Chapter 29: Revelation (2)

“Ugh! Ughhh!”

Guillaume Blackwing tried to stop vomiting, but it was no use. The dark magic kept gushing out uncontrollably.

The more dark magic he expelled, the more Guillaume Blackwing's body shrank. His black hair turned completely white.

As the dark magic dissipated, its aftermath began to take effect.

“Guh...”

Guillaume Blackwing aged rapidly in an instant. He fell to the ground, unable to even support his own body.

The training ground was enveloped in silence. No one was unaffected by the shock. Even the duke was frozen in place.

“D-Dark magic? Dark magic, you say?”

“D-Did I just see that correctly?”

Whispers spread throughout the area. Everyone's voices trembled.

“What do we do about this?”

“H-How should I know? This is the first time I’ve ever encountered anything related to dark magic in my life.”

“This isn’t the time for us to fight among ourselves. We need to understand the situation first.”

There was only one person who could explain what was happening.

As if on cue, everyone's gaze converged on a single point.

Chelsea Goldfich shook her head vigorously, clearly flustered.

“I-I don’t know! I have no idea what’s going on!”

Chelsea said, her face full of panic. But no one believed her.

“Father! Believe me! This has nothing to do with me!”

Seeing that the nobles wouldn’t believe her, she turned to the duke and shouted.

“Father!”

Despite her cries, the duke remained silent, his hand covering his mouth.

“...Why are the soldiers just standing there?”

Finally, the duke broke the long silence.

“Immediately arrest Princess Chelsea.”

At his command, the soldiers stationed around the training ground began to move.

“F-Father! Listen to me! I’m innocent! I really am!”

Seeing this, Chelsea Goldfich screamed in desperation. But the duke’s order remained unchanged.

“W-What are you all doing? Can’t you protect me? Stop the soldiers from coming!”

Chelsea shouted at the knights who served her.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the knights drew their weapons and shouted.

“Stay back or we’ll cut you down!”

“You’ll have to go through us to take Princess Chelsea!”

The soldiers hesitated at the knights’ menacing threats.

While the duke’s soldiers were known for their high skill, they couldn’t match the knights.

“Sir Gawain.”

The duke spoke again.

“Help the soldiers arrest Chelsea Goldfich. You have permission to kill anyone who interferes.”

“I will do as you command.”

With that, Gawain Heinrich drew his sword. The sound of the blade being unsheathed was chilling.

The knights guarding Chelsea paled at the sight.

One of the three High-Class warriors in the Apple Kingdom.

There was no need to explain how powerful such a being was.

“Princess! We’ll hold them off! You must run now!”

The knights abandoned any thought of facing Gawain Heinrich. Instead, they decided to sacrifice their lives to help Chelsea Goldfich escape.

“Princess! You must move now!”

“O-Okay.”

Chelsea Goldfich tried to run as the knights suggested.

But before she could, Gawain Heinrich swung his sword.

A blue aura sliced through the training ground. The aura, spreading in a wide arc, cut through everyone present.

“Huh?”

“Wh-What?”

The nobles looked bewildered.

The aura had clearly passed through their bodies, yet they had not been injured.

But not everyone was unscathed.

“...”

“...”

“...”

The movements of the knights who had tried to protect Chelsea Goldfich suddenly stopped.

“Why are you all so quiet...”

Feeling the tension, Chelsea reached out to one of the knights.

But before her hand could touch him, blood spurted from his body.

It was as if a bag full of water had burst, and a massive amount of blood gushed out all at once.

The knights’ bodies, split in half, collapsed to the ground.

“...Aaaah!”

Chelsea Goldfich, drenched in blood, screamed.

She clawed at her hair as if trying to wake up from a nightmare.

The aura had been spread wide to cut down only those who tried to kill her.

The nobles and soldiers, witnessing the divine-level swordsmanship, looked at Gawain Heinrich with awe.

“Why are the soldiers just standing there? Arrest Chelsea Goldfich immediately.”

Spurred by the duke’s stern command, the soldiers finally snapped out of their stupor and surrounded Chelsea Goldfich.

“A... Aa... Aaaah!”

Chelsea Goldfich screamed and frantically looked around, as if searching for someone to help her.

Her eyes suddenly widened.

“S-Sir Ernst!”

She spotted Ernst Hovitz standing among the nobles.

“P-Please help me! I’m begging you!”

Ernst Hovitz’s eyes showed a moment of conflict at Chelsea’s plea.

“Please!”

Ernst Hovitz’s hesitation only grew deeper at Chelsea’s desperate cry.

Gawain Heinrich spoke to Ernst.

“Sir Ernst, as a Middle-Class knight, you have greatly contributed to the advancement of the ducal family. His Excellency still values you.”

Gawain Heinrich’s voice was calm, but the aura he exuded was anything but.

“But if you protect Princess Chelsea, I will execute you on the spot.”

A massive aura of killing intent surrounded Ernst Hovitz. In that moment, he saw a vision.

A stormy sea.

He felt as if he had been thrown into the middle of it, along with a piece of old wood.

“A... Ah... Ugh...”

Overwhelmed by the vastness and the unknown fear, Ernst Hovitz unknowingly knelt down.

A posture of submission.

Chelsea Goldfich’s expression twisted in horror at his action.

“Sir Ernst? Sir Ernst! D-Don’t do this! Please save me! Right now... Ah! Ah!”

The soldiers grabbed Chelsea Goldfich’s limbs and tied her up.

“F-Father!”

Even as she was being tied up, Chelsea Goldfich pleaded with the duke.

“P-Please listen to me! Y-You’ll see! I’m innocent!”

The duke spoke to Chelsea with a single, dismissive word.

“Incompetent.”

Chelsea’s eyes widened in shock.

“Because of what you did, our family almost faced a great disaster.”

“F-Father... I...”

“Bringing you back was the biggest mistake of my life.”

The duke’s tone was filled with deep disdain.

“No! No! I...”

“I can’t listen to you anymore. Soldiers, gag her.”

“Father! Fa... Mmm! Mmm! Mmm!”

The soldiers dragged Chelsea Goldfich out of the training ground.

Tears streamed down Chelsea Goldfich’s eyes.

At that moment, someone entered her field of vision.

Demian Hassen.

He was smirking at her.

“Mmm! Mmm! Mmm!”

Chelsea Goldfich glared at Demian Hassen with all her might.

The soldiers took her out of the training ground.

Soon, Chelsea Goldfich’s screams abruptly stopped.

* * *

“This is a headache.”

As soon as Chelsea Goldfich was gone, the duke sighed.

“To be so deeply involved with dark magic. If this gets out, the Church won’t sit idly by.”

The Church’s obsession with heretics was well-known.

Even the Goldfich ducal family couldn’t completely ignore the Church’s interference.

“I’ll put the headache aside for now and deal with the politics first.”

The duke turned to Demian Hassen.

“Demian Hassen, what technique did you use to make Guillaume Blackwing like that?”

“I’m not sure myself. However, the cursed sword I used is a technique that causes internal injuries. I think it might have destroyed the dark magic inside Guillaume Blackwing’s body.”

The duke’s expression showed interest at Demian’s explanation.

“A technique that causes internal injuries? That’s quite unique. Sir Gawain, didn’t you say you once saw a knight use a similar technique?”

“Yes, that’s correct. However, that knight only caused external injuries, not internal ones. Demian Hassen’s technique seems far superior.”

Gawain’s praise only increased the duke’s interest.

“Even I, who know little about swordsmanship, can tell this isn’t an ordinary technique. When did you learn such a skill?”

“I saw a knight use a technique and created my own version of it.”

“...You created such a skill on your own?”

The duke asked, clearly skeptical. Demian shrugged.

“I’m just a genius.”

A moment of silence followed. The duke sighed.

“Having seen it with my own eyes, I can’t disbelieve it.”

The duke wasn’t saying this because he liked Demian.

He had already completed all his investigations on Demian.

If he made up a story about how he learned the skill, it might raise suspicion.

It was better to be recognized as a genius than to raise suspicion.

Moreover, it wasn’t entirely a lie.

“Thanks to you, we were able to eliminate a major threat in advance. Your contribution is immeasurable.”

The duke opened a subspace and took out a blue potion.

It was the potion of mana crystals he had offered as a reward for the duel.

“This is yours, as promised.”

Demian took the potion from the duke. It was heavier than he expected.

Holding the potion in his hand, he could vividly feel the immense power it contained.

“This potion is a reward for the duel, not for this incident. So, tell me what you need.”

Demian pondered the duke’s words.

He could probably get anything he wanted from the duke right now.

But with the potion of mana crystals, he didn’t really need anything at the moment.

It might be better to leave it as a debt rather than take a reward.

Debts tend to grow over time.

“This incident was a coincidence. I don’t deserve a reward.”

The duke shook his head at Demian’s words.

“Even if it was a coincidence, the fact that you saved the family remains unchanged.”

“I’m a knight of the ducal family now, so it was my duty.”

Demian refused several times. Eventually, the duke had to back down.

“Since Sir Demian is so stubborn... I’ll remember this. If you ever need my help, come to me.”

The duke then called Gawain Heinrich.

“Sir Gawain Heinrich, I’ll entrust you with the military authority. Take the knights and soldiers and arrest everyone associated with Chelsea Goldfich.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“Especially the dark mages who collaborated with Chelsea Goldfich. Not a single one should be left behind.”

Gawain Heinrich knelt on one knee at the duke’s command.

“Nobles, listen. You must cooperate fully with Sir Gawain Heinrich’s search. If anyone fails to do so...”

The duke’s eyes flashed with killing intent.

“I will consider them as accomplices to Chelsea Goldfich and destroy the family!”

The nobles shuddered involuntarily at the duke’s chilling warning.