The Judgment of Darkan

Boom!

Crash! Rumble!

At the fresh outbreak of noise, everyone but Hudson turned to look.

And every gaze that swung that way sealed shut, speechless.

What they saw could only be called pure violence.

That monster was crushing the Dercian family's berserkers with overwhelming force.

In a span no longer than a blink, six more of them had been smashed apart.

"…Alt!"

The young lady of Dercian went wide-eyed.

Never before had Alt struggled this badly against anyone. Never before had she faced an opponent who destroyed everything so completely.

He paid no mind to the wounds piling up on his own body. His entire focus was fixed on killing his enemies. He shattered and wrecked whatever he touched, giving them no room to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠breathe.

No swordsman could withstand that kind of destructive power. No one could.

"Ah…!"

She could not believe what she was seeing. Only one remained now — and even that last one was a heartbeat from having his throat cut.

"Stop!"

That was when it happened. Drawn by the thunderous noise, the guard corps began arriving in force — every one of them elite soldiers of the Darkan Territory.

The young lady of Dercian exhaled in relief at the sight of them. No matter how reckless this man was, this was Darkan Territory. Cause any more trouble here and even he would not walk away alive.

So long as a single one of them survived, Alt would not die. He could rise again like a phoenix.

We're saved…

Crunch!

But the young lady of Dercian's prayer went unanswered. Her opponent raised a massive greatsword and crushed the last remaining Alt's head.

"Ahh…"

She staggered and sank to the floor. Her escort was dead. The Dercian family's berserker — the swordsman who had never once been defeated — had been killed.

Gritting her teeth, she braced herself against the ground and rose. She could not forgive that man.

The moment the young lady of Dercian stepped out of the building, the captain of the guard came forward.

"Would you be the young lady of Dercian?"

"I am. I am Isabella, the sole daughter of House Dercian."

"What exactly is going on here?"

"That man dared to lay hands on House Dercian. As if that weren't enough, he killed my escort and humiliated me."

She would never forgive the one who had touched House Dercian. The captain of the guard turned his eyes back toward the center of the chaos — the man standing there with an enormous sword, looking for all the world like a barbarian.

House Dercian is on especially close terms with the Lord of Darkan.

They were co-hosting this very auction. The influence of House Dercian could not be ignored — even if she herself were at fault, she would have to be protected.

"Whoa, whoa! What's all this racket?"

"…Sir Pamel!"

Pamel, Guardian Knight of the Darkan Territory, appeared with his knights in tow. The soldiers fell into formation to receive him. Pamel nodded once and turned his gaze.

"Hm? Young Lady of Dercian?"

At the sight of him, the young lady of Dercian's presence swelled even further.

"Guardian Knight Sir Pamel. That man humiliated me and killed my escort. Do you intend to simply stand by and watch?"

"That man killed the berserker? No… wait a moment."

Pamel looked at the man, then spotted Hudson emerging from the building and tilted his head.

"Would you happen to be Master Hudson?"

"I am."

"Might I see your invitation?"

Pamel dismounted and approached Hudson. Hudson drew the invitation from his coat. After examining it, Pamel nodded.

"Confirmed. Are you involved in this incident?"

"The man standing over there is my escort. And contrary to that woman's claims, we were the ones attacked first."

"…Is that true?"

"Everyone on the same floor saw it. Ask them yourself if you like."

Pamel's brow furrowed. The backgrounds of everyone invited this time were all filed away in his mind, and Hudson was among them. But the other party was House Dercian.

"This matter appears to be one for His Lordship to judge directly."

"Sir Pamel! Are you saying some unidentified outsider matters more than House Dercian?"

"Young Lady of Dercian. This gentleman was personally invited by His Lordship. I was already on my way after receiving word that he had crossed the warp — and in that short span, this trouble arose…"

"…You came out to receive him yourself, Sir Pamel?"

"Yes. In any case, this exceeds my authority. Let us proceed together to the lord's castle."

The young lady of Dercian's eyes grew complicated. Guardian Knight Pamel was the knight who represented the entire territory — a direct subordinate of the highest order, vested even with the authority of acting lord in the lord's absence. When incidents arose, he had more than enough power to carry out summary executions.

And yet that man had drawn a line, declaring the matter beyond his authority. He was shielding the one who had destroyed part of the city and killed a Dercian escort. It was unthinkable.

More astonishing still was the fact that the moment he heard word of the warp crossing, Sir Pamel had come out to receive them in person.

When I arrived, they only sent a captain of the guard at best…

Darkan Territory did not so much as flinch at the appearance of ordinary nobles. Who on earth were these people? Who were they, that the Guardian Knight Pamel himself would be dispatched — and that even Pamel would turn a blind eye to this situation?

Faces she had never seen. If they were imperial nobility, she would have known them. And yet an imperial was protecting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠people who were not even of the Empire?

"…Very well. Let us go to the lord's castle. I have every confidence that the honorable Lord of Darkan will punish those men thoroughly — that is, if His Lordship still wishes to continue standing alongside House Dercian."

She had issued a threat. Look the other way, and relations with House Dercian would sour. The Lord of Darkan would never dare release House Dercian's hand.

The moment I killed the Spade-marked Transcendent in the bronze fox mask, another message bloomed before my eyes.

A massive haul of experience for a bar that had been all but frozen. Achievements, and the additional lines that appeared upon hunting a Transcendent. Looking at this dense cluster of information, I could only tilt my head.

So a Spade is treated as a legitimate Star.

A Star is a fragment of a goddess's body. Those scattered pieces of divinity are treated as Stars, and they allow humans to surpass mortal limits. And yet the Spade mark of the Transcendent I had just killed was being recognized as the same kind of "Transcendent's Mark."

If it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠scattered upon death and fell somewhere — did that mean the body of some other god existed as well? And if so, which god had died?

The Star-Marked would know.

A true Star-Marked would understand the nature of that Transcendent's mark. But Star-Marked were not the sort of beings you could find just because you wanted to. I had no time for that right now — and it was faster to make them come looking for me on their own.

The real problem was that my level still had a long way to go before reaching 10. It might be more efficient to raise my secondary characters, find a Star-Marked through them, and ask. Or investigate House Dercian, the family that had been keeping that Spade-marked Transcendent.

Dercian. Isabella von Dercian.

I cast a glance at the woman still snarling and spitting. She had clearly told the captain of the guard that her name was "Isabella." But the Isabella von Dercian I knew was not this woman. The Isabella I knew would be in the desert right about now, fighting tooth and nail to claim the Desert Queen's throne. That was the only one.

…So is this woman a fake?

It was strange. The same family, the same name, the sole daughter. Coincidence was out of the question. Unless they had given a newly born child the same name out of longing for the Isabella who had been abducted, there had to be some other design at work. Their ages looked roughly the same.

"Whoa, whoa! What's all this racket?"

"…Sir Pamel!"

A knight order appeared out of nowhere. Looking at the man they called Pamel, I was quietly surprised.

He was not a Transcendent who had consumed a Star — he was a monster who had simply raised his level. Even when I had played as Wilhelm, I had never had dealings with the Empire, so their methods felt fairly unfamiliar. Perhaps each imperial house had its own way of elevating its standing.

He's sizing me up.

Guardian Knight Pamel was speaking with the young lady of Dercian, but every nerve he had was locked on me. His stance was ready to draw and swing at any moment — the clear intent to cut me down at the first sign of anything suspicious. I didn't care. The fact that he was wary of me only meant he still couldn't measure me. And for my part, a simple high-level monster was far more comfortable to deal with than some twisted Transcendent.

"…Let us proceed together to the lord's castle."

Guardian Knight Pamel said it to Hudson.

"Very well."

Hudson nodded lightly. So they meant to settle right and wrong before the Lord of Darkan. The entire way to the castle, the young lady of Dercian glared at me as if she wanted me dead.

A throne of marble. The black dragon carved into it was the symbol of Darkan. Seated upon it, the Lord of Darkan — black-haired, with eyes like obsidian — rubbed his temples as if exhausted.

This is a nightmare.

Because of the people standing right in front of him. He had sent Guardian Knight Pamel, and even he had not predicted a disaster of this scale would erupt in the meantime.

On one side: Isabella, sole daughter of House Dercian, a family that had stood with the Darkan Territory for long years. And on the other…

The real power behind Labyrinth City, under the White King's protection. And a human one can actually speak with, at that.

When he first heard about Hudson from the city councilor he had planted in Arcana, he had scarcely believed it. Labyrinth City, mentioned by the White King — the second "territorial declaration" after Kramdel. The initiative belonged to the Fifth Lord, which meant that place was a city of monsters. And yet, astonishingly, there was a human selling off Old Empire relics stripped from the Labyrinth.

Looking deeper, Hudson was in fact the administrator managing Labyrinth City — a power broker among power brokers, trusted by the Fifth Lord to handle affairs directly.

Until now, the White King and the Empire had shared no point of contact whatsoever. Those monsters did not listen to human speech at all. A human? Kill them on sight. Approach, and be annihilated. The other Four Lords were the same.

The Fifth Lord is a monster who can actually communicate with humans.

Only the Fifth Lord kept a human — Hudson — as his aide. And so the Lord of Darkan had ordered an investigation into Hudson.

Former owner of Casino Hudson, and a man who had even set his sights on a city council seat in the Golden City of Arcana.

Amazingly, he was a pure human with no suspicious history. How such a man had come into contact with the Fifth Lord remained unknown — but this was an opportunity.

Old Empire treasures? Unnecessary. Something far more important was at stake.

…A chance to forge a connection with the North.

The North was the White King's land. A vast domain including Kramdel lay under his rule. The value of the North was astronomical — a prize even the Empire could not help but covet. But within the North, the White King was invincible. Waging open war against that many monsters would come at a cost no one could ignore. And so even the Empire could not easily reach for it.

This was the opportunity — a chance to create a link to the North, to the White King. He had extended the invitation for that very reason. And the moment they arrived, they had caused an incident.

Whose side do I take?

Process was irrelevant. This was not a seat for determining true right and wrong. This was a seat for choosing a side.

Side with the young lady of Dercian, and he would have no choice but to punish Hudson. The connection to the North would vanish of its own accord. Worse, there was no telling how the Fifth Lord would react. Side with Hudson, and a crack would form in relations with House Dercian.

"…Young Lady of Dercian. I am told you struck first. Every witness in the vicinity has given the same testimony."

The Lord of Darkan had made his decision. Punish Hudson, and there was no knowing how far the aftermath would spread. House Dercian's affairs, on the other hand, he could resolve within his own authority.

"Y-Your Lordship! What are you saying? Are you truly going to side with that unidentified outsider over House Dercian?"

The young lady of Dercian's eyes shook violently. But the Lord of Darkan's resolve was already set.

"Young Lady of Dercian… no, Isabella. He is no unidentified outsider. He is a representative of Labyrinth City whom I personally invited. To have given offense to such a guest is no different from giving offense to me, is it not?"

"…!"

"I will take this up with House Dercian myself. No matter that you stand here as House Dercian's representative, you have no authority to dictate the treatment of my guests."

"Labyrinth… do you mean the Abyss Labyrinth?"

"I do."

When the Lord of Darkan acknowledged it so freely, the young lady of Dercian's cheek twitched.

So that's why he keeps a giantkin as an escort?

It made sense now. The Abyss Labyrinth that had suddenly risen into prominence. The Empire had dispatched its strongest to explore it. They had obtained intelligence that "Hexagonal Sword Saint ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ryleigh" — a figure practically synonymous with the Empire's predecessor — lay sunken within it. In the end, the Abyss Labyrinth had been seized by the Fifth Lord under the White King's banner.

The Fifth Lord's proxy…!

By the Lord of Darkan's words, that pale, thoroughly unpleasant-looking man was the Fifth Lord's proxy.

She ground her teeth.

"That barbarian of a man killed my escort. A berserker of House Dercian! Do you truly not understand what that means? At the very least, that barbarian must be punished."

For the sake of her family's pride and her own, she was demanding that at least the escort be punished. Do that, she was saying, and she would let the matter rest cleanly.

"…Proxy Hudson. What do you think?"

At the Lord of Darkan's words, spoken with a slight shake of the head, Hudson firmly shook his own.