Book 3. The Long Journey. Chapter 137. Warrior-King Azuresky.
All in all, it didn’t take Laien too long to explain the overall plans they had in tandem with Arslan and Elder Samuel, especially since both Raphael and Mikaela were already aware of some relevant things in relation to this whole grand scheme. However, even though it didn’t take Laien long to tell the whole story, the surprise Raphael and Mikaela came to feel wasn’t slight in the least.
“That’s a pretty reckless plan,” Raphael commented with a helpless smile. There was no point in arguing with Arslan and the other two by this point and it wasn’t like he would have been all that inclined to argue to begin with, but for Arslan to be willing to go this far… it was honestly amazing considering his incredibly young age. “It makes sense though,” he thought to himself as he looked at the black-haired five-year-old. He wouldn’t have thought that Mustafa had actually been critically wounded by Arakar, the Great Prophet’s Sword of Rala, but since it did indeed happen, he could empathize with Arslan’s desire to help his father out instead of turning his back and running away.
“Maybe it is,” Laien said with a smile. “But it’s not suicidal, and we can back off until the last moment too if need be,” he pointed out and shrugged his shoulders lightly. As long as Arslan was in the Ruishi Federation, they still had time to withdraw whenever they wanted. First, they would see if the Holy Union was willing to help them out and if they appeared to be reliable allies and only then decide whether to go through with their plan or if to abandon it. Compared to all the other dangerous situations he himself had experienced in his life, this one was actually on the milder side.
As for Raphael, he only smiled somewhat bitterly when he heard Laien say so. Objectively speaking, the danger really wasn’t overwhelming. However, to Raphael, it was yet another reminder that his own real-life experience was far too lacking. What Laien, Yin, and Arslan considered to be ‘somewhat dangerous’ would be the most dangerous situation of his life had he been participating in it.
“Maybe I should request Elder Samuel to let me join them… though I don’t know if he will agree,” he thought while sighing inwardly. Would it be too much to jump into the deep waters the first time he attempted to swim? He had felt that fighting against Laien was a chance for him to break through his limits and he had accomplished just that, but in this situation, he was only nervous at the thought of participating in a true large-scale battle between powerful experts in the Realm of Heroes.
“Heh,” Laien laughed weakly with a dim smile on his face. “You both look so dejected. It’s not like today is going to be the last time we are seeing each other,” he said encouragingly, though admittedly, he was also feeling quite frustrated. He came to like those two a lot, with Mikaela in particular, but they were leaving the Ruishi Federation so soon. It was a pity indeed.
“…” Perhaps as expected, neither Raphael nor Mikaela was convinced by Laien’s words. They knew of Laien and Yin’s goal, the Eclipse Academy, and they knew the two would spend many years there. Yes, today wouldn’t be the last time they could spend time together, but it would likely be the last time for the next four to six years. For youths like them, such a period of time was an extremely long one.
“Can’t we just go together?” Mikaela asked with a sigh. Still, the tone of his voice suggested that he was speaking wishfully instead of making a real suggestion. He wouldn’t be absolutely sure about Raphael, but his father wouldn’t allow him to tag along for such a dangerous journey while he was still not strong enough. He might now be capable of holding off a weak martial master of the first rank thanks to the earth-shattering improvements he had made in the past days, but he understood that in a regular battle of elites, he would be nothing but a liability to his allies.
“Hm,” Laien frowned slightly. He really wanted to make the proposal which appeared in his mind, but before he spoke the words, he remembered that he couldn’t just be concerned with what he wanted. After all, didn’t Yin mention that the perfect spot for him to make his advancement was close to the Eclipse Academy? He couldn’t possibly ask him to stay behind for two or three months while his cultivation was stagnating and he surely wouldn’t agree to stay without Yin either.
“Stupid.” Yin chuckled alongside his unexpected remark, thus throwing off the other four youths, including Laien at whom he was looking. “Even if I trained non-stop, I would need around a month and a half to perfect the Nine Refinements of Mortality. I don’t want to neglect my training, so it will probably take somewhere around three to four months. We’ve still got time to spare,” he said with a laugh. Really, Laien was far too emotional sometimes; he had even forgotten such a simple thing because he was so concerned with the fact of being separated from his new friends.
“That’s right!” Laien exclaimed after a second of sitting in motionless shock while looking like he was going to explode with happiness. Why didn’t he think about it himself?! He had been assuming that the moment they left the Ruishi Federation, they wouldn’t see Mikaela and Raphael for a long time, but was it truly so? Where there’s a will there’s a way! “What do you guys think about it? Do you want to come over to the Holy Union?” he asked eagerly. By this point, he would even agree if those two wanted them to make a round trip and return to the Ruishi Federation for that time.
“Yeah!” However, it looked like no such thing would be necessary as Mikaela agreed with the idea in an instant. “You said we will be getting into a three-way alliance between our country, Makarash and the Holy Union, right? Then we will need to visit the Holy Union anyway! I bet my father will want to go there personally so he will surely agree if we want to tag along!” he said excitedly while being surprisingly logical in his reasoning. Then, as he couldn’t hold himself back anymore, he hugged Laien again. Truly, this night was a rollercoaster of emotions for him!
“And what do you think?’ Laien asked Raphael through a laugh while busying himself with the snuggly Mikaela.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Raphael said with a clear smile. They wouldn’t get themselves into any unnecessary danger and would be able to not only spend more time with their new friends but also experience some of the outside world for the first time in their lives. “If we suggest it to Elder Samuel, then I’m sure he will agree. I don’t remember him being so fond of anyone apart from Mika and his mother, you know,” he added meaningfully while glancing at Laien. It was actually quite amazing in itself how Laien managed to wrap Elder Samuel over his finger in a natural and seemingly effortless way, though he had expected it to happen sooner or later ever since he recognized how well Mikaela and Laien were getting along. The only thing was, he hadn’t originally expected it to happen that soon.
“You think so?” Laien asked with a little laugh and a wry smile on his face. He hadn’t really known Elder Samuel for too long and the only image of him he had was that of a somewhat scheming but otherwise amiable and honest man. He did get the feeling that Elder Samuel came to like him quite a lot, but he didn’t know that it was something unusual for him to do.
“It really is unusual,” Mikaela said with a laugh, joining the conversation. He leaned back a little and stopped hugging Laien, though he still remained glued quite close to him. “Dad is usually quite formal with everyone and he doesn’t show his emotions too easily, even if they are with me. But when he was talking with us, he was totally relaxed and wasn’t being formal at all,” he explained while chuckling all the time. He found it amusing that his father came to like Laien so much too, but he was happy that it happened. Since he liked Laien, he wanted his father to be nice to him, too!
“Hooh,” Laien nodded, taking the news at the face value. If Elder Samuel truly was as hard to approach as Raphael and Mikaela were making him out to be, then gaining his favor was worth all that much more. Yet, he somehow had a feeling that Elder Samuel wasn’t harder to deal with than people like Einrah of the Twin Phoenix School or Injar of the Heavenly Flame School. However, that might only be his own bias as his talent and young age did make it considerably easier to get along with those top-level experts who valued those traits heavily.
“Arslan,” Laien spoke up after a few seconds of enjoying the happy feeling that filled him to the brim. “How about you? Do you think your father will want you to return to Makarash immediately or will you be able to stay in the Holy Union for some time?” he asked, hoping that they would be able to hang out in their current group of five. Although Arslan was usually on the calmer side amongst them, it just wouldn’t be the same if one of them was missing from the bunch.
“Hm,” Arslan thought for a moment, then answered with a smile. “It should be fine if I ask him. Like Mikaela was saying, there’s always the benefit of making our relationship with the Holy Union better, so two or three months shouldn’t be a problem.” Though, having said so, he appeared like he had remembered something and laughed before adding, “The Sea of Betrayals will be entering its dangerous period too so if we were to sail out later than in two weeks, we’d be in danger. So, we would probably need to wait anyway.”
“That’s great,” Laien said with a very much satisfied smile on his face. He had been feeling a bit dejected lately at the thought of leaving this great company of friends, but if they could spend three months together, then saying farewell shouldn’t be as unbearable anymore. “But still, there’s one question left,” he thought silently and exchanged a brief glance with Yin. Yes, all of that relied upon their plans for the news few days succeeding. If they failed, then the idea of meeting up in the Holy Union or even meeting in the same five-man group as now would quickly crumble apart.
“Well, what now?” Yin asked everyone, not really wanting to occupy his mind with unpleasant thoughts at the moment. “Do we rest a bit more and go back to studying those tomes?” he asked with a laugh. To be perfectly honest, the only tome that was wholly useful to all three of Arslan, Raphael, and Mikaela was the Martial and Spiritual Transcendence tome. The lightning-element Ancient Magic tomes were of limited benefit to them while the water-element ones were extremely beneficial to but one out of the three of them. In the end, although it did help to have auxiliary insights into different Elemental Laws than your own, reaching a level in them that could be considered useful was far too hard in almost all normal circumstances.
“Nah.” Mikaela ended up being the one to reply. “You guys still have your late-night training to do and it’s not like we are in a hurry anymore, no? Let’s just chat some more and spend the rest of the day as usual,” he proposed and was met with an easy agreement from the other four. Raphael and Arslan were of the same mind as him, while Laien and Yin really didn’t want to miss out on any of their daily Combined Soul Realm sessions, so they were also happy with this setup.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“What do we talk about though?” Laien inquired carefreely. He wouldn’t mind chatting about anything, but somehow, the mood wasn’t right anymore for any training-related topics. It would be better to find something else, but his brain was too mushy and relaxed for him to come up with anything sensible.
As everybody started considered their options, it proved to be Raphael who spoke up the soonest. “I’ve got an idea, but do tell me if you are up for it. You guys will be negotiating with the Holy Union soon, so I could tell you a certain story about them if you haven’t heard of it yet. To be exact, it’s a story about how the Holy Union was established three years ago by the initiative of the Warrior-King Azuresky, the new leader of the Bolan Kingdom,” he suggested with a smile. It went without saying that if they hadn’t heard this story yet, then Elder Samuel would make sure they did before heading out. So, since he also knew of that story, they could as well use it as a topic to pass time with.
“Why not, it seems interesting,” Laien said with a nod of his head. It had been quite a long time since he last listened to anyone’s story, so he wasn’t opposed to the idea at all.
“Yup, go ahead.” Yin followed suit, making the same choice as Laien. He was of the same mind as Laien in this case, so this decision wasn’t hard.
“I’m okay with it too,” Arslan said with a smile. He always liked to listen and read about various stories, far more than just studying, so he was excited to learn something new.
“Story time~” Mikaela laughed and took a soft pillow for himself from nearby, then laid down on the floor with his hands and head on the pillow. He then gave Raphael an expectant look; he didn’t hear of the exact circumstance between the Holy Union’s rise, mainly because he hadn’t been interested enough to ask any of the adults around him about it. However, now that a personal connection appeared between him and that union the story suddenly started looking quite interesting.
Having not so suddenly found himself in the center of attention, Raphael laughed a little and took a few seconds to organize his thoughts. He quickly went through what he knew about the Holy Union and mainly, about the story of the Warrior-King Azuresky, then took a deep breath and started speaking in a calm and unhurried manner.
“You should all know that the north of the Eulene had never signed an official alliance treaty with Arkarian Grand Yimarates, but only agreed to a ceasefire for as long as they aren’t attacked. Unlike in the southern half, the north has always been quite intolerant of Ikarian presence on their lands. Because of that, even though tens of millions of Ikarians came to live in the south during the long-lasting peace of the past centuries, merely a few tens of thousands settled in the north. As for why that’s important, it’s obvious enough. The moment the Great Prophet appeared and when he finally called for the holy war, the south was thrown into a full-scale civil war while the north cut itself off and remained relatively peaceful.”
“As for why the north didn’t come to the south’s aid, well. Their relationship was never all that good and in the last two centuries, it only deteriorated further. From what Elder Samuel and my teachers were saying, the Great Prophet doesn’t want to provoke the north yet either as he is dealing with the internal conflicts in his own faction and needs time to stabilize his power, so their two sides ended up in a standoff with neither willing to make the first move at this time.”
“That’s for the basic background story,” Raphael concluded the first part and looked over everyone’s faces. Since it looked like his explanation was clear enough and no one had any additional questions, he smiled contentedly and continued in a smooth fashion.
“Now the real part, there a few things you should know. For example, that the northern part of Eulene consists of four Kingdoms, from the west to east: the Bolan Kingdom, the Jieke Kingdom, the Kefa Kingdom and the Yali Kingdom. For now, the Holy Union consists of those four countries, but I heard that they are in the middle of negotiations to have some of the Princedoms and Grand Duchies further to the north of them to join in. Still, for the time being, the leader of the Holy Union is definitely the Bolan Kingdom and its current Warrior-King Azuresky.”
“What’s important to remember, especially if one wants to deal with him in person, is that he is the first northern King in over a millennia who took the crown, and the head, of his predecessor in a duel. Both the previous King and at the time, the Grand Duke Azuresky, were martial masters of the seventh rank, but if the stories are to be believed, the old King got toyed around and humiliated by Azuresky. It’s said that back then, three years ago before the duel happened, Azuresky was so infuriated that he took half of his whole army, which in its entirety counted for almost fifty percent of the Bolan Kingdom’s military force, and marched on the capital. He then demanded the King to face him in an honorable duel or be cut down like a cowardly rat.”
“What else could the King Bluebeard have done than accept the duel? Azuresky not only had a bigger army than him, but he also enjoyed a great deal of support from the common people and from the nobility. Many had been saying for years that it would have been better if Azuresky was the King, so if Bluebeard refused, he would have probably been killed by his own royal guards.”
“Interesting,” Laien mentioned with a slight, somewhat dangerous smile on his face. He had been the target of the Cail Family’s machinations in his own country, so he couldn’t say that he wasn’t fond of the straightforward approach of Azuresky’s. “Why was he so infuriated though? And why was the previous King seen as incompetent?” he asked impatiently, acting somewhat like Mikaela, what Raphael didn’t fail to point out for him with a wry smile on his face before continuing with the story.
“You can guess why the King Bluebeard wasn’t liked. The mood in the north was that a great war is coming for over a hundred years, but Bluebeard continued the policy of appeasement and didn’t expand their country’s military power nor retaliate with force against any conflicts that arose. From what Elder Samuel told me, had it not been for the Grand Duke Azuresky’s unwillingness to break the traditions of their country and overthrow the long-lasting royal family, the King Bluebeard would have lost his crown far sooner.”
“The reason for Azuresky’s rage was connected to that weak policy of their King. Azuresky’s territories were mostly in the south of the Bolan Kingdom, and so they bordered directly with the Guode Federation. It wasn’t too surprising that once the preaching of the Great Prophet spread, the number of small-scale and medium-scale issues and clashes between native Euleanians and Ikarians started going up. However, the Grand Duke Azuresky, in Elder Samuel’s words, was too obsessed with his honor to disobey their King, even though he disdained him. It was only once a certain accident happened when Azuresky finally snapped. And it wasn’t something like ‘the last straw that broke the camel’s back’, but a true shattering of the dam of rage he had been suppressing for all those years.”
“Come on, stop teasing us and hurry up!” Mikaela said impatiently. Since when was Raphael so good at telling stories? He should have had him do that so much sooner every time he was bored! But on the other hand, since he was creating so much suspense, it was unbearable to wait for the conclusion!
“I’m getting to it just now,” Raphael said with a helpless laugh. He was glad that everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, but he had a feeling they were treating this story like, well, a story. In his opinion, they should be taking it more seriously, but he wasn’t about to spoil their fun by nagging. “It’s not really all that pleasant of a story to listen to, but it’s certainly important to know. To begin with, just so we are more clear, look at that,” he said calmly and took out two large maps of the continent from his interspatial ring.
“This one is the map from five years one, while this one was made two years ago,” he said, then pointed the four towards the border between the Bolan Kingdom and at the time, the Guode Federation. “Can you see the difference?” he asked with a smile, albeit with a smile that expressed more melancholy and sympathy than anything else.
“A city is gone,” Mikaela replied quickly. “The city called Franklicht is gone and even some of the villages around it aren’t marked anymore,” he added, then returned his gaze to Raphael. What could have happened for that city and those villages to be taken off the maps?
“Yeah, as you said they are gone,” Raphael said and suppressed a sigh. “Relatively close to the border between those two countries, on the territory of the Grand Duke Azuresky, lays a beautiful area with many smaller and bigger lakes. One of the summer mansions of the Grand Duke is also located there. As for why I’m mentioning that, three years ago, Azuresky’s niece and nephew were staying in that area. It was common knowledge that the grounds are off-limits and anyone who dares to intrude would be met with death, so that place was always peaceful, even when the Great Prophet started instigating trouble.” Having said so, Raphael couldn’t hold the sigh back anymore and let it out. He shook his head, then told the rest of the story with a sour smile on his face.
“However, one of the Yimars in the Guode Federation didn’t take this fact to heart. He was called Yimar Kali, if I recall, and as you can guess, he was the one overseeing the city of Franklicht and the nearby lands. The rumors say that he had a perverted fetish for young, beautiful children, and especially those of noble origin… Apparently, he had gotten bored with what he could get within his own domain, then learned that two exceptional kids of noble lineage were staying in a resort just two hundred kilometers away. What do you think he did then?”
“Of course, he took his elites and rode to the resort. He slaughtered his way in, having his men kill anyone who dared to resist. The resort was totally unprepared for an attack, so even though Azuresky’s subordinates were excellent, they had no chance and lost one-sidedly. The details of what happened next aren’t clear as no one made them public, but from what our intelligence learned, Azuresky rushed towards the resort with his own personal unit of one thousand elites the moment the news reached his ears. What welcomed him was the scene of carnage, with all the men’s corpses butchered and all the women defiled. However, if we are to trust the rumors, what truly sent Azuresky into the true rage was what he saw after that.”
“Going by what we’ve heard, Yimar Kali left Azuresky’s niece and nephew in their own chambers after having his way with them for half a day. We know not what state they were in, but we do know of the frenzy the sight of them had pushed Azuresky into. He had first returned to his own city and left the two in the care of his wife and healers, then took his elites and another ten thousand experts and rode south.”
“I doubt Yimar Kali, or anyone else, expected Azuresky to retaliate in the way he did. His soldiers were as enraged as the man himself, so the moment they reached Franklicht, they massacred the entire population of five hundred thousand without sparing anyone, be it children, women or elderly. Those who had seen the city’s ruins after Azuresky’s army left spoke of nightmarish things like rows upon rows of impaled bodies, the corpses which seemed as if they had been torn to shreds by hands and top it all off, the utterly desecrated corpses of Yimar Kali and his elites impaled in front of what was left of the city’s palace.”
“The rest of the story goes as I said. Azuresky kills the King Bluebeard in the duel a few days later, then invites the three northern Kings of Eulene to negotiations. Another few days later, the Holy Union is established with the Warrior-King Azuresky as its leader. From what we know, the people of those four Kingdom were ecstatic and the Azuresky’s crowning ceremony, which happened a few weeks later, attracted as much as two hundred million citizens from all over the north.”
The moment Raphael finished speaking, a heavy silence befell the room. This… they hadn’t expected this story to be so extreme, going way beyond the level of ruthlessness displayed even by the likes of Mustafa. Even Laien and Yin, who had gone through a lot in their lives, couldn’t help but swallow nervously. The Warrior-King Azuresky… this was the person they would need to negotiate with alongside Jasmine, right? It was beginning to look like the hurdle of those negotiations was higher than they had thought, and by a large margin at that.