Sword Master of a Fa Chapter 97 : Fate Repeats (2)

Chapter 97: Fate Repeats (2)

A race born by humans, the Dark Elves.

That fact was not recorded anywhere on the continent.

Humans had gone to great lengths to hide their own ugliness, so there were no records to be found.

Though it was the first ti he had heard this truth, Kyle’s expression did not change.

“We resent and hate humans. Of course, it was a result chosen by our ancestors, but the cause was given by humans. That’s why we wanted to leave this mountain range.”

“Was it because you wanted to erase the humans who forced you to live as Dark Elves.”

Gina nodded at Kyle’s question.

She wanted to resolve the resentnt of the ancestors who had wished to remain Elves but were forced to fall into becoming Dark Elves in order to survive.

“The First Head of the Ragnar Family pitied such Dark Elves and tried to protect them. But it was all in vain. No matter how hard the First Head of the Ragnar Family tried, there were always persistent humans who broke through the gaps.”

Humans were vile beings who even enslaved their own kind.

No matter how much effort the First Head of the Ragnar Family put in, the slave caravans did not disappear.

In the end, each race erupted, to the point of declaring war on humans.

“Did you know that Ragnar did not take position at the entrance of the mountain range to monitor the monarchs?”

“……I didn’t know.”

“He took position at the entrance of the mountain range to protect them. To protect the races who had been enemies from human hands.”

Though they had been enemies, he knew that humans were the cause, and to atone even a little for what his fellow humans had done, he spared the monarchs.

And rather than imprisoning them in the mountain range, he evacuated them here to sever their ties with humans.

However, the First Head of the Ragnar Family did not pass that truth down to his descendants.

“Did he not trust even his descendants.”

“He was most wary of his own descendants. He feared they might view us from a different perspective than his own. Thinking they might exploit that, he probably chose not to leave behind such truths.”

Kyle closed his eyes.

But Gina’s words did not stop.

“A hundred years ago, there was actually a Family Head who entered the mountain range and tried to kidnap the races and sell them to the continent. Because he did not know what the duty of the Heir of the Frostfire was.”

At her words, Kyle let out a voice filled with lantation.

A hundred years ago coincided exactly with the ti when the succession of the Frostfire had been severed.

“The Family Head who learned that truth wanted to atone for his actions. So they say he sealed the Frostfire sowhere within the mountain range, wishing that his descendants would never repeat the sa deeds he committed.”

“That’s strange. If he intended to sell you into slavery, doesn’t that an he harbored evil intentions from the start? Then why did he suddenly seek atonent?”

“I heard from the Previous King that at the ti, the continental climate was such that slavery was so widespread it wasn’t even recognized as wrongdoing. He made that choice because he wanted to overco the worsening situation of the family. To save the Ragnar Family.”

“…….”

“At that ti, the Family Head heard the truth from the Dark Elf Queen and sought out each monarch. And when he learned that truth, they say he realized it.”

“So that’s why the Frostfire suddenly disappeared.”

In the end, that Family Head cleaned up the ss he had caused and bowed his head to the monarchs, sincerely apologizing.

The monarchs who had once been indebted to the First Head of the Ragnar Family forgave him.

However, after realizing that what he had done went against the will of his ancestor, he could not forgive himself.

Unable to leave a record after violating his ancestor’s will, and fearing that a descendant like himself would appear, he severed the succession of the Frostfire.

“At that ti, the monarchs and the Ragnar Family settled their grudges with each other. It was as if all the harm and all the help they gave one another disappeared.”

After saying that, Gina hesitated briefly, then deeply bowed her head toward Kyle.

“No matter how much the grudges were settled, it is undeniably our fault that we tried to erase the Ragnar Family using Monsters. That’s why I wanted to apologize.”

Gina lifted her bowed head.

Then, with resolute eyes, she t Kyle’s gaze.

“I will acknowledge all the wrongs I committed. So please, at least spare them.”

She was not begging for her own life.

Rather, she ant that she would stake her own life to save others.

At the sight of Gina making such a demand more boldly than anyone else, Kyle let out a small chuckle.

“I will spare them.”

“Thank you.”

“But do not try to shoulder everything alone and die. I also want to hear the story of the Vampire Lord.”

Gina, who had thought he would take her life, widened her eyes.

“I promise I will cause no harm.”

At his request, Gina hesitated, then nodded.

Kyle released the magical barrier and watched Gina’s back as she walked toward Ardelphier.

‘This is why one should not judge only by what is visible.’

Only then did Kyle realize.

What the First Head of the Ragnar Family had wanted for his descendants.

Layer upon layer of misunderstandings had narrowed his view, and because of that, he had regarded the Dark Elves and other races solely as enemies.

As he realized his mistake and reflected on it, Ardelphier, having heard Gina’s words, stood before Kyle.

“I never thought we would face each other like this and have a conversation.”

“Do you want to live?”

“That sounds like a threat. Are you saying that if I want to live, I should bow my head?”

“Interpret it however you want. I simply wanted to ask.”

“Who would not want to live. Still, I wish that at least Gina would cast away the hatred she has suppressed all her life and live an ordinary life. No matter how this fight ends, I will bear all the punishnt.”

Ardelphier glanced at Gina, then fixed his gaze firmly on Kyle.

“If there is anything you want to know before that, I will tell you.”

“I know that the Vampire Clan cannot reproduce. How, then, is the number of the clan maintained?”

“……That’s what you want to know now?”

“I can’t help if I don’t know, can I.”

“Help, you say—wasn’t the reason you ca here in the first place to end us?”

“At first, yes. But I changed my mind.”

After confirming the look in Kyle’s eyes, Ardelphier nodded.

“I was originally an Elf. And the Vampires by my side were beings who had lived among various races such as Orks, Dwarves, and others. Of course, there were also those who had been human.”

Vampires were beings who lived on a magical power source called Blood Crystals.

However, the number of Blood Crystals was fixed, and only the Vampire Lord could use them.

Those who were expelled from their races or left of their own accord would co to Ardelphier and say they wished to beco part of the clan, and at that ti, Ardelphier would use Blood Crystals to turn them into Vampires.

Those who wished to beco Vampires for various reasons.

Those who had committed cris within their clans, or those who bore deep resentnt, ca and begged.

Begging to be saved.

Begging for the power to exact revenge.

“If I listen to their words and there is a justifiable reason, I use a Blood Crystal. However, those who committed cris within their races are not turned into Vampires. That is why the Vampire Lord stands in a very important position.”

A crucial position to judge whether soone should or should not be made into a Vampire.

Not wanting to lean toward either side, Ardelphier always lingered around the periphery, not mingling with the monarchs, like a loner.

“I see.”

“The characteristic of the Vampire Lord is that he can inherit the mories of the previous Lord. I also inherited the mories of the Lord who fought the Ragnar Family.”

Ardelphier stared intently at Kyle.

In those mories, the First Head of the Ragnar Family was gentler and more benevolent than anyone else.

He embraced the demi-human races wounded by humans and tried to protect them no matter what.

In the end, he even used the last resort called a Pact.

“We are not those who resent the Ragnar Family, but those who resented humans and wanted revenge. However, thinking that the Ragnar Family would ultimately side with humans, we attempted an attack using Monsters.”

“Why did you think that?”

“Because we thought that the First Head of the Ragnar Family had isolated us in the mountain range to protect humanity in the end.”

“……I don’t know either. Whether it was for humans, or for you.”

Perhaps the First Head had chosen to confine the monarchs in the mountain range to protect both sides.

Furthermore, it seed as though he wanted his descendants to view the monarchs as enemies.

To instill fear of the monarchs and the perception that they were not opponents to be trifled with, and to prevent the family from entering the mountain range first, perhaps he deliberately left behind no proper records.

It was complicated, but there was one thing Kyle felt he understood.

“If you wish to fight , I won’t stop you. Do as you wish.”

“…….”

“But regardless of how the result turns out, I will not annihilate the Dark Elves and the Vampire Clan.”

Most of the Dark Elves who had stayed in the White Castle were still alive.

Of course, since those Dark Elves who resisted to the very end had to be dealt with, so level of damage to the clan had to be accepted.

Now, only the choices of Gina and Ardelphier remained.

Kyle had already decided to spare them from the mont he heard Gina’s story.

However, if those two chose to fight, he intended to give it his all.

“I will discuss it with Gina.”

Kyle nodded at Ardelphier’s words.

War had never ended well.

If it could end without fighting, it was better not to start it at all.

“Like our ancestor did, I wish to protect you now. I wanted to be sure to tell you that.”

With those words, Kyle turned his body and returned to the White Castle.

Ardelphier, who had been staring at Kyle’s back for a long ti, clenched his fist tightly.

‘I never thought the ti would co to stake our fate on the Ragnar Family once more.’

As Ardelphier also turned his body to return to Gina—

Reinhardt, standing with his arms crossed, greeted Kyle as he arrived at the White Castle.

“Seems you made the right decision.”

“……I heard that while the Frostfire was being passed down, no one ever touched the Ragnar Family. Then why did they try to join hands with slave caravans to save the family?”

“You co back with a mountain of questions. Well, I’ll answer that much. The Ragnar Family was also exhausted by the long war against the Dark Constellation, the Followers of Darkness.”

“……Is the Dark Constellation the problem again this ti.”

“I heard that the traitor Asit beca the leader of the Dark Constellation. Let

ask you one thing. Why did you fight the Dark Constellation?”

Kyle had clearly told Reinhardt this.

That he had fought Asit like a madman.

That ant he had fought the Dark Constellation ruled by Asit.

At Reinhardt’s words, Kyle let out a sigh.

“I had left Ragnar for a while. I had settled in the Tylers Empire.”

He did not hide from Reinhardt the reason he had to leave the Ragnar Family, nor the things he had done while operating as Ian Kailers in the Tylers Empire.

“……So you were Ian Kailers? That is surprising.”

That a monarch confined within the mountain range by a Pact knew Ian Kailers—there was more than one strange point about that.

Kyle looked at Reinhardt with narrowed eyes.

“……You weren’t only inside the mountain range, were you? How do you know about Ian Kailers?”