by Michael Sisa
Although the King was probably jesting, everyone in the room stared at His Majesty in shock. The words of a royal carried far greater weight than those of a normal individual’s.
Who would have known a year ago that Lark Marcus, the candidate said to have the least chance of winning the competition, would be praised personally by the king like this? Had the king said these words in the throne room and the nobles heard of it, those hungry hyenas would have turncoat to Lark Marcus’ side and flocked to him like flies.
And as though that statement wasn’t enough, the king added, “You’ve been taking care of my daughter for quite some time too.” King Alvis smiled mischievously. “How about it? Why don’t you take her as your wife already?” The king laughed boisterously, not minding his status as a sovereign.
Lark thought they’d discussed this before already. It seemed that the king had no intention of giving up that easily.
“Taking care of His Majesty’s daughter?” said one of the military officers. “T-The Flower of the capital? Princess Esmeralda?”
The military officers started having weird ideas after hearing the words of His Majesty. Lark was worried that at this rate, a weird rumor was going to spread.
The king was clearly enjoying this. The old man’s broad grin never slid down his face.
Lady Ropianna smiled wryly. “Your Majesty.”
The king scratched his cheek. “Ah, that was fun.” He coughed and said to Lark, “Please forgive this old man. Let’s proceed to the topic, shall we?”
King Alvis straightened his garb and signaled Lark and Elias to come closer to the table. Everyone looked at the phylactery placed on top of it.
“Nickolai and Ropianna have finished analyzing this thing,” said King Alvis. “And according to them, the Pinnacle Grade Magic enclosing it is still active.” King Alvis looked at Lark expectantly.
“That’s correct, Your Majesty,” said Lark. “The phylactery and the Pinnacle Grade Magic contained inside were practically untouched.”
King Alvis stroked his ashen beard. “Even the phylactery, huh? Can you tell us the reason for this?”
Lark paused for a moment as he deliberated if what he was going to say was the proper response to this statement. After all, to humans who’d never met demons before their entire life, his next words wouldn’t make any sense.
“I believe that answer is quite simple, Your Majesty. The demon called Agares didn’t resist the spell and simply let his fragment disappear completely. The demon did not try to destroy the phylactery at all.”
“Ropianna said the same thing to us before you arrived,” said King Alvis. “Based on the demon’s words before he disappeared, it seemed that he’s quite fond of humans. But is it possible for a demon to be so… amicable with humans?”
In history books, demons had been depicted as the cruelest of monsters. Creatures who hated humans to their cores. Lark could understand the confused expressions of everyone gathered in this room.
“And Barkuvara…” said King Alvis. “Isn’t that the name of that Demon Lord?”
“I believe so. Not all demons are born with names. To demons, names are special. There should only be one demon with the name of Barkuvara,” said Lark. “It’s impossible to give the same name to a different demon, Your Majesty.”
The air inside the tent suddenly became heavier than before. They all heard what the demon said back then before it disappeared—that the Demon Lord Barkuvara was going to wake up soon. That everything was only a matter of time.
The name of that Demon Lord was frequently associated with myths and legends. And now, in the foreseeable future, it seemed that there was a chance they would meet that monster in flesh.
“As for Your Majesty’s question regarding the nature of demons,” said Lark. “Not all demons are evil. This, I truly believe. It’s not black and white. Even demons have their own nation, their own society, their own aspirations and convictions.”
“So, are you saying that Agares is part of demon faction who wish to coexist with humans?”
“I believe so, Your Majesty. That demon is definitely powerful enough to destroy the medium holding the Pinnacle Grade Spell, but it chose to let itself be suppressed instead.”
Lark pointed a finger at the phylactery on the table and it slowly floated toward him. The moment he grabbed hold of it, he willed the pinnacle magic inside to heed his command. The crystal-like substance enclosing the phylactery rapidly expanded. In just a second, it enclosed everyone gathered around the table.
“This is probably Agares’ way of telling us to make sure to keep this mithril jar intact. Right now, we have on our hands the same Pinnacle Grade Spell protecting the Dwarven Kingdom.”
The King’s eyes slowly widened. He realized the implications of Lark’s words. “D-Don’t tell me…” breathed the King. “You can control the diameter of the barrier at will?”
“As long as I’m holding the medium,” said Lark. “That’s correct.”
Nickolai shuddered for a moment. He said to the king, “Forgive me, Your Majesty. But I’ll need to test out something.”
A sword made of lightning suddenly appeared in Nickolai’s hand. His muscles bulged, he gnashed his teeth, and made an earth-shattering strike at the crystal-like dome enclosing everyone.
The sword of lightning struck the barrier but didn’t make any scratches or dent on it.
The sword of lightning dissipated.
Nickolai stared at the phylactery Lark was holding. “The strength of this barrier is real,” said Nickolai. “Kid, the dragon managed to enclose the entire Dwarven Kingdom with this spell. Perhaps, it’s possible to do the same?”
The military officers looked at Lark expectantly. If that was indeed possible, it would greatly reduce the number of casualties in the military. Monsters would no longer be a threat if a pinnacle grade barrier was protecting the entire Kingdom.
“It’s impossible to cover the entire Kingdom,” said Lark.
Those inside the tent were dejected upon hearing this.
“The medium maintaining the barrier of the Dwarven Kingdom is the dragon’s body itself, while we have this mithril jar holding our spell. It’ll be like comparing iron with rye bread. We can probably cover the entire capital with the spell, but anything beyond that, the phylactery will break.”
“I see,” said King Alvis. “But that’s still a lot better than nothing, isn’t it?”
“I agree,” said General Carlos. “If a barrier as strong as this one is protecting the capital, we can allocate more soldiers to the frontiers. It’ll greatly alleviate the burden on the Kingdom.” The general rubbed his chin. He slowly added, “The dragon managed to put a restriction on its barrier spell—only dwarves are allowed entry into the Dwarven Kingdom. Could you do that too, Sir Lark?”
“It should be possible. A barrier which permits only the entry of humans,” said Lark. “Please just give me some time to alter some runes on the medium.”
General Carlos smiled. “Thank you. The knights who lost their lives just to obtain the flower must be smiling from the heavens right now. Their deaths weren’t in vain. We managed to sever His Majesty’s curse, and now, we’ve obtained the strongest barrier spell to protect the capital.”
Everyone in the room agreed to the general’s statement.
“But it’s still a shame, isn’t it,” said Lady Ropianna. “If only Wisgarus and Minerva didn’t try to obtain that so-called Sword of Morpheus. Maybe they wouldn’t have lost so many lives. Maybe the majority of the royal knights are now with us, enjoying the fruits of their success.”
“Ropianna!” snarled Nickolai. “Didn’t you say that we should keep that information a secret?”
Lady Ropianna titled her head. “He saved the life of the king. He’s no outsider. And Sir Lark doesn’t strike me as someone who wouldn’t be able to control his greed. Honestly speaking, I’m more worried about you, Nickolai.”
“What did you say?” Nickolai glared.
; “Nickolai, you heard what the survivors of that expedition said, right? The monster guarding the treasure isn’t something mere humans could hope to match. You started gathering your disciples after hearing of the sword. Please don’t be foolish. We already lost two royal court magicians this year.”
While Lady Ropianna and Nickolai were bickering with each other, Lark interjected.
“W-What did you say?” said Lark. “Sword of Morpheus?”
For some reason, he was visibly shaken. As though he’d never expected to hear the name of that sword here, of all places.
End of Book 5
AFTERWORD AND WHERE TO FIND THE REST OF THE CHAPTERS
Hello~
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