The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

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Chapter 633: How About Coming to Our Territory? (1)

Naturally, the scriptures of the Salvation Society included stories about the sealing of the Demon Realm.

However, due to the age of the records, Gathros couldn’t completely grasp their contents. Many records were lost, and even the remaining parts contained many unrecognizable images and characters.

The Salvation Society had been consistently interpreting the scriptures. One piece of information they discovered was related to the Saint.

“If we find the King and go to the sacred ground, we will surely be able to unseal it again.”

The account of the Saint sacrificing herself to seal the Demon Realm was easy to understand. However, there were also contradictory records.

One such record indicated that the Saint was still in the Demon Realm, waiting for their King.

The Salvation Society interpreted this as a metaphor. After all, no matter how much of a saint she was, a human couldn’t possibly live for a thousand years.

Additionally, it was known that the Saint had sacrificed herself to seal the Demon Realm. Thus, the record stating she was waiting for the King must have another meaning.

“Just like she left a sacred relic, she must have left something there too. Something that would make it difficult to unseal. It is said that the Saint knew the King would be resurrected.”

“Hmmm…”

Erlhardt briefly pondered while propping his chin.

Like the people of the Salvation Society, it seemed those on the opposite side also believed that the King would be resurrected.

It was puzzling why such a belief existed, considering most records from a thousand years ago had been lost. It was one thing for them to believe due to their faith, but wasn’t it different for the others?

There must clearly be secrets that had not been passed down to the present.

“I’ll need to regain my memories to understand.”

Erlhardt himself was transferring the power and memories of one of the apostles. It was a plan left behind by the apostle who was the only survivor of the last battle.

His power was returning more quickly than expected. Though still blurry, something kept surfacing.

As the resurrection of the King drew closer, the divine aura spread throughout this world grew thicker.

The speed at which his power and memories returned was also influenced by that aura. So discovering the truth wouldn’t take long.

Gathros asked again.

“What does ‘final revelation’ mean?”

“Nothing much. It just means that the revelation regarding my mission was the last one.”

“Then, you weren’t able to unseal the sacred ground?”

“Yes. The next revelation I received was about the demon sweeping through Ruthania.”

“Hmmm…”

“The demon’s army was too strong, and I couldn’t focus on fulfilling my mission. I was merely engaged in endless combat.”

“But didn’t you say you won?”

“Right. It was only after the entire kingdom turned to rubble and mountains of corpses piled up that I was finally able to kill that demon.”

Erlhardt couldn’t help but laugh.

The demon, with its eyes shining red and burning, was looking for him. In dreams, he merely watched the demon.

For some reason, the demon couldn’t find him. It kept pouring forth its rage and destroyed everything in sight.

The hatred and murderous intent spewing from the demon were enormous enough to collapse the world.

However, many heroes of the kingdom gathered and eventually brought down that demon.

“I thought that was the end.”

Since the demon was dead, he thought a new revelation to continue his mission would appear. But the revelations ceased to continue.

Instead, after that day, the revelations returned to the beginning, and dreams were filled with chaos. Time and space were mixed up, making it impossible to understand anything properly.

Erlhardt found the reason in a certain individual.

“Ghislaine Perdium.”

No matter how he considered it, the only one who suited a demon was that individual.

He still didn’t know how they managed to disrupt the revelations.

However, comparing dreams and reality, he had come to some understanding.

“An event that is meant to occur will eventually take place. Even if the individual who takes charge and resolves that event changes, that is the natural order.”

Events like drought, plague, rifts, and dragons occurred somewhat similarly to the revelations. They had some role in them, but there were also ones where they hadn’t.

According to the revelations, most of those incidents were resolved by the Duke Delphine Faction.

In reality, the one tackling those incidents was the Duke of Penris.

Erlhardt had a feeling he knew what might happen next.

“The Demon Realm… I think the Duke of Penris will discover it first. After all, they’ve already touched the Forest of Monsters twice.”

“…”

Erlhardt was laughing nonchalantly as he mentioned that the society’s wishes might go awry.

Gathros said nothing. He could not admit to such a thing.

That place must be theirs. Only then could they revive the divine power again.

With a sense of unease and discomfort, Gathros set off again.

While on the move, he was stunned by a rumor he heard.

“They caught a… dragon?”

“Yes. It’s said that the Duke of Penris led people and finally captured it.”

“Ugh, ugh…”

Gathros shuddered. Now they were capturing dragons as well. Just how much stronger had their power become?

He even entertained the blasphemous thought that even if the King were resurrected, he might not be able to defeat the Duke of Penris.

Erlhardt simply smiled when he heard the news.

He was already convinced that the dragon would die. To him, the dragon was merely a condition and a sign for the next events.

A knight who had come upon hearing the rumors spoke seriously.

“They say it wasn’t because of the Duke of Penris that they won.”

“What? Then how did they win? Is it possible that Prince Turian intervened?”

“No. It’s said that a mage named Alfoy played the biggest role.”

“Alfoy! That bastard!”

Gathros was taken aback.

Alfoy was a person ranked high on the danger list even within the dukedom. There were too many suspicious points about him without revealing his identity.

“Come to think of it… that guy has never fought against a superhuman…”

He truly was a secret weapon.

Even amidst the numerous wars, the Duke of Penris had never put Alfoy in the front lines. Thus, the church had never encountered Alfoy even once.

“The Duke of Penris! That cunning bastard!”

He had been hiding someone capable of capturing a dragon. Surely, he was pulling some incredible strings behind the scenes.

“Could it be… all those achievements the Duke of Penris made were thanks to Alfoy’s help?”

Thinking about it that way, many previously incomprehensible questions were resolved. A mage capable of handling a dragon would surely have wisdom that reached the heavens.

Thanks to Alfoy, the Duke of Penris could prepare and act faster than anyone else, behaving like a prophet.

It was only natural for them to be defeated.

“Just wait… Now that I understand for sure, I won’t fall for it again.”

Gathros ground his teeth.

If they find the King and the church’s power revives, then he would definitely find and eliminate that Alfoy first.

That was Gathros’s solemn vow at that moment.

*

Ghislaine and some of the personnel had to wait quite a long time in the Sardina Kingdom.

The eradication of the remnants itself was not difficult, but it took time for the main commanders of the allied forces to return.

Most of the remnants had been annihilated and scattered across the continent. The remaining troops continued to search for those who had fled.

The allied forces’ commanders returned to the Sardina Kingdom leading only a few units for the final post-war meeting.

While waiting for them, Ghislaine was devoted to training the techniques he had seen in his dreams from the heroes.

He needed to increase the amount of mana beyond what he currently had and strengthen both his physical and mental abilities. That way, he could exert the power of his will for a longer time.

In that sense, the new techniques greatly assisted in elevating his realm.

Yulien was solely focused on identifying the energy that had penetrated his body.

No one knew what he was doing, as he neither spoke to anyone nor showed any signs.

People merely thought he was quietly meditating as usual.

‘I can’t understand it.’

The energy no longer felt present in his body. It hadn’t vanished, but seemed to have naturally seeped into him as if it had always been a part of him.

Since he couldn’t feel it, he couldn’t use the power either.

It would be a lie to say he didn’t feel unsettled.

“Ha…”

Yulien let out an unexpected sigh. Even he, who was always indifferent, felt troubled by the mysterious nature of this energy.

No matter how much he pondered, he found no answers. Yet, ignoring it was not an option, so his worries grew.

‘Why did I see the Saint?’

According to Ereness, the Saint sacrificed herself to seal the Demon Realm.

Could this energy possibly be related to that event? The Saint wouldn’t appear for no reason.

‘Should I ask Ereness?’

However, Yulien didn’t believe she would tell him the truth. It seemed she was hiding something when they spoke before.

He still thought it might be better to consult with Ghislaine and the others.

He couldn’t leave the energy transferred from the crazy dragon inside his body any longer. So, it would be wise to disclose it.

Yet, even knowing that…

‘Why… am I…’

An instinctive rejection rose from deep within him. An intense premonition that now wasn’t the time to tell Ghislaine.

He always trusted his instincts. His supernatural intuition had always guided him in the right direction.

But was this truly his own will? Or was it the influence of the energy?

Once doubt creeped in, he found it hard to trust even his own senses.

“Ha…”

Yulien sighed again. He had never felt so confused in his life. Not understanding the situation only added to his frustration.

Suddenly, a certain individual sprang to mind.

‘Gathros… Will I be able to learn something if I meet him?’

He had been wanting to meet that Gathros guy for some time.

If the energy that had seeped into him was related to the Salvation Society, he would likely know about it best. As he reached this thought, his mind tilted toward that idea.

It was just like when he first learned about Ghislaine and wanted to meet him.

His strange instincts began to point in one direction like a compass.

Yet, he still couldn’t make a quick decision as before. Now, he was filled with doubts about his own intuition.

‘Just a bit more… I need to think…’

While Yulien was mulling over a conclusion, the commanders of the allied forces gathered in the Sardina Kingdom.

Ghislaine had sent most of the army back and was left with only Gillian, Belinda, and a few guard knights and servants.

Still, no one doubted their safety. Even the few remaining could easily slaughter a legion.

The commanders seemed relaxed, even as they met after such a long time.

“Finally, it seems we’ve wrapped it up.”

“There’s nothing left to threaten us.”

“Let’s start organizing a pursuit unit to capture that priest fellow, shall we?”

Now the only remaining task was to capture Erlhardt and Gathros.

No one was particularly worried. Every kingdom and church on the continent would be looking for them, so they would eventually be discovered.

Ghislaine and the commanders devised a plan to find them and shared the spoils obtained from eradicating the remnants.

They handled the crucial territorial issues similarly to the last time. All regions adjacent to the Ruthania Kingdom would be seized by the Ruthania Kingdom, and the remaining areas would be divided among the other allied nations.

The already vast Ruthania Kingdom doubled in size. It had truly become the strongest kingdom on the continent in both name and reality.

Ghislaine wore a satisfied smile.

“The tedious post-war handling has concluded. Were you all satisfied with the distribution?”

“Ah, yes…”

“Of course…”

“This much is enough…”

Everyone smiled weakly.

In fact, there were no major complaints about the distribution. Everyone agreed that it was natural for Ruthania to take the most.

However…

‘They’ve become too large and powerful.’

‘It was already among the biggest kingdoms on the continent…’

‘Now, it’s at a point where calling it an empire wouldn’t be out of place.’

Ruthania was so intimidating that it dampened their spirits a bit.

That was not all. When they returned to their homeland, greedy nobles would undoubtedly criticize them for yielding so much.

Just thinking about that made him weary even without doing anything.

Now that the post-war arrangements were complete, it was time for everyone to return. Each kingdom would focus on stabilizing their internal affairs and researching the rifts.

However, due to the pursuit unit, they were planning to maintain close contact for the time being.

Ghislaine asked Yulien.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“I’m… planning to look for Gathros.”

“All alone?”

“I don’t really have anything else to do. It seems better to search for those dangerous folks rather than sit idly by.”

Yulien spoke lightly.

Now that the war was over, he had no more tasks. Besides, there were too many people who would be uncomfortable with his return to the kingdom.

After all, he was someone who wouldn’t be welcomed. Given this situation, searching for Gathros might not be a bad idea.

Ghislaine paused for a moment. While he didn’t have to worry about Yulien, those folks were quite dangerous.

‘Especially that Erlhardt. I still don’t know his true identity.’

It was risky to go seeking them alone, as one couldn’t predict what tricks they might pull. Plus, there was no need to search for them solo.

“That’s too inefficient. The pursuit unit will be scouring the continent anyway, so why wander alone? It’s better to move once information comes in.”

“…But I don’t have anything I should be doing.”

“Sounds like you’re saying you’re unemployed.”

“…”

Ghislaine stifled a laugh and proposed something else.

“Then how about coming to our territory? Our territory is really nice for someone who’s unemployed.”

At the unexpected suggestion, Yulien widened his eyes slightly.

And nearby, Marquis Gideon approached with a suspicious squint.