Chapter 189
Judging by the way they were talking, it seemed they didn’t know that Rdel was absent.
But the situation wasn’t good.
If the ones who had subdued a Rank 6 were merely a diversion,
then the ones who had invaded Forgel had to be even stronger.
With Rdel away, if things went wrong, even the royal castle could fall.
Kugugug…!
As the intruders poured in, the eyes of the banshees guarding the royal castle were stained black.
Long, jet-black magic spears were summoned around them.
“[Krrrk…!]”
The first to crash through the window was a large ghoul.
It looked very different from the ghouls I’d seen in Forgel before.
Perhaps to enhance its destructive power, a massive magic stone was embedded in its shoulder.
The skin on its face was half torn away, blood and saliva dripping in a sticky mixture.
At a glance, it was clearly no ordinary ghoul.
‘…Yeah. That looks like a proper ghoul.’
—Kwa-jik!
The banshees’ magic spears flew straight toward the ghoul.
Its body was blown to pieces, but there weren’t just one or two of them.
Dudududu…!
Through shattered windows all around, ghouls began pouring in like a tidal wave.
Not to be outdone, the banshees continuously summoned magic spears and hurled them at the monsters.
When Death Knights joined the fray, the royal castle quickly turned into chaos.
Death Knights, banshees, and countless ghouls were all mixed together in a fierce battle.
“…Vinthagen. I have a favor to ask.”
“……”
He avoided my gaze as if he didn’t want to hear it.
I held out the ring on my finger toward him.
This wasn’t as Count Ian, but as Isoter’s husband.
I was going through all this trouble because of Iglen.
Sometimes, I deserved to benefit from my wife’s status too.
“J-just a favor, okay? Please?”
“…Damn it.”
True to his rigid nature, once I pushed him with authority, he had no choice but to draw his sword.
“Fine. I’ll head toward the main gate. You handle the royal castle.”
“…Understood.”
Vinthagen, his face flushed red, charged toward the intruders.
Wooooong…!
Dense, vivid aura burst forth from his blade.
Annoying as he could be, his skill was unquestionable.
After all, he’d once been the captain of Isoter’s knights.
—Kwaaaang!
Vinthagen’s first strike landed amid the endless wave of ghouls.
“[Kwoooeek!]”
With just that, more than a dozen ghouls were erased without a trace.
A black mage clinging to the ceiling shouted,
“Target that strong Death Knight first!”
“[Krrrk!]”
The intruders’ Death Knights began to swarm around Vinthagen.
Kkadeuk!
‘Oh wow.’
I could hear the grinding of Vinthagen’s teeth from here.
“Who are you calling a Death Knight?!”
—Kwaaaang!
Face burning red, Vinthagen began slaughtering the Death Knights.
Magic bullets fired from the black mages on the ceiling concentrated on him.
Kwaang! Bang!
But Vinthagen ignored them all, pouring his fury onto the invaders.
The royal castle would probably be fine.
Even if those so-called Demon Dukes showed up, Vinthagen could hold them off.
“…Is it possible the Demon Dukes formed an alliance?”
I asked the priests who were watching nervously, hands slick with sweat.
“T-that’s unlikely. They all want to become king themselves…”
“Then that’s a relief.”
If all three attacked together, it might be tough—but one or two would be manageable.
After checking that Twilight was secured at my waist, I nodded to the priests.
“I’ll be going now.”
“…You’re leaving? Then what about that knight—”
“Heh. Obviously, I’m going to check on the residential area. What do you take me for?”
“Oh.”
Tadat!
With a short reply, I leapt out the window.
Thud.
It was still early morning.
Just yesterday, Forgel had been lively—but now it was nothing short of horrific.
“Kyahhh!”
“Aaagh!”
Ghouls lunged at the people of Forgel, strangling them.
“[Krrrk…?]”
Seeing me suddenly descend from the sky, the ghouls halted their attacks.
“…Wait.”
Having just seen the ghouls that invaded the royal castle, the ones before me felt even stranger.
They weren’t drooling blood or saliva—just pale, like yesterday.
‘Did they use the ghouls that were already in Forgel?’
A black mage who defeated Kuskel could easily do that.
Without a master, ghouls were nothing more than corpses.
He must have reclaimed them as his own minions.
“Ugh…”
“…Huh?”
Looking around, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
People fleeing in terror, ghouls chasing after them.
“R-run!”
“[Kraaaagh!]”
But the ghouls didn’t truly pursue them.
After frightening them enough, they were busy smashing walls and debris instead.
“……”
I placed my fingers on the neck of a collapsed person nearby.
They weren’t dead—just unconscious.
“…What?”
“[Krrrk!]”
The ghouls treated me the same way.
They threw objects and screamed, but didn’t launch proper attacks.
And they were unarmed, flailing with bare hands…
‘Strange.’
Any ghoul would obviously be stronger wielding a weapon.
If they were acting like this, then…
“…Don’t tell me.”
“[Krrk!]”
When I continued to stand there blankly, the ghouls finally charged.
—Pa-gak!
I struck their hearts with the edge of my hand.
Something like a small pebble caught at my fingertips.
Ghouls were still monsters.
Destroy the mana core inside them, and they stop functioning.
“[Krrk…?]”
Once destroyed, they collapsed like machines with their power cut off.
It was absurdly easy.
As if they had no will to fight.
“…Damn it.”
The more I saw, the more uneasy I felt.
The one causing chaos at the main gate—what if it was the man I was thinking of?
I rushed toward Forgel’s gate.
Glancing around, all the ghouls behaved the same way.
They only knocked out those who fought back, and left fleeing people alone.
I could roughly guess who their master was.
Kugugug…!
As I drew closer to the gate, I felt a heavy surge of mana.
All the mana in the air was gathering toward one man.
A black mage, crying as he held open a book.
It was Kuskel—the man I met yesterday.
He wasn’t the one being attacked.
He was the one attacking.
“[Krrrk!]”
As I approached Kuskel, the other ghouls surrounded me.
But they kept their distance, not coming any closer.
“Y-you are…!”
Kuskel, shedding tears while wreaking havoc on Forgel, stopped moving the arm controlling the ghouls when he saw me.
Controlling this many ghouls alone—
just as the priests said, he was a black mage of considerable caliber.
“We meet again.”
“D-don’t do anything foolish and step back! You’ll get killed!”
“You know that won’t happen.”
I slowly walked toward Kuskel.
The ghouls still didn’t attack.
“…I told you to step back!”
Pararak!
Kuskel opened the front of his book.
A small black magic bullet formed and shot toward me.
—Paang!
“….”
It struck my shoulder—barely a sting.
Sorry, but I wasn’t someone who’d fall to that now.
Even if Kuskel attacked with everything he had, I’d probably win.
“Ugh…!”
But I clutched my shoulder and collapsed as if I’d been hit by a devastating blow.
“I told you not to come!”
“…Ha.”
That confirmed it.
This man was fundamentally kind—to a fault.
Why was someone like him doing something like this?
Honestly, I could just cut him down here.
Even a Rank 6 black mage couldn’t beat me now—not with an ego sword and all my protagonist buffs.
And Kuskel had spent his life farming, not fighting.
No matter the matchup, I wasn’t that stupid.
If Kuskel died here,
the ghouls bound to him would regain their senses, and the chaos would quickly end.
But I didn’t want that.
This world was a shitty world.
Good people were used by bad ones until they died, or met pointless deaths.
At the very least, I didn’t want to kill Kuskel.
“You’re not… that kind of person.”
“…What do you know about me?! I’m a black mage! If you’re from the Allied Lands, you should know what black mages are like!”
“Ugh…”
I staggered to my feet, legs trembling.
“Stop!”
Paang!
Another magic bullet flew at my thigh.
It was far weaker than the last one.
Again, I collapsed as if gravely wounded.
“Ugh!”
“A-are you alright?!”
“……”
Even now, he was worried about me.
I finally understood why he’d go this far.
“…Is it because of your son?”
“……”
At my question, Kuskel fell silent.
He’d abandoned his family for his son.
Because of his son, he’d treated even a foreigner kindly.
A man like that would commit atrocities for his child.
“Please… I don’t want to lose my son again… so…”
“Then what about everyone else?”
“……”
“Many people were hurt because of you. And Death Knights and ghouls invaded the royal castle. The ones who forced you into this probably caused that.”
“That’s…”
“If this continues, Forgel will never know peace again. It’ll become exactly what people fear—a kingdom of black mages who slaughter each other.”
“…Sob.”
Kuskel collapsed, falling to his knees.
“Then what am I supposed to do… Just lose my son again?”
“…If you couldn’t handle it alone, you should’ve asked for help.”
“Who?! There’s no black mage in Forgel ranked higher than me except His Majesty Rdel! And he’s not even here now—!”
“…Haah.”
I dusted myself off and stood up.
“Y-you… you’re fine?”
“……”
—Paang!
Instead of answering, I stomped hard on the ground.
Blue aura spread through the earth, washing over the ghouls swarming around us.
A technique used by Krod.
A wide-area skill that neutralized enemies by injecting foreign aura into them.
Now that my rank was higher, I could control it more precisely.
Precisely enough to destroy the mana cores near the ghouls’ hearts.
“[…Krrk!]”
In an instant, all the ghouls collapsed.
I drew Twilight from my waist.
The crimson blade gleamed in the morning sun.
“W-what is this…?”
Kuskel looked utterly unable to comprehend what had happened.
I approached him with Twilight in hand.
If I stabbed him now, it would all be over.
But instead, I plunged Twilight into the ground beside him.
“[Hey, that hurts.]”
‘Sorry.’
After apologizing briefly, I knelt before Kuskel.
I closed the book in his hands.
Paat.
At once, all the ghouls rampaging through Forgel stopped moving.
No one else would be hurt now.
“Y-you… how did you…?”
“I came to help you, Kuskel.”
“B-but…”
“Sometimes, good people deserve to catch a break.”
“Ah…”
Tears welled up in Kuskel’s eyes as he pressed his forehead to the ground.
“Please… save my son.”
I patted his shoulder and nodded.
“Leave it to me.”
