They were memories that made his heart tremble just to think of them.
The conversations he had shared with her in the court of Icarotte. The soft sensation of her lips lightly brushing his cheek.
Those were moments when he had thought that simply listening to her speak meant he possessed all the happiness in the world.
The emotions from that time slowly welled up within him. They were gradually melting Damon’s heart, which had been frozen solid by his single-minded resolve for revenge.
How many times had he thought that he would have no regrets if he could see her again, even for a moment, even for the briefest instant? Damon had kept her image buried deep in his heart, bringing it to mind from time to time. And now, before him, a woman who looked exactly like Daphne had appeared. An appearance that could only be called a trick of fate.
Damon simply stared endlessly at Juliana’s face. Of course, it was not as though he did not know she was not Daphne, but right now, there was nothing else Damon could do. His gaze remained fixed on her face until Juliana awoke.
It did not leave her for even a moment.
“Wh-who are you?”
Juliana’s eyes were wide when she awoke. She had fainted without knowing why, and when she opened her eyes, some unfamiliar old man was staring intently at her. Her whole body throbbed and ached, but Juliana quickly regained her composure and carefully examined the other person’s face.
The old man’s appearance was surprisingly ordinary. It was the sort of unremarkable face one might see anywhere in Arcadia. Though the black robe he wore was a little strange.
What was unusual was the old man’s expression. He looked as though he might burst into tears at any moment, and in particular, his eyes were violently radiating a light of intense emotion. His unreserved stare made her face burn hot. After observing the old man for a while, Juliana opened her mouth with great caution.
“Why are you staring at my face like that?”
The old man’s gaze met Juliana’s squarely. After hesitating for quite some time, he finally spoke with difficulty.
“Who are you?”
Juliana tilted her head, then obediently gave her name.
“My name is Juliana. I’m also the princess of the Karsel Kingdom. But why my name…”
Upon hearing the answer, the old man let out a sigh deep enough to make the earth sink. He looked as though the faint thread of hope he had clung to had been mercilessly snapped.
“As I thought…”
Juliana stared at the old man’s horribly distorted face, tilting her head.
‘This child is definitely not Daphne. She’s merely a completely different girl whose appearance happens to resemble hers.’
Though he steadied his heart again and again, Damon simply could not calm himself. He had never dreamed that regaining his composure would be this difficult. Of course, even by common sense, it was as clear as day that she was not Daphne. Nor could he think of her as a reincarnation.
Daphne was not yet dead. She was under a petrification spell, turned to stone, lying in eternal sleep in the Dragon Lord’s lair. There was no way she could appear in Arcadia…
The girl and Daphne were unmistakably different people. Even so, Damon could not possibly calm his heart. As he stared at her, Juliana’s eyes were growing sharper and sharper. Judging by the situation, she seemed to have grasped Damon’s identity to some extent.
“Who are you? Are you perhaps the master of this cave?”
Damon did not answer. He had been too absorbed in looking at Juliana’s face to find the time. The more he did so, the fiercer Juliana’s gaze became.
‘There’s no doubt. This place must be the lair of the evil necromancer. Then that old man is…’
Having reached her conclusion, Juliana boldly met the gaze pouring down on her. As though she refused to lose.
Then her eyes caught sight of the mercenary captain, Kasim, lifting his head. Because his endurance had been tempered through his life as a mercenary, Kasim awoke quickly as well.
“Ow, my head.”
As Kasim raised his head and looked around, Juliana swiftly signaled him with her eyes. Fortunately, the evil necromancer seemed not to have noticed anything.
Kasim nodded as if he understood and quietly raised himself. He had no weapon, but Kasim could kill a man perfectly well with his bare hands. If the target was a magician, it would be even easier. If his sturdy arm wrapped around the man’s neck, not even a magician would be able to do anything.
But from the start, that was nothing more than wishful thinking. Kasim, who had been carefully approaching the magician’s exposed back and was about to swiftly lock his neck, received a tremendous impact to his back.
“Guh!”
At the pain that felt as though his spine had been broken, Kasim let out a scream of agony. He had been struck so hard that he pitched forward as though tumbling headlong. Before him, a shadow approached, raising a battle-axe. It was Winslot, who guarded Damon like a shadow. Winslot stepped on Kasim’s fallen back and slowly applied pressure.
“Grrr…”
At the unbearable pain, the blood rose in Kasim’s eyes. The spot the Dullahan was stepping on was precisely over his lungs, so he could not breathe at all. With his breath completely cut off, Kasim could not endure for long and passed out.
“H-heavens…”
Juliana had no choice but to be terrified out of her wits. Kasim being defeated was not so surprising. But the one who had struck him down was a monster dreadful just to look at… Not only was the part above its neck completely empty, but a monster had appeared carrying its severed head tucked under one arm, so how could she not be shocked? Moreover, the head tucked under its arm was rolling its eyes as if alive and staring at her, making it all the more horrifying.
Considering the situation, fainting would have seemed appropriate, but Juliana was indeed a spirited girl. Instead, she glared at Damon with eyes as though she would devour him. By now, she had clearly grasped Damon’s identity.
“So you’re the evil necromancer?”
“…”
“You vile wretch. To use such cowardly methods to render us powerless… Do you not fear the heavens?”
At Juliana’s response, which could be called impudent, Damon could only give a bitter smile.
“What do you mean, cowardly methods? I used Magic Missile, which is undeniably an attack spell…”
“It is the spirit of chivalry to appear, exchange names, declare your intention to fight, and only then begin your attack. You did not even observe such basic courtesy.”
It was truly an absurd piece of sophistry. Only then did Damon regain his composure and spit out curtly.
“Sorry, but I’m not a knight. If I tried to uphold something as useless as the spirit of chivalry, it would be the perfect way to get my head separated from my body.”
“You filthy bastard. That’s why they call you evil.”
Curses poured out without restraint. Contrary to her appearance, Juliana was a girl with quite a foul mouth. Even at a glance, one could tell she was reckless and an extraordinary tomboy.
In truth, Damon was thoroughly experienced in dealing with such wildcats. During the years he had stayed here, countless groups had attempted to invade, and quite a few women had been among them. As they were women who had come to hunt the evil necromancer, not a single one among them had been an ordinary gentle lady. Most were seasoned female mercenaries or sorceresses, toughened by experience.
Having spent long years with rough mercenaries and soldiers, their tempers and dispositions were far from ordinary.
But their tempers had not worked on Damon in the slightest. Most of those women had left this place half out of their minds, their faces swollen. Thinking about it, it was only natural.
Under the threat that he would marry them off to the Dullahan, he forced them to eat food too dreadful even to look at, and as if that were not enough, he would often hang them upside down for an entire day. Then they had to cling desperately to keep their skirts from falling down. Until all their strength was drained.
Once reduced to such a state, any woman was bound to have her will broken. As long as their spirit was crushed once, the women invariably became meek lambs. Each of them would burst into tears and beg him to please forgive them.
“Please spare me. Waaah.”
“Please. I’ll do anything you say… Sob.”
Despite the women’s tearful pleas, Damon had carried out his intentions without so much as twitching an eyebrow. Every woman who entered this place, without exception, had to eat the food Damon had prepared with such care, and had to spend an entire day hanging upside down.
The results were almost always the same. Without a single exception, they ended up being carried out on their comrades’ backs, eyes rolled back and foaming at the mouth. The girl before him, who seemed to have quite the temper, would surely end up the same if he used that method. And yet, for some reason, Damon did not want to do so.
“Let’s stop this. I don’t want to use that method on you alone.”
Even so, Juliana continued to pour out curses too harsh to repeat. Strangely, however, Damon did not grow angry. For the sole reason that her face resembled Daphne’s, Damon could tolerate Juliana’s willfulness. In the meantime, Mitchell and the mercenaries were waking up one by one.
“Wh-where is this? Huh?”
Mitchell’s eyes narrowed. He had spotted Damon standing in front of Juliana. A black robe. The other person was dressed in a way that made it obvious at a glance he was a magician. As though there was no need to think any further, Mitchell tried to rush at the magician. But almost at the same time, a cold warning rang out.
“If you move even a little from that spot, your head won’t remain safe…”
The moment those words fell, Mitchell froze in place. Of course, it was not because of the necromancer’s warning. It was because of the cold sensation of metal touching the nape of his neck. That was what stopped him from moving. Mitchell slowly turned his head and looked at the one aiming at his neck. The instant he saw him, Mitchell’s eyes opened wide enough to split.
“Ugh!”
No matter how much of a man he was, he could not help but be shocked at the sight of a headless monster. Since Mitchell in particular had never seen a Dullahan before, it sent chills down his spine. Without realizing it, he stepped backward.
“Wh-what is this?”
Unexpectedly, the answer came from behind him.
“It’s a creature called a Dullahan. Its combat ability is quite outstanding, so it’s by no means easy to face. Judging from the situation, it seems to be serving as the necromancer’s arms and legs.”
The one who answered Mitchell was Kasim. At some point, he had awakened, and he was rubbing his back with an expression of severe pain. Most of his mercenaries had also awakened. Every one of them had a grim look on their face as they groaned and massaged their entire bodies. Even so, like a captain responsible for his group, Kasim bravely approached Damon.
“Are you the master of this cave?”
“I am.”
“Your magic skills are impressive. We collapsed before we could even get a proper look… Have you perhaps learned black magic?”
Though he rambled on in a sloppy manner, Kasim’s eyes shone sharply. His plan was to chat idly, then suddenly rush in and subdue the other party. With no weapons in hand, that was the only way to subdue a magician. But there was no way Damon would fall for such a shallow trick. In terms of experience, was Damon not already standing far above Kasim?
“What an obvious ploy.”
With a brief sneer, Damon’s body shot upward abruptly. In the blink of an eye, he floated in midair about ten meters above the floor. Naturally, it was a place completely beyond the group’s reach.
“You know what this is, don’t you?”
Around Damon, clusters of white arrows began to form once again. They were the terrifying clusters of Magic Missiles that had knocked the entire group down. Seeing them, the eyes of the group inevitably filled with fear once more. Because of the pain they had never even imagined, a feeling of dread instinctively welled up within them. Unable to keep watching, Kasim stepped forward.
“W-wait. Don’t attack. As you can see, we have no weapons.”
“What does that matter? In any case, you are undeniably my prisoners. I assume you entered fully prepared, so even if you die, you’ll have no regrets?”
Because the threat was made while Magic Missiles whirled around his body, it was certainly effective. Most of the group could not help turning deathly pale. Mitchell in particular, who had been struck by Magic Missiles several times, even had his legs trembling. The only ones who did not show fear were Juliana and Kasim.
“You despicable bastard. You cowardly—mph.”
When the emotionally agitated Juliana began cursing again, Kasim turned pale with fright and covered Juliana’s mouth. In a situation like this, one absolutely must not provoke the other party. After all, if the other party wished it, the entire group could be annihilated in an instant.
“First of all, I thank you for not killing us. Seeing that you’ve imprisoned us like this, it seems there is something you want. Just what do you desire?”
“You’re quick to grasp the situation.”
Damon nodded and gestured with his hand. Then, from somewhere, a chair flew over and floated in the air beside Damon.