The Path of Ruin-Chapter 100: The Old Marshal

Kael had been staying at the Imperial Palace for almost half a year. Of course, he had never actually set foot in the palace itself. He had only wandered around the settlement surrounding it. He had spent these six months in the areas assigned to General Loukan. He had never been anywhere else in the palace except places like the cafeteria and the arena.

Now, however, he was going to a different part of it.

He was leaving General Loukan’s territory, moving towards that of someone higher in rank, with Hakon showing him the way.

To say he wasn’t nervous would be one of the biggest lies he had ever told in his life. They had planned so much in Hakon’s office, focused so much on the meeting, that he inevitably found himself in this state.

’Stay calm, don’t let your nervousness show.’

He took a deep breath to relax.

He needed to control his nervousness. Hakon had made it clear that the Marshal didn’t like cowards. But if he stood before him and ignored the difference in rank and power between them, he would be seen as disrespectful. So showing a little tension wasn’t such a bad idea.

’I’ll decide on the best course of action when the time comes.’

For now... they kept walking.

As they approached buildings he didn’t recognize or couldn’t see in detail from a distance, Kael’s focus shifted to examining his surroundings.

They still had some distance to go before reaching the Marshal’s territory. After all, its borders weren’t adjacent to General Loukan’s. However, simply leaving General Loukan’s territory had brought interesting changes.

People whose faces he didn’t recognize, different buildings that seemed to have been designed with almost different principles in mind, even the atmosphere itself.

’Interesting.’

They continued onward.

They didn’t just walk around the palace; they approached it as well. As they got closer to that enormous palace standing in the center of this town-like place, its top seemingly reaching for the sky despite the darkness of the night, Kael began to feel something stirring inside him.

It was a very... strange feeling. A feeling he couldn’t quite understand, but one that was definitely there. An uncomfortable one that enveloped his entire body.

"Ah..."

Even though he didn’t realize what the feeling was, he narrowed his eyes as he noticed something else.

He had thought it was simply people and buildings changing, as before. But no... the change was much more internal. Much more fundamental.

It was the atmosphere that was changing.

Even the air he breathed seemed to change as he approached the palace.

After a short while, he finally realized.

It was eon.

The amount of eon around them was increasing.

’Damn.’

Even though he didn’t know what was causing it, he was at least sure of its source.

’The palace.’

This interesting change was happening as they approached it.

And... they were getting pretty close to it.

The Marshal was apparently in a place that could be considered right next to the palace.

"We have arrived."

He was thinking so intensely that he had taken three more steps before he processed and understood Hakon’s words in his mind and stopped. Hakon quickly noticed his distraction. However, instead of reacting negatively, he simply smiled.

"As you approach the palace, the amount of eon in the atmosphere increases. At a certain point, you stop breathing and feel as if the eon itself is being drawn into your lungs. Some say it’s the Emperor himself who causes this, rather than the palace, but no one knows the truth for sure."

"Oh..."

The Emperor... must be quite powerful. He did not doubt that. But was he really powerful enough to fill even the atmosphere around him with eon?

He didn’t think so. This idea must be a product of people deifying him. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder...

What stage was the Emperor at?

Could he be in that final stage, about which he knew neither the name nor what it entailed?

"You get used to it as time goes by. For now, focus on the upcoming meeting."

And that was what pulled Kael out of his world of imagination and brought him back to reality.

Right... he had come here on a mission.

He took his eyes off the palace reaching up to the sky and turned them to the building they were standing in front of.

It was a building connected to the palace. It was directly linked to the main building. So, technically, he would be entering the palace.

However, the building he was entering was much smaller than that massive structure reaching up to the sky.

Although... it still looked as big as the palace of Arcanoa.

Was the Empire too grandiose, or was the Kingdom of Arcanoa too weak for its time?

He wasn’t sure.

"Let’s go."

When Hakon started walking again, Kael began to follow him once more.

When they reached the building’s massive entrance, they were greeted by two armored knights. Their faces were expressionless, but their eyes were sharp, looking as if they could instantly pin Kael to the ground at the slightest mistake.

’These two feel like they are Pursuers...’

He couldn’t help but swallow hard when he realized the level of the two people who had simply greeted them. After all, he was expecting a Bearer or a Follower...

But what he didn’t expect was that these two Pursuers would show respect to Hakon.

The moment they saw him, they stepped aside, and the massive door they were guarding slowly swung open.

Hakon entered the palace without paying any attention to the two knights, and Kael followed suit. However, another question arose within him this time.

Was Hakon... someone even more important and powerful than he had initially thought? After all, the knights guarding the entrance to a building directly connected to the palace had respectfully stepped back when they saw him, not even daring to ask about the identity of the young person walking beside him. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Kael began to feel a headache coming on.

Just walking around was creating so many questions in his mind! He couldn’t get any of them answered in a satisfying way either. On the contrary, they only led to more questions!

’Disturbing...’

Still, without showing anything outwardly, he continued to follow Hakon.

That enormous door opened onto a hall that was quite large, with staircases and corridors on all sides. But Hakon walked on as if he knew exactly where he was going.

First, they went up one floor, ignoring the servants and other staff around them. They walked through several corridors. Then they went up two more floors and walked a little further. Kael was beginning to feel that they were getting closer to the main palace when he... paused.

The corridors were getting wider. At the same time, the number of employees he saw around him was decreasing. They were apparently approaching the Marshal’s room.

He was right. Only half a minute had passed since that thought when they turned down a corridor, and the first thing that caught Kael’s eye was the massive door he could see at the end of the corridor with two knights standing in front of it. The atmosphere was similar to when they first entered the building.

Hakon walked towards the door. And just like the first time, the knights guarding the door respectfully stepped back. The door swung wide open, revealing the room behind it.

It was a large room. It was simply several times the size of Hakon’s office. However, despite its size, the design was... simple. Aside from a few small decorations, paintings, and such, it seemed entirely optimized for work. The walls were lined with shelves holding countless documents. There was even a section with a table and chairs set aside for meetings or small gatherings. And that table was also covered with documents.

However... none of this mattered. Because the moment the door opened, what immediately caught Kael’s attention was the man standing directly in front of them.

"H- huh...?"

The image that came to mind when he heard the word ’marshal’ was simple.

He expected an old man wearing full plate armor, standing about two meters tall, with a muscular physique covered in battle scars.

But the man in front of him was not that.

No, he was very different.

Plate armor aside, his clothes didn’t even look like they belonged to a noble. His clothes were so... simple that if Kael had seen him outside, he would have simply thought he was an ordinary old man who seemed to be doing well.

He wasn’t about two meters tall at all, nor was his body well-built. He was even shorter than Hakon. That aside, he also looked skinny. There were no visible scars either. If he had seen this man on the battlefield, he would have thought he was inexperienced, one of the first to die.

The only thing he guessed correctly about him was his age. The man... was really old. His graying hair and wrinkled face suggested he was around sixty or seventy.

But all that aside, this man was smiling. Quite sincerely, in fact, as if he were looking at his own grandchild.

"Come inside, take a seat."

Even his voice wasn’t harsh or deep. It was soft, like that of a truly old man.

’What the fuck? Have I been tricked?’

All the things he had heard while talking to Hakon came to mind. This man... was someone they should fear, someone who took every step carefully and approached everything they said with suspicion. He was someone who had to choose every word carefully when speaking to him.

But the figure standing before him... was completely different. He looked too deceptive.

He looked like he would collapse if touched, despite his strength and status.