Chapter 41

Rèad ​oｎ K&a;тȒëaｄi​ｎ​ｇ​C​a​fҽ

“!”

A presence could be felt behind his back.

Arthur immediately turned his body and swung his sword.

Kwaang—!

A dull roar echoed.

The sword Arthur swung was blocked by a massive greatsword.

A greatsword with a blade that gleamed darkly.

Arthur’s gaze turned icy cold.

“Undead…”

Burning blue eyes.

A knight clad in pitch-black armor stood before Arthur.

Bwoong—!

Arthur swung his sword again, aiming for the knight’s side.

The knight tilted his greatsword diagonally, blocking Arthur’s strike.

Kwang!

“Now it’s my turn, old man.”

As the knight spoke, he brought his greatsword down toward Arthur’s head.

Arthur quickly raised his sword to block.

Kwang!

A relentless exchange of attacks and defenses followed.

Arthur and the knight swung their swords at each other without hesitation.

The sound of clashing metal rang out, and sparks flew.

Arthur’s sword was sharp.

A skill honed over decades of purging heretics.

On the other hand, the knight’s strength was overwhelming.

With each swing of his greatsword, the ground cracked, and rainwater splashed.

Puh-eok!

Eventually, Arthur’s sword struck the knight’s armor.

But the knight, unfazed, continued to swing his greatsword.

Two swords cutting through the air.

The knight’s greatsword grazed Arthur’s shoulder, while Arthur’s sword pierced the knight’s throat.

Thud—!

“…Not bad, old man.”

“It’s over, undead.”

As a holy light erupted from Arthur’s sword, the knight turned into black smoke and dissipated.

“Keke….”

At that moment, a chilling laugh echoed from behind Arthur.

Arthur turned his head.

“That head of yours doesn’t look very tasty.”

A massive shadow stood behind him.

A demon with glowing red eyes.

“Here I come again, old man. If I defeat you, our master promised to make a cute expression. So I’ll definitely win. I swear it on my honor!”

“…”

Arthur silently stared at the approaching figure.

A knight clad in black armor, with a greatsword resting on his shoulder, strode toward him.

It was the same undead he had just defeated.

This was already the third time.

Despite being clearly defeated, the undead kept reviving in perfect condition and charging at Arthur.

When he defeated the undead, the demon would attack.

And when he defeated the demon, the undead would return.

Sometimes, skeletons even appeared nearby.

This was endless.

Arthur turned his gaze to the girl.

The girl stood far away, watching him in the rain.

Though her expression didn’t change, she occasionally clenched her small fists and shook slightly when the battle intensified.

She was watching.

Arthur’s battle.

“Tch.”

Arthur let out a laugh.

Her behavior was just like the Silver Witch.

She, too, would summon demons and undead, then watch Arthur fight from a distance.

She even sipped wine or cheered loudly for Arthur.

It was mockery.

Of course, only she could do such a thing.

According to what had been revealed, summoning demons and undead required a significant amount of magical power.

Only the Silver Witch and that girl could summon them indefinitely.

‘…She’s definitely suspicious.’

Arthur leaped into action.

The undead knight’s greatsword came crashing down where Arthur had been standing.

Bwoong—!

The battle wouldn’t end unless he killed that girl.

Fortunately, Arthur had a surefire way to kill her.

Earlier, in the hallway, Arthur had grabbed the girl by the neck.

He had tried to snap her neck when she let her guard down.

Although the girl used some strange magic to escape his grasp, the fact that he had caught her meant her reflexes weren’t exceptional.

‘…She won’t be able to dodge.’

Arthur’s eyes gleamed coldly.

He was already certain of victory.

He had driven the Silver Witch to the brink of death using the same method before.

“Already tired? Your movements have changed.”

The knight swung his greatsword horizontally.

He was positioned precisely to shield the girl.

From the girl’s perspective, only the knight’s back would be visible.

Arthur pulled out a compass from his pocket.

The surface of the compass was still stained red.

And the needle trembled violently, pointing toward the girl.

As if it were hungry.

Arthur opened the lid of the compass.

Click.

At that moment, the needle shot out at an incredible speed.

So fast that even the knight in front of him couldn’t react.

The corner of Arthur’s mouth lifted.

It was over.

The girl wouldn’t be able to dodge the needle.

Just like the Silver Witch had.

— Kuh, ugh, what is this…!

Back then, the Silver Witch had been struck in the shoulder by the needle and collapsed.

The demons and undead she had summoned vanished, and she trembled uncontrollably, unable to move.

— Kuhuk, what the hell is this…!

The needle seeks out heretics.

To be more precise, it thirsts for the blood of heretics.

When it detects a heretic, it flies at incredible speed to suck their blood.

The true nature of the needle remains unknown.

Arthur speculated it might be some kind of demonic entity, but one thing was certain: it was extremely effective at finding heretics.

And, of course, it was equally effective at eliminating them.

Once the needle sucked their blood, heretics would be temporarily powerless.

Just like the Silver Witch had been.

That was the opportunity.

‘I won’t fail this time!’

Arthur turned his gaze to the girl.

“?”

But soon, he was taken aback.

The needle had stopped right in front of the girl’s nose.

The needle seemed to be straining towards the girl, as if thirsting for her blood, but a dark smoke emanating from the girl’s body had tightly gripped it.

The girl, meanwhile, tilted her head curiously, examining the needle with fascination.

At that moment—

“What are you doing, old man!”

Thud!

“Did you fall for our master?”

The knight’s sword pierced Arthur’s abdomen.

◈

Lucy had come to the castle rooftop to lure the old man.

The rooftop was a place where they could fight without worrying about prying eyes.

Lucy first summoned Darcan to deal with the old man.

She wanted to give Darcan a chance to fight. It felt a bit like taking a pet for a walk.

Darcan fought well, but in the end, he couldn’t defeat the old man.

The old man’s sword pierced Darcan’s throat, and he turned into black smoke and vanished.

His summoning had been forcibly canceled.

Next, Lucy summoned Amon to face the old man.

The result was no different.

Amon, too, was severely wounded by the old man’s sword, and his summoning was canceled.

Lucy continued to alternate between summoning Darcan and Amon, keeping the old man engaged in battle.

Both Darcan and Amon were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

And so was Lucy. Her body moved on its own as the battle grew more intense.

After observing for a while, Lucy concluded that the old man was incredibly strong.

She even sent out skeletons a few times, but the old man effortlessly destroyed them with a single swing of his sword.

Swoosh!

The rain continued to pour.

Lucy decided it was time to end the fight.

If she stayed out in the rain any longer, she might catch a cold.

No, she might have already caught one.

Her body was shivering.

She needed to finish off the old man quickly and take a warm bath.

Just as she was thinking that—

Swish—!

Something flew toward her at incredible speed.

It was so fast.

Lucy couldn’t react in time.

By the time she noticed, it was already right in front of her.

Lucy shut her eyes tightly and curled up.

Fwat!

But when she opened her eyes again, she realized something.

Ever since the old man had grabbed her by the neck in the hallway, Lucy had been using a defensive skill.

Shadow Shield.

It was a precaution against unexpected sneak attacks.

If Lucy could detect an attack, she could block it with her normal shield, but sudden ambushes like the one earlier were hard to react to.

Her reflexes were simply too slow for such surprises.

Lucy realized she had been too complacent and decided to prepare accordingly.

The Shadow Shield was a perfect skill for her.

It automatically extended shadows to defend against threats.

Right now, the skill had activated.

Lucy looked at the object caught in the shadows.

It was a needle.

A needle tinged with a red glow.

The needle was straining to reach Lucy.

It didn’t seem like an ordinary needle.

It felt… alive.

After staring at it for a moment, Lucy manipulated the shadows to crush the needle.

The needle shattered into pieces.

Kyaaak!

“?”

Was that a scream?

Did the needle just scream?

It was a creepy needle.

When Lucy looked up, she saw Darcan’s greatsword piercing the old man’s abdomen.

Darcan was boasting triumphantly, saying things like, “I won! You’re lacking in training! If you’re upset, get stronger! You’re just a human!”

Thud. Thud.

Lucy walked over.

The old man was staring at her in disbelief.

He seemed quite shocked that the needle he had launched had failed.

“I-it’s certain… I never thought she’d prepare for this attack…”

The old man muttered incomprehensibly, blood dripping from his mouth.

Meanwhile, Darcan looked at Lucy excitedly.

“Master, I won! You have to keep your promise! You definitely promised! If I won, you’d make a cute expression!”

Darcan’s voice was filled with excitement as he rambled on.

Lucy quietly replied, “Alright, calm down.”

Just then—

“Kuh!”

The old man burst into laughter.

Lucy turned her gaze back to him.

In his hand was a bottle filled with a white liquid.

The old man brought the bottle to his lips and gulped down the liquid.

“Kuh, kuuuh!”

He let out a pained scream.

In an instant, a blinding light enveloped the area, cold and intense.

The old man’s eyes began to burn like white flames.

Vivid patterns of light appeared on his skin, and red veins writhed beneath the surface.

Crack—

With a sound like joints being realigned, the old man’s body swelled dramatically.

Now, fully enlarged, he loomed over Lucy.

“For the sacred duty….”

The old man’s voice had changed.

It was an inhuman voice, like metal scraping against metal.

“Heretics must be purged…!”

The old man’s blazing white eyes fixed on Lucy.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
No clue about you, but the witch sounds like a cool person.