Episode 77
The tendrils of darkness coiled around his heart, and the “Book of the Black Goat” began to thrash wildly, as if it were alive.
”…!”
Breaking free from Dale’s control, it went on a rampage, greedily devouring the black magic emanating from the dark source, and with that power──.
─ The dog of Sistina, I will never forgive you…!
The dog of Sistina.
”…!”
With indescribable hatred, Shub uttered the name of the “goddess.”
The Sistina twin goddesses. He had thought they were nothing more than fictional deities created by the people of this world.
‘Are they not just figments of imagination…?’
As he called upon the name of the goddess, Shub lifted the hem of his dress.
Swoosh!
From beneath, the writhing tendrils of darkness surged forth. Dale had no reason to hesitate. Leaving behind the heart and circle that seemed ready to burst, he accelerated further through overclocking.
The death knights of the black sword charged forward in unison.
Towards the “Holy Maiden” enveloped in six wings of light.
The golden seraph.
The true form of the avatar of the Holy Maiden Aurelia.
The world of thought constructed by a mage was a reflection of their very mind, and the thoughts Aurelia projected onto her sword, armor, and body were her heart itself.
The executor of the goddess. The apostle of fanaticism.
‘Dangerous.’
Dale could instinctively sense it. The situation was far from favorable.
It was the first “wall” Dale had ever encountered.
It was different from when he glimpsed the abilities of the black sphere. That was his father, and surpassing him was a distant future without a promise.
But now, the presence of the Holy Maiden before him. Even if it was under the guise of a “mock duel,” a moment’s carelessness could cost him his life.
No, the murderous intent she exuded in response to Dale’s provocation was beyond even that of a mock duel.
‘Should I surrender and end the duel here?’
Dale briefly considered. His “true objective” was never to defeat the Holy Maiden here. Even if victory was the best outcome, he had prepared for the second-best option in case of defeat. That was the original plan, after all.
’…No.’
But what filled Dale’s heart, cornered as he was, was a competitive spirit.
This wasn’t a predetermined scenario on a stage. The opponent before him wasn’t a mere sacrificial lamb to showcase and prove Dale’s talents.
It was an opportunity to clash his full strength against that “extraordinary powerhouse.”
Now, Dale stood on the edge of life and death. A single misstep could send him plummeting into the abyss, losing everything.
‘Yes, this is how it should be.’
On that tightrope, Dale smiled coldly.
With his shadow cloak billowing, he left Shub, who hid no malice, behind. Leading the “death knights of the black sword” that filled the horizon of emptiness.
The Holy Maiden charged with her six wings spread wide. Dale, too, followed the shadows of his cloak, creating “blades of darkness.”
Clang!
A single strike collided.
Aurelia’s golden sword and Dale’s dark sword. He barely managed to deflect it with the simultaneous movement of twelve “shadow blades.”
That was all he could do. As a swordsman, he couldn’t even dare to be a match.
But as Sir Helmut, Dale’s swordsmanship mentor, once said… it was enough to parry a single blow.
For a mage who had given ground to a knight, to regroup.
Immediately after, the black swords of the death knights surged from all directions. Furthermore, the tendrils of Shub and the shadow lurker showered down to cover Dale.
The Holy Maiden had no room for a follow-up attack either. She merely spun like a swallow using her six wings, creating distance. The endless tendrils of darkness rained down on the retreating Holy Maiden.
From beneath Shub’s hem, the tendrils of darkness surged forth endlessly, swirling and lashing out.
Each time, the pain was like wringing out his heart, and his magic was depleted. To generate enough magic to endure it again, he accelerated the three circles repeatedly.
His consciousness blurred in the pain. But he understood. The “Book of the Black Goat” wasn’t going berserk. It was merely a relentless whip.
To lead Dale’s heart, wrapped in three circles, beyond to the next realm.
The fourth circle.
The tendrils of darkness wrapped even more tightly around the accelerating three circles.
Dale’s three circles were never those of an ordinary three-circle mage. In terms of the sheer “absolute amount of magic” generated, it rivaled that of a six-circle mage.
Yet even with such high-density magic being generated, Dale’s circles couldn’t fully harness the power of the “Book of the Black Goat.”
─ Not enough, not enough, not enough, it’s woefully insufficient!
Even the amount of magic generated by the great Dale couldn’t quench Shub’s thirst. Hence, he was pushing to open the “next realm” by any means necessary.
“Alright, let’s see this through to the end.”
For Dale, this was the most desirable outcome.
The fourth circle. A realm beyond “a respectable individual” for a mage. As he grasped that realm, Dale envisioned the secret vistas of magic he would witness.
Just as Dale was now, it would never be confined to the realm of an “ordinary fourth circle.”
Thus, Dale didn’t hesitate.
To overcome the two walls before him. The Holy Maiden Aurelia, and the wall of the fourth circle.
“《Singularity of Radiance》.”
It was at that moment. Aurelia spread her six wings wide.
The wings of light began to amplify their radiance, akin to the sun. Even the chilling cold and darkness swirling in Dale’s world seemed ready to be consumed by that light.
Like the harbinger of dawn illuminating the dark pre-dawn.
He understood the meaning of that light at a glance.
‘Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.’
──Laser.
’…!’
Immediately, Dale kicked off the ground and charged.
From the six wings, lasers shot out in all directions like a barrage.
Death Ray. Focused bombardment.
The pillars of light, reminiscent of those from a science fiction movie, were destroying Dale’s world.
He couldn’t even muster a laugh. The overwhelming power made even Dale’s death knights, who possessed the prowess of a hero, feel like mere foot soldiers. What meaning did strategy or tactics hold in the face of such might?
None.
Even the tendrils of darkness surging towards her, the black blood scattering as the tendrils disintegrated, couldn’t reach the Holy Maiden through the baptism of light she emitted.
This was the true nature of an extraordinary powerhouse.
An overwhelming destructive force capable of overturning the battlefield itself with individual might. The very essence of “knightly literature” that even the people of this world would dismiss as fanciful.
This was it. This was the reality of the formidable foes he had vanquished and must continue to vanquish in his past life.
‘Still not enough.’
Thus, with his current prowess, he couldn’t reach that existence.
The concentrated beams of light from all directions were raining down indiscriminately. It was akin to facing a weapon from science fiction with a mere sword.
He had to reach.
Desperately, as Shub’s tendrils stood as a sacrificial shield against the light of annihilation, protecting Dale, and as Dale’s circles, gradually revealing their limits, were on the verge of ceasing to function.
‘How?’
Lasers are light, and mirrors have the property of reflecting light.
Refraction of light. But a mere mirror couldn’t possibly withstand such high-powered lasers.
At that moment, something flashed through Dale’s mind.
‘LDAL.’
Laser Developed Atmospheric Lens system.
A weapon to defend against high-powered lasers wasn’t just a concept from imagination. An optical weapon that formed a layer of hot air to induce light refraction against laser weapons.
‘It’s worth a try.’
What Dale knew, and the Holy Maiden did not. Knowledge from another world.
For Dale, who wielded black and blue magic, creating flames like the red tower mages was impossible.
But there was no need to ignite blazing flames. Heat, after all, was merely an indicator of “the intensity of molecular motion.”
Just as coldness indicated “the absence of molecular motion,” heat and cold were ultimately two sides of the same coin.
Dale stopped moving. The light following the Holy Maiden’s wings was aimed at the stationary target.
The light of annihilation targeted Dale, and he, too, focused his consciousness without a single movement.
He grasped the flow of the surroundings, scattering his magic while keeping his eyes on the Holy Maiden’s wings of light.
Nothing in this world could be faster than light. But predicting the movement before the trigger was pulled was possible.
The wings of light once again amplified their brilliant radiance…
‘Now.’
Dale projected the mechanism derived from his firm knowledge of another world.
“──Light, refract.”
To solidify the image, he invoked a spell from another realm. It accelerated the molecular movement around him, heating the air and creating a “shield of light” that refracted high-powered lasers.
And it was toward this shield of light that the beam of annihilation struck.
”……!”
Spear and shield.
The concentrated beam of annihilation ricocheted off, reversing its course toward the wings of the holy maiden.
It was at that moment.
Crash!
The sound of something shattering echoed.
The circle accelerating around his heart came to a halt. The heart, which had been screaming in agony as if it might burst at any moment, suddenly quieted.
Shub’s form vanished, and the winter night landscape surrounding them disappeared as well.
Before he knew it, Dale found himself standing on the drawbridge of Reims.
The circle around his heart had overloaded and ceased to function.
“I can’t believe I’m losing here…”
On the brink of a critical moment, his strength had run out. He hadn’t even reached the fourth circle, the wall right in front of him. It was a laughably absurd ending. With a bitter smile, Dale lifted his head.
An angel with six wings stood there.
”……!”
Wings torn and riddled with holes. Golden armor shattered, exposing the flesh beneath. A truly pitiful, battered figure.
The holy maiden knelt before Dale.
──Dale’s counterattack had succeeded.
”……!”
Yet, the wounded holy maiden staggered to her feet, squeezing out the last of her strength.
She did not fall.
In front of everyone watching, Aurelia moved toward Dale, who had exhausted all his circle’s power and could no longer resist. The tip of a nameless soldier’s sword was pointed at him.
“This fight has no further meaning,” the holy maiden said. Dale let out a wry smile at the absurd conclusion.
“I concede.”
“That’s not true.”
The holy maiden, still pointing her sword, shook her head calmly. Then she knelt before Dale.
She drove her sword vertically into the ground.
“This match is a draw,” she declared. A draw.
“That can’t be…”
Dale had expended so much energy that he couldn’t even move a finger. In contrast, though she had suffered a critical counterattack, the holy maiden’s “avatar” had not disappeared. She could still continue the fight.
Aurelia surely knew this as well.
“I am in awe of your prowess, my lord.”
Despite this, the holy maiden knelt before Dale, offering the courtesy of a knight.
“The tales of the storytellers were not false.”
“The tales of the storytellers were not false.”
Simultaneously, the same words escaped both their lips.
Dale smiled quietly. The holy maiden smiled as well.
“I, Dale of Saxon.”
Then, Dale raised his voice.
“As promised, I vow to offer this place, Reims, the capital of the Kingdom of Britannia.”
Dale’s voice, amplified by the last of his magic, echoed loudly.
Loud enough for the city’s people and the independent army witnessing their duel to hear.
“I swear to offer it before the twin goddesses of Sistina and the holy maiden Aurelia.”
Not in the name of Charles VII, the rightful heir of the Kingdom of Britannia, but in the name of “holy maiden Aurelia.”