Chapter 225. His Tomb (1)
Sabina gazed out at the Sea of Beginning with a serious expression, asking, "Gratia. Just now, that was...?"
As the waves churned restlessly, a thick, sinister wave of dark mana rolled in from the sea. It was far more vicious than the corrupted dark mana lingering in the North Sea. Something could have happened to her grandnephews undergoing the Coming of Age Ceremony.
Gratia, too, wore a serious expression as she stared out at the shifting sea. She replied, "Sabina Leston. I do not know what is happening out there either."
"Caron was right. You really are irresponsible," Sabina said coldly.
"...Caron Leston and Leo Leston have stepped into a world shaped by their own desires. I merely guide them there; I do not walk the trial with them," Gratia replied. Her expression was as solemn as Sabina's.
Sabina rested her hand atop her sword, letting out a quiet sigh. Her voice dropped to a low warning as she turned to Gratia and said, "If anything happens to my boys..."
"Are you saying that you would raise your sword even against me, the Guardian Dragon?" Gratia asked.
"If that's what it takes," Sabina answered.
The respectful, composed Sabina from moments ago was gone. Gratia caught the glint of lethal determination in her eyes and forced down a bitter smile.
"Whether they conquer the trial or fall to it... The outcome is theirs to decide," Gratia said.
"There are no adults who would just stand by and do nothing while their children are dying," Sabina said.
"...I see," Gratia replied.
The two of them stood in tense silence, eyes locked on the sea.
After a while...
Boom!
With a deep, throbbing roar of mana, the sea split apart. And from between the waves...
"Leo! Caron!" Sabina shouted.
Two young men emerged, their faces pale.
Without a moment's hesitation, Sabina released her sword and dashed toward them.
Squelch! Splash!
As soon as Caron reached the shore, he dropped Leo onto the sand and collapsed beside him. He muttered, "Whew, that was way too close."
The moment the two collapsed onto the shore, Sabina arrived right in front of them. She asked urgently, "Caron, are you alright?"
Caron gave her a grin and nodded, then replied, "I'm fine. It's Leo I'm worried about."
Still lying on the ground, he looked toward his cousin.
Before the Malevolent Emperor disappeared, he had driven a surge of dark mana into Leo. Caron had done what he could to purify it as quickly as possible, but it had been emergency treatment at best. He could still feel traces of the dark mana clinging to Leo's body.
"...I'm fine," Leo muttered, his voice ragged. "I'm just... disgusted."
"Disgusted how?" Caron asked.
"Just... disgusted," Leo said.
"That's normal after getting hit by Demon Kings," Caron said with a shrug.
"Both of you, hush. You need to recover first," Sabina cut in sternly.
Whoosh.
She placed both hands gently on Leo's abdomen and began channeling mana into him. Sabina noted grimly, There's a lot of dark mana still inside him.
If it had been an ordinary person, their mind would have already collapsed from the dark mana.
But at the same time, a strange Azure Mana could be felt from Leo's body. It wasn't Caron's violent mana. It was...
A pure and untainted form of Azure Mana, Sabina thought.
It was the first time Sabina had encountered Azure Mana in such a state—so untainted, so refined. Even Halo and the elders lacked such pure mana.
She realized then that this was Leo's reward for surviving the trial.
Sabina didn't know exactly how, but somehow, this pure Azure Mana was restraining the dark mana.
While Sabina was still tending to Leo's internal injuries, Gratia stepped closer, then let out a quiet sound of awe. She said, "It's Rael's mana... You two met Rael in the trial, didn't you?"
At those words, Caron recalled the voice he had heard just before the illusion faded.
"I entrust everything to you both. The pact is sealed. From here on, it falls to you."
Caron wondered if that voice belonged to Rael Leston himself, then gave a faint, crooked smile and nodded. "Well, at least our ancestor didn't leave us to die. How grateful. Leo, how does it feel to reach 7-Star thanks to our ancestor?"
"...I reached 7-Star?" Leo asked, stunned.
"Yes, you did," Caron answered.
Leon checked his condition as if he couldn't believe it. After a moment, his face took on a dazed look, almost touched. He murmured, "I can't believe it..."
"You've officially surpassed both Hugo and Leon's achievements. How does it feel being a genius?" Caron added.
"How did this even happen...? Hey, Caron, what about you?" Leo asked.
"I don't think I received anything special—" Caron began.
But just as he started to draw up his mana to check his core, Guillotine sighed heavily inside his mind.
"Hah... This evil owner actually reached 8-Star? The world really must be ending. I guess you'll be trying to square up to Sir Zerath next," Guillotine said.
Guillotine wasn't wrong.
Boom!
As Caron unleashed his mana, all eight seas surrounding his core began to resonate in perfect harmony.
His new eighth sea was still dry for now, but he would be able to fill it through continued mana cultivation. It wasn't the size of the sea that mattered; it was the fact that it existed. That alone meant he had stepped into 8-Star.
"Congratulations on reaching 8-Star, Caron," Sabina said with a beaming smile, her eyes filled with both pride and disbelief.
Caron could no longer be described as a monster. Perhaps the word 'calamity' suited him better now.
"The eighth sea will grant you things no other sea can offer," Sabina said. "But you won't be able to fill it just by mana cultivation. Very few reach 8-Star, and among them, even fewer ever glimpse its true end."
This was the realm Caron had reached in his previous life—and yet, not even then had he reached its limits. From this point onward, it was a battle against himself alone.
Caron understood perfectly what Sabina meant.
"In the Ducal Family of Leston, reaching 8-Star means something more," Sabina continued as she rose to her feet after finishing Leo's emergency treatment.
"The Oceanwolf Sword Arts have no Form 8. So from now on, Caron, you must create your own Form 8. Create a unique skill that will represent you," Sabina instructed.
"Yes, Lady Sabina," Caron answered.
This was the moment when he achieved his first goal of this life: To reach the level he had attained in his past life.
As a complex mix of emotions stirred on Caron's face, Sabina gave him a firm pat on the back. She then reached over to gently ruffle Leo's hair as well before telling her grandnephews, "Congratulations on becoming adults, Leo and Caron."
And just like that, the two young wolves had earned their place among the pack.
***
After the Coming of Age Ceremony ended, they returned to Sabina's cabin. The first thing Caron did was ask Gratia to take care of Leo because he had somewhere to go with Sabina.
"Please look after Leo," Caron requested.
"Don't worry," Gratia replied. "Go on."
"Leo's dark mana—" Caron began.
"It doesn't seem like a major issue," Gratia reassured him. "Rael's mana is suppressing Leo's dark mana. He will be fine once he rests well."
"That's a relief. Then, I'll be back," Caron said.
"Come back safely, Caron," Leo said.
Caron turned to Leo and replied, "Leo, don't wander around, and get some sleep, got it?"
"...Worry about yourself," Leo muttered back.
Creak.
Caron closed the door behind him and looked at Sabina, then said, "Shall we?"
Sabina clicked her tongue and said, "You're not in great shape either. If it's not urgent, you should rest first, then go."
"I'm fine. Is the tomb far from here?" Caron asked.
"No, it only takes about thirty minutes," Sabina answered.
"Then let's talk while we move," Caron said. There were a lot of questions he had been saving for her.
Sabina let out a quiet sigh, then took the lead without another word.
Fwoosh!
The sharp winds of the North Sea stung against Caron's face. Still, the terrain was made for a good run. Perhaps due to the harsh cold and the lingering dark mana, the land bore little life. Thanks to that, the field before them stretched beyond the horizon, blanketed entirely in pure white snow.
"We faced the Malevolent Emperor in the illusion," Caron began. "I was in the form of Sir Cain Latorre, and Leo took the form of Grandfather."
"That must have been the day the Malevolent Emperor was dethroned," Sabina said, eyes fixed ahead.
"Yes," Caron replied calmly, recounting the vision he had seen.
Afterward, he asked, "Lady Sabina... Did you already know?"
"Know what?" Sabina replied.
"That Grandfather didn't actually kill the Malevolent Emperor," Caron said.
The official history claimed that Halo had beheaded the Malevolent Emperor. In saying this, Caron was challenging the very foundation of his family's legacy. It was a question bordering on blasphemy.
But Sabina didn't even flinch. As if she had expected it, she nodded without hesitation and replied, "That's right. My brother didn't end the Malevolent Emperor's life. Or rather—he couldn't."
"Why not?" Caron asked.
"The Malevolent Emperor at that time was little more than an avatar of the Demon King himself. All we could do was destroy the vessel," Sabina answered.
And so, the hidden truths of that day began to spill from Sabina's lips. Caron stepped through the snow in silence, listening intently.
"The Demon King of Havoc had already scattered seeds of himself throughout the empire. After we overthrew the Malevolent Emperor, the Ducal Family of Leston began a secret purge. But there were so many of them that the clean-up lasted five years," Sabina explained.
That was just the beginning. Sabina went on to tell Caron about the five-year-long purge, the chaos it had caused across the empire, and the reason why the Ducal Family of Leston had kept so quiet for nearly fifty years afterward.
They weren't stories Caron found hard to believe.
Though the purge had been carried out in secret, the people of the empire eventually realized what was happening. They'd come to know that the Ducal Family of Leston was shaking the very foundations of the empire, and that the new emperor was little more than a puppet.
"There were even rumors back then that my brother would ascend to the throne," Sabina said. "That's why we had to make a choice."
"It might've been fun if he had just taken the throne," Caron said with a smirk.
Sabina chuckled quietly and said, "...My brother wanted a strong empire. He hoped it would become a real force in the wars to come. That's why he chose to take the title of Grand Duke instead, positioning himself as a counterweight to the royal family and the other nobles."
The presence of a powerful rival always drove growth.
In essence, the Ducal Family of Leston had chosen to become a sword pointed at the empire itself. The very idea that a Grand Duke capable of toppling the emperor at any time existed was enough to keep the court and the nobility on edge.
That constant, dreadful tension had become the driving force behind the empire's rapid development—and it worked. The empire had begun to rebuild at an incredible pace. Those years of effort laid the foundation for the Orias Empire as it stood today.
"If my brother had taken the throne," Sabina continued, "The empire might have fractured, maybe even regressed."
"I don't know," Caron said thoughtfully. "I think Grandfather could've made a great emperor."
Sabina raised an eyebrow, amused. She said, "That's an interesting take."
"I mean, he could've just crushed them all with force. And, if that had happened... I'd be a prince right now, wouldn't I?" Caron replied.
"Do you want to become a prince?" Sabina asked.
"Why would I want that headache of a title? Being the Grand Duke's grandson is plenty for me," Caron answered.
In truth, no one would know, because history held no room for "what ifs."
Caron gave a dry chuckle and recalled the conversation he'd had with the Malevolent Emperor in the illusion.
The Malevolent Emperor had claimed his seeds had already been sown far and wide. Caron figured he meant the Revanchists—those traitors who had been running rampant lately.
On top of that, he had even seen doppelgangers on his way north. It was clear some vile scheme was unfolding within the royal family.
That was why there was no time to waste. Caron had to check the tomb and return to Azureocean Castle as quickly as possible.
"Is there a reason you're looking for Sir Cain's tomb?" Sabina asked.
Caron gave a slow nod and replied, "There's something I need to confirm."
The Malevolent Emperor was still alive. And if he was alive, there was no way he would've left Cain Latorre's body untouched. Caron had already come face-to-face with a doppelganger that wore Cain's face.
"There's something I need to finish, too," Caron said, eyes gleaming as he picked up speed.
If Cain Latorre's body was still in the tomb...
I'll erase it, Caron thought.
He would burn it down to nothing, not even leaving a trace behind.
"Let's hurry, Lady Sabina," he said.
"Alright," Sabina responded.
The two of them sprinted full-speed across the snowy field.
At that point, neither of them had any idea what awaited them at the tomb.