Episode 96
* * *
─ The people of the Shadow Court will protect the Guild Master.
With those words, Dale disappeared from sight.
The guild master of Kalimala, left alone, had to tremble before the coming storm.
Guild City. A golden empire made up of the seven great guilds and the Shadow Court.
And the fight between the strong over the ledger of the City Master, which is like the heart of Guild City.
In the face of the overwhelming power they displayed, the Master of the Kalimala Guild realized for the first time the transience of gold.
* * *
At that time, Dale was in the Shadow Court’s hideout.
The Shadow Court. In a place reminiscent of an underground chapel, you stand before the continent’s greatest assassin.
“Khuh, shit. This beer is killing me.”
Salgeom, Master Baro, is gulping down a beer. He has no regard for the formality or etiquette of the shadow courtroom, and he is crossing his legs on the table.
“… … It seems like your devotion to the Shadow Church isn’t very deep.”
Dale, too, spoke in a low voice, without any particular formality.
“Haha, let’s call that a horse.”
Master Baro nodded and chuckled.
“There aren’t many places that would take in a brat like me who stabbed his master in the back and ran away.”
“Why did you stick a knife in his back?”
Betraying one’s lord is an unforgivable taboo for a knight.
“Well, my head is spinning.”
Master Baro answered as if it were someone else’s business.
“My lord was going wild, saying that my young daughter was possessed by a demon.”
“… … .”
“And then he ordered me to cut off my daughter’s head.”
Indifferently.
“So while I was hesitating──.”
After finishing his beer glass, Master Baro spoke.
“That wicked lord gouged out his daughter’s eyes with his own hands.”
“no way…….”
“That is exactly what it is.”
Dale swallowed his breath.
“Oh, that saint whose daughter is at a loss in front of you.”
“… … .”
“I ran off to Guild City with that child, and the religious zealots of the Shadow Court were in an uproar, saying, ‘The saint has appeared.’”
“There is no doubt that at least some form of ‘revelation from the Goddess’ was given to her.”
“Yes, sister gods and Nabal.”
At Dale’s words, Master Baro coldly scoffed.
“Let’s say there are some really cool beings looking down on us from above the clouds.”
“… … .”
“Do you think those damn cool beings have even a little bit of love for us?”
“No way.”
“Hoo.”
Master Baro swallowed his breath as if he was surprised.
“So, you volunteered to be the sword of the Shadow Court without any faith for that child?”
“It would be awkward to leave this fanatic bastard around.”
“That child has already become an irreversible puppet of God.”
“It would be stranger for a child who lost his eyes at the hands of his father not to seek God.”
Master Baro muttered in a pretended indifferent manner.
“I have no intention of interfering with that child’s beliefs.”
Dale absentmindedly imagined the shadowy figure of the saintess heading towards him and Shub.
“I’m satisfied just to stay by her side.”
Without any faith or anything, he became the sword of the shadow court that guarded the saint. Dale smiled bitterly at that situation.
“I think we can communicate.”
“Haha, this little guy’s tongue is just like a clear stream.”
Master Baro drank the rest of his beer as if he was enjoying it.
“So, why did you claim to be the god of these religious bastards?”
“Because I needed the sword of the Shadow Court.”
Dale answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“An assassin with the nickname of the Seven Swords of the Continent, Salgeom (殺劍).”
Because the meaning of its existence is beyond my ability to describe.
“Is that all?”
“That was all.”
At Dale’s answer, Master Baro burst into laughter as if he couldn’t hold it in.
“At least there’s no doubt that you’ll be the Messiah of these little bastards.”
* * *
Before the Black Market opens its doors, Fight Club’s ‘Winner’s Match’ draws near.
A battleground for power where those representing the continent’s greatest nobles begin to gather, each with their own hidden ambitions and desires.
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The ‘Black Prince’ of the House of Saxony was no exception.
* * *
Fight club.
Dale was right there in that underground arena. He was holding the Death Knight he had obtained right here behind him. From that appearance, there was only one identity that people could think of.
“The ‘Black Prince’ of the House of Saxony has appeared!”
“From the first game, a bigger player than we could have imagined appeared!”
A place without rules where you can defeat your opponents with all your might, excluding the world of ideas and avatars. And those who will face Dale from now on will not be easy opponents either.
Powerful people of a different class from the pyramids we have seen so far. Proxy members who participate in the black market on behalf of the empire’s leading nobles.
As a battleground for power to establish order among them, Dale’s opponent revealed himself.
It was a knight armed with pure white armor. And it wasn’t difficult to figure out the identity of the armor.
“Look at that armor!”
“A pure white armor made of mithril… … It must be that of the Knights of St. Magdalene!”
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the existence of the ‘Mithril Mine’ in the County of Brandenburg gave birth to the current County family.
By now, the pure white armor made of mithril was like a symbol of the ‘Knights of St. Magdalene’.
The representative of the Holy Inspectorate.
“What other business would the great Count of Brandenburg have in this gloomy pagan market?”
There really is no rival for this one-legged tree.
“You… … .”
At Dale’s scorn, a pure white aura appeared along the tip of the sword of the Knight of St. Magdalene. He was a knight who claimed to be the representative of the Holy Swordsman. Even the Auror Knights who participated in the Black and White Tournament were incomparably strong.
Even if he is not very good, he is an Auror Master and stronger than that.
However, due to the rules of the Fight Club, you cannot use an avatar. Just like Dale is bound by the restriction of not being able to expand the world of ideas.
Since the powerful people using the world of avatars and ideas are clashing with full force, the bloodshed is not something that can be easily tolerated.
“In the black and white rotation, I remember the souls of the knights who died by your hand.”
The Knight of St. Magdalene opened his mouth. With a hatred that could never be forgotten.
“Oh, you should speak properly.”
“what?”
At those words, Dale muttered as if it were someone else’s business.
“It would be more correct to say that it was Prince Philip, not me, who killed him.”
The scoundrel of the count’s family.
“It doesn’t take ordinary talent to be able to eat up articles like that.”
At least, the actions he showed were such that it would not be an exaggeration to call him a genius of defeat.
“Even that would be nothing compared to the 50% of the Imperial Army that was devoured on the island of Britannia.”
“You dare… … !”
At Dale’s provocation, the sword of the Knight of St. Magdalene was filled with murderous intent. Dale’s Death Knight also took hold of the Black Sword of the House of Saxony.
‘Which side should I project the peacemaker to?’
After a standoff, Dale thought calmly.
It’s not a bad idea to go all out on Death Knight. However, the opponent will probably be genuinely trying to kill you, and you can’t rely on your escort for everything.
It is different from the time when Master Baro was trying to test himself.
Sling.
So Dale pulled out the knight’s sword from his waist.
“I lost in the black and white rotation, and I lost in the Britannia Isle… … .”
Dale said, projecting the Peacemaker’s thoughts along the lines of the sword.
“I’m going to lose here again.”
The conversation did not continue any further.
“Why does that corner of the house seem to be destroyed every time I look at it?”
Taat!
Even though he didn’t use an avatar, as a knight who had reached the level of Auror Master, the Knight of St. Magdalene rushed forward with all his heart.
It was fast. Dale, in his 3rd circle days, wouldn’t have dared block that movement, and it wouldn’t have been strange if his head was blown off in one blow.
But Dale was different now.
He is not just a wizard, but a knight who holds the Peacemaker and has a piece of the warrior in him, and a 4th circle wizard who is said to have the greatest talent in the empire.
By fusing the two, and reaching a state where he was making rapid progress every day, the Death Knight guarding Dale’s back rushed in.
Saxon’s Black Sword countered the Holy Swordsman’s attack, and Dale wasn’t even looking at it.
He grabbed the Peacemaker and rushed forward, his shadow cloak fluttering.
The sword that the warrior pursues.
In a sense, it was not much different from that of Master Baro of ‘Salgeom’. An assassin’s sword that was designed to take people’s lives in a despicable and thorough manner.
The road to slaughter.
The black swords of the Saint Magdalene Knight and the Death Knight clashed. As the black and white lights interlocked, Dale dove into the knight’s arms and stabbed the Peacemaker.
Kaang!
The knight, without any hesitation, slashed Death Knight’s sword away, and at the same time dodged Dale’s sword as it swung.
“… … !”
The counterattack came immediately.
Strong. But what Dale had now was not just a sword. The shadow cloak fluttered toward the Knight of St. Magdalene who rushed forward, shedding Dale’s sword. Shadow bullets projecting the “Gatling-style” formula were fired from under his feet.
A hail of bullets made of darkness descended, and before them the Knight of St. Magdalene brandished her sword.
The aura that surged from within his body along with the sword formed a ‘shield’.
Self-defense weapon.
It was a sort of aura shield, like a wizard’s, and it was that shield that was deflecting Dale’s shadow bullets.
‘The intensity of the aura is unusual.’
If we compare the Auror Master’s knights to the level of magicians, they are no different from those with at least 6th circle level skills.
Elder of the Tower.
However, just because the circles are the same does not mean that their fighting skills are equal. After all, knights are not scholars.
Rather than being locked up in a tower, reading books and devoting themselves to training, they make a living by risking their lives on the battlefield, cutting down enemies and surviving.
And the ultimate sword skill, the realm of the Avatar, which is achieved through repeated killings, is something that can be obtained in just that way.
So even if I don’t use an avatar, the knight in front of me is an opponent that even Dale can’t guarantee a 100% chance of winning against.
That’s why my heart beat even faster.
The next level is where you will hunt and obtain countless strong people. Every time you hunt a strong person, the memories of your previous life that are firmly embedded in Peacemaker will awaken.
After the clash, they opened up some distance. After they opened up, Dale muttered.
“This is my territory.”
Following the shadows of the fluttering cloak of shadows, the area was submerged in a lake of darkness… … The predators lurking in the shadows began to move.
《Shadow Lurker》.
“Keeeeeek!”
Spiny tentacles rose from the shadows. At the same time, several Shadow Lurkers, who had been reborn as adults, appeared in person.
A snake-like body several meters long, with eight limbs made of sickles. Barbed tentacles wiggle along its back.
These very monsters stood in Dale’s way, acting as shields.
Ten to one.
The power that comes from overwhelming quantity. This is the power of the black magician and necromancer of the black tower.
“… … !”
Faced with those monsters, the Knight of St. Magdalene had only one decision: he ignored all attacks and stomped on the ground.
One-point breakthrough. The most reliable method for a knight to use a wizard.
There is no need to even talk about the ending of the wizard who gave the knight his distance.
The Knight of St. Magdalene rushed forward, leaving Dale’s creatures behind. The distance narrowed. But Dale was by no means a ‘mere wizard’.
A wizard who loses just because he gave up his distance to a knight will never be able to survive against the powerful men of this world.
Kaang!
Swords clashed with swords.
The sword of the Knight of St. Magdalene was blocked by Dale’s sword. Without even an auror, it was just an iron sword.
One sword.
But the Knight of St. Magdalene did not give up.
It was well known that the eldest son of the Saxon family had a genius talent for swordsmanship, so it was within the expectation that he would be able to block a single sword.
Kaang! Kaang!
But when faced with the pure white aura, a single iron sword deflected his sword strikes several times.
“how……!”
The Knight of St. Magdalene could no longer contain his astonishment.
At the same time, the ‘Shadow Lurkers’ that he had tried hard to ignore and turn his back on all simultaneously thrust their thorny tentacles towards the Knight of St. Magdalene.
Kwajik!
Although he was able to avoid instant death by raising his Aura shield late, the Aura shield is by no means an invincible shield.
Kaang!
The shield shattered, and the Shadow Lurker’s tentacles slammed down. Dale, too, kicked the ground without hesitation.
The real reason why the nobles’ representatives are competing to join the fight club. The fight club match does not necessarily have to end in the death of one person.
Because just shouting surrender is enough.
However, the agents’ participation in the fight club was never intended to hear the ‘surrender sound’ from their opponents.
The most certain and legal way to eliminate your competitors from the black market is to kill them.
That was the true meaning of the ‘winner’s match’ of this fight club, and Dale also put down his sword to carry out that meaning.
No, I was trying to throw it down.
Boom!
At the same time, an unknown explosion occurred in the body of the Knight of St. Magdalene.
‘Explosion? No, no.’
This was no ordinary explosion. It was a shockwave of absurd amounts of aura swirling around.
And that act meant only one thing.
“… … !”
There was a pure white knight. There was no trace of a human being, he was literally a pure white knight.
‘Avatar!’
The ultimate form of combat pursued by the Knights of St. Magdalene.
When you think about the ripple effect that a knight who has reached the level of Avatar would have, you can’t even imagine the damage that would be caused to this area.
Fight Club knew this too, and it wasn’t without countermeasures.
And to punish those who broke the rules of the fight club, the ‘high-ranking assassins of the shadow court’, led by Master Baro, were about to move… … .
Before that, a dark blue magical power swept through Dale’s feet and enveloped the entire stadium.
Phew!
Dale and the Knight of St. Magdalene, the two figures disappeared without a trace.
The world of wizards.
That day, into the other world of a white and dark winter night.
