Chapter 106
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 106
A soft sigh escaped his lips. For the first time, the man whose face was usually a mask of indifference or a faint smile allowed his true feelings to show—a deep, undisguised displeasure.
After a few seconds of silence, Ar asked again. This time, his words carried more weight, and even parting his lips seemed to require a visible effort.
"...And Sir Gwyn?"
"He is dead."
"...Sir Sturman?"
"He was on the verge of death when we arrived, but we managed to rescue him. His ankle tendons were severed, but his life isn't in danger."
"That is a relief, at least," Ar replied curtly. Sturman couldn't die yet. The Empire still needed him.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and then slowly opened them.
Though unexpected, they now had powerful reinforcements. As some of the most talented individuals in the Empire, they could handle whatever needed to be done with greater speed and reliability.
Garot alone was leagues above magic scholars who had already achieved mastery. She could accumulate mana for the temporary hub far more quickly than anyone else.
...Continuing his train of thought, Ar began to reorganize the situation in his mind.
It was then that he realized something, and his eyes snapped open.
Wait.
Come to think of it…
"What are the other knights doing right now?"
"They are confronting the Blade Maid."
"...Are they in combat?"
"I don't know the specifics. I came straight here the moment I arrived in Knecht. However, right after I arrived, I did see them clash with the Blade Maid to rescue Sir Sturman."
"..."
No. They must not fight.
His mind raced.
What exactly had the Magic Tower Master of ‘Polaris’ reported? There was no way he could have known the precise state of the battle. And Garot, who had received the information from him, couldn't possibly know the full situation either.
Yes, the knights had come for one reason and one reason only: to save Ar.
They had no way of knowing that Swallow was in the middle of destroying Knecht, or that they needed to tread with extreme caution.
"Did Sir Sturman pass on my orders?"
"I don't know what orders you're referring to, so I'm not sure…" Garot tilted her head, a hint of confusion in her eyes.
...They didn't even know if the orders had been delivered.
Even if they had, the fact that no one had come here meant they were tied down.
The situation was grim.
With Swallow hunting for the ‘culprit,’ a large group gathering near the Blade Maid would undoubtedly draw his attention.
Gwyn’s case was unavoidable; he had chosen to make a noble sacrifice. But this was different.
If Uin and the entire Edelbreas Black Wolf Knights caught Swallow's eye…
"Right now," Ar muttered, his voice tight. "Right this instant."
There was no telling what would happen.
"Everyone must leave that place immediately."
* * *
"Lord Swallow."
The black butterflies hovering in the air converged on Melju's fingertips.
Stroking one of them, Melju spoke.
"I think I found them."
*
Even in that short span of time, dozens of blows had been exchanged.
Spheres of flame and light pursued Rene. She leaped from the ground, tearing through the spells as she swung Guillotine's Tooth.
The knights moved as a single organism, skillfully blocking the attack.
Normally, intercepting Guillotine's Tooth at such speeds was impossible, but the knights had Uin.
Uin didn't just dodge the blade. Even in a situation where a single mistake meant a fatal wound, she moved to catch it. It was an attempt only she could make, and if she succeeded, the captured Guillotine's Tooth would pose a mortal threat to Rene as well.
They were locked in a precarious, tightrope battle.
"...You must not fight."
It was Sturman's single sentence that plunged the battlefield into silence.
His words first reached their ears, then echoed directly in their minds via telepathy. The entire order froze, their faces etched with surprise.
"We cannot stay here long."
By the time his voice resonated in their minds once more, everyone had halted their attacks.
The battle ground to a halt.
Amidst the sudden deadlock, only Uin snapped her head around to glare at Sturman, her expression one of sheer frustration. Having held the upper hand, her resentment was only natural.
"Why?!" Uin demanded, like a child throwing a tantrum.
She was certain they could have won. She was confident. Two more clean hits, and her opponent would be dead. Even one solid strike would have secured their victory.
The Great Evil Cave.
This was the perfect chance to defeat the strongest gatekeeper of that den of evil threatening the Empire, a foe second only to the final boss itself.
To her, backing down from an evil that threatened the citizens of the Empire was utterly unacceptable.
Yet, Sturman's eyes held a stubborn, unyielding strength. Having hastily healed his ankles with Cure, he staggered to his feet and spoke again.
"Do you intend to defy the Captain's orders?"
Uin grit her teeth.
The white-painted knight beside her placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Miss Uin."
"..."
"Everyone feels the same."
Only then did Uin lower her fists in reluctant surrender, though her fierce gaze remained locked on Rene.
Rene glared back.
She also wanted to charge in, but she knew she couldn't make a rash move.
Striking first was no guarantee of an advantage; it could expose a fatal opening. Against an opponent like this, it could even be the path to defeat.
Honestly, unless she tore that sky-blue-haired girl to shreds, victory would be difficult.
While the bloody battle cooled into a tense standoff, two figures appeared on the battlefield: Ar and Garot.
Rene's expression soured.
Seeing all the humans bow their heads slightly, she deduced that the black-haired man—Ar—was their leader.
The sudden appearance of their commander was bad news. The situation was taking a turn for the worse.
After assessing the scene, Ar ordered a gradual withdrawal.
Uin still had a rebellious glint in her eyes, but in front of Ar, her defiance softened considerably.
"...Retreat is our priority. Another opportunity will come."
As the knights prepared to pull back, Rene's grip on her blades tightened.
The knights split into two groups. The vanguard, composed mainly of swordsmen escorting the injured Sturman, moved out first. They knew that if they all retreated at once, Rene would pounce on the opening. Thus, the mages, who could escape efficiently with teleportation, would remain behind to provide cover and withdraw last.
Watching them, Rene took a step forward.
I must stop them.
Caution was one thing, but she had a duty to fulfill.
Rene was the gatekeeper of the Primordial Core.
The orders of her master, Swallow, took precedence over her own life. She could not allow over a dozen people to escape the area he had quarantined.
As the vanguard began to move, the remaining mages unleashed a coordinated barrage at her. Every spell was a stealthy, sniper-class magic, devoid of loud sounds or flashy colors.
But just as Rene deflected the spells with Guillotine's Tooth and lunged forward to halt their escape—
The vanguard stopped dead in their tracks.
This time, it wasn't a chilling aura but a dark, oppressive energy that blanketed the area.
Ar, Uin, Rene—everyone froze at the sudden, alien presence.
First to greet them was a countless swarm of black butterflies. The alien energy surged from behind the flutter of wings, completely blocking the vanguard's escape route.
As if he had simply bumped into them while out for a stroll, Swallow walked up slowly, scratching the back of his head.
"Oh, hey."
Despite his casual demeanor, an overwhelming pressure crushed the surrounding area.
*
Having guided him to his destination, the black butterflies scattered in all directions. The sight of the dense black mass dispersing was deeply unsettling.
With Swallow blocking their path, the panicked vanguard retreated several steps, forced back to where they had started.
For every step they took back, Swallow took one forward.
His gaze fell first on Garot, then drifted over to Uin and Ar.
"Ah, you guys. I think I've seen you somewhere before."
"..."
"Your names… ah… was it Umin and Aru? Something like that. I forget. Anyway, human lifespans are so short, I figured I'd never see you again, but here we are. Huh? Isn't that something? Of all the humans in the Empire, what a coincidence that we'd run into each other."
A heavy weight settled behind his words.
The sheer pressure laced into his voice made the humans feel as though their bodies were being physically crushed.
Without hesitation, Ar stepped forward and dropped to his knees before Swallow.
"...I trust you have been well."
"Ah, cut the crap," Swallow replied irritably.
If his goal had been to simply annihilate Knecht, he could have wiped the city off the map from the start. Having gone to the trouble of hunting down the culprit, he intended to ask a few questions.
"You guys did this, didn't you?"
Silence fell.
"You live in the Imperial Capital, right? You seem like big shots, so you didn't just happen to come here for a vacation, did you?"
"I am sorry, but we have absolutely nothing to do with this."
Before Ar could finish his sentence, CRASH! A black thorn slammed into the ground right next to him.
His shoulders trembled slightly. He couldn't bring himself to raise his head and look at the monster's face.
Just tilting his head up made his vision swim. It felt as though his senses were being warped. The monster was undoubtedly wearing an expression of pure displeasure.
The other knights raised their weapons a beat too late. Rene also tensed, ready to swing her blades at a moment's notice.
Teetering on the edge of life and death, Ar forced his voice to remain calm as he continued.
"Though it may be hard to believe…"
"You know it's over the moment you admit it's hard to believe, right?"
"...But I am only telling the truth. We came here to suppress the situation after receiving reports of a disturbance. We are also investigating the cause of this incident, and if we find the mastermind, we would gladly cooperate to—"
Before he could finish, Swallow withdrew the black thorn.
Ar slightly raised his bowed head to gauge Swallow's reaction.
"Forget it."
Momentarily unable to control his expression, Ar quickly bowed his head again.
This is the worst. He's so erratic, there's no predicting him.
"If you say it's not you, then I guess it's not."
A loud yawn echoed through the tense air.
Amidst the suffocating tension, Swallow turned around.
"I was just curious which human was behind this. I owe you one from last time, so I'll turn a blind eye just this once. Go."
"L-Lord Swallow."
"Rene, let's go back. I'm exhausted."
"Rene doesn't understand. Why are you suddenly doing this…?"
"I'll finish destroying Knecht. It'll be a pain if things escalate because we messed with these guys. Let's just say we couldn't find the culprit and go back to rest. Seriously."
As Rene spoke in confusion, Swallow replied in a lazy drawl.
Her face filled with anxiety, but Rene had no choice but to obey. She scurried after him with quick steps. As she did, she locked eyes with Uin once more, their gazes crackling with hostility.
"..."
The knights stared blankly at Swallow's back. Ar slowly rose to his feet, his eyes fixed on the retreating figure.
It felt wrong. Escaping danger so easily only made it feel more ominous.
"...Withdraw."
His parched lips parted with difficulty. Just as the humans, still warily watching Swallow, began to move—
Swallow took a few steps forward.
At that exact moment, the space plunged into a heavy, suffocating silence once more as his aura flared.
"Oh, by the way."
Swallow turned his head halfway back.
—His eyes were pitch black, just like last time.
"You didn't really believe I'd let you off like this, did you?"
Swallow's body expanded rapidly. Black thorns erupted violently from his distorted back, reaching the humans in less than a second. Some of the thorns shot out in all directions, sweeping over the knights who had just begun to let their guard down.
Caught completely off guard, everyone scrambled to raise their weapons.
But they were too late. It all happened in an instant, without a sound.
A moment later, two agonizing screams pierced the air.
Everything had gone horribly wrong.
We have to run.
Garot instinctively raised her staff. Now that Swallow had descended, this place would become a land of death. She had to use teleportation magic to get them out of here, no matter what.
She had to, but…
She couldn't cast it.
Garot realized the truth too late. The cause was the black mana. The alien energy that had been saturating the air since Swallow's arrival wasn't just for intimidation.
Mages were beings who lived by absorbing mana. To them, the mana in the atmosphere was as essential as air.