The sight of the Phantom King’s head being cut off and his heart being pierced could be seen even from the Darwei main camp.
By Abel and General Yun, who were still fighting, as well.
“Looks like my partner did it. Give up and withdraw.”
“...I refuse.”
“What?”
At a ti like this, and he still would not retreat?
Why?
Abel shouted at once.
“Ryo!”
“I know!”
Ryo shouted back.
Yes, in other words, it was not over yet.
Even before Abel shouted, Ryo had already realized it.
He had defeated the Phantom King, but he had not finished him off.
“That’s supposed to be how you kill a Phantomkin.”
Duke Helbe had said it before.
If he were ever possessed, then they were to cut off his head and pierce his heart, the vessel of the soul.
That was exactly what Ryo had done, and yet...
it felt as though he had not completely killed the Phantom King.
And in Ryo’s mind, connected to what Duke Helbe had told him, another scene surfaced.
It was from inside the Grand Duchy of Atinjo embassy in Kubebasa.
Abel had cut off Secretary Zuruma’s head and pierced his heart.
And yet Zuruma, now a headless corpse, had still attacked them.
“That one... Duke Helbe had engraved a star-shaped magic circle on his chest.”
With the tip of Murasa, Ryo sliced open the clothes of the Phantom King lying on his back.
And indeed, on his chest...
“There’s a star-shaped magic circle. What does this an? You’re not the real Phantom King?”
“That is not the case, Duke Rondo.”
CLANG!
Ryo deflected the Phantom King’s head, which had flown at him of its own accord, with Murasa, then leaped far backward.
In his line of sight, the Phantom King got back up, and the head settled back into its proper place.
But...
sothing was different.
“Ah! His hair was black, but now it’s white—”
Yes, the Phantom King’s hair had beco long and white.
But when that face had white hair...
“Could # Nоvеlight # it be... Special Envoy Belke?”
“Yes, well, correct.”
The Phantom King’s roughness was gone, replaced by the refined but still overwhelmingly commanding presence of Special Envoy Belke.
“Split personality?”
“Well now, I do not know that term. This body originally belonged to both myself and my elder brother... my elder brother fulfilled the role of the Phantom King, that is.”
Ryo’s modern term had not gotten across, but the two of them were clearly sothing complicated.
Then Special Envoy Belke smiled openly and said,
“In any case, that technique just now was splendid.”
“...”
“Duke Rondo is a water-attribute magician. Yes, that was certainly true.”
“I have no idea what you an...”
“By splashing your own blood onto your opponent, you let it enter the body, then used the mingling blood to manipulate the bloodstream... no, I must say, that idea had never occurred to .”
“Wasn’t it just your imagination?”
Like a magician whose trick had been seen through perfectly, Ryo slid his eyes to the side in a futile attempt to play dumb.
Naturally, it ant nothing.
“In other words, this body now too has been contaminated by Duke Rondo’s blood.”
“Uh, I’d appreciate it if you phrased that a little more gently.”
“Which is why I shall do this.”
As Special Envoy Belke spoke, twelve curse talismans floated around him.
“.”
In the next instant, Special Envoy Belke’s body burst into flas.
“Huh?”
Even Ryo could not make sense of that.
And with his clothing left entirely untouched while only his body burned...
Belke’s body was reduced completely to ash, but in the next instant, a dazzling light flooded the area.
When that light faded, Special Envoy Belke was standing there again.
“...What?”
“Yes. I have risen from the ashes.”
“I’m not senile...”
Ryo answered with a frown.
Special Envoy Belke’s hands were now clean.
In other words, the blood of Ryo’s that had splashed onto him earlier had been completely erased.
The thod Ryo had just used could not be used again.
CLANG!
Not only was the sword flash too fast to see, even Belke’s bodily movent as he lunged in was invisible.
Of course, Ryo had not let his guard down, so he managed to block the strike, but...
“Fast and strong.”
“Thank you very much.”
At Ryo’s involuntary murmur, Special Envoy Belke gave a light bow.
At that mont, sothing entered Ryo’s field of vision.
People running from near the fortress.
Belke must have noticed that Ryo had noticed.
He grinned.
“Those are... ‘vessels,’ aren’t they?”
“Precisely so, Duke Rondo.”
Special Envoy Belke answered honestly.
The running “vessels.”
There were likely no fewer than ten thousand of them.
“Thanks to General Yun and the scout unit’s surprise attack, the Darwei command post is in just this much confusion. There could hardly be a better timing to launch an offensive.”
“And they’re... equipped with curse talismans too.”
“Of course. With the command post in confusion, magical bombardnt will be difficult. But you are here, Duke Rondo.”
Special Envoy Belke was still smiling.
But there was no smile in his eyes.
“Your magical attacks are troubleso. Even so, with curse talismans, they can be deflected.”
“I’m honored that you think so highly of .”
“Of course. Duke Rondo, unless we pin you down, we cannot win this battle. Therefore...”
Clang, clang, clang.
“I shall pin you down.”
A flurry even faster than before.
A flurry moving so quickly that even Ryo could barely handle it.
No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he had no choice but to focus entirely on defending against it.
There was no chance to counterattack.
Ryo took a small breath.
In response, Special Envoy Belke drew back his sword and leaped away.
That brought the flurry to a halt, but it could not be helped.
He had felt sothing.
For an instant, he had sensed that sothing had changed.
He did not know what had changed.
But...
sothing certainly had.
Ryo stood before him with his sword in the sa centered stance as always.
His eyes were half-lidded.
Even though Belke had just leaped far backward to open distance, Ryo had not pursued.
He stood there as if saying, Co strike, and I will receive you.
“Very well. That is exactly what I want.”
With those words, Special Envoy Belke rushed in all at once.
A flurry so fast it could barely be seen.
Its power, speed, and technique were all unmistakably of a high level.
Ryo devoted himself completely to defense.
And because of that...
it would not break.
“Surely not... to this extent.”
Words of admiration slipped from Special Envoy Belke without thinking.
Unshaken, unbroken, unwounded.
It was the very definition of perfect defense.
There was not even the slightest probing counter. It was pure receiving.
Even for a Phantomkin like Special Envoy Belke, who had lived for countless years, this was the first ti he had ever fought an opponent so completely devoted to defense alone.
“Interesting.”
Muttering that, he charged again.
A forceful assault through sheer power, feints using speed...
but then he realized sothing.
Technique was being rendered aningless.
Against an opponent who did not even make probing counters, technique could not be used.
It was a startling thing to realize.
Redirecting the opponent’s strike, binding their sword, pretending to block and then slipping through for a hit...
all of those “techniques” only existed because the opponent attacked.
But if the opponent devoted himself entirely to receiving and never attacked, none of those techniques could be brought into play.
“I am impressed.”
A frank expression of admiration.
But Ryo did not react even to that praise from Special Envoy Belke.
He remained in his centered stance, eyes half-lidded.
He displayed perfect defense against Belke’s attacks, but...
At last, Special Envoy Belke began to find it suspicious.
In the next mont, he felt a wave.
It was the wave of the “vessels” under his control disappearing one after another.
“What?”
There had been twenty thousand vessels that left the fortress.
But before he knew it, that had beco five thousand... then fewer still, down to four thousand... then fewer again, down to three thousand.
“Impossible.”
The curse talismans were functioning.
Forty floated at a point three ters above the vessels.
In front, to the sides, and behind them too...
they were protected by a total of three hundred curse talismans.
And yet, even at this mont, the vessels were decreasing.
The urge to turn and confirm it with his own eyes struck him.
But he could not.
Because Duke Rondo stood before him.
Even if Ryo was wholly committed to defense, the instant Belke showed an opening, he would naturally attack.
What should he do?
Special Envoy Belke charged at Ryo once more.
CLANG!
They exchanged a single blow, then Belke passed by Ryo’s side and turned around on the opposite side.
Beyond Ryo, he could see the vessels.
“They’re falling?”
Yes, the vessels were falling.
As if they were running across an icy floor...
and just as they fell and their heads were about to strike the ground, icicles were sohow there, piercing through their heads and necks.
That was how they disappeared.
“Impossible.”
Watching the final vessel vanish, Special Envoy Belke could not help letting the words slip out.
“On a battlefield, anything is possible.”
Ryo murmured, still in his centered stance.
“And with magic, anything can be accomplished.”
Ryo’s eyes were still half-lidded.
Only then did anger first appear on Special Envoy Belke’s face.
“So in the end... unless you are defeated, everything will collapse, Duke Rondo.”
Faced with that expression and those words, Ryo felt a small sense of relief inside.
Though that was, of course, a secret.
Yes, it was that usual principle.
Taking away an opponent’s calm was the very first basic of fighting another person.
It was not easy to strip calm from an opponent who still had room to spare.
The most effective way was to exceed what they had anticipated.
Destroying the vessels had done exactly that.
“.”
An opaque hemisphere with a radius of twenty ters, made of his hardest ice, enclosed the two of them.
“Hm?”
“You have no choice but to defeat . I too must defeat you. Inside here is the final battle.”
“I see. Very well.”
If it was what lay “outside,” then Abel could handle it.
That was the highest level of trust.
So Ryo concentrated on what was “inside.”
He had succeeded in robbing Special Envoy Belke of his calm.
But the real battle began now.
When you robbed an opponent of calm and made them angry...
CLANG!
their power increased. Because they were angry.
(That can’t be helped.)
That too had been within Ryo’s expectations.
CLANG, CLANG...
However, Special Envoy Belke...
(His speed has increased too.)
Yes, ordinarily, anger made people put strength where they did not need to, and their speed dropped.
But the Phantomkin before him did not seem ordinary.
Sotis there were people like that.
People who beca terrifyingly strong when they snapped...
(Special Envoy Belke is that type...)
Ryo let out a deep sigh inwardly.
(It can’t be helped. There’s only one thing I can do. Return to the fundantals, always.)
Protect.
That was Ryo’s foundation.
When troubled, return to the basics and the fundantals.
It was a truth that applied to anything.
That was why daily discipline and patient training mattered.
Because that lay at the base, no matter how difficult the situation beca, one would not have to fall into despair.
Special Envoy Belke was a practitioner of curse arts.
Which ant that his attacks did not co only from the sword, but also from curse talismans and magic.
But to Ryo, it made no difference what kind of attack it was, or from where it ca.
There was only one destination for those attacks:
Ryo himself.
So there was only one thing he had to do.
Protect himself.
What Ryo had to do did not change.
The situation was simple.
His thoughts were in order.
Ryo’s concentration reached its limit.
At that mont, Ryo’s heart was calm.
No, more than calm...
it was sinking... sinking... sinking...
sinking into a place without the slightest ripple.
It was a world of silence.
Outside, every kind of attack from Special Envoy Belke was being poured onto Ryo...
which was a scene far removed from silence.
But inside Ryo’s heart, nothing at all was disturbed.
Silence ruled there completely.
Silence that stretched on endlessly, forever.
Ryo thought of nothing.
Ryo was conscious of nothing.
Ryo... simply continued to exist there.
How much ti passed?
Suddenly, Ryo’s ti of silence ended.
When he noticed, Special Envoy Belke was barely standing, using the Saint Sword Tattien to support himself.
Belke’s attacks had stopped completely.
That, apparently, was what had brought Ryo’s ti of silence to an end.
“Why... do you not break?”
“It is the fruit of effort.”
To Belke’s question, Ryo answered not in triumph, but almost with a wry smile.
This transcendence was not due to talent.
It would be disrespectful to call it luck.
If so, then the only answer was that it was the result of effort.
That was why he smiled bitterly.
An opponent who surpassed him in power, surpassed him in speed, and could not be beaten even in technique.
Against such an opponent, his winning factor had been endurance.
Yes, it was a victory through exhausting the opponent while receiving everything.
“This too feels nostalgic.”
Ryo murmured as he recalled past battles.
Against opponents who surpassed him in everything, he had won by surpassing them in endurance, the product of effort.
Perhaps this had been a battle that had returned him to just that foundation, just those basics.
“I see. Then if I am reborn, I too shall continue to strive.”
Though he had been barely standing with the support of his sword, Special Envoy Belke lunged forward with a movent that did not suggest weakness at all.
Understanding that this would be the last exchange, Ryo lunged too.
Special Envoy Belke’s head flew off.
Without a mont’s pause, Murasa pierced straight through his heart from the back.
“.”
Outside the do, a great many people had gathered.
“Huh?”
The word slipped from Ryo’s mouth without thinking.
“Ryo, you’re all right... I see.”
Abel said that as he looked at Ryo and at Special Envoy Belke with his head severed.
“As you can see, it ended safely.”
“Yeah. It’s over on this side too. Cutting Special Envoy Belke off completely did the trick. We reclaid the fortress, and almost all the vessels were destroyed.”
“And the enemy emperor and the others?”
“Commander Tin u and Captain Lu Yao captured them. There’s no problem.”
“That’s good.”
At last, Ryo smiled.
Then he sheathed Murasa and said,
“Abel, good work.”
“You too, Ryo.”
It was in northwestern Darwei.
A region where ordinary civilians were, of course, forbidden entry, and where even the Shitaifu class of Darwei would never be granted permission to approach.
Naturally, there were no towns or villages anywhere near it.
The nearest village should have been over a hundred kiloters away.
And yet, in such a place, a single woman stood.
Using a fist-sized red lump held in her hand, she seed to be searching for sothing.
She walked for a while, and then, in the next instant, the red lump in her hand flashed brilliantly.
A mont later, a straight line of light extended from the lump.
“Ah, so I put this in there.”
With that mutter, Marie Crouche, one of the Seven Star Generals of the Choouchi Empire, walked to the place indicated by the line of light and pushed the red lump into it.
CRACK.
The sound of thin glass shattering rang through the area.
In the next instant, the place where there should have been a line of tall rock formations beca completely empty.
“When I touched it earlier, it was definitely rock... well, whatever.”
So saying, Marie passed through the opened Wall.
At that mont, the Wall that had, however imperfectly, separated the Eastern Countries and the Central Countries for nearly a thousand years was opened, and anyone could now pass through the Corridor whenever they wished.
“Boss, I kept my promise properly. See you.”
With that, Marie started walking west.
One month after the Battle of the Piurai Plains ended, a grand ceremony was held in the Imperial Palace in Hanlin, the Imperial Capital.
It was a ceremony for Duke Rondo, Premier Duke of the Knightley Kingdom—now a “friendly nation”—to depart from Darwei.
“Darwei shall rember forever Duke Rondo’s cooperation and the friendship of the Knightley Kingdom.”
“I will engrave those words deeply in my heart and carry them back to my country.”
Emperor Tsuin spoke, and Ryo, as Duke Rondo, answered.
Thus, with the civil and military officials all seeing them off, Ryo and Abel departed from the Imperial Palace.
“Well, we’ve made a lot of mories in the Imperial Capital too.”
“Yeah.”
Ryo and Abel stood on the deck of Public Vessel Number Ten, moored at the harbor of the Imperial Capital.
Beside them were their two beloved horses as well.
“Andalusia, it’s a long way to the Knightley Kingdom, but let’s go together.”
At Ryo’s words, the gray horse pressed close to him happily.
Naturally, the two of them had decided to bring both beloved horses back to the kingdom with them.
It was a long way to the kingdom, and even if they took their ti returning, it was better to have horses than not.
“Well, Feiwan and Andalusia both look sturdy enough, so they’ll be fine.”
When Abel said that, the black horse Feiwan licked Abel as well.
It was an expression of affection.
“First, we’ll go to the Grand Duchy of Atinjo and return this sword.”
What Ryo tapped as he said that was the Saint Sword Tattien.
It had originally been the sword of the Grand Duke of Atinjo, after all...
Since they had recovered it on the battlefield, he intended to return it.
Duke Helbe should, most likely, already have been thawed in the Grand Duchy, so Ryo was also thinking of paying him a visit.
“After that, we plan to pass through the Corridor from northwestern Darwei, enter the Central Countries, and return to the Knightley Kingdom.”
“Looks like it’ll still take a while.”
“It can’t be helped. Let’s take it easy.”
Neither Abel nor Ryo was in a hurry.
Their traveling party—or rather, their traveling companions—had increased by two more now.
“Well then, Duke Rondo, Lord Abel, we are departing.”
The one who said that was, of course, Captain La Wu of Vessel Number Ten.
“Yeah, I’m counting on you.”
“Farewell, Darwei!”
And so Abel and Ryo set out on the journey back to the kingdom.
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