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October 1, 1799.
The depths of the Black Sea.
A man is running with his body covered in black blood, intestines, and flesh of a monster.
He is guardian knight Kahn. In his arms, he carries a letter he received from the enforcement knight who had come all the way to the beginning of the Black Sea.
It has been over ten years since he has been delivering letters to Chiron about Jin. However, Kahn's face was more serious than ever.
He couldn't examine the contents of the letter, but he had heard from the enforcement knight about what had happened at the main house.
'I have to go as quickly as possible. Before the patriarch enters the territory of the five kings of the Black Sea...!'
Territory of the five kings of the Black Sea.
Chiron and his knights were now planning to enter the land ruled directly by the kings of the Black Sea beyond its depths.
Kahn had encountered the enforcement knight while inspecting the beginning of the Black Sea and its surroundings one last time before that.
The cursed land had always been like this, but from the territory of the five kings of the Black Sea onward, it would be a completely unknown world.
Perhaps after entering, they would be completely cut off from the outside world for a while.
Today, there were unusually many monsters clinging to him. Each one was a creature that could become a demonic creature with core as long as they had the time and opportunity, and Kahn had to fight them for another full and half-day even after entering the depths.
Huff, hoo...
When Chiron's expedition team started to become visible, it was when he could no longer endure. Fortunately, they had yet to enter the territory of the five kings of the Black Sea.
Chiron and the knights were taking a short break, using the monster's corpses as fuel for a fire. The foul smell of burning monster flesh stung their noses.
"Lord Patriarch."
Kahn lowered his head and took a breath. The unpleasant smell of burning monster corpses pierced his nostrils.
"What's the matter, Kahn?"
Chiron, as always, remained seated in the air. The haggard faces of knights contrasted with his clean face.
"I received an urgent letter from the main house. It's about the 12th Flagbearer."
Chiron slowly opened his eyes, filled with curiosity.
"Bring it here."
With a polite gesture, Kahn handed the letter to him.
Rip!
For the knights except Kahn, watching Chiron tearing the seal with intense curiosity was a highly unusual sight.
Kahn felt a strange sense of pride in that fact.
'It's been a while since the Patriarch has shown such interest, especially after the 1st Flagbearer.'
'I've heard senior Black Knights talk about it a few times, but it seems the Patriarch has high expectations for the 12th Flagbearer.'
While the Black Knights marveled at the situation, there was one monster who discreetly wondered if it was okay to interject.
[Ha, hahaha. Oh my, it seems like there's good news, old man!]
It was the legendary monster Ozdock.
Of course, Chiron didn't respond to Ozdock's flattering comment.
Instead, the cold gazes of the Black Knights were directed at Ozdock. It meant for him to shut his mouth and quietly sit in a corner.
Unfortunately, Ozdock failed to read the atmosphere (and even interpreted Chiron's lack of response as a positive sign) and continued cheerfully raising his voice.
He did so out of exhaustion. Without a word, the relentless days of slaughter and combat had worn down even Ozdock, a demonic creature who had lived for two thousand years.
Ozdock desperately wanted to say something, whether it's light banter or casual chit-chat, anything.
[Well, if it's the 12th Flagbearer. Isn't that your youngest son, the one who fought with me back then? He took one of my inner ocre. Oh, of course, I don't mean that it was a waste. It'll be put to good use... Hehe. Your son was quite an impressive guy. Handsome too... Hik! P-please don't hit me. I apologize!]
Just as the Black Knights were about to intervene and forcibly silence Ozdock, Chiron lightly raised his hand to stop them.
"Leave him be."
"Yes!"
As the Black Knights withdrew their raised fists and bowed awkwardly, Ozdock nervously scratched the back of his head.
[I apologize. I just thought you might have some good news, old man. Um, um... I'll go fetch some tea right away!]
True to Ozdock's words, a faint smile had already appeared on Chiron's lips.
He began reading the letter.
(Patriarch, the 12th Flagbearer has caused an incident.)
"Zed."
He could tell from the first line. It was the handwriting of his younger brother, the only one among his siblings who had survived the battle of hegemony in his youth.
(He leaked information about the tomb of the First Patriarch through the 7th Flagbearer. The Patriarch probably knew about it even before, but just that caused chaos in the clan.
Do you know what happened while everyone was waiting to confirm the truth after his return?
As soon as he returned, he had a fight with elder council president Jorden. Because of this, the elder council president cut off both of his arms. The Holy Queen came and healed him, but he narrowly escaped by not wielding the sword as before.)
At those words, Chiron's brows narrowed, and Ozdock suddenly knelt and extended a skull, not a teacup, but a monster's skull filled with tea.
The fire used to brew the tea came from the burning monster corpses, making it a truly gruesome tea. Nevertheless, the fact that this tea was one of the greatest luxuries one could enjoy in this place was something that no one would believe.
(Anyway, right after the treatment... he made a declaration to reinstate the status of Runcandel as the magic swordsmen clan.
Then he suppressed the opposing Elders and defeated the 3rd Flagbearer in a direct confrontation.)
Chiron's pupils dilated. Ozdock and the Black Knights couldn't help but be taken aback by his reaction.
The 3rd Flagbearer, Luntia.
If she had lost to Jin, it was undoubtedly because she had let her guard down. However, Luntia's defeat to Jin was still a fresh shock to Chiron.
Whether it was because she let her guard down or because Jin had reached a new level, a loss was still a loss.
(The arena where the incident occurred disappeared without a trace, and he nearly obliterated the central courtyard and main house.
After wielding a flame-type magic sword, he unleashed insane lightning strikes... it's difficult to explain. You had to see it firsthand.
I knew that lunatic would someday cause a major incident in the clan, but I never expected it to be this catastrophic.
Below is a summary of the damages in the Garden of Swords as we struggled to handle the 12th Flagbearer.
Acting matriarch, critically injured.
2nd Flagbearer, 4th Flagbearer, 5th Flagbearer, 6th Flagbearer, 7th Flagbearer, 8th Flagbearer, 9th Flagbearer, 10th Flagbearer, 11th Flagbearer, minor injuries.
3rd Flagbearer, critically injured.
12th Flagbearer, in a critical condition.
Chief of the Black Sword Association, Chief of the Guardians of Law, Chief of the Guardians of Civilians, minor injuries.
Elder Council, more than half with minor injuries.
Guardian knights: 1 severely injured, 4 with minor injuries.
Enforcement Knights: 12 severely injured, 54 with minor injuries.
Numerous others were injured.
No casualties among combatants.
No casualties among non-combatants.
At the request of the main house, the decree of the second stage of the emergency state in Huphester was activated, complete lockdown of Huphester Alliance transfer gates, and media control in progress.
The Garden of Swords is maintaining a state of war, recalling all dispatched knights.
...The precise list of injured is detailed in the final section.
The Acting matriarch suffered deep internal injuries due to not evading the blow containing his full fighting spirit in the end.
Medical staff say she needs to take extreme rest for a while.
Do you believe this? It wasn't a sudden attack by the Zipfel Main force, nor an invasion by Vermont, nor a rebellion.
All of this happened because of the power of the 12th Flagbearer. Because of that reckless kid who hasn't even reached twenty!
Elder Brother.
If possible, it would be good to return for a while. It would be a great source of strength for the members of the clan.
And it would be a pleasure to see how he has grown with your own eyes.)
Hahahaha...!
Chiron suddenly bursted into laughter.
Ozdock tried to laugh along discreetly, but when he met Chiron's eyes, he had to shut his mouth.
Chiron erased his laughter at that moment.
By now, the knights were also eager to know the contents of the letter. So, they subtly signaled Kahn. After all, he had been responsible for letters regarding the 12th Flagbearer for a while, so they wanted him to try his luck.
"My lord, is the situation at the main house not as bad as I've heard?"
"What have you heard?"
"I heard from Enforcement Knight that the entire Huphester has been locked down, and it's in a state of war."
"That's written in the letter as well. But it's not something that can be covered by hiding it, and it seems like everyone was shocked."
"To be honest, I'm worried about the 12th Flagbearer."
"What we should be worried about is the land beyond that."
Kahn and the knights nodded heavily. Chiron's gaze extended beyond the depths, toward the territory of the five kings of the Black Sea.
The Five Kings of the Black Sea, just a few more days and they would reach that territory. A day's journey ahead, Luna, Vanessa, and Tuben were conducting reconnaissance.
In that land, even Chiron would have to exert his full strength in many battles.
Rustle, Chiron turned the letter back to the front. He wanted to reread the part that had bothered him from the very beginning.
12th Flagbearer, in critical condition.
There was a clear distinction between critical condition and minor injuries. Since the 'declaration of the Magic Swordsmen,' Jin had yet to regain consciousness and remained in a hospital bed.
Towards the end of the letter, there was a plea from Zed to Chiron, asking him to return for a while.
It meant that he didn't want the flames of the 12th Flagbearer to extinguish like this and that he wanted Chiron to take direct action. It also carried the meaning of asking for support, if possible.
It was the first time in his entire life that Chiron had seen Zed making such a request.
"Considering the impending battle with the Black Sea Kings, it would be impolite to be concerned about clan matters."
While he did accept Zed's request, Chiron had no intention of returning and seeing things himself.
"But before I miss the opportunity, I should give him a proper reward."
The compensation Chiron was talking about was not related to the incident Jin had caused this time.
-I will report to the lord that the 12th Flagbearer is the first one who discovered this demonic creature. If the lord deems the demonic creature valuable, there will be a reward accordingly.
What Tuben had said to Jin, as he took Ozdock away.
Since joining Chiron's expedition team, Ozdock had been proving his worth. Although his memories were hazy, he had made significant contributions to the task of finding the territory of the Black Sea Kings.
Even after entering the kings' territory, he remained a valuable asset.
"Kahn."
"Yes, my lord."
"Quickly contact the main house and make arrangements so that Jin can use it."