The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated into a Count's Family

I appeared atop a reasonably tall building.

It was deafening.

Shouts, screams, the roar of buildings ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠burning and collapsing, the clash of swords and spears — every sound tangled together into pure chaos.

I cast a glance around.

Allied forces, enemy troops, and rebels were all locked in a tangled melee.

The rebels were focused on protecting the citizens who hadn't managed to evacuate. Their goal was to claim a new throne, and popular support was essential if they wanted to take it cleanly. Civilian safety came first for them.

My own side, on the other hand, was running wild. Kill any enemy they saw. Break into any house they found and loot it. Even in the middle of a war, plenty of them couldn't keep their lust in check and were trying to rape whoever they caught.

I frowned at my own troops.

"I told them no looting and no rape in this war…"

Melissa had asked me, so I'd planned to wrap this conflict up as cleanly as possible.

"And yet these worthless maggots ignored my orders."

Disobeying a command meant summary execution.

I leapt down from the building and landed hard. A soldier who'd been about to rape a fleeing woman saw me and went wide-eyed.

"C-Commander!"

"I said there would be no rape in this war."

"I-It wasn't rape! I was only trying to take a prisoner!"

"Bullshit. The moment your superior's eyes weren't on you, you went completely feral."

I summoned Hwaryeonbido into my hand and swung it at my own man. Blade energy shot out and took his head clean off.

I gave the woman who'd been a second from being raped a brief once-over. Middle-aged. I pretended not to notice and scanned the surroundings. Allied soldiers stood frozen stiff, staring at me.

"When a comrade goes off the rails, you stop him — you don't look the other way. You're just as guilty."

"P-Please spare—"

I killed every allied soldier in sight. The war wasn't over, so I killed enemy troops too. The rebels I left alone. Killing them would create political headaches after the war and could shake Melissa's position as commander. I didn't want her tangled up in anything tedious.

I walked down the main avenue of the capital. Executing my own men. Cutting down the enemy. Destination: the royal palace.

"My lord!"

A female knight who'd been clearing the avenue on horseback spotted me and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rode over. Golden Rose Knights.

"Looks like things are going well. Did the entire order come to the capital?"

"Yes. Per General Starlight's orders, we're cooperating with the rebels and securing the outer districts first."

"And Dulibard?"

"Believed to be inside the palace. A magical barrier is protecting it. Breaking through won't be easy."

"If he hasn't given up, he's aiming for something."

Dulibard had nowhere to run.

An invisible wave of force ringed the outer walls — a kind of ward prepared against teleportation magic. At best, they could only teleport within the walls. Spatial transfer scrolls were no exception. Ancient Dragon-class magic could ignore the wave, but Leocio wasn't here. He almost certainly had no intention of helping Dulibard anyway.

"There were quite a few maggots on our side crossing the line."

"I'll handle it."

A cold light flickered in the knight's eyes. She and the rest of the Golden Rose Knights had never thought much of the regular soldiers — they knew full well the men talked filth about them behind their backs.

She spurred her armored warhorse and charged the allied ranks. Her blade took lives without mercy, and the massive mount trampled soldiers into pulp. Immediately after, she pulled out a radio and relayed my orders to the rest of the Golden Rose Knights.

I walked on toward the palace. Just as the knight had said, a magical barrier shielded it. Magical barriers weren't eternal — they ran on mana as fuel.

They're either wringing every drop out of their mages, or they're burning mana stones.

The latter was more likely. And that would be a nuisance. Whatever stockpile of mana stones the palace had, the barrier would hold for at least a week.

With Yuria, Priscilla, and Sharnell's help, wiping the barrier out would be easy… but I have my pride. Am I really going to go crawling to them over something this small?

I tightened my grip on Hwaryeonbido. Mana stirred in my dantian, and blue aura layered itself over the crimson blade. The aura refined itself to a razor edge and became a new cutting surface. I drove the Aura Blade into the magical barrier.

Kiiiiiiing!

The barrier resisted, trying to fling Hwaryeonbido away. I seized the hilt with both hands and fully engaged Noecheonryu at the same time. Crimson lightning coiled along the blade and poured into the magical wall.

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

The barrier shuddered violently — but the blade stayed buried in it, unmoving. Something was still missing.

Watching the red current crawl across the transparent wall, I let out a short sound of realization.

"Ah. Right."

I'd belatedly remembered a technique suited to exactly this situation.

I don't use it often enough, so I forget it sometimes.

Noecheonryu — Extreme Technique: Seal Thunder.

A technique that stamped down on mana and temporarily suppressed it. Against magic, which was built entirely around mana, it was practically a hard counter.

The effect was immediate.

The magical barrier rippled, failed to hold its shape, and vanished.

I flicked Hwaryeonbido clean in the air and walked toward the palace's great doors. Dozens of presences waited beyond the steel gates — not preparing to rush out, but determined to keep those doors shut no matter what.

I set Hwaryeonbido against the doors and called up the lightning. Crimson current raced along the metal and into the interior. Every presence inside went silent in less than ten seconds.

I kicked the doors to splinters and stepped through. Dozens of soldiers lay sprawled on the floor. A couple of knights were mixed in among them.

Inside the palace, I looked around. The household servants were huddled in corners, trembling. The moment they saw me they dropped flat and begged for their lives.

I didn't bother killing them. I walked past.

"Where's Dulibard?"

"I-I don't know. Please, spare us…!"

"Where are the nobles?"

"Second floor! The guest rooms on the second floor!"

I moved past the servants. Soldiers and knights who surrendered, I let live. Nobles, though — I had no intention of sparing them.

Every noble currently in the palace is one of Dulibard's followers. They were going to be purged anyway… but if we follow proper procedure they might drag things out, so I'll deal with them now.

I entered a room on the second floor. The lavish chamber was full of corpses.

Poison. They took their own lives.

After searching for a while, I found Dulibard. He was in the audience chamber, sitting boldly on the throne and watching me. Corpses lay at the foot of the throne — high-ranking nobles and their children, by the look of them. Oddly, none of them had any visible wounds.

"Eugene Frucus. I knew you'd come! I knew a man like you would come in person to take my life!"

Dulibard shouted, flushed with excitement. It wasn't the desperate thrashing of a man drowning in fear. He didn't seem to believe for a second that he could lose.

The corpses beneath the throne still bothered me.

"Why are those ones dead? Doesn't look like poison."

At my question, the corner of Dulibard's mouth curled up.

"I made a deal with a demon. These are the sacrifices. Direct lines of the chancellor, the dukes, the marquises. The higher the rank, the greater the value as offerings."

I wasn't surprised. I'd expected something like this from the moment he joined hands with Panteum. Anyone with even a shred of ambition wouldn't easily turn down demonic power that was so easy to seize.

"…A deal, not a contract?"

"I have no intention of being led around by some mere demon."

"Which demon did you deal with?"

"Haha. Guess."

Crackle—!

I fired a bolt of lightning at Dulibard.

"(Block it.)"

One of the corpses rose and took the lightning in his place. The stench of burning flesh filled the air as the body collapsed. I frowned. That was magic — and yet it wasn't.

"Dragon Speech… Even with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dragon blood, you shouldn't have more than a fraction of a fraction of the real thing. How are you using Dragon Speech?"

"Because I am a dragon. (Die.)"

The surrounding mana convulsed. At the same time I felt a crushing pain seize my heart. I answered with Noecheonryu, and the pressure eased.

Dulibard clicked his tongue.

"So a direct command of death doesn't work after all."

Questions piled up. The power Dulibard was displaying right now was light-years beyond anything that fit my understanding. Under ordinary rules it should have been impossible. But if demonic power was involved, the story changed.

"You became a dragon through a demonic deal. I can roughly picture it. You dealt with the Demon of Evolution. Am I right?"

One of the highest-ranking demons mentioned in the original work — a demon with the power to evolve living beings.

As a Dragonian, Dulibard would have been able to evolve under that demon's power.

"As expected of an expert. Exactly so. I have evolved into a dragon."

And he almost certainly hadn't evolved today. Evolving into a full dragon would have required a mountain of sacrifices far beyond the corpses under that throne.

I activated the skills and charged Dulibard. The clumsy way he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was using Dragon Speech made it obvious he still wasn't used to it. Better to kill him fast before he became any more of a problem.

Clang!

My attack bounced off a barrier protecting him. I saw the gem set into the throne flash.

So the throne itself is a magic tool.

I didn't care. I hammered the barrier with Aura Blade. There was no way a barrier like this would last forever.

Dulibard looked down at me with arrogant eyes.

"There was a time when Melissa was everything to me. I pictured a future with her. There was even a moment when I thought I would gladly give up the throne for her sake. When you took her from me, I felt my own powerlessness to the bone. I learned that in this world, power is everything."

"Your nonsense is getting loud. No matter how hard you thrash, Melissa is my woman. That fact will never change."

Clang! Clang! Crack!

Cracks began to spider across the barrier.

"Just as you stole Melissa from me, I will take everything from you!"

The barrier shattered.

I triggered Charna at the perfect moment. The tip of my blade locked onto Dulibard's right eye. An instant before steel touched his pupil, everything stopped.

Time… no. Space itself stopped. He seized control of every scrap of mana in the area in a single breath.

All the mana in the surrounding region was under Dulibard's dominion. Another dragon ability.

I raised a protective aura. Blue flame-like energy bloomed from my body. The blade tip moved again. Just before it reached his eye, Dulibard opened his mouth.

"(Shatter.)"

The Dragon Speech slammed into me without mercy and hurled my body backward. I managed to catch my balance before I hit the floor and came up standing.