Chapter 189: Brothers and Misunderstanding
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Pranav
It was as if time had left no traces on them at all and the wheel of fate had completed a full turn. After three hundred and seventy-seven years, on the very soil of their homeland, the two brothers had finally reunited.
Yet, unfortunately, I had no intention of being nostalgic about the past—my longsword clearly declared my intentions.
Before my silver Roland Sacred Sword could even approach him, however, Karwenz merely waved his hand, creating a terribly strong gust that blew me far away.
“There’s such a great difference between us…”
Even though I had been expecting the disparity between us to be vast, being swatted away like a fly was still rather depressing.
Even if Karwenz’s vessel was only at the Legend rank, that cheat-like Soul Imprint would limitlessly increase his power—it was too ridiculous; it allowed Karwenz to utilize power far surpassing that of his vessel. With his true power level—which was above a True God’s—combined with an appropriate vessel, even a True God who risked death to descend to the mortal plane might not be enough to deal with him.
As for me, I had just reached the Silver rank—and this wasn’t even mentioning the fact that I had used up a significant amount of Fate Points to speedily increase my power to deal with Emordilorcan. I still needed quite some time to improve my foundation.
“Roland, have you still not realized the truth? Strength is everything. The current you is just like you in the past—pathetically weak. If I had as much power as today as in the past, I would never have ended up like that.”
Karwenz was obviously proud as he bragged about his power. His attitude was exactly as it was in the past.
“…You’re so old already; stop acting so immature.”
But even though I was unsatisfied, I still returned the Roland Sacred Sword to its sheath. As for why? I already knew that I wouldn’t be able to defeat him. Besides, I had many questions I wanted to ask him, and according to my understanding of him, he would probably respond to anything I asked.
“Is it really that fun to destroy the Mist Kingdom with the help of outsiders?”
This was just a test question, but Karwenz shrugged with a visible expression of indifference.
“Who cares? It has nothing to do with me and nor did I cause it. Did you think that I was the one behind it all? You were wrong.”
Although I was rather surprised to hear this, it was still to be expected. Moreover, Karwenz was always one who looked down on lying, so if he said he wasn’t the one, then he was most likely telling the truth.
“The current two living royals of the Mist are both my descendants. For a demon, blood-related descendants are treasures that are difficult to come by. Perhaps my next backup vessel will have to come from them as well, so why would I kill them off? Honestly, without my interference, the East Mist Communal Country would have been destroyed several times over already.”
“How’s that possible?”
“Two years ago, when the East Mist Communal Country was on the verge of destruction with enemies already invading the capital, they were still able to counterattack from the brink of destruction. Did you really think that little Reyne could accomplish that by herself?”
Karwenz rolled his eyes with a condescending expression. It appeared that he was displeased with the recent descendants of the Mist.
I was speechless after hearing this. I knew that Karwenz was referring to the previous beastmen attack.
At that time, the previous king had been killed, and Reyne had somehow managed to display exceptional talent in commanding the army, chasing the beastmen for thousands of kilometers and winning the beautiful title of Princess Knight.
I asked the soldiers who had taken part back then. While the previous Reyne was indeed incredible, she had not personally fought in combat and had only deployed expert military strategic techniques coupled with an extraordinary anticipation of the enemy’s moves to send the beastmen packing.
But, unfortunately, it seemed as though her genius was all used up as the her after that was only ordinary in performance.
Of course, I had also asked Reyne herself.
“Ah, how we won? I don’t really know either. I felt like my head was really clear back then, and various demonic ideas came into my head one after the other, and I just followed the ideas and won. Brother Roland, am I really talented after all? I’m a genius, right?”
“Yes, you’re really talented and a genius.”
Back then, I could only woodenly nod my head in confusion.
Looking back on it now, though, the truth had been unknown to everyone. In reality, through his own bloodline, Karwenz had personally guided the Mist Army towards victory, giving Reyne the chance to become famous.
Of course, the Demon Prince wouldn’t do something for nothing. He probably did it for the sake of his vessel that he was now using.
“Then… what about the beastmen this time?”
“They came south by themselves to steal back their homeland. In their eyes, it’s only natural—it’s the will of their ancestors. It, of course, has nothing to do with me.”
“…the elves?”
“That has even less to do with me. You know that I’m allergic to those long-ears who speak in such feminine voices. They went seeking death on their own; whose fault is that?”
“…Lorci?”
“About that, wasn’t that just a small joke that I played on you? You wrote a letter to have her betray us, so I also wrote her a letter to have her betray you to see if I could make her betray someone again. I didn’t expect that female spider to lack so much honor. Sigh, I even lost a lot of money gambling on her. Damn it; I underestimated the lack of morals of those damned dark elves.”
“…The Earth Elemental Dimensional Door?”
“I admit I told my subordinates to do that in order to accomplish at least a little work for my boss. It counts as one of my future preparations. But that doesn’t have anything to do with the Mist Kingdom, and it didn’t matter if it succeeded or not since just the revival of the Elemental Gods met the requirements of the will of the Chaos Abyss.”
I was dumbstruck after listening to all this. Karwenz was so direct that he told me everything, but he was too direct—I didn’t even know what to say anymore.
“Alright, it’s so difficult for us brothers to meet up. How about finding a place for a drink?”
As he said so, “Karwenz,” who was smiling rather strangely, gestured as if he was downing a cup, angering me even further. We were having so much difficulty fighting this war while this bastard was acting as if he was just playing a boring game, where it didn’t matter if he won or lost as long as he had fun. This comparison naturally made me furious.
“Fine, I only have one more question I want to ask you… what’s with all these descendants of yours in this plane? Just what plot do you have?”
“Plot? Isn’t that underhanded tactic your favorite? If I want something, I’ll just take it by force. The current Elemental Tide’s density is insufficient, so let’s just talk about the main topic later. I’ll plant some seeds, and when they sprout, I can borrow a vessel to come have some fun in the mortal plane. Besides, how could these small fights before the main battle possibly have anything to do with me? I am a veteran of the Chaos Abyss; it’s below me to interfere in such a low-level battle. Relax, for the time being, I have no interest in any of the countries here. The best-tasting wine should always be saved for last. Perhaps we’ll fight in the end, but definitely not now.”
Karwenz’s words undoubtedly infuriated me. He really was treating this like a game. The Holy War had just begun, and the truly powerful existences were unable to descend to the mortal plane. So his words did have their own logic to them, but his attitude of not caring either way made me blow a fuse.
“As for those descendants of mine; isn’t it normal? You’re so old already, but you’re still a virgin—isn’t that a little strange for a guy? Ah, I shouldn’t have said that—sorry, sorry, it wasn’t on purpose!”
Karwenz chuckled strangely as he gave an obviously insincere apology. He really knew how to get on my nerves.
“What’s with being a virgin man! If virgin girls are pure and beautiful, then why can’t there be pure and kind virgin men? This is the ugliest form of sexual discrimination, this is completely unreasonable logic! I strongly request for equality between male and female virgins! There’s no fundamental difference, but why is there such a huge contrast in treatment!”
If it weren’t for the fact that I was trying my best to remain serious, perhaps I would already be raging. It’s been so many years now, and I thought back to how we looked exactly the same back then. I had a higher position, and I was the more handsome one, but I still had a slightly worse luck with women… fine, fine, don’t slap my face, I admit that my luck was much worse! But that doesn’t mean that what he said—about an almost four-hundred-year-old virgin male being strange—was true!
Karwenz shrugged. He probably understood my fits of craziness better than anyone else, and he knew that ignoring me was best.
“If it weren’t for my assistance, then that Charles brat wouldn’t have been able to successfully build his country. From a certain standpoint, I worked even harder than you. Our descendants can take care of themselves, and I didn’t intend to meddle in their lives. But providing a vessel that can help me descend and have fun in the mortal plane is a price and duty that they must pay.”
Apart from the fact that Karwenz just wanted to have fun, if there truly was a plot of some sort, it probably involved harvesting the seeds that he already planted.
“What? What daydreams are you having there? Leave Reyne’s body behind, and I won’t care about anything else!”
I finally found an excuse to vent my displeasure as I lifted my sword again and blocked him.
Karwenz had all sorts of reasons that made it seem like he was completely disinterested in the current world. Yet how could I possibly let the Demon Prince just roam freely?
“What, do you think you can stop me?”
Karwenz curled his lip disdainfully. He had instantly discerned my actual power level. I doubt I would be able to harm him even if he stood still and allowed me to hack at him.
“What about if you add me?”
Elisa’s voice rang out from behind us. A flame dragon was twisting itself around the right arm of the Flame Sea Marchioness ¹ , while her left was covered by a patch of frost. Elisa had already partially unsealed herself when Roland had appeared and was now ready to go all out at any time.
“Marchioness Elisa? Hey, hey, don’t be so serious, I really am here just for sightseeing. If you use your full force, my vessel won’t be able to take the blow, and I’ll have to return to the Chaos Abyss. But then it will be the end of the descendants of the Mist.”
“Relax, if there are no more descendants of the Mist, then I’ll do my best to give birth to a few more. My ideal family consists of one son and two daughters. My dear Roland, do you think three children are enough? If not, I can consider giving birth to a few more.”
Elisa continued to unseal herself as she smiled ever so sweetly while saying such seductive words. One of her eyes was a red ruby gem while her other had transformed into a deep blue icy sapphire. Right now, she had almost completely unsealed herself, and Elisa was prepared to use a single attack to annihilate everything.
In her mind, the Demon Prince Karwenz was far too dangerous a threat to Roland. In that case, even if she destroyed her own physical body, she would give it her all and take Karwenz back to the Chaos Abyss together with her!
But I blocked her from doing so. I had a better option available to me.
“Do you see this sword? Do you know its use? If you know it, then be obedient, toss down your weapon, and surrender!”
“Heroic spirit summoning? It’s limited only to Mist royalty, but even if you summon the first Mist King, I won’t be afraid—wait, do you intend to summon who I think you are?”
When mentioning that king, even Karwenz, who wasn’t afraid of anything or anyone, began to show signs of panic.
“Yep, I intend to summon that ancient king from four hundred years ago! He’s definitely the only one who can counter you! In front of his grand power, even you, Karwenz, will be nothing more than a weak child!”
“He’s also your counter! Stop it already; this is a battle with no winners! The result will be a loss for both of us!”
“Hmph, so what if I lose together with you? It’s fine as long as you don’t have it easy! Winners in life should die, popular men should all die! Summoning the king!”
A formless wheel began spinning in midair, and even though it was clearly supposed to be a random summoning of a heroic spirit, I could somehow sense that the king who would answer the summons to come here would definitely be a certain person.
“The descendant of the Mist, Bartholod, may perhaps not be the strongest of all the kings, and his military prowess and combat strategy may only be considered average, but Karwenz, he’s definitely your greatest weakness, because…”
“I’m your father.”
Yep, the middle-aged bearded man wearing the black cape was our father and the only person who could possibly rein Karwenz in.
“Karwenz! What are you doing? Why do you have a bosom and curves now—are you supposed to be male or female?”
Karwenz wore a dazed expression. This was such a familiar reaction, I suppose; it was to be expected of father and son. From the very start, they would never use their sharp observational skills to focus on the correct, important things.
Yet even as I was snickering, I became the next victim.
“Roland, where’s your clothing? Since when did you start strutting around naked? How many times have I said so—as royalty, proper etiquette is more important than anything! Just look at you—you’ve even tattooed yourself! What’s with those strange markings on your body?”
At this moment, I finally recalled that I was still naked—no wonder my lower half had felt so cold when the chilly wind had blown past!
“Roland, I told you this wouldn’t be good for either of us! When this old guy begins lecturing, he won’t stop for at least two hours!”
“Hmph, so what? It’s fine with me.”
Alright, to be honest, I was having a headache as well from listening to his nostalgic rants. But what else could I do apart from tolerating it?
The next moment, however, Karwenz vanished in a puff of smoke. Without a doubt, he had escaped.
“Honestly, it isn’t fun at all anymore with that old guy coming out. I’m going to fulfill the terms of my contract with Reyne first before coming back to visit you to reminisce about the good old times.”
I had shot myself in the foot yet again; I was forced to face my old father’s angry ranting by myself… but from a certain perspective, my “strategy” had worked, since Karwenz had retreated in the face of our father.
Right now, on the Borealis’ magic map, the symbol that represented Reyne could be seen rushing out of the city.
“Oh my, you want Roland to praise you? Just how much do I have to do to obtain his praise and fulfill this contract? What a troublesome junior!”
Note:
1. A woman who holds the rank of a marquess is called a marchioness .