Chapter 11

The Defender of the Realm

1

Faster.

Faster!

Rising from the depths of the Sazardon Labyrinth, a place teeming with powerful monsters, Panzel ran as fast as his legs would carry him.

He all but flew up the tall staircases, as if exhaustion was a foreign concept. He moved with a speed that anyone well acquainted with the labyrinth would have thought impossible.

Bora’s Sword increased its user’s movement speed by 80 percent. It also increased energy, stamina, intellect, and all other stats by 60 percent. This item’s blessing was what allowed Panzel to ascend the floors of the labyrinth with extreme haste. He was already a very skilled knight, but the blade’s blessing had elevated him to superhuman levels.

He slipped safely past any monsters that tried to attack him. If one happened to block his path, he slashed through it effortlessly. In addition to the aforementioned benefits, Bora’s Sword also tripled the user’s attack power and increased their attack speed by 80 percent.

The base attack power of Bora’s Sword was quite high, and Panzel already had the greatest physical strength and combat proficiency in the kingdom. Against all the blessings at his disposal, the monsters’ high defense and agility meant nothing.

Furthermore, this divine sword also increased its user’s critical-hit rate by 20 percent. A critical hit was a blow to an enemy’s vital point, making the attack far deadlier than usual.

Panzel absorbed the stamina of the monsters he cut down, and any injuries he suffered were healed in a flash. This was thanks to the 10 percent–stamina absorption blessing granted by Bora’s Sword, which not only relieved his exhaustion but also healed his injuries.

A blessing that granted 20 percent mana regeneration reinforced Panzel’s high critical-thinking ability and fighting spirit, and even if his sword was damaged, a blessing that automatically repaired it restored the blade to its sharpest condition.

There were many monsters in the labyrinth that possessed the ability to inflict poison or curses. This was where Kaldan’s Dagger came in handy. The dagger was equipped with blessings that removed all status ailments and cured poison, and it also granted the holy element to its user.

On top of that, the dagger revealed the map of the current labyrinth floor to its bearer and doubled their intellect, allowing Panzel to sprint through the labyrinth despite being unfamiliar with its layout.

In other words, simply having the dagger at his hip caused the map of any floor he entered as well as the positions of all monsters on that level to appear in his mind, allowing him to instantly find the quickest, safest route.

Strange warrior… I have no words that can accurately convey my gratitude for these priceless treasures.

I’ll return to you one day, and we’ll settle things between us.

I’m sure that’s what you’re waiting for.

But right now…

Right now…

In order to save his lord and his benefactor from those who would threaten them…to protect them from the wicked ones that skulked within the shadows of the kingdom…Panzel had to return to the surface as quickly as possible.

2

Pan’ja Raban, the chief vassal of House Mercurius, and Panzel first met in the year 1079 of the Royal Calendar. By welcoming him into House Mercurius as a vassal, Pan’ja had opened Panzel’s eyes to the world. Thereafter, Panzel demonstrated tremendous growth.

Julius, the young head of House Mercurius, had also shown remarkable growth. The king watched his progress from afar. Julius had been born of a secret marriage, and his mother was the king’s beloved half-sister.

Once Panzel had finally become a knight, his achievements were many and varied. In turn, these victories were accredited to his lord, Julius, for such was the will of the king. This further grew the military prestige of House Mercurius. They remained a noble family without any territory. Their estate in the royal capital swelled in size, however, and their soldiers greatly increased in number.

Three years earlier, in the year 1076, Alkan, the Duke of Riga, had made a declaration.

“Any person who singlehandedly defeats the monster that wiped out the Fourth Division of the Imperial Guard will be lauded as a hero on par with the founders of our kingdom.”

House Riga possessed power and wealth surpassing any house in the kingdom. Alkan was sixty years old that year, and he had been serving as the White Minister—the kingdom’s head of government—for thirty-one years. In the world of politics, he was a monster.

This declaration by House Riga greatly surprised the king, as they had also promised that if Panzel exterminated the minotaur, he would be named Defender of the Realm. Such a thing was unprecedented.

The appointment of the crown prince could not be put off any longer, and that was proving problematic for the kingdom.

The king wanted to make the first prince—the son of the first queen consort—the heir to the throne. Conversely, the Duke of Riga, who was the father of the second queen consort, wanted to make the second prince—his grandson—the heir. The Privy Council was leaning toward supporting Riga’s faction.

But Julius, who had a seat at the imperial court as the head of one of the noble families of counsel, had the following to say:

“It is an ancient tradition that the eldest son inherits the house. Does that not apply to the kingdom as well?” This comment altered the political landscape.

Julius gained a lot of support among the young nobility. Meanwhile, older nobles who knew him as the king’s nephew did not take his words lightly. He also made a convincing argument.

And so the case for the first prince to be named heir gained momentum.

The king deeply wished to promote Panzel to a high rank among the knights—high enough even to give him a seat at the imperial court.

The founders of the kingdom to whom the Duke of Riga was referring in his declaration were the twenty-four heroes who were named Defenders of the Realm after helping the founding king establish the kingdom. Each was appointed the first head of a noble house. Even one thousand years later, no one since had been granted this title.

If Panzel was named Defender of the Realm, he would obtain status equal to that of the noble families of counsel and would rise to the imperial court. That would mean the first prince would have a chance of being made the heir.

The one most opposed to Panzel earning a court seat was the Duke of Riga. For this reason, it made no sense for him to propose the possibility of Panzel being named Defender of the Realm, and it explained why the notion roused suspicion.

Even then, the king couldn’t overlook that chance, so he strongly supported Riga’s declaration. That was how it was decided that Panzel would face the minotaur.

The duel was scheduled for the day of the harvest festival because everyone would be out celebrating, meaning there would be no one in the labyrinth. Panzel wouldn’t intrude on anyone’s exploration, and there would be no one to interfere with the fight.

On the day of the harvest festival, Panzel was summoned to the palace and given the royal order to kill the minotaur, and he ventured to the labyrinth immediately afterward.

As if he had been waiting for Panzel’s departure, Bolan Nadal, the Baron of Paulo at the time, sent his troops to House Mercurius. The army marched under both the banners of the Baron of Paulo and of Garrest, the eldest son of the Duke of Riga.

The head of House Nadal was one of the most powerful lords among the feudal states of Fenks. But in the year 1040, under the guidance of Molzora, the Duke of Riga at the time, the house was subjugated and made into a baron’s house of Baldemost. The army advancing on House Mercurius was very powerful.

House Mercurius gathered their defenses and met the assault.

At the same time, a section of the Duke of Riga’s forces surrounded the royal palace.

As House Mercurius was holding off the Baron of Paulo’s fierce attack, Panzel made his return.

3

“I have returned, my lord.”

“Panzel, you’re back!”

“My deepest apologies for taking so long. Truthfully…”

And so Panzel reported to Julius and Pan’ja Raban, the former chief vassal of House Mercurius and the current commander of its forces, all that had transpired within the labyrinth. Panzel then asked if he could borrow Alestra’s Bracelet from Julius.

“Of course. Here you go.”

Panzel equipped Alestra’s Bracelet and kneeled in front of Julius.

“I await your orders to crush the enemy commander.”

“You may go.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Proceeding alone, Panzel opened the gate, walked outside, passed through the magic barrier, and began to force his way through the enemy army. As he pressed forward, he cut down anyone who approached him, slicing through their armor as if it were paper.

Though enemy soldiers were able to land clean hits on Panzel, he didn’t appear to be taking any damage. He had Bora’s Sword to thank for that. The blessings on most items obtained in labyrinths did not work in the outside world, but Bora’s Sword was an exception.

Panzel headed directly for Pantram Square, where the invaders flew their two banners. Aiming for House Riga’s banner, he hid himself among the enemy soldiers.

Not long after, he returned to the estate. No one attacked him this time—they just watched him go, paralyzed with fear. Panzel knelt in front of Julius again, this time presenting the head of the enemy commander, Garrest.

Then, under new orders from Julius, he led a host of soldiers to the royal palace, entered the service of the Imperial Guard’s First Division leader, and thenceforth protected the palace and the first prince.

The Baron of Paulo fled the capital, the Duke of Riga claimed that he had dispatched his soldiers to protect the royal palace, and the disturbance came to an end.

This event came to be known as the Pantram Revolt.

4

Soon afterward, the Privy Council opened session.

Alkan claimed that the Baron of Paulo was the ringleader of the rebellion and that his eldest son, Garrest, was tricked into supporting it. He called what his son did an unforgivable crime, apologized to the king, and presented the heads of Garrest’s children and close aides.

Many inquired about the guilt of House Riga, but Alkan handled that ingeniously. The truth would remain unclear until the Baron of Paulo was summoned and questioned, so the investigation had to be closed there.

Meanwhile, the king and many of his subjects were distracted by Panzel and Bora’s Sword. When it came out that Panzel had received the blessed one-handed sword from the minotaur, people became obsessed with the blade.

Under royal decree, Panzel was made to fight one hundred knights from the Imperial Guard and then give Bora’s Sword to the commander of the Imperial Guard’s First Division and fight him. He won both fights, for the blessings of Bora’s Sword did not work for anyone other than him.

Panzel was named Defender of the Realm, and he went on to establish House Goran. Alkan stepped down from his seat as White Minister, and his second son, Draydol, ascended to the seat of Blue Minister. Out of the White, Red, Blue, and Black Ministers, blue was the third-highest ranking position.

An envoy was sent from the royal palace to the Baron of Paulo, Bolan Nadal, to request a cross-examination. The baron told the messenger he would answer with his sword.

That year, an army led by lords from Baldemost attacked the Paulo domain. The feudal states of Fenks didn’t have a king; decisions were instead made through a conference of the various nobles. The knights in service of the lords of Fenks were called the Northern Knights. They were known for their heavy equipment and awe-inspiring strength, and no country had ever beaten them in a battle of equal numbers. Their might could not be understated.

The Paulo domain was not given to House Nadal by Baldemost. They owned the land originally. It consisted of a fertile plain surrounded on all sides by steep mountains, which made it extremely difficult to attack.

Bolan, the baron at the time, achieved glowing military victories in Baldemost in recent years, and until the emergence of Panzel, he was known as the greatest military commander in the kingdom.

Because the Paulo domain consisted of a stronghold built by nature, and because they were battling House Nadal’s Northern Knights, everyone in Baldemost believed they were fighting an unwinnable war, which would end in a simple show of pride from the king. Even the lords who led the invasion were behaving as if their advance was just for show.

However, in a shocking turn of events, Panzel, one hundred Imperial Guard knights, and the two hundred House Mercurius soldiers who had been placed under his command broke through the natural stronghold and invaded the core of the Paulo domain. Panzel then took the Imperial Guardsmen and smashed a force of two hundred and fifty Northern Knights under the command of Bolan.

The Northern Knights were supposed to be impossible to defeat, even with overwhelming numbers. Panzel defeated them with a force half the size of his enemy’s. This victory caused his fame to spread throughout the entire northern part of the continent.

Bolan enlisted the help of the influential Lord Banust and fled the country. Baldemost demanded Lord Banust hand over Bolan. However, Lord Banust insisted the Paulo domain be returned to Fenks, and so negotiations began.

The next year, 1097 of the Royal Calendar, Panzel married Esseluleia, and Julius joined the cabinet as the Black Minister. Draydol ascended to the seat of Red Minister.

In 1098, Julius was married. The revolt in the Paulo domain was suppressed, and the region was renamed Keza. Keza was then given to Julius, who was named Marquis of Keza.

In year 1100 of the Royal Calendar, Panzel’s oldest son, Arza, and Julius’s oldest daughter, Serruria, were born. Pan’ja Raban passed away, and Draydol became the White Minister. The peace talks with Lord Banust were severed, and war broke out between Baldemost and fourteen lords from the feudal states of Fenks.

The war continued for just over three years.

Baldemost invaded with the crown prince serving as the supreme commander of their armies, and Panzel’s godlike performance expanded their occupied territory in Fenks.

The Baron of Paulo fought Panzel several times and had the following to say about him:

“He is the god of thunder made flesh…”

From then on, the knights of Fenks came to call him Thunderstorm Panzel out of reverence.

Panzel defeated Lord Banust’s Northern Knights multiple times despite their reputation as the strongest warriors in Fenks. He decapitated the Baron of Paulo, drove Lord Banust to suicide and captured his castle, and was one step away from gaining total dominion over the entire Banust domain.

Then in 1103, he died suddenly in military service. At first, the cause of death was unclear, but it was later determined that it was overuse of the divine sword’s blessings.

A peace treaty was established through the efforts of Julius, and the Banust region became part of Baldemost. The occupied territory was given to House Goran, and Panzel was posthumously awarded the title of Marquis of Banust.

Thus, the life of Panzel the hero came to an end. He was thirty-one years old. His son Arza was raised by Julius, under whose care he learned to fight.

In year 1114 of the Royal Calendar, Arza turned fourteen, changed his name to Zara, became an adventurer, and took his first steps into the Sazardon Labyrinth. He leveled up at an astonishing rate, and after only a year and a half, he managed to reach the sixtieth floor of the labyrinth by himself. He then rose to level 65 and became an S-rank adventurer.

A new hero was being born.