“Who is it?!”
This was the clearest glimpse Merlin had ever gotten of the shadow.
Recently, whenever he spent time with Lion El’Jonson, she had often mentioned feeling as though some shadow was watching them from a distance.
Until now, Merlin had assumed she was simply being paranoid because of how obsessed she had become with keeping secrets.
But now, faced with the figure before him, he had no choice but to believe her.
Merlin stared at the shadow and quickly backed away.
Zahariel, standing beside him, reacted even faster.
A dazzling light accompanied by a layer of frost spread around him.
During a Great Beast hunt not long ago, Zahariel had successfully awakened his psychic powers—a strange ability that seemed to slow time around him during moments of danger.
As everything around him slowed, he drew the bolt pistol at his side and aimed it at the suddenly appearing shadow—
“Hm?”
The instant his psychic power activated, the shadow disappeared.
There was nothing left among the trees and bushes.
It was as though the figure had never existed at all.
Elusive…
The shadow seemed completely unaffected by Zahariel’s psychic ability, appearing and disappearing whenever it pleased.
“It’s gone.”
“My Lord, do you know what kind of sorcery that was?”
Having lost his target, Zahariel withdrew his psychic power and turned toward the other “sorcerer” present—
Who, of course, wasn’t actually a sorcerer.
“I don’t know.
Stay alert.
We’re heading back.”
Merlin looked once more toward the spot where the shadow had disappeared.
There had been something strangely familiar about it.
Almost nostalgic.
But he had no idea why.
“Let’s go.”
…
From the moment the Great Beasts were released into the empty southern side of the fortress, the Knights of Lupus had been unable to organize any meaningful resistance.
With their fighting spirit collapsing, the eastern, western, and northern defenses of Saint Grula were breached almost simultaneously.
By the time Merlin and the others reached the northern battlefield, Lion El’Jonson had already led the united knightly army deep into the fortress.
“Well done.”
After they regrouped inside, Lion El’Jonson calmly praised them.
“Our knights are still searching for the leader of the Knights of Lupus, Lord Sartana.”
“Only his death will mark our complete victory.”
Eventually, they found him at the very top of the central keep.
“The war is over, Lord Sartana.”
Lion El’Jonson pointed her longsword toward him.
“You have only two choices left.”
“Duel me.”
“Or die.”
A duel.
It was an old tradition among the knights of Caliban.
Lion was offering the final enemy of the united knightly orders a dignified death, one that would mark the end of her conquest of Caliban.
“Heh…
you.”
Lord Sartana’s aged face twisted into a sneer.
“Such a naive way of thinking.”
“Lion El’Jonson, you still fail to understand the road awaiting Caliban.”
“It was the Great Beasts that shaped us.
They gave us a common enemy and a common purpose.”
“And now you have destroyed them.”
“Ridiculous.”
Lion El’Jonson slowly stepped forward.
“Your vision extends no further than the world in front of you, Sartana.”
“You will never understand how vast the stars beyond Caliban truly are.”
“I don’t understand?”
As though deeply insulted, Sartana’s eyes widened.
“The Knights of Lupus possess the greatest collection of ancient texts on Caliban!
We have detailed records of humanity dating back to the Dark Age!
How could I not understand?!”
“Just watch!”
“Without the threat of the Great Beasts, unrest will spread throughout society, and you will inevitably lead Caliban down a path of darkness!”
“I don’t understand why you’re so certain of that.”
“No.
You will understand, arrogant Lion.”
Sartana sneered.
“And when the time comes, you will understand it through tears.”
“I have seen your future.”
Then he suddenly turned his gaze toward Luther.
“Luther!
You will understand as well!”
“Hahaha!”
The next moment, Lord Sartana pulled his sword back.
Then, with a single motion, he drew the blade across his own throat.
Blood splattered across the books behind him.
“He killed himself.”
Lion El’Jonson stepped forward to check the body, then spoke quietly.
Sartana, the last leader of a knightly order on Caliban to oppose Lion El’Jonson, was dead.
Now there was no force left on the planet capable of stopping her from unifying Caliban.
Lion stared for a moment at Sartana’s body lying in a pool of blood, then looked through the fortress window toward the towering snow-covered mountains outside.
Everything felt strangely unreal.
She had succeeded.
Caliban had been completely unified by her and Merlin.
Together, they had forged a golden age for humanity on this world.
It was the ideal the two of them had established from the very beginning.
As the first light of dawn gradually rose in the distance, Lion quietly felt the warmth of the sunlight spilling into the room.
—It was finally time to tell Merlin everything in her heart…
No.
Not yet.
Her expression suddenly sharpened again.
“The Great Beasts released by the Knights of Lupus in the south are still roaming freely.”
Her confession—
No.
Her expression of feelings—
Would have to wait a little longer.
“Merlin.
Luther.”
“Clean up the battlefield.
Sort through the books here and take any useful or research-worthy records back to Aldurukh.”
“I’ll return after I’ve dealt with the remaining Great Beasts.” The source of this chapter is g.com.
“Yes.”
Luther watched Lion El’Jonson leave, then turned toward the priceless books filling the surrounding shelves.
His eyes immediately brightened.
For Luther, this assignment was almost too good to be true.
Ever since Lion El’Jonson had been chosen to lead the united knightly orders, Luther had largely withdrawn from frontline combat and spent most of his time assisting Merlin with logistics and administration.
Naturally, he was deeply interested in the enormous library of the Knights of Lupus.
And the collection wasn’t limited to the upper floors of the central keep.
Beneath the fortress stretched a vast underground archive.
Bookshelves nearly five meters tall were packed with ancient volumes, preserving knowledge collected by the Knights of Lupus over hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of years.
“Merlin, if possible, I truly wish we could take all of this knowledge with us.”
Luther’s voice grew increasingly excited.
“Just imagine how much progress we could make with everything stored here.”
“Do you have any recommendations?”
“Or perhaps your prophecy already told you what valuable knowledge the Knights of Lupus possessed?”
“No, Luther.”
Merlin stopped at the entrance to the spiral staircase leading down into the archives.
“Burn it all.”
“Burn it all?”
Luther stared at him.
“Wizard, are you serious?”
All of it?
Not even a single book left behind?
“Absolutely.”
Merlin turned toward Nemiel.
“Nemiel, start burning them.”
Not only did the books need to be destroyed—
Merlin intended to personally make sure they burned.
Every last one.
He wasn’t going to give Luther even the slightest opportunity to salvage something from the ruins.
Merlin remembered this part of the story very clearly.
In the history he knew, Luther had been corrupted after coming into contact with forbidden knowledge from the vast collection of the Knights of Lupus.
Eventually, he had led half of the Dark Angels into rebellion against their Primarch.
Luther might look as though he didn’t care much about the books right now.
But Merlin already knew how that story ended.
For all he knew, the man was simply waiting for an opportunity to quietly retrieve one surviving volume from the ashes.
There was no way Merlin was going to let history repeat itself at such a critical moment.
“Don’t let the knowledge in front of you cloud your judgment.”
“Luther, you’ve already seen how the Knights of Lupus controlled the Great Beasts.
Their dark sorcery twisted the creatures themselves.”
“We need to remain vigilant against knowledge like that being misused.”
Merlin looked directly at him.
“That includes you.”
“Me?”
Luther looked visibly unsettled.
“I know what you’re thinking.”
“Don’t try it.”
“This is advice from my prophecy.”
It really helps the fic grow!