The Broken Knight
"Hey, what's the date today?"
At my question, the sentry sitting in the watchtower replied, "If my memory serves me right, it's January twenty-seventh."
January twenty-seventh. I had left Libero around the end of November, which meant about two months had passed.
It hasn't been as long as I thought. Before diving back into the hundredth trial, when I had roughly calculated the time outside in years, it wouldn't have been strange if over a year had passed. But it seemed time inside the Trial did not flow in perfect proportion to the outside world.
First, let's head back to Libero. Fortunately, the swordsmanship I had trained in during those hundred trials remained with me to some extent, even if it wasn't perfect. Even that partial retention was nothing short of a complete rebirth compared to my swordsmanship before the Trial.
Yet, a lingering regret remained. Since the Trial had ended sooner than expected, I wanted to spend at least a few more months learning swordsmanship from him.
And I feel like there was something I needed to tell him. In truth, because my memories had grown hazy, I couldn't recall the exact words. But I remembered that it was something deeply important to him. Perhaps if I spoke with him again, it would come back to me.
With those thoughts in mind, I stepped into Sak, only to immediately sense that the atmosphere was off. The entire city was dead silent. It felt as though everyone was frozen, holding their breath in terror.
What's going on? As I walked down the streets, ruined buildings caught my eye here and there. Judging by the debris, they looked to have been destroyed about a month ago.
What on earth happened? I hurried my steps toward the basement where I had stayed with Libero. But the moment I stepped onto the basement stairs, I sensed a presence inside.
The old me probably wouldn't have noticed. But now, having trained under Libero, my ability to sense hostile presences had sharpened to the point where I could roughly estimate their numbers. Of course, I still couldn't pinpoint each of their exact locations like Libero could.
I quieted my footsteps and descended the stairs. The last time I had been caught by them was because I couldn't mask my footsteps. But now, I too could silence my steps—even if I couldn't completely erase my very presence the way he did.
Entering the basement, I spoke to the figures lying on the floor. "Hey."
They jumped up in sheer fright. One of them, barely able to open his eyes, blurted out to me:
"We've been working diligently in our rooms just as you ordered! We haven't done anything bad! I swear!"
Then, the guy finally opened his eyes. "Huh? Wait, aren't you that monster brat from back then?"
"What? Man, I thought it was that old man again."
Only then did I realize there had been some interaction between these guys and Libero. "By 'old man,' do you mean Libero? What happened?"
"Ah, so you don't know. We were just trying to take our hideout back, you see? But that old man threatened us with this terrifying sword." He pointed to the empty pizza boxes scattered around. "He told us to stop doing bad things and work diligently, and he'd let us have this place. But he said if he came back and found us slacking off, he'd slaughter every last one of us."
"He said it was just words, but he was so bloody terrifying about it. How could we possibly do anything bad after that?"
In truth, as a Demon King, Libero had no reason to spare them. Yet, he had given them their hideout back and ordered them to work honestly. Which meant... What a hopeless justice freak.
He was merely suppressed by his identity as a Demon King and the rules of the Demon King Council. At his very core, there was justice. Even though he kept denying it, claiming it was just a hobby.
There was no way that was a hobby. If that counted as a hobby, every Hero in the world would be out of a job. But at that moment, an ominous thought flashed through my mind. But the situation outside right now is almost as if... It felt as though his presence had vanished. A city utterly devastated. Everyone holding their breath in tense silence, as if justice no longer existed.
"Do you happen to know where he went?"
"We don't know either. We used to spot him occasionally until about two weeks ago, but we haven't seen him lately."
Indeed, there was no way they would know the whereabouts of the elusive Libero. "Then do you know why the outside looks like that?"
"Well... we only heard rumors, so we can't be sure. But apparently, it's because of that masked fiend."
The masked fiend? That referred to Libero. If so, I might be able to trace his steps. "What did the masked fiend do?"
Yet, a sense of unease crept over me. To think the bizarre atmosphere outside was because of him. What on earth had he done?
"The Ju-jak and Hyeonmu factions vanished in a single day. That part was fine, but it turns out the guy people were calling an apostle of justice was actually a Demon King."
"What?"
Of course, I already knew he was a Demon King. But what mattered was how his identity had been exposed.
"He slaughtered all the Heroes in his path as he made his way to the Company. And now, he's sitting on the top floor of their building, killing every single Hero who comes for him. In the end, even the Sak government recognized the gravity of the situation and requested the Holy Church to dispatch Heroes."
Damn it. I pieced the situation together in an instant. The political landscape of Sak was already mapped out in my head.
The giant corporation, the Company, was colluding with the Sak government. And the Sashinpa was the illegal armed syndicate that the Company controlled like its limbs. It was this Sashinpa that Libero had been fighting against. But merely keeping the Sashinpa in check wouldn't solve Sak's problems. To address the root cause, he had to strike at the Company. The problem, however, was that the head of the Company was the Demon King, Guineus.
Bound by his nature as a Demon King, Libero couldn't touch Guineus, a fellow Demon King. That should have been the case, but Guineus must have crossed a line, changing everything. The destroyed buildings outside were undoubtedly her doing. Unable to endure it any longer, Libero had finally charged straight at Guineus.
It's an irrational decision. Charging at Guineus was one thing, but slaughtering numerous Heroes in the process was another. It was practically suicide. Why did he make such a choice?
Perhaps if my memories of the Trial remained, I might have understood him. But now that those memories were entirely gone, I couldn't comprehend it. The only certainty was that his current situation was dire.
If he had succeeded in killing Guineus, he would have fled Sak and gone into hiding immediately. But he hadn't. That pointed to only one conclusion. Could he have fallen prey to Guineus's ability?
Guineus's mental domination usually didn't work well on fellow Demon Kings. But in Libero's current irrational state, there was a high chance it had succeeded. If that's the case... What should I do?
The Sak government had requested the Holy Church to dispatch Heroes. Knowing their target was a Demon King, the Church would surely send an expeditionary force, including Sacred Rank Heroes. Once they arrived, it would only be a matter of time before both Guineus and Libero were subjugated.
And yet, the fact that even Guineus hasn't left... The possibilities narrowed further. There was a high probability that Guineus had also been severely injured by Libero. She too was likely focusing on recovery while sending a distress call to the Demon King Council.
If Guineus was indeed in a weakened state, there was a chance. Except for one crucial detail. If only I can snap Libero out of it.
There was no time to hesitate. At this rate, whether the Demon Kings arrived first or the Heroes did, Libero would end up dead. I had to save him. I still had words to deliver to him, and so much more to learn.
Slash.
Libero drew back his sword, having just severed a Hero's neck. It had already been a week since he began holding his ground on the top floor. The number of Heroes rushing in to slay a Demon King had dwindled significantly compared to the first few days. Since many went in but none came out, they had likely grasped the reality of the situation.
Watching Libero's back as he stood there blankly, sword in hand, she thought: Pathetic bastard. Of course, she was the one who had reduced him to this state, but her own situation was far from favorable.
She had somehow succeeded in dominating Libero using her mental control. It was a stroke of luck that his mind had already been fractured. However, her own physical state was critical. Damn it, recovery is so slow inside this barrier.
For a week, she had left the defense entirely to Libero and focused solely on healing. Even so, she had only managed to regenerate her body down to her knees. It was the result of being mercilessly hacked to pieces by Libero. Fleeing Sak with a body like this was impossible. Moving Libero along with her was also out of the question due to the constraints of her mental domination. Her method of control was closer to persuasion.
I persuaded him that if he held out here, he would get to fight even stronger opponents. It was already famous among the Demon Kings that Libero pursued the absolute pinnacle of swordsmanship. He had been a legendary figure even before becoming a Demon King. That was why he fought the powerful Heroes without a single word of complaint.
He already burned his bridges when he came here. He was prepared to die. Trying to persuade him to run away now would never work.
"Violet! Did you ask them again?" Guineus called out.
"It's not too late! Tell them if they come to rescue me now, they can save us. The Heroes dispatched by the Holy Church haven't arrived yet!"
In truth, it wouldn't be strange if they arrived at any second. The Holy City Heilen wasn't that far from here. It was likely just taking them some time to select the Heroes to be dispatched.
"You said they were considering it last time. Tell them to think about it just once more. I'll give them as much of the Company's wealth as they want!"
She wasn't lying. If she could just get out of here alive, she would gladly hand over all the Company's assets. Though she did wonder if the Company's value would even remain intact. But Violet's response was entirely unexpected.
"What?"
If that was the case, it made even less sense. "Then why aren't you coming to save him?!"
The voice of Violet pronouncing that conclusion was colder than ever, completely unlike her usual self.
Guineus stared at the back of the man standing blankly. Twisted like a spring under the weight of his own contradictions, over and over, until he finally snapped. That was the state of the man before her.
You and I are no different. With no one to save us, we'll end up like this here...
It was at that exact moment. Someone emerged from the stairs. It was an opponent whose footsteps—no, whose very presence—she hadn't sensed at all.
He had slightly dusty-blonde hair. Yet, he was a young man who exuded an inexplicable air of nobility. Though he hadn't fully shed his boyish features, his frame was already well-built.
Who is that?
The aura radiating from him was pathetic. At best, he seemed like a mere Hero Candidate. Yet, he was striding confidently toward Libero.
Another moth to the flame? Did he come here to commit suicide?
Whether he was aware of her thoughts or not, the boy kept approaching. He stopped precisely at the very edge of Libero's striking range. Standing there, completely ignoring her, he spoke to Libero.
"I've come to save you, Master."