Chapter 24

After that, Dale focused on ‘completing the third circle’ by successively breaking through the tier guardians.

He tested new spells, added improved formulas based on his past knowledge, and combined various types of formulas, playing freely within the realm opened by the 3rd Circle.

He refined and shaped the three interlocking circles with greater precision, grasping his own capabilities without reservation.

Leaving behind opponents who fell like autumn leaves before him, he reached the 20th tier. Only then did a worthy opponent finally appear.

Headless Knight. The knight without a head.

He wields a massive greatsword within pitch-black armor.

This enemy was incomparably stronger than anything encountered before, and the inherent disadvantage between ‘ordinary mages’ and knights was self-evident.

‘It’s no fun when things go exactly as expected.’

Dale smiled and extended his arm toward the Headless Knight.

Whoosh!

Refined dark magic surged from the tip like a storm raging through the room.

However, contrary to the audience’s gasps and anticipation, no bloody, gore-filled battle ensued. In fact, no fight occurred at all.

Simply…

Kwoong!

“What… what’s going on?”

“Look at that!”

Ignoring the murmurs from the audience, the Headless Knight knelt before Dale. And he did so of his own volition.

The guardian who should have upheld the hierarchy abandoned that role, opening the path he had been commanded to protect.

As if swearing an oath of allegiance before a true lord worthy of reverence.

He simply remained kneeling, thrusting his greatsword vertically into the floor.

Absolute obedience.

Watching this, Dale murmured coldly.

“Kill yourself.”

His voice held not a shred of emotion.

The moment he heard those words, the Headless Knight gripped his greatsword in reverse and thrust it downward with all his might.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he aimed it at his own breastplate.

The flesh protected by the armor shattered, collapsing lifelessly.

For those in the audience expecting a bloody duel, it was a somewhat anticlimactic ending.

However, within the Black Magic Tower, the shock among those who understood its meaning was beyond words.

The elders of the Black Magic Tower, who had been observing Dale’s actions with relative composure… The Black Guard was no exception.

No, they were likely the ones most profoundly shocked.

Subjugating the existence of darkness requires a greater power of darkness.

And that the creature crafted by the Black Magic Tower’s elder betrayed its creator and swore allegiance to Dale. In other words, the dark magic Dale has refined already rivals that of the Black Magic Tower’s elders.

A mere third-circle young mage!

And one wielding dual attributes of Water and Darkness, from the hands of a child not even ten years old.

‘This is impossible.’

Yet that very impossible thing was unfolding before the eyes of everyone in the Black Magic Tower.

Every mage possesses their ‘own world,’ and a mage’s training is the very process of perfecting that world.

They could scarcely even imagine it.

The source of Dale’s magic power, a void world filled with biting cold and ash-gray emptiness.

What dwelled within Dale’s magic was the darkness of that winter night, and before that darkness, the Headless Knight surrendered and offered his allegiance.

What subdues the existence of darkness is ‘a greater darkness’.

And a world filled with a biting cold and darkness that even the elders of the Black Magic Tower dare not approach.

That was the true power Dale possessed as a mage.

‘Did I go a bit too far?’

But after subduing the Headless Knight, Dale inwardly realized his mistake. This was no longer even about proving himself or anything like that.

‘……Maybe I should call it a year and head back.’

He had achieved all his objectives. Dale’s trial ended here. So, turning his back on the path to the next layer that the Headless Knight had personally opened, Dale walked away.

“Huh? Why?”

“Why are you leaving?”

Turning his back on the murmurs echoing throughout the auditorium, he walked toward the exit, signaling his withdrawal from the exam.

Even for someone like Dale now, there are lines that must be respected.

Climbing the tower to prove himself beyond this tier would make him something unknown, transcending even the realm of monsters.

A realm beyond comprehension, even for the son of the Black Duke, the empire’s foremost genius.

Some time later. Dale’s trial concluded, and soon after, the tower’s trial also reached its end.

The Great Hall of the Black Magic Tower.

“The Dark Tower Lord is approaching!”

Right there, the Black Mage moved.

As the one reigning at the pinnacle of the Black Magic Tower, he became an object of boundless majesty and awe.

Dale, the ‘Heir to the Black Lord’ who had likewise proven himself in the trial, followed in his footsteps.

Reigning in terror that none could defy.

That was the way of the Saxon Duke’s House, and Dale and his father were no exception. Therefore, the elders of the Black Magic Tower, the Black Guard, paid their respects to the father and son.

Following them, the assembled mages of the Black Magic Tower, filling the hall, bowed their heads.

The entire black magic tower’s loyalty, reminiscent of a military review ceremony.

Dale’s official debut ceremony, and the Saxon House’s consolidation of the succession system.

Unlike the hereditary succession of noble houses, in the magic world where meritocracy reigns supreme, that position could never be attained by bloodline alone.

Yet no one dared entertain thoughts of defiance before the Black Duke and Dale.

In a sense, it bore a striking resemblance to the ‘Red Magic Tower’s’ pursuit of order through force.

At the age of ten, he achieved the realm of the Third Circle, and as if that weren’t enough, he broke through the 20th tier in the ‘Tower Trial’.

The overwhelming feats of valor Dale displayed during the trial swiftly spread throughout the entire empire.

The most legitimate heir to the Black Duke. The empire’s foremost genius.

The people of the Duchy boasted about ‘Prince Dale’ as if he were their own son.

Moreover, the loyalty the Saxon House’s retainers and fief knights held toward Dale went without saying.

Dale’s exploits, endlessly inflated in this manner, gradually began to unite the entire North.

After safely completing the Tower’s trial, some time later.

The vast duchy of Saxony, in the northern reaches of the empire.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Along the snow-white horizon stretched a line of cavalrymen clad in jet-black armor and ash-gray surcoats.

A cavalry battalion organized into units of fifty.

Now, Dale commanded that very unit in his own name.

By order of his father, the Duke of Saxony, they were preparing for a battle against a small band of orcs within the duchy.

This was different from past engagements where he had merely served to gain experience. This was a battle where he would bear full responsibility for its outcome, fighting under his own name.

Of course, as the heir to a noble house, commanding soldiers and leading troops is an essential virtue one must possess. Yet it was an absurdly heavy responsibility to entrust to a mere ten-year-old child.

Yet not a single knight present dared question Dale’s capacity as a ‘commander’.

For ‘Dale of Saxony,’ age was literally nothing more than a number.

Rather, the pride Dale instilled in his knights and the loyalty they returned to him were unparalleled.

The trust the Saxon knights placed in Dale was already beyond imagination.

Every day at dawn, the heir to the duke’s house seeks instruction by clashing swords directly with his knights. He even has tales of valor, like when he threw himself into battle to save his knight from a horde of orcs.

Could any noble heir act so ‘noble-like’?

Truly, another lord worthy of sacrificing their lives for.

Earning the trust of one’s subordinates is one of the greatest virtues of a commander.

For that reason, Dale’s knights gripped their lances in unison. Facing the orc horde arrayed in a pike formation, their battle fervor burned brighter than ever.

“For Prince Dale!”

“For the House of Saxony!”

“Charge!”

Dale’s cavalry charged toward the orc phalanx.

Spears and shields clashed, shields shattered. The screams of orcs echoed, green blood splattered everywhere.

Before the black cavalry charging like war chariots… it was a one-sided slaughter that could scarcely be called a battle.

For the knights of House Saxon were never those Dale must protect, but swords wielded solely for Dale.

“Prince Dale has returned!”

Saxony City.

Knights of the Saxon ducal house were crossing the city.

As proof of the purge, he cut off the orcs’ heads and hung them in a row, as if to show off.

“The young lord has once again purged the monsters from the domain!”

As Dale and his cavalry returned to the duke’s castle, the people of the duchy began to raise their voices.

This was already the several times he had led his personal knights to purge monsters from the domain. With Dale’s military achievements steadily piling up, the people of the duchy began endlessly chattering about him.

“It’s truly Lord Dale!”

The heir to the duke’s house, spearheading the eradication of the monsters flooding the domain.

It was also a duty befitting an aristocrat, yet in this world, the notion of a ‘duty befitting an aristocrat’ was hardly common sense. Or rather, would it be much different in any world?

In that regard, how Dale’s example of leading by example in fulfilling ‘noble duties’ would be perceived was beyond question.

Duke Saxony’s Residence.

The Duke’s Office.

“I report to Your Grace that we have taken the heads of one hundred forty-five orcs.”

“What of our cavalry’s casualties?”

“Three minor injuries. No other casualties.”

Dale reported the outcome matter-of-factly, and the Duke of Saxony coldly retorted.

“Did you use magic to protect them?”

“It was solely the result of the Saxon swordsmen’s actions.”

Dale quietly shook his head, and only then did a faint smile appear at the corner of the Duke of Saxony’s mouth.

“Well done, Dale.”

“Your Highness, it seems you’ve already grown accustomed to commanding cavalry regiments!”

After the father and son finished their conversation, Sir Helmut Blackbear finally spoke up from the side.

“It’s all thanks to what Sir Helmut taught him.”

What Sir Helmut taught was not just swordsmanship.

Dale’s sword master, and at the same time, his teacher of strategy and tactics… the art of warfare.

The methods for commanding troops and achieving victory in war.

For instance, managing a single battalion of fifty cavalrymen is not particularly difficult. Orders are transmitted swiftly, and the choices that must be made are not numerous.

However, when multiple cavalry battalions come together to form a cavalry regiment, and then two or three regiments combine to form a cavalry division.

Commanding a large force of over a thousand knights becomes a task of an entirely different nature.

Moreover, the number of cavalry the foremost feudal lord of the north would muster for an all-out war would certainly not be limited to a mere thousand.

Moreover, war is never fought with a single branch of the military.

“Truly, the speed at which Your Highness learns is unbelievable.”

Yet, the speed at which Dale absorbed the tactics of this world remained astonishing.

Indeed, Dale’s ‘strategic plan’ was never something achieved overnight.

His command as a commander. His ability to handle military forces.

He measured the synergy when that strategy and tactics merged with the power of command.

“At this rate, the day you undertake the domain battle is not far off!”

Just then, Lord Helmut laughed heartily and continued.

‘A domain battle.’

At the unexpected remark, Dale gave no outward sign, merely smiling softly. A new stage to prove himself was always welcome.