Midnight.
The Fuziaze Castle, having lost the brilliance of the day, was steeped in darkness.
Fuziaze Castle was composed of multiple towers, with five main towers among them.
There was a tower boasting a height of fifty floors at the center of the grounds, and four towers built alongside it to the east, west, north, and south. Generally, these five were often collectively referred to as “Fuziaze Castle,” but those working inside called them the “Central Great Tower,” “East Great Tower,” “West Great Tower,” “South Great Tower,” and “North Great Tower,” respectively. Furthermore, there were also “Middle Towers” and “Small Towers” connected by bridges, illustrating how intricately intertwined Fuziaze Castle was.
And in each of these great towers of Fuziaze Castle, a multitude of knights were walking in formation down corridors as dark as if they had been painted with tar. The knights of Fuziaze were known for their diligence, but at this hour, they were understandably starting to lose their concentration.
While it was past midnight, a considerable amount of time had passed since noon. Even if they had resolved to work through the night, this was the time when the initial fervor began to wane.
Some of the knights guarding Fuziaze Castle were dozing off, their eyes narrowed as they patrolled.
Of course, this was not true for all of them. There were still knights whose eyes were wide open, who remained completely vigilant, and who continued their guard duty with apparent enjoyment.
This was Elmiraud Sidd, the eldest son of a great noble family from Laura Via.
He was currently serving Fuziaze as a magic-specialized knight, investigating the suddenly stopped “Magic Stone Line.”
Elmiraud would touch the “Magic Stone Line” where the anomaly had occurred and chuckle. He had far too much familiarity with this seal that seemed as if it were frozen.
He channeled his own magic power and activated all the spare “Magic Stone Lines” in the castle. He also reinforced the barrier that obstructed magic of a certain output. However, he was excited, knowing that such a barrier would likely be breached easily, and his fixed smile did not fade.
The enemy that was expected to come was powerful. Not just a great hero, but even surpassing legend, a man on the verge of becoming a miracle himself.
Even if Fuziaze Castle were the strongest fortress in the world, including the entire globe, it was impossible to stop him.
Thus, Elmiraud firmly believed, and while smiling, he began to rebuild the knights’ guard network in accordance with the restored “Magic Stone Line,” as work was work.
Currently, Elmiraud could freely command fewer than ten knights. Even though they were from the South Alliance, he was a knight from a foreign country—Laura Via. The number of people Fuziaze Country could entrust him with was limited.
However, without concern for the shortage of personnel, Elmiraud finished issuing instructions to each member with practiced procedure and was walking along the corridor on the outer edge of the hollow at the mid-level of the Central Great Tower of Fuziaze Castle—the 22nd floor.
The corridor was adorned with unnecessarily expensive carpets and furnishings, and candelabras emitting light from magic stones were placed generously. Elmiraud gazed at the hollow on his left, which seemed to swallow even the night, as he walked with a knight he knew.
This was, so to speak, the knight who served as Elmiraud’s deputy.
He looked towards his superior, who had a faint but clear smile, and asked with curiosity.
“Lord Siddharuku, besides the guards… aren’t there too few knights? There’s a possibility that the culprit who kidnapped our Saintess might attack again, right? Yet, the total mobilized force doesn’t even reach a hundred. Even if it’s night, this…”
The deputy male felt a sense of abnormality on this particular day.
Around evening, the previously missing Saintess Nosfy of Fuziaze had returned, and the castle’s alert level was hastily raised.
The castle’s movements from then on were strange. Despite it being an abnormal situation, there was a strangely nonchalant atmosphere among the superiors. Even though an attack was expected, the higher-ups were responding with leisurely attitudes. Many of the lower-ranking knights, who were not given detailed information, were bewildered.
“Ah, there are few. The attackers this time are insiders—or rather, like supporters—so the ‘Senate’ is intentionally holding back. …Well, there’s no need to worry. The actual guards are more numerous than the numbers suggest.”
“Eh? Supporters? What do you mean by that…?”
Elmiraud casually revealed the reality of the current guard network to his subordinate.
It was partly because he was made more honest by Nosfy’s magic, but he also had a liking for this deputy. Elmiraud continued the conversation without answering the question.
“I believe you come from quite a notable family, don’t you?”
“Uh? Yes, well… Not as much as the Siddharuku family, but…”
“And you’re here now, so you must be a pretty good person, right?”
“A… good person…?”
“A personality that helps the weak and strikes down the strong. On top of being a young master, an inflexible righteous man. That’s why you’ve been assigned to me, who’s gone mad. If you were a knight who understands reason, you would surely be entrusted with higher-level security.”
Elmiraud evaluated the deputy with a mixture of self-deprecation and sarcasm, hinting at the security personnel beyond their awareness. The deputy’s face contorted at the word “mad,” but he ignored it and continued to ask.
“Higher level…? You mean above the 40th floor where the royal family resides?”
“No, precisely above the 46th floor. The area where the ‘Senate’ resides should have a force of over a hundred knights.”
“Above the 46th floor… I believe the Saintess is on the 45th floor right now…”
“Ah, yes, she is. But this is how it is. Protecting Nosfy-sama is our duty, and the duty of the knights protecting the ‘Senate’ is solely to protect the ‘Senate’.”
“…I see.”
There was nothing particularly strange about it. Humans with privilege were provided with safety commensurate with that privilege. The deputy did not complain, but his expression indicated his dissatisfaction. Elmiraud smiled, thinking he was truly promising, and the deputy continued his questions, treating it as if he hadn’t seen it.
“So, Lord Siddharuku, are the bandits really coming…? It’s been quite some time since we reactivated the ‘Magic Stone Line’…”
“They will definitely come. To retrieve their daughter—they will genuinely come against Fuziaze, who continues to torment their own daughter.”
“Huh…? Daughter?”
Stunned by the fact of the century, the deputy hurriedly confirmed.
“Ah, actually, the bandits who are coming to retrieve her are the Saintess’s parents.”
Elmiraud, who had no reason to hide it, happily explained it to his favorite subordinate.
“That Saintess is the first ‘Magic Stone Human’ born in the country of Fuziaze, and her birth is quite peculiar. She was created by crossbreeding the blood of two exceptionally talented young boys and girls, with magic formulas etched into her from birth, and through repeated brainwashing, she became an artificial saintess. Naturally, those whose blood was used without their consent would be angry. They will surely come rushing to retrieve their daughter in a fit of rage.”
He had explained the circumstances quite briefly, but the deputy’s confusion only increased.
“That’s a pretty terrible story… Is it true…?”
“Even though it boasts of being a sacred knightly nation on the surface, its reality is like that. Rustiara Fuziaze, the Living God famous in the eastern frontier, was also born in a similar way.”
“No way… That’s too much…”
Suddenly confronted with the country’s corrupt underbelly, the deputy’s voice trembled with indignation. He was born into a prestigious noble family and must have witnessed much of the world’s ugliness, yet he was still indignant with unwavering passion.
He had talent. The talent for righteous anger.
His personality was enough to make Elmiraud’s words flow more easily.
“You truly have a good nature… I shall tell you various things, you who seem likely to die young.”
It was a way to pass the time until the enemy’s arrival, but it was also an important ritual.
Elmiraud calmly understood in the back of his mind that the time when he could be “honest” was short. That’s why he wanted to vent what he needed to vent now. He believed that venting here would help his true self, who would no longer be “honest” from this point forward.
Thus, he began to speak.
“As you know, as one delves deeper into the world, human malice inevitably follows. Competition for vested interests and rivalry in dishonesty. —Among them, the ‘Senate’ is particularly something to be wary of. They continue to hide the ‘Testament of Saint Tiara’ and the ‘True History,’ and are old fools chasing the vulgar dream of ‘Immortality.’ Furthermore, they conceal the technology of ‘Magic Stone Line’ and ‘Magic Stone Human,’ not fully disclosing it to the public. I believe they are also not disclosing most of the ‘Knowledge from a Thousand Years Ago,’ such as ‘Incantations,’ which I learned from the Chancellor of the North. It’s likely that in the area where the ‘Senate’ resides, there are ‘Demonized,’ flexible knights who know ‘Incantations’ unknown to us and use them without regard for the ‘Price.’ If you are too unreasonable, you might be assassinated by the knights there, so be very careful.”
“Wh-!!”
The deputy was so surprised by the outlandish story that he couldn’t even respond. Elmiraud knew that the deputy hadn’t understood even half of what he was saying, but he continued to talk volubly.
“The world is hopelessly, realistically the way it is… It’s a world with no dreams… Truly no dreams…”
As he spoke, Elmiraud recalled a story he had heard not long ago.
It was during his transfer from the battlefield to the Great Holy Capital due to a truce. This was after his duties as the head of the Siddharuku family, one of the four great noble families of the South Alliance, had somewhat concluded, and at the same time, after he had participated in his first war.
On that day, at the ceremony to receive commendations from the country, he was introduced to Nosfy, the ‘Thief of the Principles of Light,’ and was subjected to a magic spell. The magic itself was not the problem. Honestly, his compatibility with Nosfy was not good, in a positive sense.
However, the second ‘Thief of Principles’ he encountered next was the problem.
Recalling the story he heard that day at the forbidden depths of Fuziaze Castle, beneath the blood-stained World Tree, the story of Fafnir Helvishein, the ‘Thief of the Law of Blood,’ while empathizing with him, he spoke in a similar rapid-paced monologue.
“…Mistakes happen everywhere, and good people are deceived and made fools of. Young people who believe in justice are eliminated, and only wicked old men survive. You know this too, don’t you? Even among nobles, the disparity is vast, and discriminatory consciousness persists. Slavery continues to expand, and new forms of discrimination increase. Knowing this, the ‘Senate’ continues wars that could be eradicated. They invite misfortune with obvious wars, increasing the demand for desire and the number of slaves. In the last war, I truly realized it. The treatment towards ‘Demonization Regression,’ which has increased in recent years, lacked legitimacy, and strong individuals with little utility were buried in darkness. It’s not the North and South fighting. It’s simply a selection between the strong and the weak by the strong. The world, once purified by the great figures of a thousand years ago, is decaying day by day. Gradually, dark clouds are gathering over the world… It’s a truly sad story. There was a time when I wanted to break down the unreasonableness of such a world and remake it… Even with this, I had a strong desire to be a hero… There was a time when I dreamed of achieving great deeds to change the world… Do you think you can understand this feeling…?”
Listening to Elmiraud’s monologue from the side, the deputy recalled rumors about the castle. It was said that the head of the Siddharuku family, who had achieved great success in the recently concluded Border War between the North and South, had become somewhat strange after that incident.
His madness was evident, acknowledged by both himself and others. However, something more was transmitted. A righteous anger, more idealistic than his own—it was undeniably there. Feeling a common purpose, the deputy, while bewildered by the madness, wanted to hear more of his story and urged him to continue.
“…I… I can understand that somewhat. …However, even for you, Lord Siddharuku, that dream is in the past tense.”
“Past tense…? No, that’s not true. The dream is still ongoing. However, I was taught a realistic method by someone. The true way to save this world. It’s not my duty—”
However, the continuation of his words would not be spoken. Here, Elmiraud’s narration abruptly stopped.
“—!? What is this!?”
Like a feline creature, Elmiraud sprang up and looked around. In his field of vision, the corridor showed no change. However, his senses as a wizard transmitted to his brain that the world was being rewritten.
Instantly, new magic power filled the entire corridor. Even without the sensation of touching water, it felt like being swept away by a great flood and trapped in a sea of magic.
Normally, magic power would not assert itself to this extent. It was only noticeable by top-tier mages when they exerted themselves.
But this was so dense that even ordinary people could sense it, let alone a mage. And the person who unleashed the magic power had no intention of hiding it.
“Incredibly dense!? —Is this ‘Dimension – Multiple Expansion’!? No, magic power of dimensional attributes layered in an even more complex way! Magic that we can’t possibly comprehend! This, this, this! Hahaha!”
Elmiraud quickly deduced the source of the magic power and laughed at the seriousness of the cause. His already happy demeanor was now joined by an even more innocent smile, and he became as lively as a child participating in a parade.
“Hey, it’s coming! It’s finally coming! Kanami is coming! And it’s much earlier than planned! Is he already here!?”
“Th-this magic power is from the Saintess’s parents!? No, to us knights, they’re just bandits—Lord Siddharuku, where are you going!?”
Before the deputy could finish his reply, Elmiraud had already started running. He was using ‘Demonization’ to enhance his leg power, running at full speed with his unnaturally long blond hair flowing in the air. Moving away from his guard post, he shouted loudly.
“I’m sorry, but I’m going to do as I please! And don’t worry about what I said earlier! They’ll be here soon, so there’s no need to worry! The ‘Great Savior’ is coming! He’ll appear now!!”
Like a lion running across a plain—no, using the legs of a lion itself, Elmiraud headed towards the outer wall of the Central Great Tower of Fuziaze Castle. He did this to see if he could spot the enemy from outside through the building’s windows.
He knew that the magic filling the castle could only be from the ‘Thief of the Principles of Dimensions.’ Elmiraud was overjoyed to greet the person he had in mind. As if to admonish him, a report came from a guard knight.
“Lord Siddharuku! Enemies have infiltrated from the East! The wall of the East Great Tower—”
“The wall of the East Great Tower, got it! Understood, I’ll head there immediately!!”
Elmiraud responded without stopping and continued towards the bridge connecting the Central Great Tower to the East Great Tower, maintaining his momentum. His speed exceeded human limits. Naturally, none of the knights he passed could keep up. Elmiraud crossed the bridge alone, entered the East Great Tower, ran through it, and reached the eastern end. He then leaned out of a window and looked outside.
First, what caught his eye was the castle town of the Great Holy Capital. Usually, even at midnight, lights from magic tools would flicker everywhere, but today, due to the stoppage of the “Magic Stone Line,” the lights were sparse and few. Relying on these few lights, Elmiraud surveyed the outside.
A portion of the high iron fence surrounding Fuziaze Castle was crushed. He could also see several guard towers near the fence had collapsed. He understood that the enemy had bypassed the river and fence and forcefully broken through the garden, and Elmiraud lowered his gaze.
There, as if gravity meant nothing, was the figure of an intruder climbing up the castle wall, using it as a foothold.
“Climbing the wall forcefully!? Of the scenarios I anticipated, they’ve chosen a rather rough method! But, the ones coming are—”
Elmiraud counted the intruders while confirming their appearances.
There were three enemies. One had large, blue wings resembling a monster spread on his back, and about two people were clinging to one of those wings. The hair colors were blue, blond, and… black.
“Snow, who has ‘Dragonized,’ Lady Sis, and… the ‘Thief of the Principles of Water’ in his sealed state?”
He had the same black hair, but the gender was different. It was a rather formidable group, but the main target, Kanami, was not there. Elmiraud stopped and tried to read the enemy’s strategy.
“Is Kanami planning to come stealthily from the other side…?”
“Lord Siddharuku! There are only three bandits! We’ve activated the ‘Magic Stone Line,’ but should we sound the alarm!?”
At that moment, a group of knights guarding the East Great Tower approached, seeking instructions. They believed that Elmiraud, who came from a ducal family and whose rank had significantly risen after the previous battle, would give the correct orders.
“No, an alarm is unnecessary. It will become more obvious eventually anyway. More importantly, we need to identify enemies other than those here.”
“Other enemies…? Meaning, this is a diversion!?”
“Ah, that’s right. You guys handle the three diversionary attackers. I’ll take on the main force coming from elsewhere.”
“Understood.”
“I’m heading to the West Tower! I’m leaving this to you!!”
With perfunctory instructions, Elmiraud pushed the situation onto others and fled. If he met Snow, he might develop feelings for her. Before getting caught up, he once again set off at full speed, this time towards the West Great Tower.
Along the way, he saw smoke rising from the atrium of the Central Great Tower of Fuziaze Castle. He immediately grabbed onto the railing of the atrium and looked down.
“Inferno below–!? In that case, the Witch of Flames must be over there!”
Maria, the Witch of Flames, who had left various legends across the land in the past year. She was capable of defeating and capturing the ‘Thief of the Principles of Light’ alone, making her likely the enemy’s greatest combatant. It was highly probable that Kanami was escorting such a powerful combatant. In fact, Nosfy on the 45th floor was keeping her greatest combatant close by for protection. Believing that Kanami might be concealed within Maria’s flames, Elmiraud quickly descended using the nearest staircase.
Amidst the rising smoke from below, he did not use the stairs properly but used the handrail as a foothold to descend, as if falling. During this descent, Elmiraud sensed the approach of someone with a significant amount of magic power. Bracing himself, he stopped for a moment, and a familiar companion emerged from the smoke. It was Glen Walker, a man who had once earned the title of ‘Strongest’ in the frontier.
“Glen…? Did you abandon the main gate?”
“Mmm…. Ah, it’s you, El-kun. Only a murderous Maria-chan came in from the first floor, so I abandoned the reception duty. She was an obvious diversion, so I ignored her and ran up here…”
Elmiraud spoke to Glen, who was older than him, without any polite language. This was unusual for him, who valued etiquette. It was proof that their relationship had changed in the past few days, from “mere acquaintances of great noble families” to “comrades connected by souls.”
“I see. In that case, shall I leave the Witch to Noir? …Glen, in the East Great Tower, Snow attacked with Sis and the ‘Thief of the Principles of Water.’ Perhaps she’s looking for you, her older brother.”
“Snow-san is over there, huh… I’d rather not meet her right now if possible. She’s probably angry… Ugh…”
Ignoring the plan set by their master Nosfy, the two exchanged the information they had gathered without hiding anything. They trusted each other as comrades that their information was true. And they both understood that this time, while they were “honest,” was the only chance they had to challenge Kanami.
During this exchange of information, a guard soldier with a hurried expression approached them.
“Lord Siddharuku, Lord Walker! So you were here! Reporting! Two intruders from the West Great Tower! Currently, Lady Perciona and Lady Sera are responding, but they are struggling!”
Upon hearing this, Elmiraud calmly confirmed the information.
“…Understood. Were there any men among the enemies?”
“Gender…? No, I believe the report said it was a pair of women…”
“I see, two women. In that case, let’s leave this to Perciona-kun and the others. The two of us must confront the enemy’s main force.”
Elmiraud flatly refused reinforcements and continued his strategy meeting with Glen, ignoring the approaching guard soldier.
“Hmm, Kanami-kun has slipped in somewhere else… He’s ignoring everything and plans to attack Nosfy-sama. The only place left is the rear of the castle, but that seems too cliché.”
“Agreed. But, Glen, where do you think he’s coming from?”
“Where from—”
Glen’s mind whirred as he processed the question. He tried to predict Uzunami’s next move on this board. In matters of surprise attacks and assassinations, Glen was battle-hardened, a master unmatched on this continent. That was precisely why Elmiraud, a person who did not rely on others, placed such importance on Glen’s opinion.
However, Glen could not arrive at an answer. If it were a legitimate invasion, Glen’s experience would likely have precedents. But the enemy was the ‘Thief of the Principles of Dimensions.’ If their strategy was based on unknown magic, even Glen could not guess. After deep thought, the only invasion methods that came to Glen’s mind were all illegitimate. Among these numerous fouls, the most troublesome was…
As Glen thought of it—outside the window, a green light flickered in the dark night sky. It was still far away, a light outside the grounds of Fuziaze Castle. Even Glen, with his keen eyesight, could not have noticed it from inside the castle.
While Glen could infer the enemy’s various fouls, he couldn’t confirm them like the ‘Thief of the Principles of Dimensions.’ And all the while, time ticked by. The start time of the enemy’s successful operation was approaching.
