Judas and Eliya had spent quite a long time together.
That said, it was rare for them to engage in battle side by side.
Perhaps the only time was when they recently cleared out the Dark Wizard’s lair.
In the first place, it was a rare situation for a knight and their lord to fight together.
Anyway, this was their first official collaboration.
Surprisingly, they were in sync.
Eliya was the first to take down the gigantic Cyclops.
If it were set on fire, it might spread to the surroundings.
So, she chopped it up with her mad whip of fire.
Dozens of flames erupted from the air and shredded the giant.
Although guts would be spilling everywhere, she didn’t worry about Judas.
There was no way her knight would be hit by something like that.
Rather, she was concerned if any menacing monsters were lurking around.
Eliya floated above, glancing downward.
She utilized air magic to hover in the air.
Only top-tier wizards could use such a technique.
Blood rained down like a storm, and the chopped-up flesh fell like hail.
As expected, Judas dodged the debris while attacking the monsters.
Or he used the wreckage to momentarily hide and trick the monsters.
Meanwhile, Eliya surrounded them with a barrier of fire.
Monsters couldn’t escape, and no one from outside could enter.
This was an opportunity.
Now that they had a grip on the Empire’s weakness and were ready to burst it open.
While the founding ceremony was underway, the Empire’s law enforcement was in shambles, allowing her to grow her side significantly.
The moment Judas struck down a werewolf, another one charged in from the side.
Eliya felt her heart sink for a moment.
At the same time, she reached out and cast her spell.
Flame Sphere.
A spear of golden, blazing fire fell fiercely.
Just before it reached Judas, it precisely pierced through the werewolf’s head.
Before he could even say hello, Judas cleaned up the monsters around him.
An ivory-colored afterimage trailed where his sword had cut.
The slain monsters split neatly and fell.
Any that he hadn’t eliminated were shot down by Eliya.
The suppression was exceedingly smooth.
*
“Judas.”
Eliya landed on the ground.
As Judas pulled his sword from the last monster, he raised a hand to her.
“Don’t come any closer. It smells pretty bad.”
And he was right.
He was a horrid sight, covered in all sorts of corpses and blood.
She understood.
For some reason, his gesture of rejection and those words hurt her.
It wasn’t all.
Every time Judas almost got hurt, her heart raced precariously.
It was nerve-wracking.
It shouldn’t be like this.
Judas was both a sword and shield that could die for her.
It was inappropriate for his lord to be so sensitive about his injuries and death.
Even though she knew that, she couldn’t stop her emotions from running wild.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“…Yeah. What about you?”
“Thanks to your help, I’m fine.”
Judas smiled lightly and looked at Judeca.
The southeastern entrance, where the monsters had broken in.
There would still be more monsters inside.
After all, there had been secondary casualties because they thought the area had been cleared, only for monsters to remain inside.
She had to know which way the other entrance had been attacked too.
“Miss. Could I check if there are any remaining monsters inside?”
“…Why?”
“Pardon?”
“You’re supposed to fight for me and by my side. But why…?”
Eliya hastily shut her mouth.
It was a thoughtless utterance.
She couldn’t even understand what she had just said.
But she could grasp her feelings.
She was scared.
Of what?
Of Judas leaving.
She had bad thoughts just from that gesture of his telling her not to come near.
What if?
What if, just what if, Judas were to leave her?
Then what would she do?
She couldn’t comprehend why she felt such deep concern for herself, but a surge of fear welled up inside her.
Levi and Hagal wanted Judas for different reasons.
She didn’t believe they would completely back off just like that.
And it wasn’t just those two.
Someone would want Judas, just like now, in the future.
They might take him away from her.
What if he died fighting for her?
What if the world took him away from her without her knowing, just like her mother?
She hadn’t even had time to pick a mountain for the founding ceremony yet!
Her irrational self felt strange and awkward.
Eliya shook her head.
“…No. Let’s pretend I never said that. You can check and come back.”
Judas, who had hesitated for a moment, assured her.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“…Okay.”
Eliya only watched his back as he disappeared into the entrance.
The darkness swallowed him.
Her overly sensitive imagination wildly conjured visions that he might never return.
*
Judeca was vast.
Especially its internal structure was like a maze due to various additions and alterations throughout the years.
However, Judas made his way without hindrance.
He was aided by his memories before reincarnation.
‘As expected, some monsters are still left that couldn’t get out.’
Judas swiftly eliminated the remaining monsters as he navigated the maze.
Corpses littered everywhere.
Fallen warriors who died fighting.
Slaves who couldn’t even resist after being tied.
Or slave overseers, and so on.
It was completely different from the place he used to own as a noble.
‘…A cage.’
A shabby prison where slaves were held captive.
Just a glimpse of that scene turned his stomach.
It wasn’t just an ethical issue.
‘Before reincarnation, the owner of this body was in Judeca….’
A surge of memories from that time washed over him.
It felt like an intense memory twisted his emotions.
Conflict. Murder. Abuse.
His fragile self.
An obsession that he needed to achieve something.
A fear that matched that obsession. He wanted to escape.
But that would be betrayal.
Who would he betray?
‘…No, pull yourself together.’
Judas dug up the emotions that tried to drown him in memory.
That wasn’t something to focus on now.
He kept slashing and slashing the monsters, moving forward.
Activating one of his traits.
[Hunter’s Sense.]
The traces of various monsters led somewhere.
To the nearest northeastern entrance.
‘They must’ve gone that way.’
Judas sprinted, cleaning up every last monster.
*
‘…Huh?’
At the northeastern entrance where monsters were expected to emerge.
He had anticipated it would be a mess, but he was mistaken.
“Eh? Judas?”
It was indeed a mess.
Just not the kind he had anticipated.
“Why are you coming out from there?”
Surrounding him were the corpses of monsters that had already been subdued.
It didn’t seem like there were any civilian casualties.
And at the center of it all was Eliya’s guard squad.
The first to spot Judas was Richard, who was closest.
“…I’d like to ask a question. What on earth happened here?”
“Oh, well, you see…”
“Why don’t you go help clean up the corpses?”
Dillon interrupted, directing Richard.
“You’re not doing anything anyways…”
Richard grumbled while he went to lend a hand.
Instead, Dillon explained.
“We were all enjoying the festival nearby when that door suddenly burst open. Thankfully, we were already armed, so we immediately engaged in battle. We got lucky.”
“…Ah. Indeed, this city has proven to be fortunate. Were there any injuries?”
“Esmo and Gauss got hurt, but it’s nothing serious. However, more importantly, what happened to you, Judas?”
Judas looked far worse than them.
He was covered in monster blood and guts all over.
“The city truly got lucky. I experienced the same thing. I was walking with the lady when the southeastern door was torn apart.”
“Hmm. So you were enjoying some private time together when the monsters interrupted.”
“Are you making fun of me, Dillon?”
“…I just wanted to give it a shot.”
“Oh, right…”
“But more importantly, is it alright for me to stay here? I should be returning to the lady.”
“Yeah. You should. I’ll inform her of the situation here.”
Judas headed back towards the door.
He could use the necklace, but there was something he wanted to confirm.
Memories flooded back as he wandered around the inside of Judeca.
He was curious about the fragments of those memories.
He navigated through the disorganized maze caused by the slow-witted people.
Cage-like spaces placed all over.
‘I was… locked up here. For sure….’
A small training ground for confirming skills.
‘Here, they killed people….’
Fragmented memories came back one by one every time.
Each time one of those unfamiliar emotions emerged.
Fear, loneliness, sadness, disgust.
And rage, hatred. A thirst for revenge.
Revenge?
Against whom?
‘Before coming here… someone already….’
Illusions pricked his senses.
Flickering flames danced before his eyes.
A burning carriage.
Someone who was supposed to be inside that.
‘I was trying to kill them… but then, someone came first… I….’
He returned and got scolded.
Where had he returned to?
Some underground in the desert.
That place, it was the scene of painful events.
Dark magic and brainwashing.
Echoes from times long past brushed against his ear.
‘…I have to endure. This is all necessary….’
‘Please, I can’t do it….’
‘Then will you give up? Does that mean you’re willing to give up everything…?’
Dazed mind.
The next distant voice he heard was a conversation between two individuals.
‘…I made them remember more strongly that they had killed….’
‘That should improve their condition.’
‘However, it’s still incomplete. …will loosen….’
Memory. Suggestion.
Something he must not forget.
Judas thought.
I must remember.
I must not forget.
‘I… did that….’
In that moment.
A signal came from his necklace.
The teleportation necklace given to him by Eliya.
“…Ah.”
Startled by the vibrating signal, Judas came back to his senses.
His hazy mind rapidly returned.
He hesitated to respond to the signal for a moment.
‘Just now, um….’
He felt he had caught something, but it cut off at an important part.
He couldn’t complete the scattered memory fragments.
If he tried to think about it consciously again, it wouldn’t be good.
Even the clues that seemed clear would quickly fade into nothing.
In the end, he didn’t figure anything out.
‘I guess I’ll just have to go with it….’
He quickly gave up and accepted the signal.
His field of vision changed rapidly.
Before he knew it, Eliya was right in front of him.
Judas froze.
Eliya’s round face.
Those cat-like, looking-up eyes.
That face.
The face he had seen every day.
Familiar yet suddenly feeling strange, like an odd feeling.
It was probably because it wasn’t really his….
“Why did you take so long…?”
Eliya started to speak but then shut her mouth.
Judas was staring intently at her.
Beast-like golden eyes.
Eliya cautiously called his name.
“…Judas?”
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