Episode 37
“I can win, I can win!”
The celestial aria echoed, filling Nikolai’s heart with a hymn of victory and hope.
The “Angels of the Battlefield,” with their six wings and flaming swords, surged forward. Empowered by the White Tower’s hymn magic, the church knights struck with a force that seemed to descend from the heavens. In response to this sudden assault, Dale urgently extended his arm.
“Shadow Bullet.”
Following the fluttering shadow of his cloak, a barrage of bullets made of darkness rained down. Yet, the angels easily evaded the attack mid-air and swooped back toward Dale. They were fast.
‘As expected, my angels!’
No matter how much of a prodigy the eldest son of the Saxon family was, he was still just a fledgling 3rd Circle Expert.
Moreover, no matter how terrifying the “Book of the Black Goat” was reputed to be, a mere 3rd Circle novice couldn’t possibly harness its full potential.
“Praise be…!”
The celestial aria resonated deeply, wrapping the hellish landscape in light.
“Alleluia!”
”…Noisy.”
And as if in response to Cardinal Nikolai’s aria.
“Shut up…”
The silent darkness finally spoke.
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”
To Dale, it was the girl with the horns of the black goat who shouted.
”■■■■──!”
But to Nikolai and his angels, it must have seemed like a grotesque creature spewing a hideous scream.
A monstrous entity from another realm, composed of countless tentacles.
Swoosh!
From beneath the girl’s skirt, a mass of tentacles shot out, aiming for the angels who had easily dodged Dale’s Shadow Bullets.
”…!”
The angels swung their flaming swords, and holy fire surged forth, meant to burn the enemies of the goddess. But just as the tentacles seemed to be cut down effortlessly, black blood gushed from the severed ends.
Right in front of the angels.
The liquid, black as pitch and thick as tar, wasn’t even blood. It splattered over the angels, as if to engulf them.
”…?!”
Suddenly.
The angels’ wings stopped flapping. It wasn’t a fall.
In the silence, the angels turned in mid-air, now facing Cardinal Nikolai, whom they were supposed to protect.
“P-praise…”
“P-p-praise be…”
Their muttering was clearly twisted with madness. Seeing this, Nikolai’s blood ran cold.
The goddess’s warriors, meant to be invincible through the celestial aria…
The angels’ wings grotesquely swelled, as if hundreds of worms were writhing beneath the surface. From their features, black tar-like tears streamed down, creating a horrifying sight.
“A-ah…”
Nikolai’s hope shattered into pieces. They were no longer angels serving the celestial goddess.
Dark angels stood there instead.
Weeping black, bloody tears, their bodies grotesquely swollen with worm-like veins, their wings twisted into something that could no longer be called wings.
Swoosh!
Once again, the tentacles struck toward those very angels.
Crash!
Breaking limbs, tearing wings, shattering armor, crushing skulls, the tentacles burrowed into their brains, taking root. As if an evil god was toying with its creations… Nikolai’s angels, the pride of the Sistine Church, were being mercilessly ravaged.
In front of this, all a mere 6th Circle white mage could do was tremble in fear.
“Regarding the events in hell.”
The “Black Prince,” who had remained silent, finally spoke, leaving the ravaged angels behind.
“The parties to the contract bear no responsibility.”
The distance between Dale and Nikolai began to close.
“A-ah…”
Nikolai, forgetting that he was facing a mere eleven-year-old child, trembled in terror, on the verge of fainting.
The prodigy of the Duke’s family, the son of the Black Duke, the empire’s greatest genius.
No.
The term “Black Prince” was not a mere title.
He was the child of a demon.
“The enemy of the goddess…”
The seed of evil born from the shadow of the sister goddesses.
“Do you wish to live?”
Dale asked, standing beside the monstrous mass of tentacles, or the girl with the horns of a goat.
“P-please…”
Cardinal Nikolai desperately begged for his life.
“I might be able to spare you.”
Dale continued.
“What can you offer me in return?”
“W-what…”
Nikolai, terrified, asked back. Then, he began to offer everything he could think of—his position, his wealth, the power of the church he commanded, and everything he possessed as a 6th Circle white mage and a cardinal. He desperately offered and offered again.
“I like it.”
“W-what do you like?”
Nikolai asked, still trembling with fear.
“Everything you have.”
Dale replied.
“S-surely not…!”
Understanding the meaning of those words, Nikolai’s expression froze. A despair that felt like his heart was sinking overwhelmed him. For Dale’s words could only mean one thing.
“It seems we’ll need to draft a new contract.”
Absolute obedience through a Geass (binding oath).
At this point, there was no turning back for Nikolai. Even if it meant selling his soul to a demon, there was no exception.
“Playing with you was so much fun!”
The girl laughed joyfully, as if she were reluctantly leaving after a pleasant outing.
“I really like your world, big brother.”
With countless tentacles writhing beneath her dress, in the void filled with cold and darkness, Dale’s world.
“So I’ll wait here.”
Dale smiled quietly, pushing aside the pain in his heart that felt like it would shrivel up from the exhaustion of his magic.
A grimoire is a vessel containing an ideology, and it is never in the form of a book. Thus, the “Book of the Black Goat” was now fused within Dale’s world, taking root in his heart in the form of tentacles.
“Aren’t you afraid of me, big brother?”
The girl asked Dale on the cold plain.
“I’m not afraid.”
“Really?”
The girl smiled with relief at his words.
“Will I be able to play with you like this again?”
She asked, smiling, but with a hint of worry.
“We’ll see each other again.”
Dale nodded, and the girl smiled innocently.
“Good, I’m glad!”
Seeing her overwhelming a 6th Circle white mage like Cardinal Nikolai, it was clear. Her existence was too dangerous to be carelessly unleashed. And Dale, in the strictest sense, could not yet control the “Book of the Black Goat.”
The deep-rooted darkness of the Saxon family, the vessel containing the ideology of the “Immortal Duke Frederick.”
No matter how much of a genius he was, even the title of the Black Duke’s son was not enough to handle this forbidden realm.
‘Besides, it’s not a power to flaunt recklessly.’
It was not a force to wield carelessly, but a trump card to be kept as a last resort.
In a way, it was like confining her to the abyss of ideology. The girl surely understood this as well.
“I promise.”
But this was not the end with her.
“Soon, we’ll be able to play together again.”
“Yes, I’ll be waiting!”
The girl smiled, and Dale nodded. Leaving her alone in the void filled with cold and solitude.
After the chaos in hell subsided… the eldest son of the Saxon family received a grand “absolution” in the name of Cardinal Nikolai.
Furthermore, as a symbol of the newfound friendship between the Saxon family and the church, he was met with an unprecedented level of ceremony from the church.
On the way back to the duchy, Dale and his knights were no longer disguised as pilgrims.
For this reason, no one dared to obstruct the “Black Prince” and the swords of the Saxon family he commanded.
Several months later.
A black light swirled around the blade. Based on the martial arts inherited by the Northern Raven Knights, the heavy sword’s massive blade was enveloped.
Drawing the aura refined within the body to the outside and wrapping it around the sword in the form of sword energy. Those who reached this level were called “Aura Knights.”
The black aura blade. Gripping the black sword, a symbol of the Saxon family, the swordmaster “Charlotte” raised her head.
“It’s done.”
At her confident stance, Sir Helmut Blackbear, Charlotte’s mentor, was left speechless with astonishment. The knights of the Saxon family watching alongside him were no exception.
Dale was not the only “exceptional talent” growing at an extraordinary pace.
“To achieve such a perfected aura blade at that age!”
And then.
“Charlotte of Orhart.”
The only one maintaining composure, the eldest son of the Saxon family, Dale, spoke.
“Dale of Saxon asks you this.”
Kneeling before Charlotte, who had just driven the black sword of the Saxon family into the ground, Dale spoke solemnly.
“For the honor of your lord and your house, for your own honor, and for all that you must protect…”
He gently tapped Charlotte’s shoulder with the knight’s sword in his hand.
“Will you wield your sword in adherence to the knight’s oath?”
“I swear it,” Charlotte replied, bowing her head.
“Will you wield your sword to protect the weak and punish the wicked, without succumbing to selfish desires?”
“I swear it.”
”…May the true nobility of a knight accompany your blade,” Dale said.
“In the name of Saxon, I hereby dub you ‘Sir Charlotte,’ my knight.”
It was Charlotte’s knighting ceremony. Though it was a modest affair, attended by only a few members of the Night Raven Knights, it was the highest honor Dale and the Duke of Saxon could bestow upon her, considering her standing.
And so, Charlotte smiled quietly, overwhelmed with the emotion of finally becoming the sword that could protect ‘her lord.’
After the ceremony, in the courtyard of the Saxon ducal castle.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Dale asked.
Charlotte, his knight, nodded.
“I like being the sword of the Saxon family.”
Dale hesitated, considering the doctrine pursued by the northern knights, but Charlotte’s resolve was unwavering.
“It’s the sword that made me who I am today.”
Thus, she chose to embrace the Night Raven Knight’s sword and began wielding the Saxon family’s greatsword instead of a rapier. As the apprentice of the legendary Helmut Blackbear, one of the Seven Swords of the Continent, she had astonishingly mastered the Saxon black sword, the pitch-black aura blade, in no time.
“I never imagined I could become a knight like this,” Charlotte said with a newfound smile.
“Thank you, Dale.”
A shy, girlish smile.
“It’s all thanks to you.”
Watching her, Dale realized he had underestimated Charlotte’s talent.
”…There’s intelligence that a large orc warband is gathering beyond the Demon King’s territory,” Dale said, his resolve firm.
“It seems the ‘Orc Warlord’ is leading the army himself.”
”…!”
“My father is mobilizing the duchy’s forces and the northern lords, and I will join the battle as well,” Dale continued.
“In that battle, I want you by my side.”
”…”
“As my knight.”
The unexpected request took Charlotte’s breath away. Despite reaching the level of an ‘Aura Knight,’ she was still just an eleven-year-old girl.
“Yes, I understand,” she nodded without hesitation.
A knight’s sword is wielded for their lord, and her lord desired her blade.