From a Broken Engagement to the Northern Grand Duke's Son-in-Law

Chapter 146 : The Divine Archer (4)

Sparks spiraled up from the crackling campfire.“So,” my master said, handing me a fish skewered on a stick, glistening from the flames. “What brings you here?”

The fish was a carp, likely from the pond I’d passed on my way in. It was a strange place to be raising them… but that was a question for another time.

I took the offered meal. “I came to escort His Grace, the Duke. The lack of contact raised concern within the House.”he continent is almost entirely ignorant of.”

He locked his gaze on me, all traces of humor gone. “The Twelve Nobles. Have you heard of them?”

“Yes.”

“No, of course you haven’t. They’re the pinnacle of this realm, the true rulers—” He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes narrowing.

“Wait.” He leaned forward. “You know of them?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“I killed two of them.”

My master blinked. Once. Twice. “What fresh madness is this?”

I thought, taking another bite of fish.

I had a long story to tell.

* * *

A short time later, I finished my account.

“…My word,” my master breathed, a look of pure astonishment on his face.

He wasn’t treating me like a pawn of the Demonkin, thankfully. Just staring at me as if I were a lunatic.

“So you’re telling me,” he said slowly, “that you eliminated Ram and Maon, then fought Pepia? And the demonic energy you’re carrying is his?”

He shook his head. “You madman.”

If we weren’t in the heart of the Demonic Realm, he would have called for a court physician to examine my mind.

“Since you carry the energy, I can’t just dismiss your story,” he conceded. “But if it’s true… that’s astounding. The Twelve Nobles reduced to ten. Are you trying to become some kind of hero?”

I shook my head firmly. “I have no interest in such things.”

“So says the man with no interest. Hah. Whatever. I’ll believe you for now.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Don’t get smart. Anyone would have had the same reaction.”

He wasn’t wrong. I nodded in agreement.

“Still,” he finally said with a sigh that didn’t quite reach his eyes, “if it’s true, that’s a relief. Fewer enemies for us to deal with.”

A smile hung on his lips. This was not an unwelcome complication for him. “In fact, this might be an opportunity. We could strike their main den directly.”

“Right away?”

“Why not?” he said, the corner of his mouth curling into a hungry grin. “If what you say is true, Pepia is weakened, and the others are distracted by their plots in the empire. Their den might only have four of them left.”

Most warriors would tremble at the thought of facing a single Noble. My master considered four a manageable number. Even Lady Enoxia had struggled against a single Noble—a Marquis-class caught at a disadvantage.

I wasn’t sure my master had ever faced a Noble in this lifetime.

“Four of them alone would be difficult,” I countered.

“Hm?” He looked at me, genuinely confused. “Alone? You’re all here, aren’t you?”

“What… do you mean?”

“Simple,” he said, as if explaining basic arithmetic. “I’ll take one. The Duke takes another. You and the ice brat’s daughter can handle a third. The spearman and the assassin can buy time against the fourth. As for the rest of your men…”

He waved a hand. “They can serve as distractions. Or spare lives, should we need them.”

Moments ago, he’d warned me against becoming a monster. Now he was outlining a plan that made my own ruthlessness look like child’s play.

I wondered where I could possibly have learned such things.

“Agh… For now—”

I couldn’t even begin to argue.

A deafening roar tore through the air. The very air around us seemed to shudder, and the invisible barrier protecting our camp pulsed with violent energy.

I fought to keep my balance as I scanned the darkness.

Instinct took over. I cast out my Aura, infusing it with demonic energy and spreading it thin like a spider’s web across the terrain in a sensory net to pinpoint our foe.

And in an instant, I found them.

“…We have a problem.”

“You felt it too,” my master said, his voice grim.

“Yes.” My face hardened. “Intruders.”

The presences I felt at the edge of the barrier were immense. Each one was a storm of power, easily five times stronger than Ram had been. Two of them.

I suspected both were members of the Twelve Nobles.

As I stared into the empty air, a sound like tearing reality grated on my ears. A fissure of jagged light split the space before us.

From the rift stepped two figures, their forms twisted mockeries of man and beast. 

One was a hulking, ogre-like brute; the other a gaunt creature with vast, leathery wings like a bat’s.

“Ugh… Me hungry,” the brute grumbled in a slur.

“Ah, you damned pig, stop your whining,” the winged one retorted, its voice mocking. “Look. Plenty to eat right over there. Just be patient.”

I swallowed hard.

Two of the Twelve had arrived.