Gert recalled the past.
Though his memories were as blurred as a filthy windowpane, he could still remember that long ago, he had fought that demon’s flower.
He had not won.
From the start, it was a being that could not be killed.
Though it manifested on this plane, its true essence lay beyond the physical realm—beyond the reach of any sword.
“I command you.”
A voice suddenly passed by. Gert’s eyes flickered.
Because of that command, he had been forced to fight for so long. It was the only meaning his existence held.
“Gert. My most loyal knight.”
He seemed to have been filled with some kind of emotion back then.
But now, he was empty.
Like a gaunt, skeletal body stripped bare, his soul had worn thin, leaving him nothing more than a wind-up doll, endlessly repeating the actions he was ordered to perform.
Yet, because of that, there was one thing he could still do well.
The Great Library was collapsing completely.
Perhaps this was for the best. Once a sanctuary containing all the knowledge of Adelvain, it had become a labyrinth of destruction, corrupted by dark magic and devouring human souls.
All because of a forbidden book that had slipped in unnoticed.
[Eradicate.]
He tore apart the tentacles bursting through the outer walls. Each swing of his sword severed random clusters of writhing limbs, and beyond them, thick petals trembled, bleeding.
The greedy maw lurking beyond recognized Gert.
Seeing his old nemesis after so long, it formed an angry grimace. Its jagged teeth clashed, grinding out a harsh noise.
Soon, dark mist billowed out in all directions.
Gert felt the evil energy seeping in.
The demon’s flower could control those possessed by its dark magic—and Gert himself was a product of that black sorcery. His body began moving against his will.
But—
The character etched into his core flared red as blood.
「命 (Life)」
Gritting his teeth, Gert crushed several teeth that had been stuck to his jaw from the force.
He unleashed a burst of black energy. The invading dark magic scattered.
Dragging his sword along the ground, he advanced once more toward the demon’s flower.
The Great Library was now a total ruin.
Above it hovered the monstrous flower.
For some reason, he could sense a vast life force within it. Born anew at the cost of countless human lives, this being pulsed with more vitality than ever.
From the fading recesses of his memory, Gert recalled a scene long past.
The people of Adelvain had walked into that thing as if entranced, offering their bodies willingly. Each time human flesh was torn and crushed between its teeth, the demon’s flower seemed to bathe in blood, glowing a deep crimson.
A child once held its mother’s hand, entering as if on a picnic.
“Gert!”
A voice called from behind, but Gert didn’t notice.
He slashed indiscriminately at the tentacles attacking from all sides, pushing forward. Suddenly, a bite from a toothed tentacle shattered his ribs. He paid it no mind.
Limping on a cracked leg, Gert pressed onward.
“Take it slow!”
Humans attacked the demon’s flower.
Distracted, it couldn’t focus fully on him. Gert silently advanced toward the flower’s center.
Suddenly, a man leapt beside him.
“Sir Gert, aren’t you fighting alone? Your momentum’s impressive. Ha ha ha!”
A burly man.
Gert stopped abruptly. It had been ages since anyone called him “Sir.”
Old memories began to surface from the depths—things he hadn’t thought of since becoming a Death Knight. Too many colors to fit into the darkness that now consumed him, too bright to keep inside.
“Sir Gert, aren’t you a bit too serious?”
“Sir Gert is always serious.”
“Sir Gert is a knight you can trust.”
“Sir Gert’s smile is surprisingly cute.”
None of it was a good sign.
Such memories interfered with his mechanical mission.
He was doomed to wander Adelvain for what felt like eternity. Perhaps his task would never end. To carry it out, he had to erase all emotion.
The past only gnawed away at his sword.
But before he could dwell on that, the burly knight swung his sword.
“I’m joining you!”
With two fighting side by side, resistance dropped sharply. Each slash shredded the tentacles further.
They neared the monstrous flower’s gaping maw at the center.
Tentacles writhed from all directions.
Suddenly, they were completely enveloped, blocking out all light.
They had to fight unseen tentacles in the darkness.
Then, a piercing sound.
“Huh?”
Gert looked down.
His core was impaled by a glowing red tentacle.
“Sir Gert?”
The character “命” burning above him began to fade. At the same time, his life force rapidly leaked away.
[It’s okay, all right.]
Gert swung his sword to cut the red tentacle, but it quickly withdrew. This was no ordinary limb.
He tore open his ribs with his own hands and cupped his core.
He had to stop the life force from leaking.
His strength was rapidly dwindling.
He ground his bones to powder and plastered it over the core’s wound, barely sealing the hole. But it wouldn’t fully heal.
The damaged character did not revive.
The “命” was gone from his core.
Gert’s eyes darkened.
[Danger.]
He lifted his head.
The creature born of darkness could not resist the evil scent the demon’s flower exuded.
With his only means gone, he would be controlled by the flower, just like any other human.
[Run.]
Gert spoke.
His vision blurred. Each tentacle surrounding him now looked different.
The bodies of those who had died at the flower’s hands were twisted into tentacle forms, staring at him. From all sides, they screamed for him to die.
The ground beneath his feet, the sky above—it was all made of the bones and blood of the dead.
Suddenly, an eye flashed in his mind. The moment its gaze touched him, Gert could no longer resist.
His blurred memories began to turn red.
They were all bleeding.
Yuri frowned.
“This looks like it’s going south.”
Gert was charging recklessly, fighting the demon’s flower alone. Worried he was going in too deep, Yuri sent Hose for backup.
With two of them, their firepower doubled.
Tentacles shredded as if planed down.
But it was too deep. The moment they neared the flower’s core, the tentacles wrapped around them—and something happened inside.
Gert’s core was pierced.
If it were just weakened, it would be fine. But Yuri’s fears were coming true.
“Kori.”
“Yes?”
“Can we save Gert?”
“Since he’s a Death Knight, he’s not protected. We’re doing all we can…”
Kori was shielding the group from the demon’s flower’s dark aura. Thanks to that, Yuri’s team could resist being controlled like mercenaries and fight back.
But Kori’s magic seemed to have no effect on Gert.
Sweating, Kori kept switching spells, but Gert showed no sign of response.
He just stood there, sword hanging limply.
Yuri’s eyes entered the realm of the soul.
He shouted to Hose.
“Hose!”
“Yes!”
“Run!”
“What?”
The moment Yuri spoke, Gert attacked Hose.
Startled, Hose blocked and retreated—but tentacles waited behind him.
With the demon’s flower and Gert both attacking, Hose was struggling to hold his ground. Though he kept defending, wounds appeared.
“Damn it.”
Yuri charged forward. Laurent and Jared followed.
“Sir Hose, retreat!”
“Let’s call it a tactical withdrawal, shall we?”
“Tactical or not, it’s a survival retreat!”
As Gert pressed the attack, Yuri’s group had no choice but to fall back. Yuri cut through tentacles alongside Hose as they retreated.
Laurent and Jared held Gert back.
“Ugh…”
Laurent struggled, twisting his blade to create an opening, then stepped back sharply.
“Jared, let’s retreat.”
“Agreed.”
They unleashed sword energy to halt Gert, then turned and ran.
“Let’s get away from that flower!”
“Yes!”
The seven of them sprinted through the ruins of Adelvain.
The demon’s flower moved slowly, but Gert was different.
He had been a reliable ally once, but now, as an enemy, there was no scarier foe.
“Damn…”
“Running’s tough. He’s too fast.”
“We have to fight. Everyone, stay alert.”
“Ha…”
Yuri looked into the realm of the soul at Gert. It would be great if they could sever the dark magic controlling him, but this seemed different. There was no visible link to cut.
The only darkness in sight was Gert himself.
“Is it because that character disappeared?”
The ‘命’ that once shone brightly in the core had vanished.
No one fully understood the mechanism, but that mark was what kept Gert from being swallowed by darkness.
Yuri saw Gert again within the realm of the soul.
Though the form was broken, traces of the character still lingered. The middle was pierced through, and some strokes were severed.
As proof, whenever Gert emitted energy, a faint light would flicker briefly before fading away.
“Your Highness,”
Kori, who had been fleeing alongside him, spoke up.
“Hm?”
“That character in the core… what did it originally look like?”
Yuri looked at him, surprised by the unexpected question.
“You can see it?”
“Yes.”
Kori replied.
“It’s faint, but I can see it. And…”
He hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“I want to try fixing it.”
“You want to?”
“Yes.”
As they spoke, Gert grabbed the rear guard. His sword came crashing down over Simon’s head. Jose intervened, saving Simon.
The clashing of swords between the two knights echoed with explosive sounds.
Yuri glanced at Kori. This time, Kori met his gaze without looking away.
He was the same boy who once couldn’t even hold eye contact.
But now, Yuri could see a resolute will burning in his eyes.
“Alright.”
Yuri used Guilty to carve the character into the ground.
「命」
Kori nodded upon seeing it.
“Your Highness, I’ll give it a try.”
Where once he might have only worried about failure, now he bore the weight of that responsibility. Yuri smiled faintly and ruffled his hair.
“Good. I trust you.”
Kori knelt, staring down at the character, deep in thought.
Yuri turned his head.
The rest of their group was locked in a fierce battle around Gert. Except for Jose, no one could withstand Gert’s sword strikes.
Each swing sent one of them flying, only for another to step forward and block the way—a brutal war of attrition.
Yuri clenched Guilty tightly and stepped forward.
“Right. We came here to take down Gert, after all.”
The Soul Slash flared like a blaze. He plunged into the fray.
At the moment Jose’s and Gert’s swords clashed, Yuri’s blade shot toward Gert’s waist.
Gert raised a knee to block, then kicked Yuri’s chest. Yuri was pushed back, leaving a mark on the ground. Spitting out blood-tinged saliva, he charged at Gert again.
The sound of three swords clashing rang out in rapid succession.
Kori stared at the character ‘命’, overwhelmed by an indescribable feeling.
He lifted his eyes to Gert.
The fading form of the character on Gert’s chest was strangely vivid in his vision.
For some reason, he felt as if he could do something. A premonition stirred within him.
But he didn’t know how.
Desperately, Kori fixed his gaze on the character, searching for an answer.
Suddenly, he saw the three princes who had saved him get struck by Gert and fall to the ground. His heart raced.
Still, he forced himself to stay calm. A mage must never lose composure.
His mind and mana resonated.
One character.
The magic contained within it.
Unconsciously, words slipped from Kori’s lips.