The Legendary Spearman Returns

Side Story Chapter 185

Side Story Chapter 185

“Is everyone okay?” Joshua shouted.

As soon as Tshchary disappeared, Joshua peered through the dust. He was worried about his people—fortunately, Ulabis seemed to have done a good job because everyone was safe.

“Your Majesty!” Icarus managed to shout back.

“Good.” Joshua let out a long sigh of relief and then turned to look at Ulabis and Cain. “You two look like you two saw someone rise from the dead.”

“I’m the one who returned from the gates of hell, actually. You might see my footsteps when you go there,” Cain replied with a grin.

Had he failed to overcome his limit at the last moment, Cain would have been dead. The same went for Ulabis, whose chest had been pierced by a demon.

“You saved my life. I heard all the talk about authorities, but I never expected a Great Angel’s healing ability to be this good.” Ulabis shook his head.

“I’m the one who is in debt. I—no, Avalon will never forget Thran’s help,” Joshua answered.

“I won’t forget about that. Since I haven’t the slightest idea what will happen next nowadays, it feels very safe to hear that Thran will have the Martial God’s help.”

“All the help you need.”

Joshua and Ulabis smile amicably at each other.

“Wait a minute!” Icarus clapped, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Hmm...?”

“We have a problem. We wasted more time on the demons than I expected, so Hubalt might have crossed the border by now...”

“Why are you mentioning Hubalt all of a sudden?”

“Bel, the Battle God, must have raised his country’s troops!” Icarus yelled.

Bel’s name instantly made the three warriors focus. All of them had experience fighting him.

“Your Majesty, Bel was in Avalon until very recently...” Cain murmured.

Cain was right. Bel had visited Avalon as part of the congratulatory delegation of Hubalt along with the Four Paladins and his subordinates. An intense battle had taken place, resulting in all of the Four Paladins being killed and Bel vanishing. That was less than a month ago.

Icarus thought differently.

“Think about what he’s capable of. A month is more than enough time for him to return to his country. Besides, he hasn’t shown up yet.”

“That’s true...”

“What bothers me most is that I can’t get in touch with Duke Agnus.”

Cain frowned slightly. “I’m very sorry to say this, but by any chance—”

“He’s not the kind of man who would betray us right now. I can vouch for that,” Joshua said with conviction.

“My apology. Although I know it was very disrespectful of me, the circumstances were...”

“I understand. When was the last time you got in contact with him?”

Icarus thought back for a moment. “Two weeks ago.”

“Has he been taken prisoner?”

“That is the most likely scenario. Besides, it bothers me a lot that Carmen von Agnus also disappeared.”

“Both of them are hostages?” Joshua let out a long sigh.

In that case, he should mobilize all the troops in the country to rescue the subjects who had been captured in the process of carrying out a mission from their emperor. Babel was a duke—if Joshua ignored him just because he had been taken prisoner, who would be willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of this country?

-Even if it weren’t for that, there are plenty of reasons to rescue Babel...

‘I didn’t think you would think that way. The fact that the half brothers of the Agnus Family are on bad terms has been well-known for a long time,’ Lilith murmured.

-...Time changes a lot of things.

Joshua chuckled. Even he hadn’t expected that the relationship between him and Babel would become like this. On the day Joshua had returned to the Palace, Icarus had told him all about what had happened so far. Out of everything, the Agnus Family had weighed on Joshua’s heart the most when he had left for northern Avalon to destroy the Demon Spirit. With the Martial God’s disappearance, it was more than possible for the Agnus Family to plot treason. Babel had the blood of the Britten Family, the previous dynasty of the Avalon Empire.

However, Babel hadn’t done anything. It felt like Joshua had been worried about nothing. While trying to rebuild the Agnus Family, Babel had worked for the Imperial Family whenever possible. He had even sent Icarus a message to contact him whenever she needed his help.

“Even if Hubalt wasn’t invading, we should go save him,” Joshua said.

“I assure you that the war has already started,” Icarus firmly stated. “Maybe they used Duke Agnus’s attack as an excuse to mobilize their army.”

Hubalt had technically invaded Avalon first, and Babel had crossed the border afterward. However, the events had taken place within a matter of days, so the facts were easily manipulated. That was the nature of war: the strong had the biggest say, and history was written by the victor.

Joshua nodded. “We should sort out the current situation as quickly as possible.”

Finally, the dust in the air settled.

“Where did the demons go?” Icarus wondered.

Perchilin and Tshchary had run away. Icarus and the others needed to take care of the demons before they worried about the war.

“I heard something about the Demon Spirit’s body. Is it okay to leave them alone?”

“Yes, I should get going,” Joshua replied. “Wait here, everyone.”

Cain was surprised but stepped forward. “I’ll go with you.”

“I’ll go too,” Ulabis volunteered.

Joshua quietly shook his head. “I know it’s shameful of me, but I would like you two to protect my wife.”

“Your Majesty, but...”

“It’s fine. I have the advantage in numbers.”

“...Numbers? What do you mean...?”

“It’s about time they respond...” Joshua said. He was obviously waiting for something. After all, the beings lurking in the vault weren’t going to go down easily. One of them had the Demon Spirit’s body, so Joshua needed to test the temperament and power of this unprecedented creature.

‘How cruel,’ Lilith grumbled.

-This is necessary. Considering his fiery temper, Crevasse would throw a fit if I told him that I wanted to test his child.

‘Well, I would be offended too if I were him. A dragon willingly guarded your vault for years, but you don’t trust his child?’ Lilith sympathized with Crevasse.

-This isn’t a matter of trust. Even parents don’t know everything about their children.

Just then, they felt a powerful shockwave pass through the vault. In normal times, they would have assumed it was an earthquake, but the rush of both mana and demonic power in the air made their eyes widen.

“I understand the demonic power, but why do I also feel mana...?”

“It has begun.” Joshua slowly walked toward the shockwave’s source.

“Your Majesty!” Cain shouted.

“It’s fine. I know them.”

“That isn’t the problem... This mana doesn’t belong to a human.”

“You’re right,” Joshua agreed with a nod, “he isn’t human.”

“Then what...?”

“He’s a dragon.”

Cain and Ulabis boggled at him.

“A dr-dragon?”

Joshua grinned. “Have you forgotten what people used to call me?”

Ulabis stiffened as he realized what Joshua was talking about.

“Joshua Sanders, the First Dragon Knight...! Then that thing in there is...?”

“He’s a black dragon named Crevasse. I assume you’ve heard his name.”

“I knew it...!”

As Joshua walked deeper into the vault, Cain clenched his fists, once again realizing that all he had to do was believing in his master and follow his will. Besides, Cain and the others had a more urgent issue to address.

“...This is quite a surprise, but we need to come up with strategies for the imminent wa—no, the Second Continental War has already begun,” Cain said.

“C-Can we really do that?”

“Just wait. We can trust him.” Cain looked away from Joshua and grinned. “He’s the strongest master, husband, and friend on the continent, isn’t he?”

* * *

‘Shouldn’t you hurry up a little bit?’ Lilith asked.

It had been over a minute since they’d felt the immense shockwave. Lilith was getting more and more anxious even though she had no idea what had caused it.

‘The reaper might actually succeed in getting the Demon Spirit’s body. Are you sure you can handle the consequences?’

-A toothless tiger is still a tiger, as they say—and this test must be done.

‘What do you mean?’

-Whatever catastrophe happens can’t be worse than if the last dragon on the continent is evil.

‘The dragons were nearly eradicated by a human, so I don’t think they’re so almighty anymore,’ Lilith bitterly remarked.

Joshua shook his head. There was a high chance that the newborn dragon was entirely different from Crevasse or any other dragon, so, although Joshua was sorry for Crevasse, he had to perform this test. Crevasse was the newborn dragon’s guardian. If something happened to Crevasse, there was no knowing what the newly sprouted seed of evil would do. The problem had been eating at Joshua, but fortunately, the demons were taking care of it for him.

-I see them now.

Lilith focused. Of course, that wasn’t necessary since she was sharing her body with Joshua, but...

‘...Wait a minute,’ Lilith spat, taken aback.

The first thing that caught her attention was a man lying motionless on the floor, particularly because she knew who the man was.

‘Crevasse!’

The black dragon was laid out across the ground, his body covered in wounds.

‘Look at him! What did I tell you?!’ Lilith shrieked in anger.

But Joshua was unperturbed.

‘Why are you so calm...?’

-...Look over there.

‘What?’

Lilith peered into the dark. What she saw took a minute to sink in—although her emotions did anything but. The storm of confusion made her almost physically recoil.

‘Uh, uh, uh...?’ Lilith dumbly stammered, disbelief tangling her tongue. ‘Wh-What in the world...?’

She had never seen the black-haired kid, although he was quite handsome and resembled Joshua when he had been a boy. More importantly, the boy was holding Perchilin and Tshchary. They were the demons who had threatened the very existence of Avalon, but they were dangling helplessly in the boy’s grip now!