Sword Saint's Reincarnation

Lars sat down on the plush chair in front of him, behind the wooden desk, and crossed his legs. The light coming from the magical torches illuminated his blond hair, and his green eyes were cold. The black and red uniform he wore was as pristine as ever, emblazoned with the image of a golden hawk over the left side of his chest.

The room itself was a simplistic basement. There were no windows. Stone walls served as its structure, supporting the ceiling. The magical torches adorned them, burning with blue flames that were fueled by his mana. On the desk in front of him were several reports on a single person.

Rylan Flameheart.

Lars scanned them for the umpteenth time before turning his gaze to the other people in the stone room. There were four people, two men and two women. They wore the same uniform as him, and their expressions were equally serious. He grabbed one of the reports and lifted it, then waved it at the others.

“We have confirmed that Mages from Mar arrived in Ceotha some time ago, four of them, all in the Sixth Circle,” he said in a firm tone. “It’s likely that Rylan has already left the capital city, and Mar’s Mages are probably using Skycarriages. Given their speed, from what we know of Mar’s devices, it’s likely that Rylan has already arrived at the kingdom’s border.”

One of the women nodded, making him look at her. She had violet hair and blue eyes, and was also a bit short. However, her body was clearly well-built, as expected from a soldier.

“The town closest to the border is called Durn,” she said. “But we have no way of knowing if he stopped by or if he went straight past it. We need that information as soon as possible. There will be no way to predict his location otherwise.”

One of the men crossed his arms and scoffed. He was tall and muscular, with ginger hair and brown eyes.

“Pollia’s right. We need to move. I know we’ve made predictions about his possible stopping points, but things change if he stopped to rest in Durn. He’ll be able to keep going for longer afterward,” the man said. “If we want to reach him before he gets too close to Mar, we’ll need to leave by tomorrow.”

“Mar’s Mages are also a problem, Gallio,” the other man said. He was equally tall, with vivid orange hair and purple eyes. “Four Sixth Circle Mages. They’ll be difficult to deal with.”

“I don’t think that’s the biggest problem,” the remaining woman said. She was taller than Pollia, with brown hair and hazel eyes, but her gaze was cold. “Rylan Flameheart himself is. Killing him with just the five of us already isn’t a sure thing. If he has the support of four of Mar’s Sixth Circle Mages, it’s impossible. Even if we leave tomorrow, we’ll just die by his sword.”

Pollia nodded, frowning.

“I agree with Caecia. Without a good plan, it’s suicide,” she replied. “Rylan isn’t the kind of enemy we can easily kill. It’s possible that he’s stronger than he was back then, too. Months have passed.”

Lars laid the report back on the desk with a loud noise, making the others stop talking and look at him. His gaze was calm as he picked up another report and read it quickly.

“Our reports also say that Rylan isn’t just traveling with Mar’s Mages. His family is with him, including three children,” he said slowly as he looked back at the others. “And we’ve already discussed how strong his family members are. They’re inconsequential. If we exploit their presence, we can force Rylan out of balance and make him easier to kill. We’ll target them if we have to. But I agree that Mar’s Mages can be a problem. Still, they’re likely the ones fueling the Skycarriages. If we arrive at a good moment, they’ll be tired from doing it.”

Pollia blinked, then furrowed her brow, remaining silent. Lars looked at her. Was she uncomfortable with the idea of targeting his family?

“It’s our best shot at killing him,” he said, looking at her. “And we’ve talked about how important killing him is. We need him to die before he becomes a hurdle to the Empire. At this rate, he’ll stand against us and become a much bigger problem later on.”

The orange-haired man, Drusus, nodded.

“Even if Lucius told us to bring him to the Empire, we must still act. For the good of this nation, Rylan Flameheart needs to die,” he said.

“I agree,” Caecia replied, frowning. “He made the wrong call. As things stand, we can’t allow a variable like Rylan to exist.”

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Drusus nodded at her. Meanwhile, Lars didn’t even blink, even though two soldiers had referred to Lucius without his formal title.

It’s only fitting.

Lucius had taken over the throne. There were far too many who didn’t truly acknowledge him as the Emperor.

And this time, we’re right.

Regardless of Lucius’ orders, Rylan needed to be dealt with.

Lars tapped the desk again, making the others look at him.

“Killing Rylan is important,” he stated in a steady tone.

The others nodded almost at the same time.

“Are all of you ready to die for it?” he continued.

Drusus, Caecia, and Gallio nodded again, while Pollia frowned and nodded a moment later. Lars smiled and stood up from his chair.

“Then even if Lucius puts us to the death for daring to go against his orders to recruit Rylan, we’ll have done something for the sake of the Empire. That much is enough for me, and I know it is enough for you, too,” he said. “It’s all for the good of the Empire.”

To begin with, the Empire’s relationship with Rylan could no longer be mended. They had threatened his family, teacher, and kingdom.

“And how are we going to do it? As I said, Rylan won’t be simple to kill, even if we force him to defend his family,” Caecia said.

“We’ll all go,” Lars replied as he walked around the desk to stand in front of his allies. “And we’ll take as many Fifth Circle Mages as we can. This might just be the most important outside mission since this organization was founded. Rylan is someone who might become the Empire’s greatest enemy. At the same time, because of his power and Mar’s Mages, we’ll need to go all in on this. Trying to spare our forces will only result in failure. While leaving tomorrow would be ideal, gathering our forces will likely take some time. It doesn’t matter. We’ll still be able to catch him on his way to Mar.”

Gallio nodded.

“It’s time we tell the soldiers what needs to be done,” he said. “For the good of the Empire.”

“For the good of the Empire,” Lars replied as he nodded at the man.

The others exchanged looks.

“I’ll see what I can do to gather people,” Caecia stated. “You should all do the same.”

“Of course,” Drusus replied.

They exchanged a few words before saluting Lars and turning around to leave the room. After they left, only Lars and Pollia remained inside. He looked at her.

“Steel your heart,” he said. “This is for the Empire’s sake. Rylan can’t be allowed to grow any further. We don’t know how long it will take before he can fight and kill Seventh Circle Mages, and he’s only nineteen. He needs to die now.”

“His Imperial Majesty will kill us for acting against his orders,” she replied, her voice almost a whisper.

“So be it. History will absolve and immortalize us. We’ll go down in it as the ones who killed the Empire’s biggest enemy. We can’t afford for someone like that to exist when we’re in the middle of unifying the continent. If he reaches Catherina, things will become much more complicated.”

She stared at him, looking deep in thought. After several seconds, she nodded slowly.

“For the good of the Empire,” she said, then turned around.

Once she left the room, Lars sat on the desk, frowning to himself.

I can’t believe someone like that exists.

All of his allies’ words had been correct. Killing Rylan would be no easy feat. The boy had been able to kill three imperial Mages at the Sixth Circle on his own, or so the stories went, and he was now accompanied by four Sixth Circle Mages from Mar. As Caecia had said, it would have been troublesome enough to kill Rylan if he were alone, to begin with.

But the presence of his family represents an opportunity.

He was bound to make mistakes due to the anxiety. His desire to keep his family safe would force him to stumble. Lars looked at the torches on the walls. The blue flames’ dance was hypnotizing, even though he was the one fueling them.

I don’t care what I have to do.

It didn’t matter if he would need to target Rylan’s family or even the three children. For the Empire’s sake, he was willing to do anything, and he had never felt more certain about an enemy that needed to be killed. Rylan’s relationship with the Empire had been ruined from the moment he and his family had been targeted. At this point, there was no other option except killing him.

And I don’t care if I will die for it.

His dedication to the Empire was eternal. Lars stood up. The torches went out.

***

Rylan looked at everyone with a smile.

“Everyone ready?” he asked as he pointed at the two Skycarriages with his thumb.

They all nodded, smiling back. He turned to the right to look at Layla, who was staring at him, and walked toward her.

“Thankfully, nothing happened,” she said with a grin once he was close enough.

He nodded at her. Over the last day, he’d had her watch the movements of the Mages he’d spared, just in case they were planning something, but nothing came out of it.

He handed her a leather bag filled with coins.

“Thank you for your work,” he replied with a smile. “Take care, Layla.”

She beamed at him.

“It was an honor to work for Ceotha’s hero. The others feel the same way.”

Rylan’s smile widened as he waved at her team. They waved back.

“Now, I should go. See you.”

She nodded again as Rylan turned around and jumped on top of one of the Skycarriages with a single move.

“Alright, let’s go,” he said to his loved ones and Mar’s Mages.

They nodded and started making their way into the Skycarriages, with Sarah and her siblings going in one and Rylan’s family going in the other, just like before. Krysta floated up to his side, while Philip and Melvin hopped on top of Sarah’s carriage. Cecilia entered it. Krysta smiled at him.

“I’ll be the one to accompany you during this stretch,” she said.

Rylan smiled back at her.

“It’ll be a pleasure,” he replied.

She channeled her mana into the vehicle. After a second, it started floating.

Let’s keep going.

The two Skycarriages flew into the sky, leaving behind the town of Durn. The journey continued.