’s heart, but at the same time, it was frightening.

It was an extremely difficult, almost impossible task to achieve.

How could Yerica, who had nothing, take revenge on the Twelve Families?

So this was an act of cutting off the fear in her heart.

‘Achievement is extremely important.’

Someone who has succeeded even once can’t forget that success. Even if they experience numerous failures after that success, because they have the experience of having succeeded, they can reach success again.

‘And limits are readjusted according to that achievement.’

Generally, people don’t know how far they can go, what their limits are.

Only by actually achieving something can they know their limits.

Realizing that if they challenge themselves, they can succeed.

Yerica raised her hand.

She didn’t want to kill easily.

At the same time, Marquis Dren bent forward and sprang out like a beam of light.

Marquis Dren was covered in artifacts from head to toe.

His sword was also a divine sword imbued with powerful divine power, made by one of the Empire’s finest blacksmiths known as Goldhands.

His armor was also made by a Goldhand, and with the added power of a magician from the Magic Tower renowned for magical enchantment, it boasted tremendous magic resistance.

That wasn’t all. His necklace, rings, and bracelets were all specialized for defense, attack, and buffs.

That’s why the marquis was confident. He could overcome any gap with an opponent using the artifacts he wore.

Especially against a magician, he was confident he could win no matter who the opponent was.

“This divine sword is called Magic Eater. You’ve probably heard of it. If your grandfather were alive, he would have been devoured by my Magic Eater!”

Saying this, the marquis swung his sword.

Bwoong-!

However, Yerica lightly stepped back to avoid the attack. Then she shot a blue fireball at the marquis.

Shaaak-!

True to its nickname, the divine sword swallowed and erased the fireball Yerica had shot.

Yerica watched this process closely.

“I see.”

This time, she created a larger fireball and shot it.

The fireball exceeded the range that the marquis’s Magic Eater could swallow and hit his armor.

But the marquis was unharmed.

“I understand that too. You have reason to be confident, Marquis Dren.”

Yerica grinned. Then she began to combine magic circles based on what she had just confirmed.

“Your bravado ends now!”

The marquis stomped the ground hard and charged forward like a beam of light.

But with just one gesture from Yerica, his movement stopped.

“Ugh, uuugh! My, my body…”

“You framed my grandfather, saying he went mad with obsession over magic. Because you coveted that talent. Because my grandfather wouldn’t listen.”

“H-how…”

“Try to imagine well. How I’m using magic on you right now. Of course, you won’t have much time.”

Magic circles began to overlap in Yerica’s hand.

“Now, this is the magic of my grandfather that you wanted. I’ll give it to you.”

Kwaddddeuk-!

It was magic that sucked in everything around it like a monster’s maw. Yerica threw the magic at the marquis as if tossing a ball.

Ethan turned away slightly. From now on, a horrific scene would unfold, so there was no need to watch.

Kwadeuk-!

Kwaddddeuk-.

“Kueeeeaaaaaaaaaagh-!”

Screams filled the safe room.

Yerica watched the scene to the end.

“Now two remain.”

The twelve pillars of the Holy Empire.

The head of the family leading Marquis Dren House.

Yusta Dren, deceased.

***

After dealing with the marquis, Ethan retreated quickly.

Ethan immediately left the marquis’s territory after dealing with him.

Since he didn’t directly show his face to the troops gathered at the castle, this raid left only circumstantial evidence without any concrete proof.

‘And that circumstantial evidence can be crushed as much as needed.’

Now Ethan could do what the marquis could do.

“What should we do now, Lord Ethan?”

“Dealing with the marquis is just the beginning. I told you, didn’t I? That we’ll become one of the Twelve Families. To do that, we need to securely take everything the marquis had.”

“But there are the marquis’s heirs, and now the surrounding lords will covet what the marquis had.”

“That’s why we need to use that.”

“Use that?”

“We make contact with the marquis’s heirs.”

“The heirs? Given the circumstances, they’ll know we did this, won’t they? They might not be able to present evidence, but even so, will the heirs meet with us? Shouldn’t we be more cautious?”

“Normally, that would be the case. But the heirs of House Marquis Dren don’t get along well with each other.”

It doesn’t matter if they have a strong suspicion that Ethan killed Marquis Dren.

At least one or two of them will respond to Ethan’s call.

“They each have their own ambitions. Now that Marquis Dren is dead, it’s the perfect opportunity to fulfill those ambitions. So if I ask to meet, they have no choice but to meet.”

Ethan continued with confidence.

“We’ll tear apart the marquis’s family with an offer they can’t refuse. After we drag them down from the Twelve Families, we’ll take their place.”

“You’re really scary, Lord Ethan.”

Yerica shuddered.

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