Ch.27Winter (5)

I felt the sudden change in the atmosphere, and the darkness that seemed to constrict my entire body made me frown involuntarily.

Irene’s words kept echoing in my ears, and I wanted to respond to her somehow.

But this darkness kept warning me. To get away from this place immediately.

The darkness surrounding this area was a type of mana.

Just feeling it made me sink deeper into the darkness,

What should I call this murky mana that was like a swamp?

No, more precisely, I should first figure out why this mana was appearing in the duke’s territory.

“…Evan.”

“We should evacuate first. I’ll check what it is, so let’s go to the duke’s mansion together.”

“Evan needs to escape too. This was created by a black mage.”

“A black mage… you say?”

My eyes narrowed for a moment. It wasn’t that I didn’t know what a black mage was.

How could I not know that word which made even the cool-headed Irene show a glimpse of fear in her face?

The biggest evidence that Irene would later be accused of being a traitor was related to black mages.

Perhaps it was the organization later called “Annihilation.”

That organization, which emerged as the biggest obstacle in the development of “The One with Rose Thorns,” was also created by black mages.

Why would a black mage appear here, now?

However, it was hard to consider her words about a black mage appearing as a lie.

This murky darkness that felt like it was defiling my entire body was clearly abnormal.

My field of vision was gradually narrowing. For now, getting Irene away from here should be the priority.

“I’ll make judgments later. Right now, you need to evacuate first.”

I couldn’t forget my duty as a guard knight.

If Irene were to die meaninglessly in a place like this, wouldn’t the reason for me being a guard knight disappear?

As I looked into Irene’s eyes and spoke firmly, she also nodded and began to move.

The darkness had spread too suddenly to think about evacuating the territory’s residents.

Since it was still just simple darkness, no one had been hurt or killed yet,

But I couldn’t know when this darkness might turn its blade toward people.

We needed to regroup with others as quickly as possible.

Whoosh-

As I drew mana from my body, white flames arose and began to push back the darkness bit by bit.

The flames dimly illuminated the path ahead in this darkness, and soon I spotted a group of figures in the distance and called out.

“Sir Chris!”

“Is that you, Evan? The lady is safe, I presume!”

“She’s safe. We need manpower to evacuate people.”

“The knights are already moving. There won’t be any problems with evacuation.”

Sir Chris’s face, which soon approached, was contorted.

Perhaps he too had noticed that this darkness belonged to a black mage.

After confirming Irene’s condition, he looked at me and began to speak urgently.

“A black mage has appeared. Nothing has happened yet, but we need to deal with the black mage before something does.”

“There shouldn’t be many of them. The mana isn’t dense enough for there to be multiple mages.”

This darkness was clearly covering the entire city, but it wasn’t particularly dense.

The black mage was probably just one person, at most two. I wondered what they could be after.

Suddenly, a certain incident flashed through my mind, making me frown. Perhaps just a brief line that had passed by.

-The tragedy in Yuris took away the light of life from the woman named Irene.

I had forgotten about it until now because it ended with just that one sentence.

But what if this tragedy was related to the current black mage?

What if that tragedy was what twisted Irene so much?

As I turned my gaze, Irene, who was standing beside me, flinched and then looked at me.

Her blue eyes wavered. They contained nothing but worry, so I looked at her and smiled faintly.

“Evan, surely not.”

“It seems I need to go.”

“Can’t Sir Chris go, or perhaps lead other knights…”

“Taking the knights wouldn’t be much help. They would only fall into confusion. Black mages are known to be strong against large numbers, aren’t they?”

The characteristic of magic wielded by black mages was wide-range, large-scale attacks.

Unlike ordinary mages, they were proficient in curses and poisons, so those who couldn’t properly handle mana would be more likely to fall victim if they confronted them.

The most suitable opponent for them would probably be a strong individual rather than a disorganized crowd.

If one were to pick the strongest knight in this duchy, they would have to look among the Experts.

Probably only the Imperial Knight Commander had reached the Master level by now.

And among the Experts in the duchy, the strongest person was,

“I must go.”

Not Sir Chris, but me.

“Sir Chris, please guard the lady. I’ll handle the black mage.”

“I should go since I’ve faced black mages before-“

“I will go.”

I had to go for this matter.

It wasn’t just about simply dealing with the black mage, but also finding out what intentions they had.

I needed to examine all possibilities one by one: whether the organization called “Annihilation” had already formed, whether the future tragedy in Yuris originated from black mages.

What if that black mage was the starting point of that tragedy?

Sir Chris had dealt with them before, but he hadn’t been able to find out why they had come here.

At the very least, I, who knew the future to some extent, had to go.

“I entrust the lady to you.”

Perhaps he realized that my mind wouldn’t change.

Sir Chris, who had been staring at me, quietly spoke.

“…Black mages all use dark arts. Consider all possibilities. Even a seemingly trivial movement could be a fatal move.”

“Sir Chris.”

Irene glanced at Sir Chris and said something, but he just shook his head and looked at her.

“This is already out of my hands. Let’s trust the lady’s guard knight for once. Wouldn’t he be disappointed otherwise?”

“…I do trust him. But this is different from trust.”

“My lady.”

When I spoke, Irene turned her head to look at me.

Despite the thick darkness, her blue eyes still wavered as they faced me, and I couldn’t help but smile.

Could I have ever imagined such a relationship when we first met?

Finding the situation where she worried about me amusing, I smiled faintly and spoke to Irene.

“I’ll be fine. Would your guard knight lose to mere black mages?”

I won’t falter. I wouldn’t easily give up over something like this.

The challenges I would face as Irene’s guard knight in the future would be even more difficult than this.

How could I step back and just watch the situation unfold at the mere mention of a black mage?

Only about 5 years remained until the female lead appeared, just 5 years.

I needed to grow stronger. Even if a Master-level knight appeared before me,

I needed to be able to draw my sword without hesitation.

I was Irene’s guard knight, after all.

“Don’t get hurt.”

“I won’t.”

“That’s an order. Absolutely do not get hurt like that time.”

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

What was conveyed in her voice wasn’t the usual coldness.

Suddenly, the thought that the weather was cold disappeared.

The warmth transmitted through her voice heated my body, making me momentarily forget that it was winter.

The “that time” she mentioned probably referred to the day I first encountered assassins and got injured.

I was different from back then. I had become more accustomed to handling a sword, and now I frequently won against Sir Chris.

I gripped my sword.

Holding the rough handle of the sword, I turned my gaze away from Irene and looked back at the darkness.

Dense darkness, and soon white mana began to rise from my entire body, cutting through the darkness.

An exhilaration that I couldn’t normally feel filled my body. My heart pounded, and my muscles slowly began to tense.

I recalled the moment I first held a sword. I remembered the blood that stained the sword when I encountered assassins.

Cutting someone down was such a horrific act.

Even if the one being cut was an evil person, it was never something that a person could easily do.

But if what was held in the hand gripping the sword was determination, if one had something to protect,

Then hesitation had to disappear from that sword. At this moment, the trembling in my hand holding the sword vanished.

Black mage, perhaps the starting point of some tragedy that would befall Yuris.

The one who had mourned Irene’s death in a dark room had become her guard knight,

And now, to protect Irene, he began to tread the darkness alone.

I might die. Despite all my determination, it might vanish in the blink of an eye.

I might regret it. Surviving this situation in a pitiful way, I might one day lament this moment and die lonely.

Despair, frustration, regret, responsibility, sorrow. All these emotions might come together,

And I might live my entire life struggling in a dark swamp.

Still, I wouldn’t back down. I wished for Irene Yuris to be happy.

I wished for her to remain as the lady of Yuris, not as a villainess.

So, the knight drew his sword.

Soon, fierce white flames began to envelop the sword.

Despite the darkness that obscured even the stars and moon, the flames surrounding the sword illuminated everything around, piercing through the darkness.

My green eyes, which had been wavering, now fixed on one direction.

Toward the darkness that was rising more densely than anything else.

#

Disease, confusion, chaos.

The foundation of black magic and the source of all darkness.

These were also what the black mage Califa truly loved. What if those seeds were to infiltrate this duchy that protected the north?

“This will be fun.”

His twisted mouth corner stretched to a chilling extent, revealing black teeth that glinted inside.

What leaked from that mouth was darkness filled with stench, causing the life wandering around to slowly wither in that darkness.

Yuris, who protected the north, one of the empire’s five great families symbolizing the shield.

If all of that were to collapse meaninglessly,

Perhaps he could achieve the annihilation that had regrettably failed 30 years ago?

Disease was truly trivial, but sometimes there was nothing that could more easily bring people down.

It digs into people’s weak hearts and breaks them down. A weakened heart cannot endure a tired body.

Even the strongest knight would eventually succumb to disease, for that was what it meant to be human.

Looking at the creature he had created, Califa laughed maniacally.

A disease that couldn’t be cured with current medical technology,

How much time had he spent creating this?

Like a shadow, the creature that had been quietly crouching its massive body began to move slowly.

When the disease moved, its seeds would spread throughout this duchy.

The thought that those trivial footsteps would spread across this vast land and eventually bring everything down in an instant

Sent a thrill down his spine, making his body shudder momentarily.

“Khuhu, khu…”

How thrilling! The empire’s shield was collapsing.

Just because of the existence of this black mage, Califa!

Despite blood flowing from his body being scratched and dug by his fingernails, a smile remained on his face.

Could this be defined merely as elation?

No, this was pleasure!

The sensation of bugs crawling and squirming in his brain felt so good that drool leaked from his open mouth.

Still, Califa laughed. With his bent back and collapsing body,

Califa laughed even as he thrashed about on the floor like a spider with its legs cut off.

Boom-

Soon, he heard the sound of his creature beginning to move.

The heavy footsteps pounding the earth seemed to make his heart beat in sync.

What leaked from his grotesquely open mouth was no longer a human sound.

It was just a bestial roar, just a distorted sound.

With his eyes rolled back showing the whites, what he vaguely saw was a dark figure approaching him.

A figure?

No, look at that sword-wielding form. He must be a knight.

As his twisted mind returned, Califa staggered to his feet.

When his head, which had been tilted back, returned to its original position, a murky voice was uttered from his throat.

“Have you come to stop me?”

“Yes.”

“Have you come to die?”

“No.”

It was such a brief answer. But wasn’t that pleasing?

At this glorious starting point of annihilation, if he were to hang the knight’s head at the end of that flag.

Feeling elation once again, Califa smiled grotesquely.

“Such a brave knight. I’ll specially hang you on the flag. Leg, arm? Or neck. Choose. I’ll specially let you choose that part.”

Haha!

As Califa laughed maniacally, Evan gazed steadily at the black mage.

What resided in his eyes was only composure. Califa stopped laughing and looked at the sword-wielding knight.

Then, the knight slowly opened his mouth.

“Do you think I’ll die here?”

“…Of course.”

Don’t ask-

But those words couldn’t continue. No, it would be more accurate to say they couldn’t be continued anymore.

Califa thought what was unfolding before his eyes was an illusion.

Slash-

The sight of his massive creation being cut down in an instant by a white sword strike.

How could he believe what he was seeing?

“…Ah?”

Splatter-

But when he felt the black liquid splashing on his cheeks, Califa could only stare blankly ahead.

All he should have seen was darkness.

But what was this white light before him?

“You’re the one who’s dying.”

At those words, his body stiffened.

Throughout his life, he had thought he couldn’t feel fear.

Not even pitch-black darkness where nothing could be seen, not even death approaching right before his eyes.

He had never thought of being afraid.

Ah-

It wasn’t just white light that was rising from the darkness.

That green!

Those green eyes, sending a sharp aura as if stabbing him repeatedly with a sword, were making his body stiffen.

In this moment, Califa felt fear for the first time.