The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 103.2

Chapter 103.2: Spring When Stars Fall (2)

It was Marquis McLoud.

He desperately clung to his consciousness against the illusion of the ‘Barrier of the Great Forest’, calling out to Marquis Ross.

“I summon you.”

“Your spirit is tenacious.”

Marquis Ross slowly walked through the fog.

The blood of Ross.

Heatherward was completely unaffected by the grand barrier Glumiêm had created by weaving together the powers of elves and witches.

Even the fog parted around him, as if afraid to touch him.

“What in the world happened? I’m certain that we lifted the barrier……. ”

“The reason the ‘Barrier of the Great Forest’ has never been breached before is not just because of elven magic, but because it’s fortified with a witch’s ‘miracle’.”

McLoud strained to keep his eyelids from closing.

He was already halfway under the illusion, witnessing the expeditionary force trampling through the ‘Deep Forest’ and chasing after Glumiêm.

“So, what you brought was only half……”

The information Marquis Ross had submitted to the magic tower was only the magical component of the ‘Barrier of the Great Forest’.

In other words, it was missing the core of the barrier, the witch’s ‘miracle,’ making it incomplete.

“The fact that the Elven Queen is a witch is known even by the Holy See, yet you’re the fool who fell for it.”

Ross’s words were cold.

McLoud, burning with anger at his betrayal, fought to maintain his consciousness.

“Do you hate Hybolt that much?”

Everwyn Ross and Carla Audrey.

Knowing everything about the events between Marquis Ross and King Hybolt, McLoud instantly grasped the reason for his betrayal.

“Not particularly.”

However, the response was not what he expected.

“I understand him now. I also understand the request that my sister made to Edmund.”

At first, there was anger.

Then came resentment.

And what followed was revenge.

Marquis Ross wanted to punish Hybolt, who had taken Everwyn from the cage of Ross yet failed to protect her.

That’s why he created the ‘Crown of Melancholy,’ to slowly crush his spirit, but that plan had failed.

Marquis Ross looked back at the invisible ‘Deep Forest’ shrouded in the ‘Barrier of the Great Forest’.

“However, there’s one person I want to see again.”

“Carla…?”

Heatherward frowned and corrected him.

“It’s Everwyn Ross. She’s not someone to be called by a vulgar name like Carla, my sister.”

“You madman. Even madness has its limits.”

“Don’t worry, I keep my promises.”

McLoud looked around at the battlefield.

No, this wasn’t a battlefield but a slaughterhouse.

It wasn’t a war where swords and weapons clashed, where convictions and fury collided, claiming lives, but a scene of one-sided carnage.

Marquis Ross reached out and covered Marquis McLoud’s face.

“When you wake up after a good sleep, it will all be over. You will have charged deep into the ‘Deep Forest’ pursuing Glumiêm, only to fall into a trap and lose half of your expeditionary force.”

“So there was a…… scenario.”

McLoud’s eyes gradually closed.

Even hundreds of knights, even Olivia, couldn’t withstand Glumiêm’s illusion. It was a testament to his superhuman mental strength that an ordinary human like him had endured this long.

“And Olivia, with her resourcefulness, will save the remaining troops and return. She will become the first queen to have set foot in the ‘Deep Forest’ and come within reach of her goal.”

By this point, he could hardly see reality anymore.

Yet, the last thing he saw was the elves disguising themselves as knights.

Until now, the Marquis Belt had prevented the elves from advancing south.

But now, disguised as the expeditionary force, the elves were infiltrating the upper echelons of Airian society.

A method unbefitting of elves.

And a human unbefitting of humanity.

Together, they were about to shatter the once impenetrable Marquis Belt.

“Traitor to humanity……”

With those last words, McLoud collapsed.

Marquis Ross looked down at the fallen Marquis McLoud.

His recent memories would be erased by the fog.

They would remember, see, and experience everything, just as he and Glumiêm had planned.

“I was betrayed before I betrayed anyone. The human world that took everything from me deserves to crumble.”

Leaving behind his calm, emotionless, and genuine words, he slowly turned towards the barrier.

Faye MacGeraghty, who had been observing from a distance, approached him.

“Not yet.”

Flick.

Heatherward, his eyes blazing with intensity unlike before, locked eyes with Faye MacGeraghty.

She raised her index finger and pointed to the sky. Dark clouds had gathered, and rain was falling in a steady drizzle.

“Her Majesty has commanded us to allow your passage once the expeditionary army has withdrawn.”

“……”

He wanted to see Everwyn.

He yearned to see her, reborn within the World Tree, but Marquis Ross turned away.

There was no one who would listen to his tantrums.

Now was the time to lie low and bide his time.

He simply watched silently as the elves continued their massacre of the expeditionary force.

Then, Faye MacGeraghty spoke.

“You seemed close to that old man. I can spare one life if you wish.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Heatherward declared.

“You can kill him.”

“Understood.”

Faye MacGeraghty drew the thin sword she wore at her waist.

In the human world, the position of Marquis was similar to that of an Elder in elven society. She didn’t bother delegating this task to another elf and decided to handle it personally.

“One Marquis is enough, I presume.”

She raised her sword high above the fallen Marquis McLoud’s neck.

Drip, drip━.

Raindrops slid down the blade and landed on Marquis McLoud’s neck.

Heatherward watched this scene impassively.

Shheeeek━!

Faye MacGeraghty swung her sword down to end McLoud’s life.

Clang━!

However, her thin blade was intercepted by a jet-black sword that appeared out of nowhere.

As if protecting McLoud, the black sword, forged from the heart of night itself, plunged into the ground between her and McLoud.

“That’s far enough.”

Crackleeeeee━!

A sudden clap of thunder made the elves cover their ears.

A blinding white lightning bolt struck the ground, and a man with raven hair descended.

Fwoosh━.

Wind howled.

His long black hair danced in the wind.

Raindrops scattered, and even the barrier’s fog retreated before him.

“That old man gave me some advice, so I have to save him at least once.”

Marquis Ross’s eyes widened as if they would split.

The man glanced around the scene of carnage with a familiar air, brushing his hair back.

“Not that it was particularly helpful.”

It was Cain.

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