Chapter 144. Mask
Shaferia roared and swung her sword.
A pure-white sword path traced a horizontal arc.
Mapheltan immediately stepped back and widened the distance.
‘W-wait.’
He had clearly moved outside her attack range, but the translucent killing edge was still aiming at Mapheltan.
‘No way!’
Sword energy had extended from Shaferia’s blade.
Mapheltan immediately raised Turabak.
The sword energy struck the Cursed Spear.
CLAAAANG!
A clear metallic ring burst out.
From the extreme repulsive force, Mapheltan’s body was pushed backward.
He blasted through the tent and flew all the way outside.
Under the dark night, the black demon slid long across the snowfield.
A deep furrow had been carved into the snow along his path.
Mapheltan corrected his posture and stared straight ahead.
Shaferia was slowly walking out of the tent.
The red eyes looking at her wavered.
‘She’s already at the level of releasing Aura?’
It had not even been three months since Shaferia bloomed Aura.
No matter how talented a human was, they could not already fire sword energy.
Even if their growth was fast, three months would usually only be enough to circulate Aura inside the body.
Shaferia was different.
Not only could she imbue her sword with Aura, she could even emit sword energy outward.
Mapheltan’s common sense collapsed.
‘......Is this even possible?’
He found it impossible to believe.
Just as Mapheltan was denying reality, Aura seeped into Shaferia’s sword again.
The translucent radiance shone alone in the night.
Shaferia’s two eyes glowed like the sun.
“White Horn───!”
She swung her sword.
A sharp ripple surged toward Mapheltan in waves.
Mapheltan immediately spun the Cursed Spear like a windmill.
He intended to use the Rotating Spear Art he had learned from Hakain.
The Cursed Spear drew black trajectories in every direction.
Wind pressure raged.
Snowflakes scattered.
The moment the sword energy touched the Cursed Spear, Mapheltan’s form vanished.
‘This will not work.’
He withdrew the Rotating Spear Art and flew up.
The sword energy that had lost its target split the empty air.
A blizzard surged in all directions.
Mapheltan looked down at Shaferia from the night sky.
The time had come to accept reality.
Shaferia truly was a knight who could release Aura.
She was truly overwhelming heaven beyond heaven.
“Ha!”
A hollow laugh escaped him.
To think the card he had once intended to discard was a joker card.
If he had only learned of her talent too late, Mapheltan would have regretted it for a very long time.
‘Shaferia, you are mine forever.’
A satisfied smile spread across Mapheltan’s face.
Shaferia said with a contemptuous expression,
“White Horn, what is that repulsive smile?”
Mapheltan raised the corners of his mouth into a long grin.
“To think a treasure like you would fall into my hands. I am truly proud of you.”
Shaferia bit her lip.
“You damned demon bastard. You’re wagging that wicked tongue again.”
She took a quickdraw stance.
Mapheltan slyly waved his hand.
“Wait, wait, Shaferia. Cool your head a little. I did not come here to fight you.”
Shaferia did not listen closely to a demon’s voice.
Anyone who had been taught by the Order was the same.
───The First Principle of the Great Saint Church: Do not lend an ear to a demon’s whisper. If you listen to their words, you will one day find yourself walking toward the Abyss.
That commandment had taken root in her heart as conviction.
Shaferia gripped the hilt of her sword tightly.
“I merely punish the evil before my eyes. White Horn, I have no interest in your purpose.”
Just as she was about to swing her sword, a chilling voice leaked from Mapheltan’s mouth.
“Even if it concerns Yohan Miyatro. The Watcher of the Abyss?”
At the same time, Shaferia’s movements stopped abruptly.
She frowned and glared at Mapheltan.
“......What did you just say?”
Mapheltan drew a bitter smile.
“Your master, Yohan Miyatro, is currently in danger.”
Shaferia’s expression twisted like a vengeful ghost.
A tremendous roar burst out.
“Do not dare place my lord’s name in that filthy mouth───!”
She kicked off the ground and flew up.
Along with her transparent Aura, a sharp sword path rose.
Suddenly, Mapheltan disappeared.
Instead, the hem of the night was cut in two.
Shaferia frowned in midair.
Mapheltan’s presence had completely vanished.
For Shaferia, it was extremely bewildering.
She stepped back onto the ground and looked around in every direction.
Mapheltan was nowhere to be found.
Even the keen senses of a high-ranking knight could not capture Mapheltan.
Shaferia bit her lip.
At the same time, the Aura she had deployed detected a certain presence.
Shaferia turned around in an instant.
Mapheltan stood there with a surprised expression.
He said in admiration,
“It seems it would be difficult to ambush a warrior of your level with Chimya.”
The moment Mapheltan released the authority Chimya, Shaferia reacted to his presence.
Her ability to detect presence and her reflexes were far beyond common sense.
If Mapheltan had emerged from Chimya to ambush Shaferia and thrust his spear into her, then at the very moment he made the attempt, Shaferia would have blocked his attack.
The authority Chimya was not invincible.
Mapheltan learned yet another thing today.
Shaferia quickly widened the distance between herself and Mapheltan.
Wariness had settled over her complexion.
“......How on earth?”
Mapheltan’s presence had completely disappeared and then reappeared.
If it had been a simple concealment technique, Shaferia’s senses would naturally have detected it.
Yet Shaferia had not sensed Mapheltan.
The authority Chimya was a power that completely assimilated with the night.
Mapheltan laughed faintly.
“Well, like this?”
He disappeared again.
This time, he appeared beside Shaferia.
Immediately afterward, he vanished again.
After that, he repeatedly appeared and disappeared behind her, above her head, and in the sky.
Shaferia’s eyes kept chasing those afterimages.
She murmured with an irritated face,
“You’re using pathetic little tricks.”
A chilling voice echoed from every direction, from every kind of place.
“You cannot kill me anyway. Instead of exhausting each other, how about we have a conversation?”
Shaferia shouted as if coughing up blood.
“I do not speak with demons!”
The demon’s mocking laugh rang out.
“You are no longer a Holy Knight. You are a knight who serves only one person, your lord. As a knight, what is your mission? Is it merely refusing to compromise with demons? If you think so, you are wrong. A knight is a being who must sacrifice anything for their lord. Even your convictions should be something you can cast aside to protect your lord’s safety. Did you become a knight without even that much resolve? No, are you truly a knight at all?”
The whisper dug into Shaferia’s mind.
She groaned and swung her sword wildly.
“Filthy demon! Do not whisper to me!”
A bitter laugh echoed.
“The Watcher of the Abyss is currently caught in unprecedented danger. Apostle Beris is aiming for him. That vile lingering will is circling the Watcher and bringing him misfortune. If you truly are a knight, should you not punish the evil that threatens your lord? Is cutting down Apostle Beris not the right thing to do?”
Shaferia’s eyes wavered.
“......Apostle Beris.”
She had encountered Beris once before.
The one who had awakened as an angel and cut Beris down had been none other than Shaferia.
Shaferia still remembered that horrifying malice.
Beris’s bottomless evil remained in her mind.
Mapheltan continued wagging his tongue.
“Yes, Beris. That bastard engraved contract magic into the worldline so that your lord would suffer misfortune for the rest of his life. You must punish him. You must tear apart every fragment of his soul and prove your loyalty to your lord.”
Shaferia’s mind was far too complicated.
“White Horn! Why are you telling me this?!”
Mapheltan slowly walked toward Shaferia.
“Because I, too, desire Beris’s extinction. In short, your lord’s interests and mine align. If there is a problem, it is your lord. He will not listen to me. I alone know Beris’s location, yet the Watcher of the Abyss refuses even to speak with me.”
Shaferia wore a contemptuous sneer.
“You’re saying the obvious. My lord is not someone who compromises with evil.”
Mapheltan nodded.
“Indeed. He has far too little flexibility. And so, I came to find you. Will you not persuade the Watcher of the Abyss in my stead? It is a very simple task. All you need to do is tell the Watcher of the Abyss to listen to what I have to say.”
A transcendent being who governed every contract in the world had engraved the proposition of Yohan’s misfortune into the worldline as an unwritten law.
Unless that contract magic was undone, Yohan would ultimately have no choice but to be ruined.
Shaferia knew that fact well.
It was because, during her time in the Order, she had read many ancient texts concerning Prohibitions.
If everything Mapheltan said was true, Shaferia had to punish Beris as a knight.
She glared at Mapheltan with trembling eyes.
“......What exactly is your purpose?”
Mapheltan shrugged.
“Well, world peace?”
“......What?”
“Ask your lord directly for the details. I have already told him.”
Mapheltan spread his enormous wings.
He suddenly soared into the air.
Shaferia cried out urgently.
“W-wait! Where are you going?!”
The night sky was covered by an eerie voice.
“My business here is finished. All judgment from here on is yours. I hope you will handle it wisely.”
Mapheltan’s form disappeared.
He assimilated with the night and scattered.
Left alone, Shaferia stood frozen for a long while.
***
Several days flew by.
Shaferia rode day and night and arrived at the lord’s castle in the Miyatro direct territory.
Without even removing her arms, she went straight to find Raguel.
The office door burst open.
“Young Mas......!”
Shaferia was startled and immediately knelt on one knee.
Instead of Young Master Raguel, Yohan was sitting in the office.
He said in a somewhat drained tone,
“Shaferia, it has been a while.”
Shaferia lowered her head deeply.
“I greet my lord. But how are you here?”
Yohan should have been in the royal capital right now, yet he was seated in the lord’s castle.
An inexplicable anxiety swept over Shaferia.
Yohan opened his mouth.
“Something happened. More importantly, why have you returned?”
Yohan had clearly ordered Shaferia not to return until she had finished cleaning up the entire frontier.
Shaferia had returned to the castle even though it meant disobeying her lord’s order.
For her, it had been far too urgent to delay even for a moment.
“Th-that is......”
Yohan frowned.
“I believe I asked for your reason.”
For some reason, he seemed far more sensitive than usual.
Dark shadows lay thick beneath his eyes, and his complexion was black as pitch.
No matter who looked at him, Yohan was a man engulfed by worry and misfortune.
Shaferia’s heart shook.
Had White Horn’s words truly been the truth?
Was her lord withering away because of Beris?
Shaferia could not hide her agitation.
She said with an expression that looked as though she might cry,
“My lord, a few days ago, I encountered the Thirteenth Apostle of the End.”
At the same time, Yohan’s expression was distorted.
He clenched the bundle of documents on the table tightly.
“......That wicked bastard dared extend his claws even toward my knight?”
Hatred and anger toward demons were being expressed.
For Shaferia, it was utterly devastating.
From now on, she had to persuade that faithful lord.
How on earth was she supposed to do it?
She had no confidence.
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