Return of The Martial King

Chapter 236

Repenhardt gazed up at the sky. The dawning Zeppelin sky revealed no trace of Teslon or Philena anywhere.

It was exactly like the time with Jade—vanishing without a single trace.

“Well, isn’t this just great? I’m like a dog chasing chickens,” he muttered.

It wasn’t as though he’d made a mistake.

The Feather of Return Philena used was an artifact Repenhardt had never once encountered, even in his previous life. In this life, he’d only seen it used once—by Jade.

How could he, not being a prophet, have anticipated that Philena would possess such a rare item? To predict that would’ve been unrealistic.

He had been confident he’d captured them. In fact, he had.

Thus, there had been no need to take further action.

They were as good as subdued. Besides, Philena was a childhood friend from his memories. Repenhardt wasn’t some deranged murderer consumed by the thrill of killing. There was no reason for unnecessary bloodshed. It wasn’t a matter of him being soft or indecisive; from his perspective, his approach had been the logical one.

Repenhardt scratched his head irritably.

“No, seriously, how does Philena even have something like that? Could it actually be common?”

Of course, the Feather of Return was an extremely rare item, even among the Silver Sages. It was a single-use consumable, and it couldn’t be recreated. Even within their ranks, it was rarely given out. In fact, Serelein had secretly handed the Feather of Return to Teslon and Philena.

It wasn’t out of concern for their safety.

The Adamandril Suit given to Teslon was a forbidden artifact that must never be exposed to the world. If he were to lose, it absolutely had to be retrieved. Philena, being perpetually glued to Teslon’s side, was simply given one as an added precaution.

Of course, Repenhardt wasn’t aware of all these underlying circumstances. But he could infer a few things from the facts he was facing.

‘Philena had that feather. And Jade had the exact same one, didn’t he? That suggests there’s likely some connection between the two groups…’

Rubbing his chin, Repenhardt sank into thought.

‘Come to think of it, both Jade’s and Teslon’s sides… They keep showing up with all these unheard-of artifacts.’

Teslon’s Adamandril Suit was truly a remarkable artifact, one of such overwhelming performance that Eusus’ magical armor, Eldrad, could almost be dismissed as a cheap trinket in comparison. Even Stefan’s Berserker Armor and Philena’s staff were extraordinary artifacts rarely seen in the mortal world.

‘Just like that gauntlet or those boots Jade used…’

Yet, he hadn’t heard of a single one of these artifacts before.

The only one he even vaguely knew about was Jade’s Blink Boots—and that was purely by chance, not because it was widely known.

Eusus’ magical armor, Eldrad, was so famous that even ordinary people were aware of its existence.

‘How is it possible for artifacts with such power to remain this unknown?’

When he first encountered Teslon, he hadn’t thought much of it. Back then, aside from Stefan’s Berserker Armor, none of them were carrying artifacts. (Eusus’ Eldrad was something he’d already owned.)

At the time, he’d simply assumed Teslon’s group had gotten lucky and found it in some obscure dungeon.

But now, things were different. Not only had Stefan’s Berserker Armor undergone inexplicable modifications, but Teslon and Philena had appeared with new artifacts in tow.

Artifacts, by their nature, were so incredibly rare that their very rarity defined the term. If they were easily obtainable with money, they’d merely be categorized as high-grade magical tools. No matter how many dungeons one raided, treasures of such caliber wouldn’t just flood out.

“Hmm…”

Repenhardt scratched his head furiously.

These artifacts were of such outstanding performance that even he, a 10-circle Grand Mage, couldn’t help but marvel.

Yet despite their incredible power, not a single one of them was known to the world?

And Teslon’s group, along with Jade, kept appearing with these things?

Moreover, their sources seemed oddly similar?

‘It’s starting to feel like there’s someone hoarding artifacts somewhere and handing them out like candy. But then again, this doesn’t make sense either. To possess such an abundance of artifacts with that level of power, they’d have to be backed by at least the top three academies. And if they had them, why haven’t they revealed their existence to the world?’

This wasn’t the only thing he couldn’t wrap his head around.

‘And Philena’s abilities… they don’t make any sense either…’

In truth, Philena didn’t hold much significance in Repenhardt’s memories. Although he had grown wiser with age, back then, Repenhardt had been an arrogant young genius who barely paid attention to Philena, even though she cared for him like a younger brother. His only recollection of her was occasionally boasting about and teaching her theories he had invented whenever he felt bored.

‘Ugh, thinking back on it, I was such an insufferable jerk.’

In those memories, Philena had certainly not been an extraordinary mage. She had some talent, but after leaving the tower, she vanished from the scene—just a figure from his childhood memories.

‘If I hadn’t heard of her at all after that, she must have lived a quiet life as a regular mage… But if she’s reached that level at her age, there’s no way she’d have stayed obscure.’

The final lightning-layered spell might have relied on an artifact, but even disregarding that, Philena’s current skills far exceeded Repenhardt’s expectations.

She had chained lower-tier spells to achieve the effects of high-level flight magic. It sounded simple, but this technique required extremely complex calculations beyond the realm of magical mastery.

It involved simultaneously suppressing three types of magical energy collisions while intricately calculating the changes in airflow and continuously adjusting power output. Such acrobatic flight magic was only possible if one could process all the formulas based on fluid dynamics instantaneously.

This was precisely the kind of highly advanced computation required by the Theory of Magical Situation Control, a theory so demanding that even Repenhardt, who invented it, couldn’t perform it with his current mental capacity.

“Philena definitely wasn’t that smart before.”

Of course, she would have known the theory since Repenhardt himself had taught it to her. But for her to apply it to fifth-circle magic like this? Her computational ability wasn’t nearly advanced enough back then.

Sure, magical computational skills could improve with practice, but not to this extent. If sheer effort were all it took, why would Repenhardt in this life have gone to such great lengths to acquire Elucion’s Voice?

“And yet, the Philena I’ve met now seems like she’s using Elucion’s Voice—her computational power has skyrocketed.”

To his knowledge, the only method to enhance a mage’s computational ability was through Elucion’s Voice. And that artifact was currently in his possession.

Repenhardt furiously scratched his head.

"…I can’t make sense of any of this."

His mind was a tangled mess. Philena’s situation, those mysterious artifacts—everything was beyond the scope of his understanding. For the first time since returning to this era, he encountered something he couldn’t fully grasp.

"Did Teslon do something? But how could such things even happen?"

*         *         *

It was much later that Iniya returned to Repenhardt.

While Philena had scrambled to Teslon, who was teetering on the brink of death, using every ounce of her magical power, Iniya hadn’t needed to. Repenhardt’s victory had been clear.

Instead of pursuing them, she had stayed behind to focus on healing her injuries with aura manipulation. Only after her body had sufficiently recovered did she rejoin him.

Seeing her approach, Repenhardt greeted her with concern.

"Are you alright, Iniya?"

"Yes, I can manage to move well enough," she replied, though there was a hint of embarrassment as she offered an apology.

"I’m sorry… I couldn’t take down that female mage."

"You were badly injured. It’s fine," Repenhardt said, comforting her in a gentle voice. Then, her eyes suddenly sharpened.

"But…"

She fixed a cold glare at the crumbled section of Zeppelin’s ruined wall where Teslon and Philena had been moments before.

"Why didn’t you finish him off immediately, Repenhardt-nim?" she asked icily.

"What?"

Repenhardt looked at her in confusion.

"If I hadn’t failed to take down the mage, they wouldn’t have escaped. That part is entirely my fault," she said, her voice calm as she repeated her apology. Then, she raised her voice sharply.

"But if you had killed that man immediately, the female mage wouldn’t have had the chance to rescue him. Why didn’t you end him right then and there?"

Repenhardt was startled. Was she blaming him for letting the enemy escape?

But Iniya shared responsibility for that and had already acknowledged it. Her tone wasn’t one of deflection.

Iniya’s piercing gaze locked onto Repenhardt. The warmth that usually filled her eyes had been replaced by a frosty intensity. It was a look he had seen often in their past life.

Finally, Iniya spoke aloud the true reason for her anger.

"Are you considering recruiting him?"  

"Well… it’s just… it felt like such a waste to kill someone with that much talent…"  

Iniya’s expression grew even colder.  

"I’ve heard the story about Chancellor Karl. He was an enemy once, but now he’s one of our allies. So, I thought perhaps you were considering something similar with Teslon."  

"Yes, that’s… what I was thinking," Repenhardt admitted, shrinking slightly as he cautiously gauged her reaction. He couldn’t understand why she seemed so upset over his attempt to recruit Teslon, just as he had with Karl.  

Then, Iniya muttered in a low voice, "He… killed Kadamyte."  

Her voice carried on.  

"And I nearly died to him as well."  

"Iniya…"  

"As a warrior who wields a sword, I can accept losing to him. Even Kadamyte wouldn’t have held any regrets—it’s in the nature of proud warriors like us."  

A cold smile appeared on Iniya’s lips.  

"I was just curious. When you considered recruiting him, did Kadamyte’s death cross your mind at all, Repenhardt-nim?"  

Repenhardt’s expression stiffened.  

Instinctively, his gaze drifted toward the spot where Kadamyte had fallen. Of course, there was no sign of Kadamyte’s body there; others had already retrieved it and carried it outside the fortress.  

Yes, the sight of Kadamyte’s corpse had enraged him. It had saddened him too.  

Kadamyte had been the strongest warrior among the dwarves and an aura user—a cherished comrade who shared their cause. Losing such a valuable ally was undeniably tragic and disheartening.  

But had he truly felt grief in that moment?  

Repenhardt wasn’t sure.  

In his past life, he had witnessed far too much death and endured far too much sorrow. Even in the face of Kadamyte’s death, he had maintained his composure. He had put aside his sadness far too easily, focusing coldly on the battle.  

‘Well, I couldn’t just stand there mourning, could I?’

Kadamyte had been a dear comrade, but that was all. He wasn’t family, a close friend, or a lover—someone whose loss would overwhelm him with sorrow.  

‘If a leader were to break down and shed tears every time a subordinate or comrade died, would they even be fit to lead?’

Repenhardt furrowed his brow, ready to argue.  

But Iniya’s curt voice cut him off.  

"If the one who had died was Miss Siris, would you still have acted the same way, Repenhardt-nim?"  

"…"  

Repenhardt closed his mouth once again. His expression shifted constantly.  

At first, he bristled, but as he thought it through calmly, he realized that Iniya was right.  

No matter what excuse he might offer, attempting to recruit someone who had just killed a comrade was clearly wrong.  

Even if he didn’t go so far as to shed tears in pretense, he should have, at the very least, honored Kadamyte’s death. He should have shown an attitude befitting the weight of the loss, ensuring that Kadamyte’s death carried meaning.  

That would have been the proper thing to do.