Chapter 17: The Aftermath
The thunderous sound of hooves echoed across the northern plains of the Empire as the cavalry charged forward. Lances gleamed in the hands of the riders, descending mercilessly upon the fleeing serfs. The warhorses of the heavy cavalry trampled over the fallen without hesitation.
Bones shattered, organs were crushed, and screams filled the air.
“Show them the fate of those who dare defy His Majesty and the Empire!”
Leading the charge was Marquis Maximil, the head of the northern noble faction. He was determined to end this rebellion himself, a task the central government had failed to address effectively.
Maximil had already crushed the main revolutionary forces in the north, establishing himself as a pillar of the Empire. He had no fear of the northern factions that had the central government trembling.
“Please, spare us! We beg for mercy!”
“We swear loyalty to the Emperor! We will never defy the Empire again!”
It wasn’t a battle; it was a massacre, a grim demonstration of power.
The serfs, lured by the absurd rumors of a “Fourth Empire,” had abandoned their lands. Marquis Maximil watched them with a cold smile, standing before the lined-up serfs and their families.
Dale lifted his head quietly, taking in the scene before him with a heavy heart.
Corpses of serfs hung from crosses. Severed heads were impaled on spears. Houses burned, fields lay in ruin, and the air was thick with the stench of blood and smoke.
This was the edge of Dale’s northern territory. A knight of the Night Raven Order approached him after surveying the area.
“We’ve scoured the entire village, but there are no survivors. As you commanded, we’ve evacuated the remaining runaway serfs from the fields to the castle.”
“Good work,” Dale replied, nodding solemnly. He turned away, his gaze falling on the body of a young girl. Unbidden, the image of Yufi came to mind. Her fate would likely have been no different.
Nothing had changed. The world was a hellscape, and it would remain so.
This realization carved an inexplicable void in Dale’s heart.
“Give the order, and we’ll gather the Night Raven knights to present their heads to His Majesty!”
“There’s no need for that,” Dale said, shaking his head.
“I will speak with them myself.”
“Pardon…?”
“I intend to go to their northern lands and speak directly with their leader.”
He had given the runaway serfs land to cultivate, nothing more. He hadn’t stationed soldiers to protect them or taken any measures.
There was no land or people he felt compelled to protect.
At least, Dale believed he had given the Emperor’s envoy the strongest warning he could. He thought they understood his warning.
He had been too naive.
A laugh escaped him. There was no grand mission for him in this world. As an outsider, it was not Dale’s role to ponder such things.
It should have been that way.
“Return and tell Lize to prepare a census of those we can accommodate on this land. Have her draft a land registry to distribute fields and farmlands to the Night Raven knights.”
As the Emperor’s most trusted advisor, the Blue Tower Master, she would understand the significance and weight of his words.
“Understood!” The knight bowed deeply, recognizing the gravity of Dale’s declaration to become the ruler of this land.
Dale turned, mounting his black horse.
The knight returned to the castle, and Dale pulled the reins, setting off.
At the northern outpost of the Empire, established to monitor Dale’s lands and the fleeing serfs, the guards raised their voices at the sight of a man on a black horse.
“Halt and identify yourself!”
“Who rules this land?”
“This is the domain of Marquis Maximil, ruler of the northern Empire…!”
The soldier’s response was cut short as a black tendril shot up from the ground, wrapping around his neck.
“Gah, ack…!”
“I heard Marquis Maximil has mobilized his cavalry. Where did they go after raiding my land?”
“W-what is this…!”
Choking, the soldier struggled to speak, and the tendril released him. Gasping for air, he shouted desperately.
Marquis Maximil and the northern lords dismissed the rumors of the Great Magic Empire’s revival as nonsense. Yet, not everyone was so dismissive. Many feared the return of the Dark Gold Sovereign and the impending upheaval of the continent.
“We’re just lowly soldiers! We know nothing about the Marquis or the cavalry…!”
The soldier pleaded desperately, and Dale remained silent, his expression cold.
At that moment, blue butterflies fluttered into the air.
─ Are you lost again, wandering without a path?
A voice spoke.
“Lize.”
─ The blue birds and mice have whispered about what you seek, brother.
“Where should I go?”
─ Are you planning to embark on another endless journey for this world?
The blue butterfly asked, and Dale shook his head.
“That land was my Saxon territory.”
He spoke with resolve.
“It was my duty to protect it and its people. That is my responsibility.”
─ ….
The blue butterfly fell silent, then revealed the whereabouts of those Dale sought.
Upon hearing the answer, Dale hesitated no longer. There was no reason to.
What he needed to protect was not the world but his land, and what he needed to atone for was not the world or humanity, but his people alone.
In Dale’s territory, the proud encampment of the Ninth Empire’s cavalry stood on the northern frontier. It was the cavalry of the northern lords, led by Marquis Maximil, moving to eradicate the serf exodus and set an example.
To them, the revival of the Great Magic Empire was a laughable tale. Yet, the sight of the Empire’s envoys, unable to handle even a single revolutionary force, amused Marquis Maximil greatly.
In his heart, another ambition burned.
The factions loyal to him, the rapidly disintegrating Empire, the turmoil of the Emperor and revolution—this was his golden opportunity.
Ending the mysterious events and the “armed forces” unrest in the north would be the beginning of his great achievement.
And then, a silhouette appeared beyond the encampment.
A knight on guard readied his lance, suspecting an attack, but it was just a lone figure.
‘A beast…?’
A man in a robe stood there.
“Identify yourself!”
The knight shouted.
“Do you wish to know my identity?”
The man replied.
Darkness and cold began to swirl around him.
“Attack, we’re under attack!”
The cavalryman shouted urgently, attempting to thrust his lance. But the darkness swallowed it whole. Unfazed, Dale advanced toward the knight. The knight tried to retreat, but black tendrils held his ankles fast.
“A-ah…!”
“Confess your sins to me.”
Dale asked as he walked.
“I-I did nothing wrong! Truly! I was just following orders…!”
The knight cried desperately. Dale glanced down. The knight’s shadow revealed the truth.
He had slaughtered a father begging for mercy in front of his daughter, committing unspeakable acts.
“Why did you lie?”
Dale asked, and the knight, bound by tendrils, pleaded desperately.
“L-lie? No, I swear, mage!”
Hearing the commotion, the cavalry scrambled to arm themselves. From heavy cavalry to musketeers with new weapons, they prepared.
The wheels of history, driven by blood and war, turned unchanged.
Crack!
The tendril binding the knight’s ankles crushed his armor and bones. He collapsed, and the tendril wrapped around him again.
Crack!
Metal crumpled like paper, and his body was crushed, organs spilling from the armor.
“My mother.”
Dale spoke calmly, watching the scene.
“I drove out the ‘true humans’ of this star and built a haven for monsters. As your son and the king of monsters. And now, your children fill this star.”
To Shub, the ancient mother of darkness.
“The seeds scattered at the edge of the universe, as Mother intended, have taken root on this land, and this is the flower they have become. Is this truly the vision Mother had in mind?”
The seeds sown by the Mother of Ancient Darkness, her children.
Dale and his kind, who called themselves humans, were not the true rulers of this star.
To those who were meant to truly rule this world, they must have seemed nothing more than hideous beasts.
And those beasts took root on this star and triumphed. This is the result.
─ Do you regret your actions, my beloved child?
The Mother of Ancient Darkness asked tenderly, caressing Dale’s cheek.
“H-Hngh!”
To Marquis Maximil and his cavalry, it was a scene of unparalleled horror and ugliness.
A mass of tentacles enveloped Dale as if in a loving embrace, and he buried his head silently into them.
Like a child nestling into a mother’s bosom.
“Gold and shadow, truth and lies, empires crumbling endlessly. I thought the affairs of the world were unbearably tiresome. That’s why I wanted to turn away.”
And so he did. Darkness swept across the land.
“But now I understand. This is our life, and as long as we live, we can never escape this cycle.”
As both the king of humans and the king of beasts, the Lord of Dark Gold finally revealed his true form.
The Dark Young.
A being of the most grotesque and terrifying form imaginable for a human.