Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: Selection's Gasdal (2)
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Why was Gasdal in the count's household?
The question arose, but there was no time to ponder it. Not knowing what Gasdal might do now that his identity was exposed, he had to reach the count's household as quickly as possible.
‘In the future, Gasdal killed and absorbed not only the count's soldiers and knights but also everyone who came to the ruins.’
In the worst case, the massacre from the original history might repeat itself.
“Miya, how's your body?”
“Kyaang!”
Demian turned to Miya and asked. Miya sprang to its feet as if nothing had happened.
The wound pierced by the Evil Spirit Spear had already vanished cleanly.
Even for Miya, it couldn't have regenerated a wound from the Evil Spirit Spear so easily.
‘Must be thanks to the phoenix's blood.’
During the fight with Gasdal, it had ignited flames, and in that short time, it seemed to have fully absorbed the phoenix's power.
“For now, we need to head to the count's household.”
“Kyaang!”
Miya responded with burning battle intent. Demian looked at it with a face that said what are you talking about.
“You can't come with me since we have to go outside.”
With that, Demian held out the travel bag. Seeing it, Miya's shoulders slumped.
* * *
Demian soon ascended to the surface.
He left the relics found on the 6th floor behind. No one but him could descend to the 6th floor anyway.
The count's castle was close to the ruins. Demian headed straight there without delay.
The count's castle gates were firmly shut. As Demian approached, the soldiers at the gate blocked him.
“I have urgent business for Lady Freize. It's a matter concerning the safety of the count's household.”
At his words, the soldiers looked at Demian with incredulous faces.
Even Demian would have reacted the same if someone showed up in broad daylight spouting such nonsense.
“Victor? You're Victor, right? I saw you take down that Dufres faction knight last time.”
One of the gatekeepers acted familiar.
“But Victor, we can't let you see the lady with such a ridiculous excuse. So please leave...”
That was when it happened.
With the sound of chains rattling, the gate began to rise slowly. The gatekeeper looked at it in surprise.
Beyond the wide-open gate stood Domenico. He said to Demian with a stern face.
“It's Victor. Come inside. The lady is calling for you.”
Demian passed the gatekeepers and entered the castle. The gate closed behind him.
Inside, he saw numerous knights and soldiers standing ready.
At their center stood a single girl.
A beauty with long straight hair and strikingly pale skin.
It was Lady Freize, heir to the White Country.
“Victor? I've heard a lot about you from Domenico. This is the first time seeing you in person.”
This was also the first time Demian had properly faced Freize.
Her voice, heard directly, was remarkably lively.
“You already knew I would come.”
Otherwise, the gate wouldn't have opened without the soldiers relaying the message.
At Demian's words, Freize smiled quietly. It was a bright smile that somehow felt dark.
“A black mage is hiding inside the count's household.”
Demian said to Freize.
Black mage.
Heretic that the Holy Order sought to eradicate with fiery zeal.
Yet even hearing that one was hiding in the count's household, Freize showed no surprise.
Instead, she replied calmly.
“I know.”
* * *
A brief silence flowed.
Since it was somewhat expected, Demian wasn't particularly shocked.
“Have you joined hands with the black mage?”
Still, it needed proper confirmation.
“You could say that.”
“Then the ruins were opened because of the black mage too. He would need skilled warriors and knights.”
“Correct.”
“And declaring marriage to whoever finds the relic sword—was that for the same reason?”
“Yes.”
“The White Country soldiers patrolling the ruins were to kidnap explorers for the black mage to use as research materials, right?”
“You know it precisely.”
Freize said, as if impressed. Demian asked with a sigh.
“Why join hands with a black mage? You must know what happens if the Order finds out.”
“I don't want to share that much.”
Freize drew a line with a smiling face.
“That black mage just made a request. He asked me to kill you.”
Freize raised her hand. Domenico and the knights stepped forward.
“Domenico, I leave the rest to you.”
“I shall carry out your command.”
With those words, Lady Freize turned and vanished.
Now only Demian, Domenico, and the White Country knights and soldiers remained.
“I never imagined we'd end up concluding things like this.”
Domenico gave a wry smile.
“Not the time for this, but... I rather liked you. That's why it's all the more regrettable.”
Domenico squeezed his eyes shut. Then, with a troubled tone, he said.
“...Why did you get so deeply involved?”
Demian said firmly to such a Domenico.
“Step aside.”
“I can't. Lady Freize gave the order.”
At Domenico's gesture, a soldier grunted and brought a weapon.
It was a zweihänder greatsword.
Long and heavy, meant to be wielded with two hands, yet Domenico held it lightly in one as if it were a dagger.
“Above all, that black mage is essential to fulfilling Lady Freize's wish. We can't lose him like this.”
As Domenico raised his weapon, some knights approached and said to him.
“Sir Domenico, we'll handle this one.”
“No, I must face him.”
Domenico said resolutely.
“He's no ordinary mid-class. You wouldn't stand a chance.”
Domenico drew up his mana. A ferocious aura exploded outward.
Among the high-class Demian had encountered, none possessed such overwhelming power.
This wasn't something an ordinary high-class could have.
Master class.
Just one step away from that superhuman realm, without a doubt.
Truly remarkable talent. No wonder he had earned infamy as Gasdal's death knight in his previous life.
But Demian had no leisure to admire Domenico's talent. Fury and disgust welled up within him.
“Joining hands with a black mage? You've made a moronic decision.”
At Demian's words, Domenico's face hardened.
“Don't speak recklessly without knowing the circumstances...”
“No matter your circumstances, it's the same! The moment you believed those black mages, you became irredeemable idiots!”
In his previous life, Demian had gotten entangled with black mages, leading to everything falling apart.
It destroyed his life, his family's lives, and ultimately the world.
“Do you even know what you've done? You've invited hell yourselves! By the time you tear at your hearts in regret, it'll be too late!”
And now, these idiots were walking into that hell of their own accord right before his eyes.
Their actions fueled rage he could barely contain.
“...Shut up.”
“You shut up! Why didn't you stop it! When your master was about to do something stupid, you should have stopped her! Or do you have nothing in your head either, falling for the black mage's nonsense!”
At the barrage of insults, Domenico's face stiffened. He gritted his teeth and raised his weapon.
“...I can't listen anymore. I'll shut that mouth right now.”
Domenico kicked off the ground. Closing the distance in an instant, he swung the zweihänder down.
In that moment, a massive echo shook the entire castle.
* * *
A high-class on the verge of master class.
A full-force strike from such a being rent the ground and shook the world.
But the actual target remained unbroken. Domenico's attack was blocked by the Dawn in Demian's hand and went no further.
“...You blocked it!”
Seeing this, Domenico said in disbelief.
“Ha! Not mid-class, but high-class! To think I didn't notice!”
Since entering the White Country, Demian had been masquerading as mid-class.
Even the great star Cheongyeom hadn't discerned his true power.
No matter how close to master class, it was impossible for Domenico to notice.
“High-class? Even better. No hesitation in swinging my sword now!”
Domenico swung the zweihänder repeatedly. Due to its extreme length and weight, each swing vividly tore the air.
Demian swung Dawn to parry every attack.
Compared to the zweihänder, Dawn looked impossibly thin and delicate.
Yet through repeated clashes, Dawn neither bent nor broke. Instead, the zweihänder's blade began to chip.
“...An impressive sword. This one's made from ruin alloy, for all its looks.”
Domenico said, face hardening.
“Can't fight normally, it seems.”
Injecting mana into the zweihänder, red aura coated the blade. Demian enveloped Dawn in blue aura.
The two swung aura-infused weapons at each other. Blue and red intertwined complexly.
“Sir Domenico! Kill him!”
“We can't let the one disrupting Lady Freize live!”
The watching knights and soldiers cheered, rooting for Domenico.
The zweihänder's blade was far longer, so even identical swings gave red more reach.
Thus, at a glance, it looked like Domenico was overwhelming his foe.
The White Country knights and soldiers cheered even more fiercely.
That was when it happened.
Blue cleaved through red.
The zweihänder's blade split in half. Simultaneously, Domenico's body was rent.
Domenico groaned and staggered back. Blood poured endlessly from the diagonal slash across his torso.
“Si-Sir Domenico?”
“Wh-What just...”
Demian swung Dawn through the air. Blood on the blade scattered to the ground.
Domenico looked at Demian with a despairing face.
“Im-Impossible... How did you... see through all my swordsmanship...?”
Demian shook the blood from Dawn and said.
“Skill gap.”
“Skill... gap...!”
Though just one clash, Domenico realized it bone-deep.
The absolute gulf between him and Demian.
“Time to pay for your stupidity.”
The White Country knights and soldiers hadn't merely concealed Gasdal's presence.
Under the pretext of patrols, they kidnapped explorers from the ruins and delivered them to Gasdal.
And the one managing the knights and soldiers was Domenico. In other words, offering explorers as Gasdal's research fodder happened under his lead.
He couldn't spare a man guilty of such crimes. As Demian moved to behead Domenico—
“Uwaaaak!”
With battle cries, knights charged.
* * *
The knights yelled as they rushed Victor.
Victor swung his sword at them. Aura slashes flew, cleaving the knights.
The knights tried to block with aura-coated weapons.
“Kraaak!”
“Aaak!”
But their aura couldn't stop Victor's attacks. Weapons and bodies split wholesale.
They knew without checking. They had suffered fatal wounds.
“Uwaaaak! Protect Sir Domenico!”
“Don't retreat! Push that bastard back!”
Yet the knights didn't stop. Using comrades' deaths as stepping stones, they charged Victor.
Ultimately, Victor was pushed back by their momentum.
In the meantime, knights supported Domenico. They applied potions to his wounds.
“Sir Domenico! Go now!”
“We'll hold him off!”
At the knights' cries, Domenico wore a what-are-you-saying expression.
“What nonsense! If we're fighting, we fight together!”
“Sir Domenico, we have eyes too! That guy's not someone we can beat by facing him!”
To the White Country knights, Domenico was like the sky.
For such a Domenico to suffer a fatal wound without a proper fight meant the gap was that vast.
“While we hold him, get Lady Freize to safety!”
At those words, Domenico snapped to attention.
The knights were right. Even all of them together couldn't guarantee holding him.
If they failed? Victor would surely kill Freize and the black mage.
“...Sorry, everyone!”
Domenico abandoned them and ran toward Freize.
The knights gave wry smiles as they saw him off.
“Foolish.”
Victor said in a cold tone.
“Your master joined hands with a black mage. If you don't stop him now, you'll pay dearly.”
“Whatever bullshit...”
The knights gripped their weapons and drew up all their mana.
“You're not getting inside!”
All the knights charged Victor. Watching them, Victor clicked his tongue briefly.
“Fine. I'll gladly deal with you. You're all deserving of death anyway.”
Victor raised his sword.
Soon, the knights' blood sprayed.
* * *
Domenico ran to the castle annex.
It was Gasdal's lab and the place where Freize's wish would come true.
Outside work hours, Freize always spent time there. So she should be there now.
“Lady Freize! You must flee!”
Domenico shouted as he flung open the annex door. In that instant, his body froze stiff.
Freize lay on the floor with a hole pierced through her chest. Her eyes held no life; she was already dead.
“Hm? You're here now?”
Gasdal turned to Domenico and asked. Gasdal's hand was stained bright red.
The moment he saw the heart resting atop that hand, Domenico's reason snapped.