Chapter 96
Chapter 96
“…Your Highness?”
The Count of Sheffield beside me called out with a puzzled expression.
At that, I reached out a hand to shut his mouth, then focused on the voice ringing in my ears.
[She’s not an ordinary one. It went beyond damaging the body and stole the soul.]
“Stole the soul, you say…….”
I chewed over those words and rose to my feet.
Werner handed me a handkerchief, so I wiped the blood from my hands with it, then looked at the Count of Sheffield.
“Have you identified what the culprit is?”
“That is…….”
He smacked his lips and held back his words.
Judging by his expression, it seemed he knew something but felt uncomfortable saying it outright.
At that, I waved my hand, driving away the people nearby.
“So?”
“…I humbly report this with utmost trepidation, but it does not seem to be the work of an ordinary being. Once before, when I crossed the continent to pass the trial to become the head of the Sheffield family, I encountered something similar to this.”
“You certainly went to great lengths just to say ‘demonic energy.’”
“…You already knew?”
The Count of Sheffield grumbled about having explained things at unnecessary length, then let out a long sigh like a deflated balloon.
It was amusing, but it wasn’t hard to understand his reaction.
Aside from the Holy Kingdom, talk of demonic energy or demons was still largely unfamiliar to the general populace of this world.
As the head of a prestigious magical family, the Count of Sheffield had likely experienced all sorts of things in the past and thus had a rough idea.
Normally, not knowing was the natural state.
“Who else knows about this?”
“Only my confidants. One is a mage, and one is a knight—the ones who were just examining the body.”
“Hm…….”
At that, I let out a small groan.
I briefly thought it over, but there had been no episodes related to demons in this part of the story.
Which meant that once again, a development not present in the original had appeared.
Moreover, there was no guarantee that the demon that had appeared was a single entity.
Hadn’t the ones we fought in Britain come as a pair?
“For now, collect the body. Leaving it like this wouldn’t be good.”
“I will see to it immediately. Then, Your Highness, what do you intend to do going forward?”
He subtly sounded out my intentions.
From his expression, it seemed he hoped I wouldn’t get involved any further in this matter.
If anything were to happen to me, a prince, regardless of my reputation, the result would become his failure.
That wasn’t a simple issue—it could even provide ammunition for his political enemies to pressure him.
“I’ll leave it to you. If it has two heads, the investigation will have a hard time anyway.”
With that, I told him I would step away here.
River had said it wasn’t an ordinary one, but the mages here were no ordinary people either.
Wasn’t this one of the families hailed as a great house, carrying on the lineage of countless mages in the Empire? One or two demons that hadn’t descended in their true bodies should be manageable.
“We will do our utmost to ensure that Your Highness may enjoy a pleasant tour with your friends.”
“Empty flattery.”
For him, who ruled this territory, it must have been a grave matter, yet whether it was simply his nature, he still tossed out a joke even in such a situation.
I waved my hand, telling him to hurry and get to work, and started to move.
“River.”
[…….]
I called her name in a low voice.
The voice I had heard earlier was definitely not a mistake.
But it seemed she had fallen back asleep, and only the chirping of some unknown insect reached my ears.
“Hm…….”
It was a little disappointing, but there was no need to be impatient.
Relying on the exploits of River or Tyrfing was something for a bit later.
I moved toward Werner to return to the reception room where the rest of the party was, but before that, a disturbance arose from the group that had withdrawn far away.
“Father!”
Leysias came running toward us with a frantic expression.
She panted heavily, then continued in broken phrases.
“The mansion, the mansion is under atta—.”
“What is going on? Calm yourself.”
The Count of Sheffield grabbed the shoulders of his daughter, who had come close to collapsing, his face full of worry.
At that, she pointed urgently toward one area of the mansion.
“A group is attacking the opposite sector! They’re still fighting!”
“……!”
At those words, we looked at one another.
Soon, without anyone needing to take the lead, we kicked off the ground and ran, the mages of the Sheffield family following behind us with movements far swifter than one would expect of mages.
“Stop them!”
“Deploy light-attribute magic! They’re weak to light!”
Perhaps because the mansion was so large, it was only midway that we noticed where the commotion was coming from.
Wooooong-.
Several spells tore through the darkness and rained down upon the enemies.
Under that light, I frowned at the revealed figures of the assailants.
“Monsters, huh.”
They had human shapes, but they were not living beings.
If I had to describe them, it was as though darkness itself had taken on human form and was moving.
Despite their scrawny appearances, they were surprisingly tough, not falling even after taking several spells.
Instead, they rushed forward at great speed, throwing themselves at the knights and mages, trying to corrode them.
“You bas-tards!”
Before I could step forward, a violent mana storm erupted from the Count of Sheffield’s entire body.
With a thunderous shout, he stretched both hands into the air, and dozens of spears were formed.
Mages fundamentally could not use holy power, but those with sufficient skill could convert attributes to produce effects similar to it.
The Count of Sheffield was someone who had long since reached the level where doing something like that was effortless.
Soon, a bright light gathered atop dozens of spears.
Then, at the gesture of his hand, they surged toward the shadow wraiths that had invaded the mansion.
The thick spears pierced through and tore apart the bodies of the shadow wraiths.
Not a single one escaped; all of them lost their forms and were annihilated.
As the Count of Sheffield stepped forward, his subordinates spread out in all directions to tend to the wounded, while others stood guard in case any remaining monsters were still lurking.
“It seems they’ve all been annihilated.”
“They are wicked beings, so raise the security level to the maximum until complete safety is confirmed. The same goes for the barriers.”
“I will bear that in mind.”
The damage to the mansion itself was minimal.
All that was visible was that part of the wall surrounding the estate had been destroyed.
‘It doesn’t look like my turn to step in.’
Feeling awkward for having rushed over in such haste, I shoved my hands into my pockets and looked around, only to see Leysias and Werner finally arriving, panting.
“Aren’t you a bit late?”
“…It’s just that everyone else was too fast.
They ran faster than any swordsman.”
Werner grumbled, sounding slightly wounded in his pride.
The mages must have used magic, so it was understandable, but after finally arriving, the situation had already been resolved without him having a chance to contribute.
It must have been frustrating for him.
“…But still, it’s strange. How did they get in? The barriers should have been functioning without issue.”
“No barrier is omnipotent. Those above a certain level of strength can pass through easily. For example, me, your father, and maybe the two strongest here?”
“Then does that mean the opponent is at that level as well?”
“They fooled our attention and pulled something like this off, so……?”
As I shrugged and answered, a familiar sense of déjà vu pierced through my senses.
‘Where?’
I placed a hand on my sword and hurriedly turned my head.
Just as I lowered my body slightly, releasing my perception in all directions, the wall of the nearest building exploded.
Kwaaaang-!
A thick cloud of dust billowed up in its wake.
And at its center, a single figure shot upward.
“Enemy!”
The attention of the mages and knights converged on that spot.
As befitting a prestigious magical family, dozens of spells were cast in an instant and aimed at the target, but then everyone faltered at Leysias’s scream.
“R-Randolph! Everyone, stop! Randolph is—!”
“Stop! Everyone, stop!”
Randolph was slumped limply at the side of the assailant who had burst through the wall.
Whether he had been the target from the start or not, Randolph was a precious bloodline of the Sheffield family.
The mages hurriedly canceled their spells, and some staggered as they spat up blood.
“Keugh…….”
The Count of Sheffield was no exception.
Because he possessed skills surpassing anyone else, he had cast a high-level spell in that brief instant, but upon seeing his son being held, he hastily canceled it.
As a result, he frowned and staggered from the backlash, clearly unable to move immediately.
Confirming that, I kicked off the ground without hesitation and dashed forward.
“Your Highness—!”
“Ostia!”
Voices calling out to me rang from behind.
At those calls, I briefly turned my head and said,
“I’ll leave a trail, so follow after me.”
Pababababat-!
My body, activated to its extreme, unleashed explosive power that surpassed human limits.
As I kicked off the ground, my body soared in an instant, gliding through the darkness.
‘There.’
The assailant was already far ahead.
Landing on the roof of a nearby building, I gauged the direction and hurled myself forward again.
The distance didn’t close as quickly as I’d expected.
Whenever I tried to accelerate, the opponent pulled even farther away at an even greater speed, as if deliberately teasing me and refusing to give up any ground.
Soon, the bastard easily cleared the city wall, and I followed after him.
“U-uhh?!”
At the same time, one of the soldiers guarding the wall let out a startled gasp upon seeing me.
I lightly tapped his helmet and said,
“When your master arrives, make sure to guide him in the right direction.”
Then I lightly leapt and jumped down from the wall.
The soldiers shouted something behind me, but I had no time to pay attention.
And finally, the bastard stopped in a field a short distance away from South Yorkshire.
“……?”
I wondered if there was some scheme behind having lured me all the way out here, but there was nothing around.
Only the shadows of trees and grass stretched long beneath the moonlight.
“Have you given up on running away?”
I slowly stepped forward and asked him.
If I drew Excalibur from the start, he might grow wary and flee.
I hadn’t chased him at full power, and the opponent was surely still holding something in reserve as well.
‘Randolph seems to still be alive, at least.’
I glanced at Randolph’s condition as he hung over the bastard’s arm and saw his chest slowly rising and falling.
Fortunately, it seemed he had only lost consciousness.
“Then…….”
Drawing my sword, I slowly raised my aura over it—just enough not to put him on full alert.
But he didn’t move a muscle.
Time passed little by little like that, and I closed the distance to the point where I could sever his neck in a single stride.
‘Finish it in one blow, and secure Randolph.’
Pabababat-!
I exploded my full power in an instant and surged forward.
The momentum of having reached Sword Master burst from my entire body and swept toward him.
“……?!”
But before that, I felt something rise up from beneath my feet, cutting through my momentum and pushing back against it.
Caught by an attack I hadn’t sensed or even imagined, I let out a sharp breath and recalled my sword, but I was a step too late.
Thuk-!
A nauseating sensation of a cold blade piercing flesh spread from my chest.
Without hesitation, I stabbed down at my feet, but the bastard’s body vanished into the ground and soon surged up again near his companion.
I had avoided a fatal blow to the heart.
Still, as if I’d taken a heavy hit, my breathing gradually grew ragged.
Shaking off the droplets of blood running along my fingertips, I gripped my sword once more.
“…I see. A shadow.”
Only then did I realize what kind of tactic the enemy I hadn’t noticed had used.
He moved through shadows.
While my attention was stolen by the one in front of me, he had sprung up from my own shadow to strike a single blow.
I didn’t know how long he’d been hiding there, but all I could say was that I’d been caught off guard.
Ssssh-.
Once again, his figure vanished.
At that, I released the sword in my hand and let a deep smile spread across my face.
“I’ll make you pay dearly for letting me see my blood.”