Episode 162
* * *
The new Duchy of Saxony was established by Dale.
Furthermore, there was no end to the administrative affairs of the duchy that Dale had to oversee on behalf of the Duke of Saxony, such as developing the Demon King’s Territory and the Labyrinth City, which he had originally been in charge of as the Viscount of Saxony, into a hub for the trade of artifacts and magic stones.
However, ruling the duchy as the highest lord of the empire was not the role of a single duke.
The head of the Saxon household, and further, the Duke of Saxony’s trusted and loyal servant, Lord Helmuth, as well as countless other vassals.
“Don’t worry, Your Majesty! Isn’t this Helmut with you?”
Dale, who had already been studying various subjects of kingship as the successor to the Duke’s family, had no need to panic when he suddenly sat on the throne of the Duke of Saxony.
With his usual black knight, Lady Shadow, by his side.
However, coincidentally enough, it was around that time that the annual ‘Tower Test’ was held at the Black Tower.
* * *
At that moment, in the Black Hole’s office.
“Has your body not returned yet?”
Dale asked the Duke of Saxony there with concern.
That day, he recalled the image he had shown as the continent’s greatest black magician against the Immortal. It was undoubtedly a clash between ‘real magicians’. It was a battle beyond his reach, one that Dale, as he is now, could not even dare to approach.
“Don’t worry too much. My identity has already been superimposed on this body, and there are just a few adjustments left to make.”
The black magician spoke. As a black magician who was well versed in the ways of life and death, Dale held his breath at the weight of those words.
“Then is it possible to maintain immortality through that method?”
For a moment, the black ball smiled bitterly at Dale’s question.
“Do you long for immortal life?”
“Why have the Saxon lords of the Duchy for generations renounced their immortality?”
Dale asked back. The black ball’s expression darkened slightly at the question.
“──Why do you think the Saxon lords would have accepted death so easily?”
“… … !”
Dale held his breath when he heard that.
“Surely they too… … .”
“My father and many other heads of households were unable to accept death and chose immortal life. To do so, there was only one decision they could make.”
“Are you reborn as 《Eldritch》 with the Immortal?”
The Black Lord nodded silently. Another Saxony. However, their existence was by no means a collateral lineage that had separated from ancient times.
“Then father too… … ”
Dale tried to ask if he would like to attain immortality like them, but the black dwarf shook his head without saying anything.
“Not everyone chose such an immortal life. There were heads of families who voluntarily gave up immortality and chose ‘death.’ That’s because those who are not prepared for death are considered to be abandoning their duties to the Black Tower and the House of Saxony. I am no different.”
But that’s only a very small minority.
From the beginning, the Saxon clans shared a common root.
Beyond the Demon King’s territory, in the darkness of the Demon World, the heads of the Saxon family, led by the Immortal Duke, still sleep.
It was incomparable to what I had seen when I first witnessed the Death Order. It was no surprise that the darkness of Saxony was far beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
But even so, Dale didn’t expect it to be this bad.
“Is it to drive out the golden empire from this land and bring in the empire of shadows?”
So Dale asked, speaking of the oldest and most secret conflict in the world, one that has continued from ancient times to the present.
“Who said that?”
“Everyone in this empire is saying that.”
Dale answered. Furthermore, as one of the greatest princes of the Empire, it is impossible for the Duke of Saxony to be unaware of the story.
“The Shadow Church swore allegiance to me, calling me the ‘Shadow Lord’, and the Immortal Lord himself called himself the Shadow Lord and called me a usurper. And even my father… … .”
“I would say the Lord of Darkness and Death.”
The black ball answered, and Dale nodded silently.
In this world, there are those who receive celestial revelations to execute the will of gold and shadow.
They are the beings called apostles, and among them, only those with extremely strong and special powers can truly be qualified to be called ‘monarchs’.
Just like the man in front of him right now.
“So when the Shadow Church and the Blue Sorceress Council swore allegiance to you, calling you the ‘Lord of Shadow’, how did you take that?”
“… … !”
The black ball asked back, casually revealing information that Dale was keeping secret.
“I don’t agree with their beliefs.”
Dale quickly regained his composure and answered calmly.
“But for my purposes, I thought you would be willing to become their monarch.”
“Me too.”
The black ball answered.
“I simply cannot understand why the innumerable mighty men of this empire are so obsessed with ancient fanaticism.”
Dale remained silent at those words.
“But as long as you have Saxon blood and the Book of the Black Goat, the ancient fanatics who follow you as a shadow lord will never disappear. Furthermore, that fact itself will increase the number of those who threaten you endlessly.”
“I was prepared for it from the beginning.”
“What is it for?”
“To bring down this empire.”
“… … .”
Dale answered without a moment’s hesitation, and the black ball remained silent.
“Since you claim to be the Shadow Lord, I too will claim to be a loyal standard-bearer of the Shadows according to the ancient rules.”
After a period of silence, the black ball opened its mouth.
“But the reason I want to become a rider of shadows is not because of some ancient fanaticism about what gold and shadows can do.”
“Then why?”
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“Because you are my son.”
The black ball spoke, and Dale swallowed his breath.
“So there is only one piece of advice I can give you.”
“Please tell me.”
“Don’t be eaten by the shadows.”
The black ball said.
“Do not forget that you are merely a fictitious god of your followers, performing the role of a shadow lord for your own purposes.”
“I never intend to be consumed by the beliefs of the shadows.”
“I have seen countless foolish monarchs who, possessed by the fanaticism of gold and shadow, believed without a doubt that they were gods.”
The black ball opened its mouth bitterly.
“They are the ones who believe that they are the ones who will bring the empire of gold and shadow to this land, and they are convinced that their actions are absolutely right. That is why the most fearsome people are those with conviction. Do you know why?”
“Because I have no intention of knowing the truth.”
“As expected, you are my son.”
“There is nothing more frightening than the belief of an ignorant and ignorant person.”
The black ball smiled bitterly at Dale’s words.
‘Strong convictions are a more dangerous enemy of truth than lies.’
As the ancient philosopher of a previous life once said, it was wisdom that was not lacking at the peak of the black magic tower in the pursuit of truth.
That’s why Dale nodded, realizing his father’s wisdom once again.
“Yes, and I hope you don’t repeat that foolishness.”
“Don’t worry, father.”
He who will overthrow the Empire of Fire and Light and bring about the Empire of Shadow.
“Because I will never be eaten by the shadows.”
The Shadow Lord spoke, and the self-proclaimed Shadow Rider, the Lord of Death and Darkness, smiled quietly.
* * *
At that time, the island of Britannia.
A land where the virgin Aurelia’s war of independence has failed and the empire’s bloodless and tearless rule is in place.
There was a man who claimed to be the most loyal rider of the Virgin Mary and had a devout faith that was beyond compare.
However, the virgin is branded a witch and disappears into the ashes of Saxony’s frozen soil, and furthermore, the sister goddess of mercy and compassion remains silent until the end, when the fatherland is destroyed… … .
After that, not a shred of faith remained in the man’s heart.
There is no such thing as God. This world is a hell abandoned by God.
In the midst of despair, a new belief blossomed in the place of faith.
It all started with ‘an experiment’ where a devout boy from a church choir was kidnapped and painfully killed.
“Please, please save me!”
“Now, please call upon the name of the goddess, and let us see whether she will answer your prayer.”
“Ah, Sister God! Please help me!”
“How strange. Why does the Goddess, who loves so much kindness and mercy, remain silent while her sheep suffer so much?”
Until the very end, the child cried out to the goddess, but there was no answer to his cries of despair.
“Why does the goddess not answer your prayers? Alas, where is the surest proof that God does not exist?”
The joy I felt watching those who cried out to the Goddess die in agony, especially when a beautiful boy died among them, was indescribable.
As the killings continued, the man’s convictions became more and more firm.
‘This is a world abandoned by God. There is no such thing as God from the beginning.’
To prove his conviction, Gilles De Rais dedicated his entire life to it.
And in order to prove that there is no God, the scale of the experiments he performed grew with each passing day.
It was around that time that an unidentified man calling himself a ‘demon sorcerer’ came to see Gilles de Rais.
* * *
While his father, the Duke of Saxony, is enjoying a long-awaited break, he goes about his daily life, such as teaching magic to his daughter Lise.
As the Duke of Saxony’s representative, Dale traversed the Necropolis Road.
Riding in a carriage engraved with the raven coat of arms, the symbol of the House of Saxony, accompanied by an escort of raven knights.
The city of lions, the necropolis.
However, with Dale’s new policy, the winds of openness that were blowing throughout the Northern Duchy were no exception here.
Furthermore, as part of that policy, there was a new festival taking place throughout the city at the time.
Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos).
It was an event intended to honor the spirits of the dead by wearing skull masks in order to correct the image of the Black Tower and the Necropolis.
The countless tasks he carries out as agent of the Duke of Saxony.
However, Dale’s visit to the Necropolis was not to enjoy the festival. He also visited the necropolis to check on the state of the festival, but his real purpose was different.
As the representative of the Black Tower, supervising the tower’s trials in his absence.
Furthermore, as a disciple of the Black Magician, it was to prove himself as a black magician after breaking through the 20th floor that day.
And so the test of the ‘Black Prince’ began.