Episode 148
“How can you summon an avatar…!”
In the midst of the swirling red and white shadows, Dale finally revealed his armor.
The avatar of the Shadow Lord, clad in the armor of the Abyss.
Revealing an avatar doesn’t necessarily mean Dale is the Shadow Lord, just as the world of thought he manifests doesn’t directly reveal a hero’s identity.
Yet, the act itself held undeniable significance. It was a realm of irregularity that ordinary mages couldn’t even dream of.
A mage who possesses a world of thought and is simultaneously armed with the armor of thought.
“The avatar of the grimoire…”
Lady Scarlet murmured softly, recognizing the nature of Dale’s abilities as a high-ranking mage.
“Indeed, anything less would be unworthy of the empire’s greatest genius.”
She seemed almost delighted, unable to hide her intrigue.
“Poor Ray, unable to conceal his jealousy upon hearing of the ‘Black Prince’s’ fame and talent.”
Ray Eurys, the future adversary and heir to the Red Tower.
“Ah…”
Borenus, a 7th-circle white mage, was equally shocked by the situation.
“An incarnation of evil!”
Borenus pointed at Dale with a voice tinged with madness.
“That is undoubtedly the armor of a heretic who has forsaken the compassion and mercy of the twin goddesses! An unforgivable evil! We must act immediately…!”
As a high elder of the White Tower, the seven circles around his heart began to spin, ready to uproot this vile evil and cleanse it with the goddess’s light.
And then it happened.
Whoosh!
Before Borenus’s white magic could surge forth, flames engulfed the area.
The scenery of the tent, where the leaders of the Great Demon Alliance were gathered, twisted, signifying only one thing.
A world of thought.
“Oh, how eloquent the White Tower’s servant is.”
Lady Scarlet spoke, claiming to be the goddess of that world. As a high elder of the Red Tower and a powerful figure with secrets beyond that of the empire.
“Aren’t we in the midst of a martyr’s duel to heed the ‘goddess’s will’?”
“Even after witnessing that, you dare speak of martyrdom, Lady Scarlet!”
Borenus, the 7th-circle white mage, raised his voice, unwilling to back down.
“It seems you still don’t grasp the situation.”
“Red Witch, Lady Scarlet! No matter your status as the empire’s agent, there are things that cannot be tolerated!”
And then it happened.
Plop.
Within Scarlet’s world, something fell toward Dale’s head. A few drops of liquid.
Drip, drip.
And soon, the liquid began to pour down like a torrential rain. In the silence, Dale looked up.
Blood was raining down.
Chunks of flesh, stripped of skin and revealing bone, hung from iron hooks on the ceiling. At first glance, they seemed like livestock—cows or pigs. A slaughterhouse. But no, it became clear.
They were people.
People hanging from iron hooks, endlessly bleeding, painting her world in crimson.
A world of fire and blood.
“You said it was intolerable?”
Lady Scarlet’s world, a gruesome bloom of blood and flesh, enveloped the area.
“The White Tower’s swine dares to speak so boldly.”
The empire is ruled by beings that can hardly be called human. To them, humans are no different from livestock like cows or pigs. Just as humans hunt animals for meat…
Lady Scarlet smiled coldly. A sharp fang glinted menacingly at the corner of her mouth. Borenus, the 7th-circle white mage, swallowed hard. Even if they shared the same number of circles, it didn’t mean they were equals as mages.
“Now, in the presence of all witnesses here… let the duel of martyrs begin.”
Lady Scarlet smiled.
“Nothing changes, Brother Borenus.”
At that moment, the Master Templar drew his sword, his white surcoat billowing.
“The compassion and mercy of the twin goddesses are with us, and I have no doubt our goddess will unleash her wrath upon the wicked ‘Black Prince.’”
“Rui, Rui Jinyang’s spirit…!”
“The goddess wills it.”
The Master Templar made the sign of the cross, unleashing the aura swirling within him.
In the coliseum erected by Lady Scarlet, the two avatar wielders faced each other, ready to clash.
Light surged. And then, the Master Templar’s avatar finally revealed itself.
“Kill them all.”
It was armor drenched in blood. From head to toe, the knight was painted in crimson. At first, it seemed like blood smeared over the armor.
“The goddess will discern her people.”
No, it was a mass of blood itself, writhing like liquid, solidifying into the form of armor.
Swoosh!
Simultaneously, two blood-red wings unfurled behind the Master Templar.
A knight made entirely of blood gripped his sword anew.
The Master Templar, the embodiment of the Templar Knights’ ideology.
“As my sacred armor and wings are tainted by the vile blood of heretics…”
The blood of heretics smeared over their purity.
“My spirit and flesh grow ever purer and more noble.”
The Master Templar murmured softly.
“What truly matters is the purity of the spirit, not the flesh. As my armor and body are sullied and defiled by the blood of heretics, my spirit rejoices in its growing purity.”
A knight built of blood, whose very ideology was formed by blood.
An avatar of cruelty that seemed unthinkable for the White Tower and the church. Yet, it was the true essence of the Templar Knights’ ideology.
Fanatics who believed that even the blood and filth on their hands were part of their faith in the goddess.
“Haha, what a beautiful and nauseating sight.”
Lady Scarlet sneered coldly at the sight.
Armor of blood.
And the armor of Black Blood.
“They say the wheels of history turn only with blood. Ah, what a beautiful and mesmerizing scene!”
Lady Scarlet murmured in awe at their sight.
Meanwhile, some of the alliance’s witnesses, unable to stomach the gruesome duel, began to retch.
The knight of blood charged forward. Likewise, the Shadow Lord, wrapped in black blood, moved to meet him.
Clang!
Dale drew the pitch-black sword ‘Hunger’ to counter the blow, and the armor of Black Blood began to writhe like liquid metal, spikes shooting toward the Master Templar.
Simultaneously, the blood armor enveloping the Master Templar began to move.
As if mirroring Dale.
‘Interesting.’
Clang!
The blood-forged blades clashed, and they parted. Behind the Master Templar, the blood wings spread wide.
Swoosh!
Following the spread of the blood wings, spikes hardened like liquid metal began to shoot out. They were blades of blood, raining down like a volley of arrows.
Dale pushed off the ground to counter the onslaught of blood blades.
“Blood, blood! As the blood of heretics defiles my flesh, my spirit grows ever purer and more noble!”
The ideology of the Master Templar, built upon the blood of heretics. The fanatical belief that justified countless massacres in the name of the goddess.
“Shed blood, kill them all! The goddess will discern her people!”
Watching the Master Templar, drenched in blood and shouting in fanaticism…
A thought crossed his mind.
Then what is this armor of Black Blood enveloping Dale?
Why did the ‘Book of the Black Goat’ wrap its tendrils around Dale’s body and provide this form of avatar? Why was this avatar called the ‘Armor of the Shadow Lord’?
What does this black blood signify?
Dale pondered.
It was not a trivial question.
Even if it was borrowed from the power of a grimoire, even if the avatar enveloping Dale’s body wasn’t ‘Dale’s ideology,’ the meaning embedded in this armor of black blood…
“What is blood?”
Thus, the Shadow Lord asked.
In this world, everyone holds their own beliefs about ‘blood.’ The armor Dale now wore was no exception.
“Blood is the oil that turns the wheels of history.”
Lady Scarlet answered.
“And if you ask the people of the church, they would say it’s the symbol of life given to us by the goddess.”
Hearing her words, Dale fell silent.
And then, he laughed silently.
“What amuses you so, apostate of Saxon?”
The Master Templar, drenched in blood, spoke, his armor of crimson liquid clinging to him like a second skin.
Finally, Dale understood the significance of the black blood enveloping him.
Blood takes on its red hue when oxygen binds with red blood cells.
Oxygen, the essential element in the air that all living beings need to survive.
To live, one must breathe, and it is this oxygen that combines with the red blood cells to give blood its color.
When oxygen fails to reach the blood properly, the blood turns black.
Thus, black blood signifies only one thing.
The death of blood. The absence of life.
The Black Death.
This was the final destination of the world and life, embodied in this dark armor.
─ So, you’ve finally realized?
It was at that moment.
A voice was heard.
A girl with goat horns emerged from behind Dale.
“I knew it, I knew it would be you, you Saxon heretic!”
The Master Templar couldn’t hide his fury at the sight.
“Disgusting! So vile and repulsive, I can hardly stand it! The filth clinging to your soul makes me sick!”
The blood-red liquid surged violently, and the Master Templar tightened his grip on his sword’s hilt.
“Crazy bastard.”
Dale sneered, as if it were someone else’s problem.
Aware of the ‘armor of black death’ encasing him, the Shadow Lord slowly extended his arm.
The dark armor enveloping his body, the shadow of the black death, began to spread.