Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: A Grand Reward
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Damian Winter's sword sliced through the air.
A strike aimed straight at the black magician's throat.
It brimmed with killing intent, as if capturing him alive was a luxury he couldn't afford.
But.
The black magician's body scattered like black smoke.
More precisely, it turned into a shadow and retreated backward.
The blade hadn't touched him at all.
'Fast.'
Was that black magic?
He'd only heard tales of it, but it was far more annoying than expected.
It had to be some cursed art that nullified physical strikes.
"Heh heh heh..."
The black magician let out a repulsive chuckle.
Reforming his body, his eyes filled with mockery.
"I don't know where a gutter rat like you crawled from."
Black energy rose from his fingertips.
A sinister, ominous wave of mana.
"Know your place!"
Damian didn't respond.
Pop!
He pressed the attack without pause.
'No openings for him.'
The Elven Sword targeted the black magician once more.
Yet it was the same again.
The bastard dissolved into darkness a half-beat ahead every time.
And with each evasion, the distance between them widened bit by bit.
'This is precarious.'
An opening was clearly there.
But he lacked the power and speed to exploit it.
'I need to be faster.'
Faster than now.
He had to cut him down before he could turn into a shadow.
But how?
'It's not like there's no way.'
One method flashed through Damian's mind.
A power passed down from the kingdom's greatest knight, Gert Kan.
'Rending Gale Mana Breathing.'
He'd never used it in real combat.
He hadn't mastered it perfectly.
Even so.
'If not now, there won't be another chance.'
Damian steeled his resolve.
He changed his breathing.
"Huuuuuu..."
Not the rough, primal breaths.
But the sharp, keen energy of the rending gale.
Cold breath seeped into his body.
The surrounding air froze in an instant.
An overwhelming chill enveloped the entire underground prison.
'This sensation.'
Utmost sharpness.
His senses sharpened and refined.
The illusion that the whole world moved slower.
"...What?"
The black magician faltered.
An unexpected shift in presence.
"I don't know what you're trying..."
The flustered black magician thrust out his hand in haste.
Whoosh!
Black flames erupted from his fingertips.
"Just die!"
The flames swelled into a massive fireball.
It hurtled fiercely toward Damian.
Rumble...
No place to dodge in the underground prison.
Death's shadow barreled straight at him.
'Through it.'
But Damian didn't stop.
He ramped up his power and speed even further.
'One Flash.'
The sword of condensation and explosion.
Layered with Rending Gale breathing in that instant.
Secret Technique: One Flash
Synergy with Rending Gale Mana Breathing
The synergy was tremendous.
Enough to cleave the black fireball in two.
Boom!
A deafening roar echoed as the split flames exploded.
"...!"
Damian burst from the explosion's center.
Flames clung to parts of his body.
The agony of burning flesh.
But only for a moment.
Sizzle...
The rending gale energy extinguished the embers.
Regeneration healed all wounds.
Now, nothing held him back.
'Now.'
Just before the black magician could turn to shadow.
He seized that fleeting instant.
"Haaaaap!"
An existence that neither fireball nor explosion could stop.
Damian Winter charged with a shout.
Slash!
The Elven Sword severed the black magician's throat.
Clean and perfect.
"Gah...!"
The black magician's eyes filled with shock.
His expression refused to accept being cut down.
Thud!
Of course, he couldn't last long.
His headless body collapsed to the floor.
[‘Black Magician Albert’ defeated.]
"...!"
New power seeped into his body.
A torrent of information and sensations flooded his mind.
'This is...'
Excellent Mana Sensitivity.
A league beyond his acquired mana sensitivity.
Mana scattered in the air felt vividly real.
As if he could grasp it with a hand.
'Just what I needed.'
Fitting for a spell-slinger; a truly valuable gift.
It expanded the vessel's fundamental capacity.
No doubt it would boost his power output.
'And Dark Resistance.'
Black magic, a cursed art peering into the abyss.
To wield it without being consumed?
Resistance strong enough to withstand it.
'Useful abilities obtained.'
Power to resist curses.
It would surely prove a great help.
"Haa..."
The ecstasy of predation always felt fresh.
At the same time.
The shadow monster Gert had fought—the so-called "Void Walker"—lost its power and dispersed.
Vanish with the black magician's death.
Unlike the earth spirits.
"It's over."
Gert sheathed his sword with a murmur.
His gaze turned immediately to the black magician.
"A black magician in the royal palace, at this timing of all times."
No matter how he thought about it, only one answer.
"An insider."
Someone who had either witnessed or could uncover today's events.
Gert approached the black magician—or rather, his severed head.
"...!"
The moment he confirmed the face.
Gert's eyes widened in disbelief.
A mix of shock and astonishment.
"This man is..."
A face he clearly knew.
Impossible not to.
"Do you know him?"
Damian asked.
"Yes."
Gert nodded.
"You would've seen him in the audience chamber too."
Audience chamber.
Damian recalled.
It came to him easily.
'No way?'
The man who most vehemently opposed the prince's proposal.
The one who blocked change citing royal finances.
And exuded a faint foul odor.
"The Minister of Finance."
Gert uttered the name.
"Albert Frommel."
The black shadow hidden in the kingdom's heart.
Its true form revealed by their hands.
That night onward.
The entire nation was thrown into chaos.
No, it went beyond mere chaos.
"Minister Albert was a black magician?!"
"What nonsense is this?!"
"He fooled us all until now?!"
"Now even we'll come under suspicion!"
Shock and terror.
And confusion.
It was warranted.
Albert Frommel, the linchpin of the mainstream faction.
His exposure as a black magician rocked everyone, noble and commoner alike.
How much worse for his allied nobles?
'No escaping this.'
Couldn't dismiss it as fabrication.
The prince witnessed it himself, with Gert Kan, the kingdom's top knight, as witness.
And above all.
"Your Majesty, here is the list of evidence found in the criminal Albert Frommel's mansion and private lands."
"Circumstances indicate he even used foul arts on his own family and servants!"
A massive search by royal decree.
Evidence poured out in droves.
Black magic tomes, tools, experiment traces.
All ignited King Bernt Kairitus's fury.
"...This cannot be overlooked lightly."
The true nature of a great noble who handled the kingdom's finances.
The shock was immeasurable.
"Investigate every noble and official in the capital immediately. Drag in anyone remotely suspicious for interrogation. I take full responsibility. Those who resist, arrest them too."
A sweeping, forceful purge began.
Normally, nobles would revolt.
But not this time; they were silenced.
They weren't so obtuse as to resist now.
"I will track this to its roots and eradicate it utterly."
His voice rang with iron resolve.
Blood winds howled through the palace.
"Moreover, this clarifies one matter."
The king's words didn't end there.
"Albert Frommel, who opposed the prince's will most fiercely, stands revealed as a heaven-defying villain."
The prince's will.
Responding to emerging threats: monster waves, corrupted other races.
The grand cause, once bowed by noble opposition, reignited.
"He was caught destroying evidence the prince himself had secured."
Circumstances and proof.
All perfectly aligned.
King Bernt Kairitus drove the nail home.
"At this point, those opposing or wary of the prince's plans appear as traitors like Albert Frommel or kingdom-lurking villains. Are there any officials who differ from my will?"
Opposing the prince equals villainy.
Declared before all.
Who would dare object?
"Of course not, Your Majesty."
"This is a national crisis. For the royals and court to support and resolve it is the natural order. A relief it's not thwarted by villains."
"We nobles stand ready to devote all to overcoming this disaster!"
"I concur with Duke Erger!"
"Have mercy, Your Majesty!"
Some were surely sincere.
Those who held back due to mainstream pressure.
Most just followed the tide.
The overnight shift in momentum.
"Prince."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"From this moment, I adopt your proposed grand subjugation as top priority. Henceforth, unite as one to wisely overcome this national crisis."
"Your grace humbles me, Your Majesty."
Finally, permission granted.
And more.
"I've heard Knight Gert Kan and mercenary Damian Winter from Sobkov Territory made great contributions."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Without them, we wouldn't have uncovered the minister's identity. We'd be flailing after severed tails, evidence lost."
"Hm."
The king nodded.
He issued further orders.
"Merit demands reward."
"What reward suits them, Your Highness?"
"I'll leave that to the prince. Choose appropriately."
"Yes, Your Majesty. By your command, I'll deliberate fitting rewards and bestow them as your grace."
Prince Bastian bowed gladly.
He too felt gratitude, especially to Damian.
'Thanks to them, it went smoothly.'
Damian's unique senses caught the black magician.
Revealed him as an insider.
Otherwise, endless debate and persuasion.
'I wanted to reward him anyway. Perfect timing.'
A reward by royal decree.
A grand one.
'What to bestow as fitting recompense?'