Grand Duke of the Heibern House

＜Episode 13＞

Inside the balloon gliding slowly through the sky.

Looking at Ruin, who was leaning on the balloon’s basket and closing her eyes as if she were dead, Kazen was still dumbfounded.

＜I just took care of my immature younger brother because he showed an ugly side.＞

Despite his young age, Dane is an official knight who was appointed by His Majesty the King.

A Dane who boasts a talent for swordsmanship that is unmatched by his peers.

Ruin subdues such a Dane?

＜Full of gaps. It sounded like a lot of nonsense. It’s a natural result for a guy with poor sword skills to pursue only the essence of his family.＞

Dane’s foundation was weak?

It was none other than himself who first put the sword into that fern-like hand.

If he didn’t like Dane’s foundation, he wouldn’t have passed on the essence of his family.

Therefore, to point out his foundation was the same as to condemn oneself.

Just in case, I checked Ruin for the remnants of speculation, but I couldn’t find even a trace of mana, let alone speculation.

As a result, I felt somewhat hurt.

‘Goyan bastard. If I ask, they’ll say it’s a secret again.’

If only he could go back to the past, he wanted to break his promise that he had talked about as a knight.

As much as that, the aspects that Ruin has shown so far have aroused curiosity like crazy.

“Stop swearing. My ears sting.”

“What are you talking about!”

Kazen got goosebumps as he looked at Ruin, who was still smiling faintly without opening his eyes.

Ruin’s attitude, as if he looked into himself, made him look like a monster.

“It won’t be a big deal. He’s not going to die that much, so don’t worry too much.”

Kazen was dumbfounded.

Ruin didn’t know what it meant to enter the Black Eagle Valley with a body that was only a 3 star.

“Did you even go to Black Eagle Valley?”

Louin opened his eyes with an inexplicable smile.

He soon rose slowly and gazed out of the balloon at the distant peaks.

A dull, huge rock exposed under the clouds.

Its strange shape resembled the head of a black eagle.

“Each person has a different training method. Now, I hope that the main road will not be buried too much in the family tradition.”

Although he hadn’t experienced it himself, since Ruin was also a blood relative of the Hibern family, he was familiar with the notoriety of the Black Eagle Valley.

“It is a sacred place, Ruin. Do not insult your ancestors.”

Kazen furrowed his brows as if he didn’t like Ruin’s attitude.

However, he soon became worried and looked at the Black Eagle Valley with Ruin.

A vague past flashed into his mind.

The structure of Black Eagle Valley was extremely simple and ignorant.

Beneath that strangely shaped black eagle peak, a valley of unimaginable depth spreads out.

A hellish place from which you can never escape once you fall in.

They could only try to escape by breaking through a certain level, surviving only on the moisture of the rocks and sparsely growing moss.

opportunity only once.

If he ran out of stamina on the way and fell, it would be death.

Training in the Valley of the Black Eagle meant breaking through countless limits of fortitude.

The mental strength he endured while licking the dampness of rocks and chewing rough moss changed his temperament itself.

Practitioners who have been trained through severe hardships and perseverance have changed from their attitude toward life to the fundamentals of their souls.

A knight who has completed training in Black Eagle Valley is respected by everyone.

Even in the memories of Kazen, who became the flag bearer of the kingdom, this place was still hell.

However, Ruin did not waver even while looking at his father’s gloomy expression.

‘He is the king of swordsmanship, father.’

Ruin believed in Dane.

That belief was pretty solid.

It was absurd that someone who would be called the king of swordsman collapsed in the valley of black eagles.

At least in terms of military force, he is a knight who will become a warrior higher than his father.

“Now the turbulence section. It will shake a lot. Hold on tight to the basket, Ruin.”

coo coo coo-

Indeed, just as Kazen had said, the whole machine began to vibrate like crazy.

Strong turbulence created by the unique topography blew in from all directions.

It was difficult to open his eyes due to the strong wind pressure, but Ruin was already enveloped in gloomy emotions.

‘Sirha… … .’

Sirha of the Windstorm.

I remember him walking around the battlefield like the wind with his long hair blowing.

A friend who was always cheerful but lived with a deep sadness hidden inside.

A man with a warmer heart than anyone who endured the deaths of his colleagues while crying alone.

The end of him, who was the most affectionate among superhumans, flickered in front of his eyes like a fantasy.

The moment just before being oxidized without a trace by ‘his’ magic.

He had neither grim eyes nor screams of pain.

At the end he was just laughing.

Just bright as if it would embrace the whole world.

Even at the last moment, it was the wind that made Sir.

“… … .”

In the basket of the swinging balloon, Kazen was silently looking at Ruin.

The son was smiling, but for some reason a part of his heart was torn and it hurt.

How can a smiling person’s face feel so sad?

Like an old painting.

Like a weathered stone statue.

What on earth and how long have you endured so much that you are standing there with faded emotions?

I dared not open my mouth to ask.

The sadness, whose depth was unknown, was not the feeling of someone who had simply endured the fear of death.

Suddenly, Kazen thought that maybe that young son might be an existence far out of his arms.

from a long time ago.

As the strong wind gradually died down, a panoramic view of the gloomy interior of the valley was soon revealed.

Darkness spread like pitch black.

A valley so deep that it is impossible to fathom its end.

The forgotten fears of the past coiled around Kazen’s heart again.

“Mmm.”

Even Ruin, who never loses his cool, let out a frustrated moan.

I have only vaguely imagined it, but it is the first time to see the true face of the Black Eagle Valley.

Ruin had no choice but to admit right away how foolish his prejudice was.

This dangerous place was definitely not a level that a 3-star knight could handle.

Ruin stared at the thick darkness that seemed to swallow everything in the world.

“no… … How could a Dane get to the bottom of such a crazy valley?”

“It is a place that cannot be reached on its own. Except through this magical device.”

Kazen became jealous and extinguished the burning balloon’s wick.

“That means someone helped with this.”

He dared to commit a serious crime that endangered the bloodline of the family head.

No matter who it was, Kazen had no intention of forgiving.

“You are no different in terms of stimulating Dane. Although it is the Grand Duke’s responsibility to properly discipline his younger siblings, you will not be free from that responsibility either.”

Louin didn’t respond much.

No matter what punishment my father brings, I am willing to bear it.

Even if you go back a few days and meet Dane again, your decision will always be the same.

As the heat of the wick subsided, the balloon began to descend steeply.

An ominous feeling of being endlessly sucked into darkness.

I didn’t feel much wind pressure or noise.

Ruin couldn’t even measure his speed because of that alien sensation.

Kazen’s voice sounded cautiously in the darkness.

“Get down. A little further is the habitat of the Dark Wyvern.”

Louin was greatly surprised.

Dragons could not be put in the category of monsters.

Excluding such dragons, the top predator in this world was the Wyvern.

Among them, the Dark Wyvern is the only individual that humans have not been able to tame because of its ferocity.

Numerous riders tried, but they all fell prey to the Dark Wyvern.

What made Dark Wyverns even more comparable to normal Wyverns was that they were the leaders of countless Flying Vipers.

The Dark Wyvern, which appears with flying vipers like a swarm of bees, is already an army in itself.

It was only at this time that Ruin immediately realized just how much danger Dane was in.

“Hurry up, Father!”

“Shh.”

Kirrr… … .

An ominous cry is heard far away.

It was a unique howling of a wyvern.

What followed was a huge crowd of flapping wings that sounded like thunder.

Boo woo woo!

I couldn’t even imagine how many there would be.

As the sound subsided, Ruin groaned and opened his mouth.

“How many more Dark Wyverns are there?”

“I don’t know the exact number. but a lot So many. Perhaps this is their spawning ground.”

As a great mage, Ruin had been through the winds of the vast continent, but the memory of seeing the Dark Wyvern was about to be counted on one hand.

A habitat where such rare, super-large monsters form a colony!

Ruin had never dreamed that there would be a large-scale spawning ground for Dark Wyverns in the sacred place of his family.

“They are unimaginably sensitive to fighting spirit and mana. At least, in order to pass this section, it is only possible to become a 6-star or higher high-ranking knight who can completely stop fighting. So even when you first enter, you need artifacts for shielding.”

Ruin knew that fact.

The moment he heard from his father that it was the haunt of the Dark Wyvern, he hid Odd, which became a mana hole, deeper into the spirit world.

“Then this section… … .”

Is escape from here realistically possible?

Ruin couldn’t be sure unless he recovered all of his past state.

In order not to fall prey to the Dark Wyvern, the cliffs in this section had to be climbed only with pure strength, excluding mana and fighting.

No matter how strong a knight was, he could not battle the Dark Wyvern while clinging to the cliff.

I wouldn’t know if it was close to superhuman, no, if I had reached that level in the first place, I didn’t even need this reckless training.

It was only then that Ruin realized that escaping from this place was not just a matter of force, but a matter of the spirit.

‘hmm… … .’

What will the world look like the moment you get out of this hell?

Your attitude towards life will change.

Your view of the world will be open.

It was only after Luin returned to the past after a long time that a new perspective on martial arts, not magic, was born.

The Way of the Unmanned, not the Magic Way.

They too deserved to be called that.

The blood relatives of the family who survived this place looked different.

However, I was even more afraid of the monster called desire that corrupted the minds of such noble people.

After passing the Dark Wyvern’s habitat and descending further for a long time, Ruin could feel the faint smell of earth.

The smell of earth and the feeling of moisture meant that we had arrived at the bottom of the valley.

Tung-

A heavy shockwave felt from the bottom of the balloon.

His stomach twisted, but Ruin endured the nausea.

Soon, Ruin climbed over the balloon’s basket and landed on the floor.

I raised my head and looked far up, and I saw a small light hole like a grain of sand in my field of vision.

Kazen, who found Dane at that time, exclaimed fiercely.

“Dane!”

Unlike Kazen, who was worried and ran away, Ruin, who was walking slowly, tilted his head.

Beneath a strangely shaped rock.

Dane is sleeping.

His breathing was shallow though.

The body heat is also prevented as much as possible by rolling the body round.

All but the minimum energy was being saved, but his life force, which was constantly pulsating, was more intense than before.

Only then did Ruin feel relieved.

His judgment was not wrong.

Indeed, it was like a swordsman king.

“It’s a corpse. my little brother.”

With one eye slightly open, Dane glared at Ruin like an animal.

Luin smiled brightly.

“How are you? Can I call you a knight again?”