Chapter 31

“Th-this can’t be….”

A gasp of horror escaped from Archmage Velleius, the head of the royal mage tower who arrived first at the underground altar. The scene before his eyes defied all reason. The cursed relic, the source of the evil aura, lay shattered to pieces, and the great traitor Duke of Valois had been scattered into a handful of ash. And at the center of it all… a young boy of the Aster family lay collapsed, covered in blood.

“Isn’t this child… Knight Kaion’s younger sibling!”

Sir Allen, who had followed behind, recognized Rian and rushed over in alarm. Rian’s condition was dreadful to watch. His breath clung on by a thread, his bones twisted, and his organs seemed torn apart. It was the price of using power no child’s body could withstand.

“This child… did all of this…?”

Velleius looked around as if he could not believe it. In the air, the traces of two massive mana forces colliding and canceling each other were clearly visible. One was a vicious wave of dark Magic, and the other was… a highly intricate, alien remnant of blue mana that did not fit any Magic system he had studied in his life.

“Mana backflow… no, this is closer to canceling interference. How could this happen… it’s as if he understood the source of Magic and wrote its inverse formula.”

A high-ranking cleric of the theocracy who had arrived with them muttered with a pale face. To their eyes, the small boy collapsed in blood was no longer a child. He was a being who wielded unknown power, an object of awe and fear.

Rian was immediately transferred to the imperial palace’s chief medical staff and clerics. Kaion, who had run at the news, collapsed at the sight of his younger sibling. His brother lay pale, as if dead. He remembered his brother’s calm face from last night when he had said, ‘If I don’t return, take Lily back to the estate right away.’

‘Rian… what on earth… what burden were you carrying alone…’

Kaion gripped his brother’s small hand and shed hot tears. Anger, guilt, and a sorrowful apology to his brother tore at his heart.

That night, a heavy silence filled the Emperor’s study. Only the Emperor, the Crown Prince, Sir Allen, Archmage Velleius, and a high-ranking cleric sat together. Only the five top leaders of the Empire were present.

“Rian Aster. That thirteen-year-old child saved all of us?”

The Emperor’s voice trembled as if he could not believe it.

Velleius bowed his head and reported.

“Your Majesty, though it is hard to believe, it is true. Judging from the mana traces at the scene, if that boy had not been there, the capital would have been wiped from the map today. The power he used… far exceeded the knowledge of our mage tower.”

The Emperor fell into deep thought. He could not make this fact public. If it became known that a thirteen-year-old boy had stopped a disaster that neither the Empire’s mage tower nor the theocracy could, the authority of the royal house and those two institutions would collapse. Chaos would be uncontrollable.

“This matter will be kept secret.”

The Emperor finally made a decision.

“Officially, it will be stated that the mage tower and the theocracy detected Duke of Valois’s dark Magic ritual and, in cooperation with the royal knights, narrowly stopped it just before the sacrifice. Anyone who objects will be regarded as a traitor.”

Then he ordered Sir Allen.

“Deploy every royal resource to treat Rian Aster. That child is the Empire’s treasure. Also, raise the security around the Aster family to the highest level and prevent any threat from approaching them.”

All bowed their heads at the Emperor’s command.

They all shared the same thought. That the Aster family, and especially the second son hidden in the shadows, Rian Aster, had now become the most crucial variable determining the Empire’s future and an unknown hero.

In the imperial palace’s deepest infirmary, in the faint light of the life-support magic circle, Rian still had not regained consciousness. Kaion, who kept watch by his side, did not let go of his brother’s hand and vowed firmly.

‘Rian. Now it’s my turn to protect you. I’ll shoulder every piece of darkness you’ve carried; this brother will stop them all for you.’