Ch.83Diminuendo (3)

The magician stood at the sharpest, most pointed peak of the Romain Duchy, surrounded by the mountain range, surveying his surroundings.

Under the stars, the white mist-covered duchy remained perfectly still.

As if unaware of what would soon unfold.

Woong— Azest felt the circle in his heart resonating.

Not much time remained. The beginning of the subjugation battle that would be the start of everything, and perhaps the end of everything.

“I won’t be able to defeat Biltain.”

Despite being a grand magician honored with the title of Sage.

He felt that defeating Biltain would likely be impossible.

Everyone had their own role to play, and in this subjugation battle at least…

He wouldn’t be the protagonist.

Evan Fried—why did that name come to mind before Master Theorad or His Highness the Crown Prince?

Perhaps, Azest smirked at the thought that without that knight, they might never have made it this far.

The presence of a mere twenty-year-old knight was greater than expected.

In this subjugation, he would be the only one capable of capturing Biltain.

The stars were covered by clouds, bringing perfect darkness.

It gave him an uneasy feeling.

Imagining what would happen if they failed the subjugation here…

“Death would be preferable.”

Woong— The eight circles engraved on his heart began to emit heat frantically.

For a single grand spell of high magic, all his mana began flowing toward the circles.

Mana was the will of the world. Magicians were those who best manipulated that will,

and now the grand magician who had reached the pinnacle among magicians began drawing a pentagram toward the sky.

“Thurisaz.”

Primal power, the primordial force that tears the sky and destroys the earth.

Kugugung, the sky began to tremble. The brilliant stars, sensing the phenomenon, began to hide their light.

The moon no longer shone. It merely concealed itself beneath the new light source rising under the sky.

A star rising with the moon, a star about to strike this earth.

“Meteor.”

As Azest’s hand lightly swept through the air, a massive rock that obscured the sky began falling toward the ground.

The barrier surrounding the Romain Duchy began to vibrate. Though he had laid protections to prevent the impact from spreading to the surroundings,

he hadn’t expected it to hold up well anyway. The meteorite began to split along the newly engraved runes.

A spell that would only strike those with dark magic energy—he didn’t think it would kill the powerful ones.

But now was the time to trust his allies below.

#

Evan quietly inhaled. Tension? To be honest, his heart felt strangely calm.

As if today he was in the best condition possible.

The faces of Aileen who smiled as he left, Rofena who was slightly tearful,

and Sir Chris who gave advice with a serious expression floated in his mind.

Though he hadn’t seen the Duke, he had handed Evan a cloak. A black cloak with the large emblem of Yuris.

“You’ve arrived. Sir Azest will begin his attack soon.”

Clouds covered the sky. And a pentagram engraved with runes covering that sky.

Just looking at it made Evan’s breath catch from the overwhelming mana, and he grinned at the reassuring feeling.

There wouldn’t be many dark magicians for them to face.

That was the nature of grand magicians, and they would only have to deal with the few who survived that spell.

Theorad looked at Evan and smiled faintly.

Despite the situation calling for tension, the young knight with a calm expression was stroking his sword while looking ahead.

Biltain Romain—Theorad, who had resolved to no longer call him Lord Romain, looked at a tall building rising in the distance.

Why had they, those with the bloodline of the Emperor, the Sword of the Empire… joined hands with dark magicians?

The face of Biltain, who “was” his friend, came to mind. Though they had been close since childhood,

as the Imperial Knight Commander, he couldn’t simply stand by and watch this.

Slowly exhaling, he gripped the sword at his waist and turned toward the one he served.

“Your Highness, are you feeling alright?”

“Do I look alright? Damn it, let me be honest. I want to run away from here right now.”

After saying that, Kaisel let out a hollow laugh and continued.

“But I can’t. Even if I can’t slay a dragon like the Founding Emperor, I want to achieve something comparable. If I flee from here, it might seem like the Empire is fleeing from Romain. I will… become a dignified emperor. Even if I can’t be a good one.”

“You will become a good emperor.”

“…Well, that would be even better.”

Perhaps his mind was a bit more at ease. With that thought, Theorad looked at Kaisel with satisfaction.

He had been worried before, but the Crown Prince’s recently changed attitude seemed more than sufficient to become a good emperor.

Perhaps it was because he had met the knight named Evan and found motivation.

But for him to become a good emperor, they needed to capture Romain here.

Masters possess their own domains.

Though he didn’t have many occasions to use it, he planned to use it as quickly as possible.

If he saved it for fighting Biltain, he would only waste energy unnecessarily.

As he slowly drew up his mana, they finally faced the meteor shower striking the duchy.

The moment those rocks overturned the duchy would be the beginning. The beginning of the Romain subjugation, the subjugation of one of the Empire’s five ducal houses.

Seuuu—

Evan decided to give his all from the start. Of course, he would save what Count Kasim had given him,

but this battlefield was sufficient for using his full power.

If he didn’t give his all and got injured unnecessarily, he couldn’t predict how it would affect the fight with Duke Romain.

Thump, a sense of exhilaration unlike simply awakening mana began to envelop his body.

His heart pounded as if it would burst. The mana flowing through his veins finally blazed like flames, and brilliant white fire flickered in the darkness.

Dragons excelled at domination. Dragons excelled at purification, driving away malicious energy.

Thus, the white flame drove away darkness. And it dominated light, wielding it like limbs.

And because Evan had awakened that dragon blood.

In that pitch darkness where even stars and moon were hidden, golden eyes scattered radiance.

“It seems we’re all prepared.”

When Theorad spoke, Evan quietly nodded. Chwararak, the white blade drawn from his sword emitted light.

Though it wasn’t particularly special as a magic sword, he liked that it would never break.

A sword that never breaks no matter how much it’s swung meant it could fully receive all his power.

Evan began running toward the tallest building, his feet striking the ground.

They must already be aware that this subjugation had begun.

He didn’t know what they were preparing, but he was certain they needed to end it all before dawn.

Blue mana surrounded the bodies of the Crown Prince and Theorad like a lion’s mane.

At the same time, their forms shot forward, and Theorad frowned slightly at the darkness felt in the distance.

“It seems more of them remain than we thought.”

“…Is that so.”

Evan’s eyes grew cold. Kaisel felt a chill down his spine seeing that gaze.

Though they were allies, the anger Evan was restraining felt colder than any chill.

Anger toward the dark magicians, and his own resolve. Kaisel gritted his teeth.

It was true that his skills fell far short of the two beside him, but he didn’t want to be a hindrance.

“Orders from above! Eliminate the intruders!”

Chwaralak— Kaisel dodged a black spear thrust toward him and slashed his sword diagonally.

His sword, infused with blue mana, split a burning sphere of flame.

Blood splattered slightly, and confirming the wound was shallow, Kaisel moved his feet quickly.

One step forward might have exposed him to magic, but he was confident he could avoid it.

His senses felt sharply honed.

As he cut off the arm of a dark magician aiming at him,

Kaisel simultaneously twisted his body to cut down another dark magician beside him, smiling faintly.

Not bad at all. His condition was good. Having instantly cut down two dark magicians,

he turned his head thinking he might have achieved better results than the other two, only to burst into hollow laughter.

The white flash cutting through the clouds was not something he could imitate.

“Damn. I’ve got a long way to go.”

He’d recently been told his language had become rough, but what did that matter?

Now, it would be better to cut down even one more dark magician.

Seeing the numerous dark magicians being cut down beside him, Kaisel sighed.

The feeling of watching two people who existed in a different world from him wasn’t particularly pleasant.

“…Ha.”

Evan clicked his tongue slightly, seeing dark magicians converging particularly on him.

Though his mana color was especially noticeable, this number seemed excessive.

About thirty—after confirming the number, Evan drew up his mana. He intended to break through as quickly as possible.

If he wasted time on this, he couldn’t predict what would happen in the fight with Duke Romain.

As with most one-against-many fights, attacks didn’t come one at a time.

Efficiently, he had to find the point where none of the attacks directed at him would touch him.

Evan glanced at the sky. Two attacks coming from above, about ten from both sides, about three from below.

It seemed better to break through in one direction than to pull back.

-Puhwak! His sword, revealed as his cloak was swept aside, collided with a black sword.

Cutting through a massive hand trying to smash his back,

he stepped on a spear trying to pierce his foot and rotated once in mid-air.

Gagagak, sparks flew as swords collided. As he rotated quickly and flames ignited,

the flames pouring toward Evan began to get caught in them and disappear.

“Attack simultaneously!”

A dark magician shouted urgently, but Evan took a deep breath and stepped on the ground again.

Someone sighed in amazement as he stepped on intact ground despite dozens of spears rising.

But that was the difference. Even if dozens, or hundreds more than this, rushed at Evan, they couldn’t touch him.

If there was such a thing as class, the difference was already several levels, and Evan had no intention of allowing these dark magicians to attack him.

As Evan grabbed a spear rising from the ground and began thrusting it at the dark magicians,

they could no longer hold on and began falling to the ground one by one.

Though a barrage of mana that looked dangerous to anyone poured toward him,

Evan leisurely turned his sword to deflect them.

This level couldn’t wound him. Perhaps in the past, but

now he could easily handle a mere few dozen dark magicians.

The corner of his mouth twisted. Feeling certain victory, Evan swung his sword with even greater speed.

Diagonal, vertical slashes cut throats. He cut the mouths that would chant spells and severed wrists.

Magic erupting from the ground and sky had long since left his concern.

His senses had already excellently grasped the pattern of attacks,

and amid the storm of chaotically entangled attacks, Evan alone remained calm.

Hwaleuleuk, as time passed, the flames burned more fiercely.

The night was no longer dark, and brilliant light filled the surroundings.

Thump, Evan felt ecstasy at the sensation of his heart pounding. Perhaps it would end well.

If he maintained this momentum, if he could carry this sensation he was feeling now all the way to the fight with Duke Romain.

‘…Let’s focus for now.’

Distractions weren’t good. If he got carried away, he might be surprised by unexpected situations.

Now was the time to immerse himself in the rhythm of this battle. Rhythm—quite a nice expression, wasn’t it?

Smiling with satisfaction, Evan took a step forward,

and a dark magician sitting on the ground began crawling backward desperately, hands on the ground.

“I, I didn’t do anything!”

“…Right, I’m sure you didn’t.”

Dark magician Richard’s heart began to race madly. His face turned deathly pale,

and due to tension, all the capillaries in his eyes burst, flowing like tears.

Evan’s expression didn’t change much as he answered quietly. He still held his sword,

and those golden eyes were fixed on him. Just approaching him like that.

How on earth had it come to this? When thirty of them first rushed in, he hadn’t thought for a moment they would lose.

No matter how famous a knight was, how could he face thirty alone?

He had heard that he had disrupted the ritual and even killed Malorik, but he thought it was just an exaggerated rumor.

The phrase “one against a hundred” was truly just a figurative expression.

But seeing him instantly cut down thirty people, he had no idea what to do.

All he could do was back away, stepping on the corpses of the fallen, hands clasped in prayer.

He hit his head on the ground, causing blood to flow. A stone on the ground had cut his forehead,

and the blood that flowed profusely stained the dark ground red.

“Pl-please spare me. Please. I haven’t killed anyone. I wasn’t trying to kill you, just subdue— Kueok…!”

Richard’s final words, with his throat pierced, were truly pitiful.

Evan had never intended to spare him. If there was a dark magician before him, he had to swing his sword.

Glancing at the nameless dark magician falling, Evan immediately turned his gaze away.

There were still many dark magicians left, and he had no time to waste on such small fry.

Evan began running again toward the tall building in the distance.

The scenery around him hardly looked like a duchy. Though they had secretly evacuated the domain’s residents through magicians,

the impact of the meteor was sufficient to completely destroy this entire city where the ducal residence stood.

Truly formidable power—many dark magicians had died because of it… but the most important ones still remained.

Evan recalled when he had met Duke Romain’s eyes last time.

Though he didn’t know what thoughts the Duke had while looking at him, the power he possessed was enough to gauge just from his gaze.

He was on a different level from anyone he had met so far.

Just as there was a difference between himself and the dark magicians he had just killed, the power in that gaze that made his body tingle.

It felt different from what Sir Theorad possessed.

It was tyrannical. A power that could crush everything before him and advance forward, and also a dark, murky power.

…How much chance of victory would there be? It was true that Masters each had their own domain,

but unlike Sir Theorad’s domain, Duke Romain’s domain had never shown itself.

How much chance should he estimate in this state, not knowing how to face it or how to break it?

Would it have been easier if he were a Master?

After briefly smiling self-deprecatingly, Evan slightly opened his mouth seeing a blue light rippling in the distance, which he hadn’t seen before.

A blue light hanging like a curtain in the sky was gently undulating.

Dark magicians were perishing in that light, more brilliant than stars, softer than the Milky Way.

Probably Sir Theorad’s domain—clearly a massive power that made his shoulders twitch despite being quite far away.

It seemed he was planning to use considerable power from the start.

Evan nodded slightly seeing that. His anxious feelings seemed to be clearing somewhat.

Not much remained until the ducal residence. Thinking of that,

Evan began walking slowly toward the Crown Prince who was panting in the distance.