Chapter 415
415. Black Knight
Morning came to Reruze.
After spending the night in an ownerless abandoned building, Arthur moved to Reruze’s square.
As he walked, he looked around, and it felt as quiet as a dead city.
He learned the reason when he reached the city center.
Arthur glanced around and let out a hollow laugh.
“...This is no joke.”
Tens of thousands of people packed the surroundings.
The approaches were so crowded that moving at all looked hard, and it seemed everyone living in Reruze had come to the square.
It was noisy and chaotic, like a flea market.
All of them must have come to watch the Black Star Scramble.
“Line up in front!”
Dozens, hundreds of guards were keeping order at the approaches to the square.
Huge barricades had been erected sternly at every access, and to enter the square, you had to pass through the barricades according to the guards’ instructions.
Wrapping his robe tighter, Arthur quietly queued as the soldiers directed.
There was no inspection.
Arthur soon slowly entered the square.
Once inside, he swept his gaze around.
Unlike outside the barricades, the inside of the square was unexpectedly quiet.
There was a reason, even though the crowd was far larger than yesterday, and Arthur clicked his tongue briefly as he looked around.
They’ve blanketed the place.
Figures in black robes were spread all over the inside of the square.
Dark Storm.
There were well over hundreds of them.
As if preparing for disorder, they seemed to have left only the minimum force to guard the walls and deployed everyone here. Those who had come to watch the match were cowed by the momentum of the Dark Storm and kept glancing around nervously.
Arthur rubbed his chest.
His heart still beat slow and stifling. With his presence suppressed, there was no chance of being detected by Dark Storm.
Only, what worried him was Reto’s reaction.
“Reto.”
[...]
He called the name, but again, there was no response.
Up until entering Reruze he had been moving while talking with Reto. But ever since entering the castle, Reto had been unresponsive as if dead.
At first the reason frustrated him, but now, a day later, he realized why.
Arthur let out a low groan and looked around.
“She must be here...”
An opponent for whom he had to hide Reto’s aura as much as possible.
The King of the Dead.
If she was staying in Reruze, Reto’s reaction made sense.
Jess Milo’s appearance was something Arthur had not anticipated. In a way, it was a very troublesome situation for him.
Because it had become a situation in which he had to hide Reto’s existence even more.
In the worst case, I could be in a zugzwang.
He was strongly suppressing the aura of his heart.
If, in this situation, Reto’s response also vanished, then if he were exposed, it would take quite some time to return to his original power.
There was no fool among the Black Stars who would wait for that time.
It’s a problem even if his existence is revealed to her.
Her goal was Reto’s death.
If Reto died, Arthur would die too.
For now, she was the opponent Arthur wanted to avoid most.
Hoo—
Exhaling briefly, Arthur checked the Dark Storm, then joined the crowd a fair distance from the arena.
He didn’t need a good seat.
He needed a spot as cautious as possible, and as inconspicuous as possible.
A distance of fully 200 meters from the arena.
With Arthur’s eyesight he could see anything in detail from there, so he planned to take a seat here and observe the Black Stars.
The risk of being discovered is almost nil.
He had seeped into the masses of tens of thousands with his presence erased.
No need to be tense.
While waiting for the match, Arthur chewed on the sandwiches he had brought and filled his stomach.
After a bit, looking at the many sandwiches left, Arthur thought of Samuel.
“Come to think of it, I didn’t give him anything to eat.”
In the subspace he gave Samuel, there were only bombs.
Silently staring at the sandwich, Arthur smacked his lips and started eating again.
You don’t die from going hungry for a day.
Doom, a drumbeat rang out.
At that signal, the surroundings grew rowdy.
Important figures were taking their seats on the stage.
Arthur first checked the VIP gallery set next to the stage.
The best seats with a full view of the arena, already occupied by a dozen-odd people.
Among them, Arthur spotted a striking man.
A blank-faced man with disheveled white hair, wearing rough cloth.
He was seated comfortably with a sword laid across the chair, yet the mood around him seemed to flow centered on him.
Even at considerable distance, his aura could be felt.
Heavy and solid.
“Sword Demon Karvas.”
Arthur was seeing the man for the first time, but at a glance he knew this was the Sword Demon.
It resembled the atmosphere described in the novel, and, a big clue, Azolett was seated right beside him.
The only person the Spider Queen would talk to with a bright smile was the Sword Demon.
Seeing Azolett’s expression, Arthur furrowed his brow.
Her expression is bright, huh.
He had heard she had secluded herself in the castle for a while, and it bothered him that she broke a long silence to appear in public.
By now, had she gotten what she wanted?
He regretted not bringing Lily here. If he could have checked Azolett’s list of divine investitures, it would have been easier to grasp.
In that moment,
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
“...”
A massive roar swept the entire square.
Participants were appearing on the arena one by one.
Men in matching outfits.
Their clothes were similar to Dark Storm’s, but the black star tattoos on their wrists were famous within Reruze.
Star Shadows.
Those who set their sights on the Black Star.
All of them radiated a keen momentum, and as all the challengers stood on the stage, tension began to flow through the square.
There were as many as ten Star Shadows challenging the Black Star today.
The spectators, swallowing dryly, looked at the Star Shadows.
Today, Rengua would face those challengers here and had to defeat them all, so the spectators’ eyes were colored with deep expectation.
Thud.
Then a heavy resonance rolled across the stage.
The sound of an armored puppet in massive plate stepping onto the stage.
Behind it, an old shaman slowly came up onto the stage.
Rengua Field.
The Black Star’s appearance.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaa!”
As the Black Star appeared onstage, the spectators began to chant Rengua’s name in chorus.
He was small and scrawny.
Though he had the appearance of a unimpressive old man, the challengers faced Rengua with heavily tense expressions.
The challengers inspected the armored puppet guarding Rengua’s side.
A puppet in full-body plate of dark hue. And the four swords firmly fixed to its back.
Threatening as it looked, what the challengers focused on was Rengua’s staff.
It’s not there.
If the staff isn’t there, this is doable...
Not seeing the staff, the challengers’ expressions eased.
The Staff of Madness.
Its infamy was well-known even in Prime Root.
Because it was known as the key armament that had made Rengua a “Black Star,” and news that the staff had been destroyed recently, leaving Rengua weaker than before, was the reason a stage like today’s had been set.
The thoughts of the challengers who gauged Rengua’s aura were all the same.
If we can just neutralize that puppet, we can become the Black Star.
Each challenger, eyeing the puppet Rengua had brought out, raised their momentum.
They seemed to think it was doable.
“...Insane.”
But Arthur’s thoughts were completely different. Looking at the armored puppet standing quietly on the stage, he let out a low groan.
A black-armored puppet.
The faintly inscribed, intricate shamanic patterns flowing around the armor stood out especially.
A new type of puppet, neither Van Dyke nor the Red Knight.
Arthur cursed.
“The Black Knight is already complete?”
He had expected a powerful puppet would be made when they took the corpse of a cleaner who had reached 5 stars, but he hadn’t expected to see a completed Black Knight here on this very stage.
The final form of a combat puppet manufactured by the Shamans’ Nest.
That was how special the Black Knight was.
What’s more, all the swords fixed to the Black Knight’s back were familiar.
It was armed with the magic swords of the Special Forger.
A special puppet, and special weapons.
Arthur clenched his teeth and knit his brows.
I thought breaking the staff would keep things quiet for a while, but they brought out something even more threatening.
At a glance, the outcome of this match played out in his head.
Arthur watched the Black Knight closely.
He had to get a good look here.
[Let the match begin.]
Once all the participants had gathered, the Sword Demon’s dry voice filled the square.
There was no emcee.
The start came from the Sword Demon’s fingertip.
One of the Star Shadows was pointed out by the Sword Demon, and the other challengers left the stage.
The Sword Demon looked at Rengua and remained still. The moment Rengua nodded, the Sword Demon slowly lowered his hand and spoke.
[The match continues until one dies.]
A scramble for the Black Star’s seat.
The life-or-death duel began.
“Ta-at!”
Most challengers admired the Sword Demon, so many were sword users.
The first challenger was the same.
He drew his blade fiercely and charged Rengua with all his might.
The distance closed in an instant.
Rengua lightly widened the gap and moved both hands like a conductor.
At the same time, the armored puppet reacted.
Crimson patterns flashed over the black armor, and red eyes gleamed between the visor.
A bright yellow blade slid free into the puppet’s hand.
Rrrrrumble!
Savage lightning poured down on the challenger over the stage.
It was the Special Forger Richard’s first sword, Thunderer.
Flash!
Kaang! Kang!
Brilliant sparks embroidered the stage.
The challenger diverted the surging lightning attacks with his sword, batted aside Thunderer’s strikes and countered, pouring sword-blows into the puppet’s body.
Bang! Kwaang!
The Star Shadow was certainly strong.
Under the heavy onslaught, the puppet reeled, and cracks split across the armor from the impacts.
But as if it felt no pain, the puppet righted its stance and pressed the Star Shadow.
With the puppet blocking the way, the Star Shadow had to keep clashing with it rather than Rengua.
On the stage, both sides’ sword-strikes crossed in a dizzying blur.
At the dazzling bout, the audience’s eyes went wide and they cheered.
A match you didn’t want to look away from for an instant.
While no one could take their eyes off it, a man entered the VIP box.
When he sat quietly in the empty seat beside the Sword Demon, only one person’s gaze fixed on him.
Arthur’s.
Spotting the man, Arthur clenched both fists.
Even a tense expression showed on his face.
White hair neatly arranged, unlike the Sword Demon’s.
A sapphire-blue earring that matched his gentle impression.
Even that uncanny aura.
“...Arcane, the Prophet of Fate?”
Arcane was keeping his seat beside the Sword Demon. Even on a second look, it was Arcane.
At the sight of the two conversing naturally, Arthur’s expression grew grave.
“Why is that guy here?”
He hadn’t heard the news, but he had thought Arcane would be in Demtor.
Things in Demtor were extremely urgent now.
Amid the loud cheers, Arthur hardened his face and moved slowly.
He widened his distance from the stage.
Three hundred meters.
Arcane was someone who could see divine investitures.
The moment he entered Arcane’s sight, his identity would be exposed.
At present, Arcane was the most threatening existence to Arthur.
As he widened the distance, Arthur quietly gripped the detonator in his breast.
As the certainty that he would never be exposed developed a crack, Arthur felt the need to move his plan up a little.
Samuel had better respond well.
Just as that thought followed,
Kraaaak!
A scream burst from the stage.
A Star Shadow’s head floated in the air.
The first victim.
There were two swords gripped in the Black Knight’s hands.