The cold air seeped through his coat. The smell of dry soil mixed in the cold air. Kyle slowly opened his eyes.
'Where am I······?'
The dry ground was packed with trees. Oddly, all the trees that filled the horizon were the same. They were trees called "heaven-facing trees" because their branches stretched up to the sky in a straight line. All the heaven-facing trees were leafless and twisted, making it a "dead" forest. It was something that could not be seen at the entrance of the forest, where the green trees were lush.
I think I know why this place is a "development-prohibited zone." There are heaven-facing trees planted at regular intervals, and they can't grow in cold environments. The forest of Miphar isn't a natural place.
"Lavi······ Was this how you were commemorated?"
Kyle stood up, holding the walking stick that had been placed next to him. He tried to shake his head to avoid feeling sentimental, but his thoughts crept in anyway.
·
·
·
"Lord Baron Sollent! I'm going to give him a bouquet of flowers next time. He won't mind, right? Hehehe."
The knight who participated in the monster subjugation. Emilia always smiled brightly. She was kind to everyone. She was a woman who did not match Lavida, who always had a stoic face.
"I have a tree that I really like······ It can't grow in Levido. How nice would it be if I could plant one tree?"
She had olive-toned skin and fine, silky hair. She always wore thick clothes because she came from a warm southern land. She looked like a penguin because she wore a fur coat under her armor. It felt like her warmth was transmitted when you were with her.
"I'll be waiting for you in a warm place······ Please tell him that."
Yuriel witnessed her death before his eyes. The black and thick fingers of the spider-like monster pierced through her armor, fur coat, and finally her body. If she hadn't stood in the way, the attack would have pierced Yuriel's neck. It was only after that that Yuriel's magic burst the monster's head. She smiled until the end.
Magic is so slow and weak to protect someone. It would have been a different past if Lavida had been there. Yuriel told Lavida of her death with a hardened face, and Lavida only said one thing.
"Is that so."
He went back to the battlefield as if he had no emotions. Instead of holding a funeral, he continued to slaughter monsters.
Yuriel once condemned and hated Lavida for this. In hindsight, it was a hideous guilt. It was a desperate attempt to forget her smile, which would never be forgotten.
·
·
·
Kyle tilted his head to the side. Someone was watching him from not too far away. It was a welcome attack that broke his thoughts.
*Paah!*
With the sound of the ground being kicked, the sharp tip of a sword aimed at Kyle. With a twang, Kyle thrust his flail like a pole to neutralize the attack.
"Ha ha. Well, well. I didn't think my surprise attack would fail, you know."
The man in front of him, who was backing away and scratching his head, was Aldbert, the second-class knight who had brought Kyle to Levido. Kyle still found his greasy beard annoying.
"A knight using a surprise attack. Isn't that shameful?"
"What are you talking about, some outdated custom? Oh, right. We can't 'salute' during liberation! Haha. We're treated like seeds, you see."
"I see." Kyle nodded. In that case, there would be no need to be polite anymore.
Aldbert's sword pointed at him again, and Kyle twirled his flail. The iron bar attached to the end spun around, creating a round residue.
"I'm one of the best second-class knights! Even if you lose here, don't be discouraged!"
That wasn't a particularly trustworthy statement. Aldbert charged at him again, and Kyle's eyes were filled with a blue light.
'It's an illusion.'
Aldbert's sword arm emanated a weak aura. It was a shallow attack that was no comparison to his surprise attack earlier. He was trying to provoke him with words, then lure him into a big movement to create an opening. His real attack would come after that. Kyle put more strength into his arm and received the attack.
*Clang!*
Aldbead smiled smugly. He thought his plan had worked.
*Crack!*
The iron bar attached to the end of the flail bent and struck Aldbert's head hard.
"Ow!"
Aldbert was surprised by the unexpected attack, but that was all. It didn't have much power. Aldbert, with his face red, swung his sword again. This time, he didn't use any tricks and went straight for a strong attack.
"Huh?"
The sword he swung was sucked in. As he staggered, the iron bar struck his head again. They exchanged a few more blows but with the same result. It was as if Kyle could read his thoughts, and he received all of his attacks and counterattacked.
Aldbert had never felt that he was losing a battle against a seed in terms of strategy, not in terms of Lutentus's innate "power."
He allowed himself to be hit on the head, chest, abdomen, and then the shoulder. However, there was no "effective hit" anywhere. Aldbert's eyes flickered.
"······Are you playing with me now?"
"I thought you didn't know how to be polite, so I was trying to teach you."
"How dare you······ That's enough. Let me show you why I am called the next first knight."
Aldbert stepped back.
He never thought he would use this against a seed. Aldbert's legs were filled with energy, and his tendons stood out. At least among the second knights, there was no one who could dodge his sword, which stabbed at an explosive speed. This sword, which was given to him by Lucidus, could not kill, so there would be no trouble. There was no adjustment of strength. Aldberd stepped on the heaven-facing tree.
*Bam!*
With a powerful thrust, he shot forward.
'He's fast!'
As Aldbert ran, it almost felt like the wind was blowing. But that was all. His footsteps, the direction he was going to stab with his sword, and where he was putting his strength were all visible. Being visible meant that it could not be a threat.
Just as he was about to counterattack, he saw the heaven-facing tree that Aldbert had kicked down. He suddenly had a strange thought.
"I wonder if the name 'Mipar's Forest' is derived from 'Emperia.'"
This place is probably the tomb of the only person Lavida ever loved in her memories. An altar to honor her, who died in Yuriel's stead.
Then, he had to show it. To atone for his weakness back then and to prove that he is walking the right path.
His arm swelled as if it were about to shatter, and the jade bracelet shone. The emission of ki beyond the limits of the shackles. The poison was emitted, and at the same time, the bracelet worked to detoxify it. A beeping sound came from the bracelet, indicating that the detoxification was working.
Kyle held his breath and aimed his flail. Aldbert's movements, reflected in the circular afterimage, appeared to be slow. He drew his weapon back.
As Aldbert drew near, Kyle unleashed all of his condensed ki in one go and swung the flail. It was the first time he had exerted his full strength, ignoring the [Chains].
The flail seemed to be sucked into Aldbert's body.
*Bang!*
A sound like a gunshot rang out.
"Kuuu······."
Aldbert, who was hit directly by the rotating iron whip, spun around and flew through the air for a moment. His eyes were wide open, and there was no focus in them.
'It felt like it was stabbing the air from the middle.'
As soon as Kyle thought he had "pierced" Aldbert's body, the flail had disappeared from its end. The device designed to prevent killing had shown its effectiveness.
*Thump.*
Aldbert fell to the ground, flat on his back.
*Phew.*
Kyle let out a shallow breath. The bracelet had detoxified the Chains, but this was purely due to the strain on his body.
Kyle looked up at the sky for a moment. The straight branches swayed.
"This is just the beginning."
After a while, Kyle approached Aldbert, who had fallen to the ground, without hesitation. He placed his bracelet on his bracelet.
*Beep-*
The bracelet that had just shown '0' now displayed '1' again.
* * *
A study with gold-plated walls on all sides.
"This is the masterpiece of Lucidus! It's the Magic Engineering Receiver MK2! What do you think, Duke? Isn't the progress of civilization truly brilliant-"
"Okay, so shut up."
A giant screen appeared in front of Zahar and Finelli. While the original Magic Engineering Receiver could only transmit a single scene through a magic orb, the Magic Engineering Receiver MK2 could display multiple scenes simultaneously by floating a screen above the magic orb.
"If you don't praise me, I won't show you anything!!"
"Will it be faster for me to shut that mouth of yours or for you to do your job properly?"
"Hehehe. I knew you'd say that! I'll show you right away!"
Finelli connected the transmission camera floating in the sky above Mipar's Forest to the Magic Engineering Receiver MK2. The forest of Mipar appeared on the screen, and red dots were scattered on it. These are the participants, consisting of 28 seeds and over 100 second-class knights. This is one of the functions of the bracelet. When you zoom in on a point, the number is displayed, and when you zoom in further, you can see the scene.
Just then, one of the dots started to blink. This meant that someone had been eliminated.
"Oh no! There's already a seed that has been eliminated?"
When Finelli zoomed in on the area, the faces of the eliminated participants were revealed. One of them was someone who was still faintly remembered.
"Horobang, right... Tch, what a piece of trash."
"Huh? It's marked as Ormang! You got it all wrong!"
"It's a name that doesn't need to be remembered. Next."
"Yes! Oh? This guy looks promising. He's a secondary offspring, right?"
Zahar chuckled and nodded approvingly. Gilliam of the Oculus family was using a longbow to snipe participants from a distance.
His arrows flew far beyond the effective range of the criminals' weapons and were also very powerful. He had also targeted Aldbert, a powerful second-class knight, last year. Although he was defeated, Zahar remembered him for his courage. Gilliam was definitely shining in this environment more than he did in a duel, thanks to his use of a bow.
"Not bad. But you're not looking behind. You always have to be aware of your surroundings on the battlefield."
"Oh, come on, your standards are too high."
"Even though the method has changed, this liberation is also going smoothly without any major issues."
"There were no outstanding children from the indirect branch, and it was a monopoly by the secondary offspring and core regions. The Core, Secondary Offsprings, and Indirect Branches were active in showing off the orthodox swordsmanship of the Imperial Knighthood, and Breta showed his stubborn destructive power as expected of his bloodline. Although there were some regrets, they were all faces that did not shame the name of Lutentus."
"Wow. I didn't expect much from Miley because he looked kind of shabby, but he's amazing! Is he really from the Tabas family?"
By now, the forest was filled with mist, probably because Miley had gathered fogweed. The mist obscured vision, but the Magic Engineering Receiver MK2 clearly showed the scene. This was possible only for the Tabas, who were born with a natural talent for poison and trained from a young age to inhale poison and build up their immune system.
The mist was mixed with poison that clouded the mind, so the other participants who entered it moved slowly. Inside, Miley was slaughtering with a kukri tied to a string, swinging it like a living snake. The number floating above him was already 4. It was a unique performance.
"I didn't know how much I was fed up with him when he insisted on a rapier that didn't fit. He's finally being himself."
"Oh my, if you're going to drip with affection like that, what are you going to do when you see the main character? Are you going to cry?"
"Just let me see it."
"Then I'll introduce you! Every scene is a highlight, I think. The main character of this liberation! April!"
The screen flickered once and shone on the area. Finelli opened his mouth as wide as a bucket.
"This is······!"
The frozen ground, reminiscent of the "Land of the Dead Demon." A girl standing calmly on it. Every time the girl's sword swung, the surroundings rippled. The cold air from the sword seemed to freeze the air itself. It seemed like they had attacked together, and two participants were lying in front of April. Both of them were pale.
"You were right! It doesn't look like magic... Oh, I want to study it! This is a blessing! A blessing!"
Finelli wiggled his fingers stretched towards the screen. Zahar smiled bitterly.
"This is no blessing."
Mirea von Katarina. The eldest daughter of the Katarina Duchy and Jahar's second wife. That damned woman – she brought a curse into Lutentus. Who would have thought that one of the empire's prominent ducal families was a crazy group worshiping demons? Every time she manipulated energy, the cold aura (Lengqi) she emitted was slowly consuming the life of his beloved daughter.
"April is my child who fits Lutentus more than anyone else. She is a genius who has already surpassed the level of a second-class knight at the age of 10. Edwin was not that good. But that curse······."
*Crack!*
Zahar's cup shattered into pieces. The dust that had been the cup floated in the air.
"Finelli. Do you think Andoria can find the secret to breaking that curse?"
Finelli smiled cunningly. His fingers were still wiggling.
"Of course! Of course I can! I'm not just a brilliant researcher, but I can't just stand by and watch something so unfortunate happen!"
"If you can break the curse, Lutentus will give Andoria a reward that has never been seen before."
"I will do my best!!"
Finelli couldn't hide his smile. Lutentus was already a valuable research subject that could not be compared to anything else. He felt like he was flying just thinking about being able to unravel the secrets of that unbelievable body. And now, he was about to make an unexpected harvest. It would be a meaningful gift to "her" in Andoria.
Of course, it would be impossible to declare war on Lutentus and "dismantle" or "separate" it.
As he was lost in happy thoughts, he suddenly noticed something strange about a "dot" on the screen. The number it was displaying was 6, 7, 8... It was rising in real-time.
"Huh? All the errors should have been fixed. Why is this happening? It can't be broken!"
The cost of the Magic Engineering Receiver MK2 alone was 20 million Reni in the continental currency. It's an astronomical sum of money that could even build a castle! Panicked, Finelli quickly enlarged the dot. And then slowly opened his mouth.
"What the hell?! This crazy guy!"
Zahar's eyes widened in interest for a moment. April, who had been controlling the accident just moments ago, was gone, replaced by a young boy.
Kyle. He was wielding a halberd, and his path was littered with fallen men. Even now, he was subduing one of the secondary offsprings in an instant, kneeling him to the ground. He looked calm, as if it were nothing special.
"Hey! If he keeps going, won't they meet up?"
April was in the direction that Kyle was heading, at the end of the straight path that he had walked.
"Go back. I need to see what happened."
Author's Note
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