Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: The Frozen Golden City
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**Chapter 145**
* * *
The grand square of the Labyrinth City, Labyrinthus.
In front of what was once Viscount Sachsen's castle, now being transformed into the church's cathedral, a considerable crowd had gathered.
“The Church of Sistina must immediately repeal its excessive tax policies!”
“Down with the church that exploits the goddess's name!”
“Get out of the Demon Lord's domain now!”
The crowd raised their voices in protest against the church, which had taken over the Demon Lord's domain and was raking in taxes. From the adventurers exploring the labyrinth to the guild members drawn by the artifact and magic stone businesses, and even the farmers risking their lives to cultivate the land within the city—no one was exempt.
However, for such a large number of people to move in such an organized manner, their will alone was never enough.
The presence of a leader who could unite the organization and issue directives was indispensable.
Officially, the one fanning the flames from behind was Edward of Dulles. As the head of the noble adventurer faction, he was a powerful figure in the Labyrinth City, wielding the most influence.
Unofficially, however, the true 'puppeteer' hiding behind the scenes and manipulating them was not Edward.
The roles that the clandestine agents of the Shadow Court, who had taken root throughout the city, could perform were not limited to simply slitting throats. After all, moving in the shadows had many meanings.
In front of the cathedral, a considerable number of people were shouting as if ready to riot at any moment, and blocking them was the church's Templar Order.
Amidst the swirling unrest, Dale was also there, his hood pulled low to conceal his identity.
After lighting a spark, one cannot expect it to consume a pile of firewood overnight.
Therefore, all Dale could do was wait for the right moment.
For the spark he had ignited to blaze up and consume the Labyrinth City and the church.
* * *
“Lord Dale.”
In a room within the cathedral, someone knocked on the door of the ‘Black Prince's’ office.
It was a woman who carried the golden bloodline. Alone, without even a handmaiden or a guard knight to attend her.
A member of the Pendragon clan, the Empire's fifth princess, Kiara.
“Princess Kiara.”
The core figures of the Grand Alliance against the Demons were gathered here at the cathedral. But even so, it was hard to imagine a member of the imperial family wandering the castle without a single guard.
“There's no need to be so formal. Please, don't mind the formalities in front of me.”
As Dale, flustered, rose to pay his respects, Kiara shook her head, indicating there was no need.
“You must be greatly concerned.”
“...These are matters I must naturally bear.”
Princess Kiara gathered the hem of her dress and sat before Dale, and only after seeing her seated did Dale finally sit as well.
“Hearing the fame of the ‘Black Prince’ echo throughout the Empire, I imagined what you were like day and night.”
Kiara continued, speaking to Dale with an amused tone.
“‘What kind of man could he be, for his name and fame to resonate across the entire country day after day?’ I spent many sleepless nights imagining you.”
“People's stories are always prone to exaggeration.”
“Oh, surely not.”
Kiara burst into laughter as if the thought was absurd.
“The ‘Black Prince’ before me right now proves that the honeyed words of the gossips are no lie.”
At Kiara's words, Dale feigned composure and smiled, wary of the blade hidden behind her praise.
“May I ask if the Imperial Princess sought me out for a particular reason?”
Dale thus asked back, judging that there was no point in continuing this needless war of nerves.
“I simply wished to speak with the ‘Black Prince.’ Just the two of us.”
“I can only pray my conversational skills do not disappoint Your Highness.”
At Dale's words, Kiara smiled meaningfully.
“Huhu, your eloquence has already been proven beyond a doubt, my lord.”
Kiara said.
“How could I forget that day in the council, when you claimed to be the King of Shadows and compelled the loyalty of the Blue Magic Tower?”
“......!”
And at the words that followed from her lips, Dale's expression froze.
“Oh, why are you so surprised?”
But the fifth princess, Kiara, simply smiled without a hint of surprise.
“Is it so strange for a proper ‘Sorceress,’ qualified to attend the council, to have been present?”
“...Did you infiltrate the Blue Magic Tower as a spy for the Imperial Family?”
Dale asked back coldly.
“Why would you think that?”
“Are you not a member of the Imperial Family, one who carries the golden bloodline?”
“And what of it?”
It was Princess Kiara who asked back, as if she couldn't understand.
“Just because I carry the imperial blood, where is there a place for me in this Empire of Fire and Light?”
It was then.
With those words, the ‘Circle’ coiled around the princess's heart began to move. The swirling blue magic power from beneath her feet engulfed the area.
“A world of thought...!”
Simultaneously, a world projecting Princess Kiara's mindscape appeared.
A golden world unfolded. A golden fortress, golden mansions, a golden land... the scenery of the Imperial Capital, the heart of the Empire, made of gold.
But at the same time, all the gold there was frozen solid.
The castle, the mansions, the entire golden world was overlaid with ice and covered in frost.
The world was literally frozen over.
A mage's world can never lie. For that world is the very ideology and mental landscape a mage has built over a lifetime.
“Will this be enough to show you my true heart?”
“How can I be certain this isn't a 'world of schemes and lies'?”
Dale asked back. At his question, Kiara burst into amused laughter.
“That day, at the Sorceress Council, I saw a lord who was more befitting the title of ‘Shadow Lord’ than anyone else.”
After laughing, she snapped her fingers.
*Crack, creak.*
The golden fortress towering behind her, and furthermore, the ice covering it, began to crack.
The ice shattered, and the ‘golden fortress’ crumbled.
The very scene Dale had so longed to see was unfolding there. The heart of the Empire, encased in ice, was collapsing.
“This is the ‘world’ I desire. Not as a child of the dragon who carries the imperial blood, but purely as a Sorceress who claims to be a champion of the shadows.”
“...”
“The destruction of the Empire of Fire and Light—that alone is what I desire.”
Kiara said. Dale quietly drew a breath at the weight of her words.
“I wish for this Empire of Fire and Light to fall, and for the ‘children of the dragon’ to gain their freedom against their father dragon.”
“Are you referring to the Golden Lord, His Majesty the Emperor?”
Kiara smiled without a word.
“As you are now, you probably can't even imagine it. The existence of the ‘Lords’ who rule this nation, the Empire.”
“You said ‘Lords’?”
“The Lord of Fire and Blood, the Lord of Light and Heaven... even the ‘Lord of Darkness and Death’ who governs the Duchy of Sachsen would be no exception.”
As soon as he heard those words, he knew instinctively. They were the masters of the five-colored Magic Towers.
“......!”
“Did you still think the Empire was a nation ruled by a ‘single lord’?”
The lord Kiara was referring to was by no means just one. It was an unimaginable statement for an Empire that proclaimed itself the one and only nation on earth.
The words of the Shadow Saint came to mind unbidden.
The existence of apostles who claimed to be champions of gold and shadow. Furthermore, those who were not content with being champions but harbored ambitions to seize the throne themselves from within the gold and shadow.
“──Are you talking about the apostles?”
“Among the apostles, they are the ones with exceptionally great and special power.”
The image of Mikhail Lancaster, the Apostle of Fire and Light, involuntarily came to mind. He imagined a future where Mikhail had not fallen by his hand but had risen to even greater heights.
He probably would have become the ‘Lord of Fire and Light’ as well. And he wouldn't have stopped there, but would have tried to seize an even higher position.
At that point, there would have been only one position for him to seize.
“Like, for instance, the Lord of Fire and Blood, who pledges loyalty to the Golden Lord but still covets the ‘Golden Throne.’”
The Lord of Fire and Blood, Marquis Yuriseu.
Those with the ambition not just to be the standard-bearers of gold, but to ascend to the throne themselves. The clandestine struggles currently unfolding beneath the surface in the Empire of Fire and Light.
“Truly a house divided.”
Dale scoffed coldly, recalling the countless kings he had once struck down.
“Our Blue Magic Tower will fulfill its duty of loyalty to the ‘Shadow Lord’ in silence.”
Kiara said.
“Furthermore, we are mindful that your lordship will not keep us waiting long in our silence.”
“...”
“Just remember this. I am prepared to break the blue silence for the Shadow Lord.”
With those words, the scenery of the world blurred. Once again, the two were in the office of the cathedral. No longer Viscount Sachsen's castle.
There, Dale's mind began to race.
“If you put it that way, I have no reason to refuse.”
But it was by no means a long deliberation.
“As a champion of the shadows, are you truly prepared to break your silence for the Shadow Lord?”
At Dale's question, Kiara bent her knees and gently lifted the ends of her dress.
* * *
At that moment, at the Shadow Court's hideout.
A scream echoed. It was the Shadow Saint's scream. The instant he heard it, Master Baro, who had his feet propped up on a table, threw aside his beer and shot to his feet.
“I-I'm sorry, Father...! Forgive me, it hurts, I can't see anything!”
It was her usual fit. The nightmare of when her former lord, raging that his young daughter was possessed by a demon, had gouged out her eyes.
“Lady Maria, get a hold of yourself!”
Master Baro urgently called the Shadow Saint's name and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
“Baro, Baro...!”
The Shadow Saint, Maria, reached out toward Master Baro's face as if reading Braille.
“I'm scared, I can't see, I can't see...!”
The black bandage covering her eyes slipped down. Beneath it, empty, gaping holes were visible.
And from those empty sockets, blood was trickling down.
“There is nothing to worry about, Lady Maria.”
Master Baro quietly clenched his jaw.
“I am right here by your side.”
A traitor who had once cast aside even his knightly pride and honor to stab his lord in the back. The shame of the Seven Swords of the Continent. But even in the face of such condemnation, Master Baro's ‘knightly pride’ never broke.
The fit subsided amid her pain. The Shadow Saint buried her face in Baro's shoulder and began to sob.
They were tears of blood.
* * *
A short time later, a massive riot broke out, in which priests of the Church of the Goddess were murdered by adventurers.