episode_0028

[As the era of Shahlnu dawned, Emperor Charles I proclaimed that the will of the Empire would henceforth be the justice of the continent.]

[On the day of Charles II’s coronation, fifty blades would be pointed at the Emperor, leading to the slaughter of two hundred knights and three thousand citizens.]

[From then on, those who defied justice would be called the ‘Shadow Faction’ by the continent.]

*Feanor, A Tale.*

Everyone in the city knew why Feanor’s lighthouse was installed, but surprisingly few actually knew its detailed functions.

That was because the function itself was ambiguous.

It was easy to tell that it protected the city from the bitter cold of the snow-capped mountains descending from Mount Minerva, just by looking at the thin veil of light that enveloped the city and its sky.

However, another function was the abstract ability to ‘prevent the invasion of malevolent beings’, so people vaguely thought that such rumors were created due to its symbolic nature, given that it was a lighthouse built by Feanor.

But this was half right and half wrong.

It did indeed protect the city from the invasion of malevolent forces, but it functioned more as a ‘suppression’ than a ‘protection’.

More precisely, it suppressed malevolent powers from being used.

Other powers, excluding the Three Great Powers (magic, divinity, aura).

Demonic energy. The magic of demons.

Corrupted energy. Polluted divinity.

Darkness. The aura of calamity.

And so on.

What Feanor designated as malevolent powers were suppressed from being used within the city.

That’s why the term ‘protection’ was attached to the city.

So, had the Shadow Faction never set foot in the city before?

That wasn’t true either.

Countless individuals had attempted to sow discord against the Empire, and within the Empire’s nearly thousand-year history, there had been dozens of attempts to extinguish Feanor’s lighthouse.

However, it wasn’t easy to infiltrate the ten lighthouses staunchly guarded by the Imperial Knights in the first place.

And fitting for a lighthouse designed by Feanor himself with the technology of the Golden Age, the lighthouse possessed a durability that made it impossible to destroy with the technology of the Shahlnu era, thus it had never been damaged.

[Unless a calamity itself sets foot within, the lighthouse will never collapse.]

That was its original design purpose; Feanor had built it with that intention.

Thus, the Imperial Guards and knights never imagined they would witness the lighthouse extinguishing in their lifetime.

Even if they considered it, they’d joked that it would only happen on the day the Empire fell.

The palace guards, who had such unwavering faith that the lighthouse would never go out, fell into great confusion as they watched snowflakes falling outside the palace.

***

“Hold them back! We must stop them here!”

A knight’s cry echoed through the corridor.

Possessing at least Aura User-level skill, the Imperial Knights were of the highest caliber on the continent.

Even though they were in great disarray, they were not so low-level a knight order as to be flustered by the enemy directly in front of them.

Instead, they tried their best to regain their composure, striving to block the white-haired knight before them.

Thump. Thump.

But it wasn’t easy.

No, it was impossible.

Drip- Drip- Drip-

Drops of blood fell from the tip of the blood-soaked sword.

The sword, which had been blocking the knights’ aura-covered blades with its bare surface, looked dangerously close to breaking, its durability exhausted.

But even though the sword’s durability had long reached its limit, the man effortlessly cut down the continent’s elite knights with a sword that could break at any moment.

One.

Slash—

Two.

Stab—

Three. Four. Five. …And ten.

Thud—

Snap—

Only then did the man’s sword break.

Seeing that, the knights inwardly rejoiced and rushed towards him.

No matter how masterfully he wielded a sword, he wouldn’t be able to do anything bare-handed.

“Aaaaah!”

A knight wielding a polearm charged at him.

Swoosh—

Thrust—!!

“Ugh, ah…k…”

“That’s…”

“Could it be… aura?”

Black aura.

The man, his hand wreathed in an aura of a color never seen before, pierced the knight’s abdomen with his fingertips, skewering his body.

Drip- Drip-

Flesh and blood clung to his fingertips, and the knight slumped down, letting out a painful death rattle.

Thud-

The knight fell.

The man, who had been emitting black aura, frowned and withdrew the aura.

Judging by his expression, it seemed there were restrictions on using that black aura.

But would that even matter?

Grab-

Just as he had done with his broken sword, the man, now holding the polearm that belonged to the fallen knight.

Slam—! Crash—! Splinter—!

Began to overwhelm the knights with an even more ferocious momentum than before.

“Ah… aah….”

The knights of the Imperial Knights, the Shahlnu Knights, felt despair.

***

“…Where has he reached now?”

Raphael, Vice-Captain of the Shahlnu Knights.

Having gathered dozens of knights in one place, he looked at the Imperial Mage and asked.

“…He’s right outside.”

The mage, who was casting a detection spell, replied.

“Survivors–”

“None, Vice-Captain.”

She broke out in a cold sweat.

“Now, that man must be stopped solely by our strength.”

“Damn it.”

Raphael cursed.

‘With the lighthouse extinguished, I’m going insane.’

He looked at the lighthouse outside the window.

Even though dozens of minutes had passed since its light went out, the lighthouse showed no signs of reigniting.

‘What kind of trick did he use?’

Since it was a lighthouse designed by Feanor himself, it should be impossible to break even if an explosion occurred inside.

Raphael was genuinely curious as to what method was used to extinguish the lighthouse’s light and invade the Imperial Palace.

Just then.

Crackle- Crackle- Sizzle-

The lighthouse’s light gradually began to reignite.

‘The light is turning on!’

Of course, it was still unstable. The light flickered on and off repeatedly, not functioning properly.

But that alone was enough.

The fact that it was flickering on and off meant that it wasn’t completely broken.

‘We just need to hold out a little longer.’

He didn’t know what method was used, but once the lighthouse’s light returned, their power would be completely neutralized.

If that happened, the remaining forces would be enough to subdue them, so Raphael decided not to lose hope.

Boom—!

The firmly closed door was destroyed.

Thump- Thump-

Beyond the ruined door, a man appeared.

With eyes reminiscent of white marble.

A man, covered in blood from head to toe, looking not like a human but a blood-hungry monster.

Tremble- Tremble- Tremble-

As his emotionless eyes turned toward the knights, they involuntarily began to tremble.

All the knights had long heard from the mage’s detection spell that this man alone had broken through countless knights and guards to reach this point.

With a man possessing such monstrous power walking expressionlessly and uninjured, even veteran knights couldn’t help but feel tense.

Even Raphael, the strongest among them, involuntarily swallowed hard, watching the man with a face full of tension.

‘He’s powerful.’

But he’s alien.

Raphael didn’t know why he felt such an alien aura, but he swallowed his fear and glared at the man.

Clang—!

Raphael raised his sword.

“As long as even one of us is alive—”

The Empire will not fall—!

Trying to forget their fear, they shouted the knight order’s motto with resolute voices and charged towards the man.

Whoosh—!

Dozens of knights, and hundreds of guards.

Looking at them, the man glanced once at the lighthouse outside the window.

Crackle- Crackle- Sizzle-

The lighthouse’s light, still not functioning properly.

Seeing that, the man slowly began to draw up his black aura.

Hooosh—

The raised aura enveloped his entire body, and the aura covering him then began to flow into the polearm.

Rumble—

Tremble- Tremble-

The polearm vibrated intensely.

As if unable to withstand the immense power, it slowly began to crack, looking like it would break at any moment.

Grasping the increasingly fracturing polearm with both hands, Joshua took a ready stance to swing it.

Rumble—

Clutching the violently vibrating polearm, the man swung it horizontally.

[Star Severing]

The technique used by a nameless black knight for decades.

The man mimicked his technique exactly and swung it towards the continent’s elite knights.

“…………Ah.”

Only then did Raphael realize the true nature of the alien aura he felt from the man.

‘Oh, Navigator…’

Raphael, having seen the black slash one last time, had his head severed where he stood.

Raphael, the knights, and the guards—all of them.