Chapter 186

Jack the Reaper.

Dale gasped at the unsettling resonance of that name.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Saxony’s ‘Black Prince’.”

Jack the Knife spoke. And what Dale felt in that figure was an unexpected familiarity.

He wore a mask with a crescent-shaped, grotesquely torn mouth.

“The Laughing Man…”

Dale murmured softly.

“What does that mask signify?”

“When attending a masquerade ball, everyone disguises themselves with falsehoods. I am no exception.”

Jack the Ripper smiled as he trailed off.

“Do you believe in the existence of God?”

“……”

“Ah, never mind. But surely you believe in the existence of the devil.”

Jack the Ripper said. At those words, another phrase from the Smiling Man echoed in his mind.

‘Suppose we could examine the ledgers of Guild City to foresee the continent’s situation and future events… If there were a demon capable of precisely predicting this world’s movements, then foreseeing all events destined to unfold in this future would not be impossible either.’

An entity that knows the precise position and momentum of every single molecule in the universe. Laplace’s demon.

“I believe in the existence of the demon. And that all-knowing demon can foresee every single thing that happens in this world and in the future.”

Jack the Ripper said.

“For instance, how to commit a crime in a certain place without being caught, where and whom to ambush so the crime sinks into darkness… The demon of omniscience always whispers to me.”

He adjusted his grip on the blade in his hand, stepping back from the corpse of the male prostitute, now nothing but a lump of flesh.

“As you can see, I possess no power whatsoever.”

Jack the Ripper said.

“No magic, no aura, and I can’t even guarantee victory in a physical fight against an ordinary person.”

“……”

But whenever that demon whispers to me, I know. Thanks to that, I’ve already survived several times after tearing these children’s flesh apart and shredding them to pieces.

Brushing the blood from his blade.

“The city folk curse my name daily, plunged into terror. I can feel the air thick with fear and dread whenever I walk the streets! Ah, it’s hard to find a pleasure as thrilling as discovering something new.”

Jack the Ripper trembled, lost in ecstasy. The sight didn’t even elicit a smile.

“Isn’t that amazing? Shadow Monarch.”

“So it seems the demon has whispered about my true identity as well.”

“Yes, thanks to that, I knew I would meet you here.”

Jack the Ripper smiled. Behind the mask of the Smiling Man, its corners twisted into a grotesque grin.

“What do you seek by confronting me?”

“As an apostle serving the demon of omniscience, I have been tasked with conveying our will to you, Master.”

“Us?”

“It is an organization known as the 《Oath-Bound》.”

At that name, Dale’s expression froze.

“Our leader sincerely hopes the Shadow Lord will join us.”

“Do you really think I’d just take your hand so easily?”

At those words, Dale burst out laughing.

“Ah, don’t misunderstand. We have no interest in either gold or shadows.”

“No interest?”

“What we desire is one thing only: pleasure.”

said Jack the Ripper.

The pleasure of slaughter—rape and tearing apart a terrified prostitute on a dark road; the intellectual pleasure of exploring forbidden knowledge hidden within the White Tower; the pleasure of gourmet cuisine, seeking the world’s most precious delicacies… Before such things, there is no room for gold or shadows to intervene.

Dale remained silent.

“What do you say, Shadow Monarch? Our 《Oath》 seeks to transcend the struggle between gold and shadow, and we desire the joining of the ‘Black Prince,’ renowned across the continent for his cruelty and infamy.”

“One question.”

After the silence, Dale spoke.

“Hey, you know what? Do you realize this place is gonna be your grave?”

“……?”

Jack the Ripper tilted his head for a moment.

“Did your demon whisper to you that you’re nothing but a mere chess piece, destined to spout nonsense here before being cast aside?”

Cold hatred was embedded in Dale’s voice. It was simply the pure disgust and hatred a person feels in the presence of evil.

“It seems your demon didn’t bother to tell you that I will never forgive scum like you.”

“……!”

At Dale’s words, Jack the Ripper’s expression finally showed a flicker of unease.

“Was the all-knowing demon actually a fake? Or did he knowingly intend to use you as a mere chess piece and discard you?”

That man, Jack the Knife, possessed the power of an Apostle—that much I cannot deny.

Those beings who received special powers from the divine beings watching us like ants from heaven.

Most Apostles, upon receiving that power, bow their heads toward the Almighty above. Just as the Holy Virgin did upon receiving the revelation of the Sistine Sisters. That man was no different.

That foolishness and blindness were so laughable, I couldn’t even find the words to speak.

“Th-that can’t be…!”

Jack the Ripper finally gasped in panic.

“I know. I know how you’ll move, how to bring you down. The all-knowing demon is always whispering to me.”

At last, the knife-wielding Jack began to threaten, his voice thick with menace. Not even a laugh escaped him.

“Oh, is that so?”

Simultaneously, an apocalyptic chill erupted from Dale’s body like a whirlwind, and Jack the Knife skillfully created distance.

“Ice Bullet, ‘Gatling-style’.”

Seeing that, Dale reached out his arm once more. Not a shadow, but the apocalyptic chill raging within his heart, chiseled into bullets.

A hail of ice rained down, and Jack the Blade charged through the torrent of bullets. Yet the man who willingly raced into the barrage knew precisely where the bullets’ blind spots lay. As if he knew exactly where to be for the bullets to miss him.

“……!”

Swoosh!

The blade in his hand swung, carving a gash into Dale’s flesh.

Dale belatedly deployed the Shadow Lord’s avatar to confront him, but Jack the Blade had already vanished behind Dale’s back.

“As expected, I know everything. How you’ll act, how to bring you down.”

Jack the Ripper sneered coldly.

“Laplace, the demon of omniscience who can read the future.”

Dale murmured.

“Oh, it seems you know the entity I serve.”

“Then you must know the names of the other ‘three demons’ as well.”

Dale replied.

“Three devils…?”

At Dale’s question, Jack the Ripper swallowed hard for a moment.

“You don’t know the Four Devils of Science History? Ah, I see you don’t know that much, then.”

At last, a flicker of unease crept into his movements.

“Those mere fictional beings, easily debunked by a single high school textbook—were they truly the demons you speak of?”

“Fictional beings? How dare you!”

Those demons were nothing more than byproducts discovered during thought experiments conducted by ‘scholars of other worlds’.

How the beings of this world understand that concept is impossible to guess. But it wasn’t something to worry about right now.

“Those who think they know everything about the world are usually fools who know nothing at all.”

Dale sneered coldly.

“I see the future. I see all your actions and movements.”

With that, Jack the Knife stomped the ground. True enough. His movements were precisely calculated, anticipating exactly how Dale would move and counterattack seconds later. The barrage of black blood splattering in all directions, including the armor of the cave, was no exception.

Black blood spattered.

Before a mere criminal who couldn’t even wield an aura, the Shadow Lord’s body was being torn to shreds by his blade.

“Behold, this is the difference between those who know and those who do not.”

Nevertheless, the Shadow Lord replied.

“You should have gotten a higher education so you wouldn’t spout such nonsense.”

─ Kyahahaha!

With those words, Shuv, who had been standing beside Dale, suddenly burst into laughter as if delighted.

Dale accelerated the five circles once more. From the black, blue, and red, only the blue magical power remained.

The coldness embedded in his blood erupted like a whirlwind, enveloping the dark blood armor as if wrapping it.

It was frost armor forged from the cold of the apocalypse.

It was at that very moment.

“……!”

Jack the Ripper’s movement froze completely.

“You said you heard whispers from the demon of the abyss.”

Dale, wrapped in the armor of absolute zero, asked coldly.

“How about it? Is the demon still whispering this landscape to you?”

The world of absolute zero. What the Shadow Lord projected onto the armor of the dark cavern was the very essence of cosmic winter.

“Ah, aaaah…!”

The frost of doom began spreading across the ground beneath the Shadow Lord’s feet. Simultaneously, the armor of absolute zero swirled around him as the Shadow Lord took a step forward.

“Oh, oh, don’t come…!”

Jack the Ripper began shaking violently as if seized by convulsions. The demon of the universe whispered in his ear, and beyond his narrow field of vision, an overwhelming cosmic terror reverberated.

“Ignorance is bliss, and that’s no empty saying.”

Dale muttered as if it were someone else’s business.

“You said you knew how I’d act in a few seconds.”

“Ah, ahh, no, ahhh…!”

Jack the Ripper began convulsing violently. Even now, through the devil’s whispering beside him, an enlightenment beyond the realm of knowledge any mere mortal could bear was achieved.

“Heh, heh heh heh, heh heh.”

Jack the Knife fell to his knees.

“W-winter… winter is coming.”

“……”

“Winter is coming! A winter no one can escape is coming!”

Dale stared at him silently.

“Yes, that is the truth. That is the truth no one can escape.”

After staring, he continued calmly.

“It’s just too big for a mere extra to handle.”

Leaving him behind, foaming at the mouth like a madman.

Some time later, at the scheduled meeting between the Supreme Court and the Harlem High Court.

Leading a group of assassins clad in coats and bird-beak masks, the one present was one of the High Court’s judges.

But it wasn’t the High Court’s chief, ‘McGee’, who greeted him.

“Well now, how did such an unkempt soul come to find himself in such a distinguished place?”

Master Baro propped his feet on the table and retorted.

Moreover, the Shadow Lord beside him watched him with an expression devoid of even emotion.

“Ah, aaaah…!”

At that sight, the judge’s expression froze coldly.

“How could you betray the Shadow Goddess? Bishop Mars.”

“I, I, I just…!”

The judge of the High Court and Bishop of Mars fell silent. The assassins tasked with protecting him, upon seeing Master Baro and the Shadow Lord, immediately changed their stance.

“Ah, do not worry too much.”

said the Shadow Lord.

“I merely wish to speak.”

He said it calmly.

“Very long and sincere, without holding anything back.”