345. Watcher of Darkness
345. Watcher of Darkness
***
*
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A duel request from Zernati.
If accepted, no other beings will be able to intervene.
Will you accept the duel?
[Y / N]
————
*
As I checked the notification, I couldn't understand why Zernati had made this offer. Even if Sua's condition wasn't great, she still had skill that could be called combat-ready, and I had just defeated all the other high knights. Zernati was, in effect, cornered.
There were still plenty of rebels surrounding us, but Zernati had to know they couldn't do much to me and Sua.
Even thinking about it briefly, I had no reason to accept the duel.
"Serin. Turn it down. A sudden duel request is ridiculous."
Sua, speaking coldly beside me, wore a completely dumbfounded expression. She even looked at me and shook her head, and I had no intention of accepting either.
But instead of refusing right away, I turned my gaze to Zernati.
I was curious about the intent behind making such an offer.
Zernati.
A knight who had once held the high position of imperial knight commander. Whatever his personal character, he wasn't a fool lacking enough sense to read a situation.
He should at least be able to grasp the circumstances.
And yet he had made an offer like that...
It was as if.
'...It feels like he's acting as though we're on equal footing.'
Then Zernati spoke.
"Rin. This will be a better deal for you."
Zernati spoke coldly, as if he had read my thoughts. My brow furrowed involuntarily.
Was he putting on a show of confidence, pretending to hold cards he didn't have?
No, even knowing Zernati's character wouldn't be like that, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was missing something.
"A better deal for her? There's no way."
As Sua spoke as if telling me to refuse, I was about to do just that.
Until Zernati opened his mouth.
"Stop hiding and show yourself."
Only then did I catch someone's presence.
Right behind Zernati. At the sight of a figure slowly revealing itself like a shadow, I momentarily lost my words.
The figure that appeared was like darkness itself, like a shadow. Even as it revealed its presence and form, its outline wavered transparently, as if wrapped in some kind of veil.
"...What."
At the sudden appearance, Sua hastily raised her rapier in alarm, but my gaze went blank.
Beyond that opaque veil-like aura, I could clearly make out the form of a woman.
A being who shouldn't be here, and one I never thought I'd see again.
Yes. I knew that being.
Ding!
*
————
【Roselia the Watcher】
【Title: Watcher of Darkness】
【Grade: A+】
【Class: Assassin】
【Category: ???】
*Owned Traits.
- ???
(An undisclosed trait; cannot be known at this time)
- One-Strike Kill
(A single attack carries the will to kill in and of itself. There is a delay between attacks, but attack damage increases greatly)
- Gray Veil
(An opaque veil wraps around her existence, concealing her presence. Grants evasion adjustment, and under normal conditions her appearance cannot be identified)
- Dual Element
(Uses the power of two elements. As a being who uses darkness and light, she can unleash a variety of techniques)
- Absolute Stealth
(An assassin who has reached the pinnacle possesses a special ability akin to being colorless and odorless. Unless she attacks first, opponents cannot detect her existence)
『Due to the special nature of appearing within a raid, the number of owned traits is limited to 5.』
————
*
As my gaze went to the status window covering part of my vision, I could no longer deny that being.
'Roselia.'
A being who should have been dead, a being who shouldn't be alive.
She was also someone I had paid particularly close attention to while pursuing continental unification in Black Ark.
Roselia was a key figure who might try to assassinate Princess Cecilia at any time, anywhere. So after reaching a certain level, I had tried to eliminate her first, and after much hardship, I had succeeded.
But now, with Roselia revealing herself like this.
I felt like I was caught in a whirlpool of emotions impossible to express—discrepancy, dissonance... no, something beyond any of that.
When we entered Phase 3, I had thought this might be a quest unfolding based on my memories.
A quest constructed from what I had experienced in Black Ark.
Otherwise, I couldn't explain the beings who recognized me.
But now, with the assassin Roselia revealing herself, I realized the situation was completely different from what I'd thought.
It differed from my memories. And yet she knew me.
"Rin. I'd like you to accept the duel."
As Zernati pressed for an answer with an intense gaze, I let out a small breath and looked at Sua.
"Darkness and light. She's dual-element, so... you need to be more careful than what meets the eye. I think I have to accept the duel."
"...Okay. I understand."
When I indirectly told her how to handle Roselia, Sua nodded, looking bewildered. She clearly also found the situation strange, and I was just as confused as she was.
Up through Phase 2, it had still been a 'raid.'
A raid where you fought ordinary monsters, even if the difficulty was high.
This situation didn't feel like a raid. Multiple circumstances seemed tangled together, and my mind was in turmoil.
On top of that, being on stream made it hard to ask questions, which only made it more suffocating.
Slowly steadying myself, I accepted the duel.
Then an opaque wall formed around me and Zernati, distorting all other beings.
"Serin. Be careful."
I glanced at Sua's worried tone and nodded, and soon the opaque wall showed only me and Zernati, as if it had created a completely new space.
Ding!
[By accepting the duel with Zernati, changes have been applied to the clear condition!]
*
————
[Phase 3: Hall of the Great Purge!]
The leader of the imperial rebels, a being who will later cause a great upheaval, is moving across the vast wilderness.
A being who will one day split the empire apart. He must be stopped here!
Eliminate the rebel leader, Zernati, and remove the seed of the great catastrophe!
—The shadow at the 'center of the calamity' has revealed itself.
【Phase 3 Clear Condition: Weaken the rebel leader, Zernati】
————
*
As notifications popped up one after another, my gaze flicked to them, and I saw the biggest change.
The keyword 'center of the calamity.' And the clear condition, which had clearly said 'Eliminate Zernati,' had changed to weakening him.
As I registered those things and looked ahead, I saw Zernati raising his sword.
"No need for long words."
As he threw my own words back at me, I gripped the Crescent-Moon Weight and took hold of the connected cord.
Screeeech!
The distinctive sound rang out from the taut cord.
Dense killing intent began to fill the isolated space.
***
A card he had never revealed before. By revealing Roselia's presence, he had secured a duel with Rin.
Whether that was truly the right choice, even Zernati couldn't guarantee.
'At this moment, I stake everything.'
It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kill the witch.
The witch's newly revealed appearance filled me with great alarm, but I had to do it anyway.
By killing this witch before it was too late.
Before things hurtled toward irreversible catastrophe, killing the witch might still leave room for minimal compromise.
If only the witch disappeared, the vast ambition harbored by Princess Cecilia would also be greatly shaken.
Screeeech!
Along with the distinctive sound of the cord being pulled, I began to release all my power.
—Return of Radiance.
Immediately after, a brilliant light centered on me began to illuminate the space, seizing control of the space itself.
——!
The aura gathered on my blade no longer held a blue tint, and my entire body gradually took on a pure white light, beginning to contain immense power.
As I took in the witch, I saw her distinctive silver hair, her outfit dyed pure white as well, and even her weapon transformed. Yet more than anything, the two eyes that drew my gaze were the same as back then.
Her distinctive blue eyes, utterly indifferent, were still the same as the past.
Eyes so cold they chilled, eyes that made her emotions unreadable.
"..."
I had once admired her, and my heart had been drawn to the mystique of her very existence. But that was a fleeting emotion.
As the journey continued, she had completely changed.
Even after seeing blood numbering in the thousands, she was never satisfied, and she seemed to want to see blood numbering in the tens of thousands—no, hundreds of thousands.
Even Princess Cecilia had lost her wisdom because of her and been swept away. Along with all the others who had been swept up in the absurd delusion of continental unification.
But how foolish was that?
Even now, the empire, which held territory amounting to a third of the continent, couldn't properly govern even that territory, and unrest boiled up from every corner by the day.
To talk of unifying the continent and shedding countless blood in this situation was no different from declaring self-destruction.
I fixed my eyes on the witch, endlessly calming my heart and steeling my resolve. So that not a moment's hesitation, not the smallest wavering, would be carried into my sword.
HUMMMMM!
As the blue light on my blade fully took on pure white, I kicked off the ground.
As the fallen witch's figure rapidly expanded in my vision, I cut straight down.
...
The moment Zernati kicked off the ground, Serin immediately swung the Crescent-Moon Weight toward the front.
————!!
Then, as if by miracle, the Crescent-Moon Weight, wreathed in moonlight, collided hard with the sword wrapped in white aura.
"...!"
Serin felt her vision shake violently.
Even though she had clearly met the sword properly, a massive shockwave was sweeping through the space.