Chapter 223 - Bright Starry Night (2)

"…I'm sure I left it closed."

Late at night, Joseph entered the office alone and saw a small window open.

I wondered if I had made this mistake, and before I knew it, white snow had accumulated on the window sill.

"I must light the fire."

Joseph had entered the office intending to work a little, but in the end, he let out a small sigh at the inconvenience of having to light the fireplace.

"Cough, cough."

When the match fell and the wood ignited, Joseph started coughing from the soot that slowly rose.

It was a deep cough that shook his shoulders, but Joseph simply covered his mouth with a handkerchief, as if he was used to it.

"Hmm?"

After lighting the fireplace, Joseph observed an unknown object illuminated by the flickering light.

A completely black letter was placed on a cold desk where the outside air had not yet passed.

The letter was unfamiliar and had not been seen during the day.

"…It doesn't even have a seal."

Joseph looked at the letter, which didn't even have a proper seal, making it impossible to know who had sent it, and he put on gloves just in case.

However, contrary to his concerns, there was no danger in the unknown letter, and it simply had elegantly written words.

-Time is not the same for everyone. Joseph.

However, the distinctive feature was that the writing was classic.

Joseph tilted his head as he looked at the old handwriting that must have been popular decades ago.

-For some, time is a calm lake that seems to last forever, but for others, it is a waterfall that passes quickly.

The letter, though written by someone unknown, clearly cited ancient scriptures.

The message from a stranger quoting the old words of God slowly caught Joseph's attention.

-And for you, Joseph, this will be even more true.

"Cough, cough. Hmm…"

He wanted to focus, but the cough coming from within constantly bothered Joseph.

The cold that still persisted in the room was poison, and the soot transmitted through the heat was also poison.

In a world full of poison, Joseph struggled to decipher the hardened black letters.

-I feel your time is running out. You probably know it well too.

"Hmm?"

Joseph, who had already reached the end of the letter, felt that the letter he was holding was gradually heating up.

Joseph was very surprised by the sudden heat, but the unknown black letter did not seem to fall from his hand, as if it were glued.

"…Damn it!"

A small seal was being drawn beneath the black, shiny smoke.

The seal, which slowly took shape, was something Joseph had been pursuing for a long time and was so impious that he could barely bear to look at it.

-Joseph Bayezid, a poor broken stone since birth.

Thus, the symbol of an evil person who blasphemes against God was finally drawn.

After seeing the pattern, Joseph knew who sent the black letter he was holding.

-The will of God is harsh and unyielding, so it will soon come to you.

After reading the entire letter, Joseph looked at the last line and carefully set down the handkerchief that covered his mouth.

The beautiful handkerchief that my mother had embroidered herself was full of bright red blood that was hard to ignore.

-Before the year ends, in the form of death.

"…"

It was neither his recklessness nor someone's curse, but simply the natural limit of his life.

The passage of time was not the same for everyone, but for Joseph, it was especially cruel.

***

[He's coming!]

"…!"

The man standing there looking at me is smiling.

The man with pure white hair suitable for winter was already lunging toward Vlad, with the moon filling the night sky as a backdrop.

"Frausen!"

"How have you been?"

Vlad hurried to open his world, feeling the enormous pressure as he approached.

However, unlike Vlad, Arnstein's mansion could not withstand Frausen's presence.

Boom-!

The sword strike shook the old mansion, strong enough for everyone in Valetta to hear.

Amid the dense stone dust, Vlad struggled to find a way.

[He uses a sword technique similar to yours. You have no chance of defeating him head-on!]

Though he barely dodged the blow, Vlad was not scared.

Rather, his fighting spirit was burning as he looked at Frausen in front of his sword.

"Anyway, I was looking for you."

"Why were you looking for me?"

Vlad's world began to burn when he saw Frausen ask mischievously.

Though he had never forgotten the name, it seemed Frausen had forgotten the person seeking revenge.

"…If you've forgotten, I'll remind you."

The original light began to shine in Vlad's closed left eye.

Frausen started smiling with interest as he watched his sword slowly move away along with him.

"It's Justia."

"Who?"

"The name of the knight you killed that day."

Crack!

"Justia of San Rogino."

There was a canary that cried for me in a foggy city.

Having survived her death, I was the one obligated to avenge her unfulfilled vengeance.

"Today I will claim the price of Justia's blood."

Vlad's eyes, murmuring as if making a promise, suddenly resembled those of a dragon.

A personality that only I have, not you.

Alongside his tearful sword, the dragon's character within Vlad began to flow with his blood.

"Very well. Try it."

"…!"

Crack!

An incredible force, followed by astounding speed.

Vlad, who had struck Frausen with just his strength, was already running toward him, who had fallen far away.

"…You're fast."

As if the scream from a moment ago wasn't a lie, Vlad's sword began to fill Frausen's field of vision.

They were residual images of the dragon-killer sword charging at him from all possible angles.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Wherever the sword touched, walls exploded, and wherever his feet stepped, floors broke.

The golden lightning flashing in the middle of the hallway seemed like the reverberation of an explosion seen from the outside.

Amid this storm of blows, Frausen staggered dangerously.

"Haaa!"

Even amid endless attacks, Vlad was gradually measuring the distance he could leap.

To face the swordsman who created the one-hit kill technique, a moment of surprise was necessary.

"Today you will pay the price of Justia's blood."

Vlad pushed aside Frausen, who was staggering, and contracted all his muscles for a fraction of a second.

Ready for a fatal blow that no one could foresee.

Thus, in Vlad's raised eyes, a golden and straight horizon suddenly appeared.

Crack-!

No one can stop the rising sun.

The cracks in the hallway, unable to withstand the pressure of the extended sword, ran toward Frausen.

"…Vlad, you always surprise me."

Though Vlad's attack was fierce, Frausen showed no signs of alarm.

"But I don't remember any knight named Justia."

Kwaaaaaaaaaaa!

Finally, Vlad's blow reached Frausen.

Vlad's attack was faster than light and stronger than the rising sun.

However, even that brilliant blow slowly dimmed before the knight who had lost his color.

Woom-woom

Nevertheless, Vlad's blow was not entirely useless.

Because the dragon-killer sword that pierced Frausen's chest showed what kind of existence his beating heart was.

Vlad showed a surprised expression, feeling the two pieces react because they originated from the same thing.

"…Dragon fragment?"

He said he returned to kill dragons.

However, now he carried a dragon fragment.

Vlad was speechless at the contradiction Frausen represented.

***

Boom!

There was a strong impact that shook the mansion.

Pedro, running through the hallway, was hit by such a strong tremor that stone dust fell, and he ended up collapsing mercilessly.

"…Nothing has gone right since I met that guy."

Pedro, who was silently annoyed, lifted Radu, who was lying beside him, and managed to stand up, staggering.

"Damn it."

But the correct door he wanted to pass through was narrow, and what he wanted to say was too far away.

Before he realized it, Pedro had to pull a small wand from his chest when he saw the headless knights approaching from the end of the hallway.

"…I thought I would die like this someday."

Just as a soldier dies on the battlefield, a priest dies under the will of God.

Pedro, who managed to calm himself because it was the last time he had imagined it countless times, began to recite the words of God so he could do what he had to do even at the last moment.

-Even if I walk alone in the dark valley…

Even now, there was a strong vibration in the mansion, as if someone was fighting.

However, the headless knights advanced slowly towards Pedro and Radu, their eyes shining sinisterly.

-The only thing I can rely on is what you give me…

Clang!

At that moment, a frivolous sound began to be heard behind Pedro, who was reciting the will of God.

The sound, which was even cute, clearly did not fit the tense atmosphere of the hallway.

"Bishop! Now!"

"…Marbles?"

Pedro, who had been reciting a prayer for a while, ended up making a noise of astonishment at what he saw in front of him.

Because colored marbles were rolling down the middle of the hallway.

Pedro and the headless knight were paralyzed with confusion at the sight, which was completely incompatible with the current situation.

"Quick, quick!"

Pedro quickly turned his head when he heard a familiar voice coming from behind.

A tail sticking out, hidden among the pillars.

I really didn't like the idea of dealing with mysteries, but at least for now, it was a voice I couldn't help but welcome.

-······!

Seeing Pedro run in the opposite direction, leaving behind the marbles, the headless knights started to run after him, but their steps were in vain.

Crash!

When Nibelun snapped his fingers, the marbles covering the hallway began to move as if they were alive.

Moving like small waves and making the knights fall.

-It's magic!

-Everyone, be on guard!

The small marbles were so slippery that any contact with them made one lose balance. And they rolled directly towards the headless knights.

"Good job!"

"Let's get out of here quickly!"

Pedro and Nibelun were happy to see the headless knights running to and fro, but when they turned around, their expressions hardened at what they saw.

This was because the other side of the hallway they turned to was already filled with headless knights.

"Do you have more marbles?"

"…They're not easy to get, you know. I have to win them from children in their games."

"What kind of crap is that!"

Pedro clicked his tongue as he watched Nibelun talk nonsense about the cats and then gently set down Radu, who was supporting him.

Then he pushed the wand and began to recite the Bible seriously this time.

"The next, the other…"

"Please, concentrate. Just a bit!"

As they watched Nibelun rummage through his backpack, the eyes of the headless knights began to glow faintly.

Giving time to a wizard who deals with mysteries is almost taboo for the knights.

-Attack!

Nibelun's hands began to get busy as he watched the headless knights run down the hallway.

However, even with his increasingly urgent hands, the object he was looking for was not in sight, and the charging knights were only getting closer and closer.

Crash-!

At that moment, there was a loud noise and fragments of wood blocking the charging knights.

These were fragments created when the door where Joseph was staying exploded.

"Sandor!"

"Lord Marcus!"

Though they were different names, they meant the same thing.

The man, Sandor and Marcus, holding a rapier in one hand and a main-gauche in the other, began to stab the headless knights mercilessly.

"…I will open the way."

The short and thin swords held by the man pierced the gaps in the armor, blocking the headless men.

Pedro and Nibelun, forgetting the urgent situation, simply gaped at the almost magical handling of the sword.

"Leave Lord Radu behind as well. I will take responsibility."

"…But!"

"He is not what's important now."

Marcus, who had blocked the headless knights with his whole body, pointed out the window with his rapier hand.

"The most important person right now is Vlad."

After completing a series of activities in Joseph's room, Marcus now had to solve the last remaining task.

And the final mission he had to carry out was not related to Radu or Joseph, but to Vlad.

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