Ch.135135. The Defense of Kairos (2)

Agnes Blanche Lumiere.

In many ways, she was a complete human being. Royal bloodlines were extensions of the finest bloodlines in the continent, tied together like a knot. When adorned, she could humble flowers and jewels; wielding a sword, she could defeat accomplished knights; in debate, she could tie the tongues of politicians; and her wisdom rivaled that of wanderers who had seen the ends of the earth.

But even among these qualities, Agnes was special.

Born as the second daughter of the previous king, Boller Glize Lumiere, Agnes had seven siblings. Four above her, three below. Centered around the First Prince, Edvar Blanche Lumiere, the royal eight siblings were quite peaceful. The firstborn’s qualities were not inferior to the previous king’s, and his character approached that of a virtuous ruler. Edvar treated his siblings with human compassion, and they outwardly respected and admired him.

Even siblings born of different mothers believed without doubt that the firstborn from the queen would become king. Thus, the remaining seven abandoned their ambitions for the throne early on. When the succession to the throne was certain, it was better to stay in the king’s good graces and preserve their current positions than to oppose him. Boller Lumiere’s succession plan seemed to be proceeding smoothly, and everyone in the royal family believed no blood would be shed.

Then in autumn, Edvar, destined to become crown prince, died of illness. Agnes was about fifteen at the time.

Tension filled the royal court. With the likely successor dead, a game of power began. The concubines mobilized their families to quietly start vying for position, and the king half-abandoned them to their devices. No one was satisfied. Royal authority is formidable. As long as no one crossed the line, the throne could be passed to whoever survived the struggle.

A bloody storm swept through the palace.

The noble factions that the royal family needed to keep in check collapsed while fighting among themselves for succession. Or they crossed the line and fell to the king’s sword. It was exactly as the king had wanted.

The first to be eliminated was the fourth, the Third Prince. His maternal family collapsed and was driven from the capital. Next came the second, the First Princess, followed by the sixth, seventh, and youngest in succession. The Third Prince was poisoned, and the First Princess hanged herself. The sixth was stabbed to death, while the seventh and youngest lost their positions and retreated to the borderlands.

“…impossible… you, you…”

Those were the last words of the third, the Second Prince, before his death. The fifth, Agnes Blanche Lumiere, watched until her brother closed his eyes. Thus, Agnes was the last one standing. She was eighteen, just having come of age. The second child of the queen and the youngest daughter easily overwhelmed all her siblings and became the successor. Agnes reported her siblings’ deaths at Edvar’s grave. The day after the succession war ended, the king closed his eyes. Blood upon blood. Agnes became an object of both reverence and terror.

That’s how Agnes became queen. She hadn’t become queen because she wanted to. She had acted on the thought that she couldn’t let someone else take her dead brother’s place. It was heavy, lonely, and difficult. Agnes thought this as she shouldered the weight of the throne she hadn’t particularly wanted.

“I didn’t think it would end with just one sword strike.”

Agnes muttered as she looked at the halved monster horde. Spilling long, mucus-like blood, the horde writhed on the ground. The red traces left by Agnes’s aura shimmered like heat haze. Agnes’s aura was red. A red resembling blood, roses, and rubies.

“Keep the occasional monsters that pop up in check.”

Agnes said this to the knights and picked up her sword again. The blade released a sharp cry as it shot aura, and the divided horde collapsed under Agnes’s sword. There was no fear, no hesitation. Agnes fought by burning and throwing herself into battle. The queen, being so excellent, too excellent, knew her sins and duties well.

She swings her sword. Agnes tried not to make much of the deaths around her. As a ruler, one should not be held back by the deaths of those who accompany them.

“Your Majesty, please…”

A knight fell. His armor was torn away by a monster’s claws. Human blood gushed forth. The knight turned his body to avoid staining the queen’s armor with blood. He stretched his foot forward. The sword path became a net. Aura entangled like a spider’s web and cut through the monster.

Cutting monsters wasn’t difficult. If there were tens of thousands clustered together, one simply had to draw tens of thousands of sword paths. The monsters’ teeth and claws would never reach Agnes.

Kwaaaargh!

The enraged monsters’ cries became one. Under the queen’s sword, the horde collapsed into smaller chunks. The chunks fell limply to the ground, got squashed, then rose again to charge. Agnes turned her head left and right. The remaining two were fighting desperately. They were repelling the charging monsters, cutting them down, and emitting aura that burned their life force.

So you wish to follow me that much.

Agnes turned her gaze away from the knights. The knights continued their desperate struggle, not even noticing that the queen had looked at them. They were among the kingdom’s finest knights. The remaining two wouldn’t fall so easily. Agnes believed this and swung her sword.

Weight.

And then Agnes recalled the day she first met the Hero.

==

“Your Majesty, about the person who pulled out the ‘relic.'”

It was the grand hall. As a meeting no different from usual was coming to an end. Recently, unsettling events had been occurring throughout the kingdom. The tension of the ministers who had been on edge while proposing solutions was melting away like early spring ice. Now the queen would dismiss them, and the ministers would sigh in relief and return in small groups.

“Yes. That did happen.”

And with someone’s raised topic, the atmosphere in the hall grew cold again. The ‘relic.’ That is, the ‘Holy Sword.’ A sword that no one had been able to pull out for a very long time. The place where the sword was stuck after fulfilling its role became not a post-war ruin but a historic site, and the sword’s name changed from Holy Sword to relic. The person who pulled out such a ‘relic.’

“What happened after that? You’ve contacted the Holy Kingdom’s representatives, I assume?”

“Yes… The Holy Kingdom responded with great surprise and said they would immediately send a delegation to the palace. Of course, pulling out a Holy Sword that hasn’t been drawn for hundreds of years is surprising… but I wonder if there’s a reason for such a reaction.”

At the minister’s report, Agnes’s eyes narrowed.

“Have you secured the person? You should have at least figured out what kind of person they are.”

“Yes. We’re currently holding them at the guard checkpoint. Since they haven’t committed any crime, it’s difficult to imprison them… but fortunately, they’re cooperating fully with our investigation.”

It would have been alarming if they had been captured, but Agnes decided not to make a scene.

“I see. Report the information you’ve gathered so far.”

“His name is Ilroy. He doesn’t seem to have a family or surname. He makes a living as an adventurer in the capital, with no criminal record. He’s not a well-known name, so his skills seem to be just average. There’s really nothing noteworthy about him.”

“No surname, you say.”

At Agnes’s murmur, the reporting minister nodded.

“Yes. It’s not common, but children who grow up without connections still sometimes have such cases.”

“…I see.”

“Yes. So how will Your Majesty deal with this person? Historically, there’s a legend that those who draw the Holy Sword become heroes who save the world… but saving the world also means the world is in danger.”

The minister spoke with a concerned voice.

“Of course, it’s just a legend and rumor… something we could dismiss as hearsay, but what’s concerning is that signs across the continent are not looking good.”

“I’ll meet him.”

Agnes said this. The ministers mumbled awkwardly, each throwing in a word.

“Your Majesty. He’s just a commoner. Drawing a sword doesn’t change his lowly birth. Your Majesty, please reconsider.”

“Propose a better idea. Is all you can say that his origin is lowly, his status humble? Such talk is fit only for old men rotting in back rooms.”

The queen’s words were cold. The elders who had opened their mouths to flatter withdrew their tails and backed off.

“Show me the way. I’ll go see him now.”

The ministers murmured in confusion. Only the minister who had given the report calmly nodded and stepped forward to guide Agnes.

A hero who will save the world.

It was an unfamiliar phrase. Heroes did not exist. It would be better if they were created by chance. No one could be a hero from the beginning. If such a person existed, they would be crushed under the weight of the word, their bones ground to dust. A king at least has rewards commensurate with the weight, but a hero has only the desire for fame. A hero’s achievements are never properly rewarded. Perhaps a medal on the collar and a few coins.

That’s why they’re called heroes, I suppose.

“This way, Your Majesty.”

The guard post they reached after a short carriage ride was bustling. This was an unofficial, secret visit. No one except the duty commander knew of the queen’s visit.

“We’ve kept him secure. I imagine you have many questions.”

The duty commander’s voice was trembling. The queen did not answer his ramblings and moved forward. A strange presence was being felt. A very distinctive and unique presence. Agnes turned her head as if entranced.

“How did you know? He should be waiting in that room right now.”

The duty commander’s voice came from behind. Before his words fully reached the queen, Agnes’s hand pushed the door handle. In a room with only a simple desk and chair, a gray-haired man sat as if nailed to the chair, holding a sword.

“Are you Ilroy?”

The man called Ilroy raised his head. And Agnes, seeing those empty, endlessly falling teal eyes, recalled the ministers’ words.

Is this the hero who will save the world?

The Ilroy that Agnes saw was not the one who would deliver salvation, but the one who needed it.

==

“How amusing.”

Agnes muttered as she cut down another monster.

“I thought the responsibility I bore was heavy.”

Monster corpses piled up. Agnes and the two knights were still standing intact. Before them, monsters with a different aura approached. The monsters opened their jaws wide and spat out human words.

“You’re in the way. Die.”

Agnes looked at the monsters with their terrifying aura and spoke to herself again.

“But compared to the responsibility you’ve shouldered yourself, mine is nothing.”

No more knights should die. Before the escort knights could rush at the monsters, Agnes rushed at them first. The monster roared and tried to counter Agnes’s sword. Agnes’s sword did not allow their counterattack. The bright red aura cut through the monsters along with the arms they used to defend.

Agnes’s movements became much faster to match the monsters.

“I see! So you’re the Hero they’ve been talking about!”

The monster had clearly misunderstood something, but Agnes didn’t correct the misunderstanding. She simply swung her sword faster and stronger. The shoulder of the monster that mistook Agnes for the Hero was cut off. With the next sword path, the monster’s head was severed. Not satisfied with beheading it, Agnes’s sword moved on to target the next monster. Monster blood sprayed and soaked the ground again.

“I’ll gladly accept it. What your responsibility was.”

Was what she felt when she saw the Hero that day pity and sympathy, or a sense of kinship? It was a great contradiction that someone who seemed not to even know what salvation was would be destined to save the world.

“Die!”

She dodged an arm swinging down from above. Avoiding attacks that could be avoided was not wasteful. Unavoidable attacks were blocked, and attacks that couldn’t be blocked were deflected. If even that wasn’t possible, death would step one pace closer. That was the principle of battle.

Bang-!

She crushed it head-on. Without hesitation, Agnes split the head of a gray bear in two. A mole’s neck was next. Like a whirlwind suddenly appearing in a cornfield, nothing remained around Agnes. The more Agnes swung her sword, the more monsters approached her. Yet Agnes’s sword path did not waver.

“You… damn woman!”

Agnes laughed at the cry of a monster before its neck was cut. Her smile, drenched in monster blood, carried a chilling killing intent.

“How convenient. Bring them all over here. I’ll gladly meet and face you all.”

Agnes said loudly, as if enjoying herself. The monsters faithfully fulfilled Agnes’s request. More and more. The number of monsters rushing toward Agnes continued to increase. Agnes swung her sword and swung it again. Monsters that escaped through the net of aura pounced on the knights beside Agnes.

“No matter how many I kill, there’s no end.”

One moment of distraction. Agnes’s body was thrown back. One of the two remaining knights lost his life trying to protect Agnes as she rolled on the ground. The last remaining knight desperately tried to raise the queen and head back to the fortress. Agnes looked at the hellish scene unfolding beyond her blurred vision.

“I will stay. You go back.”

“That cannot be, Your Majesty.”

Agnes tried to stay on the battlefield, dragging her feet, but she also realized that any further struggle would be both reckless and futile. She could hear the soldiers on the fortress walls urgently shouting something.

“The fortress must be protected. If I return, the gate will fall.”

“It will not fall, Your Majesty. The soldiers are still holding strong. Even if we retreat now, the gate will not fall.”

“That’s a lie. For that to happen, thousands more soldiers would have to bleed and die.”

Agnes spoke with difficulty as she stood firm.

“Even so, preserving yourself is the responsibility of a ruler. Sacrificing some to rally the troops to the end and win this war is the duty of a ruler.”

“What duty and what responsibility? Do you think true victory is holding this fortress with the blood of thousands, tens of thousands of your people?”

“Yes. We must hold it even by such means. You must make ugly decisions.”

“Don’t you understand yet that that’s the excuse of those who just want to save their own lives!”

Agnes shouted, trying to shake off the escort knight’s hand. The escort knight used all his strength to hold onto Agnes, who was trying to break free from his grasp.

“Let go.”

“Even if you cut me down, I cannot allow that.”

While they were struggling, another wave of monsters approached. Agnes stared blankly at that wave. The monsters were truly like the sea. Even after one wave was repelled, endless new waves would crash in. Just as the queen’s hand desperately gripped her sword and the knight’s hand lost strength—

“…No, these aren’t new monsters.”

The monsters seemed to be chased by something. The wave of monsters gathered together, formed a horde, and then rolled toward somewhere.

“That’s…”

And then, the wave parted.

Beyond the parting ocean of monsters, a bright blue light pierced the sky.

“How did they get here…”

And right behind that blue light,

The military flag of Evernode was flying high.

“Who are we!”

That voice echoed across the battlefield, cutting through the monsters’ roars.

“We are the warriors of the North!”

And the tens of thousands of Northern elite soldiers responded to that question as one body.

“What is our mission!”

“To protect this country! From the enemies of the North!”

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

The sound of the army gathering shook the heart. Agnes looked with a blank expression at the army that appeared on the hill. Agnes read the lips of the Northern Grand Duke.

“We’ve come to repay our debt to the Hero, Ilroy.”

No more words were needed.

Quenore Strope extended his sword forward,

And the northern blizzard began to devour the black tide of monsters.