Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: 14-3. The Black Heart for the Knight
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"Enough. The boy is plagued by too many distractions."
Looking at me as I sweated profusely, straining desperately to draw the sword, the Heavenly Demon spoke with a hint of disdain. What could it be? How on earth do I make this thing budge...
"Come over here, boy."
"Understood, Heavenly Demon."
I stopped what I was doing at her advice and walked toward where she beckoned. The soft rustle of grass echoed through the forest.
"...Sit here."
I sat on the grassy ground and assumed a meditative pose. Closing my eyes, I relaxed my body and steadied my breathing. My frantic mind began to calm.
"Boy, why did you pick up the sword?"
"...I wanted to make unhappy people happy."
I'd crossed the line between life and death countless times, gritting my teeth through the pain and hardship. But why ask this now?
"The reason a swordsman takes up the blade is of utmost importance. Is that truly it? Truly?"
"Yes. I needed nothing else."
I answered plainly. All I knew was making our Saintess happy. I had to return to the academy as soon as possible and progress the Grand Route.
"Yet your desires betray you, boy."
"...What do you mean?"
"Be more honest. There's something else you wanted, isn't there?"
With my eyes closed, I couldn't see her face, but her probing tone reached my ears. It felt like she was urging me to dig deeper.
'Something else I wanted.'
I bit my lower lip slightly. Helping Kainel and Ariel escape, healing Mardol... saving Nex and Sharutineth...
What was wrong? I was just fulfilling conditions for the Saintess route.
"..."
"Did you truly need 'nothing else'?"
No, that wasn't quite right. I hadn't even considered the Crown Prince route from the start. If I'd purely wanted her happiness, I wouldn't have done those things.
As long as she joined the harem and didn't die, that should've been enough. In hindsight, it was foolish greed.
"...I think I like that person a little too much."
Just moments ago, at the end of my life's regrets, what flashed before me wasn't my own misfortunes, but her lovable moments. Those memories burned strong, compelling my answer.
"Then, isn't it all for love that you took up the sword? Why dodge with excuses?"
"...Am I not worthy?"
With these burn scars, I'd face finger-pointing. Getting close like this would only bring her shame. Even facing her in my helm had its limits.
"...You're overthinking it alone, boy."
"It's from my own life experiences. If she suffers because of me..."
This story's protagonist was Lupus Granasia. Linking with him was probably the creators' intent, so the Nameless Saintess would surely be happy too.
"Kuhhuhu! Boy, if Dennis heard that tale, he'd be quite angry."
"Professor Dennis...?"
I whipped my head toward the voice in surprise. Was he that kind of character? I'd never imagined Dennis snapping at a player.
"Yes, Dennis... That man was peculiar. He told me love needs no qualifications."
While I meditated, the Heavenly Demon shared a brief tale from her past—a spring story she thought would never return.
The pinnacle of water magic. Dennis, one of the Ten Heroes.
You might've wondered why he's not called a 'mage' in the game.
Why he's dubbed a 'cursed dragon's human lover.'
Ariel's called the Blazing Flame Mage, after all.
Why is Knight Heart's protagonist the exception?
Because his true class is different.
His real job: Hunter Dennis.
An ordinary human male summoned as a hero amid the apocalypse in Seoul, where gates tore open. From Korea, another world unlike mine.
Forgetting his F-rank hunter label, the man with striking blue hair and eyes roamed battlefields after arriving here and grew close to the Heavenly Demon.
His ability was 'skillful magic use,' but in his original world without mana, it lay dormant.
"...Ha, what a ragtag bunch. Wolf-eared lumberjack, dwarf, demon... And what's this? Three-legged crow? Bringing child soldiers too—you must be mad."
"Phoenix of the Aureus house. This is why commoners..."
"Nothing exists above this one's sky. No clinging to class, yellow-hair."
At first, seeing the group gathered to defy the Hero Cult left her dumbfounded.
"Shadow Slash? What's the point? The pinnacle of nothingness isn't that."
"Uhahaha! Tough joke! Lizard pretending to be a dragon!"
"Western swordsman, eh? Care to test it?"
Compared to the Demon Kings they faced, they were sorely lacking—which was why the gods sought aid from other worlds like herself. Pathetic lot.
"Stop it, everyone. This'll just please the Demon Kings."
"Tch, child soldier meddling now?"
"I just turned twenty yesterday. An adult."
Yet whenever friction arose with the White Magnolia and the Ten Heroes, he stepped in as mediator, quelling fights.
The youngest-looking man commanded the room.
"...Lose to a kid like that and stay quiet."
"This one merely held back."
She could always best Dennis if serious, but pitying his youth and hero summoning, she let him win each time.
"...Miss White Magnolia! Danger!"
"Worried by someone younger than me."
"What would've happened without me? Here, protection magic."
Drawing a circle on her palm with his finger to shield her, or
"Child soldiers are naive. Don't trust enemy lies."
"..."
Through such acts—saving each other, crossing death's edge. An odd clash of wuxia and modern, yet it worked.
"Child soldier, why fear not this one?"
"Folks these days aren't scared of that. Not even Heavenly Demons."
"Mocking this one? Bold."
Their growing closeness didn't displease the White Magnolia. Her days as Heavenly Demon, inspiring only terror and awe, were long past.
"..."
"Twasn't your kill, child soldier."
"He said he wanted to go home. The Demon King I killed..."
Dennis cherished life above all, shaken most facing the Hero Cult. The White Magnolia, born Heavenly Demon, coped better.
"If true, he wouldn't kill to go home. Ignore mad ravings."
"It's tough. What if it never ends..."
Seeing pity for a foe who'd slain her stirred change in her too, she said.
"No kills today? Just smashed a holy sword...?"
"Hm? Power gap too vast—no need."
"Thank you, Heavenly Demon."
"Kuhuhu! Funny. That's not how it's done."
"...Book said so?"
Seeing the blue-haired boy clasp fists in greeting—like something from a story—she chuckled.
"My water magic's refreshing. Summer help."
"...Magic's not bad, child soldier."
"Think so too, Heavenly Demon."
In the end, Dennis treated her most casually, unafraid. They cooled summer heat together, shared warmth in cold.
"Dragon tail moves on its own, huh?"
"...Creepy?"
"Puppy-cute. What's to dislike?"
He even spouted nonsense about dragons being cold-blooded.
From friendship to love.
Comrades to lovers.
A human male loving a cursed dragon.
Her narration omitted the water mage angle.
As Hero Cult's Demon Kings dwindled, pre-Head fight, their talk:
"Come spring, magnolias always wilt, Dennis."
"...Why sudden gloom, Magnolia?"
Years-long war. Hero Cult summoned other Demon Kings; chaos mounted, hope faded.
"Just... time to let go. Like my name, Magnolia."
Sighing, she reflected. Hands stained with blood. Hating kings abandoning folk, poverty slaying souls—days that birthed the Heavenly Demon.
"This world to me was a spring dream. Soon to end."
"...I disagree, Magnolia."
Meeting Dennis via summoning was fortune, but Ten Heroes suffered losses. First Saintess, dwarf gone. Her turn loomed.
"Why, Dennis? Why?"
"I like magnolia flowers. Pure white, pretty. Folks think cherry blossoms for spring, but you changed that for me."
Dennis tidied her tousled hair ornament. Smile curved the blue-haired, blue-eyed boy's lips.
"...Truth, Dennis?"
"Yes, for real, milady!"
Playful grin as he broached it. First she'd heard. In the martial world, her name alone terrified.
"With me here, it's no dream. This world."
"Impossible..."
"C'mon, from your one lover—listen."
Street magnolias long taboo, uprooted in fear.
"...I'm unworthy of your love, Dennis."
"Love needs no worthiness, Heavenly Demon. Wilted or not, if I say so."
Thus, the cursed dragon, denied spring,
"Catch Head Ake, and you'll really marry me?"
"...I vow it."
"Thanks. Time to fight proper."
loved an ordinary human. A clichéd tale.
Yet Head's Ignorance erased it—from the world, even Dennis, save her.
"Thus, Dennis once said that to me. Kuhuhu!"
"...Knew, but hearing it fresh."
That trust in me stemmed from it. No one else knew of her romance with Dennis, as far as she knew.
"..."
I was similar. Assumed unworthiness to approach her. Inside the helm, I grimaced.
'In the end, I love the Saintess too much to give her up.'
I wanted more. Even her dating someone good irked me. Crown Prince? Unsettling.
"Understand now, boy?"
"...Somewhat."
Eyes open, I rose. Steps to the sword lighter. Gripped hilt, poised to draw.
Love needs no qualification. I'd tormented myself with baseless doubts.
Of course. Our Saintess wouldn't scorn burn scars.
"To me, boy, your greed's excessive."
"...Got it. Be honest—that's the lesson."
Contradictory from start. I wanted her more than anyone.
I admitted cleanly.
Emotions I'd fled, denied. Thought to discard old affections—but couldn't.
'Pathetic, Lee Soo-hyun.'
Missed the Saintess. Wanted her smiles, jokes, charms. To say clumsily, "You kept me alive."
"...I'm a wretched soul, Heavenly Demon."
"Kuhuhu! Yet purest affection. Who else risks life against a Demon King—not even a Ten Hero?"
White Magnolia nodded, hands behind back. No more aid. I tensed to draw.
'Can't yield her to the Crown Prince either.'
Grinding teeth. In this world, my love for her unbeatable. Protagonist? Who cares.
You did nothing for her, Lupus.
"..."
I'd guarded fifteen years, risked life beating Magic Hat. Clear win.
"I love the Saintess."
Voicing inner chant, self-reflecting. Assault with affection first; her choice later.
"...Not wanting to lose her to anyone."
Then, miracle.
"Success, boy."
Shring. The sword, earthbound and still, slid free.
"Love means hating to share. Normal greed for a fool like you. Wanting monopoly."
"Why now...?"
"Your will overcame mine, boy."
Grinning as if saying finally get it?, her draconic fangs gleamed.