Book 9, Chapter 4
The End
Richard’s army continued to move like clockwork, sticking to their schedule so religiously that it almost seemed like he was afraid that his enemies wouldn’t be able to track him down.
Macy grew restless after three days of peace, riding up to his side and asking, “Is this your Blood Path? Where are the soldiers that are supposed to intercept us?”
“I told you, we won’t be fighting until we reach Faust,” Richard replied.
“Don’t they want any glory at all? How are you so sure that no one will try to stop you?”
The corners of his lips twitched and formed a smile, “I obviously can’t guarantee that there aren’t any fools, but those that do come will never return.”
He spoke in a soft tone, but Macy suddenly shivered. Her breath seemed to catch in her throat as a strange sense of fear overcame her. She suddenly realised that he had changed drastically in the last few months; he wasn’t a haggard young mage, but a terrifying dragon with the power to destroy mountains! A mere look left her with an unspeakable sense of repression!
Surprise flashed across Richard’s face, and he turned to look at her before nodding, “That’s some good perception.”
The journey continued gradually, with more and more scouts surrounding them by the day. Whatever happened in the surroundings, Richard’s enormous rune knight army moved perfectly according to schedule. He ate and slept with the knights as before, but he had grown so quiet that there were days where he never spoke.
As for Macy, she had grown more and more unwilling to approach him as the days passed. An unknown aura around him was growing stronger as time passed, and she was the only one who could feel it. Towards the end of their journey it almost felt like a huge rock weighing down on her chest, making it hard to breathe even if she was far away.
With the golden moonriver bloodline within her veins, Macy was one of the most perceptive individuals in all of Norland. One day, she suddenly figured out what that awe-inspiring aura from Richard was— it was the power of laws! His control of his laws was rising with every passive day, and at a noticeable rate.
This fact was more shocking to the young lady than if she had been told someone levelled up twice in one day. As such, she gritted her teeth and suppressed the fear in her soul, following Richard in his advance. She wanted to be there to witness history in the making, unwilling to allow such an important moment to slip by.
Richard’s three minds were currently operating at full speed every moment, constantly analysing law after law. He had managed to master the mysterious language of the primal celestials, and coupled with the divine tongue of Norland and that of primal chaos, he could now see the world from the three perspectives of order, chaos, and balance. This holistic view allowed him to analyse laws much more quickly, and the books from Sharon’s library were a huge bonus. He no longer had to simulate anything, simply try to comprehend what those tomes already detailed. He had already lifted the barriers on the seven books, and outside of the history of the primal celestials all six other tomes contained foundational laws of various planes.
The primal celestials clearly stemmed from a plane far stronger than Norland. Any single one of those six laws could form the basis of a plane of Norland’s strength. Richard focused all of his attention on them, which had also managed to boost his blessing of wisdom to grade 8 in the process. The constant calculations he was working on were currently rippling with force from his body, which was what put such immense pressure on Macy.
……
As time passed, the expedition gradually crossed the Sacred Alliance. One day, Tiramisu let out thunderous roars from both his heads and thumped his chest, raising his twin hammers up and smashing them into the ground. The earth all around them started to fissure in the face of his rage, cracks spreading all around and destabilising the march.
However, the ogre lord wasn’t excited. This was anger, anger from the fact that they had stepped foot on the Eternal Plains. He had walked a mere hundred kilometres a day for a full thirty damn days, and now they were right next to Faust without having gotten to fight! He had heard various legends of the past, of how Gaton had marched in amidst a path of blood. Now, Tiramisu felt like he had been conned out of his glory!
All the other families in Faust had been through that trial of blood, but in the eyes of the ogre they were all a bunch of liars and cowards. They were nowhere to be seen. Armies had tailed them, deployed near them, set up traps, danced all around in defensive lines… but in the end, they all ran away with their tails tucked between their legs. Not one of them was willing to actually fight, and it had gotten to the point that it was simply embarrassing and many powerful families just pulled their troops away entirely.
When Richard reached the end of his road, his troops had made history. Ever since the formation of the Sacred Alliance, they were the first and only army to not shed a single drop of blood on their way to Faust. In the end, there wasn’t a single family in the Alliance that dared to fight his thousand rune knights.
Standing on the Eternal Plains, he stared at the lofty Miracle Peak and smiled. Scenes of his youth flashed through his mind, reminding him of when he had first come here. The only difference was that the person who brought him, and the person he was brought to meet, were both long gone to the depths of the abyss. He had always intended to make a trip to the depths of Arbidis to have a look, but he suddenly felt like advancing that plan to just after he found Sharon.
The expedition thus came to an end, or at least the portion where mortals could interfere. Richard’s thousand rune knights had completed their mission, and what followed would be a battle between him and Apeiron.
Richard’s perception broke apart the surrounding laws, allowing him to observe as a figure zipped towards Faust from in the void. Apeiron was returning exactly on time. He slowly opened his eyes and raised his head, propping his chest out.
Everyone nearby immediately felt like lightning had crashed down on their eyes, the entire world getting bright and unfamiliar. Sky saints and above quickly realised why this was; someone had taken control of the surrounding laws, ripping them away from the world and warping them!
Richard stretched a hand out, and his three swords flew out to float in front of him. With them around, he turned to Gangdor, “I’ll go ahead, you set up camp here and await orders.”
He then lifted into the sky, outlining a portal in mid-air and vanishing within.
Silence fell upon the area for a considerable period of time before someone finally asked, “Isn’t it supposed to be impossible to use portals here?”
“It was…” another muttered in reply. Portal spells could not be utilised in the surroundings of Faust, only allowed in designated spots in the city where existing spell circles could form connections. Although such customs weren’t unbreakable, only a handful could actually tear through the blockade.
……
A portal suddenly appeared on island 5-3, right within the imperial palace. Richard stepped out into the discussion room that Emperor Philip once frequented, now left unused ever since Apeiron had taken the throne. His figure flickered through the hall, quickly arriving at Apeiron’s private chambers.
These chambers were once bustling with activity, but dissatisfied by the pets in her harem the Empress had killed everyone. A huge stench of blood thus filled the air, leaving it unsuitable for the harem.
In one end of the huge room was a stage with an enormous bed, the place Apeiron slept. Richard slowly walked up the stairs and over to that bed, making himself comfortable with his weapons on him as he waited in silence.
Julian barged into the chambers just as he settled down, staring at him and crying out in shock, “You, how did you come in?!”
“Not important,” Richard responded nonchalantly.
“Not important indeed,” a hoarse and icy voice rang through the large hall. The air suddenly rippled as a bolt of purple lightning tore apart the void, Apeiron walking out from within. Her purple hair was flying about and her armour was badly damaged— even legendary equipment couldn’t resist the tempests in the void. However, there wasn’t a single wound on her body.
“Your Majesty, he—” Julian couldn’t even get a word in before all he saw was black. Apeiron had grabbed him and thrown him into the rift that had yet to close!