Chapter 244

Valenciaunos approached Tenitia.

“Lady, are you alright?”

Tenitia struggled to maintain her fading vision as she looked at him.

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

He brushed back his white hair as usual, his yellow eyes shimmering, and while his cheeks were pale, the aura he projected was markedly different from usual.

First, the unstable energy that seemed ready to shatter and break had settled considerably.

At least the atmosphere that had desperately clung on during the oath of loyalty had completely disappeared.

The originally fierce flames now felt thickly matted, adhering tightly.

Even now, the flames that had erupted around were still not extinguished.

Finally, there was something… a sensation similar to a chill added to it.

His flames were still burning red, but a turquoise glow gently lingered at the edges of the flames.

‘What on earth has he done?’

Tenitia gritted her teeth, and Valenciaunos passed her by to confront Ensis.

The voice of the Bandit Duke carried a volcanic heat.

“How dare you turn my knight into this… I would very much like to blow you up right now, but since I’ve come properly as a diplomat, let’s start with a proposal. Withdraw your army immediately.”

“And if I don’t?”

Ensis scoffed coldly, and Valenciaunos replied in a voice that genuinely seemed displeased.

“I will let you live.”

Ensis let out a bitter laugh.

“It seems you don’t know who is letting whom live.”

Swoosh.

The wind blew through the basin, and the Sword King’s long hair fluttered like silk.

Valenciaunos shook his head and slowly revealed his gauntlets.

His white knuckles were cracked like porcelain, and from the gaps, a bizarre orange crystal glowed fiercely.

Seeing his hand, Ensis froze in place as if he would rush in at any moment.

“You…!”

Tenitia blinked in astonishment, harboring a question as profound as any the Sword King might have.

‘The energy is certainly stable, but… what on earth is that supposed to be?’

Tenitia knew that Valenciaunos’s hand was in a terrible state due to the effects of the Spirit Essence transplant and the side effects of Yunchan.

‘Still, it originally at least resembled a human body. At least there was blood. But now… it seems you have completely crossed the line.’

Suddenly, a name that had a remarkably similar aura crossed her mind.

‘…Jeilliris.’

Valenciaunos looked at Ensis with a sadistic grin.

“Your gaze has become a bit more respectful now.”

Clad in an atmosphere that felt dangerous and refined, much like a knife carved from steel.

“What the hell have you done?”

“I simply did what you intended to do, but before you.”

Ensis shook his head, biting his lip.

“That’s a lie.”

Crystal meteorite.

Its former name was Cuith Az, commonly referred to as Az.

It was the core ingredient essential for supporting a body crumbling under corruption.

If Valenciaunos had truly obtained Az, his lifeline would be firmly in Valenciaunos’s hands, the Empire.

“How dare you threaten me, Ensis, with such a clumsy trick!”

“Does it sound like a lie? Then—”

A blue aura blade ignited from Ensis’s sword, and a searing flame erupted behind Valenciaunos, spreading like the Bandit Duke’s tail.

“Shall we check?”

With a whoosh and a clash!

Flames burst forth, and a blue flash erupted.

* * *

When a battle mage clashed with a knight head-on, the knight had a winning probability of over 90%.

In terms of physical abilities such as reflexes, strength, and endurance, knights were overwhelmingly superior, and unlike battle mages, they wore heavy armor inscribed with incantation circuits, making it easier to deliver a ‘certain kill’ type of attack.

And in that moment, I shattered that common sense into pieces.

“Graaaah!”

Flames enveloped Ensis’s face.

The Sword Master of the world writhed on the floor in agony.

Hundreds of fire serpents, both large and small, licked and burned the body of the Sword Master.

Some weaved into his ears, others into his eye sockets, while others invaded through his nose and mouth, targeting every pore of his body.

It wasn’t exactly a grand attack, but had he not blocked his sight, his head would have been severed in an instant, so it couldn’t be helped.

Of course, Ensis didn’t simply surrender.

Whooooosh!

Even as his body burned, he swung his sword.

Clang!

Each time a flat longsword released its blue aura blast, the ground trembled, and the clouds above split apart.

Rumble!

A mountain that had taken several hits collapsed entirely, forcing Philius’s soldiers at the encampment to make an emergency retreat.

But I was well-versed in swordsmanship too.

“Lady Tenitia, above to the left! Dodge!”

Though I couldn’t block Ensis’s sword, I could at least predict where the aura blast would fly.

After all, that technique wasn’t meant for killing humans—it was meant to strike down massive monsters or heavily fortified gates, and predicting its trajectory was straightforward.

I made sure not to step within ten paces and focused on long-range attacks.

Even though I was pouring in heat far exceeding the flames that had vaporized that enormous being back then, it didn’t catch fire easily.

It was a monster that could easily shatter Lady Tenitia’s mechanical armor.

Engaging in close combat would cost me more than ten lives.

So, I had to keep my distance and steadily apply pressure.

Pop!

At my gesture, the flames gathered into a single point.

The fire, flying like an arrow, spiraled with high speed and pierced into Ensis’s eyes.

“Graaaah!”

Ensis screamed in agony as he thrashed about.

I was Jeilliris’s bandit, having fought many strong opponents, and I was the highest authority on ‘killing opponents at all costs.’

No matter how much of a Sword Master he was, he couldn’t properly wield his sword when the moisture under his eyelids was boiling.

Bang, bang!

Each time the blue aura flashed, the ground cracked, and debris scattered.

I skillfully dodged, using my tongue to engage in psychological warfare.

“At first, you surely started with pure intentions. The interior is decayed, the Empire is encroaching, and the otherworldly beings and infiltrators only continue to rise. Surviving must have been your priority.”

“Ugh!”

“But at some point, you surely realized as well. You’ve done enough now. There’s no need for me to go this far again.”

“What do you know about me?”

I felt a bittersweet smile form on my lips even amid the fierce exchanges.

I knew very well.

Wasn’t it quite a common tale?

Sword, magic, administration, diplomacy, banditry—whatever it was, he led the nation beautifully with his exceptional talent.

Yet, in the end, he fell into the delusion that only he could do it and confused the means and ends, hoping for his eternal rule and immortality.

It was the story of lords who eventually allied themselves with corruption.

I too, in my own way, pushed forward driven by a sense of responsibility and obligation that only I could bear, so it was always something to be vigilant about.

I gazed at Ensis’s distorted face.

While he had a perfectly balanced youthful face in his twenties, like Seberik, the solemn expression he wore seemed somewhat out of place.

The reason I, unlike him, could refrain from crossing the final line was not that I was good at self-objectification, but because of the presence of twins who would strike at the moment he veered off the path.

So, with a hint of sympathy for someone who lacked such twins, I murmured.

“If you had withdrawn then, it wouldn’t have come to this. I understand. You wanted to enjoy eternal youth and eternal power. You thought that only you could protect this kingdom. And surely, there were people who told you that.”

“!”

For just a moment, Ensis’s struggles ceased.

There must have been sorcerers or advisors whom he secretly suspected were infiltrators.

I lifted two fire lances into the air while declaring.

“You’ve been deceived.”

Boom!

As the fire lance erupted, I clenched my fist with my right hand.

Crack!

From my grasp, a searing radiance resembling burning coal flared, and for an instant, both Lady Tenitia’s mechanical armor and Ensis’s body flinched.

“Urk!”

Ensis cried out, and I exerted my will in what felt like drawing up mana.

I completely engulfed Cuith Az, and all shards were now under my control.

“Explode.”

An explosion erupted from inside Ensis’s plate armor.

A bubbling sensation tingled at my fingertips.

Boom!

Flames surged toward the neck, the only exit for pressure, and for the first time, Ensis took a step back.

“…!”

Ting, ping, ding!

In the next moment, the leather straps and metal clasps of the plate armor all shattered and flew away.

Ensis’s lean, muscular upper body was exposed beneath the sun.

His quilted armor beneath the plate had long since turned to ashes.

Backlit, his face was cast in shadow, and all the soldiers saw his back.

“Your Majesty!”

“Father!”

“What on earth is that?”

Interfering with battles between knights or nobles was considered rude in most high societies, and in the kingdom of Doroysen, it was beyond rudeness—it was a grave insult.

So, the fact that Philius and the knights rushed out the moment they saw Ensis’s body testified to how shocking the scene was.

“…”

The Sword King, Ensis, whom everyone believed would last forever.

His body was discolored and rotting in patches, and it bore cracks resembling porcelain on the verge of breaking; within those cracks, turquoise crystals grew abundantly.

“If these crystals are embedded directly into the body, one can gain immense power and physical stability, but one must consume more and more crystals and thus become a servant of Cuith Az.”

I smiled wryly, theatrically spreading my arms.

“Oh, what a hideous sight! A noble king who sought to buy time against corruption for his kingdom, resorting to war against the Empire for his own safety, trying to seize land for himself.”

Ensis looked down at his forearm, his face contorting.

Blue crystals had sprouted on his decayed arm.

It seemed he hadn’t closely examined his own body for quite some time.

I made an irresistible suggestion.

“You didn’t live for the country; you used it to save yourself. Who was it that first told you to embed these in your body? Surely you remember? I can at least take revenge on your behalf.”

Ensis gripped his sword once more and replied.

“Chief court mage. Ezraz.”

I turned my head slightly to look at Lady Tenitia.

“Did you hear that, my lady? Remember it.”

“Yes, yes, Your Highness.”

Now it was time for me to claim the victory promised to me.

“Resound and shatter.”

Chiiing!

The shards of Az cried out in unison, and Ensis writhed in agony.

All the crystals within his body seemed to erupt explosively.

Sizzle!

The turquoise crystals turned orange and the Sword Master’s body began to crumble from the inside.

“Cough!”

Ensis coughed up blood and stumbled, his longsword falling from his hand, and for the first time, I stepped within ten paces.

Crack.

Like a hunter tracking a wounded beast.

“You will die here as the Sword King. Before you fall apart any further.”

I aimed to strip him of his will to fight, carefully choosing my words to encourage him to accept his death, and I delivered a forceful kick to his chest.

Thump!

My kick landed squarely in the center of Ensis’s chest.

His body began to tilt slowly toward the ground.

I gripped Black Tear in reverse and lifted it skyward, targeting Ensis’s heart precisely.

The black blade glinted in the sunlight, and right after that, the mana blade, glowing orange, enveloped the sword’s body in flames.

A bright flash suddenly scored across my body.

It was a speed at which I couldn’t respond.

I realized something was happening a beat too late.

…It seemed that as Ensis was collapsing, he had raised his palm to strike.

“No matter what it is, I won’t let you live.”

His voice echoed faintly.

* * *

Valenciaunos fell straight to the ground.

His uniform and dark-red scales split apart from a single blow.

Had he not augmented his body with the power of the crystal, his insides would have spilled out.

His teeth were shattered, his uvula sliced, and a red line spattered across his nose and forehead.

Bang!

Ensis sprung back up like a spring.

Before the Black Tear dropped to the ground.

Ensis snatched the sword from thin air and assumed a cutting stance.

Chak!

The blue aura blade wrapped around the black blade, and the Bandit Duke’s beloved sword darted toward its master’s neck.

Despite being decayed, torn, burned, and tattered, he was still a Sword Master.

It was more than enough to end Valenciaunos’s life.

However.

Clang!

Valenciaunos’s barriers wouldn’t let him die easily.

“Aaah!”

Tenitia sprang forward, kicking the ground and slamming her extra-large sword down with all her might.

Boom!

Though she struggled to stand, the Ironblood Party leader Marcus’s mechanical armor sustained her body until the very end.

The red ocean surged once more, covering the blue flash.

Of course, it was a law of the world that even if heaven and earth turned upside down, a mana blade couldn’t defeat an aura blade.

Swoosh!

Before the blue flash, the red ocean split apart, severing even the extra-large sword that had invoked the ocean.

It was the price for blocking just that one strike.

“Until the end!”

Ensis shouted, kicking Tenitia away.

In the mirror-like cross-section of the extra-large sword, the image of Valenciaunos collapsing, Tenitia bloodied yet smiling, and storm clouds gathering in the sky was reflected.

Rumble!

“Does the king think everyone is waiting while he fights? What magnificent knights.”

From the moment Valenciaunos charged toward Tenitia, Sererassie stood atop the mountain, calling forth the thunderclouds.

“But I don’t know anything about chivalry.”

With a flash!

A brilliant pillar of lightning fell straight from the midst of the swirling black thunderclouds.

At a glance, it appeared almost divine.

Boom!

“Ugh!”

Ensis staggered and dropped his sword, momentarily turning his back to Valenciaunos.

Valenciaunos clenched his teeth and rose once more.

Now was the moment to see the end.

Whirr.

His right arm was wrapped in semi-translucent dark-red scales, and the eerie flames ignited.

He firmly held Ensis’s chest with his left hand while thrusting his right hand into his back.

“Having survived this long, it’s time for you to shoulder your sins!”

He shouted with a voice filled with malice.

His dragon-scaled hand, tempered by the spirit’s flame, penetrated his rotting body.

Crack!

The white fabric of his uniform sleeve became stained with dark red blood, and Ensis’s blue eyes widened briefly, ultimately, Valenciaunos’s fingertips and flames burst forth from his chest.

Thud!

His heart ruptured.

“Kugh…”

The light that had shone for 260 years began to slowly fade from Ensis’s eyes.

* * *

“Hah, hah.”

I exhaled roughly and raised my head.

3,000 troops and strong knights stood before me, and Philius wore a bewildered expression.

“Father?”

I chuckled and pulled my arm free from Ensis’s corpse.

The world.

It was all ruined.