With the death of Delphiad’s Martial King, Gellard, only three archmages and three martial kings remained on the continent.

"Among them, only three have no known ties to the Cult of the Black God."

As Karnak explained, the three were Archmage Giyen Ren, Martial King Batalok, and Martial King Beltia. But Giyen Ren was unlikely to be the helper.

"That mysterious person was said to be human," said Karnak.

On the other hand, Giyen Ren, the Supreme Guardian of the Fairies, was an elf who had lived for centuries.

Leven looked doubtful. "Are we sure about that? Did the source actually say what race the helper was?"

"Not explicitly. But the overall tone strongly implied it," responded Karnak. They weren’t trying to hide their identity. Some of the details had just been dropped during transmission. "They were definitely human, assuming the information we received was accurate."

Serati’s expression turned serious. "Then it must’ve been either Martial King Batalok or Beltia."

Varos shook his head. "It couldn’t have been Batalok."

Milia agreed. "Even though I’m young, I also know the story between those two."

Martial King Batalok of Taledo and Diogres Kolon of the Tower of Dawn had been bitter rivals for a long time. Actually, rivals didn’t do justice to their relationship. They’d fought to the death multiple times.

This was due to where the two of them were located. Taledo and Kabrat, where the Tower of Dawn was located, bordered each other. And when two were put side by side, they tended to fight rather than form a good relationship. They constantly clashed over territory, influence, and other disputes.

As a result, even when they were younger—Batalok as heir to Taledo and Diogres as successor to the tower—they often collided. After they rose to their titles as martial king and archmage, they maintained a public façade and no longer clashed openly, but the hostility lingered.

"If it were Batalok, he wouldn’t have rescued Diogres. He would’ve used the opportunity to finish him off," said Varos.

Karnak nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like him."

Lapicel looked impressed. "You talk like you actually know Batalok personally."

He was a legendary martial king, yet they spoke of him like he was some guy across the street.

Serati quickly brushed it off. "Well, he’s just that famous. Even Milia knows about him, right?"

Milia quickly played along. "Yeah, of course I do, Lapicel."

Lapicel nodded in understanding. "Oh, I see!"

The others had grown up in noble households, unlike herself. They had much more exposure to much more of the world.

I guess I was the only one who didn’t know, thought Lapicel.

In any case, this made it all the more unlikely that Batalok was the mysterious helper.

Karnak stroked his chin. "So, it’s Beltia after all?"

If it were her, she might just have the strength to rescue Diogres even against the combined assault of Elezar and Dreltein. Varos glanced at Lapicel and switched to telepathic speech with Karnak.

—At this point in time, Beltia should be wandering the empire, right?

—Yeah. That’s when she stumbled across Lapicel and took her in as her disciple.

Originally, she should’ve already taken in Lapicel and returned to her homeland in Cyphras to train her. But with the would-be disciple now standing beside Karnak, it was likely that Beltia was still roaming the empire. So perhaps she had witnessed Diogres’s plight and extended a helping hand by chance.

Even so, something didn’t quite add up. Karnak voiced his concern.

—The timeline checks out, but weren’t Beltia and Diogres practically strangers?

Varos answered him.

—Pretty much. I think they only knew each other by name.

It was unthinkable that they didn’t know of each other as an archmage and a martial king. But there hadn’t been any real interaction between them. At least, not at this point in time. Karnak mentioned the peculiarity.

—Isn’t that odd?

They probably barely recognized each other, yet Beltia had gone so far as to risk her life to save Diogres. She had pitted herself against another martial king and an archmage, no less. Karnak continued.

—Beltia wasn’t exactly known for being the selfless, heroic type.

Serati blinked in surprise.

—Wait, wasn’t she Lapicel’s original teacher?

She wasn’t the selfless, heroic type? Karnak scoffed in response.

—She lucked out with her disciple, so now everyone thinks she’s some noble hero... But honestly, that woman’s not exactly pleasant.

Varos nodded, as if in sympathy.

—She had a pretty rough life.

***

Martial King of Cyphras, Beltia Croteum, was born a collateral member of the Croteum family. Like most martial kings, she was a prodigy blessed by the heavens. She picked up a sword at the age of ten and awakened her aura at fifteen thanks to overwhelming talent. By twenty, she was unmatched in her region.

But Beltia herself had never been passionate about martial arts. She went to war when her family demanded it, but she didn’t care for the sword. She was quiet to the point of being timid, and her hobbies were collecting and crafting small trinkets.

And no matter how gifted, one couldn’t reach the pinnacle of martial prowess without dedication. The young Beltia remained at the level of a typical blue-tier aura user, doing what her family ordered and eventually entering an arranged marriage.

Her marriage, however, brought her no happiness. She may have been strong, but she was not considered beautiful. And no man enjoyed the idea of his wife being far stronger than he was. Her husband maintained his distance from her, and she remained home, neglected.

Though, to be fair, stayed home wasn’t entirely accurate. Even then, her family still demanded she fight on their behalf. So she’d shed blood for their sake, then return home only to receive cold, resentful looks from her husband.

The only thing that brought her solace in those days was her beloved daughter. She could at least feel a glimmer of happiness when caring for the child.

But that fragile peace shattered when her daughter turned five. While Beltia was away at war, monsters broke loose and attacked the village. She lost both her husband and her daughter.

Beltia lost her mind. Alone, she stormed the monsters’ den, and an entire mountain was drenched in blood. Hundreds—thousands—of monsters died screaming. Among them were surely the ones who had killed her family.

But did she feel like she had achieved her vengeance? Not at all. She felt nothing but a deeper, more aching void. To numb her despair, Beltia clung to the sword. For more than a decade, she threw herself into relentless training.

By the time ten years had passed, her blade gleamed gold, and as a martial king, Beltia was now beyond the control of the Croteum family. In fact, they were the ones watching their step around her.

She lived her days surrounded by reverence and awe. Sometimes she would save lives—if she felt like it. Sometimes she would punish evil—if she felt like it. And if she didn’t? She simply turned away. The Martial King of Cyphras lived entirely on her own terms. She only changed after she met a certain girl.

—What’s your name, little one?

—I don’t have one. People just called me Thirteen.

—Well, I suppose no one bothers giving names to orphans.

Beltia looked curiously at the ash-haired girl before her. For some reason, the child felt familiar. She felt like a daughter. Truthfully, she bore no resemblance whatsoever to her real daughter. They weren’t alike at all. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

But there was one thing she shared with the little girl. The girl possessed a talent so monstrous it could only have been granted by the heavens.

—Would you like to become my disciple?

—Can I leave this place if I do?

—Yes, you can.

—Then I want to.

Beltia gave the name of her late daughter to this girl she had taken in as her disciple.

—Lapicel. From now on, your name is Lapicel.

***

Karnak explained.

—Beltia only started being respected as a martial king after she took in Lapicel as her disciple.

Varos added.

—And since this is before she found Lapicel, I really can’t picture that woman helping Diogres out of the goodness of her heart.

Serati clicked her tongue.

—All this time, I thought martial kings were noble, heroic figures.

But the more she heard about the current era’s martial kings, the less that seemed to be the case. Neither Gellard, Batalok, nor Beltia were exactly shining paragons of virtue.

Karnak chuckled.

—Well, martial king is a title for someone who's good with a sword, not someone who's righteous or heroic.

After all, awakening aura faster didn’t mean one was just or virtuous. Serati remembered what Karnak had said before.

—But the Four Martial Kings you told us about were all righteous heroes.

It wasn’t just Lapicel. There was Leven Strauss, Malican Thun, and Dreltein Thelix. All of these martial kings had fought selflessly for humanity.

Varos gave a bitter smile and gestured to the side.

—Ah, well... Back then, even the filthiest human could be turned righteous. We had a true embodiment of evil.

—Hey, I wasn’t that bad, was I?

Varos corrected him.

—You were.

—What! If I was that bad, then so were you!

The two continued their banter.

—Come on now, no matter how bad I was, I was just following orders. Unlike you.

—You creatively interpreted those orders and did excessive things. Don’t try to erase history. You were just as hated as I was!

As the two bickered, Serati sighed.

—You’re both the same. Why are you even arguing over this?

In any case, Beltia still seemed more plausible a helper than Batalok. But something still felt off.

Leven offered a new perspective.

—What if the helper wasn’t a martial king or an archmage at all?

Karnak raised an eyebrow.

—That’s unlikely. They were up against both a martial king and an archmage, remember?

As he’d said many times, the difference between a silver knight and gold, or between ninth and tenth circle magic, was enormous, almost absurdly so.

Karnak continued.

—Unless the helper specialized exclusively in stealth and evasion, taking on the two of them would be impossible... Come to think of it, maybe someone like Desteran could pull it off.

Varos grimaced.

—Seriously? That guy’s a piece of work.

Desteran, the silver knight, was the leader of Search Black, the empire’s most notorious criminal syndicate. He was the original creator of the chain sword style Varos now favored. As befit a crime lord, he excelled at escape and evasion. It was plausible that he might have slipped past Dreltein and Elezar to whisk Diogres away.

Varos brought up the issue.

—But he had no connection to Diogres either. Even if he did, he’s not the type to risk his life saving someone else.

Karnak answered him.

—So we need someone with an absurdly big sense of justice, huh? Anyone like that?

—Actually, there is.

Varos was referring to the future Martial King Malican Thun. He had journeyed far and wide in his martial pilgrimage, forging ties with many people along the way, including Diogres. In terms of motive, he was the most plausible candidate. If he’d heard Diogres was in danger, he absolutely would have rushed to help. Even so, there remained a glaring problem with the theory.

—At this point in time, Sir Malican is still just a silver knight. He’s not a martial king yet.

Regardless of his character, his current abilities made it nearly impossible for him to escape from Dreltein’s grasp.

Karnak muttered with a faint frown.

—Something about all this still doesn't sit right. We just don’t have enough information yet.

Those with the strength lacked a motive, and those with motive lacked the strength.

Whether it meant confirming lingering traces of thought or shaking down other cultists, they needed more intel to base any conclusions on. Karnak ushered the group.

—Let’s head to the Tower of Dawn quickly. We’ll need to see the place for ourselves to get a better grasp of the situation.

All the while, Lapicel had been watching her companions carefully. Everyone had suddenly fallen silent, and the mood had grown strangely subdued.

Everyone’s great and all, but they’re way too quiet sometimes.

At least Milia used to be talkative. Chatting with her had been fun. But even she had grown unusually quiet lately, as if she’d been influenced by the rest.

As they continued down the road, the ash-haired girl stuck out her lower lip in a sulk. Ugh, I’m bored.