episode_0050

“Let’s end this now.” “It’s time to wake up from the dream, Agapé.” *“I’m sorry.”* *“…I’m sorry.”* *“……I’m sorry.”* “─Sir?” From this long, long nightmare, I wanted to wake up now.

“─Sir Kara?” Startled! The voice in their ear jolted them awake from their deep thoughts. They lifted their head towards where the voice came from, finding Captain Idel speaking to them with a worried expression.

“What’s wrong, Captain Idel?” “What’s wrong, you ask? Weren’t we just discussing how to get out of this place until a moment ago?”

At his words, Kara’s gaze finally turned to their surroundings. Danoa and Maugrius were seated at a round table, in their respective places. And– “……Ah.” Even the splendidly decorated VIP room.

Looking at all of it, Kara gasped, realizing once again where they had been brought. The Imperial Capital, Sirius. Specifically, they were confined in the Imperial Palace’s VIP room, the heart of the Imperial Capital located in the Tiphereth District of Sirius. Outside, the doors were tightly sealed with heavy security.

Having realized that much, Kara apologized to Captain Idel. “I’m sorry. I unintentionally…” “It’s alright. Given the current circumstances, it’s understandable that Sir Kara would be distraught. I understand.”

‘It’s not because of that…’ In truth, they had been lost in thought for a long time due to something unrelated to the coup, but they decided not to bring it up insensitively.

“So, do you really think there’s no chance of winning?” Maugrius said with a sharp voice. “…Yes.” Danoa quietly nodded.

‘Maugrius…’ Come to think of it, he had been in that state ever since Danoa unilaterally declared surrender in the Battle of Mülifen. He had naturally expected to retake their homeland, but Danoa’s surrender had caused it to fall into the hands of the Shadow Faction.

In fact, excluding the battle with the knight in golden armor, the combat had generally favored the Imperial Army, so his anger was understandable. Because of that, Danoa had apologized to him several times before. But his anger hadn’t subsided, and even a day after the battle, he still treated Danoa with a sharp attitude.

“I’ve said it many times, but even if we gather all the retreated Imperial forces, winning is impossible. We could only win if Sir Orlando came.” “So—!” Grind─

“So, we’re just going to sit here like terrified rats in this VIP room? What about my homeland then? What will happen to the Empire? Are we just going to sit back and hand everything over to that Shadow Faction? Someone who bears the name of a hero?!”

“Sir Maugrius, your words are too harsh!” “The same goes for Captain Idel!” Bang─ He struck the table and stood up.

“Even though the resistance was stronger than expected, the Imperial Army, made up of only the Empire’s elite, had more than enough power to win! In fact, we had fully gained the upper hand, and if we had just a little more time, we could have completely annihilated them, so why on earth did you condone Sir Danoa’s surrender?!”

“That…” “You think we could have won?” Danoa also stood up in response, glaring at Maugrius.

“Yes, we could have won. If it was just the Corpse Emperor, Lerei or whatever he’s called, and his army, even with some damage, there’s no way we would have lost.” “Then, at that time, just—” “Then what’s next?”

No one in that room was unaware of who was being referred to by the words “what’s next.” Even though they didn’t mention it, they all knew who the stronger enemy was, even more formidable than the Corpse Army and its Emperor. “The Black Knight.”

Knights who wielded black aura never seen or heard of before, fully armored in dull black full plate. Each one possessed absurd skill levels, from the beginning to the mid-expert tier, and there were nearly twenty of them.

“One of them even had a similar skill level to you, Maugrius.” “……” Recalling one nameless Black Knight among them, he bowed his head without a word.

“Furthermore, the female knight who seemed to be leading them was even a step below Sir Kara in skill.” Although they were evenly matched for a brief moment before being overwhelmed by Kara’s immense aura output and control, the sword skill displayed by that black-haired, red-eyed female knight was exceptionally refined, despite being a type of swordsmanship they had never seen before.

“Alright, let’s say Sir Kara somehow defeated that female knight. And let’s assume that even though they struggled, the Black Knights—since they included skilled members of the Imperial Knights and Oleg’s Knights—were somehow overcome. Then what about ‘that guy’?”

The knight in golden armor. A knight whose horrifically perfect sword path, reminiscent of an emperor, was something even they, who had learned all the world’s secrets after becoming heroes, had never heard of. Against that knight, presumed to be the lord of the Black Knights based on the black-haired female knight’s words, no one present could have won.

“Moreover, that guy overwhelmed Sir Kara without even using aura.” At those words, Kara’s body involuntarily flinched.

A horrifically beautiful yet destructive sword, made to kill something. Despite having learned the stable swordsmanship of the renowned Sir Nemo, with each attack they parried, their stance crumbled unknowingly, and at some point, they found themselves cornered. Even though they thought they had perfectly defended.

‘It was… terrifying.’ At the very end, the moment they were overcome by the pressure and fell, that knight looked down at them, preparing to swing their sword. In stark contrast to the appearance of a guardian of the shining continent, the aura that knight exuded had something that sent shivers down the spine of anyone who saw it.

‘Emptiness.’ Yes. It was emptiness. Despite being a formidable individual, standing on two feet and wielding a sword against them, exuding overwhelming martial prowess. It felt as if they were made of dark void, where not a speck of dust existed, and that feeling sent shivers down their spine.

“Maugrius.” As Kara thought that far, the conversation seemed to have ended at some point, and Danoa was glaring at Maugrius, about to conclude their words.

“I feel guilty for unilaterally declaring surrender and handing your homeland over to them. And because of that, I’ve sincerely apologized to you several times even on our way here.” And even explained the reasons why, several times.

“But if you keep talking about escaping from here and gathering an army again, or making absurd assumptions about what’s already happened, and if you say things like, ‘Didn’t Sir Astolfo do that?’ like you just did again…” “……!” Danoa manifested her aura.

“Then I won’t stand idly by either.” “…Understood.”

“Remember this. You are not Astolfo. The reason we overlooked his absurd stubbornness wasn’t because he was young like you, but because he was the ‘successor’ of ‘Impurity.’” “…I will keep that in mind.” “Good.”

After those words, Maugrius entered the room alone.

“He’s still young, isn’t he?” As Captain Idel, who had observed the entire situation just now, spoke, Danoa, who was seated in a chair with her arms crossed, replied.

“Being a young master from a noble family and having lived as a hero from a young age, he still has some naive aspects.” Still, he was better than Astolfo. That guy became a hero at a relatively later age than Maugrius, but because he was the future successor of his family and a hero who had reached the master stage, he had a personality worse than a scoundrel.

It wasn’t for nothing that Astolfo’s name came up after Rinaldo when asked to pick the biggest scoundrel in Shahlnu Stellarum.

“Danoa.” “Yes, Sir Kara.” “What did Maugrius say that made you scold him so much?” “That…”

Danoa rarely frowned, as if Maugrius’s words from just now had come to mind again. “Even though I told him repeatedly that he couldn’t, he said he would escape this Imperial Palace on his own, if necessary.”

“…And?” “So when I tried to stop him, he started spouting nonsense, asking why I didn’t say anything when Astolfo acted unilaterally like that, but I stopped him. So I disciplined him a bit.”

“…He deserved it.” “Exactly. It’s already hard enough to put up with Astolfo’s temper, and now this guy is trying to be as stubborn as him, so I had to give him some harsh words.”

Sigh. Danoa let out a deep sigh, as if exhausted. “…So, Danoa.” “Yes, Sir Kara.”

“Are we really going to be trapped here like this until Sir Orlando returns?” “……” Hearing those words, Danoa closed her mouth for a moment, then after much deliberation, replied.

“Yes. There is no other way.” It was the answer they expected, but they didn’t anticipate such a firm affirmation.

“Wouldn’t escaping the Imperial Palace somehow be possible? No matter how powerful Gram is, it should be impossible to completely seal off this vast Imperial Palace.”

“Still, no. Even if we ignore the others, ‘that knight’ might be in this Imperial Palace.”

“Still, staying here means we don’t know when they might kill us. Wouldn’t it be better to get out somehow?” “No.” Danoa affirmed.

“That will absolutely not happen.” “What do you mean, it won’t happen?” “From the start, that guy fought Sir Kara without even using aura, didn’t he?”

If he had used aura, he could have secured victory much earlier. Yet, he faced Kara without using aura, as if he shouldn’t kill them under any circumstances.

“Furthermore, when Sir Kara fell backward, he had dozens of opportunities to swing his sword, yet he didn’t cut Sir Kara.” “Come to think of it…” It was a fleeting moment, so they had forgotten it, but they definitely remembered it happening.

“That guy, or rather, those guys, had no intention of killing us, including Sir Kara, from the start.” “Still, isn’t that too much speculation? No matter how I think about it, there’s no reason for them to spare heroes like us.”

“Perhaps.” Danoa picked up her cloak. “But don’t we have proof?” “Ah, come to think of it…”

“If they had intended to kill us from the start, that guy would have ignored me and cut down Maugrius.” A white cloak. Holding the torn cloak, Danoa recalled that memory.

‘At first, I hesitated whether to tear the cloak or not.’ After realizing there was no chance of victory upon witnessing that guy’s martial power, it strangely seemed as if they were holding back against them.

However, the idea that the Shadow Faction would hold back against heroes was too absurd, a fact Danoa knew just as well as Kara, which was why she kept hesitating.

‘But then, that guy looked at me.’ When instinct screamed to tear the cloak, and reason screamed that surrender was madness, At that moment, when they were about to cut down Maugrius, who was defending Sir Kara, that guy’s gaze was clearly directed at her. ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Hurry up and tear the cloak, why aren’t you surrendering?’

‘Yet, when I hesitated, he really swung his sword.’ As if to give no time for thought. Seeing the sword swing as if to truly cleave Maugrius’s head, she gritted her teeth, tore the cloak, and declared surrender.

And then, as if by magic, that guy and the entire Corpse Army stopped their attacks.

‘So, it’s certain that they have no intention of killing us.’ However, if asked why they aren’t killing them, she couldn’t figure it out no matter how much she thought. After all, she wasn’t quick-witted like Sir Nemo or Sir Orlando; she had simply deduced this much because her instincts were excellent.

‘So, to know the reason, I’ll have to wait and see as time passes.’