CHAPTER 4
INTRUDER IN THE DARK LORD’S CASTLE
“Someone…infiltrated the Dark Lord’s Castle?” Leonis repeated telepathically. “What scoundrel would dare… How many of them are there?”
“Based on the beastmen’s report, it’s likely just one target. Details like their affiliation are unknown, but…,” Shary answered.
Hmm, Leonis thought.
The Dark Lord’s Castle’s dungeon was accessible through a portal located deep beneath the Seventh Assault Garden. It wasn’t an easy place to reach.
“It seems the intruder took one of the beastmen hostage, and they guided the intruder to the gate.”
So that’s how.
Perhaps he should have been angrier at the beastman for his lack of loyalty, but he wasn’t an undead soldier without self-preservation instincts.
This just proves I haven’t gained complete control over my minions, that’s all.
“What, kid, full already?” Regina looked at Leonis with visible concern, seeing he wasn’t touching his food.
“No, I was just thinking, is all,” Leonis replied, biting into the hamburg steak on his plate.
“Do I have permission to exterminate the shameless intruder, my lord?” Shary inquired.
“Hm, yes… Actually, no. I’m interested in this scoundrel.” After pausing to consider, Leonis changed his mind. “I’ll go myself. Out of respect for the courage, no, the foolhardiness they exhibited by charging into the Dark Lord’s Castle alone. I will bring them to their knees and have them serve me.”
“Then I am to let them continue unimpeded?”
“Correct. But this is also a good chance to test the castle’s defensive measures, so make sure to greet them courteously.”
“Understood, my lord…”
Leonis wolfed down the remainder of his food and got to his feet.
“What’s wrong, Leo?” Riselia asked.
“I think I might have overeaten. Which way to the restroom?”
After fabricating an excuse, Leonis hurried into the hall, where he summoned a bone warrior from his shadow.
“One of the Three Champions of Rognas, Hell’s Grappler, Dorug, at your service,” the skeleton said.
“I will be returning to my castle. I need you to act as my body double for the time being.”
“Understood, my lord!”
With that, Leonis cast a shape-shifting spell on Dorug. The skeletal warrior’s form distorted momentarily and then took on Leonis’s visage.
“I’m counting on you. Just be sure not to do anything suspicious,” Leonis instructed him before vanishing into the shadows.
“I never imagined I’d find something like this under the city…”
As she slipped through the bright, shimmering portal, the intruder gasped in surprise. She found herself in a vast subterranean complex illuminated by many iron lanterns. A long stone corridor extended before her.
Something so large couldn’t have existed below the Seventh Assault Garden. Thus, that gate must have been…
A teleportation device of some sort.
Even the capital didn’t have that kind of magical technology, however.
“P-please, I showed you to the gate! Spare me…!” the beastman in her grip pleaded with a strained expression. Her blade was pressed against his neck.
“Not yet. Show me to your Dark Lord.”
“I—I can’t. Only the highest-ranking members of our group know where the Dark Lord resides. You could get to him if you reach the bottom of the labyrinth, but the way there is full of dangerous monste—”
“You talk too much, beastman. Are you going to lead me or not?” The intruder, Sakuya Sieglinde, mercilessly dug into the beastman’s throat with the tip of her katana.
Even the Murakumo’s intelligence gathering couldn’t sniff out any helpful information regarding the Dark Lord’s identity. Fortunately, they had successfully located the Demon Wolf Pack by tracking the scattered remaining members of the Sovereign Wolves. Sakuya had contacted one of them and was forcing him to take her to the Dark Lord.
“P-please, just let me go already!” the beastman begged.
“Sorry, but no. Believe me—I’d rather not stoop to this, either,” Sakuya responded coldly.
The Dark Lord Zol Vadis. The one who ruled this city from behind the scenes.
If he really controls the Seventh Assault Garden, he definitely won’t let the Kenki Gathering go through with their plan.
Sakuya was still unsure of the Kenki Gathering’s machinations, but they had said the Seventh Assault Garden would become a battlefield. Sakuya was just like them, an avenger seeking to hunt down the Voids, but she would never accept a method that put innocents at risk.
At the same time, the young swordswoman was wise enough to understand that she couldn’t stop a group hellbent on revenge by herself. She’d already submitted an anonymous report to Excalibur Academy’s administration bureau, and ever since the Hyperion’s hijacking, the Seventh Assault Garden’s anti-terrorist caution level had been elevated to the maximum.
But this means going up against the Kenki Gathering, the Sakura Orchid’s elites. The administration bureau won’t be able to handle them.
The Seventh Assault Garden was a frontline bastion in the fight against the Voids. However, unlike the capital, it lacked a special organization for dealing with internal terrorist activities.
With nowhere else to turn, Sakuya had sought out another faction in the city.
If I can just join forces with the Dark Lord…
The question was whether she’d be able to win his cooperation. It was definitely a gamble. If this so-called Dark Lord really saw the city as his domain, he had to feel compelled to rescue it from crisis. But if Sakuya’s negotiations failed, she could very well meet her demise.
“Go on. Lead me to your Dark Lord.”
“E-eek!”
Just as Sakuya made to dig her blade a little deeper into the beastman…
“I welcome you to my castle, brave yet foolish swordswoman.”
“…?!”
A booming voice sounded through the labyrinth’s corridors.
“You’re the Dark Lord—Zol Vadis!”
“In honor of your reckless valor, I shall entertain you appropriately!”
Blue will-o’-the-wisps burst to life in the air, illuminating a path forward.
“You’re…guiding me to you?”
“Indeed. But first, you must clear my trials. Only by conquering my labyrinth will you be allowed to reach my residence.”
“Bring it on,” Sakuya said, releasing her hostage and readying Raikirimaru. Electricity crackled over the weapon’s blade.
This might be a trap…
Still, this was no time to hesitate. With her Holy Sword in hand, Sakuya sprinted off.
How did Sakuya get here?!
Leonis massaged a temple with one hand while seated on his throne of bones. Reflected in the crystal ball he held in his other was a blue-haired girl. Her Sakura Orchid attire billowed as she sped forward. Leonis had suspected she might try to uncover the Dark Lord’s identity, but…
This exceeds my every expectation. How did she manage to storm my castle after only a day…?
What did the young woman hope to accomplish? Surely Sakuya wasn’t like one of those heroes a millennium ago that hoped to slay a Dark Lord.
“I suppose I’ll just have to see what she’s capable of…”
Leonis knew of Sakuya’s skills from the training matches in the academy. Her individual combat prowess was second to none, and though she appeared reckless at first sight, she possessed keen judgment skills. Her blade skills rivaled Leonis’s before he’d become the Undead King.
And to top it all off, her Holy Sword, Raikirimaru, boosted the wielder’s speed.
Leonis watched through his orb as Sakuya streaked past the skeleton soldiers, effortlessly cutting them down. She was already moving faster than an ordinary human’s eyes could follow.
I’d like her as a minion.
In truth, Leonis’s army was primarily formed of undead, but even with sufficient mana, he couldn’t create them on end. He needed corpses, be it simple skeletons, ghouls, or skull dragons.
A thousand years ago, when war waged nonstop, he had a steady supply. Things weren’t that simple in this era, though. The Voids, those mysterious life-forms, if they could even be called such, tended to vanish into the emptiness whence they came and couldn’t be used for Leonis’s magic.
While he now had the Demon Wolf Pack under his command, and their brute strength was remarkable, they still weren’t experienced enough in combat. Given weapons and ample combat training, they might form a unit as mighty as the Dizolf Grand Beast’s Demon Beast Corps. At present, however, they were a far cry from that potential.
But if I can enlist Sakuya into the Dark Lords’ Armies…
“My lord.” Shary appeared near Leonis’s throne, kneeling before him respectfully while holding up a tray with a tea set. “I brought you something to drink.”
“Thank you.” Leonis nodded, took a cup, and sipped the tea.
Shary was altogether a ditz as maids went, but if there was one thing she was good at, it was serving tea.
“What do you think that swordswoman’s objective might be?” Shary asked as she looked into Leonis’s crystal ball.
“I don’t know. But it surely isn’t to join my ranks,” he replied. Turning his attention to the shadow at his feet, he called, “Blackas, come join us. You’re close with her, are you not?”
“We have some connection, yes.” The darkness swelled, taking the shape of a large black wolf. “She’s a proud girl with the heart of a true fighter.”
“Hmm. What do you think about recruiting her into the Dark Lords’ Armies?”
Blackas’s ears twitched, and Shary raised an eyebrow slightly.
“I believe that is your decision to make as supreme commander of the Dark Lords’ Armies,” the great wolf answered softly.
“…I see,” Leonis said before falling silent as he observed Sakuya’s image on the orb.
Warriors as skilled as Sakuya Sieglinde were hard to come by. And since she was only fourteen years of age, she had room to grow. Riselia was capable as a frontline commander, but Sakuya was a mighty vanguard.
If Leonis was to compare Sakuya to any of his existing minions, she was most like the Underworld Knight Schteizer Halliorstatt, one of his most accomplished champions.
And besides…
“If I were to take in Sakuya, a member of her kingdom’s royal family, I might be able to recruit all of the Sakura Orchid’s people in one fell swoop—”
Of course, things weren’t guaranteed to go that easily. Regardless, Leonis and Sakuya had a common enemy in the Voids. There was certainly enough grounds for them to join forces.
“Nnnnnn. My lord, are you plotting to blindly create more minions again?” Shary questioned, puffing her cheeks in displeasure.
“It seems she broke through the skeleton soldiers, Lord Magnus,” Blackas reported, heedless of Shary’s complaints.
“Impressive. But I expected no less,” Leonis said, knowing that low-ranking bone warriors were no match for Sakuya. “Next, send out the Shadow Beasts.”
“Hyahhhhhhhh, Thundering Lightning Slash!”
Sakuya’s blade danced through the air, cloaked in electricity, as it freely cut through the skeletons. Bones scattered into the air, hitting the labyrinth walls and breaking into dust.
These bone monsters… Is the Dark Lord creating them?
Individually, they weren’t strong, but it was taxing to face them in large numbers.
“Having so much to slash is fun in its own way, though…!”
Shwing!
Her sword arced like a bolt of lightning as it swept through a whole company of shambling bones. It seemed she’d felled the last of them.
“Haah, haah, haah.”
But just as Sakuya began to relax and steady her labored breathing…
Grrrrrrrrrroar!
The shadows cast by the flickering will-o’-the-wisps grew and came to life, becoming a Shadow Beast.
“…!”
Sakuya reflexively dodged and slashed at the creature. However, it wasn’t over yet. The shadows seethed like boiling water, and more animal-like silhouettes rose.
“Shoot!”
Slashing through the monsters, Sakuya tried to push forward, but the Shadow Beasts had already cut ahead of her. Unlike the bone warriors, these creatures hunted their prey in a coordinated, organized manner.
I wish I could get a read on how many of them there are… And their attack patterns, Sakuya thought while evading incoming attacks.
She longed for Elfiné’s analysis and Riselia’s accurate command.
Miss Regina’s covering fire would make things much easier…
And there was also the boy who’d recently joined their unit, Leonis. He hadn’t made any particularly eye-opening achievements in combat yet, but just having him around seemed to help the unit function more smoothly.
Up until six months ago, coordination with her teammates never crossed Sakuya’s mind. She had tried being part of a unit of upperclassmen, but always ended up hunting Voids solo. That was the only way she knew, and it eventually led to her dismissal from that squad.
That’s how I’ve always fought.
A proud, aloof sword that swept through the Voids like a demon.
I don’t think I’m weaker for fighting in a team, but the brand of strength I wield has changed, for sure.
The Shadow Beasts howled as they reached for Sakuya’s limbs. She tried to slash at one holding her right leg, but more and more of its kin appeared, dragging her down into the dark.
The miasma of nothingness began to pour from Sakuya’s body.
Crackle, crackle, crackle…!
Tendrils of black lightning licked Raikirimaru’s blade. The Demon Sword Yamichidori. This was Sakuya’s trump card against the Voids—one she had kept secret from her teammates. The surging bolts instantly destroyed the beasts pinning her, forcing them to melt into the shadows.
“Not at a…time like this…!”
Sakuya swung the blade’s tip down, turning it from a Demon Sword back to Raikirimaru. Using the Demon Sword, even for a short moment, allowed the nothingness to eat away at her.
“The Dark Lord certainly has some powerful servants…,” Sakuya remarked, her shoulders trembling as she breathed slowly while pushing deeper into the labyrinth.
“Oh, so you’ve overcome the Shadow Beasts. You exceed expectations. Those ranked rather highly among my servants,” a voice boomed around her.
“…Dark Lord?!”
The will-o’-the-wisps lighting up the corridor went out at once.
“You pass the test. I shall permit you an audience with me.”
And as soon as the voice said that, a white glowing magical circle appeared beneath Sakuya.
“What…? Aaah!”
What? Did Sakuya’s Holy Sword just change?
Leonis cocked an eyebrow, still seated on his throne of bones. He knew, of course, that Holy Swords were capable of Mode Shifting, a transformation that altered their configuration. For example, Regina’s Drag Howl could go from a cannon to a sniper rifle. However, Sakuya had never used that dark lightning during training matches.
Is this some kind of last resort she wouldn’t employ while sparring?
Perhaps there was a cost to Mode Shifting. Or maybe Sakuya had some other reason to keep it secret? Leonis looked down from his throne as a magic circle appeared in the center of the room, teleporting Sakuya into his audience chamber.
“Where am I?” the flustered girl demanded, looking around.
“Conduct yourself accordingly, for you are in the presence of the Dark Lord Zol Vadis,” Leonis declared loudly. He’d already donned his Dark Lord’s mask and had Shary and Blackas step away.
“You have quite the crude way of handling a lady,” Sakuya remarked, watching the disguised Leonis with reproach.
“Given that you are an intruder, I’d say I treated you in a most gentlemanly fashion,” Leonis shot back.
Sakuya bit her lip. “I apologize for my intrusion. I simply thought this would be the only way to meet you.”
“I see. Then what brings you to my castle?”
Sakuya lowered Raikirimaru slightly and replied, “Dark Lord, you said you’re this city’s ruler. That you control it from the shadows.”
“Indeed. Whether you humans admit it or not, the Seventh Assault Garden is already my—”
“In that case, surely anyone who tries to destroy this city is your enemy, right?” Sakuya cut in.
“Hmm.” Leonis narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying someone aims to destroy my kingdom?”
“I don’t know what they’re plotting for sure, but I do know that it’s bound to be terrible. And those people are likely the same ones who smuggled in the Voids you annihilated at the pier yesterday.”
“Oh?” Leonis frowned beneath his mask. “You claim they were brought in? I thought the Voids crept out of the emptiness.”
“Yes, at least…I think they did.” Sakuya shook her head. Evidently, she had no proof about this, either.
“Assuming you’re right, and those people did bring Voids into my domain, then their actions are a clear act of hostility toward me.”
“Dark Lord Zol Vadis,” Sakuya entreated, looking directly at him. “I want to stop them, but I won’t be able to do this on my own.”
“You seek my strength?”
“…Yes,” Sakuya replied, her expression strained with concern.
“Are the people you speak of powerful?”
“They are. Although they’re few in number, each is a Holy Swordsman on the same level as me. And they fight without fear of death.”
Leonis nodded. “I see.”
A group of Holy Swordsmen on par with Sakuya, hm…?
A group like that would make for wonderful servants. However…
“Anyone who menaces my kingdom—be it Voids or Holy Swordsmen—is an enemy of mine,” Leonis declared, his voice echoing ominously through the room. “You shall have my aid. Know, however, that if you ask a Dark Lord for help, you must be prepared to pay a suitable price.”
“…” Sakuya bit her lip anxiously. “Do you mean some kind of sexual demand…?”
“No!” Leonis called out, flustered.
“Oh, that’s good.” Sakuya sighed with relief.
“Sakuya Sieglinde. I order that you and the people of the Sakura Orchid join my army.”
“…You want me to be your subordinate?”
“Correct. I will induct you into the Dark Lords’ Armies as a guest general.”
“I don’t think someone as mighty as you requires my power.”
“Do you? Well, I hold your capabilities in high esteem.”
“And you want the people of the Sakura Orchid, too…?”
“Yes.” Leonis nodded grandly on his throne. “They shall all enter into the service of the Dark Lords’ Armies.”
“Are you asking us to turn against the Integrated Human Empire?”
“That’s what it would entail, yes.”
“…” Sakuya bit her lip again and stared at Leonis for a moment. “If you were only requesting my loyalty, I’d accept. However, the people of the Sakura Orchid cannot serve you,” she stated decisively.
“I see…”
Sakuya didn’t mind allying herself with him. That in and of itself was a pained decision that took a great deal of resolve for the young woman to make. She was obviously prepared to defend the Seventh Assault Garden to the last, even if it meant selling her soul to a Dark Lord.
Leonis shook his head. “We have nothing more to discuss, then.”
“Dark Lord!”
“I want the Sakura Orchid itself. If you’re unwilling to accept my offer…”
Leonis raised his hands and snapped his fingers.
“W-wait, what are you—aaaah!”
Countless umbral tendrils coiled around Sakuya’s body and began dragging her into the dark.
“Think on my offer. Should you change your mind, come to my castle again.”
With a dripping sound, the girl was pulled into the shadows and sent through one of the portals located below the surface of the Seventh Assault Garden.
Now then…
“What do you think of Sakuya’s words?” Leonis asked Blackas, who had been hiding in the darkness.
“You mean about the people who smuggled Voids into the city? Hmm. It’s suspicious. It’s possible they’re connected with Zemein and that whelp, Nefakess.”
“I agree that this activity exceeds the boundaries of mere terrorists. It’s like that suspicious witch, Sharnak, who manipulated the Sovereign Wolves into abducting the princess.”
“What are you planning to do then, Lord Magnus? Will you leave them be?”
“Of course not.”
Leonis removed his Dark Lord’s mask and flashed a diabolical smile. This attack on the Seventh Assault Garden was tantamount to challenging the Undead King himself. Sakuya didn’t even need to ask him to do it. He would’ve crushed them thoroughly either way.
“Foolish humans. You will rue the day you incurred my wrath.”
“Nothing seems to go the way I want it to,” the young bishop groaned as he moved pieces on a game board. “I do hate games with too many uncertainty factors.”
There wasn’t anyone on the opposite side of the board, only the boundless emptiness of the void.
He was in a prismatic space located within the Void territory. There stood a gate with a silver lock. It was the deepest of blanknesses, which connected with all of space-time.
The Otherworldly Castle. The seat of one of the eight Dark Lords, Azra-Ael.
There, the Void Bishop, Nefakess Reizaad, complained to himself. The old man who had previously occupied the other side of this board had died in a fight the other day.
“Well, so be it. It is a bit boring without someone to play with, but…” Nefakess lifted his eyes from the board. “Even so, it was an unexpected development. To think that the Undead King had already been destroyed.”
That was a deviation from the future outlined in the prophecy. Not being able to turn the greatest of Dark Lords into their pawn was a major setback. On top of that, the experiment with the Holy Woman of the Six Heroes had failed, and Veira, the Dragon Lord, had been defeated, too…
“Are all these uncertain factors having some kind of influence on causality…?” Nefakess wondered aloud.
As he thought about it, he realized that his plans had started going awry ever since the Archsage Arakael went berserk.
“The Seventh Assault Garden, that sanctuary of humanity. Something there is causing this.”
Riselia Crystalia. He’d planted a fragment of the goddess in that vampire girl to be on the safe side.
Perhaps it’s not her, but one she serves…?
Nefakess had to consider every contingency when it came to the future the goddess had foretold.
“It seems we’ll need to meddle with destiny a bit.”
“Do you intend on making Shardark into a vessel for the goddess, even after he succumbed to nothingness?” a voice called from the darkness.
“Ah, if it isn’t Lord Gisark,” Nefakess remarked with a grin.
The Divine Dragon of the Six Heroes appeared silently behind him.
“You should not interfere with him,” Gisark cautioned. “He has taken in countless gods, as well as Dizolf, the Lord of Rage. He’s far too unstable to be a vessel.”
“Yes, that might be true.”
“He is a hero who fell to the emptiness to destroy the goddess. The Swordmaster of the Six Heroes may have become a singularity that is bending the fate of the prophecy.”
“If that’s true, could we not reap the benefits of that open seam in causality?” Nefakess wondered, picking up one of the game pieces and toying with it.
“Don’t grow conceited, bishop. The only one who can weave the strings of fate is the goddess.”
“Yes, I’m aware of that, of course. All is according to the goddess’s will.”
The bishop turned, but there wasn’t anyone there anymore by the time he did.
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