Chapter 112: A Stepping Stone
Inside the destroyed palace of Bahara.
Tap, tap, tap.
Ian, dressed in the robes of the king of Bahara, walked along the red carpet.
Behind him, the cloak of the First King stretched long, dragging on the ground.
It hadn’t been properly mended yet, with half of it remaining destroyed, but at the end of the red carpet, Bahara’s warriors were standing in a long line.
It was then.
“Raise arms!”
Warriors raised their weapons against him.
Chhk!
A row of axes, deadly enough at a glance, were raised high.
It was the famous Path of Blood in Bahara.
The king-to-be would walk past the axes dripping with mountain goat blood to head for the coronation ceremony. But it wasn’t just any ceremony. Ian could feel the raging aura characteristic of real warriors as if he would be cut down at any moment.
It was only natural he felt so.
‘Are they the surviving royal warriors?’
Most of the warriors died at Arak’s hands.
However, there were survivors among the personnel who set out. They were like the final gateway to test the king-to-be.
They were doing their best for their fallen comrades.
Faith surged as if responding to the spirit of these warriors.
Woong!
However, Ian suppressed Faith instead.
‘This is the test given to me. I must not rely on anyone’s help.’
This included help from Faith.
Things might be different if he was against the Seven Sins or the Second Prince with his Sword of Domination.
He couldn’t get help from Faith for this.
It was the same with his newly acquired power, Patience.
‘The one who will become king must prove himself.’
Thanks to Faith, he easily captivated the hearts of the Bahara people, but that was it.
Ian had to undergo this test himself.
Thus, Ian walked forward with a nonchalant expression.
Tap, tap, tap.
With each step he took, the axes hanging above his head shook.
The air was high with tension that it wouldn’t be a weird sight if those axes fell.
No, in fact, Ian was practically offering up his own neck.
‘Some of the past kings of Bahara died at this moment.’
Take a step, but never let his guard down.
It shouldn’t be too slow either.
‘Passing through the Path of Blood calmly, not knowing when someone will aim for my neck.’
To see the qualities of a strong king that Bahara wanted.
After walking for a long while, Ian finally reached the door at the end of the Path of Blood.
Right at that second.
“Haap!”
An axe fell over his head.
A blow aimed at Ian’s carelessness.
However, his hand had already pulled out the dagger at his belt.
Clang!
Ian’s dagger touched the neck of the warrior who was about to strike the axe at him.
If he continued to swing the axe, both of them would die.
But the warrior couldn’t move.
Ziiing.
It was because Ian stared at him with a chilling gaze, his eyes as if he knew everything.
Seeing his gaze, the warrior lowered his axe to the ground.
Thud!
Then he took the axe’s handle with both hands and knelt down.
“Salute to our king!”
No, it wasn’t just that.
All the warriors who made up the Path of Blood lowered their axes to the ground, knelt down, and shouted.
“Salute!”
Ian didn’t stop walking even in front of the vicious axes.
He kept his eyes open to any sudden attack.
Furthermore, he fought back with the dagger as if predicting the warrior’s attack.
Thus, he gained recognition from all royal warriors.
“The one who walked down the path stained with blood!”
“You have proved your qualifications. Anyone who objects to this decision shall not be safe before our axes!”
The warriors bowed—not only their knees but also their heads.
“We swear allegiance to the new king of Bahara!”
This showed that they acknowledged Ian from the bottom of their souls.
Seeing that, Ian put the dagger back into his belt. Then he was equally courteous to them.
He gave a short bow to the warriors.
Sskk.
Then he turned around without hesitation.
‘Is this the end of the Path of Blood test?’
There was only one last step left to be king now.
Ian stood at the door and shouted, his back on the warriors.
“Open the door!”
Creeaak!
At his command, the door at the end of the Path of Blood slowly began to open.
***
“His Majesty is entering!”
It was the royal terrace with a clear view of Balrog.
It was also the place where major royal ceremonies were held. And what awaited Ian there was…
“Whoaaa…!!”
“Long live His Majesty Ian!”
Tens of thousands of Bahara people cheering for him in high spirits. They were the people waiting for Ian’s coronation.
And in front of Ian, Chief Antum raised his voice.
“Ian Kaistein, come forward and kneel down.”
Ian slowly passed Chief Antum and fell on one knee in front of one man.
The man was the one holding the crown.
Bahara had a tradition of having the strongest warrior put the crown on the king.
But in fact, there was one problem.
‘Usually, the previous king or the First Warrior takes the position.’
But now they both had fallen.
There was no one left to crown Ian.
There was Yamanta, the lord of Molar Castle that everyone in Bahara could acknowledge, however…
“I’m sorry. I’ve already lost to Your Majesty once. The whole Bahara already knows that. I don’t deserve it.”
The same was true for the 25 chieftains.
“It would be a disgrace, not an honor, to crown you who defeated us and our armies. Absolutely not.”
As a result, an unexpected person had to take over the coronation ceremony.
It was no wonder the people gasped after seeing the person who brought the crown to Ian.
“That man is…”
“It’s the Blue Tempest! The Blue Devil of Kaistein is holding the coronation ceremony!”
“Oh, my god! The best knight on the continent?”
It’s Duke Lavaltor.
It was because the man whom the Bahara warriors feared the most was holding the crown.
It was unthinkable that a person from a foreign country would put the crown of Bahara on a non-Bahara man.
Yet no one found fault with it.
“The strongest knight!”
“The best knight on the continent recognized our king!”
“It’s an achievement that no king has ever achieved!”
Instead, they burst into a heated cheer.
It was understandable.
‘Bahara worships the strong.’
In addition, Ian’s heroic feat and the heart-warming legend.
If anything, the presence of Lavaltor, renowned as the Blue Devil of Kaistein, in the coronation ceremony was bound to elevate their enthusiasm to the peak.
Of course, Duke Lavaltor felt the same way.
‘I never thought I’d do this.’
Duke Lavaltor did not like formal occasions such as this.
He was a knight.
He hated politics.
And yet, here he was now.
It was because of what Ian said.
“Please officiate my coronation.”
Of course, he tried to say no at first.
However, Ian made it impossible to refuse.
“You have to pay back the debt, right?”
“Do I still owe you anything? I thought I had paid it all off.”
“Think of it as future debt, if you intend to conquer Cantum.”
“!?”
It was Duke Lavaltor’s long-held wish.
Unification of the continent.
Duke Lavaltor sought to unify the continent by helping King Eloin in the past.
“You’re not satisfied with being the king of Bahara?”
“Bahara is just a stepping stone. I will become the king of Kaistein.”
“!?”
“And I will unite this continent. And I hope to have you in the vanguard, Duke Lavaltor.”
His heart couldn’t help but tremble with excitement more than anyone else.
If it were someone else saying that, the duke would have brandished his sword, cutting them off this bullcrap. But it was Ian who uttered it, so he couldn’t simply ignore it.
In fact, Ian not only conquered Bahara but also captured the crown prince of Cantum.
Ian’s words were enough to make his heart ablaze once more.
‘To think I would hear it again now that I thought it was but a futile dream…’
If Kaistein united the continent, it would become an empire of kingdoms and, naturally, the greatest country on the continent.
Then, of course, Duke Lavaltor would become the greatest knight on the continent.
Now, it was just words, but it might have come true.
Duke Lavaltor shook his head in disbelief.
‘You sure know how to handle people.’
Like father, like son.
Still, an expectation sparked within a corner of his heart.
‘I never expected I’d get so thrilled at this age.’
His quivering eyes turned to Ian, who was waiting for the crown.
‘I really want to see you unite this continent with my own eyes.’
However, Duke Lavaltor did not forget his task. He focused on the words of Antum, the chief of Bahara, from the side.
“Now put the crown on His Majesty.”
And at that very moment.
The crown in Duke Lavaltor’s hands was placed on Ian’s head.
Then Chief Antum shouted.
“The new king of Bahara has been born! Ian Kaistein! Worship him! Cry out the name of our king!”
Then thunderous cheers shook Balrog.
“Long live His Majesty Ian!”
“All hail the new King of Bahara!”
With this, everyone recognized him as the king of Bahara.
Ian smiled and waved at the people.
***
The coronation ended quickly.
But it was not all over yet.
Seated on the throne, Ian summoned all key personnel.
“Has everyone gathered?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
By his side, the key personnel of Bahara as well as Kaistein, who had been with Ian, bowed their heads.
Those were all the people he called.
Nathan said in surprise upon seeing this.
“Are you going to oversee government affairs already? How about taking a little break? You probably haven’t recovered from your fatigue yet.”
“I don’t have time to rest now.”
“!?”
It was because he would not be in Bahara for some time to come. Therefore, he had to pick someone to take his place quickly.
So, he called the man standing in the corner.
“Prince Olak. I’ll leave you with the regency.”
“!?”
The hall fell into a buzz at that moment.
Olak was the one who abdicated the throne to Ian and even the prince’s seat.
And Ian entrusted the regency to such a man.
‘What the hell is this?’
‘This is absurd…’
Of course, Prince Olak had proven his qualifications in Bahara thus far.
He abdicated the throne in consideration of his people.
But the position of regent was special.
‘A regent is a position that oversees the governance in the king’s stead. To give such a position to Prince Olak…’
However, Ian was resolute.
“Prince Olak cares and loves Bahara more than anyone else. If it is him, I can trust him in my absence.”
“However, Your Majesty…”
“Otherwise, would you assume the position of regent, Chief Antum?”
“!?”
Antum quickly bowed his head.
There was no way he could possibly bear the weight of the regent’s seat.
But not for Olak.
“Your Majesty, I am but a humble servant who must step down from my position. It is a heavy burden to bear such responsibility…”
“Don’t worry. I won’t let you do it alone.”
Ian immediately announced the next appointment as if he had expected Olak to oppose it.
“In addition, I will raise Yamanta, the lord of Molar Castle, as the first warrior commander, and I will acknowledge the positions of the 25 chieftains as they are.”
A series of shocking names followed consecutively.
Usually, when a country was conquered, the key positions would be taken up by the conqueror’s right-hand men. However, Ian jumped over it and kept the existing Bahara as it was.
Everyone was utterly surprised by Ian’s allocation.
“Do you trust us?”
“There could be a second Arak coming out…”
It could be dangerous for the Bahara people to hold key positions instead of someone from Kaistein.
Nevertheless, Ian smiled.
“You have sworn allegiance to me, and I trust you. Or should I doubt you?”
Ian leisurely picked up the royal sword next to him.
No, he didn’t just pick it up.
Shiiing!
A blade, heavier and sturdier than anything else, revealed itself.
If any of them were thinking of treason, they’d better do it quickly.
The chieftains hastily waved their hands after sensing Ian’s intent to make them suffer the same fate as Arak should they do that.
“T, that’s not true.”
“Then, it is enough. I trust you more than anyone else. If you focus on your work, that’s enough.”
The chieftains quickly agreed to Ian’s words.
Everyone had seen Ian fighting with the monster. It was needless to say what would happen to them if they acted out of greed.
Ian sheathed his sword back at this.
‘Not everything has been settled perfectly yet.’
There were other things more important than that.
It’s Kaistein’s competition and the matter of the crown prince of Cantum.
‘By now, everyone must be letting down their guard on me because they think I have given up the throne of Kaistein.’
Everyone would have done so.
Since he became the king of another country, they must have believed that Ian had forgotten about his home country.
In fact, appointing a regent wasn’t the end of this, and he had a mountain of things left to deal with here as a king.
‘I’ve come up with a particular way for that, so it shouldn’t matter.’
The important thing was a way to return to Kaistein quickly.
Fortunately, he had a very special means of transportation.
So, there was only one thing to take care of now.
“Bring in the crown prince of Cantum.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
It was to bring in his enemy who aimed for the dissonance between Kaistein and Bahara.
And the number one contributor who would get him the throne.
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