Chapter 272 : Chapter 272
Chapter 272
Hermai Merhes.
Imperial Chief Mage.
Confidant of Great Emperor Continua.
When he revealed his name, no one in the 29th Legion dared to open their mouths.
This was because even the 29th Legion Commander, whom they looked up to, was merely a fledgling among fledglings before Hermai Merhes.
Hermai had status, power, and even justification.
Those who had tried to kill the son only to face the father could not help but tremble in fear.
Even the tactless and brazen Monia Meranie was now shaking like an aspen tree.
The 29th Legion Commander, Sudarius Speros, tried his best to appear calm as he spoke.
His sea otter-like whiskers quivered, but he pretended otherwise.
“…Grand Dean Hermai, please calm down….”
“Grand Dean Hermai?”
Sparks flew.
Hermai Merhes flashed his Six-Origin Halo and turned a gaze like lightning upon him.
Flames popped continuously inside his eyes, unlike human pupils.
Sudarius was simply terrified to the bone.
“You, what did you just call me?”
“…Gra, Grand Dean Hermai, I said….”
“Even the Ten Great Generals of the Empire use honorifics with me. Everyone does, except for that bastard Deballo and that crybaby Sen Hostanio!”
Hermai called the names of the Grand General and the Two-Flame Grand General as if they were nothing.
Even though they were the first and second greatest generals in the Empire.
The old mage had the qualification to do so.
“But how dare someone like you address me as such?”
“……I apologize, Grand Dean…….”
Sudarius bowed his head deeply.
He had been disregarding Hermai Merhes.
He had considered him merely an old man whose days were numbered since Great Emperor Continua retired.
However, facing him like this, he realized it was merely his own arrogance.
Hermai was not a figure Sudarius dared to disregard.
“A mere brat not even fit to be a blood clot, acting so haughty….”
Hermai huffed and puffed.
Thunder rumbled as he breathed in anger.
The sky remained overcast.
It was because Hermai was the master of the cloudy sky.
He glared at the bowing Sudarius.
“I want to fry every last one of you right now, but….”
He struggled to suppress his murderous intent.
It was not out of compassion, but because of his promise with Ferbias.
During their recent conversation, they had exchanged promises.
In exchange for Hermai not frying the entire 29th Legion, Ferbias would also leave the Hanchamus Islands untouched.
For Hermai, whose priority was Cornelius Merhes's safety, it was a promise he had to keep.
“I will not kill you all.”
He formed a hand seal.
The halo with six focal points pulsated.
“Crawl away with your lives while you can.”
Magic of the Six Stars,
Great Thunderbolt of Reviving Blade Wheels.
***
Wheels of lightning descended from the sky.
Thousands of spinning lightning wheels sharply tore apart the surroundings.
The 29th Legion screamed and fled in a pathetic manner.
Neither the Commander of a Thousand Monia Meranie nor the Legion Commander Sudarius Speros were exceptions.
“…Tsk.”
Hermai caught his breath.
If he had put his mind to it, he could have turned all the fleeing soldiers into a pile of ash.
Including Legion Commander Sudarius, of course.
However, he did not kill a single one.
The first reason was the promise, and the second reason was that he suddenly recalled the end of Secundus Debius.
Didn't the Three-Mi Grand General Secundus Debius fight a thousand and kill only four?
Didn't he die trying not to kill?
Feeling ashamed that he, at 400 years old, was lesser than Secundus, he let the entire 29th Legion go alive.
Though he did leave an irreversible terror deep in their hearts.
The 29th Legion moved away from them at a speed incomparable to when they appeared.
It was because of fear.
It was because they wanted to turn tail immediately.
It was because Hermai Merhes was too massive a terror.
The ships disappeared beyond the horizon.
“…We lived.”
“…We survived.”
Kifkos and Gloriosus looked back at each other.
They knew that old man was Hermai Merhes.
And realizing clearly that they had escaped the clutches of the Imperial Army, they wore joyous faces.
At that moment, there was a shout like a thunderclap.
“Co-nelius-!!!”
Hermai let out a roar.
Resembling thunder, it shook the entire island.
Kifkos and Gloriosus covered their ears.
It was an astoundingly loud voice.
Hermai dashed like the lightning he wielded, heading toward Cornelius Merhes.
“You damn son of mine!!”
“…Master….”
“You were alive! You were really alive!”
The four disasters prepared by the Empire.
The third among them was the Calamity from the Sea.
It was the time when the Second Imperial Princess Santia came to the West to marry, the Nine Streams General Nana mixed in pretending to be a handmaiden, and it finally ended with the duel between Shion Pollinglight and Niko Nereyades.
It has become quite a distant event now.
“And yet you didn't send me a single message!”
Cornelius Merhes had been deployed for that mission, and Hermai had thought him dead ever since.
Hermai poured out words from his overwhelmed heart.
He yanked hard on Cornelius's mustache.
Whether Cornelius groaned or not!
“Without knowing your father's heart, you were brazenly living well! You gained so much weight! Your skin is so sleek too!”
“…W, well, regarding that.”
“Did you even think of me? Huh? Hmm? Did you think of this father even once? I thought you were really dead and…!”
“…No, I was really trying to tell… Ouch! Ack!”
Hermai pulled Cornelius's mustache even harder.
The sight of the mustache mage was quite ridiculous.
“Why do you rot my insides like this, you rascal! When you are forty years old! Why…!”
“…….”
Hermai raised his hand.
Thinking this was definitely going to be a slap, Cornelius squeezed his eyes shut.
However, the expected impact did not come.
Instead, he only felt the old man's arms embracing him tightly.
“…You did well….”
Hermai said, hugging his son.
“…Good job….”
The old man wept.
Despite his age of 400, despite the supreme state of being a six-star mage, he let tears flow down his wrinkled cheeks without caring about any dignity.
He cried with such joy.
“You stayed alive well… You stayed alive well….”
“…….”
“…Thank you, my son, thank you for being alive….”
***
“Amethus.”
I said.
“The Hanchamus Islands have become safe.”
I grinned.
“It means Serena, Shady, Sister Santia, and even Lord Gwaemos are all safe.”
“I heard from Shady.”
“Do you have a means of contact?”
“Yes. Shady is a former captain of the Special Operations Unit, after all.”
Amethus relayed Shady Shandor's story.
That she had been hiding ever since leaving for the Hanchamus Islands.
She had made all sorts of preparations to guard against any possible threats, but thanks to Hermai Merhes, there was no need.
“Hermai Merhes will protect the Hanchamus Islands. It is very reassuring.”
“Did you anticipate this?”
“Even I didn't know it would go this far.”
“…….”
Amethus narrowed his jade eyes.
He had spent quite a long time with me.
So he came to read the nuance mixed in my subtle smile.
“…You didn't have certainty, but you did anticipate it.”
“Just a hope, perhaps.”
I scratched my cheek.
The festering white skin was itchy.
“The reason I protected Cornelius all this time lies here. Because if I have him, I can move to Hermai Merhes.”
“You looked far ahead.”
“As you know, I came from very far away.”
Since I came from the future 19 years later, it is farther than anywhere else.
Just as I can never return, I came from a place more distant than anyone else in this world.
I smiled bitterly.
Discharge flowed down my cheek.
It was because black scales were sprouting from beneath my white skin.
“Where are you looking next?”
“The place where the entire war situation will be overturned.”
I gathered heroes to stand against the Empire.
They are Obro Denoebang, myself, and the Widow Queen.
The Empire overwhelmed the heroes with three confidants.
They are Deballo, Hermai, and Kerenneus.
“Brother Secundus… With the death of his grandson, Deballo lost his will to fight. He hasn't shown himself on the battlefield even once.”
“And Hermai has essentially become our side, protecting the Hanchamus Islands.”
“Only Kerenneus remains, but he is an administrator, not a general.”
I began to feel excited.
As much as I was still in pain, as much as there was bone-deep sorrow, an unbearable heat rose from my chest.
I chuckled because I couldn't help but chuckle.
The corners of my mouth went up endlessly.
Not knowing what grotesque shape my face was taking.
However, Amethus saw his master laughing in a grotesque form.
He saw it with jade eyes that pierced deeper than anyone else, and he had no choice but to swallow his bitterness.
“Do you understand, Amethus? It is the end. The end is coming.”
“…Yes.”
“That long-cherished desire we yearned for so much, the day to bring down that hateful Cordis, is right in front of us… Yes, after passing through all that time, finally here….”
I sank into my thoughts.
I am a regressor.
I remember time that is invisible to others' eyes.
I ended up looking back on my life.
'My, first life….'
***
This is my life.
I must start from before the regression.
I was in the Great Imperial Palace until I was eleven.
At that time, I was not a regressor, merely a young child.
I lived as a non-existent person, receiving all sorts of humiliation and persecution.
However, since I could not truly become a non-existent person, deep scars and fear remained.
I escaped the Great Imperial Palace and lived in Merion.
I had a very hard time until I met Serena.
I ended up realizing that living alone with a young body meant exactly that.
Afterward, a very short happiness.
By chance, I met the Great Witch and became her disciple, married Serena, and had a child, yes, a child….
That name that still pierces me, the cute daughter I can never see again….
After losing that child, all hatred began anew.
Poesia, Poesia!
A child who resembled the beautiful Chyallo flower.
The child who followed her mother and father around, becoming their joy.
The child who gestured more lovingly than anyone, who smiled more beautifully than anyone, who made me, who had no expectations for life, look forward to life again, that child…….
Now, lost forever…….
Rage, rage soared.
Poesia is gone.
The Empire killed her.
Cordis took her away.
Serena began to cry with empty eye sockets from that time.
I also began to twist from that time.
The gift received from the Great Witch became the Seven Secrets.
I fought for 7 years after that.
I inherited the name of Pollinglight and became a hero to fight against the Empire.
But I failed,
And my master sent me back to the past.
'…Regression….'
Returning to the Succession War.
I obtained the Mana Armor Valziart, sided with Secundus to protect myself, and used the chaos of the Grand Convergence to escape the Empire.
At this time, I revealed my secret.
I declared that I aim for the Imperial Throne not to sit on it, but to trample it.
Killing the guard knight, Pies Roesti, and the fat half-brother Nebulo was a bonus.
I was chased by Amethus while escaping the Empire.
I briefly stayed with the Juet Acrobat Troupe and also met Niko Nereyades.
Do you remember the Horned White Serpent Lacrosha?
Amethus chased me with a tenacity that was sickening.
But I exposed the secrets of Arete and made him my subordinate.
I hid in the West for 7 years.
I opened the Art Gallery Lamponé and gave ridiculous names like Viscount Rampo.
In Merion, I helped the Verchello family bring down Del Conti.
And again, after a long time passed, I became a married couple with Serena once more.
I stopped the Calamity from the Sea.
I fought against the Nine Streams General Nana, who had sneaked in using Santia's marriage as an excuse.
I fought with screams against Niko Nereyades powered by the Ancient Weapon, and the old man with a soul like a White Whale, and I won.
I exposed the Empire's atrocities to the whole world.
I went around to revive the heroes.
Obro Denoebang!
The White Lord who had become a drunkard.
The swordsman who collapsed because he tried to bear his mistake.
But he had to stand up, and he did stand up, and although he could no longer be pure white, he became a Grayish-white Nobility, more solid than before.
Widow Queen Aida.
A woman who closed the door to her heart because of her beloved husband.
In the center of her story, which was utterly confusing, there was an imperial mage.
That mage was Belrsasal, Karkarsso, and Ma-aya.
Put all together, it is the Three-Faced Three-Poison Demon King Pāpīyān, the mage who sacrificed an Ancient God to a higher existence and became seven stars.
However, the Demon King was chewed up by a dragon.
The dragon's name was Shion.
I became a hero again.
We stood against the Empire with three heroes.
The Empire responded with three confidants.
Great Emperor Continua's three confidants were as strong as, or rather even more inhumanely powerful than the West's three heroes, so they suffocated me.
However, Secundus Debius.
Ferbias killed him, opening a path for me.
Deballo Debius lost his will to fight, and Hermai is in the Hanchamus Islands to protect Cornelius.
It ended up looking like I used my half-brother who cherished me until I let him die, but I didn't care.
No, I tried not to care.
“I am Shion.”
The hero was twisted.
“Shion Pollinglight.”
Perhaps I could become a hero because I was twisted.
But whatever the case, I dwell on the destiny I cry out for so desperately.
“I made the promise of the Seven Secrets long ago.”
The name of the promise, Septem Arcana.
The First Secret, ‘He dreams a vain dream’.
“The vain dream my soul desires is still… and forever one.”
Ah, Cordis!
My tiresome destiny, the name of the Emperor that makes me want to vomit, yet my hateful name that I cannot cast off.
I will show you that I can reach you.
I will climb up by any means.
And, in the end…….
“I will destroy the Empire.”