Chapter 199 : The Marquis of Envy, Leo Fortia (6)
Lancelot’s spear sliced through the air with a piercing whistle.
The spearhead began to bury itself in the Marquis of Envy’s chest.
I got him…!
A hopeful expression bloomed on Lancelot’s face.
—You didn’t understand me correctly. I believe I told you that to kill him, you must pierce his heart while he is using the Aspect of Envy.
“…What?”
—Just get out of the way.
The moment the Third Prince’s words fell…
A twisted grin spread across the Marquis’s face as he looked at Lancelot.
Envy released a bloodcurdling scream.
A tremendous shockwave of air erupted from him.
“Argh!”
Lancelot staggered back, still clutching his spear.
The Red Moon began to rise once more in the sky. A calamitous technique.
But Lancelot’s expression was triumphant.
“Ha, a thing like that is nothing. His Grace can just shatter… ah.”
He’d forgotten.
Only a Grand Master’s Mindscape could erase the Red Moon.
And right now…
There was no Grand Master here.
The gurgling dead began to rise again, their bodies reforming into masses of flesh. Behind each of them shimmered the mark of the Fiend, and they all emanated a crimson demonic energy.
He was surrounded by the controlled knights and a flesh-golem ogre.
It felt like they were right back where they started.
“…This is insane.”
Lancelot raised his spear with a trembling hand.
How was he supposed to fight this?
—Then become a Grand Master.
“…If it were that easy, do you think I’d be in this mess?”
Lancelot forced a playful tone as he faced his enemies.
The Marquis of Envy screeched in fury, and the Demonkin army began to move in perfect unison, charging toward Lancelot.
At this rate, death was certain.
Lancelot bit his lip and tightened his grip on his spear.
But whether from exhaustion or something else, the weapon slipped through his fingers.
It struck the ground with a sharp, clear clang.
And in that instant, the Demonkin army swarmed him, thrusting their weapons forward.
Shunk!
But Lancelot felt no pain.
Lea had stepped in front of him, taking the brunt of their attacks.
Droplets of blood began to fall from her body.
“…Huh?”
Lancelot’s eyes widened as he stared at her.
She was covered in wounds.
For a moment, his mind went completely blank.
“Lady Lea!”
From why she had shielded him to when she had even regained consciousness—nothing about this situation made any sense.
“Why would you do this?! Dammit, Mihaila! Wake up and take care of the Lady! Now!”
Lancelot’s voice was a frantic scream as he searched for Mihaila, but the woman was still unconscious some distance away.
“Dammit! Why are you never around when I need you?!” Lancelot roared.
Then, from in front of him, Lea asked weakly, “Are… you alright?”
Her body had been pierced by countless swords and spears.
“How can you even ask that right now?! Why did you do it? It would have been far more rational for you to recover your strength and fight, not me! Why?!”
Lancelot forced his hands around his spear, rushing to stand before her as he shouted. He wanted to look behind him, but he couldn’t. The Demonkin who had attacked Lea were still radiating hostility in their direction.
Clang! Clang!
He bit his lip, fending off the charging Demonkin.
Then…
A voice came from behind him.
“…My entire life has been one of being protected. In the North, by my father and sisters. Out here, by you and Louis. I was never helpful. I was always just a burden.”
“Dammit, what’s wrong with that?! I was able to live here because of you, Lady Lea! I’m alive today because you took me in!”
“…It wasn’t my doing. You survived on your own.”
Lea’s voice was tinged with a faint smile as she continued.
“So, I want to protect you now. You, and Louis. I want to protect you all.”
“And you’re trying to die to do it?! If you wanted to protect people so badly, you should have protected someone else, not me! That would have been the rational choice, so why?!”
—Because being ‘rational’ is just another way of saying you’re trying to secure something.
The Third Prince answered in Lea’s stead.
—How can a man who cannot protect the person right in front of him protect a greater cause, or the North?
—That is the nature of true nobility. One who seeks to protect does not calculate gain or loss. That is the mark of true leadership.
—And it is the path you must walk.
The Third Prince’s voice didn’t overlap with Lea’s, but Lancelot understood what she was trying to say.
She hadn’t just saved him.
It was her conviction.
She had willingly offered her life for it.
Lea’s body slumped weakly onto the snow. She hadn’t collapsed completely, but it was only a matter of time before she lost consciousness.
Dammit…! What am I supposed to do now?!
Lancelot gritted his teeth and swung his spear.
He wanted to protect the North. But he didn’t have the strength.
It couldn’t be helped.
He should just wait for his captain to arrive.
Wasn’t it natural to think that way every time?
Because he was weak.
Later.
He could solve it later, when he was stronger.
But was he really weak?
Or was it that he lacked resolve?
He wasn’t afraid of dying, but that was just a form of escape. He didn’t want to face situations that were as hard as death, over and over again, without dying.
Roxen had become a Grand Master.
Kai would become an incredible assassin.
The captain, Lady Lea, even that new girl Mihaila.
They were all greater than him.
He had thought he could do nothing, just bide his time and breathe, and it would all work out.
This was the result.
Dying, unable to do anything, unable to protect anyone.
The price of his escape was far too cruel.
“…Yes, I was complacent.”
He shouldn’t have been waiting for someone else. To protect, he had to take action.
Lancelot slammed his fist against the back of his other hand, his eyes flashing with a cold light.
He would kill them.
And he would save Lady Lea in time.
“So, come at me. All of you.”
Storm Aura began to overflow from Lancelot’s body.
Lea’s sacrifice was the catalyst for the birth of another absolute power in the North.
* * *
Lancelot’s spear pierced the abdomens of the Northern soldiers.
More accurately, he shattered their Aura Hearts.
The wounds weren’t fatal, but if they ever woke up, they would never be able to serve as knights again. They would surely curse him for it.
But Lancelot didn’t care. He just kept swinging his spear.
Watching him, the Third Prince’s eyes narrowed.
…Talent stirs.
Lea Praha, the youngest daughter of the house that had killed him.
He honestly didn’t like her, but her actions were those of a true noble.
And those actions, right now… were about to give birth to a new Grand Master.
Still, this is surprising. His drive for improvement wasn't directed at others.
A drive for improvement was, by its nature, a comparison to others.
To be better than others, to surpass them all.
This was a form of envy.
Envy was an emotion born from comparing oneself to others.
That was why the Third Prince had thought Lancelot might take an interest in the Marquis of Envy.
They were kindred spirits.
He was a knight who understood the essence of envy better than anyone.
But the drive Lancelot actually possessed was the complete opposite.
A drive for improvement aimed at himself. It’s astonishing that such a person actually exists.
A desire to be better than the man I was yesterday.
A need to be stronger than my past self.
That this was the emotion held by a being who had accepted his inferiority to others and settled for complacency… it was enough to make one wonder if he was some kind of saint.
Lancelot’s spear strikes grew increasingly fierce.
With every swing, he became stronger than he had been a moment before.
The trajectory of his spear.
The quality of his Aura.
He was evolving beyond his past self.
He’s changing.
The Third Prince watched Lancelot’s evolution with a sense of wonder.
This was a storm.
A storm that grew more ferocious with each passing moment, hurtling toward the Marquis of Envy.
A storm that fully accepted the censure of others, that did not fear its own growth.
And just like that, it thrust its spear into the Marquis of Envy’s heart.
“Go,” the Third Prince said softly.
And in that instant.
The world began to transform into a colossal storm.
The earth was torn asunder, and demonic energy scattered like a candle flame in the wind.
Thunder, lightning, rain, and gales.
All manner of natural disasters erupted from the tip of Lancelot’s spear.
His body on the verge of collapse, Lancelot roared.
“This! This is the Mindscape I have perceived!”
<Mindscape - Valhalla of the Self-Enlightened>
The Self-Enlightened—beings who achieve realization on their own.
Their battlefield had descended upon the mortal plane.
* * *
Overwhelming pain jolted the Marquis of Envy back to consciousness.
“Kuaaaargh…!”
The Red Moon was shattered, and his Aspect was completely broken.
It seemed his Abyssal Realm had failed.
“This… cannot… be…!”
The Marquis of Envy unleashed a menacing demonic energy, forcing himself to his feet. He then glared at the knight standing before him.
“Was it… you? The one who… agh… broke my Abyssal Realm?”
He was sure this man had been just another side character.
But the presence radiating from the knight before him was on the level of a Grand Master. Furthermore, the storm and natural disasters raging across the battlefield… this was clearly a Mindscape.
“How dare you raise a hand against an Imperial Prince… This is treason! Treason, I say!” the Marquis of Envy shrieked, flying into a rage.
Part of it was genuine fury, but it was also a ploy to recover his strength.
He wouldn’t die, after all.
And as long as he didn’t die, there were plenty of ways to deal with this whelp.
It worked…!
Having recovered a sliver of his power, the Marquis of Envy hurriedly used his Aspect.
This knight had only just awakened his Mindscape.
He might be able to steal it.
If he could, he would surely be one step closer to a ducal title!
<Aspect of Envy - Jar of Avarice>
The Aspect of Envy shot toward Lancelot.
And in that moment.
“Yes!”
The Marquis of Envy cried out in triumph.
He had succeeded in taking the Mindscape.
The knight before him was already at his physical limit, completely motionless.
“Now die by your own technique!”
The Marquis of Envy used his Aspect to manifest the Mindscape.
<Mindscape - Valhalla of the Self-Enlightened>
A tremendous storm began to gather.
The Marquis of Envy let out a maniacal laugh, utterly satisfied.
But then.
“Huh…?”
The Marquis of Envy stared at his hand, his expression turning to one of alarm.
It was becoming transparent.
And not just his hand—his entire body was turning translucent, as if he were about to ascend to the heavens.
“Wh-what is this?!” he shouted in panic.
His demonic energy wouldn’t move.
His Aspect wouldn’t obey his will.
It was as if none of it was his own.
As the Marquis floundered in confusion, Lancelot slowly began to speak.
“That Mindscape… you can only obtain it by blaming yourself. By envying yourself.”
“…What?”
“It’s going to be painful. My Mindscape… it hurts quite a bit, you see.”
A slow grin spread across Lancelot’s face.
And then…
“GAAAAAAARGH!”
The Marquis of Envy began to scream.