Chapter 31

(31)

Crash!

The one wielding the military blade charged at me, and I was knocked out of the meeting room.

I rolled along the hallway floor like a chestnut, barely managing to rise while holding my throbbing temples and shouted.

“Damn it… Is there no one there!”

The night was deep, and most of the guards were near the wyverns; the sound of the rain was still loud, and this place was created on a floor where staff rarely came.

In other words, there was no one there.

“There is no one to help you, so do not resist and accept your fate. The two dukes will die, and the empire will burn.”

The bug knight approached, joints clicking ominously.

His body was so dark that it seemed like only his white face was floating.

I watched him wipe the drool from his face and said.

“Fate? That’s ridiculous. It would’ve been better if you had also accepted your fate without resisting.”

Beyond the barriers, countless ancient evil gods and unheard-of monstrosities were waiting for a chance to reach out into this world.

Those plunged into despair and frustration were tempted to abandon the light’s protection and call upon their profane names.

“This is my fate.”

He swung the dark military blade down.

Kaang!

I raised my sword to block it, but was pushed back several steps by his size and strength.

However, I had no intention of retreating completely.

“The Lord of Light does not write such fates. How can someone who cannot even be buried in a church grave speak of fate?”

I mocked and criticized his choice.

This served to incite his anger while also relieving my own.

Damn infiltrators.

Half-naturally born and rapidly spreading like little fruit flies, but I never expected they would have amassed enough power to discover the secret meetings of the royal family and the duke.

No, perhaps they had grown wildly strong during the chaos of the past year.

“The world has abandoned me, so how can my fate be to rest in a church grave?”

“If the world had truly abandoned you, you wouldn’t have survived to the point of accepting the hidden object.”

He made a choked expression.

The centipede legs protruding from his body trembled with rage.

He probably came from the slums of the capital.

Those who think they have nothing to lose tend to hate the world.

“Prince—”

Just as he was about to shout something, I cut him off.

“Shut up, sinner! You surely could have avoided this ruin.”

I believed such infiltrators were fundamentally different from ordinary criminals.

A person steals out of hunger and kills in a fit of anger.

But what kind of nonsense is it to say that because one is hungry and enraged, they would kill everyone in the world without exception or turn into a host for a demon?

In this world, there are not those who cannot be understood, but rather those who do not need to be understood.

Such beings must be captured and thrown into a fire to burn.

Only then can many ordinary people lead proper lives.

“I shall grant you rest.”

With a thud, I ran forward, sword raised.

* * *

The bug knight menacingly raised the military blade, but to Valenciaunos, his stance was alarmingly clumsy.

The beings beyond the barriers gave strength to the man, but not skill.

He quickly charged in, showcasing imperial swordsmanship.

Stage 1: All Things Defy.

Crack-!

A significantly larger amount of mana wrapped around every muscle fiber, and everything twisted painfully, contracting in a new phenomenon.

At the moment the contraction peaked, Valenciaunos slid past the bug knight, swinging his sword.

Swoosh-!

The extended sword deeply cut into the bug knight’s side.

“Crack!”

He lost balance for a moment and stumbled wildly.

The military blade struck the ground, sending stone dust flying.

Valenciaunos did not miss the opportunity to follow up.

He knew well that these infiltrators do not die from a single stab in the side like humans.

Attacking the back is considered cowardly in battles among nobles or knights, but the opponent was neither.

“I know where you came from!”

Slash, slash!

“You crawled out of cowardice, jealousy, and baseless paranoia.”

Swoosh-!

“You filthy and grotesque monster who loves nothing and wishes to destroy everything in this world!”

Boom, smash!

“In the name of His Majesty the Emperor, I command you to return to hell!”

Valenciaunos’s sword struck at almost every weakness in the human body.

He severed the Achilles tendon, pierced behind the knee, broke the spine in three places, thrust at the shoulder, and deeply sliced into the nape.

However, the opponent was a monster who had bartered his flesh and soul to an evil god.

Crack, bang!

His arm twisted oddly, turning at an impossible angle, and swung at Valenciaunos.

Crash!

However, Valenciaunos had anticipated the attack and countered.

“Do you think I’ve killed monsters like you only once or twice?”

He aimed to sever the bug knight’s wrist and stab his neck, but from the ribs of the bug knight, a centipede lifted its head and charged.

He reflexively thrust out his left arm.

But his wrist was not encased in a solid gauntlet but rather thin summer uniform sleeves.

“Damn it!”

Valenciaunos watched in real-time as the ogre’s maw, which surely contained deadly poison, drew near.

At that moment, a white and red wind blew in.

Thump!

Tenitia came charging in, smashing into the bug knight with her shoulder like a meteor.

The bug exoskeleton cracked under the pressure of her steel-pyramid-shaped shoulder, and bodily fluids splattered.

The bug knight wobbled as if kicked, losing its balance, and Tenitia slashed with her sword glowing a soft red.

Swoosh!

The bug knight’s arm was cleanly severed.

“Are you okay, Your Grace the Duke?”

“What are you doing here? If Aquinas were to die—”

“Thanks to the Marquis’s heat ray magic, that side has been dealt with. The Marquis can handle it alone.”

“Heat ray, huh. Right. It’s best to cut such a being into pieces.”

“I’ll take care of it. Can you protect me with ‘Unforgotten’?”

Naturally, I was about to answer yes when Valenciaunos hesitated.

He recalled whose orders Tenitia was staying by his side.

Even after living diligently for 16 years, someone who had left his sword for the past year and even recently frequented casinos wielding Imperial swordsmanship at level two was unusual.

However, Tenitia moved as if she had already heard the answer.

She remembered the confident and bold image Valenciaunos had shown while walking through the underground sewer.

That must have been his true self.

She wanted to allow him to perform at his best, to show his true self, and to reveal his thoughts and plans.

‘It starts with swordsmanship.’

It was always the most honest to use one’s body.

The red mana blade shimmered softly as it enveloped her sword.

‘Damn it.’

Valenciaunos prepared the second level of Imperial swordsmanship with the feeling of spitting blood.

Tenitia was not wearing full plate armor now.

She had to become a swordmaster with all limbs and mana circuits intact to safeguard the empire’s borders.

He could not allow her to take on the centipede’s attack that might contain a potent poison with her body.

He tightly shut his eyes, and when he opened them, his sword resonated with a sharp sound.

“I shall kill you all. O ominous whirlpool, you who crawl here with a hundred thousand legs, you who are one and many, heed the prayer of this humble servant—.”

The bug knight began his solemn prayer.

Whack, whack, whack!

Dozens of centipedes burst forth like long tentacles from between his back and nape.

Valenciaunos hurled the flame ignited in his palm at the bug knight and spoke.

“The only true thing you’ve said is that you are lowly.”

“Siiiiick!”

The bug knight deflected the flames and raised the now-massive military blade.

But Tenitia charged like a wolf aiming for the nape, slashing at the bug knight’s waist with her mana blade.

Slash-!

The bug exoskeleton, as hard as steel, was cut away too easily.

Green fluid burst out.

And dozens of centipedes sprouted from the knight’s back and nape, charging toward Tenitia with the intent to tear her apart.

“Siiiiick!”

White venom dripped from their fangs.

In that moment, Valenciaunos unleashed the second level of Imperial swordsmanship.

Unforgotten.

The sword that does not forget and does not miss.

Whoosh, swipe!

With a reflexive swing, he severed the centipede heads that were larger than his palm.

Some fell below while others burrowed into his side, but even in a state of half-consciousness, the counter-attack that was ‘unfolding’ cleaved through the mouths targeting Tenitia into halves.

“Well done!”

Tenitia laughed in delight, raising her sword.

Swoosh-!

Slash!

Her sword swung multiple times, and soon hundreds of centipedes were all reduced to halves.

“Thank you.”

The grateful Valenciaunos rummaged through the centipede corpses and pulled out a copper plate half the size of his palm.

It was a thin copper plate, no thicker than cheap paper.

“What is that?”

He showed the drawing on the copper plate depicting several people to Tenitia.

“It’s a thin piece of metal with a drawing etched in with a nail. Much cheaper and more durable than proper paper, it’s popular among the slum folks.”

“Mm.”

“What a foolish person. There were those worthy of sharing this and a world where such sharing was possible.”

“Your Grace… What do you think about the infiltrators?”

Valenciaunos replied sharply.

“Things that don’t need conversation.”

“Isn’t it possible to communicate? Psychological warfare is also viable.”

Tenitia posed a question with pure curiosity.

Valenciaunos shook his head as if to indicate that it wasn’t so.

“What would you talk about with those who would uproot and destroy their own home just because they’re unhappy with it?”

He crumpled the copper piece and threw it back into the centipede corpse pile.

“Especially since I would be the homeowner.”

It was a ruthless stance.

However, Tenitia briefly saw a flicker of pity in his eyes.

* * *

“Afterwards, I called the priests and soldiers to burn the remains of the infiltrators and fully surrendered the identity of the late Duke Aquinas.”

“What time did the Marquis depart?”

Jayliris’s voice, seated across the reception room, revealed no emotion.

Valenciaunos answered nervously.

“He departed from Wyvernfit at 6:30 AM today.”

“Is that all you have to report?”

He briefly pondered whether the court official had mentioned to Jayliris about Aquinas’s illegitimate child.

“Actually, Duke Aquinas has an illegitimate child.”

He did not want to lie to Jayliris, knowing it would eventually come to light.

He performed the task with a clear conscience while striving to avoid harm to the Emperor.

Now it was beyond his control; all that was left was to await a severe judgment.

“An illegitimate child?”

She seemed surprised, or perhaps feigned surprise.

“I see. Marquis. Were you thinking of playing with the inheritance rights?”

Jayliris mumbled in a contemplative tone.

“So, does that mean you spared the illegitimate child? A child with inheritance rights?”

A subtle malice devoid of animosity stirred in her voice like small thorns.

Valenciaunos shook his head.

“No.”

Jayliris inquired again.

“Then did you kill the illegitimate child?”

“No.”

“Then what happened?”

“The illegitimate child was born this morning as the child of Count Aquinas.”

The Emperor chuckled softly upon hearing those words.

“A child of Count Aquinas, huh. Well, the child of the Count has no claim to the throne. Clever thinking. Yet, why didn’t you kill him? It would have made things much easier for you.”

He did not deny it.

Discussing the value of life with an Emperor who had stained his ascension in blood was a deception.

Thus, he brought forth the argument of interest.

“I thought it wouldn’t be bad to introduce the bloodline of the Planiaties’ family into the imperial lineage.”

“Why?”

Valenciaunos knew that his answer was crucial at that moment.

He carefully chose his words.

“If that child eventually loses control and becomes an infiltrator, it would prove that Your Majesty’s great purge was justified.”

The royal family had a high infiltration rate.

After a brief silence, Jayliris chuckled satisfyingly.

In the shadow of her platinum hair, her yellow eyes softened, and the sound of her melodic laughter resonated throughout the reception room.

“Indeed, my blood. A splendid judgment. It was right to appoint you to that position and entrust you with this task. Well done.”

At that moment, Valenciaunos suddenly realized one thing.

If something similar had occurred like today before his return, the Marquis would have conspired with an illegitimate child, an unidentified third force would target Aquinas, and Jayliris would send someone to deal with the illegitimate child.

Then the one who Jayliris sent this time would be none other than Valenciaunos himself.

“I will grant you a two-week vacation and one hundred gold coins. Go wherever you like and come back well-rested. However, casinos are strictly prohibited.”

How delightful he felt; there was even a hint of mischief in that last sentence.

“Yes. The castle is profoundly grateful.”

‘Great. I had been meaning to go to the magic tower with Rudi anyway.’

He bowed his head and stepped back.

‘The world is in turmoil, so I should buy a magic cannon.’