I am the Monarch

Chapter 264: Hometown (7)

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“Uuuuuuh.”

Hesul sharply shook his entire body.
He was overflowing with vigor when he was reforming the hex legion alone in the Grain Mountains’ cheerless cave.
He thought that him being beaten by Roan was merely due to him having bad luck.
He had the confidence to absolutely win if faced again.
But as he looked at Roan boldly standing before his eyes right now, his breath stopped cold.
The insuperable might and strategies that annihilated Simon and the hex legion floated up.
No, from the start, the air and pressure shooting out from Roan right this moment crushed his entire body like boulders.

‘T, this bastard has already achieved the presence of a king.’

It was the air of a king that he hadn’t felt even from Simon.

‘A, a real monarch has appeared.’

Hesul forcibly put strength to his frantically trembling knees.
It felt as if he would powerlessly collapse if he did not.
At that very moment.

“Did you actually come alone?”

Bekeil who had greatly panicked looked around them.
The defeated look slowly disappeared and a bloody smile fully spread out on his face.

“Kukuku. You must have gone mad from climbing up to that high place. To dare appear alone in front of such a monster army.”

He quickly turned his head and looked at Hesul.

“Please hurry and order the monsters, sir! Now really is the time to rip apart and kill Roan!”

A knavish and sly voice.

“Hhm?”

Only then Hesul, who was becoming endlessly small, began to grasp the surrounding situation.

Kkweoaoaoaoang! Chhruk! Chhruk! Chhrururuk!

The howls of ogres and goblins pierced into his ears.
Tens of savage monsters surrounded the Delphin Gorge.
Compared to that, their opponents were only two.
Of course, he couldn’t relax even so.

‘I, if I incant the hex and call all the rest of monsters together too……’

If he continuously attacked and attacked Roan again without a rest, even he would eventually tire and collapse.

‘There’s no need to be scared!’

Hesul steadied his weakening heart himself and gathered his hands.
As he whispered the unintelligible words, soon a dark light flashed along the shape of his hands.
Simultaneously, the monsters surrounding the Delphin Gorge threw up an even more savage howl.

Kkweoaoaoaoaoang!

Hearts powerlessly dropped and goosebumps rose on the entire body.[A Korean saying to show excitement and fear at the sametime.]

‘A, amazing.’

Bekeil instinctively swallowed dryly.
It truly felt like they could crush and shred Roan.
Furthermore.

Kkukung! Kkukukukung! Kkukung!

A ground-shaking sound was heard from afar.
A moment later, the trees and grass fell to the sides and an incredible number of monsters showed up.
Hesul had dragged together everything including the nearby hex legions as his final move.

Kkweoaoaoaoaoang!

The number of ogres reached almost one hundred.
The number of goblins, werewolves, redrabbits, breggar and so on exceeded hundreds.
In fact a size larger than a single troop.
Furthermore, even those that move through the ground like the venomous vipers and flying monsters like the twinhawks showed up.
However notable Roan and Murray’s strengths were, the Delphin Gorge’s topography was so rough and rugged that it wasn’t easy to confront the monsters.
No, it didn’t seem easy.

“Kukukuku. You scare? Hm? Scare?”

Bekeil looked at Roan unable to freely move and let out a crazed laugh.
A base expression and voice.
Murray turned livid and tried to immediately pounce, but laboriously cooled his anger at Roan’s restraint.
Roan quietly stood and looked at Hesul and Bekeil.

“I will give you a last chance.”
“What? What chance?”

Bekeil snorted and shook his head.
Roan added on with a composed voice.

“Kneel down and beg for forgiveness now at least and I will spare at least your life.”
“What?”

Bekeil shook his head with a dumbfounded expression.

‘This guy, is he really insane?’

A sneer fully floated up on his face.
In contrast.

“Hhm.”

Hesul instinctively shrunk back.

‘Is there perhaps a reinforcement?’

But even when he meticulously combed the Delphin Gorge’s vicinity through a hex, there wasn’t a one more presence that could be felt.

‘Bluff? Or has he truly gone insane?’

Hesul clenched his teeth.
Whatever it was, it was more advantageous to quickly finish the job if him showing up alone for the rescue was true.

‘It will become problematic if I were to perhaps drag on the time and meet the Crimson Legion.’

Hesul quickly pressed his hands together.
Unintelligible words twisted through his lips and flowed out.

Kkweoaoaoaoaoang!

The monsters exploded out howls and poured out incredible pressure.
Roan felt the thick killing intents whirling like a storm and shook his head with an emotionless expression.

“In the end, you truly throw away even your last chance.”

His eyes deeply sank down.
He had finally made his decision.
He lightly raised up his right hand.
A motion seemingly without any meaning.
Roan held up clearly just his forefinger.
Unlike the usual, an old ring was worn on his right forefinger.
It was a truly shabby ring.
But.

“Huhph!”

Hesul looked at that ring and gasped empty air.
No, it wasn’t just the degree of swallowing empty air.
He stiffly froze with his eyes wide like a stone statue.

“W, what’s wrong, sir?”

Bekeil saw that look and asked with a nervous expression.
Hesul merely blinked his eyes soundlessly instead of an answer.
Roan faintly made a smile.

“Do you recognize this ring?”

A quiet voice.
Hesul unconsciously nodded his head.
There was no way he couldn’t recognize it.
The old and shabby ring worn on Roan’s forefinger was originally his.

‘The ring I gave to Michel……’

The ring he passed before Hex Vice Master Michel marched leading Simon and the Hex Legion.
It was the very mark of the hex master, a treasure among treasures, the Ring of Divine Arts that numerous valuable hexes were etched in.
The color of Hesul’s face turned pale.

‘The Ring of Divine Arts has the power to command and control the hex legion.’

Gulp.

He dryly swallowed.
If not careful, the entire monster legion could fall over into Roan’s hands.

‘N, no. That’s impossible!’

Hesul spat out a long breath and shook his head.
He forcibly calmed his shocked heart.

‘C, calm.’

There was no need to be particularly shocked like this.

‘The Ring of Divine Arts is a divine artifact one can’t use unless one is a hexer with a high amount of divine power.’

Even if one learned mana, developed divine power, or learned spirit arts, it wasn’t a tool that one could simply use.

‘Only those who mastered a high level of hexes can u……’

The moment his thought reached about that point.

“Acquiring this was right after cutting off Simon and Michel’s heads, but……”

Roan’s voice rode the wind and pierced into their ears.
He lightly shook and showed his forefinger.

“I strangely couldn’t use it at all.”

At those words, Hesul’s expression turned bright.

‘I knew it!’

It was as expected.
Color blossomed again on his bleached face.
At the same time, a long sigh flowed out.

‘If the bastard can’t use the Ring of Divine Arts, then there is no no need to be afraid any longer.’

A bloody smile hung on his mouth.
Tragically, Hesul completely did not know.
Of the fact that Roan had already absorbed the memories and hex abilities of hexers a long ago.

“The Ring of Divine Arts isn’t an artifact a bastard like you can use.”

Hesul thunderously shouted with a cold voice.
At those words, Roan faintly smiled and shook his head.

“I also thought that too. But after I kept practicing……”

The smile hanging on his mouth turned even thicker.
Suddenly.

Paat!

A dark and dreary light poured out from the Ring of Divine Arts.

“Y, you actually……?!”

Hesul widely goggled his eyes.
An expression that absolutely couldn’t believe, no, didn’t wish to believe.
Roan, as if he had been waiting, fully opened his right hand.
The light flowing out from the Ring rode his five fingers and extended out in every direction.

“Now I can use the Ring of Divine Arts.”

A calm voice split the monsters’ howls.
Simultaneously, the monsters sharply shook their bodies and soon stiffly froze like stone statues.

Ggiick! Ggiick! Ggiiiick!

Completely paralyzed appearances as if caught in a snare.
From the Ring of Divine Arts the light continued to pour out.

 

‘Amazing.’

Roan was inwardly greatly surprised.
This time was the first that he used the Ring of Divine Arts.
Until now, he couldn’t carelessly use it because the level of divine power accumulated in his body was low.
Only now, thanks to tirelessly training hexes while repeating the wars and battles, he could activate the Ring of Divine Arts.
However, his level still wasn’t high.

‘My divine power is draining rapidly.’

Roan collected his breath and laboriously calmed his boiling divine power.
His gaze headed towards Hesul and Bekeil.

“I have clearly given you the last chance. The ones that threw that away are you.”

A cold voice echoed the Delphin Gorge.

“W, what? Wh, what does……”

Bekeil couldn’t properly grasp the situation.
He looked back and forth between Roan and Hesul.

“W, what are you doing, sir? Why do you stay still? Hurry and give orders to the monsters and kill the bastard Roan!”

His urgent voice noisily rang out.
Hesul tightly bit his lower lip.
Already, he was pauselessly incanting and incanting again the spells.
However, the monsters did not even twitch.

‘He actually knows how to properly use the Ring of Divine Arts.’

The color of his face dyed black.

‘Roan Lancephil……’

Hesul spat out a long breath.
He already gave everything up.

‘The hex legion that I painstakingly prepared too has gone over to him.’

There was nothing left in Hesul’s hands.
Even if he were to exhaust all his divine power and fight, he couldn’t face a troop level of monsters alone.

‘And the backwoods hunter brat wouldn’t even be a help either……’

His deeply sunken eyes turned towards Bekeil.
Bekeil looked at the somehow limply depressed Hesul and creased his brows.

“J, just why are you……”

The moment his words reached about that point.

“It’s all over. It’s all over. Even the monsters have already gone over to Roan.”
“J, just what’s……”

Bekeil waved his arms with a disbelieving expression.
Hesul finished his words with a despondent expression and voice.

“Everything is over. Everything is……”

He, like that, closed his eyes.

“Th, that’s impossible……”

Bekeil shook his head with a half-soulless expression.
He looked back and forth between Roan and Hesul, then soon collapsed down.

‘I went out of my way to beg and stick to that weird man, and……’

In reality the one that grasped his life became Roan.

‘Kuuk. I’ve poured down all sorts of curses and awful swears……’

His eyes lost their direction and rapidly shook.

‘I, I can’t die like this!’

Bekeil clenched his teeth.
A foul light flowed in his eyes.

“Y, you son of a bitch!”

A sharp curse echoed the Delphin Gorge.
Surprisingly, his cold gaze was headed towards Hesul.
Hesul, who was closing his eyes, let out an astonished laugh at Bekeil’s abrupt action.

“Do you really want to live even like that?”

At the lightly asking words, Bekeil turned his head instead of answering and looked at Roan.

“Y, your majesty! P, please spare me. I, I’ve done a foolish act because I was stupid and lacking!”

A desperate and dire voice noisily rang out.

“P, please give me just one more chance! I’ll find you the Bow of Piscis if you save me!”
“Bow of Piscis……”

Roan faintly smiled and shook his head.

“There isn’t something like the Bow of Piscis in the first place.”
“Eh? W, what does……” I definitely heard the words that Adjutant Murray was……”

Bekeil’s face that spoke out to that point stiffly froze.

“T, then perhaps you intentionally from then……”

At those words, Murray who was staying quiet formed a bright smile.

“Y, you son of a……. kuuk.”

Bekeil forcibly swallowed the curse that rose up to his throat.
He once again lowered his head towards Roan.

“P, please spare me. Y, your majesty, no, Roan! My friend! W, we’re friends that grew up in the same village. P, please save me!”

Bekeil appealed to their old friendship.
However, Roan’s expression showed no change.

“Noisy.”

A quiet voice rode the wind and flowed.
A displeased look floated up.

‘There isn’t a room to look on further either.’

The divine power within his body was slowly showing its bottom.

Paat!

The light spewing out from the Ring of Divine Arts became slightly brighter.
Instantly, the monsters that were frozen all turned their directions and glared at Hesul and Bekeil.
Roan began to slowly gasp the right hand he had fully opened.

“Kill yourselves and perish.”

Finally, a cold command fell down.

Kkweoaoaoaoang!

The ogres and the monsters exploded out howls and stomped the ground.
Few among them broke the necks of their nearby allies or bit apart their bodies.

Kkweoaoaoang! Chhrururuk! Ggiieeeck!

Horrid screams echoed on the mountainside.

“Uah!”

Bekeil screamed at the thick blood splattering everywhere.

“S, save me! Save me!”

He began to squirmingly crawl towards Roan.
No, he tried to crawl.
But before he knew it, ogres and goblins blocked his front.

“R, Roan! No, your majesty! Please save me!”

Bekeil looked at the monsters closing in towards him and screamed.
Roan quietly stared at that sight and spoke in a low voice.

“I have never taken in a retainer like you.”

They were words directly returning back Bekeil’s words that he never served Roan in the first place.

“Roan! Please!”

Bekeil’s sharp voice pierced the sky.
Roan once more spoke in a quiet voice.

“Nor have I ever taken in a friend like you.”

He had already given enough chances.

“Y, you, you……”

Bekeil clenched his teeth.
An ogre’s shadow fell above his head.

“Roan!!!!!”

 

A shout filled with anger hit the ears.
At the same time with that, the ogre swung its giant arm.

Puuuck!

With a horrid sound, Bekeil’s head exploded out.
A vein death.
Bekeil who repeated betrayal after betrayal solely for his own gain lost his life at an ogre’s single swing.

‘Bekeil.’

Roan looked straight at the headless corpse.
There wasn’t any regret.
No, it was a moment he had wished so much for since his last life.

‘Even so, if you had kept your promise with me……’

He had thought to spare at least his life.
But he, even just a moment before, had tried to kill him as if it was nothing.
Roan’s patient emptied out at that moment.

‘It’s a more painful homecoming than I had thought.’

The taste in his mouth was bitter.
At that very moment.

“Roan Lancephil.”

Hesul’s voice was heard through his ears.
Roan turned his head and looked at him.
Hesul’s appearance was one surrounded by ogres.

“Were you also learning hexes?”

He asked in a low voice.
Roan shortly answered.

“Of course.”

At those words, Hesul let out an amused laugh.

“You bastard must really be……”

The tip of his voice sharply shook.

“Planning to become a god or something.”

That was the end.
Ogres’ fists flew down from every direction.
Hesul, without even particularly thinking of blocking, closed his eyes.

Pbubububuck!

His head shattered and his entire body mashed.
Hex Master Hesul, who dreamt of revenge on the world, met his end like that.
Roan looked at his powerlessly collapsing body and spoke in a quiet voice as if to whisper.

“I don’t even wish for something like a god.”

His eyes flashed and shone with light.

“The thing I wish is only to become a good monarch.”

His calm voice rode the wind and flowed.
In that time, the monsters bit apart and snapped necks of each other and fell down.
After who knew how long, the ones now left were merely five, six ogres.
Roan lightly drew his Travias Spear at his waist and swung.

Fwooosh!

A dark red flames pierced the ogres’ bodies.

Kkweoaoaoang!

Monstrous screams echoed the mountainside.

Kkdung.

Together with a dull sound, the ones that stood to the end fell down.
Finally, the last members of the hex legion were erased clean.

“Murray.”

Roan withdrew his spear and called Murray.

“Yes. Your majesty.”

Murray kneeled down on one knee and lowered his head.
Roan looked at the Delphin Gorge full of corpses and spoke in a small voice.

“Let’s go back. To our home.”

Home.
It wasn’t merely a hometown.
It was their home.
That place was not the Lare Village.
Murray, in a resounding voice, answered.

“Yes sir! I will lead the way!”

A slightly excited voice.

Tat!

Soon, Murray kicked off the ground and exited out of the perilous Delphin Gorge.
Roan, with soft and relaxed movements, followed his back.
And exactly two weeks later.
A group showed up at the west of Amaranth Kingdom’s capital, Mediasis Castle.
A giant flag waved at the group’s front.

<Amaranth Kingdom.>

Next to that, two smaller flags showed off their majesty.

<Amaranth Taemusa Troop.>

And.

<Roan Lancpehil.>

Finally, Roan had ended the long war and had returned to the Mediasis Castle as the monarch of a kingdom.

“Huu.”

Roan stood at the lead and exhaled a long sigh.
The tally rising castle wall was clearly seen.
He, so that the Amaranth Taemusa Troop’s soldiers could all hear, spoke in a loud voice.

“That very place……”

The tip of his eyes slightly trembled.

“Is our home.”

It truly was a perfect return.
No, it was a homecoming.

<Hometown (7)> End.