Episode 134
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A storm of light swept through the body of Michael Lancaster, the Apostle of Fire and Light.
The magma flowing out instead of blood solidified like lava, and further, his entire body began to distort.
‘That’s… … .’
The armor of thought is an armor of the mind that projects the user’s beliefs. And its form is never necessarily limited to one form. Just as the avatar of ‘Lady Shadow’ Aurelia has changed countless times to reach its current form.
“Peace.”
In the swirling halo of light, Michael Lancaster opened his mouth.
“From the beginning, there was only one thing I wanted: peace. Just like the warriors of the other world once did.”
He spoke those words again. He held the warrior’s beloved sword, Peacemaker, in his hands.
“What the warrior of the other world brought to this world was not peace.”
Dale blurted it out without a moment’s hesitation.
“Do you really think so?”
“Yes.”
“It would be nothing more than gossip about the House of Saxony, a mere outcast of the Empire.”
Michael Lancaster sneered. But it was Dale who wanted to burst out laughing at that remark right away.
‘I am the warrior, you f*cking brat.’
Dale pretended to be calm, swallowing the words that were rising to his throat.
In the midst of the swirling storm of light, Michael Lancaster’s ‘avatar’ was beginning to twist. The thoughts he held as an apostle of fire and light, a knight of the sun… … began to change toward a second form.
“The warrior of the other world laid the foundation for an unquestionable peace on this continent. Through his power.”
And after seeing the form, Dale took a deep breath.
“As a child, I could never forget the image of a warrior fighting as a hero of the empire.”
“… … !”
“The warrior of the other world was my unquestionable idol.”
The second form of Mikhail Lancaster’s avatar, the armor of thought he had built up, was by no means an easily recognizable form of armor.
“I wanted to be a warrior.”
Hanseong, the warrior of the other world, was there. He had once fixed the hilt of the warrior’s beloved sword, Peacemaker.
The Imperial Hound, the Monster of Peace, has finally revealed his true form.
Dale’s past, his previous life, was there. He couldn’t even laugh when he saw it. The end point of Michael Lancaster’s thoughts.
Just seeing the warrior’s appearance, there was only one certainty that filled Dale’s heart.
‘I absolutely cannot let you live.’
He sacrificed his whole life as a hunting dog of the Empire. That was the only way he could truly realize how wrong and distorted the peace that this man, Michael Lancaster, imagined and the idols he desired were.
The otherworldly warrior fixed his beloved sword, ‘Peacemaker’. However, he was by no means a otherworldly warrior. He was merely a fanatic wearing the skin of a warrior.
The apostle of fire and light, the warrior of the other world, kicked the ground. It was a speed beyond imagination. An overwhelming speed and destructive power that was incomparable to the form of the avatar that had been shown until now.
But it was never comparable to that of a warrior.
Kaang!
Dale’s magic sword ‘Kia’ countered the swinging Peacemaker’s sword. At the same time as the counterattack, the warrior dove into Dale’s embrace.
‘… … .’
Kaang!
However, it wasn’t that difficult for Dale to accept Mikhail’s offer.
That wasn’t all.
Taat!
The warrior’s next blow, the culmination of Mikhail Lancaster’s accumulated thoughts… …was blocked by Dale’s sword so fleetingly.
‘Why… …!’
The greatest power that Mikhail Lancaster could display. I had no doubt that he would never be defeated. However, the avatar of the warrior that he was displaying was so lacking that it was blocked by Dale’s sword.
In front of the sword of a mere magician who doesn’t even pursue the sword!
It was like that time. It was like a duel in a fight club where no matter how much you struggled and threw yourself, you couldn’t reach it.
‘Why on earth… … !’
Mikhail would never understand.
The belief he was projecting, the fact that the otherworldly warrior was the real ‘Dale’ right in front of him.
Moreover, what Michael Lancaster displayed was not even 100% of the warrior’s power. It was nothing more than a copycat and an inferior product that merely imitated his appearance.
He probably couldn’t even imagine it. Rather, the power he had when he went into battle as the ‘Knight of the Sun’ was the real power that Dale was afraid of now. Nevertheless, Michael Lancaster abandoned himself and covered himself with the thoughts of others. He called himself a counterfeit who didn’t even fully understand the meaning.
“Is that really your belief?”
Dale asked back as he slashed at Michael Lancaster’s sword. The pitch-black magic sword ‘Kia’ was easily deflecting his sword.
‘Why… …!’
Why couldn’t it reach him? Mikhail couldn’t understand. After that day’s defeat, he threw away his sword, which was filled with emptiness, and Michael Lancaster made up his mind. To find the only way to defeat the world’s ‘Black Prince’.
It should have been, but it wasn’t reachable.
“Why, why, why… … !”
Finally, Mikhail began to shout, throwing off the mask of ‘nobility’ he had been wearing.
From the beginning, his life was that of a winner. The path of a winner whose success in life was determined from birth. He thought it was enough to just walk that path.
“Is this all there is to it?”
Dale asked coldly as he blocked Mikhail’s swinging sword. That was his expression. That expression when he overwhelmed Mikhail that day at the fight club.
Following the shadow prosthesis, Dale fixed the pitch-black sword ‘Kia’. Furthermore, Mikhail recalled the warrior’s sword and swung each sword, without even looking at it. How on earth?
“It is truly an ugly sight.”
Dale sneered coldly. It wasn’t a word directed at Michael Lancaster. It was simply a mockery directed at the ‘self’ of the past before him. Although Michael couldn’t possibly understand its meaning.
No matter how much he struggled and kicked, the tip of Mikhail’s sword never touched Dale.
There will never come a day when Mikhail realizes that this is the worst handshake he could have made.
The object of Mikhail’s longing and the end point of his thoughts was nothing more than a mere imitation and deterioration of a warrior.
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“Don’t you, the eldest son of Saxony, dare to utter the ideals of a warrior!”
“Did you say it was the ideal of a warrior?”
“Yes… … !”
“Isang-ira, that is truly nice to hear.”
Hearing those words, Dale’s mind froze cold. At the same time, the days of humiliation of having to obey as an ‘imperial hunting dog’ flashed through his mind. Dale spoke, trying to keep his composure amidst the hatred that threatened to paralyze his reason at any moment.
“Then I will tell you the ending that the warrior’s ideal brought.”
So there was no reason for Dale to hesitate. It was right then.
─ I’ve been waiting for this moment.
In Dale’s head, the pitch-black tentacle that was simultaneously grabbing his heart whispered. What? Dale didn’t even have time to ask back.
─ Trust me, I would never do anything you would hate.
Choaaaak!
Against the warrior’s sword, a mass of tentacles appeared beside Dale. It was a girl with black goat horns. And from the hem of the girl’s skirt, countless tentacles began to sprout.
Not to the other world’s warrior, Michael Lancaster, but to the ‘Black Prince’ by her side.
“… … !”
Dale didn’t even have time to feel embarrassed.
The tentacles engulfed Dale’s head, arms, legs, and even his entire body. It was never Dale’s will. It was the arbitrary tyranny of Dale’s book of magic, The Book of the Black Goat.
Dale gritted his teeth in pain, unable to even breathe, as he was unilaterally wrapped in Shuv’s tentacles.
But at the same time, one of the tentacles wrapped around Dale dug sweetly into his ear.
─ I just wish my brother could face his true self a little more.
Shuv whispered.
─ No matter how horrible and twisted it may be.
Choaack!
At the same time, the tentacles that were wrapping around Dale burst out all at once. The pitch-black, dark black blood inside the tentacles splattered out, and Dale inside was finally revealed.
As usual, it was not the ‘Black Prince’ wearing the ducal attire under the shadow cloak.
“… … !”
The ‘Shadow Lord’ was there, fighting against the warrior of the other world.
A black armor reminiscent of the Night Raven Knight covered his body. However, it was by no means a mere armor. It moved smoothly as if it were part of Dale’s body itself, willingly volunteering to become a part of his body, like a ‘shadow prosthesis’.
Above the black armor, a shadowy cloak wrapped around the body like a silhouette. Even the bundle of pitch-black tentacles writhing above the cloak were no exception.
The Shadow Lord, the Black Apostle. There was a pitch-black knight there who seemed to encapsulate the darkness of this world itself.
The armor of thought, the avatar.
But it was never Dale’s will that put it on. It was the pitch-black tentacles that had taken root in his heart.
Despite that, nothing changed.
The Shadow Lord stomped the ground against the rushing otherworldly warrior. The pitch-black magic swords in his hands clashed.
‘Was this all there was to it?’
Even before the Avatar was released, Mikhail Lancaster was no match for Dale. He was nothing more than a copy of the past, and there was no way he could defeat the ‘original’.
And now at this point… … Mikhail Lancaster, who is said to be closest to the Seven Swords of the Continent, was not even Dale’s opponent.
It was too slow. It was too slow. Even if he were to give up his current avatar and return to being the Knight of the Sun, nothing would change.
Dale, who should be a wizard after all, was projecting the ‘Avatar’, which is called the ultimate sword in his world. How could he not know the meaning of that?
“Hey, damn it.”
“… … !”
Even the two Seven Swords, who were busy fighting a passionate battle despite the confrontation between the two people, could not be an exception.
There was no way he wouldn’t know the weight of the armor of thought wrapped around Dale’s body.
“Prince Michael.”
The Shadow Lord slowly raised his head.
“Would you like to surrender at this point?”
As if there was no point in fighting any further.
“The world is not fair. And in that unfair world, Prince Michael can never defeat me.”
“… … !”
Dale spoke, and Mikhail, the ‘otherworldly warrior’, did not hesitate. Only then did he kick the ground and rush forward. Compared to the warrior’s, it was a very unsightly rush, and furthermore, in front of Dale, who was wearing an avatar, it was literally like child’s play.
‘It’s child’s play.’
Even if that were true, nothing would change.
The otherworldly warrior, his past self, was there. And Dale had only one decision to make before him.
Choaack!
The Shadow Lord’s sword swung. A fatal blow that even the apostles of fire and light, and the warriors of the other world, could not avoid.
Michael Lancaster fell to his knees on the floor. Just like before, he was not even at a level where he could heal his wounds.
Just, the blood was flowing.
It wasn’t blood boiling like magma. It was blood that was very familiar. It was the kind of blood that Dale had shed that winter night, an irreversible, fatal bleeding.
“Why… … .”
The otherworldly warrior disappeared, and only then did Michael Lancaster kneel there.
Michael Lancaster asked, as if he couldn’t understand.
“Why can’t I reach it… … ?”
“It has arrived.”
Dale answered.
“At least until you exist as ‘Michael’.”
“But the warrior of the other world… … .”
Mikhail continues speaking with difficulty.
“My idol was overwhelmingly stronger than me and brought true peace to this empire… … .”
“Do you really think so?”
Dale asked. Mikhail nodded weakly.
And Dale walked towards Mikhail.
I just put my lips close to his ear and whispered softly.
“The warriors of the other world were nothing more than puppets dancing to the will of the empire.”
“… … !”
“To begin with, the peace of the empire and patriotism did not exist for him.”
In the Shadow Lord’s avatar, Dale muttered indifferently as if it were someone else’s business.
“But in the end, Prince Michael’s wish will come true.”
“My wish… … ?”
“As you said, I will ultimately achieve ‘peace’ in this world.”
Dale said. Mikhail’s expression froze. That was the end of their conversation.
Under the white and dark winter night, the Shadow Lord’s sword was swung.
