I’m the Madman of This Family

Episode 311. Can’t You Feel My Kindness? (5)

“If Keter appears, ignore our casualties and use the ultimate technique.”

This was the order given by General Colton to knights of Master rank and above, as well as the mages of the magic corps.

As ordered, a barrage of sword auras rained down toward Keter. Though the sword auras were fired without coordination, not a single trajectory overlapped. This was evidence of how much training the swordsmen had undergone and how experienced they were.

The mages, all of at least the 5th Circle, simultaneously cast the same spell.

4th Circle Lightning Magic, Thunderbird.

Keter’s movements were incredibly swift, and his arrows were even faster, so they attempted to counter with lightning magic.

But all of this was meaningless.

The countless sword auras and lightning strikes couldn’t even reach Keter. They melted away like snow under the light generated by the explosion of thousands of Milky Ways.

It was as if a second sun had risen above the sun. There wasn’t even a “boom” sound. Even the noise seemed to be swallowed by the explosion.

What the Kingdom Army witnessed was “light.”

The entire world was dyed in light. A light so intense that even closing their eyes tightly was futile.

The soldiers who had entered the inner courtyard, and the 25,000 soldiers outside, all felt the same emotion.

‘We’re going to die.’

Just as it’s common sense that falling from an unfathomably deep cliff means certain death, those engulfed in the light also accepted their impending demise.

Soldiers began dropping their weapons, which were as precious as their lives. They had given up.

Yet, for some reason, the death they awaited never came.

“……?”

Those who had shut their eyes against the flash slowly opened them.

“Are we alive?”

“We’re alive…?”

Not just the regular soldiers, but the knights, mages, and even Colton himself had believed they were doomed.

But they weren’t dead. In fact, it was strange that they weren’t dead.

“Was it all a dream?”

“No. This is Sephira. That thing floating in the sky is Sephira’s Divine Archer.”

The fact that no one picked up their dropped weapons showed that the Kingdom Army’s will to fight had melted away like snow under the spring sun.

Instead, what filled that void was curiosity. Curiosity about why they were still alive.

Whoooosh!

Then, a strange wind blew. A wind that sucked the ground up into the sky.

Their gazes naturally turned upward. Soon, everyone’s mouths hung open, unable to close.

“The sky…”

“There’s a hole in the sky?”

Just moments ago, the sky had been a clear blue, without a single cloud.

But now, what they saw above was a darkness as black as ink.

The divine power Keter had shown wasn’t an illusion. He had simply directed his attack not at the ground, but at the sky.

Keter’s strike had pierced a hole in the sky. If that strike had been aimed at the ground, how many would have survived?

From the lowest soldier to the Grandmaster, everyone trembled. Overwhelmed by Keter’s divine power, fear gave way to awe, filling their hearts.

“Prime…!”

“The Prime has appeared in Sephira…”

“Is this the power of the Divine Archer?”

They were convinced Keter was the Prime. They believed the arrow that shattered the sky was a manifestation of divine authority. There was no other explanation for such power.

“Why do you think I didn’t kill you?”

Keter asked, like a professor questioning his students.

“Maybe I found killing tens of thousands distasteful, or perhaps I didn’t want Sephira’s land to be desecrated. If you think about it, reasons can be made up endlessly.”

Thud, thud.

Keter, who had walked down from the empty air to the ground, stood before General Colton. None of the tens of thousands of soldiers dared to stop him.

“It’s a bit disappointing that no one thinks I might be weakened. Isn’t there anyone brave enough to step forward? An archer has come this close, after all.”

Keter provocatively tapped the chest of a nearby Divine Archer with his finger.

But the Divine Archer didn’t flinch. Keter made a disappointed face and turned back to General Colton.

“So, General Colton, why do you think I spared you and the Kingdom Army? This is a question, so answer it.”

Tens of thousands shivered in the cold, waiting for Colton’s response. Colton answered without hesitation.

“I don’t know. Sparing us is disadvantageous to Sephira in every way. It doesn’t seem like you’re keeping us alive just to toy with us either.”

The sound of swallowing could be heard from all around at Colton’s honest answer.

“Honesty is good. And I like smart people too. General Colton, you’re honest and smart. So, I want to ask for your advice. Why should I spare you?”

Asking for advice from the enemy general who came to annihilate his clan was something unheard of in thousands of years of history.

Colton looked into Keter’s eyes. If the intention behind this question was merely to torture them with hope, he’d rather die fighting.

‘This man… he’s serious.’

Rumors of Keter’s madness were widespread in the kingdom. And those rumors weren’t wrong. From his first appearance until now, Keter had been anything but ordinary.

Even now, it was the same. He wasn’t asking this as a joke. He was serious, waiting for Colton’s answer with a grave expression.

‘A reason to spare the Kingdom Army. If such a reason truly exists, does that mean he’ll spare us?’

Even for a seasoned veteran like Colton, Keter’s insane question didn’t bring an immediate answer.

‘Surrender to Sephira and become prisoners? Impossible. How would Sephira accommodate 30,000 people? They lack both manpower and food.’

‘Retreat and return to the royal palace? If we do that, the heads of the commanders, including mine, will roll. And the returning soldiers will be thrown back into the frontlines of the Sephira assault force.’

‘If we can’t become prisoners, and we can’t return to the royal palace…’

The conclusion he reached was absurd, but Keter didn’t seem patient enough to delay his answer.

“We will defect to Duke Lerkin. He is not hostile to Sephira, so we won’t attack Sephira again. Moreover, if Duke Lerkin’s power grows, the two princes won’t be able to hastily organize a second army to strike Sephira.”

Colton didn’t bother with embellishments. He knew that with a madman, embellishments could backfire.

But regardless of embellishments, Keter was already annoyed.

“That only benefits Duke Lerkin.”

“……!”

“What about the mess you made? The Hell Seed is still there, the poison you spread in the water source needs to be detoxified, and the material and spiritual damage Sephira has suffered? In monetary terms, it’s a loss of tens of millions of gold. You think you can just wipe your mouth and leave?”

“If you want compensation, we’ll leave behind all our supplies except for our clothes. Sephira can use them or sell them for at least a million gold.”

“You say that as if you’re doing us a favor, but those are rightfully ours as spoils of war.”

“If you want ransom, our families…”

“It would take a month just to contact and negotiate.”

“Hmm…”

Colton was at a loss for words. Keter’s eloquence was beyond imagination.

‘The divine power of the Prime, an unpredictable mind, and flawless logic. Just where did this monster come from?’

He hadn’t thought he could easily persuade Keter, but this seemed to imply that Keter intended to kill them all.

As the negotiation stalled, the soldiers’ expressions darkened.

Then, Keter spoke as if he had no choice.

“It seems you really want to live. There’s only one way for you to survive.”

Keter began to lay out his conditions, as if he had been waiting for this from the start. Hearing this, Colton and everyone else wore expressions of disbelief.

*

“You want us to migrate to an island.”

“Yes.”

“And all the resources produced there will be surrendered to Sephira as war reparations?”

“You understood correctly.”

“Huh…”

The method Keter proposed for the 25,000 Kingdom Army soldiers to survive was exile to an island.

Not just exile, but also surrendering all resources produced there to Sephira.

“With the supply troops, that’s 30,000 people. How can you possibly move all of them to an island—”

“I’ll handle the method. Just make your choice. Will you accept my proposal, or will you all die by my hand?”

“……”

A commander doesn’t listen to subordinates’ opinions. The commander’s opinion represents everyone’s.

And Colton wanted to accept Keter’s proposal. Regardless of how to move so many people to an island, he didn’t want to die like this.

‘If I die honorably in battle, at the hands of a superior enemy, it would be an honorable death. But dying now would be a meaningless death.’

Even if Keter had set an ambush, if they had followed the original plan and slowly pressured Sephira, this situation wouldn’t have happened. They would have had to sacrifice the Grandmasters, but most of the troops could have been saved and retreated.

But because of that damned Prince Rukan’s forceful charge order, everything went wrong.

Even if it’s unfair, I don’t want to die. That was Colton’s honest feeling. Above all, his creed was that it’s better to live, even if it means rolling in filth.

“I want to say a few words to the soldiers.”

“Go ahead.”

Keter stepped back, extending his hand.

Colton looked around. Though it wasn’t a high vantage point, and he could only see a few dozen people, he felt the consciousness of tens of thousands waiting for his words.

“…Defeat is not dishonorable, and death is not to be feared. Running away is not shameful; it’s a strategic retreat.”

Colton paused, as if to build up emotion, and his voice grew louder.

“We have been defeated. No matter what excuses we make, that fact won’t change. The victor has shown us mercy. To die or to live. We’ve been given a choice. And I have chosen to live.”

“Ugh…”

“General…!”

Tears welled up here and there, and some choked back sobs. Colton waited for them to quiet down before continuing.

“Do not consider this shameful. Do not say that death is better than life. If you live, you can do anything, but if you die, you can do nothing. So I ask of you. Live. Come with me. No matter where we go, I promise to keep you alive and send you back to your homeland.”

“I will follow!”

“I will gladly follow!”

Soldiers wept and shouted General Colton’s name.

A cheer that could rival the might of winter. But as Keter raised his hand slightly, it fell silent as if it had been a lie.

“Anyone who doesn’t want to? Just raise your hand if you want to die.”

“……”

No one spoke, and no one raised their hand. Everyone just glanced at each other.

Swish.

Someone raised their hand. Whether they truly wanted to die or just had a question, no one knew.

What was certain was that the moment they raised their hand, a hole appeared in their forehead.

“Brave of you. I’ll send you off painlessly with one shot. Any more?”

With one person dying in the blink of an eye after raising their hand, no one else dared to raise theirs.

“Good. Everyone agrees. Maknun!”

“Yes!”

Maknun, who had been watching from the bell tower, appeared beside Keter the moment he was called.

“Teleport?!”

“Such fast and stealthy teleportation…!”

“Sephira is truly a den of monsters.”

The royal mages whispered among themselves.

But it wasn’t Maknun who opened the gate.

“Six Hundred. You come out too.”

Swoosh.

The homunculus Six Hundred, who had been hiding with an invisibility spell, revealed himself.

But that wasn’t all. Keter took out a glass marble from his pocket and infused it with mana, causing a gate to suddenly appear in midair.

“Finally, my turn has come. Huh?”

The person who emerged from the gate was a middle-aged man, but the vulgarity in his tone made it clear it was Ivan.

Ivan looked at Keter with a bewildered expression.

“You didn’t call me to fight these guys, did you? What’s the plan?”

“I need you to open a gate. To these coordinates.”

Keter handed over a piece of paper with coordinates written on it.

Ivan frowned as soon as he saw the coordinates.

“From here to there? It’s not difficult, but… you’re not planning to move everyone here, are you?”

“Exactly.”

“That’s impossible. Even for a genius mage like me, moving 30,000 people would make my brain explode. I can’t do it, even for you.”

“That’s if you’re maintaining the gate alone.”

“Huh?”

Without Keter needing to say more, Maknun stepped forward and spoke.

“I’ll handle fixing the gate’s coordinates.”

“Ha, kid. Do you even know about spatial magic? Constantly fixing the coordinates on both sides requires immense concentration. And with 30,000 people moving through, the space will be even more unstable. Maintaining it without a single error is something only a genius like me can do.”

“Heh, if you’re a genius, then I’m a genius too, right?”

“Let’s say you fix the coordinates. Where will the mana come from? Keter. I know a way. Give me the dragon’s heart you possess, and—”

“That’s what this guy will handle.”

Keter pointed at Six Hundred. Ivan looked disappointed.

“Hmm, with the homunculus core… it’s not impossible.”

The Syndicate was also aware of Six Hundred’s capabilities.

The homunculus core is the essence of magical engineering, closest to a dragon’s heart. Its mana affinity is excellent, making it ideal for drawing mana.

“Well, even with all that, it’s only possible if I handle the control.”

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