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In a corner of the half-destroyed Imperial Castle, surrounded by mountains of rubble, Princess Eilfina stood near the black-armored man.
“What do you intend to do, now that you’ve summoned that thing?”
Her gaze was fixed on the giant figure looming against the night sky in the distance. With every slow, heavy step it took, the ground trembled, even from afar.
“Is this your ‘vengeance’? Razing the capital to the ground?”
“Releasing the Origin was merely fulfilling my obligation to the Serpents,” the Black Knight replied dismissively. “What happens now is of no concern to me.”
“Oh? So, you’re acting on your own now?”
Eilfina wasn’t restrained in any way, but facing the man once known as the Empire’s strongest knight, escape seemed impossible.
“For someone claiming vengeance, you’re awfully slow to kill me. Do you need something? Or is this some fairytale kidnapping, stealing the princess away?”
“Hoh, perceptive. You are bait. Bait to lure His Majesty the Emperor here. Perhaps the news that his ‘beloved daughter’ has been taken by the traitor he failed to execute will finally change his expression.”
“‘Beloved daughter’?” Eilfina scoffed. “Expecting genuine emotion from him is a waste of time.”
“We shall see. There are questions I must ask him.”
The Black Knight’s lips curled into a humorless smile.
“There are still too many unexplained points about the Great Collapse. I refuse to believe the ruler of the Empire faced that day completely ignorant. …The truth lies buried within him. If I tear it out, perhaps the lingering regrets of us Imperial Knights will find some peace. And, of course, he deserves to know as well.”
“…Is that why you’re still here?”
If he’d captured the princess, there was no reason to linger in enemy territory. He. Eilfina knew exactly who the Black Knight was waiting for.
“Arl won’t come.”
“He would abandon his former sovereign? Such words dishonor 【Scorpion Hunt】’s memory. To doubt such fierce loyalty…”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Doubt his loyalty? No, it was the opposite. More than anyone in the world, the Princess trusted her knight, Arl.
“Arl never makes the wrong choice about who to save.”
During his time as 【Scorpion Hunt】, Arl had operated in the capital’s shadows. He followed the state’s orders, determining good and evil, deciding who lived and who died. A true cleaner for the Empire. It was Eilfina herself who had demanded that ruthlessness, who had shaped him into the perfect tool.
“The Third Princess, taken hostage, versus the resurrected Origin. It’s obvious which scenario leads to a worse ending for the capital. He can weigh the public duty against the personal cost and make the right call. Even if… even if choosing not to save me causes him pain.”
Though, I hope he agonizes over it, at least a little, she thought, a bittersweet smile touching her lips. Pride mingled with a pang of loneliness.
“The knight I… the man I fell in love with… that’s the kind of person Arl is.”
“—Is that so. Then, do you hate the man I am now?”
A third voice echoed through the ruined space. A figure emerged from the shadows, making no effort to hide his footsteps. Eilfina stared, dumbfounded. He shouldn’t be here. He couldn’t be here.
“…Why…”
“Did you really think I’d just stand by and watch you get kidnapped?”
The newcomer shattered her disbelief—the knight she knew better than anyone. Eilfina’s trusted blade, her beloved knight—Arl—shrugged, as if the answer were obvious.
“Did you really think I was that heartless?”
“B-But, the Origin!”
The Princess versus the Capital. The choice should have been clear. As the Third Princess, she should be reprimanding him for coming. And yet, she couldn’t suppress the overwhelming joy bubbling up inside her.
“Well, I’m not a knight anymore,” Arl stated simply, offering a reassuring smile that made her heart ache. “I decided I get to choose who I want to protect.”
“Hngh—!”
A strangled sound escaped Eilfina’s throat, her cheeks burning hot. She quickly looked down, hiding her face. Beside her, the Black Knight let out a low, amused chuckle.
“Princess. It seems your judgment was flawed after all.”
He showed no hostility towards the newcomer, instead greeting Arl almost warmly, as if welcoming him onto a stage.
“I’ve been waiting for you, 【Scorpion Hunt】.”
“Yes. It’s good to finally meet you properly, 【Lion Eater】.”
Once knights who served the same nation together. Now, bitter enemies. Arl and the Black Knight, 【Lion Eater】, faced each other once more. This was their second confrontation, but now, knowing the identity behind the armor changed everything.
“It has been a long time… No,” the Black Knight mused, “were we ever close enough to say that?”
“Perhaps not. You were always on the front lines. 【Scorpion Hunt】 operated in the shadows, hunting internal threats. Our fields were different. We rarely interacted.”
“Hah, true enough. Even seeing my swordsmanship, helmet or no, you didn’t recognize the style of 【Lion Eater】.”
His teasing tone sounded almost like friendly banter between colleagues.
“Give me a break. Unlike you, I’m not enough of a warrior to identify someone by their fighting style alone.”
“Don’t be so modest. I know you, 【Scorpion Hunt】. Better, at least, than those fools who tried to execute us.”
The knight extended a black-gauntleted hand towards Arl. The meaning was clear.
“【Scorpion Hunt】. Fellow brother who served the nation, whose hands were stained with blood not of your choosing. You deserve a reward worthy of your loyalty. Join me. Join the Serpents.”
“…Swear loyalty to the Serpents?”
“This Empire is unworthy of your sword. Surely I don’t need to elaborate further.”
Now Arl understood why he hadn’t left immediately with Eilfina. He was waiting to recruit him. After a moment of silence, Arl shook his head.
“I told you. I’m not a knight anymore. I have no sword to pledge.”
“…Why?”
Disappointment twisted the Black Knight’s face, now clearly visible without the helmet.
“No one knew the Empire’s darkness better than you, yet you served faithfully. Both you and I carry the Origin’s curse, yet we still retain our human forms—and for that possibility alone, they cast us aside!”
“Much about the Origin remains unknown. The curse included. If we could transform into monsters at any moment… from the nation’s perspective, their decision wasn’t necessarily wrong. Though, as someone who escaped that execution, perhaps I don’t have the right to say that.”
“…I won’t accept any complaints about that decision, just so you know.”
Eilfina, her cheeks still slightly flushed, sniffed and crossed her arms defensively. The Black Knight let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a growl.
“How can you be so calm!? How can you not feel the burning rage!? You—Don’t you want recompense for your devotion!? The reward you rightfully earned!?”
“…Reward?”
Arl couldn’t condemn his former colleague. They had shared the same hell. He couldn’t deny the guilt he’d carried for being the only one who escaped. Yes, his honor as a knight had been betrayed.
“A reward… I suppose I’ve already received it.”
A warmth filled Arl’s chest, something offered to him across five long years. Something he had received in abundance just in the short time since returning to the capital.
“There are… girls who look up to me. Girls who remembered me saving them five years ago, who still try so hard to ‘repay’ me.”
“…What?”
“They’re trying their best to fulfill promises even I forgot I made. People say their love is ‘heavy,’ but I don’t think so. They’re just… sincere, hardworking, adorable girls.”
“Wait, what are you talking about…?”
Arl didn’t realize it, but he was basically gushing, sounding utterly lovesick. It was completely out of place. Eilfina grimaced, and the Black Knight looked visibly confused.
“Ah, what I mean is—I have no intention of betraying them.”
Arl stated his answer plainly. He clenched his fists, taking a ready stance, worthy of being their Master.
“As the Master of the organizations that protect this city, I cannot overlook your actions.”
“…You think you can defeat me?”
The Black Knight seemed genuinely surprised by the rejection, but his stance hardened.
“The ranks assigned to the Imperial Knights were a direct measure of our strength. Do you truly believe that you, 【Scorpion Hunt】, the lowest-ranked 12th Seat, can possibly stand against me, 【Lion Eater】, the 4th Seat?”
“Well, five years is a long time. Things change. It’s worth a try, don’t you think?”
There was no need for further words. —The two knights moved simultaneously. Arl’s fist, sharp as a blade, met the descending greatsword. It was a mirror of their first clash in the ruin, but this time, the outcome was different. The Black Knight no longer needed to hide his identity, nor hold back his strength. The massive blade shuddered under the impact but didn’t crack. In the same motion, it swept back. A flash of steel crossed Arl’s chest. Blood sprayed.
“Arl!”
“…Foolish.”
As Arl collapsed to his knees, Eilfina cried out in despair. The Black Knight looked down at his former colleague with something akin to pity.
“You, of all people, should have understood the difference in our power. Why such recklessness—”
“Then, let’s test that theory, shall we?”
The Black Knight reacted instantly, spinning around, swinging his greatsword behind him. CLANG! A hard impact resonated up his arm. He’d blocked—deflected—a tiny lead projectile fired from his blind spot. A bullet. Immediately, a deafening volley of gunfire erupted like thunder. But every single bullet was effortlessly cut down by the black armor or the whistling blade before it could land. The Black Knight slowly lowered his sword, glaring sharply at the shooter.
“…You.”
“Well, this is awkward. A surprise attack, and it didn’t even scratch you.”
Standing there, perfectly unharmed, was the boy who should have been bleeding out on the ground. Arl shrugged, looking sheepish. Smoke drifted from the pistol in his hand. Not a drop of blood stained his clothes. The Black Knight glanced back sharply. The body of ‘Arl’ he had just cut down was dissolving into particles of light, fading into the air. It took him several seconds to understand.
“…Duplication… magic.”
“Honestly, you gave me a heart attack.”
Eilfina sighed in relief. Her lack of surprise told the Black Knight that she knew. That he was the only one out of the loop.
“…No. Not just magic,” the Black Knight growled, his eyes narrowing, his guard rising. “【Scorpion Hunt】, that barrage just now… it looked like wild firing, but every single shot—was aimed precisely at my vital points. Perfect accuracy.”
He understood the magic. He understood the shooting. But…
“【Scorpion Hunt】, why… Why can you use the techniques of 【Whale Caller】 and 【Magic Bowstring】!?”
Seeing the signature skills of two other legendary Imperial Knights deployed flawlessly by Arl, the Black Knight’s voice shook with disbelief. Arl hesitated, unsure how to answer.
“Techniques? I suppose… but they weren’t exclusive to them.”
“No! I would recognize them anywhere! It is through those peerless skills that we earned the title ‘Empire’s Strongest’! They cannot simply be copied…!”
————ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO————
Just then, a monstrous roar echoed from the distance, shaking the very foundations of the ruined castle. They looked up. The colossal figure dominating the night sky writhed, letting out a sound of pure agony. The King of Monsters, the Origin, was struggling, suffering. The Black Knight stared, utterly dumbfounded by the impossible sight.
“…But you abandoned the Origin. There’s no one else… no one left who could possibly fight that thing…”
“I told you,” Arl said calmly. “I’m not a knight anymore.”
Saving the Princess meant abandoning the Capital to the Origin. That was the choice. The limit of what a single knight could do. But he wasn’t just a knight anymore. Thinking of the girls who were surely fighting bravely under the same night sky, Arl declared proudly,
“I am the Master of the Three Great Organizations that protect this Empire.”
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