I Became the First Prince

Walking in Twilight (5)

I looked at the nameless man who was grinning to himself before he suddenly began writhing with his whole body and fainting. Then I looked up and saw the emperor’s knights.

“I may not know the Royal Guard, but Guardian is a name I remember.”

The emperor’s shield and sword that had fought against the blood lions in the past. Their mana was now stored in rings instead of their hearts, but one thing remained the same.

“I heard that the emperor’s dogs had that exact name.”

Whether it be in the past and now, I was being treated as nothing more than a piece of meat thrown by their master to feed the hungry imperial dogs.

Though they were quite ferocious for dogs.

There were also a lot of them.

To be honest, they were actually a very difficult opponent for me, who was quite exhausted due to almost ten days of battle and the continuous use of myth level martial poetry.

I had to admit it.

The emperor’s dogs had become larger and more ferocious than before.

Enough to bite off the back of a lion’s neck in one fell swoop.

“What factory does the emperor use to produce Penta Knights? Even if you search the entire continent, there are already six of them in the empire alone.”

I praised the emperor with all my heart.

“Do not speak of His Majesty in vain!”

The Guardians immediately shouted at me.

It’s been a while since someone gave me a compliment.

The dogs that the emperor raised this time seemed a bit dull.

That was why they were baring their teeth and growling.

Of course, I didn’t care whether the emperor’s loyal dogs growled or barked.

I was just trying to gauge the energy of the Guardians and the Royal Guards.

Even though, unlike my uncle, they did not seem to have fully reached the level of Penta from enlightenment, the Guardians were sufficiently threatening.

The momentum of the Royal Guards behind them was also formidable.

Even though they were unable to weave five rings, their momentum was as sharp as a sword and very stable, making the paladins seem like they had reached a level of maturity.

Five Penta Knights and one hundred paladins were a powerful force capable of overthrowing a sizable kingdom in an instant.

It was probably the same for our kingdom as well.

I shouldn’t let them pass through here.

I wasn’t going to send even a single one back alive.

The dogs raised by the emperor had to be slaughtered here.

That was the reason why I had stayed here alone, blocking the way of the Imperial Guard.

“His Majesty the Emperor wants your head.”

Coincidentally, the Guardians also seemed to have the same thoughts as me.

“Are you confident?”

You’ve been hiding like a rat, waiting for me to get tired, and now you’re showing up and threatening me.

It was so funny to see the Guardians who had no class, be it in the past or present.

So I laughed.

The Penta Knights who called themselves Guardians were not particularly shaken by my blatant ridicule.

They just stood at a distance and looked down at me smugly from their horses.

Perhaps it was because they thought that I was an easy prey who had lost all my strength.

Maybe it was because they didn’t think there was a need to react to someone who would soon die and become a corpse.

But guess what?

I had no intention of dying here.

“Did you know? There’s a Penta Knight in the kingdom too.”

I straightened my knees and stood up.

“Not fakes like you.”

I straightened my back and raised my chin.

“A knight among knights who had found his own way and finally achieved five rings, a true Penta Knight who trained his soul to the point that he no longer has anything to be ashamed of.”

Then I looked at the guardians and grinned.

“But why did I wait here alone for you, leaving behind such a powerful helper?”

The Guardians didn’t respond to what I said.

“What could be the reason?”

Regardless, I asked again.

“Because I didn’t want his help.”

And I answered myself.

At the same time, I squeezed my heart and expelled all the remaining mana.

“Because I deliberately drove him away by giving him trivial tasks.”

Mana swirled like a storm.

“Because I didn’t want him to see what I would see from now on.”

The Guardians drew their swords and aimed them at me.

I also raised Twilight.

But the tip of my sword was pointed at the earth, not them.

Kwak.

I drove Twilight into the ground.

“I call with red blood.”

I chanted a spell that would grant me strength at the cost of my life force.

“You who were trapped beneath a frozen lake, watching over life and death, your name will bring forth the roaring apocalypse.”

Those were the words of a curse that I had perfected by sacrificing half of my remaining life to save Gunn and the other half elves from Sigrun.

“Answer me. Gruhorn.”

It was a song of oath that brought out half of the source of my soul sealed within, the black part of the black and white.

But it was different from that desperate day.

Because now, the life force that I would offer as sacrifice was not mine, but someone else’s.

Tsutsutu.

The blood soaking the plains flowed and gathered into Twilight which I had planted into the ground.

Gulp.

Twilight sucked up all of the blood.

Badump badump.

The heart of the High Lich, which the White Night Mage had thrust into my chest, ravenously ate up the energy contained in that blood.

“Those who thought of me as an enemy have all died and are now becoming a part of my power. How could there be such a tragedy like this?”

My heart, which had been completely empty, quickly filled up.

The flames of the dead on my sword rained curses upon me.

It has been a really long time.

Since I’ve filled my bowl with such blind and pure malice.

I giggled softly.

I pulled out the Twilight soaked in blood.

Then I gathered light at the tip of my sword.

Hwaag.

Light burst through the twilight sky.

It was not as blue as the light of dawn which had bloomed and fallen at the tip of my sword countless times before, nor was it as brilliant as the rising sun.

It was ominous, as if announcing the coming night at sunset, a red light of dusk.

“This is also Twilight.”

I stared at the light and then turned my attention to the Guardians.

The Guardians who made eye contact with me took a step back in surprise.

“The difference is that what comes after this light will not be the brilliant morning.”

My voice started to crack.

“It’ll be just a dark, dark night.”

Sharp and uncomfortable, like the sound of metal.

And one step later.

Paa.

Everything before my eyes turned red.

A world colored red as if bathed in twilight.

Step step.

I walked down the path and headed towards my enemy.

“So please do your best to stop me.”

I stood before them and I proclaimed.

“If you don’t stop me, the empire will face a never-ending night.”

If you don’t stop me, the empire will join the list of victims that have been wiped out by the demon sword Gruhorn.

The empire’s dogs roared fiercely at me.

I giggled a little and laughed.

To me, they looked like frightened dogs barking.

“I will offer your head to His Majesty!”

The emperor’s second dog shouted and lunged at me.

As I stared at him, I stretched out my hand.

Kwaduduk.

The emperor’s dog widened its eyes and looked at its chest.

“H-how…?”

My hand was there, having torn through solid armor, halfway up to my wrist.

Crash.

The guy who dropped his sword grabbed my wrist with both his hands.

I gently twisted my arm.

“Cough.“

The guy who was coughing up blood was shaking.

Kwajiik.

The armor on my forearm that he was holding was bent out of shape.

But I didn’t care and continued to twist my hand back and forth.

Kaduduk.

The sound of a hand wearing an iron glove scratching my forearm entered my ears clearly.

I slowly pulled out my hand.

Little by little. Excruciatingly slowly.

“Gu-guoooh.”

The emperor’s dog struggled with his whole body.

Then collapsed.

Because there was no being that could survive when its heart was ripped out.

Unlike me, he probably wouldn’t be given a chance to be resurrected.

I expressed my condolences to the person who died in vain when compared to his status.

I threw away the heart I was holding in my hand.

The heart that had already been robbed of its life was reduced to dust and scattered before it could even reach the ground.

Sigh.

I raised my head and looked around.

The emperor’s dogs were frozen and stared at me blankly.

There was silence.

No one opened their mouths.

Their eyes looked at me filled with fear.

I could hear the screams of their frightened souls very clearly.

I laughed.

Now was the time for the starving Demon Sword to appease its hunger.

* * *

… u.

In the midst of his stupor, the battalion commander heard the voice of a young man.

A voice that seemed both familiar and unfamiliar.

… -eyyou!

The voice rose.

It sounded upset, as if greatly displeased by something.

… -t up!

The faint voice gradually became clearer.

“Maybe I should just kill him.”

The murderous intent in the words spoken in a grumpy childish tone came through clearly.

“Gasp!“

The battalion commander opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was a pair of bright blue eyes.

The next thing he saw was a face that was completely discolored.

Blink blink.

The commander looked at the face blankly.

It was a face that he felt like he had seen somewhere before, but he couldn’t remember whose it was.

The battalion commander, who had been thinking for a while in a daze, trembled as if struck by lightning.

“Well, what is it? Did you urinate while sleeping?”

The face which was close enough that its breath could be felt suddenly moved away.

After it retreated a distance, he could the red-stained armor worn below.

Armor unique to the Kingdom of Leonberg, with a large crouching lion depicted on the breastplate.

“W-war god!”

The battalion commander turned pale and shouted.

“War god or whatever, can you get up?”

The war god was irritated.

The battalion commander was startled and jumped up, then fell back down and bowed his head.

“P-please spare me!”

The pride of an Imperial Guard was nowhere to be seen.

He begged desperately.

“Please just let me live…”

Fortunately, the war god didn’t seem to have any intention of killing him.

“I’ll spare you. Just run an errand for me.”

“I-I’ll do anything!”

The war god seemed to like his positive attitude and spoke in a calmer voice.

“I need you to act as a messenger.”

The battalion commander asked what message he should convey to whom.

“Tell him that I’ll be visiting soon.”

“Tell who?”

The war god answered.

“Your emperor.”

The way he spoke made it seem so insignificant that the battalion commander inadvertently replied affirmatively.

Then, he belatedly understood and raised his head.

“Be sure to tell him.”

After making the request once again, the war god turned around.

“Just clean up the bodies yourself.”

With those words, the war god walked away steadily.

Heading towards the mainland of the empire.

The battalion commander, who had been staring blankly at the war god’s back, widened his eyes.

Only then did he notice the surrounding scenery.

The ground was broken and cracked, and countless corpses were strewn across the ground.

The whole plain was full of corpses.

Everywhere the eye could see, all the way to the far horizon where twilight was falling.

Note: hint

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