Ch.27892. You Guys Don’t Know Yet?

Until now.

He had never once taken the initiative.

But.

Right after the starting bell rang.

After the White Knight spurred his steed forward and struck the ground.

“Hmm?!”

Alesius.

Just as he was about to advance, gripping the reins tightly, the Blue Knight.

The White Knight recklessly charged forward, throwing himself and his warhorse at him.

‘What’s this?’

Because he hadn’t let his guard down, he was able to react immediately.

CLANG!

…?

In an instant, the White Knight approached and swung his long lance, sending Alesius’s jousting lance flying through the air.

‘No way?!’

Reflexively drawing his sword, he somehow managed to block the follow-up attack.

But the next strike caught Alesius in the chest.

It was good that his feet were firmly planted in the stirrups, but.

Surely not…

NEEEIGH!

“Ugh?!”

…To be flipped over with his horse and sprawled onto the ground in one breath.

THUD!

…No one could have predicted it.

“Huh?”

Most of the spectators, who had been watching the match with enthusiasm, could only stare at the scene with their mouths agape or in complete shock.

Perhaps it was an impossible thing.

Or something they thought would never happen even if the sky fell.

The White Knight had always been considerate of others and respectful to his opponents.

But now, what was this?

“……”

Alesius, having barely escaped from between the struggling horse, stood upright on the ground.

The White Knight, still mounted, pointed his lance directly at him.

“……”

“……”

One collision.

Four exchanges that followed.

But that was all.

Their mounted combat… the White Knight.

It ended with his decisive victory.

People, the spectators remember.

They had always considered Raeus to be as great as the White Knight, or perhaps even greater.

The hellish North.

Ice mountains and naked barbarian tribes.

And the Demonic Ice Range, or the Demonic Abyss, teeming with the most powerful monsters since the disappearance of the Demon King’s army.

Raeus was a figure called a hero in such a place.

And judging by the results of his matches so far, he was an undeniable favorite to win.

…How on earth did this happen?

“Excellent… strategy.”

Alesius had to acknowledge it.

A first-strike strategy that broke the mold.

Even if he had properly prepared to counter it.

Alesius clearly recognized through the recent exchange that he would have been completely overwhelmed in the end.

To think he had been hiding his skills even here.

And for such a being to devise such a meticulous strategy.

One who had consistently shown straightforward devotion to chivalry.

Even that extremely passive and defensive demeanor.

To think it was all a calculated ploy for this moment.

“With that level of skill, you wouldn’t have needed to resort to tricks.”

It wasn’t meant as sarcasm, but a sincere admission born from regret and recognition of his opponent.

And in response to Alesius’s murmur, the White Knight said:

“In a real battle, would you still say that after dying because you dismissed such tactics?”

…He delivered a sharp rebuke.

“An undeniable statement.”

Alesius readily admitted his own naivety.

“I was completely defeated just now.”

After saying that, Alesius looked at his fallen steed and asked:

“Could you grant me a moment until this one retreats?”

“……”

The White Knight withdrew his lance.

As soon as the tension eased slightly, two magicians who had been on standby instantly appeared and teleported Alesius’s steed to the entrance area.

“……”

Eventually, Alesius straightened his posture, gripping his sword.

Watching this, the White Knight naturally dismounted as well.

“……”

Then he threw his jousting lance to the side.

For a knight who treats his weapons as extensions of his body, this was quite irresponsible behavior.

To some, this would be grounds for a scolding about improper attitude and mindset.

“Why is he doing that?”

That question voiced by one spectator was probably the doubt shared by most.

“……”

And Alesius, facing him, was feeling that sense of dissonance more intensely than anyone.

‘Come to think of it….’

Data, who had fought fiercely against the White Knight before the finals, had said something like this.

That he wasn’t really a knight.

‘It wasn’t just empty words.’

Or perhaps a knight who had experienced some event that made him deny and disregard chivalry.

“I heard that as a finalist, you declined the invitation to the imperial palace.”

Traditionally, finalists and semi-finalists are invited to the imperial palace the day before the tournament.

This is to protect the participants from any external pressure or tricks.

However, the White Knight had never been seen outside the arena, let alone at the imperial palace.

“As the winner, what do you wish to ask of His Imperial Majesty?”

“……”

This too would normally be determined in advance.

But perhaps it was difficult to ask when the person in question rarely showed himself except on match days.

Perhaps he could have asked this in the waiting room, but.

If the person himself didn’t reveal it, who would know?

“……”

Suddenly.

The White Knight, who had drawn his tournament sword, lowered it and stared into empty space.

“I originally intended to come here.”

“…?”

Then.

He said something unexpected.

“If the timing had been right, you might have been the winner of the previous tournament.”

“……”

What is he talking about?

Winner? Tournament?

What previous tournament?

“Not being able to thwart that was one of my few regrets.”

But strangely, I found out later.

That you didn’t participate.

Even though you surely could have been the champion of that era if you had participated.

Whether you couldn’t or wouldn’t.

Or perhaps you weren’t in a position to do so?

“This is why the ways of the world are so unfathomable.”

“……”

With those words, Alesius’s vigilance was heightened to the extreme.

Does this person… know who I am?

Alesius himself had accumulated countless grudges and resentments.

He doesn’t deny that.

He considered it a burden he had to bear.

Just as the weight of the crown, the position of the imperial prince also naturally carried such weight.

That’s what he had always believed.

So he neither involved himself in nor dwelled on trivial matters.

But when something returned like this, his heart would become complicated.

Was this person also one of those beings?

Thinking so, his lungs ached with that obsession.

“You asked what I would wish for after winning?”

His reverie was broken.

The way he spoke, his tone had clearly changed.

And although his voice had been spreading throughout the arena until now.

From this moment.

The voices of the two that had been spreading out somehow quieted.

The inside of the arena was filled only with the symphony created by the commotion of the spectators.

But Alesius could hear.

More clearly than anyone.

Distinctly.

“The Knight of Radiance.”

And.

Even when that epithet was mentioned.

Alesius didn’t immediately understand what it meant.

“I will fight him. That is my request.”

When had it started?

The White Knight had been staring into space all this time.

But what he was looking at was certainly not empty space.

Far over there.

And those who would be sitting in splendid seats, watching this way.

And among them, there must have been someone the White Knight was targeting.

“Alesius Berk Enzul.”

Also.

A great being too sacred to name.

Such holy surname and noble name were boldly called out by the White Knight.

“Do you have any idea who I am?”

“……”

His spine tingled.

This sensation of all his body hair standing on end.

Alesius felt his hands trembling involuntarily.

His breathing became rigid, and his mouth dried up… this sensation.

And so.

He said.

“I have returned.”

By my own feet.

By my own will.

“And between you and me, don’t we still have unresolved karma?”

“Could you possibly be…?”

“Or was I the only one who remembered?”

The White Knight.

He pointed his tournament sword and said:

“If you don’t want to be humiliated here, bring out everything you have.”

Or pray if you must.

For no one else.

Only for you.

====

Tiny breaths.

That was all the noise filling the bedroom.

Then, Geornia gently opened her eyes at the signal sound indicating a visitor and the presence felt beyond the door.

After a knock, the door opened.

“…Why are you here?”

Geornia couldn’t help but say those words to the visitor.

The recipient of those words opened her drowsy eyes.

“Am I… somewhere I shouldn’t be?”

A woman with blue hair and blue eyes.

The current head of the Esdina family.

Seras Esdina.

For some reason, she was holding two staffs in her hand—one that appeared deeply charred and long, and another of a very light color that contrasted with it.

She had entered Elhermina’s bedroom nonchalantly while holding these two staffs crossed.

“……”

As Kariel said, someone did come.

But why did it feel so unexpected?

Moreover, look at those objects in the little one’s hands.

Each one… is extraordinary.

Just being aware of their existence.

Makes my heart, my chest tremble involuntarily.

I instinctively realize.

Each of those items… has the power to control the world.

“Are you… what Kariel mentioned?”

“If what you’re referring to is what I think it is… Yes. I suppose so.”

Seras frowned slightly, clearly displeased with her position.

She approached the bed.

Then.

Elhermina.

She looked down at her intently.

“If someone’s going to do it, they should do it themselves.”

Various emotions flashed across her retinas.

But standing here like this won’t solve anything.

So with a shudder.

She placed the light-colored staff at the head of the bed.

Then, gripping the dark, charred-looking wooden staff with both hands.

She aimed it directly at Elhermina’s chest.

THRUST!

…And drove it down vertically.

“W-wait! Hold on?!”

Geornia was belatedly shocked by this sudden action, but.

By then.

Intense flames, crimson fire swirled.

Before long, it engulfed the entire bedroom, instantly devouring everything in sight.

…Also.

At this moment, unknown specters and ghosts began to sweep across the empire like wildfire.

Various phenomena and harmonies similar to them began to engulf the empire.

====

“So, what does your presence here mean?”

Tronel, known as the Second Saint, the Saint of Atonement, had finally found Corin who had vanished.

He was located at the entrance of a nearby mountain range, slightly separated from the islands.

A position that would be woefully insufficient even after a full day’s walk at a normal pace.

Unless riding a horse, it seemed somewhat unrealistic for a child’s body to have walked such a distance.

“What does it mean? Kariel pointed this way saying he’d keep his promise, so I came.”

“…What promise are you talking about?”

“A confrontation with my enemy.”

With the added condition that the enemy would visibly manifest.

“Looking at it differently, you could say I’m helping you? If that thing deliberately stormed into the city… that alone would be a major catastrophe.”

“Who on earth is this enemy…oh.”

At some point, something had descended upon the mountain range.

But why did it feel so close?

“……”

Tronel unconsciously drew her sword.

She may not have a holy relic, but she was still the Second Saint and the church’s unparalleled Executioner’s Blade.

However….

“Since I’ve come this far, shall I offer you some advice?”

“Advice?”

What kind of advice at a time like this?

Despite it clearly being daytime, the sky somehow felt dark and gloomy.

Looking at the opposite side of her field of vision, sunlight was still visibly bathing the ground there.

But for some reason, the area where Corin and Tronel stood was extremely dark.

Yet they could see each other’s presence as clearly as if it were drawn—a truly strange harmony.

“That is what they call the Demon King of Tyranny.”

The massive being had the form of a dragon combined with the body of a bison and the legs of a sheep… something like that.

But where the dragon’s head should be, the upper body of an extremely beautiful woman was attached.

No, not attached… truly integrated.

Red scales and skin, hair and pupils.

Red fur and even hooves so red they evoked the image of blood… truly bizarre.

Its tail, like a massive serpent, created considerable pressure just by itself.

Truly… a monster.

At a glance, the intuition, the premonition that this was the king of monsters flooded one’s mind and consciousness like a deluge.

“And it is my distant blood relation.”

Corin, holding a black sword that appeared from nowhere on his shoulder, let out a bitter laugh.

“My sister… my first love… my enemy… and also my salvation target.”

It’s not just one thing.

That cursed enemy had swallowed his sister.

And his sister had become one of its personalities.

There was a race that devoured others or tore off their bodies and parts to make them their own.

That thing was the only one among them to reign as a Demon King.

It embodied all the grudges, hatred, despair, and frustration suffered by all races in the demon realm.

That’s why it was relentless in whipping everyone.

Returning what was done to it.

Making others feel many times more pain! Suffering! More cruelly than it had felt!

“So, what will you do, little nun?”

Corin asked with a smirk.

“Want to listen to my advice and leave? Or dance with that thing alongside me? What do you want to do?”

“……”

It’s a difficult question.

So difficult that Tronel couldn’t help but smile wryly.

“Whether you join me or not, I’ll tell you everything before that thing gets here. Make your decision.”

“Is this advice or whatever really important information?”

“It will be very important.”

Corin asserted.

“The reason Kariel summoned various Demon Kings, albeit imperfectly. You still don’t know what his intention was, do you?”