Ancient Imperial Calendar Year 1813
The Fifth Day of the Kerbel Forest Expedition
Ricardo and his army had reached the seventh and final region of the Kerbel Forest. This region was made up of the most dangerous monsters; each monster ruled over its own territory.
The seventh region was home to seventy different monsters. Each of them held the title of king, and the most powerful among them was Tiran. A dangerous chimera possessing the strength of every monster in the forest, Tiran had been killed years ago by Orsman, the leader of the Kislavein Dynasty, and had not been seen since.
Standing before Ricardo was Kerbelios, nicknamed the "Hellhound." This creature had an intimidating physique made of flames, illuminating the dark Kerbel Forest by its presence, but it burned to death anyone who saw it in the flames.
"An entertaining opponent, don't interfere."
The Kislavein soldiers hesitated to obey Ricardo's order. Even though they knew their lord's power, seeing Ricardo fight alone frightened them.
Kerbelios opened its mouth wide and spewed flames as if emerging from hell. In response, Ricardo raised his hand; a wall of stone rose from the ground. Kerbelios's flames could not pass the wall.
After Kerbelios's attack ended, Ricardo destroyed the wall and swung his right arm to the left. Along the path from Ricardo to Kerbelios, thick and sharp ice spears, each five meters long, emerged from the ground. Kerbelios barely escaped with a quick reflex.
Zigzagging, Kerbelios charged at Ricardo. Just as the soldiers were about to intervene, Ricardo drew his sword and shield, empowering them with his aura.
Kerbelios leapt four meters high and struck his strongest blow with a long, sharp claw at Ricardo. Ricardo shrugged off the attack as if it were a simple slap, then swung his sword. In one stroke, he cut Kerbelios's flaming claws as if slicing paper.
Kerbelios collapsed to the ground in pain. Having lost its forelegs, it could not stand up. It angrily spewed fire to the right and left. Ricardo shaped his aura and swung his sword; the crescent-shaped aura cut off Kerbelios's head.
"Easy, but entertaining."
Although not fully satisfied, Ricardo was pleased. His soldiers watched him in admiration. Each time, Ricardo amazed people, proving their worries and doubts unfounded.
"Advance! Today we will kill all the monster kings in the seventh region!"
Proudly obeying Ricardo's order, the Kislavein soldiers slaughtered all the monster kings by the end of the day.
In the dead of night, over the corpses of the monster kings, the brave warriors and mages of the Kislavein Dynasty prepared for a victory celebration. This was their last night in the Kerbel Forest; at dawn they would return home to their loved ones.
Ricardo stood side by side with his closest friends.
"I thought this would never end," said Jacop Kislavein, tired but with a happy expression.
Jack Johanson grinned and replied:
"Me too, my friend. Finally, it's over."
Luna sighed deeply, drank her wine, and spoke with a sincere smile:
"So, what shall we do next?"
Before answering Luna's question, Ricardo looked at the beer in his hand for a few seconds.
"I'll handle the governance of the Western Lands. My mother has been dealing with it for five days; she needs some rest."
"Speaking of which, how is Lady Seliarnevre?"
In response to Marilin's question, Ricardo said:
"She's fine. Why do you ask, Marilin?"
"Nothing, I just haven't seen her for a while and was curious."
The subtle sadness in Marilin's voice didn't go unnoticed. Ricardo felt he needed to comfort her.
"Don't worry. When we return to the palace tomorrow, I'll arrange a meeting for you both."
Marilin was very happy. She wanted to hug Ricardo tightly but restrained herself, bowing respectfully; her joy was reflected in her tone.
"I am grateful, Heir of the Dynasty."
Marilin's cheerfulness brought a positive atmosphere to the group.
Ricardo turned to the others and asked to change the subject:
"Do you have any plans?"
Benjen answered quickly:
"I'll go to my father in the Eastern Lands' war, Heir of the Dynasty."
Ricardo took a sip of his beer and spoke seriously:
"Your enthusiasm is good, but as heirs of the Western Dynasties, we must stay here. On the other hand, while my father, the Lord of the Dynasty, is on the Eastern Campaign, attacks could come from the North and South. We must stay here for that possibility."
Benjen sat down, his enthusiasm dampened. Heinricht asked curiously:
"Is there a chance of attacks from the Northern and Southern Lands, Heir of the Dynasty?"
Ricardo looked at Heinricht and answered:
"Yes. Recently, the throne war in the Northern Turvig Dynasty ended. Similarly, the civil war in the South ended a few weeks ago. That's why, despite heavy losses in the war against the Ashbrums four years ago, we haven't been attacked from the north or south."
Jack lowered his head, stroking his chin and asked curiously:
"Then why hasn't the Costin Dynasty in the Central Lands attacked us? They haven't fought any Ancient Dynasty for nearly a hundred years."
Ricardo turned his head toward Jack and answered seriously:
"Although the Costin Dynasty hasn't fought for a hundred years, they haven't dared to enter large-scale wars due to economic, political, and social problems. If you look at their history, there have been military coups almost every ten years."
A thoughtful expression appeared on Luna's face. She scratched her head, then raised her hand and asked for permission to speak. Ricardo nodded.
"If there is a chance of attacks from the north or south at any moment, then why did we go on an expedition to the Kerbel Forest?"
Ricardo answered:
"Simple. Someone had to undertake this expedition. Besides, everyone here needs battle experience. Anyway, any other questions?"
No one in the group spoke. After a moment of silence, Ricardo broke it:
"Then let's drink and have fun a little."
The group looked at each other happily, dreaming of eating and drinking until dawn when the ground shook and noises rose. The entire army felt an immense terror down to their bones—and it appeared: the terrifying chimera, Tiran, the feared emperor of the Kerbel Forest, whose body was ten meters tall, blocking the sun, and each part carried a piece of a Kerbel monster's body.
Ricardo remained calm facing this magnificent creature he had only read about in books and was seeing for the first time in his life. Strengthening his voice with mana, he gave orders to his army:
"Gather! Take defensive positions!"
The Kislavein soldiers were filled with fear and horror, but Ricardo's voice brought them back to themselves. They took their shields and weapons and took defensive positions, spreading their auras over their bodies and weapons.
Tiran clenched his fist and struck toward the Kislavein soldiers with all his might. Ricardo knew that if that fist hit the soldiers, blood would flow everywhere. He gathered his mana in his hands, combined all six elements, and surrounded himself with an aura. He had developed this technique himself but had never tried it before. Now was not the time to hesitate.
Ricardo threw the mana ball surrounded by aura at Tiran's fist. When the ball hit Tiran's hand, his punch was deflected, and his hand was wounded. The soldiers took advantage of the opportunity and attacked. Mages attacked with spells, warriors with swords wrapped in auras. Tiran, still recovering from Ricardo's blow, faced the onslaught of the Kislavein soldiers.
Tiran kicked soldiers attacking his legs; three died and five were severely injured. While mages treated the wounded, Tiran crushed eight Kislavein soldiers. Marco shaped his aura into a thick stake and severely wounded Tiran's foot.
Tiran writhed in pain and swung his hand again. Ricardo cast a tornado spell, repelling Tiran's attack once more. Then he shaped his aura into a thick, several-meter-long sword, channeled mana to his feet, and increased his speed. He cut deep wounds on Tiran's legs and feet, which only enraged Tiran more.
Tiran roared with such force that many soldiers' eardrums burst; twenty died, and the hearing of the rest was damaged. Ricardo spread his mana around and healed the entire army with a mass healing spell.
Tiran's attacks intensified. Since Ricardo's mana was running low, he and his soldiers repelled the attacks with a large aura shield. The soldiers leapt from the trees onto Tiran's body. Marco and Marilin whipped Tiran's hands with fiery whips, preventing him from shaking off the Kislavein soldiers clinging to him.
Arlek and Arnheid used ice magic to raise spikes from all sides, pinning Tiran to the ground.
Heinricht hurled large stones at Tiran's head with rock magic. Jack deepened Tiran's wounds with his sword. Jack, Jacop, and Jonas simultaneously cast Blood Curse, freezing Tiran's blood and immobilizing him for a minute.
Ricardo was using the last drops of his aura and mana. He and his army were tired and exhausted, but Tiran was still strong. His wounds were deep but showed signs of healing. Despite all sacrifices and efforts, Tiran was still standing.
Ricardo was about to faint when he closed his eyes. He saw his aura and mana intertwined; what should have been a deep blood-red aura and mana turned pure white. Ricardo could not understand this but could not look away. He had witnessed this moment for thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of hours without blinking or looking away. What was this white beam of light that even the Kislavein blood could not darken?
At that moment, he remembered a sentence from an old book he read in the Ancient Empire during his previous life:
"Mana and aura are like soul and body; they are both intertwined and separate. Those who succeed in uniting them reach Nur."
"Nur" is considered an impossible-to-reach power. In today's world, only the leaders of the five Ancient Dynasties can use this power. According to their accounts, when all your power is drained and you are on the brink of death, you forcibly intertwine your aura and mana, which are otherwise separate, creating a pure white power. You cannot look away from it; it feels like hundreds of thousands of hours have passed, but in reality only a few seconds have. Your body catches fire; you should collapse and faint, but you stand and sleep while sweating, feeling your soul leaving your body. If you calmly face all these conditions, you achieve Nur.
Ricardo began to experience all this. He felt his body burning, sweating, and sensed his soul leaving his body. But he was not afraid. He had tasted death once; there was no reason to fear. Including his previous life, he had lived eighty-eight years.
Ricardo opened his eyes, feeling his power increase tenfold. The visible and invisible wounds on his body healed, and his fatigue vanished. His body emitted a white light, illuminating the surroundings.
In a second, Ricardo leapt over Tiran's head, soaring dozens of meters into the sky. He gathered Nur, the fusion of his aura and mana, in his palms and unleashed it on Tiran. Tiran vanished into white light, reduced to ashes, while the Kislavein soldiers felt their wounds heal and their strength increase.
When Ricardo landed, the army knelt respectfully, bowing their heads. They saluted their lord who had attained the power of Nur.
Ricardo signaled them to rise. The soldiers slowly stood, all serious and respectful. In their eyes, Ricardo was a great man who had obtained an unimaginable power, someone the whole world had to respect.
Ricardo took a noble stance befitting a nobleman, touched the hilt of his sword, and looked seriously at his army. Seeing that everyone was well and the casualties were few, he relaxed and gave orders in a noble voice:
"Gather up! We are leaving this cursed forest!"
The army shouted in unison:
"As you command, Heir of the Dynasty!"
The army set off proudly and joyfully on the road home, unaware of what awaited them.