The Steel Knight's Judgment
“Please, spare me! I don’t understand what you’re saying, but I haven’t done anything wrong…!”
Some pleaded their innocence.
“Die, die, dieee!! I’ll kill you, I’ll kill— Gah!”
Others cursed her.
“O God, why must You send such trials upon our village?”
Still others simply resigned themselves before overwhelming despair and blamed the heavens.
And that was all a human could do.
The screams of those who had no means to resist a subordinate of the Six Swords.
This was the response of the people of Mihelrn upon meeting Vincent’s third finger—Grespara.
“Do not grieve. You are merely returning to the sun.”
Yet the expression of the emotionless girl with turquoise hair remained utterly unmoved as she ground them into paste with her iron blades, as though she were merely crushing insects.
They were insignificant creatures unworthy of the celestial magic her precious Vincent had bestowed upon her. To dispose of such vermin, nothing more than a steel wind was required.
No— even that was excessive.
Was this not the basic power granted to her as a subordinate of one of the Six Swords, Vincent? A power that allowed her to return them to the sun without needing to invoke anything greater?
Of course, that had not been her original purpose in coming to the North.
Her goal had been to infiltrate the royal castle of that detestable barbarian grand duchy—Fralbert.
Why?
Because she had received intelligence that the mysterious figure her master had been obsessively searching for—the one who had slain a member of the Six Swords for the first time since Gorgo—had appeared in the North. The Lord of Steel, Yohan.
And that was not all.
She had also learned that the Hellish Witch who had once slain Asparug, one of the Six Swords, before vanishing into another dimension—Gorgo herself—had returned as well.
If she did not personally confront them and settle the matter, she could hardly call herself a trusted hand acknowledged by Vincent.
Imagine it: the sight of her returning triumphantly to the Demon Realm after killing or capturing both of them. When that bandaged fool Yagnus had brought news of locating Gorgo across countless dimensions, everyone in the Demon Realm remembered how lavishly he had been rewarded.
Of course, that fool had hidden Asparug’s return not for the greater cause, but as a trump card to protect his own hide. In the end, he had been cleanly defeated, and Gorgo had been stolen away by humans, instantly branding him a traitor among the demon army.
But if she resolved everything, the situation would be completely reversed.
And in that case, Grespara would surely receive even greater favor than Yagnus. Vincent would pour upon her the affection he currently gave to his other fingers.
Even if her unauthorized actions ultimately proved these assumptions false, Grespara believed it would happen.
Thus, without anyone’s orders, she had decided alone to invade the North… only to slink away in disgrace.
Even if she had managed to witness the rumored return of Gorgo, the risk of rampaging alone inside the royal castle was far too great. She had seen Gorgo drinking with soldiers, and when she considered facing her directly, she realized that even a rotten member of the Six Swords still possessed terrifying power. One wrong move and she might die.
So she had tried to catch other prey instead. Grespara had searched for the man named Yohan, the one Vincent currently valued most. Yet for some reason, he never showed his face at the banquet hall.
It had been truly disappointing.
Though the exact method remained unknown, anyone who claimed to have slain a member of the Six Swords had surely relied on borrowed power or sheer luck. No matter how capable he might be, as long as he was human, Grespara’s strength would be more than enough to crush him like a cockroach.
And she had missed the chance to seize such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity ahead of her sisters!
Still, having failed to locate her target, she had no choice but to withdraw for the time being. Though Grespara craved her master’s affection, she valued her own life more.
However, the thought of returning empty-handed now filled her with dread. What excuse could she possibly give when asked why she had gone to the North? The answer would be far too awkward.
Everything she had done was ultimately for the sake of receiving love, yet Vincent despised such independent actions. If she returned without results, she might lose his favor entirely.
So she needed a reason for having come to the North—one she could proudly present to Vincent, a meritorious deed that would earn her praise and affection.
And she found it by chance when she encountered a drunken old man at the banquet who had been rambling about celestial magic.
‘I—I saw an oracle. A star is falling. Someone has come. The celestial magic I learned reveals everything!’
‘Oh my. Quite the catch.’
She did not understand the details, but the old man seemed to have learned celestial magic at some point. Vincent was someone who sought to kill every human who had learned celestial magic. Whenever she asked why, he would grow terrifyingly angry, so Grespara had never pressed the matter.
‘That power is mine… I brought it to humanity. Therefore, no one else in this world should know of it.’
He had once said something like that.
In any case, Vincent regularly went on hunts. Whenever a human who had learned celestial magic was discovered, he would go to their village and family and exterminate everyone, just in case someone had learned it by watching over their shoulder. If one of his subordinates brought back such a mimic, he would praise them greatly.
Therefore, the only option left to her was to follow that path.
If she went to the old man’s village and tore apart everyone who seemed to have learned celestial magic, she would have both a legitimate reason for coming to the North and the attention and affection she desired.
That was why she had committed the massacre. Nothing more, nothing less.
What did it matter if a few humans died?
‘Heehee… When I return, I’ll ask for a pretty dress and plenty of kisses. Who knows? He might even embrace me like he does my eldest sister.’
The process had gone smoothly, and the results had been good.
At least, until now.
But just as she was wandering through several places where she sensed human presence, driving iron blades into every person she saw and scattering their entrails—
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, the iron blades circling around her stopped. The tremendous power she had received upon becoming a subordinate of the Six Swords vanished without a trace.
“Huh? Huh? Huh?”
A terrified voice echoed in her mind. A girl’s voice—calling out to her, dreadful and mocking.
[“Kheheheheheheheheh—! Hey, you. Iron lackey. You know our master is furious right now, don’t you?”]
“What is this? What’s happening? Why won’t my power come out…?”
[“You’re nothing but prey, so you can’t even understand my voice properly! Well, that’s too bad, but it can’t be helped. Just stay still and hand over that power without knowing a thing—!”]
“Something feels… off. Unpleasant, somehow.”
And in that instant—
—CRACK!!!
Something she had not even noticed struck her from behind with tremendous weight.
Grespara was sent flying across the snowy ground, rolling helplessly as if she had been kicked by a galloping horse.
“KyaAAAAAAAAAAH—!!”
She had not even had time to activate the power granted to her as Vincent’s subordinate. The pain was no different from what any ordinary little girl would feel—agony so intense it threatened to shatter her mind. Even though she was a demon who prided herself on being a superior race, she had never experienced such pain in her life. Her face twisted, tears welled up, and her entire body was consumed by an emotion she had never known before.
What was this feeling?
“W-Who are you?! Who did this to me?!”
She swallowed hard, forcing the emotion down her throat, and desperately tried to draw out the power that had suddenly vanished while searching for the face of the bastard who had done this to her.
She had to kill them. No matter what.
So she shook the snow from her body and looked up from where she had fallen, sobbing—
—and saw a giant standing there, radiating fury.
A black-haired stranger who looked twice her size. The figure held a massive sword as though it weighed nothing, his entire body drenched in the black blood of the villagers she had slaughtered. He strode toward Grespara with furious steps.
It seemed the thing that had just struck her had been the giant’s kick.
The insolent man spoke.
“Did you just ask who I am?”
“How dare you! You’re nothing but a powerless, foolish human, yet you speak so arrogantly! You must be prepared to pay for what you’ve done to me!”
Those were words that should never have left her mouth in a situation where even begging for her life would not have been enough. But as someone who possessed the power of the absolute Six Swords, she had never once experienced a situation like this. Grespara could not even properly grasp what was happening.
She believed the loss of her power was only temporary. She was certain she could retrieve it at any moment and slaughter this arrogant bear-like man.
But as long as that existence stood beside her, she would never regain her power. If she had known that, would she have been able to act so arrogantly?
If she had known that even Yagnus and Asparug had been rendered helpless by this incomprehensible power that devoured steel, would Grespara, a mere subordinate, have been able to maintain such confidence?
The answer was no.
“I thought you came here looking for me. Was I wrong? Were you simply here to create something to report to your master?”
“W-What did you say?”
“Well, it doesn’t matter. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Lord of Steel. Knight of the North.”
“L-Lord of Steel! K-Kuhuhu. How fortunate. Wonderful! To think such a big fish would walk right into my net! I—I’m quite lucky. Once my power returns, this Grespara will—!”
“Shut up. Dragging you back covered in wounds would be too much trouble, so from now on, I’ll beat you so thoroughly you won’t even think of causing trouble again.”
“H-Huh?”
Whoosh—
“Shouldn’t my power be coming back by now?”
CRUNCH—!
Thud.
“A-Aaaaah—it hurts—!”
Her nose, struck squarely by a fist thrown with full force, gushed blood. But without her power, she had no way to resist.
CRUNCH—!
CRUNCH—!
“S-Stop it—! Please stop!”
“Bite down. I don’t want to hear you babbling with a bitten tongue.”
“I-I’m sorryyy!”
“Shut your mouth.”
“D-Don’t hit me! P-Please spare me! I-I’ll do anything! Aaaah, aah! I’ll do whatever you want!”
And only then did she understand.
The emotion Grespara was feeling now was fear born of the unknown.
A fear that, as a demon, she had never once experienced in her entire life.