Chapter 14: Restoration of the Empire

Plop.

Plop.

“Ugh…”

I woke up with the sensation of water droplets landing on my face.

The moment I came to and opened my eyes.

“Kirr?”

What came into view was… Poison of Solitude?

“AAAAAAAAAH!!”

I instantly wrapped my pillow in divine power and raised it like a shield.

I didn’t know what was going on, but that centipede creature was a monster as strong as Adele.

Even though I just woke up, I had to activate divine power right away.

—Knock knock knock.

“Brother Ace, I hear movement—have you woken up?”

“!! Lady Jeanne d’Ark!”

I wasn’t sure what was happening, but now that Jeanne d’Ark, the Holy Knight of Humility, had arrived.

That thing—Poison of Solitude—should be no problem.

“Oh, and… was Poison’s caretaking alright?”

“…Excuse me?”

What did she just say?

I looked at Poison of Solitude in confusion, asking with my eyes what on earth she meant.

And the creature wiggled its insect legs side to side.

It was like it was… greeting me.

Feeling like I just saw something I shouldn’t have, I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

And it was still waving its front legs at me.

“…Lady Jeanne d’Ark, could you perhaps explain what exactly is going on here?”

“Of course. May I come in so I can explain more easily?”

“…”

Once I gave permission, the door slowly opened.

With a kind smile, Jeanne d’Ark—her hair pure white with age—stepped inside.

She saw me holding a divine-powered pillow against Poison and let out a small laugh before beginning her explanation.

“Thanks to you, Brother, the Saintess and her companions were all saved. Had you not held out, what I would’ve seen upon arriving late… Would have been stars fallen from the sky. So once again, I thank you.”

After giving me a slight bow, she continued.

“Devouring Parasite… the Holy Knight who came with me from the Seven was the one who had already wounded him. So ending his life wasn’t difficult. And that left only this child.”

“When this one saw Devouring Parasite, it immediately bowed its head to me, and since it had not yet committed any sins, I chose to take it in.”

“…Poison hasn’t committed any sins?”

Come to think of it, the moment it appeared, I did shut it down right away…

“It is now trying to purify itself by performing good deeds. But if it displeases you in any way, I will end its life immediately. After all, it did fight you.”

“Good deeds, huh…”

I turned my head and looked into Poison of Solitude’s eyes.

They were still the eyes of a grotesque bug.

But there was a certain desperation in them.

“…If it’s trying to do good deeds, I don’t really mind.”

Well, whatever.

It was a boss monster, and now it’s the pet of the Holy Knight of Humility.

Things will probably work out somehow.

“Understood. You truly have a generous heart, Brother. You are, as I suspected, a star worth watching.”

“Huh? What do you mean, you were watching me…?”

“How could I not? The rising star who captured the Saintess’s heart even before becoming her personal holy knight.”

“The shining light who protected the cathedral’s people alone during the monster Wave. The North Star who presented a new path to the Hero. That is you, Brother.”
“You flatter me…”

“Hohoho, such humility suits you well.”

“Hahaha…”

As I chatted with Jeanne d’Ark, something suddenly came to mind, and I asked her:
“Come to think of it—what about the other one?”

“Ah, he said he’d continue searching around in case any remnants are hiding. Truly a diligent man, isn’t he?”

“Ah… that makes sense.”

There are probably still many black mages lurking in the Empire.

And this incident alone likely didn’t wipe them all out.

Now that I knew the whereabouts of another one of the Seven Senior Holy Knights, I felt like I could finally relax a little.

—Boom!

“Ace! You’re awake?!”

“Ah, Saintess.”

“You keep pushing yourself too hard alone…!”

“That’s, uh—”

“Even if you’re my personal holy knight! That flame made from divine power is far too unstable for you to use—it could cause you to be consumed by it!”

“Ah…”

Divine Power Contamination.

One of the status conditions in this world.

When someone forcibly uses divine power beyond their limit.

Their brain becomes saturated with excess divine energy.

Entering a state called fanaticism.

It’s kind of like divine-power-induced drug addiction.

And the technique I used—the one that burns divine power like a flame.

Pushes me dangerously close to that threshold.

‘That technique I improvised during the spar with Adele… maybe I used it too recklessly.’

It was just a sparring match.

But the technique I created just to make a good impression… must have looked incredibly dangerous to Ariana.

“I’m sorry. I’ll restrain myself from now on.”

“Good. If you try to take everything on alone again, I’ll, I’ll scold you for a full hour, so be ready!”

“Hahaha, that sounds terrifying. I guess I really will have to be careful.”

It seemed like the conversation was ending on a warm note.

But then.

—Drip.

“Hmm…?”

A droplet of black liquid slid down the crown of Ariana’s head.

With a puzzled expression, she tilted her head up.

“Kirrk?”

“KYAAAAAAAAA!!”

She made eye contact with Poison of Solitude.

‘It’s been standing there the whole time.’

Apparently, when Ariana is focused on me, she can’t really notice what’s around her.

Well, even in the game, there was a scene where she came to check on the protagonist.

But was so focused that she didn’t see others around and ended up almost kissing him by accident.

That scene came to mind.

And I couldn’t stop smiling at the memory.

***

“I-I am the Burning Flame! Krrrk…!”

The black mage of raging fire—Burning Flame.

“I-I am the Drowning Flood—gaaah!!”

The black mage of crashing waters—Drowning Flood.

“Why won’t you just fall like you’re supposed to?!”

The black mage of crushing weight—Suffocating Pressure.

Three black mages, each as infamous as Devouring Parasite.

Met their end in the blink of an eye.

“Tch. Why are black mages these days just charging in like idiots?”

All brought down by a single young man.

Hero Luin.

Ever since his duel with Ace, something had ignited in him.

He had begun training hard and, under orders from above.

Was sent to the Empire.

He planned to pretend to carry out his duties.

Then return to his quarters to continue training.

But somehow, in every alley he patrolled.

Wounded black mages came running as if fleeing from something.

And no matter how indifferent Luin was.

He couldn’t just let a black mage escape when one appeared right before him.

And so, without meaning to.

He took the lives of three notorious black mages.

The damage he took during all that?

Just a bit of dirt on his clothes—thanks to Suffocating Pressure trying to use the alley walls.

He irritably brushed the dust off his shoulder and headed into another alley.

‘If another one shows up, I swear I’ll beat the crap out of them.’

Even though he’d started training, Hero Luin still fundamentally hated anything that felt like a hassle.

So he sincerely did not want to run into any more black mages.

But as if someone was deliberately testing his patience.

“Huff… huff…!”

A middle-aged black mage—his hair, eyes, and beard all a dull gray—came running toward Luin.

“Are you kidding me?! Stop coming out already! And why are you gray, huh?!”

Ever since his duel with Ace, even gray reminded him of Ace’s silver hair and made him irrationally angry.

And in a flash, his sword was already right in front of the black mage.

At that moment.

—Poof!

“Wh-What the?!”

The black mage suddenly turned into smoke.

Luin’s sword cut through nothing but a dark, formless mist.

Which drifted past him and began re-forming behind him.

The black mist gathered again.

And reassembled into the black mage’s form.

Luin’s face twisted in irritation.

“Great. One of those types.”

An enemy who couldn’t be cut with a sword.

To someone like Luin—who, by nature, wanted to end everything with a single strike.

An enemy like this was an absolute nuisance.

“Tch… what was I supposed to use for this again…? Oh right, I never bothered memorizing any of the holy techniques. Too much of a pain.”

Though he’d received training in multiple divine arts just for situations like this.

Of course, Luin hadn’t actually listened.

So instead, he simply extended his left hand—the one not holding his sword.

And released divine power in its raw form.

—FWWOOOOOSH!

“GYAAAAAAA!!”

The black mage screamed as the intense wave of holy light hit him.

Stumbling back and shielding his eyes with both arms.

Which immediately caught fire.

“Aaaaaargh!! This light—this light can’t be…! A H-Hero?!”

“Yeah. That’s right. It’s the Hero, you smoky freak.”

Luin approached the black mage, and just as he was about to drive his sword down.

A voice whispered by his ear.

“Oh dear, that fellow was our messenger, So I simply can’t allow you to eliminate him.”

“!!”

—Whoosh!

Luin spun quickly and slashed his sword behind him.

But what came into view was not a bisected corpse.

But rather a man in a suit, grotesquely bent backward.

“Oh my, how frightening, dear Hero.”

With an endlessly frivolous tone, the man straightened himself up.

And Luin’s face twisted again with irritation upon seeing him.

“…The hell are you supposed to be? What’s with that mask? You’re just another damn black mage.”

The man wore a mask—half black on the left, white on the right.

Curved into a permanent smile.

And to Luin, that made him look all the more absurd.

“Dressing up like that doesn’t make you a gentleman. You’re still a filthy, disgusting black mage.”

Luin threw out his insults with the intention to mock him.

But the masked black mage only nodded in agreement.

“Indeed. No matter how grand your title of ‘Hero’ may be, You’re just a violent, temperamental teenager. Exactly like that.”

“…What?”

Luin stared at him, as if unsure whether he’d heard him correctly.

But the masked black mage delivered a piercing strike.

“Like Sir Ace, the personal holy knight, by comparison.”

“You bastard!!”

Thus began the battle.

Between the masked black mage and the Hero.