Chapter 84
＊ Eva = Slyries ＊
A rainbow-colored light floated up from the fallen Knight Commander's back—it was the light of a Talent Gem. The light of 【Holy Swordsmanship】.
The darkness reached out and entwined the light. With a small, brittle sound, the light scattered and vanished.
"Ah—..."
Someone let out a sound that could not quite be called a sigh. The greatest Talent Gem in the country had just disappeared.
(How did this happen?)
What on earth had gone wrong to bring this about?
Had I made some fatal mistake?
Or had every gear slipped slightly out of alignment, producing this result?
—Miss Eva.
He had been a doglike boy, always eagerly closing the distance.
Now he had been transformed into that terrible form—and Eva wanted to look away from the cruel reality.
"Mira, are you here?"
"—Father?!"
A huge presence had arrived right beside them.
It was Mira's father, Margrave Rosier.
"It's too dark to see where I'm stepping."
"W-what on earth is this?!"
"How should I know? But this situation ain't good."
"What do we do...?"
"First, we need weapons—hey, someone lend me a sword. Hm. Not bad."
Apparently having wrested a sword from a nearby young nobleman, Margrave Rosier said,
"We'll put some distance between us. Everyone, get away from here. We have no choice but to leave that monster to His Majesty and El."
"—However, Margrave Rosier, is it truly all right for us retainers to flee?"
Etan asked.
"Being brave is admirable, but that's something you say after you've learned how to fight. Besides, your job is to protect Lord Kurvshrat."
That's right—the Holy Prince was here too. Etan seemed to realize it with a start and
"That's right. My apologies. —Lord Kurvshrat, let's get as far away as possible."
"..."
"There is nothing we can do."
"Is that... so?"
"Huh?"
At that moment, Kurvshrat's gentle expression grew stern.
"That Talent Gem was supposed to be mine. If that's the case, might there not be something I can do?"
"Th-that..."
No one knew whether that was true, but it was enough to make them think it might be possible.
'That is correct.'
Before she knew it, the darkness had closed the distance. Eva hadn't even noticed it descending the stone steps.
The darkness stood five meters in front of the Holy Prince.
(That smell again...!)
Even though it was pitch-dark, the darkness seemed darker still. A lukewarm wind blew from it, filling the surroundings with the smell of burning.
'You are the ones who failed to abide by the ancient covenant.'
Eva had never heard of any such thing as a "covenant."
But it seemed the other side placed great importance on this "covenant."
'The price is high. I erased the Talent Gem from earlier because you failed to uphold the covenant.'
That Talent Gem from earlier—it must have been 【Holy Swordsmanship】.
A six-star Talent Gem—an exceptionally rare one passed down for generations—had been erased with astonishing ease upon the Knight Commander's death.
The Holy King was kneeling beside the Knight Commander, who had fallen silent. The nation's top figure, once so self-assured and seemingly the embodiment of dignity, was now crushed. The fact that 【Holy Swordsmanship】 had failed, along with the Knight Commander's death, must have hit him hard.
But—
'It is still not enough. You—you are a clan bound by the covenant. Ah, ah, ah... My brethren are crying out. Can you hear them? They're crying out that you look delicious...'
When the darkness started to walk toward Kurvshrat, the Holy King sprang to his feet as if jerked by a string.
"Don't you dare touch Kurvshrat!!"
The staff he hurled flew toward the back of the darkness's head. The darkness turned and caught it, and dull golden lightning crackled around it.
"Are you planning to keep sucking the blood of the Holy Royal Family forever?!"
With a clang and a clatter, the staff rolled away.
'That is of no consequence. Then renounce the covenant.'
"Gladly—"
"Your Majesty! Please wait!"
El hugged the Holy King from behind and held him back.
"It's a trap set by those people from that world! What they desire most is for us to renounce the covenant!!"
"Our attacks—and the Holy Sword—were repelled because we're bound by the covenant! They're using the covenant as a shield and doing whatever they please! Once every shackle is gone, my Holy King's Knights will wipe out those people from the hidden world!!"
"Your Majesty!! Your love for your child has clouded your judgment!!"
"Shut up!! What could you possibly know, you who possess only a borrowed life?!"
El was shoved aside and tumbled backward.
'Declare that you will renounce the covenant.'
"Yeah, I'll renounce it as many times as you like—I, as king of the Holy Kingdom of Kurvaan..."
Something was wrong.
Something terrible was about to happen right before her eyes.
Eva summoned the strength to speak through her trembling throat.
I have to stop him!
"N-no—!!"
The darkness was looking at her—or rather, what floated there was Louis's face. Louis's lifeless face emerged from the darkness and stared at Eva. It felt as though he were asking, "Why are you there?" "Why did you push my back?" "Why are you still alive?"—and Eva's courage rapidly withered.
(I can't do it. I can't do anything. In the end, without my noble status, I'm just a child who can do nothing—)
Fear gripped her chest, and Eva crumpled to the ground.
At last, the Holy King spoke those words.
"I renounce the covenant!!"
But Eva cried out in her heart.
(Help me. Help me. Help me, Reiji!!)
And the darkness laughed.
'I accept those words—'
But the darkness never finished speaking.
With a loud sound like shattering glass, light streamed in.
"Woooooooooo! Yessssss! It broke, it broke, it broke! It's freaking hard, geez!!"
What stood there was—
"...Ah."
The reliable guard Eva had longed for more than anything and desperately wished would come—
"Reiji!"