Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Adela, I Won, Right?
I draw my sword.
The blade resists leaving the sheath, as if it is stuck by flesh or my trembling hands.
I aim the tip forward.
Memories of deaths I have never experienced flash through my mind.
My body stiffens again in fear.
Even though I finally gathered my resolve, my body refuses to follow it.
Two times.
I should have already died twice.
“—Before you suffer any more, end it—”
What interrupts me is not Cassius’s insults.
It is Adela’s groans, the sound of her taking my death and keeping me alive, that echoes in my ears.
Even when my legs are cut off or my organs spill out, Adela silently takes my pain.
And I rise again.
I deflect the heavy blade, I dodge, I parry.
Adela’s blue circle trembles with every mistake I make.
If this continues, both of us will die to Cassius.
Clang—
“Ah—wai—”
“D-die… as a knight…!”
My sword breaks against Cassius’s greatsword and falls away.
“Your honor… also falls to the ground…”
The broken blade drops lifelessly to the ground.
Along with my heart, something in me shatters, and visions of a terrible death flash before my eyes.
This is not someone else’s memory anymore.
This time, what I see is my own death, and Adela’s.
Soon, I will be just another corpse scattered among the others.
I finally got a chance, I cannot let it end like this.
KWAANG!!!
A knight’s mercy meant to end my life honorably slams into the ground.
“Haa… haa…”
I crawl through the dirt like a cornered animal within the narrow circle of light.
The people who died here must have been weaker than Cassius too.
But before they fell cold, they must have steadied their shaking hearts and burned brightly for a moment.
If I can inherit even a fragment of that will… if I can borrow even a piece of their courage…
Maybe I can change.
My fingertips touch a cold piece of metal buried in the corpses.
The sword they never let go of even in death.
They must have fought until the very last moment to protect what was important to them.
I grip the blood-soaked saber in the hand of a fallen knight.
And in that moment, something flows into me.
Their will, their rage, their resolve.
Emotions far beyond anything I possess are carved into my mind as if they were mine.
There is no fear in them, even in death.
The chaotic memories in my head begin to align into a single line.
The weight of the sword its owner once carried presses into my hand.
This saber was used like this.
My body moves on its own, following those memories.
As if I had always been its owner.
As if I had lived with it all my life.
“Sir Ruvel…”
“Here… this is where he came in.”
Sshhink—
Cassius’s greatsword cuts through the air.
My body dodges before my mind even understands.
The saber whispers to me.
Close in like this.
Deflect heavy blows like this.
Block angled strikes like this.
Clang!!
It works.
An ordinary second-rank knight like me is matching Cassius, a first-rank knight.
With this, I can protect her.
The memories in the blade tell me that.
Do not become like this.
Survive. Protect what matters.
“Adela…”
Clang—
Suddenly, Cassius’s blade shifts away from me and toward Adela.
It is a logical tactic. Kill the Saint to kill the knight.
But—
“Attacking the Saint while facing a knight… what happened to your honor, Cassius?”
This is not the Cassius I know.
“Honor…? If it means killing you… useless ones… then that is more honorable—?”
Something is wrong with him.
The more he abandons honor, the more violent and brutal his sword becomes.
Like a moth drawn to flame in the deepening night, Cassius fixates on Adela alone.
Defending her at this distance becomes difficult.
Clang! Clang! Sshhhk—
His twisted movements strike from impossible angles.
I barely block them, relying on instincts that are not mine.
“Die… with honor!!!”
Cassius’s blade grows darker, swallowing light itself.
A chill runs down my spine.
I hear the memory inside me.
Dodge.
If I dodge, Adela dies.
If I fail, we both die.
But this time, I refuse to move away.
I force my trembling body to stand firm against instinct.
Behind me is Adela’s warmth.
I will face the enemy that denies that warmth.
Even if I die here, I will not die ashamed.
“Cassius…”
“Ru…vel…!”
This is not the saber’s memory.
Not the dead’s resentment.
It is my will.
Clang—!!!
I stop his blade.
I actually stopped it.
By my own will.
I did not run.
I raise my sword and thrust.
Straight into Cassius’s heart.
The Keystone embedded there feels heavy on the blade.
I twist and pull it out.
“Go with honor, Sir Cassius.”
“…Heh.”
Like a puppet whose strings were cut, Cassius collapses.
Thud.
Clang…
The Keystone is ripped from his heart and falls to the blood-soaked ground.
The blade in my hand shatters at the same time.
A hollow sound echoes.
“Adela… I… won… right?”
“Of course!!!”
Adela cheers, staggering but smiling brightly.
Even though she must be in pain because of me.
The oppressive weight in my chest feels lighter.
“Ruvel, when did you get so strong? You looked like someone else.”
“Ahaha… I guess so.”
I hide my complicated feelings behind a smile.
I did it.
At least, I survived.
Now we can return.
We left the ruined base behind.
But before we could take more than a few steps—
Creeeeek… screeeech…
“Did you hear that?”
A sound that did not belong to anything human.
Something scraping the earth.
Something grinding stone.
Something utterly wrong.
Phlia’s last words came back to me.
Cassius was dragged into the darkness by something.
“There… something is there…”
A pitch-black mass darker than darkness itself writhes toward us.
And then—
Flash.
Yellow eyes open.
A gaze that devours light.
That is not a normal creature.
“Adela, run—!!!”
Sshhhk—
Before I can finish, something pierces through Adela’s light.
A black tentacle punches through my stomach.
“Ghk…!”
I am thrown to the ground.
Blood spills across the dirt.
My heart pounds violently.
The Keystone twists inside me.
“Gaaaah!!!”
I am dying.
And Adela is screaming my pain again.
Blood. Pain. Collapse.
Everything I just gained is crushed instantly.
Through fading vision, I see Adela still standing, still trying to endure.
It is okay.
Maybe this is better.
If I die like this, torn apart in darkness, then I will not have to feel guilt anymore.
“Ruvel… get up!!”
Her voice fades.
Darkness floods everything.
I close my eyes.
I am sorry, Adela.
Even in death, I am still a burden.
If I could, I would apologize even beyond the grave.
Please survive somehow without me.
Then—
Flash.
A blade of light splits the darkness.
Something impossible cuts through the abyss.
White light draws a line across blackness.
The tentacle piercing me is severed.
The darkness recoils.
Footsteps approach.
A knight.
Alone.
Without a Saint.
Yet the darkness does not touch him.
The light around him is too strong.
I cannot even look directly at it.
“Looks like a rat wandered far.”
His voice is calm.
Sshhhk—
Another white slash.
The monster is cut apart.
The darkness retreats.
The creature crawls back into the abyss.
The knight stands alone.
Who is he?
What is that thing?
What are these memories inside me?
“This one is alive… hm. The Saint…”
Adela…
Is she safe?
My consciousness fades.
And everything goes dark.