Chapter 48
Chapter 48
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: A Father's Lesson
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“I feel like I'm dreaming.”
In the bedroom of Lord Crimson, Marquis Yuriseu, Elizabeth smiled, her body covered by a sheet. He was truly the prince of her dreams.
“Did you have a pleasant dream?”
Marquis Yuriseu asked the blushing Elizabeth, taking a few sips of the crimson wine in his hand.
Elizabeth, lost in ecstasy, nodded, and Marquis Yuriseu kissed her. Liquid flowed from his mouth to hers.
Crimson wine...?
Just then, a strange sensation in her mouth made Elizabeth gasp. It wasn't the taste of wine.
“...!”
It was blood. Elizabeth spat out the blood in her mouth. The white sheet wrapped around her was stained crimson.
“Ah, dear.”
Watching her, Marquis Yuriseu gave a cold smile.
“Was the drink not to your liking?”
It was a smile so cold it sent shivers down her spine.
* * *
In a fight between a knight and a mage, distance is everything.
But what Dale had just shown with his Shadow Cloak... a lake of darkness, and the horrific creatures slumbering within it.
The thorny hell of the Shadow Lurkers.
The advantage Dale's shadow creatures held in close combat against a knight was something even Lord Helmut could scarcely imagine.
A knight, who should have the upper hand as the distance closes, would be walking willingly into a death trap.
Furthermore, if one were to exclude the factor of distance, it would be pointless to even mention who held the advantage in a fight between a knight and a mage.
“Lord Dale is victorious!”
And so, amidst the soldiers cheering for Dale's victory, Lord Helmut Blackbear thought.
‘Did he choose the Shadow Cloak from the beginning, knowing it would turn out this way?’
An act impossible unless one has achieved complete mastery over their own capabilities and, furthermore, the principles of combat. It wasn't even a matter of understanding or knowledge. It was mastery.
As if he were a god of battle himself.
From summoning a ‘Death Knight of the Black Sword,’ something only high-level necromancers could do, to possessing the combat prowess to fight and defeat an Orc Warboss with his own body.
With talent and a growth rate in both sword and magic unparalleled by anyone in the empire...
‘The young lord is constantly evolving.’
He supplements his weaknesses and strengthens his advantages. All these elements interlock, creating a harmony that borders on perfection.
He doesn't fall behind in a physical fight against a knight, nor does he lose in a battle of concepts against a mage.
Only then could Lord Helmut realize.
What Dale pursued was the most perfect form of combat.
As if, from the very beginning, he had envisioned facing the ‘strongest knight and mage’ and resolved never to lose a single fight.
A talent for slaughter that could astound even Lord Helmut Blackbear, the ‘Monster of Carnage’ who had reached the level of the Seven Swords of the Continent.
And just who was the opponent this child sought to reach by honing his combat skills so relentlessly?
Could there possibly be anyone who could withstand the hostility of the 'Black Prince'?
After thinking that far, Lord Helmut quietly shook his head. For now, it was a time to simply and purely celebrate Dale's victory.
* * *
The Great Demonic Migration.
The battle ended with the successful halt of the Orc horde's large-scale southward advance.
Though its scale couldn't compare to the armies of high-ranking demons or a demon king, defending the empire against thousands of orcs was by no means an easy task. Let alone facing enemies bolstered by 'twelve Purifiers.'
Duke Sachsen's office.
“We've extracted the Purifiers' brains and concluded a three-day-and-night investigation.”
Eris, the secretary to the Master of the Black Magic Tower, continued.
“Any results?”
“Their memories had already been erased, and most of their brain functions were eliminated.”
“Of course.”
Lord Black nodded nonchalantly, as if he had expected as much.
The fanaticism of the Red Mages from the Red Magic Tower is incomparable to anything from the other Magic Towers. After nodding, Lord Black continued calmly.
“They knew in advance that Dale would be acting separately with the cavalry.”
And that meant only one thing.
“An insider from our side must have given the Purifiers specific orders, including Dale's movements.”
“Do you have any suspicions?”
“The monsters of truth.”
Lord Black replied.
“...Are you saying the hardline elders of the Black Tower are colluding with the Red Tower?”
“Have you already forgotten the deeds of the Black-Red Brigade?”
The Black-Red Brigade. An unofficial unit established during the Empire's unification war for 'scholarly inquiry and cooperation' between the Black and Red Magic Towers.
Although the unit was disbanded and its records expunged after the war, and the Black Magic Tower under Lord Black's regime chose to break away from the 'darkness of the old era.'
However, not everyone in the Black Magic Tower agreed with his ways.
The hardliners who, though they couldn't express their dissent before Lord Black, affirmed even the unforgivable atrocities of the Black-Red Brigade as part of the process of truth. Those very monsters have rejected Lord Black's regime and joined hands with the Red Magic Tower.
“The winds of a purge will blow once again.”
The Agent of Black, Eris, spoke calmly.
Remembering that the man before her could also never escape that darkness.
* * *
Lord Black's underground workshop.
The bodies of the Night Raven Knights, their physical forms perfectly preserved, were there.
To carry out their duties even in death. Waiting to become part of the karma accumulated by the heads of House Sachsen over generations.
Before the bodies of those very knights stood the father and son of House Sachsen.
“They were my knights.”
Dale's knights. The swords of Sachsen that Dale could not protect.
“As their lord... I have a duty to fulfill their wishes.”
Therefore.
“Please teach me how to perform the 'Death Order.'”
Dale spoke without a hint of hesitation.
The secret art of House Sachsen that maintained Death Knights without a continuous supply of magic.
But that was not the full extent of their true value. After seeing them, Dale could sense it instinctively. They were no ordinary Death Knights.
Each one a high-level Death Knight possessing the prowess of 'high-ranking knights' like Lord Veil of Baskerville or Lord Milvas, the Sword of Innocence.
“...”
Lord Black did not answer immediately. He simply recalled the display Dale had shown before the Orc Warboss that day... and pictured what would happen when Dale's talent combined with the deep-rooted darkness of the Black Magic Tower.
When Dale eventually succeeds him as another 'Duke Sachsen' and stands at the pinnacle of the Black Magic Tower. How free could this child be from the darkness that even he could not escape?
“When you have grown and surpassed me...”
After some thought, Lord Black spoke.
“When you stand at the pinnacle of the Black Magic Tower.”
As if the time was not yet right.
“This army of darkness will be entirely yours.”
Understanding the meaning behind those words, Dale quietly drew a breath.
To defeat the greatest necromancer on the continent, the man who stood at the pinnacle of the Black Magic Tower, with his own hands.
At those words, Dale spoke up on the spot. Unable to suppress his unbearable curiosity.
“...Father.”
“What is it?”
“May I be so bold as to request a duel with my master, right here and now?”
Because he couldn't bear not knowing the extent of the wall that was the man called 'Lord Black' before him.
“Very well.”
Lord Black gave a quiet nod. There was no surer way for a master and disciple to gauge each other's skills than a duel.
“How shall we compete?”
“Please allow me to use my full power.”
Dale said, his 'Shadow Cloak' fluttering at his feet.
“Use your full power as you wish.”
Lord Black nodded.
“Arise, Black Swords of Sachsen.”
Dale snapped his fingers, murmuring the optimal incantation to raise his Death Knights.
The knights who should be dead readjusted their grips on their knightly swords and rose in unison. Wielding the Black Swords of Sachsen, their jet-black Aura Blades.
“A very clean incantation.”
It clearly painted a mental image and gave a suggestion, yet it was neither too long nor too grandiose. Seeing this, Lord Black couldn't hide his satisfaction as a master.
The knights of death surrounding him from all sides. Each one a Death Knight that perfectly projected Dale's dark magic and even his level of swordsmanship.
From the swords of those very knights, the martial prowess of the hero who once defeated the Divine Sword began to unfold.
Simultaneously, Dale unfurled his Shadow Cloak, spreading the 'Lake of Darkness.' A flood of shadows submerged the area, and from the waves at their feet, the 'Shadow Lurkers' plunged their thorny tentacles in unison.
From below the floor of the underground workshop, from all sides, fatal blows rained down, aiming for Lord Black's life. Without a hint of consideration or restraint.
It was then.
The world stopped.
To be precise... the black swords of the Death Knights and the thorny tentacles of the Shadow Lurkers swinging toward him came to a halt. After stopping, they turned their malicious intent on Dale.
“...!”
The Death Knights who were supposed to be following his orders, and even the 'Shadow Lurkers,' were no exception.
It was just like that time. Just as Dale had subjugated the 'Headless Knight' in the tower's trial, they were bowing their heads before a far greater darkness.
“In a duel between necromancers, losing control of your creations is more fatal than anything else.”
Lord Black continued calmly.
“...”
And so, Dale focused his consciousness once more.
Recalling the void world filled with chilling cold and ash, he projected his blue-black magic, formed from the darkness of that winter night.
The black swords of the Death Knights, which should have been stopped, finally began to move.
Exceedingly difficult and stiff, but definitely toward 'Lord Black's neck.'
He had wrested back control of the Death Knights from the greatest necromancer on the continent.
“...!”
Before this sight, even the great Lord Black could not hide his astonishment.
Fwoosh!
Along with the astonishment, the Death Knight's black sword swung. A severed head rolled limply across the floor. Silence descended like a feather. But in the silence, Dale showed no signs of panic.
“Truly astonishing.”
Just as he expected, the severed head of Lord Black, rolling on the floor, began to speak.
“To think you could reclaim control of the dead from me.”
Like something out of a B-grade horror movie.
“That was a truly unexpected blow.”
With the composure of a master, he didn't hide his satisfaction at his disciple's performance. How on earth? Dale gasped in surprise.
Before he knew it, Lord Black's head was back in its original place. As if the fact that his 'head had been cut off' had never happened. It was just like before. Like when the Purifiers who attacked Dale couldn't die even if they wanted to.
“How in the world...”
Realizing this, Dale asked again. A trick whose principle even he could not fathom. A trick? No.
This was not some paltry act like a trick.
'Do you still not understand? I have not permitted your deaths.'
Thinking that far, Dale gasped at a certain possibility.
‘Reality manipulation...?’
Magic is the power to turn imagination into reality. But the human mind is extremely imperfect, never omnipotent.
Nevertheless, in the case of beings who have truly reached the pinnacle of magic. For instance, a man known as the greatest necromancer on the continent might be able to manipulate the very principles of this world with his will.
For example, erasing the very 'concept of death.'
Realizing this, Dale laughed in resignation. There was no way he could win. No matter that Dale had become the Empire's greatest genius at such a young age and achieved absurd accomplishments, it made no difference.
If the man before him used his full power, the outcome would be decided in an instant.
Just as the whispered reputation of the 'Black Prince' was well-earned, the name of the man most feared by the Empire was certainly not for show.
* * *
Some time after that, an envoy from the Emperor arrived to commend House Sachsen for halting the Great Demonic Migration.
Along with a priceless gift intended to display the Empire's majesty, they came to officially praise the achievements of the 'Black Prince,' who had shown a brilliant performance against the migration despite his young age.
Furthermore, they added that for the sake of 'exchange between Black and Red,' they wished to invite Dale to the Red Magic Tower's academy in the imperial capital for a few weeks.