episode_0293

Chel’s vision suddenly blurs.

Even just being stabbed with a sword was fatal, but now it was like being pierced through the abdomen with a sword imbued with red flames that could literally melt armor.

The area around the wound was even burned – it was a miracle that he was still alive.

It seemed as if she would lose consciousness at any moment, but Chell also knew that losing consciousness now would mean immediate death.

I couldn’t die like this, in such a vain way.

At least you should know what the one who killed you is thinking.

Chel, who was looking up at Swen, bit her lips hard and gathered all her strength to barely speak.

“Swen… … You, how on earth… … How long ago… … ?”

Didn’t I sense someone approaching me?

Before Chel can even begin to doubt, the man’s voice, Swen’s, is heard again.

“You’re not stupid enough to not notice. You just fell into a trap set to let your guard down.”

“What… … you said, what is that… … .”

“Did you hear that? A loud noise. You probably heard it.”

Swen says so and slams his rapier into the ground.

and-

A bang is heard from over there.

“This can be used from quite a distance. Siege weapons… …To be exact, it was the sound of destroying a model that was just shaped like a siege weapon. Our soldiers had already retreated from the weapon. ”

The weapon… was a model?

Only then did it occur to him that perhaps he had been neutralized too quickly, but even thinking about it now, he knew very well that it was too late.

“You, you… … You were the wizard… … ?”

“No, that’s not it. There’s a deeper reason for this… …Honestly, I don’t think you’ll be alive until I explain it all to you.”

“Anyway, I was sure that if you could let down your guard and come here, you would have come here, as you might encounter a wizard if you had carelessly left the soldiers. You got caught up in that, and you were so consumed by hatred that you didn’t notice what Irene had done. That’s all.”

“Are you saying that I… … was fooled… … .”

As Swen said, the reason he was able to pursue Iren was because he was sure that the wizard would be among the battlefield.

“That’s right. And I knew from the beginning. That you wouldn’t do something like a sit-in.”

“… … What… … ?”

Cool!

Blood began to leak out of my mouth. The world seemed to fade away. The sky that had seemed like it would forever be beneath my feet now felt like it was literally crushing me to death.

“Because you must have been afraid of the wizard. You must have wanted to avoid a dog’s death.”

“You, that… … how.”

“I can tell everything.”

“… … !!!”

Swen said that, and let out a short sigh –

“I never say things like this, but I think you’ll be gone soon anyway.”

He says.

As Swen said, it would be impossible to continue the operation with the abdomen already pierced.

No, even if I didn’t lose my life, if I was captured in this situation, I would definitely be executed. I had no intention of asking Serpina for mercy.

“I can see… …that… …is.”

“Yes. In the end, as Mr. Chel intended, we were unable to inflict serious damage on our military. And.”

That moment.

Swen’s empty gray eyes began to burn as if they were engulfed in flames.

“… … For the crime of trying to kill Lady Irene, you will die here. If nothing else, that is absolutely unforgivable. ”

I see.

The subtle hostility felt in the sentence… …was it his feelings toward Irene?

Strangely enough, the feeling I get after hearing Swen’s words is –

It was the opposite of anger, helplessness, emptiness, resentment, frustration, or despair: peace.

“Death… … something like that, I’ve already… … prepared myself for it.”

“I… …I was going to die on the battlefield anyway, and in this war, I was going to die… … .”

If, as Swen said, all those siege engines were nothing more than giant, mock-up cylindrical things-

Far from inflicting any damage, Chell ended up nothing more or less than leading his own soldiers on a grand suicidal charge.

Assuming they already knew everything, the enemy wouldn’t have been shaken at all – in which case they would have just been literally torn to pieces by more than twice their force.

After hearing Swen’s claim that he could know everything, what came to Chell’s mind was-

This was Lin’s appearance, whose condition had rapidly deteriorated after losing Swen.

Having lost him, Lin continued to make strangely bad choices, eventually signing a humiliating peace treaty with Serpina.

At that time, I couldn’t understand why it was collapsing like that.

“So… … Lin… … .”

If I were to lose a man like this, whom I once held in my hands.

“Rin, so that’s why… … that’s how it happened. You… … lost that guy.”

–I see.

Only then did Chel realize why she felt calm rather than angry.

Even though I got hurt, the opponent wasn’t that bad.

What he feared as he lived as an unmanned being was not losing to someone he could call a rival on the battlefield.

It’s just dying a meaningless and vain death.

To be deprived of one’s life by a seemingly incredible coincidence, by someone who was no match for one.

If not, then.

If I’m going to die from a man like this… … I guess it can’t be helped.

“The moment you betrayed our army… …was the end of the Bran’s army… … .”

“… … .”

“… … I’ll just say one thing… … I don’t know what… … I’m thinking, but… … I wouldn’t work for a villainess like Serpina… … .”

“That’s… … !”

Before Swen could say anything after hearing those words, he was moved to tears-

“… … Mr. S, Swen… … .”

Reika, who was standing next to him, grabbed his shoulder and said.

“He passed away… … .”

* * *

“… … !”

“Cheol-ssi, I think you passed away… … .”

It was only after hearing Reika’s words that I noticed that there was no light at all in Chell’s eyes.

… … not breathing.

In the corpse where the heartbeat had disappeared, blood continued to flow out.

“… … .”

――I won.

We’ve won again in a battle with prediction results that just throw out the results.

I thought I had chosen the right path.

Why do I feel more suffocated than refreshed?

‘Don’t cooperate with Serpina… … ?’

What do you know?

As for Serpina, I have no idea what she’s thinking or what got her up there… … !

at that time.

Someone put a hand on my shoulder.

When I turned my head, I saw Irene’s face as she got off her horse.

“Calm down, Swen. It’s over.”

“… … .”

……okay.

It was no use lighting a fire in front of a dead person and observing the funeral.

“… … I’m sorry, Irene.”

“No. Because I understand what you’re thinking.”

As she said that, Irene looked at Chell’s dead face.

“Serpina was the driving force behind the Bran’s Army at that time. She was the target of hatred, though. The fact that boosted our morale the most when we were dominating the Central Continent at that time was the pride that our country was the only country on the continent that could stop Serpina.”

Her purple eyes flickered for a moment, as if lost in thought.

From Irene’s perspective, it was like crossing swords with a former comrade and ultimately witnessing his death right before her eyes.

It wouldn’t change the fact that he tried to kill himself, but it seemed like his head would still be complicated with many thoughts.

“Well, it’s not just the story of the Silk Branth Army. The same goes for the Ashes Army, and for any country… …everyone would talk about overthrowing Serpina as if it were a given. Everyone hated her. Me, all the people of the territory, all the lords of that time.”

“But… … !”

It was Reika who spoke up instead of me, who had been listening to her in silence.

“We, we know… … ! Lady Serpina… … no, my, my lord… … is a very kind and affectionate person… … the fact… … ! So… … it’s okay. If there’s someone who knows… … maybe… … .”

It was only after seeing Reika hesitating that I realized that I had unnecessarily created a strange atmosphere.

I took a short breath and nodded to them briefly.

“… … I’m sorry for bothering you. It’s just something that happens all the time.”

“No, you are not. You are closer to your master than anyone else. It is inevitable that your mind will become complicated.”

Rather than responding to Irene’s words further, it would be better to just change the subject to something else.

“By the way, he was a monster.”

“Hmm. If we had fought 1:1 without Swen’s plan, I would have been the one to lose. ”

“Are you that strong of a man? Chel?”

“There’s a reason why he’s called the best swordsman in the world. There are probably only a handful of people on the continent who can match him.”

“So that’s the kind of person he was… … .”

Still, it seemed like he had succeeded in losing a lot of stamina as Irian had instructed.

I felt a chill as I remembered the situation when the surprise attack failed, but it was resolved well, so isn’t that okay?

“Are you the strongest person Irene has ever met?”

“Huh? That’s not it.”

“Was there anyone stronger?”

Irene tilted her head as if puzzled by my words.

“It’s strange that you, of all people, are asking that.”

“Huh?”

And, from her mouth-

The name of someone I never thought of came out.

“Luna’s official name.”

“… … Yes???”

“Why are you so surprised? Luna Gong’s martial arts are beyond the level of an ordinary human. I could feel it just by matching a few times. I can’t be sure because I didn’t fight until the end, but it’s probably similar to Chell in her prime… … No, maybe even more so.”

“Is Luna like that???”

“… … You didn’t know that at all?”

“Yes.”

What kind of person is that delicate and seemingly weak-hearted person?

No, of course I knew that she was stronger than she looked.

When she recommended me, she was the one who carried me, a grown man, on her back and marched to Zeeland Castle without resting.

But I never thought it would be similar to a monster as big as Chel… … .

… … Now that I think about it.

Just as all the lords hate Lady Serpina, Lady Luna, who thinks she has lost her sister, will also hate Lady Serpina very much… …

‘Is this… really okay?’

Funny enough, being okay with it didn’t change the choice I made.

what.

Since it’s Luna who trusts me and not someone else, there shouldn’t be any problems.

I thought so and moved after collecting Chell’s body.

* * *

The Chel Army, having lost its commander, naturally gave up the battle, losing its will to fight.

We were able to easily occupy the empty Alkanwood Castle without much difficulty.

And, the yellow flag of the Serpina Army is waving in the Alkanwood Castle―

The Chell army was destroyed and disappeared from history.