I doubted my ears for a moment.
Since before my return, the Infiltrators and I had been enemies, eager to tear each other apart upon meeting.
What’s it like to go back?
I had never heard such words before, nor did I think I would ever hear them.
So, my reply came late.
The High Priest seemed to think my reaction was a rejection and opened his mouth again.
“We serve the one who has achieved unity. You are a hindrance, but we do not plan to eliminate you just yet. Leave when given the opportunity, young Solletarass.”
His voice echoed throughout the encampment like a reverberation.
I understood that those arrogant words were somewhat meant to persuade me.
“Y-Your Highness Valenccius.”
Several officers from the Land of Ransowa looked at me.
They had referred to me as an ‘evil sorcerer’ just moments ago, and the change to ‘Your Highness’ was somewhat amusing.
I gazed at the black mist flowing gently beneath my feet.
The mist had already enveloped the entire encampment.
“Ahhh!”
The dead soldier stood up immediately after being draped in the mist, his eyes turning pitch black.
I carefully calculated my options.
Given the scale, there must have been around ten thousand soldiers in this encampment, and including the scouts, detachments, and so on, about eight thousand would likely be stationed here.
From the current battlefield situation, it wouldn’t take long for them all to become infiltrators.
No matter how much I might be a royal from the Valen family, I couldn’t just burn away eight thousand infiltrators spread over such a vast area.
I turned around briefly to glance at Sererassie and Rudi.
…There was no need to ask Lady Trentia.
Rudi sent a slightly bewildered look, while Sererassie nodded silently.
Rudi was perceptive, and Sererassie was a powerful mage, so they would have already realized how dangerous the High Priest was.
I just felt sorry that they were being forced into such a choice because of me.
“I would sincerely like to thank you for that offer.”
The darkness from the High Priest’s facial hole writhed as if satisfied.
I let my Black Tear hang low and slightly inclined my head, summoning the energy of the incantation and shouted.
“It is a gift of gratitude! You forsaken wretch of a monster! A flickering flame blooming in defiance!”
Flames surged up crimson and greedily rose beneath his feet.
“You cowardly hybrid of Solletarass!”
The black mist ignited and turned to smoke as the High Priest raised his robe sleeve to shield his face.
I launched a series of fire lances into the air, cursing at him.
“Shut up! You filthy creature! Do you think a wretched hybrid like you has the gall to bestow mercy upon me?”
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The giant flames erupted, and the High Priest staggered back.
“You hideous, rotting monster, dig into your ears with a hammer and nail, and listen well. I am Valenciaunos, of the royal bloodline, and a Constable granted the right to purge the infiltrators by His Holy Majesty, the God of Radiance, Jeilliris. I shall rain down fire upon you and your kind, who devour the world!”
The High Priest stumbled amidst the flames and glared at me.
Amidst that darkness, I could vividly feel the anger boiling.
“You’re dead.”
I grinned wickedly and raised my middle finger in response, and soon after, the High Priest moved.
Out from his sleeve sprang a gigantic black feather like a sword.
He swung that feather with the speed of lightning.
Swish!
The shockwave rippled, and the flames surrounding him parted as if the space itself had been cleaved.
The shockwave was strong enough to push my body backward.
“If you rejected my hand, die by it.”
The High Priest stepped out, cutting through the black mist and flames.
With each step he took, ripples spread over the black mist covering the ground.
I grinned wickedly and looked up at the sky.
“I may have rejected your hand, but I have no intention of killing you myself. I simply want to watch you die.”
Rumble!
Before I knew it, huge dark clouds gathered overhead.
The humid wind that didn’t suit this cold winter day blew alongside.
Yellow flames sparked among the clouds, and yellow sparks also danced in Sererassie’s blue eyes.
“Are you ready?”
Zap!
Zing!
Lightning struck from the clouds.
Instead of branching like common lightning, it came down in a single column as if guided by the gods leading their followers.
Crash!
The High Priest, struck directly by the lightning column, trembled and groaned.
Dark mist spilled out from his body.
“How dare you!”
“Yes, how dare I. How dare a monster like you appear before Crown Prince Valenccius? A wicked wretch that cannot create anything?”
His feathers glowed with dark energy like a mana blade, and I infused the flames of the incantation and mana into my Black Tear to prepare an orange mana blade.
Of course, I had no intention of clashing head-on with that monster.
Before coming here, I had heard reports that dozens of holy knights and combat priests had died while trying to capture one bishop.
And when translating the power gap between the High Priest and the Holy Emperor Hong of the Church of Radiance, it was clear that I couldn’t capture him through conventional means.
“I shall bring you to your knees.”
Flames surged behind me, and fire spirits in the form of a young boy with large horns and scales flew up.
About a hundred or so.
Perhaps an unexpected number for casual foes, as a sound of disbelief echoed from the darkness.
“Burn them all.”
“Ahhahaha!”
The spirits, fearless of death, charged forth with mad laughter.
“Such power from a bygone era.”
The High Priest altered his stance and swung the feather.
A black mana blade was shot forth, and upon impact, the fire spirits were extinguished.
“Spirits are weak against the strength of unity. You know that, don’t you? Young Solletarass?”
He glanced at me as he spoke.
From every word he uttered, immense psychic waves cascaded down.
The hem of his white robe wrinkled, and reflexively, dragon scales and fragments of Az rose up to protect my body and mind.
“You old traitor. I shall certainly slice that raised head of yours in half.”
Thud!
I lunged forth with the orange-hot blade in hand.
Whoosh!
As the High Priest shot feathers in all directions, annihilating the spirits, he wrapped a black mana blade around a feather resembling a longsword.
“I am Valenciaunos, the Duke of Solletarass.”
I thundered forth, stating my name as firmly as Lady Trentia would.
“Come!”
From beneath his hood, darkness flickered, and his confidence was evident.
As the distance between us shrank to about 3 meters, a shaft of light thrust into the back of his knee.
Bam!
“Ugh!”
Black smoke surged, and he staggered greatly.
“Now, Your Highness!”
Rudi stood beside an officer of the Land of Ransowa.
The officer held a winged shaft in one hand and Rudi’s mana gun in the other.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Sacred arrows infused with holy power struck relentlessly at the joints of the High Priest.
“What are you doing with the masterpiece of the Ivory Tower!”
Sererassie’s scream rang out, and the High Priest’s shriek tried to drown her out.
“This-!”
“Shut that wicked mouth!”
I seized the opportunity and plunged the heated Black Tear into his face hole.
The spirits, the charge, the proclamation—everything was a ruse for Rudi and this moment.
Whoosh!
The burning blade exploded within the swirling pure darkness of his hood, and dense black smoke and shockwaves erupted wildly.
Crisp!
Crackle!
The High Priest trembled his towering body, and in that moment, I thought of victory, only to remember the next instant that it couldn’t be this easy.
Whoooooooooom!
Thick black mist billowed up from the High Priest’s body.
The dark energy expanded in a circular motion like an anti-field.
“The world!”
“Your Highness!”
Just then, Lady Trentia rushed in and grabbed my waist, executing a breakfall.
As she embraced me, the black anti-field expanded.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground was upheaved, and the tent pillars shattered into powder.
As the black mist billowed from his towering body, the High Priest slowly raised his head.
His gaze was clear, filled with unambiguous intent to kill.
“You coward—”
“Don’t call me a coward. You have no right to say that. You, who cannot communicate, who are incapable of negotiation or compromise. You are guilty no matter what you do. You are innocent no matter what you do.”
I met his gazes head-on with a wicked grin.
The soldiers of the Land of Ransowa grappled with the resurrected Infiltrators all around, while Lady Trentia, Rudi, and Sererassie supported me from beside and behind.
The High Priest seemed poised to charge immediately but surprisingly stood still.
I pondered for a moment, and that question was soon answered.
“Hah.”
Swish.
In a way that was easy to recognize, the Infiltrators emanating an ominous power popped out from between various tents.
Four of them wore black robes like the High Priest, but despite being slightly shorter, they were nearly twice his size.
Unlike the High Priest, their hoods were more conventional, triangular shapes.
The eight who followed them looked like they could easily fulfill the role of knights.
They appeared to be a hybrid of various insects and humans mixed together.
They had black chitinous armor, glistening horns, walked on two legs like humans, possessed a pair of giant pincers and long arms, and boasted scorpion-like tails.
They were quite large themselves, towering over Lady Trentia clad in mechanical armor.
Lady Trentia spoke coldly.
“There’s no need to show mercy to you lot.”
She cloaked her great sword in red mana, and the creatures clacked their pincers to intimidate us.
The High Priest stood among his followers, looking at me.
Lady Trentia stepped in front of me, proclaiming.
“Your Highness. Your unwavering stance against evil is truly knightly. I will clear the way, so you two shall sever the head of the great evil.”
As always, her voice was unfalteringly dignified.
“Kiieeee—!”
The Infiltrator insect knight lunged forward, shooting venom from its tail.
The green liquid oozing from it looked deadly.
She casually deflected that poisonous stinger with her plate armor and shouted.
“Within my armor lies the power of antidotes, within my body lies the power of antidotes, and within my soul lies the power of antidotes!”
She swung her sword down like thunder.
The insect knight lifted its massive pincers to block, but Lady Trentia advanced a step further and continued her technique.
Crash!
Red light and dark energy clashed, and just when it seemed there was a fierce shockwave, the insect knight’s pincers were cleaved in half.
“The fact that my lord looks upon my back ignites an everlasting flame in the heart of the knight!”
The massive sword that fell upon it severed one of the insect knight’s legs as well.
The creature toppled, and Lady Trentia kicked up her spiked knee and pierced its chest.
Crash!
The sound echoed like a siege weapon, and the insect knight’s body levitated backward, tilting.
“My lord is just, and your lord is wrong; the fact that you raise my hand is an undeniable truth!”
She raised her great sword like a flash of lightning.
Thwack—!
The head of the insect knight soared into the sky.
“Chik-chik-chik!”
“Kiririri!”
The second, third, and fourth insect knights charged in, but Lady Trentia showed no sign of retreating and raised her mana blade.
“To my lord, who fights against evil, I feel honored to show the way!”
Thwack!
As she brought the sword to one side of her waist, she swept it in a red arc.
Mana Blast erupted, and three insect knights were cleaved in half, rolling across the ground.
Unable to hold back, the Infiltrator priest sprang into action.
From within his robe, arms entangled with bones and flesh endlessly extended, appearing eerily sharp as if made from a thousand spears.
However, Lady Trentia did not even need to see it clearly before she grabbed it from thin air.
“!”
The priest panicked as he attempted to retract his arm, but Lady Trentia pulled him in.
“Come here! The sinner of the soul, betrayer of the world!”
Whoooooooooooom!
The priest tried to emit dark energy from within his hood, but Lady Trentia was quicker, plunging her great sword into the hood.
Thud!
The great sword pierced through the hood, with pieces of flesh flying in all directions, and the rumored dark knight raised a mana blade in torrents from her blade.
“I, Tenitia, have been waiting.”
