Silence lingered in the first-class compartment of the magic train.
Two bodies lay cold on the floor. The bodies of Count Bainens and his loyal knight, Rakan.
Thud─
The man in the iron mask lightly tapped the ground before rising to his feet.
“All nobles present here.”
The iron-masked man stomped down with boots like a thunderclap.
“You are all guilty of inaction.”
He raised his mace high once more.
“I will kill you all.”
A murderous intent poured from the iron mask, as if declaring his intent to slay every noble in the room.
At that moment, someone rose from the back. A man with ash-gray hair, Yuma.
“What a strange thing to say.”
Yuma stepped in front of the iron-masked man.
Suddenly, this masked guy stormed in, recited a count’s crimes, and smashed his head in with a mace.
Then he planned to quietly disappear, thinking the crime fit for death anyway.
But suddenly, he declared he would kill everybody with some brainless bloodlust.
Yuma felt Cloney sitting to his right tremble ever so slightly.
So, he stood up.
‘First, I’ll take care of one of them.’
He had already used [Bullet Time] in front of the First Princess’s palace today. If he had to face multiple foes, the answer was to take them down one by one.
Thud thud─
But then, more bootsteps echoed from behind.
“Stop, Hecate.”
Yuma turned his head back.
The person calling the iron-masked man by name was a woman. She strode forward with her long, raven hair flowing behind her. Her brow was furrowed in irritation.
“Didn’t I tell you that a crime is only committed by the guilty?”
“Ahahahaha!”
The iron-masked Hecate laughed loudly.
And then gradually stopped.
“Captain, after all these years dealing with these corrupt nobles, do you still not know the kind of scum they are in this empire?”
Laughing, Hecate suddenly began to grind his teeth.
“If you keep moving like a wimp, you’ll never achieve that new dawn you mentioned, Captain!!”
Yuma felt a strange sense of dissonance from Hecate’s words. Not from his very being, but from what the scumbag just shouted.
“Anyone who obstructs the dawn will die!”
Buuuuuumm─!!
Hecate’s right hand moved. The blood-stained mace swung down. Aimed right at Yuma’s head.
The captain foresaw Yuma’s skull being crushed and flesh splattering everywhere.
Waaahh—!
Yuma had a bored expression; he merely moved his right arm.
The circular effect of a successful parry exploded into view.
Crack───!
A fissure appeared right in the center of the iron mask. It shattered completely.
“What… the hell.”
Hecate stared blankly at his iron mask rolling on the train floor.
He stared at the God’s iron mask.
Then he looked down at his body. There were countless holes riddled all over it.
His heart no longer beat.
Fwoooooosh!!
Blood burst forth from his limbs.
The mace, infused with a powerful aura, struck the body of its master, Hecate, with ten times the force.
Hecate’s new form crumbled forward.
SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1Zi8waklDUkdCeTJvTGw4c0NObHg0LzY2bzJPVERvclExZVE5Q0tUc3NjSQ
Koo─────woooom
The train was once again enveloped in silence.
The iron mask that had killed a Sword Expert-level knight in one blow was now taken down by an unknown man with a single strike.
The man, Duke Yuma, turned around to face the figures in red uniforms staring at him blankly.
“Agent of First Princess Brigitte.”
He stepped forward.
“The sword of the First Princess, Yuma.”
Might as well put my newfound title to use.
“Who do you think you are?”
And he nonchalantly tossed out the last question.
“…Leader of the Dawn Knights, Cassiela.”
Cassiela locked eyes with Yuma. The one who had mercilessly killed her subordinate.
Yuma also stared back at Cassiela.
“It seems there was a difference in opinions with your subordinate. You’re lacking in management skills.”
Cassiela swallowed hard.
She had witnessed Yuma deflect Hecate’s mace with his dagger with her own eyes.
But she couldn’t see anything that followed.
Not a single one of the countless attacks that had battered the lifeless form of Hecate.
‘The gap…!’
The fact that a master-level swordsman like him had noticed nothing meant he was up against a monster that far surpassed the master realm. That man, who released no aura or killing intent, simply gazed at the world with boredom.
Yuma looked at the red-haired woman standing before him, Cassiela, and the fifteen red uniforms standing behind her. Moreover, he could see about five more rushing toward this special compartment from the rear.
‘If they come at me in a group, I won’t be able to handle it.’
Time to show off. Relying on the prowess he had just demonstrated.
“You have only two choices to make.”
Yuma arrogantly lifted his chin.
“You can either die by my hand. Or you can kneel here and wait to be captured when the train stops at the next station.”
“Leader, what nonsense is that crazy bastard spouting? Why should we even listen to his drivel?”
The blonde magician, who had just rushed in and missed witnessing Hecate’s death, brandished her staff.
Kwarrrrroooom!
A bright flash of lightning surged toward Yuma.
It was a 6th Circle lightning type spell, Thunder Strike.
Yuma swung his [Black Dragon Bernac's Tooth] reversed in his grip. The blade’s tip met precisely with three bolts of lightning.
Kwaaaaaaaang!
The thunder strike, amplified tenfold, pierced through the body of the wizard.
The wizard didn’t even have time to feel the pain.
Because the moment the lightning struck directly on the crown of his head, his brain was incinerated.
Not even a trace of his body remained.
Only a dark pile of ashes was left on the ground.
“Choose one.”
Yuma resumed his words that were interrupted by the wizard.
“……….”
A long silence hung in the air.
It was broken by…
“Uwweeeeeeek!”
One of the ten nobles watching the standoff between Yuma and the revolutionary army spilled the meal he had just eaten.
A man standing behind Cassiela leaned closer and whispered in her ear.
“Commander, what should we do? Should we retreat?”
Uh, it’s fine. Let’s go home.
Yuma answered in his mind.
However, the actual commander of the Dawn Revolutionary Army, Cassiela, was merely staring at Yuma.
“…Did you say Yuma? The Princess’s sword?”
“Yeah.”
“Then, are you opposing the First Prince?”
Yuma looked at Cassiela, who suddenly bombarded him with questions, with little interest.
“That’s one way to put it.”
“…Since when did you become the Princess’s sword?”
“This morning.”
Since the official announcement came down this morning.
“By bringing in a monster like you, it seems the Princess has decided to become Empress.”
Cassiela glanced again at the dead wizard and Hecate.
Kill the corrupt nobles.
For the glory of the Astes Empire.
Although their personalities were dirty, they were some of the most fervent supporters of the existence of the Dawn.
“Can the world change? If Princess Brigitte becomes Empress.”
Yuma couldn’t grasp the intention behind Cassiela’s question.
‘Don’tScrewMeOver’ had only entered this world two days ago. He didn’t know how filthy this world truly was.
So he didn’t answer the question.
“Your revolution is wrong, Commander of the Dawn Revolutionary Army.”
Cassiela’s brow furrowed.
The ‘discomfort’ he felt earlier. Yuma realized the reason for that discomfort and was about to speak.
Revolution, dawn.
A keyword held by the main characters of the game VR Roguelike Game [Loop Blood].
It started as a bad fate but ultimately became a friendship.
“It’s a shame for the name ‘dawn’. If your revolutionary army is named after the dawn army founded by Erestina, you’re only tarnishing that name.”
Cassiela’s expression went blank.
“Do you know Erestina?”
Yuma sensed the visible agitation on Cassiela’s face.
As expected.
Was this where the world of [Loop Blood] connected?
If those bastards created this damn world, it wouldn’t be strange to have this part. It’s common to homage elements from the previous work.
“A friend.”
“…A friend?”
“It was a brief connection, but we had each other’s backs. A friend, yet a being deserving of respect.”
“Truly, a being deserving of respect.”
A figure who ran an inn, genuinely sheltering and feeding those truly struggling. A genius who used his wit to gobble up the nation’s economy and screw over the corrupt nobles with it.
“If you’re going to carry on her will by taking the name Dawn, then stop here. Don’t tarnish it any further.”
Cassiela was still just staring blankly, almost as if her soul had left her body.
Then, snapped back to reality by a call from one of her subordinates, she glanced over the 18 subordinates focused solely on her and quietly said,
“…We’re returning.”
Without any argument, her subordinates nodded in agreement. They had witnessed Duke Yuma’s overwhelming might right before their eyes.
Szzzz—!
The 18 of them simultaneously tore up their return teleportation scrolls.
“T-Those insane revolutionaries!! They’ve fled!”
A baron trembling in the corner shouted, pointing at the void.
One of the barons, brushing back his unruly gray hair, slowly approached Yuma.
“Y-You are indeed Yuma, recognized as the Sword of the First Princess, right?”
Yuma didn’t even glance at the baron.
“Silence. I’m tired, so don’t disturb my rest.”
Step by step…
He walked with an elegance that was undeniably grandiose.
But it was a forced nobility created by his Trait of Noble Dignity.
Yuma was indeed drenched in exhaustion.
Every parry required that level of concentration.
While walking towards his designated spot where Cloney awaited, a woman with red hair floated into Yuma’s mind.
The face of Erestina, the NPC he had befriended in ‘Loop Blood’.
She always greeted him with a smile.
Though it was just in a game, her smile made him feel good.
– Don’tScrewMeOver, you’re going to drink today, right? Let’s have a drink together?
‘Now that I think about it.’
There hadn’t been any mention of her after they parted ways in the Tower. Until they defeated the Undying King and finished the game.
Yuma shook his head, momentarily lost in thought.
‘Loop Blood is just a game, anyway.’
Unlike this damn world,
Loop Blood was just a plain game. It was natural that not every character’s life was elaborately explored; it was merely a game.
*
As the sun completely set, the night grew dark.
“….”
Cassiela opened the door to the revolutionary leader’s office.
On the desk of the office lay a black-and-white photograph.
Cassiela picked up the frame containing the photo.
“Mother.”
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
“I thought no one would remember. But no, someone remembered you, Mother.”
-Though our relationship was brief, we had trusted our backs to one another. A friend, yet one truly deserving of respect.
“…There was indeed a friend who remembered you, Mother.”
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