Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Apostle of Fire and Light
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Mikhail’s red-and-white Peacemaker clashed with the sword of shadow.
Here, the 《Forced Peace》 could no longer protect him.
As the Shadow Lord, Dale had submerged the area in a lake of darkness, raising his creations. Shadow Lurkers and Shadow Knights began to surge forward at their lord's command.
To wage the war between the two of them.
“As expected of the ‘Black Prince.’ Your growth is truly unbelievable.”
Amidst the overwhelming onslaught from all sides, Mikhail Lancaster smiled bitterly. Yet, as he deflected the barrage of attacks, he showed no signs of anxiety or agitation.
This man was strong. An opponent that even Dale, who grew stronger by the day, could not afford to underestimate.
But that wasn't the only reason Dale was wary of Mikhail Lancaster.
‘This man is dangerous.’
His obsession with the Hero from Another World, and the true nature of the ‘peace’ he envisioned while wielding the Peacemaker.
Dale was hardly one to talk, but this man possessed a truly absurd and dangerous ideology.
A monster of peace.
Was he, in the end, just another imperial noble? No, it was amusing how foolish he'd been to think, even for a moment, that Mikhail Lancaster was 'different.' Different? He wasn't. In fact, Dale had never thought him different at all.
He simply hadn't imagined that the hesitation and integrity Mikhail had shown at the Fight Club were of such a twisted nature. The thought made him laugh.
A cruel nobility. A red-and-white aura, symbolizing the ‘power’ of the Red Magic Tower and the ‘hypocrisy’ of the White Magic Tower.
And the one who had pulled that trigger was none other than Dale himself.
That unforgettable, bitter defeat. And then, the peace he had obtained as the Hero from Another World.
Mikhail Lancaster was no exception. He was just like the others, struggling to escape Dale's shadow. It was just that his ‘nobility’ had yet to accept that fact.
Suppressing the laughter that threatened to burst forth, Dale kicked off the ground.
The jet-black demonic sword ‘Hunger,’ held in his shadow prosthetic, swung out. At the same time, the 《Shadow Knights》 wielding ‘Replicas of Hunger’ surged forward as one.
Shadow Knights created by fusing the ‘Shadow Cloak’ and ‘Hunger’ through the synchronization of darkness.
The knights of darkness, loyal to the ‘Shadow Lord’s’ command, brought their swords down on Mikhail Lancaster in unison. A fatal blow that even he could not possibly evade.
It was then.
Facing the raging onslaught, the red-and-white aura emanating from Mikhail swirled like a storm.
“...!”
Dale froze. His movements ceased. He quietly held his breath.
“Ah, this is quite…”
An apostle of fire and light stood there.
Not a human body, but a ‘Knight of Fire and Light,’ scattering brilliant, shining flames.
A knight who illuminated the world like the sun, while simultaneously unleashing flames that rivaled the sun's heat.
Light surged forth. The light of dawn, illuminating the dim pre-dawn.
Dale's shadow creations all perished before that light, as if their very existence could not be tolerated.
No, even Dale himself was overwhelmed by the power emanating from Mikhail Lancaster's ‘Avatar,’ forcing him to hold his breath. It was as painful as a vampire facing the sun at high noon.
At the same time, the knights of darkness moved to devour that very sun.
“Please forgive us, Viscount Sachsen.”
The two female knights who served the ‘Black Prince’ suddenly had their aura blades pointed at him. Lady Black and Lady Shadow.
But they were not deploying their own ‘Avatars’ against a knight who had manifested his.
This was because they understood that there was no killing intent in Mikhail Lancaster's sword. Dale understood this as well. That was why he hadn't deployed his own world of ideals in response to Mikhail revealing his ‘Avatar’.
The points of the two knights' blades were aimed as a message of their loyalty, a declaration that they would not forgive such ‘disrespect before their lord.’
“—I instinctively felt threatened by Lord Dale’s strike.”
Mikhail Lancaster revealed his ‘Avatar’ for only a fleeting moment. The apostle of fire and light. Soon, the aura vanished from his body, and he quietly knelt before Dale.
“It was a fatal blow, one I would not have survived without using my Avatar.”
He plunged his sword into the ground vertically and continued speaking calmly.
Ignoring the crimson and black aura blades the two female knights had aimed at his neck and chest.
“Again, this makes it my second defeat.”
“...”
“You are truly worthy of the name ‘Black Prince.’”
But his voice held no trace of a ‘defeated man.’ Dale could tell. This was nothing more than a show to display his power. And so, Dale remained silent.
In the fleeting light scattered by the sun, the ‘shadows’ that had enveloped the area had vanished.
His shadow creations were no exception. Even the artifact, the ‘Shadow Cloak,’ was crying out in pain before Mikhail's light.
The fragments of shadow remaining throughout the castle were all sucked toward Dale's feet.
Sheathing the demonic sword ‘Hunger’—held in his shadow prosthetic—back into the scabbard on his sword belt, Dale spoke.
“Unfortunately, if we were to wish for any more ‘peace,’ I don’t think my castle would survive.”
“I agree.”
At the same time, the red-and-white aura imbued in Mikhail's sword vanished, and he too sheathed the Peacemaker.
“Lord Mikhail of House Lancaster, as the Viscount Sachsen and representative of the duchy…”
After sheathing his sword, ‘Viscount Sachsen’ Dale bowed respectfully.
“—Welcome to the Demon Lord’s domain.”
As the ruler of this place, the northern Demon Lord’s domain.
***
Labyrinthus, the dungeon city in the Demon Lord’s domain ruled by Viscount Sachsen.
Dawn settled over the city, where people filled with dreams of striking it rich had gathered, swept up in the frenzy of the ‘Artifact Rush.’
Making no effort to hide his identity, Mikhail Lancaster registered his details at the Adventurers' Guild and was immediately granted an S-rank adventurer rating, giving him the right to enter the ‘Deep Zone.’
This brought the number of S-rank adventurers permitted to enter the dungeon's Deep Zone to twelve. Faceless, Mikhail Lancaster, the monster hunter Drake, Edward—the second son of Count Dulles who led the ‘Noble Faction Adventurers’—and eight others. Dale was currently using his information network to identify the remaining eight adventurers.
This was the power of the Guild City, which, along with the ‘Shadow Court,’ had established a web-like information network across the empire.
The adventurer rank was, for all intents and purposes, a license granted by Viscount Sachsen to prevent accidents within the dungeon. At least, that was the official reason.
In reality, however, it was also a mechanism to identify the powerful individuals flocking to the North, drawn by the Artifact Rush.
No overwhelmingly powerful individuals on the level of the Seven Swords of the Continent had appeared yet. But the empire and the imperial family would not sit idly by and watch the smooth development of the dungeon city and the Demon Lord’s domain.
But that was not a matter to worry about right now.
Around that time, an emissary from the Kalimala Guild, which regularly traveled to the Sachsen viscounty, arrived bearing ‘very secret information.’
***
Viscount Sachsen's castle, Dale's office.
An emissary from the Kalimala Guild was paying his respects before ‘Viscount Sachsen.’
The master of the Kalimala Guild, who reigned as the ‘City Master’ among the seven great guilds of the Guild City—he was the one who periodically sent Dale just one thing.
The City Master's emissary opened his mouth.
“The lion roared... and the cicada is dancing on the maiden's shoulder.”
At these words, Dale nodded calmly.
“The clown is stacking bricks, the priests are eating animals, and the traveler is ravishing the wind.”
“Is the gold clothed?”
“No, the gold is not clothed.”
“Is the wind with the traveler’s child?”
“She is carrying triplets, all girls.”
“How many animals did the priests eat?”
“They ate three roosters and five eggs, and two of the eggs were broken. And the priests stole horses and fled.”
“Were they black horses?”
“No, there were two white horses and six brown horses, and all were ‘warhorses.’”
Warhorses. At that word, Dale’s expression flinched for a moment.
“Not broodmares, then.”
“Yes, all were warhorses.”
It was a conversation as incoherent as one between madmen, and in truth, even the City Master's emissary did not know what the words meant. Only two people knew their meaning: Dale and the City Master.
The contract Dale and the Kalimala Guild Master had made that day in the Guild City.
What flowed from his lips were the transaction records written in the ‘City Master's ledger.’
The information recorded by the seven great guilds of the Guild City, which had roots all over the empire, documenting all their transactions.
It wouldn't do to simply have someone memorize the ‘ledger's transaction records’ verbatim and send them to Dale.
That was why they communicated in a prearranged code.
The incomprehensible conversation continued, and with each exchange, Dale's quill pen moved busily as he listened.
“You’ve done well.”
At last, the conversation ended, and the Viscount Sachsen smiled quietly.
“Furthermore, regarding the request to expand the Kalimala Guild’s trading post, we have already secured a location in the Guild District and are negotiating with the Masons' Guild.”
“Th-thank you!”
“Moreover, a patent for ‘tax privileges’ in the Guild District will soon be issued in the name of Viscount Sachsen. And I remember the ‘good faith’ shown by the Kalimala Guild.”
Dale smiled meaningfully, and the man—both the City Master's emissary and the acting ‘Kalimala Guild Master’—hastily bowed his head.
“O-of course, Viscount Sachsen!”
There is giving, and there is receiving.
And even the Guild City, known as the greatest commercial organization on the continent, was no exception to being swept up in the winds of the Artifact Rush and the new northern frontier era that Dale had brought. That was why the bond between Dale and them—and especially the bond with the Kalimala Guild—was something truly special.
The things Dale sought to obtain as the ruler of the dungeon city and the northern Demon Lord’s domain.
After the City Master's emissary had left, Dale glanced at the window behind him. As always, the sun had risen over the frozen lands of the Demon Lord’s domain, scattering its light. A symbol of fire and light.
It was still far too early to be done with his duties as Viscount Sachsen.
Nevertheless, Dale quietly rose to his feet. To carry out tasks that could only be done now.
Not as Viscount Sachsen, ruler of the Demon Lord’s domain.
But as the Faceless One, the S-rank adventurer 《Faceless》.
