Chapter 70 - Chapter 11: Sword Duke
In Knight Saga, the sword duke, Ishgard, was similar to the elder dragons.
He was an incredible strong and great existence, but he only existed in the background. There were no events where the main character had to face him, so he only existed in the background.
However, like the elder dragons, his presence wasn’t something that could be passed over.
He was the master of Mitra, the demon king, and was the final barrier protecting the sura’s sanctuary.
When Zephyr was raised to the throne of the demon king, he didn’t get involved, saying that it was natural for a strong man to become the demon king.
He never showed up when the warrior Locke came to the Demon World to overthrow the demon king.
Sword Duke Ishgard...
Before the demon king, Mitra, ascended the throne, he was called a sword demon or a sword deity.
Knight Saga’s strongest swordsman.
Now that the demon king, Mitra, was suffering from a disease, he was the strongest in the Demon King’s Palace, excluding the five captains.
The sura’s strongest monster that even the demon king had to beg to be taught by:
Sword Duke Ishgard.
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As soon as the sword duke picked up his sword, the world changed. Even the air was different. It wasn’t wrong to say that an invisible force covered the entire central plaza.
Felicia stopped breathing and In-gong felt the same sensation as when he had faced the demon king.
It was different from when he realized Chris and Caitlin’s strength. In-gong felt like he was facing a wonder of nature... like a huge, pouring waterfall, lightning or a volcanic eruption.
It was impossible for the current In-gong to tell how strong the person truly was.
The man with the spear also emitted a strong energy, but he no longer dominated the situation like when he had first appeared.
Carack swallowed his saliva while Karma flopped down on the ground unconsciously. At that moment, the man’s spear pierced the ground.
The blue aura exploded and the oppressive energy headed toward the sword duke. It was a heavy stab but the sword duke didn’t move from his place. He just swung his sword.
Felicia didn’t know what happened. There was a huge wave and the ground split apart violently. It was like a giant claw had scratched the ground.
The man with the spear started his second strike. He rotated his sword toward the sword duke, but the sword duke still didn’t move his legs. The second wave shook the central plaza.
And then the third...
The sword duke finally took his first step. At that moment, the man dropped his spear. He leapt through the air toward the sword duke and exploded with a huge burst of blue aura!
It was literally an explosion. The blue energy, that had been condensed down to one point, swelled hundreds of times and a huge roar swept through the central plaza. Felicia shrieked as she watched.
That wasn’t all. It was a real explosion. The terrible power of the blue flames filling their vision could be felt. It was a power that could crush the central plaza as well as the whole fortress.
And at that moment, the explosion was split in two. It was like it had been neatly cut by a sword and was destroyed.
In-gong didn’t know the principles. The party was surprised as the blue energy had split in two and simply vanished.
Carack was stiff as his mouth gaped open while Karma didn’t know what was going on. However, In-gong embraced Felicia.
“Kya?”
Felicia shouted at the sudden motion, but In-gong didn’t stop. He crouched down, pulling Felicia with him and shouted,
“Green Wind!”
White Eagle responded to In-gong’s call. The metal plates opened like wings to protect In-gong and Felicia from a new explosion.
Kwakang!
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
Explosions occurred in succession. In-gong looked over the top of White Eagle as he held Felicia and was able to see what had happened.
The shadow puppets were exploding.
There were some who held onto a dungeon guardian as they exploded while others stayed in their spots. Some of them exploded in the vicinity of In-gong, but White Eagle blocked all of those attacks.
"Prince!”
Carack lifted his shield to protect himself and Karma. Instead of responding to Carack, In-gong glanced beyond White Eagle and understood the implications of the explosions.
They hadn’t self-destructed in order to deal a blow to In-gong’s party. It was in order to block all information about them from getting out.
The man with the spear. He was strong. He seemed like he could kill the zombie dragon in one shot.
However, such a powerful person chose to self-destruct. The sword duke had overwhelming strength, but the man who didn’t hesitate to make such a choice was also amazing.
Who was he? Who were the people who sent him?
The simultaneous explosions didn’t last long. Once the mini-map confirmed that all the shadow puppets had been destroyed, In-gong released Felicia and stood up.
“Well done, Greenie.”
In-gong praised White Eagle lightly. As expected, he heard Green Wind’s complaining voice.
‘Master! I am not Greenie. If I am Greenie, then Carack is... Carack?’
This wasn’t it, the frown drawn on Green Wind’s face seemed to say. In-gong laughed and recovered White Eagle before observing the status of the rest of the party.
“Are you okay?”
"I’m ok...ay. I’m just a little surprised.”
Felicia, who was still catching her breath, got up after responding. He turned toward Carack who was pulling up the weak-legged Karma. It seemed like the new shield he just got from the Demon King’s Palace was almost gone.
Lastly, In-gong turned toward the sword duke. The huge explosion from the man with a spear was destroyed by his step and he was now stepping forward, towards them.
Felicia whispered from next to In-gong.
“Sword Duke. He presented you with the dragon leather.”
In-gong nodded at the introduction and calmed his breath. Even though he knew that the sword duke was an ally, his heart was still pounding.
Finally, the sword duke arrived in front of In-gong’s party.
He was tall. There were many wrinkles on his face but strangely, he didn’t seem weak or old. It wasn’t due to the brilliant strength he had shown just a few minutes ago, but because he was dignified and none of the features of an elderly man could be seen.
He gave up on discovering the status of the sword duke. Fending off the explosion hadn’t been simple, but it was impossible to guess how much strength the sword duke had consumed.
He smiled towards In-gong and Felicia and suddenly reached out to Felicia.
"6th Princess!”
Felicia lost her spirit. It was because the sword duke placed his hands beneath her armpits and raised Felicia like she was a child.
“Kyak! Put me down!”
Felicia blushed and yelled, but the sword duke didn’t listen. Rather, he laughed even louder and threw Felicia into the air. He caught her waist and spun her round and round.
“Hahaha! You are so big now! You were just a tiny girl the last time I saw you! You’ve become a beautiful woman!”
“Put me down! Down!”
Felicia whined while laughing and after a few more turns, the sword duke finally placed Felicia on the ground.
"This isn’t something to grumble about.”
The sword duke laughed heartily and Felicia was too busy gasping to refute it. Carack and Karma blinked as they didn’t know what was going on right now.
Was the old man in front of them the same monster as before?
After he touched Felicia’s head one last time, the sword duke turned toward In-gong. As the surprised In-gong jumped into an alert position, the sword duke smiled happily and asked with folded arms,
“9th Prince, do you like my present?”
The sword duke touched In-gong’s Dragon Scale Greaves. In-gong controlled his breathing and replied calmly,
"I was able to create a great piece thanks to you. Thank you.”
There was no blood relation between the sword duke and the demon king’s children, but he was the demon king’s master. He was an elder of the sura, so the demon king’s children referred to him as a grandfather.
He spoke casually to Felicia, but his words seemed a little more polite towards In-gong.
“I’m glad that it was useful.”
Unlike Felicia, it seemed like he hadn’t met Shutra yet.
Instead of the pleasure in his eyes when he saw Felicia, the sword duke looked at In-gong with curiosity.
He turned towards the shattered bodies of the highest ranked guardian and the black dragon Partizan.
“So, what happened?”
In-gong told the sword duke all of his speculations. It wasn’t a secret and In-gong thought that the sword duke was at a level to deal with the issue.
As the sword duke listened without saying anything, Felicia made a confused face in the middle.
"Those people were after Zephyr orabeoni?”
“Perhaps. It isn’t clear, but the man with the spear said that we had come instead of 2nd Prince.”
Despite being siblings, In-gong called him 2nd Prince instead of Zephyr hyung.
Carack asked In-gong,
"Um, I couldn’t hear that. What about Princess? Princess has the best ears among all of us.”
He had already witnessed Felicia’s hearing a few times on Enger Plains. She shook her head.
“I didn’t hear it.”
The man with the spear was a considerable distance away and even his appearance itself was shocking.
Carack asked In-gong again with a cautious look,
"Prince, were you perhaps hearing things?”
"No, it is hard to explain, but I heard it clearly.”
In-gong didn’t know why he could hear the man’s voice either, but it absolutely wasn’t a hallucination.
Felicia nodded.
"It is strange, but it makes sense. Rather, it feels like a question has been resolved. It wasn’t just me, but almost everyone in the Demon King’s Palace thought that Zephyr orabeoni would receive this mission. If this situation was created for the purpose of luring Zephyr orabeoni, then it would explain the death of General Kashubal and why they attempted to capture this fortress so late.”
Just like In-gong, Felicia also had doubts.
"The question is, what purpose do they have for pursuing Zephyr orabeoni.”
The simplest answer was to get rid of Zephyr, but Felicia didn’t think so. Felicia couldn’t properly measure the strength of the man with the spear, but she didn’t think that Zephyr, the strongest royal child, would be hit by this preparation.
Of course, variables existed. It was possible that they made some other arrangements for Zephyr:
The drake ogre, Mustafa, and skeleton king, Balkarova, that had appeared on Enger Plains...
And the zombie dragon and man with a spear at Thunderdoom Fortress.
As tension filled everyone’s faces, the sword duke spoke.
"I can understand the general situation. It is a pretty interesting story.”
His expression was the same as when he first appeared. In-gong asked,
"Sword Duke, do you have any guesses?”
"No. This is the Demon World. These type of people have always been around. Prince and Princess just need to grow well in the future. There is always a countermeasure.”
The sword duke laughed playfully and formed fists. It was a simple move, but it had the power to overwhelm the surroundings.
“Become stronger. If you develop the power to break through any danger, then all problems will be solved.
It was a simple but clear answer. Indeed, he had broken down the threat to In-gong’s party with clear power.
Carack stared at the sword duke with his full respect while Karma’s eyes shone.
Only Felicia sighed at his words and said,
"Then Sword Duke, why are you here? Although I am grateful for the help.”
The unexpected appearance of the man with the spear hadn’t led to the sword duke’s appearance, but Felicia already knew the answer as did In-gong.
The sword duke looked at In-gong and said,
"I came to see 9th Prince.”
It was the answer they had expected, but In-gong and Felicia still waited for the sword duke’s next words. The sword duke met their expectations.
“The demon king seems very interested in 9th Prince. I was at the sanctuary when I received news that the court gathering was overturned.”
'Sanctuary?’
In-gong made a confused sound. In Knight Saga, hadn’t the sword duke been wandering around in seclusion?
The sword duke continued,
"As 6th Princess knows, I spend most of the year at the sanctuary. However, I couldn’t just sit back and wait.”
Sanctuary.
It was the sura’s sanctuary as even Zephyr didn’t know its location.
It would be nice to go there. Maybe the sword duke was the guardian of the sanctuary.
In-gong once again focused on the sword duke’s words. The sword duke gazed at In-gong and said,
"The demon king never acts without a reason. I don’t know why the demon king acted like he did at the court gathering, but there must be a reason.”
It hadn’t merely been a whim or a change of heart.
There was something special about the 9th Prince.
"So, I became interested, even more so now that I’ve seen you directly.”
The sword duke stared at In-gong. It was the same expression as before, but his eyes were different. If felt like the sword duke’s eyes were penetrating inside him.
Then the sword duke smiled and In-gong lowered his eyes.
The demon king had never done something similar to his other children, including Zephyr.
"9th Prince, would you like to learn from me?”
The teachings of the sword.
On behalf of the Demon King’s Palace, Felicia’s mouth dropped open.