Chapter 31: The Fool (I)

A few days later, Allen led his knightly army to capture one of the three gateway cities, Gion. They successfully joined forces with Scott, Ravia, and Thos on a plain not far from Sassen, signaling that Sassen was about to face the greatest battle in history.

For a time, Sassen became the focus of the entire empire and even the world. Everyone’s eyes were fixed there, eager to witness the outcome of this pivotal conflict—whether the allied forces, comprising most of the empire’s strength, could defeat the man who stood at the pinnacle of the world. Who would be the winner of this battle?

Generally speaking, an individual’s power is quite insignificant. Yet this statement seemed inappropriate when applied to that man, Argus. That man, that demon-like figure, not only overthrew the country single-handedly but also openly became the ruler of the empire. Everyone knew that neither Prince Gran nor the young emperor was anything but puppets of this man.

Argus BartClarkefield—this man now stood at the peak of the world! He possessed strength beyond what ordinary people could match. It was this power that shattered the existing order and power structure in the magical world. Before Argus appeared, the magical world classified mages into three tiers: apprentices, mages, and archmages. The title “sage mage” was merely an honor given by the empire to mages who made outstanding contributions, not necessarily a measure of their strength.

Thus, archmage had always been the highest title for mages, considered the pinnacle that humans could reach. But Argus’s arrival overturned this notion. The archmages, once seen as untouchable, appeared utterly powerless in front of that terrifying man.

“Beyond ordinary archmages”—after the Battle of Heliriox, this term was gradually adopted by Vandel’s dark mages to denote those stronger than archmages. Yet this concept of measuring strength remained somewhat vague. If using elements to cast magic was a symbol of being a mage, and domains were a symbol of being an archmage, then what could distinguish those who surpassed ordinary archmages?

It was [Human Elementalization] and [Elemental Manifestation]!

The dark magicians of Vandell revived long-forgotten theories—Hod Kendi’s battle with Argus had proven that even humans could achieve such things, reigniting the magicians’ pursuit of the mysteries behind magic. It must be said that Argus’s emergence also had a positive impact on the magical world, though it was clearly insignificant compared to the harm he caused.
—July, Year 407 of the New Calendar, Sassen—

As the focus of everyone’s attention, Argus remained in his room, standing on the balcony and gazing blankly at the sky with his pale red, somewhat grayish eyes.
“What are you looking at, Argus?” A clear voice came from behind him as little Lily stepped forward. Strangely, despite being blind, the child seemed to have the ability to sense the presence of other objects and had never fallen because of bumping into anything.
“Nothing much, just looking at the sky…” Argus replied indifferently, though rather than truly gazing at the sky, he was simply lost in thought.
“That’s nice…” The little girl said with envy, walking over to Argus, lying on the balcony, and closing her eyes to bask in the sunlight, looking adorably so.
The envy in her voice made Argus turn to look at Lily. When he saw her lifeless, grayish eyes, a hint of regret flashed in his gaze as he instinctively reached out and stroked the little girl’s hair firmly.
Abandoned by the light too, this little brat…
“Ugh, annoying…” Yet this gesture seemed to upset little Lily. She pouted, reached out wildly at Argus’s hand, and once she grabbed it, she giggled like an ordinary child.
Watching Lily’s endlessly smiling, adorable face, Argus sighed softly.
This is enough…

But just then, Argus’s eyes, still tinged with warmth, suddenly changed, turning icy cold. Without a word, he patted Lily’s head and said in an unyielding tone, “Go back to your room, little brat!”
“Huh?” Lily clearly didn’t understand why Argus, who had been playing with her, suddenly became like this. But hearing his tone, she dared not disobey. She left the room with her head hung low, looking back at Argus with a pitiful expression.

As soon as Little Lily left the room, a thick darkness filled the entire space. The dark energy rolled around, devouring all the light in the vicinity, plunging the room into darkness. The only thing that could be seen clearly was a pair of pale red eyes that suddenly opened in the room…

Sighing softly, Argus knelt down before those eyes, bowed his head, and spoke in a respectful tone, “What are your orders, my master…”

A hint of evil glimmered in those pale red eyes. Then, a deep voice, like that of a beast, echoed throughout the room. “You’ve made me wait impatiently, Argus…”

With his head bowed, it was impossible to tell Argus’s expression. All that could be heard was him saying in a humble tone, “I’m sorry, my master…”

“Enough!” The beast-like roar sounded again, tinged with anger. “I don’t want to hear any excuses! — Don’t forget, Argus, it was I who granted you infinite power. I can take it back at any moment if I wish!”

“Yes, my master…”

“That’s good! — My patience is limited. Don’t disappoint me again. I hate waiting!”

“Yes…”

“Since you understand, go and carry out your mission. I need more, much more soul power! Kill everything you see—destroy it all… Don’t you hate humans? Kill them all!”

“…I understand!”

Staring at Argus with a furious gaze, those eyes said in a deep voice, “…This is your last chance! — Don’t disappoint me again!”

“Yes…”

By the time Argus raised his head again, the dark energy in the room had vanished without a trace, along with those eyes.

“Hey,” Argus chuckled self-mockingly, shook his head, and stood up from the ground. Muttering to himself, he said, “It seems Mammon is getting impatient. How unfortunate! — Well, never mind. This matter will have to end sooner or later. Procrastinating won’t help!” His expression turned slightly more serious as he called out in a low voice, “Come to me, Hampa!”

Before long, Argus’s servant, the demon Hampa, flew in through the balcony in the form of a gray pigeon, accompanied by a gray mist.

“Did you call for me, master?” The moment he landed, Hampa reverted to his usual old man appearance, looking at Argus with a hint of flattery and fawning.

“Hmm!” Argus nodded slightly and said in a deep voice from the sofa, “The important moment is approaching. I need to know the situation of those nobles in Sassen City!”
Seemingly understanding Argus’s intent, Hampa chuckled and said with a bow, “Rest assured, my master. I’ve completely taken control of those fools…” At that moment, he looked up only to see Argus staring at him with a strange expression, leaving him slightly puzzled.
“Oh, well done!” Argus seemed to realize his own odd behavior as well. He took a slight breath and said in a deep voice, “What about the situations in Kalia, Scidio, and Gio?”
“Don’t worry, master! Everything is under control!” Hampa said obsequiously with a laugh. “Those foolish rebels think they can regain those three cities on their own strength… Who among them would know that it was merely a bait to lure them to Sassen? Now those guys are full of fighting spirit to reclaim Sassen… Well, it should be called delusion. Hehehe… Humans are truly arrogant and stupid creatures…”
“…” For some reason, it was the first time Argus found Hampa’s laughter so grating. He took a slight breath, waved his hand impatiently, and said, “I don’t want to hear this. What about the actual strength of those allied forces?”
“Well…” Hampa hesitated for a moment, thought carefully, and replied respectfully, “Those rebel forces number around sixty thousand, including about two thousand magicians…” As he spoke, he raised his hand, and a strange light map appeared in the room.
The image on the light map showed the battles that had taken place in the three cities of Kalia, Scidio, and Gio.
Argus didn’t seem very interested, merely glancing at the battles absentmindedly. Suddenly, surprise appeared in his eyes, followed by a hint of joy as he murmured, “This… isn’t that brat? That brat has returned? I didn’t expect it…” His somewhat dull eyes immediately regained their usual brightness. He clenched his right fist and chuckled softly, “Right, right, right! This is much more interesting! — This is a great time to kill me, Thos!”
“M- master?” Hampa clearly couldn’t understand Argus’s excitement.

“Very good! Very good!” As if he had achieved some goal again, Argus regained his usual confidence. He paced back and forth in the room, smiling wickedly. “It seems you can’t wait to fight me once more, can you, Thors?” With that, he turned his head, pointed at Hampa, and said in a deep voice, “Tell Clark to speed things up—I need more troops! Also, go and contact Vandor’s necromancers…”

“Well…” Hampa looked somewhat troubled, frowning as he said, “Those guys might…”

“Hmph!” Argus snorted arrogantly. “Then tell them that if they don’t want to be driven back to the dark underground world by those black magicians again, they should help me!”

Hampa was stunned for a moment before laughing shrilly. “I understand, master!”

“Also, go tell Jerry Belford that if he still wants to remain the chief archmage of his empire…”

“I understand, master!” Hampa laughed shrilly. Then, as if he remembered something, he frowned and said, “But master, what about dealing with the situation in the east?”

“The east?” Argus looked puzzled. “What east?”

“I mean those Theralanders,” Hampa said in a low voice, seeing that Argus didn’t seem to understand. “I reported to you a few days ago. Maybe you didn’t pay attention back then… The Theralanders have also responded to Vandor’s call and assembled an army of about fifteen thousand men, attacking the cities in our east!”

“Theralanders?” Argus’s face showed mockery as he spoke in his usual teasing tone. “Oh dear, uninvited guests showing up to cause trouble—this will really trouble the master. Don’t those guys understand that? —Hey, ignore them. It’s just a ragtag army. What we need to worry about is the allied forces in the west!”

“You’re right, master,” Hampa said with a relieved smile, as if he had thought of something. “Compared to the allied forces in the west, those Theralander armies are really pitiful. They don’t even have a single mage and still want to attack our cities? How foolish!”

“Enough,” Argus interrupted Hampa impatiently, speaking in a deep voice. “Go and get ready quickly. I want you to gather all our forces in Sassen within three days!”

“Yes, master!”

Watching Hampa turn into a swirl of gray mist and leave the balcony as if swept away by the wind, Argus couldn’t help but chuckle softly. He seemed very pleased.

“Ah, Thors, come here quickly! Only your presence can make this game more interesting. Only you can bring me ultimate joy! Hurry, hurry, hurry! — I’m waiting for you here, on this stage called Sassen! Heh… hahaha!”
Meanwhile…
— Hundreds of miles away from Sassen, at the Alliance army’s camp—
After Allen led his Free Wind Knights there, almost all of the Alliance army’s forces had gathered here. In the following days, lords and city rulers from nearby areas sent troops to assist. Though their armies paled in comparison to the three major forces of Altak, Galik, and Operelles, they were enough to demonstrate the unity and support for this campaign.
Argus was, after all, an outsider. Whether in the eyes of merchants or nobles, he could never be recognized as legitimate—just a usurper. The slightest sign of failure would bring countless people eager to pull him down from his position.
After all, no matter how much they tried to hide it, the transition of power was always accompanied by ugliness.
Even within the seemingly united Alliance army, there were various conflicts…
“What’s the matter? The imperial city of Sassen is right in front of us. Don’t you all want to offer any suggestions?”
At the Alliance meeting, which resembled a round-table conference, Bert Brackley, the former deputy commander of the Royal Knights and representative of Prince Theo, slammed the table and said, “The entire empire, and even the whole world, is watching us. And yet we’re still wasting time here! It’s ridiculous!”
“Careful with your words, former deputy commander!” Allen interrupted him with a smile, resting his chin and looking curiously at Lelajin, the demon god who was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. He then glanced at Scott, showing slight surprise, before turning back to Bert Brackley and saying mockingly, “I understand your feelings, of course, as well as those of the prince beside you… Oh, the former prince! — Are you that eager to reclaim the throne?”
“You!” Bert Brackley glared fiercely at Allen and frowned. “Please be more careful with your words and tone! — Prince Theo is the legitimate heir to this country. He was merely exploited by that bastard Argus and made to bear the blame…” But before he could finish, he was interrupted by Prince Theo, who had remained with his eyes closed the whole time.

“Shut up, Bert! — No matter how much you defend yourself, the facts remain the same…”
“But Your Highness…”
“That’s enough,” Prince Theo said firmly, using a commanding gaze to stop Bert Brackley from speaking. He looked up at Allen deeply and said in a low voice, “Besides, it’s not as if this commander would stop at Sassen, is it?”
“Heh! — What a crude provocation!” Allen laughed lightly, tapping the table with his fingers nonchalantly as he smiled at Prince Theo. “It suddenly seems like ‘you’ are much more approachable than before. Is it just my imagination?”
“Hmph!” Prince Theo snorted indifferently, ignoring Allen’s mockery. In truth, the prince was extremely angry, but as time passed, he gradually realized that the empire was no longer under the rule of the former Sassen king. To put it bluntly, whether it was Altak, Galik, Operials, or Vandel, they all possessed immense power that he, as the first prince, could neither grasp nor control. The royal family’s control over various regions had become extremely weak, which could be clearly seen from the attitudes of those lords and city rulers — almost all of them chose to ally with Altak, Galik, or Operials, which were closer to their territories, rather than the prince.
The cohesion of the Yawood family seemed to have reached its end…
And precisely because of this, no matter how angry or resentful he was, Prince Theo knew very well that if he wanted to regain control of the country, he needed the support of these people before him, even at a heavy cost!
He’s finally growing up, isn’t he, Your Highness…
Cliff Bealis, a former mage from the First Royal Mage Corps, thought to himself. Yet he also knew well that the prince was merely trying his best to suppress his dissatisfaction, and such dissatisfaction might bring further disasters to the empire’s future…
Just as he was pondering how to steer the conversation toward Sassen’s Agus, Scott, who was on Prince Theo’s side, saved them from the predicament.
“Enough, let’s end this boring talk! What we need to consider now is how to deal with the upcoming battle. No one thinks this battle will be as easy as the previous ones, right? If that were the case, I guess I must remind you that those previous encounters were just bait laid by Agus…”

“Got it, got it,” Allen interrupted Scott lazily with a teasing tone. “If the next battle turns out to be as easy as the previous ones, I’ll be much more at ease! That guy I met in Gion, that demon named Simmonley, is a pretty good fighter, but he ordered a retreat before even warming up… Hey, even if you’re a decoy, you should at least know your role as one, right? Really disappointing!” With that, he turned to look at Jean Connel, the werewolf who was silently leaning against the wall behind Ravia, and said with a smile, “What do you think, uncle?”
“Hmph!” The werewolf, arms crossed, let out a light snort.
Ravia couldn’t help but glance at Connel behind her. She, like Thos, had great doubts about why he chose to help Argus, but from Connel’s mouth, they heard a shocking truth.
Actually, that dark altar had been completed a year ago, but Argus hadn’t started collecting soul power right away. He kept delaying things until the Ancient Will Mammon grew increasingly impatient. Only then did Argus send a large number of Death Knights to hunt down civilians as sacrifices. In other words, the terrible situation they were facing now could have happened a year ago, but Argus hadn’t done anything about it…
Moreover, according to Connel, Argus himself seemed reluctant to let the Ancient Will Mammon descend to this world. But as Mammon’s apostle, he couldn’t go against Mammon’s will. This statement shocked Ravia and Thos greatly, as in their eyes, Argus had already become synonymous with the world’s most evil figure.
“Why are outsiders here, and moreover enemies!” General Croly, the representative of Lordron Fortress, stared at Connel and the demon Lelarkin with suspicion.
“Hmph,” Lelarkin snorted lightly, closing his eyes and sneering. “Do you really care, humans?—Rest assured, my mission is already complete. From now on, I just want to watch as you humans struggle in this darkness!—How foolish. Rushing forward despite knowing it’s a dead end, just like insects flying into a fire. Truly pitiful!”
“You!” General Croly slammed the table in anger and then frowned at Scott, saying, “Your Highness, the young duke, don’t you plan to explain this? Why is this enemy here in the alliance’s meeting room?”

Scott glanced indifferently at Lelajin, who was leaning against the wall behind him, pushed his glasses up, and said softly, “For a guy who can’t be killed, it’s already a great fortune that he’s willing to act as a bystander. Don’t ask for more, General Croley!”
“Uh… this…” General Croley was speechless. After all, in the previous three battles, he had learned what those demon gods were like. Moreover, he didn’t want to clash with Scott or even Gallek over such a trivial matter.
“I’m afraid those necromancers will also choose to fight in this battle against Sassen…”
“Probably so. After all, those guys got Vando through despicable tactics. Vando belongs to the black magicians. Once Argus fails, they’ll surely be driven back to the world of darkness. Even for their own sake, they’ll have to become our enemies…”
“Those guys who control corpses… how disgusting…”
“The worst ones are those royal magicians. I’m afraid Jerry Belford will also choose to be our enemy. After all, his situation is very bad right now. If Argus fails, he’s doomed to a terrible fate…”
“So, in the upcoming battle, Argus’s magical forces will also join the fight?”
“Probably…”
“That’s troublesome!”
The lords and city rulers in the meeting room expressed their opinions one after another.
Glancing at her ‘husband,’ who sat there motionless like a wooden statue, Lavia gently nudged his arm and whispered, “Say something. Don’t forget—you represent Vandel now!”
But Thos seemed still immersed in Connel’s astonishing words.
After all, he was one of the first people to meet that man, Argus, and could be said to know him best. After all, they were both apostles. But the more he interacted with him, the less Thos understood what that guy was thinking.
Was it revenge? Murder?
Thos always felt that wasn’t what Argus really wanted. Then what was it? What did that man, completely consumed by darkness, actually want?
Vaguely, Thos had a strange illusion—that even Argus, with his great power, was just a sad wretch, a pitiful fool…
Tch!
Shaking his head, Thos tried to cast aside this ridiculous thought and focused entirely on preparing for another battle with Argus—the final battle…

Seeing that her ‘husband’ ignored her, Ravia huffed in annoyance, crossing her fingers on her slender legs as she sat slantingly in the chair, breaking the chatter among the lords in the meeting room. She said calmly, “There’s nothing to discuss. What’s meant to happen will happen! As for Argus, I think he won’t just surrender and hand Sassen over to us easily. So, a final battle is inevitable. Whether it’s those royal magicians or necromancers, we’re not at a disadvantage in terms of magical power. By then…”
“By then,” Sos interrupted Ravia, speaking in a deep voice, “that guy is mine to deal with!”
His voice wasn’t loud, but the confidence hidden in his words successfully silenced the entire meeting room.
Interrupted unexpectedly, Ravia seemed annoyed. She glared at her ‘husband’ irritably and huffed in frustration, but didn’t say anything in opposition… She surely wouldn’t object, right?
“Hey,” Allen said with a smile at Ravia’s frustrated expression, shrugging and turning to Scott. “Then let’s settle it in three days!”
“Ah!” Scott pushed up his glasses and concluded in a low voice, “Three days from now, the final battle against Argus!”