Episode 263
Some time after the Pilgrims’ War had ended.
The brief reign of the Holy Empire was over, and once again, as always, victory belonged to the Shadow Lord. Just as the Third Empire had fallen, so too did the Holy Empire, and countless other foes eventually knelt before the Duke of Darkness.
The Shadow Lord continued to watch over the kings, and now, no one on the continent dared to defy Dale.
An irresistible force and fear. Once known as the “Black Prince,” nothing changed even after he became the Duke of Darkness.
The Duchy of Saxon. Not the only empire, nor the only ruler on earth. Yet the presence of the Shadow Lord carried a weight incomparable to any emperor.
Many things returned to order, to their rightful places. But some things did not.
In a chamber of the Saxon Ducal Castle.
Charlotte, the Duke’s wife, sat on the bed, a glass of white wine in her hand.
”…There isn’t a battlefield where you can’t protect me.”
Sipping her wine, Charlotte smiled wryly, recalling the story Dale had told her after revealing the truth that day.
“Every time there’s a war, you always end up on the winning side.”
“Perhaps.”
Dale chuckled bitterly. Charlotte did not smile.
“This world has already become your empire. And you, its emperor.”
”…”
“I’m just a princess favored by the emperor.”
“That’s not true.”
“No, it is.”
Dale shook his head, and Charlotte did the same.
“I believed I was a sword wielded for you. But since that day, when I was cornered by thieves in the alley, nothing has changed. I’ve always been protected within the fence you’ve built, and everything I’ve done must have seemed like childish play to you.”
“Charlotte…”
“A naive princess playing at being a knight. That’s who I was. Who I am, and who I’ll continue to be.”
Before Dale could respond, Charlotte spoke with self-mockery.
“Still, I like you.”
”…”
“No matter how much I want to hate you, I can’t. So maybe being a princess in a cage isn’t so bad. Occasionally playing at being a knight protecting her lord.”
“You’re quite drunk.”
“Becoming a puppet that moves as you dance. It must be blissful.”
Charlotte giggled as if amused. Dale found himself at a loss for words.
“Just as you’ve always done for me. Yes, nothing will change. Right?”
With that, Charlotte took another sip of her wine, the pale gold liquid shimmering faintly.
“I love you, Dale.”
Charlotte said, and their lips met, the taste of wine flowing between them. It was incredibly sweet.
Leaving the sleeping Charlotte behind, Dale crossed the courtyard of the Saxon Ducal Castle.
The night sky was profoundly dark, with stars flickering faintly.
Dale lowered his gaze.
In the moonlight, his shadow stretched long and dark beneath him.
The shadow was deep and black.
─ Brother.
At that moment, a voice called out. Turning his head, he saw Shub standing there.
─ Humans are truly fascinating creatures.
The girl with goat-like horns smiled as if delighted. Beneath the hem of her black dress, writhing tendrils peeked out.
─ I like humans. So I don’t want their world to disappear from this land.
Shub spoke, her voice laden with meaning.
─ And what I’m about to tell you is the last truth for the Lord of Truth and Shadows.
“The last truth…?”
That phrase again.
─ You see, this land never belonged to humans from the start.
“What do you mean?”
─ And soon, the true rulers of this star will awaken from their slumber.
“Who are they?”
─ Beings you know very well.
Shub spoke with a hint of amusement.
For a moment, Dale couldn’t comprehend her words. But deep within his subconscious, he felt he might grasp their meaning.
─ They will awaken and move to drive out the conquerors of this planet. For them, it will be a rightful battle to reclaim their star.
”…Are we the invaders?”
─ You occupied this planet while they slept. And when they awoke, you didn’t leave willingly. What else would you call that but invasion?
Shub chuckled.
─ Their struggle was justified from the start. And it remains unchanged.
The beings Shub referred to, and her words about their awakening. It wasn’t hard to understand.
“Weren’t the monsters supposed to have vanished with the old world’s end?”
─ Not all of them disappeared. They’re merely sleeping in the deepest parts of the world.
Shub shook her head as she spoke.
─ They, and their king, will rise.
The nightmares of the past, which Dale had tried to turn away from, resurfaced in his mind.
The battles from Dale’s memories. He thought they were over. But they weren’t.
─ As the king of humans and the lord of conquerors, it’s time to make a decision against the king of monsters.
“What decision?”
─ Whether to return the land that rightfully belongs to them or to stand as conquerors against the rulers of this land.
”…Wasn’t it a fight to save the world from the start?”
Hearing Shub’s words, Dale laughed at the unexpected truth.
─ They were the ones fighting to save the world from the beginning.
“Then why are you on the side of humans?”
─ Well, humans are more entertaining.
Shub smiled coldly. For a moment, her expression was as if peering into an unfathomable abyss, sending a chill down one’s spine.
─ There’s no right or wrong in survival. Even a swarm of hungry locusts has no malice. The humans of this star were never victims but aggressors, and the Lord of Truth had a duty to know the truth. That’s why I told you, and that’s all.
”…”
As always, the brutal truth emerged without a care.
Hearing it, Dale remained silent.
One day, he thought a gate had opened, and invaders from another world had appeared. But that wasn’t the case.
The truth Shub revealed was that humans were the invaders.
And when they awoke, the Shadow Lord, as the king of humans, would have to make a decision.
From the start, all of this had happened in one world. There was no such thing as another world.
“Where do I go to find the answer?”
Realizing this, Dale asked.
─ To the deepest part of the world.
Shub replied.
Hearing her words, the king of humans did not hesitate.
It was time to embark on the final journey. A mission he had to undertake alone.
After that day, the Shadow Lord vanished without a word.
Some time later, a ship arrived at the pirate archipelago ruled by Barbarossa, and among the crew was a man.
Finally, he understood the true nature of his abilities.
The area was filled with jagged rocks, and the salty air stung his nose. In the distance, seagulls cried out.
At the same time, a pervasive, ominous aura hung over the entire archipelago.
The end of the world.
The Shadow Lord had reached the final destination of his journey, ready to confront the last truth.
The sunlight was dazzlingly bright.
“Now, where did I leave off?”
A dignified lady spoke, and the children eagerly chimed in.
“The king of humans was going to see the ‘king of monsters’ at the end of the world!”
“Ah, yes, that’s right.”
Each child bore a faint mana circle etched into their hearts. It wasn’t uncommon for children of noble families to be sent to the Blue Tower, hoping their magical talents would never be used for destruction.
And to these young mages, the master of the Blue Tower, Lize, smiled gently.
Feeling the eight circles engraved in her heart stir.
Few knew the true nature of the Tower of Lies and Deception, the Blue Tower.
And even fewer knew that Lize, now the mastermind behind the Blue Tower, once had a naive and innocent girl’s heart.
She recalled the image of her brother when they embarked on their first journey together. A vision of him so ruthless and overwhelming that she couldn’t have imagined it back then.
“I hope that when you become someone with power, you’ll think about how to use it.”
How could she ever forget those words?
Now, Lize possessed power. As an 8th-circle blue mage, she saw the world her brother once saw.
“Yes, my brother set out for the pirate archipelago.”
Lize continued. Everyone knew the story’s end.
Yet the children listened intently, captivated by Lize’s tale.
“To protect this world, to defeat the king of monsters.”
──The tale of a hero and champion who defended the world against the monstrous threat seeking to conquer it.
That was the story known to this world.
As the ruler of the Tower of Lies and Deception, the Blue Tower, Lize did not hesitate to overlay the truth with necessity.
Not everyone needed to know the truth. Especially when that truth was difficult and brutal to bear.
But her brother, the Lord of Truth and Shadows, was different. He faced the truth of himself and the world until the very end and accepted it.
What he bore, even she could not imagine.
“And at the pirate archipelago, my brother encountered a servant loyal to the king of monsters. Who knows the name of that servant?”
Rije asked, and one of the children raised a hand, shouting out.
“Barbarossa the Drowned King!”
Inside the obsidian box, a man’s heart was beating.
“Take back your heart.”
Before the Drowned King of the Dead Sea Archipelago, Dale spoke. The man, looking like a drowned rat, tilted his head with curiosity.
“Why are you returning it?”
“Because it holds no meaning for any of us anymore.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
The Drowned King chuckled, seemingly amused.
“This land is not ours. From the perspective of this planet and its rulers, we are nothing but invaders and parasites. We are the evil.”
“When locusts devour crops, it’s not out of malice.”
Dale smiled bitterly.
“They, too, are merely fighting to survive. We are no different.”
He knew the truth, yet nothing would change.
“As the king of humans, I have a duty to protect my people. And I will fight willingly to do so.”
“How foolish.”
The Drowned King sneered, and suddenly, the landscape of the deep sea overlaid the world around them.