Chapter 76

A golden flash surged forward. Swiftness like light itself racing. The ultimate knight he faced for the first time since his rebirth, an Avatar user.

But this was ‘Dale’s world’. That white and dark winter night, the world of death projecting its bitter cold and darkness. The arena imprisoning the two.

The significance of projecting one’s world of thought when a mage exerts their full power. It is akin to building a ‘mage’s fortress’.

For instance, a mere sixth-circle mage who doesn’t fully grasp its meaning… For ordinary Magic Tower elders, it remains at a basic level: amplifying their mental focus for spell optimization, strengthening their formulas, and increasing the purity of their mana color. But Dale was different.

The realm of thought… He understood the true meaning behind the ‘Mage’s Fortress’ and knew how to harness its power.

Wizards do not train with the purpose of excelling in war. Even if their power is of a destructive nature, no matter how high their circle, they do not specialize their magic for combat.

Take, for instance, the 6th-circle elders defeated by Dale after his rebirth.

They were merely ‘scholars’ who had acquired power slightly stronger than ordinary people.

Even if the principles of the disciplines they pursue are terrifying and cruel, even if they wield powers beyond the reach of ordinary men, scholars cannot defeat warriors in the first place.

But the ‘world’ revealed by the greatest battle mages who fell to warriors long ago. Mages who did not hesitate to become warriors. High-ranking mages who had reached the sixth circle and beyond.

Dale remembered precisely the form of that ‘world for combat’ they had revealed.

A wizard’s fortress built solely for battle—the true power that world possesses.

A world of slaughter. The ultimate realm where the fortress itself becomes a castle.

And there was an attacker who charged forth to bring that fortress down.

The Sacred Maiden Aurelia, the Golden Valkyrie.

A battle between a knight and a mage who had reached the highest realms. It was a siege in itself.

Biting cold and darkness swirled, blocking the path of the charging Holy Maiden Aurelia.

At that very moment.

Whoosh!

─ Kyahahahahah!

Jet-black tentacles plunged down.

To Dale’s ears, it was the pure, unblemished laughter of a young girl.

“■■■■──!”

To the holy maiden Aurelia, it was nothing more than the horrifying screech emitted by a monstrous creature from another realm.

‘……!’

The golden Valkyrie swung her sword. A golden light surged forth. The blade that purifies the hideous, cleaves the darkness, and brings the dawn’s first light.

That sword severed ‘Shub’s’ tentacle, and from it, a liquid as black and dark as coal tar spattered. Right before her eyes.

Thwack!

Yet the Holy Maiden Aurelia, as if defying the laws of physics, halted her charge, thrusting off the ground to create distance.

Avoiding the very essence of wickedness and impurity that even the golden armor of the Virgin could not withstand.

“──This is my domain.”

Immediately after, the ‘Shadow Cloak’ disguised as Dale’s black sercote began fluttering wildly.

From the bottom of the night, dyed pure white, a lake of darkness spread out. Simultaneously, the Shadow Lurkers crouched within the shadows unleashed their barbed tentacles in unison.

Beside Dale, a girl with black goat horns lifted the hem of her dress. Jet-black tentacles plunged down in unison.

Tentacle Hell.

A world brimming with malice was unleashing that malice without restraint. Yet the holy maiden Aurelia did not falter.

She pushed aside the ominous feeling, like seeing the seed of malice itself, emanating from the young child before her.

She simply swung her golden sword in silence.

It was not a holy sword. It was the sword of a nameless soldier. Yet, before the brilliant gold that enveloped that blade, even the light of a holy sword would seem insignificant.

Like the light of dawn lifting its head through the gloom of the early morning.

Before the baptism of tentacles plunging down to violate the golden Valkyrie, the warrior maiden, light swirled violently.

“……!”

Nothing remained.

A single breath.

Not even the lake of darkness was spared. As if a river had dried up and drained, exposing its bed.

‘It’s not easy, after all.’

An opponent whose victory couldn’t be guaranteed even with full power. And the ‘3-Circle Mage’ began accelerating the heart circle once more. Three circles, and the pitch-black tentacles coiling around them… 『The Black Goat’s Book』.

The magic power erupting from two black sources spread across Dale’s world.

To transform the landscape of the white and dark winter night into their own fortress.

Knights hone their swords with the sole purpose of standing on the battlefield. Therefore, what they project onto their swords, armor, and bodies is the ‘ideology of slaughter’ they have built up. Even if it is power obtained through a goddess’s revelation, it would be no different.

Warrior.

A mere scholar could never prevail against a warrior. But Dale was never a mere scholar.

“……!”

For a moment, a look of caution flashed across the face of the holy maiden Aurelia. Turning her back, the golden Valkyrie swung her sword.

Clang!

The maiden’s nameless sword clashed. With what?

It was the Black Blade.

“……!”

The jet-black aura blade symbolizing the House of Saxon. A sword wielded by the Death Knight, clad only in bone and armed with the black armor of the Night Raven Knight. A sword imbued with enough power to block the single strike of the Avatar, the Holy Maiden.

That very knight wielding the Black Blade charged forward, swinging a strike toward the Holy Maiden.

It is not a corpse revived as the ‘material’ of the Night Crow Knight. For in this world, such trivial constraints held no meaning whatsoever.

This world was, after all, one where the mage projected his own thoughts, and Dale was the very god of this world.

Dale possessed the power to make it possible.

A realm beyond the wildest dreams of a mere scholar, a Sixth Circle elder.

──A pale, dark winter night.

Faintly gray sleet swirled, and amidst the biting cold and darkness that raged there, the immortal army began to reveal itself, one by one.

Death Knights wielding Saxony’s Black Sword, to protect their lord and master, the ‘Master of the World’.

Death Knights forged by the power of ideology. Projected onto each and every one of them was the unrivaled prowess of one once called a hero.

After raising the Death Knights, the data endlessly accumulated while serving as captain of the Black Armor Company. The essence of the sword, refined through countless trials and errors, honed through endless practice with Charlotte, the genius swordswoman.

That very essence was fused into the ‘Formula’ overlaid upon the Death Knights.

“Automatic Formula.”

Though still only at the test level, it’s a flawless opponent for the first real battle.

‘How far can I push myself against him?’

For the first time, he was facing an extraordinary powerhouse with full force. Against him, Dale was now unleashing 100% of his power—and then some—without holding back in the slightest.

Within the circle’s overclocking, which felt like his heart would burst, each circle accelerated repeatedly, exceeding thousands of RPM. As if that weren’t enough, the jet-black tentacles, acting as another ‘black source’, were injecting power into his heart and the circles.

At this moment, Dale was the master and god of this world.

However, it is neither omniscient nor omnipotent. To wield its power, it must expend a commensurate amount of mana.

And raising Death Knights of this scale, imbuing each one with the hero’s might, and projecting the automation formula onto them—it doesn’t come free.

The pain felt as if his heart would burst. Yet, paying it no heed, Dale raised his head.

At that very moment.

─ Ah, oppa…

The girl with horns like a black goat wrapped her arms around Dale’s shoulders, as if she couldn’t bear how adorable he was.

Her pale, slender fingers caressed Dale’s cheek.

“……!”

But to the virgin Aurelia, it must have seemed like a horrifying mass of tentacles coiling around Dale.

The repulsive monstrosity from another realm, dripping pitch-black, dark mucus like tar as its tentacles coiled around him.

Leaving that nauseating sight behind, she gripped her sword hilt more firmly.

“──Well then.”

Facing the black knights surging in from all directions, she flashed the golden edge of her sword and charged forward.

“It seems I can no longer afford to treat you ‘leniently’ any longer, young master.”

“That doesn’t concern me.”

“I do not wish to betray the kindness of the young master who entrusted me with the lance.”

The golden Valkyrie spoke.

“If we exert ourselves any further, I cannot guarantee the Master’s life.”

“I was prepared for this from the start.”

Dale replied.

“But before that, there’s something I wish to ask.”

“Speak.”

“Do you think the one destined to become king of the newly born Britannia Kingdom will be a good king?”

“……!”

“Judging by how desperately the Holy Maiden is trying to hand the throne over to Charles VII…”

Dale asked calmly.

“He must surely be a saintly ruler beyond reproach.”

“…….”

“You must be concerned for the people suffering under the empire’s tyranny, know justice, and sincerely worry about the kingdom’s future.”

Dale said.

“Is that worth the effort?”

And Saintly Maiden Aurelia understood the meaning embedded within that question. It was not a question. The young eldest son of House Saxon already knew the answer.

The true nature of the man called Charles VII.

“Simply because that man was born of royal blood…”

As if nothing else mattered.

“Are you, the Virgin, prepared to sacrifice everything in this country for that man?”

“Thinking is not my role.”

“No, Lady Aurelia, you must think.”

That again.

“Regarding the meaning of Sister Sistina’s words, ‘I will save the Kingdom of Britannia.’”

“As I have already stated.”

But the Holy Maiden Aurelia paid no heed.

“I am merely executing the ‘will of the goddess’.”

To save the kingdom from the empire’s tyranny and hand the throne to the most qualified. And Charles VII was qualified. He possessed the innate qualification of royal blood.

“Are you claiming to be Heaven’s puppet?”

A puppet of Heaven.

Though hidden beneath her golden helmet, her expression remained unreadable. Yet even in this world where biting cold raged, one could feel the air freeze solid.

“Our fate is not our own.”

Saintly Maiden Aurelia declared.

“Truly, you speak the truth.”

Dale nodded in agreement, offering no denial. For those words were strikingly similar to what Dale had once said to Sir Yones.

There is no fate we can change with our own hands.

“But just as fate is not ours to command…”

Dale said nonetheless.

“Likewise, it is not ‘heavenly’ either.”

As if to say it could never become a puppet of heaven.

“…Is that so?”

At those words, the holy maiden Aurelia silently nodded. She adjusted her grip on the nameless sword.

“Then our conversation ends here.”

A golden whirlwind swirled around her feet. Six wings made of light spread wide.

Suddenly, it was no longer merely a golden Valkyrie. The divine executor stood there.

The Seraph, the angel of judgment.

“■■■■■■■■──!”

At the same time, the girl with the horns of a black goat let out the most horrifying scream the world had ever heard.