"Kehahahaha...."
Laughter echoed throughout the tent.
A sound that could be called the howl of a beast, as if it were scraping away at his vocal cords. Todd laid down in the center of the magic circle, laughing.
Splurt—
His flesh ripped open, and a fountain of blood gushed forth. The burst of blood lingered in the air for a moment before dripping back down to his body.
There was a burning-like pain where the blood had gushed, but Todd took pleasure in it.
The vitality arising from the flesh tearing and regenerating gave him a sense of omnipotence that made him feel he could do anything.
Woooooooo—
There was an ominous cry. As Todd slightly glanced up, he caught sight of the magic circle that had completely turned red.
"How much longer do we have to do this?"
"W-wait a moment..."
The soldier's voice trembled as he looked at the magic circle.
Todd waited for an answer, savoring the pain ripping through his body.
"T-the magic circle was activated smoothly, but you still lack power. Your Majesty... Sh-shouldn't Your Majesty return to complete your royal body more thoroughly...?"
"No."
Todd interrupted the soldier and continued.
"That will not do. The Apostle is not here. Does that damn Apostle think he can hide the Imperial Descendant from me, let alone the army?"
This wasn't supposed to happen.
The Imperial Descendant had to die.
For the sake of his grand unification and for the glory that would be his alone, Todd wasn't going to leave the slightest risk behind.
"Power… It’s because of power…"
Grrk—.
His veins surged, and mixed with the regurgitated blood of ruptured intestines.
Todd expressed a little bit of regret at this poorly built flesh that was still unfinished.
"It still wasn’t enough, even after adding the body of the general."
A spell that added the life and power of another to one's own flesh.
He thought that with this spell, he would be finally able to achieve unification. He believed that unification was right within his reach, but the completion of his body was too slow.
His body was merged with that of his own general, Baretta, who was considered to have the strongest body among the generals of the Five Kingdoms, but his body was still incomplete
"I am dissatisfied."
"I-I will do as you desire, Your Majesty..."
"There's no time to spare."
Dududuk—.
Todd's body was torn apart again. The stitches in his eyes burst open and tears of blood flowed. Todd glanced up at the soldier, his face unrecognizable.
"Adjutant."
"Y-yes, Your Majesty..."
"There is an Apostle."
"That's right..."
"What do you mean, ‘that’s right’? There is an Apostle beyond those peaks, don't you understand what I mean?"
He meant that their long-cherished wish could also fail, that the efforts of all the people who had been 'sacrificed' could be for naught.
Todd didn't say anything, but looked at his adjutant silently.
The soldier dropped to his knees with a thud’, bowed his head, and said.
"P-please have mercy..."
As those sudden words came out of his mouth, the adjutant's entire body began to shake. His hands that had been gripping the floor were now in front of him, his palms rubbing together.
"Have mercy... Have mercy..."
Todd stared at the soldier, who kept repeating the words 'have mercy' over and over again.
"What are you talking about? I wasn’t blaming you, so why are you crying so much?
"Have mercy... Please..."
The adjutant's trembling intensified. As if rubbing his hands together wasn't enough, he began to pound his forehead into the floor.
Todd watched, and made a belated 'ah' sound.
"Is that so?"
The corners of Todd's mouth went up as he suddenly realized the reason for the adjutant's behavior.
A line was tearing across his cheeks to the corner of his eyes, like a clown's smile. The corners of his mouth began to tear, not figuratively, but literally, until it reached his eyelids.
Todd said, "Yes, I suppose that was what you were trying to say."
Todd pushed himself up.
"Mercy, huh? You were begging for mercy.”
Todd thought that he was being rational currently, and he could see through the adjutant's intentions.
"You’re afraid of being killed by the Apostle, and therefore afraid of not being able to help me in my long-cherished wish, aren’t you?"
"Keuheu...."
The adjutant's head hit the floor again with increasing force, until the sound turned from a ‘thud’ into a ‘bang’.
Thud. Thud. Bang. Bang.
"Have mercy, have mercy...!"
"I understand. I understand the will of my adjutant, and the will of my proud soldiers."
Ah, what a blessed king I am, with so many soldiers so dedicated to the service of their kingdom. What a glorious life this is.
"I will never forget your commitment to serve your kingdom."
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
The adjutant scrambled up to his feet and ran for the barracks exit.
Todd looked at his back.
"Thank you, I will remember you."
Todd swung his arm.
Splurt—
The fleeing officer's body was snapped in two.
Todd's step resounded with a thud.
Thud.
With an inhumane gurgle, he opened his mouth and swallowed the adjutant whole.
As Todd grinded his flesh, crushed his bones and swallowed him, he reminded himself about the promise that he made.
I will never forget this sacrifice.
I will never forget this noble cause.
Todd shuddered at the resounding echo in his mind before asking himself a question.
'But....'
What was his name?
He tried to recall it.
Gulp.
The adjutant's hand fell through the back of his throat.
Crack.
Flesh tore and regenerated. Before the gushes of blood could trickle, the wound healed.
Todd wept and laughed at the same time as the energy surged within him.
"Khh...!"
Todd's gaze snapped to the tent’s entrance.
"I... I will never forget anything of mine."
A murmur arose and faded.
Thud.
Thud.
Todd headed outside the camp.
His throat was dry.
****
At Dovan's forge.
Vera was there, pulling out the unfinished Demon Sword.
"This is…"
Vera's gaze snapped to Dovan, his face both surprised and hesitant.
"Please."
Vera's head tilted downwards.
Clearly, Orgus had shown him that scene with intent. Though he didn't know much yet, Vera surmised that it had something to do with the completion of the Demon Sword.
'It wasn’t Dovan who completed the Demon Sword.’
Since Aisha's resentment completed it, then that must have meant that it could also be completed in another way.
'If the masterpiece is completed...'
The odds were in his favor.
Vera didn't look up. He kept his head down, waiting for an answer, as if he would continue to do so until Dovan gave him permission.
Dovan looked at him and his expression clouded.
"Are you going to fight?"
Only a fool would not have made that assumption. There was no other explanation for why he would suddenly want to borrow a sword in the middle of the night, given the way he spoke with such determination.
The Vera he had seen wasn't like that.
At Dovan's words, Vera lifted his bowed head and spoke.
'I am going to fight.'
Wrong.
"I am going to protect."
It wasn't for the battle that he drew his sword, but as a means to end it.
Do I know about the sword that protects? If anybody asks me that, I will still shake my head in denial.
Do I hold the light in my hand? If anybody asks, I will still say no.
But if anybody asks me why I hold the sword at this moment in time...
"Because I know there is a duty to be upheld, and I am going to uphold it."
He would answer like that.
Dovan's gaze pierced Vera's.
He stared at him for a long moment, trying to figure out his intentions, and then asked another question.
"...You didn't inform the Saint, did you?"
"Yes, I did not inform the Saint, for I will return before she wakes up."
He would surely win, so there was no point in worrying her.
"...I see."
With that, Dovan turned to Vera.
Holding a dark-colored sword and clad in robes, he could easily be seen as someone with dubious intentions, but the determination on his face erased that impression, leaving a different one in its place.
Dovan thought to himself. That's how a knight would look.
Meanwhile, Vera turned to him.
"Please sleep comfortably. I'll return before sunrise."
Vera, who was standing at the end of his gaze, left those words as he walked away.
****
The camp of the Third Kingdom’s army was in shambles when he arrived.
Every wooden post had been knocked down, and the soldiers' tents, which had been densely packed, had been toppled.
As Vera watched it from a distance, he came to a realization when he saw the pool of blood inside.
Todd had eaten his soldiers.
That was how Galatea stirred the battlefield, so it was easily understandable.
The predator and the prey.
He must have devoured both foes and allies alike as a trick to restore his mana.
Vera chewed his lip as he tried to recall it.
'Is he completed?'
Has Galatea been completed?
Vera exhaled sharply as he thought about it, clearing his throat of the anxiety that came with it.
'...No.'
It doesn't matter.
There is nothing to fear.
What is the meaning of duty if you cower before your enemy?
Vera steeled himself and took a step forward.
At that moment.
Kwoong—!
The central tent collapsed.
A giant stood in the middle of it.
It was Todd. No, it was the demon called Galatea.
A beast three times his size. His entire body was bathed in blood, glistening red.
Three horns crowned its head. There was a gaping hole where his face should have been. Perhaps it was the mouth. He could only assume that as the hole gurgled and spilled pieces of flesh.
Thump—
Galatea took a step forward with his two front legs. It was a toeless foot, shaped like a single mace below the knees.
Vera pursed his lips as he watched Galatea, who hadn't noticed him yet, and just looked up at the sky munching on human flesh.
"I declare."
Huaaaaak—!
An ashen divinity was overlaid onto the space above. A vast, dome-shaped space that encompassed the camp and the surrounding forest, beyond Vera and Galatea, was filled with divinity.
Galatea twitched and turned his head in Vera's direction.
"Grrrrrrr—"
The sound of a boiling phlegm echoed throughout.
Vera drew the unfinished Demon Sword and recited the rules.
"From now on, all battles within this space shall not cease until one side wins or loses."
Above the space, a golden rule was engraved.
There was a clang as Galatea took another step forward.
"You must not back down. You must not break your beliefs. And you must not go against your duty."
Three rules were recited in quick succession.
The one he would inscribe on the Sanctuary was his own.
"As long as this is upheld, those within the Sanctuary will never fall."
It was his resolve as a human being to deal with a beast that had forgotten its duty.
Vera raised his sword. His feet were a shoulder-width apart, his gaze focused straight ahead, and his blade pointed in the same direction.
Galatea crouched. His muscles expanded, his mouth opened wider, and his back raised.
"All these rules are enforced in the name of Lushan."
As the Oath was completed, the Sanctuary glowed.
The ashen space was covered with golden rules engraved on it, illuminating and obscuring the moonlight.
Thump—!
Galatea lunged.
In response, Vera took a step forward.
The distance narrowed in an instant.
In the midst of it, a faint golden glow emerged from the Demon Sword.