Chapter 201
Chapter 201
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Grandmaster (4)
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“Waaah―――!!”
Allen’s flashy counterattack was a feast for the spectators’ eyes.
Everyone cheered at the sight of him striking while offering his wrist.
They all seemed to anticipate Allen’s victory, applauding enthusiastically.
But.
“…”
The arena soon fell silent once more.
The Black Knights’ vice captain, who should have had his mana shield shattered by that powerful blow.
He stood up calmly even after his uniform was sliced.
“Impressive…”
The match’s rule hinged on whose mana shield broke first.
In other words, Darck had gambled by letting his flesh be cut to that extent.
He hadn’t lost, as his mana shield remained intact.
His abdomen was merely grazed.
“So the next captain really is different, huh?”
Just as Allen had sacrificed one wrist for a counter.
Darck had offered his flesh to protect the goal of victory—his mana shield.
‘He’s certainly battle-hardened…’
I inwardly acknowledged his cool judgment.
Even in a formal duel where slicing the mana shield was the objective.
Such sacrificial play required the experience of countless wars to reach that level.
“That last attack was certainly threatening. I’ll give you credit…”
Darck brushed off the torn hem of his uniform indifferently.
Allen responded with equal composure.
“Feels that way. Seeing you, who was playing it cool, yapping this much.”
Allen smirked.
His sly grin was impressively roguish, though I had no idea who he’d learned it from.
“Now you finally look like one of us normal folks.”
Allen raised his twin swords again.
However, unlike his relaxed expression, one wrist was already swollen.
“Our Black Knights, the same as you lot…?”
Darck’s face hardened coldly at Allen’s provocation.
Though skilled, his short career led him to retort with petty mockery.
“Ridiculous.”
He unleashed his deep blue mana freely.
As if to prove the gap between himself and Allen.
“You still don’t get it, even after seeing this difference in power?”
The deep blue mana resembled that of an elite knight who had trained steadily for nearly twenty years.
It evoked the image of a war hero like General Balderian, seasoned on the battlefield.
“Then I’ll show you. The difference between you who basked in glory under the sun…”
Darck stared intently at Allen’s splendid white uniform and handsome face.
The knight who received the adoration of all the people.
“…and us, who handled filthy tasks our whole lives without a shred of honor.”
After joining the Black Knight Order.
Vice Captain Darck had hidden his existence and skills his entire life.
He had envied knights like Allen and Richard, who earned respect in the light.
Now, he sought to flaunt his power before everyone, venting that pent-up rage.
“Come…!!”
Allen stared steadfastly at the black-haired knight charging with insane speed.
He met the massive blade rushing in head-on.
Kaaang!!
Their swords clashed in an X-shape, crossed with both hands.
But due to his injured wrist, his body shook violently from the impact.
“Sacrificing your wrist like an idiot.”
Darck punished him by targeting his left neck next.
Then his left side.
Finally, his left knee.
He relentlessly attacked the side of Allen’s injured wrist.
“This is the limit of you pretty boys raised without real experience!”
As a finisher, he spun and drove a kick into Allen’s solar plexus.
Irina’s knight let out a faint groan from the pain and was pushed back.
“Krgh…!!”
Yet Allen didn’t crumble easily.
If Darck was filled with rage, hatred toward daylight knights, and youthful bravado.
Allen now burned with one sense of duty.
To repay those who believed in him.
He was no longer the wastrel son of a count; he was the ‘princess’s guard knight.’
I had emphasized that to him repeatedly, and he resolved to give his all as a noble being.
To repay Irina, who had taken in a worthless nobody like him and raised him in every way.
“I won’t back down!!”
That sense of duty became an analgesic against the pouring pain.
His wrist was so swollen it seemed it would scream at the slightest touch.
Yet, with the resolute expression of a holy pilgrim, he parried all of Darck’s strikes.
――――――!!
It looked like a clash between light and darkness.
“…”
But I watched him with deep unease.
I had clearly told him before the match to forfeit if it got tough.
“Hup…!!”
Even after putting on an impressive show, Allen was pushing himself too far.
Just like me, dying while guarding the princess for life.
Kaaang!!
As expected, under Darck’s relentless left-side attacks, Allen was gradually breaking.
His wrist shook so much he couldn’t even maintain his expression.
“Allen, forfeit!! You’ve done your best!!”
Unable to watch, I shouted.
But Allen didn’t retreat.
“…”
He glanced at me, forcing a smile to reassure me.
Seeing my disciple’s expression in that moment.
“…!”
I froze, my eyes unfocused in shock.
Because the Allen before me…
“No, I haven’t given my all yet.”
Looked just like the juniors who died protecting Irina alongside me in the past.
“Isn’t a guard knight supposed to protect their lord no matter what comes?”
The light in his eyes was no longer that of a young noble groomed by etiquette lessons.
It was the gaze of a true guard knight who understood his mission and gave everything.
“Like you taught me, I want to become one too.”
The kind who charge like moths into unbeatable foes to make their lord shine.
「Don’t look away until the end…!!」
Darck’s greatsword loomed right before him.
The massive mana cloaking it resembled a tsunami crashing over an island.
「I’ll end this…!!」
A strike on par with Burke, one of Bakal’s elite knights.
The crowd, assuming even imperial knights commonly reached this level, wore satisfied expressions.
Rozanna and Leon were the same.
“It’s over.”
They smirked proudly at their top forces.
But the princesses were different.
“…”
Overwhelmed by the Black Knight Order’s prowess.
They swallowed hard, as if witnessing divine retribution.
“Come…!!”
Allen boldly faced the disaster-like power bearing down on him.
Like a human hero challenging a god.
――――――.
Wastrel knight, Allen.
He finally discarded the symbol of the arrogance that had consumed him.
He dropped his twin swords.
The cold clang of metal echoed through the arena.
Then, he gripped one sword firmly with both hands.
Just like on the Day of Purge.
When I alone protected Irina in the past.
I stared intently at that noble sight.
‘I wonder if this is how Irina saw me.’
Unbeatable foes before his eyes.
Yet the guard knight stepping forward alone to protect those behind him.
It stirred something deep in my chest.
Even I, who wanted to abandon everything and rest in this life.
「Dropping your twin swords now? Think that changes anything…?」
Darck, drunk on black mana, had his voice distorted too.
It boomed like speech from a cave.
「But we Black Knights show no mercy to foes.」
Having handled all manner of dirty work, the Black Knights were thorough.
They dispatched targets with resolute black eyes.
Even now.
「Stop with the pointless pride!!」
Darck raised his sword to the sky.
Then, to crush Allen’s feeble resolve, he gathered all his power.
And slashed down fiercely.
――――――!!
Two flashes whirled between the men.
The light spread across the arena, emitting intense brilliance.
“Ugh…!!”
A deafening wave echoed through the vast space.
Spectators grimaced and covered their ears in unison.
“…”
Soon, the dazzling center of the arena quieted.
Then, their eyes widened at the scene before them.
“Wait, over there…!!”
“The number of people increased?!”
In the distant arena.
Between the fallen man and the sword-wielder, ‘two’ silhouettes appeared.
「He’s finally here.」
Only then did the emperor’s emotionless face gain vitality.
As if he had anticipated this moment.
“…”
In contrast, Rozanna and the crown prince’s expressions differed sharply.
Leon recognized the man and furrowed his brow.
He had seemed an ordinary baron when they met months ago.
But today, the man looked utterly transformed.
The radiant white aura cloaking him.
Witnessing the same power as his father, Leon’s mouth fell open.
“Hmm-.”
Rozanna appeared relatively calm compared to her son.
Seizing the chance to gauge his exact strength, she soon smiled again.
“Veil has finally stepped in.”
“Indeed.”
“Now there’s truly no stopping him.”
The princesses spoke in turn.
But their expressions were identical.
As if long-bound instincts had been unleashed.
Like dark mares finally at the starting line, free to gallop.
The princesses gazed down at one man with ambition-filled eyes.
「You’re… the knight who met Lady Rozanna earlier…」
Darck’s sword halted rigidly in midair.
He stared at me gripping his wrist.
“…”
But I didn’t spare him a glance.
Instead, I turned to look at Allen.
“The general has intervened.”
Another man stood before Allen—Balderian.
One of the match referees, he had entered the overheated bout.
“Indeed. You’ve stepped up too, Veil.”
The grand general raised his arm, wrapping his entire body in solid mana like a massive shield.
Its sturdiness resembled a colossal iron mass.
“Could you and Allen withdraw for now? I’ll take Darck.”
Balderian stared at me, who had blocked his sword with one hand.
Then, he nodded.
“Very well, I leave it to you.”
Only after seeing the reliable man could I focus on Darck again.
I coldly regarded him—sharing my black eyes, yet brimming with sinister energy.
“Having fun?”
I had never taken a disciple in my life.
The juniors I trained all died on the Day of Purge.
I had overemphasized the guard knight’s duty to protect their lord.
Thus, they defied my orders to the last, confronting the crown prince.
I had told them to flee.
Yet they turned to me and said.
They thanked me for instilling that conviction to protect their lord.
Said it gave them a reason to live.
But I regretted those words.
‘If I hadn’t said that… would they all have survived?’
Carrying that guilt.
Seeing Allen mirror them in this life, I could bear it no longer.
I wouldn’t repeat that mistake.
‘In this life, I’ll protect everything I desire.’
「Fun…? What do you mean?」
Darck asked, his wrist gripped.
I answered flatly.
“Killing and absorbing others maliciously with that black power.”
「…!」
Learning the power he wielded was black mana, he fell silent.
Then, he smirked brazenly.
As if ‘someone’ had ordered him to act this way if suspected.
「Black? What are you talking about? Can’t you see this deep blue mana?」
“…”
I tightened my fingers on him, as if breaking Allen’s wrist.
Then, I crushed him like kneading clay.
「…!」
Was it the twisting pain?
Or the white aura creeping onto him?
Darck instinctively pulled back.
The chaotic arena fell briefly silent.
――――――.
Intense sunlight poured into the vast circular arena.
There I stood alone.
I calmly surveyed my surroundings.
Everyone watched me.
Even the crown prince and Rozanna, who so desperately wanted to hide my existence.
The empire’s people too.
They began to recognize me.
But I felt no regret.
For those who loved me sincerely.
To repay them, I chose to reveal myself to the empire.
And as my declaration of intent…
“I dare to address His Imperial Majesty, the great emperor!”
I pointed a finger to the sky.
Then, like a verdict, I indicated Black Knight Order Vice Captain Darck.
“I, Veil Mikhail of the Capital Defense Knight Order, challenge Sir Darck.”
Just like at my knighting ceremony long ago, it all repeated.
Every event began with my challenge.
“I challenge ‘all Black Knights,’ including their captain, at once!!”
My shout silenced the massive Rastium.
Formal duel tournaments had always allowed ‘challenges.’
Even if not a scheduled opponent, a public challenge could lead to a special match if accepted.
Moreover, the foes were the empire’s strongest—the Black Knights.
Refusing a challenge from mere capital defense riffraff would bring dire consequences.
Knowing this, Rozanna’s expression chilled.
Having roughly gauged my power, she scowled coldly at my declaration to punish all Black Knights.
“This is…”
She, who had enjoyed my lukewarm responses until now.
Looked utterly flustered, like a lioness who’d poked a hornet’s nest.
“Darck went and poked the hornet’s nest.”
「….」
In contrast, Emperor Leonhardt was different.
Satisfied with another grandmaster’s declaration, he extended his massive hand.
「I permit it.」
The emperor smiled, as if seeing his younger self.
As if he had awaited this day.
「I eagerly await your splendid performance.」