Chapter 75 :

Chapter 75 - The Protagonist Appears

“A tearful father-son reunion.”

At the leisurely voice, Agony Feedus slowly loosened the arms that had been wrapped around his son.

“I greet His Highness the Second Prince.”

Perhaps his body had not yet forgotten noble movements, because he was able to give a fairly elegant greeting.

“Did you deceive everyone and pretend to be dead?”

At the word deceive, the compulsion that he must not lie once again raised its head in Duke Feedus’ heart.

“No. When I opened my eyes, I was already below the cliff. I merely survived by luck.”

In his words, which came out like an excuse, not a single letter of information about Amica’s space could be found.

Dito’s eyes were cold as he stared at the duke, who steadied his uncomfortable heart as much as the information he was hiding.

“I cannot believe it. You fell from that height, yet you look perfectly fine.”

“But I merely survived. You cannot punish me for surviving.”

At Agony Feedus’ appearance as he corrected Dito’s words again, Dito’s expression changed subtly.

Because it was speech and behavior that would have been unimaginable from the old him.

If it had been the original him, by now he would have bent his knees and offered words of apology.

“Since when did the imperial family’s dog talk back?”

At the sharp question, the duke was silent for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.

“Since I realized that I had been a dog, not a sword.”

At his upright eyes, Dito twisted the corners of his mouth.

“Insulting the imperial family will be added to your charges.”

“I will accept any just punishment. But right now….”

The duke hid the young duke behind him and readjusted his grip on his sword.

“Please let my son and the children leave. The children have done nothing wrong.”

“And if I refuse?”

“I will commit a little more of what will become crimes. So that you may punish me immediately.”

Duke Feedus’ heart was pounding so wildly that he could hear ringing in his ears, but he did not loosen the hand holding his sword.

A sneer appeared on Dito’s face.

“It is just as the young duke said. Father and son are exactly alike. But that sort of thing is troublesome, so I’ll decide the sentence all at once. All of you will have your arms and legs cut off here and be dragged away.”

Dito’s hand rose.

Soon after, fire the size of a person’s face flew toward his face like an arrow.

Duke Feedus pushed his son hard to the side and leapt in the opposite direction.

Though the young duke rolled once, he stood back up steadily.

The lump of fire that failed to hit them struck the wall and created a roar.

“Wh-what? What was that sound?”

Seeing the children who had lost consciousness begin to wake one by one thanks to that, the duke shouted.

“Plin, run! Take the ones who can move and run. I will try to buy time in the meantime.”

Before the parting from the father he had barely met again, the boy hesitated.

Because there was no way the child could forget that his father’s back as he left for the hunting festival had become their final sight of each other.

This time, as a fireball flew toward the children, Duke Feedus gathered his strength.

The wind that flew with the pressure of his sword barely changed the direction of the sphere.

It struck the wall and raised a cloud of dust.

The children screamed and scattered in all directions.

The duke approached his son, who was looking at them with shaking eyes.

“Plin, look at me.”

The good son raised his head and faced him straight.

“We must always think of the method that lets the most people survive. Right now, that method is for you to run away with the children.”

The child bit his lip once, then turned his body.

At the pitiful sight of him unable to even say that he should come back alive, Agony Feedus gripped his sword tightly.

Ever since he entered the capital, on the other side of his heart that wanted to run to his son immediately, there had been a voice tormenting him.

Would disappearing like this be the choice best for the remaining family?

Would the efforts of the remaining people, built on the foundation of his death, collapse with his appearance?

Even now that he had revealed himself, he still could not know which choice was right, but one thing was certain.

“Plin, I love you. I am truly proud of you.”

That he was able to say the farewell he had not been able to say during their last parting, which had been far too sudden.

At his father’s final farewell, from a man who was not good at saying embarrassing words, the young duke gritted his teeth and ran.

“Everyone, run! If you want to live, run toward the door!”

Carrying Seya, who was lying unconscious far away from the Second Prince, on his back, and after taking off his outer garment and tying her firmly in place, the young duke kept shouting as he ran toward the exit.

The children who had been wandering in confusion instinctively began gathering toward the place where they heard the voice that had led them throughout the escape.

“You are doing something meaningless.”

The duke blocked Dito’s path as he turned his body toward the children.

“I apologize. You cannot pass beyond this point.”

“Do you really think you can stop me?”

Of course he did not.

But he could buy at least a few minutes. At least until the children, until Plin, left this room.

The duke no longer waited and charged at Dito.

Facing a Manis user seems difficult at first glance, but the principle is simpler than one might think.

Do not give them a chance to use their power.

Usually, the greater the amount of Manis, the faster the speed of drawing out power and the greater the attack power, so until now, there had been no opponent against whom Duke Feedus’ combat method had not worked.

The problem was that his current opponent possessed physical ability superior to anyone else.

At least for a few minutes.......

His merciless attacks rushed in, but Dito’s expression did not change much.

By moving only a few steps from where he stood, he was either dodging or countering Duke Feedus’ attacks.

There was no way he could win.

Duke Feedus’ breathing gradually grew rougher.

He could not tell whether he was now out of breath because of his heart pounding like mad, or because his attacks could not reach no matter where he thrust or slashed.

“So this is all.”

He thought perhaps he had lost consciousness for a moment.

Because the instant he heard the Second Prince’s voice, he felt as if his mind suddenly snapped awake.

By the time Duke Feedus read the boredom on Dito’s face, Dito’s leg had already touched his right knee.

The next thing he saw was the ceiling.

Only belatedly did he realize that his body had been thrown upward by that one light kick.

“Father!!!”

The young duke’s scream brushed past his ears.

Thud!

The young duke looked with unbelieving eyes at his father’s body, which had crashed to the floor.

The child tried to turn his body away from the door and approach his father.

“Plin! Do not stop moving!!”

What stopped the child was his father’s voice.

Only then did the child realize that he had not even been breathing.

Breathing harshly, the child ran toward the door again.

Most of the children had already gone out the door. The only ones left now were himself and Seya.

Let’s get out.

Get out and call Jack and Tollin.

That is the only way to save Father.

“To think you would abandon your father and leave. You should not do that.”

At the same time as the mocking voice sounded, a long flame flew past the young duke’s ear.

The flame, shaped like a whip, wrapped around the base of the statue standing beside the door.

Boom!!!

The huge statue of Sierra Abiran collapsed in an instant.

The face of god fell to the floor and completely blocked Plin and Seya’s escape route.

At the hopelessness that felt like facing an unclimbable mountain, the young duke stopped breathing.

For what does god exist?

The half-broken face of Sierra Abiran blocking the entrance gave no answer.

* * *

“Seya!”

At Mir’s shout from beyond the remains of the statue, the young duke came to his senses.

‘Should I climb over it, even if I have to crawl?’

“I did not knock that down because I missed.”

The Second Prince’s voice broke even the child’s will to struggle.

“Next time, the flame will pierce through both of you, so stay still. I would prefer to kill you before my eyes.”

After finishing his words plainly, he moved his steps toward the child.

“You still, still have to face me.”

It was Duke Feedus.

He used his sword as a cane and raised his body.

Standing in an awkward posture as though his right knee would not obey him, he readjusted his sword again.

“Will you be all right? If you had just stayed lying down, you would have died a little less painfully.”

Dito mocked the sight of him, who clearly would not be able to withstand even a single blow, and raised his hand.

In response, Duke Feedus also drew power up from inside his body.

If he squeezed out every bit of Manis he had, perhaps just once, he might be able to turn back his attack.

His concentration reached its peak as he hoped the Second Prince would not summon enough fire to swallow him whole.

Clatter, bang!

“.......”

What ventilated the air strangling their throats was the suddenly opened door and someone who appeared from within it.

He had not entered through a hidden door like the duke, nor had he broken through the door to enter, but everyone’s gazes were fixed on him.

A tall figure, black hair, and golden eyes.

It was Ratel.

* * *

“Ratel......?”

At Duke Feedus’ foolish calling of his name, Dito raised one eyebrow.

“What are you? How did you get in here?”

Dito asked at his sudden appearance, but Ratel frowned slightly, as if displeased by something.

“You just heard my name, so why are you asking? And you saw with both eyes that I came in through the door. What kind of stupid question is that?”

A chilly atmosphere settled over the space, enough to make it feel as though no sound could be heard inside it.

Agony Feedus wondered if this time the Second Prince might truly collapse the tower.

Informal speech could be set aside, but had he ever experienced having his intelligence questioned in his life?

Probably not.

Dito Abiran’s body turned completely toward Ratel.

“You are a man with an unusual state of mind.”

The flame that should have been aimed at Jing changed targets and flew toward Ratel.

And this also meant that his mind was focused elsewhere.

With his skill, he should be able to avoid at least one strike.

Agony had thought that the day would never come in his life when he would be grateful to Ratel, but now, this was an opportunity.

And the duke was not foolish enough to miss such an opportunity.

Agony Feedus turned around just like that and lifted Plin and the child on Plin’s back respectively.

Then he threw up the child, who was opening and closing his mouth as if trying to say something, with all his strength.

His right knee, used as support, felt as if it were breaking, but greater than the pain was the relief that he could finally let his son escape from this deathtrap.

“I told you what happens if you move like a rat.”

But that did not last long.

Along with the cold voice, a flame cut through the space at arrow-like speed.

Duke Feedus quickly reached out his hand.

Strength escaped from his fingertips and caused a small gust of wind.

At the very least, to change the direction of the fire.

But his power could not even alter the trajectory of Dito’s power.

Duke Feedus realized how ignorant he had been to think he might be able to counter even a little of his attack.

And that compared to the power of the imperial family, his own power was no different from dust.

It was the moment the fear of losing his son before his eyes devoured him.

A flash of light erupted.

Duke Feedus blankly watched as light that seemed almost blinding flew like a whip and devoured the flame.

And as his son, who had narrowly avoided the attack, safely crossed over the pile of stones.

Agony Feedus turned his head and moved his gaze toward the source of the light.

Toward Ratel, who was still standing crookedly and looking arrogantly at Dito.