Chapter 180: Till the Heart Beats (7)

Even until the very end, the battle was so fierce that there was no room for mistake.

Bababang-!

Crackle-!

Toure was still so vicious it made the fact that he was dying felt like a lie. The magic he unleashed was still strong enough to make their livers shiver dozens of times. In fact, they had to roll on the floor several times because of it.

Funnily enough, the monster only reached his strongest when he was about to die. It was as if he had a great awakening. The way he attacked made it seem like he was burning even his own soul.

However…

Stab-!

In the end, it was the knights who won.

Lee Han was holding a half-broken sword and the broken blade in each of his hands. His sword broke during the fierce battle, but in the end, he managed to stab the guy’s heart with the broken blade, and stabbed his neck with the half-broken sword.

For a moment there, he was concerned that the guy would regenerate again, but…

He didn’t have enough magic to do that. This time, the guy had poured his everything into his attacks, as proven by his body that was slowly melting away.

Whoosh-!

When a monster died, its body would turn to ashes, and ironically, this guy was meeting the same end as a monster.

“Ah… Too bad… If only I had just a little more magic, I could have taken at least one of you with me… This wouldn’t have ended in such a boring outcome…”

“Bullshit.”

“What a horrible thing to say.”

Even until the end, the two knights felt repulsed by him.

‘Is he really a human…?’

‘How could he talk when he got his throat pierced?’

They couldn’t help but wonder as such.

“…Hey, can I ask you another question? The reason Pendragon—no, the reason you two are after the Magic Tower is because of the ‘Demon Sword’, isn’t it?”

“…”

…Suddenly, the guy brought a story that wasn’t easy for them to ignore.

“Ah, I figure that you probably heard from my disciple that we are after Pendragon’s Mystics, hehehe.”

“…What? You have something to tell us? Or do you want to beg for our forgiveness now?”

At that moment, Lake exuded a cold aura. It was so cold that even the spring air around him retreated.

The guy’s confession that the Tower was indeed aiming for the Demon Sword made blood rush to his head.

“Hehehe, I see… So you are a knight of Galahad…”

Lake’s reaction gave Toure enough information to assume so, prompting him to laugh weakly.

He was on the verge of death, and it wouldn’t have been strange if he had stopped breathing at any moment.

“Hehehe…!”

But he chose to run his mouth instead of keeping it shut.

“Honestly, we knew how ridiculous of an idea it was to try and steal the Demon Sword. After all, it’s a sword that could absorb all magic power. You could say it’s a natural counter to us mages…”

“…”

His words implied that his side knew a lot about the Demon Sword, and it wasn’t something that the knights could dismiss easily.

“How could you…”

The Demon Sword contained five Mystics, however, the details of what kind of Mystics they were was something that was kept to utmost secrecy. Galahad had been working hard to keep it that way, so only a really small number of people knew about it.

That was why, when Toure casually said one of them out loud, it was only natural for Lake’s face to stiffen.

“A-Aren’t you curious…? A-About how we could come to know about that…?”

Toure mumbled those words. It was clear that it was difficult for him to even open his mouth, and it would be easier for him to just keep it clenched shut from now on, but he…

“T-Three years ago… S-Some guys came to me and asked… ‘If you have the chance to steal Pendragon’s Mystics and get the Demon Sword, what will you do?’.”

Kept on talking until the end.

“A-At first I thought that ‘they’ were making fun of me, but then I saw how much power ‘they’ have. I’m personally quite fond of the fact that they integrate their organization into a religion, and I also like to see them living like parasites… Hehehe…”

“…”

“I-I believe, the name of the organization is…[Blood Cross]. H-Hahaha… They boasted that they could easily obtain the Demon Sword, and that they would give it to us in exchange for our help. So, we gave them the kids who have been kicked out of the Tower. Thanks to that, we managed to control the sultanate easily, and we thought it wouldn’t be hard for us to infiltrate the Pendragon as well, using them as a cover, but… Well, looking at our current state, I guess that was the worst choice I could’ve taken…”

Though he admitted that it was his own choice that led to this situation, he still looked cheerful.

“I-In a way, we were just pieces on the chessboard. Pieces used to achieve their ‘purposes’. Thinking about it now, that thought suddenly occurred to me. Then again, we also thought that we were just using them, so I don’t have the right to talk smack about them…”

…The knights focused on his words.

It was surprising enough that Blood Cross was mentioned here, but they never had guessed that those scoundrels were backed up by the Tower. They became even more focused when the word [purposes] was brought up. In a way, it might be a clue for them to finally eradicate those disgusting parasites.

However…

“-Hehehe, but that’s all. I won’t tell you more.”

“…”

“H-Hahaha…! That’s exactly the face I want to see…!”

“This gnoll-like bastard!”

Lee Han had wondered why he suddenly spilled all those secrets to them, it turned out that he was just trying to piss them off. Indeed, he was a horrible bastard until the end.

As he was complaining in his mind, Toure was…

“…Haa…I wanted to…play a little more…but…”

Crumble-!

Even at his final moments, until the moment when his head shattered and crumbled into dust, he showed no hint of seriousness, regret, or guilt. It was a rather disappointing end for an Archmage who had lived for 400 years.

Meanwhile, the ones who had killed him were wearing distorted expressions, both were losing their tempers.

“He’s a fucker until the end…!”

“This is why I don’t wanna deal with lunatics!”

They shook their heads, blaming themselves for expecting something from a lunatic in the first place.

“Instructor…?”

The trio of two boys and a girl had been listening to the conversation for a while, but they hadn’t been able to join due to the serious atmosphere.

Even after the girl, Irene, summoned up her courage and called out to him, it only came out as a whisper at best.

She was worried, wondering if there was a problem.

Although, the knight did hear her call and he…

“…Oh, you guys are here? Good job, you guys. Seriously.”

Greeted them with a bright smile, as if the serious atmosphere from just now was nothing but an illusion.

“Ehehe~”

[Arin, you’re so simple! It only takes his smile to make you smile!]

After he complimented her and gestured her to come over, Irene ran to him excitedly, as if she was a golden retriever.

“We worked really hard! When we got to the place you told us, Instructor, there were dozens of mages and golems holding various artifacts—!”

The girl started to tell him what had happened to them, as if begging for praise.

“Is that so? Sorry for getting you involved in something so dangerous. It must’ve been though.”

“O-Oh, no, no! That’s not what I meant—!”

“Sorry I can only apologize now. Tell me if you need something later, I’ll give you anything.”

“…Right, it was a little dangerous back then…”

Lee Han listened to all of Irene’s complaints. The atmosphere was incredibly cozy. Seeing him like this, it was hard to believe that he was the same person who had been glaring at the mage just a moment ago.

…However, unlike Irene, the two boys couldn’t bring themselves to say that they had a hard time.

“This place looks like a warzone…”

“No, a warzone wouldn’t look this bad…”

The area surrounding the Magic Tower was covered in flowers due to the Spring Fairy, but it still couldn’t fool the eyes of those with special senses like these boys. What they saw wasn’t a field of flowers in full bloom, but an aftermath of a brutal battle where the two knights had fought while risking their lives.

They tried to imagine how the battle went, but eventually shook their heads. It was too scary for them to even imagine.

After all, they could indirectly feel the lingering atmosphere of that battle, and that alone already made them shiver in fear.

In the midst of all that…

Thud-!

“You guys did well too. Just like I told the chick, if you have any requests for me later, just tell me. I’ll do what I can to make it come true.”

“…Instructor. I’m not a kid.”

“I know.”

“…”

…Soon, they just gave up.

They chose to bear the awkwardness and embarrassment that they felt as the instructor suddenly hugged them and patted them on the back.

In Lee Han’s eyes, while yes, they were adults…

At the same time, they…

“No matter how awkward and embarrassing it is, if someone does something well, they deserve to be praised. Whether you’re a child or an adult, it’s the same.”

“…”

“Thank you, I mean it.”

“…”

“…You know, this feels a little creepy…”

“…I know, right?”

“I thought you’d the kind of person who’d laugh heartily and shamelessly say, ‘This is what a man should be! Enjoying a fight to the death!’.”

“…Who do you think I am? Your uncle?”

“You two are the same kind of person, Instructor.”

“…Blackie, do you know any Muscle Destroying techniques?”

“…I don’t, and I don’t want to know.”

“Nope. I’m gonna teach you one of them. Right now.”

Roen tried to run away, but was quickly caught by Lee Han. He wasn’t weak by any means, it was just, the weight difference between them was impossible for him to overcome.

“Puahahahaha!”

Meanwhile, Derrick burst out laughing at this sitcom-like scene. Just a moment ago, they were all serious, and the atmosphere around them was pretty good, but now…

Well, I guess it’s better now because everyone’s so cheerful.

He had always liked sitcoms that depicted everyday life like this more than comedy movies.

Because…

It’s like a story about a family or a group of friends’ daily lives.

For him, who had never experienced such a thing, it was the kind of story he was envious of and longed for.

But now…

I’m part of one…

He was happy. To be in a part of a situation that looked like a sitcom made him so happy.

But, at that moment…

[-Gyaha!]

“…Huh?”

When Lee Han was about to teach a cheeky Blackie about the bitterness of life, a tiny aurora hovered next to him, catching his attention. From it, he could feel the warm energy of spring.

[-Thank you! For saving ‘us’!]

“…”

[Hehe, why are you so surprised?]

“…Y-You could talk?”

[That’s what you’re surprised about? Hehehe, you’re a funny knight! Hehehe! Well, there are always a lot of funny people within the Pendragon’s knight ranks…]

“…”

The Spring Fairy, the beautiful Fairy in the shape of a woman hovered around him and spoke to him happily. Seeing this, Lee Han pinched his cheek.

…It was because the situation was so unrealistic that he thought he was dreaming.

And sure enough, his cheek didn’t hurt.

I see. It really is a dream—

[Eiiii!]

“…That hurts.”

But then, the Fairy pinched his cheek. One would have thought that since she was doing it with her tiny hands, he also wouldn’t feel anything from it, but on the contrary…

It hurts…

…No, really, it fucking hurts.