Episode 29: Revelation (2)
“Ugh, ugh! Bleeegh!”
Guillaume Blackwing tried to stop himself from retching, but it was no use. Dark magic spewed uncontrollably from his mouth.
With each heave, his body shrank a little more. His once black hair bleached to a stark white.
The dark magic was unraveling, and the backlash was hitting him hard.
“Ugh, ugh…”
In an instant, Guillaume Blackwing aged dramatically. He collapsed to the ground, unable to even lift himself.
The training ground fell into a stunned silence. No one was left unshaken, not even the Duke, who stood frozen in place.
“Dark magic? Is that really dark magic?”
“Am I seeing this right?”
Murmurs of disbelief rippled through the crowd, their voices trembling.
“What do we do now?”
“I have no idea! This is the first time I’ve ever been involved with dark magic.”
“This isn’t the time for us to be fighting amongst ourselves. We need to understand what’s happening.”
There was only one person who could explain the situation.
As if on cue, all eyes turned to one spot.
Chelsea Goldpixie shook her head frantically, clearly flustered.
“I-I don’t know! I have no idea what’s going on!”
She stammered, but no one seemed convinced.
“Father! Please believe me! I have nothing to do with this!”
Seeing the doubt in the retainers’ eyes, she turned to the Duke, pleading.
“Father!”
But the Duke remained silent, his hand covering his mouth.
“Why are the soldiers just standing there?”
Finally, the Duke broke the long silence.
“Arrest Lady Chelsea and take her to the dungeon.”
At his command, the soldiers around the training ground began to move.
“Father! Listen to me! I’m innocent! I swear!”
Chelsea Goldpixie cried out desperately, but the Duke’s order was unwavering.
“What are you all doing? Protect me! Stop the soldiers from getting to me!”
She shouted at her knights.
Without hesitation, the knights drew their weapons and shouted back.
“Come any closer, and you’ll taste our blades!”
“If you want to take Lady Chelsea, you’ll have to go through us first!”
The soldiers hesitated at the knights’ deadly threat. Even the renowned soldiers of the Duke’s house couldn’t easily take on the knights.
“Sir Gaul.”
The Duke spoke again.
“Assist the soldiers in capturing Chelsea Goldpixie. Kill anyone who stands in your way.”
“Understood.”
With that, Gaul Heimrich drew his sword. The sound of the blade scraping against its sheath was chilling.
The knights guarding Chelsea turned pale.
There were only three High-Class knights in the entire Apple Kingdom.
There was no need to explain how formidable such a presence was.
“Lady, we’ll hold them off! You must escape now!”
The knights abandoned any thought of facing Gaul Heimrich.
Instead, they resolved to sacrifice themselves to ensure Chelsea Goldpixie’s escape.
“Lady, you must move now!”
“Alright.”
Chelsea Goldpixie turned to flee, following the knights’ advice.
But Gaul Heimrich was faster, swinging his sword.
A blue aura swept across the training ground, slicing through everyone in its path.
“What?”
“Huh?”
The retainers looked bewildered.
The aura had brushed past them, yet they were unharmed.
But not everyone was so lucky.
”…”
”…”
”…”
The knights who had tried to protect Chelsea froze in place.
“Why are you all so quiet? What’s going on…?”
Chelsea reached out to one of the knights, sensing something was wrong.
Before her hand could touch him, blood erupted from the knights’ bodies.
Like water bursting from a ruptured bag, a torrent of blood gushed out.
The knights’ bodies split in half and crumpled to the ground.
“Ahhhhh!”
Chelsea Goldpixie screamed, drenched in blood.
She clawed at her hair, as if trying to wake from a nightmare.
The aura had been spread wide, cutting down only those it intended to kill.
The retainers and soldiers looked at Gaul Heimrich with awe, witnessing swordsmanship that bordered on the divine.
“What are the soldiers doing? Capture Chelsea Goldpixie at once.”
The Duke’s command snapped the soldiers back to their senses. They surrounded Chelsea Goldpixie.
“Ah… Ah… Ahhh!”
Chelsea Goldpixie shrieked, frantically searching for someone to help her.
Her eyes widened as they landed on someone.
“Sir Ernst!”
She spotted Ernst Horwitz among the retainers.
“Please, help me! I’m begging you!”
Her plea brought a flicker of conflict to Ernst Horwitz’s eyes.
“Please!”
Her desperate cry deepened his turmoil.
Gaul Heimrich addressed him.
“Sir Ernst, as a Middle-Class knight, you’ve greatly contributed to the Duke’s house. His Grace still values you.”
Gaul Heimrich’s voice was calm, but his presence was anything but.
“But if you protect Lady Chelsea, you’ll be executed on the spot.”
A massive killing intent enveloped Ernst Horwitz. In that moment, he saw a vision.
A storm-tossed sea.
And himself, cast adrift with nothing but a battered wooden plank.
“Ah… Oh… Ugh…”
Overwhelmed by the hopelessness and terror, Ernst Horwitz sank to his knees.
A gesture of submission.
Chelsea Goldpixie’s face twisted in despair.
“Sir Ernst? Sir Ernst! Don’t do this! Save me! Right now… Ahhh! Ahh!”
The soldiers seized Chelsea Goldpixie’s limbs and bound her.
“Father!”
Even as she was tied up, she pleaded with the Duke.
“Please, listen to me! You’ll see I’m innocent!”
The Duke’s response was cold and dismissive.
“Incompetent fool.”
Chelsea’s eyes widened in shock.
“Because of your actions, our family nearly faced disaster.”
“Father… I…”
“Bringing you back was the greatest mistake of my life.”
His voice dripped with disdain.
“No, it’s not true! I…”
“I can’t bear to hear any more. Soldiers, silence her.”
“Father! Fath… Mmph! Mmmph! Mmmph!”
The soldiers dragged Chelsea Goldpixie out of the training ground.
Tears streamed down her face.
As she was taken away, her gaze fell on someone.
Damian Haxen.
He watched her with a mocking smile.
“Mmph! Mmmph! Mmmph!”
Chelsea Goldpixie glared at him with murderous intent.
The soldiers led her out, and her screams abruptly ceased.
“This has become quite a headache.”
As soon as Chelsea Goldpixie was gone, the Duke sighed.
“To think we’d be so deeply entangled with dark magic. If this gets out, the Church won’t sit idly by.”
The Church’s obsession with heretics was infamous.
Even the Goldpixie Dukedom couldn’t completely ignore the Church’s interference.
“We’ll have to put off dealing with this mess for now and focus on the immediate issue.”
Turning to Damian Haxen, the Duke asked,
“Damian Haxen, what technique did you use to do that to Guillaume Blackwing?”
“I’m not entirely sure myself. But the technique I used, the ‘Joyful Sword,’ is designed to inflict internal damage. I suspect it disrupted the dark magic within Guillaume Blackwing.”
The Duke’s interest was piqued by Damian’s explanation.
“A technique that inflicts internal damage? That’s quite unusual. Sir Gaul, didn’t you mention seeing a knight with a similar technique before?”
“Yes, Your Grace. However, that knight only inflicted external wounds. Damian Haxen’s technique seems far superior.”
Gaul’s praise heightened the Duke’s curiosity.
“Even to my untrained eye, it seems extraordinary. When did you learn such swordsmanship?”
“I saw a knight use a similar technique once and developed it myself.”
“You developed such swordsmanship on your own?”
The Duke asked, incredulous. Damian shrugged.
“I’m something of a genius.”
A brief silence followed. The Duke sighed.
“Having seen it myself, I can’t deny it.”
Damian hadn’t said it to boast.
The Duke had already thoroughly investigated Damian.
Fabricating a story about how he learned his swordsmanship would only arouse suspicion.
It was better to be perceived as a genius than to invite doubt.
And strictly speaking, it wasn’t entirely a lie.
“Thanks to you, we were able to eliminate a significant future threat. Your contribution is beyond words.”
The Duke opened a dimensional space and retrieved a blue potion from within. It was the very elixir of magical essence that had been promised as a reward for winning the duel.
“As promised, this is yours.”
Damian accepted the potion from the Duke. It was heavier than he had expected. Holding the bottle in his hand, he could feel the immense power contained within it.
“This potion is merely the reward for the duel. It doesn’t account for your role in the recent incident. So, tell me what you need.”
At the Duke’s words, Damian fell into thought. He could ask for anything from the Duke right now. However, having already received the elixir, there wasn’t much else he needed at the moment. It seemed wiser to leave the debt unpaid, as debts tend to grow over time.
“This incident was a mere coincidence. It’s not something that warrants a reward.”
The Duke shook his head at Damian’s words.
“Even if it was a coincidence, the fact remains that you saved the family.”
“I’m just doing my duty as a knight of the Duke’s household.”
Damian refused several times, and eventually, the Duke had to relent.
“Sir Damian, your steadfastness leaves me no choice… I will remember this. If you ever need my assistance, do not hesitate to come to me.”
With that, the Duke called for Gaol Heimrich.
“Sir Gaol Heimrich, I entrust you with command. Take the knights and soldiers and apprehend everyone associated with Chelsea Goldpixie.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Make sure not a single dark mage who collaborated with Chelsea Goldpixie escapes.”
At the Duke’s command, Gaol Heimrich knelt on one knee.
“Listen well, retainers. You are to fully cooperate with Sir Gaol Heimrich’s search. Should anyone fail to do so…”
The Duke’s eyes flashed with a deadly intent.
“I will consider them complicit with Chelsea Goldpixie and will see to the destruction of their family!”
The Duke’s fierce warning sent a shiver through the retainers, despite themselves.