Chapter 75
The knight order repeatedly turned their heads, looking around to find the opponent who had vanished in an instant.
The large black monsters that had surrounded them were gone.
Completely.
As if nothing had existed from the beginning.
“……What.”
Lloyd’s small murmur echoed across the empty land.
Abigail was the same.
“How is this…… even…….”
The sword she had been holding slipped from her hand and fell to the ground with a thud.
The only proof that monsters had existed was the black blood covering their bodies.
“That light just now—it was holy power, right?”
Hyden could not hide his astonishment either.
The overwhelming holy power far surpassed his own abilities, which had barely managed to hold the monsters back through occasional purification. That immense power had purified and blown away the monsters in an instant.
“It’s holy power. Lady Floe’s.”
Only Seizar spoke with certainty. His blue eyes turned toward Floe.
‘She succeeded.’
The way he looked at Floe shone warmly.
Her persistence—succeeding in the end no matter what—was dazzling. Even more so than the holy power that had just manifested.
“Young Master! I finally… succeeded! I did it!”
Seizar gently extended his hand, filled with warmth, as he watched Floe running toward him with a bright smile.
Floe stopped mid-run and stared blankly at his outstretched hand.
Then Seizar firmly grabbed her hand and lifted it.
He shook it like a handshake.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Floe stood dazed. Just watching Seizar’s gentle smile made her feel enchanted.
“Hey, hey. Look at that. Is love finally blooming for the Captain… hehehe.”
“You’re going to get hit if you keep talking like that.”
“I—I survived today!”
At last, cheers and nonsense from the knight order burst out together.
“We survived!”
“It’s finally over. My hands were about to cramp.”
The knights’ chatter filled the air.
Asha also enjoyed the joy of victory as she listened.
“Gongnyeo-nim! We won! We won!”
“Yes, we won!”
Asha grabbed Jamie’s hand as he ran toward her and spun around in circles.
When Jamie spun her with his large build, Asha began turning faster and faster—until someone stopped her.
“Jamie. Gongnyeo-nim isn’t built like you.”
“Ah, Vice-Captain Randel!”
In truth, Randel had not been able to take his eyes off Asha even during the battle, despite swinging his sword.
She had fought well, but he had been restless with worry that she might get hurt.
Now, seeing Asha standing before him without even a scratch—only stained with filthy monster blood—Randel smiled with satisfaction.
“It seems the swordsmanship I taught you worked.”
“Of course, Sir Randel. It’s the best. I’ll keep serving you as my teacher from now on.”
Asha reassured him gratefully.
Randel’s warm brown eyes met hers with a smile.
The memory of what had happened before kept resurfacing, but he forced himself to remain calm, rationalizing it.
After all, the Gongnyeo of House Yusupov and a commoner knight like himself were never meant to match.
Yet whenever he saw her bright smile, all such thoughts disappeared.
Randel reached out to wipe the blood from Asha’s face.
“I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”
At that moment, a slow but low voice was heard.
Dian’s gray eyes flashed with anger, as if daring him to continue reaching out.
Randel met that fierce gaze directed at him.
Ban, who had slowly walked closer to Asha, reached out and gently wiped her cheek.
Slowly, as if handling something precious.
Asha’s soft cheek brushed against his fingers.
“Oh…? You’re safe. I was worried.”
“Same here.”
“Huh?”
Asha, despite constantly making confessions herself, seemed awkward with Ban’s reaction and could only ask again with a surprised expression.
Randel silently watched the two.
With his lips tightly shut.
As he looked at Gongnyeo Asha, who now felt as though she were drifting farther and farther away.
“…….”
While everyone was savoring the joy of victory, Seizar slowly looked around with his hand resting on his sword hilt, as if sensing something unusual.
‘Someone is here.’
He felt a presence watching him.
From his estimation, it was the aura of those targeting him.
Killing intent leaked out, poorly concealed.
‘They seem to be waiting for the others to leave.’
Seizar quickly grasped the situation.
It seemed assassins sent by someone were here.
He glanced at the celebrating knight order, Dian, Asha, and Floe. Hyden appeared to have already left somewhere.
“Everyone, we withdraw now. We’ll pass through that village and rest for a day at the nearest town. Randel, take the lead. I’ll watch the rear and follow behind. Move out!”
At Seizar’s command, the knight order began forming ranks.
Still intoxicated by victory, they noisily began heading back with light steps, eager to return home.
“……”
Standing quietly at the very rear, Seizar looked around as the killing intent became clearer.
And Dian, who had been taking care of Asha, quietly watched Seizar.
Hyden was following the unpleasant magical energy he had sensed earlier.
The closer he got, the more faint traces of powerful dark magic remained.
Perhaps everything had been purified by holy power—even the dark magic was now extremely faint.
‘Since the one who used dark magic was completely wiped out, they must have taken massive damage.’
It was predictable.
Dark magic consumed the user’s life to curse others and perform irreversible spells. Once all the monsters created by it were purified, nearly all of the caster’s strength would have drained away.
Following the traces, he soon found a man lying on the ground not far from the battlefield, breathing heavily.
The man was wrapped in bandages, only black hair and black eyes visible.
The bandages had mostly come undone, revealing skin so decayed it hardly looked human.
“What a mess.”
Alius, who had quietly followed Hyden after observing the battle neutrally, muttered upon seeing him.
Just as he said—it was a mess.
Sweat-soaked hair and dilated black pupils made the man look monstrous.
“The end of dark magic.”
Hyden looked down with emotionless eyes.
Whatever hardship had driven him to choose dark magic, this was the consequence one had to accept.
Not everyone made such a choice just because life was difficult.
“We should take him to Seizar.”
Hyden quietly stood beside the man.
Whether he had already fainted or not, Hamilton said nothing even as Hyden and Alius approached.
Alius’s face showed a faint trace of pity as he looked at Hamilton.
Then—
“……Huff… stop right there.”
An unfamiliar voice rang out.
Hyden, who had been about to use teleportation magic, stopped immediately.
‘Who?’
There should have been no one else coming here. He had heard no news of any knight order deploying besides the Yusupov knights.
Frowning, Hyden looked at the Imperial Knight Order standing before him, confused by the situation.
“Young Lord Hyden Valentin. How about handing that dark mage over to the Imperial Palace?”
“Oh…? What brings Commander Jain all the way here?”
“It would be best if you hand over the dark mage.”
At Jain’s bold words, Hyden looked puzzled for a moment.
‘Was this ordered by the Emperor? Or someone behind him?’
A sharp intuition pierced through him.
“Haha, what should I do, Commander? Sorry about this. This dark mage belongs to me.”
“I will not allow you to interfere with this matter, Young Lord.”
“Oh dear. Confidence is good and all, but…”
Mockery flickered in Hyden’s sky-blue eyes.
“If you want to beat me, you’d need someone at Seizar’s level.”
Boom—!
With a heavy sound, intense fire magic began raining down before the knights.
“F-fire!”
“Everyone dodge!!!”
Watching the knights panic, Hyden waved at Jain, who stood grinding his teeth.
“Well then, I’ll be going! I’ll take the dark mage with me!”
With a flash of light, Hyden, Hamilton, and Alius disappeared instantly.
Rustle—
Only after the knights had moved far ahead did the rustling begin, and the murderous eyes that had been watching Seizar finally emerged.
“……Pathetic scraps.”
Seizar let out a scoffing laugh upon seeing them.
Whoever had sent such people after him was laughable.
“You’ll regret calling us scraps.”
One of the assassins sent by the Emperor spoke through clenched teeth.
But Seizar showed no sense of threat.
He calmly drew his sword.
“I can win even if you all rush me at once.”
As soon as Seizar spoke confidently, they shouted and charged.
Clang—!
The sharp sound of clashing blades rang out.
But Seizar’s face remained calm.
“Ghk.”
“……Is this really all the people you brought?”
Seizar asked incredulously as the assassins fell one by one.
No one answered.
After defeating the three who attacked simultaneously, Seizar caught his breath briefly and looked at their clothing.
‘Ha. Imperial Knights.’
He couldn’t suppress a sneer.
The Imperial Palace had truly gone this far. The opportunistic Emperor would never have missed such a chance.
Seizar brushed back his blood-splattered blond hair and smiled coldly.
‘Ah… so the Emperor struck first in the end.’
Now he had sufficient justification.
Just as he turned to leave—
Thud—!
Sensing the remaining two assassins rushing in, Seizar cut one down instantly.
However, the sword lodged deeply in the assassin’s abdomen and did not come out easily.
Seizing that moment, the last assassin charged while shouting.
“You end here too!”
“……Fire Ball.”
With a thunderous boom, a massive fireball slammed into the man’s face.
Not even a small groan could be heard.
Holding the sword he had barely pulled free, Seizar slowly turned toward the person who had killed the assassin behind him.
“……Your Highness.”
“……Assassins sent by the Emperor.”
Dian, who had already understood everything, smiled faintly at Seizar.
“Now you finally have justification to drag the Emperor down as well.”
