As I chased after Benechion, heading towards the corridor extending behind the throne, Infiltrators and the knights of the Duke’s house blocked my path.
I threw myself to the side to avoid the spiked foot descending from above, raising my sword to parry the exhausted longsword that was wavering in front of me.
“How dare you insult His Excellency, Benechion!”
The knight of the Duke’s house swung his sword down at me with the intent to split my head.
Clatter!
The blue mana blade shimmering on the longsword was clearly a magic sword laden with several layers of enchantments.
“Ugh!”
Despite not being particularly thick, it felt heavy like a mace, perhaps due to its ‘sharpness’, ‘sturdiness’, and ‘weight’.
However, my sword, ‘Black Tear’, was a prized blade forged by the dwarves of the Northern Region.
A sword touched by that race naturally emanated a sense of mystery without the need for additional magical imbuements.
As I stepped back, I pulled him forward, guiding my blade downwards so that the tip extended forward, twisting my wrist to jab at his armpit.
“Your Highness!”
Lady Trentia suddenly yanked me back.
Drawn to that irresistible force, I rolled on the ground, and just after, a foot with three toes stomped down where I had been standing.
“Crazy.”
Even the knights who had rushed at me hesitated for a moment upon seeing the Infiltrator.
Standing about 3 meters tall, it wasn’t particularly large compared to the Infiltrators here, but it walked on two legs, wielding the axe spear it had used in its lifetime.
It looked like a cross between a chicken and a human, its red eyes rolling around in an almost innocent manner.
“Chikka-gagagagah!”
Of course, if it came charging while swinging that axe spear like a pinwheel, the story would be different.
The knight of the Duke’s house swung his weapon at me in disbelief that a heavy infantryman would dare do so.
“…This is not good.”
Bam!
The knight clad in full plate armor bounced off like a kicked ball.
The Sword Expert knight displayed the strength equivalent to dozens of men, enough to crush the commoner Infiltrators, but those who hailed from Sword User backgrounds had superior strength even over such knights.
Thus, I signaled to Lady Trentia while conjuring flames in the palm of my hand.
“Flames blooming amidst the chaos.”
The true value of flames lies in control.
I cast the flames I had conjured, as small as a campfire, over the Infiltrator.
Its steel-like body would not yield to mere basic fire magic, but I forced the fire into its eyes, beak, nostrils, and ear holes.
“Struggle in pain! You are the embodiment of sin and corruption!”
It thrashed in agony, swinging the axe spear, and I raised my sword to block, but was pushed back in an instant.
It was then that Lady Trentia raised her sword.
“Hah.”
I was unaware of what conversation she had with her father and brother.
However, I could sense a piece of lingering regret had been stripped away from her sword.
The mana blade, thick like blood, shimmered as her raised sword traced a lively circle overhead.
Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!
The Infiltrator, continuously sliced by the red arc, was severed like a banana tree struck by an axe.
Meat and blood splattered everywhere, and the Infiltrator, realizing it was part of a flanking maneuver, hesitated in resistance, but it was too late; Lady Trentia’s sword relentlessly shredded its body.
Boom!
Before long, that half-man, half-beast Infiltrator collapsed to the ground, bleeding.
“Did you just see that?”
“All by herself, she took down that Infiltrator…”
“Can that armor be pierced?”
The knights and soldiers of the Duke’s house that had been blocking us unconsciously took a step back, and she raised her veil to show them her dignified face and red pupils.
“Your lord has sinned before the God of Radiance! Duke Valencius will hold a fair trial in the name of the Saint, so do not act against justice!”
One knight raised his veil in reply.
“Shut up! How dare you insult His Excellency? While it is indeed shocking that Infiltrators are scheming in Gremoryus’s court, our loyalty remains unshaken.”
Lady Trentia stepped forward, facing the multitude of swords and axe spears.
“Do you think the renowned mage Duke was unaware of the presence of so many Infiltrators?”
Her voice was steady as she asked.
“That is…!”
“If he were unaware, it would be incompetence; if he were aware, then it is corruption! Will you not step aside?”
The three virtues of a knight are to serve their lord, to serve the Church, and to protect the weak.
This is what I commanded, what the Saint supported, and it was to help the subjects of the Gremoryus Duchy.
In short, Lady Trentia was filled with a sense of exaltation.
“With chivalry at my side, think of what is best for the house of Gremoryus! Your Highness, stay close! I shall pierce through them!”
As she lowered her veil, she charged at what appeared to be over a hundred heavily armored soldiers and knights.
Honestly, I wanted to pull her back by her cloak immediately.
I knew where the Duke would flee, and I could circumvent through the corridor using the space between the columns without attacking head-on.
But nothing could stop the sword of a knight in the grip of romantic fervor.
“Ahahaha!”
Lady Trentia swung her sword in both hands, deflecting the incoming sword and axe spear.
Her blade remained steady, while the weapons of the Duke’s knights and elite troops showed a mix of regret, confusion, and anxiety.
In a clash between those of peak skill, just a moment might determine life and death, victory or defeat.
Especially if both parties were Sword Experts, there was little else to be said.
Lady Trentia activated the imperial sword techniques ‘Unity Cutting’ and ‘Morning Star’.
A crimson haze enveloped the plate armor, and she accelerated further.
Kicking the chest of an enemy soldier to clear a path, she swung her sword behind her as if she had eyes on the back of her head, deflecting weapons aimed at me.
“Your Highness! Closer! Closer!”
I’m sorry.
I silently apologized to Lady Trentia in my heart.
Duke Benechion was a core force within the anti-Jayrilis alliance and had caused tremendous damage to the Empire as an Infiltrator.
Trapped in a fortified city, he endlessly produced powerful foreign entities and Infiltrators, wreaking havoc on the Empire.
“My blade is unshaken!”
Thus, it was only natural that he needed to be eradicated swiftly.
“Your Highness! Your Highness! I will hold them back, so hurry and go!”
But ‘nothing’ had happened yet.
It wasn’t exactly that I wanted to kill him.
‘It seems that the power of Duke Benechion is strong enough to hide the essence behind a veil of distinction.’
I lied once again.
“Would I die?”
Lady Trentia was risking her life believing that.
A trace of guilt rekindled within my decayed heart.
Yet, it was the duty of every lord to ensure their followers didn’t have to think about such matters.
With that in mind, I dashed into the corridor decorated with brass and copper.
“I will surely bring peace and stability to the Gremoryus Duchy by slaying Duke Benechion!”
Ah, if I changed ‘Gremoryus Duchy’ to ‘Imperial Palace’ right here, it might not be entirely wrong either.
As I drove away my guilt with such frivolous thoughts.
The palace, carved out of an entire volcano, was immensely large.
Hundreds of golden-bronze candlesticks stood in the tunnel-like corridors decorated with red copper, glowing softly in the dim red light.
As I ran through the corridor, Valenciaunos recalled the nightmare from before his return.
“Damn.”
Back then, it took Jayrilis about a month to conquer a single fiefdom of the Empire, underestimating it greatly.
By flying in the sky, burning supplies with lances of fire and smashing down walls with lances of wrath, any army could be disbanded in an instant.
After one month of conquest, staying for a year or two to stabilize, it was the norm until his eighteenth year of reign to set off towards the realm of another rebellious lord.
…The territory of the Gremoryus family was not particularly large for a duchy.
They held onto enough farmland for their subjects to be self-sufficient while working the local mines and veins, but did not desire more than that.
Still, it had taken her two years to step into the Gremoryus Duchy and reach the main hub, Kimelion.
Hundreds of fortresses were stocked with numerous magic tools, and sometimes demons and Infiltrators crawled out from deep within the mines.
Kimelion was even worse.
Jayrilis and Valenciaunos had spent five winters in this city.
A labyrinthine tunnel, numerous supplies, countless Infiltrators, endless resistance fighters, and an abundance of foreign entities…
Endless enemies crawled out from the underground mines.
‘No.’
There was no way I would do that again, even if I had to die and live again.
Boom!
The door ahead slammed shut.
It was a strong steel door thicker than a fist, with locking bolts as thick as a rolling pin.
Boom!
Doors closed behind me as well.
A closed passage that brought to mind a nightmare all too familiar to Valenciaunos.
‘How many soldiers were lost like this?’
Screeeech!
Small holes next to the door opened, from which white and green smoke poured out.
The Gremoryus Duchy was also renowned for its alchemy.
It was only natural, as their livelihood depended on efficiently extracting minerals from rocks.
Valenciaunos narrowed his yellow eyes and laughed faintly.
His palms were enveloped in scales, gradually turning redder.
He had done everything he could to enhance his innate fire magic in the ritual of draconic acceptance, the ‘Fire Ceremony’.
Thanks to the blood faction ‘Immortality’, he was in fairly good shape today.
“Get out of the way. My knight awaits.”
Bang!
The thick steel door was ripped off, and the alchemists injecting poison at the door screamed.
Valenciaunos struck them one by one to knock them out, taking all their poisons, moving on.
Although it was a maze-like corridor, he knew where the Duke would be.
*
Benechion was overlooking his city from a balcony on the palace’s outside.
Terrible screams echoed from all over the city, accompanied by rising smoke.
He knew that several Infiltration cults were scheming deep within the mines.
The city’s mines had been dug since before the heterogeneous races ruled the world over a thousand years ago.
Eradication was impossible, and the best he could do was suppress them to keep them from coming to the surface.
However, it was shocking indeed that they had entered his palace and started to incite knights and magicians.
‘I had a rough idea.’
Thinking of their faces, most were newly joined rookies or those whose skills had skyrocketed overnight.
‘Impertinent bastards. Just because you pulled me in, you dare to lay hands on my knights? Do you think I dedicated this territory to your god?’
It seemed it was time to teach them a lesson.
With that resolve, he looked at his left hand, stained black.
While it wasn’t ugly, it sufficed as evidence of corruption.
Of course, the purification didn’t reach the point of death even after the attack.
Initially, he had voluntarily succumbed to corruption for the sake of knowledge, so his mind wasn’t tainted.
If he wished, he could abandon a portion of his strength and knowledge right now and escape from corruption.
But… he couldn’t defeat the emperor without this knowledge.
To fight a god required god-like power.
“Duke Benechion. I knew you’d be here. The great lord who sees himself as innocent does not hide or flee.”
A somewhat fatigued, yet still arrogant voice echoed.
Benechion turned with a confident smile.
That smile was learned through effort, not born nor genuinely felt, but cultivated over time.
“Call me Your Excellency, young prince.”
“Even if I am a nominal duke, I can’t address a duke as Your Excellency.”
Valenciaunos stepped out onto the balcony in a white uniform.
His previously neat hair was slightly disheveled, and his face and uniform were smeared with soot, with translucent dark-red scales rising on the back of his hand.
He grinned mischievously, suggesting mockingly, “I was unaware that such people were scheming in the Duke’s household. If you swear allegiance to Her Majesty, Emperor Jayrilis, I would be willing to lend a hand in suppressing the Infiltrators alongside the Saint. What do you think?”
He was a noble who knew everything.
He wasn’t someone who would lie to extricate himself from the situation.
Unlike before his reincarnation, he hadn’t raised an army yet.
While he had no expectations, it would be a great help if there was even a slight chance he would give up on revenge.
Benechion wore a sneer on his dignified face, aging yet still handsome.
He raised his left fist, extending his middle finger.
“Shut up, you serpent.”
