Chapter 152: Sincerity and Truth (2)
「There is a man.
He always wears the same clothes, in the same place, at the same time, dancing the same dance.
And he died of old age.
There is another man.
He danced the same dance, in the same place, at the same time, in the same clothes as the previous man.
Imagine you are a person who lives for a thousand years when there are such men.
When you look at the place from afar at the same time, whether a hundred years or a thousand years pass, you will always see only the first man.
The ‘name’ that distinguishes him from others.
If men who don’t even know the ‘name’ that tells them who he is are doing the same thing, you’d think they were the same person.
That is immortality.
The first man died.
But his will will continue, and the more people follow him, the more immortal he will be.
Humans cannot be immortal unless they are gods. But there is a way for ‘common humans’ to achieve immortality that only ‘common humans’ can do.
Do you wish for longevity?
Do you dream of eternal life?
Do you want eternity?
Before all those mysteries, humans have the will to immortality.
…….
━〈Immortality of the Common〉 Prologue」
A promising knight of McLoud territory.
The knight who came to represent Olivia’s succession to the throne, Martin Graham.
Gulp.
He swallowed again.
Shing, shing.
He first drew both swords from his waist.
But the eerie feeling was the same whether he faced her with or without a weapon.
Thump━.
Isoel walks.
She is heavily armed with heavy armor that makes one wonder if her slender body can withstand it, and she is carrying a giant hammer.
A feeling of pressure, like a huge rock falling from a cliff, gripped Martin’s chest.
“Right.”
Isoel’s sudden words.
“……?”
Martin reflexively raised his sword toward his right.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaang━!
Isoel’s hammer, imbued with all her might, swung mercilessly.
Martin gritted his teeth and bent his legs to block Isoel’s attack.
“Kugh━.”
It was just one hammer blow, but the hammer, seemingly engulfed in blue aura, was so powerful that it couldn’t be called a mere blow.
Screeeech━.
As a price for blocking the blow, Martin was pushed back from the floor of the duel arena.
Moreover, the aura that was swirling around his two swords flickered like a candle in the wind.
━Ah! Knight Martin! He’s holding on! But it’s dangerous!
The voice of Baron Moliot, commentating from afar, could be heard.
“Left.”
Followed by Isoel’s indifferent words.
Thud━.
Martin, who had barely managed to stand at the edge of the arena, once again raised his sword to the left, and.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaang!
Without even a moment to move, he was pushed back by Isoel’s hammer blow.
━The two knights have completely different styles! Knight Martin is known for his speed and swift, dazzling swordsmanship that takes his opponent’s life before they can even━, ah!
“Right.”
Bang!
“Left.”
Kwakang━!
For Martin, who focused on speed and flamboyance, Isoel was both the best and worst enemy.
“Right.”
He had to move somehow.
He had to escape from Isoel’s increasingly fast hammer blows and utilize his speed.
Avoid the wild swings of that hammer, get close, and attack her! That was his path to victory!
Martin’s eyes flashed.
As she swung the giant hammer, her openings grew!
━Like a chariot that was recently invented on the Continent, Knight Isoel has a style that pushes forward relentlessly! A typhoon that withstands everything with its body and sweeps away everything with overwhelming attacks!
Thud━.
Amidst the noisy commentary of Baron Moliot, Martin gritted his teeth and stepped forward.
“Left.”
Isoel’s attack came with a warning, as always.
Even as he ran, Martin reflexively raised his sword to the left.
Shing━.
But the direction was different.
Contrary to her words, this time she tried to crush Martin’s head from the right.
As if to prove he wasn’t a representative knight for nothing, Martin instinctively ducked his head to avoid Isoel’s hammer.
That one opening.
The gap created when the hammer blow missed!
“My victory━!”
━Ah! Martin! Martin Graham! He finally approached Knight Isoel, who had been an impenetrable wall!
Waaaaaaaaaaaaah━!
Deafening cheers erupted.
The first battle of the throne succession, which would determine the future direction of the kingdom, was reaching its climax.
Martin, his eyes bloodshot, came within two steps of Isoel.
Cha-ching━.
Martin brought his two swords together like scissors.
The target was Isoel’s waist!
He, who hadn’t expected to be pushed back this far by the princess’s escort knight, decided to end Isoel’s life in one fell swoop.
━It’s coming! The famous Graham family’s dual swordsmanship━!
Gwencifer━.
As a dual swordsmanship said to be inspired by scissors, Martin’s swordsmanship was noisy and flashy, but practicality breathed within it.
He tried to cut Isoel’s waist, armor and all, with aura raised like sawtooth on the blades, but.
Clickety-clack, clickety-clack━!━!
He failed.
Between Martin’s swords, which clashed in an X shape and erupted.
━Knightttt! Isoel! She stuck the handle of the hammer between the swords!
The long handle of Credne was thrust into the ground.
Martin’s swords clashed against Credne, sparking only crimson flames.
Whoosh━.
“Right.”
This time, the warning came too late.
Isoel’s heavy fist, clad in a gauntlet.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaang━!
It slammed straight into Martin’s face.
Martin hurriedly raised his aura to block Isoel’s fist.
“Left.”
The right fist.
“Right.”
Left.
“Left.”
Left.
Martin couldn’t regain his composure under the relentless barrage of attacks.
He somehow managed to hold onto his swords, but he didn’t have the strength to wield them.
━The onslaught! It’s an onslaught! Knight Isoel’s fists are pouring down like rain.
Like a relentless chariot.
Isoel unleashed a flurry of punches, radiating a burning desire to kill her opponent.
Boom━.
Moreover, deceived by the feint that seemed to fly like a horse but didn’t, all Martin could do was defend.
That’s when Isoel spoke for the first time in a while.
“Chest.”
“……What?”
Kwaggagagagagagagak━!
Isoel’s left foot slammed into Martin’s chest. A deep, resonant sound, like a giant drum splitting, echoed.
━Martin!! A direct hit!
Thud━.
But it didn’t end there.
Remembering Cain she had seen from afar, Isoel chased him to the very end.
“I remember you saying that an end must end to be an end.”
Isoel, soaring into the air, stomped on Martin’s chest with her weight as he fell to the ground.
Kugugung━.
With a tremendous tremor that shook not only the arena but also the audience seats.
“…….”
The cheers vanished.
A tremor that made everyone realize that this was not just a place for entertainment.
A reverberation that proclaimed that this was a battlefield for knights to take each other’s lives━.
“Cough━.”
Martin coughed up blood.
His face, unable to rise from the ground, was covered in bright red blood.
And above that.
Isoel was standing triumphantly, her foot on his chest.
“Do you yield?”
“…….”
Martin, his eyes half-rolled back, didn’t answer Isoel’s question.
His actions were light, but the end was that of a knight.
The will of a knight who would rather die than surrender.
Swoosh━.
Isoel accepted his will.
She lifted her foot, and.
Whooooosh━.
The moment it touched, an eerie wind, cold enough to make one’s skin crawl, swept around Isoel.
At the same time, the blue aura that emanated from her entire body gathered at her foot.
If it landed as it was, it would crush him, tearing his body in two.
Anticipating the sight, most of the audience turned their heads or closed their eyes.
At that moment.
“Forfeit!”
Olivia’s clear voice echoed through the arena.
Isoel’s foot was just about to touch Martin’s chest.
“I admit defeat!”
━T, That’s……
Baron Moliot, holding the loudspeaker, rolled his eyes. There were only two outcomes to this duel.
The opponent’s surrender or death.
Martin was already severely injured.
And he had no intention of surrendering.
In this situation, whether to accept Olivia’s surrender or not was a decision no one could easily make.
Well, one person could.
“Let’s accept it.”
It was Oleciren.
She crossed her legs, rested her arm on the chair, and casually replied, stroking her chin.
“Sir Martin is also a knight of Airian. We can’t let him die in vain.”
A good excuse.
But more than that, what Oleciren was concerned about was her image.
A king doesn’t become a king by being kind. If that were the case, they would elect representatives by vote like some of the city-states in the Free City Alliance.
A king.
And the king of Airian.
Needed power.
Overwhelming power at that.
The current situation gave the impression that Oleciren, who possessed more sinister and overwhelming power as a witch, was the absolute ruler of this space.
━Ah, I understand. The winner is Isoel Wareham!
Baron Moliot immediately declared the victory.
Isoel gave a light bow to Martin, who was lying on the ground, picked up her gravity hammer, Credne, and left the arena.
“The power of gravity…… Why didn’t you use it?”
Martin’s faint voice could be heard.
Isoel said without looking back.
“There’s a different place to use it.”
“I…… guess I wasn’t a good enough opponent for that.”
Martin’s head slumped to the side.
The healers and priests who were on standby rushed to carry him away.
Thus, the first match ended in Oleciren’s victory.
━Then we will begin the second match in thirty minutes!
Silence.
The atmosphere was so heavy that no one could easily speak, and even the audience breathed carefully.
In the midst of this, Olivia asked.
“Have you heard why Young Master Cain isn’t here?”
“……I heard.”
Oleciren frowned as if she didn’t like it.
The annoyance that welled up inside her as a witch and the dignity she possessed as a princess combined as she spoke.
“He said he’s going to hit the back of my head.”
🔹🔹🔹
Lindbloom Royal Palace, Grand Cross.
“I never thought I’d be here with you.”
The Saintess spoke, looking around. The heart of the royal palace, where Hybolt, who was out of his mind from the terror, was kept.
“You’re the best in the continent when it comes to healing magic.”
She was walking with Cain.
While Oleciren was away for the throne succession, the two of them came here.
The Saintess shook her head.
“You know, when I walk around like this in the Holy See, people kneel hundreds of meters away.”
In Airian, people didn’t know any better, so they acted normally.
The status of the Saintess was on a different level in the continent where the influence of the Holy See was properly exerted.
“I know.”
And Cain knew it well.
“A walking healing potion.”
In other words.
The Saintess’s eyes widened as she looked at Cain, but then she just chuckled.
“A top-grade healing potion.”
“My apologies.”
Something about the Saintess had changed.
She seemed to have eased her mind a little.
Cain, inwardly adjusting his assessment of the Saintess, opened the innermost chamber of the Grand Cross, and.
Creeeaaak━.
In the center of it, Hybolt was floating, unconscious.
Caterina approached him and examined his wounds.
“He’s doing well. His external injuries are almost healed. Considering he faced that explosion head-on, his internal injuries aren’t that serious either.”
“But they say he’s still unconscious.”
The Saintess examined Hybolt a few times and clicked her tongue.
“Wizards are more efficient than me when it comes to mental treatment…….”
“Who in the world would show their king to necromancers?”
“That’s true. Well, it’s a matter of efficiency; it’s not like I can’t do it.”
Wooooong━.
The Saintess raised her hands.
A brilliant white light poured out from her chest and gathered in her hands.
Pure, concentrated holy power.
As Hybolt’s wounds gradually healed, Cain frowned.
‘This holy power feels familiar…….’
Leave a Reply