act18d0

6下

*Hiss*...!

This technique...! Your body's rigidity and your judgment are nothing alike! What are you?!

(Howls)

Wait, Mon3tr!

(Sorrowful wailing)

You humiliated me, monster... This is what you deserve.

Hmph!

Mon3tr, readjust. He's on his last legs.

*Hiss*...

Those are no minor injuries, Royal Guard.

Likewise, traitor. You gave yourself an injection... You most certainly felt more than a poke in the arm.

How peculiar. By appearance, you are no different from a veteran warrior. You possess all the traits necessary for you to be the perfect soldier, yet you rely on a beast... a monster for your power.

The marks of battle can be covered, but the lands you've tainted can never bear fruit again. You should not have been so obstinate in your actions.

You fear... Certainly, if you truly know our secrets, then you should feel nothing but fear right now.

'Each Royal Guard is himself a nation.' The language of this saying is certainly colorful, but it also speaks the truth rather plainly.

Need I remind you? Your mask is fracturing. Reality is reacting to the evil that lingers in your body. The cage created by the ritual is beginning to fissure.

Or do you really believe that Victoria will turn a blind eye when an Ursus Royal Guard sets off a horrifying annihilation at a count's manor?

The Royal Guards' duty rests with all that exists in Ursus.

Don't make me laugh...! I don't need a traitor to teach me what my duty is.

Tell me, then. Who do you serve? Ursus as it is now, or the great shadows of the past?

Tell me, Royal Guard. Do not bring shame to your title.

—Tell me, what does the current Ursus Emperor think of the Pine Valley affair?

Or do you mean to tell me the seeds of that uprising, the origins of the crisis were all the will of the Emperor?

You were the cause of it all!

(Roars)

—Feel free to keep deceiving yourself, but the truth is the young emperor is unaware of the events that transpired there.

You believe he has no need to know.

You... all of you seek a bygone era.

I won't judge whether this is correct, but when a Grand Duke is allowed to die in a political conflict, his death will always lead to an all new rebellion.

This is not for you to judge.

I can foresee the many consequences of his death. Some wished for him to die out of anger and their desire for so-called justice. They wanted his death in order to erase evidence and to cut off ties.

Others wished for him to live. They wanted him to continue to fulfill the duty he cannot remove himself from. Perhaps there were also those who wanted to keep a witness alive to serve as a stepping stone, to revolt against all those involved with the Third Army.

It didn't matter whether he lived or not. The key was how the contradiction that followed was handled.

You don't mean...

It was up to an unremarkable Ursus assassin to kill the Grand Duke, someone she could never imagine to reach, out of personal grudge. Only then were those crimes finally erased, digested like grass seeds eaten by burdenbeasts.

From the sound of it... You have great foresight. You mean to tell me you solved such a difficult problem as a mere citizen?

It was the best choice to make in order to keep Ursus's internal friction from developing any further.

(Strange sound) Enough with the presumptuousness!

(Braying)

Traitor! Your excuse is an insult to Ursus!

Even if all is truly as you say and your actions benefit Ursus in thousands of ways, it was not your decision to make!

—Control yourself, Royal Guard.

I can smell your lies—How dare you claim you did this for Ursus?!

(It's spreading. Even though it's only a small demon shard embedded in that device, it is more than enough to level this entire manor.)

—The Valley of the Setting Sun has turned into a land of fear!

(If the Royal Guard wants my life... Mon3tr... Kill him immediately. That's far more effective than defense.)

Even if the Empire's glory lasts another thousand years, those black lands no longer belong to Ursus! They are no longer part of this world!

Do you want to repeat your mishaps?! Do you want to drag the Empire into a war of unimaginable scale just because you lost control of yourself?!

You are just caught up in the former emperor's grand vision!

*Hiss*...!

That moment, the fear in the air immediately boils into material substance.

Once the earthshaking emotional release comes to a halt, there remains nothing but a faint, ominous black glow emanating from the cracks of the Royal Guard's mask.

...Hufff...

Mon3tr, stop!

(Dissatisfied whining)

What is this...? You let your chance get away. Your one and only chance...

I know your tactics. If I let Mon3tr attack, you would've pierced right through my chest with those black spikes of yours.

*Hiss*... Looks like I need not test you anymore. You know like the back of your hand how the Royal Guards operate... You called me inhuman, and now you address me as man?

Suppose you still have a shred of my approval, it would have nothing to do with the will that you are executing right now.

As long as you are still resisting, you remain a stalwart barricade of mankind. No one can take from you your honor of having been born a human.

At the very least, before you find yourself fooled by that illusion that is destined to be destroyed.

*Hiss*...

You are right... Indeed, there are many things I misjudged...

'Knowledge' is how they grow in strength. To fend them off, the passing down of all knowledge of them was suppressed, an unwritten law of all nations.

You are not a Sami Snowpriest, and you have nothing to do with Sargon's Eternal Army... Those who have the privilege of seeing the sights beyond Terra with their own eyes have always been at the top of their country's academic authority... Who are you?

Someone who fulfilled her duty.

And what is your duty?

You already know the answer in your heart. I did far less than you've accomplished.

Hmph...

I must admit... I have never met an outsider who knows the Royal Guards' secrets.

The crimes you committed and the secrets you hold make you guilty beyond measure, but I have never met such a strange creature so evenly matched against me.

(Taunting roars)

*Hiss*... You are full of surprises... The mystery surrounding you worries me. It seems I must be more cautious when dealing with you.

Let us pretend I am following your advice, 'Ursus citizen,' but do not forget that the Emperor's Blade is watching you.

Hm...

We don't have much time left. Ursus has not had the chance to catch its breath, but the moment the Count finds you, it will be plunged into a whole new whirlpool.

And it will happen, the people be damned.

Don't get so cocky... I simply did not expect it would take this much time to deal with a traitor.

*Huff*...

You are worthy of my caution, traitor.

It was your responsibility to guard Grand Duke Vanya, and finding the cause of his 'accidental' death is your one and only mission.

I ensured a quiet death for him. I then escaped from Ursus territory. Perhaps what I have done can't truly be considered a violation of Ursus's rights.

If so, it stands to reason that a life is too great a price. I trust all of you Royal Guards are capable of making a sensible decision.

You—

—Mmm!

Regardless, you must return to Ursus right this moment.

The pain may mean nothing to you, but, with your windpipe ripped by Mon3tr, you will suffocate—and drown in the demon's influence, even just a shard of its corpse.

Be quick about it. You might still make it back to Ursus territory in one piece.

A target worrying about my wellbeing... This will indeed be a valuable experience.

On top of that, you are a traitor, and you understand me far better than the men in our armies.

I've never had such a long chat with a Royal Guard of the Emperor's Blade either.

—How long have you lived? And who exactly are you?

I used to be the Grand Duke's private doctor, nothing more.

You should've killed me while I was making my escape.

Perhaps it isn't too late.

I await the news of your success.

—Hah!

You should've served your country, traitor! Your limitless potential could have flourished magnificently in Ursus, yet you betrayed it!

Sounds like I should feel bad about that.