Chapter 189
Barnes slowly set down his sword. This was because the apparition of Albrecht in front of his eyes was gradually fading away.
'... Is that, the commander's power?'
Even Barnes, who rarely showed surprise, opened his eyes wide.
The sight of Erich fighting Albrecht looked like an avatar from myth itself.
Of course, the mythic beings Barnes pictured weren't giants—Erich had simply wrapped his body in power.
However, the sheer magnitude of that power felt more overwhelming than anything else to Barnes.
Barnes glanced around. King, Frederick, and the doppelgangers they had been fighting all disappeared, and they too turned their gazes toward Erich's battle.
They felt there was no way they could interfere in such a fight.
Even Barnes, whose raison d'être was following orders, couldn't bring himself to jump in.
Albrecht conjured countless apparitions.
Although Barnes possessed the eyes of a Swordmaster, even that power was not enough to fully follow them.
But there was one certainty.
Like moths rushing toward a flame, Albrecht's apparitions were utterly helpless before Erich's avatar.
No matter how many tens or hundreds of phantoms attacked, they couldn't penetrate Erich's avatar.
Merely approaching resulted in them igniting and bursting apart.
Barnes felt self-reproach, realizing he had once struggled bitterly against apparitions far weaker than these.
Such a formidable existence, in the face of Erich's power, was nothing more than a mere mosquito.
Yet, Albrecht was also a wielder of divine ritual. He did not retreat, even before Erich's overwhelming avatar.
― KWA-A-AANG!
Each time Erich's sword of light shone, Albrecht's body was battered to ruins.
Yet, with countless illusions, he diverted Erich's focus and mounted attacks.
Still, for some reason, Albrecht's attacks did not land on Erich.
It wasn't because Erich was defending with his avatar.
It was simply because Erich was dodging.
Wherever Albrecht's sword slashed, only afterimages left by Erich's avatar remained.
Soon Barnes narrowed his eyes. He noticed something amid that explosively rising power.
"... That is..."
"Looks like you're sensing something?"
Frederick approached Barnes.
Curiously, despite Erich's searing heat being enough to melt the surroundings, it never harmed them.
They only needed to avoid the spreading flames; however, as the battle between the two intensified, they'd been forced to move quite far away.
Barnes realized the power emanating from Erich was not ordinary power.
"That's no ordinary power."
"... You can see that at a glance, can't you?"
"No, that's not what I mean."
Barnes's face clouded dark. The energy visible amid that overwhelming force—this was...
"Life force."
"L-Life?"
"The commander is drawing on his life force."
"... Damn, is that even possible?"
"Not for just anyone, I suppose."
A Swordmaster's eyes could read many things—sometimes intuitively feeling them.
This included the life force Erich was using now.
Life force was the strongest power a living being could possess.
For example, the mighty magic of the dead used to seal shamans' power—hadn't it been fueled by the barbarians' lives?
Aura, the root of the Swordmaster's strength, was like a residue born of life force.
But Erich was now using the very source that created the aura as his power.
Moreover, to wield power by sacrificing the life force of someone as skilled as Erich—
― KWA-A-A-AANG!
—it was so powerful words could not continue.
Barnes clenched his fist.
He had always been aware of his own powerlessness, but never felt it as keenly as now.
"There's no need to compare yourself, Barnes."
"... Sorry?"
"Our boss is a different kind of man from us. Sometimes he feels like a monster. But we can't expect to follow someone like him."
Again, Barnes was surprised by Erich's power—and by Frederick's words, which he hadn't expected at all.
Frederick stroked his scruffy beard and let out a sly grin.
"That's why we serve the boss, isn't it? Because it's the best we can do."
"... I see."
Barnes fell into thought.
Frederick already knew his own place so well—maybe that was why the commander trusted him.
In fact, Barnes had never particularly liked Frederick.
He even considered him a frivolous man—one who enjoyed belittling his superiors despite not being that strong.
But just now, Barnes felt as if he had learned something from Frederick.
"The best we can do, huh..."
"The boss is doing his best too, after all."
Frederick raised his hand and pointed forward.
There stood Erich, overwhelming Albrecht and finally driving the sword of light through him.
― KUHUK!
People often imagine the death cry of a fiend as chilling and evil. But, in reality, it wasn't so.
Albrecht—a shadowy player manipulating the Watch for nearly a thousand years, supporting the Lord of the Dead.
His final scream was deeply human.
The sword of light that pierced out of Albrecht's back trembled.
Then Albrecht's body shuddered, and, grabbing Erich's avatar with his bare hands, he—
― SSSSSSIZZZZLE.
In an instant, Albrecht's arm that grasped the avatar began to melt away.
Erich kicked Albrecht's body away. Unlike before, Albrecht collapsed weakly onto the ground and could not get up.
However, Barnes sensed that Albrecht was not completely finished yet.
Then Erich raised his sword to the air.
― PHIT!
With a swift, clean motion, Erich cut Albrecht's body in half. Barnes felt nothing at Albrecht's death.
This man had poisoned Barnes, turned him into what he was.
He had driven countless Watchmen into corruption, perhaps even plotted to destroy the Watch in the future.
The end of such a villain...
He felt nothing at all.
Erich seemed the same.
Rather than relieved, he approached Frederick, Barnes, and King with a blank expression.
The rings of light that had sparked around his avatar began to fade.
Erich skillfully returned his sword to its sheath. The blade, without a drop of blood, slipped in smoothly.
― CLACK.
"Let's go back. Frederick, Barnes, King."
"Where are we going?"
Frederick smiled. Erich fixed his gaze somewhere beyond the distance.
"To where the Lord of the Dead awaits. Now let's settle this once and for all."
Erich also let out a broad grin, as if he had achieved what he desired here.
What he obtained from this place.
Barnes recalled it without realizing—the absurdly immense power of Erich's avatar.
The strength with which he overwhelmed Albrecht like a child.
Erich seemed prepared for the final battle at last. Even if it meant burning his own life as fuel.
***
― Drip, drop.
A white-haired man slowly rose from his seat.
With his pallid appearance, he seemed to notice something, turning his gaze elsewhere.
In the dark cave, the only place he could look was toward the entrance, where a faint light shined through.
"... So, you died, Albrecht."
He stared at his reflection in a puddle.
His face was exactly the same as Albrecht's—there was not a single difference to be found.
But one thing was certain: he was not Albrecht. In fact, even he himself knew that he was not Albrecht.
However, he 'had to become' Albrecht. Until now, he hadn't been, but now it was time to become Albrecht.
He examined the clothes hanging in the cave.
All of them had been prepared in advance by Albrecht himself.
The sword to use. Even fragments of a dragon from which he could gain power.
Of course, he could not wield power equal to Albrecht's.
As just one of countless conjured illusions, his goal was not to 'become Albrecht'.
Still, despite being nothing but an illusion, he wore a cold smile.
"... Your plan is brilliant."
Albrecht had known he would die.
No, he had to die at the hands of Erich, who had grown so powerful, and he had to show him the secret of power.
The Lord of the Dead already knew Albrecht would betray him.
Therefore, to avoid the lord's suspicion, ironically, death was the only way.
That was Albrecht's grand scheme—he would die and pour his last power into an illusion, giving it form.
This was the only way to escape both Erich and the Lord of the Dead.
And then—
― CLACK.
Albrecht picked up the sword hanging on the wall and looked toward the great armor that stood in the corner.
The old, battered armor looked like it had seen centuries of use.
With a bit of Albrecht's illusionary magic, it would appear to anyone as just another simple death knight.
This was Albrecht's arrangement. Now, he would head to the battlefield.
To the final battlefield where the living and the dead would clash.
And in that chaos, what the new Albrecht sought to obtain was—
"So, it's the final chapter now."
Albrecht curled his lips into a sly smile.