Chapter 137

Somewhere, I felt uneasy. It felt like someone called my name, so I hurried upstairs with the children. But what awaited me at the top of the stairs was Squar, covered in blood.

“Sister, are you okay?!”

“I’m fine. It’s not my blood, just from running into some enemies. By the way… why did you bring all these kids?”

I explained the situation, and Squar nodded as if she understood. Despite her appearance, she’s a deeply sentimental person, just like the Heavenly Demon Old Man. They were the ones who gave Werner (me), an orphan, things like a surname and a name.

“Got it. First, we need to get the kids out of here. The Heavenly Demon Old Man will find his way out, so let’s go ahead. Something feels off here. We’ll come back with more comrades later…”

“No, Sister, you take the kids and go ahead. I’ll go look for the Heavenly Demon Old Man. I can’t shake this uneasy feeling.”

I couldn’t ignore this ominous sensation wrapping around me. It felt like sticky black tar clinging to my body. My instincts were screaming at me. Or was it the gloves? What the hell did my mother do to these gloves?

“Hey, wait!”

“Sorry, Sister, take the kids and go ahead!”

“You know how strong that old monster is! He’s second only to Zick! If he’s the betrayer, you’re dead! And even if he’s not, what can you do against enemies he can’t handle? Why are you going?!”

“I just feel like I have to!”

“You idiot, blockhead!”

Maybe I am an idiot. I threw myself into danger even though I knew it was risky. Was this Werner’s personality influencing me? Or my own instincts? I don’t know. Right now, Werner and I are like sugar dissolved in coffee—completely blended. Either way, it was my instincts driving me.

I ran down the path the Heavenly Demon Old Man had taken. The corridor was ridiculously long. What the hell were the Black Round Table guys thinking, building something like this underground? But that didn’t matter now.

After running for about 20 minutes, a massive iron gate blocked my way.

“Wind, tear down the barrier before me.”

A fierce wind blew, forcing the heavy iron gate open. I was already exhausted from using half my magic in the previous battle, and the gate took more out of me than I expected.

“Old Man! Are you okay?!! Why haven’t you come out yet…”

I couldn’t believe my eyes. The Heavenly Demon Old Man, who was supposed to be second only to Zick, the Hero of the Holy Sword, was lying on the ground with a hole in his chest. I rushed to him.

“Old Man! Open your eyes! Who did this to you? Damn it, we need to get you out and treat you! Can you stand?”

The Heavenly Demon Old Man said nothing. His heart was gone. The wind blew through the gaping hole in his chest, touching my hand.

“Clutching a corpse like that… what a tearful melodrama.”

A familiar voice. That damn Rocket Grunt-like bastard.

“Hey… Lancelot, is that you?”

“Indeed, Lancelot is one of the names I’ve been given. But I’d appreciate it if you could be more specific with your questions.”

“You damn ear-pricking bastard. Did you kill the Old Man?”

Tears automatically streamed down my face. This was definitely Werner’s personality influencing me. To me, the Heavenly Demon was just a game character and a grandfather I’d known for a few days, but to Werner, he was like family.

If Zick was like a brother, Camellia like a sister, and Media like a first love… then Squar was like a mother, and the Heavenly Demon was like a father.

Automatically, countless memories Werner had shared with the Heavenly Demon flashed through my mind like a panorama.

—

One day, Werner overheard some merchants from the East laughing at him in their language. He didn’t understand Eastern languages, but he remembered the sound of certain words.

“Old Man, what does ‘fatherless brat’ mean in Eastern language?”

“Why do you ask?”

“The merchants from the East pointed at me and called me a fatherless brat. I don’t understand their language.”

The Heavenly Demon chuckled and ruffled Werner’s hair.

“Ow! You’re messing up my hair!”

“You little…”

Werner rubbed the bump on his head from the lightning-fast flick, and the Heavenly Demon cleared his throat before speaking.

“If anyone says that again, ignore them. You have good brothers and a leader, don’t you? If you want, I could be your adoptive father…”

“No, thanks. You don’t even have any inheritance to leave, and I might have to take care of you when you’re old. And what’s with the cringy talk…”

Three consecutive flicks followed. Werner rolled on the ground clutching his head, and the Heavenly Demon crouched down, asking in a chilling voice,

“By the way, which dogs… I mean, which people said that to you?”

“Those uncles near the Eastern ships at the harbor.”

“Hoho… They’ve come from my homeland. I should welcome them properly.”

That day, several ships from the Eastern continent mysteriously sank, but the Heavenly Demon just brushed it off, saying he had nothing to do with it.

—

“Old Man… no, Grandfather…”

Whose question was this?

But the Heavenly Demon gave no answer. Like a foolish child, he remained silent.

Whose pain was this, tearing through my chest?

It was too much to dismiss as just Werner’s influence. It felt like my own heart was being ripped apart.

“I’ll kill you. I swear I’ll kill you with my own hands.”

“Hmph… I’ll let you keep that misunderstanding. All I took was his left arm. The one who took his life was Mordred, the betrayer among you.”

“Yeah, save that crap for your mom’s ears in hell, you bastard.”

“How barbaric. Have you abandoned the dignity of a mage?”

“I left it at your mom’s grave, you piece of trash.”

Lancelot remained calm. No, he showed no expression at all, but even as I radiated killing intent, he still didn’t draw his sword, just leaned against the wall. How much more did he need to look down on people to be satisfied? But that didn’t matter.

“I’ll kill you. Die and apologize in hell… You’ll pay for everything you’ve taken from people!!!”

You took the meaning of life from Werner.

You took his family from that poor man.

You took from me a man who could have been my closest friend.

You took from me (Werner) a man I saw as a father.

Whose tears, whose cries, whose sorrow, whose anger this was no longer mattered.

Werner, your tears are my tears. My cries are your cries. Your sorrow is my sorrow. And this anger is ours.

“Horn of the Thunder Dragon, pierce the wicked and judge━━”

“Horn of the Thunder Dragon, pierce the wicked and judge.”

Before I could finish the incantation, Lancelot’s fingertips glowed, and a lightning-shaped horn pierced my chest. Warm liquid flowed through my cold body, and high-voltage electricity coursed through me, making it feel like my entire body was burning.

“Ugh…”

“Anger shakes even your incantations. Magic is the praise of knowledge, a system of techniques that stands in opposition to trivial emotions like anger.”

“Shut up, you psycho…”

“The Spirit King and the Archmage… to be defeated because you can’t control your emotions… truly disappointing.”

He clicked his tongue at the blood on my body.

“The reason I came here today was to punish that foolish man who was stealing experimental subjects… but it seems he’s already dead. How pathetic.”

He spat at Olrag’s death.

“Shut up! He was a hundred times better than a bastard like you!”

Damn it, it’s getting harder to breathe… I need to find an opening…

“Those so-called moderates thought they could change the Round Table with Tristan… but unfortunately, he despises this world more than anyone.”

“Tristan or… Christmas tree, I don’t care… just die.”

I pulled out the dagger Olrag left and tried to stab Lancelot.

“Truly a pitiful struggle.”

Lancelot easily dodged and stomped on me.

“To think the result of denying me would be this… how pathetic. Just die here…”

As his sword was about to take my life,

The sound of clashing swords echoed, and Lancelot’s attention shifted.

“You’ve come.”

Lancelot turned his gaze to where Camellia stood.

“Step aside, Father. If you’re going to take even my precious person after taking my comrades… I’ll take your life.”

But Lancelot still didn’t flinch.

“How many times do I have to say it? I didn’t kill him.”