Karina
Whoosh. Boom.
A massive silver wolf raced through the mountain path like a beam of light, leaving a sonic boom in its wake that shattered the quiet of the mountains. Then, in an instant.
"Woof!"
The wolf barked a warning to its rider about the enormous cliff looming ahead. The chasm stretched at least a kilometer across. As the first rays of dawn spilled over from behind, bathing the vast valley in light, the rocks atop the cliffs glimmered faintly. In stark contrast, the valley floor below still shrouded in lingering darkness exuded an eerie gloom, like the gateway to hell itself.
But.
"Jump!"
The rider's voice rang out, not with fear but with exhilaration. As if anticipating the command, Wolrang didn't slow a bit. At the cliff's edge, it leaped straight toward the opposite side.
Boom!
The stone where it pushed off cratered deeply, exploding with a thunderous roar. The massive wolf and its rider soared into the dawn sky.
"Yee-haw! Woo-hoo!"
The thrilled shout echoed through the valley. But despite the high spirits, they began plummeting back down before reaching the halfway point. Undeterred, Wolrang rebounded off the air as if invisible stairs lay beneath its paws, repeating the motion several times before landing smoothly on the far side.
"Awoooooooo!"
A proud howl, brimming with 'How was that?'
"Good job, Wolrang. Let's go!"
Tiny grinned, stroking the wolf's head and scruff, then urged it onward. Wolrang shot off like the wind once more, vanishing into the mountains beyond.
In the spot they'd left behind.
- Not much longer now.
The echo of Tiny's voice lingered.
- Chirp chirp.
- Grrr.
- Trot trot trot.
Startled awake by the sudden howling, the beasts of the mountains greeted the morning in chaos.
"There it is."
Atop the final peak, a vast plain unfurled before them. Beyond the horizon of that plain rose the solitary spire of a castle, bulging prominently.
Reinvigorated by the flat terrain after so long, Wolrang broke into a gale-force sprint.
Whoosh.
Boom boom boom boom boom.
A storm of dust swirled in the wake of the silver behemoth. Even amid the deafening charge, Tiny kept a serene expression, a faint smile tugging at his lips as the castle walls drew near.
'Faster than I thought. This cuts off a good half day.'
But that was a pleasant miscalculation. He'd barely slept over the past three days, and his only meal(?) had been a wild boar stumbled upon in the mountains. Shortening the trip was inevitable.
'With the relic on me, no half-baked demon worshippers can even approach. Getting back in time won't be hard.'
All he had to do was sweep through the demon worshippers who'd rebelled beyond those walls and head home. Not all the rebels would be demon worshippers, so taking out the ringleaders would make the rest snap out of it on their own. Or if the leadership was entirely demon worshippers...
'Will there even be room for me to step in?'
Considering the relic's power, his mere arrival at the castle might resolve everything. It seemed utterly foolproof. Brimming with confidence, the silver gale hurtled toward Karina Castle at breakneck speed.
* * *
"I'm right. I am right."
Benjamin, former steward of Karina Castle and now interim lord, sat in the grand hall's head seat, muttering the same words endlessly.
His handsome face had grown gaunt and hollow-cheeked, dark circles of exhaustion and stress etched deeply under his eyes. But sleep eluded him entirely.
"This is... right."
What a fucked-up world. His father, who'd devoted a lifetime of loyalty to the lord, had one arm severed for a single mistake—and withered away from the shock. He still couldn't forget the words his father mumbled in his coma.
- M-my lord. Wh-why to me...
Whether his father died from the amputation's aftermath or a broken heart from betrayal, the result was the same: their house shattered. His mother collapsed from grief and never rose again. The near-noble family's wealth, inherited through generations as stewards of Karina, was torn apart by relatives.
Yet the perpetrator tossed them a handful of gold as "compensation" and demanded praise for his generosity. No one punished the tyrant, no one blamed him.
He was just fifteen then. With no one to help, he had no choice but to bow to the enemy who'd killed his father just to survive.
- Th-thank you for your... excessive mercy...
Did the tears overflowing from his seething resentment look like tears of gratitude to the lord? Suddenly beaming with satisfaction, the lord forgave his father's error and named him the next steward.
'That was twenty years ago... Twenty years of bowing my head. All for revenge!'
He'd had countless chances to kill the lord. But fear had always stayed his hand. How many nights had he spent buried under blankets, berating himself until it turned to self-torture?
Then recently, beings appeared who could aid his vengeance. They empathized with his hatred and spoke of a new world. How could he resist? In the end, he'd succeeded in his revenge.
So why this gnawing anxiety?
"...The world's wrong. I am right..."
No matter how he repeated it to console himself, sleep wouldn't come. And since hearing days ago that someone bearing a relic was heading to Karina, his insomnia had only worsened.
Then.
- L-Lord, breakfast is served.
A voice called from outside, and the hall's doors swung open.
Creak.
"Wh-who dares! Who opens doors without permission!? I'm the lord! Me!!"
The servant carrying the tray flinched at the roar but didn't stop. That sparked Benjamin's pent-up stress into an explosion.
"You lowly worm, daring to ignore me!? Fine, I'll show you...!"
Only then did the servant slow, trembling violently.
"Calm yourself, my lord."
A voice from one of the 'allies' entering behind the servant steadied his sanity.
"Geron?!"
The black, ominous robe felt oddly welcoming.
"Get out."
"Y-yes, sir!"
At Geron's word, the servant fled like the wind. A clear display of who truly ruled here—but Benjamin had no attention for the servant.
"The trap inspection is complete, my lord."
...Inspection.
"G-good work."
The relic-bearer was one person. But a powerful knight, so traps were necessary—with the allies' help.
"Excellent. He left the capital three days ago... He'll arrive in days. Good luck."
"W-wait. What do you mean? You're leaving me behind!?"
"Easy, my lord. Didn't you say the relic-bearer is coming? What can we do?"
"N-no. You lot can handle it! You said we could fight the empire! That uprisings would erupt everywhere!"
"That's the future. The relic's another matter."
"Retreating over one relic—how do you plan to face the empire!?"
Benjamin bellowed his retort, but under Geron's hood, only a faint smile lingered.
"Think about it. Isn't it strange someone can carry a relic? No precedent in history... Anyway, we'll see if you survive."
Muttering like to himself, he shut his mouth—realizing he'd said too much—and turned away.
Benjamin's eyes twitched in fury.
"Th-then what about me!?"
"You must control that. Who else? The deluded knights and soldiers? Who activates the traps?"
Geron's chin nodded toward the black orb in Benjamin's grip, but he couldn't accept it.
"B-but..."
"If even you flee, our dreamed future delays further. You don't mind?"
Benjamin glared with bloodshot eyes, grinding his teeth.
"Damn it... Fine. Understood."
Geron smiled in satisfaction and departed.
Outside, his fellows awaited.
"All settled?"
"What can that fool do?"
"True enough."
"Even if he fails, we've bribed informants. They'll relay how he carries the relic."
"...Brilliant idea, even now."
"Who do you think I am!"
The black-robed group chuckled. The guarding soldiers stared blankly.
Then.
Dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong!!
Urgent bells rang from beyond the inner walls. The robed ones' faces drained of color.
"Al-already!? How?!"
"N-no way! Imperial army?"
"Fuck!"
Confidence shattered into terror, they bolted outside.
Emerging, they saw a massive silver wolf vaulting the outer walls—and one rider atop it.
"It's him!"
"Run!"
"Too late! Activate the traps!"
"Wh-what about us!?"
"Too late! Faster than spirits!?"
"W-we hold somehow. Damn it!"
A transparent barrier rushed toward them, radiating energy that threatened their very essence. Their faces turned ashen.
Despair crashed like inevitable doom.
"...For the new world!"
"For the new world!"
"Great One, grant us strength!"
Clenching protective talismans from their robes, they prayed to the 'Great One.'
But.
As the barrier swept past.
"Gaaahhh!"
"Aaaahhh!"
"S-save me!"
Like doused in lava, their bodies erupted in crimson-black smoke, burning fiercely.
Only Geron, the highest black knight among them, took the barrier head-on, hurled backward by its momentum.
"Eeeeek."
His pale hands smoked black, blood trickling from gritted lips under the hood.
- Where you going!
A sunset-hued mana warhammer spun toward his face.
"Damn you!!"
His final mana blasted at the enemy's feet.
Boom!!
His body exploded in thunder, engulfing the inner courtyard in crimson-black flames.