Chapter 32 - Rebelion Ⅰ

“Even the king himself?” Tiberius wondered.

“Of course,” Tom intervened, “Why do you think you train with me?”

“Yes, especially him.” Yareth continued, answering Tiberius’s question. "King Tharos Emberwyn, son of Yareth Emberwyn the First. During his father's reign as king, he was a high-ranking army general. He was recognized for his strength, foresight, and leadership. He had trained for decades, honing his magic and mind. Following his father's sudden death, he ascended to the throne. He stopped training after becoming king, but he is still regarded as a formidable fighter. His fire magic is difficult to combat, especially with his ability, 'Leader's Aura.'"

“Sorry,” Tiberius interrupted, “Sudden death of his father?”

“Yes. My grandfather was elderly but not ill by any means. He died at 65 years old. The doctor's report stated that it was a heart attack.

“Was it?” Rael questioned.

“No. My father killed him. He put poison into his favorite drink while we were all having dinner. He watched his own father die, with a smile on his face.”

“First his father and now his son?” Layla frowned.

“He does not care about any bonds. Family isn’t something he is concerned about. For him, power and control are everything.”

“What about the other two?” Ivy asked. “We have some information on them but it is hard to dig in.”

“Indeed.” Yareth answered, “It is hard to get info on people who are closer to the king. Unless you got an insider.” He smirked.

“We got one,” Rael gave a sarcastic smile back.

“Anyway,” Yareth circled the other two names on the paper. “Charles and Rovshen. Two closest people to the king. They only take orders from the king directly. Anything involving the king first goes through them.”

“But Rovshen is a coachman,” Tiberius interrupted. “How is he so close to the king?”

“Because the king is trying to balance things out,” Yareth explained. “Look, he might look like ‘just a greedy bastard,’ but he is more than just that. He was in the army most of his life. He was a general who was commanding hundreds of thousands of soldiers at once. He is indeed careful of his surroundings.”

“How so?”

“Well, Charles and Rosven are two sides of the same coin. Charles is the son of General Jackson, who is a close friend of the king. Charles had started training in harsh environments since he was 8. He might not have any special ability, but he is the strongest ‘Earth’ mage, at least in Virelia. He might sound like a kind man, but I have seen him behead people in a heartbeat. He is loyal to the king, even with his life. Because of his bloodline and strength, he is the king’s personal servant with royalty status.”

“Rovshen is opposite,” Yareth continued. “He isn’t from a known bloodline. He was living in a faraway village called Turia. No information on his father, since he had left him before he was born. His mother died when he was 15; the known reason is heart disease. He had done his best in life, trying to survive on his own in a village without parents. He had never trained in magic, and his only goal was to make money and survive. The king discovered him during one of his travels. Rovshen defeated a giant bear in close combat with a single move. The king was impressed and brought him into the castle. Because he was not from a known bloodline, he couldn’t get royalty status, unlike Charles. He learned magic quickly and is now on par with Charles in combat. Rovshen is more strategic than Charles when it comes to fighting. He's a quick thinker and problem solver. He is also a 'Truthseeker,' which makes him an invaluable asset to the king. He is also loyal to the king, but not for the same reason. It's his family. He is married and has two children, who live in the castle. They are not hostages and live a normal lifestyle. But Rovshen is always afraid for them, so he never questions the king's commands. He is a little rude, but I have never seen him kill or injure someone without a reason."

“That is why he is just a coachman,” Tiberius tried to understand.

“Yes.”

“But,” Tiberius wondered, “why would he need both of them?”

“Simple,” Rael intervened. “King is probably scared of Charles. He must believe that Charles could kill him, the way he killed his father. So he keeps someone who wouldn’t kill him. Tries to balance them out.”

“Correct,” Yareth smirked. “King has ‘secretly’ ordered that”—he emphasized the word—“if the king were to be killed, the the culprit would be no one but Rovshen. So his family must be killed in response. Rovshen knows this, so he is always watching Charles, making sure he doesn’t do anything.”

“Piece of shit,” Tiberius murmured. “Is this all we need to know?”

“Yes. There is not much I can tell you that will help.”

“Now we need a plan,” Ivy spoke. “It seems that brute force alone will not work. We need to separate those three and defeat them that way.”

“No one is going to fight Rovshen,” Tiberius interrupted. “I don’t care what you do; I don’t want him or his family to be in trouble.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Yareth explained. “If Rael’s plan works, then he won’t even be in the castle.”

“What plan?”

“Well, he said he purposefully caused too much trouble so they could send an investigator. And when they learn that the only missing person is me, the king will have to send his most trusted man.”

Tiberius side-eyed Rael but then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “If his ‘plan’ works, then I don’t have anything against the idea. I just ask for one thing.”

“What is it?” Layla asked.

“I will take the king. I have some questions that need to be answered.”

…

[Six days later, Back to the throne room.]

“You took my son.” King’s eyes grew wide.

“Don’t act like you cared about him in the first place,” Tiberius replied. “And I didn’t take him. I couldn’t enter your dungeon. I just had a friend who could.”

King appeared to think for a brief moment before standing up. “You are working with that degenerate Rael?!” He screamed. “Charles! Take these fools from here.”

King was breathing heavily and waiting for Charles to enter but he did not seem to come.

“Charles—”

“Did you forget that you sent him off?” Yareth giggled.

King became enraged and lifted his hand.

“Sit,” Tiberius acted quickly and extended his hand forward. Suddenly gravity pushed the king into his throne, forcing him to sit down. The force was not too great, but since King did not expect it at all, he sat down. “How did you find me?” Tiberius asked.

King did not answer. He stood up as soon as Tiberius stopped attacking and kicked the ground. Immediately Yareth was forced to kneel.

Seeing this, Tiberius got confused but did not let the confusion stop him. Moving his hand from right to left like a slap, he smashed the king into the wall using all his might.

The moment King hit the wall, Yareth took a deep breath. “How are you not affected by ‘Leader’s Aura’?”

“My power requires mana as a trigger; the rest works without it. And that ability only affects mana—”

Tiberius leaned forward in pain, clutching his head with both hands and letting out a soft groan.

"What's happened?" Yareth attempted to hold him.

"I don't know," Tiberius responded, still groaning. "I saw an eye looking at me."

"But there's no one here."

…

As soon as Layla took down the guards on the towers using one arrow, all explorers other than Tyler had entered the forest behind the castle walls. They each had taken fifteen camp members, who had been trained for months in advance. They slowly took down the guards one by one, from each direction.

A few minutes had passed, and the explorers were slowly approaching the castle. Rael and Tyler sped through the front gate. They each took a different route into the castle's garden.

Tyler went straight to the room where Rovshen's family was living. He encountered a few guards, but before they attacked him, he would open up the ground beneath them. As they fell halfway into the pit, he would close the ground and cut them in half. This was his most well-known move. He used this because his 'Earth' magic enabled him to manipulate the ground and stones at will. It did require a lot of mana, but he was able to handle it because he did them quickly.

He quickly located the room and entered. Rovshen's children appeared to be doing homework while their mother was knitting.

“Who are you?” The mother stepped forward, standing in front of her children.

"Please do not leave the room without permission. I will protect you and your kids,” Tyler replied in a monotonous tone, made a huge rock using his magic and sat on it, facing the door.

Rael continued to look for the captains while he stood there because he needed to deal with them. But they did not seem to be in their room. So he began checking each room. He was constantly confronted by guards and had to flee because he didn't want to waste time or effort. Others had already cleared the forest, so he didn't have to worry about them.

One of those random rooms was the kitchen, where he discovered Captains. He asked no questions and immediately killed them, cutting their throats with the knife he found on the counter. As soon as he did, he left the room to find Charles, the other person for whom he was responsible.