The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

Chapter 89

Stepping inside the temple with bated breath, an immediate battle was nowhere to be found. However, from the entrance of the temple, the bodies of the royal knights and soldiers lay scattered in disarray.

“They appear to have been dead for at least an hour. Seeing that most of them fell to weapons, it seems like the work of the Empire’s men, not monsters,”

Pierce remarked after examining the bodies.

“And some of the wounds on the knights are on the back of their bodies, which likely means…”

“They were betrayed and struck from behind.”

The corpses of the Empire’s men were almost nowhere to be seen, suggesting they were overwhelmingly ambushed.

“Let’s go further inside.”

Passing between numerous indistinct statues, they came upon a peculiar structure erected on a low platform.

“Could that be a gate…?”

Nearby the hexagonal platform, pillars about the height of a human chest were set up, with bizarre patterns that resembled magical circles engraved all over them.

At the center of the platform stood a rectangular stone pillar, about 3 meters in height, with its center hollowed out.

In the middle of this pillar, a translucent blue mist swirled around, its form closely resembling that of a gate.

“That’s not a gate, it’s a barrier. From its design, it seems to have been set up a long time ago,”

Rabel said, perched on Raul’s shoulder, explaining about the barrier in a voice only he could hear.

“The damage is severe. Normally, only specific individuals should be able to enter, but in its current state, it seems anyone could. It appears the other side has a powerful mage or a barrier master, perhaps?”

‘It seems their real objective might be related to this…’

Just then, Philip, who had been inspecting the other side of the barrier, called out to Raul.

“Master, you might want to come take a look at this.”

There lay a body, obviously of noble origin, tied to a pillar. The body was covered with numerous cuts, indication of a fierce battle, and the floor of the platform was soaked with blood flowing from the half-severed neck.

“It’s the Crown Prince.” “…!”

There was no mistaking it for Philip; the Crown Prince had been the one to grant him his knight order.

“Cruel bastards. It seems they used the Prince’s blood to weaken the barrier.”

Even without Rabel’s explanation, the sight was harrowing.

“Let’s move him respectfully.”

“Yes, Master.”

Philip proceeded with a grief-stricken face to take care of the Crown Prince’s body. It seemed like a significantly shocking event for Philip, who was a traditional knight, unlike Raul.

The anger was palpable in Philip, who tightly clenched his jaw and looked down at the Crown Prince. Raul, after lightly patting his shoulder, turned and headed towards the barrier stone.

What on earth was inside that caused such a disaster?Raul reached out with a stern expression and tightly grasped the barrier stone.

As he tinged his pupils golden to activate the analytical mode, his consciousness slightly drifted away, and strange visions started to appear before his eyes.

* * *

It was as if he had possessed someone else’s perspective. This someone effortlessly sliced the A-Grade elite guardian, the Venom Lesser Dragon, into several pieces with just a single sword.

The scene of the massive beast being sliced without much resistance was far from realistic.

‘How much did I struggle in my past life just to take that thing down…’

It took at least a fortnight of preparation, and almost a whole day to hunt it down. The video of him capturing the A-Grade elite guardian solo raid had garnered views in the hundreds of millions, remaining the top video until Bae Dohyun’s death.

A shiver ran down his spine at the ease with which the monster was dispatched as if it was nothing. The scene rapidly shifted.

‘Where is this…?’

Arrived at a temple, someone else’s eyes, similar to Raul’s view earlier, saw the ground littered with the bodies of royal knights and knights.

Observing the prince’s corpse, eyes wide open in death, this someone dived into the barrier stone. And inside was…

“You’re too late. Guardian Caldenas. Or should I say, a ghost of the past.”

Across the grand square, an imposing pyramid-like, several-meter-high, stepped structure stood proudly. And behind the altar at its very top, an ominous ‘Gate of Darkness’ was open.

In the void in front of the gate, a certain man, wearing a black suit and a bowler hat, sat on a sofa with his legs crossed, smoking a cigarette. Notably, he had three horns the size of fingers on his forehead and eyes as red as blood.

Below this arrogantly seated man, a figure in a hood and a silver mask, who curled the corners of his mouth upwards, stood. This was Silver Zero, the regional head of the Imperial Hound in the Ruben Kingdom.

“A fitting sacrifice for the dawn of a new era. Sleep here, Caldenas, with your loathsome mask of hypocrisy!”

Silver Zero, who had shouted elaborately, bowed to the man in the void.

“I ask of you.”

“The contract must be fulfilled.”

“Of course.”

“Hmph. Starting with a half measure. Not to my liking, but it can’t be helped.”

As the man extended his hands, two streams of black smoke roared and headed towards the middle of the pyramid.

Crunch.

“Aargh!”

“Save me!”

About thirty soldiers, tied with ropes, were engulfed by the smoke and turned into a bloody mist as if blended, sucked into the magic circle on the ground.

Groan.

The blood-soaked magic circle lifted about three meters off the ground, swirling as if in a whirlwind. And from it, demonic monster species began to pour out.

“Arf, arf!”

“Screech.”

Hellhounds and imps, along with Doom Knights, Hell Soldiers, and several other monsters of B-Grade or higher were mixed in.

It was then that ‘someone’ whom Raul had been possessed by, no, Guardian Caldenas had started to move.

With a few light swings of his sword, the aura blade that extended forth slashed all demons within a 20-meter radius to pieces.

And as he leaped tens of meters with ease, his sword swung horizontally, sending a colossal blue sword wave, which seemed capable of splitting a mountain, surging towards the top of the pyramid like a wave.

Boom!!

A massive shockwave covered the entire space.

Where the sword wave had burst forth, stood a man, Phoemus, seated on a chair, one hand extended forward, hovering in mid-air.

His posture was incredibly arrogant, but his expression was contorted. His palm was split open, dripping black blood downwards, which then slowly healed.

Though the wound healed, his pride seemed to have been crumpled already.

“How dare this insignificant mortal wound me? In the name of Phoemus, ranked 98th in the demon world hierarchy, I shall tear your soul to shreds!”

Black smoke billowed out explosively from his body, transforming into various monster forms and swarming Caldenas.

With monsters pouring out of magic circles joining the fray, it almost turned into a one versus hundreds battle, yet Caldenas’s sword did not waver.

Boom, rumble!

Thus began the showdown between Caldenas and Phoemus, as Silver Zero and dozens of mages surrounding the altar began some sort of ritual.

A translucent black sphere enveloped them, forming a sort of barrier, from which a wisp of smoke reached out to the end of the ‘Dark Gate’. The scene shifted once again.

‘Has time passed?’

The barrier atop the altar had turned into a complete black sphere, making it impossible to see inside.

Yet the battle between Caldenas and Phoemus continued.

The difference was that Phoemus’s suit had turned to tatters, and several wounds seemed not fully healed, with black mists swirling around them.

It appeared that Caldenas had the upper hand in the battle. But the outcome did not seem to be determined easily.

Monsters were still being summoned from the magic circle, and Phoemus was replenishing his energy through the mana flowing from the gate.

Occasionally, when Caldenas’s sword aimed for Phoemus, monsters would throw themselves to block his attack.

And when a truly threatening attack came, Phoemus would transform his body into black smoke to let it pass, though not perfectly, leaving wounds behind.

Raul, seeing the battle from Caldenas’s perspective, was completely captivated by his swordsmanship.

The thought that human swordsmanship could be this perfect and beautiful was inevitable, as well as being mesmerized by his overwhelming skill and power.

‘Just how far does this man’s realm extend?’

Having roamed the world of Connect for over a decade before reincarnation, encountering many strong individuals and monsters, undoubtedly, the strongest was this man named Caldenas.

Isn’t he currently holding the upper hand against hundreds of monsters and a demon viscount?

‘And it’s clear his skill isn’t all there is to him.’

Though only sharing his sight, something felt off in his movements during the battle. It felt like knowing the way but the body just not cooperating, an infuriating situation.

There seemed to be some reason why he could not give his all, though it was unclear what it was. As Raul haphazardly observed the battle at Caldenas, a familiar silhouette caught his eye.

‘No way, is that him?’

The figure of Jose, the high-ranking Knight of the Imperial Hound who had recently fled, emerged. He was using a monster as a shield, keeping as far away from Caldenas as possible, and running up the stairs.

Eventually, he reached near a barrier enveloped in a black sphere, where Phoemus blocked his way.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, I, I serve that person. I’m also a colleague of those who awakened you.”

“And?”

“I, my colleagues are waiting inside the barrier…”

Boom, crash!

Nearby, fragments of an Aura Blade exploded, grazing Number 1’s cheek. As red droplets trickled down his face, Phoemus’s eyes curved into crescent moons.

“The likes of his colleague, how fortunate. I might need your help.”

“What? What do you mean, huaaack! Aaargh!”

Phoemus’s tail pierced through Number 1’s chest, and black smoke covered his entire body.

Creak, crunch.

Grotesque sounds filled the air and the black smoke, slightly reddened, got sucked back into Phoemus.

Clatter.

Left in its place was just a worthless piece of scrap metal.

It was an absurd and vain end for Number 1, a commander of the Imperial Hound and a top-level expert knight.

“Kuh, this one’s quite substantial.”

Burping, Phoemus’s wounds mostly healed and the black smoke around him seemed to thicken.

Then, the black smoke monsters surged towards Caldenas again.

“… Raul, Raul! Are you okay?”

Coming to his senses, Rabel was looking at him with a worried expression.

Raul asked, removing his hands from the barrier pillar,

“How long was I out?”

“About a minute? You were zoning out, so I got worried and called out to you.”

‘I thought a significant amount of time had passed, but it was only a minute.’

Although he didn’t know why he had seen such a scene, it helped Raul realize what he had to do.

“Philip, Pierce. Come over here for a moment.”

Raul’s golden eyes were blazing.

(To be continued)