The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 155

Chapter 155: Operation Abel (1)

「One can only offer one’s own life.

━From the knight’s oath.”

🔹🔹🔹

The day before the throne succession.

Lindbloom’s Royal Palace.

“I will be the bait.”

“Abel━!”

Oleciren exclaimed in protest at Abel’s sudden declaration.

Isoel blinked her big eyes, and Wayne smiled bitterly.

As if he knew this would happen.

Thud━.

Oleciren stood up, slamming her hand on the table.

“I won’t allow it.”

“Your Highness.”

“I can’t lose you too, not when Cain is gone!”

“Princess Oleciren. But you know this is the only way.”

Abel’s eyes didn’t waver in the slightest.

Truly a knight and a warrior.

Though he was only fifteen, the one standing here was a man walking a blade’s edge.

Sweep━.

Abel pulled the documents Wayne had brought about ‘Witch Hunter Jack’.

And he pointed to a few passages he had been paying close attention to as they read together.

“The first and last Witch Hunter’s name was ‘Jack’. And the old man who called himself an Apostle also called himself ‘Jack’.”

“That’s just a common name━.”

“Everyone here knows it’s not a coincidence.”

“…….”

Abel cut off Oleciren’s words, and she closed her mouth.

Thump.

She hadn’t dared to say it out loud, afraid it would be too daunting, afraid Abel would act so selflessly.

But Abel was even smarter than she thought.

“A monster that has lived for hundreds of years. A monster that hides itself with a codename like ‘Jack’ and a strange title like ‘Golden Dawn’, just like ‘Arian’ we saw, without revealing its true name.”

He was even braver.

Thump━.

Abel thumped his chest.

“We have to admit that we can’t find this monster.”

It has no name.

Its appearance isn’t that unique either.

Moreover, behind it exists a vast, unidentified force capable of manipulating even the great nobles.

Even if the Airian royal family and the Seven Noble Families joined forces, the answer would be negative if they could even catch a whiff of them.

Especially if it’s ‘Golden Dawn’, who seems to be their leader.

“For some reason, that monster is after me.”

Everyone had witnessed the irrational obsession with Abel.

Otherwise, no matter how monstrous it was, would it have dared to attack the royal palace?

“So if my life is in danger, it will show up.”

If they can’t find it, make it come out on its own.

And the bait is Abel.

“…….”

The three couldn’t answer easily.

Their hearts screamed no, but their minds insisted there was no other way.

It was a choice that made even Oleciren, who was about to burn herself with the witch’s power-fueled emotions and flames of revenge, hesitate.

At that moment.

Rumble━.

The ceiling shook, and dust rained down.

The four looked up at the same time.

Creak━.

The door swung open, and a man entered.

“Before any sacrifices or bait, let’s hear the whole story first.”

Brushing back his messy black hair, the man who sat down in the empty seat was Cain.

“You could’ve come a little earlier…….”

“Something definitely happened.”

Oleciren explained what had transpired.

And the moment she mentioned the other silver reaction she saw with Golden Dawn and Abel, Cain’s face hardened.

‘Don’t tell me that’s…….’

The moment Abel ceased to be ‘Abel’.

In the previous timeline, the hero Abel had said he began to lose himself after receiving the Holy See’s blessing.

Therefore, Cain naturally assumed that the enemy was in the Holy See.

‘It’s possible it was there from the beginning.’

Perhaps the Holy See’s blessing stimulated something ‘silver’ that already existed within Abel.

There were many things about Abel’s birth that he had heard from Arna that bothered him.

The same ‘silver’, of all things.

A birth different from ordinary children.

What if the greatest talent on the continent was not a coincidence in the course of human evolution, but someone’s plan?

Cain lightly clenched and unclenched his fist. Then he looked straight at Abel.

“Abel.”

“Yes, brother.”

“You’re right, it’s a good opportunity. And Count Edmund too…….”

Cain smiled bitterly.

As if it were contagious, Wayne and the others also wore bitter smiles.

Edmund Ethelred.

The one who, for some reason, wore a bucket with only eyeholes cut out and became Olivia’s third knight.

Tap, tap━.

Cain tapped his fingers on the table, organizing his thoughts. Then he nodded towards the sword placed beside Abel.

“Remember when I was going to make you discard En Zauer and inscribe Ardvark on your body?”

Nod━.

Abel could never forget that day.

No matter how many days and nights he struggled, no matter how much sweat he shed, Philip’s En Zauer engraved on his body wouldn’t disappear.

His head knew that Ethelred’s broadsword Ardvark was clearly better, but his body moved a beat slower.

“I tried to kill you then.”

“Yes.”

The two brothers spoke calmly.

“What━?”

Oleciren asked in surprise, and Cain shrugged.

“It was probably right before I met you for the first time.”

“So you mean you weren’t just sparring then, you were really risking your lives?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re crazy.”

And Oleciren looked at Abel.

Even after hearing that Cain had tried to kill him, Abel didn’t flinch.

She couldn’t understand it at all.

“Thanks to you, brother, I was able to overcome the wall.”

Abel was so happy about it that she could only sigh deeply.

“There is an Eastern saying that only the courage to take a step forward while standing on the edge of a cliff can make a person grow.”

Wayne had previously noticed that the framework of Cain’s ‘Dark Sky’ was based on Eastern swordsmanship.

Unlike most of the Western human world who knew nothing about the East, Wayne was well aware of Eastern proverbs.

“For a knight, the danger of a cliff is a life-or-death battle!”

“Yes. And I grew by taking a step forward in that situation.”

Abel nodded.

“You always told me that I have the world’s greatest talent, brother.”

“……Because it’s true.”

“I don’t know if it’s thanks to that talent, but I’ve always been able to move forward on the battlefield where my life is at stake.”

“I can’t say it’s not a factor, but the biggest part is your willingness to put yourself in such dangerous situations.”

Cain asserted.

Abel smiled.

And Wayne and Isoel, the two knights who were always frustrated by the wall, clenched their fists.

They felt like they had glimpsed the reason why they were stagnant while Abel was growing like a wildfire.

Abel’s eyes sparkled.

“That’s why I’m the bait, but ultimately it’s for my own growth.”

Oleciren glanced at Cain.

Cain shrugged as if he didn’t know anything, and she let out a sigh and opened her mouth.

“You’re all the same, obsessed with the sword. So you’re saying that Count Edmund, just like you, is going to push Abel?”

“To be precise, he’ll try to kill him. Dead or alive. The sword only divides its opponents in two.”

“Crazy bastards…….”

“You can curse me all you want, but don’t lump me in with that guy.”

Cain shook his head.

He was better than Edmund, no matter what.

Wouldn’t he, who could land properly without breaking the ceiling, be better than the one who breaks it?

“Well, you don’t wear a bucket.”

“That’s…… true.”

Although it was a bit bitter that the distinction between him and Edmund was a bucket, Cain couldn’t help but nod.

“That’s why I will be the bait. Let’s catch him.”

Abel said again.

Oleciren, who had initially opposed it outright, couldn’t bring herself to say anything more.

How could she break the will of a knight who was carving his own path, not just the younger brother of her friend?

“And there’s something I need to tell you.”

Isoel raised her hand slightly.

As everyone looked at her, she placed the desert tribe’s hood she had been holding onto the table.

“This is the clothing of those who invaded with the Apostle.”

Cain’s eyes narrowed.

Desert clothes rarely worn in Airian.

And the most famous place in the desert is where the mercenary city of 〈Antwerp〉 exists.

Isoel continued speaking calmly.

“The Holy See recently sent out mercenaries.”

“I’ve heard about it. The Saintess contacted me. She said they supported the 〈Caballeros Rebellion〉 in their home country.”

It was only natural for the Holy See to send mercenaries to strengthen their forces, as sending more paladins could lead to an international conflict.

However, it was hard to dismiss it as a coincidence that the intruders, dressed in desert clothes, appeared immediately after the mercenaries arrived.

“The Saintess is behind this…….”

Oleciren frowned.

The Saintess, Caterina, who evoked both instinctive distance and intimacy.

But after meeting her a few times, one thing became clear: she wouldn’t do something like this.

“That’s impossible. With her personality, she would have just barged in herself.”

She knew that although the Saintess looked sacred and noble, her true personality was fiery.

Everyone glanced at Oleciren and then quickly looked away.

They all thought she had changed, but no one dared to say it out loud.

Clap━.

Cain clapped his hands.

And looking around, he said,

“That’s even better. The Saintess can join us.”

“How?”

“In the end, the only enemy in this game is that Commons. Whether it’s Olivia or the Saintess, they’re not our real enemies.”

The irreconcilable enemy that must be destroyed is the Apostle of Commons.

The other two are just opponents in a contest.

In that case.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

“You, don’t tell me.”

At Oleciren’s words, Cain grinned. He moved to Abel’s side, put his arm around his shoulders, and opened his mouth.

“Risking one’s life isn’t about someone else’s words, it’s about one’s own resolve. And this kid made that resolve himself.”

“Yes.”

“We can’t miss this opportunity for a counterattack that he created.”

“…….”

Oleciren bit her lower lip and turned her head.

She recalled how she had treated Olivia and the Saintess, swept away by her emotions.

The bigger problem was that even though she understood it to some extent, she still felt instinctive disgust.

It was as if the whole world was whispering for her to lose her temper.

Pat━.

Cain placed his hand on Oleciren’s shoulder.

“What do you think, Your Highness?”

Clear, sparkling purple eyes.

Only after looking into Cain’s eyes did Oleciren’s turbulent emotions settle.

“I don’t know.”

“I’m the only one who knows.”

The operation planned by Abel and perfected by Cain had begun.

🔹🔹🔹

And now.

The Apostle, Golden Dawn, gritted his teeth.

Clang━!

Look at that arena.

The thrusting trajectory of the comical-looking ‘Knight of the Bucket’ was flawless, without a single gap.

Clank, clank━!

The trajectory of the boy Abel’s swings was desperate.

If there was a single candle flame, it was that.

The sword of Abel, burning his entire being.

Even he, who had witnessed the birth and death of countless humans, was amazed by that sword.

“That bait is definitely calling for me.”

The reason why the rules were suddenly changed to a best-of-three format, when she could have become king by doing nothing.

The reason why Abel was given another chance to fight.

Golden Dawn knew it the moment he saw it.

That was a flame calling for him, but at the same time, he realized.

“Is this what it feels like to be a mayfly?”

Like a mayfly drawn to a flame, Golden Dawn thought he shouldn’t be drawn in, but his heart was already wavering.

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