Chapter 195

The organization’s boss, the Shadow Lord, stood there. Facing the city guards surrounding the back alley tavern district. Yet it wasn’t difficult to grasp that these were no ordinary city guards.

“Why have the city guards come to such a back-alley tavern?”

And as he passed by the Shadow Lord, Master Baro retorted. Both men wore their hoods pulled low, concealing their identities.

“We demand answers for your crimes! For orchestrating various crimes within the Free City Alliance, for ordering numerous assassinations and kidnappings, and for the multiple murders and disappearances that occurred in East Harlem!”

“Oh, come on. What kind of bullshit is this? Who did what?”

Master Baro shrugged in disbelief, and the Shadow Lord spoke.

Beneath the hood, a shadow flickered ominously, breaking the silence.

“Regrettably, I and my organization declare our innocence regarding the crime you inquire about.”

The voice echoing from the darkness carried an intimidating presence that unsettled those who heard it.

“Did you say organization?!”

“Yes.”

“Then that is tantamount to you confessing your own guilt!”

“Not at all.”

The man presumed to be the guards’ leader spoke up. Though he was trying hard to feign composure, I could feel the cold sweat running down his back.

“As I’ve stated repeatedly, my organization did nothing. If necessary, I’m prepared to prove our innocence. However…”

The Shadow Lord continued flatly.

“I don’t think that will be necessary.”

“What do you mean?”

Before Dale could finish his sentence, some disguised as city guards burst onto the scene. They were swordsmen boasting a speed incomparable to the other guards.

“Oh my, what on earth.”

The Dark Moon, the elite enforcement unit directly under the Seven-Headed Council, is the most formidable force within the Free City Alliance. Shrouded in secrecy to the point of being dismissed as an urban legend, its true nature remains unknown.

“Those who disrupt the city’s order shall find only death.”

The man who led the Dark Moon, acting as its commander, spoke. The way he held his sword felt decidedly unnerving.

“Oh my, are you trying to kill us?”

Master Baro burst out laughing at the sight. Simultaneously, he swung his sword at the Amwol members charging forward, kicking off the ground.

Clang!

It was a single flash.

Yet Master Baro’s single strike blocked all seven swords of the Dark Moon surging in from every direction simultaneously.

A sword swung through empty air.

The next flash was struck, and similarly, blood gushed forth around the necks of the seven members of the Dark Moon’s unit.

“Ah, this is precisely why I dislike moving as one body.”

Master Baro said, brushing the blood from his blade in midair.

“If you move as one body, you’ll die as one body.”

“You bastard…!”

At that sight, the city guards simultaneously readjusted their weapons. They were numerous. But the opponent before them was no mere number to be reckoned with.

“Is that how you wish to wage war against me?”

The Shadow Lord retorted, leaving behind the ominous, undulating shadows of gun barrels flickering at his back.

Dale took a step forward, and with each step, the city guards, arranged in a defensive formation, flinched and began to retreat.

Before long, the Grave Walkers appeared beside the Shadow Lord, and they were of a different caliber than the Pyramid Assassins Amwol had faced until now. Even if the entire city guard here belonged to ‘Amwol,’ it would make no difference.

“Ah, ahh…!”

The captain of the guard swallowed his shock, overcome with fear.

It was at that very moment.

“Oh ho, I thought your blade had rusted and become obsolete. You’re truly in fine form.”

As if waiting, a man emerged from beyond the alleyway. He wore garments of pure white linen, though stained and soiled, resembling little more than rags.

He was a man with disheveled, unkempt long hair. Despite his appearance, which bordered on that of a beggar, the attitude toward him remained unchanged. Above all, because they hadn’t sensed his presence at all until he revealed himself.

“Good heavens! What brings such a shabby fellow to this distinguished establishment?”

Master Baro asked in disbelief upon seeing him. Dale also quietly held his breath.

He was a man clad in rags, a beggar’s attire, yet in his hand was a sword.

It was Taedo.

“When the bourgeoisie of this city are willing to pay such a high price, who would refuse?”

Another swordsman of the continent, known by the alias Wandering Blade.

“Are you blabbering because you know whose head that bounty is on?”

“It must be the lord you serve.”

Wandering Blade spoke, and the Shadow Lord remained silent.

“Do you understand the meaning of those words?”

After the silence, the Shadow Lord spoke. Master Baro, Lady Shadow in the shadows, and the Grave Walkers in the vicinity all assumed battle stances, ready to charge at any moment.

“Ah, that’s why I just turned down the request. No matter how good the gold is, it can’t compare to one’s life, can it?”

“……Then why did you show yourself?”

“I, regardless of the Council’s will, am simply itching to see the ‘Boss’s’ sword.”

“Are you challenging me to a duel?”

“If you grant permission, I would gladly accept.”

“Oh ho. After laying all that flattery bare, what guarantee do I have you won’t turn tail and run?”

Master Baro chuckled as he asked. But Dale paid him no mind.

“I accept.”

“Oh dear, now.”

“But before that, there are a few things you must do.”

“Ah, ahh, please forgive me…! Da-Dale, young master!”

Seven heads were there.

The Grave Walkers loyal to the Shadow Lord aimed their blades at the seven heads, and Dale turned his head.

“Now, we shall perform a powerful chorus facing forward.”

Master Baro, standing beside Dale, spoke, and the members of the Council’s direct enforcement unit, ‘Dark Moon’, who had their heads pressed to the floor, shouted in unison.

“We are now the loyal minions of the Boss!”

“Whoa, that’s way too quiet. Louder.”

“We are now the loyal minions of the Boss!”

At the pinnacle of the underworld, a Godfather stood there—one whom even those who ruled the seven cities could not defy.

Moreover, once his true identity was understood, it wasn’t difficult to gauge which side to bow to.

“Heh heh, I like how consistent these fellows are. The angle of their heads is just like a knife.”

Master Baro laughed as he gulped down the beer in his hand.

“Isn’t that right, gentlemen of the Council?”

“P-please, have mercy…!”

“It’s not as if I can’t forgive them.”

The Shadow Lord spoke calmly from among them.

“Then let me ask you this, Wandering Blade. Who hired you?”

“Ah, it was me.”

Wandering Blade aimed his scabbard at him. The Chairman of the Seven-Headed Council frowned and shook his head.

“Wandering Blade, you…!”

“Well now, what choice did I have? The Sword of Death, and even Saxony’s ‘Black Prince’… Why not just commission His Imperial Majesty’s assassination while you’re at it?”

“……!”

Dale frowned momentarily at the Wandering Blade’s jest. The chairman, flustered, shook his head hastily.

“I-I merely carried out the decision with the unanimous consent of the others!”

“Oh? Then that makes everyone an accomplice, I suppose.”

“No way! Hiring the Wandering Blade was entirely the Chairman’s decision! We… we had no choice but to…”

Seeing this, the remaining heads protested. Watching them, the Shadow Lord sneered.

“Then name one.”

His voice was cold, devoid of even a trace of emotion.

“If one takes responsibility to atone for your sins, the rest will not be held accountable.”

A slight stir rippled through the seven-headed council, blades pointed at each other. But it did not last long.

Fingers pointed simultaneously. Three fingers aimed at the chairman, four fingers each appearing to be raised in protest. The chairman had secured the most votes.

“How regrettable. Being the head of an organization isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

Master Baro shrugged his shoulders regretfully, and Dale nodded. Before he could utter a word of plea, the blade swung.

“Ah, is that settled now?”

The severed head rolled across the floor, and the Wandering Blade inquired.

“Now that the client is gone, there’s nothing to gain from killing me as I am.”

Dale drew the sword from his waist and replied.

“Moreover, I trust you fully understand the significance of clashing blades with me.”

“That is precisely why it is all the more unbearable.”

The man in rags laughed. He drew the sword from his waistband and adjusted the tattered hem of his garment.

“Since the world’s most feared blade has willingly sought a new master, how could I possibly just pass by?”

“……”

“I have wandered long in search of a master.”

Wandering Blade, the man said, recalling his own name.

“One worthy of my willing loyalty, that is.”

“Does that refer to one whose sword is stronger than yours?”

The Shadow Lord retorted, but the Wandering Sword laughed.

“If that were the case, the one I serve as master would have had to be the Heavenly Sword. Besides, it’s not as if no one has ever defeated me with a sword. Even the Divine Sword itself was no exception, was it not?”

The Wandering Sword answered, uttering the name of the Divine Sword, Bader.

“But wielding the sword is the knight’s duty, not the lord’s. As I’ve said before, I seek a ‘ruler’ worthy of my loyalty.”

“Then what kind of ruler is worthy of your loyalty?”

The Shadow Lord countered with that question. The Wandering Sword answered with a quiet smile.

“I intend to discover that truth from this moment onward, Shadow… Sovereign of Providence and Truth.”

“……!”

Simultaneously, the Wandering Blade struck the ground. The sword swung at a speed approaching a flash of lightning, but the Shadow Lord deployed his avatar and raised the blade of the Dark Cavern even faster.

Clang!

The blades clashed. Simultaneously, the Shadow Sovereign fixed his gaze upon the Wandering Sword’s shadow. Or rather, he attempted to fix his gaze.

Dale’s peripheral vision registered the sword’s descent faster than he could gauge its shadow. He whipped his head around to block the Wandering Blade’s strike, only for the next attack to flow in like a slick, slippery motion. It was fast.

“……!”

His opponent wasn’t a mage who kept his distance and played it cool. He had struck first, even before Dale could deploy his Avatar.

Judging by how he addressed Dale, the probability that he knew at least some of Dale’s abilities couldn’t be ignored.

‘This won’t be easy.’

He couldn’t face this with anything less than absolute focus.

Thus, beneath the Shadow Lord’s feet, cold and darkness spread far and wide.

But it was never that white and dark winter night. That winter night when the hero fell was nothing but child’s play.

The Sovereign of Providence and Truth, who had witnessed the universe’s winter, finally began to overlay his world.