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Side Story Chapter 115

After losing a wing, he couldn’t even think about standing back up.

Selim landed right in front of Gabriel, retrieved his spear from the ground, and leveled it at Gabriel again.

“You’re weak.”

“You bastard…!” Gabriel’s face reddened with humiliation.

In spite of Gabriel’s frustration, Selim continued to muse as if he was genuinely curious.

“You’re too weak, so why in the world did people call you the Four Paladins?”

“…Kill me.”

“Or did Hubalt intentionally spread the rumor for a certain purpose?” Selim muttered.

Gabriel trembled. Raphael had been a simple-minded person, so he had always gone on and on about how the Four Paladins were the pillars of the Hubalt Empire. However, he had also always doubted it on some level. The day that Lilith Aphrodite, the daughter of a cardinal, had manifested a Demon King’s authority and was branded a witch, the priests’ prestige went into the gutter. The paladins and priests had been the core of the pope’s faction; now that faction had split entirely into two. Yet, while that was happening, Hubalt’s knights and nobles, the imperial faction, had been quiet. In fact, they had fully complied with the Paladins’ orders after the Paladins had come into power.

‘…No, no.’ Gabriel shook his head. ‘Why would he bother with that? Had he been interested in political power, Bel could have taken over whenever he wished.’

Although no one said it out aloud, everyone knew that the imperial faction centered around Bel, and there was no denying it.. Numerous nobles and knights moved with Bel as their center. Even if the Four Paladins attacked Bel together, he was undefeatable. Since Bel had been raised with the sole purpose of defeating the Martial God, Bel was battle incarnate.

“You people… can never defeat Bel,” Gabriel said.

“Are those your last words?”

“Paladins of Hubalt, listen! Fight until the end! Fire your arrows even if your fingers will fall off! We might die in this battle, but we won’t surr—!”

Gabriel couldn’t finish speaking. When he lowered his head with trembling lips, he could see the sharp metal head of Selim’s spear piercing his heart.

“I can’t… die like this…”

“Listen, paladins of Hubalt!” Selim yelled, his mana amplifying his voice. The mages in the sky, the Imperial Knights surrounding the north gate, and the paladins of Hubalt who had been firing their arrows… In that moment, everyone stopped to look at Selim.

“Avalon has won!” Selim continued. He pulled his spear out of Gabriel’s corpse and flicked it to remove the blood staining the head. “The war is over!”

* * *

“Close your eyes and sit up straight.”

Kireua obediently followed Cain’s instruction. He sat himself on his bed and closed his eyes, blinding himself to the world.

-I’ll speak using telepathy from now on.

Kireua nodded, so Cain continued.

-Before I start my lesson on swords, you need to reflect on yourself, Your Highness.

“By reflecting on myself, you mean…?”

-You don’t need to talk. Please just listen for now.

Kireua nodded again.

-You’re able to utilize ebon flames; judging from what I heard from His Majesty, that must be the power of Greed, one of the Seven Evil Sin powers.

Kireua flinched.

-To cut to the chase, you need to hide your power for the time being. As you already know, ebon flames do not have a reputable origin—they’re known as the fires of the Demon Realm. Now that Avalon going to war against Hubalt is no longer just a hypothetical, your power may give Hubalt justification for this war. That is why you need to become strong enough to overpower your enemies purely with your sword skills—at least the same level as His Highness Selim. After that, I’ll be able to rest easier.

Kireua almost cussed out aloud. Selim was one of the strongest people on the continent, Kireua knew better than anyone else how hard it was to defeat Selim with only his sword skills.

Of course, that didn’t mean Kireua wasn’t confident. He considered his ebon flames to be part of his skills, so he was sure that no one, not even Selim, would be able to overpower him once he could control them perfectly.

-I’ll give you a part of my true mana.

Kireua felt his heart sink so deep that it felt like it was never going to come back up. True mana was the source of life. Ordinary mana could be replenished by using a mana accumulation technique, but true mana could never be regained. Cain was basically saying that he was going to give a part of his life to Kireua.

‘Why is he doing this…?’ Kireua wondered.

-Every type of sword has a uniquely suited mana accumulation technique. You learned your mana accumulation technique from His Majesty, so it’s no exaggeration to say that it’s the best one on the continent.

‘Then why is he teaching me a different one?’

Cain answered Kireua’s question before the young prince could voice it out loud.

-My true mana will become your guide, Your Highness. His Majesty’s mana accumulation technique is made for practicing the spear, so even if you try to adjust it for using swords, there will be a time when it feels unnatural, as if you’re wearing clothes that don’t fit.

Cain was right. Whenever Kireua wielded his sword using Joshua’s mana accumulation technique, he felt a sense of disharmony in some movements, like he was shoving his mana somewhere it didn’t belong. This was also the reason why Kireua didn’t make any progress in his swordsmanship anymore.

-Focus on my mana from now on and make sure you keep following it. This is the power I’ve readjusted to fit you as closely as possible based on what I’ve heard about His Majesty’s mana accumulation technique.

Cain cautiously held his hands against Kireua’s back, but the mana Cain infused was very faint, to Kireua’s surprise.

-As you can see, I’m not my usual self… so we won’t have a second chance at this.

* * *

At the border between Avalon and Hubalt, Bel and Babel were locked in battle.

A light punch from Bel created a not-so-light result.

“Arrgghh!”

“A mo-monster!”

The resulting shockwave turned the ground upside down, flinging the knights away with the raw wind pressure of the punch. Babel, naturally, received the brunt of the damage.

“Yo-Your Grace…”

Scarlet blood flowed freely from Babel’s wounds, and Babel was wounded everywhere. He was literally covered in his own blood.

“Where… did a monster like you come from?” Babel murmured in disbelief.

“It was quite fun in some ways.” Bel licked the fist he’d used to deliver his punch. There was a scratch that was smaller than a fingernail on the back of his hand. Bel shrugged. “Well, I guess you’re at least strong as a flea. Come to think of it, your name is Babel von Agnus, yes? What’s your relationship to this woman?”

Bel pulled the woman off of his shoulder into his arms.

Babel’s eyes widened when he saw the woman’s face. “Wait… Carmen von Agnus?”

“I thought you may know each other since you guys have the same surname, and you really do.”

“How… What in the world is your goal?”

“You know, there’s this thing I always say.”

“…What?” Babel blankly asked back.

Bel grinned. “The weak have no right to ask questions. They just get beaten up. A flea dared to invade my land, so it’s time for you to pay the price.”

Bel cranked his arm backward with his fist clenched. The form of a golden dragon gradually faded into being around Bel’s arm. This was Dragon Punch, a destructive technique that could bring any enemies to their knees.

“Hehe, I’ll crush you like a flea you are.”

“…Perhaps I won’t be able to repay my debt.” Babel raised his trembling hands with difficulty.

He instinctively realized that it was impossible to stop Bel’s punch.

The wind pressure catapulted him away before Bel’s fist even landed, leaving pools of his blood in his wake.

* * *

On the other hand, Joshua quietly opened his eyes on the snowy mountain in northern Avalon. When his new body disintegrated, his consciousness returned right back to his original body.

-You damned bastard, you move from body to body just like me.

“If you envy me, just say it straight,” Joshua answered.

-You nutjob…

Despite the Demon Spirit’s venom, his voice was very weak. After over a decade, the Demon Spirit was finally on the verge of oblivion.

“I boldly claimed I’d be able to take care of it within ten months, but… it might happen faster considering your state.”

-…I don’t think you can afford to be that relaxed right now.

“Why? Are you going to curse me or something?”

-Look around you.

Joshua tilted his head in confusion. When he looked down the snowy white mountain, he saw lines of black dots.

“What is…?”

-They’re monsters.

“Monsters?”

-The demons that settled here have begun to take action. Since their goal is me, they have no reason to move elsewhere.

Joshua remained silent.

-You look like you have a lot of questions in mind, but the answer is obvious. The Evil Sins’ powers have a tendency to be attracted to beings with great demonic power. Since I’m here, the people here are going to manifest the Evil Sins’ powers one way or another, so why would they need to go elsewhere?

Joshua’s eyes widened. “…So that’s why there are so many people who’ve manifested the Evil Sins’ powers in this land.”

-Heh. You must have seen them. I’m looking forward to seeing the day your country becomes a den of demons and monsters.

“…Don’t bother. The day you’re looking forward to will never come.”

-What…?

Joshua smiled, ever so slightly. “Just like you said, I’ve seen how strong my children are. They’ll never lose to demons or monsters.”

-They don’t even have you. You’re just bluffing, you cocky bastard…

“We’ll see if I’m bluffing or not.”