Chapter 34 : Why are you calling ?

There was chaos in the city we had been staying in.

Red had disappeared, but that didn’t mean the disaster she caused vanished too.

People who had regained consciousness after being kidnapped screamed when they saw the corpses of the monsters.

“Count Hyperion, what is going on here?!”

Guards who arrived late questioned us.

“There was a demon attack.”

“Demons?”

“They suddenly appeared, and we had to fight them off. This place doesn’t seem safe anymore, so we’ll be leaving.”

Ares used her authority to brush off the guards and avoid trouble, then left the city.

We had no choice but to return to the family estate in the middle of the night.

“Count? Young master?”

“Who are the knights behind you?”

The servants looked puzzled because we brought the Death Knights with us.

We all gathered in a large drawing room inside the mansion.

It was a space usually used for welcoming many guests.

Me, Ares, and Hames.

And even the Death Knights.

…If someone else were to see this scene, they’d definitely ask what kind of madness this was.

These weren’t just any Death Knights — they were monsters made up of Sword Masters and Experts.

They had asked to be brought somewhere safe, saying they’d explain everything themselves.

There were two reasons I agreed to this madness.

One, they had helped me by rescuing the hostages Red had taken and forcing her to retreat.

And two, they were extremely obedient to me.

“Your name is Niobe, right?”

“Yes. I am Niobe Hyperion, a member of the royal family and captain of the knights.”

The leader of the Death Knights.

The silver-haired woman who introduced herself as Niobe Hyperion bowed politely as she spoke to us.

“It’s the name of one who will soon become a loyal vassal of His Majesty the Holy King, so please remember it.”

She kept calling me the Holy King and pledging loyalty, which left me confused.

If this was related to Ceres’ backstory, I wouldn’t have forgotten it. But I’d never heard of a Holy King.

I tilted my head in confusion, and Hames gave me a curious look.

“If she says Holy King… could it be related to the Holy Kingdom? The legendary nation where all royals could use divine power?”

‘What now?’

It was never mentioned in the original, but it seemed to be a well-known legend. Everyone looked like they understood.

“My goodness. So the Holy Kingdom actually existed, and its royal family were the Hyperions?!”

“It’s hard to believe, but it’s true.”

“But that doesn’t make sense. The Hyperions have been a count family in the empire ever since the first patriarch fought alongside the first emperor a thousand years ago.”

“And where do you think that first patriarch came from?”

Niobe asked back at Hames valid point.

She glanced at Ares and me, then gave us a pitying smile.

“It seems even the descendants have forgotten everything. Your Majesty the Holy King, allow me to explain your roots.”

Niobe began to speak.

A long time ago, there existed a nation blessed by the gods.

That nation was the Holy Kingdom, named as such because its royal family could all use divine power.

“Though it was called a nation, it was very small — probably had even fewer people than this territory. But due to the uniqueness of our royal family, we became known far and wide.”

The Hyperion royal family.

A royal line that received a divine relic from the heavens, allowing all its members to use divine power.

Niobe explained that the first patriarch of the Hyperion count family originally came from this royal family.

Wait a second.

“If the first Hyperion was royalty, then why did they become a count in the empire?”

“Because the nation was ruined.”

Niobe answered when I asked.

I was about to ask what destroyed it when a name suddenly popped into my head.

“The Demon King, maybe?”

A thousand years ago would’ve been during the era of the Demon King who used Black Pain.

I said it just in case — and she nodded.

“He was a Demon King, yes, but still a demon. To him, the Holy Kingdom — where all royals could use divine power — must have been a threat. One day, he launched a surprise invasion and destroyed our nation.”

“So the first Hyperion was a royal who escaped at that time?”

“Correct.”

“Then why didn’t they rebuild the country after defeating the Demon King?”

If they were the last surviving royal, they would’ve naturally become king.

But they settled for being a count.

That seemed strange, so I pointed it out.

“Not every royal could become king. Only those with special qualities could be the Holy King.”

“That special quality… is it divine power?”

“Exactly. You are the one born into the royal line after a thousand years, possessing the qualities of a king!”

Niobe said this passionately, but I was rather unamused.

It just felt so sudden and random.

Still, if it were true, it would explain one thing.

Why did Ceres possess divine power in the first place?

The original never explained that clearly. But if this backstory were true, it would make sense.

He wasn’t a simple mutation — he inherited an ancient power from his distant ancestors!

Maybe this was a hidden lore that never made it into the original?

As I was caught up in this new revelation, a loud voice interrupted.

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Ares shouted in disbelief.

“Our Hyperion is actually legendary royalty, and Ceres is someone with kingly qualities? That can’t be true!”

“I understand your shock. It’s hard to believe power would suddenly awaken now. It’s probably a recessive trait passed down.”

“And I’m telling you, that kind of recessive trait is impossible!”

“What?”

When Ares suddenly got so worked up, Niobe gave her a puzzled look.

Not just Niobe — everyone around, including me, stared at Ares in confusion.

Under the weight of our attention, Ares flinched.

“…I meant that too much time has passed for Ceres to inherit anything like that. Our blood is too diluted.”

She tried to explain herself.

“After the first generation, we haven’t been able to use divine power for a long time. I can’t use it either. There’s no way that kind of power would reappear now.”

“…That does make sense.”

Niobe answered bitterly.

“Our royal family used to preserve the divine bloodline by marrying distant relatives. Only those who received a strong influence from the divine relic were born with the qualities of a king.”

“…If only a few royals survived and the relic is gone, then the royal line couldn’t be sustained. That’s probably why the first patriarch settled for being a count.”

“Exactly. Given the circumstances, we all gave up. We thought we’d just fade away quietly somewhere.”

But then—

Niobe changed her tone and knelt before me.

“You appeared before us. This is nothing short of a miracle!”

She acted like she was greeting some sort of savior.

“When the Demon King attacked the Holy Kingdom, we died once too. But we used a forbidden ritual, driven by our desire for revenge, to revive as undead.”

Niobe continued.

But the Demon King ended up being killed by the first emperor and other royals, leaving them with a sense of futility.

“Rebuilding the kingdom was impossible, and we couldn’t even get revenge. Everything felt pointless. So we wandered, and eventually fell into a deep sleep in the land of the dead, just waiting to vanish forever.

Then suddenly, we woke up.”

“…..”

“Back then, I didn’t understand why. But now I know — it was because we sensed the presence of our true king!”

As Niobe spoke firmly, The knights behind her also knelt and bowed their heads to me.

“Please become the new lord of those who’ve lost their purpose!”

“We pledge our loyalty to Your Majesty, the Holy King!”

As the Death Knights made their vow, others spoke up beside me.

“Ceres, I oppose this. They’re clearly mistaken about something.”

Ares continued to object.

“Ceres, do as you wish.”

Hames, despite being a priest, didn’t object to taking in undead.

In the midst of it all, I was having a different thought.

If Ceres went to the land of the dead, the Death Knights would sense him and become his subordinates?

Then doesn’t that mean the original Ceres could’ve done this too, if he’d gone there?

In the original, he refused to go — and soon after, he was falsely accused of being a witch.

If he’d gone, he’d have had powerful allies, and that might never have happened.

‘…What kind of ridiculous misfortune is this?!’

Stunned by it all, I shouted.

“Fine, I’ll accept you as my subordinates!”

“Ceres!”

Ares scolded me for accepting the Death Knights, but it couldn’t be helped.

The original Ceres had no subordinates like these and ended up falsely accused and suffered horribly.

But I, another version of Ceres, couldn’t let go of power that came to me willingly.

Thinking they’d come in handy, I waved my hand at the loyal knights.

****

One week after taking in the Death Knights.

“Ceres, a message came from House Gravius.”

As I was walking around the estate for exercise, Ares approached and spoke.

“Is it from Alios?”

I assumed only she would reach out to me from there, but the reply surprised me.

“No. It’s from her mother, Duke Alois Gravius. She invited you to the duchy.”