Chapter 150 : Chapter 150

Chapter 150 : Krause (5)

Creak.

Marserin turned her head at the sound of the door opening behind her.

"You are..."

Karim placed a finger on his lips.

He cautiously approached Marserin, who was sitting next to Jewelina.

"What are you doing here at this hour?"

Marserin asked, her low voice filled with wariness.

Whoosh!

Only the cool sound of rain filled the room.

Karim stood quietly next to Marserin, looking down at Jewelina.

A fleeting, white light would pass through the room whenever thunder rumbled, briefly revealing his expressionless face.

"I... I might have to leave Aldenfort for a while."

"Leave?"

"It's nothing. I might come back soon."

Karim shrugged his shoulders.

Then he took his eyes off Jewelina and looked at Marserin.

He carefully unwrapped the bandages on Marserin's head and arm to check her wounds, then wrapped them up again tightly.

"It's been less than a day since you woke up. At this rate, you might collapse again before you see the Vice-Commander open her eyes."

"..."

"Please, get some rest. Ms. Maserin, you are still a patient."

Despite Karim's kind gaze, Maserin's expression was indifferent.

Her lips kept parting.

In the end, the words that had been swirling inside her burst out.

"You came because you knew I'd be awake, didn't you?"

It wasn't a certainty. It was just a thought she had.

"...Yes, you're right."

Maserin's shoulders trembled slightly.

The moment she turned her head, she made eye contact with Karim.

"I have a question."

Karim's voice suddenly sounded unfamiliar. It was not his usual tone.

"Why did you trust me to treat the Vice-Commander, even though you were wary of me?"

"What... Do you mean?"

"Vice-Commander Jewelina complained of mental distress. So I would examine her from time to time. But the Vice-Commander collapsed... right after I had examined her alone."

"..."

"And afterward, you coincidentally witnessed my meeting with Chief Secretary Max. Do you remember?"

Maserin's eyes widened.

It was a truth she had tried so hard to ignore.

It was a coincidence, just as he said.

A few days after Jewelina had collapsed, she had to leave the Aldenfort mansion on an urgent errand and happened to see Max and Karim meeting in a secluded alleyway.

Maserin hid herself in the shadows and watched the two of them, holding her breath.

'He... he knew?'

The scene from that day was still vivid.

She couldn't hear their conversation, but one thing was certain.

Karim's back was the only thing she could see.

"But Ms. Maserin, will you answer me?"

Karim took off his glasses.

For a moment, Maserin felt a strange sense of unease in his eyes.

It was as if she was looking at a different person.

"Did you have to entrust me with it because you doubted and distrusted me, but had no other choice?"

Maserin bit her lip.

If you only looked at the words, it sounded like a deliberately hurtful question, but his expression and tone were the opposite.

There was a sense of pity.

That strange contrast of emotions confused Maserin.

"What are you trying to do? You know the answer. I had no other choice, so what was I supposed to do? Someone was on the verge of dying."

―You know well, my Lord. What was I supposed to do when there was no other way? I couldn't just stand by and watch them die... Please save them, my Lord. If you save this person, I will do anything you ask.

"..."

"What's your intention in asking that? And coming here this late at night?"

Rumble.

The thunder from beyond the horizon outside mixed with the heavy silence in the room.

After a flash of white lightning passed, Karim's face returned to his usual state.

He quietly put his glasses back on.

"I just wanted to confirm."

"...What?"

"Thank you, Ms. Maserin."

Karim took a small bottle from his pocket.

It was a glass bottle filled with a transparent liquid.

"It's an antidote. When morning comes, give her small amounts three times."

He turned around without waiting for Maserin's reaction.

Taken aback, Maserin couldn't help but ask urgently.

"W-wait! Who are you?"

Karim stopped in front of the door.

After a moment of thought, he answered.

"I am just a doctor."

The sound of the door closing quietly served as his farewell.

Maserin plopped down on the chair. This was more exhausting than she thought.

Whoosh―

Was it her imagination?

The sound of the rain filling the room was heavier than before.

***

"Seeing that it's been so carefully drawn, it must be the god that the Krause family worships, right?"

I pointed to the Mystic Turtle mural behind him with my thumb.

For now, I'll pretend I don't know anything.

"A benefactor of our family."

"...A benefactor?"

"Because he is the one who made the Krause family what it is today."

My eyes blinked on their own.

I turned my head and looked up and down at the Mystic Turtle mural again.

This demonic beast, which looked like a turtle or a snake, was the family's benefactor?

"The place where he first descended to this land is here. That's why this place is called the Mystic Turtle Cave."

"I didn't know that. Then, where is this Mystic Turtle now?"

"It's a secret of the family, so I can't tell you more."

"Of course you can't."

Valen and I closed the distance between us as if we had agreed to it.

Up close, I could see that his upper body was bare.

I hadn't noticed it from a distance because of the tattoos covering his entire body.

'Why would an assassin who uses hidden weapons do that?'

And what he was holding in his hand was...

'A flail? No, is it a whip?'

The length was similar to a regular sword, but the body below the hilt-like handle was blunt.

It looked like some kind of bludgeon.

"The Krause family's unique weapon, the Dark Dragon Flail."

Valen said in a low voice, as if he had read my mind.

"The Dark Dragon Flail."

"The Head of the Krause family inherits the alias of the Dark Dragon. That is, it's a weapon that only the Head of the Krause family can use."

"How grand."

It was an item I had never seen in my past life.

Back then, this man fought Griem Igraine with a Kingdom weapon.

Well, if you think about it, that's not all.

From his appearance to the aura he gave off, it was not an exaggeration to say that the Valen Krause from back then and the Valen Krause in front of me now were completely different people.

"Wasn't the trial by combat tomorrow? What was the big rush?"

"It's about time you asked. Didn't the news get to you too late? You'd be shocked if you knew what happened to your comrades outside."

Valen's languid, droopy eyes twitched slightly.

"As long as we live on this land, for us, ruin and survival are always a hair's breadth away."

"..."

"It's nothing new."

Is this the kind of courage a family head needs?

As I admired him, the process by which this man would eventually become the ruler of Aldenfort, the official history, was automatically drawn in my mind.

It was a common story of a single family with deep Imperial roots enduring all kinds of persecution in a foreign land and then rising to the top...

All of it made sense.

The poison and assassination techniques and the vicious family rule of repaying a favor twofold and vengeance tenfold.

"Why did you touch the Gunbel Trading Company?"

"Because the harm they would bring to this land is too great. I'm just nipping it in the bud."

"That's a cruel thing to do for a fellow Imperial."

I snorted.

The man, who had been saying extraordinary things up until now, was suddenly pouting like a child.

"The reason why the swordsmen of the Empire pursue higher levels of mastery is to be able to see the world more broadly, Valen Krause."

"So, what did you see?"

I raised my Heavenly Demon and then held it at a slight angle.

"A chance to fix what's wrong."

"..."

"And I decided to be the one to do it."

I didn't know how these words sounded to a fellow countryman who was struggling to survive in a foreign land.

Well, if it gave him something to chew on while he crossed the River Styx, that was enough.

"So, now die, Valen."

I charged first. I had no intention of a long fight.

'Short battle.'

I reached Valen's range in a single leap.

It was the moment I horizontally swung my Heavenly Demon.

Clang-!

The true form of the Dark Dragon Flail that Valen was holding was revealed.

It was an umbrella with dagger-shaped iron spokes. Its opened form looked like a fully bloomed flower.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Dark Dragon Flail rotated like a high-speed water wheel.

Sparks flew loudly every time the spokes and the Heavenly Demon's blade clashed.

"The fact that you came into the mansion alone and reached this far means that the poison doesn't work on you."

I was caught off guard by the sudden weapon, but Valen said it as if it was no big deal.

It was a frustratingly sharp insight in the middle of all this.

"I'll punish you with the Krause family's secret technique, Bihen Benkou."

Is that why he took off his shirt? Was it a resolve not to use poison or hidden weapons?

Tchink!

The rotating daggers grazed my body mercilessly.

The trajectory of the Dark Dragon Flail was hard to follow with my eyes.

This is what made these strange weapons so tricky.

You had to spend extra time and effort to find a way to counter them.

But I had an even more unreasonable opportunity.

'Ghost Eye.'

A blue light shimmered in my left eye, and soon, a path became visible.

A gap I found by calculating the trajectory of the Dark Dragon Flail.

It was a breakthrough for the Heavenly Demon, born from the combination of my accelerated thoughts and my obsession with seeing the truth.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

A relentless, powerful strike.

I struck it repeatedly. I was crushing the complex movements of the Dark Dragon Flail with a direct frontal attack.

It was the answer my Ghost Eye gave me.

The Heavenly Demon's thick, clear sword path let out a sharp, metal-shattering sound.

Every time the Dark Dragon Flail collided with that path, it shattered with a loud clang.

Clang―!

Valen folded the Dark Dragon Flail.

At that moment, the body of the Dark Dragon Flail became thinner, turning into a grotesque-looking iron bludgeon with broken metal shards stuck to it.

Whoosh!

He swung it like a sword.

This was easier to deal with.

Valen and I quickly passed each other, aiming for each other's weaknesses.

It might have looked like we were evenly matched, but up close, the situation was clear.

I dodged by reading the trajectory of the Dark Dragon Flail, while Valen was struggling to block the Heavenly Demon that was rushing toward him.

Every time he did, fragments of the Dark Dragon Flail flew off, and metal shards scattered in all directions.

As if being carved by a sculptor's knife, the Dark Dragon Flail was becoming noticeably gaunt.

Clang! Clang―! Clang! Clang!

We exchanged blows as if we were perfectly choreographed.

In that exchange, our gazes and breaths were intensely intertwined.

My excitement rose.

The sound of clashing blades and my heartbeat reached a crescendo.

The thrill of stepping on the threshold of life and death within our shared domain made my blood boil.

Slice―!

Clang―

Valen's wrist was cut off, and the Dark Dragon Flail fell weakly to the floor.

The thrill that was reaching its peak was suddenly extinguished.

All that remained between us was a breath like burnt-out embers and an unexplainable emptiness.

"You said it was a family secret. Now it's your turn to answer."

"..."

"Where is the Poison Demon?"

Valen only lifted his eyes to look at me.

He was covering the severed part of his wrist, from which blood was gushing out, with his other hand.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He curled his lips into a twisted smile.

His face, stained with sweat and blood, had become haggard.

"...It was a good fight, Valen Krause."

There was no need to rush.

If I kept following the traces left by the Eight Demons like this, I would eventually find the answer.

'You never know.'

Maybe if I kill Valen, the other half of the Poison Demon's Remnant Orb will appear.

"Don't think this is the end."

"There's more?"

Valen gave a choking laugh.

He was standing with his back to the Mystic Turtle mural, which made his laugh sound even more ominous.

"While our family members were bleeding and falling from your sword, why do you think I was cooped up in this Mystic Turtle Cave?"

"I don't know."

Whoosh.

Suddenly, a wind blew.

It was as cold and dry as a winter storm.

Clang- clang-

The metal fragments scattered on the floor began to move.

My spine slowly grew cold.

It wasn't because of the wind.

The air currents all around us were twisting.

The wind began to form a circle around Valen and me.

As it kept rotating, its speed increased, and soon, it turned into a fierce vortex.

Whoooooosh!

The fragments of the shattered Dark Dragon Flail were swept into the vortex.

They shot into the air, drawing sharp trajectories. Dozens, hundreds of metal fragments intertwined, forming a storm of blades.

"Even though it's incomplete, it's more than enough to take you down."

Large and small daggers swirled relentlessly around Valen.

Their trajectory grew narrower, as if they were protecting their master.

In the center of the vortex, Valen raised his head.

His bloodshot eyes pierced through me.

"Ten Thousand Dark Dragons."

The storm of blades that completely filled the area came rushing at me to swallow me whole.

I felt like my soul would be torn from my body by the grand scale of it before the metal fragments even tore my flesh.

'A dark dragon covering the sky.'

To the naked eye, countless fragments were just falling in an irregular pattern.

But my Ghost Eye accurately captured it.

It was a dark dragon with iron scales, shrouded in black smoke.

The creature, which had been floating slowly, now charged at me with ferocious speed, trying to swallow me.

Shing.

I drew my Blood Lion and held it in my other hand.

I had already succeeded in infusing a Sword Aura into both swords last time.

Although the scale was different this time.

Tzzzzt―!

Two streams of Sword Aura shone in the dust cloud stirred up by the storm of blades.

I held the Heavenly Demon and the Blood Lion with their tips pointing up and down, respectively.

'Wide-range ultimate technique.'

There was no place to escape in here.

The only path my Ghost Eye was showing me was straight into the jaws of the charging dark dragon.

I steeled myself again.

I mustn't forget. The Ghost Eye doesn't show me a path to survival; it only shows me the best possible option.

'I'm the one who chooses the path to take.'

I charged into the jaws of the dark dragon.

I spread the Heavenly Demon and the Blood Lion in my hands like wings.

My vision burst with light.

The screams of the metal fragments exploded like a thunderous roar in the white light.

The sensation in my hands was clear.

The two divine weapons tore through the dark dragon's body as they advanced.

Following the trajectory that streaked like a flash of light, Valen's neck was severed.

The two streaks of Sword Aura didn't stop and continued to the Mystic Turtle mural that Valen had been standing against.

The shape of the demon was sliced diagonally and only after a series of loud bangs did the light slowly fade away.

"Hah."

I wanted to lie down right then and there.

My mouth tasted sweet from exhaustion.

But it wasn't over yet.

I turned my head back.

When did he get there?

That's right, it was from the moment I started clashing with Valen.

Stomp, stomp.

I took big strides toward him.

I deliberately stepped harder to prevent my legs from giving out.

"..."

He showed no signs of trying to escape.

Was he resigned to his fate?

Well, since he came here willingly, there probably wasn't any other option for him.

Just as he was about to say something, I grabbed him by the neck.

"Gah... ugh...!"

My lips, which I had been suppressing, kept curling into a smile.

The suspicion I had was finally proven to be true.

In the end, my intuition was right again.

"Karim. It was you."

"Ugh! Sir Bihen...! L-let me go...! If you... if you provoke me any further...!"

Black veins bulged on Karim's face.

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