Immediately after the Black Knight Lanius died,
The Misfits gathered there let out sighs of relief and collapsed where they stood.
“We… we won. I’m not sure how we won, but…”
“Phew… I-I thought I was going to die! I’ve never been targeted like that before!”
Dietrich tilted his head as if he still hadn’t lost enough blood, while Helena celebrated noisily.
“It’s over.”
“He really was a horrifying monster.”
Jeff and Melana reacted much the same way. Leaning against each other, they quietly sank to the ground.
Meanwhile, Helena was able to see the avatar of the World Tree.
“……”
The avatar of the World Tree was looking down at the Black Knight Lanius.
The old man’s body, completely encased in black armor, was pouring blood from all over and looked like a rusted wreck that had been abandoned for ages.
“What a pitiful person.”
He was evil.
Not just evil, but a butcher unlike any other this world would ever see again.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that he alone had destroyed several nations and stained his hands with countless lives.
She did not sympathize with that.
But she knew that Lanius had been lonely. She also knew that he had wanted it all to end long ago.
There were two main reasons he had remained alive.
One was because of the Emperor’s command.
“You’ve finally found peace.”
The other was the burden of an ability that even he could not overcome.
The ability [Regeneration] would not allow him to die easily.
Suicide was impossible. Whether he hanged himself, threw himself into water, or even drove a blade into his own throat with his own hands.
Lanius could not die.
That was simply the nature of his ability.
“Were you happy?”
Staring down at the Black Knight’s face hidden behind his helm, the avatar of the World Tree asked the question. She was curious about what expression he had worn in death, but she lacked the courage to approach him.
After all, he had been someone who tried to kill her.
“No matter how many lives you harmed, butcher, you will likely be forgiven by no one. Even in death, you will fall to the deepest pit of hell.”
He had never hesitated to kill.
Child or elder, it made no difference. He was a villain who thrust his spear without mercy.
That was the man he had become.
A sharp spear forged by the era, by time, and by the Emperor.
“But I will embrace you. I may not be able to save you, but the earth will at least accept your body.”
The roots of the World Tree stretched out and grasped Lanius’s body.
She still did not know what the old man looked like beneath the armor.
But there was no need to find out.
That armor was his symbol, and in many ways, it was all that he was.
Rustle.
The roots gripped Lanius’s remains and slowly sank back into the earth.
Even the most terrible sinner in the world must, in the end, be laid to rest in the ground.
That was the one principle upheld by the World Tree, which had taken root and lived upon this land.
***
To be honest, the Imperial forces sent to attack the Damus family were strong.
Which was only natural. They were an elite force specifically dispatched to conquer the entire Damus territory.
If they had any problems, they were Samuel Damus’s unexpectedly fierce resistance, Chris Damus’s monstrous strength, and the arrival of the Safe Clown, who they had believed could never possibly make it in time.
Of course, there was an even bigger problem than all of that…
Olga Hermod’s Original Magic
[Kaleidoscope – Synesthetic Expansion]
The current Yuna was more specialized in magic than assassination.
This was not the first time she had experienced it.
She had used this spell before during her battle against the Scriptwriter. Back then, however, she had received Johan’s help. She could not have cast it on her own.
The difficult parts could simply be copied through [Copycat].
At the time, the only thing she had delegated to Johan was the creation of the large-scale kaleidoscope.
So was deploying the kaleidoscope itself difficult?
No.
Even back then, she had been capable of casting such a basic spell.
The reason she had needed help lay elsewhere.
“It won’t be easy. Getting used to these senses takes more than a day or two.”
Casting it and using it were two different things.
What had been difficult for Yuna was the expanded perception that came after the spell was activated.
Back then, she herself had been overwhelmed by the magic and unable to move.
But now things were different.
It was not that she had achieved a level of mastery sufficient to finely control the spell.
She understood something else.
The best way to overcome hardship was to become accustomed to it.
“Puhihihihi!”
She had chosen to adapt to the expanded senses.
This too was the result of her mother and teacher, Olga Hermod, throwing her into magical training for most of her practice sessions.
“Sorry, but I don’t really have the luxury right now. I don’t think I can give you an exciting battle. Farewell, handsome knights.”
This time, there was no need for assassination.
All she had to do was finish off the enemies who had collapsed, unable to move within the sensations that had merged with the world around them.
Unlike those who had stood in her way before, there was no reason to hesitate.
After all, knights who attacked civilians and even children were hardly good people.
Yuna slowly walked forward, ending the lives of the fallen one by one.
Even though she had grown accustomed to it, moving freely within this space was still far from easy for her.
“Hngh…”
After that long and tedious process finally came to an end—
“Done!”
Yuna released the spell she had been maintaining and collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion.
Only after the magic dissipated were the Damus family and the mercenaries able to see what had happened around them.
Everyone was dead.
The knights who had been difficult to handle even one at a time were now lying scattered across the ground with their throats slit.
“……”
It was a sight that was unsettling at first glance.
The scene was enough to bring a cold sweat to Samuel Damus’s brow, leaving him speechless.
“Ah!”
At that moment, the very person responsible for the carnage looked at Samuel Damus and smiled.
“Father-in-law, are you okay?”
Flinch!
Samuel Damus shuddered.
The girl who had just created that horrifying scene was striding straight toward him.
“Ahem! Ahem, y-yes. Thank you.”
Samuel Damus had never known.
He had never truly understood what kind of world his son Johan lived in.
Only now was he seeing it with his own eyes.
He had thought Johan was exaggerating.
He had thought his son was being ridiculous while dating such a pretty girl.
“Miss Yuna.”
“Oh, come on, Father-in-law. Just call me Yuna.”
“R-Right. Yuna.”
“Yes, Father-in-law.”
“Please take good care of my son…”
At that moment,
Samuel Damus finally felt that he could understand his son’s feelings, at least a little.
***
Emperor Abraham looked completely at ease.
So at ease, in fact, that he openly checked his silver mirror while standing before us.
“Oho, things are getting interesting. Johan Damus, congratulations. It seems your companions were stronger than I expected. Did I miscalculate? Was there an unexpected variable? Whatever the case, your companions survived.”
“…Why are you telling me that?”
“There’s no reason not to. Besides, if you know there’s still somewhere to run to, you might change your mind at any time.”
“I see…”
That was true.
The moment I learned they were safe, I felt a wave of relief.
“Well? Even now, you can take back this choice and return to a point before regret sets in.”
“On the contrary, I realized that whichever choice I made, regret was all that would remain.”
“So you say. Oracle, what do you think? Do you wish to survive?”
“…No. I will follow Your Majesty’s will.”
“Then let me ask again. Johan Damus, do you still have no intention of turning back?”
“That question is getting really tiresome.”
“You really don’t seem to understand how rare it is for me to offer someone chance after chance.”
“And what’s so remarkable about the mercy of an old man facing death?”
“Hahahaha! Fair enough. That’s a reasonable point.”
He was formidable.
No matter what I said, no matter how I provoked him, Emperor Abraham’s composure never wavered.
More than that, he continually shook the resolve of those facing him, making it impossible to forget that even on the verge of death, he was still the ruler of a nation.
He understood human nature far too well.
He could have lied and told me that all of my companions were dead.
The fact that he had not done so meant he was not trying to corner me. Instead, he had deliberately left me a way out, making the situation even more difficult.
“Johan Damus. Do you believe you can win?”
“I never fought with the expectation of victory.”
“A good attitude. But, Johan Damus, whether you like it or not, you have continued to win until now. Do you know why?”
“……”
“Because you had excellent companions.”
“I didn’t expect to hear that from you.”
“And why is that?”
Abraham let out a faint chuckle and slowly raised his sword.
The crimson blade moved through the air, trailing flames in its wake.
It was not the sword producing fire.
The blade itself was so unbearably hot that its mere presence set the surroundings ablaze.
“The fact that you thought otherwise is precisely why you cannot win.”
Clank!
The sound of metal locking together echoed from behind us.
“I am not someone who needs to fight alone.”
The knights patrolling the Imperial Palace began gathering all at once.
Warriors worth a hundred men each, clad in full plate armor and carrying standard military weapons, converged upon us.
“Do you know why those people hid themselves in the shadows?”
Emperor Abraham was relaxed.
He had every right to be.
“Do you know why you were able to win?”
The knights gathered around us, forming an encirclement.
The situation was so hopeless that even my fingertips trembled.
“Because every one of them was wary of me and could not commit their full strength.”
He was right.
With the exception of the Scriptwriter, every terrorist leader had been forced to devote most of their forces to dealing with the Emperor.
A direct confrontation with him had been impossible.
They had been forced to pursue their objectives while keeping one eye fixed on him.
That was why each of them had ended up fighting all of us alone.
And that was why they lost.
But what if they had not?
What if they had not needed to worry about the knights and soldiers the Emperor could dispatch?
I would wager that there was a good chance I would never even have seen their faces.
“Johan Damus. When you are outmatched in both numbers and quality of troops, what can you do?”
Abraham’s gaze was no longer on me.
The sword in his hand was aimed solely at Lapis and Lobelia.
As though I was not even worth facing.
As though I was beneath his notice.
“Dispose of them.”
The last thing he said was not directed at me, but was an order given to the knights gathered here.
“……”
Lobelia and Lapis could do nothing but glance in my direction from the corners of their eyes. The Emperor alone was completely controlling their movements.
And the knights, each worth a hundred men, were advancing toward me.
Had I ever faced such despair before? Had I ever felt this powerless? I was someone who struggled even against a single opponent, let alone all of them at once.
“Hoo… Yeah. I never expected this to be easy in the first place.”
I adjusted my grip on my sword.
I knew it would be difficult. That was why I had resolved to stake everything on this challenge.
Surrounded by knights worth a hundred men each, and the Emperor not even paying attention to me?
Well, compared to what I had originally expected, this was actually a lot better.
Still, if there was one thing that annoyed me…
“Why are you standing on that side?”
“…It is not too late. Please turn back, Johan.”
It was the fact that Alice was standing alongside the knights.
Ah, seriously. I never knew taking the initiative to save a single person could be this difficult.
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