A Blend of Romance and Fantasy - Chapter 74

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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74.
“Why won’t you compensate us? You promised!”
“There are too many conflicting interests at play. Give us time.”
Since it was the first time a nobleman had pleaded with him, Thanatos foolishly chose to trust them.
Everyone except Leonard Blake.
One day, Count Pixis claimed that insurgents had appeared again and dispatched Thanatos to Berman Hill.
Strangely, Ragnarok appeared on that hill once more.
Hadn’t he retreated to the Demon Realm to recover his magical power after his first heart was destroyed? Why had he returned to the Human Realm again?
The reason remained unknown, but it was certainly no coincidence.
Berman Hill, completely surrounded by rocky cliffs, was a fortress valley that became inescapable once its entrance was sealed.
When Thanatos entered the fortress valley, rocks suddenly collapsed and blocked the entrance, and Ragnarok descended upon them.
“This is… a trap set by Count Pixis. A trap designed to annihilate us all.”
Ragnarok thrashed about like a madman, appearing desperate to find something.
But there was no way to know what it was, and the commander, centered around Leonard Blake, hastily engaged him in battle.
Remarkably, Leonard Blake prevailed.
He survived by rupturing Ragnarok’s second heart.
Yet this time, no comrades remained at his side.
* * *
Before my eyes, the pitch-black breath was engulfed in azure light and gradually faded away.
Ragnarok, who had unleashed the breath from his maw, soon vanished into the torn atmosphere. That must be the “rift” leading to the Demon Realm.
All that remained was the man who had just appeared and driven Ragnarok away with magic, along with his forces.
As the thick clouds slowly dispersed, Leonard Blake recognized who had protected him.
“Are you alive?”
“…Prince Demian?”
“Your lips are moving, so you’re alive. Thank goodness.”
Prince Demian rode forward and extended his hand.
“Become my subordinate, Leonard Blake.”
“What…did you say?”
The incomprehensible words continued.
“As you said, I am Demian, the Emperor’s firstborn son and the one destined to become Emperor of this Empire. I’ve been watching this place all along, and when I saw you rupture Ragnarok’s second heart, I came to save you.”
“…You’ve been watching this place the entire time?”
“Indeed. I already knew of the Berman Fortress Gorge strategy.”
The Berman Fortress Gorge strategy.
So the prince before me had already known about the operation designed to annihilate Thanatos?
He had been watching from a safe place as we were torn apart?
“I never imagined anyone would actually rupture Ragnarok’s second heart.”
“…”
“An unexpected gain. I’m in an excellent mood right now.”
Leonard Blake stared blankly at his fallen comrades scattered beneath his feet and the Knights’ Order trampling over them.
Above the blood-soaked earth, a banner bearing the emblem of Blueheart fluttered in the wind.
“Freud.”
Demian issued a curt command, and someone emerged from behind.
The man in the white uniform resembled a Priest.
“Come here, Sir Leonard Blake. Your body bears many wounds. If we don’t treat you now, even a knight of your caliber may not survive.”
“You’re saying you’ll… save me and take me with you?”
My ability to assess situations with cold clarity remained intact, even as my heart felt pulverized.
Leonard Blake clenched his trembling fists as he questioned Demian, who tilted his head slightly.
“Of course. I cannot simply discard someone of your exceptional skill merely because of tainted blood.”
“Then what about the others!!”
Yet in the end, Leonard Blake erupted like a detonating bomb, his voice raw with fury.
“Why didn’t you save the lives of those who fought alongside me! I just saw what appeared to be a brilliant ice Mage among them. It seemed your magic could have driven Ragnarok away! If you had cooperated with me, we could have saved so many more—why didn’t you!?”
“How dare you raise your voice before—”
A man who appeared to be his Adjutant stepped forward, but Demian held him back. Leonard Blake continued his violent outburst.
“Defeating Ragnarok was not my strength alone! My comrades became meat shields first, which allowed me to fight!!”
“….”
Demian’s brow furrowed.
“I never imagined you would actually call them comrades and develop such attachment.”
“What do you mean?”
“That I already knew the strategy… you don’t understand?”
Demian leaped down from his horse. His eyes, seen up close, were piercingly cold—the eyes of a wooden puppet, indistinguishable from human.
“The person who devised that Berman Fortress Gorge strategy was me, Sir Leonard Blake.”
“What…did you say?”
So this was what it meant to have one’s mind go blank? Leonard Blake’s head emptied of all thought as he slowly advanced toward him.
But tragically, he had no strength left. He had already exhausted everything protecting his comrades and himself from Ragnarok’s claws.
As Leonard Blake collapsed after only a few steps, Demian spoke with chilling detachment.
“Thanatos is the Punishment Unit. Even if they were enemies, they are those who killed many people—did you truly believe we would grant them peaceful retirement and gentle deaths?”
“….”
“There is no reason to save those who have committed unforgivable sins.”
The moment those words reached me, my heart constricted. It was a truth I had already acknowledged deep within my unconscious.
But then… shouldn’t they have never made such a promise from the beginning?
We were wretched, never treated as human. We never dared dream of a place to return to or a tomorrow.
Yet they dangled a fleeting hope as bait, and just as that hope began to bloom, they stole our very lives.
Were such people truly cleaner than us? Wasn’t it those who spoke of deserving death who abandoned people in the cruelest manner possible?
Leonard Blake’s vision wavered. The last warmth remaining in his chest seemed to cool, one piece at a time.
“Then… why am I alive?”
His lips barely parted.
“Among Thanatos, I killed more people than anyone. I am the one least deserving of forgiveness among them—so why do I still live?”
“You must already know.”
Demian answered with a brief sigh.
“Even among trash, there are gems. You were overwhelmingly the strongest among them. Honestly, your skill surpasses even my Knights’ Order commander.”
“….”
“Isn’t that enough to prove he’s worth saving?”
I couldn’t remain silent after hearing those words. Leonard Blake impulsively drew his sword and swung it.
But for the first time in his life, he lost.
Had he engaged in combat at peak condition, the outcome might have differed, but he had already exceeded his limits protecting everyone during the war against Ragnarok.
Meanwhile, Prince Demian fully intended to kill Leonard Blake. Dozens of ice spears pierced through his body.
Yet Leonard Blake did not die. He could not die.
He had to have his revenge.
The intense emotion of vengeance surged through his entire being, burning hot. Even in his pulverized mind, only one word—revenge—swirled with violent force.
The nobles who had driven him and his comrades into the Hill of Death.
He could not close his eyes in peace without tearing apart those dog-like bastards who had shattered his life.
Frozen solid, Leonard Blake seized a horse and rode desperately onward.
He fled past the exit of Fortress Valley, now collapsed and in ruins, and miraculously shook off his pursuers.
But eventually, he lost consciousness. Overwhelmed by exhaustion in some unknown place, he fell from his horse and blacked out.
And the one who found him was none other than James Blackwood, the protagonist of this world.
* * *
Picked up by James Blackwood, Leonard Blake hovered between life and death for approximately a month.
During that time, his body gradually recovered, but his mind shattered endlessly.
In an endless nightmare, Leonard Blake had to wander through a swamp of unbearable despair.
—Why did only you survive?
—The Prince let you live to become his subordinate? How fortunate for you.
In the thick darkness, the faces of his comrades surfaced. Unlike when they were alive, their faces were drained of color—ashen gray.
Yet their lips moved with perfect clarity, ceaselessly reproaching and resenting Leonard Blake.
It was not only his comrades that tormented him.
—Everyone you love will die.
—Even if I die and become a vengeful spirit, I will drag you to hell.
The curses and accusations of his enemies echoed as if tearing his ears apart. The anguished cries he had not felt then, he now understood deep in his bones.
The terror that squeezed his heart, the guilt, and the absurd reality of being the sole survivor—all crashed down at once, ceaselessly shaking his mind.
In a madness-inducing loneliness and despair, only one obsession kept him going: revenge.
Revenge.
Clinging to that single thought, he grasped at his crumbling will and barely found a reason to live in the cold despair.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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