Chapter 68…
Dante could have hidden the news of his father’s return from Lucia.
It was, after all, information he had received in secret.
If only he and Patrick kept their mouths shut, she would never have found out.
She would have welcomed her father-in-law back without knowing a thing.
And as a result—
Her schemes within the household would have been exposed, and she would have had to pay the price.
Dante knew well that things would naturally flow in that direction.
And yet—
The reason he chose to reveal his father’s return was simple.
“Now she’ll make her move.”
He didn’t yet know exactly what Lucia was plotting.
But one thing was certain: if his father suddenly returned home, everything she had planned would inevitably collapse.
So Dante deliberately told her the truth—that she had two weeks.
Her last chance before his father’s return.
Lucia would never waste that time.
She would do everything in her power to expel Dante and bring her plans to fruition before then.
She had no choice.
“Sir Dante.”
The first one to enter when the door opened was Milleon.
Judging by his stiff expression, it seemed Eina had already told him the gist of what was happening on the way here.
“I’m here too, Captain.”
Following him, Elaine, Jionhac, and the rest of Acracion entered the room.
“Sit.”
At that one word, all of them, heavy with grim determination, sat down in the chairs prepared beforehand.
Twelve knights, including Dante.
The sight they gave off was so intense that no one could believe these were the same men who had once been ridiculed as “the idle, feasting knight order.”
“I heard you said a battle will soon break out.”
This time, it was Milleon who spoke, his face grave.
Truthfully, what had happened with Silver Obscura was hardly worthy of being called a battle.
No one had died, and neither side had fought with their full strength.
As Dante had said, it was merely a petty skirmish.
To Acracion, that was all it amounted to.
But this time, Dante himself had said there would be a battle.
That meant it would be on par with the battlefields of the principality.
“My stepmother will make her move.”
Dante briefly summarized the conversation he had had with her.
“Within two weeks, she will undoubtedly try to get rid of me.”
Acracion already knew Lucia had been preparing to drive Dante out.
So his words didn’t sound like nonsense.
“What if we just strike first?”
Jionhac raised his hand abruptly as he spoke.
First strike meant certain victory.
Even during the monster wave, whenever possible, they had always attacked first.
It was far more decisive to intercept with a preemptive strike than to sit back and defend.
This time would be no different.
What if they struck before Lucia could act?
“Honestly, we could wipe them out in a single day.”
It wasn’t baseless arrogance or bravado.
It was absolute conviction.
They weren’t called the hope of the battlefield for nothing.
Dante and Acracion had the strength and ability to do it.
But—
“We have no justification.”
Lucia had not yet revealed her true colors.
She hadn’t taken any overt action to oust Dante.
If they struck her under those circumstances, they would inevitably face consequences.
“What justification? We can just beat them down first and come up with one later, right?”
Jionhac pouted, clearly dissatisfied with Dante’s answer.
And it wasn’t entirely wrong.
History, after all, was nothing more than the record of the victor.
Even so, Dante shook his head.
Lucia was not just some enemy.
She was his mother.
Whatever her true nature, that was still the face she wore to the world.
A son who raised his blade against the stepmother who had raised him with love.
That would brand him forever with the scarlet letter of a parricide.
Dante spoke firmly:
“I will not bear such disgrace. My name is not mine alone.”
The name “Dante of House Aquites, heir to the family,” meant little.
But “Dante, Captain of Acracion”—that was different.
His words and actions represented the honor of the entire order.
He could not allow Acracion’s reputation to be tarnished because of his private affairs.
“Tch.”
Jionhac clicked his tongue.
He understood what Dante meant.
If their captain was protecting their honor first, then arguing further would only make him look foolish.
“Then what would you have us do?”
Milleon asked.
“Stand by for battle. From this moment, consider the Aquites estate as dangerous as the Derkan Plains.”
The Derkan Plains.
The battleground of countless clashes between the allied forces and the monsters.
A place where they had faced death countless times over the past four years.
The moment Dante finished speaking, Acracion’s aura sharpened like blades.
Had their intent been tangible, Dante’s room would already have been shredded into hundreds of pieces.
They entered battle readiness instantly.
Even Jionhac.
“What we need is justification and evidence.”
And that would come the moment Lucia began to move.
“If my mother draws her blade—”
Dante’s eyes gleamed coldly.
“That will be the signal to begin the battle.”
“To what extent should we act?” Milleon asked.
Dante answered without hesitation.
“Extermination.”
Not a single one would be left alive.
The candlelight flickered, casting long shadows on the wall.
“Is it true the Sword of the Empire is returning?”
A man’s unseen voice asked.
“It doesn’t seem to be a lie.”
Lucia sighed with her eyes closed.
“It seems that boy has begun to suspect me.”
She didn’t know where or how she had slipped up.
Even today, Dante had refused to drink the tea she offered.
He seemed convinced she had tried something.
“I thought I had never done anything to arouse suspicion.”
On the contrary, she had showered him with affection.
Convincing herself that she truly loved Dante, she had done her best to care for him.
And yet, he had caught on.
She couldn’t understand it.
But it no longer mattered.
There were far more pressing issues at hand.
“No matter how generously I count it, we have only two weeks left.”
“…That’s short.”
The man’s voice was stiff.
Years of effort were about to go to waste—of course he sounded bitter.
“It’s fine. We still have a chance. We just need to finish everything before he returns.”
“Is that possible?”
Dante—no, Acracion—was strong.
Silver Obscura had already been nearly wiped out, and there was no one left who could act within the remaining two weeks.
Lucia had no hands or feet left to move.
“We need the power of the cult.”
And they needed it now.
“I’ve already sent word of the situation and asked for reinforcements, but no reply has come yet.”
“Then pressure them.”
“That is…”
Even without seeing his face, she could tell the man was flustered.
But Lucia had no interest in his feelings.
“The day of His descent is near. If our plans here fail, the cult’s will can never be fulfilled. We must secure their cooperation.”
The man gave no reply.
Lucia’s eyes opened.
Reflected in the red candlelight, her pupils gleamed like those of a beast.
“You will answer me.”
Her oppressive tone filled the room.
“…I will deliver the message.”
“Move at once.”
At her dismissal, the man’s presence vanished.
“Haa—.”
She let out a long sigh.
She hadn’t intended to go this far.
Her original plan had simply been to expel Dante from the family.
After that, she would make her children heirs of House Aquites and dedicate the marquisate’s resources to His descent.
She had prepared every detail.
But ever since Dante’s tenth birthday, things had begun to go wrong.
And now, they had reached this point.
“This is your own doing, boy.”
At this stage, merely banishing him was impossible.
He had to die.
The cult would handle the aftermath.
They had that much power.
“So…”
Lucia drained her wine in one gulp, its color like fresh blood.
“Don’t hold it against me too much.”
A crimson aura surged around her.
Something wholly different from ordinary mana.
To others, Lucia was nothing more than a noblewoman.
But in truth—she possessed a strange, powerful, and secretive force.
Even her husband, Xenon Aquites—the Empire’s Sword—had never noticed.
The red energy spread from Lucia, filling the room, even staining the moonlight seeping through the curtains blood-red.
Ssshhk—
Kneeling at the center of the moonlight, she pressed her index, middle finger, and thumb together, tracing a strange sign.
A gesture used in no known religion.
As if performing a sacred ritual, she assumed a solemn posture.
“All is for His descent.”
Wooooom—
Was this an answer to her desperate prayer?
The crimson-tinged moonlight rippled, wrapping around Lucia.
“Ahh—.”
With an ecstatic expression, Lucia whispered:
“O master of the crimson sky, open the gates of the wicked and descend upon this land.”
But it lasted only a moment.
The light weakened, fading from her.
Grit—
Overwhelmed by sudden loss, Lucia clenched her teeth.
“I will.”
She repeated the vow she had made thousands upon thousands of times.
To achieve it—
Now, Dante’s head was what she needed.
