Chivalry
The knights of the Fibron Empire unleashed their fury without restraint. They swung their swords, cast their magic, and hunted down those who fled in desperation for their lives.
To some it was a tragedy. To others, it was justice delivered.
Opinions might differ, but one thing was certain: the knights of the Fibron Empire felt no shame in what they did. This was resistance for the sake of life itself—an act for an empire that had nearly fallen, and for the families that had been invaded.
The screams of the Caelon Empire’s bureaucrats filled the battlefield. McDeras simply watched. He would keep watching until the anger of the invaded had spent itself completely, or until they could at least take some solace in knowing they had defended their own country with their own hands.
Plimia once again took McDeras’s hand at his side. But she was no longer trembling, and she no longer looked away from the field. She spoke.
“Because of everything you’ve shown me by coming here, McDeras, I’ve finally understood. No matter how hard you cling to hopeful thoughts and wait for salvation, you gain nothing. Some things will never change no matter how hard you try. So to protect anything, you need power. And the courage to use it… That’s what you’ve been trying to tell me all along, isn’t it? Going out of your way to do all those bothersome things just to show me so many different truths…”
“It’s a difference of perspective. Everyone thinks differently. If that’s how you see it, then so be it.”
I didn’t bother reinforcing her opinion. My part was already finished. I had manufactured endless justifications for war, shown the true face of the cruel, and extended the bare minimum of mercy to the innocent.
Some would call this sufficient justification. Others would remember us forever as mass murderers. It all depended on who was looking.
So this growing pain was something she had to wrestle with and overcome alone. So the wound would not reopen and bleed later, she had to grow the new flesh herself. What she truly believed was right—that was the answer.
“I don’t think I can just stand here either. I’ll go help.”
Plimia ran out and began healing those who had fallen on the battlefield. This time, however, those receiving her grace were the knights of the Fibron Empire. For the ones who suffered, who fell, who ached, she poured every last measure of the divine grace her god had granted her. It was the only thing she could do.
Looking over the field, the bureaucrats who looked as if they had never received proper combat training were inevitably overwhelmed by the knights. Even the escorts they had brought were nowhere near enough against this absurd force. The tide of battle had completely turned. Only then did McDeras ease his tension and look at the red orb.
A moment later he stretched out his hand, and countless crimson blades soared into the sky. The blades soon vanished from sight.
“What did you just do?”
When Princess Brainy asked, McDeras answered flatly.
“I killed the ones who fled.”
“An astonishing ability… We may never have needed your help at all.”
It was true. Massacre magic used corpses, blood, and life force as its energy source, so once cast it could remain active until every enemy was dead. The one fatal drawback was that after use, massacre magic was restricted for a certain period.
That was why, once activated, the enemies had to be completely wiped out. Before the battle ended, the orb had to be constantly fed with enemy life force so it would not fully dissipate. That could be considered a flaw—but battlefields were littered with corpses anyway. The more it absorbed, the stronger it grew, and the more versatile massacre magic became, turning it into a more efficient killing tool than any other magic.
If one was willing to abandon their humanity.
McDeras looked at Princess Brainy of the Fibron Empire and spoke.
“Without the knights of the Fibron Empire, my battle would have been nothing more than a massacre without justification. There was the reason of doing it for Plimia, but that was merely personal.”
“Justification… So in the end, what we gave you was something abstract. If you hadn’t been here, we would have been overwhelmingly defeated. If only someone like you, rather than me, had taken the emperor’s throne, the people would never have had to suffer like this.”
Then the man pointed at those fighting ahead and continued.
“Do you see them? Your Majesty’s knights are fighting to protect their nation. They advance without fear of death to end this meaningless war. They fought the same way before I intervened, and they would have fought the same way even if I hadn’t. So don’t waste your thoughts on that. What Your Majesty must think about is becoming the signpost that can lead these people down the right path. Even if your power falls short, don’t worry. If the direction is correct, you will eventually reach the destination.”
Princess Brainy asked. Her tone had grown a little more familiar.
“Can you tell me where you came from? If someone like you existed in any neighboring empire or kingdom, word of it never would have failed to reach my ears.”
McDeras was about to brush it off with a lie when he stopped. After all, Princess Brainy, like Choi Yebin, was someone who could detect whether words were true or false.
“There is a place called Earth. That’s all I’ll say.”
“…Could it be…”
Princess Brainy urgently waved her hand through the empty air. Then she stared blankly at something before grasping my hand and speaking quietly.
“The Gallery of Dying Novels… I’ve seen something identical to your magic there. The research journal of a lost Archmage posted by someone called the Admin. It had something in the exact same form as your magic. Are you aware of that?”
I hadn’t lied. I was the only one who could use inter-novel warp magic. That was nearly certain information I had learned through experience. So there was no need to hide my identity in other novels.
“I know. I’m also a member of the community.”
So Princess Brainy is a transmigrator too.
I’d thought that using warp magic would display every transmigrator’s nickname above their head, but that didn’t seem to be the case. It was more reasonable to view it as a function that only displayed people linked to the warp target.
Not particularly surprising. From the start she seemed to ask while already certain I was a transmigrator.
Hundreds could transmigrate into novels, or just one. That was the conclusion I’d reached after looking into various cases. In the end, she was simply one of the many people living as a transmigrator.
Princess Brainy dropped her solemn tone and spoke to me.
“I never imagined you’d be from the same community. Please speak comfortably. I’m twenty, you know.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Is that your original way of speaking?”
“This side is more familiar.”
“You’ve been transmigrated for quite a long time, I see…”
Princess Brainy nodded, then approached me and offered a rather concerning remark.
“McDeras. If you’ve looked at the community, you’ll know—there’s someone leaking your massacre magic journal on the Dying Novels Gallery. At first I didn’t think much of it, but… seeing it with my own eyes, this is an extremely dangerous magic. The idea of some strange person having that research journal is dangerous, I think. The Admin… are you acquainted with them?”
The research journal of the lost Archmage that the Dying Novels Gallery admin had posted on the board.
Princess Brainy also thought the admin had luckily obtained and leaked it. McDeras spoke to clear up the misunderstanding.
“I am the admin. I uploaded it for my own reasons, and I can guarantee that no one who sees that information will be able to replicate it, so don’t worry.”
“Wait a moment… You’re saying the admin is McDeras…? That can’t be…”
In Princess Brainy’s mind, the numerous eccentricities the Dying Novels Gallery admin had displayed began to surface. Sensing her confusion, McDeras briefly spoke in his own defense.
“It’s a place you can’t survive without going a little mad.”
Princess Brainy looked at McDeras with a pitying expression and said,
“…You’re right. With this much power, you must have had to endure and bear so much alone.”
Princess Brainy nodded as if she understood and added,
“Let’s continue the rest of the conversation after the war ends. It seems everyone around us has been taken care of by now.”
“As you wish.”
As she said, there were no longer any living beings around the Caelon Empire’s imperial palace. The knights shouted their victory and reveled in the joy of having protected their own. McDeras walked silently toward the palace.
“Did you kill the emperor?”
He asked Tekeloman, who replied,
“We could not find him. It seems he has fled.”
“I see.”
McDeras did not agree with Tekeloman’s assessment. If this weren’t a world where magic existed, perhaps—but in a world with various magics, abandoning one’s nest and fleeing was unthinkable.
After all, given enough time, one could layer magic circles endlessly and turn even a single building into an impregnable fortress that could never be breached.
Emperor Lukan prioritized his own safety above all, had a severe desire for ostentation, and believed without a doubt that he possessed power akin to a god. With the arrogance of a man who had invaded and conquered numerous empires, he would never have considered “fleeing” from this place as an option.
Therefore, there was only one place the emperor could be.
“The palace… The palace doors won’t open!”
Sure enough, the personnel trying to enter and search the imperial palace were blocked by some mysterious magic and couldn’t get inside. Moreover—
“Aaaagh!”
A man’s body was instantly engulfed in flames and vanished. One of the defensive magic circles the emperor had the palace mages create, no doubt.
McDeras walked forward. Countless magic circles thrashed madly, but he paid them no mind. The surging attacks were all deflected, and the endless defensive magic circles vanished the moment they touched McDeras’s hand.
That’s enough to grasp the structure.
When McDeras placed his hand on the red orb, it began to tremble, then started unleashing massive lightning bolts upon the palace.
Dazzling crimson lightning struck dozens of times in an instant, and the doors that would not open finally did.
Creeeak.
McDeras opened the door and walked slowly inside. He headed straight for where he felt the presence of living beings. As if they had been intended as feed, dozens of Saintesses were locked in a room, trembling.
“Get out.”
When McDeras commanded, the Saintesses hesitated, but when he shouted once more, they all fled outside. Then McDeras swung his sword at the empty air.
Clang!
With the sound of swords clashing, two concealed living beings revealed themselves.
Brifen, Imperial Knight Commander of the Caelon Empire. And behind him, Emperor Lukan.
Even while crossing swords with Brifen, McDeras looked into the eyes of Emperor Lukan, who was trembling behind him.
McDeras said to him,
“Do you want to live?”
Of course, no answer came from the emperor. But McDeras poured sharp, piercing mana into his sword and said,
“If you kill me, I’ll let you live.”
Following that, Plimia, the knights of the Fibron Empire, and Princess Brainy also entered. McDeras reaffirmed,
“If you or your knight can kill me in a duel, I will spare you. Those behind me will keep the promise as well.”
Emperor Lukan narrowed his eyes and said,
“How am I supposed to believe that…?”
“Do you have a choice?”
Emperor Lukan burst into loud laughter.
“You lowly scum. Even to the end, you try to humiliate me. Even if I die, I will make sure to kill you at least. The man standing before you, Brifen, is a Sword Saint. Do you really think you can win a duel against him?”
Emperor Lukan commanded Brifen, the Imperial Knight Commander.
“Kill him!”
In that instant, Brifen, Imperial Knight Commander of the Caelon Empire, let out a battle cry and swung his sword at McDeras. But the one who blocked it was Tekeloman.
“…?”
When McDeras looked at him questioningly, Knight Commander Tekeloman, hands trembling, gritted his teeth and spoke.
“Countless people have died. I had to lose cherished comrades, and the knights who trusted and followed me had to meet meaningless deaths. I had to go to the families who had lost their fathers, kneel, and apologize… I had to watch their tears right before my eyes.”
Tekeloman, struggling, adjusted his grip on the sword with both hands and finished speaking to McDeras.
“I want to take revenge for them with my own hands.”
Looking at him, McDeras said,
“The gap in skill between you and that man is vast. You will die without lasting more than a few exchanges.”
“I know… that…”
“If you step back, I can kill them both within seconds.”
“I know that as well…”
“Is honor or revenge for your comrades more important than your life? Why do something so inefficient?”
McDeras asked as if he truly could not understand the reason, and Tekeloman answered, blood even flowing from the hand gripping his sword tightly.
“Because that… is what it means to be a knight.”
Without a word, McDeras stepped back. At the same time—
The final battle of this war began.