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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“…So he wasn’t feigning loyalty.”
Cain, wearing his mask, frowned as he watched the flashes of light in the distance.
The Crown Prince had said that Robert would be joining them deceitfully, but judging by that momentum, it looked like they were crossing swords in earnest.
He had heard they had a complicated relationship. Perhaps Adele was truly enraged by Robert’s betrayal.
Of course, the Crown Prince had ordered him not to make rash judgments. But Cain had no intention of blindly following those orders.
The problem was that the Four Dragons slumbering within Kaitel had grown too powerful. If this situation continued, he too would be swept away by the Four Dragons’ growth, so he had to nip this dangerous bud in the bud.
Kaitel had made a mistake by giving him control of the demons. Once the North was subdued, he would eliminate Robert and march on the capital.
Then, he planned to kill the Crown Prince and seize the imperial palace before the Four Dragons appeared.
Wasn’t that the reason he wore this mask?
Cain, gently tracing the painted face of a laughing clown on his mask, quietly looked out over the wall.
Stones and arrows rained down, but his forces weren’t suffering significant casualties.
“They’re being more defensive than I expected. If they were going to do that, they shouldn’t have fought back. I don’t understand what they’re thinking.”
Another masked figure beside Cain nodded at his words. While the masks made them equals, he had to hide this fact for the time being since he was leading the imperial army.
A considerable number of soldiers had already been eliminated by Robert’s rampage, so this newly revealed force had to appear entirely under Kaitel’s control.
The imperial army had to follow his lead until the North was subdued and order restored. But if they continued to drag things out like this…
Cain glanced around and clicked his tongue.
“I’d like to unleash the demons.”
“…That’s dangerous.”
If they lost control, they might not be able to handle the situation if a demon like the Minotaur went on a rampage.
And hadn’t the demons been brought out as a last resort, in case Robert betrayed them? If the demons appeared while they were still trying to breach the North’s gates, he didn’t know how the imperial army currently attacking the walls would react.
Of course, this was a thought born from not understanding Cain’s intentions.
Cain smiled faintly at those words and touched the jewel in his pocket.
The imperial army? The main force wasn’t the imperial army, but the demons. He had brought two demons with him as a precaution.
He had failed to gain control of all four demons, as Kaitel had opposed it.
But it didn’t matter. The two demons he had brought were known as warriors even among demons.
Minotaur and Mephisto.
Cain recalled their names and pondered for a moment, watching the soldiers pounding on the walls.
And then, the momentum and flashes of light he felt from afar…
…It was unexpected that Adele was that strong. But she couldn’t be stronger than Robert, who had fought the Minotaur.
She would probably be subdued soon, and the Northern army, currently putting up such a fierce defense, would lose their motivation.
“Shall we wait a little longer?”
“The moment we unleash the demons, we’ll be at odds with Kaitel. I don’t mind if you’re prepared, but brother, I think we should be more cautious.”
“I’ve already considered it several times, and I have no intention of giving up.”
The masked figure’s eyes narrowed at Cain’s casual tone, despite being called “brother,” but he knew that the more Kaitel lost control, the more disadvantageous the situation would become.
If the Four Dragons were to awaken in this state, it would truly be the end.
If they quickly unleashed the demons, swiftly subdued Robert and the North, and used that momentum to march on the capital…
There was certainly a possibility of killing Kaitel, seizing the capital, and eliminating the threat of the Four Dragons. But… the man, still unable to erase the worry that lingered in his mind, sighed.
He couldn’t identify the source of this inexplicable unease. Cain’s obsession with the demons must have stemmed from his personal desires.
The gaze directed at Cain, clutching the jewel in his pocket, grew increasingly sharp.
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As time passed, Adele’s sword slowed, while Robert’s gradually accelerated. She hadn’t expected such a difference in skill.
Adele, who had thought she had seen Robert’s swordsmanship many times, chuckled hollowly at the disparity in their skills that became more apparent as her emotions subsided.
“I can’t even hold him back anymore. If I try to hold him, he’ll just break free with his strength, won’t he?”
“I wouldn’t try to escape if you held me back, but it’s not like I’m only connected to the North.”
It hadn’t mattered much when he was only connected to Adele.
For example, when he first came to the North, no one would have said anything if Adele had held him back. But if that happened now, Miragen and Adriana would come running.
Adele’s position as Grand Duke had prevented that before, but now, having been charged with treason, she was undeniably a criminal until the Crown Prince was dead.
“Well, that fox of a Saint wouldn’t stay still if she saw me like this.”
Clang-
Their gazes met between their swords, which momentarily stopped in mid-air.
Robert’s sword, not a single drop of sweat on him, seemed to have improved even further.
She had never seen him fight at full strength, not even when he fought the Minotaur, but if she was being pushed back this much while fighting with all her might, the difference in their skills was clear.
She had actually intended to stop him. Robert had done something unforgivable, but it wasn’t right for him to do something so reckless to save her.
The reason she had responded earnestly, with her emotions mixed in, was because she had thought Robert could withstand it. But… she hadn’t expected to be so overwhelmed.
Now, even blocking his attacks was becoming difficult.
They weren’t exchanging blows intended to injure each other.
They were simply exaggerating their momentum to make the fight appear intense to outsiders. But even that was becoming a struggle.
She wanted to stop him. But she couldn’t.
Would a man who had risked his life to save her be easily swayed?
Clang!
Adele pushed his sword away forcefully and took a quiet breath. She brushed the sweat-drenched hair from her cheek, her gaze fixed on Robert.
“…If I told you to go back, you wouldn’t, would you?”
“You know why I came here.”
“You’re a fool. You came here knowing you were walking into a death trap, and now you won’t leave even if I tell you to.”
“I think Adele is more like that. Why didn’t you run away? If you realized what I was thinking, you should have run away and saved your own life.”
He hadn’t been summoned to the imperial capital this time, the imperial army had simply been dispatched to the North to subjugate the Grand Duke, who was waiting there.
If she had realized his intentions, she would have had plenty of time to escape.
Of course, the plan would have been ruined. She would have missed the opportunity to properly counterattack Kaitel, but Adele’s survival would have been enough.
“I don’t mind dying.”
Adele said so with an indifferent expression, then looked at him and smiled faintly.
He was startled by the gentle smile on the woman who usually wore a sneer or a cold smile, and she continued, twisting her lips even further.
“But you can’t die. I know it’s selfish, but I’m a selfish woman.”
She had already considered running away.
She had thought about disappearing from the North, depriving Robert of the opportunity to use the subjugation force to attack the Crown Prince.
Would Robert be alright if that happened? He might be targeted under the pretext of colluding with her.
He might figure it out after repeating the same time loop several times, but Adele didn’t want to consider even the slightest risk.
If Robert’s plan succeeded at the cost of her life, it would be a small price to pay. So, she thought it was alright to throw away one life.
There were plenty of other women for him, she thought self-deprecatingly.
Adele sighed quietly, realizing that Robert’s gaze had turned cold. She had expected him to be upset.
He seemed quite angry at her words about not minding dying.
What could she do? Her long-time friend, her intuition, had told her that the imperial army wouldn’t just attack the North.
And she could easily guess that Robert had rushed here to stop it.
“I’ll say it one last time. Leave me and go.”
“I’ll say it one last time. I’m not going.”
“…Then I have no choice but to cut you down here.”
“Try it. If you can.”
Adele gripped her sword and pointed it at Robert.
They were close enough that the tip of her sword almost touched his neck, but Adele’s hand only trembled, not a single drop of blood spilled.
She couldn’t cut him down. From the beginning, it had been predetermined that she would lose this argument.
Grit.
Adele gritted her teeth and glared at him, but Robert’s expression remained calm. His attention was focused on the waves of mana he felt from afar.
The energy emanating from the north gate was unusual. It was even greater than the mana he had felt when he first saw the Minotaur.
It was probably the Minotaur, having recovered its strength, or another demon.
Adele had to escape now.
Robert, looking at the sword pointed at his neck, smiled wryly. He flicked the sword away with his finger, and it was sheathed.
It was a sword that had never been intended to pierce him.
There hadn’t been a single trace of killing intent from the moment she first pointed it at him.
“Aren’t you going to stab me?”
“…I will.”
“Then do it. My neck is right here.”
As Robert stepped closer, Adele took a step back.
Her trembling arm finally dropped the sword to the ground. Her empty hand, her weakened legs, continued to retreat until she was pressed against the wall.
KABOOM-!
The purple flash of light erupting in the distance was a sign that the demons had appeared.
There was no more time to waste, and Robert smiled gently, looking at Adele’s moving lips.
“I’ll be fine.”
“But, still… knowing how I feel about you-!”
“This should be enough to reassure you.”
BOOM-
He wasn’t planning to die. He hadn’t come here to die, and the power he had exerted while fighting Adele was just a fraction of what he had gained.
The mana that stretched towards the sky finally erupted with a roar, like a flash of lightning.
Adele stared blankly at the flash of light, far more powerful than before, and then, with a dull thud, her body went limp.
Robert looked at the edge of his hand, then lifted Adele into his arms and approached the soldier standing at the gate.
Adele couldn’t be involved in this fight. It was his fight alone.
He handed Adele over to the soldier and gently stroked the unconscious woman’s forehead.
“She’ll be fine. Probably… nothing will happen.”
He had cultivated this power to protect her. If he had been going to be defeated by this kind of trial, he wouldn’t have come here so confidently.
“Even if something happens… I’ll make sure it’s nothing.”
Robert, gripping his sword, turned his head again. And as he ran towards the demons, he didn’t look back.
To let go of his lingering attachments. To steel his resolve for this fight.
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