The young dreamers eager to meddle in the romances of youth needed a bit of time to calm down. After a while and a thump-thump, the wall shook before the closed office door finally swung open.
“······.”
Rania wore an extremely sour expression.
Behind her, Kalt sighed heavily, patting his shoulder. He cautiously broached the subject while reading Rania’s mood.
“I came to share the information we gathered from Kirmelt Canyon. Let’s talk, but you two should step back a bit. I know it’s a prime time for romance, but there are seniors around…”
A chilling stare.
Faced with the dagger-like gaze piercing through him, Kalt quickly corrected his words.
“… It’s a setting with your superior, keep the times and places in check.”
After a brief commotion, Kalt began his tale.
2.
At the heart of the Grave of the Sword, Galatrick.
In a place filled with ruins, Raniael and Kalt faced the lingering traces of Barta, the King of Beasts.
“Is that… blood?”
“I’d say so.”
Sword marks filled the area.
There were bloodstains that appeared to belong to Barta, the King of Beasts. Following the splatters on the ground with his steps, they discovered the torn half-body of Barta.
The right arm, torn from the shoulder.
The right leg, severed below the knee.
A crude body, not originally Barta’s but patched together from the corpses of beasts. As Kalt gazed at the scattered flesh on the ground, he spoke.
“Looks like the only thing severed is the leg.”
Pointing at the fallen arm, Kalt continued.
“The severed leg has a clean cut. Judging by the sword marks on the ground, it probably went like this…”
Kalt swung his sword along the trail etched into the ground.
With a swish, he executed a curving motion as if to slice through Barta’s knee right in front of him.
“But the arm is different. That’s a sign of being ripped off. Look, the cut is jagged.”
As he said, the right arm seemed to have been forcibly yanked off. Deep claw marks were engraved on the shoulder.
“Looks like it was probably torn off by itself.”
Not a part of its own body. The right arm, deemed cumbersome, was ripped away by Barta’s will. Kalt gazed down at the ground as he continued.
“The sword marks left after it was torn show a sharper edge. Meaning, after tearing off the half-body, it became sharper…”
Kalt moved his feet, following the sword marks.
His steps halted at a place blocked by the debris of the collapsed canyon. The sword marks were broken there. Yet, no corpses remained in this area.
“······.”
Kalt silently stared at the ground.
The sharpness grew, but Barta, losing part of his body, must have been pushed back. The path drawn on the ground trembled. Barta would have lost his balance and decided to charge forward.
Barta gambled with his last chances.
A trace that seemed to slam into the ground while running.
In that moment of relentless retreat, Kalt must have swung his sword like this.
“They collapsed the canyon from here. Like drawing a line.”
Kalt gazed up at the pile of stones.
Climbing over the rubble, the two saw bloodstains continuing beyond. The blood led far away into the Phantom Territory and there was no trace of pursuit left.
“Looks like they let him go. Ganikalt did.”
“… But would he show mercy to a fleeing opponent?”
Raniael rubbed her chin in thought.
She knew. What Ganikalt valued and respected was willpower. Pride as a knight and as a human. To someone fleeing, casting aside pride and will, Ganikalt would respond not as a knight, but with death.
Yet Ganikalt let him escape?
Raniael frowned. If Barta had met his end here, things would have been much easier. The Blade of Death probably sensed it. The King of Beasts was still not complete and was in a state of growth.
… So, could it be that he seeks a rematch in a perfect condition?
Raniael couldn’t grasp what the Blade of Death desired, nor what the King of Beasts was thinking. What was certain was that Barta would no longer be marked on the map.
‘He broke free from the contract.’
Barta, restructured by the traitor, tore himself apart by his will. Was it the case that the links with the traitor cut off, thus preventing further pursuit? Or had he bled out while fleeing and died?
None could be assured.
“… How annoying.”
Raniael groaned.
What Kalt had said moments before. Superhumans are forged in the face of death. That fact, of course, also applied to Barta, the King of Beasts.
A rematch with the Blade of Death.
In battles that danced between life and death numerous times, Barta had survived. If he didn’t die, what had he learned from this confrontation, and how much had he grown? Raniael wished not to ponder such thoughts.
“Phew…”
Sighing deeply, Raniael ruffled her hair. With a thud, she sat down on the rubble and propped her chin, continuing to speak.
“So, he ripped himself out of a beast’s body?”
“Yep. He burst out from a beast in the form of a soaring eagle. Probably akin to a spatial teleportation…”
“And he used a sword that tears through space as well.”
Raniael tapped her chin with her finger.
“For now, let’s head back. We need to figure out a countermeasure.”
*
“… This is as far as it goes.”
Kalt exhaled sharply, finishing his story.
After a moment of silence, Lac spoke up.
“So, there’s a high probability he survived.”
“Likely. Based on the situation, I’d say he’s alive. And stronger than before.”
“… This might be baseless speculation, but.”
Lac carefully broached the subject.
“I have a feeling the King of Beasts will reappear where Kalt and I are. He may be a disaster, a beast, but he’s also a knight seeking a rematch.”
A knight who knows pride.
If he were such a being, then surely…
“I believe he’ll hunt us down to finish the unfinished duel. Wherever that may be.”
“I really don’t want to be obsessed over by the King of Beasts.”
Kalt forced a bitter smile.
He somewhat agreed with Lac’s speculation.
“Still, it will take time to recover from injuries. After all, he lost half of his body.”
Kalt thumped his sword hilt.
“In the meantime, we need to grow a bit more.”
“Indeed. For the sake of the Alkeia extermination operation.”
Raniael picked up where he left off. She sighed deeply and sank into the sofa, her eyes cooling down.
“Six months from now.”
Six months, half a year.
“In six months, we will dive into Alkeia deep within the Phantom Territory, and as I sent in the documents…”
Raniael glanced at Natida and Lac.
The roles outlined in the documents. Remembering that, Lac and Natida nodded slowly.
“Your roles are crucial.”
With that, Raniael exhaled deeply.
As if something was troublesome, Raniael shot a glance at Lac and Natida before finally speaking.
“I don’t intend to criticize your romantic entanglements, but just in case. Just in case…”
Raniael widened her eyes.
“Be mindful of the time and place. Don’t put others in awkward situations. Like, let’s say, in a tent…”
“Let’s leave it at that, Senpai.”
“No, I must say it.”
“Usually, people don’t do that. Not usually.”
As Kalt barely managed to stop Raniael from giving specific examples, Natida, who had been eavesdropping, smiled wistfully.
“I’ll keep that in mind. And thank you.”
Natida slightly lowered her head.
“It’s all thanks to you, Hero.”
Her liberation from the Church.
Protection when she was lost without a place.
Meeting Lac.
In many ways, Natida felt indebted to Raniael, and she didn’t intend to just let that debt remain.
“I’ll do my best to be helpful.”
Natida smiled, and Raniael, casting a displeased look at her, ended up smiling wryly instead. Natida looked genuinely happy.
‘She’s not usually this cheerful.’
Yeah, as long as she’s happy.
Raniael sighed.
“… Right. Have a healthy romance.”
Just please don’t flaunt it in front of me.
3.
At the fourth branch of the Ashen Tower on the battlefield.
Originally managed by Resti, the fourth branch now had a new overseer. A mysterious figure who stepped in upon the recommendations of Great Mage Resti Elenoa and Hero Rania van Trias.
The sudden appearance of the individual startled the Tower’s mages for a moment, but the moment he removed his robe and revealed his name, the mages could only shut their mouths in awe.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Armiel.”
Armiel. The first master of the Ashen Tower.
The master, presumed missing for centuries, emerged before his juniors. Some treated this as a mere fabrication, but Cardi proved everything with actions.
Now unable to use magic, yet at one point referred to as the Great Mage, Cardi’s magical knowledge surpassed that of any other mage accumulated through experience.
A short conversation and proof were all it took.
Thanks to the recommendations from the Hero and the Ashen Tower’s master, the identity was practically guaranteed, allowing Cardi to seize control of the Ashen Tower’s fourth branch in no time.
*
“Did you really take control of the Tower in just ten days?”
“The current master trained them well. This is the environment the Tower should have.”
“What kind of environment?”
“A meritocracy. Everything relies on performance and knowledge. If someone excels, elevate them regardless of background or status. That was what I emphasized while building the Tower.”
Visiting the Tower, Raniael chuckled as she gazed at Cardi, who was sipping tea while working on research at the highest level.
“The mages affiliated here are swift and comprehend well. I’m quite satisfied.”
“Glad to hear it.”
Raniael produced a fragment of a Holy Grail from her possession.
There had been quite a few incidents while recovering it, but she didn’t bother to mention those.
“I recovered it. The fragment of the Holy Grail.”
The final piece of the plan.
As Cardi looked at it, he offered a faint smile.
“Thank you.”
Yet, even while smiling, Cardi’s hands never paused, continuously drawing and fixing the circuit diagrams.
The research lab at the top floor was filled with traces of research everywhere he looked.
Chaotic, a space with no room to place a foot.
Yet precisely because of that, it felt like an enlivening place. Looking at the lab where Cardi now resided, Raniael recalled the old run-down shop where Cardi used to stay.
In a dark alleyway, where not a single ray of sunlight broke through.
That shop didn’t feel alive at all.
A place where someone who had already stepped back lingered.
Slowly dying in wait for someone who might show up one day. In that place, Cardi was withering away each day. But now, what was the situation?
“Things are going smoothly, Raniael. Just as you said, if we connect this like this…”
Cardi was living each day.
No longer waiting, but moving forward.
Watching that figure, Raniael found herself smiling without realizing it.
“Good for you.”
Seeing the ancient mage make a decision to live once more, Raniael smiled. She patted Cardi’s shoulder, engrossed in his research.
“I’ll be heading out.”
“Already?”
“There’s much to do for both you and me. We have to do our best in our respective tasks.”
Raniael wrapped her robe around her.
The robe fluttering in the breeze resembled the one Cardi was wearing. With that, Raniael headed off in a different direction from Cardi.
Six months’ time.
For some, the day they have awaited for hundreds of years, for some, the day of retribution, for some, the day to keep their vows, for some, the day to prove themselves to their master.
Slowly, yet steadily, it was approaching.
Time flowed.
Towards the day the Alkeia extermination operation was planned.
