Side Story, Episode 6
“So, brother, please stop hurting yourself for the sake of the world. Live for your own happiness.”
The Empress of Lies, the Queen of Winter and Shadows, spoke.
At that moment, a chill engulfed Dale, and by the time he awoke, so much had already changed.
In an era where magic was dying.
Was it thanks to this that the ice prison holding him, created by Lize, had shattered?
─ Let’s play a game to protect the things you love, brother.
After that, Shub was nowhere to be found. Despite the shadow’s circle still looming over his heart, the Mother of Old Darkness remained silent in response to Dale.
And in this world, there was nothing left that Dale loved. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what that meant.
Thus, he wandered endlessly, trapped in a nightmare of solitude and despair.
When Dale awoke from the nightmare, he found Yufi looking at him with concern. He forced a bitter smile and asked, “Did I say anything in my sleep?”
“Who… who is Lize?”
”…”
Dale fell silent, and Yufi quickly lowered her head, apologizing.
“You called out that name so desperately… I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need for you to apologize, Yufi.”
Dale turned his head away as he spoke. Outside the window, dusk had already settled.
“Did you come to see me for a reason?”
“Not really… I just wanted to say thank you.”
“There’s nothing you need to thank me for.”
Dale replied calmly. A brief silence followed, and then Yufi spoke again.
“I thought I would part ways with you here, Dale.”
“That was my intention.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“I promised to take you somewhere safe, Yufi.”
Dale answered matter-of-factly.
“But this place isn’t safe.”
“What…?”
“This place will soon be engulfed in the flames of revolution, just like your village.”
“That can’t be…”
Yufi gasped at the unexpected revelation.
“Then what will you do, sir?”
“There are people I need to find.”
Dale replied calmly.
“Whether I can find them, or if they’re even alive, I can’t be sure…”
He trailed off, and Yufi swallowed quietly, unsure of what to say to the shadow hanging over Dale.
”…I will find them.”
But then, with renewed determination, Yufi spoke up. Dale gave a bittersweet smile at her words.
“I hope I can do the same.”
More than anyone else in this world, he wished for it desperately.
“Assassinate the Marquis of Rosenheim and leave the territory swiftly.”
That night, the ‘Warriors of the Revolution’ infiltrating the Rosenheim Marquisate finally began to move.
They aimed to strike at the heart of the enemy, to bring down the adversaries of the revolution in one decisive blow.
They were equipped with armor that embodied the pinnacle of magical engineering, far surpassing the ironclad armor currently in use.
Boom!
An explosion echoed through the air. The swirling magic ignited into flames, consuming the area around the marquisate.
“Explosion! It’s an attack!”
The silence within the castle was shattered, and silhouettes began to move amidst the chaos.
They were silhouettes clad in sleek, black-gold armor, as smooth as silicon.
The Marquis of Rosenheim was one of the most powerful nobles in the empire, and his castle was not guarded by mere soldiers.
The era of dying magic did not mean the death of magic itself. It simply meant that the number of mages had dwindled, and their power and skill were no longer what they once were.
As magic faded, so did the power of emperors and nobles. In a sense, they too were dying.
It was the spirit of a new era that filled the void left by the decline of magic and the old order.
“Traitors…!”
Knights desperately unleashed their aura hearts, drawing power as they faced the revolutionaries.
Supporting the knights at the front, mages accelerated their mana circles.
As the circles accelerated, magic scattered, devoid of color.
There was no fiery red, no wise blue, not even a hint of gray.
In the world Dale remembered, it was doubtful whether this could even be considered magic.
This was the reality of magic left in this world.
The black-gold silhouettes, armed with ‘Type 2 Armor,’ charged forward, swords swinging.
The black blades cut through the air, and the knights, desperately squeezing out their aura, fell helplessly, unable to withstand even a single strike.
This was not an era where one strong individual could face a hundred. Yet, the Type 2 Ironclad Brigade here were undoubtedly capable of overwhelming a hundred strong warriors.
“Protect the Marquis!”
“Revolutionaries…!”
Desperately, the knights and soldiers under the Marquis of Rosenheim blocked their path. But knights wielding mere aura blades were no match for the magical armor that rivaled the avatars of aura masters.
Blood splattered.
The black blades danced among the knights, and the Type 2 Ironclad Brigade navigated the castle corridors, following the internal map they had obtained.
At that moment, a shadow blocked their path.
“You’re not absorbing mana into your bodies, but processing ambient mana within the armor itself.”
The shadow spoke with feigned interest.
“Is that how you can exhibit power comparable to an aura master’s avatar?”
”…!”
The pressure emanating from the shadow made the armored warriors swallow hard. Yet, nothing changed.
“Who developed that armor with such technology?”
Before the shadow’s question could be answered, the armored warriors charged forward.
Immediately, tendrils of shadow rose from beneath the man’s feet.
As the tendrils shot up, the warriors swung their swords. The black blades, infused with magic, were all too familiar.
They sliced through the shadowy tendrils and quickly retreated. They were fast. The shadow lifted its head to observe them once more.
Black-gold armor and black swords.
”…”
How long had he wandered this world? Even when he thought he had found a clue to the past, it always ended in vain. Days of endless wandering.
The futility was excruciatingly painful. He thought there was no point in wandering any longer.
Until that day, when Yufi’s village was massacred by the revolutionaries.
They had drawn Dale back into the world. Once again, a clue to the past lay before him.
Dale’s wandering had been long enough that he no longer got his hopes up over every clue.
“Let me ask.”
Yet, nothing changed.
“Who developed that armor?”
“Do you think we’d just tell you our secrets…?”
“You will.”
Dale replied coldly.
“No one can hide the truth from me.”
With those words, the Lord of Shadows extended his arm.
Simultaneously, Dale’s black robe billowed. The shadow beneath it spread like a lake, engulfing the area.
Screeeech!
A piercing scream echoed from within the shadows.
The 《Shadow Stalkers》 unleashed their thorny tendrils toward the armored warriors.
“What will make you reveal your secrets?”
The living darkness surged toward the revolutionary armor.
“Will pain make you speak?”
Crack!
The thorny tendrils relentlessly pierced the armor, finding gaps to exploit. Screams filled the air.
As the tendrils stripped away the armor, they began to tear at the flesh fused with it.
The agony was incomparable to anything before, and the screams were endless.
Amidst the screams, the Lord of Shadows walked forward calmly.
“Do you think mere pain can break our will…?”
Yet, even as their flesh was torn and their bodies shredded, the revolutionaries did not yield.
For a moment, Dale wondered what kind of revolution could drive them to endure such pain.
He lowered his head, focusing on the shadows entwining them.
Within the shadows, the undeniable truth emerged. That was all. Just as no one could escape their shadow, no one could hide their truth from the Lord of Shadows.
“It’s done.”
With those words, Dale extended his arm, and the Shadow Stalkers gleefully tore apart their armor and bodies.
The shadows in the area began to turn crimson, like ink spreading in water.
There was nothing left in this world to love. No reason to show mercy.
As he thought this, Yufi’s face unexpectedly came to mind.
It was right after Dale had taken down the Iron Guard, the assassins of the revolutionary army, clad in their formidable Type-2 armor.
“Thanks to you, my life was spared.”
Marquis Rosenheim bowed his head in gratitude before him.
“How on earth did the revolutionaries manage to develop such advanced weaponry so quickly…?”
“It’s not new technology,” Dale replied, shaking his head as he recalled the truth hidden within the armor’s shadows.
“It’s merely a relic of the past.”
“A relic of the past? You don’t mean…”
“Are you familiar with the Fourth Empire?”
“The… the legendary Great Magic Empire, unparalleled in the continent’s history, ruled by the so-called Emperor of Black Gold?”
Dale gave a bitter smile at those words. Indeed, it was as he said.
To the people of this era, it was nothing more than a distant legend, an ancient empire shrouded in myth.
“I only know as much as anyone else. They say it vanished from history one day, without a trace…”
Dale nodded at this.
“The weapons the revolutionaries are using are relics unearthed from that very empire.”
Whether this could be called a solution was still uncertain.
Yet, what Dale had discovered was a clue closer and more undeniable than any he had found before.