Chapter 238: Chronicles of the Tyrant King (6)

“No.”

Yuri curled his lips.

“You think you’re going to die just because you want to? Before that, you’ll have to spit something out, don’t you think?”

His expression didn’t show a hint of agitation.

His voice was so icy that even Jared looked at him in surprise.

“Please… kill me…”

The king of Konzed begged between gasps, but Yuri shook his head.

“You thought I’d kill you just because you asked? Tell me something that makes me want to kill you. Anything.”

It was so grotesque that Jared didn’t dare bring his face close, but Yuri, unshaken, leaned toward the king of Konzed.

“Or just keep living like this.”

The king laboriously opened his eyes, sunken deep within the swollen flesh.

His pupils were covered by a translucent membrane, making them no longer resemble human eyes.

With that blurred gaze, he stared at Yuri.

“You… Yuri Briol…?”

“That’s right.”

“I heard… you were coming…”

His voice was strange, somewhere between human and beast.

“Talk.”

“I…”

“Get to the point. Did the Empire turn you into this? With black magic?”

“Ah…”

His pupils contracted. Though he was looking at Yuri, his focus seemed lost, as if seeing something beyond.

The king of Konzed began speaking in ragged breaths.

“I’ll tell you everything…”

Then he recounted what had happened. Years ago, when his throne was in jeopardy due to instability in royal power, an emissary from the Empire appeared and offered him a secret deal. He accepted without hesitation.

From that point on, the king was ensnared by the Empire’s dark powers.

He quickly became addicted to black magic. Repeating bizarre rituals over and over, his body began to mutate and transform into a monstrous creature.

To suppress the side effects, he became dependent on drugs sent by the Empire. Thus, the entire nation fell under their subjugation.

Only he and a few officials knew the truth.

“When the Conqueror’s Chronicle began, I contacted the Empire… and they sent a knight…”

The imperial knight had a sickly appearance. He was drenched in black magic energy.

He died shortly after arriving in Konzed, but that dark energy passed to another knight, switching hosts to survive.

The Empire ordered that this possessed knight be sent to the tournament.

They calculated that with his power, they could eliminate at least two of the weaker knights.

“But you… discovered everything…”

Yuri listened silently.

“It’s all… my fault…”

The king exhaled deeply, releasing a nauseating stench.

Yuri asked:

“Are there other countries in the Alliance collaborating with the Empire?”

“I don’t know…”

“Not even rumors?”

“They didn’t mention anything else. That’s all I know… Please… kill me…”

“Useless.”

But Yuri showed no mercy.

“The fact you ended up like this means you dived too deep into black magic.”

He looked at him with contempt.

“Don’t play the victim. You think I can’t imagine how many lives you took? Must be over ten, right?”

“…”

“You offered human sacrifices, didn’t you? You need to suffer more.”

Yuri turned away. The king groaned in pain, but Yuri didn’t stop.

A dying voice called him.

“Please… kill me…”

“Kill you?”

Yuri replied as he looked at the grotesque body from afar.

“The Empire didn’t tell you something important. You think death will bring relief? Those corrupted by black magic find no rest even in death. They suffer even more than now. Remember this—your soul won’t be saved.”

The king blinked.

“Suffer for all eternity.”

Leaving those words behind, Yuri walked away. A beastly wail echoed behind him, but he didn’t turn back.

They both left the king’s chamber, climbed back over the outer wall, and returned to their quarters.

Jared scratched his head.

“Is it okay to leave him like that?”

“He won’t try anything against us.”

“But… is it true? That not even death can bring rest…”

“Yes.”

Those tainted by black magic, even when dead, find no peace. Their souls remain trapped as part of the grudge that fuels demonic grimoires.

They suffer eternally, consumed by hellish madness.

It was, literally, a curse.

But there was one exception.

If the energy of black magic is severed with the sword of The Cut of the Soul and the Heart. That was how Yuri was able to give Sybilla peace.

Yuri’s existence was both the natural enemy of black magic and its only salvation.

“The king of Konzed doesn’t deserve peace yet. When we destroy that demonic grimoire someday, he can be released from the cycle.”

In the end, all this tragedy originated from that cursed book.

If Cedric were eliminated and the grimoire destroyed, the souls trapped within would also be freed from their eternal torment.

“I understand.”

Jared nodded with a grim expression, still unable to fully grasp that even death could be denied by that infernal book.

“What’ll we do about that king?”

“We’ll kill him in secret tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, but I’ll just stab him. It won’t be a peaceful death.”

Jared looked at Yuri.

“He’s practically a puppet of the Empire. Best to eliminate him.”

“And what you said earlier?”

“That was just to scare him. I don’t like the guy. Besides, if he dies while we’re here, it’ll be messy. Better if he dies after we’re gone.”

Jared nodded.

“And that Rail guy—is he involved too?”

“Seems he knows the king’s secret, but it doesn’t look like he’s used black magic himself. You think anyone would want to after seeing what happened to that king?”

“That’s true.”

“We just have to keep doing what we’ve always done.”

Yuri smiled confidently.

“So for today, rest easy.”

***

News of the King of Konzed’s death had spread, but since he had been secluded due to illness for so long, it caused little stir.

The funeral was held quietly, and his son inherited the throne.

People were more interested in the Order of Vengeance than in the king’s death.

Rumors began circulating that they were about to complete the “Conqueror’s Chronicle.”

“They say they’re going to finish it. Are we really not going?”

Cory asked Laurent.

The two of them were walking along a remote mountain path with backpacks on their shoulders.

“They say His Highness, the prince, is with the Alliance of the Small Kingdoms…”

“Shut up.”

Laurent answered irritably.

“Stop babbling.”

When he grabbed Cory by the collar threateningly, Cory immediately fell silent.

He used to be gentle, but now he didn’t hesitate to use violence. Even so, Cory didn’t flinch. Looking at his twisted face, he even offered a smile.

“Understood. If Lord Laurent doesn’t want to, there must be a reason.”

“Don’t call me ‘Lord.’”

“Then just Laurent?”

“Don’t call me anything.”

They roamed the Alliance of the Small Kingdoms taking on various tasks.

They always kept their faces covered, so they were viewed with suspicion, but since they did good work, some clients began to trust them.

At that moment, they had just finished an escort mission for a merchant and were looking for a new job.

While observing the scenery, Cory walked closely behind Laurent and spoke again.

“And if by chance we run into His Highness? I have a hunch—maybe then we could return to Briol…”

Laurent stopped. And he drew his sword.

The blade grazed Cory’s forehead in an instant, leaving a cut.

Cory stammered.

“D-Don’t draw your sword like that all of a sudden…”

“Didn’t I tell you to stop talking?”

“T-The sword…!”

Blood began to run down Cory’s forehead. He wiped it repeatedly with his hand.

“Still… you could’ve just said so with words…”

Laurent didn’t show a hint of remorse. Instead, he growled with an even fiercer voice.

“Stop following me. Disappear already.”

“Huh?”

“You’re the one who decided to follow me. I’m sick of it, so just go away.”

“B-But… My magic has been useful up to now…”

“I don’t need it.”

Laurent looked at him with disdain.

“Cory. You think I don’t know why you’re following me?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t play dumb. Don’t turn me into someone like you…”

Just as he was about to finish the sentence, Laurent suddenly turned around. Cory, confused by his reaction, realized too late that a group was approaching them.

Five mounted knights.

Despite seeing them standing in the middle of the path, the knights didn’t stop.

When they got close enough, Laurent raised his sword, and only then did the knights rein in their horses.

One of them, in front, spoke.

“Move aside.”

Laurent stared silently.

“I said move.”

The knight repeated, but Laurent didn’t budge. Cory stepped closer and tugged on his clothes.

“L-Let’s just move. They’re five knights…”

Laurent shoved him away. Cory fell to the ground.

“Urgh!”

Ignoring him, Laurent spoke to the knights.

“You guys from the Empire?”

[…]

The knights, who had remained silent until then, drew their weapons in response to that question.

Sunlight filtering through the leaves glinted off their blades.

Laurent continued with a mocking tone.

“That disgusting stench… Seems you’re carrying that black magic or whatever. Have you come to stop Briol?”

The atmosphere turned hostile. The knights dismounted all at once.

The killing intent radiating from them was so intense that nearby birds flew off in terror.

Laurent didn’t stop laughing.

“I’ve no intention of helping Yuri Briol, but…”

He raised his sword, and dark energy began to emanate.

After what happened in Française, Laurent had completely lost his pure spiritual energy.

All that remained was dark and shadowy energy, the same as that of knights corrupted by black magic.

“But seeing you lot… I just can’t help but want to kill you.”

Laurent unleashed his killing aura and charged at them. The battle began.

Cory watched the scene from behind.

Laurent fought fiercely.

He had once used clean, precise swordsmanship, but now his attacks were reckless, ignoring his own life, using a style that involved taking hits to deliver even more lethal ones.

For every drop of blood he shed, the enemy bled far more.

But even to Cory’s eyes, the five knights were of incredibly high level. Laurent was fighting, but he looked dangerously overwhelmed.

“I-I’ll use magic…”

Cory raised his hands to form seals. But in that moment, the mana in the entire area stopped.

“Huh…?”

One of the knights in the back stared straight at him. Even though they weren’t mages, knights with black magic seemed capable of a kind of “dispel.”

While Cory was confused, the battle grew more intense.

Laurent managed to incapacitate one by slashing his chest, but in exchange lost an arm, which bled profusely.

And yet, Laurent laughed as if pleased. As if wishing to die.

Cory suddenly recalled Cruar’s words.

‘If you come to understand why language can become magic, then maybe you can truly use Dragon Language…’

Cory had yet to master the “Language of Authority.”

Though he knew he had a “dragon organ” inside his body, he couldn’t activate it at will, nor did he fully understand how it worked.

Even so, wanting to be useful to Yuri, he had asked Cruar to teach him the strongest language she knew.

‘The strongest? There’s no such thing. It depends on how you use it.’

‘Then, what’s the strongest one you can use, Miss Cruar?’

‘The strongest I have…?’

‘I want to learn it.’

Cruar had told him that each person could only learn a limited number of languages—that there was an individual limit.

Still, after much insistence, Cruar taught him the strongest one she possessed.

It was a merciless language that erased life itself. Cruar was very proud of it.

‘After mastering it, I can say I was a genius even among dragons. Maybe everyone feared me in secret…’

Cory had never managed to use it properly. But now, he remembered it in desperation.

He formed an intention and expressed it through the Dragon Language.

Watching Laurent surrounded by the five knights, he awakened the organ that slept within him.

He felt a burning beneath his throat.

Just as Cruar had taught him, he channeled his will through the Dragon Organ.

When Cory opened his mouth, an immense wave of power spread in all directions.

The air trembled, and his will spread through the medium.

Dragon Language.

Language of Authority, Kill.