Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: The Shadow Lord's Move
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“Did you say an alliance between House Sachsen and House Lancaster?”
In the Archduke Lancaster’s office, the Demon Sword Sephylia spoke, addressing the unexpected face before her.
“That is correct.”
Dale gave a silent nod.
“Five hundred Night Raven Knights and six black mages from the Black Magic Tower are with us.”
He blatantly laid out the information for his enemy, holding nothing back.
“For such a grand alliance, isn't that a rather modest force?”
“Ah, but wars aren’t won with numbers.”
Facing one of the Seven Swords of the Continent, the Demon Sword, the ‘Black Prince’ smiled without the slightest hint of intimidation.
“Just as you, Lord Sephylia, one of the Empire's five war heroes, have taken up your sword for House York, separate from the ‘Imperial stance’.”
“...You damned little brat, you sure know how to run that mouth of yours.”
Only then did Sephylia’s expression twist with open hostility. The trace of courtesy and respect she had shown before the Heavenly Sword was gone, replaced by a truly demonic look.
“Do you need this big sister to spank you until you cry your eyes out and come to your senses?”
“Ah, I’m already grown up. The time for spankings is long past.”
Dale retorted sarcastically, as if it were someone else’s problem.
The air in the silence grew taut, yet the Demon Sword Sephylia never placed her hand on the hilt of her sword.
“Dale of Sachsen, I formally greet His Grace, the Heavenly Sword, Archduke Lancaster.”
She was crushed by the weight of the man standing silently before her, the Heavenly Sword.
“...Then, this outsider will take her leave.”
The Demon Sword Sephylia turned her back on Lancaster and Sachsen.
With her sword, known as ‘Soulbringer’, and the unsettling, demonic energy swirling around her, she departed.
***
“I heard that House Sachsen sent five hundred Night Raven Knights and the black mages.”
After Sephylia left, the two Lancaster men and the eldest son of Sachsen remained.
With the enemy gone, they could finally discuss their alliance.
“But if the ‘eldest son of House Sachsen’ has come in person, surely you haven't stopped at just that number of troops.”
“You are correct, Your Grace.”
“Our opponent will know this as well.”
“Now that I’ve shown myself, they will easily predict as much.”
Dale continued calmly, as if he had expected it.
His opponents were, after all, the witches of York. They wouldn't even need to see Dale; the mere information that Mikhail had visited the demon realm in the north at this time would be enough for them to anticipate an alliance between the two ducal houses. Such was their wisdom.
“However, what is revealed officially and the sword wielded in the shadows are two different stories.”
“What are you hiding in the shadows?”
“An unseen sword.”
Dale answered coldly, and Archduke Lancaster asked no more.
“Father.”
After a moment of silence, Mikhail spoke.
“Please, accept the goodwill that Young Lord Dale wishes to form with our House Lancaster.”
“Can you trust the ‘Black Prince’ of Sachsen?”
The Heavenly Sword asked in Dale’s presence. He was not ignorant of the infamy and cruelty associated with Dale's title.
“At the very least, there can be no doubt about the fear and cruelty the ‘Black Prince’ inflicts upon his enemies.”
Mikhail replied.
“Even if those enemies are the witches of York.”
“You trust that boy a great deal.”
Mikhail Lancaster rarely trusted people. To be precise, he despised the nobles who bowed and flattered the name of ‘House Lancaster’.
But Dale of Sachsen was different. It wasn't just because the blood flowing through their veins was of equal weight.
“I do not merely trust the young lord.”
That day, the duel at the Fight Club. Despite the overwhelming difference in skill, Dale had forced Mikhail to submit.
“Rather, I respect him from the bottom of my heart.”
“...!”
“As a wall I must one day overcome, and as a powerful warrior who aims for even greater heights.”
It wasn't just Archduke Lancaster who was surprised by the unexpected words. Even Dale held his breath at Mikhail’s unreserved declaration.
“That day, by losing to Young Lord Dale, I was able to attain my current state.”
Mikhail’s hand briefly brushed the hilt of ‘Peacemaker’ at his waist.
“Despite the clear difference in our skills, my thoughts were read by a child a full cycle younger than me who claimed to be a mage, and I was defeated in front of everyone.”
He recalled the unforgettable humiliation of that day.
“The greatest genius in the Empire, victor of the Black-and-White Reversal, war hero of the Britannia Isles.”
Mikhail turned his head toward Dale.
“An amicable relationship with Sachsen will be an irreplaceable source of strength for us. And when showing respect to one who is worthy, age is of no consequence.”
One who is worthy. With those words, Mikhail once again bowed his head to Dale.
Archduke Lancaster remained silent for a long moment before finally speaking.
“Very well, young genius of Sachsen.”
Young genius of Sachsen.
“We, House Lancaster, will join hands with you of House Sachsen in the north and gladly request your aid.”
“An excellent decision.”
Dale smiled. The great House of Lancaster was bowing its head to Sachsen and requesting aid, and Dale had the capacity to graciously answer their call.
This held true even in a war between two great lords, a clash between masters of the Seven Swords. Dale himself didn't need to be an ‘extraordinary power’ who could strike down one of the Seven Swords.
It was enough to use those extraordinary powers as chess pieces and move them across the board.
And that debt would never be forgotten, ready to be called upon when Sachsen needed it in the future.
In the name of the Heavenly Sword, Archduke Lancaster, who stood at the pinnacle of the Seven Swords, the Greatest Sword on the Continent.
***
Officially, this battle was a civil war within House Lancaster over succession, but strictly speaking, the eldest son Richard was merely a puppet of his wife's family, ‘House York’.
The clash of two great lords, one brandishing the red-and-white rose, the other the blue-and-white.
Wars between lords of such stature do not break out overnight. But that did not mean they took a hundred or a thousand years.
The vassal houses of Marquis York steadily gathered their forces, and House Lancaster was no exception.
And carrying the banner for House York were two of the Seven Swords of the Continent: the Holy Sword, Count Brandenburg, and the Demon Sword, Lord Sephylia.
Furthermore, as this was a conflict waged over ‘justification’ among high nobility, the outcome would typically be decided by a formal, pitched battle between the two main armies.
Prolonged wars always led to looting, arson, and all manner of crimes, which directly resulted in harm to the people of the domain and, by extension, the domain itself.
Therefore, seeking a swift conclusion to minimize the sacrifice of land and people was the ‘tradition of the Empire’.
That was how it should have been.
But House York did not adhere to the Empire's traditions.
Behind the blue-and-white rose they publicly displayed, they chose the way of the black-and-blue rose, which symbolized ‘wisdom without blood or tears’.
At the border where the Lancaster and York domains met, there were no natural fortresses like rivers or mountain ranges to separate them. Thus, a guerrilla force led by two extraordinary masters of the Seven Swords began to invade and plunder the Lancaster domain.
For a noble cause of upholding Imperial tradition, it was a truly cunning strategy.
***
Since the war began, the main Lancaster army, still in the process of assembling, had not had a chance to move.
“The situation is not good. We’ve organized a mobile strike force to pursue York’s guerrillas, but with two of the Seven Swords protecting them, it is not easy…”
“Damn the witches of York for stabbing us in the back!”
“...”
The leaders of House Lancaster raised their voices, while the Heavenly Sword, Archduke Lancaster, remained silent.
‘Extraordinary powers’ were those who made the tales of one-man armies in knightly literature possible. But in war, the value of such individuals was not to create chivalric tales.
It was a battle where extraordinary powers were woven into the ‘realm of strategy and tactics’. To those who valued a knight’s pride and nobility, the guerrilla tactics of York, which avoided a direct confrontation in favor of repeated looting and arson, were by no means welcome. The same was true for the Holy Sword and the Demon Sword.
But such is war. In a real conflict, even actions that ignore a knight's nobility and pride are ultimately justified in the name of ‘strategy and tactics’.
That was the art of war, and House York understood it.
And the ‘Black Prince’ understood it as well.
***
At that moment, leaving the fruitless meeting behind, Dale was alone in a room within the Lancaster castle.
On the table lay a map of the surrounding territories, along with pieces shaped like chessmen, each symbolizing a different type of unit.
Following the reports from the Lancaster command, he took a quill and marked the areas of operation for the guerrilla units where the ‘two of the Seven Swords’ were active.
The fertile and prosperous lands of the Lancaster domain were being trampled one by one. A counter-strategy of plundering York's lands was an option, but a critical problem held the Archduke's house back.
Justification.
Ironically, House York’s plundering of the Lancaster domain had a justification.
It was the justification of ‘executing the traitors of the ducal house who refuse to accept the eldest son, Richard, as the rightful heir’.
Innocent people of the domain, who knew nothing, were being slaughtered under the accusation of being those very traitors.
It was utterly absurd, but in this world, the weight of justification was never light.
And House York was walking a tightrope on the very edge of that justification, toying with House Lancaster.
‘They are no ordinary opponent.’
Nevertheless, Dale was unfazed.
As promised to Archduke Lancaster, the time had finally come to wield his sword in the shadows.
“Master Baro.”
Dale spoke into the darkness, and a wind swirled. It was a deeply unsettling and ominous wind.
In an instant, men in black coats and beak-like masks were there, led by Master Baro. They were the high-ranking assassins of the ‘Shadow Court’, a force in no way inferior to the knightly orders cultivated by the great lords of the Empire.
The ‘Shadow Lord’ who reigned over them spoke calmly.
“The time has come to march.”
Victory in this battle could not be achieved by Dale and his organization alone. But even though Dale had declared himself Lancaster's ally, he was not in a position to command the entire battle.
Therefore, he had to wait for the right moment, and before that moment came, he had to secure it.
A situation where even the great Archduke Lancaster would have no choice but to move as one of Dale's chess pieces.