The monk Bowl ran through the mountains, carrying the basket on his back with all his might.
"Huff, huff."
His breath came right up to his throat, but he couldn't stop.
The pursuers kept firing arrows at him as they chased after Bowl.
Roban, hiding inside the basket, said to him.
"Father, please put me down. If things go wrong, you could get caught too..." Bowl didn't respond to Roban's words; he just ran even faster.
But then, an arrow flew and pierced Bowl's thigh.
Thud!
"Urk!"
Hit by the arrow, he momentarily lost his balance, his speed dropping drastically, but he tried to flee while dragging his leg, clutching the basket tightly.
Soon, men in black began to emerge from the forest.
Seeing their attire, Bowl fell into despair.
'It's the Imperial Army.'
He recalled the rumors he'd heard about an unnamed secret unit of the empire.
It was a secret force called the Imperial Hunting Dogs, said to handle all sorts of dirty work for the emperor.
Bowl instinctively realized these were the hunting dogs the emperor had sent to capture Roban.
One of the masked hunting dogs approached the monk.
The monk grabbed the basket and held onto a nearby tree, drawing back his fist to his chest.
"Haaah!"
With a shout, the monk thrust his fist toward the approaching hunting dog with all his strength.
Whoosh!
The monk's fist, infused with aura, flew toward the hunting dog.
The hunting dog easily dodged the monk's fist.
"You're being a pain."
He drew the sword from his waist and stabbed the monk in the lower abdomen.
Stab!
With a chilling sound, Bowl collapsed to the ground.
Unable to close his eyes properly, thinking he had to protect Roban, his body trembled.
Soon, a hunting dog stepped on his head.
Crunch!
Only after his head burst did Bowl stop moving.
"Damn it, this guy's wasting our time."
The hunting dog unit's captain gestured to his subordinates.
At his signal, the unit members approached to retrieve Roban from the basket.
But then, a massive blaze erupted from inside the basket.
Roar!
The members who had approached recoiled in surprise.
The captain shouted.
"He's using the power of the Sun Order! Be careful!"
From the charred basket, Roban emerged, tears streaming down his face, flames wrapping around his body as he glared at the hunting dogs.
Seeing the dead Bowl, he gritted his teeth.
Roban stepped out of the smoldering, ash-scattering basket and knelt before Bowl, igniting flames once more.
"Noble soul, become an eternal flame and burn brightly." Roban cremated Bowl's body with the flames.
He believed this would guide his soul to the sun god, granting him a peaceful death.
The hunting dogs advanced toward Roban.
"He's still a kid. Knock him out and take him."
Seeing the hunting dogs coming for him, Roban stood up.
Though young, as the papal successor, Roban bore the emblem of the sun.
Moreover, the Sun Order's holy magic was the most powerful fire magic, so the hunting dogs approached cautiously, slowly closing in on Roban.
Rumble...
Four fireballs floated around Roban's body, and he hurled them at the hunting dogs.
Roar!
As the fireballs flew, the hunting dogs rolled aside to dodge.
Boom boom!
Still inexperienced, Roban couldn't control the fireballs properly. Their power was immense, but useless if they didn't hit the enemy.
"Haa, haa."
Having poured out all his strength at once, Roban panted, sweat beading on his brow.
The hunting dogs, who had braced for a follow-up attack, noticed his exhaustion and relaxed their guard, slowly rising.
"Capture him."
At the captain's order, the hunting dog unit members advanced to seize Roban.
Roban tried to summon flames to block them, but in his drained state, the manifested fire lacked power and was ineffective.
The hunting dogs were trained knights, after all; weakened flames couldn't stop them.
Soon, their strong hands grabbed Roban.
"Eek!"
As Roban struggled to break free, the unit captain approached and slapped his cheek.
Smack!
Roban's young cheek swelled red, his mouth bursting and bleeding.
Soon, Roban lost consciousness and slumped.
The captain looked at his men and said.
"If he causes more trouble, cut off his limbs and stuff him in a box to carry." The hunting dogs, devoid of mercy, felt no pity.
As one of the members slung the unconscious Roban over his shoulder to leave, it happened.
Whistle—
A whistling sound came from somewhere.
The unit captain immediately went on alert and shouted.
"Enemy! Stay vigilant!" Then.
Swoosh!
A black shadow leaped from the trees, diving straight at the unit captain in an instant.
Slice—
The shadow passed by as if brushing past, severing the captain's throat with a thin rapier.
Thud!
The captain died without realizing his neck was cut.
The black shadow vanished again in a flash.
"The captain's down! Find him!"
The members scanned their surroundings warily, searching for the enemy.
Then, the whistling sounded again.
Whistle—
With the whistle, the black shadow reappeared like the wind, swiftly beheading the hunting dogs one by one.
Thud thud thud—
As their heads fell simultaneously, the unit was annihilated in moments.
Swoosh!
Only after confirming all the hunting dogs were dead did the black shadow reveal itself.
A mysterious figure in a black cloak, wearing a beaked mask like those used by physicians in the Holy Empire era, approached the fallen Roban.
Confirming Roban was still alive, he picked up the child and vanished into the forest.
In the silent woods, only the corpses of the dead hunting dogs remained scattered.
*
Thud thud thud thud!
Zeke and the Black Sword Knight Order, staying at the imperial garrison in the ghetto district, were heading to Iason with Helen.
To board a ship from Iason, Kali's territory, to the Holy Kingdom.
With the ork Iron Legion invading the Holy Kingdom and threatening the Principality of Vadoka, Kali decided to dispatch troops here, appointing Zeke as her representative.
At least, that's how it was publicly known. In truth, Zeke had personally requested it from Kali.
He saw it as the perfect opportunity to strike the emperor, who had personally led troops on a campaign to the Holy Kingdom.
"My lord! Iason is in sight!"
Captain Decker said to Zeke.
They had marched at forced speed to reach Iason as quickly as possible, but the Black Sword Knight Order members showed no signs of fatigue, maintaining their steadfast demeanor.
It was proof that the recent battle in the ghetto district had greatly contributed to the order's growth.
Though still composed of blue knights and purple knights, their potential was immense, and it was expected they would soon break through their limits and grow further.
'I need to push the knights harder.'
Zeke resolved inwardly as he arrived in Iason with the order, where a familiar knight greeted them.
"Sir Zeke. Welcome."
It was Luno, whom Zeke had saved back on the island of the sea god.
Zeke said to Luno.
"Sir Luno. It's been a while."
As an advanced knight of Draker, Zeke addressed him informally.
After the sea god island incident, Kali had purged traitors from her knights.
Once the purge was complete, she appointed Luno as vice captain and entrusted him with the order's operations.
In her absence, he acted as acting captain.
"Seeing you here means my sister is away, right?"
"Yes, Sir Zeke. The captain has been summoned to Atlas for an emergency meeting."
"With the emperor moving personally, that makes sense."
Then, Luno approached Zeke and whispered quietly.
"Sir Zeke, the Black Stage is waiting to see you."
At the mention of Black Stage, Zeke's eyebrow twitched.
He let the Black Sword Knight Order rest and followed Luno to where the Black Stage was.
Entering a knight order building used by the White Silver Knight Order in Iason, welltrained knights saluted Zeke. Respect emanated from them.
Zeke's exploits in the ghetto district had spread across the continent, reaching even the knights of the White Silver Knight Order here.
From "Curse-Healer Knight" to "Knight of Salvation," Zeke had dominated the front page of the news bulletin.
Ignoring the knights' admiring gazes as best he could, Zeke headed to the reception room where the Black Stage waited.
As Zeke entered the room, the seated figure stood.
"Sir Zeke. A pleasure to meet you. I'm Souma, right wing unit commander of the Black Stage."
Zeke's eyebrow twitched again at the words "right wing unit commander of the Black Stage."
'A right wing commander held the reins of Black Stage intelligence.'
The Black Stage was a secret organization whose personnel info was classified.
Especially the right wing intelligence operatives—their faces were barely known.
Even Zeke was meeting a Black Stage intelligence chief for the first time.
A middle-aged man with brown hair and a gentle face; at first glance, he seemed more like a mage than an intelligence operative.
Zeke greeted Souma.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Zeke Draker."
After the greeting, the two sat in the reception room.
Souma got straight to the point.
"Sir Zeke, you've heard about the situation in the Holy Kingdom, I assume." Zeke nodded.
"Yes, a mysterious monster unit appeared and invaded the Holy Kingdom, and to counter it, Emperor Rom personally led troops on campaign." Souma nodded and continued.
"Yes, to elaborate, it's been confirmed that the mysterious unit consists of orks, an ancient race."
Zeke already knew this but feigned surprise at Souma's words.
"Orks? Different from orcs?"
"Think of them as an ancient race from the Hero King era, like elves or druids—ones that have scarcely been seen since."
Zeke nodded at Souma's explanation and said.
"Then why have these orks suddenly appeared to attack the Holy Kingdom?"
"We haven't uncovered the reason yet. We're suspecting it's some anomalous phenomenon, like the monster outbreak in the ghetto district where you distinguished yourself."
"Anomalous phenomenon..."
Zeke pondered why Souma, the Black Stage intelligence chief, had come all the way to Iason to see him.
'It wasn't just to relay this information.'
Then, Souma slowly spoke.
"I've heard you're leading troops in place of Lady Kali to aid the Principality of Vadoka."
"Yes, that's correct. The Holy Kingdom has an alliance treaty with the Draker family, and it's the place that gifted Lady Kali the white silver armor as a token of friendship. As repayment for that friendship, Lady Kali decided to send support forces."
At Zeke's words, Souma fell silent for a moment before speaking deliberately.
"Repayment of friendship. A beautiful sentiment."
After finishing, he pulled out a scroll from his bosom and activated it, creating a barrier around them.
"Sir Zeke, I have confidential matters to discuss."
Zeke realized there was more to it from Souma's sudden deployment of a magical barrier.
Souma continued with a serious expression.
"What I'm about to say is classified even within the Black Stage. Will you swear to keep it secret?"
Zeke nodded at Souma's words.
Then Souma spoke again.
"We've recently located Bacchus, the traitor to Draker, in the Holy Kingdom."
An unexpected name came from Souma's mouth, one Zeke hadn't anticipated. 'Bacchus? I heard he killed his birth mother Carmilla in Kali's territory and fled.' Souma continued.
"And it's confirmed that the traitor Bacchus has kidnapped the papal successor and is holding him."
Zeke looked puzzled at Souma's words.
'KIDNAPPED the papal successor? While he was being hunted by the Black Stage?' Seeing Zeke's expression, Souma nodded as if understanding and said to him.
"Bacchus is presumed to be planning to negotiate with the emperor using the papal successor as leverage, in exchange for exile." At that, Zeke spoke to Souma.
"Why would the emperor want the papal successor?" In response to Zeke's question, Souma answered.
"According to recent intelligence, the emperor is after the ruins of the first holy king, Gio Rubern."