Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: The Passing of the Holy Sword
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“How much longer are you going to follow me around like a stalker?”
In the gloom of the labyrinth, the red-haired beauty raised her voice shrilly.
“Heh heh, well, shit. This lady must think every man is after her. What am I supposed to do if we just happen to be going the same way?”
“Oh, then please, by all means, go on ahead.”
“My, this lady has quite the temper. I just want to take a leisurely stroll, so why are you picking a fight?”
“Oh, is that so?”
The moment she spoke, crimson magic began to flare at her feet.
*Fwoosh!*
At the same time, crimson flames began to rage, illuminating the darkness of the labyrinth. It was a hellfire that no mere mage, or even a knight, could easily withstand.
*Shing.*
“Whoa, shit, that was a start.”
But the adventurer ‘Faceless’ was nowhere to be found within the raging flames. He had already moved behind her, pressing a blood-red blade to her neck. The joking and laughter from moments ago were gone, replaced by a killing intent honed to the tip of his sword.
“You still think this is your own little backyard?”
“…”
“The bastards who were turned to ash by your temper are grinding their teeth in hell. You'd do well to remember how precious that pretty little neck of yours is.”
“You sure know how to run your mouth.”
“Well, isn't that what a mouth is for?”
For a moment, Lady Scarlet's fangs glinted menacingly between her lips. Furthermore, the liquid tissues within the bloodstream flowing through her body began to stir.
A power of blood that was neither a knight's aura nor a mage's magic.
“A disgrace to all knights, you truly have no shame.”
But her burning hatred lasted only a moment. Soon, feigning her usual composure, Lady Scarlet shot back.
“Heh heh, you think preaching chivalry to a man who's already quit being a knight will do any good?”
The Red Witch, Lady Scarlet. There were few in the world who could cross her and remain unscathed. And the Killing Sword, Master Baro, was one of those few.
To watch over the uncontrollable Red Witch, there was truly no better man for the job.
***
At that same time, in the labyrinth city's center, stood Viscount Sachsen's castle.
Dale was there, having disguised Master Baro as ‘Faceless’ to mark Lady Scarlet, while also listening to reports from the labyrinth and the Demon Lord's territory.
“A report has come in that the Red Magic Tower's Purifiers have eliminated a group of ghouls that were threatening the Pioneering Sisterhood.”
“The pioneer farmers' winter crop yields are exceeding expectations.”
“We have formed rotating patrol units with the Rose Cross Knights and the Night Raven Knights to strengthen patrols in the pioneer territories.”
The open-door policy was proceeding smoothly, built upon the power of House Sachsen established by his father, Lord Black. Amid the whirlwind of the artifact rush, the darkness of the Demon Lord's territory was lifting, gradually revealing the lands beyond.
Pioneering this land was not something that could be done in a day or two. This was true even now, with Dale on the verge of his fifteenth birthday, having become the ruler of the Demon Lord's territory at the age of thirteen.
For the unknown land that Dale would ultimately face at the edge of the Demon Lord's territory still remained silent.
The dark continent beyond the northern Demon Lord's territory, the homeland of the Demon Lord and the demonkin. A veiled realm whose true nature was unknown to anyone in the Empire.
The northern part of the Empire was not the entirety of the continent's north. And no one knew just how vast the lands referred to as the continent's north were, or where they ended. This was true even when the existence of the ‘Eastern Anatolian Continent’ across the sea was known.
It was a land so formidable that even the Demon Lord Balor and the high-ranking demonkin, the ‘Shadowmancers,’ had abandoned their homeland in a great exodus. What could possibly lie dormant in that land that even a being calling himself the Demon Lord could not handle, forcing him to flee in search of a new home?
He would not find the answer right away. But as long as that answer remained out of reach, Dale's duty as the ruler of the Demon Lord's territory would not be over.
***
*Fwoom!*
The Shadow Lord's avatar blocked the swung sword, and Lord Helmut Blackbear immediately brought his own blade down.
Even while parrying the blow, Dale's body endlessly poured out magic, amplifying the avatar's power.
Enhancing the body with magic was an extremely inefficient and almost meaningless act in this world. No matter how hard a mage tried to strengthen their body, it could never compare to the efficiency of aura.
But for Dale, who considered his own existence a kind of mechanical device, it was a different story.
The armor of dark blood, powered by a total of three ‘power plants,’ with a heat engine fused to his circle using crimson magic.
The mana circle that purely generated magic, *The Book of the Black Goat* rooted in his heart as another source of black power, and finally, the heat engine fused within his body by crimson magic. A storm of magic erupted as these three power sources merged into one.
*'If I were to unleash the full extent of this power in the world of ideas, how far could I reach?'*
The power he would possess if he could fuse the two pinnacles, sword and magic, to the 100% he envisioned.
To achieve that, it was essential for now to become accustomed to utilizing his avatar and crimson magic.
Furthermore, they were not the only ones present for the two's training that day.
As usual, the two female knights who served Viscount Sachsen were there.
Lady Shadow and Lady Black.
“…!”
Watching the clash between the two avatar users, Lady Black ‘Charlotte’ quietly gasped.
The avatar, said to be the pinnacle of knighthood. Charlotte was not unaware of Lord Helmut Blackbear's. But the armor of dark blood enveloping the lord she was sworn to protect—what in the world was that?
For the current Charlotte, it was a clash of titans she couldn't even dream of approaching. And it wasn't a battle of magic, but one fought purely with the sword.
*'The lord I'm supposed to protect…'*
It was Dale who had valued her talent as the daughter of the Divine Sword. It was also Dale who had told her that her sword would one day become stronger than his.
But the lord she was meant to protect, Dale, was growing more distant by the day, reaching a realm far beyond Charlotte's grasp.
Moreover, even Orelia, who guarded their lord's side with her, had her own avatar. Furthermore, whenever Dale undertook a certain mission, it was ‘Lady Shadow’ who protected him from the shadows.
Not Charlotte.
The thought came unbidden. Was there any reason for her, Charlotte, to be here in Duke Sachsen's castle anymore? Feeling her standing shrink, Charlotte bit her lip.
It was then.
*Clang!*
After parrying a strike from Lord Helmut, the Shadow Lord finally planted his sword in the ground.
“Charlotte.”
Dale then addressed Charlotte.
“Now it's your turn.”
“My turn…?”
Charlotte gasped at the unexpected words.
“Draw your sword.”
“Ah, y-yes.”
Charlotte nodded and hurriedly placed a hand on her hip. She drew her sword, and a jet-black aura blade enveloped it.
An Aura Knight wielding the Black Sword of Sachsen. Her skill had already far surpassed the level achievable for someone her age.
And yet, compared to Orelia or Dale, she was nothing more than a frog in a well. She felt this truth even more keenly whenever she crossed swords with her usual training partner, the knightess Orelia.
Being the Divine Sword's daughter changed nothing. In this absurd world, the value of the blood flowing in Charlotte's veins was ultimately just a means to fulfill eugenic desires.
Just then, the Shadow Lord's avatar rushed toward her.
It was a speed she couldn't even fathom, and Charlotte's black sword belatedly parried Dale's demonic blade.
*Clang!*
With a single strike, Charlotte's sword was sent spinning helplessly through the air before clattering to the floor.
“…Ah.”
A sword full of hesitation.
“Is it because you were surprised by my avatar?”
“I-I was just a little shaken, that's all.”
Dale asked again, and Charlotte hesitated before nodding.
“Still, I can't hide it from the swords meant to protect me.”
“…I know.”
*You're not weak enough for my sword to protect you.* Unable to voice those words, Charlotte gave a bitter smile. Then she readjusted her grip on her sword, facing a being who was already impossibly far beyond her reach.
She steeled her heart and focused her mind on the tip of her blade.
To get even a little closer to him.
***
This world is vast. And it takes more than a single day for follow-up reports on the ‘War of the Roses’ from so far away to reach Sachsen's Demon Lord territory.
Thus, it was around that time that the official news of the Holy Sword Master's death was delivered.
The news was that after being defeated and captured by the ‘Black Prince’ in the First War of the Roses, he was later rescued by Phillip, but… with his holy sword broken and unable to withstand his fatal injuries, he had died in his own domain shortly after the end of the Second War of the Roses.
Dale had intentionally had House York control and manipulate the information, delaying the timing of the death announcement to throw it off-beat.
This was to manage the impact, considering the aftershocks that would rock the Empire following the deaths of the Holy Sword Master and Mikhail Lancaster.
As soon as they learned that the holy relic of the first Master of the White Magic Tower had been destroyed, the White Magic Tower was thrown into an uproar. And when it was revealed that the one responsible was the ‘Black Prince,’ the entire Church began foaming at the mouth.
It was also around that time that Charlotte Orharhart heard the news about the Holy Sword Master.
***
In the early dawn of that day, a knock sounded on the door to Dale's bedroom.
For a moment, Dale held his breath and sat up.
“Dale.”
But the voice that followed was not the one Dale had imagined. It wasn't Sephia, but his knightess, Charlotte. Only then did the void left by Sephia's absence clutch at Dale's heart.
“Come in.”
Swallowing his disappointment, Dale spoke calmly. Charlotte was there, dressed in black pajamas. Dale adjusted his own clothes to receive her.
“Would you like something to drink?”
“Thank you.”
Charlotte hesitated, then smiled. It was a smile full of awkwardness.
“Is there something you wanted to talk about?”
“…”
Dale asked, but Charlotte did not answer. After a moment of silence, she spoke.
“I heard the Holy Sword Master died.”
“…I hear he passed away in his own domain after the war ended.”
Dale feigned ignorance.
“Did you fight him yourself?”
Dale nodded silently.
“Even knowing his injuries were severe, I never thought he would actually die.”
“I see.”
Another lie. The words Dale whispered to Charlotte.
It was then. Dale glanced aside, and his eyes fell upon the sword leaning against his bed.
It was Peacemaker, the cherished sword of the hero who had once defeated her father.