Episode 108
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The Northern Demon Lands beyond the Duchy of Saxony.
The lands ruled by the Younger Viscount of Saxony as a proxy for his father, the Greater Duke of Saxony.
“Even when we die, we die in the same place!”
“Never break the formation!”
Among the ‘unbreakable formation’ that the Black Armor Company boasts, there was someone walking alone.
Facing the endless horde of ghouls pouring down, the Viscount of Saxony… …Dale raised his head.
The lord of the Demon King’s Territory.
The ‘Black Prince’ snapped his fingers, and a dark blue magical power began to swirl beneath his feet. The ‘Shadow Cloak’ disguised as a black surcoat fluttered, and the entire area was dyed into a lake of darkness.
Just then, a group of ghouls approached Dale.
“Keeeeeek!”
Beneath the Lake of Darkness, the crouching ‘Shadow Lurker’ let out a howl.
Choaaaak!
The Shadow Lurkers simultaneously unleashed their thorny tentacles. The thorny tentacles swept in from all directions like a storm, slaughtering the flesh and bones of the ghouls.
A monster that can hardly stop even if one of its arms or legs is cut off, and boasts speed and strength that surpass those of a mere mortal. Even the most difficult mortal beings in the Demon King’s Territory were helpless against the thorny tentacles of the “Shadow Lurker”.
Endless destruction raged as if being torn apart in a factory mixer. Every time the thorny tentacles swung, they were crushed, leaving behind not even the slightest form needed to move the body.
People say that the land of the Demon King’s Territory is filled with an unknown dark power. However, even that darkness is utterly pitiful in comparison to the darkness shown by the ‘Black Prince’ before them.
A greater darkness that swallows up darkness.
At the sight, the Black Armor Company’s heavy infantry held their breath. Fear, and awe.
“The captain has wiped out the enemies!”
“Sweep away all remaining remnants!”
“Never break ranks! We will die in place!”
The heavy infantry of the Black Armor Company began to shout in unison. This was the power of their leader, the ‘Black Prince’ who ruled this Demon King’s Territory.
* * *
Labyrinth, the city of dungeons.
A fortress built by the former Duke of Saxony to prevent the overflow of the ‘Great Labyrinth’, the scale of which was unknown at the time. As the new lord of the Demon King’s Territory, Dale remodeled and expanded the fortress into a city, making it the capital of the Saxon Viscounty.
A key strategic point for developing the Demon King’s Territory, and the location of the castle of the Count of Saxony.
The ‘Voice of Saxony’ was crossing the streets of the city, slaying a horde of ghouls. He was accompanied by the Night Raven Knight, the symbol of the Saxon Dukes, and the heavily armored infantry of the Black Armor Company.
A young lord who has just turned 14. Dale of Saxony, who is called the Younger Viscount of Saxony to distinguish him from his father, the Duke of Saxony.
However, in the labyrinthine city, no one dared to look down on the Viscount of Saxony, or the ‘Black Prince’.
Artifact Rush. Countless people gather in the Demon King’s Territory in pursuit of the treasures that will make them rich overnight, and the pit of their desire naturally creates a lawless whirlpool.
However, there was only one secret to the labyrinthine city Labyrinthos maintaining its own order.
As the lord of the Demon King’s Territory, it was an order of terror built by Dale of Saxony.
As my father, the Duke of Saxony, used to say, fear is the guarantee of loyalty.
* * *
Castle of the Counts of Saxony.
As the ‘Duke of Saxony’s representative’, Dale sat on the throne. He left his father’s ducal castle and became the lord of the Saxon Viscounty, the lord who ruled over the Demon King’s territory.
The people lined up on the left and right are the people of Dale who are loyal to the Viscount of Saxony.
Two loyal knights of Dale who guard the throne.
Lady Black, Charlotte the Black.
Lady Shadow, virgin Aurelia.
They hide their identity with black armor and helmets, so ordinary people do not know their identity. And even if the armor had a woman’s curves, no one dared to doubt their swords.
When they first found out that they were ‘knights’ and got into a fight with drunken adventurers, there was no one who didn’t know what happened to them.
Above all, it is a sword that guards none other than the world’s ‘Black Prince’. Unless you have common sense, there would be no fool who would look down on their inaction.
Furthermore, Dale’s trusted vassals were also there.
Sepia, an elven sorceress who always serves as Dale’s ‘closest friend’ and gives him unsparing advice. The Night Raven Knights of House Saxony, led by Lord Vale of Baskerville, are loyal to Dale.
Dale wasn’t the only one growing up either.
Lord Bale also reached the level of Auror Master, obtained the Avatar, and was reborn as a member of the Grave Guard. Nevertheless, he became a person of Dale who assisted the ‘Black Prince’ along with the virgin Aurelia.
Furthermore, the lieutenant commander of the Black Armor Company, Lord Yoness of Kennet.
As the Northern Demon King’s Territory is being developed, the elite scout unit ‘Winter Watchers’ also claim to be the pioneers and carry out their mission. The entire unit has been reborn as an intelligence unit directly under the Viscount of Saxony.
Lastly, we couldn’t leave out the ‘Assassin’s Sword’, who never officially appears by the side of the Count of Saxony, but… … carries out the will of the ‘Black Prince’ from the shadows, and does not hesitate to get his hands dirty.
Shadow court.
An enforcer of justice whose story spreads like an urban legend among adventurers.
Artifact Rush. The curtain has opened on the ‘Northern Exploration Era’ that has set adventurers’ desires ablaze, and the development project in the Demon King’s Territory is going very smoothly, at least within Dale’s order.
* * *
That dawn.
It was late at night, and Dale left the main room of the castle alone.
The ‘shadow cloak’, which usually takes the form of a black surcoat, has now taken the form of a black robe to hide Dale’s identity.
A shadow descended beneath the hood, and a man in black robes emerged from the castle. Without a single escort to protect him, he left the Saxon Viscount’s Castle and headed into the streets of the labyrinthine city.
Even though it was late at night, the city’s lights were not easily extinguished. There were mercenaries who were shouting loudly in the taverns after work, and there were those who were trying to make a fortune in the great labyrinth at this late hour of the night.
At least in the labyrinthine city of Labyrinth, the distinction between day and night is not clear. Even at night, the fires that illuminate the city do not go out, and even during the day, the darkness inside the labyrinth is as deep and dark as night.
However, during the day, Dale also had to perform his ‘lord’s duties’, and only when he finished his work and was alone could he step into the darkness of the Great Labyrinth to begin his adventure.
* * *
《Faceless》.
At least in the labyrinthine city of Labyrinth, there is no one who does not know that name.
An adventurer who suddenly appears one day and becomes known as one of the most powerful people in the labyrinth city.
It only took a few weeks for him to become the first adventurer to obtain an adventurer’s license from the ‘Adventurer’s Guild’ in the labyrinth city and reach the S-rank, the highest level of skill.
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There is even a legendary anecdote about him going deep into the labyrinth city without forming a party, hunting high-level monsters one after another, and never returning from the labyrinth until he has obtained at least one artifact.
The faceless one.
A shadow cast under the hood, so named because no one can see beyond it.
Some believed without a doubt that he was one of the Seven Swords of the Continent, who practiced while hiding his identity, while others believed that he was one of the famous ‘monster hunters’ of the Continent.
The people of the Labyrinth City each had their own suspicions about the true identity of 《Faceless》, and surprisingly, there were quite a few who got the answer right.
But every time they uttered the answer, they were often ridiculed, asking if the world’s ‘black prince’ would enter the labyrinth without even a single escort.
That was exactly it.
* * *
Not much is known about the Great Labyrinth.
In the past, it was thought to be nothing more than an underground fortress built by the Demon King Balor, but soon after the warrior defeated the Demon King.
The empire that had finally advanced into the depths of the Great Labyrinth realized that it was not a structure built by a single demon tribe. Furthermore, even the strongest of the empire, including the warriors, were unable to conquer the Great Labyrinth.
About 70% of the failure of the conquest was due to the political situation involved. The empire, which had to force the bleeding of the Duke of Saxony, was not happy about the darkness in this area being eradicated.
However, about 30% of the time, there were threats lurking there that would require even the world’s greatest warriors to take risks.
To begin with, even now, labyrinths of various sizes are being created all over the continent, although they are nothing compared to the scale of the Great Labyrinth.
Among them, the most convincing theory is that the labyrinth is a ‘structure built by the ancient demons’… … and the guess is that the entrance to the labyrinth was revealed through the uplift of the earth’s crust, which is how the labyrinth came into being.
The nobles still talk fearfully about the ‘ancient demons’ with powers greater than that of the Demon King sleeping in the depths of the Labyrinth or the deepest part of the Dark Land.
* * *
There was a monster.
A monster wandering aimlessly through the darkness deep within the Great Labyrinth.
These monsters have no proper names. Like unidentified deep-sea fish that live in the depths of the ocean, they are all different in form, and it is rare to even see monsters of the same species.
A monster as its name suggests. Each and every one of them has an extremely grotesque appearance.
Here, you have to put in all your effort to hunt even one monster, and fortunately, they don’t come in packs.
It was a monster with six arms, just like Asura in Buddhism. And each of its six arms held a different weapon.
In front of him, the S-rank adventurer ‘Faceless’ took out his sword.
It was a knight’s sword without even the slightest feature, and the form of thought contained within it was not like that.
The warrior’s sword, Peacemaker.
Kaang!
A single blow was swung from Asura’s six arms, and the six weapons were swung in sync.
Six cuts.
At the same time, the power of Peacemaker distorted the laws of physics, and Asura’s sword could not reach ‘Faceless’ within those laws. The “Force of Peace” that nullified all attacks.
But the effect of that power was only momentary.
Kaang!
The swinging sword breaks the 《Force of Peace》 that Peacemaker has been covering the area with. It breaks the portrait power contained in Dale’s beloved sword with an ‘unknown power’ that matches it.
‘This is it.’
Although demons are included in the category of monsters, conversely, not all monsters are demons. The term demon does not refer to a specific race, but is simply a general term for monsters with a certain level of intelligence.
And these monsters have no intelligence. They do not form societies of their own kind, like orcs, nor do they display any organic tactics.
At the same time, it is an unidentified being that possesses power that cannot be compared to that of a ‘mere demon’ and wanders the labyrinth without a destination.
With Peacemaker’s powers gone, and finally ‘Faceless’… … interest took over Dale’s expression.
This was it.
‘The identity of the unknown power that these beings display.’
Furthermore, the secret hidden in the Great Labyrinth.
The reason why the one and only prince of the House of Saxony and the Viscount of Saxony went to this labyrinth alone without any escort.
Earlier, Dale recalled his experiences here during his days as a warrior, and pondered the ‘unknown familiarity’ he felt from these mindless destroyers.
Phew!
Dale’s Peacemaker swung against the six swords that were swinging. With each clash of sword strikes, memories that had been sleeping deep inside stirred.
It wasn’t the warrior’s memory. It was something older than that, something that had been sleeping in the deepest part of the unconscious. That feeling, which should have been so faint that he couldn’t even remember it now, was being revived.
The first power that made Dale what he is now, and the warrior of his previous life.
It was the power of the ‘Monster Hunter’.
