Episode 136
* * *
At that time, in the underground hideout of the ‘Shadow Court’ within the Marquisate of York.
The war was over, and Dale, who had won two Wars of the Roses, was there, facing his unforgettable enemy.
A man who had lost the name of the Holy Sword was imprisoned there. No, he was now an animal that could not even be called a ‘human’.
“Kkuiik, kueeeeeek!”
What was wrapped around the man was a pig’s skin. A shell that had lost all function as a ideological armor, and was literally a projection of his own image. The aura heart had already been broken, and all that remained were the dregs of aura that had lost their center and were spinning around.
“Everyone, step back.”
Dale opened his mouth. At those words, everyone in the Shadow Court, including Master Baro, disappeared like the wind.
All that was left in the courtroom were Dale and the former prosecutor.
“Let’s talk.”
Dale opened his mouth. He turned away from the ‘two swords’ hanging diagonally from his sword belt.
“What a cowardly, squeak, squeak, Saxon brat… …!”
The pig-headed man began to thrash around like crazy, awkwardly imitating human voices.
“Cowardly?”
Dale asked, drawing one of the swords at his waist.
The artifact of the Demon King’s Command… …was not the pitch-black sword ‘Kia’. Rather, it was a white blade that shone more brilliantly than anything else.
That day, Dale defeated Mikhail Lancaster and obtained the warrior’s old beloved sword.
“Peacemaker!”
Dale adjusted the hilt of his beloved sword and aimed the tip at the pig-headed man.
“Do you know about the power contained in this sword?”
At the same time, the tip of Peacemaker’s sword began to emit light towards the Holy Sword. Just like the Holy Sword Durandal, the shining particles along the tip of the sword began to surround the bloody 《King of Pigs》.
“Healing wounds, blocking murderous intent, repairing what’s broken… … In a sense, it could truly be called the ‘twin of the Holy Sword.’”
Kwajik!
Just then, the chains binding the Holy Swordsman began to break.
Crunch, crunch!
The armor of thought that should have been nothing more than a pig’s skin finally began to regain its strength and move. Before he knew it, the fighting spirit of the beast began to spread through his body.
“ha ha ha……!”
For a knight whose ‘sinus’ as a knight had been cut off, it was impossible to regain his former strength. This was no exception, even if it was the healing magic of the White Tower.
However, that does not mean that he cannot regain 100% of his power, but rather that he cannot hold a sword at all as a knight.
At least it wouldn’t be a problem to take down one of Saxony’s darlings.
So Dale restored his body through the power of the Peacemaker. The King of Pigs could not understand this sudden action.
“Take the sword.”
After that, when Dale handed over a nameless iron sword, the Count did not hesitate at all. He simply shouted, dismissing it as foolishness that could not control his own temper.
“You dare to bring death upon yourself… …!”
Instead of the hideous and horrifying appearance from before, there was a wild boar emitting the aura of a beast.
At the same time, the world of winter night engulfed the entire area.
Still, there was no hesitation for the King of Pigs. He simply kicked the ground and charged forward, exploding with his last burst of energy.
The distance narrowed in an instant. The sword of the swordsman swung. Kaang! Dale’s Peacemaker countered the swung sword. At the same time, a monster from another world appeared beside Dale.
“… … !”
Immediately afterwards, pitch-black tentacles swung and burst toward Dale’s body. Black blood splattered, and the Shadow Lord’s avatar appeared, covered in dark blood. A black-blooded armor, a body made of shadows.
The Black Prince was there.
“How can a wizard, an avatar!”
As soon as he saw that sight, the count’s expression froze coldly.
The Shadow Lord stomped the ground and charged, grasping the Peacemaker in his hand.
Kaang!
The Shadow Lord’s sword was swung with a spirit that could not even be compared to what it had just now.
At the same time, countless pitch-black skewers began to rise from above the black armor like liquid metal.
“… … !”
Phew!
Just like the shadow cloak, the dark-blooded armor freely controls its shape and displays the art of combining both offense and defense. The count hurriedly tried to distance himself, but the black blood skewers rising from the armor were digging into the pig’s flesh.
“Kueeeeek!”
I couldn’t believe it even after seeing it. It couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t have happened.
The inevitable darkness was approaching. It was then.
“──Do you remember this winter night?”
A dark armor with hundreds of black skewers stuck in it. From inside the armor, a very unfamiliar voice was heard. It wasn’t Dale’s faint, sultry voice.
“What, what did you say?”
Again, something rose up along the bloody armor. It was not a skewer, but a tentacle meant to bind the body. The tentacles began to tighten around the Count’s limbs, breaking his bones.
The sound of a pig being slaughtered echoed again.
Could you really call that a suit of armor? It was already another sword in itself.
“What the heck is this… … .”
The Count muttered helplessly in pain. He had already heard enough praise for Dale of Saxony, the greatest genius in the empire. He also knew that the true nature of the ‘Black Prince’ was a monster beyond what people could imagine.
But what Dale was showing us now was something that went beyond even the realm of that monster.
I couldn’t think of any words to describe that being.
“Do you think you can get away with killing the Empire’s proud war hero… …!”
“Oh, really?”
Phew!
It was at that moment. Behind the Holy Swordsman, a burning pain struck. It felt like cold iron. The tip of the Peacemaker’s blade was visible, tearing through his chest.
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“Have you forgotten that the proud hero of the Empire was stabbed in the back of the head?”
Just like that winter night. How could I forget it? The puzzle pieces in my head finally fit together.
From the beginning, what the ‘Black Prince’ had was not talent.
“No way, no way… … .”
The boar’s face was frozen as white as the ground on a winter night.
And right there the ‘Shadow Lord’ opened his mouth.
“There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Your empire has obtained peace through me without any price, and now the time has come for you to pay the price.”
The Holy Swordsman weakly turns his head towards the back.
“The House of Count Brandenburg will be succeeded by the Count Philip, and it will not be York but our House of Saxony that will control this Count. Can you imagine the catastrophe that awaits your proud Counts in the future?”
The ‘otherworldly warrior’ wearing the armor of dark blood was there. Even so, the holy swordsman could not say anything. All he could do was let out a sound like the wind was leaving his soul.
“We were sh*t together, let’s never see each other again.”
The otherworldly warrior spoke. And those were the last words spoken between the two.
* * *
“Heumi, I can already picture the White Tower foaming at the mouth and making a fuss.”
Master Baro spoke in front of the corpse of the Holy Sword. Seeing that, Dale muttered as if it were someone else’s business.
“Oh, so what?”
* * *
“Sepia.”
Dale knocked cautiously on the door of the room where Sepia was staying, the Marquis of York.
“… … Come in.”
Sepia answered shortly, and Dale bowed his head cautiously.
“I am ready to return to the Duchy of Saxony.”
After the events of that day, with two victories in the Wars of the Roses under his belt, it was time for the ‘Black Prince’ to return to the Demon’s Lands and perform his duties as the Viscount of Saxony.
With the elf Sepia who stays by his side as usual.
Nothing would change. At least that’s what I wanted to believe.
“I don’t know what to say to you.”
But after hearing Sepia’s answer there, Dale could also intuit the meaning.
“… … Are you leaving the Duke’s house?”
Dale asked, and Sepia smiled bitterly.
“Please don’t forgive me.”
“It’s not Sepia’s fault.”
“Yes, thank you for saying so.”
I knew it. Even though I knew it, Sepia’s resolve did not change.
“Then why are you leaving me?”
Dale asked back. Sepia didn’t answer right away. But Dale soon shook his head. Sepia was no longer a puppet who moved according to Dale’s will.
“sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
Sepia shook her head urgently at Dale’s words. Silence fell.
“Can I see you again?”
After a moment of silence, Dale asked cautiously. Sepia nodded, smiling weakly.
“I promise we’ll see each other again.”
Only then did Dale smile faintly.
“I’ll be waiting.”
Dale said with a smile, trying to keep his composure, resisting the urge to hug and kiss her right away.
“Thank you for everything so far, Miss Sepia.”
“I too have been able to learn a lot through you.”
Sepia smiled. Before she knew it, she had finished preparing for her journey alone.
“Take care on your way back.”
Dale said. Sepia smiled silently and walked away alone. Sepia was walking away behind her, but Dale did not turn his back.
Soon after Sepia left, Dale remained silent.
Leaving behind the cold and loneliness that was welling up in my chest, I just sat there indifferently.
* * *
Some time after that.
Having won two Wars of the Roses, but keeping silent about his activities in the Second War of the Roses, which he could not officially reveal… …Dale returned to his domain.
He shared the spoils of war with his father, Black Duke, and tried to leave Sepia’s blank space behind.
As the ‘Count of Saxony’ who rules over the Demon King’s Territory, the northern development project was also going smoothly.
Even though Michael Lancaster lost his life at the hands of Dale, the alliance between Saxony and Lancaster against the Demons was also carried out. At least in the eyes of the Archduke of Lancaster, it was the York women who took his son’s life.
At the same time, the Red Tower also joined the cause of the Great Demon Alliance and headed to the northern territory.
Around that time, the Blue Tower’s messenger came to the Northern Demon King’s Territory to open the ‘Sorceress Council’ as Titania of York had promised. Even if Sepia was no longer a member of the Saxon Duke’s House, there was no room for hesitation for Dale.
* * *
‘Officially’ the Holy Sword Count of Brandenburg was rescued by his son Philip.
However, by the time he was rescued by Philip, the Count’s injuries had already become irreversible, and he was ultimately killed by the ‘Black Prince’.
Along with the relics of the first White Tower, the Holy Sword Durandal is broken.
It was not the White Tower that was silently watching over it.
The situation on the continent, which had begun to waver before we knew it, was steadily burning at its core and was on the verge of exploding.
