Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Radiant Knights (3)
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“I remember you. You were one of the subjugation force that trampled our cult!”
The cult leader gnashed his teeth as memories of that nightmare resurfaced.
Soon, his expression shifted from bewilderment to rage.
“Who’d think I was the one oppressing an innocent religion?”
His attitude left me speechless.
The subjugation force we northern cadets belonged to never attacked the innocent.
The groups we targeted were all guilty of crimes deserving punishment.
Among them, the Nemesis Cult had been particularly vile.
“You bewitched nearby villagers, drained their life force, and you’re still so brazen about it.”
“They came to us of their own accord! They wanted to learn magic!”
Magic.
It was inherently difficult to awaken, and only those born with the gift could wield it.
That was why anyone with magical talent, regardless of background, had a clear path to success.
But black magic was different.
It used one’s own life and others’ as collateral instead of mana, so the Magic Tower didn’t recognize it as true magic.
Naturally, it offered no path to advancement.
“Did you tell them you were teaching them black magic?”
I approached him leisurely, sword in hand.
“Of course not. They would’ve all fled if you’d been honest.”
I looked down at him with a resolute expression and declared.
“Teaching them magic was just a filthy excuse.”
The cult leader was at a loss for words.
In the end, he seemed to give up on arguing and hung his head low.
But.
Either driven mad by impending death or true to his black mage nature, he soon began to chuckle creepily.
“Yeah, you’re right…”
He rose to his feet unhurriedly.
With purple eyes brimming with malice, he spoke.
“I did use them.”
The cult leader admitted it readily.
He clasped his palms together, condensing a sinister energy between them.
“But so what?”
Slowly, he pushed his palms apart.
A blade’s shape gradually emerged.
“You lot don’t even treat frontier villagers like proper imperial citizens, do you? You just collect taxes religiously…”
Purple malice took the form of a sword.
He gripped it expertly and glared at me.
“Better I teach them something than let them rot like you do!”
The black mage charged at me with his magic sword.
Gone was the fear he’d shown when we first met.
Cornered, he was like a rat lunging at a cat.
But he overlooked one thing.
I was no longer at the level of a subjugation force cadet.
I gripped my sword hilt with both hands.
Then, I focused on the purple malice surging toward me.
“Raaagh!!”
A scream like tearing flesh rang out as the magic sword descended upon my head.
At that instant.
I poured all my mana into my raised blade.
Just as he swung his magic sword down.
I decisively slashed through both his sword and body.
“Pfft…!”
His black robe split open.
Black blood erupted from his chest like a fountain.
The life force he’d absorbed from northern villagers scattered in that moment.
“Consider yourself lucky.”
I looked down at his black blood and said.
“If not for your backer, I would’ve torn you to shreds.”
I shook the filthy blood from my blade.
Then, keeping watch over the fallen man, I waited leisurely for Leah’s knights.
“Stay put until the knight order arrives.”
But.
True to form as a black mage, he had no intention of being taken alive.
Purple smoke began seeping from his split wound.
The cult leader concentrated all his malice into his neck.
He puffed his cheeks like a toad, and then…
￣￣￣￣!!
He spewed a poison mist even thicker than the elder’s.
As if to blind me.
“You fool… You think I’ll go down that easily?”
The world turned purple.
Panting, the cult leader smirked at the sight.
He thought the situation had turned in his favor.
But soon, his brows furrowed.
Even amid the raging mist, my expression hadn’t changed.
“W-What… is that look?!”
I ignored the black mage’s question.
I merely turned slowly toward the forest where I’d been waiting.
“…?”
The cult leader found it odd that I’d turn my back on an enemy.
When he followed my gaze to the entrance.
His pale face froze like soap.
“Sir Veil, you said you’d need my help this time, right?”
“If we didn’t need him alive, I could’ve finished him for sure.”
“We can’t do that. We need him alive to torture properly.”
A woman in resplendent golden robes appeared.
A powerful mage’s wand in hand.
“Step back. I might blow you away too.”
Leah’s blue eyes flashed murderously.
She swung her wand through the air like a conductor.
Then…
The poison mist he’d spewed with his blood began to churn violently.
Grass blades tore free, mingling with the wind.
The mist faded, then scattered with a fierce gust.
“Ugh…”
The spell took its toll on her already aching body, and the princess staggered.
I carefully supported her from behind.
“Are you alright?”
“Fine. Just not used to being out after so long.”
The princess looked up at me with languid eyes.
“You’re still not fully recovered. Why not call a royal mage?”
Leah slowly shook her head at my question.
“Then the other royals might catch wind of this operation. And that’d tip off his backer.”
Her blue eyes gleamed faintly.
Even as the empire’s second-in-command, she couldn’t escape court intrigues.
I gently helped the princess to her feet.
With the curse totem destroyed, she did seem much improved.
Leah fiddled with the arm I’d held.
“….”
Embarrassed at touching her jade-like body, I turned away.
I coldly eyed the cult leader, now fully dissipated.
“Well, have you shown all your tricks?”
The princess and I approached him leisurely.
To bind him and prevent any last tricks.
“….”
But as we drew near, a foul stench began to rise.
I pulled Leah back and approached cautiously.
Up close, something was off.
His arms and legs were swelling grotesquely.
I assumed it was backlash from the poison mist.
Black magic destroyed the body with every use.
But when I lifted his face with my scabbard.
I whipped my head toward Leah.
“Your Highness, it’s dangerous!!”
Overuse of the mist had inflated his body like a balloon.
The gas inside was about to burst.
‘Corpse explosion.’
A common sight subjugating them in the north.
And at that level of swelling…
‘It’s about to blow right now!’
I sprinted toward Leah.
In that instant, purple light flashed behind me.
Malice shards chased me in a blink.
I hurriedly shielded Leah and tackled her to the ground.
KABOOM￣￣￣!!
“Ngh….”
Leah squeezed her eyes shut with a groan.
I protected her head with my arm, channeling mana through my body.
A stinging pain pricked my back, but it didn’t matter.
If the princess got hurt here…
The blame would fall on me, the planner!
Rustle…
As the explosion subsided, the outer wall fell quiet.
I finally exhaled deeply and looked down at Leah.
“Are you alright?”
“….”
Lying on the ground, Leah propped herself up with both hands and stared up at me.
Was it the night?
Her blue eyes shimmered like stars more than usual.
“Y-Yeah… I’m fine.”
Leah answered unconsciously.
She blankly stared at me straddling her.
“Your Highness! Sir Veil! Are you alright?”
Damian’s voice echoed from afar.
Followed by the sound of many boots.
Only then could I tear my gaze from Leah and shout.
“Yes, Her Highness and I are unharmed! But…”
I sighed heavily.
We’d failed to capture the cult leader alive.
“We couldn’t take the cult leader alive.”
We’d lost our chance to uncover his backer.
“That’s fine! We captured an elder alive on our end!”
At least the elder had survived.
That was a relief.
As a high-ranking cult officer, he’d know about the backer.
An elder betrayed by the leader might even be easier to persuade.
“Phew…”
I sighed in relief and looked down at Leah again.
With an awkward smile, I said.
“What a shame. If I’d captured him myself, the credit would’ve been huge.”
Greater merit would’ve given me leverage to question her about the arsonist…
This wouldn’t satisfy her much.
“….”
I slowly rose from Leah.
She dusted her clothes lightly and cleared her throat.
‘She’s unfazed even by a corpse explosion.’
I inwardly admired her composure.
It must’ve been shocking for a princess sheltered in the imperial walls.
She wore a pristine white uniform hugging her form for battle.
Had it torn when we fell? Her white stockings were ripped, but only dirtied—no injuries.
Relieved, I prepared to leave.
“Then I’ll head back.”
Leah watched my back intently.
Then parted her lips.
“Wait…”
“More to say?”
“You look hurt. Get treated before you go.”
“I’m fine. As you see, perfectly alright.”
No real pain.
The malice that hit my back during the explosion just stung a bit.
“But your back doesn’t look fine.”
I felt my back at her words.
My brows furrowed at the feel of bare skin.
‘The malice hid it, but did my shirt rip?’
Seeing my fluster, Leah covered her mouth with her hand.
She chuckled elegantly.
“The guy unfazed by an explosion panics over torn clothes?”
The princess, in her snow-white uniform, said.
Then she approached me slowly.
“Come to my chambers for a bit. I’ll heal your wound.”
Her finger lightly brushed my back.
I flinched and shook my head.
“No need. I’ll go to the medics. Don’t worry.”
When I refused, Leah pressed my back firmly.
A needle-like pain creased my brow.
“If you show up at medics with malice embedded in your back, won’t they find out about tonight?”
Leah spoke in a forced calm tone and stiff manner.
“Don’t worry. No hypnosis magic like last time.”
Leah, daughter of the once-called witch first consort.
This time, she promised only herbs.
On the way back together.
She never glanced my way while walking.
‘She’s strict about separating duty and personal matters.’
Yet, as a mage herself.
Her faint mana fluctuations kept drawing my eyes.
“Hurry up.”
She’d seemed indifferent when the cult leader died.
Perhaps the shock hit late—her mana rippled softly.
“Leaving wounds untreated is dangerous…”
The princess, in uniform with hands behind her back, led the way.
She fidgeted with her short skirt, unaccustomed to the outfit.