Chapter 75

The man was rolling around with naked prostitutes.

In a bedroom within the castle, lavishly adorned with every conceivable luxury, despite the fierce war raging.

“Your Highness, Charles.”

Even at the call of the castle maiden Aurelia, the man did not respond. His face buried in the prostitutes’ breasts, he snored as if the world were ending.

The stench of foul wine permeated the entire room. It was a sight that made the talk of a patriotic struggle for independence against the empire’s tyranny seem utterly hollow.

“Your Highness Charles.”

After a long silence, the holy maiden Aurelia spoke again. Only after calling the ‘King’s name’ five more times.

“Hm… What is it?”

Only then did Charles VII, the ‘rightful heir of the House of Britannia,’ stagger to his feet. As soon as he stood, he clutched a golden goblet adorned with ruby crystals… and gulped down the wine poured by the courtesan.

It was broad daylight, the sun high in the sky.

“The Imperial Army’s supply train has just handed over a large quantity of military supplies as we requested.”

“Is that so…? Hmm, well done, very well done.”

A decisive victory that could turn the tide of battle. Yet Charles VII’s expression showed little emotion.

“In any case, it means the day I become king of this country is not far off, right?”

“…Indeed.”

The Virgin of Aurelia nodded. Just moments ago, at the table for Philip’s ransom negotiations, she had recalled the words of the ‘Black Prince’.

“Additionally, the enemy commander has made a most suspicious proposal.”

He would hand over the capital of the Kingdom of Britannia, Reims, without bloodshed.

“Well, those bastards are probably just scared shitless and trying to make a run for it.”

Even at that shocking tale, Charles VII’s attitude did not change in the slightest. Not a shred of caution. He merely brushed off her words with an expression that screamed “This is unbearably tedious.”

“Ah, now that you mention it.”

It was at that very moment.

“I have a request to make of you.”

For a moment, Charles VII’s expression flickered with an unparalleled sharpness. Was he finally coming to his senses, ready to fulfill his royal duty?

“Speak, Your Majesty.”

Without betraying a shred of expectation, the holy maiden Aurelia replied.

“Among the supplies the Imperial Army handed over, bring me some of that Imperial Nambusan wine.”

“……!”

What returned betrayed expectations—it was that of a drunkard.

“Kekekek, I can’t stand it—I miss the taste of Nambusan wine!”

Saying this, Charles VII burst into laughter.

“To celebrate taking the kingdom’s capital, isn’t this the perfect time to pop open some wine?”

At his words, the courtesans nearby burst into loud laughter.

‘Once in a while? But you held a lavish drinking party just yesterday.’

Suppressing the words rising to her throat, the chaste maiden Aurelia could only bow her head in silence.

The blood flowing through his veins was royal blood, and for that reason alone, this man possessed the right to become King of Britannia. For that was the ‘will of heaven’.

Simply recapture the kingdom’s capital, hold the coronation of Charles VII…

Unconsciously, the events that would unfold afterward flashed through her mind.

─ Will you uphold the commands of Charles VII, the king of the newly born Kingdom of Britannia, as if they were revelations from the goddess?

The dagger the ‘Black Prince’ had once plunged into her chest.

“You’re going to hand Reims over to those independence fighters for free?!”

At Dale’s words, the Holy Knight Count Brandenburg raised his voice as if he couldn’t believe it.

Reims, the former capital of the Kingdom of Britannia and the place where the royal line held coronations for generations.

“Do you even understand the significance of that, you Saxon brat…!”

“Ah, I know it very well indeed.”

Dale answered as if he could never reveal it freely. Lady Scarlet simply maintained her silence.

Without even a trace of the coquettishness or flattery she had displayed just moments before, she remained impassive.

“And Count.”

Dale continued, paying no heed.

“It seems you still haven’t grasped your place.”

“What… what did you say…?”

“Have you forgotten our agreement already?”

Before the Holy Knight, who made no effort to hide his anger, Dale continued.

“I’m your superior.”

“……!”

The binding oath sworn between them. At Dale’s taunt, the Holy Knight erupted in fury once more.

“The day you gloat won’t be long in coming…!”

“I get it, so just keep your head down over there.”

Dale replied as if it were none of his concern.

“If the boss tells you to shut up, you shut up. Why all the talk?”

As Dale had promised, not a single rat was seen blocking the advance of the Britannian independence army.

The main Imperial forces stationed in Rance had also withdrawn their troops early, keeping pace with the independence army’s advance.

And when the Britannian Independence Army reached the old capital, their ultimate objective.

There, in Reims itself, where a bloodless entry awaited them, someone was waiting to greet the forces of the independence army commanded by the Holy Maiden.

It was the Imperial Army’s Commander-in-Chief, the Saxon family’s ‘Black Prince’.

Dale was right there.

Lowering the drawbridge at Reims, the capital of the former Kingdom of Britannia, and standing alone upon that drawbridge to block the enemy’s forces.

Like Zhang Fei at Changban Slope.

But that was impossible, no matter how great Dale was.

Even the Imperial Army, commanding a Holy Knight, a 7th Circle enemy mage, and the Purifier Corps under their command, could not guarantee victory against the formidable forces of the independent army led by the Holy Maiden.

In other words, even a total war effort offered no guarantee of victory.

──It wasn’t that there was no chance of victory from the start. No, rather, the Imperial Army held overwhelming superiority.

If we consider knights to be the ‘flowers of war,’ then among the military branches, there existed a core force known as the ‘god of war.’

High Mages.

That was the case until a genius of defeat squandered the majority of that ‘high mage force’.

A force capable of intervening and exerting influence even in battles between extraordinary powerhouses, assuming they were secured in the rear. Stationing them at the impregnable fortress ‘Bellfort’ to safeguard their importance would, ironically, become a self-inflicted blow leading to their annihilation.

“The Saxon House’s young master.”

In that very worst situation, facing the enemy’s forces alone. Saxony’s Dale, that very ‘Black Prince’.

“As promised, will you hand over ‘Reims’ to our independence army?”

Therefore, confronting Dale was ultimately the duty of the city maiden, Aurelia.

Along the city walls, a moat encircled the fortress. Upon the drawbridge spanning that moat, the Virgin stood facing the ‘Black Prince’.

“As promised, I will hand over Reims.”

Dale spoke.

“But before that, I have a request.”

“Speak.”

“Please, would you not impart to me the teachings of the One-Handed Sword with the Sword of the Holy Virgin?”

A single lesson. Just as countless opponents had once challenged the ‘Black Prince’. But now, standing on the side of the challenger, Dale spoke.

“Does that mean a fight where we stake our lives?”

“No, what I desire is solely the Virgin’s ‘teaching’.”

The Holy Maiden tilted her head in puzzlement, and Dale replied.

“Before the Holy Maiden’s sword, my magic would be nothing more than a child’s plaything.”

It was clear. The Virgin of the Sword, Aurelia, was a formidable opponent even for the current Dale. Victory had never been the goal. It was simply a child unable to contain its curiosity before the power the ‘Virgin’s Sword’ would display.

Yet within that lay a cunning scheme, black as night.

“Very well.”

The Virgin grasped the hilt of the sword sheathed in a scabbard embroidered with golden thread.

Even if Dale were to exert 100% of his power, he could not win right now. The Virgin Warrior surely knew that fact as well. Rather, it was precisely ‘an offer she could accept because of that’.

Swish.

From the sword belt at her waist, her blade emitted a deep blue glint.

“Is it a sword with a name?”

“It is the iron blade of an unnamed veteran soldier who fought honorably and fell in battle for the kingdom’s independence.”

The maiden answered.

“That is why I hold this sword, upholding his dying wish.”

The sword of the nameless soldier.

“I call this sword the ‘Nameless Sword’.”

At that very moment, dark blue magic began to swirl violently at Dale’s feet.

Even those watching from afar could sense its overwhelming magical power. The rear guard of the independence army panicked and hastily assumed battle stance, but the holy maiden Aurelia did not.

She merely extended her arm calmly to restrain them.

“Everyone, step back.”

With that command, light rippled along Aurelia’s nameless sword.

It was not the pure white pursued by the Holy Sword and the Knights of Saint Magdalene.

A brilliant, golden light. A golden radiance so intense it was impossible to look upon directly began to wrap itself around Aurelia’s sword and armor.

The act of projecting one’s spirit onto sword, armor, and flesh. The realm of the ‘Aura Master’—a height even talented knights, dedicating their entire lives to the sword, cannot be certain they will ever reach.

The power of a portrait indistinguishable from magic was being wielded there by the daughter of a mere serf.

The ultimate form of combat pursued by a knight’s sword.

The armor of thought, the avatar.

──A Valkyrie, clad in golden armor, stood there.

The maiden of war. The sign of revelation, called the descent of the goddess.

‘That is the form of the Holy Maiden…’

After thinking it through, Dale gathered his wits. The mock duel with the Holy Maiden. While this was ultimately part of the ‘strategy for victory,’ it also served another purpose that could be considered deeply personal.

What could be gained by facing an opponent beyond the norm. The realm that the current Dale had set before him.

Circle 4.

‘To be honest, there’s no chance of winning.’

I never challenged her with the intention of winning from the start. Moreover, even in a mock duel, the fight between the strong is one where heads can roll in an instant. A moment’s lapse in concentration can lead directly to death.

But there was that one in a hundred chance. Even if he attained the Fourth Circle realm here, his odds of winning were never zero percent. At best, it was a mere one percent or so.

‘If that happens, things will get even easier.’

Victory would end the war right here. Even defeat wouldn’t be the end for Dale—he had a plan for what came next. It was a gamble where he had nothing to lose from the start.

But the Virgin Aurelia too… must see Dale’s proposal as the optimal path to seize the Lance without sacrifice.

“Let the duel begin.”

The expression on the Holy Maiden’s face as she faced Dale showed no trace of the carelessness one might show toward a twelve-year-old child.

Simultaneously, the dark blue magical energy swirling at Dale’s feet spread out in a vast wave.

Aurelia understood its meaning all too well. Just as high knights donned the ‘armor of thought’ called Avatar, high mages consciously overlaid this world with the ‘world of thought’.

The world of the mage.

The very essence of magic, something only a mage of Circle 6 or higher could even dream of wielding, was being unleashed by the hands of a mere 12-year-old child, barely a Circle 3.

It was unbelievable. Yet the Holy Maiden Aurelia did not panic. For the Irregular who had obtained this ‘power beyond measure’ was never just one person.

──A world of pale, dark winter nights enveloped the two.

A horizon of emptiness and void.

“…!”

It was the very essence of the 《World of Death》, where biting cold and darkness raged.

Yet even that biting cold and darkness cannot overwhelm the presence of the golden-hued Holy Maiden.

‘That is the Avatar…’

The Virgin’s nameless sword scattered brilliant golden light. Following the golden armor, a cloak made of light fluttered.

“Prepare yourself, Prince Dale.”

The Holy Maiden Aurelia spoke.

But this was Dale’s world, and Dale, reflecting this world’s bitter cold and darkness, was no easy opponent to be taken lightly.

“I’ll leave it to you.”

Dale bowed his head respectfully. Simultaneously, a bitter cold and darkness swirled up from beneath his feet. Behind him, the shadow cloak fluttered wildly, as if possessed.

“──Shub.”

Dale called out a girl’s name.

The golden Valkyrie charged like a flash of lightning.