Chapter 256: The Royal Conference (1)

Ailos had never once in his life thought he was stupid. Even now, he didn’t. It was true that he, a dark wizard, had secretly infiltrated the royal palace, but wasn’t Keter in the same position? Keter had also been wandering around without a guide and his clothes were stained with blood. Yet, he suddenly attacked the maze and summoned the royal guards?

It’s suicide.

Who could have possibly imagined that someone who entered the maze with a purpose would suddenly decide to turn themself in?

Damn, they’re fast. They’ve already arrived.

Ailos sensed multiple presences rushing toward them. Seven in total, a mix of knights and mages, and that wasn’t all. The moment Keter attacked the wall, a barrier began descending at the corridor’s boundary. An orichalcum wall, as thick as an adult’s arm. The entire corridor was being sealed off.

Additionally, colorless smoke began pouring from somewhere within the wall. The sourish smell made it clear it wasn’t a pleasant vitamin-rich vapor good for the skin.

Ailos thought if he had the power to kill Keter in a single strike, he surely would have done so. However, that wasn’t possible. Logically thinking, he needed to quickly throw himself toward the path leading to the underground.

Even though he had the Dark Pages, this was still the heart of the royal palace. Being sealed in with poison gas was only the beginning of the penalties he would face. He didn’t intend to fight in a disadvantageous environment like a fool.

Ailos’s entire body melted like water and sank down. He slipped into the shadows. The barrier had already come down to knee height, which was too low to simply sprint past. Though he could barely get past it if he tried, his pride refused to let Keter, the man who had just screwed him over, walk away unscathed.

“I’m not one to simply take hits, Keter!”

Ailos’ shadow rippled like a wave and spread across the corridor. Then, white bones sprouted out from the shadow cast over the entire hall. It was high-tier dark magic, the Resentful Bone Crush. The bones grew like plants and began to press against Keter.

“The bones of three hundred unjustly killed people. Blocking this without paying a price is impossible.”

They were said to be as hard and sharp as steel, but in the end, they were only bones. So how could they possibly threaten Keter, who could tear steel as if it were paper? As expected, the bones snapped and shattered with a single punch from Keter.

However, new bones sprouted from the broken ones. They regenerated endlessly. No matter how fast Keter’s punches were, he only had two fists, while bones rose from every direction and pressed against him.

There was a limit to how far he could retreat. In the end, the speed in which the bones grew overtook the speed in which Keter destroyed them. Keter was clearly in danger, yet Ailos felt an odd sense of discomfort.

Why isn’t he using archery and only punching?

Just when he felt something was off, the corners of Ailos’ mouth went up. He saw with his own eyes that Keter’s eyes were cut by his Resentful Bone Crush. Though it wasn’t a fatal wound, the bones held vengeful spirits.

Keter’s eyes were infected. Unless he tore them out, the curse would spread through his body. In other words, Keter would go blind!

Ailos wasn’t sure why Keter refused to use archery, but the result alone was satisfying.

“Serves you right, Keter!

Hahaha!

”

Ailos wanted to sing to mock him, but regretted that he couldn’t at the moment.

***

“Impressive...”

Ravirin, the commander of the knights who oversaw the palace maze’s security, could only admire the scene. Bone fragments were piled so high they reached his ankles, and against a pillar stood a man with a cigarette in his mouth. The man was drenched in blood. From appearance alone, he looked like a corpse, but cigarette smoke puffed out from his lips.

At that sight, a knight who arrived with Ravirin shouted, “Put your hands together and get on the ground! Or you will be executed on the spot!”

Anyone who entered the palace’s maze without a guide was an intruder without exception, and intruders were granted no mercy.

Even at the knight’s command, the man leaning against the pillar silently exhaled smoke. Seeing that, a blue Aura Blade flared from the knight’s sword. The knight gave his sword a short swing. At that, the cigarette butt the man had been holding in his mouth was sliced off.

“Last warning. Put your hands together and get on the ground!”

Even at the knight’s threat, the man gave no reply. The moment the knight’s sword extended toward him, Ravirin grabbed his subordinate’s arm and approached the man leaning against the pillar.

“Wait.”

The mages who had come with him issued a warning.

“It would be better if you did not approach him. When the alarm went off in this sector, we heard a voice shouting that a dark wizard had appeared. There is a possibility that he is the dark wizard.”

“A dark wizard struck down by his own spell,

huh?

”

“It is deception. A method dark mages and wizards often use, pretending to be a victim so the opponent draws close, then launching a surprise attack.”

“Even if it is deception, I doubt he could do anything in that wrecked condition.”

Despite the mages’ attempts to stop him, Ravirin walked right up to the man at the pillar.

“

Hmm.

”

Even with Ravirin standing right in front of him, the man didn’t move an inch. Ravirin poked the man with his finger. Still, there was no response.

“He’s unconscious.”

“Are you saying he fainted while standing, with a cigarette in his mouth?”

“Yes, and this one isn’t the dark mage.”

His entire body was drenched in blood, yet his face was clean. Because of that, his face wasn't hard to recognize.

“This looks like Keter, that troublemaker of Sefira, doesn’t it?”

“Keter?!”

“Why was he in the maze...? No, more importantly, how could he have gotten all the way here? This isn’t an area one can stumble into by accident.”

Ravirin stroked his chin at his subordinates’ words.

“I want to ask the same thing, but he isn’t in any state to answer. Judging from the situation...”

He examined the staircase leading underground and the area near the descending barrier, then clicked his tongue.

“Keter activated the maze alarm, and he fought a dark wizard.”

“That means...”

The knight stared at Keter with an expression that said it made no sense.

Ravirin also scratched the back of his head, looking troubled.

“Right, Keter is the one who warned us that a dark wizard infiltrated the maze. What are you all doing? Take him to the infirmary. His life isn’t in danger, but his eyes were critically injured. He may lose his sight.”

With that, Keter went from being an intruder in the maze to a hero, and was taken to the infirmary.

***

Keter regained consciousness when it was late in the night.

“Have you awoken, Sir Keter?”

At the royal physician’s voice, Keter didn’t react for a moment.

Then he asked, “Wh-where am I?”

“This is the infirmary, so please remain calm. All your wounds have been treated.”

“The infirmary? Then why is it so dark? Please turn on the lights.”

“

Sigh

... Sir Keter, please listen without panicking.”

The royal physician hesitated for a moment, then held both of Keter’s hands tightly.

“I did everything I could... But the injury to your eyes was caused by dark magic. Had it been treated immediately on-site, things might have been different, but too much time had passed. We stopped the spread of the infection, but we couldn’t preserve the function of your eyes.”

Keter’s fists trembled.

Watching from behind the physician, Ravirin stepped forward. “Sir Keter, I am Ravirin, the one responsible for guarding the maze. Your blindness is unfortunate, but as the one in charge, I must hear what happened.”

Ravirin questioned Keter on how he entered the maze and how he encountered the dark wizard.

Keter didn’t respond at first, then suddenly extended his hand and said, “Please give me a blindfold. Trying to keep these eyes open when I can’t see anything is very uncomfortable.”

At Keter’s composed request, the physician nodded and handed over the blindfold he had prepared in advance.

“It’s black. It isn’t a magic tool, but it’s made from the finest material. Hardly anything will damage it.”

“Sounds good.” After putting the blindfold on himself, Keter extended his hand again. “I’m hungry. Please give me something to eat.”

“Please wait a moment.”

Ravirin found Keter’s calmness strange, but he couldn’t ignore a request for food. After all, Keter was the palace’s benefactor. A simple meal was quickly prepared, and Keter ate while sincerely answering questions.

“I was able to enter the maze because the royal sword instructor asked to see me.”

“Was the name of that instructor perhaps Nazar?”

Ravirin hadn’t just sat around and done nothing while Keter was unconscious. He had investigated, allowing him to deduce how Keter could have entered the maze.

“No, her name was Riri.”

He had tried a leading question, but Keter answered honestly.

Ravirin continued, “Why did she bring you into the palace to speak with you?”

“That is a secret between the two of us. I cannot say without her permission.”

“Setting the secret aside, why didn’t you leave the maze right after the conversation? Lady Riri would have shown you the direction of the exit.”

Keter didn’t deny it. “Yes, she showed me. But I couldn’t leave as I saw someone familiar.”

“By familiar person, do you mean the dark mage?”

“Yes. He and I have met before. We crossed paths at the Sword of the South Tournament. His name is Ailos... A very wicked dark wizard.”

“

Ahem!

”

Ravirin licked his lower lip. He knew of Ailos as well. Of course he did, since Ailos was the bold dark wizard who had attacked a lord. What was even more serious was the fact that a dark wizard had slipped into the royal palace itself without a trace. If Keter hadn’t informed them, no one would have known. That realization sent a chill down Ravirin’s spine.

“So you’re saying you spotted the dark wizard Ailos and then pursued him, but that’s odd. If you knew that, calling us immediately would have made the situation much easier.”

Ravirin remained suspicious of Keter until the end.

However, Keter answered in a voice full of regret. “It was my greed. I thought I could handle it alone. Well, as you can see, that is what happened. I lost the dark mage, and even lost my sight...”

Keter set down the food he had been eating so well and put on a gloomy expression.

At that, Ravirin quickly switched his attitude, saying, “N-no, not at all. You fought well. Resentful Bone Crush is a high-tier dark spell that even a Grandmaster cannot easily overcome, but you survived, didn’t you? That alone is an achievement worthy of praise.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“That’s a relief.”

Keter resumed eating as if he had never been gloomy in the first place.

Ravirin let out a hollow laugh at the sight.

What is this guy? He really does seem crazy, just as the rumors say.

Ravirin had also heard the rumor that Keter blocked Her Majesty’s Bridge with mere strength. He did such outrageous acts without hesitation, yet behaved normally at other times, so Ravirin couldn’t tell which side to follow.

At that moment, Keter asked a question instead. “Did you catch Ailos?”

Ravirin shook his head. “We are still in pursuit.”

“Be careful. That guy, he has the Dark Pages with him.”

“...I'll keep that in mind.”

The conversation between the two ended, and an awkward silence settled in. Keter continued eating unfazed, while Ravirin watched him for a long moment before finally leaving the infirmary first.

“Sir Keter, if anything becomes uncomfortable or if you need something, please ring this bell.”

The physician placed a bell in Keter’s hand and also left as a patient needed absolute rest.

Once left alone, Keter stretched. “It’s been a while since I last tried something like this, so I was a bit nervous, but it worked out nicely.”

After saying something suspicious, Keter picked up the mirror on the table. Then he removed the eye patch and opened his eyes. Originally, the eyes of the Sefira bloodline were a beautiful golden color. However, Keter’s eyes were now ash-gray, with no focus at all.

It had been the diagnosis of the royal physician that his eyes had lost their function and had gone blind. It was certain. However, Keter covered his eyes with his hand and then lowered it, and the ash-gray pupils regained their vivid golden glow.

“A secret technique of deception, pretending to be blind.”

A mischievous grin naturally spread across Keter’s face as he wondered what kind of reaction his siblings would have to the news of his blindness.