Episode 175
“Are you speaking of the qualifications to be the Lord of Shadows?”
“Yes, I am.”
Dale wasn’t claiming to be the ruler of the Dark Elf kingdom outright. However, even this vast kingdom of elves was just a part of the ongoing conflict between gold and shadow. Ultimately, the throne Dale sought was that of the entire empire of shadows.
“Against the Empire of Gold, I am willing to become the king of those who embrace the shadows.”
“Such boldness, child of man.”
The old crone laughed again at Dale’s words.
“So, you say you are willing to become the Lord of Shadows?”
“Yes.”
“Then let me ask you this: what exactly is a shadow?”
The old crone’s question made Dale pause. A shadow is simply a shadow. But he knew she wasn’t looking for such a straightforward answer.
“Do you claim to be the king of dark things? Isn’t that already the domain of your father, the Lord of Darkness and Death?”
The old crone, and indeed the Dark Elves, were not ignorant of the empire. In some ways, they understood its secrets more deeply than Dale himself.
“What defines us as forces of gold and shadow? Why does the Lord of Fire and Blood claim the banner of gold, while the Lord of Darkness and Death claims the banner of shadow?”
Her words referred to the undeniable true names of the Crimson Duke and the Black Duke, causing Dale to catch his breath.
“Answer me, what do you stand against, and what do you claim to rule?”
Her question pierced directly to the heart of Dale’s resolve.
Like the Black Duke said, he had dismissed the conflict between gold and shadow as ancient fanaticism, deciding to become the king of those who called themselves shadows. But what truly distinguished them as gold and shadow?
“Do you not even know what you are claiming to rule, and yet you decided to become their king just because they chose you as their leader?”
”…”
It was a test, plain and simple.
The old crone was genuinely testing Dale’s qualifications as a ruler, to see if he truly understood what he was claiming to lead, beyond the superficial reason of being chosen by those who called themselves shadows.
The ancient conflict between gold and shadow had persisted for eons, with each faction choosing their own champions. Yet, as she pointed out, Dale was missing the most crucial point.
What defines them as gold and shadow?
What makes the “Black Prince” claim the title of Lord of Shadows?
Claiming to be the king of dark things was, as she said, the domain of Dale’s father, the Black Duke. Claiming to be the king of the blood-soaked land was the domain of the Crimson Duke, Marquis Eurys. What they claimed as rulers were, at least, things they truly understood.
──Then what about gold and shadow?
Dale couldn’t forget his enemy, Emperor Arthur, who reigned at the pinnacle of the empire. What made him the Lord of Gold?
Wealth? Golden riches? No. If that were the case, the Lord of Gold would be the city master of Guild City or the head of a bank, not the emperor or the empire. Even if they amassed vast wealth, they could never truly be the “Lord of Gold.”
Then what makes gold gold, and shadow shadow?
“Truly, it makes me laugh, child of man.”
The old crone, who saw through it all, sneered again.
“Do you not even know what you are claiming to rule, and yet you decided to become their king just because they chose you as their leader? Just as you once claimed to be the heir of the Saxon family simply because you were born the eldest son?”
”…!”
Dale caught his breath. The old crone continued, undeterred.
“I’m not denying the inequality of birth. But I want to tell you that the name of the Lord of Shadows carries a weight beyond your imagination.”
She didn’t know Dale’s truth like Shub or ‘Death’ did. Yet her point was still valid.
Silence fell like a feather.
“Do you need my help, child?”
At that moment, the goddess of shadows, the ancient mother of darkness and black abundance, asked.
Not in her usual form of a young girl, but as a mature and dignified lady.
It wouldn’t be difficult to resolve this situation with her power.
“No, Shub.”
But Dale shook his head quietly at her. His hesitation didn’t last long.
“Everyone has skeletons in their closet.”
Dale spoke.
“Oh?”
The old crone smiled, intrigued.
“Where there is light, there is shadow, and none of us can escape from it. In other words, everything that exists has a shadow.”
Dale spoke, not as a temporary measure to escape the current situation, but to express the ‘truth of shadows’ he realized from the old crone’s question.
“Even the most dazzling jewels, even those with wealth and power, cannot be exceptions to this rule.”
“Then let me ask again, child who claims to be the king of shadows.”
The old crone asked with a frozen expression.
“What is a shadow?”
And Dale answered.
“──It is an inescapable truth.”
The skeletons everyone wants to hide in their closet.
“The Empire of Gold, and the Lord of Gold, hide their flaws with their dazzling gold, claiming to be the lords of lies. I stand against them, willing to be the king of those who claim the banner of truth.”
The empire Dale sought to build as a ruler against the empire of fire and light.
He had spent his life as a warrior of the empire, sacrificed to adorn their lies and gold. But Dale understood the ugliness hidden within that gold more deeply than anyone.
Gold and jewels, their adornments, were nothing but a cover for their truth. The dazzling gold was the very symbol of that lie.
Thus, Dale claimed the title of ‘Lord of Shadows’ against the Empire of Gold.
Reflecting on its weight, Dale spoke without hesitation.
Having finally understood the ugliest truth of his enemy, the Lord of Gold, and the empire he upheld.
“I wish to be the king of those who claim the banner of truth.”
Thus, his words were not a lie to evade the current situation.
It was another realization.
Crack!
The circles entwining his heart began to tremble wildly. Even Shub’s tendrils wrapped around the fifth circle were no exception.
From the third circle onward, a wizard’s growth was not merely a matter of skill or knowledge. Yet the reason why there were so few high-ranking wizards in the continent’s history was that they lacked the depth to understand the realizations they witnessed.
But Dale was an exception.
A wizard who had just reached the fifth circle and was supposed to settle into his new realm was once again facing a realization before him. Based on the experiences of two lifetimes.
“Oh…!”
Amidst the turmoil of his twisting heart and mana, the abyssal body exploded, engulfing Dale’s existence.
The Avatar of the Lord of Shadows.
A whisper echoed. Like an unknown noise resonating from all directions, it finally took shape in Dale’s mind.
In Dale’s vision, clad in the armor of the abyss, the shadows of this world were finally visible.
The scorching desert and light vanished, revealing the truth hidden in the deep shadows.
The shadow of Master Baro, and the truth within the shadow, unfolded like a movie.
A mad lord raged, demanding the death of his daughter, and Master Baro defied his lord’s orders, choosing to become a disgrace to knights.
‘Help me, Baro. Baro!’
‘Do not worry, my lady. I will protect you.’
For the lady, the shadow saint, he willingly sacrificed the honor of the Seven Swords of the Continent and his entire knighthood. That was his shadow, his truth.
In Dale’s eyes, the truth within the shadow was finally visible.
The eyes of truth possessed by the Lord of Shadows.
Turning again to the old crone, he sought to uncover the truth within her shadow. It was then.
“You are not yet ready to bear it.”
Clang!
Before he realized it, the old crone’s sword swung, shattering the Avatar of the shadow armor… the abyssal armor, and Dale’s vision returned. Simultaneously, the shadows visible in Dale’s eyes disappeared.
“Damn it.”
Staggering, Dale’s body lost its balance, and Master Baro hurriedly supported him. The unprecedented consumption of mana from deploying the Avatar, and the fatigue beyond that, tormented Dale’s mind.
“What is this…?”
“How does it feel to witness the shadows of this world with the eyes of truth?”
“Is this the power of the Lord of Shadows?”
The ability to perceive what lies beyond the veil of gold and lies.
“Did the Immortal Duke Frederick see the same landscape I did?”
“What do you think, child?”
”…”
After a long silence, Dale shook his head.
“He does not possess the ‘Eyes of Truth.’”
Even though he called himself the Shadow Lord, nothing had changed.
“The blood of Saxon, the ancient Mother of Darkness that exists with you… such things are trivial.”
”…”
“In the empire today, there are those who understand the value of gold, but none who grasp the worth of shadows.”
The old woman on the mountain spoke.
“Understanding the value of truth is never an easy task, child of man.”
Dale nodded silently.
“Yet, I cannot deny that you have taken your first step as the ‘Shadow Lord.’”
With those words, the old woman finally turned her head, gesturing toward the endless expanse of the Dark Elf kingdom beyond the horizon.
“Come, be welcome in my kingdom.”
”…!”
“As the ruler of the desert and sands, I gladly greet the Lord of Shadows.”
The old woman, queen of the Dark Elf kingdom, smiled.
At the same time, the mountain assassins all knelt in unison, and Master Baro muttered to himself as if it were someone else’s affair.
“Well, I’ll be damned.”