Ch.4848. Execution Ceremony

“…..”

Silence fills the prison for a moment.

I had finished saying everything I needed to say and was simply waiting for the king’s judgment, while the Archmage also revealed his anxious feelings as he swallowed nervously.

“…I.”

Strength enters the eyes of King Orpheus, who had been hanging his head low. Clenching his fist tightly, he once again asserts his authority.

“I cannot believe you.”

“…..”

“I will not deny that your words are persuasive, but I am the king of this country.”

The King Orpheus I had seen in the game had been on the throne for just over a year.

A young, vigorous king who ascended the throne at a young age.

A man who loves his people, is talented and deeply skilled in martial arts, and has strong convictions.

Naturally, I didn’t expect him to accept me.

“My decisions must not be personal. They must be fair and just. No matter how persuasive your words may be, I cannot be swayed by a single person.”

“Truly wise words, Your Majesty.”

I nod gently, respecting the king’s decision.

“I acknowledge that mysterious incidents are occurring throughout the kingdom and their frequency is increasing day by day. I would like to dispatch the Saintess regarding this matter, but it is an extremely difficult situation to summon her.”

The Saintess is the only one who can respond to phenomena caused by evil spirits in the kingdom.

She must be traveling all around, but the Church would not look favorably upon the Saintess being summoned here and there like a servant of the royal family.

Probably every time she moves, the exhausting psychological warfare between the royal family and the Church continues.

“Therefore, I will give you a chance.”

Snap.

The king raises three fingers.

“From now on, I will make three demands of you. If you resolve them all, I will believe in you, a criminal. I will also officially declare the royal family’s trust in you.”

“Your Majesty!”

Archmage Rockpellican urgently calls out from behind, but Orpheus gestures that it’s fine.

“Remember that this trust is directed at you, not at the Black Mage, and know that these tasks will not be easy.”

“I will serve you.”

This is exactly why I trusted King Orpheus. He is wise, so he must know that there is no falsehood in my words.

But he lacks information and background about me as a person to trust me.

He was saying that I should prove my qualification to stand beside the king by solving the kind of homework he was giving me.

“The first of these is whether you can save yourself. A foolish savior who cannot even protect his own body is not needed in the kingdom.”

King Orpheus declares firmly, clenching his fist.

“I will proceed with your execution. Magisjudge Tyrn Ol Velocus will carry out your execution.”

“…..”

“He is one of the top five experts in the kingdom. Do you think you can survive?”

If I die here, they can simply end it as having executed one Black Mage.

If I survive, it would also be a place to prove my minimum capability.

The Archmage shakes his head, saying that a duel with the Magisjudge is too much.

The Magisjudges were especially strong against Mages.

In reality, with my current skills, I would be defeated instantly without even being able to penetrate the armor that distorts space itself.

“Indeed.”

I answered with a smile that formed naturally without my realizing it.

“That’s simple.”

* * *

King Orpheus steps forward, escorted by the Magisjudges.

It was a strange feeling.

It felt refreshing, yet also unsettling. He felt lucky, but also felt like he had made a mistake.

Deus Verdi was truly a peculiar man.

“What did the Archmage think?”

Thus, he seeks advice from Archmage Rockpellican, who had led him here.

Rockpellican keeps his mouth shut for a moment, then answers gravely.

“He could be a once-in-a-generation genius or a fraud. But when I saw the magic he sent to me that possessed its own will. With high probability…”

“A genius, you say?”

“That might even be insufficient. I have faced several necromancers before, but this is the first time I’ve encountered someone who directly manipulates souls.”

It was also the first time seeing the Archmage honestly praising and acknowledging another Mage, except for his own disciples.

“Hmm.”

The reason he made this proposal to him was, of course, for the kingdom’s sake.

But honestly, he couldn’t say there were no personal feelings involved.

“Is it because of His late Majesty?”

When the Archmage asks worriedly, Orpheus answers with a sigh.

His father, the late king who died suddenly. Orpheus had questions about his father, and he thought that if Deus Verdi was truly a capable necromancer, he could provide answers.

“I still can’t even begin to understand what Father’s last words meant.”

“…..”

“Why on earth did Father…”

As he puts his hand deep into his thick coat pocket, he feels something unusual inside.

It was a neatly folded notepad.

Just before he left, Deus Verdi had asked for a pen and paper, and he had handed them over.

He wrote something briefly and gave this note to him.

‘When your faith in me wavers, look at this.’

He had laughed and accepted it despite those bold words.

“My faith is already wavering.”

King Orpheus, feeling like he had been played by the Black Mage’s cunning tongue once he left the prison, opens the note with a playful smile.

The Archmage also rolled his eyes slightly, wanting to check its contents.

“…..”

King Orpheus, after seeing the contents of the note, freezes in place and cannot take another step forward.

The Archmage, alarmed, checked if there was any magical effect on the note, but not a single grain of mana was contained in it.

“Hoo.”

Crumple.

King Orpheus, coming to his senses, crumples the note as if crushing it and stuffs it back into his pocket.

His face showed anger that was both indignant and dumbfounded.

“What is…?”

When the Archmage cautiously asks, Orpheus answers, grinding his teeth uncomfortably.

“Just, ‘Always be foolish.'”

“…!”

The Archmage’s eyes widen. Those words were not simply insulting the king.

Rather, they made his interest in the person called Deus Verdi grow even more.

“It seems that fellow really can communicate with the dead.”

Because.

“Seeing that he even knows my father’s, His late Majesty’s, last words.”

* * *

My execution day didn’t take long to arrive.

My execution was carried out just one day after King Orpheus visited.

The huge execution ground in the kingdom.

The place, modeled after Rome’s Colosseum, was one of the most popular places in the Griffin Kingdom.

Normally, ordinary citizens could watch executions for free, but this execution was conducted secretly, as there was not a single spectator inside.

Only the king and his close associates were looking down at us.

“Quite an impressive place.”

I step onto the stage, bound by iron chains. The Magisjudge who dragged me to the center of the spacious execution ground.

Upon reaching the execution platform, Tyrn Ol Velocus stood there, wearing the Magisjudge’s unique armor that mixed robes and plate armor.

The space around him was still rippling and distorting from how much magic was intertwined in it.

All the other judges had left the stage, and only Tyrn and I were facing each other.

He spoke to me with an expressionless face.

“Look at the ground, it’s dark red.”

“…..”

“It means countless people have shed blood in that spot. Even figures beyond your imagination.”

He was a solemn man.

What he held in his hand was not a huge sword used for executions, but a staff shaped like a spear that he always carried.

“I don’t understand why His Majesty wants to see a contest between you and me. I simply obey.”

“…..”

“So, Black Mage. Go ahead and do as you please. This is a stage that suits you perfectly, isn’t it?”

He was quite different from his emotional appearance in the prison. So this is what he’s like in public settings, I thought.

“Draw all the mana from your current life, try to break your limits. If not,”

It wasn’t for nothing that King Orpheus trusted him.

“You too will end up like the many criminals who have died in this place.”

“Now! The execution of Deus Verdi, Black Mage, younger brother of the Count of Norsweden, second son of the Verdi family, will be carried out!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The drums sound, announcing the progress of the execution. Not only King Orpheus and Archmage Rockpellican, but many close associates were craning their necks to look down at us.

Crack!

The iron chains binding me split in half.

Now with my hands free, I rotate my stiff wrists, and Tyrn glares at me mockingly.

“Yes, I heard you were unusual, able to free yourself despite using chains that weaken mana.”

While my mana was blocked, I could still use the souls around me.

The Dark Spiritmaster who entered me during the warp had already transformed his mana so I could use it.

“Good.”

Boom!

The tip of his staff hits the ground hard. The earth vibrates like a scream, and fierce dust spreads out.

“Magisjudge Tyrn Ol Velocus will carry out your execution.”

As intense mana bursts forth, many evil spirits in the execution ground begin to flee.

That’s how extraordinary the pressure he emitted was.

‘No wonder he’s in charge of one of the kingdom’s greatest forces.’

I had to admit he was skilled enough that even Aria now couldn’t confidently guarantee victory against him.

Normally, this would be a fight I couldn’t win.

It wouldn’t be strange if the battle was decided in an instant.

[I’m really going in!]

Swoosh!

The Dark Spiritmaster enters me through possession. But I had no intention of letting her take control of my body and mind.

Tyrn’s eye twitches slightly, perhaps seeing her form appearing above me.

I open my mouth as if to rebuke him.

“Judge, look at the blood on your own hands.”

The Lemegeton, which the Dark Spiritmaster had been holding for me, is now in my hand. It begins to emit a black light, forcibly awakening the numerous souls sleeping in the execution ground.

“Look at your red hands, damp and stained, now meaningless in color.”

This is the Lemegeton that had forcibly awakened and empowered the vengeful spirits of Setima who didn’t want to wake up.

Moreover, the vengeful spirits of the execution ground had fallen asleep after forcibly losing their lives, and they would clearly remember the object of their resentment.

“This is not an execution ground. It is the largest cemetery located in Greyfond.”

A place where many great figures have died.

I merely reached out to the enormous mana that they, now awakened from sleep, possessed.

“Are you ready to drown in the blood you yourself have spilled, Tyrn Ol Velocus?”

[The ancestors call me, allowing me to wage a final battle!]

[Usually I’d move only for money! But I have some personal feelings against that guy.]

[Yes, this is an opportunity.]

Unlike ordinary evil spirits, they were transforming into new magic even though I had only converted their mana into magic.

“Chief Katoler, Pirate King Owlman, Prophet Benton. All killed by me.”

Seeing this sight, Tyrn shakes his head in disbelief.

“Very well, I pay my respects. You are different from the Black Mages I have faced until now.”

The evil spirits spread across the execution ground continue to surge up from the ground.

The number kept increasing as the Dark Spiritmaster and I were converting their mana into magic.

But Tyrn boldly raises his staff and roughly emits mana.

The mana pouring from him adorns the sky.

The judge’s mana, spreading with a tearing sound, resembled a giant tree.

Or it looked like cracks formed by the sky breaking.

“Even so! They are all dead! None other than by my hand, Magisjudge Tyrn Ol Velocus, they have already died once!”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The attacks of the evil spirits had already begun, yet no one could penetrate Tyrn’s armor.

It was such formidable defense that the Dark Spiritmaster clicked her tongue, saying you’d need to shoot a ballista to pierce it.

“Criminals! Rise again and again! I will execute you a hundred times!”

Tyrn’s spear-like staff is swung fiercely. His momentum was certainly outstanding, but.

“Let’s see about that.”

I calmly answered while straightening my clothes.

The light of the Lemegeton in my hand was growing stronger, and the Dark Spiritmaster’s necromancy was rapidly being absorbed into me.

This was a battle of time, and Tyrn would know it too.

After all, he couldn’t directly strike at souls.

If he could break through the numerous souls and reach me, it would be my defeat.

If not, it would be my victory.

That was the nature of this battle.