Chapter 71

The silence of the Ashwind Plain did not last long. It was nothing more than the suffocating calm before a storm. The event in which the two empires’ sharpest shadows vanished at the same time sounded the overture of a great catastrophe that shook the entire continent.

The capital of the Kairos Empire, Kailus. The great hall of the imperial palace was colder than an ice slab.

“Annihilated…?”

Emperor Alberto’s voice was sunk in a despair beyond anger. At his feet lay the tags engraved with the names of the intelligence chief “Ironblood” Walter and all members of the ‘Royal Shadow Blades’, spilled out. They were the only belongings barely recovered from the collapsed cave in the Ashwind Plain.

“Those Valerian bastards… how dare they…!”

The Emperor’s fury finally exploded. He slammed the throne and roared.

“This is a blatant declaration of war! They laid a trap from the start and broke our sharpest blades! Guards! Immediately issue a mobilization order to every legion of the Empire! We’ll cut the throats of those arrogant serpents and dedicate them to Walter’s tomb!”

The hall filled with a frenzy as if war could break out at any moment. The hawkish nobles, as if long-awaiting, echoed the Emperor’s rage and shouted that war must begin at once. Amid that chaos, only the Crown Prince Julian and Kaion tried to keep their composure.

“Your Majesty, please show mercy!”

Julian knelt and pleaded.

“This is an exquisitely crafted trap! We’ve received intelligence that the Valerians also lost their elite unit, the ‘Crimson Ghosts’! It’s highly likely a despicable scheme to make our two empires tear each other apart so a third party can profit!”

“Then who is behind this?”

“We must… find that out. If we start a war rashly, we’ll only be dancing in the palm of an unseen enemy.”

But the Crown Prince’s rational voice did not reach the ears of the enraged Emperor and nobles. The great chariot called the Kairos Empire had begun to race toward the cliff of war with no brakes.

At almost the same time, the capital of the Valerian Empire, Ethernom.

Duke Alcard, the Minister of Shadows’ office was shrouded in a colder darkness than usual. He silently stroked the broken mask of Silvana, ‘the Blood-Red Countess’, his beloved blade. In his red eyes there was not sorrow but a flash of cold anger and calculation.

“That old Kairos dog… how dare he break my toy?”

Emperor Constantine’s fury rivaled that of the Kairos Emperor. Far from acquiring the Dragon’s Heart, he had lost the Empire’s most powerful secret weapon, the ‘Crimson Ghosts’.

“They knew from the start! The danger of the Dragon’s Heart! They intended to lure us in and bury us alive with the artifact! Those cunning wolf bastards!”

Alcard did not calm the Emperor’s rage. On the contrary, he poured oil on the flames.

“Your Majesty, Kairos has lost all its elite shadow units, including its intelligence chief, in this incident. Now is the perfect opportunity to sever their leash. Before they regroup, we must pierce their heart first.”

As if by pact, the two empires reached the same conclusion. Burning with revenge and hatred for one another, they were walking themselves into the quagmire of a great war.

The source that created all that chaos: the Aster estate.

Rian was watching the recording device Kael had recovered from the Ashwind Plain through the ‘Eye of the Abyss’. Inside the crystal sphere, a hellish tableau of the two empires’ shadows tearing at and killing one another unfolded vividly. Blood spattered and flesh was torn—horrific sights—but Rian’s eyes showed no disturbance.

Like a knight replaying a complex chess match, he was coldly analyzing their movements, combat styles, and weaknesses.

“Kairos’s Shadow Blades excel in organized maneuvers but lack individual prowess. Meanwhile, Valerian’s Crimson Ghosts boast strong individual combat ability but lack cohesion and are prone to being defeated one by one. Interesting data.”

Standing beside him, Meister Gideon muttered with a pale face.

“Young master… you are… a demon.”

Instead of answering, Rian stood before the communication magic device. He issued new orders to Argos.

“Spread a rumor in Kairos that ‘the Valerians, based on the data they obtained from the Ashwind Plain, are on the verge of completing an even more powerful biological weapon.’ Spread in Valeria the rumor that ‘Kairos found a clue to the true location of the Dragon’s Heart in the Ashwind Plain and will soon move to monopolize it.’”

It was the final whisper to pour oil on the burning hatred of the two empires.

Rian cut the communication and returned to his room. On his desk lay the picture Lily had drawn of him smiling brightly. He looked at it for a moment, then put it deep into the drawer.

‘The price of peace always demands blood.’

He looked out the window. In the distance, over the border between the two empires, the stench of bloody war gathered like a black cloud.