She did not move in the slightest. Only the faint sound of her heartbeat reaching him served to reassure Damon.
Even to him, a man seasoned on countless battlefields, the situation had been a truly desperate clash. Yet as Damon went back over the course of the battle, a strange light suddenly appeared in his eyes. Something about it had been odd.
‘The Death Knights who ambushed us. Strangely enough, they used swordsmanship that was terribly familiar. Their sword paths were identical, not differing by so much as an inch, from those used by the knights.’
Unlike the knights, who had been too absorbed in the fight to notice anything else, Damon had grasped the course of the battle in comparatively close detail. Astonishingly, the heroes and the Death Knights had used swordsmanship that seemed to stem from the same root. Having fought many masters before, Damon could tell that much clearly.
“They said Death Knights are made from the souls of dead knights. If so, then those bastards came from the dead knights of Icarot…”
Unable to suppress his curiosity, Damon called Helbertron to a halt. Helbertron turned with an exhausted expression, as if asking what he wanted. Damon paid it no heed and laid out the suspicion in his mind.
“Hey! Helbertron. Didn’t anything seem strange while you were fighting them?”
“What are you talking about?”
Helbertron’s reply was filled with irritation.
“From what I observed, both sides were clearly using the same swordsmanship. Could it be that after the advance party was defeated, they were turned into Death Knights and attacked us?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. There’s no way the advance party was wiped out that quickly, and do you think Death Knights can be made in an instant?”
As if anger had flared up inside him, Helbertron snapped fiercely, and in the end Damon had no choice but to close his mouth.
But Sergei could not take those words lightly. His steps suddenly came to a halt.
“Wait…”
In truth, the very appearance of so many master-class Death Knights was riddled with questions. Unless it was the Demon King himself, summoning them should have been impossible… As that thought occurred to him, another flashed through Sergei’s mind. What if they had been allies from the very beginning…?
He hurried over to Damon. Then, facing Damon, whose expression instinctively hardened, he said coldly,
“Put the Saintess down.”
“What is this about?”
“I don’t have time to explain myself to the likes of you. Hurry.”
Anger surged up in him, but since Sergei did not seem likely to harm Daphne in any particular way, Damon silently bent down. The knights rushed over and untied the leather straps binding Daphne. As expected, she had already fainted. Looking down at her bloodless face, Sergei immediately called Shrekheimer. Shrekheimer, wounded and with one shoulder wrapped in bandages, pushed his way through the knights.
“What is it?”
Shrekheimer looked at Sergei, his face twisted as if the pain were severe.
“Can you wake the Saintess?”
“It is possible, but carrying her in this state would be less of a shock to her.”
“This is important. Wake her at once.”
Left with no choice, Shrekheimer cast a spell. He intended to restore her vitality with Healing. Since the flow of mana was unstable here, the casting took quite some time. Patiently gathering mana, Shrekheimer was finally able to wake Daphne.
With a bloodless face and an expression full of terror, Daphne looked around, and only after confirming Damon’s face did color finally return to her features.
“Mister. Where are we…”
Before she could finish speaking, Sergei cut her off.
“There is one thing I wish to ask you, Saintess.”
“Wh-what is it?”
“As the Saintess, you must have felt it clearly. I am speaking of the deaths you felt earlier.”
Daphne’s face suddenly turned deathly pale. Cruelly, Sergei was urging Daphne to recall the moments when lives had been extinguished. Unable to watch any longer, Damon lunged forward and tried to grab him by the collar.
“You damned bastard…”
But when Sergei raised a hand, the surrounding knights rushed in and seized Damon. Unable to move, Damon could only glare at Sergei, breathing harshly. After taking care of Damon, Sergei looked straight into Daphne’s eyes.
“This is important, so you must answer truthfully. What kind of deaths did you feel earlier? Did you feel human lives being extinguished? Or were there others mixed in as well?”
Pitifully, Daphne’s face had gone as white as a sheet. Sergei pressed Daphne, who could not even open her mouth, once more, and at last he obtained the answer he wanted.
“Th-they were only the deaths of people. Only… Why are you making me remember that horrible moment?”
As soon as she answered, Daphne burst into sobs, and in the end Shrekheimer had no choice but to intervene.
“Sleep.”
Daphne was forcibly put to sleep by the power of magic. The knights placed her back on Damon’s back and bound her tightly with leather straps. Damon glared at Sergei and ground his teeth.
“If I ever get the chance, I’ll make you pay for this.”
“If you are capable of it…”
After answering briefly, Sergei turned away as if Damon were no longer worth dealing with. On his face was an expression that suggested he had realized something.
As the party continued advancing through the fog, they witnessed yet another astonishing sight. They had not been ambushed, but this time, too, the shock was no less severe.
Clang, clang.
Within the fog, two groups of roughly twenty each were engaged in fierce combat. The problem was that both sides were Death Knights.
The blazing light in their eye sockets seemed as though it would suck in one’s very soul; their blackish armor bore the Demon King’s symbol clearly. They looked exactly like the Death Knights who had attacked them, without the slightest difference. And now two groups of such Death Knights were slaughtering one another. Of course, liches and durahans were mixed in here and there as well.
Even as they watched, two durahans and one lich collapsed, their bodies cut to pieces.
At the unexpected sight, the knights could only be dumbfounded. Of course, since both sides were unmistakably enemies, they maintained their readiness to respond.
Upon discovering the main force, the groups of Death Knights stopped fighting and retreated. It seemed to be because, at least in appearance, the main force had the greatest number of people. But if the monsters joined forces and attacked, it would by no means be an easy fight, so the knights had no choice but to tense up.
Since the situation seemed likely to develop in that direction, the knights gripped their sword hilts tightly. At that moment, Sergei’s cold voice rang out.
“Until I give a separate order, no one is to attack under any circumstances. You are permitted only to defend.”
Leaving behind the eyes of the knights, which were filled with great surprise, Sergei stepped forward.
The two groups of Death Knights had split to either side and were glaring fixedly at them. From their blazing eye lights, hostility poured out in streams. About ten had fallen in the previous mutual slaughter, so all told, there seemed to be a little over thirty of them. Because of that, the heroes had no choice but to be on edge.
There were only twenty-seven on their side who could take part in combat. Of course, considering that the Four Great Knights, who were grand master-class, were present, victory seemed possible, but the price would undoubtedly be enormous. It was obvious that more than half of their companions would lose their lives.
As if they had decided to attack, the Death Knights began approaching, exuding killing intent. Before that could happen, Sergei’s voice rang out loudly.
“Who are you? Reveal your identities.”
At those words, the approaching Death Knights came to an abrupt halt. They looked at one another, staring into each other’s eye lights. They seemed to be exchanging opinions.
Soon, one Death Knight stepped forward. He appeared to be the highest-ranking among them. From his mouth burst the strange, resonating voice unique to Death Knights. It was a terribly unpleasant voice to hear, like the sound of earthenware shattering.
“Ho-how laughable… that things that should not exist… would dare speak of identity…”
Unable to understand the other’s words for a moment, Sergei asked back in bewilderment.
“What did you say?”
“Ha-hand over the Saintess. If you do not… we shall put an eternal end… to your unholy existence…”
Having listened carefully, Sergei understood the other’s words this time and put on a peculiar expression.
“Your objective was the Saintess?”
“That is so.”
Having spoken, the Death Knights all raised their swords at once. Seeing the black, haze-like energy rising from their blades, almost all of them seemed to be master-class Death Knights. But Sergei was not the least bit flustered.
“Before we fight, I want to know your identities. Are you willing to tell me?”
“If you wish…”
The Death Knight who had stepped forward nodded. That same voice abruptly emerged from the Death Knight’s mouth. And then an astonishing truth was revealed.
“I am Count Alfred… honorable commander of the knight order of Icarot. I have been charged with the mission of guarding the Saintess… and escorting her to the temple of Beberhazel. I do not know how you filthy things managed to abduct the Saintess, but if you do not hand her over quietly… even your souls will not remain intact.”
Because of the bizarre resonance in the voice, they could not understand him at once, but when Sergei grasped the other’s true meaning, his eyes shot wide open. It was the same for the other knights. They had expected an answer along the lines of belonging to some unit or another under Neidelhark’s Dark Legion, but their expectations had missed the mark completely.
“What did you say?”
The other group of Death Knights that had been fighting them until just moments ago seemed just as astonished. They looked at one another and muttered noisily about something. Since they were Death Knights with no facial expressions, it was impossible to tell what they were discussing, but it seemed quite serious. Barely regaining his composure, Sergei spoke as if he found it absurd.
“You are Alfred, who commands Group Seven?”
“N-no… how do you know that?”
The Death Knight who had stepped forward seemed somewhat surprised. Only then could Sergei clearly guess the situation.
They had done nothing other than slaughter their own allies. He did not know how those people appeared in the guise of Death Knights, but it was obvious that they had to prevent further losses. Therefore, without delay, he revealed his own identity.
“I am Duke Sergei, supreme commander of the Order of Heroes. Alfred, do you remember me?”
“Bullshit. How could a wretched durahan like you dare impersonate the supreme commander?”
At the words that burst out reflexively, Sergei realized one thing. The other side, too, was seeing them as Death Knights.
It seemed that those with higher swordsmanship skill appeared as Death Knights, while the relatively weaker ones appeared as durahans. In truth, Duke Sergei’s swordsmanship was not particularly exceptional. If so, there was a strong possibility that the true identities of the liches were magicians.
He could not understand at all what was going on. Then, as a good idea suddenly came to him, Duke Sergei extended a finger and pointed to one side. It was toward Damon, who was carrying Daphne on his back.
“Then how does that man look to you? Can you see the Saintess as she is?”
“Of course! To entrust the noble body of the Saintess to a mere ghoul… you insolent things…”
The Death Knight spat fiercely, his eye lights blazing. Having barely organized his tangled thoughts, Sergei pronounced each word clearly. As the prime minister responsible for the great and small affairs of a nation, he knew the details of his subordinates well.
“Of course I know you properly, Alfred. You are a knight known in Icarot as a devoted husband. But I know very well a side of you that is not known to the public. Namely, the fact that you have been secretly carrying on an affair with Countess Clondel.”
A cry of shock burst from the Death Knight’s mouth.
“Ha, ha… h-how do you know that…”
“I am Duke Sergei, in charge of overseeing the intelligence department. How else would I know such a thing? But you need not worry. Count Clondel, who belonged to the main force, has already fallen in battle.”
The Death Knight said nothing. At a glance, he seemed to have received a considerable shock.