Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: The Next Generation
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99
* * *
The city of the Lana Guild. The city hall of Arte della Lana.
Dale was in a room of the official residence, adorned with expensive woolen decorations symbolizing the guild.
"I heard that Lord Crimson's proxy, Ray Yuriseu, met with the master of the Lana Guild."
Having already ascertained which great noble's proxy had contacted which guild master through the Shadow Court's intelligence network.
"…!"
"You must be aware of the attempted assassination of the Kalimala Guild's master."
"I am at least aware that the Shadow Court guarantees your innocence, my lord."
The master of the Lana Guild said, and Dale quietly nodded.
"Master of the Lana Guild, do you intend to become the next City Master with the backing of the Empire and the Red Magic Tower?"
"...The City Master will be lawfully elected according to the republican customs of the Seven Great Guilds, and nothing more."
Seeing him strive to maintain his composure, Dale remained silent.
"If the City Master's ledger falls into the Empire's hands."
After a moment of silence, Dale spoke.
"How long do you think the 'republican customs' the Guild City prides itself on will last?"
"..."
"The Seven City-Republics were destroyed, reduced to a mere city-state. Now, with its very heart falling into the Empire's hands..."
Recalling the sight of the ‘Seven City-Republics’ he had once destroyed with his own hands. The fortunes they boasted of were ultimately meaningless before the Hero’s sword.
"Do you think a nation like the Empire will tolerate the 'republic of the Seven Great Guilds'?"
Dale continued.
"Defying the Empire and the Red Magic Tower undoubtedly requires no small amount of courage."
"..."
"But refusing our Black Faction's goodwill will require just as much courage."
It was a threat, blatant as could be. But without such a strong hand, he could not move the guild masters. The master of the Lana Guild simply remained silent until the end.
This was the very definition of a shrimp caught in a battle between whales.
* * *
Some time later.
Before the Black Market opened, a meeting of the Seven Great Guild Masters was held to address the unrest circulating within the Guild City.
Along with them were the strongest individuals in the Guild City, high-ranking assassins from the Shadow Court, to serve as their escorts.
—And by the order of the 'Shadow Lord' they served, every detail of the conversation flowed to Dale.
As long as the Shadow Court was present to protect the guild masters, not even the smallest whisper could escape their ears.
* * *
A short while later, after the Seven Great Guilds had made their calculations, the Guild City was split into two major factions.
The Imperial Faction, which sought to align with the Empire and the Red Magic Tower.
The Black Faction, which supported the alliance with Black proposed by Dale.
Secret meetings were held repeatedly amidst their shifting alliances, and each time, it was the 'Shadow Court's' duty to protect them.
They hadn't the faintest idea that the assassins of the 'Shadow Court,' meant to protect the Guild City, had become Dale's pawns.
* * *
He could go to the City Master right now, wring his neck, and seize the Guild City's ledger. He could also obtain a list of the opposing faction and send assassins from the Shadow Court to eliminate them.
But there was a reason Dale did not do so, just as there was a reason the Empire did not simply squeeze them by force.
The masters of the Seven Great Guilds always held information to preserve their own lives.
Furthermore, the true value of the City Master's ledger lay not in what was already written, but in the 'information yet to be recorded.'
Whenever a transaction occurred across the Empire using the network the Guild City had established throughout the continent. The flow of funds spanning the entire continent, where sword hilts were sold, where armor was imported from...
Which regional lord was burdened with how much debt, and how much more they intended to take on.
A microcosm that allowed one to grasp the future state of the continent, not the past.
Unless it was secured in a state where it could be constantly accessed, it was meaningless. This was the context for why Dale and the Empire were so desperate to get the 'next' City Master under their control.
Intangible information.
That was the single biggest reason why they could make the Guild City bow its head, but could not take what it possessed.
* * *
Separate from the affairs of the Seven Great Guilds, the next round of the Fight Club tournament drew near.
"Waaaaaah!"
Leaving the crowd's cheers behind him, Dale turned his head. Upon the Lake of Darkness, an innumerable host of <> revealed their imposing figures.
Beasts of shadow.
They brandished limbs made of scythes on serpentine bodies. Countless thorny tentacles writhed along their backs.
"I, I, surr—!"
And before Dale's opponent could even finish his words.
*Thwack!*
The thorny tentacles plunged into his body all at once. Blood gushed out, and a roar filled with madness echoed through the arena.
A strike to prove the cruelty of the 'Black Prince,' who showed not an ounce of mercy to his enemies. And a decision born from the cold calculation to eliminate even one more competitor for the Black Market.
* * *
The 'Black Prince' of House Sachsen proved his ruthlessness, and the next match began.
"This is another sight you can't miss!"
"Mikhail of Lancaster! The second son of House Lancaster, Lord Mikhail!"
*...House Lancaster?*
The name caught Dale's attention, and he turned his head toward the arena. There stood a handsome, blond man.
—House Lancaster.
One of the 'Three Great Ducal Houses,' said to be the greatest archdukes of the Empire, alongside Sachsen and Barbarossa.
It went without saying that there was no doubt the Three Great Ducal Houses would send proxies to the Black Market.
*Still, for the second son of House Lancaster to personally enter the Fight Club...*
Forgetting that he himself was the eldest son of House Sachsen, Dale tilted his head. Mikhail must have appeared in the round of 32, but Dale hadn't watched all the matches back then. However, Dale did recall hearing the name 'Mikhail Lancaster' before.
Not in his past life, but after becoming the eldest son of House Sachsen.
A sword genius said to be closest to reaching the level of the next Seven Swords of the Continent. In truth, it was hardly strange for children of ducal houses to be called geniuses of the sword or magic.
In any world, there was no better guarantee in life than being born with a silver spoon in your mouth.
The world was unfair and absurd, one's station in life determined from birth. The Empire's Three Great Ducal Houses were like incarnations symbolizing that very unfairness.
In a sense, Phillip, the scoundrel from a count's family, could be called an irregular who defied fate.
Finishing his thoughts, Dale turned his head. Mikhail Lancaster drew the sword from his hip. It was a knight's sword with a crimson blade.
*The Blood Flower Sword...*
Not an ordinary sword, but a famed blade on par with a top-tier artifact.
His opponent was also a knight from a renowned count's family, making it a good opportunity to witness Mikhail's skill firsthand. It should have been.
But as soon as the signal to start the match rang out, the opponent's head was already rolling on the floor.
Without even time to shout for surrender, without even shrouding his blade in an aura blade.
*...!*
A single strike.
A speed that not even Dale could follow unless he projected the Hero's might and focused by activating his circles. The vast majority in the arena could not keep up with the speed and fell silent.
Mikhail Lancaster sheathed his sword and glanced over.
Toward Dale, the eldest son of House Sachsen.
He looked at him, gave a polite, silent nod, and offered a faint smile. It was an exceedingly courteous and dignified demeanor, befitting the second son of a ducal house.
The swordsmanship he displayed was the same. A single move so clean and beautiful that one could only stare in awe.
Mikhail Lancaster, the Sword Demon.
That was his epithet, and Dale could instinctively sense it.
The powerful figures who currently dominated the continent, even those who were active in his past life, would eventually wither and fall before the flow of time. But that vacuum would surely not last long.
Because the next generation of powerhouses would take their place.
Just as Dale was, just as Ray Yuriseu was, and just as Mikhail Lancaster was.
Powerhouses unknown to the Dale of the past would form the next generation, and he would have to fight many of them in life-or-death battles.
Calmly contemplating this fact, Dale also gave a polite nod.
* * *
The matches in the Fight Club proceeded quickly.
In this hell where opponents died one after another without a chance to surrender, those who knew their place chose to forfeit before fighting. After a process of elimination, only four remained.
The semifinals.
Dale, Ray Yuriseu, Mikhail Lancaster, and one proxy from a marquis's house.
*...Did House Barbarossa not send anyone?*
The maritime powerhouse based in the Sea of Death archipelago, commanding an invincible fleet. The possibility that they would quietly participate in the Black Market without appearing in the Fight Club could not be ruled out.
At least, it wasn't something to think about right now.
In the Fight Club arena, cheers filled with more heat than ever before were echoing. They craved the ecstasy and madness of blood. To meet their expectations, Dale raised his head.
"Ah, we finally meet like this."
The adopted son of Lord Crimson, and the successor to the Red Magic Tower whom none dared to challenge. Ray Yuriseu was there.
He could no longer hear the commentators' shouts that had been echoing just moments before.
*He's an opponent I have to face eventually anyway.*
Rather, it was a competitive spirit that set Dale's heart ablaze.
And so, a vortex of black and blue swirled, and in response, Ray Yuriseu also accelerated his circle.
"Resonate."
Dale spoke as he accelerated his four circles. At the same time, blue particles began to scatter in all directions, accompanied by a clear, yet strangely unsettling harmony.
"Blue Barrel."
After reaching the 4th circle, he loaded the <> Sephia had taught him into the gun's barrel.
He submerged the entire arena in the Lake of Darkness and brought out his creations from the shadows. The Death Knight he commanded from behind him readjusted its grip on Sachsen's black sword.
Seal the opponent's magic, then overwhelm them with numbers to seize victory. Having formed his strategy, there was not a hint of hesitation in Dale's actions.
"Kieeeeek!"
The <> roared and shot out their thorny tentacles. The beasts of shadow surged forward, and Ray Yuriseu extended his arm before them.
Ignoring the 'Blue Dissonance' aimed at him, ready to seal his magic at a moment's notice.
Within the swirling vortex of red and black, Ray Yuriseu opened his mouth.
"—O, 『King of Cold Ash』."
He uttered the name of the grimoire he could never forget.