Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: The Black Heart for the Knight
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Something was off with my status window.
The status window, which had sent me multiple warnings during my fight with Magic Hat, started popping up again in the middle of my training session with White Magnolia.
Yeah, it must be about Kainel and Ariel's trauma stories. It didn't matter anyway. Keeping those painful memories to myself was enough.
Was that how it was? A person nearly died, and the creator was sitting there thinking about that.
"..."
I thought [Black Heart] was a trash game, and these were fixes for its flaws. Apparently not. I stopped swinging my sword and stared at the translucent letters.
Notifications I hadn't checked during the battle.
'Two chances?'
I frowned at the strange words and looked at the status window glowing a deep red.
These two had gone up recently. Probably from everything they felt during the showdown with Magic Hat. They'd nearly died without even confessing their love.
Sharutineth and Nex wouldn't hit 100% unless I resolved Asha Aureus's feud with them. I'd have to head north sometime.
I scanned the status window carefully and found the seriously weird line.
"...Episode? What does that mean?"
No answer came when I asked the air. This damn status window was always one-way. I rested my chin on my hand and sorted my thoughts.
'Not my life or a penalty or save file... some kind of episode.'
It had to be a three-letter word. What the hell? If I messed with the Demon King two more times and caused another contradiction,
'It'd mess up our Saintess's Grand Route ending, and I'd pay the price.'
I furrowed my brow. I'd gone all-in against Magic Hat thinking it'd just kill me off normally. Miscalculated.
"...Hmm."
I had no idea what to do. There were too many pitiful couples to just prioritize my own greed. The Heavenly Demon right in front of me, Nex and Sharutineth too.
"...No point overthinking it."
The Nameless Saintess wouldn't want to sit back and watch me get wrecked by the Demon King just to protect the love lines. She was the cute type who said pure love was invincible.
'If I'd planned to follow this status window from the start, my nickname wouldn't be Pure Love Black Knight.'
If the Demon King targeted pure lovers, then protecting them was what a Pure Love Black Knight did.
A hollow laugh escaped me. My original nickname had just been my real name, but thanks to her lines, I'd bought a name change with real money.
'Pure love... pure love. Lee Soo-hyun. That's all you need.'
Now I faced the fact that I liked our Saintess, and I didn't want to run anymore. The status window blocking me by force wouldn't work.
"Hm? What are you staring at so intently?"
"...It's nothing."
The Heavenly Demon, finding my tree-gazing odd, spoke up.
A little time passed, and White Magnolia gave her assessment of when I'd drawn my sword earlier. She'd bound it pretty tightly with qi, but hadn't expected me to overpower it with sheer will so quickly.
"The basics are set now. Your will is firm, boy."
"Is that so? Will you teach me swordsmanship now?"
"Indeed."
Made sense, since it was such an old grudge. It felt more like salvation. I nodded faintly inside my helmet.
"The basic forms of the 'Magnolia Swordsmanship' that I created number four."
Excited by her rare guest, her tail wagged like a puppy's. Our Saintess did that too. Thinking back now, I missed it.
"The White Mountain, unyielding as pure snow."
The Heavenly Demon drew her sword at invisible speed, white energy cloaking the blade. That must be qi. Amazing. It blocked enemy techniques like an immovable mountain, she explained.
"The Red Wood, said to make blood flow."
As I stared hard at her sword, she grinned proudly and moved to the next form. This one pierced vital points.
It used fierce red killing intent, but unlike Drake's style, it felt overall gentle.
Similar to reverse scale thrust, but this was meant to kill outright. Closer to dragon-slaying.
"The Falling Flower, like petals scattering."
A whoosh cut the air—a downward slash. This seemed like the White Blossoms in Bloom lineage. Petals drifting down from the sky.
"The Clear Stream, flowing like clear water."
Finally, she unleashed a flurry on the tree in front of me. Her dance-like motions blurred the line between swordsmanship and performance, but
"This is why I was called the Heavenly Demon. Forms I created to defy a king who abandoned his people and heavens that ignored humanity."
They were flawless for earning the Heavenly Demon name.
"What do you think? Can you learn them? Krahaha!"
All but one thing. White Magnolia was lying to me right now.
"...I'll learn only Clear Stream."
"Why? Throughout history, many coveted my swordsmanship."
"Clear Stream wasn't part of Magnolia Swordsmanship to begin with."
Everything but the last technique related to mountains, trees, or flowers. Water coming out of nowhere felt off.
"So you heard from Dennis after all, boy."
"...You still don't believe me?"
Anyone could see this swordsmanship was made for Dennis. Blue hair and eyes—words for him, the pinnacle of water magic as a human male.
"Hmph. Locked here for years, it happens. Better safe in case you're a Demon King come to finish me off."
"I'm not that kind of Demon King, Heavenly Demon."
I bowed my head and sighed. I needed to complete the Grand Route fast and give her a happy ending.
"..."
Next time back at the academy, I'd ask the sage or Librarian Laplace about our Saintess too.
"...Unlike them, I've just been running from my own heart."
Time to approach the wolf-eared Saintess. I'd have to try. As I finished, her signature "Krahaha!" rang out.
"Very well, boy. I'll teach you all four!"
"...Pardon? For real?"
"Of course. It raises the odds he'll remember me. Isn't that right, boy?"
Her fangs gleamed as she smiled. It'd probably suck, but getting stronger mattered more.
"...Thank you, Heavenly Demon."
Like Dennis in [Knight Heart]'s ending, I clasped my fists in salute.
While the Black Knight threw himself into training like that, in the Demon King's castle somewhere, a woman cackled madly at her wounds.
"Heehee, my lord husband is alive..."
The Truth Demon King Magic Hat set her magic hat aside and checked her injuries in the mirror.
"Tch, this part's different from the clone? Let's overlay it here."
She tsked jealously at each clone damaged by Licht, recreating herself identically.
"Went for fun, but what an unexpected haul!"
The white-haired woman blushed, cupping her cheeks. Her golden eyes shone, but not wolf-like.
"That helmet... definitely my lord husband's... I searched everywhere and couldn't find it!"
Humming happily as she evened her wounds, Magic Hat was downright creepy. Anyone seeing her would call her insane, but
"This scar... I'll keep it forever~."
It wouldn't reach the ecstatic Demon King. A woman trembling with lust stood before the mirror.
"Heehee, can't move for a while. My lord husband roughed me up good..."
She spewed filth without shame while eyeing her sword wounds, utterly twisted. Then, she scowled unpleasantly.
"Ugh, the scars look ugly. Gotta cover the surface to make it pretty!"
Crescent-eyed, Magic Hat faked her scarred body, thinking her devotee would hate it.
"...I avoided his face in the attack, so it shouldn't have blemished him, right?"
She brushed herself off like shedding dirty dust, muttering. She'd gotten too hurt fighting him, though.
"I hate it...! Ruining my looks...!"
But Magic Hat fretted not over her "lord husband"'s safety, only her face, stomping in worry.
"If so, he might be hugely disappointed! My lord husband!"
Puffing her cheeks angrily, she hurled a card. Thunk. The spade jack embedded in the mirror,
"I hate boring things...!"
and red blood trickled from that spot.