Chapter 340 : Chapter 340
Chapter 340. Shouldn't You At Least Not Cry? (1)
Patrick's past life was revealed, and along with it, the existence of the Outer God was also revealed.
In truth, most of it was unbelievable content, but doesn't the credibility of words change depending on who says them?
“…And so. I will learn from my Master and protect our world in the upcoming war with the Outer God.”
“……”
“I hope that you all will also follow my Master and fight together.”
The person saying that was none other than the Dragon Lord.
There was no one who would not believe this.
There wasn't, but….
“Excuse me, Dragon Lord.”
“Speak, Knight A.”
“It's Oliver. No, anyway…. Ahem.”
Oliver cleared his throat for a moment, chose his words, and then said.
“So, according to the Lord's words, we have to unite around our Young Master and fight and win against the great evil, the Outer God, who is trying to destroy the world?”
“If we do not do so, we have no future.”
“Around our · Young · Master, you say?”
“I said so, didn't I?”
“Our · Young · Master · is the · hope · of the world, you say?”
“…Yes.”
Oliver's head turned.
And the heads of the others all followed and looked at one place.
“Ooooh…. that feels good. Yes. A little lower.”
“Here, you mean?”
“Yes. There.”
“Honey, say 'ah'.”
“Aaaah….”
That man, lying comfortably with his head on Isabella's lap, munching on the cheese Elione was feeding him, and receiving a massage from April.
That man was the only hope of the world, they said.
A pleased smile formed on Oliver's face.
And he said….
“…We're screwed.”
No one refuted that statement.
* * *
Although he had finished explaining the situation, the people needed time to accept reality.
‘It won't be easy.’
Patrick, lying on the uncomfortable cot on the battlefield, closed his eyes gently and thought.
It was a time when a big war had just ended.
But it would not be easy to accept the fact that an even bigger war remained.
But they had to accept it.
In the first place, the war with the Outer God was not something that could be avoided.
Patrick decided to give people time and wait for a while.
To that Patrick….
“May I come in?”
A guest had arrived.
It was not an unexpected guest.
It was also an opponent he had to have a conversation with at least once.
Patrick sat up and said.
“Come in.”
At that, the person who entered the barracks was none other than the peerlessly beautiful woman with red hair.
It was Queen Katherina.
As soon as she entered the barracks, she politely knelt before Patrick.
And placing her forehead on the ground, she said.
“I greet the Grand Young Master of the Schneider Duchy.”
Rather than courtesy….
It would be right to express it as servility.
She, the descendant of the most historic royal family on the continent, the Spirit Royal Family, the wife of the Hegemon King, and also the queen of the Yusef Kingdom, had knelt and brought her head to the ground.
Even if there was no one watching, this was excessive courtesy.
But looking at her, Patrick felt neither disgust nor contempt.
‘She must be anxious.’
He could only understand.
He could well guess why she was doing this.
Patrick scratched his head and said.
“Have you heard about the promise I made with the Black Knight?”
“…Yes. I have.”
“Then you can rest assured. I will take responsibility and guarantee the safety of you and your son.”
“……”
“So you do not need to be afraid.”
To explain how this came to be, we have to turn back time a little.
* * *
Right after Patrick took the Hegemon King's head.
Sanson and the other subordinates approached to congratulate Patrick.
However….
“I'm going to take care of some business for a bit.”
“Yes? Young Master, what did you say? Hey! You punk!”
Although Sanson called out desperately from behind, Patrick moved like the wind and ran.
As he moved like that, a smile like that of a hunter chasing its prey was on Patrick's lips.
‘These bastards are treating me like a sucker.’
Patrick was chasing after something.
* * *
“Kugh…. Damn it.”
“That was a close call.”
“That damn monster of a guy.”
A place quite far from the battlefield.
There were three black mages hastily fleeing the scene.
The identity of these three, who were running out of breath and escaping the battlefield, was surprisingly Jonsa's direct disciples, Greed, Envy, and Las.
They, the direct disciples of Jonsa, had quickly intuited the moment Patrick appeared before their eyes.
That they could never win.
More than that, Jonsa had also said.
If you encounter Patrick Schneider, you can drop everything else, but just make a choice for survival.
They, the direct disciples of Jonsa, followed their master's words more thoroughly than anyone else.
The moment Patrick appeared, they used their trump card magic.
Spirit Escape.
It was a last-ditch method that high-ranking black mages use at the last moment.
It is a magic that abandons the existing body and escapes the soul to a spare body prepared in advance, and it is not used unless one is really cornered because it is accompanied by considerable risks.
In particular, to deceive the eyes of the Double Dragon, they had to escape in a state where they had given up all the demonic power they had accumulated in their existing bodies.
In other words, the three here now were just ordinary low-ranking black mages.
“Damn it, did we have to go this far?”
Greed, who had stopped running because he couldn't catch his breath, said.
At that, Las, catching his breath beside him, said.
“Do you think you could have deceived that monster if it wasn't for this?”
“No matter what, still.”
“Calm down. In any case, when the Day of the Falling Sun comes, we will attain a divine status befitting our achievements.”
“Kugh….”
That was true.
Indeed, because they had that to believe in, they had also abandoned their existing bodies and all their demonic power to attempt an escape.
Now, they just had to return alive from here.
If they did that….
“Now, what awaits us is only glory….”
Slice.
It was at that moment.
A single sharp flash of light flew and cut off one of Envy's arms.
Envy's arm, which fell with a thud a beat later.
At that….
“Kuaaaaaaaaargh!”
Envy screamed in pain and rolled on the ground.
And Greed and Las hurriedly looked in the direction the attack had come from.
At that, there was….
“Huk? You are….”
“Ah, no.”
A man who, in a sense, they should never have encountered, even more so than the Double Dragon, was there.
The name of this man, with a black Aura Blade formed on a large bastard sword, was Matias Karvan.
The man who was known to the world as the Black Knight and was the right hand of the Hegemon King.
And he had now appeared before these three.
“Only for this chance….”
“W… wait, Matias, my words….”
“…I have been waiting.”
“R… run….”
“You trash!”
Simultaneously with finishing his words, Matias Karvan stepped forward and swung his sword like a storm.
“Kuaaaaaaaaargh!”
“Aaaaargh!”
“Noooooo! Aaaaargh! Aaaaaaaaaargh!”
There was no mercy in Matias' sword.
He cut off the limbs of the three black mages in an instant.
Looking at the three writhing on the ground in a state of having no decent demonic power, Matias looked on coldly.
“How dare you….”
“Kugh…. Matias, you dare….”
Stab!
“Kuaaaaaaaaargh!”
Matias cut out the eyes of Las, who was glaring at him with eyes full of resentment and anger.
And his sword ceaselessly cut down the three black mages who were writhing on the ground.
His blade, which avoided fatal wounds to ensure they would not die, to make them suffer even a little more, was full of the hatred of revenge.
“St… stop….”
“Plea… please….”
“Hic…. hkhkhkhk….”
These three were once the disciples of Jonsa, who had killed and controlled humans for at least hundreds of years, and for as long as over a thousand years.
But at this moment, they were just low-level, low-ranking black mages.
There was nothing they could do against the Black Knight, who was called the second masterpiece created by Jonsa after the Hegemon King.
They wanted to beg him to just kill them quickly, but they couldn't even do that.
The Day of the Falling Sun.
That salvation would come soon.
Even if they became less than insects crawling on the ground, as long as they were alive until then, they could ascend to godhood.
That fact made them crave life even in this terrible pain.
The reason they were barely holding on to life with their meager, low-ranking black demonic power was for that reason.
However….
“Are you that afraid of dying?”
Matias was a man who knew black mages as much as they did.
Seeing them, who were begging in the pain of a living hell but stubbornly trying to survive, he realized what he had to do now.
“Good. I'll kill you all right now.”
“N… no.”
“Please!”
A terrifying Aura Blade formed on Matias' bastard sword.
His Aura Blade, filled with the desire for revenge for his lord….
“Die.”
…fell upon the three black mages without mercy.
“Noooooooooo!”
CRASH!
Matias' Aura Blade exploded.
In that one blow, the three direct disciples of Jonsa met their deaths, without even a piece of flesh remaining.
“Huu…. huuuu….”
Matias, his anger not yet subsided, could not catch his breath even after blowing the three away.
To that Matias….
“If you're done with your business, shall we have a talk?”
Patrick appeared.
At that moment, Matias' eyes changed in a way that could not be described.
The moment Patrick appeared, shock, anger, resignation, sadness, and so on….
Numerous emotions flickered across his eyes.
And Patrick said to that Matias.
“Tell me.”
“…What is it?”
“Is there a reason I shouldn't kill you and let you live?”
“……”
At Patrick's words, Matias squeezed his eyes shut.
Then, letting go of the sword from his hand, he said.
“There is no such reason.”
“……”
“But please let me live. I cannot die yet.”
“You have a reason to live?”
Patrick looked at the puddle of blood where not a single piece of flesh remained and said.
“Revenge? Or…”
“……”
“You have to protect the Hegemon King's child, is that it?”
At that, an undeniable emotion of agitation appeared on Matias' face.
Matias Karvan.
He had disappeared with the Hegemon King's son and wife at the time when Marquis Noah Gregory had committed treason.
The people of the world wondered why the Black Knight had done such a thing.
But Patrick, who had read those memories in the process of bringing the Hegemon King to his senses, knew the reason more accurately than anyone else.
“You were the Hegemon King's mother's escort knight, weren't you?”
“……”
“At her request, you protected the young Hegemon King, and now, at the Hegemon King's request, you will protect his young son?”
“……”
“A nanny suits you more than a knight.”
At the words of Patrick, who knew everything, Matias knelt on the ground, bowed his head, and said.
“Please let me live. I cannot die yet!”
“So you'll prostrate yourself and beg?”
“I am not foolish enough to think I can fight and win against you.”
“……”
“So I just beg. I… I cannot die yet.”
In the eyes of Matias, who raised his head and looked at Patrick, the sense of duty to protect his dead lord's will was burning brightly.
Patrick said to that Matias.
“As you may know, you are a sinner.”
“……”
“And the Hegemon King's son and wife will also be pursued by the entire continent.”
“……”
Matias clenched his fists.
He couldn't help it.
Although it was for his lord, he had joined hands with the black mages and received power of his own will.
But for his lord's young child and his wife to be caught up in it was something he could not bear.
Matias, with tears of blood in his eyes, said.
“I beg of you. Please… please, for my lord's son…. We committed all the sins.”
“……”
“You can tear me to pieces and kill me. So please….”
“How shameless.”
“……”
“The people who fell to your ambitions and schemes also had things that were as desperate and precious as yours.”
“……”
“You trampled on all that, and now that it's your turn, you're going to beg for mercy? Don't you think it's too sordid and disgusting, even to yourself?”
“……”
He could not make any excuses.
Not a single word.