Episode 69
The Empress’s eyes widened sharply.
“Why is that?”
Moghold slowly raised his head and looked directly at the Empress.
Then, in a dignified voice, he said:
“The demon sword is currently dormant. But to make it choose a host, the sword must be awakened. Once awakened, the sword will undoubtedly desire to reclaim its host. Who that target will be, I cannot say for certain.”
The Empress, who had just suggested summoning the Second Prince, now spoke brazenly.
“Then it doesn’t matter if the target is someone other than the Crown Prince, does it?”
“That cannot be.”
Moghold denied it gently but firmly.
“That day in that room, the sword ran amok, trying to consume someone, but was stopped. When the sword shattered, fragments scattered. It is only natural that the sword’s magical power flowed into the two Highness present there. And the demon sword will want to reclaim the scattered magical fragments.”
The Empress’s gaze finally wavered.
“The sword will reclaim the remaining fragments? Why didn’t you explain this last time?”
Moghold looked up at her as if puzzled.
“Your Majesty stated you wished the demon sword to choose a host. The conditions for that choice are, naturally, limited to the two Highness who were present.”
The Emperor asked in an anxious voice.
“You say the sword is dormant? Is the restoration definitely successful?”
The former Tower Master’s answer was clear and unwavering.
“Its power may be somewhat diminished, but it can be reactivated.”
The Emperor then turned to the Empress.
“Let’s stop this, Empress. There is no reason to reawaken the sword the Tower Master worked so hard to subdue, even injuring himself, and bring back calamity. It’s a dangerous gamble. The fortune we’ve enjoyed from it until now should be enough.”
But the Empress, after various conjectures, concluded internally:
‘The sword will choose that wretch Rurik.’
Even in her eyes, the Crown Prince did not seem like a good host. He had already lost his health, and his mind was broken, wasn’t it?
“Very well. If we summon both the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, will you awaken the sword?”
“We cannot damage the newly renovated star palace again. For safety, we shall use the training grounds.”
Moghold added cautiously.
“I will reactivate the demon sword. Have the current Tower Master erect a barrier. Also, to prepare for any unforeseen accidents, let only the two of you and the imperial guards observe.”
While the Emperor wore an uneasy expression, the Empress ultimately nodded.
“Good. So be it.”
Moghold made one final request.
“Then, as promised, may I have the book now?”
At the appointed time, when they went to the training grounds, Moghold faced his disciple, who wore a displeased expression.
“Master.”
What are you doing right now?
Moghold chuckled as if he could clearly hear that question.
“When His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Second Prince arrive, erect a protective barrier around them.”
“Master! Why are you…!”
Ren seemed to have a lot he wanted to say, but Moghold cut him off, saying:
“Do not make a mistake, Lenny.”
Ren flinched.
He had joined the Magic Tower at a younger age than most. In his childhood, his master had always ignored his request not to call him by his childhood name, but after Ren became the Tower Master, he had never done so again.
Moghold held out a small memory orb and added quietly.
“For the last time, trust me.”
Last time?
Ren had always trusted him. Even when he left the Tower with just a careless note.
“Last time? What do you mean…?”
Now that he thought about it, his master’s complexion was terribly poor.
Just then, Rurik emerged, supporting the Crown Prince.
Moghold did not answer Ren.
With a face showing not a speck of fear towards that terrifying sword, he merely grabbed it bare-handed and thrust it firmly into the ground.
No, not into the ground.
The crumbling Book of Studites was impaled on the sword, torn with a large hole.
—Aaaaaaah!
A bizarre scream echoed, and something like black smoke began to pool on the ground.
“Master…!”
Ren called out in panic, but the pierced book was soaking black and even emitted a foul stench.
An ancient incantation was murmured from between Moghold’s lips.
The crimson energy seemed to respond to his voice, rippling up the sword’s hilt.
Whoosh. A formless blackness stretched up and down the sword like a dirty chimney, spewing out unpleasant masses.
Then, before everyone’s eyes, it shot towards the Crown Prince in an instant.
“No!”
The ominous black smoke traced a thin parabolic curve.
The Empress screamed and rushed forward, but was repelled by Ren’s barrier.
“Hart! Hart!”
Contrary to the Empress’s expectations, the pitch-black aura of malice did not even graze Rurik.
Hart, who had been reaching his hands towards the sword, convulsed, his eyes rolling back.
—Thud.
His knees buckled and hit the floor, then his whole body shook in an unnatural way.
The Empress shrieked.
“Tower Master! Stop this at once! What are you doing?!”
Ren wanted to silently obey his master’s command no matter what anyone said, but his position as Tower Master forced him to look to the Emperor.
However, the Emperor only shook his head quietly.
As the Emperor of the Empire, he could not allow the terrifying magical power of that sword to escape the barrier and endanger anyone present.
—Flump.
Hart collapsed powerlessly onto the sandy ground.
The black energy of ‘Belih’ seeped smokily from the tips of the Crown Prince’s ten fingers.
Hart’s face, whose convulsions had stopped, was ashen.
“Crown Prince! Hart!”
The Empress furiously drew the longsword of a nearby imperial guard.
“Take down this damned barrier at once!”
The moment Ren dispelled the barrier, it was not because of the Empress’s rage.
“Master…?”
It was because Moghold, standing opposite, was vomiting black blood.
“Master!”
Where the barrier vanished, the Empress and Ren each ran towards the person they cherished.
“Master, Master!”
Turning his back on Ren, who was holding Moghold, the Empress cursed.
“Hart! Aack! Hart!”
The Emperor still stared at the demon sword ‘Belih’, stuck in the ground.
The sword, which had once shone gold, was now charred black.
Whoosh. A winter north wind blew.
The blackened blade crumbled into pieces and scattered.
Amidst the center of misfortune, Rurik looked straight at the Emperor.
“I was twelve years old when I first received that sword.”
His reciting voice was grim.
The Emperor flinched as if struck in a weak spot, then quickly pretended to be composed.
“My greed was excessive. Thank you for enduring it.”
But Rurik knew.
Knowing that this was a place where one of the two would die, the Emperor had still insisted on bringing him here.
The Second Prince, who had been obedient to his father his whole life, turned away with a wry smile.
The final chance Rurik had given him ended just like that.
That Same Night
Ren sat dazedly beside his unconscious master, replaying the memory orb he had already watched several times.
“Therefore, it is also my role to finish it.”
With that damned statement, his master intended to shoulder everything alone.
Thus, he had betrayed the Tower Master’s oath and revealed the imperial family’s shame to Saint Helena.
Naturally, it must have taken a toll on his body, and so to destroy the Book of Studites, he must have used up his remaining life force.
“Sigh…”
Ren sighed and stood up.
He had applied every recovery spell he knew to barely keep his master alive.
Due to the damned imperial command, he had done the same for the Crown Prince, so both were essentially being kept alive by magic, their lives already over.
“Therefore, it is also my role to finish it.”
The image of his master, sitting before him and reciting, blurred before Ren’s eyes.
He couldn’t even tell if his master had any will to live left in him.
The imperial palace was in a turbulent atmosphere.
With the Crown Prince, already a madman, now a living corpse, and the Empress having fainted, the Emperor remained silent.
Ren left the main palace, where someone’s weeping could be heard, and headed for the star palace.
It wasn’t just because of Louise’s request to look after Prince Rurik.
‘His Highness the Second Prince knew everything from the start.’
That’s why he had complied without complaint to the Emperor’s sudden summons and had stood quietly, guarding his position even amidst the chaos.
‘Moreover, the monk Helena was a Saint.’
Louise was the one who had summoned her. Did that mean Louise had discovered Helena’s true identity?
‘Impossible.’
Rendo had also seen Helena at the monastery.
Back then, she was just a maid, not even a monk, but he had seen her multiple times up close.
Yet, he had felt nothing from her.
—Knock knock.
Ren knocked on the Second Prince’s door.
The one who opened it was the pleasant-faced monk—no, the Saint.
“We’ve been expecting you, Lord Tower Master.”
