Chapter 367: The Knight's Banquet (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 367: The Knight's Banquet (4)
In the dead of night.
Kang Hyun-woo crossed the garden, following the uninvited guest who had come for him.
A starkly different atmosphere from when he'd been chatting with Delia over wine now hung between the two men.
Through his bangs, fluttering in the chilly night air, Kang Hyun-woo watched Tristan walk ahead with a peculiar gaze.
To be precise, he was staring at the demon's mark engraved near his heart.
“By the way, are you sure it's alright? Leaving Delia all alone.”
Tristan, who had been silent for a while, turned his head slightly.
A meaningful smile played on his lips as he looked at Kang Hyun-woo.
The slender curve of his eyes further accentuated his androgynous features.
It was a look that didn't quite fit the head of the Planciticia family, a man who had just entered his mid-thirties.
“Miss Delia is an adult.”
“Hmm... I suppose so.”
Tristan shrugged at Kang Hyun-woo's reply.
Seeing the smarmy grin spread across his face, Kang Hyun-woo quietly looked away.
Just as the thought that this man was shady from top to bottom crossed his mind, Tristan stopped in front of a small fountain.
Kang Hyun-woo slowly scanned his surroundings.
No matter how complex and maze-like the garden was, it was strangely devoid of any human presence.
Just a moment ago, servants had been stationed throughout the garden to help those who got lost.
Feeling a strange sense of unease, Kang Hyun-woo tried to check his location with mana detection, but the barrier spread across the entire ducal estate blocked him.
“No need to be so wary. I'm an ally.”
“...An ally?”
As Tristan uttered those cryptic words, his eyes began to glow red.
It was an unpleasant gaze—somehow familiar, yet strangely alien.
“Those eyes... a gift from them, I presume?”
Tristan pointed to Kang Hyun-woo's left eye.
“...”
Kang Hyun-woo remained silent.
He had never imagined that his demonic eye, which had gone unnoticed even by the two dukes, would be seen through by a knight who was barely S-rank.
In that instant, killing intent reared its head in a corner of Kang Hyun-woo's heart.
It wasn't personal.
It might have been different in Korea, but here in Europe, where the Church's influence was immense, word of his demonic eye getting out could lead to a visit from the heresy inquisitors.
'...Tsk.'
But Kang Hyun-woo couldn't kill Tristan.
He was a noble.
If a high-ranking noble like Count Planciticia were to die at the hands of an Easterner, public opinion in England would undoubtedly sour beyond control.
And it would certainly not be in Kang Hyun-woo's favor.
The demon's mark?
Well, would it even remain after he was dead?
'Not a chance.'
It was highly likely it would vanish to destroy the evidence.
There was a reason demon worshippers had managed to survive through thousands of years of persecution.
“Hey, why don't you calm down? Like I just said, I'm an ally.”
Weighed down by Kang Hyun-woo's heavy killing intent, Tristan broke into a cold sweat and rolled up his sleeve.
Shhk.
There, clearly tattooed, was an inverted pentagram—long known as a symbol of demon worship.
“Let me introduce myself properly. I am Leonar Harvey Planciticia, the twelfth apostle of Belmoras.”
In the center of the inverted pentagram on Tristan's arm was the image of a demon.
It was a crest that could only be used by the thirteen executives of Belmoras.
But there was no way for Kang Hyun-woo to know this secret, which was strictly guarded by the intelligence agencies of various nations.
'A Knight of the Round Table is an executive of Belmoras?'
Knowing only that the inverted pentagram was a symbol of demon worshippers, Kang Hyun-woo couldn't help but be taken aback by Tristan's sudden revelation.
Of course, he wasn't so naive as to let his feelings show.
However, Kang Hyun-woo's composure sparked another misunderstanding.
'...As I thought.'
Tristan gave a deep smile at Kang Hyun-woo's nonchalant reaction.
He was now certain that Kang Hyun-woo was an ally, just as he had expected.
The basis for his certainty was the demonic energy he sensed from Kang Hyun-woo.
At first, it had been so faint that he was half in doubt, but the moment Kang Hyun-woo unleashed his killing intent, everything became clear.
Kang Hyun-woo's demonic energy, revealing itself for the first time as if in response to that killing intent, was so sinister and menacing that it sent shivers down the spine of even Tristan, an apostle of the One-Horned Duke.
Since the executives of Belmoras, as a rule, did not know each other's identities, Tristan had no doubt that Kang Hyun-woo was an executive just like him.
Of course, several suspicious points remained, but with the plan in its final stages, he felt no need to dwell on them.
Not even if Duke Winchester were to find out everything.
“Anyway, for the genius mage from the East to be an executive of Belmoras... you've done a good job staying hidden, haven't you?”
“...The Church's influence is weaker in Korea compared to Europe.”
Having grasped the situation, Kang Hyun-woo decided to take full advantage of this opportunity.
“And what about you? Is it really okay for someone like a Knight of the Round Table to be worshipping demons?”
Who could have ever imagined it?
That a Knight of the Round Table, praised as the noblest of knights, had been corrupted into a demon worshipper.
“Hm? Ah, I never placed much importance on the Round Table to begin with. The title was just something the royal family arbitrarily bestowed upon me.”
“But even for a high-ranking noble, wouldn't it be hard to stay alive if you were caught by the Church's heresy inquisitors?”
Tristan shrugged and smiled at Kang Hyun-woo's question.
“It's fine as long as I don't get caught.”
“True enough.”
Kang Hyun-woo gave a perfunctory nod.
“So, why did you call me all the way out here? Were you curious about my identity?”
“Well... that's part of it, but there's something else I wanted to ask.”
“Something you wanted to ask?”
Tristan pointed somewhere with his fingertip, a vile smile on his face.
He was pointing in the direction of the Winchester estate's banquet hall.
“Seeing your interest in that kid, I was wondering if you were into that sort of thing too.”
“...Kid?”
For a moment, an unidentifiable, unpleasant feeling flashed through his mind.
“Don't play dumb. I'm talking about Lady Ophelia.”
“...”
Grind.
“Haha, no need to be so shy. The lady is cute, isn't she? Sure, in the East, those commoner bastards make a fuss about morals and ethics, but here in Europe, everyone secretly enjoys it.”
The Planciticia family was originally a prestigious house with a long history of publicly criticizing the corruption of noble society and practicing noblesse oblige for the people.
Therefore, the man standing before Kang Hyun-woo now could in no way be called the head of the Planciticia family.
He was nothing short of an insult to the House of Planciticia.
“Anyway, this is a bit of a problem... I was originally planning to take the lady with me after this was all over.”
His handsome features had vanished without a trace, leaving only a face twisted by hideous desire.
“Ah, right! Just lend her to me for a week, and after that, you can—”
—!
His voice was cut short.
Only one thing remained.
“...Huh?”
A brilliant, clear streak of light slicing through Tristan's neck.
*
Thud—
Tristan's head flew through the air before rolling limply across the ground.
It wasn't a rational act.
He could have dealt with Tristan after getting more information.
But the moment that bastard's filthy mouth uttered Lady Ophelia's name, the thread of his reason snapped before he could stop himself.
By the time he came to his senses, he had already cut off Tristan's head.
But he had no regrets.
Even if he were to be framed for noblecide because of this.
“You bastard...!”
At that moment, a voice that should never have been heard rang out.
I whipped my head around to see Tristan, who had lost his body and collapsed, glaring up at me.
“...You're not dead?”
“So you weren't an executive of Belmoras after all!”
I couldn't hide my bewilderment at the sight of Tristan, alive even after his head had been severed.
I'd definitely felt the cut.
'Don't tell me... is this a demonic power?'
The bastard had clearly introduced himself as the twelfth apostle of Belmoras.
Being an apostle meant he had a contract with a demon, so it wouldn't be strange at all if he could wield the demonic powers Purpur and Gremory had mentioned.
'What kind of ability lets him survive decapitation? It can't be immortality... can it?'
Just as I was speculating about Tristan's ability, his decapitated body came into view.
Despite being beheaded, not a single drop of blood flowed from Tristan's corpse.
Furthermore, the severed surface looked somewhat crude.
“...A duplicate?”
“I've made my decision.”
Swaaa—
In that instant, demonic energy laced with killing intent began to rise from Tristan.
“I swear on Lord Amdusias's name, I will cut off your limbs, and then Lady Ophelia will be brutally rav—”
CRACK!
I kicked the bastard's head.
“Is mythomania a side effect of contracting with a demon? You can't possibly be unaware of who's in the banquet hall right now.”
An archmage who has reached the supreme realm of the 8th circle.
Duke Winchester, known as a living natural disaster, is in there.
Even if a horde of demon worshippers were to swarm the place, they wouldn't be able to leave a single scratch on him.
“Khuhu, surely you don't think we'd set the stage without considering such a variable?”
Tristan's head, which had rolled quite a distance before hitting the fountain, sported a bloody nose and a vile smile.
“Prepare for a round of applause. The performance begins now.”
Vwooooom!
“?!”
At that moment, an immense wave of magical power erupted from the banquet hall.
I urgently looked toward the hall.
A brilliant pillar of light was shooting up from it.
'...Someone just forcibly tore through space and crossed over from Avalon to Earth.'
It was large-scale spatial magic that I would find difficult to even imitate.
And there was only one mage in all of Europe capable of such magic.
“Don't tell me...”
Only then did I understand Tristan's words.
This was a diversionary tactic.
It was a plan to lure the Duke out of Avalon and then use that opening to achieve their goal.
'What the hell is their objective?'
The most likely possibility was the kidnapping of Lady Ophelia.
As the Duke's only granddaughter, she would have considerable value as a hostage.
“It's too late to rack your brains now. There's nothing you can do—”
SPLAT!
Tristan's head exploded into hundreds of pieces of flesh, scattering in all directions.
The beautiful garden was instantly turned into a mess.
“...What kind of first trip abroad turns into this mess?”
I sighed and pressed a hand to my forehead.
But complaining about my lot in life wouldn't change anything.
What I had to do now was save the lady first, and then get a reward from the Duke later.
BOOM!
I sprinted toward the banquet hall with all my might.