Episode 151
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“Prince Dulles of Edward.”
High-ranking assassins from the Shadow Court surrounded him on all sides. But this was not to guard Edward. Quite the contrary.
“Now, the ‘Black Prince’ of Saxony… …!”
Edward opened his mouth with difficulty, his voice trembling. Even the act of calling Dale’s name seemed extremely precarious, as if he was not doing it the way he wanted.
“Hey, hey, aren’t all promises different!”
“Did you say it was a promise?”
“Keep those church guys out and take me, my property… …!”
In front of Dale, there was no sign of the murderous spirit that had been running wild and slaughtering the priests of the cathedral until just before. Instead, there was only a ‘puppet’ desperately struggling as if resisting an invisible thread.
“Prince Edward’s property?”
Dale sneered coldly.
“You colluded with some of the merchants on Guild Street and led the ‘magic stone and artifact laundry business’ within the city in order to embezzle commissions. On top of that, as the leader of an adventurer faction, you controlled the hunting areas within the dungeon and worried day and night about how you could take over this city?”
Edward’s lips trembled at Dale’s words. Dale smiled coldly at the sight.
“Oh, please keep your mouth shut. I haven’t finished speaking yet.”
There was an invisible thread in Dale’s hand, and the being in front of Dale was nothing more than a puppet controlled by that thread.
Because there was no such thing as an artifact runaway from the beginning.
The Puppet Sword. The owner who first injected magic into the artifact was ‘Dale of Saxony’, and the one who quickly took the bait was Edward of Dulles.
“Did you feel that the noble blood flowing through your veins was a shield that would protect your life even if you broke the ‘Rules of Saxony’?”
Dale said. Edward struggled again and tried to open his mouth to say something. But before he could, the area beneath the Great Hall was suddenly submerged in a lake of darkness.
“No shield in this world can protect one who breaks the rules of Saxony.”
In the midst of the waves of shadows engulfing the area like a flood, the predators finally revealed themselves.
《Shadow Lurker》.
“Ah, ahhh… … !”
Edward’s expression turned pale as he held the puppet’s sword. Edward opened his mouth like a goldfish and tried desperately to continue speaking. However, the ‘Black Prince’ paid no attention to his appearance.
Until the very end, Edward was not given the chance to open his mouth, or even to swing his sword against Dale.
“You should have been a little more greedy.”
Dale snapped his fingers, muttering as if it were someone else’s business.
“Keeeeeek!”
The Shadow Lurkers, who had been reborn as adults in the darkness, simultaneously emitted their thorny tentacles. Edward’s body was torn apart, splattering blood. The scattered blood and internal organs were swallowed up by the darkness, and the entire lake of shadows returned to Dale’s cloak once again.
As if nothing had happened from the beginning.
* * *
The disturbance in the labyrinthine city of Labyrinth has been brought under control, and the Demon King’s Territory has officially fallen into the hands of the ‘Virgin of Saxony’ once again.
What had until recently been a cathedral that displayed the glory of the church was now transformed into the castle of the Lords of Dale, performing that function.
That is why the Viscount of Saxony, the ‘Black Prince’, was sitting on the throne in the great hall of that castle.
In addition, the black knight who protects her lord from the shadows, Lady Shadow ‘Aurelia’, appeared to support Dale. Nothing had changed. Just another knight who was supposed to protect Dale as usual, not caring about Charlotte’s absence.
Leaving those who left behind, the Black Prince still reigned there.
As the ruler of the Demon King’s Territory, the frozen lands of Saxony filled with cold and darkness.
* * *
That dawn.
After the riots in the city were settled, a meeting was held in the castle acquired in the name of the Count of Saxony to reconsider the direction of the Great Demon Alliance.
The expedition and battle proposed by Prince Modred were eventually rejected by the duel of martyrs, and their return was the will of the goddess. Therefore, the one who actually had to take responsibility for the retreat was Prince Modred, but no one dared to hold him ‘responsible’.
Above all, it is undeniable that Dale’s actions were an unexpected blessing.
‘Thanks to that, the work of retrieving the Demon King’s Territory has been sped up several times.’
The wealth accumulated by Edward and his gang also ended up in Dale’s hands.
Although the physical exhaustion was severe, the casualties to soldiers and major forces were practically non-existent. Except for one ‘Master Templar’ who volunteered to be the sacrificial lamb through a martyr’s duel.
Moreover, it was not that there was no harvest at all. Rather, it could be said that it was an unexpected result.
The group of demons that appear to be indiscriminately plundering within the Demon King’s Territory have a single command structure.
And it is not difficult to guess who is commanding them. It must be a high-ranking demon or shadow magician.
‘Shadow magician.’
How should Dale, who calls himself the Shadow Lord and the Golden One, accept their existence?
Dale was no longer the Empire’s hunting dog. Therefore, it was solely Dale’s will to distinguish between the enemy and the non-enemy.
“I guess regarding the threat from the Demon King’s territory… … .”
As a representative of the Great Demon Alliance, Dale spoke.
“It seems like it’s time to accept that the threat is greater than we imagine.”
“You bastard, what are you talking about again… …!”
“If the Great Demon Alliance disbands like this, shall I tell you in advance what people will be gossiping about the church?”
Dale spoke to the priest Vorenus, who did not hide his anger.
“I went on an expedition to the Demon King’s Territory in the name of the Goddess’ sacred will, but in the duel of martyrs, the ‘representative of the church’ misread the Goddess’ will and lost. As a result, I will become a dog that tucked its tail in and ran away, abandoning the Goddess’ will. In addition, the cathedral of the bishopric that I dedicated to the territory burned down, and all the tithes that I was supposed to pay to the Goddess were stolen.”
It is clear as day that the prestige of the church will be completely ruined.
“This is already a fight that cannot be won.”
Dale said. It’s not like we’re unilaterally being swayed by the will of the strong, but rather, we’re leading the entire Great Demon Alliance.
“I’m sure Prince Modred isn’t planning on returning to the palace without any results.”
Dale just turned his head.
“This f*cking kid… … !”
Prince Modred’s face grew bloodshot as if he was about to draw his sword, but the hilt of his sword was never pulled out.
Because I clearly remember Dale’s appearance that day at the Martyr’s Duel.
The black armor of death, what was contained therein was literally ‘the end of life and history’.
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“That’s about it, Modred.”
“Hey, sister!”
“Prince Dale is right.”
Moving forward, Princess Kiara stopped him and opened her mouth.
“The Church, the House of Saxony, the Imperial Family, and all of us… … we have come too far to turn back.”
With a meaningful smile, he declared himself Dale’s trustworthy ally.
“The Great Demon Alliance, the holy war of the Crusades has only just begun.”
Crusades, formerly known as the Imperial Army that gathered to subdue the Demon King Balor when Dale was still the ‘Warrior of the Other World’.
“Even if the First Crusade failed, that did not mean the end of this holy war.”
Kiara spoke, and Lady Scarlett took up the words with amusement.
“Yes. Above all, I cannot back down for the sake of Brother Lusignan, the Master Templar who sacrificed himself to learn the will of the Goddess. Isn’t that right, Brother Vorenus?”
The person who sucked all of Lusignan’s blood.
“… … .”
Vorenus bit his lip softly at Lady Scarlett’s mockery. But they were right. There was no room for retreat for the church. Unless this holy battle ended in victory, the church’s already rapidly declining prestige would have no place to stand.
“I will follow the will of my brothers and sisters.”
After much deliberation, the 7th Circle White Mage Vorenus opened his mouth.
“I will immediately inform His Majesty of this fact, and begin preparations to proclaim a ‘holy war’ in the name of the Imperial House and the Church.”
“Ah, the goddess desires it! Our goddess desires many things, such as war, or the wealth accumulated by the sweat and blood of serfs.”
Lady Scarlett burst into taunts again. All Vorenus could do in the face of her taunts was bite his lip until it bled.
* * *
At a point of loss, it is human nature to pour in more investment to recover the loss.
Therefore, at the request of Vorenus, the White Tower Lord and the head of the Papal States, the Celestial Duke, obtained the Imperial consent and announced the start of the ‘Trial Crusade’.
What existed in Dale’s Demon King’s territory was no longer a mere ‘Great Demon Alliance’. It was literally a war desired by the Goddess, and new strongmen began to join one after another to wage that war.
* * *
Wars don’t happen overnight.
Above all, Dale needed the luxury of restoring the Labyrinth City and reorganizing the development of the Demon King’s Territory, and he also needed the large-scale work of building additional supplies and accommodations to accommodate the newly assembled Crusaders.
The most important of these was the business that would be undertaken against the Crusaders.
Special war demand. Increased demand due to increased use of essential items such as military supplies during wartime, and further increase in trade volume to meet this demand, and profit from various taxes and the like resulting from this.
The Demon King’s territory has been reborn as a trading base that the Empire can never ignore thanks to Dale’s open policy. The special war brought about by the Crusades will have the effect of driving a wedge into it.
Dale’s fifteenth birthday arrived just as he was calmly weighing the pros and cons of his position as Viscount of Saxony.
And then a few months later, my little sister, Lize, turned seven.
* * *
“Brother! I missed you!”
When Dale left his lands behind, he finally found the Duchy of Saxony.
The first to run out to greet Dale was his younger sister, Lise, who had just turned seven.
“Lize!”
A girl with the characteristic pitch-black hair of the Saxon family and eyes that shine like crystals. Seeing her, Dale also couldn’t hide his joy as an older brother.
“happy birthday.”
Dale smiled as he lightly kissed Lize’s cheek.
After the kiss, Lize smiled and said.
“Come to think of it, Brother, you didn’t forget your promise, did you?”
“I remember that.”
“and!”
Lize smiled brightly like a child her age, and Dale reached out his arm to Lize as he watched her.
I remember that day when little Lize, on her sixth birthday, cried and whined about wanting to become a wizard like Dale.
“You said you wanted to learn magic?”
“Yes, brother!”
“It won’t happen overnight.”
At the same time, blue magic swirled along Dale’s hand, and the cold crystals began to ripple.
Thinking back to Sepia, Dale’s old teacher who once taught him the ‘first magic’.
