Yuri tried speaking to Gert, but he only got brief answers now and then, never managing to sustain a proper conversation.
Yuri realized that Gert's reason was no longer intact.
Much of him had worn away upon becoming a Death Knight, and the aggression toward living beings seemed to have taken its place.
They were in the midst of a grueling battle when it happened.
"Uh…"
"What is it?"
The Grand Library, where Pierre had run to, began to shake.
At the same time, Gert's movements abruptly stopped.
"Die!"
Simon, who had failed to grasp the situation, continued swinging his sword, and his attack struck Gert. But instead, Simon himself was flung backward.
Even so, Gert showed no reaction and merely stared at the Grand Library.
Something was happening.
Yuri, with Guilty slung over his shoulder, looked at the group of fanatics. They were gazing at the Grand Library with arms stretched out joyfully.
"It has finally come to pass."
"Ooh…"
"We've succeeded."
They muttered things like that.
Thanks to Gert's halted movements, they had a moment to spare. Yuri gestured for the others to stand by, then approached Ivan and grabbed him by the collar.
"Explain. What the hell is that?"
Ivan replied with strangely burning eyes.
"It will awaken."
"What will awaken?"
"A new being to serve Him."
"And who is 'Him'?"
"That…"
Ivan suddenly swung his sword at Yuri.
"You don't need to know!"
But Yuri, as if expecting it, blocked the attack and hooked Ivan's leg to throw him down. Ivan tried to roll away to escape, but Yuri grabbed him by the hair and yanked him back.
Ivan's neck twisted as he was slammed back to Yuri's feet.
"Trying to stab me in the back again, huh."
"Gah…"
The remaining mercenaries surrounded Yuri and pointed their weapons at him.
Yuri slit Ivan's neck with Guilty, drawing blood, then asked them,
"Explain what your boss meant."
One of the mercenaries, who had been aiming a bow, replied.
"It's all over now. We have to run."
"What's over?"
"The Devil's Flower, which lay dormant in Adelvine, will awaken. That Death Knight will end with it. There's nothing more we can do."
"The Devil's Flower?"
"I'm sorry for deceiving you, but we all had our own intentions. Now we must flee. That's the only way to survive."
"I don't plan on running. Who is this 'Him' he mentioned, and what is the Devil's Flower? Explain everything."
"There's no time…"
At that moment, a wall of the Grand Library collapsed.
Everyone's eyes turned toward it.
From the breach, a black mist surged outward and quickly spread through the area. The eyes of the mercenaries standing in opposition grew vacant.
Yuri, too, felt an intense malevolence creeping into his mind.
However, Heart-Soul Slash would not allow such a tainted force to invade. As if purifying the miasma, mana boiled within his body.
Yuri shouted,
"Everyone, snap out of it!"
Jared would be fine, but Simon and Guinness might not be able to withstand it.
But when he turned around, an unexpected sight greeted him. Cory was using magic to shield the group. The dark power flowing from the Grand Library couldn't pierce Cory's magic.
"Oh…"
Yuri gave him a thumbs up.
Meanwhile, the mercenaries continued walking toward the Grand Library as if possessed. Even Ivan, who had been pinned down by Yuri, wore a blank expression as he struggled to crawl toward it.
Jose approached.
"Prince, I don't know much about magic, but I can tell—that's black magic. It's bewitching everyone."
"Should we run?"
"That seems wise, but…"
Yuri and Jose looked at Gert at the same time.
Gert, who had been standing still, began to move.
At first, they thought he too had fallen under the spell.
But then, Gert began attacking the mercenaries heading toward the Grand Library.
There was no use running. They had no means to resist.
Watching the mercenaries fall one after another at Gert's hand, Yuri muttered,
"What the hell is happening…"
Gert killed them and pulled their hearts from their chests. He then crushed them above his head.
Blood drenched his skull, and the core embedded in his chest pulsed with a blinding light.
Gert's energy grew stronger.
Cory, watching the scene, spoke.
"Prince. I think I understand."
"Go on."
"I can feel it. Something evil had been sealed inside that Grand Library."
"And?"
"That being needed living life to awaken, just like with Okua. But Gert killed them instead. Whether intentionally or not, he's been keeping that thing sealed by slaughtering the living."
Cory's words were convincing. Yuri had been thinking along the same lines.
Could it be that the Death Knight, the reborn knight who refused death, had his reasons for the massacre?
But still, his hands were stained with far too much blood.
"Life is really something…"
Yuri gave a bitter smile.
If everyone could just be happy, that'd be enough. But such a world never comes.
"Hey."
Yuri kicked Ivan's head, who lay subdued. Ivan looked around, as if snapping out of it.
"What… what happened…"
"What do you think? You were bewitched."
"Ah…"
"I'll ask you just one thing. Answer, or you die. That person you mentioned earlier—who is he?"
"That person is…"
Ivan looked at Yuri, then at the Grand Library where the darkness poured out, and at Gert standing before it.
Then he licked his dry lips and opened his mouth again.
"If I tell you… will you really let me live?"
"Yeah."
"That person is…"
And then his head exploded.
Ivan's skull shattered, and blood and brain matter splattered across the ground. Yuri stared at the horrific sight and muttered,
"Who's 'Baro'?"
"I think he meant 'that person is' as in a lead-in, not a name."
"Yeah, you're probably right."
"Damn it."
Apparently, a restriction had been placed on Ivan too. Yuri kicked his headless corpse aside and looked up again.
Gert was staring at the Grand Library.
What was he thinking?
Yuri spoke to Gert.
"Hey, Gert."
Surprisingly, a response came.
[Human.]
"Oh, you can talk?"
[Leave.]
A dust-laden breeze swept past his emaciated frame. The Death Knight, now just bones after losing his plate armor, looked like he could collapse at any moment.
Gert spoke.
[If you don't leave, I will kill you.]
"And you?"
[I will stop it.]
As if there was nothing more to say, Gert turned his back on Yuri.
"Not one of you explains anything properly."
Yuri activated his mana method and peered into the realm of the heart-soul.
And everything changed.
The Grand Library, consumed by darkness, had become a grotesque monster, its tendrils writhing. Facing it, Gert no longer appeared as a skeletal Death Knight, but as a knight wearing tattered armor and a billowing cape.
Yuri saw something in the place where Gert's core was.
「Fate」
The character for "fate" was engraved there.
It flickered periodically, as if trying to say something.
Looking at Gert and the Grand Library through the heart-soul realm, Yuri somehow understood.
Gert, too, was ultimately a product of black magic.
Therefore, he can never truly destroy that thing called the Devil's Flower. The most Gert could do in resistance was to annihilate all fate in Adelvine, cutting off the nourishment that the monster would feed on.
It was a truly stubborn, and also wretched path.
But Yuri was different from him.
Yuri walked toward Gert and shouted at his back.
"Gert. I'll help you."
Gert stopped and turned around.
A flicker sparked in his eye sockets.
[You must not. I will stop it.]
"No. You can't kill that thing. You know it too, don't you?"
[That is why, I stop it.]
"I can kill it."
Gert stared at Yuri. Yuri repeated himself.
"I can cut black magic."
Erich Briol had traveled to the East, absorbing their martial arts and creating an entirely new mana method.
Though the exact details were unknown, one thing was certain.
He had sought to forge a sword capable of fighting evil.
Thus, Heart-Soul Slash, the sword that severs both heart and soul, had come into Yuri's hands.
"I am the third prince of Briol, Yuri Briol. I can cut down beings of darkness. I intend to eliminate every black magic creation in Adelvine. You can believe in that."
There was meaning embedded in that declaration.
Gert stared at Yuri with his blood-red eyes and fell silent for a long while. His core flared like fire. The character for "fate," engraved on it, glowed even brighter.
Gert finally spoke.
[Are you, a knight?]
"I am."
[Do you, swear an oath?]
"Oath?"
Yuri chuckled.
An oath—it had long since lost its meaning.
The world was full of those who made false vows.
What a truly old-fashioned knight.
Yuri placed a hand over his chest and said,
"Of course. I swear upon all the honor I possess. In return, there's something you must do for me too."
As he said this, Yuri stepped forward. Close enough that if Gert changed his mind, he could swing his sword in an instant—but Yuri didn't care.
He looked him in the eye and said,
"The one that destroyed Adelvine now seeks to consume the entire continent. I intend to stop that. So after I destroy the Devil's Flower, I want you to tell me everything you know."
Gert stared at him without replying.
Yuri didn't press for an answer.
Instead, like he would to a comrade, he tapped Gert's shoulder.
"Understood?"
Through the realm of the heart-soul, Yuri had seen Gert's true self. He no longer appeared to be a mere skeletal Death Knight.
He was simply a stern-looking, straight-laced knight.
Gert stared at Yuri for a while, then silently turned and began walking toward the Grand Library.
The image of a gaunt, skeletal knight striding toward his enemy was both tragic and solemn.
Until his soul was worn away to nothing, he would not cease his struggle.
Yuri called to the rest of the group.
"We no longer need to fight Gert."
"Didn't Gert just say nothing?"
"He did."
"…What?"
"You probably couldn't see it, but…"
Yuri slung Guilty over his shoulder and looked up at the black tendrils beginning to extend from the Grand Library.
"He winked."
"…What?"
"Let's go. The monstrous thing that destroyed Adelvine is in there. Our enemy was never Gert, but those ugly tentacles. Now I finally feel ready to fight."
"Damn it, after a corpse monster, now tentacles…"
"Think we'll make it back alive?"
"Don't jinx it."
"It wouldn't be worth coming to Adelvine if it weren't this intense. Wahaha!"
"We'll follow you always, Prince."
"We'll do our best."
Everyone chimed in. Some grumbled, but none stepped back.
Yuri walked at the front, and the others naturally followed behind.
It was the same formation as always.
Yuri said,
"Don't die. If any of you dies, I won't let it go."
"How're you gonna punish us if we're dead?"
"Try dying if you're that curious."
The Grand Library began to collapse. The tentacles, stretching out in a radial pattern, smashed through the outer walls, revealing their grotesque form.
Above them, a mass of dark red flesh towered upward.
At its center was a gaping, horrifying mouth, spewing out pitch-black currents.
"Cory. Focus on blocking mental attacks."
"Yes!"
"Simon, Guinness. You two fight while protecting Cory."
"Yes!"
"Sir Jose, do as you see fit."
"Leave it to me!"
"Laurent, Jared."
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Let's do this right."
"We'll do our best."
"Let's give it a try."
Cory stepped back and formed hand seals, while Simon and Guinness stood by him, guarding against the tentacles.
Jose moved separately, looking for an opening.
Laurent and Jared stood by Yuri's side.
"Gert's the strongest, so don't go rushing in. Support him while fighting. Got it?"
"Yes!"
"And…"
Everyone raised their swords.
There was no more time to give orders.
Gert was already charging at the Devil's Flower.
Yuri shouted,
"Do your best!"
***
He was crouched in pitch-black darkness.
With each breath he exhaled, the stench of sulfur leaked out.
Suddenly, his eyes opened.
Over his bright yellow pupils, countless characters floated and vanished. Eventually, one single character lit up the darkness.
「Fate」
It grew steadily brighter, until it glowed enough to illuminate the entire cavern.
He tilted his head.
It wasn't emitting light on its own. Like the moon, it was merely reflecting a much greater light source.
Then what was the source of this dazzling light? His pupils darted through the air.
At last, his gaze fixed on a single point.
His eyes were seeing something far beyond the cavern.
Finally, he opened his mouth.
[How troublesome this has become.]
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