Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Clash of Powers
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“Well, well, well.”
The moment he saw Sephylia, the Demon Sword, it was Master Baro who broke the silence.
“To think the Empire's strongest old lady would get that heavy rear of hers off the ground and come out in person.”
“I'll rip that tongue out of your head and chew on it right now, Baro.”
“Ho ho, it seems you still haven't forgotten my tongue-work, have you?”
Sephylia, the Demon Sword, tightened her grip on her beloved sword, ‘Soulbringer’, making no effort to hide her killing intent, while Master Baro, the Killing Sword, simply shrugged nonchalantly. The stage was set for a clash between two of the Seven Swords of the Continent.
An asymmetric power dynamic had found a one-on-one equilibrium. What remained were Mikhail Lancaster and his Rose Cross Knights, and the ‘Shadow Lord’ with his assassins. In that regard, one could say the situation was five against five.
Except for one thing—this was Dale's world.
“Shub.”
Dale spoke her name, and a horrific colony of tentacles manifested by his side.
—I've been waiting.
With the jet-black fortress at their backs, the two forces faced off in the pale, dark winter night.
He hadn't entirely ruled out the possibility that an unexpected powerhouse might be with Mikhail Lancaster. Though even Dale was somewhat surprised that it turned out to be Sephylia, the Demon Sword.
*Still, this is within my range of expectations.*
He thought of the ‘Forge’ that was even now stoking its embers within the jet-black fortress.
“Goddamn. Judging by that temper, you still haven't cured that spinster hysteria of yours, have you?”
“You should worry about the limp plow hanging between your own old bachelor legs.”
Furthermore, belying the gravity of a clash between two of the Seven Swords of the Continent, the two powerhouses were trading trivial banter.
As if they couldn't care less about the outcome of this battle.
*…It doesn't matter.*
He soon turned his head, focusing his consciousness solely on the adversary before him.
The Apostle of Fire and Light, Mikhail Lancaster. And beyond him, the Rose Cross Knights who served him.
Facing them were the high-ranking assassins of the Shadow Court, Shub, and the silent sword that lay waiting within Dale's ‘shadow’.
A brief standoff followed, at the end of which Mikhail Lancaster kicked off the ground.
A brilliant white barrage swept forth, as if to incinerate the chilling cold and darkness held within Dale's world.
***
At that same moment, in a room within the fortress in the Marquisate of York.
Kneeling under the bed, Sephia buried her head and sobbed.
An unbearable emotional turmoil was tearing her heart to shreds.
When she saw Dale at eight years old, she had volunteered to be his tutor to properly guide his talent. As he grew, she came to realize the chilling solitude and coldness he held in his heart. Upon realizing this, Sephia had vowed to gladly stay by his side and protect him.
She believed it was her mission, her will. It was not.
The very ground beneath her feet crumbled away.
Yet, even as her world collapsed entirely, there was someone who reached out to her until the very end.
*'Even if you come to hate me and point your finger in accusation, Lady Sephia, I will never forget your devotion.'*
The boyishness from when she first met him was gone, replaced by a man's voice filled with resolve.
But the true nature of the feelings she had for that boy was nothing more than brainwashing, instilled by the orders of the ‘Sorceress Council’. Even knowing this, her heart burned so hotly she couldn't bear it.
The sight of Dale, setting aside his chilling cold and solitude, gladly steeling his resolve for her sake.
The Sephia of now was no longer a puppet unilaterally providing the affection Dale craved. Dale must have known that too. And knowing what it meant, he had still made his decision and acted upon it. Without a moment's hesitation.
*'Why would you go so far…'*
An unbearable turmoil churned in her heart. And yet, there she was, unable to unilaterally affirm Dale's feelings.
Where did her own will begin and end, and where did the brainwashing of the Blue Magic Tower start? She couldn't tell.
Sephia's world was being stained with an unknowable, ashen ink.
***
Mikhail Lancaster shot forward, and in response, Dale's ‘shadow prosthesis’ tightened its grip on the hilt of the demonic sword, Hunger. His identity remained concealed behind the plague doctor mask and black coat.
Simultaneously, the shadow assassins fanned out, unleashing their hidden weapons against the Rose Cross Knights assisting Mikhail.
The duel between two of the Seven Swords, the confrontation between Mikhail and Dale, and the battle between the Rose Cross Knights and the shadow assassins.
On a battlefield where three major fights were unfolding, Shub's tentacles began to whip about.
At the same time, from beyond the horizon of chilling cold and darkness, innumerable ‘Death Knights’ appeared. This was the power Dale could wield, using his world of ideals as a weapon.
With Shub's tentacles raging from all sides and an overwhelming numerical advantage, Dale began to encircle Lancaster's forces. Furthermore, a ‘lake of darkness’ began to spread out from beneath Dale's feet.
Shadow Knights, including the 《Shadow Lurkers》, who were replicating Dale's demonic sword 'Hunger', rose up in unison.
A world squirming with malice, bent on eliminating its enemies.
“…”
Faced with the sight of this world, Sephylia, the Demon Sword, quietly drew a sharp breath. A scene on a pale, dark winter night that even one of the Seven Swords of the Continent could not help but be shocked by.
The Killing Sword kicked off the ground and charged forward almost at the same instant.
*Clang!*
Against the crimson aura blade, Sephylia's beloved sword, ‘Soulbringer’, was enveloped in a violet aura.
An aura blade unique to the Demon Sword, distinct from the aura of the Iron Cross Knights. No sooner had the crimson and violet aura blades clashed than the two swords had already exchanged dozens of blows.
It was a clash of divine speed that a mere knight could not even hope to approach, and this was without them even deploying their Avatars.
*'I don't know who will win, but at the very least, the outcome won't be decided easily.'*
After all, they held the title of the Seven Swords of the Continent. Therefore, it would be faster to settle things on this side before their battle was decided. Nothing had changed from the beginning.
Leaving the two clashing Seven Swords behind him, Dale looked up at the ‘Apostle of Fire and Light’. Along the lake of shadow that was submerging the area like a flood, shadow creatures surged forward.
Simultaneously, flames of annihilation swirled from Mikhail's sword, ‘Peacemaker’.
The light of dawn that illuminates the twilight, before which the shadowy beings vanished fleetingly.
But as the one bearing the name ‘Shadow Lord’, Dale was not one to kneel from such a blow.
Behind the shadow creatures that vanished from Mikhail's strike, another wave of them was already filling the void. An endless army. An overwhelming number befitting the title of Lord.
This place, this pale, dark winter night and the jet-black fortress, was quite literally Dale's empire. The dark legion pouring forth from Dale as he fought with his full power as a mage.
Each time Mikhail swung his sword, countless shadows were engulfed in light and annihilated, and each time, even more shadows rose to advance on him and his knights.
No matter how powerful a hero's martial might, he could not bring down an empire alone.
At the same time, the assassins of the ‘Shadow Court’ scattered in all directions, beginning to form their signature battle formation. A spider's web of death.
“Ho ho, this is why a man has to know which side to be on.”
Watching the scene, Master Baro muttered as if it were none of his business.
“Your people are about to get slaughtered one by one. You sure you don't need to use your Avatar?”
Avatar. The undeniable proof that a knight was fighting with their full power. But Sephylia, the Demon Sword, had yet to bring out her Avatar. Master Baro was no exception.
“My role is simply to tie you down. That is enough.”
“If that's the case, why don't we just go into that fortress and have a date? For old times' sake…”
Before Master Baro could even finish his sentence, the tip of the Demon Sword's blade was already rushing toward him.
“I will cut out that tongue of yours, you goddamn gigolo.”
“Hey, damn it. Don't say such unpleasant things. You think I quit being a knight because I wanted to?”
“So you suddenly took your lord's head and ran off with his daughter after falling for her?”
“Jeez, I told you, I have my reasons I can't talk about.”
*'They're really having fun, aren't they.'*
Leaving the two to their conversation, Dale shook his head in disbelief. At the very least, he couldn't expect the axis of asymmetric power to collapse and lead to a one-sided victory.
Therefore, there was only one thing to do: bring Mikhail Lancaster, who stood before him, to his knees.
*Thwat!*
Leading his dark legion, amidst the spider's web of the shadow assassins and Shub's covering fire, Dale himself kicked off the ground.
The distance closed, and a light of peace began to swirl from Mikhail Lancaster's sword. The ability of the Hero's beloved sword, Peacemaker. A forced peace that nullified all attacks in the area.
But this was Dale's world.
Ultimately, Peacemaker's ability was conceptually close to a barrier that drew its power from ideals, and what broke such a barrier was, in the end, the strength of one's own ideals. And this place was a world that projected Dale's ideals themselves.
*Shatter!*
*'He still can't draw out Peacemaker's full power.'*
The forced peace shattered, and beyond it, the Shadow Lord and his legion began to surge forward.
*'Can I win?'*
The only way to know is to see it through. The distance between Dale and Mikhail closed, and at the same time, the ‘sword’ that had been silent within Dale's shadow revealed itself. A hidden trump card, held in silence until the very last moment.
Lady Shadow, Orelia.
Her crimson sword, now reborn as a black-and-red valkyrie, and Dale's demonic sword, ‘Hunger’, swung toward Mikhail at the same time.
This was not a victory that could be won in a fair fight. But battles in this world did not always need to be fought fairly.
*Shhhlick!*
Orelia's surprise attack, a decisive blow struck from the shadows, slammed down upon the ‘armor of ideals’ enveloping Mikhail. The crimson sword of Lady Shadow.
“…!”
Mikhail, who hadn't perceived the blow, swallowed his shock, but Orelia was already closing the distance, kicking off the ground.
*Shhhlick!*
The armor of fire and light, as brilliant as the sun, was torn, and blood flowed. Magma, boiling like a furnace within the armor, gushed and scattered.
“It seems the match is decided.”
Lady Shadow was now standing guard by Dale's side.
“That was truly an unimaginable blow.”
Ignoring the pouring magma, Mikhail tightened his grip on his hilt and replied.
“I told you then.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whether my sword could now reach the ‘Black Prince’.”
“…”
“It seems the time has finally come to test that.”
The blood pouring like magma solidified like volcanic rock, and Mikhail readjusted his grip on his hilt.
“Now, it is my turn.”
Beneath the pale, dark winter night, a storm of light began to rage, with the Knight of Dawn at its center.