Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: The Sorcerer's Fortress
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* * *
A golden flash surged forward. A divine speed, as if light itself were racing. The first time since his reincarnation that he'd faced the pinnacle of knighthood, an Avatar wielder.
But this was 'Dale's world.' A world of death, projecting the chilling cold and darkness of that white and somber winter night. An arena that had trapped them both.
The significance of a sorcerer projecting their inner world to unleash their full power. It was akin to building a 'sorcerer's fortress.'
For an ordinary 6th-circle mage... a common magic tower elder who didn't fully grasp its meaning, it was limited to a basic level of amplifying their mental image to optimize casting, strengthening formulas, and increasing the purity of their mana's color. But Dale was different.
He understood the true meaning of this inner world... this 'sorcerer's fortress,' and knew how to wield its power.
Sorcerers, by nature, do not train with the goal of fighting in wars. Even if their power is supernatural, no matter how high their circle, they do not build their inner worlds to specialize in combat.
Like the 6th-circle elders who had fallen to Dale since his reincarnation.
They were nothing more than 'scholars' who had obtained a power slightly greater than that of ordinary people.
No matter how gruesome or cruel the principles of the studies they pursued, no matter how they obtained supernatural power beyond the reach of ordinary people, a scholar could never win against a warrior in the first place.
But the 'worlds' displayed by the greatest battle mages, who had once fallen at the Hero's hands. Sorcerers who did not hesitate to become warriors. High-ranking sorcerers who had reached the 6th circle or beyond.
Dale remembered the form of the worlds they had shown, worlds built purely 'for combat.'
The true power of a sorcerer's fortress built solely for the purpose of battle.
A world of slaughter. An ultimate state that could become a fortress in itself.
And there was an attacker surging forward to tear down that fortress.
The Holy Maiden Orelia, the golden Valkyrie.
A battle between a knight and a sorcerer who had reached the highest echelons. It was, in itself, a siege.
Chilling cold and darkness swirled, blocking the path of the charging Holy Maiden Orelia.
At the same time.
Shwoook!
─ Kyahahahat!
A jet-black tentacle slammed down.
To Dale's ears, it was the pure, innocent laughter of a young girl.
“■■■■──!”
To the Holy Maiden Orelia, it must have seemed like nothing more than the shriek of a hideous otherworldly monstrosity.
‘...!’
The golden Valkyrie swung her sword in a flash. A golden light raged. A sword that purified the vile, cleaved the darkness, and brought the light of dawn.
That sword severed 'Shub's' tentacle, and a dark, black liquid like coal tar splattered out. Right before her eyes.
Thwip!
But the Holy Maiden Orelia, as if defying the laws of physics, halted her charge and kicked off the ground to create distance.
To avoid the essence of evil and corruption that even the Holy Maiden's golden armor could not withstand.
“──This is my domain.”
Immediately after, the 'Shadow Cloak' camouflaged as Dale's black surcoat began to flap wildly.
From the bottom of the stark white night, a lake of darkness spread out. Simultaneously, the 《Shadow Lurkers》 huddled within the shadows all shot out their thorny tentacles at once.
Beside Dale, the girl with the horns of a black goat lifted the hem of her dress. Jet-black tentacles slammed down in unison.
A hell of tentacles.
The 'world filled with malice' was spewing forth that malice without restraint. But the Holy Maiden Orelia was not flustered.
Putting aside the ominous feeling of the child's malice before her, like looking upon the very seed of evil.
She simply brandished her golden sword in silence.
It was not a holy sword. It was the nameless sword of a soldier. But before the brilliant golden light wrapped around that sword, even the light of a holy sword would seem fleeting.
Like the light of dawn raising its head through the twilight.
Before the baptism of tentacles descending to violate the golden Valkyrie, the maiden of war, a torrent of light erupted.
“...!”
Nothing remained.
Annihilation.
Even the lake of darkness was no exception. As if a river had dried up, its bottom exposed.
‘As expected, she's not easy.’
An opponent against whom victory could not be guaranteed even at full power. And the '3rd-circle sorcerer' began to accelerate the circles in his heart once more. Three circles, and the jet-black tentacles coiling around them... 『The Book of the Black Goat』.
The mana spewing from the two black sources spread throughout Dale's world.
To transform the scenery of the white and somber winter night into his own fortress.
Knights thoroughly hone their swords for the sole purpose of standing on the battlefield. Therefore, what a knight projects onto their sword, armor, and body is the 'ideology of slaughter' they have built up. It would be no different, even if it were a power obtained through a goddess's revelation.
A warrior.
A mere scholar could never triumph against a warrior. But Dale was no mere scholar.
“...!”
For a moment, a look of caution flickered across the Holy Maiden Orelia's face. Turning around, the golden Valkyrie swung her sword.
Clang!
The Holy Maiden's nameless sword clashed. With what?
A Black Blade.
“...!”
The jet-black aura blade symbolizing House Sachsen. The sword of a Death Knight, nothing but bone, armed in the black armor of a Night Raven Knight. A sword imbued with enough martial might to block a strike from the Holy Maiden, an Avatar wielder.
That very Knight of the Black Blade surged forward, swinging a blow at the Holy Maiden.
It was not a corpse revived using a Night Raven Knight as 'material.' Such restrictions meant nothing in this world.
This was, after all, a world where a sorcerer projected his own ideology, and Dale was the god of this world.
Dale possessed the capability to make it possible.
A level that a mere 6th-circle elder, nothing more than a scholar, could not even dream of.
──A white and somber winter night.
Sleet drifted through the air, and in that place of swirling cold and darkness, an undead legion began to appear, one by one.
Death Knights wielding the black swords of Sachsen, to protect their lord and the 'master of this world.'
* * *
Death Knights built from the power of ideology. Projected onto each and every one of them was the martial prowess of the one once called the Hero.
The data endlessly accumulated after raising Death Knights and serving as the captain of the Black Armor Company. The essence of swordsmanship, built through countless trials and errors during training with the sword genius, Charlotte.
A 'formula' that melted down that very essence was overlaid upon the Death Knights.
「Automatic Formula」.
It was still only at a test level, but this was a flawless opponent for its first field deployment.
‘How far can they go against her?’
The first time facing an opponent of extraordinary strength with his full power. Against her, Dale was now unleashing 100% of his power, and then some, without holding anything back.
Amidst the overclocking of his circles that felt like his heart would burst, each circle was accelerating beyond thousands of RPMs. As if that weren't enough, the jet-black tentacles, acting as another 'black source,' were injecting power into his heart and circles.
Right now, Dale was the master and god of this world.
But he was neither omniscient nor omnipotent. To use power, he had no choice but to expend a commensurate amount of mana.
And raising Death Knights on this scale, imbuing each with the Hero's martial prowess, and projecting the Automatic Formula was not without cost.
The pain was so great it felt like his heart would explode. But he paid it no mind and raised his head.
At the same time.
─ Ahh, big brother...
The girl with the horns of a black goat wrapped her arms around Dale's shoulders, as if she couldn't bear how lovely he was.
Her slender white fingers caressed Dale's cheek.
“...!”
But to the Holy Maiden Orelia, it must have looked like a hideous cluster of tentacles was coiling around Dale.
The sight of a loathsome otherworldly monstrosity, dripping a dark, black mucus like coal tar as it wrapped its tentacles around him.
Putting the nauseating sight behind her, she readjusted her grip on her sword's hilt.
“──It seems.”
Facing the Knights of the Black Blade charging from all directions, Orelia's golden blade gleamed as she spoke.
“It will be difficult to continue facing you 'moderately' any longer, my lord.”
“I do not mind that.”
“I do not wish to betray the goodwill you showed in handing over Rheims.”
The golden Valkyrie said.
“If I use any more of my strength, I cannot guarantee your life, my lord.”
“I was prepared for that from the beginning.”
Dale replied.
“But before that, there is something I wish to ask.”
“Please, speak.”
“The one who is to become the king of the new Kingdom of Britannia, will he be a good king?”
“...!”
“Seeing how desperately you are trying to hand the throne to Charles VII, Holy Maiden.”
Dale asked calmly.
“He must surely be a virtuous king, without fault.”
“...”
“He must be concerned for the people suffering under the Empire's tyranny, know justice, and genuinely worry for the kingdom's future.”
Dale said.
“Is it something worth doing?”
And the Holy Maiden Orelia could understand the meaning behind that question. It was not a question. The young heir of House Sachsen already knew the answer.
The truth about the man named Charles VII.
“Simply because that man was born of the royal bloodline...”
As if nothing else mattered.
“Are you, Holy Maiden, planning to offer this entire country to that man?”
“It is not my role to think.”
“No, Lady Orelia, you must think.”
Those words again.
“About the meaning of the words the Sistina Sister Goddesses desire, 'to save the Kingdom of Britannia'.”
“As I have said.”
But the Holy Maiden Orelia paid it no mind.
“I am merely executing 'the will of the goddess'.”
Save the kingdom from the Empire's tyranny and hand the throne to the most qualified person. And Charles VII was qualified. The innate qualification of being born of royal blood.
“Are you claiming to be a puppet of the heavens?”
A puppet of the heavens.
Though her expression was hidden by her golden helm, it could not be read. But even in this world of swirling, chilling cold, he could feel the air in the vicinity freeze over.
“Our fate is not our own.”
The Holy Maiden Orelia said.
“Those are very true words.”
Dale did not deny it, nodding his head. For it was very similar to what Dale had once told Lord Yones.
There is no fate that we can change with our own hands.
“But just as fate is not our own.”
Dale spoke nonetheless.
“Likewise, it does not belong to 'the heavens' either.”
As if to say he could never become a 'puppet of the heavens.'
“...Is that so.”
At those words, the Holy Maiden Orelia silently nodded. She readjusted her grip on her nameless sword.
“Then our conversation ends here.”
From beneath her feet, a golden whirlwind raged. Six wings made of light spread wide.
It was no longer even a golden Valkyrie. An executor of a god stood there.
A Seraph.
“■■■■■■■■──!”
At the same time, the girl with the horns of a black goat let out the most horrific scream in the world.