WHOOOOOOSH!
A wind laden with the scent of blood swept swiftly past his cheek.
Inside the pulled-down helmet, red eyes that seemed steeped in the color of blood flashed.
Armor stained with the deep darkness of the night sky.
The hidden knight order of the Valenruk family.
Commonly called the Shadows, they gathered in one place after completing the final mission they had been given.
“With this, the First Prince's hands and feet have all been cut off.”
“The Glory Knight Order. All that noise about their reputation, and they were nothing special.”
Two members of the Shadow Knight Order spoke in low voices as they watched the mansion burning below the hill.
However…….
“Our fallen?”
“……Five.”
Out of a knight order numbering a mere thirty, five had died.
Of course, considering that their opponent had been the Glory Knight Order, the strongest in the kingdom, the damage could be said to be next to nothing.
However, everyone knew.
That if their commander, Theron, had not swiftly killed the Knight Commander of the Glory Knight Order, more than half of them would have died in this mission.
Theron spoke to the vice commander beside him.
“Gather the bodies of our members. We cannot leave them in a place like this to become food for wild beasts.”
“Understood.”
“The target has been completely annihilated. The mission is over, but do not let your guard down until we secure our retreat and return. There may be an enemy ambush.”
The Kingdom of Bartian.
The balance in the struggle between the First Prince and the Third Prince, once taut, had now completely collapsed.
Castillo Valenruk, who supported the Third Prince.
By placing the Third Prince on the throne, he would become the new power of the Kingdom of Bartian.
Under Castillo's banner.
The Shadow Knight Order had silently carried out countless difficult and dangerous missions until now.
And now…….
“So the fight for the throne will come to an end.”
“Heh heh, maybe we'll finally get some rest from now on?”
“Rest? As if. We might get sent off to some battlefield on the frontier.”
“That's nonsense. Our lord's become the most powerful man in this kingdom now. That's what we were made for in the first place, isn't it?”
The purpose of the Shadow Knight Order.
It was for this moment alone that they had been able to run without rest until now.
In effect, this was the final mission.
“Enough. We are returning now.”
“Yes!”
At the Shadow Knight Order's answer, Theron raised his blood-stained sword.
From hilt to blade, it was entirely black, like his armor.
Then, as even the moon that had been casting its silver light hid behind the clouds, the world was dyed in darkness.
It was precisely the time when the Shadow Knight Order moved best.
WHOOSH!
Behind Theron, who ran at the front, the Shadow Knight Order moved swiftly.
As expected, there were soldiers from the First Prince's side lying in ambush along the retreat route, but.
“AAAAARGH!”
“AAGH!”
They were wiped out without being able to launch a single proper attack.
Truly overwhelming martial might.
Awe settled in the eyes of the Shadow Knight Order's members as they looked at Theron.
And the Shadow Knight Order, having returned safely, immediately gathered in one place by their lord's command.
“Hoo…… I wish they'd let us rest a little. What's with telling us to assemble the moment we get back?”
“I want to wash up already. No matter how much I wash and wash, this smell of blood never seems to come off.”
“But why are they telling us all to gather at the underground training ground?”
Their heads were full of complaints and puzzlement.
But Theron simply headed to the underground training ground in silence.
“So you have all gathered.”
“……Instructor.”
When they went down to the underground training ground, a familiar man was holding the place.
Berton.
The chief instructor who had trained them at the place called Hell Island.
Countless trainees had died at that man's hands, and there had been innumerable times when even they themselves had nearly died.
But they held no resentment.
Because there was no denying that the brutal training had made them strong.
Only, here…….
“Why are you here, Instructor?”
Theron, who had been silent, asked.
At that, Berton counted the number of Shadow Knight Order members present.
“Five short. Did they die?”
“…….”
At that question, Theron's gaze sank coldly.
He had thought that a day like this might come someday.
“This instructor is very pleased with your accomplishments all this while. However…… Hh, hngh!”
BANG!
With a sound like something bursting, Theron's figure shot toward Berton like an arrow.
At that moment, something came flying from the side.
CLANG—!
Struck away by his aura-wrapped hand, it embedded itself in the ceiling.
At the same time, those who had been hiding behind the pillars revealed themselves.
“Th, Th, Th, Theroooooon!”
Berton, who had fallen onto the floor, roared in great fury.
He had kept a considerable distance, and yet had he not nearly died in literally the blink of an eye?
“You wretch…… Could it be that you were hiding your strength?”
Berton's eyes shook with bewilderment.
But Theron turned his gaze to those who had surrounded them.
Roughly fifty.
However, unlike them, these men were armed in splendid white armor adorned with golden patterns.
At the sight, the Shadow Knight Order's members looked at them with flustered expressions.
Because unlike those armed men, they themselves held nothing but a single sword.
Theron asked Berton.
“……Was this your aim from the beginning? To kill all of us?”
“Is it not the way of the world that new water be poured into a new vessel?”
With those words, Berton took a fist-sized orb out of his coat.
It was an orb glowing with an ominous red light that Theron had never seen before in his life.
Then a small arc formed at the corner of Berton's mouth.
“You were my perfect masterpieces. That much, I will not deny.”
“What the hell is that bullshit?!”
“Damned bastard. I'll kill you!”
Unable to hold back any longer, the Shadow Knight Order's members shouted and charged at Berton.
At the sight, the knights in white armor seemed to flinch, but.
HUMMMMMM!
Berton infused mana into the orb he was holding.
And at the same time.
POP!
“……!”
Along with the sensation of something bursting inside their bodies.
“GRAGH!”
“HACK!”
The Shadow Knight Order's members coughed up blood and collapsed where they stood.
At the sight, Theron's eyes shook.
They were comrades who had shared pain and pleasure with him and crossed the line of death together until now.
Every single one of them had stepped into the initial stage of Aura Expert.
Such strong men had met a hollow death without being able to put up a single bit of resistance.
But…….
“H, how…… How can y, you wretch still be alive?”
Berton said with a greatly flustered expression.
“You must have taken the Death Sigil…… I confirmed that every single trainee took it……!”
“……Death Sigil?”
“Yes! The day you wretches first learned the mana cultivation method. That day, you were all gathered in one place, and I confirmed that every one of you swallowed the pill containing the Death Sigil!”
Berton shouted loudly, as though he wanted to deny this situation.
At that moment, a memory from some ten years ago…… from that time flashed through Theron's mind as well.
Over the whole ten-year training period, there had been only a few times when all the trainees on Hell Island had gathered in one place.
And if they had eaten something…….
GRIND.
Theron knew what the Death Sigil was.
When mana was infused into the linked device, the worm lodged in the heart would awaken and burst the heart.
‘So from the very beginning…… we were just tools to be used and thrown away?’
New water into a new vessel.
Now that they were becoming the new power, they meant to erase all of them, the ones who had taken on the dirty work.
“I do not know the reason, but even so, you will not be able to go on living. Kill that bastard!”
Berton gave the order, looking at the knights in white armor.
But at that moment.
CRAAAAASH!
With a tremendous explosion, the white-armored knights around him were all sent flying.
Amid the thick dust that blocked their view, Berton shouted.
“The bastard is escaping! Do not let him get away, no matter what!”
Theron was the most outstanding of all the bastards he had raised.
That one, above all, must never be allowed to escape.
But…….
SQUELCH!
“……!”
Along with the pain he felt in his chest, Berton slowly lowered his head.
A blade had pierced through his chest and come out the front.
On the black blade was his own red blood.
“You……!”
Berton turned his head to look at Theron, who was standing behind him.
Theron stared at him with coldly sunken eyes, then.
SLASH!
He swung the sword sideways as he pulled it out.
THUD.
Leaving behind Berton, who had collapsed with his body split in half, Theron turned his gaze toward his comrades lying on the floor.
In his heart, he wanted to take them all with him and give them a funeral, but.
“……I will come back for you later.”
Right now, getting out of this place came first.
WHOOSH!
Theron threw himself toward the entrance leading to the first floor.
The white-armored knights hurriedly blocked his way, but.
HUMMMM!
His sword vibrated slightly, and red aura gushed out.
The aura, possessing terrifying destructive power, swallowed up every last one of the white-armored knights blocking his way in an instant.
CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!
The aura blew away nearly half the building, and through the broken wall, the outside was laid bare.
WHOOSH!
Theron quickly got out of the building and ran along the thicket.
But…….
“Indeed…… Just as expected?”
“……?!”
Theron froze at the sight of the one blocking his way.
The man he had followed until now, calling him his lord.
“……Castillo Valenruk.”
Because he was standing there.
Castillo wore a relaxed smile, as though he had expected Theron to get out.
“Is Berton dead?”
“……Was even that part of your plan?”
“He was skilled, but he, too, was nothing more than a vessel that needed replacing.”
“We offered up our souls for you. Why……?”
“Regrettably, you are too strong. No…… Theron, you wretch, you have grown too strong.”
Even though he had learned the Darkfin Mana Cultivation Method, whose limit was clearly set.
“You surpassed that limit and even got rid of the Death Sigil.”
A dog that could not be controlled had no choice but to be killed.
Besides…….
“A new world is about to unfold. Should the fact that dirty work was done not be forgotten?”
“…….”
Theron gripped his sword tightly without a word.
Behind him stood the white-armored knight order, and in front, the Third Prince's direct knight order, including Castillo, surrounded Theron.
And…….
“I have brought an esteemed guest in case of any unforeseen variables, so you would do well to discard any useless thoughts.”
STEP.
A man took a step forward from beside Castillo.
Called one of the strongest swordsmen on the continent today…….
“Asbon Zionheart…….”
“I bear you no personal feelings, but I need you to die here.”
The most trusted of the Third Prince's trusted men.
‘In the end…….’
It felt as though everyone in the world wanted him dead.
Theron looked up at the darkened night sky and slowly exhaled.
“……Hoo.”
In that moment, the faces of his dead comrades flashed before his eyes.
Right…….
“Even if I'm going down.”
HUMMMMMM!
Theron raised his sword.
Soon, the thought of escape was erased from his mind without a trace.
Only one thing remained.
“You will die here as well.”
Theron said, looking at Castillo.
At least the one who had torn their fates away like this, root and all.
THUD!
With a powerful impact, Theron's figure shot toward Castillo as if launched.
At the same time.
“Strike.”
The white-armored knights and the Third Prince's direct knights surrounding Theron charged at him.
CLING! CLING! CLANG—! CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!
He fought against a hundred-some knights, yet Theron did not retreat even slightly.
Like a wounded beast, he cut down the knights before him, cut, and cut again.
At the sight, Asbon's eyes gradually filled with astonishment.
“……Did that man truly learn the Darkfin Mana Cultivation Method?”
“That is the only thing taught on Hell Island…… so he must have.”
At Castillo's answer, Asbon's gaze sank still.
A mana cultivation method with clear limits.
And yet a man who had learned no more than intermediate-level swordsmanship could become this strong.
‘If…….’
What if that man had learned a far superior mana cultivation method and a different swordsmanship?
At a feeling that raised goosebumps from merely imagining it, Asbon drew his sword.
“Will you step in personally?”
“You cannot afford to lose every knight you raised with such care, can you?”
Before they knew it, more than thirty knights had fallen to the ground as cold corpses.
At the sight, Castillo, too, nodded with a stiff expression.
Because Theron's strength was greater than he had thought.
“I will ask it of you, then.”
Asbon drew up his aura and unleashed a powerful presence.
CRASH—!
Asbon's lips curled up at the sight of Theron blocking his strike.
Because now that he faced his sword directly, the man's strength was beyond even what he had thought.
But…….
“Had you fought in a proper state, it would have been a little more enjoyable…… A pity.”
“Ngh……!”
Just as he said, Theron had consumed far too much aura while fighting the other knights.
Besides, had he not only just returned from completing a mission?
No, even if he had fought in a proper state, how many times could he have withstood this man's sword?
The gap in skill, so vast it was dizzying, could not be filled by any excuse.
SQUELCH!
He felt, exactly as it was, the sensation of cold metal piercing into his heart.
The strength drained from his entire body, and his vision blurred.
THUD.
‘All for…….’
Had he lived so fiercely, only for a fate of dying like this?
Theron spilled out a gush of blood as he looked ahead.
Castillo, who had come close before he knew it, spoke to Theron with his characteristic smile.
“Still, a new history of the kingdom will be written thanks to what you wretches accomplished. Consider it an honor and close your eyes.”
‘Honor……? A new history of the kingdom……?’
F*ck, what was any of that crap supposed to mean?
We…….
‘Again…… if I'm given one more chance.’
Blood flowed down from the lips he had bitten hard in bitter injustice.
If he could turn everything back, then that time…….
But before that thought could even continue.
SHHHUNK!
Dozens of swords pierced Theron's body, and his vision turned black.
And…….
“……This place?”
At the sight of the familiar room, Theron could not hide his bewildered expression.
Tab 2