Ch.188The Empire’s Greatest Sword?

The knights all drew their swords at once.

Not a conscious decision, but a conditioned reflex ingrained in their bodies.

But their reaction stopped right there.

The knights couldn’t bring themselves to point their drawn swords, standing awkwardly as they stared at Leopold.

Their faces were filled with confusion and hesitation.

That was understandable.

The prince’s sudden change after seemingly being persuaded by Lord Valenstein, along with the content of his outburst, must have been incredibly perplexing.

Even I was taken aback.

“Did His Highness Leopold just say…?”

“The Empress Isabella is a witch? Wasn’t Ophelia the witch? And a royal assassin…?”

“The last bloodline…?”

The knights began to stir.

If Leopold’s words were true, pointing their swords at him would be tantamount to committing treason against the Empire itself.

Yet believing his claims without any evidence would be difficult for them to accept.

In the end, the knights seemed to choose a neutral response, unable to decide either way.

They wouldn’t attack first, but they maintained their encirclement.

—-

Lord Valenstein gazed at the knights for a moment, then set down the heads and placed his hand on his sword hilt.

“Your Highness Leopold. Your joke goes too far. I understand your desire to believe your mistress… but to try to frame Her Majesty the Empress? I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything if you sheathe your sword now. Falling for a honey trap is unbecoming of royalty.”

…I’m not his mistress, you bastard.

Valenstein was admonishing him like a child. His words were excessively disrespectful for addressing a prince.

Seems like he’s starting to show his true colors.

Leopold, far from sheathing his sword, raised its tip toward him.

“The one who fell for a honey trap would be you, Valenstein. Is what’s under Isabella’s skirt that impressive? Enough to make an old man nearly seventy drool shamelessly?”

Wow.

His statement was truly admirable.

Leopold’s criticism, having abandoned his conciliatory attitude, was dozens of times more explicit than I expected. Almost unbelievable.

“What did you just say…”

Even Valenstein, whose expression hadn’t changed until now, furrowed his brow, apparently not expecting such criticism.

“Why so angry? I understand completely. After spending a lifetime fondling your blade and yourself, how sweet must be the taste of a woman in your old age? Sweet enough to throw away loyalty and honor to roll around with her. I’ll soon have another sibling, though we share neither father nor mother.”

“…It seems you’ve been thoroughly bewitched by that woman. To the point of losing your sound mind. Even the late Emperor never spoke to me like this.”

“Had Father seen you being intimate with Isabella, he might have thought differently. Wouldn’t he be cheering me on right now?”

Finally, Valenstein drew his sword.

A faint blue light emanated from the blade. As he had claimed, this too was a true silver sword.

Leopold turned to look at me.

His face, streaming with cold sweat, wore a faint smile.

“Since things have come to this… we have no choice but to fight. I’m counting on you, Princess.”

“I’m surprised. Honestly, I didn’t expect you to choose combat here. Even knowing you have almost no chance of winning.”

I replied without taking my eyes off Valenstein.

I had no luxury to look elsewhere.

The moment he drew his sword, a mountain-like pressure began bearing down on me.

The Empire’s Greatest Sword.

Yes. Unfortunately, it seemed that reputation wasn’t just empty talk.

“How much longer would you live anyway? At best, you’d end up like Ernst. One shouldn’t follow the words of someone untrustworthy.”

“How bold of you. You should have been like this from the start.”

I said with a hint of laughter.

Leopold also smiled and cleared his throat.

Fersen, who had been looking back and forth between Leopold and me, sighed deeply and drew his sword.

“What a life I lead…”

Though he muttered quietly as if lamenting.

“Fersen. Take care of His Highness.”

I ordered Fersen as I pulled out Frosting and slipped it onto my left arm. His skills might be somewhat insufficient against them, but there was no choice.

No matter how I looked at it, I wouldn’t have the luxury to worry about the prince’s safety.

“Aishan-Gioro Princess. Are you determined to drink the punishment wine rather than the offered wine? You must understand what it means to engage in battle here.”

“Talk about offered wine. An old man like you might drink whatever is given, but unfortunately, I’ve sworn off alcohol!”

After a long wait, the Oath Sword I finally drew flashed with a chilling light.

“That’s fortunate. Since you’ve refused to comply with imperial law and shown hostility… what you’ll have to drink from now on won’t be mere alcohol.”

Valenstein pointed his sword at me.

The pressure that had been spreading in all directions gathered at the tip of his sword.

“Werner von Valenstein, sword of Karl Las, declares! From this moment, the Ka’har Princess, Haschal Aishan-Gioro, is considered a suspect in the assassination of royalty! Imperial Knights, battle formation! Fulfill your duty as knights!”

With that resolute command, the Empire’s strongest sword came crashing down like an avalanche.

============

Despite Lord Valenstein’s order, the knights couldn’t bring themselves to swing their swords for a while.

They were reluctant to raise their swords against Prince Leopold to secure him.

After all, Empress Isabella’s decree only ordered the capture of the Aishan-Gioro Princess, and the prince’s alleged involvement was merely Lord Valenstein’s conjecture.

If it turned out that Prince Leopold was simply deceived… they would be the ones in trouble for pointing swords at him.

Additionally, they were concerned about Fersen, who was growling with his sword raised.

Despite his inquisitor-like behavior, he was a knight with excellent swordsmanship and mental fortitude, even among the Royal Guard.

In the history of the Royal Guard, he was the only one who had eaten forty rye bread rolls without any water.

Even senior knights who had served in the order for years would shake their heads, calling him a terrible man.

Yet they couldn’t attack the Aishan-Gioro Princess either, as there was simply no opening.

A duel between masters, and top-tier masters at that.

It was not a battlefield where ordinary knights could intervene.

– Claaaaaang!

The two true silver swords collided furiously, unleashing thunderous sounds.

It was like watching a battle between order and chaos.

Aishan-Gioro unleashed a storm of attacks, using her sword, left hand, and legs—every limb at her disposal.

Facing her, Lord Valenstein calmly deflected all these attacks with his longsword gripped in both hands.

“Is that the Were Eater of Ka’har…!”

“To be evenly matched with Lord Valenstein… is that even possible at her age?”

To the knights, the gap between the two didn’t seem that large.

Strangely enough.

============

The Empire’s Greatest Sword, Werner von Valenstein.

Despite his aura rivaling Orhan’s… once we actually fought, he was surprisingly manageable.

“What’s this? Better than I expected. Is your nickname ‘Empire’s Greatest Fraud’ actually true?”

I taunted while continuing my attacks aggressively.

If this was the extent of his skill, then the word “fraud” would be accurate.

But that didn’t mean I had the advantage… not quite.

– Clang!

My thrusting left hand was deflected by his sword tip, and my following slash was likewise blocked.

Though I wasn’t using my full strength… it shouldn’t have been so easily blocked.

If it had been Nigel, he would have at least been pushed back.

“Fraud, what a nostalgic nickname. Did you hear it from Orhan?”

Valenstein calmly asked as he deflected Durandal by tilting his blade.

…Actually, I saw it on a strategy guide website.

I guess Orhan must have called him that too?

“Well, I’m not on good terms with my father.”

“Is that so?”

Valenstein withdrew his sword and corrected his stance, smiling coldly.

Every sense in my body rang alarm bells.

– Booooom!!

I instinctively blocked his slash. The ground beneath my feet shattered in concentric circles.

The shockwave became a gust of wind that pushed back the knights.

Unlike his defensive stance until now, Valenstein’s first attack was…

at least twice as fast as I had anticipated.

“Indeed, you received it without even bending your knees. You’ve certainly inherited proper strength. I’m envious.”

“And you’re too old to have any power left!”

I pushed back against his sword, drawing on my karma to add strength.

The vortex of murder karma surrounding my body writhed, emitting a red light.

“Materialized murder karma… I’ve heard there are such people occasionally, but this is my first time seeing it in person.”

Valenstein’s sword began to gradually give way.

Though I was inferior in terms of karma depth and swordsmanship itself, I had a slight advantage in raw strength and speed.

Physical abilities that surpassed even knights who had trained for decades.

It was my body, but this power felt like cheating no matter how I looked at it.

“Yes. As you say, I’m already old. I can’t match a young person in their prime when it comes to strength.”

“That’s a pathetic excuse—”

“…So I must do this instead.”

The moment Valenstein twisted his sword hilt in a peculiar way, the sky and earth seemed to flip.

“Huh?”

Dirt flying before my eyes.

The impact on my shoulder told me what happened.

It wasn’t that the world had flipped, but that I had been slammed into the ground.

Even experiencing it directly, I couldn’t understand the principle behind it.

– Craaaaaack!

With the momentum of being slammed down, I skidded several meters, tearing up the ground with my shoulder blade.

“Ugh…!”

Just as I managed to grab the ground and stop,

– Whoosh!

With a sharp cutting sound, three swords came crashing down above my pinned head.

The knights.

Having given up on resolving their doubts, they had decided to stop thinking for themselves and obey orders.