Duke Pendragon

“…..”

Raven confronted Luna Seyrod, or rather, the Queen of Death, Elsaroa, without speaking a word. But even he could not deny that her appearance was exactly the same as Luna. Even her clothes were similar to what she had been wearing when she died.

“Your Excellency… Duke Pendragon…”

Her voice resonated in Raven’s ear.

“Witch…”

Speaking in a low voice, Raven aroused his spirit.

Rumblee!

The Spirit of the Dragon fluttered around his entire body and soared upwards like an explosion.

Woooong!

The two swords also accepted his will and resonated while emitting a dazzling glow.

“Hmm!”

The warriors of Pendragon trembled after hearing the cries of the swords. Even though they only saw the light and heard the sound, they felt more comfortable, and their minds sharpened. After driving out the fear in their hearts, their gazes headed towards Raven and the witch, who stood far in the distance.

Wooong!

Luna Seyrod’s shoulders trembled when she heard the cries of the swords containing the mighty Spirit of the Dragon. Very briefly, a dark green light glimmered in her eyes.

She slowly opened her lips with a pale expression.

“Why… Why are you doing this, Your Excellency Pendragon? No, Your Grace Alan… Will you still not accept me?”

Speaking in a sad, pitiful voice, she took a step towards Raven.

“…..”

However, Raven did not answer immediately. He glared at her with a cold look, then responded.

“You are not Luna.”

“Is that… so? But I… I…”

She spoke regretfully, then dropped her head. After a moment, she raised her face while biting her lips, then continued.

“I am… truly sorry. I just wanted to see you… that is why… even if I look like this…”

“…..!”

Raven’s eyes, which had maintained a coldness like the glaciers, quivered. The words that the witch was spewing as she slowly approached him, it was…

“Your Grace Alan… Please, I beg you. Please, my name… Please call my name one more time…”

“Keugh!”

Raven felt a burning pain in his chest as memories of Leus came to mind. As Luna slowly approached with a mournful look, she was speaking the same words as when she died on his behalf.

“Ple…ase. Once. Just once, call my name…”

As she continued to speak, her face overlapped with the image of pale-failed Luna when she died in Leus last year.

“I always… loved… you…”

“…..!”

When he heard her repeat the final words she spoke before death, Raven clenched his teeth. Guilt washed over him. He knew it was all an illusion, that she was bewitching him. He knew that the witch was not the real Luna Seyrod.

Nevertheless, Raven was still human, and blood flowed inside his veins. Although it was only for a moment, he was greatly shaken. In that short moment, a blink of an eye, the light of spirit surrounding his body faded by the tiniest bit.

It was then.

Fwooooosh!

A shadow was cast over Luna’s pitiful, innocent face, and she emitted a dark green spirit.

[Ray.]

Simultaneously, a calm voice resonated inside Raven’s mind. He shivered. It was as if he had been struck by lightning.

“Kiyaaaaaaahhhk!”

Kwarararak!

Luna’s mouth formed into a strange, grotesque shape, then she screeched while rushing forward. In that moment, the two spirit-filled swords emitted a blinding light.

It was a technique Raven only utilized once before in the Great Forest, the Sword of Light.

Kwaaa!

The wave of death poured towards Raven like a tempest, threatening to tear apart everything from the living. Raven brandished his swords.

Fwoosh!

The scimitar split the spirit of death, which was evil itself. Immediately after, Widow’s Scream pierced through the gap and pushed the dazzling light towards Luna’s chest.

Thuck!

The sword completely penetrated Luna’s chest. Like light, the aura of dark green disappeared.

“….”

Red, steaming blood poured out and dripped onto Raven’s arm, which held the sword penetrating her chest. The blood dripped along his arm and fell through the gap in his gauntlet.

He could feel the warmth of life.

She struggled to whisper her last words in Raven’s ears.

“I really did… love… Thank… you…”

Her head dropped after she finished her words. She gave herself to eternal rest.

“No!!!”

A roar erupted from the gate in the distance. It was the voice of Count Seyrod. As soon as he heard the despairing cry, Raven turned his head towards it. Simultaneously Luna’s face transformed slightly.

“Hie…”

A small giggle escaped through her slightly open lips, and Raven instinctively pushed her away with all his strength while throwing himself in the other direction.

Kwarararararak!

Along with an eerie noise, a blade-like energy grazed his face.

“Keugh!”

Pat!

Blood splattered and landed on the green blade. The wound inflicted by the green blade was located on his left cheek, a green light began to color the wound immediately afterwards.

[Ray!]

Soldrake shouted in an urgent voice for the first time.

Whooosh!

The White Dragon hovering above the fortress was rapidly engulfed in light, then she emerged as a female warrior in silver-white armor.

Wooooong!

“Oh-hohohohohoho!”

A dark green flame fused into existence. It was denser and darker than the flames that covered Fort Bellint before. With a dark red sword in her right hand and a crystal ball the size of a child’s head on her left palm, Luna, or rather, Elsaroa of Alcantia, rose into the air.

Shhh!

The green blade responsible for slicing Raven’s cheek floated into the air and arrived in front of her.

“Ah…!”

Elsaroa gave a large smile. Her eyes were filled with joy as she looked at the red blood.

Lick.

A blue tongue savored Raven’s blood.

“Ahhh! Wonderful! Alex…! The scent of Alex! The blood of Alex! Alex’s everything…!”

Craaackk! Crunch!

The evil spirit surrounding her body soared above Fort Bellint. The last light of the sun was just about to disappear, and the sky was quickly covered with an ominous green energy. Strong winds swirled throughout the surroundings, spreading the wide, green currents of air. The green mass of energy squirmed like a living creature.

“Ah…!”

Humans could only stare at the amazing, yet bizarre scene with blank expressions and their mouths agape. The number of evil spirits in the sky was incomparable to those that surrounded the fortress a while ago, and they were laughing mockingly and eerily while observing the fort.

Kiiieeeehahahahahaha!!!

The wicked laughter dimmed the mind of the living. The evil spirit fluttered like the northern lights, then once again descended on the fortress. Then…

Kuwuuughh…

Strange voices began to spread, and soon, they resonated throughout the fortress.

“…..!”

They could neither scream nor groan. Regardless of which side they belonged to in the battle of Fort Bellint, the fallen soldiers of the Great Territory of Alice and the Pendragon Duchy began to slowly rise from the dead.

The terrible image of their death was still retained in their appearances. Thousands of dead bodies rose up with glimmers of green light contained in their pupils. The small group of living came face to face with the dead…

“Uah…”

Although soldiers of the Pendragon Duchy were braver than anyone else, what was laid out in front of them was not an acceptable sight for humans. Therefore, the living had no choice but to rely on a certain being, regardless of race.

It was Soldrake, the female warrior standing next to Raven.

“Sol, what’s going on?”

Even in the unexpected situation, Raven asked after regaining his composure. Soldrake answered while raising her gaze towards the sky.

[She finally regained her true form.]

“By she, you mean…?”

Raven trailed off while shifting his gaze alongside Soldrake.

[Elsaroa of Alcantia. The blood that Ray spilled a moment ago restored all her memories.]

“Hmm!”

Raven stared at the figure in the sky with watchful eyes. She no longer belonged to humanity. Elsaroa reveled in pleasure with thousands of evil spirits behind her. As if feeling his gaze, she suddenly gazed down. Surprisingly, her eyes were filled with indescribably deep affection as she looked at Raven.

“Long time no see, my love. And…”

Her expression distorted horribly, and her face, which was unnaturally beautiful, was colored with a hideous expression.

“Queen of dragons…!”

Kyaaaaaah!

The army of the dead shrieked with anger to sympathize with their queen.

Woooong!

[Elsaroa of Alcantia…]

The Spirit of the Dragon naturally emanated from her body as if to confront the evil energy.

“Hmm!”

Raven was astonished.

Soldrake was the Queen of All Dragons. Nothing in this world was a threat to her. Moreover, her spirit, Dragon Fear, was an ability she could freely control. However, the spirit she emanated now had been aroused instinctively, and not by her will. The witch could be an incarnation of death and evil. It signified that the witch’s magic and power was capable of rivalling Soldrake.

“Back then! And now again! You affix yourself to the side of my love! You are just a parasite sustaining your life by attaching yourself to humans!”

After shouting at Soldrake in a poisonous voice, Elsaroa turned her gaze towards Raven. Again, her voice and expression changed completely. Astonishingly, she spoke with extreme warmth and love, completely contrasting from how she acted towards Soldrake.

“I have waited so long, my love. Do you know how much I have missed you for the past hundreds of years? Alex! Ahhh, Alex…!”

Elsaroa spread her arms wide open and fluttered while speaking.

Kwaaaa!

Even though he and Soldrake had erected a wall of spirit, Raven trembled after feeling the transmission of the evil energy. But he responded while clenching his teeth.

“I… am not Alex Pendragon.”

“…..!”

Elsaroa’s eyes had been filled with infinite affection and love, but it quivered for a second. But soon, her alluring lips curled up into a smile.

“Hoho… Oh-hohohohohohoho!”

Her sharp laugh resonated.

Elsaroa was the strongest witch in history, and she once caused the entire world to tremble before her in fear of death. Her laughter caused the soldiers of Pendragon, as well as the centaurs and orc warriors to fall to their knees while desperately covering their ears. Some even started to bleed from their nose.

After a while, she stopped laughing and continued.

“It does not matter, child of Pendragon.”

“…..!”

Raven flinched, but she continued with an even more alluring smile.

“I already know thanks to the two children who willingly served their souls awaken me, that you are not Alex.”

Fwoooosh!

A flame erupted from amidst the evil spirits that covered the sky, then soon transformed into a shape. It was an eye standing vertically, the gaze of death that overlooked every living thing in the world.

“You just have to die and take your place by my side, child of Pendragon. On behalf of him, whom I could not have… You will become my knight forever in the world of death. Everything you have… will become mine.”

Fwooosh!

The gaze of death twisted toward Raven and Soldrake.