Episode 236
A son stood before his father.
“I remember when you defeated me at the Black Tower and took the position of Tower Master.”
”…”
The son, known as the Black Duke, remained silent, looking at his father, another Duke of Saxon.
“I was truly proud. As your mother said, you possessed talents and qualifications unmatched by anyone in Saxon.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes, it was.”
The father of the Black Duke gave a fleeting smile. Even a being who knew not death could not deceive the god of death or death itself.
Death was approaching him.
“I cannot surpass you.”
”…”
The son, willing to become his father’s death, simply maintained his silence.
The story ended there.
The Empire of Shadows knelt before its new king.
At the edge of the world, the land shrouded in endless darkness and cold began to scream.
At the pinnacle of the Shadow Tower stood Dale.
“As promised, I will hand this land over to you.”
Dale spoke, addressing the ‘Book of Cold Ash’ residing in his heart.
“Bring your rightful people and settle here.”
”…”
Crack, crack!
The magical tome, fused with Dale’s shadowy heart, broke away, revealing its form amidst the swirling magic.
The Lord of Ashes, Demon King Balor, finally appeared.
The demonic body, incarnated through the dark magic permeating the land, remained unchanged.
“Is it truly over now?”
“Is there anything left unfinished?”
Dale asked back. The Demon King shook his head.
After shaking his head, he knelt.
“Shadow Lord, I can feel the darkness of this tower and land bowing before you. I am no exception.”
“Frederick the Undying is dead. With his disappearance, this land holds no meaning for me.”
Dale shook his head as he spoke.
“Rise.”
“Will you not subjugate the demons and reign over them?”
“Why should I?”
“Because the Undying did so.”
Thus, refusing to submit, this being declared himself king of the demons and began his march south. It was a laughable tale.
Dale remained silent. Simultaneously, his circle accelerated, and darkness began to scatter.
Boom.
The tower’s ceiling collapsed entirely. Yet, from the tower’s peak, not a single ray of light penetrated the sky.
However, through that sky, a faint beam of light descended.
“This land is no longer filled with death and cold.”
Dale extended his arm, and the darkness enveloping the land began to recede like the tide.
The shadowy magic rooted in the Shadow Tower and consuming the land—that was the essence of the darkness here.
Thus, when Dale waved his hand from the tower’s peak, the darkness began to bloom something new.
Light was born from darkness.
This place would be no different.
Paradoxically, because the entire land was engulfed in darkness, it was not difficult for the Shadow Lord to exert his influence.
As the veil of cold and death was lifted from every corner of the land, possibilities bloomed in the darkness.
“I owe a debt I can never repay.”
The Demon King spoke softly.
“Become part of my empire, and I will command you to cultivate and rule this land.”
“Shadow Lord, I pledge to become a knight of the shadows when you call upon me.”
“That will suffice.”
Dale nodded with a wry smile and turned away.
“Father.”
“Dale.”
The Black Duke had appeared there, standing with his son at the top of the collapsed tower, overlooking the land.
“What a remarkable sight. Is this your power?”
“It’s an ironic power, indeed.”
The Black Duke spoke, and Dale laughed self-deprecatingly.
“All my life, I only knew how to kill.”
Yet, as the Shadow Lord, the power granted to Dale was not destruction but creation. With a bitter smile, Dale continued.
“Grandfather has returned to where he belongs.”
The Black Duke replied, and Dale nodded silently.
“I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
The Black Duke shook his head.
At that moment.
“All have vanished into the shadows.”
The last of the Saxon lineage left in the tower appeared. Lady Persephone. Her eyes, hollow and empty, seemed to see nothing.
“I can’t see anything.”
”…Mother.”
“The things I should see are invisible, and the things I should feel are absent. Child, are you there?”
“I am here.”
The Black Duke answered softly, with a deep sense of melancholy. Dale could say nothing as he watched.
“Ah, but my son is here.”
Lady Persephone groped around as if she were blind. It wasn’t entirely inaccurate.
The Black Duke reached out and took her hand.
“Yes, now I can feel you. My child.”
Lady Persephone lovingly caressed the Black Duke’s cheek. After caressing him, she buried her head in his chest and began to sob.
Like a little girl crying to her father. Yet, it was a profoundly sorrowful and fleeting cry.
An empire had fallen, and its end was, as always, fleeting and tragic. And no empire was an exception to this.
Some time later.
When Dale returned to the Saxon Duchy with his father, news arrived from Britannia Island.
Nobles who had betrayed the kingdom and sided with the Empire were being killed en masse.
Even the governor of Burgundy and his family, who ruled the island, were not spared.
Simultaneously, the Holy Maiden Aurelia officially began to fight against the Empire for the Sistine Papal State, and the Drowned Duke, who claimed to be the ruler of the seas, also declared independence from the Empire.
And seemingly unrelated events were all connected by a single web.
As the Blue Tower Master whispered secret tales with the blue sorceresses, now those with no connection to the blue gathered in the ‘Council.’
“As soon as the new kingdom on Britannia Island declares independence, the Empire will dispatch a large fleet.”
And the Shadow Lord, who united them, spoke.
“The task of intercepting them will fall to the Drowned Duke and his invincible fleet of the Archipelago.”
”…”
Dale spoke, and the man, looking like a drowned rat, remained silent.
“The spoils from there will rightfully belong to me and our archipelago.”
“The Drowned Duke is entitled to them.”
After a pause, the man spoke, and Dale, who held his heart, nodded.
“And the Celestial Duke.”
“Speak, Shadow Lord.”
“I am deeply grateful for your willingness to join my cause.”
“As long as you fight for the status of our Papal State, the alliance will remain.”
The White Tower Master, who once claimed to be the Golden Knight but turned his back to seize his nation, smiled.
──At least outwardly, that was the reason for betraying gold and fighting for the Shadow Lord.
“When the time comes, I will convene the Council to discuss future matters.”
Dale said.
“With this, I declare the Council adjourned.”
Simultaneously, the Celestial Duke vanished, but not the others.
Though it seemed they declared independence and fought the Empire, the White Tower Master never truly betrayed gold.
Their independence was merely a trap to deceive Dale and the shadows.
Yet even the Celestial Duke, acting as a double agent, could not outwit the cunning of the blue.
“The White Tower Master will surely inform the Empire that the Drowned Duke’s fleet will target the Empire’s fleet heading to Britannia Island.”
But from the start, that was false information to deceive the Celestial Duke and the Empire. There is no one easier to deceive than those who believe they are deceiving you.
That was the blue wisdom given to Dale by his mother, Elena, and the blue mastermind.
The man resembling a drowned rat did not respond.
“But I have no knowledge of naval warfare. In this situation, where do you plan to move your fleet to catch the Empire off guard, Drowned Duke?”
“Can you prove this isn’t a trap to deceive me, as you deceived the White Tower Master?”
The Drowned Duke asked. Deceiving one means you can deceive two. In that regard, the Drowned Duke was no fool.
“You need not answer.”
But Dale smiled quietly.
“Simply make the decision you believe is best for the independence of the Archipelago. And I will gladly respect your kingdom.”
”…”
Dale still held his heart in his hand. Yet, he never used it to threaten the Drowned Duke.
He simply respected him.
No matter how steadfast one might be against the fiercest storms, it was impossible to wrap oneself tightly in a coat under the blazing sun.
And this was an act of mutual understanding between them.
“This is where the story ends. Truly.”
At that moment, the ‘alliance’ that had bound them dissolved, and Dale’s consciousness returned.
Inside a chamber of the Saxon Duke’s castle.
As the symbolic act of the Blue Tower Master concluded, a splitting headache overwhelmed him. His heart’s circle screamed in protest, accelerating until it felt like it was wearing down.
In the midst of the most excruciating pain imaginable, Dale bit his lip.
This was the agony that the Blue Shadow, always feigning calm and composure, had to endure behind the scenes. And the Blue Shadow never hesitated to use his abilities for his son.
Dale was no different.
Desperately hiding his pain, weakness, and vulnerabilities behind a facade, he maintained a poker face.
Only after regaining his composure through the pain did he manage to stagger to his feet.
”…Dale.”
It was then.
A voice, all too familiar, reached his ears.
Until that voice broke through, Dale, consumed by the aftereffects of his power, hadn’t even realized she was there.
It was Sephia, the elf mage.