Clear away the corpses and gather the troops.
The war is over.
We are comrades now, not enemies, so lower your swords.
Move together.
Raise the banners and blow the horns with all your might.
Sound the news of victory and open the gates.
Her Highness the great Imperial Princess is arriving.
His Majesty the new Emperor is arriving.
Everyone, come out and pay your respects.
Hold a festival.
The war is over.
* * *
“Hmmm······.”
A head tilting, continuing to sway left and right.
Scarlet eyes moving along with it.
“Ambiguous. So ambiguous.”
Rank 3. Airights.
To be precise, it had been “I Like Chuu,” but everyone called her Airights, and she herself did not particularly care, so that was how it turned out.
“It has to be the Supreme Heavenly Demon, right?”
She had seen the situation on the battlefield through her “other eyes.”
That power that had swept away the First Prince’s camp in an instant, along with a thunderbolt.
“It was impressive, but··· it’s not like it can’t be done.”
In truth, had Airights herself not also manipulated the First Prince’s camp however she pleased?
“Of course, I wouldn’t be able to do it that easily, as if I were just out for a stroll somewhere.”
It had been a work into which even Airights herself had poured considerable effort, and the other rankers would not be able to accomplish such a thing that easily either.
“That’s why it’s even stranger. If he had that much power, why did he drag things out?”
For what?
If all he wanted was to make the princess emperor according to Silbert’s plan, he could have used that power to end the war in an instant.
And yet the person suspected to be the Supreme Heavenly Demon dragged things out for quite some time, cut off the First Prince’s head, and then immediately disappeared.
That was what Airights could not understand.
“Hmmm······.”
Her tilting head slowly came to a stop.
The corners of her mouth began to rise little by little.
“Well, I’ll know once I see.”
Dozens of men lay prostrate beneath her feet.
What filled the walls of the room were pictures so realistic one could believe they were photographs.
The hundreds of pictures all depicted a single person.
The overwhelming Rank 1, envied and admired by many rankers.
zl존☆Heavenly Demon★
Airights smiled as she tenderly stroked the man in the picture.
“I want to see him.”
Her scarlet eyes gleamed eerily.
* * *
「Achievement Accomplished! - The Emperor’s Benefactor!」
「You have gained 400 points for accomplishing an achievement.」
「Stories about the ‘Mage Who Wields Lightning’ are spreading.」
「You have gained 2 points from increased fame.」
「You have gained 2 points from increased fame.」
「You have gained 2 points from increased fame.」
「You have gained 2 points from increased fame.」
···
「Stories about the ‘Knight Who Defies Death’ are spreading.」
「You have gained 2 points from increased fame.」
「You have gained 2 points from increased fame.」
「You have gained 2 points from increased fame.」
「You have gained 2 points from increased fame.」
···
「Use the Point Shop to strengthen your stats, skills, and more!」
Even at this very moment, his fame points were rising, little by little.
It was because he had played an active role in a large-scale war.
The time he had been active was short, but the impact had been that much more intense, and rumors were spreading by the force of that impact.
However··· there was simply more talk about the Knight Who Defies Death than the Mage Who Wields Lightning.
“A Death Knight becoming more famous than his master. Do you think that makes any sense, Theordo?”
Hio was sprawled on a soft sofa, and the Death Knight, Theordo, paid no attention whatsoever to Hio’s words.
Inside a spacious room used by honored guests even within the imperial palace, Hio was lounging around without a care in the world.
- Strictly speaking, you are not his master. Symbiosis? No, that sounds strange too··· What should this be called?
His relationship with Theordo, who had become a Death Knight, could be called extremely peculiar.
If Theordo had become a Death Knight through ordinary means, then naturally, it would have been a master-servant relationship.
He would have become a being with no choice but to obey Hio’s words absolutely, but Theordo was not like that.
It was only natural, since he was a being created without any magical operation whatsoever.
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that because Hio had infused him with death energy through his ability, that authority belonged to Hio.
- For now, you must hurry up and learn some necromancer magic. Should you not at least know the basics of summoning and dismissal?
“I know. That’s why I’m learning hard.”
Even though it must have looked as if he had been talking to himself the whole time, Theordo did not find it especially strange.
It was because he already knew that something else was lodged within Hio’s soul.
Instead, he simply stood still, looking at the door.
How many hours had he already been like that?
Unable to keep watching, Hio said something to Theordo.
“If you’re going to keep standing there like that, I told you I’d tell her for you.”
Theordo merely shook his head.
He was worried about Sylvia.
After the war ended.
Even until they gathered the remaining troops and headed to the imperial capital, Sylvia had been half out of her mind.
Her condition had been so poor that Purnell clicked his tongue and Yon Torno worried over her.
Hio, too, had been worried about her in many ways, but···.
Once Sylvia arrived at the imperial capital and entered the palace, she changed.
Her frail appearance vanished without a trace, and she became a cold, composed imperial princess, beginning to take control of the palace.
Though she had not yet formally ascended as emperor, she declared the end of the civil war and devoted herself day and night to stabilizing the uneasy situation.
She adapted so quickly that even Hio, who had been somewhat worried about what she would be like as emperor, could breathe a little easier.
Of course, that was only her outward appearance.
To those who knew the truth, Sylvia’s inner self was still precarious.
That was why Theordo was worried.
But he could not approach her.
Because he had changed so much.
Because he himself ceaselessly emitted an ominous aura.
Would he become an obstacle to Sylvia’s reputation,
to her health, to her future?
All day, he merely stared at the door that would never open, doing nothing but worrying.
“Phew··· This is frustrating. So frustrating.”
- If anyone is frustrated, it is I! What are you doing instead of circulating your circles at once?
“······Yeah. Sorry.”
- There is so much to do, yet you are lazing about. Should you not quickly learn all the 2nd Circle spells and rise to the 3rd Circle? Are you planning to rot at the 2nd Circle for the rest of your life?
“I said I get it···.”
What he was learning now could not particularly be called magic.
According to Purnell, it was the most basic of basics for a necromancer.
The first thing one had to learn: the summoning and dismissal of undead.
- Use the power of the sigil to disperse the death energy. Theordo’s soul has been dyed in death energy, and all that death energy is connected to you, so it is simple.
Now, even without activating Ghost Eyes, he could sense death energy quite clearly.
While creating a Death Knight, he had sensed an immense amount of death energy and moved by borrowing the power of the god of death, so his senses had developed greatly.
After practicing a few times according to Purnell’s teachings—
- That is it. You are doing well.
He became able to summon and dismiss Theordo freely.
To be precise, he was calling back the death energy that composed his body.
Then he would gather it together again to form his shape.
Because he kept repeating summoning and dismissal for practice, only then did Theordo’s gaze turn from the door to Hio.
He had no expression, but Hio could tell he was staring at him in an extremely sullen way.
“······Sorry. I won’t do it anymore.”
At those words, Theordo turned his head back toward the door.
What kind of reality was this, apologizing in turn to a ghost and a Death Knight?
Only a sigh came out.
- What do you intend to do about that?
“Good question···.”
Theordo had been revived as a Death Knight.
There was no need to speak of how powerful his martial strength was.
Even in life, he had been a knight on the verge of becoming a superhuman, and by returning as a Death Knight, he had become even stronger.
A body that did not get injured, and power that grew stronger the more death energy was poured into him.
Even setting aside his undying body, judging only by pure martial strength, he should easily be at the 7th Tier.
“It’d be too much to take him with me, right?”
- I agree.
There was only one restriction placed on Theordo.
If Hio died, he would disappear as well.
But··· would a knight like that fear such a thing?
And Hio himself did not particularly feel inclined to take Theordo along in that state.
Originally, his memories from life should have been hazy, with only resentment born of a powerful lingering attachment remaining, and he should have been forced into absolute obedience to his master’s words······.
Perhaps because it had been immediately after his death, and because he had not been created through proper necromancy, his memories and heart from life remained intact.
How could he forcibly take such a Theordo with him?
It was not as if he desperately lacked military strength right now.
He would have to consider it as having gained one powerful future ally.
- Learn properly, and from next time, make certain to establish the master-servant relationship first before beginning. This time······ it cannot be helped.
“······Yeah. Theordo.”
At Hio’s call, Theordo looked at him.
“Let’s go to Sylvia.”
Theordo shook his head once more.
“Then do you want to come with me?”
Theordo shook his head even faster and more firmly.
Somehow, it felt unpleasant.
“You don’t like this, you don’t like that······. Fine, just follow me.”
He dismissed Theordo’s summon and left the room.
He had been thinking of going to meet Sylvia soon anyway.
For the past few days, the atmosphere had been unsettled.
Sylvia had also been moving around so busily that he had deliberately refrained from seeking her out.
Politically, having Yon Torno by her side would be far more helpful than having Hio there.
Well, Hio himself had also needed some time to sort things out.
By now, the atmosphere inside the castle was not as much of a mess as it had been on the first day.
When they returned with all the troops gathered and the princes’ heads in tow, it had truly been······ the height of chaos, one might say.
The First Prince and Second Prince had gone off to fight a decisive battle, yet the one who returned was the imperial princess.
Who could have imagined it?
It was fortunate that the seasoned Yon Torno was there.
- And you must not forget to mention the imperial palace library.
“I know.”
- You say that, and then you will forget again and keep spouting nonsense, will you not?
“When have I ever spouted that much nonsense···?”
It was something Purnell had been harping on about ever since they headed for the imperial capital.
The imperial palace library.
A treasure house of books that only the imperial family and those closely connected to them could use, and a tomb of venerable history.
- In any case, you must visit the imperial palace library. No matter how I think about it, there are many strange points in various ways. I need to read through the recorded history. Who knows? There might even be an ancient grimoire or something.
“I said I got it, so stop talking.”
Since Sylvia’s room was not far away, Hio called Theordo out.
Mana moved, and in accordance with it, the scattered death energy gathered once more, forming a body.
A pitch-black knight appeared in the middle of the corridor.
“Now, we’re going to Sylvia. You’re ready, right?”
Theordo shook his head.
“I told you, the aura of death you have won’t affect Sylvia. It’s fine.”
Even so, Theordo hesitated.
And it was then.
“······Mage.”
That the Sword Saint appeared.
* * *
The Sword Saint, Vitalianus Mahel.
After the late emperor’s passing, the Sword Saint, who had shut himself in his room and not taken a single step outside, finally took off his mourning clothes.
The period of mourning had ended.
“I will go see Her Highness.”
The outcome of the civil war had been something even he had never expected.
The one who returned to the imperial palace was neither the First Prince nor the Second Prince, but the missing imperial princess.
However, he only grasped that fact and did not receive any other reports.
Curiosity had arisen as to how it had come about, but he intended to see it with his own eyes and judge for himself.
Vitalianus, having changed into his uniform, opened the drawer of his desk and took out a rather heavy wooden box.
Carrying it, Vitalianus left the room.
Toward him, who had left his room for the first time in several months since the emperor’s passing, everyone he encountered bowed their heads.
Vitalianus accepted their greetings with eyes devoid of much feeling and headed toward the place where the imperial princess would be.
‘The imperial princess, is it.’
Perhaps he might be able to see a slightly welcome face.
The most foolish knight in the world, who had refused a position of honor that would never come again.
A knight so stubborn it was beyond words, despite being foolish.
And······ a knight who, strangely enough, had resembled him.
Whenever he looked at him, he had been reminded of his past, when, as the emperor’s guardian knight,
he had taken up the sword for the emperor’s glory and done everything in his power to grow stronger.
‘······What meaning did any of it have?’
He had taken up the sword to protect.
He had risked his life for his honor.
And yet······ the emperor was dead, while he himself was still far too intact.
What... meaning had there been?
What was he to live for now?
For all that remained to Vitalianus was emptiness.
He simply walked on, staring ahead with hollow eyes, as if none of it mattered.
But as he turned the corner of the corridor, what came into view was—
“Now then, we’re going to Silvia. You’re ready, right?”
A man dressed in a way that made it impossible not to notice him.
His fashion sense was still the absolute worst.
“I told you, that energy of yours won’t affect Silvia. It’s fine.”
The look in Vitalianus’s eyes changed the moment he spotted the man.
A delighted smile settled at the corners of his mouth.
“......Magician.”
The unidentified magician.
A strange man wholly unknown to the world, yet harboring immense power within him.
Hio Pavlenko.
Last time, he had been with a saintess who had not even awakened; this time, he was in the imperial palace.
“I see.”
It began to make sense.
How a powerless princess could have repelled all those forces and won the war.
“Magician. If you set your mind to it, then of course it would turn out that way.”
With that one man’s appearance, everything was explained.
“What are you scheming?”
At their previous meeting, he had turned a girl from the streets into a saintess.
At this meeting, he had turned a powerless princess into an emperor.
What grand design did that mind of his contain?
The steps that approached with a heavy tread were different from before, carrying a faint excitement. Carrying strength.
Interest rippled in eyes that had been empty.
“No, it does not matter what you are scheming.”
That was something he could find out in time.
What mattered was something else.
“Let us finish the spar we left incomplete.”
This resentment filling him inside.
He merely wanted to pour out his grievances through the sword.
His chest felt stifled, yet there had been nowhere to vent it.
Though he had lost, in a single morning, the one he had served all his life.
Though he had not even been able to watch over his final moments at his side.
He had had no choice but to remain steadfast.
Because he was the empire’s great star.
Because he was the Sword Saint.
The emperor’s guardian knight, who must not waver in the slightest.
Because he was the guardian knight of the empire.
But if it was this magician.
If it was the man he had acknowledged, then surely he could accept the nameless emotions boiling within him, no matter how completely he let them out.
At last, Vitalianus arrived before Hio.
His two legs came to a halt.
His two eyes looked straight at Hio.
An immense fighting spirit rippled within them.
“Oh, Sword Saint. Long time no see.”
And only then did another being enter his sight.
No, he had sensed that being’s presence from the start, but he had ignored it, focused as he was on the magician.
A being who, at a glance, was clearly not human—one who shimmered with ill omen itself.
Vitalianus’s gaze reached the being standing behind the magician.
Slowly, he swept his eyes over the man’s pitch-black form.
From the tips of his feet to the shape of his stance. His fingertips, his straight posture, and then... his face.
“It’s good to see you, but let’s spar another time. I’m not feeling well today......”
Hio Pavlenko, unchanged as ever, was making excuses to avoid the spar.
Then it was Vitalianus’s turn to answer.
To ask if he was still feeling unwell.
To ask how long he intended to keep running away.
But Vitalianus simply stood still.
His expression hardened.
His gaze fixed behind Hio.
After standing there like that, he looked back at Hio and spoke calmly.
“My interest has faded. We shall spar another time.”
Then he walked past Hio.
He strode on past Hio, whose expression seemed to say, Oh? What’s gotten into him?
Then, suddenly, he stopped.
“By the way, magician.”
Without turning back, he asked,
“Do you, by any chance, know a certain knight?”
At the rather abrupt question,
“He is a man who is exceedingly foolish, stubborn, and utterly inflexible.”
Hio remained silent for a brief moment before answering.
“......How could I not?”
“I thought as much......”
The golden lion of the empire nodded and began walking again.
The blond hair swaying with his steps seemed, somehow... a little empty.
The Sword Saint of the empire.
The emperor’s guardian knight, Vitalianus Mahel.
“I am busy with my own affairs, so would you pass along a message in my stead?”
His steps as he moved once more remained blunt and unhesitating.
And the words he conveyed were utterly indifferent.
“Tell him he did well.”
The knight who had already died lowered his head.
“Tell him that I envy him.”