Chapter 81
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Muspelheim
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At the Strange Castle perched at the end of the Nord Coast, I couldn't help but be shocked upon arrival.
‘Everyone’s dead?’
No signs of life anywhere.
The gray smoke rising into the sky was from flames that had caught on the trees during the previous battle.
The dull metallic clangs heard from afar weren’t from ongoing combat.
Just the remnants of the battlefield: flagpoles swaying in the wind, clashing against the weapons of the fallen warriors.
Gripping my sword tightly, I lowered my stance and scanned the surroundings warily. As I entered the castle, I saw countless corpses.
Both enemies and allies were in gruesome states. The wounds on the dead were too deep to heal, most struck in vital spots or bisected at the torso.
‘A battle of the strong.’
And the fierce struggles among those seeking glory amid it.
A sight I’d seen countless times as a formal knight. Confirming no living souls on the battlefield, I straightened up and surveyed widely.
There, I spotted the person I was looking for.
“Father.”
Thud thud thud thud—
I rushed straight over to check on him.
Seven swords embedded across his body, head lolled limply, knees buckled.
Yet his will refusing to fall, propping himself against the ground with his sword.
The blood pooling and spreading across the earth, along with the faint aura lingering on his forehead, revealed his condition.
‘He’s still alive.’
Impossible for anyone else, but Terezia could keep a breath in him.
Rox, arriving late, came running toward me.
Thud thud thud thud!
“Berddin!”
He glanced at Father, then stopped in his tracks and approached slowly.
“W-what happened? He’s not dead, is he?”
I reached out and pushed against his chest.
“Don’t come closer.”
“Huh?”
“If you approach Father right now, you’ll die.”
“What are you talking about?”
“……Look.”
I picked up a sword scattered on the ground and tossed it toward Father.
Clang!
Father’s strike—so fast it was invisible—deflected the sword I’d thrown.
“?! W-what the hell?”
“Death Sword.”
“Death Sword?”
“Yeah, Death Sword.”
One of the secret techniques passed down in the Strange Family.
I’d never experienced it myself, so I didn’t know the exact details. But I recalled a scene from my past life: when Hysteria de Strange went to kill Father, he couldn’t approach the fallen man.
An ability deeply etched into Father’s body, gained through a pact with the guardian spirit that protects the Strange Family.
‘Surt’s Conviction’
It plunges the critically wounded contractor into deep slumber while the incarnation, called the guardian spirit, directly defends the body.
‘But.’
From the moment the ability activates, control of the body switches. Even if he survives the crisis, they say the mind may never return.
‘On top of that.’
Those who targeted Father here couldn’t break this ability. They probably left him in this state because they couldn’t do anything about him.
“Rox, I’ll handle cleanup here. You head outside the castle right now and bring Terezia.”
Rox glanced back down the path he’d come and nodded.
“Got it. Should I leave those guys here?”
Piero, manipulating dozens of animal soldiers from midair, looked down at me.
“No. Scatter them across the entire island and use them as scouts. There are probably still some who haven’t escaped yet.”
“Got it.”
“And if you spot any enemies, attack immediately. No need to check with me—kill them all, whoever they are.”
A faint smile tugged at Rox’s lips.
“I can kill them?”
“Yeah. Have the soldiers don the armor of the Strange knights here. Make it crystal clear to the enemies who we are. So they never dare come at us again.”
“Got it. But what if they’re too strong for me to beat?”
“Send the signal right away. You’ve got the signal flare I gave you, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Then head out now.”
This fight isn’t just about beating the enemy. I need to figure out exactly who targeted Father and who’s backing them.
I have to identify every last one and show them the Strange Family isn’t dead.
‘If we seem like easy pickings.’
In a situation like this, the Glazer Family will declare war on us.
They can drum up any justification for war they want. They’ve been waiting all this time for a fracture within Strange.
“Father.”
I whispered quietly before the unconscious man. What on earth made him use this ability? Knowing full well he could never come back.
Ssshh—
Father’s guardian spirit revealed itself. Unable to communicate with it directly, I asked through Siegfried.
“Could you ask if Father left any words?”
Siegfried gave a small nod, then held a long conversation with it.
The battle had started about half a day earlier. With his life’s flame on the verge of extinguishing, he’d said he had something to leave for his successor and summoned the guardian god.
‘So that’s how it went.’
Father must have left behind a technique that only those of the same bloodline could obtain—for his heir, who might arrive at any moment.
‘I know what it is.’
In my past life, it went to Hysteria instead of me. But this time, the turn has come to me.
Back then, it was so frustrating.
Even after I became the family head, I didn’t possess the legitimate guardian spirit passed down the line.
‘No helping it.’
At the time, brother Gunter had hidden Hysteria’s body somewhere it could never be found.
‘I don’t know the reason.’
Why Gunter, after subduing Hysteria, never accepted the family’s guardian spirit.
“Father, is it alright if I take up your mantle this time?”
In my past life, you chose brother Gunter over me.
‘My mother wasn’t the official wife.’
But I held no real grudge over it. What I truly wanted wasn’t the family head’s seat, but unrivaled power and conquering the tower.
Besides, brother Hysteria—who outranked me until your passing—had also forsaken the seat, just like me.
‘Only.’
Having lived again, I now fully understand why he tried to kill you.
It was probably his desperate struggle to break free from his limits and fated end, despite bearing the Strange blood yet unable to reach even normalcy.
‘I’m the same right now.’
Sister Valentine de Strange won’t take the seat. The idiot triplet brothers will never sit there either.
Which leaves me to stand in your place as head of Strange.
‘But if I claim your throne now, protecting the family will keep me from reaching greater heights.’
So I intend to use you right now. Force you back up when death is at your doorstep, wield you as the sword that guards me and the family.
I don’t care if everyone reviles me for it later.
For now, you need to stay in that position to protect the family.
Thud thud thud thud—
Rox came running, piggybacking Terezia. She slid down hurriedly, stood three steps back, clasped her hands together, and prayed toward Father.
“To be pierced in so many places by swords... The pain defies description. It’s unbelievable he’s still clinging to life after this.”
Her eyes reddened as she turned to me.
“Is this Lord Berddin’s father?”
I set my weapon on the ground and answered.
“Yes.”
“...Lord Berddin, I’m not sure if you realize, but he’s crossed the river of no return. His soul is already gone.”
“I know. But all I want right now is his body.”
Terezia hesitated, as if about to say something. Knowing what she was thinking, I answered first.
“The one who leads Strange is bound to a guardian spirit.”
“A guardian spirit?”
“Yes. They say it’s one of the gods who protected this continent long ago. I’ve never met it myself, so I don’t know its true nature.”
This much was true.
I’d never encountered the guardian spirit, and the direct line had ended with Hysteria.
I didn’t even know its exact form or powers.
I slowly approached Father as I continued.
Step, step, step.
“The Strange guardian spirit protects the family by moving the contractor’s body to annihilate enemies, even after death.”
“Then you’re restoring Father’s body for revenge against the enemy?”
“No. This is to protect.”
“Protect?”
“Yes. If Father dies here now, the Glazer Family will surely declare war on us.”
“The Glazer Family...”
“I want to stop that war from happening. If it breaks out now, there’ll be countless sacrifices. To protect them, this is the only way.”
She glanced back and forth between me and Father before asking again.
“So, Lord Berddin wants to save his father to protect the people dear to him. Is that the right understanding?”
He wasn’t the primary goal, of course.
But...
“Yes.”
It wasn’t wrong, and it made for a convincing justification, so I agreed.
“Understood.”
Terezia stared at the ground deep in thought for a long while, then clasped her hands, gazed at Father, and began chanting the incantation.
Her voice rang out as clear and pure as a bird’s song heavy with morning dew.
It felt like even my muddled mind was being cleansed.
Ssshh—
Finishing her prayer, light swirled around her hands as she spoke.
“Lord Berddin.”
“Yes.”
“Even if Father seems to regain his senses after I use my power, you mustn’t think it’s his soul returning.”
“What do you mean?”
“Very rarely, fragments of memory linger in soulless bodies and speak.”
I’d never heard of this before.
“Fragments of memory?”
“Memories left in the mind just before the soul departs, later voiced aloud.”
“Is that possible?”
“Yes, for those who possess guardian spirits. Though it requires me using this ability.”
“...Then, if such fragments remain in Father’s mind, are they placed there by his will or not?”
“Most often by will. They usually ask their guardian spirit to convey words they couldn’t say to someone.”
If these ‘fragments of memory’ Terezia spoke of truly remained, what final words had Father wanted to leave?
I pondered deeply.
If facing unavoidable death, and able to pass a message to someone later...
‘What would I have wanted to say?’
I set the sword at my waist on the ground and knelt on one knee right before Father.
‘Father, I’m sorry, but I don’t like you.’
Even so.
‘If someone must carry on your will...’
It has to be me.
“Lady Terezia, please begin.”