Ch.64Report on the Downfall of Humility (12)

Arianne let out a scream. Kain and the Holy Grail Knights blocked her path. The Knight of the Scabbard approached.

“Demon!”

Two knights charged forward. It was a precise and concise assault, honed through countless training sessions.

In contrast, the black knight simply swung his scabbard carelessly, almost haphazardly.

The movement was dull and slow, with his wrist slightly bent at an angle that made it difficult to apply proper force. Yet somehow, the two knights’ swords were blocked.

After deflecting the first sword, he straightened his wrist. He seemed to lightly receive the second sword before pushing it away. The blade shattered like it had struck a stone wall. Fragments flew toward the two knights.

“Argh!”

Toward the knights with fragments embedded in them, the scabbard was raised high and brought down like a bear swinging its front paws. With a crushing sound, the knights’ armor crumpled. Twice. Three times. Finally, the knights collapsed to the ground, their bodies completely shattered.

“Get her away from here!”

Shouting to the other knights, Kain rushed forward. He pointed his sword at the black knight. The knight swung his scabbard. It was the same trajectory, the same speed as what Kain had seen at the monastery.

After slightly turning his body to dodge, Kain struck the knight’s wrist with his staff. A cracking sound was heard. Any ordinary human would have clutched their wrist and fallen.

But the black knight seemed unaffected. The scabbard swung upward with a whooshing sound. Pushed back by the force, Kain retreated.

The knight drove his scabbard into the ground. Shadows began to seep up from the earth.

“Kairos.”

* * * * *

As always, it was the rose garden. As always, the rose dress. As always, Beatrice rotting away. She plucks a dead flower and smells its fragrance.

“Just run away.”

Kain knows she is an illusion. Like a rose thrown into rapidly winding time, her skin is withering quickly. But he had to answer. He had to answer, if only to tell himself.

“No.”

Though his heart was crumbling, he recalled Lily’s words again and again. Why he wouldn’t protect himself. No more. There are things to protect. Promises made. Things he needs to know outside.

For his own sake, Kain answered.

“I promised Arianne. I promised to help her leave this place and live a new life.”

“Ah. Exactly what you said to me. Such pretty words. So. Will you cut that woman’s throat too?”

“No.”

“Then why me? Why did you do it to me?”

“I regret it.”

Beatrice tilted her head. Kain clenched his fist.

“…I regret that day. I regret it. How I should have acted. Where I should have gone. If there was a better way. I’ve searched and searched again. But I don’t know. So.”

Kain walked toward Beatrice. The dead, decaying woman stared blankly up at him. Kain lowered his head before her.

“So. I need to know. I need to find the answer. So open the way for me.”

Beatrice turned around. She walked away and opened a door. With a creaking sound, an iron gate opened.

“Follow the light.”

Kain headed toward the gate. Beatrice turned away from him. She had always done that. She said showing a welcoming face made her feel like she was losing. She would smile brightly from a distance, but when he got close, she would deliberately say something cold.

But now she looked up at Kain as he was leaving, with the face she had worn when she was most beautiful.

“Just remember that light… makes ugliness stand out even more.”

The shadows lifted.

* * * * *

Kain emerged from the illusion. The Holy Grail Knights were sobbing with their faces in their hands. The Knight of the Scabbard was already choking Arianne.

Something cold touched his neck. The whistle. Kain took it out and blew it with all his might. A terrible scream. At the sound that painfully struck their ears, people turned to look at Kain in surprise.

The fear of death drove away the hallucinations. The Knight of the Scabbard released his grip. Arianne slumped to the floor. Kain leaped forward and brought his Imperial Sword down on the knight’s back.

Whoosh.

The knight turned and swung his scabbard upward. Kain, who had anticipated this, struck the scabbard down with his staff. He thrust the Imperial Sword at the gap between the knight’s neck and armor. The knight easily deflected it by lowering his head, but the kick that followed from Kain threw him off balance.

The knight stumbled backward. Apart from his posture being disrupted, he showed no other effects. People who had been staggering to their feet were shaking awake those still writhing and screaming on the ground.

“I’ve seen you before.”

A metallic voice resonated from within the knight.

“At the monastery. Even then, you stood in my way. And now you oppose me again. What are you? An obstacle? Or just ignorant? How did you escape your fear?”

“I am an Imperial civil servant.”

After saying it, he felt a bit awkward. It was true, but it also felt somewhat deflating. The knight seemed to share the sentiment as he remained silent for a moment. His next words were filled with anger.

“…Is that all? Just because you’re a civil servant? Was that insignificant reason enough?”

“Yes. I swore to be loyal to the Empire and its people. I’m planning to quit after this job. But at least. I’m still a civil servant for now. And!”

Kain suddenly rushed forward and thrust his sword at the knight’s neck. He aimed for the gap between the helmet and breastplate, but unfortunately, the knight lowered his head and avoided it.

Though disappointed, Kain leaped to the knight’s side. Wrist. Elbow. Shoulder. He struck them with his staff. The blows were precise and fast. Any ordinary swordsman would have been screaming and dropping their sword by now. But the Knight of the Scabbard showed no reaction other than dropping his sword.

“…And,” Kain readjusted his grip on his sword.

“I’m not pathetic enough to be insulted by some ghost-like figure who goes around beating people with a scabbard.”

“You cannot defeat me.”

The knight swung his scabbard. Kain dodged it easily. It was an incomprehensible movement. How could someone so slow defend against every attack?

He needed to buy time. He needed to gather more information. He had to hold out until the knights could move Arianne to safety. Kain decided to engage in more conversation.

“No. You can neither win nor lose. Because I’m going to ‘capture’ you. Make you kneel, interrogate you for a confession, and put you on trial.”

“You… me?”

“No. The Empire will.”

“You don’t know me. I don’t know you. We are nothing to each other, so step aside.”

Kain switched his staff to his left hand and the Imperial Sword to his right.

He held the Imperial Sword in his right hand as if it were a sharp rapier. He knew that thrusting attacks with the Imperial Sword would have little effect against such a heavily armored knight.

But he could create an opening. With a tap, he grazed the breastplate and then thrust at the gap in the visor. Though he missed, the knight reacted sensitively as expected. He retreated with a howl. The scabbard came flying, but Kain struck the wrist with his staff even faster.

“Nothing to each other? We’re nothing to each other?”

Kain was furious. Even in his anger, he tried to imitate the sword techniques Lily had shown him.

“The people around William, did you crush them because of some grudge? The people at the blockade monastery. The night workers from Venelucia who worked on Arius’s pleasure ship! The chaos here in the city of Emmaus! Nothing to each other? No, you just don’t care!”

Feigning a thrust with the Imperial Sword, he struck the helmet hard with his staff. It was a light blow, like slapping a cheek. He dodged the knight’s heavy upward swing of the scabbard by turning his body.

“Bastards like you. I’ve locked up over a thousand of them. They’re all the same. ‘I’m innocent. I just wanted to live quietly, but he provoked me first.’ You. You’re no different. Yeah. Tell me. That woman. What mortal sin did she commit? What are you so resentful about?”

His limbs were trembling. Trying to imitate Lily’s sword techniques had been a mistake. Kain didn’t have her height, arms, or destructive power. All he could do was talk while gathering strength, using his small tricks. Still, they were tricks that had helped him capture over a thousand Imperial criminals.

“That woman turned a blind eye.”

The Knight of the Scabbard paused. He seemed to be catching his breath. Kain was certain.

There was a human inside that black armor. Whatever state they were in. Inside was a human who felt emotions, who knew fatigue, who had been wounded.

Someone with a bone-deep grudge. Therefore very dangerous. A blind and narrow-minded human.

“Turned a blind eye to what?”

“She turned a blind eye to people being buried alive. She could have said just one word to stop it. After everyone left… she could have come back and dug them up… but she didn’t.”

The shadows rippled. The sound of metal splitting came from within the knight.

“So I too. Will bury this place alive. And turn a blind eye. That is the share I will take.”

“Ah. You’re trying to dig up the Demon King?”

Kain pointed his sword at the knight.

“I heard the Demon King was sealed with his limbs cut off and buried alive.”

“…Did they also tell you ‘where’ he was sealed?”

“Well…”

Ice seemed to flow down Kain’s spine.

‘People were buried alive.’

‘The Demon King was sealed with his limbs cut off and buried.’

‘How about a secret burial? Being buried alive under a pit of dirt. No matter how much you scream and shout, all that enters your mouth is soil.’

‘There’s just enough air to breathe, but who would listen to the voice of someone buried in the ground? If someone is forgotten, alive but not known to be alive, are they living? Or are they dead?’

‘Where was the Demon King sealed?’

Kain knew the answer. He realized it too quickly. His inability to speak wasn’t because he didn’t know the answer, but because he couldn’t accept it.

They sealed the Demon King in a living person’s body,

cut off their limbs,

and buried them alive.

The Seven Heroes.

The knight was silent. Arianne’s confession came to mind.

‘Because the Demon King cannot be killed.’

“…Is he alive?”

His mouth moved on its own. The words were already out, and he couldn’t take them back. He desperately hoped the knight would shake his head. He thought it couldn’t be possible. It’s been 10 years. For 10 years… But the knight nodded.

“He’s alive. For 10 years. Buried in the ground. In a place unknown.”

The Imperial Sword flew through the air. The knight stomped the ground with his boot.

“Step aside! Didn’t you hear me!”

“No. I’m certain you’ve lost your mind. And that’s precisely why I cannot step aside. However.”

The sword tip wavered in front of the knight’s neck.

“However. If you have something to say. Tell me. If you have grievances, tell me. Gladly. I will listen anytime. But. I cannot tolerate any more violence. Stop. Even now. While I can still help you. Before it’s too late.”

The knight staggered backward. More than any attack so far. More than any blow. Those words had a powerful effect on him. But from the knight’s visor, only shadows flowed down.

“All my life… I believed those words…”

Shadows poured down from the airship in the sky. The beasts that had been watching from the rooftops leaped down among the people with terrible howls.

“But I won’t be deceived anymore. What I believe in.”

Shadows erupted from the knight’s sword. He struck the ground. The earth rapidly decayed. Even soil. Even sand could rot and crumble.

“Is only the justice that you reap what you sow.”

Shadows that broke through the ground entered the bodies of the Samaritans who had committed suicide. Their bodies swelled like cocoons. Bones split and people were born from within.

“Behold, I am made new!”

A Samaritan with all skin peeled off shouted. All muscles were exposed. It had two arms and four legs, with bones that had grown from inside and burst through the flesh like spear blades.

“Revenge! Revenge!”

Beasts that had abandoned their humanity, those who had chosen to become beasts themselves, leaped in all directions. They trampled, bit, and smashed everything in sight.

A headless lion charged toward Kain. But embedded in its sagging belly were human faces. Some faces looked familiar, but most were strangers.

Heads that cried, laughed, raged, begged to be killed, begged to be saved, threatened to kill, threatened to devour, all while drooling.

The lion leaped over Kain’s head.