Return of The Martial King

Chapter 247

Whiiiing...

A gust of dusty wind howled through Koln Canyon.  

No, that description would be inaccurate now, it was no longer a “canyon.”  

From within the dense clouds of dust, a bitter chuckle escaped from Sir Klat.  

“Ha, hahahaha...”  

Klat blinked, his eyes wide in disbelief at the sight before him.  

Yet, no matter how many times he rubbed his eyes, the reality before him refused to change.  

The entrance of Koln, a grand canyon comprised of cliffs that towered hundreds of meters high, was no more.  

Part of it had completely collapsed, transforming into an enormous mountain of rubble. The once-imposing entrance was now buried beneath countless boulders, weighing tens of thousands of tons, stacked atop one another in an impenetrable blockade.  

There was no sign of the Zeppelin Knights, either. Every one of them had been swept away, buried under what could hardly even be called a landslide, a tidal wave of destruction on a scale that defied imagination.  

But not a single person present spared a thought for the dead Zeppelin Knights. The catastrophe before their eyes was so surreal, so incomprehensible, that it demanded their full attention.  

“This... this is absurd...”  

If even Sir Klat was dumbstruck, how much worse would it be for the others?  

The entire pursuit party stood frozen in place, mouths agape, as though caught in a collective nightmare.  

“But still... How could the Fist King possibly bring down cliffs that stood hundreds of meters tall?”  

The sheer possibility of such a feat was staggering enough. But even more astonishing and terrifying was that he hadn’t just imagined it, he had actually done it. Would any sane person have dared to commit such an unthinkable act?  

“I’ve heard plenty of talk about Gym Unbreakable being brutish and reckless, but this... this is something else...”  

As Klat stood there, overwhelmed, a sudden thought struck him. His gaze darted around.  

“Wait, where is Repenhardt?”  

Scanning his surroundings, he finally spotted them, nine figures standing atop the mountain of rubble, halfway up the remnants of the shattered cliffs.  

The ones who had orchestrated this merciless destruction of nature were now staring down at the pursuit party with cold, composed eyes. Unlike the utterly annihilated Zeppelin Knights, they looked completely unscathed, as if untouched by the chaos they had caused.  

“They managed to escape that?” Klat muttered, incredulous. “Even if they had prepared for it, it couldn’t have been easy...”  

Looking up at the distant figures standing so high above, Klat’s frustration boiled over into bitter rage.  

“Of course... With that kind of power, they can act as if the world belongs to them...”  

*         *         *

Klat thought that the Aura Users of Antares were glaring at him with cold, contemptuous eyes, but in truth, that wasn’t quite the case.  

“Oh man, it actually worked...”  

Looking down at the mountain of rubble, Kalken let out a voice filled with shock. Tassid shrugged as he replied.  

“Did you think the Benefactor would tell us to do something that wouldn’t work? He told us because it would work.”  

But even Tassid’s face was pale. Though he had followed the instructions, the sheer scale of destruction before his eyes made it hard to believe, even for himself.  

Iniya clicked her tongue and muttered under her breath.  

“Sure, we targeted the canyon’s weak points that the dwarves had identified beforehand, but still... this is just...”  

The process had involved driving eight aura users’ energy into critical collapse points within the cliffs. Using the Calamity Horn as a wedge, they triggered linked explosions, converting the energy into a massive destructive force.  

This tremendous chain reaction, which had reshaped an entire region’s geography, was something Repenhardt had devised after witnessing the Aura Skill of Stalla, the matriarch and champion of the Blue Bear Tribe. Russ wasn’t the only one who had been deeply impressed by her technique during the Crovence civil war, it had also left a lasting impact on Repenhardt.  

What was once a technique Stalla had used alone had now been executed by nine aura users, making the destructive force incomparably greater. While the loss of Kadamyte had been a setback, the original plan called for a quadruple-stacked Calamity Horn. Despite being incomplete, the sixfold-stacked Calamity Horn they used more than made up for the difference.  

Rumble...  

The ground beneath them still shook as aftershocks lingered, with the occasional boulder tumbling down amidst the ruins. Looking at the destruction, Attila let out a weary sigh.  

“Haah... Though this was to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, to leave such scars upon the great bounty of nature, this is a grave sin indeed.”  

The others remained speechless, staring at the ground below their feet. They were aura users, yes, but they were still flesh-and-blood humans. For nine people to fundamentally alter the terrain like this it was enough to leave even them in disbelief.  

In contrast, Repenhardt, who had blown apart mountains, fields, and ancient glaciers in his previous life, maintained a calm expression.  

“Good. With this, we’ve stopped the pursuit party in their tracks. It’ll take them at least fifteen days to circle around the outskirts of the canyon. Even if our movements are slower, that’s more than enough time to reach the Kingdom of Crovence. We’ve bought ourselves precious time.”  

Originally, Karl’s plan was to use Koln Canyon to transport the fugitive slaves while deploying the Duchy of Antares’ elite forces at the entrance for a prolonged standoff.  

A slave army untrained in proper military drills could never outrun the Zeppelin Army’s pursuit, no matter how fast they moved. Someone had to stay behind to buy time.  

“But our side excels at ambushes, not fortifications. Those who remain will all have to lay down their lives. We’ve devised a strategy to minimize casualties, but the anticipated losses are still substantial.”  

The plan Karl devised was, in truth, a practical and logical strategy. However, when he mentioned the heavy casualties, Repenhardt immediately changed the approach.  

“Ah, then rather than holding a defensive position here, why don’t we just crush the cliffs on both sides of the canyon and block the path altogether? If we simply remove the road itself, there’d be no need to leave behind any forces, and we could gain time without sustaining any casualties, wouldn’t we?”  

Naturally, Karl had been dumbfounded at first.  

“Uh, Your Grace. This is a canyon, a canyon. It’s not something like a man-made bridge or a castle wall, you know?”  

But after calculating the destructive potential of the Aura Users and Attila, and hearing the dwarves’ advice, it turned out that it wasn’t entirely impossible.  

Of course, if they merely tried to hammer away at the cliffs, it wouldn’t matter if they had a hundred aura users, they still wouldn’t be able to bring down intact canyon walls.  

However, the Duchy of Antares had the Dwarves, the sons of the earth. When it came to manipulating the land, there was no race on the continent more skilled than they were. With their help, what once seemed like madness began to appear unexpectedly feasible.  

Thus, the operation to collapse Koln Canyon was born.  

“You’re incredible, Your Grace. I’ve always considered myself relatively sharp, but something like this never even crossed my mind. Perhaps my brain’s started to stagnate. Haha.”  

Recalling Karl’s bitter expression, Repenhardt couldn’t help but chuckle.  

‘It’s not because Karl’s brain has grown stagnant, though.’  

When confronted with a mountain obstructing the way, most people would naturally look for a route to go around it. Choosing the shortest detour to save effort would be the typical approach of a strategist. If one were a mage or aura user, they might think of using their powers to cross the mountain more quickly.  

But Repenhardt was a 10th-circle Grand Mage, someone who had already obliterated a mountain or two in the past with Nuclear Burst.  

Because of that, he could entertain such a bizarre thought: “A mountain’s in the way? Then just get rid of it.”  

Thanks to their efforts, the Zeppelin pursuit party was effectively immobilized. Unless Sir Klat, the sole aura user among them, intended to act alone, there was no way the army could climb over the unstable rubble of the collapsed mountain and enter the canyon. To continue their chase, they would have to make a significant detour around the canyon.  

‘Well, not that I think they’ll bother continuing after seeing all this.’  

Seeing the group collectively stunned and at a loss, Repenhardt smiled faintly. With their morale crushed this thoroughly, there was little reason to worry about being pursued for some time.  

Repenhardt turned his gaze toward the uncollapsed portion of the canyon. The runaway slaves had made considerable progress during the commotion, as their figures were no longer visible in the distance.  

“Alright, let’s head back!”  

With a gesture, Repenhardt directed his companions and leapt into the shadowed depths of the canyon, beyond the mountain of rubble. One by one, the other aura users followed, leaping down. The nine shadows gradually disappeared into the thick dust clouds.  

*         *         *

The rumor that Repenhardt, the ruler of Antares and the Fist King, had attacked Zeppelin to free the slaves spread across the continent in an instant.  

For years, it had been widely known that the Fist King treated other races as equals, much like free humans. Tales of Antares Duchy being behind runaway slave incidents across the continent had long circulated among the people, accepted as truth despite the lack of concrete evidence.  

And now, he had openly revealed himself and taken bold action!  

The entire continent’s attention was drawn to this incident.  

Some marveled at the strength of the Fist King and Antares.  

The renowned Fist King had founded the upstart nation of Antares and achieved victory against the historically prosperous and wealthy nation of Chatan. For commoners dreaming of heroism, it was an incredibly exciting tale.  

Some harshly criticized it as reckless, lawless, and greedy behavior.  

To invade a foreign nation’s capital without even a formal declaration of war and forcibly plunder their wealth, such actions were no better than those of petty bandits. It was behavior utterly unbefitting a king or a renowned warrior.  

Some regarded his ideology as dangerous and destabilizing.  

This wasn’t just about liberating slaves; it was about granting them freedom, making them citizens, and building a nation. Such actions by Antares threatened the established order of the continent. It was something that could not be ignored.  

And yet, some cautiously praised his actions.  

Unlike before, the Crovence Civil War and the rise of the Duchy of Antares had begun to significantly alter the norms of the continent. Among those who had gradually started questioning the institution of slavery but had lacked the courage to voice their doubts, a new title began to circulate “The Liberator Repenhardt.”

Each group of people held different perspectives and opinions.  

But there was one thing they all agreed on:  

The world was starting to change.  

*         *         *  

One month after the Zeppelin Liberation Operation, in the chancellor’s office at the Royal Fortress of Antares:  

Karl was deeply immersed in managing the administrative aftermath of the escaped slaves, who hailed from various non-human races.  

Dipping his pen into ink repeatedly, he filled out documents at a rapid pace. Despite the speed at which he scribbled, his penmanship was elegant and aristocratic. It was an odd sight, considering the owner of such refined handwriting was an imposing man whose sheer bulk made the desk look small by comparison.  

Yet, the mountain of paperwork before him was vast enough to overshadow even his formidable frame. The documents consisted of reports submitted by dwarves, trolls, elves, and orcs. With nearly ten thousand new arrivals to manage, the workload was no trivial matter.  

Scanning through the papers, Karl muttered to himself,  

“As expected, the dwarves are settling in the fastest.”  

The dwarves, under the guidance of the High Priest Makelin of Al Fort, had successfully established themselves within the duchy.  

Having preserved their ancestral teachings, the dwarves, even as slaves, had retained cultural common ground with the free dwarves of the Grand Forge. They continued to worship their deity, Al Fort, and had maintained their faith even through their years of enslavement. As such, they fully respected the authority of High Priest Makelin.  

“The trolls seem to be settling in without issue as well.”  

Most of the troll tribes that remained on the continent had already come under the protection of the Duchy of Antares. As a result, the majority of the rescued trolls were able to return to their original tribes.  

Even those without a tribe to return to faced no major difficulties.  

This was because all the trolls rescued by Attila were former shamans.  

Living in deep forests, far from human eyes, was the way of life for trolls in the current era. Ordinary trolls rarely ventured far from their villages. Only the Guru practitioners would leave the protective barriers of their settlements, following the teachings of nature and honing their craft. It was during these excursions that they would encounter humans and often be captured. This was why trolls were widely known among humans as powerful monsters.  

Among trolls, shamans were welcomed wherever they went. None of the existing Gurus opposed the inclusion of new Gurus into their tribes.  

This was partly because troll shamanic teachings valued “assimilation,” but the reasons were also more practical.  

For a troll to safely give birth, the shamanic ritual known as the “Heart Extraction Ceremony” was essential. However, even for the Gurus with their extraordinary regenerative powers, this ritual was no trivial task. Only a Grand Shaman like Attila could perform it without great difficulty. For ordinary Gurus, it was common to be bedridden for a week after conducting the ritual. In some cases, Gurus with lesser abilities failed to regenerate their hearts and died as a result.  

Having more individuals capable of performing the ritual meant fewer occasions where one’s turn would come. As such, new Gurus were greeted with open arms rather than subjected to territorial behavior or jealousy.  

Of course, like anyone else, some troll Gurus might harbor concerns about their status being threatened. However, outright refusal to accept new Gurus into the tribe was unheard of. For this reason, troll Gurus without a tribe to return to were able to integrate into the Duchy of Antares without issue.  

Karl turned his attention back to the next document.  

“The elves and orcs are settling in better than I expected.”