TYND 76

When Theon didn’t respond, Rothy let out a soft whimper and started looking dejected again. Theon hurriedly rushed to cheer him up.

“Yes, let’s go offer a prayer. Seará will watch over you.”

—Mhm… Theon, I’m really glad you’ve found faith lately.

“……”

—Why’re you making a face like that?

“What kind of face am I making?”

—Like when you accidentally step backwards and don’t crush a dandelion, and the dandelion says ‘Thank you for saving me, you’re my hero’…

“……”

—Your Grace… you don’t have faith? But even yesterday, you went to the chapel.

He did go.

He went the day before as well. He’d gone and prayed, earnestly and desperately. But the dream he wanted never came. Not the night before nor last night. 

Seará was being fickle. Fitting for a god. Theon decided that he’d consider having faith when Seará decided to show more consistency.

—This is terrible… I hope Theon finds faith soon…

“If that’s what you want, I’ll pray with you whenever you want.”

—Thank you…

The weasel rubbed his tiny head against his finger. Theon stroked the soft fur, indulging his selfish desire. 

—Oh, right. I’ll give your watch back to you when we return.

“Keep it if you like it.”

—No, that was definitely a gift from Seará to you. 

Theon was puzzled. The way Rothy said it sounded like there was something special about the watch.

“That watch—”

He was about to ask what exactly was special about the watch when his face hardened into alertness. The flow of energy in this space was twisting strangely. Theon hurriedly tucked Rothy into the pouch.

“Your Grace!”

“Eyes on the front!”

“It’s a portal!”

A black portal was forming a short distance away from them, but the one who emerged weren’t their enemies.

“Archduke Falsen!”

“Duchess Yilaine?!”

Yilaine Reina Bane and her close aides appeared in a wretched state. She was bleeding from one arm and the mage who’d opened the portal was also bleeding, his robe stained a bright red. Unlike this side where the takeover had gone smoothly, it seemed trouble had broken out on their side. 

Theon couldn’t understand. Why’d there been trouble on her side? 

She had the support of thirty-four Black Lion Knights, all Aura Controllers, and a considerable number of dark mages including Meden, Bluetri’s vice-guildmaster. They’d a full grasp of Ken Bane’s strength so defeat should’ve been impossible. But Yilaine’s next words left Theon with no choice but to accept it.

“Ken Bane… he’s been possessed by a fallen…!”

Yilaine had actually captured Ken Bane. Most of his followers had thrown down their swords early and surrendered and only a handful resisted. The vice-guildmaster from Bluetri had sealed Depley Rose’s magic and branded her with several curses. 

Yilaine had looked at Ken Bane, who knelt before her glaring with bloodshot eyes, and thought that everything had finally returned to its rightful place, wondered when the coronation would be, and how she would thank Theon Detre Falsen.

But then……

“Kya-ha-ha-ha, no more pretence…!”

What burst forth with that thunderous cry was demonic energy. At first, she hadn’t realised what it was since she’d never encountered a fallen, either directly or indirectly. A sticky, revolting black substance spread from Ken Bane’s body, instantly dyeing the surroundings in pitch black. She’d thought that vile and ominous thing that felt foul on her skin was a curse. How was this possible? Was Ken Bane actually a magic swordsman?

Yilaine’s knees buckled. As she collapsed, coughing up black blood, the Black Lion Knights gathered around her. 

“It’s demonic energy…! It’s a fallen! Do not breathe it in!”

“Retreat, duchess! You must escape immediately!”

Thanks to the experienced knights’ swift response and Bluetri’s emergency portal tremuhle, Yilaine survived. After hearing the full account, Theon immediately sent word to the imperial palace and took the portal created by the tremuhle to Givarche’s royal palace. 

It was already in ruins. In the distance, a black pillar could be seen rising high into the sky. 

—Theon, over there. 

“You’re right.”

Theon hurried towards it. 

A fallen, when compared to humans, stood at the level of an Aura Master or a seventh-grade archmage, and their numbers were so few they could be counted on two hands. What made them absolutely terrifying was their ability to manipulate human emotions. They burrowed into the bodies and minds of humans harbouring negative emotions and devoured their souls. If a fallen and a transcendent fought with pure force, the transcendent would win. However, if the fallen hid inside a human body, the fight became far more complicated since they were practically undetectable until they revealed themselves. 

Long ago, one had possessed a king, consumed his soul, took over his body, and sparked a war across the entire continent. The casualties from that war exceeded even those from the twenty-year Human-Demon War. 

Leaving the fallen unchecked would mean Givarche’s destruction and inviting a new catastrophe to Araxys. 

“Ue-hi-hi, ue-hi-hi-hi-hi! How delightful! So very delightful!”

“Your Highness…! Your Highness, please come to your senses!”

“Ue-hee, ee-hi-hi-hi, your ‘Your Highness’ is gone. This body’s mine now! Hi-hi-hi-hi-hi!”

At the scene, the Black Lion Knights, Bluetri’s dark mages, Ken Bane’s subordinates, and even Depley Rose, Givarche’s Royal Tower Master, were all struggling to block a single step from the fallen. Since their opponent was one of the fallen, those who had been enemies moments ago now joined hands—just like how the Empire and Givarche, locked in territorial disputes, had stood back-to-back during the Human-Demon War under the banner of the Allied Forces.

“I’ve waited so long, Ee-hi-hi-hi… Now disappear, all of you annoying humans…!”

As Ken Bane swung the viscous and sticky darkness, the demonic energy formed into a massive pillar that shot up like a spring and then plummeted towards them. Depley Rose watched wide-eyed as the defensive barrier she’d casted melted instantly the moment it came into contact with the pillar. 

Thoom! Crackle! Schwing!

In that moment of crisis, it was Theon Detre Falsen who saved them. 

He cut through the pillar with a single swing of his sword, landing with his back to them.

“Your Grace!”

“Everyone, fall back! Rothy and I will handle this. Go through the portal!”

“Understood! We’ll hold the portal!”

The presence of many people meant many bodies for the fallen to take as hostages, and that was reason enough for the Black Lion Knights to stop being stubborn and immediately followed orders. The Bluetri dark mages and Givarche’s royal guards also hurried through the portal.

“Rothy…? You came with that ‘thing’…?”

Depley Rose didn’t cross the portal. She reckoned if she used the living magic stone and fought the fallen alongside the archduke, there was a good chance of victory. And she knew as well the stone was on the level of a seventh-grade mage. But that thing had never faced a fallen before, let alone had any combat experience, so she thought she had to be the one to make use of it. 

“A transcendent…? Ue-hi-hi-hi, you think I’m going to cower just because a transcendent’s here?! Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!”

Kaboom! Crash! Bang! 

The fallen possessing Ken Bane floated several spheres of demonic energy into the air. The spheres writhed as if it were alive and then rained down like hail. 

BOOM!

The masses burst apart with a single explosion and vanished.

Even as she coughed up black blood in heavy heaves, Depley Rose still raised her head, trying to make sense of what just happened. The archduke was holding his sword diagonally while he kept his eyes on Ken Bane. He hadn’t even looked up once. 

Then how did those demonic energy masses disappear??

Screeing!

At that precise moment, from the archduke’s chest, no, from the small cute pouch strapped to his chest, one of the two weasels nestled inside were waving its stubby frown paws energetically. 

“……”

Each time the fallen launched a chunk of magic, those front paws moved… and the black masses of demonic energy simply vanished. Like the mage she was, her mind instantly made the calculations: colourless mana, transformation magic, magical energy output exceeding 381 Wyons…… 

There could only be one conclusion. 

She wasn’t needed here. 

Having quickly accepted the outcome, Depley Rose disappeared into the portal. 

Now, only Theon, Rothy, and the fallen possessing Ken Bane remained. 

“Ke-heh, ue-ke-ke, living magic stone, you look delicious. I was going to hunt you down, but you came to me instead on your own.”

The fallen laughed gleefully, their mouth splitting wide open. 

Theon raised its blade towards it. 

“Rothy, can you restrain that thing for a moment?”

—I can, but Ken’s still inside. So I’d rather not kill him…

“You’re saying his consciousness still exists?”

—Mmhmm. I can use mind magic to expel the fallen, but it’ll take a big longer since I haven’t memorised the spell…

“How long do you need?”

—About ten minutes…

“Understood. Then I’ll restrain it instead.”

Rothy hopped out of the pouch and returned to his original form and pulled out a wand, even though he rarely relied on it. Theon leapt high into the air, charging forward, and at the same time, the fallen drew their sword as well and rushed towards him. 

Clang! 

Sounds of blades colliding rang out, but the fallen was pushed back by Theon’s strength. And then, again:

Clash! Clang! Ker-thang!

Clash after clash, the force of the strikes carved through the palace, cratering its floor and cracking the pillars supporting the ceiling. When their blades crossed for the fifth time, Theon angled his blade slightly to let the aura from the fallen swing past, then kicked Ken Bane’s leg before driving his sword into the shin.

GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

A gruesome scream followed and echoed throughout the area. When Theon pulled his sword free, pitch-black demonic energy oozed out instead of blood. 

“AAAAH! My body! Damn it! Transcendents are really annoying!”