by Park Saenal
Diworth felt like he was dreaming.
‘Illusion magic?’
No, it wasn’t. The sight of the fields and the sweet scent coming from the hanging grapes could never be a fantasy. In the first place, an illusion master wouldn’t allow him to distinguish between fantasy and illusion.
“You’ve learned a weird thing!”
The fragments of energy that Piaro sowed contained life, and Piaro created the environment using techniques that promoted life. When Diworth quickly grasped this fact, he took a sip of alcohol and spat it out. The stream of alcohol emitted from his mouth contained powerful magic power. The lush plants and trees were unable to cope with the terrible alcohol and withered. At the end of the stream of magic power was Piaro.
Diworth ran across the withered fields and reached out a hand. Piaro’s hand plow and Diworth’s attack collided, causing an explosion. Since the opponent was strong, Diworth didn’t intend to contend with unnecessary skills. He took out the hidden weapon in his other hand and shot it. It was covered with an extremely poisonous substance made by an aging white bamboo spider. The needle, which was filled with a terrible poison that boasted no color or odor, flew silently and struck Piaro’s thigh.
‘He wasn’t alert!’ A smile spread across Diworth’s face.
The Tiphon dukedom was famous for poison. Even those who had reached the top would become vulnerable in front of Duke Diworth’s poison. At this moment, Diworth was convinced of his triumph. He was proud that Piaro, a former pillar of the empire, failed to respond to his hidden weapon.
However, Piaro was fine. “It is insignificant.”
“…!?”
Piaro didn’t respond to Diworth’s poison. Natural State combined with the body of a legend made him unaffected by the poison needle. Piaro knew it as well. He let himself be hit to thoroughly shatter Diworth’s self-esteem. It was to sentence him to the worst death.
Piaro’s hand plow flew toward Diworth’s heart. However, Drunk Duke Diworth wasn’t easily hit because he boasted unpredictable movement paths. Diworth’s clothes were loosened as he used gentle movements to avoid the hand plow.
“What?”
Piaro was fine after being poisoned with the hidden weapon…? Diworth was baffled by the appearance of Piaro, who didn’t seem poisoned. He suffered greater confusion and shock from this than when he saw the fields. Even so, he didn’t lose his concentration. He drank more alcohol and drove out the confusion and fear.
“You built up a bigger status…” Watching the confrontation, Duke Grenhal was thrilled. Piaro had lost everything apart from his life and lived as a hermit. Did he live in pain and anxiety every day? Honestly, Grenhal had been dubious about that. He had expected Piaro to be weaker, even if he was alive.
Yet what was this? Piaro boasted an excellent shape after being called by Grid. It was a bit ambiguous to say he was stronger, but based on his resistance to poison, he had definitely built up a stronger status.
‘Why is he sealing the sword?’
Grenhal and Morse became more doubtful. The Piaro they knew was a great swordsman aiming to be a Sword Saint. Yet the current Piaro didn’t use a sword at all and was holding farming equipment. He had a knight’s spirit and armor, but the things he showed throughout the battle were no different from those of a farmer. Why was he putting constraints on himself? At this rate, he might not be able to win against Diworth.
Then it happened when Grenhal’s and Morse’s suspicions became stronger.
“Free Farming 4th Style.”
The hand plow missed Diworth who dodged like a fish, then Piaro pulled out a trident attached to his back. No, he pulled out a rake.
“Plow the Field!”
The soil in the field was turned over.
“…?”
The ground suddenly turned upside down, and soil rose, causing Diworth’s stance to collapse. Somehow, seeds flew in his vision as he tried to keep his body upright. It was the effect of Free Farming 5th style, Harvest. Hundreds of thousands of seeds flooded toward Diworth.
“Kuek…!”
The retreat was blocked. Diworth became extremely tense as he was surrounded by seeds.
‘They are just seeds,’ he calmed his mind.
Yes, he was only surrounded by seeds. There was no problem. A person couldn’t die because of seeds. Diworth judged and bent his waist. He planned to fight back and deal a blow while Piaro was harvesting, but that was a huge mistake.
“Free Farming 8th Style, Polishing Rice.”
“…!?”
There was a huge explosion that shook the entire canyon. The thousands of seeds harvested by Piaro exploded at once, swallowing up Diworth.
“Kuaaaack!” Diworth’s scream echoed.
He failed to respond to the unexpected attack and was seriously wounded. His body became dull as the alcohol flew away. Piaro took action without hesitation. He took out his sickle without delay and aimed at Diworth’s heart. There was no time to avoid it.
[The Saharan Empire’s duke ‘Drunk Duke Diworth’ has been defeated.]
[It is a great accomplishment that no one has achieved.]
[Your reputation throughout the continent has increased. You have acquired 2,000 reputation points.]
[Your level has risen.]
[The Duke Tiphon Family’s Magic Gourd has been acquired.]
[The Duke Tiphon Family’s White Dragon Wine has been acquired.]
[Your knight ‘Piaro’ has accomplished the achievement of ‘Overwhelming the Seven Dukes’.]
[Your article, ‘Piaro’, is progressing!]
It was an unprecedented and vain end for a duke of the empire. There were complicated emotions in Grenhal, Morse, and Basara’s eyes as they watched Diworth turn to ash.
“No one helped,” Piaro then blamed them, “You haven’t changed at all.”
That’s right. Piaro had been aware of the three people’s existence from the very beginning. However, only Diworth was threatening Grid at that moment, so Piaro had to kill Diworth first. He calculated that the dukes wouldn’t help Diworth. The dukes had already turned away from Piaro and his family in the past.
Piaro gritted his teeth. They were people who he had believed to be his friends. He couldn’t blame Basara because he had not had many moments of contact with her, but Grenhal and Morse were different. During his time as chief of the Red Knights, Piaro had a profound connection with the warriors, Grenhal and Morse. He had respected and trusted the people who served the same imperial family and fought for the same people.
However, it had been a one-sided trust. They had turned away from him easily.
“Sir Piaro…” Grenhal and Morse felt Piaro’s anger and sadness toward them and lowered their heads. They didn’t have the courage to face him. This was despite them having fought for Piaro’s family and prayed for Piaro’s peace of mind. They had failed help Piaro’s family in the end and hadn’t expected to have a reunion with Piaro.
Yet this situation was now suddenly occurring before them. They understood Piaro’s pain and sorrow, so they couldn’t say anything. Grenhal and Morse could only let out a sinner’s sigh.
Piaro tried to control his resentment. “…Now, I won’t blame you anymore.”
He turned away from Grenhal’s broad shoulders that didn’t save his younger brother. “The destruction of me and my family was the result of my carelessness. I don’t deserve to blame you.”
He also turned away from Morse, who usually wasn’t as proud in front of his parents. “Now I am fighting to protect my king.”
Piaro wiped his eyes and grabbed his farming equipment. Thinking that Grenhal, Morse, and Basara were naturally with Diworth, Piaro interpreted them as a threat to Grid. It was natural. The Saharan Empire was the enemy of the Overgeared Kingdom.
‘I can’t drag out the fight for too long.’
Piaro’s Natural State was incomplete. It couldn’t exert infinite power. Piaro couldn’t afford a long fight as he had gone all out in his battle wit
h Diworth. Coldly analyzing the situation, he judged that he had to aim for a swift attack in order to protect Grid from them. He would use all his secret techniques from the beginning, including Origin True Energy.
‘I must protect him.’
Piaro’s life wasn’t important. The life saved by Grid would be used for Grid. Piaro had just vowed this when a reversal occurred. Grid suddenly made an absurd proclamation, “Piaro, put away your hand plow.”
“…?”
“They are my friends.”
“…Your Majesty?” Piaro doubted his ears.
“Additionally, these two people struggled to protect your family, although they didn’t succeed in protecting anyone. They have been in pain for almost 20 years,” Basara, who was famous for being wise and impartial, spoke up.
“I’m ashamed…”
“Shit, I’m sorry. Really… I’m really sorry.”
Grenhal and Morse apologized to Piaro who was standing like a stone statue. Piaro flopped to the ground and felt something slip out of his body. He was dizzy and seemed to hear the humming of bees in his ears.
Chapter 1040
“We analyzed the situation at the time and was convinced that Sir Piaro didn’t betray us. It was just that evidence of treason was found, and we couldn’t prove that you didn’t want to betray the empire…”
Piaro had received the charge of treason. It had been impossible for the dukes to defend him without any evidence.
“In the end, we filed an appeal to take care of Sir Piaro’s family. You know the result of that…”
It was a long distant past, but from the standpoint of the parties involved, it was the pain of yesterday that they wanted to undo. Duke Grenhal knew Piaro’s heart and felt pained and heavy. He couldn’t raise his head, and his vision was spinning as he barely controlled his burning emotions.
“…” Piaro was silent.
They didn’t turn away from his pain, but he blamed them. These two facts buzzed in Piaro’s head and tormented him. Piaro looked up at the sky with a somber expression and suddenly asked, “Who do you mean by we?”
“Me, Duke Morse, Duke Rachel, and Duke Rigal.”
“…Rigal?”
Grid stood to the side and bit his lips. Sky King Rigal… It was now clear why Rigal had been agitated when he discovered Piaro at the last minute. Grid reproached himself for having ordered Piaro to kill Rigal. Piaro grabbed Grid’s trembling hand. “Your Majesty, Rigal was an unforgivable enemy for our Overgeared Kingdom. The guilt is what I have to bear.”
‘That is the problem, you madman.’
There was a new weight on Piaro’s rotting heart. Grid was sorry for that. His colleagues looked sadly at the grumbling Grid and sent him whispers:
-Grid, you didn’t know the past. It isn’t something you should feel uncomfortable about.
-In the first place, Rigal broke the statue of Khan and hit the people. How can you care about the old days when fighting the enemy?
-It happened in a war.
“…”
Their words were true. Rigal had invaded Bairan and killed many people. He had destroyed Khan’s statue. Finally, he had aimed a weapon at Grid. Punishing Rigal had been a natural thing to do. The problem was that Grid had borrowed Piaro’s power to do it. Grid resented his own helplessness.
‘If I was stronger… If I was strong enough, I would’ve dealt with Rigal on my own without needing to call Piaro.’
Then Piaro wouldn’t have to shoulder a new guilt. Grid grumbled and checked the logs.
[Your level has risen.]
[You have reached level 399 and acquired the 200,000 Army Swordsmanship.]
[Swordsmanship Textbook: 200,000 Army Swordsmanship]
[Rating: Legendary
A textbook recording the basics of Madra’s swordsmanship. However, it records the swordsmanship used after Madra became a death knight, so the contents are weak compared to the original.
Only one swordsmanship technique, 200,000 Army Crushing Sword (Degraded) is recorded.
Learning Conditions: Those who have been recognized by Madra. Level 399 or more.]
“…”
Prior to summoning Piaro, Grid was able to gain a lot of experience and achieved level 399 because he had inflicted a serious injury on Diworth. Grid could become stronger. The confident Grid made a new commitment, ‘I will bear all the pain in the future.’
Piaro, Asmophel, Braham, and Mercedes—most of Grid’s friends had big wounds in their hearts. Even the wise sage Sticks was cursed by the gourmet dragon and had nightmares every night. It seemed impossible for his first knight Jude to get married, and Minerals Detector Minor studied while taking care of his ailing mother. They were all difficult and sad people. Grid wanted to be a strength for them. He wanted to be someone who could be relied upon and have them say ‘I was happy’ by serving him.
‘Let’s try it.’
Grid wasn’t a great person. He didn’t have the talent to awaken such heated feelings. To be honest, he didn’t know how to do it. Still, he believed that if he kept trying, he would become stronger. Grid was firming up his heart while the conversation between the dukes and Piaro continued.
“The biggest reason I couldn’t protect your family was Marie. She didn’t act directly, but her family and the nobles who served her insisted that the traitors should be punished.”
“It is obvious that fucking woman played tricks from behind the scenes.”
It was ridiculous for a noble of the empire to talk badly about the empress. This was an act of insulting the imperial family and was no different from rebellion. Yet Grenhal referred to Marie as ‘her’, and Morse took it further by cursing. It was a scene that showed they didn’t acknowledge Marie as empress.
Piaro searched Basara’s expression. Basara was a descendant of the third emperor and a close relative of the current emperor. She had the blood of the imperial family, and her order in the line of succession was very high at 5th place. Grenhal and Morse insulting the imperial family in front of her was the same as insulting her.
However, Basara didn’t show any agitation. The way she shook her head and looked away showed that she was also suspicious of the empress. Putting aside the fact that she didn’t have much contact with Piaro, the reason she didn’t step forward for Piaro in the past was the restriction on the imperial bloodline.
“…I’m also sorry to say this,” Grenhal opened his mouth with much difficulty, “There is evidence that Earl Asmophel was involved with Marie.”
Piaro and Asmophel—there was no one in the empire who didn’t know that the two men were close friends since childhood. Thus, Grenhal felt uncomfortable saying this. He was worried that it would give Piaro too much shock and anger. On the other hand, Morse spoke without a hitch, “It wasn’t just allying with her. He completely followed that woman and stabbed in the knife. He was the one who was most active in chasing down the Red Knights.”
“…”
“Sir Piaro, it might be unbelievable, but Asmophel was the one who made the biggest contribution to you being called a traitor.”
“…I know.”
“…”
Piaro answered that he knew. Then Grenhal and Morse shut their mouths at Piaro’s bitter words. They didn’t dare to imagine the betrayal and resentment that Piaro was feeling. Basara interjected, “A number of years ago, there was an incident where Earl Asmophel disappeared overnight. He is officially missing, but I’m certain he was assassinated by someone.”
“…”
“Sir Piaro, did you punish him?”
Asmophel had been staying in his mansion. It was a mansion in the middle of the empire’s capital, Titan. The intruder had to find Asmophel and hurt him without leaving a trace. There were few people in the world who could do so. Moreover, the one who had most cause to kill Asmophel was Piaro.
Basara’s reasoning was worthy of being right. Grenhal and Morse nodded in agreement. Yet Piaro’s answer was unexpected, “The person who visited Asm
ophel at that time was King Grid, not me.”
“…!?” Grenhal and Morse’s eyes widened. Overgeared King Grid was strong enough to overwhelm the follower who had mastered 10 secret techniques and had already been operating through the empire’s surveillance without any constraints for years…?
‘At the time, Asmophel was a waste compared to his old self and the Overgeared King could easily handle him…’
The dukes were easily convinced of it. The past Piaro and Asmophel were more influential than the dukes, but they were vulnerable to Grid. In fact, the strong Piaro was serving Grid.
‘I’m certain. The Overgeared King is a master on the same level as the grandmaster.’
The existence that connected Pagma’s skills with the lineage of the Hero King… These two achievements were already more than a common legend. By the way, Grid could also use magic like a great magician.
‘To build up such skills at this young age…’
‘A genius beyond this world.’
It happened when the dukes were gazing at Grid with admiration in their eyes.
“Additionally, Asmophel said this. Simultaneously, the empress joined hands with the Yatan Church and destroyed the Red Knights in order to increase her authority. In the process, Asmophel fell into the empress’ trap and took the Yatan Essence. He lost his sense of reason and betrayed me and my colleagues,” Piaro said shocking words. “…I’ve forgiven Asmophel. He is currently serving King Grid with me.”
“…?!” The dukes’ mouths dropped open.
The dukes were so amazed that even Basara, who always had her eyes closed, opened them.
‘Pretty.’ The Overgeared members marveled at Basara’s beauty once she opened her eyes. She looked to be in her late 20s, but Basara’s actual age was estimated to be in the 40s. Basara was a beauty who gave off an extraordinary feeling. It was a dignified elegance that couldn’t be measured. There was such nobility that even her husband didn’t dare freely hold her hand.
“Forgiveness… Was it because of the Overgeared King’s persuasion?”
Asmophel had fallen into a trap and taken the Yatan Essence. That was all an excuse. No matter what, Asmophel was still the demon who had betrayed his friends and colleagues while killing their family. He was an unforgivable person, even for the dukes who prioritized political issues before humanity.
