I’m the Madman of This Family

Chapter 390. I’m the Crazy One in This Country (3)

Rukan decided to go to the enemy camp alone.

Alkione finally felt that the moment he had been waiting for had arrived.

‘Although it deviated greatly from the original plan, the destination remains the same.’

It was a moment he had been eagerly anticipating, so much so that the corners of his mouth twitched.

However, Alkione suppressed his smile. Rukan still doubted him. If he showed such an unnatural expression now, the cautious Rukan might change his mind again.

After barely calming his excited heart, Alkione spoke to Rukan, who was about to leave.

“Your Highness. Keter would not have revealed himself without a plan. This is clearly a trap to lure you in.”

“What difference does it make if it’s a trap?”

When you tell someone confident in their strength, ‘It’s a trap, don’t go,’ they only want to go more. Alkione provoked Rukan with a calm voice.

“If it’s a trap set by the allied forces, it won’t be much of a threat. But Keter’s trap is different. That guy is unpredictable. I believe Your Highness knows this well.”

“Are you trying to scare me into thinking I’ll lose now?”

“That will never happen. However, there is a possibility that things could become troublesome.”

“So, you’re saying I’ll lose after all.”

Just as Rukan’s tone was about to turn harsh, Alkione suddenly pulled out a pink orb.

Rukan tried to ignore it, but all his attention was drawn to the pink orb. It was truly radiant and beautiful.

“What… is this?”

Rukan, who had been captivated by a mere orb, became extremely wary.

Alkione spoke calmly.

“This is your mother, the Queen of this country, Lilian.”

“……?!”

Rukan was startled and looked at the orb again. Then, he clenched his fists tightly.

When he focused and looked closely, Alkione’s words were true. The faint shadow inside the orb, which he had thought was just a pattern, was actually Queen Lilian crouching.

Alkione explained the situation before Rukan could even ask.

“Did you know? Queen Lilian originally gave birth to you, Prince Rukan, just for amusement. She wanted to see how far her own flesh and blood could grow. However, you, Your Highness, were stronger and more outstanding than the Queen had anticipated. Feeling threatened, the Queen tried to harm you, but I stopped her. As a token of my loyalty to you, please accept this.”

Rukan seemed to be greatly shocked by Alkione’s words. But even in that situation, his body moved honestly, and he took the orb of Queen Lilian from Alkione’s palm.

Alkione whispered to the confused Rukan.

“Absorb Queen Lilian’s power. Become a god who surpasses the Queen. And become the ruler of this country, no, this world.”

“…Alkione.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve known since the first time I saw you that you had ulterior motives.”

Rukan’s calm voice. Although it should have been embarrassing, Alkione replied calmly.

“We started with that kind of relationship. There’s nothing new about it.”

“You captured Queen Lilian and gave her to me, surely with some dirty ulterior motive. But honestly, I don’t know what your intentions are. You haven’t imposed any restrictions on me.”

“Hoho, to be honest, I just don’t want to sit in a troublesome position. I want you, Your Highness, to live as the king of the light, and I as the king of the shadows.”

“Kukuku. That’s a plausible story. But I don’t believe you, Alkione.”

Rukan rolled Queen Lilian’s orb in his hand. Had his wariness of Alkione reached its peak?

No. Rukan had never trusted Alkione from the beginning. He had only pretended to be fooled, playing along in his hands.

Now, he was making it obvious. No matter what you say, I will never believe you.

Although it should have made Alkione anxious, he remained composed.

“They say that a hunting dog is boiled and eaten after the hunt is over. But without me now, world conquest is impossible.”

“When did I ever say I wanted to conquer the world? The land my mother ruled is enough for me.”

“The world won’t leave it at that. Your Highness has already crossed the ‘line.’”

“Do you really think I’m a fool? If I declare that I’m satisfied with just this land, do you think they’ll go out of their way to fight me?”

“Hmm, it seems Your Highness is already certain.”

“That’s right.”

Gulp.

Rukan swallowed the orb of Queen Lilian he held in his hand. Nothing happened. But Rukan didn’t pay it any mind.

“After Keter, it’s you, Alkione.”

Leaving behind a chilling warning, Rukan disappeared into the fog.

Alkione showed no reaction. He simply sat on the empty throne and rested.

*

Sephira’s army, which started with 5,000, had swelled to 70,000 overnight. It was the result of touring the country and gathering the remaining troops of various families.

At first, there was strong resistance. But when it was revealed that the Divine Archer Keter was leading Sephira’s army, volunteers began to appear.

There were no stragglers. Those kinds of people were already dead or severely injured.

Thus, the gathered army was eventually called the ‘Dawn Army’ by the people.

“But where is our destination?”

“This direction isn’t towards the royal capital.”

In fact, the Dawn Army didn’t even know where they were going. They thought they were heading to the royal capital where the Demon King was, since Keter had joined them, but the direction was different.

“If we go this way, we’re heading north.”

“Oh, is that so! That’s it!”

“What is it? Tell me too!”

“Don’t you get it yet? The Divine Archer is going to punish Duke Browning!”

“Duke Browning?!”

“Ah! He’s going to punish the corrupted Duke Browning first to restore order!”

“How can we mere mortals understand the Divine Archer’s intentions? Perhaps he’s going to persuade the Browning Duke House to join our side!”

Even within the Dawn Army, opinions were divided about their purpose.

They’re touring to make the Demon King let his guard down. They’re going to attack the Browning Duke House first. No, they’re going to recruit them. Some even made the absurd claim that they were heading straight for the Empire.

“Keter. Do you have a moment?”

Hisop, who was serving as a lieutenant in the Dawn Army, approached Keter, who was at the front.

Keter was standing on the roof of a four-horse carriage and gestured for Hisop to come up.

“Hmm.”

Who would have thought he’d ever have to climb onto a carriage roof in his life? Hisop let out a self-deprecating laugh and got straight to the point.

“We’ve gathered such a large army overnight. Don’t you think it’s about time to let us know our destination?”

“Destination…!”

Keter, with his arms crossed, gave a look that said, ‘Do you really want to know?’

Hisop nodded. Hisop had always thought gathering an army was meaningless. After all, the world’s allied forces had suffered a great defeat, and external forces had been greatly weakened.

The Crown Prince Lerkin and the Second Prince Rakan. They had withdrawn their armies and stopped supplies. Sephira was now in a position where they had to fight without external help.

In such a situation, even if they gathered an army, it would only amount to 50,000, which was far too few to oppose the Chimera Legion of 100,000.

To make matters worse, the morale of the Transcendent Beings had fallen due to the reinforcements of the Evil Gods.

Of course, the Dawn Army had seven Transcendent Beings besides Keter, but they were essentially just watching. They wanted to see what kind of insight Keter had to gather such an army before deciding whether to act or not.

Hisop thought now was the time to give the Dawn Army some confidence.

“Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. Do you really want to know?”

When Keter asked seriously, Hisop nodded without hesitation.

“Tell me.”

“Alright. If you really want to know. But you have to keep it to yourself.”

Keter, who had gotten close to Hisop, covered his mouth with his palm and whispered softly into his ear.

“There isn’t one.”

“Huh?”

Hisop, who pulled his face back, approached Keter again, covering his mouth with his palm and said.

“Say it again. I must have misheard.”

“You didn’t mishear. There isn’t one. No plan, no destination.”

“……?”

Keter lay down as if he had nothing more to say. Hisop, with a bewildered expression, got off the carriage.

Of course, it wasn’t true that Keter had no plan at all.

‘We’ll just go around the country once.’

That was the entirety of Keter’s plan. There was no grand strategy to recapture any place or apply pressure.

Of course, it wasn’t that he couldn’t come up with one. But Keter knew.

‘Any strategy I come up with without proper learning, Rukan will see through it.’

Even if it wasn’t Keter, the result would be the same. The moment anyone comes up with a strategy, Rukan will see through it. It’s not that Rukan is overestimated, but in war, everyone does that.

War strategies are all the same. Moving to gain an advantage is the strategy, and once the objective is set, it will inevitably be seen through by the opponent.

And using the fact that the strategy has been seen through. That’s the basic tactic of war. Seeing through the seeing through. Using the using. Theoretically, the best strategy is to create a strategy that wins in this tail-chasing game, but…

‘I can’t do that.’

Moreover, how could such a strategy be created in a day or two?

‘On the other hand, the same goes for the opponent.’

It takes more than a day or two to analyze a strategy.

So Keter aimed for two gaps. He didn’t create a strategy and forced the army to march. He had no particular intention.

However, from the opponent’s perspective, it’s different. They will try to see through the strategy and react in some way.

What Keter was aiming for was to make the opponent act first.

Of course, Keter’s tactic also has weaknesses. If the opponent remains indifferent and responds calmly, it will just be a waste of the army’s stamina and supplies.

But Keter could bet on it.

‘Rukan. You will never stay still.’

It’s not just Rukan’s war style.

It’s because of Keter’s own existence. Keter was certain that Rukan would move because of this alone. That’s why Keter was deliberately standing on the roof of the carriage, where he could be clearly seen.

I’m here, not a fake, but the real one, he was saying.

Keter looked up at the gloomy sky and muttered to himself.

‘I’ve used everything I can.’

A quick decisive battle.

Keter had no intention of dragging this war out. Not because he was afraid of Rukan, but because he was afraid of the Grand Duke.

‘Even a quick decisive battle could be the Grand Duke’s plan. But it’s a dead end. We can’t drag the war out.’

Surely, the Grand Duke had been preparing for this war for a very long time. And meticulously. So there were situations where, even knowing it, we had no choice but to fall for it.

‘We’ll give what we have to give. But we must create variables.’

Right here.

Keter quietly muttered as he got up from his seat. At that moment, he felt a tremendous power. It was the most enormous power Keter had ever felt.

Even though Keter at the front didn’t give the order to stop, everyone instinctively halted their march.

“Who, who is that?”

“Am I seeing things?”

The knights at the front rubbed their eyes.

They couldn’t help it.

One person. Standing alone, blocking the path of the Dawn Army. Everyone looked at him with astonished faces.

But soon, they were shocked.

That person was none other than the Demon King, who had once been called the Crown Prince of the Lilian Kingdom, Rukan, standing alone.