Episode 215
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There was one who walked on the sky of crystal color, and there was one who walked on the river of blood.
He was a man who used his own body and skin as pages to write letters in blood.
“… … Do you really have to go that far?”
Just then, the black magpie who had been keeping silent opened his mouth. Foodduck! Several night crows flew up behind him. It seemed as if they were prepared to show their power when the time came.
“It’s not something the black ball should be involved in.”
And blocking the black ball’s path was another onlooker, the top of the white tower, the Celestial Gong.
“This is a duel that both parties agree to, and as such, it is protected by the laws of the Empire.”
“… … .”
“Oh, I won’t stop you from joining the fight.”
The bloody ball laughed without caring.
“It wouldn’t be a bad thing if everyone here were fighting for their respective monarchs.”
The Shadow Faction and the Golden Faction.
“There’s no need for that, Blackbeard.”
In the face of an imminent confrontation, however, the one who stood in the way of the Black Duke was the Archduke of Lancaster, the new sword.
“This is just karma that I have to pay.”
The Heavenly Sword in his hand was pale and transparent, sprinkling frost.
“I wanted to reach the sky.”
“Your Highness… … .”
A man who was truly worthy of the name of the Heavenly Sword, a divine sword, opened his mouth. Revealing his avatar.
He was a knight of the sky. A knight with armor that shone like crystal and with the wings of a bird. But he was by no means an angel.
Charlotte, next to Dale, swallowed softly.
“But my life was really like that of a prisoner, bound in chains and shackles of the earth.”
“Hoo.”
“A noble of the empire, a father of a son, a leader of the Seven Swords, but they mean nothing to me now. It was only then that I realized. There was no meaning to it from the beginning.”
“Have you finally come to your senses?”
The bloody ball laughed mockingly. Before he knew it, his body was covered in letters, to the point where it was as if all of his skin had been peeled off.
“It is now time to return to heaven.”
The Heavenly Sword spoke. And at the weight of those words, the Black Lord finally took a quiet step back. The crows behind him began to croak noisily.
At the same time, the bloody river that the Bloody Ball was standing on began to ripple. The letters that were densely carved into his body spread across the bloody river, continuing to write along the river.
“I just silently turn the wheel of history with my blood.”
The bloody ball said.
“As it has always been.”
At the same time, the Heavenly Sword turned its back on the Heavenly World and kicked the ground. The Heavenly Sword swung along the Bloody Ball and the Bloody River, and the Bloody Ball stretched out its arms to counter it.
The empire’s greatest enemy wizard ignited flames in front of everyone, showing off his power.
But even faster than the flames could bloom, the Heavenly Sword tore apart his body.
Choaack!
The blood vessels were cut. The human body was torn to pieces so that it was impossible to tell if it was human or not.
The form collapsed before the sword.
At the same time, blood was sprayed.
At the same time, the river of blood began to swell and the blood flow began to form a human silhouette. It was as if the attack had just been faked, without a single wound.
The Heavenly Sword struck the ground again, this time towards that silhouette.
“There is no need to preach the importance of history to those of you here.”
But each time, the bloody ball’s bones would break and rise again.
“The history of the earth is the history of war, and the history of war is a ‘record of blood.’”
It was never meant to refer to a single human history. The alien races that still ruled the continent, and even the elves of the former Second Empire, were no exception.
Like this blood elf right in front of Dale.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Heavenly Sword came rushing in, but unlike before, the Bloody Ball did not fall to the blow.
Kaang!
There was a sword facing a sword.
“Mortal existence is as fleeting as a sand castle. But as long as history records them, their existence can finally attain immortality.”
“… … !”
The expression on Cheon Geum’s face finally froze.
“Now, let’s go back to the historical scenery.”
As he said that, the Bloody Ball laughed slyly. Before he knew it, it was no longer a river of blood.
──It was a dark and white winter night.
And here stood a mortal who should have died long ago, before the Archduke of Lancaster, the Sword of Heaven.
The new sword, Badel Orhart.
“It is now a distant memory, more than a dozen years ago.”
Standing right behind the man, the bloody ball laughed.
“The fact that the divine sword was defeated and fell by the warrior, and that the empire’s war of conquest finally came to an end, is ‘recorded’ in the form of history. It is through the blood they shed.”
At the same time, the letters carved into the bloody ball’s skin began to move and wiggle like a living creature. And the letters written there were not strange letters of unknown meaning.
It was the imperial language.
“The Third Empire XXX, the divine sword Badel Orhart, was defeated by the warrior of another world.”
The words written on his chest changed to the following.
“Third Empire Power XXX, the divine sword Badel Orhart killed the Heavenly Sword Archduke Lancaster.”
“… … !”
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At the very moment he understood the meaning, Dale’s blood ran cold.
History is a record of blood. In other words, the book of blood held by the Bloody Duke, the Book of Blood…
The power to read the very records of that blood and to overwrite them according to the wizard’s will.
The power to pull out scenes from history and manipulate them to your own will. It is no different from literally manipulating history.
Just as Dale’s father had once overlaid the very concept of ‘death’, the power this man controlled was not a mere spark.
“As you know, history is written by the victors.”
As he said that, the Bloody Ball laughed coldly. The history of blood is recorded by the victor spilling the blood of the vanquished.
He who controls the past controls the future.
He who controls the present controls the past.
A nightmarish scene from the past that I didn’t even want to remember was unfolding, manipulated according to the will of the Bloody Ball.
He was once the best swordsman on the continent and the closest friend of the Archduke of Lancaster.
And Charlotte’s father.
“father……!”
The dead man in history, the divine sword Badel Orhart, was wielding a sword.
It wasn’t even a ghost of the past. It was never the ‘truth’ that Dale knew.
As a false knight loyal to the Golden Lord, he was nothing more than a fake who created himself by manipulating and twisting the records of blood.
“Wake up, Charlotte.”
So Dale whispered to the girl beside him.
“That man is not your father.”
“still…….”
In a voice devoid of any emotion. At those words, Charlotte finally bit her lip.
“Oh, by the way, I guess Miss Charlotte doesn’t know yet.”
The bloody ball smiled mischievously as if it knew that fact. At the same time, he waved his hand, and the letters written on his skin distorted again.
The ‘helmet’ of Badel Orchardt disappeared. And the man’s face was finally revealed beneath the helmet. Charlotte’s expression froze once again.
“It is truly a moving reunion that cannot be watched without tears.”
The bloody ball spoke, and the divine sword kicked the ground.
Towards his one and only old friend, the Archduke of Lancaster.
Kaang!
The swords clashed. And a plum blossom field began to spread out along the foot of the divine sword. I could tell this just by looking at it.
It is true that the Bloody Ball manipulates the past at will through the Book of Blood. However, that man, the sword of the Divine Sword Badel Orhart, is the truth beyond doubt.
The sword of an old and irreplaceable friend was swung. The ghost of the past, a dead man of history who danced according to the will of the ruler, was resurrected and dancing.
The world of thought that the divine sword Badel Orhart unfolded was indistinguishable from that of a wizard, and at the same time, the avatar he held as a knight was so famous that there was no one who did not know about it.
He had no avatar, for his thoughts were what they were in this very place.
It is not for nothing that the new sword Badel is called the most noble knight in the world.
And that nobility had now become a false witness of history, dancing at the will of the ruler.
“really…….”
The divine sword clashed with the heavenly sword.
“Your sword is beyond doubt.”
The Archduke of Lancaster muttered bitterly.
The fluttering plum blossoms were swirling into his sky. The knight of the sky swung his sword. It was a sword that yearned for freedom and the sky, and every time, the plum blossom leaves that the divine sword Badel unfolded became blades and scattered.
The greatest swords on the continent were clashing.
However, compared to the ‘Sir Barthel of that era’, the Heavenly Sword, Archduke Lancaster, who is now in front of him, is nothing more than an aging swordsman. The outcome of the match was tilted from the beginning.
The knight of heaven swung his sword without kneeling until the very end.
“I am glad to see your sword one last time before I return to heaven.”
The sword of the divine sword, Badel, swung at the knight of the sky. No blood flowed. No flesh was torn.
All that remains is the disintegration of the body, the scattered feathers that dance up into the sky on the wind.
“Your Highness… … !”
Charlotte’s voice grew louder again. Dale reached out and took her hand without saying a word. But then,
Phew!
Another blade burst out, tearing through the back of the Divine Sword Badel. How could I forget that sword?
The warrior’s beloved sword, Peacemaker.
Before he knew it, the bloody body of the man controlling the divine sword Badel was writing another record.
“The Third Empire XXX, the divine sword Badel Orhart, was defeated by the warrior of another world.”
“As I said, history is a record of blood.”
As he said that, the bloody ball laughed.
It was never his job to defeat the Archduke of Lancaster, who was reborn with the divine sword. He was a historical figure who had been brought back from the past by the Bloody Duke.
At the same time, the divine sword Bardell knelt down, and the warrior from another world was there. He was holding his beloved sword, ‘Peacemaker’.
“father…….”
Charlotte’s expression froze.
Charlotte’s ‘Two Fathers’ ended there. And the other world’s warrior was looking this way with an emotionless expression.
It was just a moment.
At the same time, the scenery around them collapsed, and once again, a river of blood filled the surroundings.
The man was still there.
The continent’s greatest red magician, who engraves the ‘Blood Record’ on his body and at the same time enforces the Empire’s zeitgeist.
The bloody ball looked at Dale with an emotionless expression, and at the same time, there was a man blocking his way.
“The match is over.”
The black ball opened its mouth, and the bloody ball smiled quietly.
The 『Book of Blood』 engraved on the bloody ball’s body disappeared. At the same time, I was able to realize something.
The fact that the sea of blood that fills this area is the ink that writes that book.
And then the Bloody Duke finally took control of his world, which was now the courtyard of the Duke of Saxony’s castle.
A cool breeze blew. And no matter where I looked, there was no sign of the Duke of Lancaster.
