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Chapter 35: Revelation

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Tales of the devils.

In the East and West, all over the world, the story of the devils and demons were abundant. Thousands upon thousands of different kind, from a serious tone to a light-hearted one. Most were regarded as nothing more than words to scare children, influence adults.

Likely, that was the case.

In the central continent, covering most of Kharlussia, a particular story was quite popular.

The story about devils emerging into this world, as either children or adults. They would roam the world, targeting people, either gullible or prone to evil influence. These people, the devils called weaklings, not in the manner of physical or power, but in the manner of having principle.

Good, firm principle?

Nay, they had none.

These devils, in human form, would rouse the populace.

When they were roused, the devils would channel such energy into what they desired. One such thing would be the killing of the faithful. These victims were often portrayed as those who went against the masses, who went against the general belief of a village, town, region or even nation. They were slandered, sometimes as witches and their accomplices.

They were rounded up, and murdered, from burning to lynching.

Their real crime?

Holding a different belief, confession or talking against corrupted belief. And make no mistake, these people were not extreme in their belief. Instead, some were calling against extremist view.

And many, only practiced their belief in secret.

Never to disturb others.

Calm down, and think!

Why are you doing this?!

Often, that was what they said to those who rounded them.

Yet they failed to understand. These people, touched by the devils, had lost their thinking ability. No, either they never had one in the first place, or they suppressed their own doubt, their own thinking.

And thus, followed the flow of the masses.

They were sheep.

Herded by the devils.

Gate of Aurenburg Knight’s Academy.

In the middle of the square, by the fountain, two figures locked in conflict. The few civilians, shop owners, and early-risers, turned their attention to them, especially to the lady. A blonde lady, holding a short sword. Its edge on the other’s chest, slanted.

Lady Natalia, her blue eyes on him.

Her face, gloom.

“W-what? You know that’s not,”

“—Too much suspicious signs from the test, don’t try to fool me. Explain, your self-healing,”

He broke out a cold sweat.

The lady was sharper than he thought, or did her ability just bloom out of nowhere?

She detected his trait, a special one. A trait that no human should have, or rather, no human was known to possess one. Yet Krone possessed one, what would that make him? She doubted it at first, yet various other signs she witnessed from the test before, kept disturbing her.

His Air Sliding mastery, The Flow he showed during sparring, then the mana she sensed on him during her active scanning. The mana, had similarity to a dragon’s.

At first, she thought it was the residue.

Then, against Padre, he showed his mastery of Aurelian Arte. A mastery which was impossible for him, it was already at knight’s level. In addition, she had this feeling that he was suppressing his own aura.

The final sign, torturing her mind, would be the self-healing.

No one else but her sensed it, thus she thought of the possibility of her mistaking it. When she returned home, she could not make sense of it, no matter how much she pondered. She even had a nightmare, and that was the final push.

She decided to deal with it, once and for all.

‘Krone, what are you? Could you be, a dragon's heir? No, no way...’

“…What, what are talking about? Self-healing,”

“You know, it’s quite easy enough to prove,”

She pressed her sword’s edge onto his tunic. He wanted to back off, yet her mana from her left hand kept him in place.

Silently nailing him to the ground.

“…Isn’t this, too much Lady? Even though you’re a knight,”

“I was raised in central region.”

“Eh?”

He shut up.

There was a meaning from that, and he remembered. The last four years of his fight, was exactly there, the central region. But what was the relation?

“There are stories in central region, about devils in human form,”

“That’s,”

“You think I don’t know? Two hundred years ago, the great upheaval. Five hundred years ago, the grand separation. A thousand years ago, the great civil war. Two thousand years ago, the barbarian’s invasion…”

Her hands shivering, eyes reminiscing.

At the time, the guards from the academy reached them.

Five of them, even though their job was just to guard the academy, could not turn a blind eye to such event. Especially so when it happened in front of the gate, their very eyes.

The one leading, a guard captain, approached her.

“Lady Natalia, something wrong? Who is this boy?”

“…Nothing, just back off.”

“Milady?”

“Back off!”

“Y-yes!”

Her stern voice forced the guards back, shivered civilians.

They left a wide gap between them, far enough from hearing their conversation. The people watching, pondered. What made a knight, protector of the people, hostile?

Especially so, to a young teen?

“Lady Natalia, there’s civilians here, your reputation,”

“Let me worry about it, none of your business,”

“…We can discuss this calmly, yes?”

“Then answer me, are you a devil? If not, what are you?”

“…”

Had he heard her question before he reincarnated, he would have thought it was silly.

Yet he knew, it was not.

“Well?”

“…I’m a human,”

Ha!

Hearing this, she laughed.

A short, mocking laugh.

“Don’t you know, devils are made from two; humans and demons?”

“…Eh, how do you know?”

“The scripture, clearly stated so.”

Devils were from human and demons?

Krone recalled his question to the man in white, what he meant by devils. Back then, his answer was simple, that he would know in time.

“…Never heard of it,”

“Of course you didn’t, priests wouldn’t talk about it. Most of them, swindler, quack, con artist, phonies. So-called saints, holy people? Hah, the worse of mankind.”

“…That’s quite,”

“You don’t agree? Suit yourself. Now, answer my question, properly. ”

“…I am not a devil. If anything, I’m their enemy. Their worse,”

“Oh? Then, explain all of these; your mastery of Artes, The Flow, the dragon’s mana on you when we’re at the hill, and your self-healing, that’s pretty much the summary of it? And don’t give me shit like being tutored by a Grandmaster, you’re way over limit.”

“…I see, in that case,”

Listening to all the details she stated, he understood.

She had pondered this quite deep, finally coming to a conclusion; it could not be explained by a genius tutored by a top Grandmaster. Had he tried to fool her again, he might need to bear her blade into his chest.

No matter how impossible that sound, it’s possible.

‘Right now, she’s emotional.’

Because of her sensitive sense, she was able to sense something others could not. Bearing a secret alone, withholding things which went against logic, it must have tortured her.

He should not put salt on the wound.

‘Since it’s come to this, then I should just risk it. She’s a sensor to boot,’

A sensor was invaluable.

There were not many even among knights. Rather than continue to fool her, he pondered of having her cooperation. It was risky, but if successful…

‘In addition, she’s top quality,’

This was evident. No other knights seemed to notice, but she did.

He made the decision.

“Actually, there’s a lot more to explain, Lady Natalia.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well,”

He moved his left hand, yet;

“Don’t move,”

“There are spatial rings on my fingers. I’ll let you witness something, that’ll let you know, I intend to come clean,”

“Witness?”

“You know how to use one, yes? You can see what’s inside them,”

“Distracting me? Nice try,”

In order to see things inside a spatial ring, one had to send both mana and their consciousness in. Had she did, she would be distracted.

She noticed three spatial rings on his left hand.

Too luxurious, for a mere village boy.

Krone knew her concern.

“I see, then, activate your Aurelian Arte and lock my mana pool. I won’t resist, and I’ll throw my sword away too, enough?”

“…Fine, give it to them,”

She glanced at the guards.

Krone’s left hand clicked the lock on his waist, freeing his sword’s holder. He raised it, then threw it to them. The one in the leading, caught the sword.

Her left hand, then pinning his shoulder, moved to his stomach.

She sent mana in, surrounding his mana pool.

A mana locking, with her mastery, should be able to lock a candidate’s mana for ten or so minutes. As long as he did not resist, locking his mana pool was a simple matter.

When she finished, she activated her Aurelian Arte.

Mana turned into aura, coating her body. She nodded. He moved his left hand to his front, she caught it. Eyes still on him, she sent her mana and consciousness in.

First, the ring in the middle finger.

A second, and she was out. She looked at him in disbelief.

‘Was it an illusion?’

“Next, the fourth finger,”

“I know, jeez, how did you get three spatial rings anyway,”

Just to be safe, she again put her left hand on his stomach, sending more mana surrounding his mana pool. To her shock, the mana she sent before had halfway dissipated.

Meaning, she could only lock his mana pool for ten seconds or so.

"You, really,”

Ignoring this, she checked the second ring.

Her mana and consciousness went in.

“Ugh! The hell?”

She got out, a mere second too.

She witnessed something horrifying inside, her consciousness shaken.

Her trauma, almost overtook her.

“Monsters, just where did you, there’s even, ugh,”

“I’ll explain later, the third ring,”

“You, fine!”

Again, she placed her hand on his stomach, locking his mana pool. Her hand took his left’s pinky, a ring smaller than others. Her mana and consciousness went in.

…?

Within, she felt small.

No, it was because the inside, was as large as a warship. The feeling was similar to standing next to one, you would know how insignificant your being was.

Her eyes looked over, her mind turned blank. What first greeted her was a slimy, rounded thing. Shiny, over twenty-metre high eye, tentacles around it.

One eye, directly on her.

Gazing, as if alive.

“Darn it!”

She pushed his hand away, stepping few metres back. Her sword towards him, she was breathing heavy. Eyes on him, her hands were shivering. The yellow Aura surrounding her wavered, tears in her eyes.

She was in shock.

Calm down, think of others.

A whisper reached her. Her eyes widened.

It was Krone, urging her.

‘Mana vibration?’

Only she could hear him.

With mana vibration, he could send discreet message to someone he had contact with. However, to do so, his Aurelian Arte must have reached an insane level.

‘But his mana pool, I locked it,’

Don’t worry about stuff like that, look your surroundings!

His voice reached her again.

From her face, he knew what she was thinking.

She finally noticed, more people came. It was still early, so there were only thirty or so people in the square. They were watching them, especially her.

Eyes wondering.

I’ll explain later, alright?

Hearing this, she took a deep breath.

She canceled her Aurelian Arte. Calming down, she knew what to do.

“Haa! You sure surprise me!”

She made a sigh of relief and delight, then laughed.

Her hands on her knees, her laughter filled the square.

…

…

Those watching, their mind turned blank.

What was happening, they could not make heads and tails of it.

Sheathing her sword, she turned to the guards.

A look of puzzlement on each of them, her eyes fall on the guard captain.

She wiped away tears from her eyes, smiling.

“Ah, I was just testing him. He’s a former knight candidate, he did no wrong. I just wanted to test his mettle. I had to look serious, so,”

“Ah, really? I see, I see,”

“Forgive my sudden impulse, I troubled you guys,”

“No, not at all Milady. At least we got rid of some boredom, ha.”

“Glad to hear it, but I’ll have to trouble you guys again. Do you mind explaining…”

She glanced at the spectators, now around forty or so.

Hinting at them.

“No problem, no problem, right boys?”

“Yeah, right!”

“If it’s for Lady Natalia, it’s a small matter, huu,”

“Thanks guys, I’ll treat you guys something later, at Windy’s?”

Hearing this, the guards were empowered.

They rushed to the surrounding spectators, eager to explain what had happened. The captain handed Natalia Krone’s sword, then joined his fellow men.

Witnessing this, Krone raised his eyebrow.

The left one.

“You sure know how to handle them,”

“Shut up, we’re not settled yet. You owe me explanation, lots of,”

“…Fine, I’ll brief you, but this place, not so proper,”

“Let’s get inside, there’s a lot of place for us, enough privacy.”

“Alright,”

She returned his sword.

Leading him, they entered the Knight’s Academy, heading straight to a lake within its garden.

Away from view.

It was dark, calm night.

On top of a tower, twenty-four people sat surrounding a large round table. Except for one old man, all of them had blue images, while only three, red. Clearly, they were not there, each of them was merely a projection.

It was a meeting, yet it was silent.

An eerie meeting, eyes glaring each other.

Since sensing the power of the Vow, they had debated on how to proceed with their plan. Most of them favored speeding things up, yet the few senior ones were against it.

These seniors were powerful, so they could not rush. Supporting them were their subordinates, also seated in the council.

Their reason was simple.

The more we go against The Law, the more they could retaliate.

While all of them sat within the same council, their age was not similar.

And while each of their votes was considered equal, their influence and sight differed. With the recent development, most of the younger ones preferred speeding up the plan, even if it meant twisting The Law a little more.

Thirteen of them, they made up the Neo faction.

The senior ones, a mere three, all opposed. They demanded following the original plan, and only sent their human counterparts to deal with the problem. Their three disciples supported them, along with three others who were close to them.

All nine, made up the Senior faction.

Among the twenty-four of them, excluding the chairman, only one did not voice any opinion. Towards the end, the whole debate turned sour.

“Once bitten, forever injured? My senior, don’t be a defeatist. You’re better than that.”

The Neo faction almost accused the seniors as cowards, unable to forget their bitter defeat from the days. They were careful to veil it, as to not appear too imposing.

“Never been to other Heavens, never fought the Keepers, already think he knows everything, pathetic.”

The seniors in turn, make clear of their naivety, underestimating The Keepers of The Law. For some time, the council turned silent, uncomfortable silent.

With this, the council’s opinions were divided.

The old man in blue robe sighed.

He was the Master of this tower, the one talking to Sirius before. What was his name? Umm, never mind. Since he chaired the meeting, he could not divulge his own opinion. He had to be the middle man, only inserting his vote after everyone did.

He cleared his throat, breaking the long silent.

“Lords, we have to come to a conclusion, if we wait any longer,”

Hah!

A laugh.

A blurry image of a man with a crown, interrupted him.

He had a mischievous smile, as if playing around.

“Excuse my manner, Lord Seymond. But you yourself know how stubborn these old-timers are,”

“Doesn’t matter, Lord Letto. We’ll just go with the majority,”

“We won’t reach two-third anyway, why bother?”

“Our council is the last, the other two had reached a decision. I’ll just submit it to the Queen, she’ll make the final decision for us.”

“…The Queen again? So be it,”

With that, they voted.

To accelerate their original plan, thirteen supported, nine against, one abstain.

To activate their sleeper agents, thirteen supported, nine against, one abstain.

To send more agents to Kharlussia, thirteen supported, ten against, none abstain.

To increase attention for any irregularity in Kharlussia, twenty-three supported.

…

“With this, I shall submit our votes for our Queen. For the three without qualified majority, we shall defer to Her Majesty’s eternal wisdom.”

With that, images starting to clear out of the meeting room.

Some snorted, clearly unsatisfied.

Finally, the chairman, Lord Seymond was left with another.

An old one, one of the seniors. His image was blurry, red mana made the contour.

“Anything to add, Lord Sonsulis?”

“You’re making a big mistake, Lord Seymond,”

“What do you,”

“Hmph,”

He disappeared, leaving the old Seymond alone.

His eyes knitting, he turned to the sky. The roof of the tower opened, revealing a line of sunlight. Morning had come, fresh air made their way in.

Bright day was ahead of him, yet his mood was sour.

“…No matter the price, old friend. No matter the price,”

…

===== Chapter 35: ‘Revelation’ End =====