C441 - To the Black King (2)
"Hmm, tomorrow? Why don't you spend more time with my daughter?"
"Mother! Am I still a child? Why do you keep saying such weird things..."
Talaris coughed lightly as Siris shot her a sharp look.
It was unusual for Siris to speak so brusquely.
"Mmm! It was just a suggestion. You shouldn't talk to your mother like that, you know?"
"And to avoid situations like today, we should get reinforcements as soon as possible. You can't always protect Tikan, Mother."
"You're absolutely right, Siris-nim."
When Jin replied, Siris's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"It's not that I dislike it. Since we are allies, it's natural that we protect each other. But that doesn't mean my mother or I will always be waiting in the Hidden Palace, so we need alternative options."
Siris spoke, making it even more apparent that they needed to gather forces to protect Tikan as soon as possible.
'I can't always rely on luck like this.'
The fact that there were no casualties other than damage to the team and facilities during Luton and the exiles' attack was almost like divine intervention.
Of course, it was also the result of Jin and his comrades constantly being on guard against enemy invasions.
If Talaris had arrived a little late or had been absent, they wouldn't have been able to defend Tikan so flawlessly.
In the future, enemies would surely come prepared, calculating even the possibility of the transfer gate as Luton did.
'Runcandel still can't attack directly, but there will be those, like the Elder Council, trying to bring external forces to attack us.'
Furthermore, Kinzelo, Zipple, and Vermont.
At least Kinzelo still maintained a somewhat friendly stance toward Jin, so the possibility of him suddenly turning hostile was low.
'I don't like this fact, but it's not bad in terms of the security of my colleagues.'
On the other hand, Zipple and Vermont were completely different.
They could attack Tikan at any time without warning.
Tikan, under the name of the "Free City," had essentially given up the neutrality it had maintained for a long time.
It's likely that, especially Vermont, sees Tikan as a thorn in the side.
Jin recalled the unpleasant encounter with the Emperor.
The Emperor hinted at having hidden forces and proposed an alliance, but Jin had firmly rejected it.
Moreover, as Tikan was also the city of the exiled prince Kashimir...
So the Emperor might attack this place at any time.
'My enemies within Runcandel and the Emperor might form a temporary alliance.'
It had only been a few days since the exile's death, and there had been no significant changes between the Elder Council, Rosa, and Joshua.
'Mother is the one holding the reins in the Family. There might be some kind of deal between Mother and the Elder Council, or Mother might be unable to decide what action to take against the Elder Council.'
It was a dilemma for Rosa.
If she attacked the Elder Council, she would, in fact, acknowledge that she had purged the execution knights long ago.
Of course, she could bring up the pretext that the Black Sword Association had not properly punished the knights who had committed treason years ago, but it was difficult to cover it up given the atmosphere of the Family.
However, letting it go without any action was too important a matter.
Whether it was an unjustified purge or not, it still meant that the Elder Council had not properly carried out the orders of the acting matriarch years ago.
In the end, Rosa had to impose some kind of punishment on the Elder Council.
If the punishment was too severe, there would be strong opposition, and if it was too lenient, the authority of the acting matriarch would weaken.
'The former could lead to a complete split between the Elder Council and Joshua's faction, while the latter could be a violation of the Family's law.'
Jorden had his ambitions, but outwardly he seemed closer to Joshua's faction.
And Rosa was pushing an image of Joshua as a prominent next Patriarch who had already taken control of the Black Knights and the Elder Council simultaneously.
Meanwhile, threatening competitors like the Twelfth Flagbearer and the Third Flagbearer had emerged, so if the Elder Council turned completely against Joshua, it would be a painful blow to that image.
Although Mother holds the reins, the Elder Council has more options.
The elders could align with older brother Dyfus or sister Mary, or even betray Runcandel and align with external forces.
In other words, the Garden of Swords had entered a new phase due to this incident.
In other words, amid the rapidly changing situation, what mattered most was victory.
And for victory, the safety of allies always took priority.
"I'll have two of the Seven Swords from the Hidden Palace, Ryu and Hiten, stationed here from now on."
Talaris's pupils dilated.
She didn't expect Siris to come up with such a radical suggestion.
Clap! Clap!
Talaris clapped to celebrate the progress they had made, and even Luton joined in, following the cues.
The small beastmen also joined the applause, and even Murakan got involved, but only Jin and Siris didn't understand the reason.
"Siris-nim, thank you for considering this."
"Sure, I think I need to rest for now."
Siris stood up from her seat, and Talaris poked Murakan in the side.
"Ahem, what do you think, handsome brother? It would be a big problem if my future son-in-law marries someone else later, don't you think?"
"Are you threatening the kid?"
"Not necessarily. Anyway, about tomorrow. The Black King said he would meet with you, right?"
"I plan to go see him. There's also someone peculiar I need to investigate in the Black King's Mercenaries."
"Someone peculiar?"
"A rookie mercenary named Zephyrin, but Murakan and Quikantel-nim believe there's a high probability she's a Demon Dragon."
The presumed Kinzelo Demon Leader and the Legends Golems, the sealed Smarion Proch under the Phantom Fortress, and the Demon Dragon, following the Demon Men and the Emperor, who proposed an alliance.
"Indeed, times have changed. In my younger days, such strange things didn't roam like this. And your greatest enemy, the Second Flagbearer, seems to have someone like the Prophet, right? These are dangerous times."
Talaris shrugged, weary.
She was aware of most of the information Jin had recently acquired.
"Among them, there's something I can guess about Smarion Proch."
"What is it?"
"The power of chaos."
"What is that?"
Jin's pupils narrowed.
"It's a strange power that occasionally appears in the world, like the one your younger sister, Yona Runcandel, carries within."
-Have you ever thought it's unfair?
-What? Was I the only one looking out for you? I told you before, when you bathe or do things like that...
-Not that. You've been treated like a killer doll all along. Since you were so young. It was terrible and absurd even considering you're a pure-blood Runcandel.
-Is that bad?
-It's bad.
-Have you never committed murder, younger brother?
-That's not the point.
-I was born this way from the beginning. So there's no need to be sad.
-Born this way, what does that mean...?
Jin recalled the conversation he had with Yona in the past.
Since then, she hadn't sincerely told him what kind of power she was born with.
"Not only older sister Yona, but even Bouvard and Margiella Ivlianos from Kinzelo have special powers. Does that mean it's the power of chaos?"
"Yes. It can be innate or acquired. I don't know the details, but one thing for sure is that the owner of that power can be consumed by chaos at any time."
"Consumed, you mean..."
Jin remembered the sealed Smarion Proch.
"It means turning into a monster like Smarion Proch. I've also faced people who changed after being contaminated by chaos in my younger days."
Talaris paused for a moment.
Unwanted memories that she didn't want to recall resurfaced.
Talaris suppressed the bitter and painful memories that arose for a while and then spoke.
"On the other hand, I've seen people who ended their lives with elegance, without letting themselves be consumed by chaos. Based on my experience, it seems that transforming into a monster is related to the owner's will and the size of the chaos they possess."
"Talaris-nim."
"Speak."
"Could it be that my father is also related to that power called chaos?"
That was a secret known only to a few.
Talaris had no intention of revealing so much at first, but now that it had come to this, she saw no need to deny it.
"Yes. Cyron has also been fighting against that power for a long time. How did you find out?"
"Lata-nim told me about a conversation between my father and Smarion Proch. I deduced it from that conversation."
Jin couldn't help but feel deeply disturbed.
The idea that Cyron and Smarion shared "the same matter" had been a foreseeable problem from the moment he first encountered Smarion in the Phantom Fortress.
But could it be that the issue wasn't exclusive to Cyron and Smarion?
Older sister Yona and my father too.
Could they suddenly turn into monsters at some point...?'
Just imagining such a scenario tore at his heart.
Given the immense power they possessed, it seemed unlikely that the size of the chaos they harbored was small.
Jin thought it must be different from people like Bouvard and Margiella.
"Cyron acquired it, and Yona's is innate. That's what I heard directly from your father."
"So that's why my father is obsessed with the Black Sea."
"Yes, but even though I'm an intimate friend of his, Cyron didn't tell me everything about his Chaos, so I have nothing more to say."
"Just this is enough."
"The important thing is that Smarion Proch must be eliminated. Once chaos consumes a person, it only grows stronger over time."
The power of the sealed Smarion was getting stronger.
It needed to be eliminated before it became something unmanageable.
"By the way, handsome brother, it seems you have no idea about the power of chaos. It seems like something you should know more about, right? Why this power disrupts the balance of the world, what its foundation is. You don't know anything about it?"
All eyes turned to Murakan.
He shook his head as if he didn't know.
"I don't know. Maybe it disappeared from my memory. I don't even know if I never knew it in the first place. I hate to admit it, but... It seems like a question worth asking when I meet my sister."
Sigh!
Murakan let out a frustrated sigh, and then added.
"Kid, before you meet the Black King's Mercenaries, let's make a brief stop at that place."
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