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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
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“Have you been liberated from karma?”
Bell stared at Yuma, who had spoken those words, with wide eyes.
“Y-yes. It seems… I’ve been freed from the blood covenant.”
Bell’s voice trembled.
She still couldn’t believe that the White Night Clan had been liberated from the shackles of this land.
It was understandable.
Until yesterday, she couldn’t even imagine this moment.
She hadn’t even dared to dream of it.
“Congratulations”
Yuma said nonchalantly to Bell as he began to walk.
Crackle-!
Suddenly, he halted his steps abruptly.
Black embers remained on the ground.
‘…That was close.’
He had nearly been engulfed by Ades’ flames right after killing him.
Yuma carefully stepped over Ades’ flames with a hardened expression.
Then he resumed walking forward majestically.
The White Night Clan members watching his steps from the front didn’t find the scene strange at all.
The scene of him stopping and walking again flowed naturally, like water.
Clan Head Luke thought of Yuma’s actions like this:
‘He’s feeling the afterglow of battle…!’
A powerful figure who could pause briefly to feel the lingering sensation of the battlefield…!
With the massive giant, the king of the God-Giant tribe Ades, collapsed behind him, and Yuma walking forward majestically, it created a spectacular scene.
They couldn’t help but think that way.
Not just Clan Head Luke, but all 60 or so core combat personnel of the clan felt the same.
Luke and the warriors truly came to acknowledge Yuma.
Because they had just witnessed it with their own eyes.
The scene of him killing Ades, the king of the God-Giant tribe who had oppressed the clan for hundreds of years, with a single strike.
Ades, who possessed regenerative and healing abilities based on divine power.
And now, the scene unfolding before their eyes wasn’t the most important thing.
Yuma’s level of power wasn’t what mattered at this moment.
Everyone absentmindedly examined their own bodies and those of their family members.
Then they embraced each other.
“Ades…!”
“The king of the God-Giant tribe is dead!”
“Now, we’re free. It’s freedom!!”
As the Giant’s body completely toppled and the chains of the covenant that had constricted their hearts whenever they forgot about it completely dissolved, the clan members finally fully realized what had happened to them.
Freedom.
Freedom had come to the bloodline of White Night Clan.
They embraced each other for a very long time.
“…Now, it’s time to express our gratitude.”
Luke, who was the first to quickly regain his senses, spoke up, and everyone turned their gaze to Yuma.
Thud- Thud- Boom- Boom
Yuma looked at the White Night Clan members gathering around him, making various footsteps.
As the White Night Clan members densely surrounded him from all directions, as if encircling him, Yuma inwardly sighed.
Their bodies were slowly tilting downwards.
‘Are they going to kneel again?’
Yuma had seen too many scenes of people kneeling before him recently.
However, this time, they didn’t just kneel.
Boom─
They went a step further than kneeling…!
It was a full bow.
Starting with Clan Head Luke, all 120 clan members bowed to Yuma.
Luke’s deep voice resonated from the front where he was bowing.
“We will never forget the grace of freeing our clan from karma for the rest of our lives.”
“We will never forget it for the rest of our lives, our benefactor.”
Soft voices echoed from all directions one after another.
“We will never forget it for the rest of our lives, our benefactor.”
Among them, there were quite a few sobbing voices.
After a moment that felt like an eternity passed, all members of the White Night Clan slowly raised their bodies.
“Sniff…”
A boy who looked about 8 years old was seen sniffling with a runny nose.
“Can we go outside the castle now?”
“Yes, yes. We can now freely go outside, Diorn.”
The voices of a son and mother were heard.
Yuma looked at the large man standing next to him, Clan Head Luke.
Luke was staring intently at Yuma with a very passionate gaze.
“You said you’re the Supreme Commander of the Empire? If you need manpower, we’ll lend our strength immediately.”
Luke’s mind, which had been worn down for decades, had somehow been completely restored.
It made sense, as he had been freed from the karma that had bound him for a lifetime.
Luke continued speaking.
“All members of the White Night Clan are ready to be your sword at any time.”
The clan warriors behind Luke bowed deeply.
“That’s right. No matter what land we’re in, or what country we’re in, we will serve only you as our lord.”
“Our benefactor.”
Yuma surveyed the White Night Clan.
Although the number of warriors and mages who stood on the front lines among the clan wasn’t very large, even just these would far surpass the Empire’s First Knight Division.
After all, many of the warriors were born with superior talent in swordsmanship.
Talent that far exceeded what was generally referred to as ‘talent’.
“Reassuring.”
If they became Yuma’s sword, they would certainly be a great force.
However, Yuma had no intention of taking them along right away.
Yuma slowly shook his head.
“But it’s not wartime now. For now, enjoy the freedom you’ve gained. The liberation you’ve achieved. What I need right now is…”
Yuma paused briefly and looked at Bell, who was sticking close to Luke’s side.
“Just that.”
Yuma had spoken unconsciously out of extreme fatigue, but Bell’s eyes widened in surprise at being referred to as “that”, as if she were an object.
Luke glanced at Bell beside him and nodded.
“This, I give to you.”
Bell’s brow furrowed deeply.
“W-what are you saying! How dare you! You damned father!!”
Bell looked back at Yuma.
“Even if I’m given, I’m giving myself voluntarily!”
Bell, who had blurted out her words hastily due to her anger towards her father Luke, only realized what she had said to Yuma after replaying it in her mind a moment later.
A blush rose on her pale cheeks.
“Ugh…!”
She then clutched her long blue hair with both hands.
Slowly releasing her hands, she sighed.
“…Bell. My name’s Bell.”
“Bell.”
“Yes.”
Although Yuma had already confirmed it with his detection skill, he spoke her name once with his mouth since she had introduced herself.
Yuma then told Luke to dismiss the warriors behind him.
Luke dismissed his subordinates without hesitation, following Yuma’s words.
“Well, Bell. For now, you just need to come with me to the Imperial capital.”
Yuma thought he needed to tell the truth to these two.
“In the oracle about the Imperial Princess I’m helping, there’s a figure called the ‘Blue-haired Sword Saint’. That’s probably you, for sure.”
Yuma gazed at Cloney standing beside him.
“Because you resonated.”
Bell nodded at Yuma’s explanation.
“Ah… The thing that rang in my head right before the battle. Was that me resonating with her?”
Bell approached Cloney, her pink eyes shining.
“Anyway, according to the Oracle, I’m going to bring you two before the First Imperial Princess Brigitte. We’ll think about what comes next after that.”
Yuma gestured towards Bell with his chin.
“I plan to leave tomorrow morning for the Empire. It will take about a week, so say your goodbyes to the clan members.”
“Okay…”
Bell seemed to be caught up on the word ‘goodbyes’, trailing off at the end of her response.
Then she scurried away.
Yuma looked at Luke.
“You said you’d become my army.”
Luke’s blue hair swayed as he nodded.
“Of course, just say the word anytime, Yuma. You are, at least to the current generation, a god-like being of the clan who must be revered and worshiped.”
A god who must be worshiped.
Yuma inwardly clicked his tongue.
But Luke’s current loyalty was valuable.
‘I don’t know when, but there will surely come a time when I need them.’
He had almost completely pieced together the fragments of the oracle.
If there was a storm in this world right now, it was certain that he was at the center of that storm.
“As I said earlier, enjoy your freedom for now. When I call for you, come to the Empire. I’ll prepare a place.”
Luke smiled bitterly.
“Freedom, it was what I wanted most in this world. Now that it’s in my hands, I don’t know how to use it.”
Yuma spoke indifferently.
“Well, you could travel while eating delicious things.”
Luke chuckled.
“Food tourism, that sounds good.”
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The sun had completely set, and the night had grown deep.
The castle of White Night Clan was empty.
The White Night Clan members had formed groups and left the outer walls, now walking through the thickets beyond those walls.
They had left the land of the White Night Clan.
“We’re not dying…”
“Our hearts aren’t bursting.”
Sounds of sobbing and comforting each other continued.
“It’s freedom.”
“Damn, I never thought this moment we only dreamed of would actually come.”
Among the White Night Clan members, praise for Yuma continued endlessly.
“To defeat Ades, he truly accomplished something amazing…”
A young man with tears in his eyes spoke while wiping them away.
A woman behind that young man slapped him.
“Of course, he did something truly amazing. If he had slipped up, we might have had to marry among ourselves.”
“In-inbreeding…? But the older generation, our parents’ generation, mostly married people from other kingdoms, outsiders, right?”
The woman twisted her lips.
“That was thanks to the Conqueror King rampaging across generations. Our mothers fled for their lives and entered our land of White Night Clan, which the barbarian nations didn’t touch. It was lucky for our clan. Usually, who would marry into a place where you can’t leave once you enter? Where the children can’t take a single step outside.”
The young man lowered his head at the woman’s explanation.
“So, do you hate me that much?”
The woman’s face crumpled.
“Of course! Do you think I’d like it─! Huh!”
Then she raised both hands high.
“Long live Lord Yuma! The only god of our clan! Long live Yuma!”
The woman truly believed Yuma to be a god.
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“…”
Haven smiled brightly as he gazed at the sky filled with countless stars.
Although it was just slightly beyond the land of White Night Clan, it felt like a completely different world.
Freedom.
Is this freedom?
Having just tasted a single mouthful of it.
That thing called freedom was very sweet.
Crunch, crunch
“Brother.”
Haven turned his gaze from the snow-covered ground to his younger sister Bell, who stood beside him.
He slowly opened his mouth.
“I heard you’re going to the Astes Empire with Lord Yuma?”
Bell nodded.
“That’s how it turned out.”
“Well, you’re just going a little ahead of us. Father said he’ll call for us soon too.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
The siblings leaned against a tree side by side, looking up at the sky.
Haven spoke again.
“As expected, Bell. You’re chosen in many ways. If it wasn’t for you, if you weren’t in our tribe, I wonder if Lord Yuma would have come here. I don’t think he would have.”
Bell remained silent.
Haven patted Bell’s shoulder.
“Thank you, for many things.”
“…That’s what I should be saying.”
It was just trust between siblings.
However, the trust between blood relatives was very strong.
“Still, I won’t give up. Swordsmanship… I’ll surpass you someday.”
Bell chuckled at Haven’s words.
She found her brother’s unyielding spirit quite admirable.
“Give it a try.”
“Yeah, serve Lord Yuma well first.”
The two leaned against the tree side by side, gazing at the star-covered sky for a long time, before slowly returning to the land of White Night Clan.
It was a night when all those of White Night Clan savored freedom for the first time in their lives.
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