[Chapter 272] I can't even if I wanted to

Grrr… Bang!

Cledwin slammed into the wall. Black light, oozing from the groove he had made by driving his sword into the wall, instantly repaired the indentation.

"It's cute how you struggle."

Camille said as she slowly approached him.

They had already exchanged blows over a hundred times. Even if it were a wad of paper, a hundred times would have an impact, let alone amplified giant strength. Anyone else would be dead or at least giving up by now.

But Cledwin, spitting out blood-tinged saliva as he landed on the ground, had a look of determination on his face. His eyes were even sharper and more motivated than when he first entered the room.

"Let's see if you can say the same when your head is about to be chopped off."

Camille didn't understand him. She had destroyed countless people. Everyone believed in themselves at first. But when the difference in power became clear, they eventually despaired.

When they reached a dead end, who could be different? Now, Camille was the only one who could escape that fate.

Only her.

But the Duke still had the desperate strength of someone who believed in hope with every attack. Camille didn't like that.

"Why do you keep resisting? Don't you realize you're useless now?"

Her question, thrown out casually, was laced with annoyance. Cledwin grinned.

"Useless? My wife threw herself into this situation to create the current situation."

"It's a situation you couldn't stop. You haven't been able to inflict a single wound on me, and your sword is about to break."

A sword, no matter how excellent, wasn't built to withstand repeated collisions with hard objects. The sword, which had long symbolized the Duke of Meindlandt, was rapidly breaking as it continued to clash against Camille's body and the walls of the room.

"I never intended to fight you with a sword anyway."

He now knew for sure that he couldn't kill her with physical skills. It was like… the pillar of light surrounding Palos's Eye.

"That's not the end. I need to go further."

Why Camille was stubbornly staying in this blood-soaked room.

How to reach that banner most effectively.

Cledwin carefully pointed his sword forward. And he charged at Camille.

"Didn't I tell you it was useless? Keep charging like that, and you'll only delay your time with your wife."

Camille swatted Cledwin's sword aside with the back of her hand. It didn't matter much if he cut or stabbed her, but she didn't like the fact that something so lowly dared to keep reaching for her, a great being like her, a "transcendent" who had surpassed human limits.

Kang, Kang, Kagang! Cledwin swung his sword rapidly several times. It was better to parry than to grab, and it wasn't that difficult to dodge. Camille finally thought he had given up. She thought about how to make him taste the deepest despair with her crazed eyes.

"Alright, I've decided. Killing you here would be too easy. I'll cut off your limbs and show you how I drain all your wife's power in front of your eyes."

"Is that the most horrible thing you can think of? Don't worry, I'll do the same to you."

Kagakang! Cledwin's sword grew stronger with each swing. Camille swung her arm irritably. She could block or deflect all the attacks, but the blade was flying towards her eyes with such a menacing force that she instinctively flinched a little.

Then, at some point, she realized that she was facing away from the royal banner.

"…You."

Realizing that the fox-like man had deliberately created this situation, Camille hurriedly tried to push him away. But Cledwin was faster, plunging his sword into the banner.

Chii-ii-ii-ik!

From the center of the royal banner, a jet-black light poured out as if a dam had burst. Camille let out a silent scream. It felt like her internal organs were being ripped out. In reality, it was just a small amount of power leaking out, a power that had only recently been added.

Before Camille could regain her senses, Cledwin continued to stab the banner. More precisely, the magic circle hidden behind the banner.

Chii-ii-ii-ik! Chii-ik! Several lights surged and poured out. The jet-black light had sections that shimmered like the Milky Way, and sections that were so dark they were frightening to look at. Camille rolled her eyes. A terrifying sound of tearing air continued to emanate from her hands, which were wildly swinging as if to hit him at any cost. Boo-oo-ong! Boo-ong!

Cledwin didn't fall for such clumsy attacks. He was grateful that the almost-imaginary prediction he and Neris had made had come true. Yes, there were no other decorations in this room. In such a place.

If there was only one decoration, a symbol of the royal family, it must have a ritualistic meaning.

As some of the light touched him, Cledwin felt lighter. He couldn't see his own eyes, but Camille, who was facing him, could.

She could see that the power that should have been passed down to the true descendant of Palos was flowing into him.

Camille screamed. This couldn't be happening. It was right in front of her! What she had desired her entire life! The sweetest fruit of the tree that had been parasitic on this royal family for 600 years! And suddenly, these interlopers were trying to ruin everything!

"Die!"

Camille thrashed about, her body writhing. Cledwin, with one last burst of strength, plunged his sword into the wall. But just before the tip of the blade pierced the banner and embedded itself in the wall, the sword, unable to withstand any more, snapped with a clang.

Even as she gasped for breath, Camille judged that the tide had turned in her favor. She let out a twisted laugh. And she reached out to the fly in front of her, ready to end everything.

Until she saw the broken blade snap and break again, dozens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of times in front of her eyes.

It was a very strange sight. Even Cledwin himself couldn't understand what was happening. It was as if a tangled thread was unraveling and then tangling again, unraveling and tangling again… the strange repetition was even mesmerizing.

"Ah, I see. This is the power of time. The power I was supposed to wield. I guess I'm at my most powerful when I'm in this room, huh? I bragged, but I'm not going to become a perfect body that won't be harmed outside this room. That's why she waited for me here."

Cledwin said with a smile. Camille felt a terrible sense of loss. But it wasn't time to give up yet. He hadn't received all the power yet!

The magic circle behind the banner was like the central hub of all the magic circles inscribed in this room. It was the command center that gathered the power from the two altars and sent it to the descendant of the Bisto family. The accumulated power was so great that it had burst out like a magical explosion even with such a meager attack, but it could still restore itself, just like the other magic circles in this room.

Indeed, Cledwin's eyes, like gray, shining diamonds, emitted countless rays of light before slowly returning to their previous color.

"Die!"

"The princess likes to say things twice."

Camille mustered all her strength and tried to punch Cledwin.

What happened next was partly due to chance.

Camille had also trained her body to a level of self-defense, but she had relied on her innate strength to protect herself, so she hadn't wasted too much time on martial arts. In contrast, Cledwin was a swordsman who had danced with death countless times. The fact that he hadn't broken a single bone while fighting against her giant strength until now was solely because he was overwhelmingly superior to his opponent in terms of combat sense and skill.

Cledwin, knowing that Camille's fist had the destructive power to drop a house-sized rock from the sky, ducked nimbly. She had put too much force into that one attack, and she lost her balance for a moment, taking an involuntary step forward and tripping over Megara's body.

Neither of them had paid any attention to Megara's body. Cledwin had never cared, and Camille had considered Megara useless to her. So Camille was momentarily taken aback, but quickly decided it was nothing. She could regain her balance. After all, even if the Duke attacked in the meantime, she wouldn't die…

But the direction Camille fell when she tripped was the problem.

A bluish light erupted from Palos's altar. Cledwin knew he couldn't touch the pillar of light. He had been thrown back by its immense recoil before. But the moment Camille fell and her arm touched the altar…

The pillar of light passed through her with surprising ease.

Or rather, it grabbed her.

"Aaaaaaaaargh!"

Camille screamed in pain. Cledwin stepped back and observed the situation for a moment. Perhaps… his eyes, now completely back to normal, narrowed. Perhaps the pillar of light only allowed those with Gemstone Eyes inside?

Was it originally meant to seal the power of the Gemstone Eyes?

Camille thrashed about, kicking and biting at the arm caught in the pillar of light. At the same time, a shimmering black light poured out from the tattered royal banner like a flood. Endlessly, like the blood of a giant forming the first river in the mythology of the alien race.

Camille's body, which had been overflowing with power just moments ago, withered and dried up. This must be what it looked like if vitality was ripped out of someone alive. Cledwin knew that Camille was being stripped of everything. Perhaps in the most painful way imaginable.

By Megara, whom Camille had killed horribly.

And perhaps by Palos, who didn't miss this opportunity.

"Help me! Help me! Help me, Duke! Cut off my arm with your sword! Sa, sa… ve… me…"

Camille, having failed to pull her arm out, wailed and begged. But Cledwin shrugged, showing her his broken sword.

"Sorry, but I can't even if I wanted to."

Camille collapsed on the spot, leaving only her arm, still caught in the pillar of light. The black light continued to pour out. Cledwin thought that perhaps this light, which had been only gloomy until now, might be the power of Palos that had been accumulating for a very long time.

Because there was no longer a gray diamond inside the pillar of light.

The power poured out endlessly. Cledwin felt his body lighten again as he received the power, which was becoming increasingly bright and beautiful. He approached Camille, who was gasping for breath, her body as thin as a piece of wood.

"Your original eye color was brown."

Camille's eye color had changed, perhaps because she had been stripped of all the Gemstone Eye power. Cledwin didn't care about other people's eyes, but he blurted it out casually. Camille looked at Cledwin, her face full of things she wanted to say.

Thud.

Footsteps sounded at the entrance to the room where they were. Cledwin turned around.

Nellusion stood there.

"You're alive."

Neris was right. Nellusion's existence was truly pathetic. Cledwin sighed, and Nellusion bowed exaggeratedly, expressing his satisfaction.

"Seeing those eyes, it seems all the assumptions our family has made have been confirmed, Your Highness. Congratulations on regaining the power that was stolen for so long."

"I don't care. You… I see you know what you're here for."

"You're quick-witted. That's why I've always hated you so much."

Nellusion approached the two of them with a bright smile. Cledwin wondered if he could take on the bastard with his broken sword. It shouldn't be impossible…

"I've killed the magician. He dared to touch Neris. Before I killed him, I found out the location of this place, but when I got here, the door was already open, wasn't it? It's all for the best."

Nellusion finished coldly.

"It seems we'll both die here."

Nellusion lunged, as if there was no need to delay any longer. Kang! The broken sword and the pristine sword clashed.

A few sword strikes were exchanged. Nellusion's skill was truly not bad. But at one point, he froze in mid-air. It seemed like the power of Palos had been activated, but Cledwin narrowed his eyes, still unable to understand the principle.

"Annoying."

Cledwin kicked Nellusion to the ground. Then he took the rope that had been binding Megara and tied him up. Before he could finish, a figure in a long robe appeared before him.

A woman with metallic eyes and hair. Dragon Kian greeted Cledwin with a smile.

"It's the first time I've seen you in person, child of Palos."