Side Story Chapter 132

At first glance, Aisha and Crevasse seemed like an odd match; the former was a dark elf and the latter was a dragon, the strongest race in the Human Realm. Elves—no, most creatures on the continent—instinctively feared the mighty dragons. It was inevitable because dragons were the most arrogant and selfish creatures in the world.

The relationship between dark elves and black dragons, who both controlled the demonic attribute, was better left unsaid.

Despite all that, there they stood, side by side. Which meant...

“...Teacher.” Kireua lowered his hand toward his sword. “Have you been taken hostage?”

“Hostage?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll rescue you. That black dragon over there can’t harm me because of his Eternal Vow anyway.”

“Huh?” Aisha tilted her head.

Crevasse shook his head in disgust. Although he wanted to wipe away everything in front of him, he was going to let it slide this time. He’d become a lot more mellow after becoming the last surviving dragon on the continent.

“Aisha Sestropi,” Crevasse sighed, “it looks like your student needs an explanation.”

Aisha smiled bitterly, but she didn’t seem to fear Crevasse at all. Kireua’s curiosity was piqued; he’d been told about how his teacher had been terrified of the Emperor of Avalon because she had thought he was a dragon.

“Kireua, this isn’t what you think. It’s part of my promise,” Aisha assured him.

“What promise?”

“A promise made between me and your father, Joshua.”

“What do you mean, you made a promise with His Majesty...?” Kireua asked, confused.

“As you already know, I killed countless people all across the continent.”

Kireua nodded. Aisha was called the Assassin King for a good reason. She had assassinated over a thousand people, many of whom were powerful in their own right, but as far as Kireua knew, all of those people deserved to die.

“If I think about what you and your clan went through, you had every right to do so,” Kireua interrupted.

Aisha Sestropi was one of the few remaining dark elves on the continent, as well as one of the victims sacrificed to humans’ dark desires. The story was rather cliche, really; the beauty of the elves had been popular for a very long time.

“...No, murder can’t be justified for any reason.” Aisha shook her head.

“No, evil people deserve to die since even one of them can drive many people to destruction.”

“Revenge only begets revenge. That is what Joshua told me.”

Kireua flinched.

Although Kireua said what he had said to console his teacher, he couldn’t shake his head because that would mean denying what the Emperor’s words.

“Just like you said, I’m a victim of humans’ desires. I lost my family, and my home disappeared in a fire. My entire clan was enslaved or killed,” Aisha went on.

“Teacher...”

“After losing everything, I was dragged here, the Palace of Avalon, and foolishly swore my loyalty to the person who I thought to be my friend.” A bitter smile spread on Aisha’s face.

Before she became known as the Assassin King, she had been trained to be the Imperial Family’s assassin, a human weapon to maintain the Britten Family’s power.

“Ah, that reminds me of old times. The person I firmly believed to be my friend just thought of me as a tool. It was your father who saved me.”

“...By pretending to be a dragon?” Kireua cautiously asked.

“To be exact, I misunderstood him, and that wasn’t his intention. He was really young, but his skills were surreal. It was really hard to think of him as a human—not that that has changed, though.”

The rest of Aisha’s story was equally cliche. After being freed, Aisha had started tracking down the hidden history surrounding her clan, and before long, she had discovered the whole story. Everyone involved was turned into lifeless corpses. It didn’t matter if they were renowned knights, highly influential officials in their countries, or tycoons.

“Joshua was also the one who undid the forbidden seal on me, so I owe your father a lot of debts,” Aisha noted, nodding.

“Is that why you’ve been hiding in the shadows like this?”

“Look around you.”

“...What?”

“What would happen if the continent found out about the existence of these undead?”

Aisha's point was perfectly clear to Kireua. The saint of the Hubalt Empire had been branded an enemy of the entire world overnight for acquiring a Demon King’s authority; it was obvious what was going to happen if this undead legion came to light.

“Are you saying that His Majesty asked you to do this?” Kireua asked.

“No, I volunteered.”

“Why would you do that? I think Sir Crevasse would be enough to protect this place.”

“I told you that revenge begets revenge,” Aisha reminded Kireua.

“Mmm...” Kireua grunted. Living up to her title of Assassin King, Aisha had made many enemies all over the continent. There were still a lot of people who would happily burn a million gold to find out her real identity, much less drive a knife into her heart.

The children of the people who had been killed by the Assassin King decades ago were now all grown up and had acquired power of their own. Indeed, revenge begets revenge; the tower of grudges only grew higher and higher with each murder.

“I needed to disappear from the world naturally. Since everyone firmly believes that I’m a human, most of my enemies would be sorted out if I lay low for about a century.” Aisha shrugged.

A century. Elves had a lifespan of one thousand years, so a hundred years wasn’t long for Aisha.

Kireua nodded. “I see.”

“I think that’s enough talk about the past, so why don’t we have a constructive conversation about the future?” Aisha smiled.

She worked her way through the dense ranks of the undead and stopped in front of the twelve death knights, no doubt the strongest of this undead legion.

“To be honest, most of them will help you if you say you’re Joshua’s son.” Aisha chuckled.

“R-Really?”

“Yeah, but there is one person who might not...” She gently stroked a death knight’s black armor and awkwardly smiled. “No, maybe it’s two people?”

“So I only have to earn two out of twelve people’s recognition, right? Thank you, Teacher! That’s a relief.”

“...Well, is it?”

“I’m sorry?”

“You are listening to us, aren’t you? Can you take it from here...”

The death knights’ eyes flashed with bright red light, just like the first time Kireua stepped into this place. One of them slowly lifted his gigantic, saw-toothed greatsword from the floor.

“...Duke Altsma, the Wild King?”

* * *

Lilith streaked through the air like a loosed arrow. She traveled dozens of meters in a single bound. The real shock was that she still felt as light as a bird in spite of the fact she had been running like this for half a day.

“...I can’t believe you can use the distribution of mana like this. You’re a genius!” Lilith shouted in delight.

-You’re too generous with your compliments.

“No, no, I’m serious. How did you think of a way to use mana from nature rather than your own mana?”

As a fellow martial artist, Lilith had always had a deep respect for Joshua, but after today her respect was going to turn into worship. She didn’t even need a special mana accumulation technique; once she utilized her mana hall like Joshua told her, the natural mana around her helped her move.

“I feel like I can save my father all on my own,” Lilith said.

-No, you can’t. I assure you that the chance is lower than one percent.

“I’m a little upset that you think so little of me.”

-You’re from Hubalt, so you would know about the guy who swallowed the dragons better than me.

“...You’re talking about Bel.” Lilith heaved a sigh. Well, she still felt frustrated when she thought about him. Would she be able to beat him on her own?

A loud growl interrupted her thoughts.

An unexpected change was happening behind her. The monsters who had been chasing her were changing their route for some reason.

“W-Wait! Where are they going? Here! Over here!” Lilith gathered more of her mana. Since Joshua had said that the residue of the demonic power still lingered in her mana, she firmly believed that it would make those monsters turn back toward her. But she was gravely mistaken.

“What in the world...?” Lilith murmured.

-...They’re heading to Arcadia. Is it because of the new Evil Sin’s power?

“What? The n-new Evil Sin’s power?”

-Four of the Evil Sins' powers haven’t revealed themselves yet, but I can feel one of them in Arcadia’s direction.

Lilith came to a screeching halt. “Why are you talking about such a serious matter so casually?!”

-You don’t have to worry about it. The people already there will take care of those monsters on their own.

“You can’t be serious!” Lilith turned around without a second thought.

-What are you doing?

“What do you mean, what am I doing? They’re your family, and they’re also my friends and my saviors! Obviously, I’m going to go help them!

-You’re on the clock. There’s no knowing what that Bel character is going to do.

“It’s too late anyway—and besides, my plan’s already gone sideways,” Lilith grumbled.

Her initial plan was to cross the border to Hubalt with those monsters in two. She would let them raise hell in the capital while infiltrating the Great Temple. However, her plan failed even before she even started.

“Just like you said, I’m no match for Bel on my own, even if I get there.” Lilith shrugged.

-...Defeating him isn’t easy, but you’ll be able to save Cardinal Erman with my help.

“Forget it. I’m a fugitive either way, and I’m sick of being hunted.” Lilith straightened her back and raised her sword. “I’d rather help Avalon first and ask for backup from them.”

-...Are you sure you won’t regret it?

Lilith smiled faintly. “Regret it? I don’t think there’s anything I would regret more than turning my back on my friends.”