The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 220

Kiyaah!

With a parting wail, the death knight collapsed into a pile of ash.

“No!”

Wilhelm instinctively stretched out a hand—which then curled into a fist as he let out a sharp breath. Had it been one of his subordinates or family members, he could’ve held his composure, but that death knight was different. He had been nurturing it within his Coffin for decades. Losing it felt like losing a part of himself.

Venom flickered in Wilhelm’s eyes as he looked up and asked, “Denovine! What business do you have with this Backwater country?”

Above, Thunder Emperor Denovine hovered atop the clouds. His bronze skin and thick muscles resembled armor unto itself. His eyes glowed with thunder energy. And lightning arced along and his mane of wind-mussed hair. In that moment, he looked more god than man.

“Backwater? The Republic of Korea isn’t some place you arrive at by taking a wrong turn. You do know it’s bigger than Austria, right?”

In contrast to the Thunder Emperor’s austere appearance, his tone was languid, and he then even dug a finger into his ear, as if some barking dog had caused it to itch.

Everyone present felt refreshed at the sight.

So far, everyone from the Baus family had had something to say about Korea, constantly belittling and dismissing their homeland. But in terms of size, how could Korea be “backwater”? After all, Korea was more than twice the size of Austria.

Even before the Great Upheaval, when Korea had still been divided into North and South[1], either part of Korea could’ve fit Austria within its perimeter.

Naturally, the Baus family’s arrogant attitude grated on their nerves, and seeing the Thunder Emperor call out the head of the Baus family was more than a little cathartic. Their moment of pleasure was brief, however.

“How childish.”

Wilhelm scoffed as he summoned six more coffins behind himself. They ranged in length from one to three meters, with dark exteriors and auras that pulsed with Wilhelm’s mana fluctuations.

Damn. He’s got six more monsters like that?

A chill raced down Jae-Hyeok’s back. He had just barely defeated one death knight—and he had to borrow the power of the Thunder Emperor to do it. Now, six new coffins had appeared?

To make matters worse, the previously summoned lich was still rampaging. It used whirlwind magic to scatter acid spells in a wide spray, forcing Park Chang-Cheon and the Guardian Guild members onto the defensive. By now, the guild's iconic square shields all looked moth-eaten.

“You know what? Fine. This is good. Just harvesting these other insects wouldn’t have made up for today’s losses. But with you here, Denovine, your corpse will more than suffice.”

Wilhelm’s calm demeanor baffled Jae-Hyeok and the rest. He seemed confident in being able to handle both the Thunder Emperor and Shinra Hyeon. But was that something a sane mind would think?

Thunder Emperor Denovine was a modern legend, a man who’d easily soared through thunder tribulation after thunder tribulation thanks to his overwhelming lightning resistance.

It was widely accepted that among the candidates for the title of world’s strongest, the Thunder Emperor was the frontrunner.

Moreover, he was a National Treasure of the United States, meaning he had the world’s best technology and capital behind him. In short, offending him was just a swift way to die.

“Oh, so you’re coming out so strongly?” the Thunder Emperor asked, amazed.

Wilhelm said nothing, but behind him, the six coffin lids began to shift.

The corners of the Thunder Emperor’s lips twitched. And, seemingly to himself, he said, “This counts as self-defense, right? It should be fine if I kill him...”

“Jeez, you’re really something,” a girl said. Her words were accented with effort as she pushed the Thunder Emperor aside to reveal herself.

“Remember when you told me you were going to stop the fight? Now look. ‘Kill’ is practically written across your forehead.”

The young girl had blonde hair and blue eyes, and although she had yet to lose all her baby fat, anyone could tell she would develop into a great beauty.

Upon seeing her, the atmosphere on the ground rapidly cooled.

“The adopted daughter of the Sword Saint...” Wilhelm’s expression shifted several times before the creaking coffin lids slammed shut behind him. The stench of death and oppressive mana fluctuations emanating from the six coffins disappeared without a trace.

Rachel touched her chin. “Father’s reputation really makes it hard to live. Even the grand necromancer of Austria recognizes little old me.”

“Hmph, don’t pretend to be humble.”

Wilhelm reigned in his aura.

Putting on a strong front was one thing, but he knew that fighting two on one against the Thunder Emperor and the Saint was a terrible predicament. After all, if Shinra Hyeon infused his divine power into the Thunder Emperor’s lightning, the overwhelming numbers that necromancers boasted of would be meaningless.

Thankfully, however, the United States’ Divine Mage was also present. With Rachel here, he had a natural excuse to step back without losing dignity.

Wilhelm began, “So—”

“You’re quitting just like that?” Someone shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear.

It was Jae-Hyeok.

“I can’t believe a duke like you exists: running your mouth arrogantly only to become as obedient as a lamb in front of your betters. Sigh...” Jae-Hyeok clapped a hand to his forehead, as if he were in genuine pain. “Sigh! What has this world come to...”

Even as he spoke, Jae-Hyeok was aglow in the light of a level up. Clearly, the Thunder Emperor’s earlier support in killing the death knight had been Jae-Hyeok’s good fortune. But it seemed that luck had dumbed him to the danger.

Wilhelm’s thin lips curled. “Someone who should already be dead sure likes talking nonsense.”

Jae-Hyeok narrowed his eyes. “As for who’s talking nonsense, you’ll have to wait and see.”

Jae-Hyeok’s words sounded surreal to Wilhelm. Even in Europe, where young talents of the century battled—he, as a member of the older generation, struck awe and fear into all who heard his name. Never had there been a brat like Jae-Hyeok who dared to insult and challenge him.

Wilhelm said, “Perhaps because you lost your parents early, but you don’t seem to have received a proper education...”

“There’s no need to introduce yourself.”

“What?”

“I’m well aware of you and your family’s misdeeds. You don’t need to explain. It’s obvious to anyone that the Baus family can’t teach their kids. One look at your face, and I can tell you grew up no different than Loren.”

“......!”

The Thunder Emperor, Shinra Hyeon, and Park Chang-Cheon all wore dumbfounded looks. The boy had been behaving like a model aristocrat until now, so his current provocative attitude came as a great shock

Seeing Shinra Hyeon’s expression, Do-Jin supplemented, “Yeah, he gets like that sometimes, but don’t worry. It takes a special kind of stupid person to get him going. Most of the time, it’s fine—”

“Senior!” Da-Hee hissed. “Please, please watch your words!”

The atmosphere grew even stranger.

Wilhelm stared at Jae-Hyeok for a long moment before he burst out laughing.

“Kid. I, Wilhelm, swear on my family’s name that I will destroy your Kang family!”

“Tsk. Adding your family’s name to your own personal matters? Your ancestor must be rolling in his grave.”

Jae-Hyeok’s words held truth. In fact, the Baus family’s founder, Agnus, was a truly great man. Back then, it was he who’d saved Europe from the brink of destruction. Many people across Europe still admired him to this day. In contrast, Wilhelm was nothing like his ancestor. He only sought to invade and trample on others’ territories, always taking as he liked to serve his own interests.

“How dare a lowly Asian bastard talk about the ancestor of my Baus family?”

Jae-Hyeok’s continual prodding pushed Wilhelm’s patience to the limit. He was about to reopen his coffins when a booming voice interrupted.

“Haven’t you gone far enough?”

The Thunder Emperor descended in a flash of light, landing directly in front of Wilhelm and causing him to take several steps back.

“Why get angry with a brat younger than you? Even if he struck a nerve, don’t act rashly.”

The Thunder Emperor wasn’t mocking him. For once, he was persuading Wilhelm with a serious expression.

“You know as well as I that National Treasures are prohibited from invading other countries. That rule has been upheld for over two hundred years, since the time of the Great Upheaval. If you so openly break that rule now, even you won’t be able to handle the consequences.”

The combat power of a National Treasure was equivalent to that of a strategic weapon, able to destroy major facilities and inflict countless casualties on their own. As such, National Treasures required very, very careful handling; if not, they could cause widespread devastation, potentially even threatening the human population as a whole.

And so, with the rise of National Treasures came an accord between countries: Nations were not to employ National Treasures to strike foreign nations. For if they did, others would respond in kind.

Wilhelm sneered. “Oh, that empty rule? Didn’t the United States invade this country just fifteen years ago?”

At that, Rachel looked uncomfortable, but the Thunder Emperor said casually, “Not at all. At the time, the US wasn’t fighting over the Republic of Korea’s land but ownership over Lion’s Castle gate.”

Wilhelm scoffed. “Enough. Say what you will. You disgusting Americans only hide behind rules to control others’ actions. It was your people who proposed an international non-aggression agreement among the National Treasures—and of course you did, as with it, the US reigns supreme without threat to its lands.”

The Thunder Emperor shrugged. “Does the US benefit? Sure. We aren’t saints, but we aren’t monsters either. That agreement helps protect everyone’s lands, not just the United States’. Without it, countless countries would’ve already fallen into the hands of gangsters like you.”

“How dare you call a great aristocrat of Austria a gangster?”

“Look back on your actions.”

“Do not lecture me, Denovine. My eyes are clear. Restoring the tarnished honor of my family is an aristocrat’s duty.” Wilhelm swept his eyes across everyone present. “Be that as it may, I will step back this time, since you’ve insisted.”

The Thunder Emperor and Rachel’s current stay in Korea was something he hadn’t prepared for. Although Wilhelm wanted to crush Jae-Hyeok and be done with it right then, it was best to endure.

Either way, there’ll be more opportunities to act in the future.

Wilhelm’s gaze settled back on Jae-Hyeok. “You can’t hide from the inevitable. Boy, it won’t be long before we meet on a proper stage.”

Whether it was the World Raid, Gate Battles, or Ragnarok—the System held large events every few years, during which outstanding players came forth to represent their country, fighting for both glory and benefits. As it happened, the next event, the World Raid, was due in just half a year.

Jae-Hyeok was sure to attend, given his talent. So Wilhelm decided to deal with Jae-Hyeok then.

Jae-Hyeok said, “‘Hide,’ my foot. Send White Night safely back to Korea. If you’ve harmed her in any way, I won’t wait for a ‘proper’ stage to deal with you.”

“You... I will definitely kill you...”

Wilhelm vowed once again before using the tip of his finger to draw a magic circle in the air. Unlike normal magic circles, this one had its symbols inverted and emitted an ominous, inky mana.

As before, it was black magic. And as before, the pile of meat and organs that was Schwazel’s corpse stirred in response, rapidly shriveling as a pitch-dark portal spun into shape before Wilhelm. The portal stabilized in moments, having connected to his teleportation magic circle in Austria.

“Oh, and, Denovine, I will settle my debt with you on the same day.”

Wilhelm left the scene through the black hole with this chilling final remark.

***

A few hours later.

“Cough, cough!”

Achieving perfect teleportation with black magic was a challenge. At least, so far, Wilhelm had yet to do it.

Even with the aid of the teleportation magic circle, black magic was fundamentally oriented toward destruction. Every time it was used for auxiliary purposes, limitations emerged.

Furthermore, now that he’d used it for a round trip, the linked teleportation circle was in poor condition.

“Dammit,” Wilhelm muttered, feeling even more weakened by the aftereffects of the imperfect magic as he rose from the coffin submerged in red liquid.

For a time, gentle sloshing and the tapping of shoes echoed in the cavernous castle chamber, which was but one of many.

The castle had once been home to the Baus family’s ancestor, alongside anyone else surnamed “Baus.” Now, it belonged to Wilhelm alone, serving as his dedicated laboratory.

......

......

Pushing open the heavy doors, Wilhelm emerged into a long hall and made his way with unhurried steps, hands buried in the pockets of his fine coat. He made several turns and cut through several empty courtyards and flower gardens before crossing the bailey and ascending the fort wall—enjoying the crisp breeze as he did.

By the time Wilhelm reached the top, the day’s events felt distant. Wilhelm gazed at his family's mansion in the distance before summoning his phone and contacting his subordinates, who would have landed at the airport by now:

“It’s me. There’s been a change of plans. Send Seol Su-Ah back to Korea.”

—I’ve already sent her back.

What? Wilhelm paused and unconsciously wrinkled a brow. Not only were the speaker’s words baffling, but their voice was unfamiliar. Before Wilhelm could pick his next words, the other person spoke again.

—Oh, and I’ve left you a parting gift.

At the same time—

Baaaaang!

The Baus family’s mansion exploded.

“What...”

Austria was one of the great powers of Europe, and the Baus family was the central pillar of Austria's strength and influence—yet now, Wilhelm watched in horror as that pillar fell to rumble.

—If you ever touch the Kang family again, all of Austria will disappear from this world.

Beep.

The call ended before Wilhelm could say or think anything. He stood thus, lost in a daze for a good while. Then, he coughed blood and roared, “Kaaaang family!”

1. Since this chapter has confirmed there is no more North or South, any references to South Korea will be the Republic of Korea or Korea. ☜