Chapter 11: Side Story
Yufi was grappling with emotions she couldn’t quite comprehend. The darkness that enveloped the man was terrifying, yet at the same time, it was endearing. Endearing? Even Yufi couldn’t fully understand the nature of this feeling.
“I like you, Uncle Dale.”
”…Miss Yufi.”
The gods of another realm blinked their eyes, their tendrils ravaging the humans below. Screams echoed, followed by laughter. Cries to the gods, curses, and screams of madness filled the air.
Yet, the sounds seemed so fleeting and distant.
Even the blinking eyes of the gods above paid no heed.
The world was eerily silent, and within that silence, only Dale’s presence was palpable.
Yufi couldn’t understand. She couldn’t grasp that Dale was shielding her from the madness of those gods, protecting her very essence.
But at the same time, his actions were stirring emotions within him that even he hadn’t anticipated.
It wasn’t a false feeling. Dale’s protection of her mind was merely the trigger.
As they journeyed together, Yufi’s feelings for Dale grew day by day.
“This isn’t the right place for a confession, Miss Yufi.”
”…I’m sorry! Uncle Dale, I just…”
“There’s no need to say more.”
Dale spoke with a wry smile, and Yufi turned her head in surprise, her cheeks flushed. It was only then that she realized how absurd her words had been.
The torn sky was mending, sealing itself shut.
The madness had ended, and Dale turned his head.
The shadow beneath his robe remained as dark and deep as ever.
It was time to uncover the past hidden beyond the mountain of revolutionary corpses and the sea of blood.
It was a city built long ago by a vassal of the old empire. Dale knew its name well.
The Yurith Fortress. Once ruled by the Red Tower Lord.
Even now, the Yurith family fought behind the scenes with the revolutionaries, but they were no longer the shining rulers of the empire they once were.
Dale, as the Lord of Black Gold, had opposed the Third Empire, and the Golden Knights had either been defeated or had knelt. The Yurith family was no exception.
The Yurith Fortress was a ruined castle that had fallen with the Third Empire’s demise.
A vampire’s ancient stronghold that should have vanished into history.
Yet, the vampire clan thought to be extinct had survived, continuing their bloodline. Was there a connection between them and the secrets of the vanished Fourth Empire?
It was unknown.
No one could stand in Dale’s way anymore. The sky had torn, the gods had held their festival of madness, and the revolutionary army had been annihilated.
Dale stepped forward, and the revolutionaries fled in terror in the opposite direction. He paid them no mind as he crossed the castle’s corridors.
A faded portrait hung on the wall.
The most brilliant rulers of the empire, Marquis Yurith and his sister, Lady Scarlet.
”…”
Dale spoke as he looked at the portrait.
“Do you know them?”
”…”
“They were my unforgettable enemies.”
“Could it be you…?”
At that moment, a voice came from behind, without a hint of presence. Yufi turned her head in surprise, while Dale continued to gaze at the portrait.
A red-haired man stood there. Albert Yurith, a descendant of the Yurith family, had appeared at the castle’s entrance.
“You didn’t heed my warning, young vampire.”
Albert muttered in disbelief, and Dale spoke, his voice devoid of emotion.
“You’re not the leader of the remaining clan. Nor are you the leader of the revolutionaries.”
”…”
“Is the leader of the revolutionaries, the new Golden Lord, here? Is your clan’s leader the Golden Lord, leading these revolutionaries?”
”…Yes, Lord of Black Gold.”
Albert bowed his head, his voice trembling slightly. Finally, it was clear.
“Lord of Black Gold…?”
Yufi held her breath for a moment. She remembered the name the Marquis of Rosenheim had mentioned, the ruler of the Fourth Empire.
The most powerful mage emperor in the continent’s history.
The one who ended the conflict between gold and shadow, possessing both powers, stood before them.
Thus, no one dared to defy him.
Ending the struggle between gold and shadow, crumpling the revolution like paper, and making the self-proclaimed emperor kneel was nothing to this man.
“It doesn’t matter. The conflict between gold and shadow means nothing to me now.”
Yet, after a moment of silence, Dale spoke, leaving behind the countless revolutionary corpses beyond the ruined castle.
“Lead me to the ancient empire’s legacy that sleeps within this castle.”
Albert Yurith hesitated for a moment at Dale’s words. But the hesitation was brief.
No one could stand in this man’s way.
Albert Yurith led Dale to the deepest part of the castle, a passage leading underground.
Chains and magic sealed the entrance, even in this era where magic was fading, imbued with powerful energy.
But Dale reached out, and the cold and darkness swirling from his hand shattered it effortlessly.
Clang!
The chains imbued with magic shattered like glass. Albert’s expression froze at the sight.
Dale stepped into the magic-guarded interior.
Splash.
As soon as he stepped forward, his foot landed in rising water. Looking down, it was blood.
“Ahh?!”
Yufi screamed, and Dale silently extended his arm.
“It’s too dangerous beyond this point. Please stay here, Miss Yufi.”
“But still…”
“I’m not leaving you alone.”
Dale gave a wry smile and snapped his fingers again.
Then, darkness surged forth, forming a human silhouette. It wasn’t flesh and bone. It was a silhouette, a knight made of shadows.
An Abyss Knight, a high-level necromancy spell even in Dale’s era.
Albert shivered at the power emanating from the figure, and Yufi was no different.
“This being will protect you, Miss Yufi.”
But Dale spoke, and the knight of shadows knelt before Yufi, planting its sword vertically. Like a knight pledging an oath to a lady.
Yufi smiled briefly and nodded. Dale turned his head once more.
Splash, splash.
Dale walked across the blood, heading towards the castle’s most secretive place.
And then it happened.
The blood beneath Dale’s feet began to ripple like waves.
Simultaneously, the ‘Chill of the End’ flowing within Dale’s body began to stir.
The mark of Shub coiled around his heart, the bio-circle of black tendrils throbbed.
”…”
Dale looked up.
In the darkness, there was a light shining with indescribable beauty.
It was a color not of this world. Thinking it was crystal, it turned jade; thinking it was jade, it took on a violet hue; thinking it was violet, it became jade again.
“The Gate…”
Dale recognized the light.
“I speak of hatred, and I say this.”
At that moment, a voice was heard.
“Ice can destroy the world as surely as fire.”
A silhouette emerged from behind the light.
“I’ve been waiting for this day, to see you again, Black Prince.”
An ancient title, one that was now almost forgotten, was spoken as the silhouette smiled. Even Dale couldn’t hide his surprise at the sight.
Albert Yurith knelt immediately.
”…Rei Yurith?”
“You remember me.”
“How are you alive?”
“What do you think defines existence?”
Rei asked.
“Memory.”
”…”
“Even if that memory is synonymous with illusion.”
‘An unawakened illusion cannot be distinguished from happiness.’
Unbidden, Lize’s words came to mind. Simultaneously, blood-red characters began to etch themselves across his body like sword marks.
“The ‘Book of Blood’…”
“Rei Yurith died at the hands of the Black Prince. But with memories indistinguishable from his, in a sense, I am another Rei Yurith.”
“Then who are you really?”
“I too have forgotten who I was in the past. What defines me now is only the ‘Book of Blood.’”
With those words, Dale approached Rei Yurith’s shadow.
“Even if my existence was a lie from the start, my father willingly sacrificed himself to revive the false me. That is the first memory I have.”
“You speak of the Blood Marquis.”
“To you, and even more so to me, it is a past so distant it’s almost forgotten.”
In the shadows lay the truth, hidden yet present. A truth indistinguishable from lies, and among those lies stood Ray Eurys, the child of deceit.
The new lord of gold.
There were inklings about his true identity. It was unlikely that the Eurys siblings were the entirety of their lineage, and there was even a possibility that Scarlett was carrying the “demon of evolution.”
Yet, the world remained unchanged.
At this point, it hardly mattered. Truth or lies, gold or shadows, none of it did.
“But to reach you, you’re already far too high above,” Ray Eurys remarked with a bitter smile.
“I’m searching for just one thing. I have no reason to kill you, nor to fight.”
“What are you searching for?”
“Does the Book of Blood record the end of that child and the Fourth Empire?”
“Regrettably, no one in this world remembers that history.”
Ray Eurys, the lord of gold and deceit, shook his head quietly.
“But perhaps beyond this, the answer lies.”
At those words, Dale turned his head.
He gazed at the cosmic colors shimmering between him and Ray, at the abyss yawning beyond.
“The winter of the universe…”
The chilling force of the apocalypse swirled within Dale, the very power granted by the being that awaited him.
Winter.
Once, it had sought to end this world in ice, and Dale had triumphed against it.
And now, that very being might hold the answers Dale desperately sought.
Thus, there was no room for hesitation.