Chapter 198 : The Marquis of Envy, Leo Fortia (5)
“You’re the real Third Prince?”
—Addressing an imperial in such a tone… It’s just what I’d expect from a knight serving that damned wastrel—no etiquette whatsoever.
“No way. Who in their right mind would believe that?!” Lancelot let out a hollow laugh as he pressed for answers.
The Third Prince, out of nowhere?
What kind of nonsense was this?
After all, the Third Prince was right over there, roaring at the sky like a madman, shedding bloody tears and spewing demonic energy.
“If you’re the Third Prince, then what the hell is that thing?”
—It’s the one wearing my skin. Also known as the Marquis of Envy.
“What...? You mean that Demonkin stole Your Highness’s body?”
—You could say that.
“No, what the...” Lancelot let out another incredulous scoff.
He was grateful for being saved, but this had to be some insane ghost.
That’s why it was spouting such drivel.
—I can hear everything. Did you think muttering curses in your head would hide them?
“Hey, why are you eavesdropping on my thoughts?”
—...Unbelievable. How is this fellow supposed to be our hope?
The Third Prince let out a sigh.
Then he began whispering the next words directly into Lancelot’s ear.
—Enough of that. Handle them first. He seems to have noticed you’re awake.
Just as the Third Prince had said, the northern knights staggered forward, directing their hostility straight at Lancelot.
“...Damn.”
Lancelot hurriedly picked up the spear he’d hurled aside just moments before.
In that instant, the northern knights charged at him.
“Diiiiie!”
The Aura of dozens surged toward Lancelot, as if facing a Demonkin.
Attacks brimming with enmity rained down on him.
“Damn it! Are these guys being controlled too?!” Lancelot asked as he defended himself.
Clang!
He used non-lethal strikes. Even if they’d lost their minds, he couldn’t kill his own side.
But no matter how much of a Master he was, the mindset for killing versus subduing made all the difference.
In the end...
“Damn!”
Lancelot’s spear snapped and flew into the air.
“This is driving me crazy!”
Lancelot steadied his stance.
He’d only used the shaft to avoid killing them, but it had clearly strained the weapon too much.
“Diiiiie!”
The northern knights’ eyes gleamed as they swung their swords.
“Wake up, damn it...!”
Lancelot kicked the charging knight in the gut.
But it was all just pissing in the wind.
A prolonged fight against this endless swarm would only waste his stamina.
As he broke another knight’s arm, Lancelot asked the voice, “You got anything useful?! You didn’t show up just to chat, right?!”
—Hah. Anyone would think you’d handed the whole thing off to me.
“Hurry up!”
—Tch, fine. I do have a way out of this. I’ve seen his Aspect from the closest vantage, after all.
Lancelot’s expression brightened with a hint of hope.
Suspicious as the entity was, it had saved him.
At the very least, it wasn’t on their side.
And since it had woken him up, it probably had some method.
Sure enough...
—The method is simple. Deny his Aspect head-on.
The voice’s owner began explaining the approach.
—First, you need to know what the Demonkin’s Aspect is.
—An Aspect is fundamentally born from a Demonkin’s most powerful memory—the enlightenment they’ve gained from living as a Demonkin.
—Some inherit Aspects from predecessors, but that’s just a rare case.
Aspects were a power similar to a Mindscape.
If a Grand Master’s Mindscape projected their life’s journey and the source of their Aura cultivation method...
A Demonkin’s Aspect was a power derived solely from enlightenment.
For example, with the Aspect of Madness, Pepia believed that true beauty could only emerge when everyone went mad.
Madness was the most fundamental emotion, and he saw his own existence as a byproduct of it.
That’s how he’d obtained the Aspect of Madness.
In that case...
How had the Aspect of Envy come about?
—He’s nothing but a liar. His Aspect is just a childish play-pretend, born from envying everything in the world and wanting to steal it all.
“But that ‘play-pretend’ is about to kill me...!”
Lancelot broke a knight’s waist.
The Third Prince snorted and continued.
—That’s because you’re not taking it seriously. Normally, the moment you escaped his Aspect, you should’ve sent them to their rest.
“They’re northern knights too! I can’t kill them...!”
—Stubborn as ever. Fine, then. To escape his Aspect, there’s one thing you must do: become someone worthy of his envy.
—He wants to steal everything from those who provoke his greed, after all.
“Envy... sounds simple enough...!”
Clang!
Lancelot rolled to dodge a knight’s sword.
It seemed the Grand Duke and Divine Archer had been consumed by his Aspect too—they were slowly rising, weapons in hand.
“Hah.”
Lancelot picked up a spear from the ground and yelled, “I don’t get why I need to provoke his envy, but fine! So how do I make him envious?”
—How? Raise your realm. Become a Grand Master. Wouldn’t he envy that supreme state?
“...If that were possible, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”
Lancelot forced a grin as he raised his spear.
Ascending to the supreme realm of Grand Master…
If it were possible, he wouldn’t be here like this.
He’d have knocked out His Grace and the Divine Archer long ago and killed the bastard.
—That’s the only way. The moment he uses his Aspect to steal your power—that’s when you cut out his heart.
—And whether it’s fortunate or not, by stealing my body, he’s inherited human vulnerabilities.
“...That’s real hopeful.”
Lancelot muttered as he eyed the two approaching Grand Masters.
Two choices.
Ascend to Grand Master in no time at all.
Or die at their hands.
“...Shit, there’s no choice at all,” Lancelot muttered, brushing back his sweat-drenched bangs. A habit he’d picked up from his captain, Louis Berg.
“Fine. If I don’t want to die, I’ve got to break through.”
Lancelot charged forward, cloaked in House Berg’s Aura.
* * *
Hmm... He doesn’t seem to be from a knightly house.
The Third Prince, Leo Fortia, pondered as he watched Lancelot.
It had been ten years since his soul was captured by the Marquis of Envy.
In all that time, no one had heard his words this clearly.
So at first, he’d thought Lancelot was from a priestly background.
After all, some clergy could converse with souls.
But the Aura cultivation method he’s using is House Berg’s. Did that wastrel teach him?
His spearwork was top-notch too.
It made sense.
Having reached Mastery with the spear, his skill was only natural.
This guy already had one foot in the Grand Master realm, after all.
It’s like watching the previous Knight Commander.
Leo smirked as he observed Lancelot’s fight.
If asked about his talent, it wasn’t particularly great.
How did he know?
Well...
It has to do with why the Marquis of Envy took my body.
An imperial with the status of royalty, and the empire’s unique eye for talent.
That was his gift.
That’s why the Marquis of Envy had chosen his body as host.
Snatched at the brink of death, his soul pawned to the Marquis.
In any case…
The method he’d told this knight Lancelot had plenty of potential.
His talent was unremarkable, but he had one key strength.
A drive for improvement.
That would elevate this knight Lancelot to the Grand Master seat.
Boom!
Just then, Lancelot’s spear broke and tumbled across the ground.
Lancelot quickly grabbed a new one and drew up his Aura.
A talent that grows when he stakes his life.
Leo observed Lancelot with calm eyes.
—If you don’t want to die, ascend to that realm. Now.
* * *
“Bloody hell!”
Lancelot bit his lip and rolled.
His body was covered in wounds.
The Grand Duke’s sword was sharp, the Divine Archer’s bow fierce.
And the knights piling on in between.
He felt like he needed ten bodies.
The only silver lining was that the Grand Duke and Divine Archer weren’t using their Mindscapes, and the Marquis of Envy wasn’t joining the fight directly...
“But it still hurts like hell...!”
Boom!
Lancelot threw himself aside again, dodging the Divine Archer’s arrow.
The combat was endless.
At this rate, Grand Master or not, it would all be over.
“Damn, what am I supposed to do?”
Truth was, there was a way to improve the situation.
As the entity claiming to be the Third Prince had said, kill the northern knights one by one.
Inflict critical wounds on the Grand Duke and Divine Archer.
Normally impossible, but with their skills dulled, he could find openings.
“But how could I…?” Lancelot muttered, grinding his teeth.
He couldn’t do it.
The Grand Duke and the northerners had raised him from an orphan.
He wasn’t born a northerner, which made him love the North all the more.
Every breath he took, every drop of sweat—it was all thanks to them.
That’s why he...
He couldn’t kill them.
“...Hell, it’ll work out somehow.”
Lancelot bit back a curse and raised his Aura again.
A massive storm surged, seeping into Lancelot’s surroundings.
The northern lands.
The northern people.
He would protect them all.
Drive out the Demonkin, make it a livable land.
Make this place far more beautiful than the capital.
And to do that…!
“I won’t kill them!”
<Storm’s Judgment>
Lightning forged from the storm shot toward the Grand Duke and Divine Archer.
It might kill other knights, but not them. Not supreme Grand Masters.
They’d probably just stagger for a moment.
That’s all I need...!
But Lancelot wasn’t done—he raised his spear and charged.
His destination: the Marquis of Envy.
He was going to thrust his spear into that heart.
* * *
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
“...The demonic energy is thick.”
Louis Berg awoke.