WMT | Chapter 2

As soon as Wiss grasped the situation, he dragged the knight who had run out back inside.

For now, this guy was the only source of information he had.

“Ow! Why are you doing this? Do you think you can drag me around with your strength, Your Highness?”

“Why does a knight like you talk so much?”

“Your Highness, you’re acting really strange today.”

It seemed Prince Wissmia wasn’t a very dignified master, as the knight didn’t listen even after being told once.

“At least pretend to listen when given an order. Don’t you know how to serve your master?”

“What?”

“…”

The knight’s dumbfounded response made Wiss lose the will to scold him.

The state of the royal guard alone was enough to show how messed up the country was.

After a bit of struggle, Wiss managed to make the knight kneel.

“Tell me what you know. Who started the war?”

The knight seemed convinced that Wiss’s mind had gone awry, but he bowed his head and spoke.

“Wasn’t it the barbaric Kingdom of Palatine?”

“Palatine?”

Wiss knew that name. Wasn’t it a name he heard shortly before he died?

It was a region that had rebelled, taking advantage of Wiss’s expedition. Wiss was not a merciful king, so he didn’t overlook the rebellion. He was the type to crush even the embers.

To suppress the rebellion in that small region, he sent his most cherished adjutant.

And shortly after, he heard the news that the adjutant had joined the rebels.

It was a painful betrayal.

‘Come to think of it, it seems my illness worsened because of that guy.’

While fighting the disease, hearing about the adjutant’s betrayal drained his energy.

“Are you talking about that backward territory at the northern end?”

“When are you talking about? Palatine has expanded its influence to the center for quite some time. They’ve been showing ambition for several generations, and after the new king ascended, they started a conquest war with a flimsy justification, didn’t they?”

“What justification?”

“They claim to be fulfilling King Wiss’s will to restore the territories of the Kingdom of Summer!”

‘King Wiss?’

What on earth were they doing with someone else’s name?

But there was a more important question than who had decided to call him by such a creepy title as ‘King.’

“On what grounds do they claim to restore the territories of the Kingdom of Summer? When the descendants of King Wiss are alive and the Kingdom of Summer is still standing?”

“They claim that Palatine is the true heir to King Wiss’s legacy! Wasn’t their ancestor King Wiss’s most loyal knight?”

Wiss was at a loss for words.

It seemed his adjutant not only betrayed him but also founded a nation after his death.

“They’ve been claiming for three hundred years that the Kingdom of Summer has lost its cause, so it’s just an extension of that nonsense.”

“So did this country just say, ‘Ah, that’s right,’ and surrender? What about the allies?”

“Oh, the coalition was defeated first. They were helpless. Duke Akazel is not human. The rumors that he sold his soul to the god of war seem to be true.”

The knight clicked his tongue.

The conquest war of Palatine was like a storm, and the countries swept up in it had no choice but to raise the white flag.

The person leading that war was Duke Akazel.

According to the knight, when Palatine declared war, many countries laughed at them.

There were more than a few countries that had taken over the former territories of the Kingdom of Summer. Palatine had essentially provoked everyone.

Would they just sit back and take it if Palatine invaded?

But Duke Akazel was such an outstanding knight that there was no way to counter him. The kingdoms gathered a coalition army to respond, but they were also helpless.

Several kingdoms surrendered one after another, and finally, even the Kingdom of Summer was occupied not long ago… according to the knight’s explanation.

The reason the Summer royal castle was intact was that they surrendered without a proper defense.

By the time Palatine’s strong army advanced to the Kingdom of Summer, Palatine’s army was already regarded as the god of war.

Because of that, everyone in the Kingdom of Summer was trembling with fear.

And Prince Wissmia didn’t just stop at trembling; he attempted to elope with his lover…

‘They’re really something.’

Wiss wondered just how pathetic his descendants intended to become.

“In the midst of all this, His Majesty said, ‘I will seek help from King Wiss,’ and called the clerics to pray. Many knights were disappointed and left at that time. I stayed by Your Highness’s side until the end, so you could say my loyalty is unwavering.”

The knight said, twitching his nose as if holding back a snicker.

Wiss could fully understand why the knight treated the king like a fool, but he couldn’t help but curse.

“Yeah. So I’m the one who got summoned.”

“What?”

“What’s the size of the enemy forces?”

“What? The enemy forces?”

Wiss decided to find out for himself instead of expecting anything from the knight. It didn’t seem like he would get a proper answer by trying to make this guy understand the question.

Wiss checked the magic within his body. As expected, it was a body without a trace of magic.

Could a prince who abandoned his country and fled during a war be a wizard?

A typical wizard would try to bash their head against the wall the moment they realized they had no magic within them.

Magic and the brain are everything to a wizard. Losing one renders the other useless, so destroying the brain as soon as magic disappears is a rational choice.

But Wiss was not a typical wizard.

Instead of self-harming, he moved the magic outside his body. He sensed faint magic dispersed in the air.

Wiss’s forehead was drenched in sweat as a breeze stirred in the air.

The knight stared at Wiss with wide eyes. He could feel it too. Something miraculous was happening.

Magic began to gather in one place.

The amount was inefficient compared to the effort put in, but it was something no other wizard could even attempt.

Wizards use the magic within their bodies not because it’s efficient.

Fundamentally, people can only use the magic contained within their own bodies. That’s why wizards try to die as soon as they lose their magic.

But Wiss was not someone who learned magic systematically. He was a slave, and as soon as he realized his magic, he used it to kill his master.

Afterward, he had no time to leisurely learn magic because he was living a life on the run.

Dozens of slaves escaped their master’s mansion following Wiss. They relied solely on Wiss.

Wiss’s magic developed through real combat. To evade pursuit and to defeat enemies.

There was no way a slave who worked tirelessly all day could accumulate magic within their body. The source of Wiss’s magic was using the surrounding magic indiscriminately.

The wizard who helped Wiss establish the kingdom said he had never seen anyone more skilled in utilizing magic.

Since it was magic learned through real combat, he didn’t know how to teach it to others. But there would be no problem using it on someone else’s body.

Wiss’s eyes were filled with a bright light.

The magic gathered in the air spread outside the room. For a moment, the curtains fluttered as if swept by a strong wind.

The magic spread like a net, identifying the number and location of the enemies.

The soldiers occupying the castle numbered 20,000.

‘Only that many?’

There was no magical defense in place.

Wiss was dumbfounded. What were they relying on to leave the soldiers so arrogantly unattended?

If a skilled wizard set a trap, it would be possible to annihilate them.

Perhaps even right now.

The next moment, Wiss flinched. Among the enemies, there was one with an exceptionally strong presence.

It was a knight with pure magic within their body. The location of that person was…

‘Here?’

The knight was approaching Wiss’s room.

He was an excellent knight. Wiss had rarely seen a knight of such caliber. If it were his cherished adjutant, he might be a match, but that guy had betrayed him…

Wiss was a wizard weak in direct combat.

‘I can’t eliminate him through legitimate means.’

That person was Duke Akazel.

Wiss was certain. And he covered his mouth.

He had been feeling nauseous for a while, and now something hot surged up his throat.

“Cough.”

‘…?’

Blood dripped onto the floor.

“…Your Highness! Your Highness? What did you just do? Did you use magic?”

Red blood dripped from between his fingers. Wiss spat out the clots of blood that surged from within.

‘What is this now?’

His whole body tingled. His blood was circulating rapidly as if it were boiling.

It felt as if all his internal organs were rejecting the magic.

While Wiss was bewildered by a situation he had never experienced before, the door opened.

“My dear, Wiss. My cute sleepyhead! Look who’s come to visit you! My healthy and lovely son…”

A plump man entered and then stopped, his eyes widening.

“Your Majesty!”

The royal guard knight stood up abruptly.

‘Is this King Jeremiah?’

“Wiss! What is going on here!”

Wiss was more concerned about the person behind the king than the king himself, who was rushing over.

A tall man was looking down at Wiss. He was a large, expressionless man, and his uniform fit him perfectly as if it were tailored for him.

He was a handsome man with a commanding presence. Moreover, he was a knight.

The exceptional presence approaching this place came to Wiss’s mind.

‘Duke Akazel.’

The knight, who looked like he had stepped out of a novel, frowned as he looked at Wiss.