Chapter 725: The Blind Spot of the Temporary Alliance (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 725: The Blind Spot of the Temporary Alliance (2)
Jin headed to the Tikan Palace's underground prison with Casimir.
Several of his companions, including Mary and the Tona brothers, were already there, keeping watch over Lin in the dungeon.
Though she was in a cell, Lin wasn't bound. Instead, she sat at a desk, quietly sipping tea.
[You have come, 12th Flagbearer.]
Lin rose from her seat to greet Jin.
“President of the Guardian Association. No, I suppose I should call you the Head of the Black Sword Council now. I heard Rosa appointed you to the position.”
[As the head of the Guardian Association, I failed to uphold the family's laws. As the leader of the Black Sword Council, I failed to execute the traitors. I am fit for neither title. Just call me by my name.]
Jin didn't reply. He sat across from Lin and stared into her eyes, which were stained black by chaos.
Lin was clearly consumed by chaos, yet she hadn't lost her reason in the slightest.
He could sense a grim determination in her—an aura possessed only by those prepared to endure immense pain and sacrifice.
“We've finished verifying the information you gave us yesterday.”
The information Lin had brought to Tikan concerned Rosa and the ship Ram. According to her, Rosa had lost a portion of her control over Huphester, and there was a secret regarding the ship Ram that even Rosa didn't know.
[That is a relief.]
“To be honest, it was hard to believe you until Yuria confirmed it. I suspected your arrival was another one of Rosa's schemes, or that you were trying to switch sides again now that things looked bad for the Evil God. I was that doubtful.”
[I understand. It is only natural.]
“Why didn't you join the resistance from the start, instead of making a contract with the Prophet?”
[Had I chosen the resistance from the start, you wouldn't have learned a single thing about the Evil God's weaknesses today. My desire to fight alongside you was beyond words, but… I believed there was no hope in that path.]
“So you decided to become an insider in the Garden of Swords?” Mary asked.
Lin nodded.
[I believed that becoming an insider was the only way an opportunity would arise, one way or another…]
“I remember clearly that you saved me the day Brother Dipus was captured.”
[And yet, the number of family knights I've killed with my own hands is likely beyond count.]
Lin set down her teacup.
Jin could see the guilt weighing on her. As Lin the person, it would have been a far better choice to die honorably fighting with the resistance. But she had endured, obeying Rosa's commands all this time, for a moment exactly like this.
For the sake of the family, she was willing to endure any amount of personal agony and guilt. Even if it meant being recorded in history as a terrible traitor, she would accept it.
[Furthermore… like the late 4th Flagbearer, I too was succumbing to the Prophet's chaos and losing my will. If you hadn't killed the Prophet, I truly would have become a traitor.]
A brief silence followed.
[Have you decided on the day of the final battle?]
“Not yet. It will likely be decided at tomorrow’s meeting.”
[As I said last night, you must move within a month at the latest. There is little time left for me and the other knights. With the Prophet's death, our own lives are flickering out.]
“Is it because of the contract with the Prophet?”
[It is. Regardless, if you strike Huphester after we are dead, we will be unable to help with anything.]
Jin nodded.
[Then I must return. If I'm gone any longer, it will arouse the Evil God's suspicion.]
Lin stood up.
[This will likely be our last meeting, 12th Flagbearer. Once you and the temporary alliance begin the assault on Huphester, we will devote all our strength to disabling the ship Ram.]
A method to temporarily halt the operation of the ship Ram. That was the information Lin had gained by becoming an insider.
Rosa believed that control of the ship Ram belonged solely to her. However, the deceased Prophet had prepared a way to seize control of the Ram for herself, in case the day ever came when she needed to dispose of Rosa. And she had revealed all of this to Lin, whom she believed had been successfully "brainwashed."
Lin reached out to Jin for a handshake.
Jin looked back and forth between her hand and her eyes for a few seconds.
[Please… defeat Rosa… the Evil God. Don't let my—our—Runcandel meet such a horrific end.]
Jin grasped Lin’s hand. He felt the firm, calloused palm of an elder who had devoted her entire life to the Runcandel family.
“I will make sure of it.”
Jin personally saw Lin off. When they exited through a secret passage leading from the dungeon to the sea, the Youngest's Division was waiting.
Among them, Mesa stood before Lin and bowed her head.
“Great-Aunt.”
[Mesa.]
Lin met Mesa’s eyes and smiled.
[The Patriarch, Lord Cyron, was the supreme being of this world, yet he still wanders the Black Sea. Rosa has become the Evil God, pushing the family and the world toward ruin. Therefore, you all serve a far greater monarch than my generation ever did.]
“I will become a knight who is never found wanting by my lord or the family.”
[Yes… Once the 12th Flagbearer restores the family, there will be much for you to do. Can I leave the future in your hands and depart in peace?]
“…Yes, Great-Aunt.”
[Splendid.]
The remaining Runcandels didn't move from their spots until Lin had vanished over the horizon.
* * *
Huphester.
The army of chaos was gathering at the Garden of Swords. Countless eyes, clouded by chaos, looked up at Rosa sitting upon the throne.
For the first time since becoming the Evil God, she was showing signs of exhaustion. Her eyes were dark, her lips parched, and her hair hung limp and lifeless.
The chaos she should have obtained from the Battle of Ricalton had not been properly absorbed, and the fragment of authority she had shared with Dipus was now completely extinguished.
Frenzy.
Rosa stroked her favorite sword, the one she had used since she was human. Occasionally, her fingers were nicked by the blade, and drops of black blood trickled down.
Rosa did not care. She merely caressed the blade vacantly, as if she couldn't even feel the pain.
The commander-level knights watching her felt a sense of unease. Unlike the low-to-mid-ranking knights, who were completely steeped in demonic power, they still retained a small measure of human will and reason.
They had never entertained the possibility of a crushing defeat at the Battle of Ricalton. On the contrary, they had been planning to launch a new invasion before the temporary alliance could even finish reorganizing after a grand victory.
But Dipus and the Prophet were dead, and Rosa wasn't even trying to hide her fatigue from her army.
[…The army has fully assembled, Patriarch.]
Eventually, Lionel stepped forward and spoke to Rosa.
Rosa didn't answer, continuing to stroke Frenzy. A cold wind occasionally ruffled her hair.
[Patriarch.]
Lionel called out to her once more. He felt the anxiety of the other high-ranking knights—those who still possessed reason—as if their gazes were boring into his back.
Only Padler stood with a sneer, acting as if he didn't care what happened.
Thirty minutes passed before Rosa finally spoke.
[Former Patriarch, Lord Lionel.]
[Give your command.]
[Have you ever loved a child?]
It was a sudden, unexpected question. Lionel could not fathom Rosa’s intent.
[Why do you ask so suddenly…? Is it perhaps because of the 4th Flagbearer’s death?]
[That child was incomparably superior to the insect over there, but I never felt any special affection for him.]
At her words, Joshua, who stood below the throne, flinched. Since the Prophet's death, he was no longer able to produce any special despair, because the hope that prophecy provided had vanished.
[Please answer my question.]
[I have.]
[Then, what did you do for such a child?]
[You ask one difficult question after another… In my case, I passed down the family. This very place, the Garden of Swords.]
At that, Rosa nodded as if satisfied. Vitality began to spread through her dark eyes.
[I, too, wanted to pass this place down to that child. But since that is no longer possible… before I settle things with the youngest, I feel I should give him one proper gift as his mother. Something like a playground.]
[A playground, you say?]
Rosa rose from her seat.
[From this moment, I shall build a castle.]
[Patriarch, what do you mean by—]
[It will be the final stage for the youngest. It must be sophisticated and beautiful, filled with figures worthy of witnessing his death—a death that will surely become a myth.]
Lionel agonized over how to voice his concern as a murmur rose from the army.
However, in the next moment, they could only gasp in awe as they watched Rosa raise her outstretched hand toward the sky.
Whooooosh!
Following Rosa’s gesture, black pillars erupted from the ground to the left and right of the ranks. As if sketching on a canvas, the framework of a 'castle' came into existence with every movement of her hand.
Creation—something impossible for anyone but a god.
Simultaneously, a pale energy began to bloom like a massive tidal wave from behind the throne. New souls were emerging from the Mausoleum.
Lionel couldn't help but tremble as he felt the power radiating from them.
[While I build this castle, your task is… to simply fill the space so it doesn't look empty. Prepare for the final battle in your respective positions. Prepare to welcome my son.]
As Rosa sheathed her sword, Lionel and the army knelt in unison.
The ancient heroes of Runcandel, emerging from the Mausoleum and forming physical bodies, also paid homage to Rosa with a sword salute.
Then, Rosa briefly turned her gaze toward the Black Sword Council standing in the center of the ranks—specifically, toward Lin.
She wore a smile, as if she knew exactly what was on Lin's mind.
Lin, her head bowed, did not notice Rosa's gaze.