Chapter 341: At Least You Shouldn't Cry? (1)
Chapter 341: At Least You Shouldn't Cry? (1)
Patrick revealed his past life and, along with it, the existence of the Outer Gods.
In truth, most of it was unbelievable content, but isn't the credibility of a story usually determined by who is telling it?
“…And so, I shall receive guidance from my Master to protect our world in the coming war against the Outer Gods.”
“…….”
“I ask that you all follow my Master and fight alongside him.”
The one saying this was none other than the Dragon Lord.
There was no one who wouldn't believe him. And yet…
“Excuse me, Dragon Lord.”
“Speak, Knight A.”
“It’s Oliver. No, anyway… Ahem.”
Oliver cleared his throat and chose his words carefully before speaking.
“So, according to your words, Lord, we are supposed to rally around our Young Master and defeat the Outer Gods—those great evils trying to destroy the world?”
“If we do not, there is no future for us.”
“Rallying around our Young Master?”
“That is what I said.”
“Our Young Master is the hope of the world?”
“…Yes.”
Oliver’s head turned.
And everyone else’s heads followed, looking toward a single spot.
“Ahhh… that feels good. Yeah. A little lower.”
“Here?”
“Mhm. Right there.”
“Honey, say ‘ah.’”
“Ahhh…”
There lay the man, resting his head comfortably on Isabella’s lap, munching on cheese that Elione was feeding him, all while receiving a massage from April.
That man was supposedly the world’s only hope.
A bittersweet smile formed on Oliver’s face. He muttered, “…We’re doomed.”
No one disagreed with him.
* * *
Though the explanation was finished, the people needed time to process reality.
It won’t be easy.
Lying on a simple cot in the uncomfortable war camp, Patrick closed his eyes and thought.
A major war had just ended. It wouldn't be easy for them to accept the fact that an even greater war was looming ahead.
But they had to accept it. The war with the Outer Gods was not something that could be avoided.
Patrick decided to give them some time and wait.
Then, a visitor came to him.
“May I come in?”
It wasn't an unexpected guest. In fact, it was someone he needed to speak with at least once.
Patrick sat up and said, “Come in.”
The person who entered the barracks was none other than the peerless beauty with crimson hair—Queen Catherina.
As soon as she entered, she knelt politely before Patrick. Then, pressing her forehead to the floor, she spoke.
“I greet the Grand Duke of the Schneider Duchy.”
Rather than mere etiquette… it would be more accurate to call it abject submission.
She was a descendant of the Spirit Royal Family, the most prestigious royal bloodline on the continent, the wife of the Overlord, and the Queen of the Yuzef Kingdom. Yet, she knelt and pressed her head to the ground.
Even if there were no witnesses, this was excessive. However, Patrick felt neither disillusionment nor contempt as he looked at her.
She must be anxious.
He simply understood. He could easily guess why she was acting this way. Patrick scratched his head and spoke.
“Have you heard about the promise I made with the Black Knight?”
“…Yes. I have heard.”
“Then you can rest easy. I give you my word that I will take responsibility for the safety of you and your son.”
“…….”
“So, there is no need to be afraid.”
To explain how this situation came to be, one must turn back the clock a little.
* * *
Immediately after Patrick took the Overlord’s head.
Sanson and the other subordinates approached to congratulate him. However…
“I have some business to take care of for a moment.”
“Huh? Young Master, what? Hey! You brat!”
Sanson called out desperately from behind, but Patrick moved like the wind and dashed away.
As he moved, a smile like that of a hunter chasing his prey was etched on Patrick’s lips.
These bastards really took me for a pushover.
Patrick was pursuing something.
* * *
“Ugh… damn it.”
“That was a close one.”
“That cursed monster of a man.”
At a location quite far from the battlefield, three Dark Mages were hurriedly fleeing the scene.
The identities of those panting as they escaped were, surprisingly, Greed, Envy, and Las—the direct disciples of Jonsa.
As direct disciples, they had sensed it the moment Patrick appeared before them: they could never win.
Moreover, Jonsa had told them: if they ever encountered Patrick Schneider, they should set everything else aside and choose only the path of survival.
As his disciples, they followed their master’s words more faithfully than anyone.
The moment Patrick appeared, they used their trump card.
Spirit Escape.
It was a final, desperate measure used by high-level Dark Mages in their last moments. It was a spell that abandoned one’s current body to transfer the soul into a spare body prepared in advance. Since it carried significant risks, it was never used unless they were truly cornered.
In particular, to deceive the eyes of the Double Dragon, they had to escape while abandoning all the mana they had accumulated in their original bodies.
In other words, the three here now were nothing more than ordinary, low-level Dark Mages.
“Damn it, did we really have to go this far?”
Greed spoke, stopping as he couldn't catch his breath while running.
Las caught his breath beside him and replied, “Do you think we could have deceived that monster with anything less?”
“Still, this is…”
“Calm down. Once Salvation’s Sunset arrives, we will attain a Divine Rank befitting our merits.”
“Ugh…”
That was true. Indeed, it was because they had such a fallback that they dared to abandon their original bodies and mana to escape. Now, they just had to make it back alive. If they did that…
“Now, only glory awaits us—”
Slash.
It happened then.
A sharp flash of light flew through the air and severed one of Envy’s arms.
A beat later, the arm fell to the ground with a thud.
“Aaaaaagh!”
Envy rolled on the ground, screaming in agony. Greed and Las hurriedly looked toward the direction the attack had come from.
And there…
“Gasp? You are…”
“N-no way.”
In a sense, a man even more dangerous to encounter than the Double Dragon stood there.
The man, holding a large bastard sword shrouded in a black Aura Blade, was Matthias Carvan.
He was the man known to the world as the Black Knight, the right hand of the Overlord. And now, he had appeared before the three of them.
“I’ve been waiting for this chance…”
“W-wait, Matthias, listen to me—”
“I have been waiting.”
“R-run—”
“You pieces of trash!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Matthias Carvan lunged forward, swinging his sword like a storm.
“Aaaaagh!”
“Argh!”
“Nooo! Aaaagh! Aaaaaah!”
There was no mercy in Matthias’s blade.
In an instant, he severed the limbs of the three Dark Mages. As they lay writhing on the ground without any significant mana to defend themselves, Matthias looked down at them coldly.
“How dare you bastards…”
“Ugh… Matthias, you dare…”
Stab!
“Aaaaagh!”
Matthias slashed through Las’s eyes as he glared up with resentment and rage.
His sword did not rest, continuing to hack at the three writhing Dark Mages. His blade was filled with the hatred of revenge, striking in a way that avoided fatal wounds to ensure they stayed alive and suffered as much as possible.
“S-stop…”
“Plea… please…”
“Sob… hic…”
These three, as disciples of Jonsa, had killed and manipulated humans for hundreds, even over a thousand years.
But at this moment, they were merely low-level Dark Mages. There was nothing they could do against the Black Knight, who was called the second masterpiece created by Jonsa after the Overlord.
They wanted to beg him to just kill them quickly, but they couldn't even do that.
The Sunset.
Soon, that salvation would arrive. Even if they had to crawl on the ground like insects, as long as they remained alive until then, they could ascend to a Divine Rank. That fact made them crave life even amidst this horrific agony. It was the reason they clung to life using what little low-level dark mana they had left.
However…
“Is dying that scary?”
Matthias was a man who knew as much about Dark Mages as anyone. Seeing them desperately clinging to life while begging amidst the pains of a living hell, he realized what he had to do.
“Good. I’ll kill you all right now.”
“N-no.”
“Please!”
A terrifying Aura Blade gathered on Matthias’s bastard sword. His Aura Blade, saturated with the desire to avenge his lord…
“Die.”
…fell upon the three Dark Mages without mercy.
“NOOOOOOO!”
BOOM!
Matthias’s Aura Blade exploded. In that single strike, the three direct disciples of Jonsa were killed, leaving not even a scrap of flesh behind.
“Huff… huff…”
His rage still not fully spent, Matthias couldn't steady his breathing even after obliterating the three.
To that Matthias…
“If you’re done with your business, shall we have a talk?”
Patrick appeared.
In that instant, the look in Matthias’s eyes changed in an indescribably complex way. Shock, anger, resignation, sorrow… countless emotions flickered through his gaze the moment Patrick showed up.
Patrick spoke to him.
“Tell me.”
“…Tell you what?”
“Is there any reason I should leave you alive instead of killing you?”
“…….”
At Patrick’s words, Matthias squeezed his eyes shut. He let go of his sword and spoke.
“There is no such reason.”
“…….”
“But please, spare me. I cannot die yet.”
“You have a reason to live?”
Patrick looked at the pool of blood where not a single piece of flesh remained.
“Is it revenge? Or…”
“…….”
“Is it that you must protect the Overlord’s child?”
At that, an undeniable wave of agitation appeared on Matthias’s face.
Matthias Carvan.
He had vanished with the Overlord’s wife and son at the moment Marquis Noah Gregory committed treason. People wondered why the Black Knight had done such a thing.
But Patrick, who had read the Overlord’s memories while snapping him out of his trance, knew the reason better than anyone.
“You were the escort knight for the Overlord’s mother, weren't you?”
“…….”
“At her request, you protected the young Overlord, and now, at the Overlord’s request, you intend to protect his young son?”
“…….”
“You’re more suited to be a nanny than a knight.”
At Patrick’s words, which revealed he knew everything, Matthias knelt on the ground and bowed his head.
“Spare me. I cannot die yet!”
“So you’re going to get on your knees and beg?”
“I am not foolish enough to think I can win a fight against you.”
“…….”
“So I simply implore you. I… I cannot die yet.”
As Matthias lifted his head to look at Patrick, his eyes burned with the mission to uphold his dead master’s final will.
Patrick said to him, “You know this, but you are a criminal.”
“…….”
“And the Overlord’s wife and son will also be targets of pursuit across the entire continent.”
“…….”
Matthias clenched his fists.
He didn't care about himself. Even if it was for his master, he had joined hands with Dark Mages and received power by his own will. But he could not bear to see his master’s young child and wife dragged into it.
Matthias spoke, tears of blood streaming from his eyes.
“I beg of you. Please… at least for my lord’s son… we are the ones who committed all the sins.”
“……."
“You can tear me apart and kill me. So please…”
“How shameless.”
“…….”
“The people who fell because of your ambitions and schemes also had things they held dear and precious.”
“…….”
“You trampled over all of that, and now that it’s your turn, you beg for mercy? Don’t you find yourself pathetic and disgusting?”
“…….”
He couldn't make an excuse. Not a single word.