Chapter 83
(Please be safe, young lady...!!)
I started running toward the gate separating the First Holy District from the Holy Palace.
"Reiji-kun! I'll talk to the First Squad, y'know!"
Lelenoa-san said that while running at full speed.
The gate was indeed being secured by members of the Holy King's Knights.
What are you doing? Something's happening right now! Not here—behind you!
"There's no need."
"Huh?"
I called upon the many Talents my body had learned: 【Arm Strength Enhancement】, 【Back Strength Enhancement】, and 【Abdominal Strength Enhancement】—and, to top it all off, 【Sprinting Technique】 using 【Physical Enhancement】.
"Eeeeeh?!"
I felt the distance between Lelenoa-san and me rapidly widen. My body became the wind, and I closed the distance to the gate all at once.
"Hey, what guard unit are you with—"
"Stop, stop! No one gets through from here—"
I lowered my body and kicked off the flagstones with 【Explosive Strength Enhancement】 and 【Jumping Technique】.
"Eeeeeeeh?!"
Leaving Lelenoa-san's scream behind me, I easily leaped over the gate and landed on the other side.
(【Recovery Magic】)
I'd pushed myself far too recklessly, and my muscle fibers were screaming, but I healed them with magic.
I set off running through the deserted Holy Palace, heading for the hemispherical dome of darkness.
(What is that? The young lady is in there, right? Is she still—)
I remembered the time I had fought a dragon in the capital of the Achenbach Ducal Territory.
I had no power to fight, so Non-san had led me away from the battlefield.
If I'd possessed the power I had now back then, perhaps I could have prevented so many deaths.
Raikira-san might have survived too.
(—There may still be time. I'll make it in time!)
The dome of darkness was almost upon me. Should I simply go inside, or was there some other way—
"!!"
At that moment, I spotted a figure standing in front of the dome.
＊ Eva = Slyries ＊
Eva initially thought her vision had gone dark because she had lost consciousness. But she soon realized that all her senses other than sight were functioning normally: the warmth of Mira holding her, someone's loud voice, and the smell of something burning carried on the wind.
"Holy King, what is this?!"
In the darkness, there were only a few sources of light: the Holy Water Color radiating from Prince Kurvshrat's body beside her, and the same light emanating from the Holy King, who stood boldly atop the stone steps.
When she strained her eyes, she saw an even deeper darkness beside the Holy King, from which black mist seemed to be pouring.
"Uoooooooo! Be still!!"
The Holy King swung his thick arms, bringing his staff crashing down toward the deeper darkness with all his strength.
That darkness had occupied the spot where Louis had been standing moments before.
(What about Louis-sama...?)
Eva's mind was assailed by a horrible possibility she did not want to consider.
That meant—
Could that darkness... be Louis?
The darkness drew itself back in a fluid motion and dodged, but the surrounding darkness—the darkness filling this space—seemed to have eased slightly.
"—I'm sorry. I'm all right now."
"Eva-sama!? Are you all right?"
"Yes... but please, don't look into my eyes."
With her magic power restored, Eva sat up, taking care not to look directly at Mira's face.
It seemed that the Holy King, El, and Duke Rosier were the only people who properly understood what was happening here.
(My Magic Eyes... Louis-sama...)
She knew that Louis's overly aggressive actions had clearly been caused by her own "Encouragement Magic Eyes."
Her chest hurt so badly she could hardly bear it.
Regret pressed down on her like a heavy burden.
"El! What is the meaning of this?!"
"Er, Your Majesty... It seems House Rosier lacked the power necessary to accept that Talent Gem."
"But you never told me it would turn out like this!!"
"Er... All the Holy Kings of the past granted Talent Gems to 'Pure Ones' who possessed the Holy Water Color..."
The Holy Water Color.
Pure Ones.
Those two were the key.
Louis had not possessed the Holy Water Color—but what on earth had happened simply because he absorbed the Talent Gem?
'...Kuki, ko... kakakakakakaka...!!'
A dry, mocking laugh echoed.
The laugh had come from the darkness, not Louis—Eva desperately tried to convince herself of that.
An eerie sensation, as though something were stroking her spine, made Eva's skin break out in gooseflesh.
"Louiiiiis!!"
She heard Duke Rosier's scream and sensed the nobles who had come to observe rising to their feet and fleeing.
"—W-what is this? It's formed a wall, and I can't get through!"
"—Knights! Swing your swords!"
It seemed they could not escape, either. She heard the sound of swords being swung, but the blows were repelled amid tiny sparks.
(That's right, the First Squad of the Holy King's Knights is guarding this place. So everything's fine. It's fine.)
As if reminding herself, Eva placed a hand over her chest.
'How pitiful. You cannot escape.'
An emotionless voice came from the darkness.
"Shut up. Die, Knight Commander!!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Cut it down!!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
A third light appeared, visible even in this darkness, though no one knew where it had come from—it was the captain of the First Squad of the Holy King's Knights, the Knight Commander himself.
The unsheathed sword was golden.
Its blade scattered light like glittering scales.
"That's 【Holy Swordsmanship】—!!"
Someone shouted excitedly.
It was a six-star Talent, the pinnacle of martial power in this country.
The light revealed a warrior as solid as a crag. Because he could not risk losing the Talent Gem that granted 【Holy Swordsmanship】, the Knight Commander did not go to the front lines and was sometimes called an "honorary position," but he was by no means weak.
The successor was chosen from among those who had trained as warriors and earned the recognition of both the previous Knight Commander and the Holy King.
The Knight Commander, clad in plate mail, swung the sword of light down as his cape billowed.
"Ah—"
In an instant, light too bright for her to keep her eyes open tore through the darkness. The ground shook, and Eva fell on her backside. Someone screamed.
When the shock subsided, it took a brief moment for her blurred vision to return to normal.
The darkness had not yet vanished.
"Guh..."
The Knight Commander had been pierced through the abdomen by a sword.
That sword was a treasured sword.
It was the treasured sword Duke Rosier had given to his son, Louis.
(As I thought, that was...)
Eva was forced to accept the truth: that mass of darkness in human form was Louis.
The Knight Commander collapsed to the ground and went still.