The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 263
The history of the Seven Deadly Sins burrows into my mind.
What first emerged was the history of being generated in a dungeon and being subjugated. At that time, a terrible tragedy occurred.
The kingdom, not well understanding the nature of the Seven Deadly Sins, attempted to dispatch a massive force of 10,000 troops to subjugate it. However, this was a place where the more people entered, the more counterproductive the result. As a result, all 10,000 soldiers were cursed and transformed into madmen wandering the Seven Deadly Sins dungeon.
Their madness quickly spread the curse of the Seven Deadly Sins, ultimately causing the nation’s destruction.
From the ruins of that destroyed nation, the Ellan Kingdom was born.
The first king of the Ellan Kingdom, Metheus, selected and deployed a carefully chosen group of heroes to subjugate the Seven Deadly Sins.
The group’s leader was Cora, the kingdom’s finest warrior and King Metheus’s eldest son.
-I will clear out those terrible monsters, Father!
Cora, using tactical skill, defeated the madmen wandering the Seven Deadly Sins and entered with thirty loyal vassals who believed in him.
“Ugh…!”
A severe headache struck him. Along with it, a tragic scene vividly emerged.
It began when one of the two vassals beside him attacked, aiming to steal the jeweled sword Cora had drawn.
Feeling a massive sense of betrayal, Cora began to trust no one. The curse of greed went wild, leading him to hunt down and kill all the vassals who had entered the Seven Deadly Sins with him.
During this process, the vassals showed various reactions. Some grieved deeply and accepted their lord’s madness, while others raged and counterattacked.
In the final moment, alone, Cora was overjoyed at the thought of possessing the jeweled sword. But the sword and the Seven Deadly Sins dissolved into magic, as if mocking human ugliness.
Cora, belatedly realizing his mistake, deeply regretted his actions. Though returning to the palace as a celebrated hero, he soon committed suicide.
“Gasp! Gasp!”
As the vision ended, a strong sense of exhaustion covered my body.
“Lord Ars! Are you alright?!”
“I’m fine… Ugh!”
The Seven Deadly Sins were disappearing even faster. With that, a final vision emerged.
This was the first incident, something that occurred in actual history.
Thousands of years ago, the subjugation of the Seven Deadly Sins was conducted by legendary heroes renowned by name.
Their leader possessed the famous jeweled sword Centum. Merely raising the sword would give people courage, and they would praise him as a hero.
The group of heroes reached the center of the Seven Deadly Sins without issue, but there they encountered a dragon named Mepatra.
There, Mepatra rained down seven curses on the heroes and incited desire for the sword.
The sword, once a sacred symbol, became a symbol of desire.
The hero’s companions fell into internal conflict. The saint died, and the hero was critically wounded, facing imminent death.
Mepatra laughed mockingly at these humans.
“This is human nature! What hero? What saint? Aren’t you killing each other like beasts, blinded by the sword?”
But then, a man appeared. A porter named Greg.
He was someone despised and ignored by his companions because of his role. Verbal abuse was his daily experience, and he was often beaten for the slightest mistake.
This man approached the dying hero.
Mepatra thought Greg, cursed with seven curses, would kill the hero and covet the sword. But that wasn’t the case.
“You are the hope and support of the entire kingdom. The world must not know of your actions.”
He closed the hero’s eyes and then grabbed the sword.
Though the sword’s energy tried to seduce him, he remained steadfast and firmly thrust the sword into the ground.
He returned to the kingdom and reported,
-The hero and saint completed their mission excellently, but I coveted the sword and killed everyone.
Thus, he was executed, taking on the disgrace of the heroes.
This was the actual historical incident of the Seven Deadly Sins.
This event deeply shocked two dragons. Olkin of Hope saw potential in humans, while Mepatra of Coexistence, unable to acknowledge such nobility, went mad.
“This is the truth…”
It was an incredibly sad past.
“…Truly surprising.”
It was Vandalin’s voice. He had approached at some point and was standing beside me.
“Who would have thought no one would die and the task would be completed!”
“Vandalin…! Damn it, if this place was so dangerous, why didn’t you warn me?!”
It was truly dangerous. Just a small mistake could have led to the worst-case scenario.
However, Vandalin shook his head.
“What are you talking about? I never told you to exterminate the Seven Deadly Sins.”
“…What? That, that’s right.”
Indeed, Vandalin had not even intended to provide information about the Seven Deadly Sins.
“Nevertheless, you headed towards the Seven Deadly Sins. Let me ask you instead, why did you decide to exterminate the Seven Deadly Sins?”
Hearing it this way, it was someone else who had instigated the extermination of the Seven Deadly Sins.
“…It was because of Juras.”
Because he said that if it were me, I could exterminate them without much difficulty, I could be at ease.
“He said that if it were me, I could end it without much trouble.”
“Juras Pamilion… He is an inexplicable human that even I cannot read. But looking at this result, his insight seems to have been correct. You have splendidly annihilated this place.”
Vandalin handed me a large magical stone that appeared after the Seven Deadly Sins were extinguished.
This meant that the Seven Deadly Sins would never appear again.
* * *
On the way back to Baien after exterminating the Seven Deadly Sins.
The vassals were gossiping about the events with the Seven Deadly Sins.
“Hahaha! So, Yumir got really angry at Gaspar! Shouting ‘Father! Wake up quickly!’“
Ash was revealing all the details of our party’s embarrassing moments.
Yumir sends a glance to shut his mouth.
“That’s right, Eonia was the highlight! Suddenly shouting ‘Move aside, fool!’ and taking swift action. But she becomes a gentle rabbit in front of Ars?”
“Enough, Ash! Why are you talking about such things?”
Even Eo’s scolding didn’t stop Ash from talking.
“I think these things should be discussed openly. Isn’t it better than keeping it bottled up? Oh, and Estelle and Erina were incredible too!”
As Ash stirred up the atmosphere with his chatter, conversations began in other groups as well.
Other parties seemed to have had considerable twists and turns.
Especially Elena’s party was something else.
Lucretia and Leitin giggle and speak.
“Elena suddenly shouted, ‘Can’t you move quickly, you larvae! This is why you fools are like this!’ This part seems similar to Eonia.”
“Luc! Be quiet!”
“Then she wrote a curse removal spell, got caught in the curse of sloth, and made a fuss saying she didn’t want to go.”
“Krut!”
Ash was right. It was better to talk about these negative emotions openly rather than keeping them hidden inside.
At that moment, talk about the final moments began.
Everyone was curious about what happened in the center.
Beato spoke on behalf of the group.
“That man Anton was truly loyal. He got angry at the sword’s insidious whispers and broke the sword, saying how dare it test his loyalty.”
“Beato, please stop. That’s embarrassing.”
Anton tried to stop her, but Beato shook her head.
“It was an incredible mental strength and loyalty. There are also such humans. Moreover, Ars Elaine was amazing too. In a situation that could be misunderstood as an attack, instead of protecting himself, he threw away his sword to protect his vassal.”
‘Ooooh!’ Exclamations flowed.
Anton waves his hand, looking embarrassed.
Eonia couldn’t just stand and watch this.
“Ugh…!”
Anton was being praised for his loyalty, and Eo was grinding her teeth.
Then she whispers to me,
“Ars, can’t we recreate that Seven Deadly Sins? This time, I’ll break the sword! I can do it too!”
“…!”
I finally understood why Juras recommended the extermination of the Seven Deadly Sins, and why it would be easy for me.
He knew well that in the final moment, the vassals would help me, and that I would never harm my vassals.
This time Anton played that role, but probably Yumir, Eonia, Ash, Gaspar, and most vassals would have destroyed the sword I was holding.
I was deeply convinced that this would happen.
As the carriage finally left the Seven Deadly Sins area, the blockading guards welcomed us with wide eyes.
“Have you completed the extermination of the Seven Deadly Sins?!”
“Yes, the Seven Deadly Sins have been extinguished. Please send a message to the capital immediately.”
“You’ve done an amazing thing! You’re a hero! A hero!”
The guards were moved to tears, seemingly relieved that the nightmare had ended. The stress had been considerable.
We returned to Baien under the escort of the guard unit. The news seemed to have already spread, with citizens coming out to celebrate our return.
Praise echoed from everywhere.
I was busy with the Cradle of the Swamp extermination and hadn’t known, but the infamy of the Seven Deadly Sins had apparently spread to the capital.
‘I just want to go home and see the babies…’
The crowd of citizens forced our carriage’s route towards the royal palace.
Stopping the carriage inside the palace, I stretched, exhausted.
“Sophia, can you handle the rest? I want to rest.”
Sophia shook her head. She seemed to have just received some information from a court attendant.
“Wade, you need to come too. Rosa is preparing a grand ceremony of praise.”
“How troublesome…”
After sending the vassals to the mansion, Sophia and I headed to the audience chamber.
The captain of the guard, Lucretia, and the court Mage, Leitin, followed behind. For some reason, they looked solemn.
“Luc, is something wrong?”
“…”
Luc kept her mouth shut. Something was definitely happening.
I wanted to probe further, but we soon arrived at the audience chamber.
Rosa and all the court attendants were seated there.
Dressed in her finest, Rosa smiled when she saw us.
“I hear you’ve successfully completed the extermination of the Seven Deadly Sins. Ars Elaine.”
“Yes, as Your Majesty commanded.”
“I’m only grateful to you. You helped me expose the Alliance’s misdeeds when ascending to the throne, and in this time of great chaos, you’ve exterminated top-tier dungeons like Life and Death and the Cradle of the Swamps, and even the Seven Deadly Sins, a top-10 dungeon. This is a great achievement!”
I could immediately tell why she was so verbose.
“For such achievements, I wish to grant you an appropriate position. Ars Elaine, I hereby appoint you as a Duke of our Ellan Kingdom!”
“…!?”
I was too shocked to speak. Just receiving a noble title would have been surprising, but a Duke? A Duke meant one of the few absolute high-ranking nobles in the Kingdom.
At that moment, Sophia explained the situation without shifting her gaze,
“The two families previously holding the Duke title have fallen due to the recent succession war and this great chaos. There was a need to fill that vacancy.”
“The extermination of the Seven Deadly Sins was the perfect justification.”
“Indeed.”
Rosa then bestowed a Countess title on Sophia, completing her ceremony of praise.
Court attendants whispered and watched us carefully. There was anxiety about our increased influence, but strangely, no discontent was visible.
Sophia sighed.
“It’s because of Juras. He’s already purged all dissatisfied attendants and tightly controlled the palace rules. So there can be no dissatisfaction with you or me.”
“Ah.”
Given this situation, Rosa’s appointment of me as a Duke was not unreasonable.
Rosa seemed very happy, as if she had finally created a proper position for me.
Seeing her pure goodwill, I decided not to refuse this Duke title.
***
After the title conferral ceremony ended, I headed to the royal palace garden.
Juras was waiting for me there.
I sat down on a garden bench and immediately slumped over.
I had no physical fatigue, but my mental exhaustion was tremendous.
“Huh, you seem to have suffered quite a bit.”
“It’s not ‘seemed to suffer’, I just want to go back to my mansion and rest. So, what is it? What did you want to tell me?”
“I have a few things, but first, won’t you tell me your story?”
“Regarding the subjugation of the Seven Deadly Sins, it proceeded as you predicted.”
“My prediction? I never predicted anything.”
“Don’t play dumb. Since you saw that sacred sword, you must have discovered the true nature of the Seven Deadly Sins.”
“Huh, was that so? So who was it that made you come to your senses?”
“Anton.”
Then Juras makes a dry expression as if his interest has completely vanished.
“The most uninteresting possibility. Personally, I had hoped Ash Payton, Gunther, or Sophia Veron would play that role. They have potential variables.”
“Whatever. Just tell me your story.”
“Hmm.”
He pauses for a moment before speaking.
“I discovered Elliot, the one who can use that strange tracking magic.”
“Really? Where is he now?”
“He’s imprisoned in the Alliance’s branch jail in the Northern Continent. Dorofei Grimwood is in the same situation.”
“Dorofei too!? Why are they imprisoned?”
“Because of the Alliance power struggle. Due to the mess you previously created in the Alliance, it was already on the verge of explosion. This great chaos became a good pretext. In this confusion, the Alliance started a massive power struggle.”
“Did Elliot and Dorofei’s Alliance lose in that power struggle?”
“Most likely.”
To find the remaining missing persons, Elliot must be secured. Dorofei’s safety is equally important.
“I’ll have to plan a rescue operation right away. Thanks for the information.”
“Oh, and there’s one more thing. This is actually the key point.”
“What is it?”
“Information obtained in absolute secrecy by my informant… It’s somewhat hard to believe.”
Unusually, there was no composure in Juras’s expression. It meant this was information he found difficult to accept.
His following words made me doubt my own ears.
“The Alliance is recruiting and resurrecting dungeon monsters.”
“Recruiting…!?”
“Similar to your case. Mirabel, wasn’t it?”
“Ah….”
Thinking about it, recruitment might indeed be possible.
“But resurrection!?”
“I Also found it hard to believe, but the informant said it precisely. Monsters made of magic have obtained physical bodies.”
“By what method…?”
It was a method that was Also connected to me.
Juras speaks softly. “Blood magic.”
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