Chapter 689
The Ancient Undead, Xairos.
And the one who released him from the glacier, was Yona.
Thanks to him, Xairos awoke from his long slumber and joined the Legion as an Ancient Undead, but unfortunately, that was during the golden age of the 7th Legion.
By Yona’s side, there were already many Ancient Undead. For Xairos, who joined late, his position was not that great.
So, Xairos tried to prove his loyalty to Yona, the one who granted him a new life, and did whatever was ordered of him.
Killing.
Destroying.
Burning.
This time was no different. Xairos had completely wiped out the monsters Yona ordered him to kill, and was now walking back with their heads inside a net.
He hoped that, since he had completed his mission, he would praise him.
But then.
— Yona~
Next to Yona, his commander, there was a human woman hanging around.
After coincidentally meeting in the Western Zone, she had fallen head over heels for Yona, following him around ever since. They said she was also a powerful necromancer.
— But about Xairos.
Flinch.
As soon as his name came up, Xairos, who had been hurrying to report, stopped walking. He withdrew his Darkness and hid his presence.
— In Yona’s Legion, there are many capable generals, right? But Xairos is kind of strange.
— ……
— You told him to save people, and suddenly he captures all the villagers nearby and passing bandits, throwing them into a cave. You told him to bring someone wearing red clothes, and he injures people, stains their clothes red with blood, and brings them like that. He twists the orders, misinterprets them, and blows things out of proportion.
She shrugged her shoulders.
— When I see you cleaning up Xairos’ messes, I can’t help but feel bad for you. Why keep him around? He’s a weird one.
Xairos suppressed the urge to tear the woman apart, waiting for Yona’s answer.
Sitting on a rock, Yona laughed heartily.
— You’re right.
Xairos dropped the net in his hands. The monster heads inside rolled out, scattering across the ground.
— Xairos has no flexibility, and he’s not smart. He can only handle one thing at a time.
Feeling unable to bear hearing more, Xairos turned to leave.
— But.
At that moment, Yona’s voice rang out clearly, even amid the surrounding noise.
— That one thing, he does it faithfully. That’s why I trust Xairos more than anyone.
And in that instant.
With just that one sentence.
Xairos believed he had been saved.
A joy he had never felt in life or in death. A single phrase that seemed to compensate for all the years gone by.
The “acknowledgment” of another.
That was what Xairos had always lacked.
— Only for Lord Yona!
After that, Xairos even opened Geheim, pledging absolute loyalty, and carried out any command Yona gave him.
— Xairos, stay here and guard the retreat, I trust you!
— It’ll be a filthy job, but only you can do it. Wipe them out completely.
He did not hesitate to do rough and dirty work.
Only for Yona.
Xairos knew he wasn’t smart, that his judgment was clouded. He didn’t know how to scheme, had no flexibility.
But, if nothing else, the one thing Yona ordered him to do, he carried it out more thoroughly than anyone.
In that way, he gradually earned recognition from Yona and the entire Legion.
— Xairos, you stay behind and guard the North.
The problem began when they came to the northern lands of Carlos.
— Among the Legion, the ones best able to move in this frozen terrain are you and the Selgui Unit. For about 5 years? It could be shorter, or longer.
Yona placed his hands firmly on Xairos’ shoulders, speaking seriously.
— Can you guard the North?
Xairos accepted. After all, he was the one assigned to dirty work.
So the 7th Legion returned, and Xairos remained in the North.
For an Ancient Undead who had existed for countless years, 5 years should have been no more than the blink of an eye. But 5 years without Yona felt far longer.
Still, he endured.
He persevered.
Yona expected him to guard the North, and so he would live up to that expectation.
He could never disappoint Yona.
The North Star persistently spawned undead and invaded Bilkenos, and Xairos, stationed at Frost Field, fought against them.
Surely, Yona would return soon.
If he just endured a little longer, Yona would free him from this duty.
Clinging to the Darkness flowing through his body from Yona, Xairos endured the crushing loneliness.
But.
Before the promised 5 years had passed.
Snap—
Xairos felt his contract with Yona had been severed.
He could no longer feel Yona’s Darkness.
The channel of thought he kept open to respond to his return, vanished.
[ Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah! ]
Yona abandoned me.
— When I see you cleaning up Xairos’ messes, I can’t help but feel bad for you. Why keep him around? He’s a weird one.
Did he really abandon me?
Am I no longer needed?
Was that woman’s remark, the truth?
Xairos denied it.
No, impossible.
Something must have gone wrong.
But even after the promised 5 years passed, Yona never came for him.
‘That’s it! It’s because I haven’t completely finished my mission yet!’
Yona’s order was, “Guard the North”.
And the greatest threat to the North was the North Star.
Unless the North Star was gone, the North was not truly safe.
So, instead of only defending, Xairos gathered his forces for the first time, and attacked.
Battle with the North Star.
Even though his forces were inferior, Xairos broke through the Three Brothers, reached the Abyss, and then—
Thrust!
He killed the North Star.
Drenched in black blood, Xairos roared.
[ Lord Yona! I did it! I brought complete peace to the North! I perfectly carried out your command! ]
But.
Even after he eliminated the North Star, Yona did not come to him.
I carried out the mission.
I defended the North completely.
I deserve acknowledgment.
Then why?
Xairos fell into despair, crumbling.
— Yona has forgotten you.
Then, a dark voice whispered.
— Yona already has plenty of capable Ancient Undead to replace you. He has forgotten you.
[ Watch your tongue! ]
The dark voice continued to speak in his head without pause.
— Guarding the North was your mission, your duty. But now the North is at peace, and you who guarded it, is no longer useful. Then where does your worth lie?
[ …… ]
He was at a loss for words.
— You must make Yona come back to you.
Xairos’ pupils quivered, shattered by despair.
[ …… How? How can I make Lord Yona look at me again? ]
— Throw the North back into peril.
The dark voice spoke.
— Isn’t it simple? Return everything to the state before you received your orders. If the North falls into crisis again, Yona will remember you, and seek you out for your usefulness.
[The North, back into… crisis.]
— You fought alone, standing firm for the North, but no one recognized you.
The dark voice grew louder.
— Then show the world! Show them how great the things you accomplished truly are!
After that, Xairos took the power of the North Star.
He built a new Abyss, gathered monster corpses, and created an undead army.
The North Star had returned.
Thus, he intended to plunge the entire continent into fear, and engrave his presence into Yona as well, but an unexpected variable tripped him.
[Assemble.]
The girl had grown.
Other than Xairos, who had contracted with Yona in the North, there was one more. ‘Jin Arskalt’ united the North and rebuilt the 2nd Legion.
In the 5 years Xairos had bought, the young Grand Duke, mastering Hate’s power and the Bow of Tempest, unleashed a talent greater than any in history, and blocked the North Star’s onslaught.
In the first war, the young Grand Duke won a great victory, and with arms covered in bandages, she raised them high.
[To keep the promise I made to my father and my benefactor, I have risen! Proud people, follow me!]
The girl’s speech roused the Northerners in an instant.
And Xairos, too, listened to that speech through the ears of his undead.
‘What am I doing right now? Why am I fighting against the girl Lord Yona told me to protect?’
Xairos’ clouded mind began, little by little, to return. For now, he halted his war against humans.
The Grand Duke of the North, too, only defended her territory, and did not push beyond it.
A very short peace followed.
Kwaaang—!
But the variable appeared from outside.
— Hahaha! So there really is a magic stone mine in Frost Field! The rumors were true!
It was Count Voldemont, the Watcher who had just entered the North, leading his private army to invade Frost Field.
While Xairos had ceased all attacks against humans, the excited Count Voldemont plundered Frost Field’s underground resources.
As if one or two mines were not enough, he even tried to attack the Abyss.
That act greatly offended Xairos.
— Behold, Xairos.
The dark voice urged him.
— Yona told you to guard the North. From what? From those who break its peace. Only by expelling humans from this land, can true peace come to the North.
[……]
The serpent-like voice slithered deep into the shattered heart of Xairos.
— For Yona to come for you, for you to carry out her command, you must become the North Star, and overthrow the Grand Duke.
Thus, a new long war unfolded in the North.
The guardian who had once defended the North, Xairos, became the new North Star and invaded Bilkenos.
And the young girl, Jin Arskalt, who had lost her father to the North Star, became the Grand Duke and defended Bilkenos.
For more than ten years, the long war raged on.
And now, with Yona’s son arriving in the North, the situation entered a new phase.
Kyaaaaaaang!
Chaeaeaeaeeng!
Simon and Xairos clashed violently, their swords striking, then recoiled.
“Ghhhk!”
Simon staggered back, gasping for breath.
His chest was squeezed tight, air choking in his throat. His knees shook as if they would buckle at any moment.
Even his consciousness flickered faintly, blinking on and off.
If his concentration slipped even a little, he felt he would faint outright.
[You’re struggling, son of Yona.]
Xairos, letting his Frost Sword hang low, gestured as though sitting down, and a throne rose up to support him. At the same time, Abyssal tentacles and Undead poured in, blackening the surroundings.
“Khuhk!”
Simon frantically dodged the attacks, enduring by spraying ‘Kal’s’ poison with his greatsword in one hand. But his Darkness had long since run dry.
[I know that flag well.]
Xairos said this, staring at the golden banner Simon was desperately holding onto.
[The banner of that detestable Grand Duke of Bilkenos. Its use, the tip must touch the body of the target.]
He curled his lips upward.
[The Grand Duke, I know she strained herself, creating those Riders, that suicidal assault unit, under the excuse of northern pride. But here, it’s only you. Can you, alone, make that flag touch me?]
“Do not insult the Grand Duke and the warriors, Xairos.”
Simon lowered his stance.
“And I don’t even need to touch you.”
[What?]
Taat!
Simon kicked off the ground and charged. Xairos once again raised his arms, sending tentacles and hordes of undead to cover Simon. Green toxins burst everywhere.
Xairos calmly sat back on his throne, resting his chin.
[What can you possibly do, with that staggering body!]
At that very moment.
<Corpse Explosion>
Explosions erupted in succession from the zombies Simon pulled out of subspace. Xairos, watching calmly, tilted his head back.
Bwooooong!
Through the black smoke of the explosions, the pole of the golden flag thrust forward. Xairos smiled scornfully.
[How predictable.]
Xairos rose to his feet, swinging his Frost Sword at the flag.
Jjeok!
The golden flagpole was split cleanly in half. The pole clattered uselessly to the ground.
[It’s over now. Die quietly…!]
Whoooosh!
Just then, Simon burst out from the opposite side of the smoke and lunged at Xairos. Xairos’ eyes widened at the unexpected reverse motion.
It was not Simon who had thrust the pole from within the explosion.
‘When…!’
It was Feer’s arm, moving independently.
Grab!
Simon latched onto Xairos’ body, while Feer’s body broke down into Bone Armor, binding Simon and Xairos tightly together.
Feer’s other arm turned into a serpent, coiling around Xairos’ arm so he could not move it freely.
[Fool! Without the Grand Duke’s banner, nothing can destroy my body!]
Simon curled his lips upward.
“You, you’ve been watching nothing but the flag tip, haven’t you? If the flag can’t touch you!”
Simon pressed his left hand against Xairos’ chest. On the back of his hand, the mark of a ‘Target’ was drawn.
‘No way!’
Simon had stabbed his own hand with the flag tip.
Krrrrrrumble!
At the same time, thunderous sounds erupted from the ceiling of the Abyss.
And above the Abyss, the ceiling quivered like a black bruise.
[Stop, human! Otherwise, your hand will also…!]
Simon’s eyes gleamed.
“Losing one hand is cheap, if it means slaying the North Star. Don’t you agree?”
Shwaaaaaaaak!
From the heavens, the Grand Duke’s final strike, imbued with all her strength, descended in response to Simon’s guidance.
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