Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Dante's Resolve
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With the matters of information and elixirs settled...
Two days had passed before long.
Not much later, Dante returned to Havel.
He had finished handling all the byproducts and reports over those two days.
"Havel."
"Looks like you're all prepared."
At Dante's call, Havel moved forward.
"Let's go."
The two headed to a plain a short distance from the heart of Babel.
A vast, open plain with firm, unyielding ground.
It was perfect for a training ground.
On that plain, Dante and Havel faced each other.
"Since you asked for this spar, I won't hold back, right?"
"Yes, that's fine."
Dante's expression was surprisingly calm.
But that didn't mean he had any intention of giving up.
Facing Dante like this reminded Havel of their first day.
The time when the two had sparred to gauge Havel's level.
'Back then, he was the one testing me.'
Of course, Havel had also been assessing Dante's level.
But now, it was time to test Dante's resolve.
"Havel, before we start, could you take a look at this?"
Dante handed something to Havel.
Havel's eyes widened slightly as he received it.
"This is..."
"A cloak bearing the symbol of Banpellyon. I got it from Arthur in advance."
He had prepared something like this.
"I really wanted to give this to you, Havel. Will you accept it?"
He was little more than a ghost of the past.
That was why he had tried to entrust Banpellyon to the people of the present.
'I became a mercenary for Banpellyon out of guilt and responsibility for ruining it in the past.'
But accepting this would draw him even deeper into Banpellyon once more.
This might be the final line he shouldn't cross.
Havel stood silent before that line.
Then, soon enough, he accepted the cloak from Dante.
Dante's eyes widened as Havel took the cloak.
"Tell him thanks."
"...Yes!"
He replied with more vigor than ever.
Accepting the cloak just now meant Havel would stand by Banpellyon's side from here on out.
Havel carefully folded the cloak and stored it in his subspace.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
Havel pulled out a single copper coin.
Then he flicked it into the air with his thumb.
"We start when it hits the ground."
The difference in their abilities was clear.
So Dante would have to give it everything he had in this moment.
The spinning coin...
Finally touched down.
Boom!
The instant it did, Dante unleashed his full aura around the sword he gripped.
True to the realm of Sword Guardian, it wasn't the smoky aura from before.
A thick, liquid-like aura gleamed vividly.
Suddenly, the light around him was sucked toward Dante at the center.
It was the dawn aura born from his full power.
The Dawn Swordsmanship that Havel had taught him relentlessly from the start.
Havel knew it better than anyone.
But Dante was a knight of Banpellyon.
So he charged at Havel, wrapped in dawn aura.
Havel reflected in Dante's eyes.
Havel watched Dante calmly, sword hanging loosely.
But this wasn't carelessness.
Havel was the sword itself.
In any stance, he could unleash the ultimate sword strike.
To Dante, who knew this, Havel loomed like a mountain.
No weakness visible from any angle.
A perfected sword.
Dante realized what that meant as he rushed forward.
Dante bit his lip.
This spar was at his request.
He couldn't falter now.
'I'm going to climb the Tower with Havel.'
He would climb to the top and become a true knight of Banpellyon by his side.
Dante's eyes burned bright.
On that day when dawn aura had drawn him in.
His resolve remained unshaken even now.
"Dante."
As if responding to that realization, Havel raised his sword.
"What true dawn really is."
At the same time, Havel's sword began to gather dawn aura.
The dawn gathered far faster than Dante's.
But its intensity was on another level entirely.
"The dawn you should pursue."
Havel lifted that sword toward the sky.
The setting sun's light was eclipsed by Havel's dawn.
Havel's dawn had reached a realm that devoured even the sun's rays.
An endlessly long shadow stretched behind Havel.
It seemed to symbolize the unreachable gap between them.
"Realize it yourself."
Before Havel...
Dante swung his sword with all his might.
The light riding that blade was the most brilliant dawn of Dante's life.
And before it...
The dawn that had swallowed even the sun's light came crashing down.
―――――!
The dawn devoured even sound as it blanketed the field.
The sun had set, and night sky should have fallen.
Yet the field shone like early morning.
The dawn glowing where the sun had vanished tricked the eye into thinking night hadn't come.
As that dawn light slowly faded...
Dante knelt before Havel.
As if refusing to let go of his sword to the end.
Dante gripped it with all his strength.
But his mind was gone.
Eyes rolled back, consciousness fled.
What Havel had shattered was Dante's mental fortitude alone.
The one who had risen even before calamity with endless willpower.
Before Havel, he was but a candle in the wind.
"Good work."
Not even the mental fortitude Dante prided himself on could keep up with Havel.
The meaning was simple.
If Dante climbed the Tower with him, he would die.
Havel pulled elixirs one by one from a subspace ring he'd bought in advance.
He also left a paper with usage instructions.
"Dante."
Havel lightly tapped the shoulder of the still-unconscious Dante.
"Live with your back straight, like a true knight of Banpellyon, wherever you are."
With those words, Havel turned away.
Dante would understand the outcome when he woke.
"Ha... vel."
Just as Havel took a few steps, Dante's voice rang out.
To recover so quickly.
As expected, Dante's specialty was his mental fortitude.
"I'll cl... clear the La... Labyrinth Island, no matter wha... t, and come b... ack."
His mind kept trying to fade.
Yet Dante forced out the words to show his will.
Whether Astria could clear the Labyrinth Island, who knew.
But Havel believed a guy like Dante could pull it off.
Just as he himself had.
After all, the one who goes to the end is the strongest.
"Don't take too long."
Leaving the collapsing Dante behind, Havel turned toward the Tower.
As always, to climb it.
The first time ascending the Tower.
Havel arrived at the 5th-floor safe zone, Soltron.
Still, plains and tents filled his view.
Havel crossed the plains toward the 6th-floor entrance.
Now, he had to handle everything alone.
Of course, it wasn't any different from before.
Havel opened his pre-purchased subspace.
From within, he pulled out a cloak and draped it over his shoulders.
Embroidered on the cloak was a silver lion atop the sun.
The crest of Banpellyon, passed down through the ages.
The moment Havel, clad in that cloak, tried to enter the 6th floor...
"Urraaah!"
Suddenly, a shout rang out, and a man wielding a fireball appeared.
His ponytail of red hair whipped about as his eyes flashed.
"Dante, today we'll finally have a proper..."
His words trailed off.
Because he knew.
Dante wasn't here.
He was none other than Azaris Ignor.
A direct descendant of the Ignor family, famed for their flame magic.
"Uh, uh, mister... where's Dante?"
Even after getting beaten by Havel twice.
He seemed to have no memory of it, asking with wide eyes.
Havel eyed him annoyingly.
"How should I know?"
With an irritated wave of his hand, he started walking away.
He had finally steeled himself to climb the Tower.
And now this monkey-like guy shows up ruining the mood.
His vibe completely ruined, Havel walked on, but Azaris chased after him.
"Come on, mister, you were always with Dante! You really don't know where he went?"
"I said I don't."
"Don't lie! Where the hell did Dante go?!"
Havel raised his hand.
Instantly, Azaris put distance between them.
Cold sweat beaded on his face.
As if he'd glimpsed death.
He hadn't even released any killing intent, yet that reaction.
Seemed his body remembered even if his mind didn't.
"Wha... what?"
Azaris himself looked puzzled at his own actions.
Not understanding why he'd backed away so far.
Meanwhile, Havel resumed walking.
Even that annoying guy probably couldn't keep up to the 6th floor.
Clank, clank!
But Havel's hopes didn't last.
Whether it was just his unlucky day.
More interrupters appeared.
There were knights.
A crest of a snake coiled around a hammer.
And gleaming plate mail emblazoned with that crest.
Shields and maces in hand.
It was none other than August's White Dragon Knights.
As Havel narrowed his eyes at them blocking his path...
A massively built man stepped forward from the knights.
Short-cropped gray hair and a rugged, imposing figure.
Penbola August.
He glanced at Havel, then looked around.
"Hm, I thought that Azaris guy was sprinting like mad, so I came over."
Seems he too was searching for Dante.
Havel thought Dante's name had really spread far.
Though he was the one who'd made it so, he had no room to complain.
Meanwhile, Penbola approached Havel.
"Sorry for blocking your way out of nowhere. I'm Penbola August."
Unlike his size and looks, he apologized to Havel with utmost politeness.
Then he ordered his knights to clear the path.
"I have some personal business while climbing the Tower, but it must look like I'm obstructing you."
"If you know, fine."
Havel turned to leave, uninterested in hearing more.
"Ah, wait a moment. Are you planning to climb alone?"
Havel was alone without Dante.
And heading to the 6th-floor entrance.
Far from normal.
"And?"
"Well, you've made it this far on your own, so nothing strange there."
Still, going solo seemed off, and Penbola showed a vague attitude.
Seeing that, Havel let out a dry chuckle.
"Not the words of guys who still can't clear the 6th floor after years of trying."
The Tower had been stuck at the 6th floor for years now.
It was practically stalled.
Penbola knew that well.
'Where does that confidence and composure come from?'
Doubt flickered in Penbola's eyes.
He had less info on Havel than on Dante.
This was their first meeting.
At first glance, his presence was weaker than a mirage.
Yet his confidence and ease overflowed disproportionately.
It created a strange dissonance.
He had good instincts.
Such dissonance often brought massive opportunities.
'My gut says it. I have to snag this guy.'
His mind raced.
'So how do I hook him? What can I say to grab his interest?'
Then his eyes caught Havel's back.
The Banpellyon crest.
Havel was said to be a mercenary hired by Banpellyon.
But wearing that crest meant he climbed representing them.
His mind spun faster.
No knight Dante.
Yet mercenary Havel climbs as Banpellyon.
Why?
'I don't know the reason.'
But he knew Havel represented Banpellyon.
And...
"If it's me, I'll help spread the name of Banpellyon."
His quick mind was optimized for seizing chances.
The perfect words for this moment.
The instant he said them, Havel's steps halted.
Then Havel turned to look at him.
His expressionless eyes carried an inexplicable pressure.
"Can you take responsibility for that?"
Penbola unconsciously swallowed.
Havel's every word hit differently now.
This crushing sensation was primal fear.
Maybe he'd poked the wrong monster.
But Penbola was an opportunist.
"I guarantee it."
He forced the words out.
"It'll exceed your expectations."
And Havel didn't dislike the bold ambition as much as he thought.
"Bear the responsibility well."
Havel tossed him the chance.