Chapter 136

He held on for a long time.

Ludwig’s heart pounded.

Even with just a fake sword, he had managed to fend off several of Decio’s attacks.

If he had wielded the real Rohitham sword, he might have even been able to counterattack.

But victory wasn’t certain.

“That’s why….”

“If Adam is after that sword, it might be good to make a counterfeit.”

As soon as he regained his memory, he instructed Ernst to commission a forgery of the Rohitham sword from the blacksmith, focusing on mimicking its appearance rather than its function.

Even Decio was fooled by it.

The reason for such a gamble was clear.

‘The Rohitham sword doesn’t respond to magic unless it’s used as a ‘key.’’

That’s why Decio, despite his formidable dark magic, hadn’t been able to locate the sword.

He would never have imagined that the treasure was quietly resting in the central bank vault of the Arlo Kingdom’s capital.

“Such a useless thing! What a waste of time!”

If it was a fake, Decio couldn’t find the real sword.

Realizing this, Decio flew into a rage.

The fake sword shattered.

Decio’s eyes blazed.

It wasn’t a metaphor; black flames flickered in his eyes.

“You’ve played into my hands!”

He roared.

“If I had heard the real sword, I would have fallen less lopsidedly than I did!”

‘But I can’t hand over the sword.’

Decio looked truly furious.

He had spent a significant amount of his dark magic for entertainment, believing firmly that defeating Ludwig would open the door to Pandemonium.

He had been tricked into wasting his precious magic on Ludwig, who didn’t even have the real sword.

Meanwhile, Decio resolved to find the sword.

But the sword was troublesome, as Ludwig’s memory indicated.

It didn’t respond to Decio’s magic.

So search magic was useless.

But Decio had a way to find the sword without deploying such large-scale magic.

“I’ll make you reveal its hiding place.”

The essence of dark magic is to exploit or torment others for the caster’s benefit.

Decio was skilled in both.

He reached out to Ludwig.

Black lightning shot from his fingertips.

“Argh!”

Ludwig screamed in agony, his body twisting.

The mages of the tower, who were subduing the Red Crows, closed their eyes at the sight.

They wanted to help Ludwig but feared that breaking the barrier would make the situation uncontrollable.

If they lost the captured Red Crow army, everything would be ruined.

The best they could do was minimize the duel’s impact outside and stop the Red Crow’s army.

Watching was all they could do.

Decio continued to torture Ludwig.

But they knew.

Ludwig would endure this situation.

He wasn’t the type to sell out the world to escape momentary pain.

Stubbornly, he would just hold on.

Even if he died, he would take pride in not handing over the Rohitham sword to the dark mage.

“I don’t care about that!”

Decio gritted his teeth and poured more dark magic into Ludwig.

The more noble one’s nature, the stronger the body’s rejection of dark magic.

This meant more pain.

As expected, Ludwig was in excruciating pain.

Then Decio’s eyes glinted.

He wasn’t looking at Ludwig anymore.

His gaze was fixed on the window of a small house from which all the residents had evacuated.

* * *”Gasp….”

I covered my mouth with both hands and sank to the ground.

I felt nauseous.

That was Decio Crestwell.

The leader of the Red Crows; aiming to swallow the Arlo Kingdom.

As Serwen said, his appearance was strikingly similar to Oscar.

But unlike Oscar, his entire being exuded a chilling pressure, making him seem like a completely different person.

I could only watch from behind as he cornered Ludwig.

Believing that Ludwig would manage.

When he finally collapsed, I couldn’t help but close my eyes.

It was painful to watch him being tortured.

But I couldn’t look away.

As I helplessly watched, Decio suddenly looked my way.

A chill ran down my spine.

I didn’t think he had noticed my presence.

I stood frozen, meeting Decio’s black eyes.

He held my gaze long enough to seem to say:

“Don’t you want to ease your lover’s pain?”

I desperately didn’t want to torment Roche anymore.

My heart pounded fiercely.

Before I could think, my feet started moving.

In the end, I dashed out of the small house where I had been hiding.

“You finally came out.” Decio said in a rather sweet voice. “I know you’re smarter than this one.”

Decio reached out and lifted my chin. My whole body trembled at the sinister, foul energy emanating from him. In truth, I have been scared ever since I was hiding. Even from a distance.

I couldn’t help but admire Ludwig for bravely facing him head-on.

“So, tell me. Where is the Rohitham sword? Surely you won’t say you don’t know.”

I hesitated for a moment, glancing back at Ludwig.

He lay battered and bruised from Decio’s onslaught.

Of course, I knew exactly where the Rohitham sword was. And soon, Decio would, too.

I looked steadily at Ludwig.

He smiled at me with a blood-stained face.

“I really hate to see you hurt.”

I took a deep breath and faced Decio.

“…I’ll tell you where the Rohitham sword is. But please, spare Ludwig and me.”

“Of course, you must preserve your lives,” Decio said, smiling broadly.

Could I trust his promise to spare us?

But right now, telling him was the only option.

Just then, I heard Ludwig push off the ground and stand up behind me.

I fell back into his arms, completely surrendering myself to him.

Decio Crestwell, are you curious about where the Rohitham sword is?

Well…

Ludwig’s hand slipped inside my coat.

The inner pocket of my coat was a specially crafted magical item.

It’s much larger inside than it appears on the outside. Much larger.

Large enough to hold a sword.

Ludwig drew the sword from within my coat.

The blade gleamed far more brilliantly than the counterfeit one from earlier.

“Ha!” Decio laughed coldly. “You hid it there! But what good is that? Your strategy is completely flawed!”

Ignoring Decio’s taunts, Ludwig hugged me tightly.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, determined not to let go no matter what happened next.

Ludwig’s body reeked of blood.

It broke my heart.

…Though this was all part of the plan.

“Even so, you must have used up a lot of dark magic fighting me, Decio Crestwell,” Ludwig said, his voice straining.

“And what of it?”

“You must have wasted it, thinking you could take the sword with just a little more effort, and while torturing me too.”

Enough with the explanations.

I gripped Ludwig’s collar tightly.

He received my signal.

He abruptly stopped explaining it to Decio.

Ludwig struck the ground with the Rohitham sword.

“Look at you! You can’t even stand on both legs properly…”

Decio’s mocking was cut short.

The mages of the tower joined hands.

They began chanting a spell to deploy a stronger barrier.

Caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events, Decio showed a momentary lapse in attention.

He looked around to grasp what was happening.

I anxiously bit my lip.

Everything was planned.

For our plan to succeed, we needed Decio to exhaust his magic.

Only then could we steer events to our advantage.

That’s why Ludwig recklessly stepped forward with the counterfeit sword.

To minimize the damage to the Arlo Kingdom and drain Decio’s magic significantly, Ludwig had to take the frontline and duel him one-on-one.

I had opposed the idea, but Ludwig volunteered.

Decio Crestwell, you were wrong.

Ludwig didn’t plant the sword on the ground because he couldn’t stand properly.

Ludwig also began chanting a spell.

A dreadful incantation, the kind that shouldn’t be uttered.

One of his arms still clung tightly to me.

I looked over his shoulder at the spot where the Rohitham sword was embedded.

The ground began to crack open.

Darkness slithered out, licking at the edges.

The chanting of the barrier mages grew louder.

“What are you doing?” Decio’s voice was filled with panic.

Sweat and blood mingled as they trickled down Ludwig’s forehead.

He looked at Decio and smiled coldly.

“The door to Pandemonium that you wanted to open…”

The wind tousled Ludwig’s hair.

“I will open it!”