Chapter 270: The Tin Knight and The Banquet of Madness (10)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 270: The Tin Knight and The Banquet of Madness (10)
A battlefield where dozens of moves and counter-moves were exchanged in the space of a single breath, where life and death walked a dangerous tightrope in the blink of an eye.
In the midst of a blindingly fast melee that an ordinary person couldn't even perceive, Adelaide was trembling.
‘He’s strong…!’
Hilda had once said that Adelaide lacked experience.
In terms of the quantity of experience, Hilda’s assessment was undeniably true.
But in terms of the quality of experience, few on the entire continent could claim to surpass her.
The battlefields she had overcome were perilous, but a major factor was also the ‘game book,’ which allowed her to experience combat against the mythical powerhouses of old.
Gale Elilaz, the Witch of the North’s apprentice, had said that the strength of the recreated generals and angels was likely somewhat inferior to the originals, but even those inferior recreations had been an insurmountable wall for Adelaide.
Their strength was so excessive that she had even harbored a slight doubt as to whether such beings could truly exist.
And now, the Lion Duke before her was eradicating that doubt from its very root.
When he swung his sword, buildings were sliced apart. When he took a step, the ground was gouged. When he unleashed his aura, all of creation cowered in fear.
Strength, agility, toughness, flexibility, endurance.
Possessing all the ideal physical traits of a warrior, he was like an incarnation of battle, born for combat alone.
Adelaide knew it intuitively.
The belt containing a giant’s strength. And the greatsword that had once belonged to the Lion Duke himself.
If she lacked even one of them, she wouldn't have even dared to cross swords with him.
Adelaide’s strength was already great enough that it was faster to count from the top in the mortal world, but her opponent was a powerhouse who transcended even that.
All the more reason she couldn't help but feel respect and admiration for the teacher fighting alongside her.
Objectively speaking, the Tin Knight’s abilities were inferior to the Lion Duke’s.
But he was overwhelming that difference in stats with pure skill and tactics alone.
He always read the Lion Duke's intentions first and preempted them, constantly created situations where the Lion Duke couldn't fully exert his power, and dismantled his techniques with a truly transcendental level of mana control.
In a battle where a single mistake could lead to a fatal wound, his concentration, far from weakening, felt as if it were being sharpened along with the battle's momentum.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ says to pick up the tempo!]
[The ‘Tin Knight’ asks if you can keep up!]
Even in this situation, far from tensing up, his attitude was that of someone cheerfully enjoying the fight.
Some might call it insincere.
Some might call it frivolous and tell him to be more serious.
But not Adelaide.
He never despaired, no matter the obstacle. He never lost his cheerfulness, no matter the trial.
That fact alone instilled immense trust.
“Yes!”
Revenge was like suppressed anger; letting it out was a relief, but it couldn't become a new source of motivation once it was over.
But living up to his expectations, though arduous and difficult, seemed to fill her with new resolve the more she accomplished.
She wanted to catch up to her teacher.
And one day, she wanted to run shoulder-to-shoulder with the one she so admired, instead of always chasing his back.
Trust became boldness, allowing her to take another half-step forward without flinching at the Lion Duke’s attacks.
Resolve became vitality, allowing her to move her body, which was screaming its limits, and swing her sword with greater speed and agility.
Her jewel-like eyes blazed fiercely, as if to commit the Lion Duke’s every move to memory as a model, and indeed, her own movements grew sharper.
────!
As if in response to Adelaide, the Lion Duke’s sword let out a low cry.
As if mourning the sight of its corrupted former master, as if pleading for her to stop his suffering, the sword itself was appealing to Adelaide.
The indestructible sword, which would not break under any circumstance, protected Adelaide perfectly from its former master’s tremendous, fierce attacks. The more ferociously she fought, the freer the Tin Knight’s movements became.
At this rate, it seemed they might actually be able to defeat the Lion Duke with just the Tin Knight's party's strength.
《──■■■■!!》
However, though wounded and despairing, a hero was still a hero.
As if sensing that continuing this battle of attrition would only seal his defeat, the Lion Duke’s movements changed.
More brutally, more crudely, more violently.
KRA-KOOOOM!
Wild strikes, aimed not at a specific individual, but at pulverizing the surrounding environment itself.
The larger openings doubled the number of wounds appearing on the Lion Duke’s body, but the toll on the Tin Knight and Adelaide also intensified.
Adelaide, in particular, was a problem.
Far from being exhausted, her spirit was undergoing endless growth in the extreme combat, but her body—which had already been pushed to the brink of death in the successive battles and the fierce clash with Hilda—was crying out its limits.
At that moment.
“—Jump back!!”
At Dorothea’s voice from behind them, the Tin Knight and Adelaide acted before they could even question it.
Fwoosh!
The Lion Duke tried to charge the two as they suddenly widened the distance, but a giant mass of water crashed down on his head.
It was only water.
But when that water had a mass of tens of tons, was saturated with mana, and was ‘ejected’ from above at high pressure, it was no different from a bombardment.
KRA-BOOOOM!
Like a giant bucket of water slammed down onto a sandy beach, the very terrain where the Lion Duke stood was gouged out.
The overflowing water mixed with the falling rain and swept across the battlefield.
However, the attack wasn't over.
A bone-chilling cold spread from the sky, and mana imbued with extreme frost was fired like a beam into the pool of water where the Lion Duke stood.
The water that had flooded the ground now froze solid, turning the area into a giant skating rink.
With the Lion Duke trapped within it.
“Whoa…”
Adelaide gaped blankly. A white puff of breath escaped her lips due to the sudden drop in temperature.
Above her, Algind Goodwitch looked down with lofty eyes.
It was an inhuman offensive, in a different sense from the divine might the Lion Duke had displayed.
The scale of each attack was so immense that it felt unreal.
If Dorothea and Sophia hadn't quickly deployed a new barrier, even the Tin Knight and Adelaide would have been swept up in the attack, but seeing its power made such a concern feel trivial.
“Hey! Can’t you control your attack range? Are you trying to start a fight with us?!”
…Of course, while Adelaide felt that way, the other witch in her party apparently did not.
To Dorothea, who had instantly summoned a wolf-like undead to stand on to avoid the cold creeping up from below, Algind replied indifferently.
“I know what you’re trying to say, but anything less than this won’t even tickle him. Water and ice are better than fireballs, wouldn’t you say?”
“Honestly, all you’re good at is breaking things…!”
Listening to their conversation, one might think they were just chatting during a battle, but all the while, the two witches’ bodies were moving ceaselessly.
Dorothea readjusted the barrier on the Tin Knight’s shield and re-gathered the poison and curses that had been blown away by Algind’s attack. Meanwhile, the number of multicolored magic circles around Algind’s head was steadily increasing.
It was like watching cannons being loaded one after another, right before firing.
Both witches knew. This wasn't enough to end it.
“Lady Adel, take this.”
A small bottle from Sophia.
After drinking the witch’s special potion inside and basking her body in holy power, her body, which had been pushed to its limit, recovered, if only a little.
A moment of silence.
Contrary to their expectation that he would immediately counterattack, the frozen Lion Duke didn't move.
Is it over? Adelaide thought, and just then…
[The ‘Tin Knight’ exclaims, ‘Did we get him!?’]
A message only their party could hear.
In contrast to the line that seemed to confirm victory, he charged forward again. Dorothea and Adelaide both had question marks pop into their minds, while only Sophia reacted with an ‘Ah,’ as if she had realized something.
Immediately after.
KRRR-CRACK!
As if lifted from below by a great force, the very ground of the surrounding area was flipped over.
Building debris tangled together, creating pandemonium, and everyone lost their balance.
As if aiming for that fatal opening, the Lion Duke broke out of the ice and imbued his sword with violet lightning. But before he could swing it, the Tin Knight had already reached him.
[The ‘Tin Knight’ exclaims that even death flags can be useful depending on how you use them!]
A shield bashed upwards like an uppercut forcibly altered the trajectory of the Lion Duke’s slash, and the special defense-ignoring attack flew into the empty air.
Enraged, the Lion Duke struck down at the Tin Knight with the pommel of his sword.
The Tin Knight’s body was slammed to the ground, denting him in several places, but heedless of the injury, he kicked the Lion Duke up with both feet.
The moment the Lion Duke’s body was airborne, Algind’s wind blades tore him apart, and Dorothea’s poison seeped into the newly created wounds.
Adelaide didn't just watch either; she charged forward and slashed at the Lion Duke’s body.
What followed was a repetition of the same.
They slashed, struck, blasted with magic, poisoned, healed in the lulls, and fought, and fought, and fought.
By the time the Tin Knight’s arm was severed and restored again, Adelaide’s ribs were crushed, Dorothea—whose own defenses were neglected from focusing her barriers on the Tin Knight’s shield—was hit by shrapnel that tore her skin, Sophia threw her own body to draw his attention, Algind’s familiar, the masked stranger, was rendered unable to fight, and Algind’s own neat appearance had become tattered…
Thud.
Finally, the Lion Duke’s knees hit the ground.
The aura like a brilliant golden flame, the aura like a violent purple lightning—neither could be felt from his body any longer.
A mana like black mud was barely holding his body together, and even that was so faint it seemed it would vanish at any moment.
《…■…■■!》
And yet, the Lion Duke did not give up.
By now, even his own desires must have been a blur, yet he struggled as if desperately searching for that ‘something.’
Watching him, feeling his desperation and grief, Adelaide felt an inexplicable sadness.
She held no small amount of resentment for the Lennart name, but that feeling was directed at those living in the present, not a distant ancestor from the far past.
Above all, he was the idol her beloved father and brother had admired.
Adelaide spoke.
“Miss Sophia. You saw something, didn't you? Please, show me too.”
Sophia gave a calm nod and passed her mana to the party.
And they saw.
The life of the man called the Lion Duke.
The lament of a hero who had held power, wealth, and honor—all of it—in his hands, yet could not grasp the hand of the one he loved most.
The despair of a man who, knowing a path of thorns lay before him, threw himself into it to seize one last chance, only to have even that chance mercilessly crushed.
In the silence, Adelaide approached the Lion Duke.
Dorothea tried to stop her, warning of the danger, but she fell silent when the Tin Knight placed a hand on her shoulder.
“—Geisel von Lennart. O, founder of the Lion Duke’s bloodline. Your descendant, Adelaide von Lennart, pays her respects.”
Her body was heavy as lead, and an overwhelming sleepiness made her feel as if she could fall asleep at any moment, but Adelaide suppressed it all and continued to speak with dignity.
She did so because she believed that her family, the knights and soldiers of Friedel, would have done the same were they here.
“I know of the hardship and despair you have suffered. However, I will not apologize for stopping you. Nor will I express pity for your suffering.”
The Lion Duke’s gaze turned to Adelaide.
Without looking away from those eyes filled with all manner of dark emotions, Adelaide declared.
“But I will promise you this. When the day comes that I face the Kalidahs again, I will surely convey your feelings.”
The Lion Duke’s eyes widened.
Perhaps because he was on the verge of annihilation, reason returned to his madness-stained eyes, if only for a moment.
Instead of speaking, he bowed his head.
Deeply, very deeply.
Something like light seeped from his body and was absorbed into Adelaide and the sword she held.
The next moment, his body crumbled away like dust.
Everyone witnessed it with their own two eyes.
The Tin Knight’s party, Algind, and the remaining members of the Lion Duke’s bloodline who had barely survived, clinging to life amidst the ruins of the main family estate.
The rain clouds that had covered the sky parted, illuminating Adelaide’s figure.
Adelaide gave her comrades a bright smile, and then collapsed.
The Tin Knight swiftly caught her.
It was the end of the banquet.