Act 91

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⇒ Trait, ‘Sombra,’ has detected a demon.

I sensed the demon’s scent on Sword Saint, Hayden Reich.

Did he perhaps kill a demon very recently?

Impossible.

Suppressing the rising doubt within my heart, I shifted my gaze towards Hayden.

“Master.”

The first to speak was not me, but Linne.

She tried to maintain her composure, but her eyes were visibly shaking.

“What is it, Linne?”

“Why…”

About to ask something, Linne took a breath, seeming to have made up her mind, then began to speak.

“Did you really… seek asylum in the Holy Nation?”

Linne’s straightforward question also piqued my interest.

I had seen many stories unfold, but there was no storyline where the Sword Saint goes to the Holy Nation.

“As an imperial knight, you told me to take pride and serve as a faithful citizen, didn’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“Then why would you—”

Linne trailed off, looking at Hayden.

Her hands trembled as she struggled to continue speaking, waiting instead for Hayden to speak.

“It seems the Master we knew is no longer noble.”

Feeling pity for her, I was the first to speak.

It must be a great sense of betrayal.

After her father’s death, the ‘Master’ along with the Sword Saint had filled that void.

“Please don’t speak like that.”

“Then do not harbor doubts about the Master’s choices. Understand that he harshly abandoned those who followed him and silently sought asylum in the Holy Nation, even abandoning you, his apprentice.”

As I continued, Linne’s face crumpled, likely not out of displeasure at my words, but from the heart-wrenching pain and betrayal by someone she trusted.

I also felt the conversation was getting too long.

‘Julian’ wouldn’t have done this. He would have drawn his sword and fought.

But this is where self-objectivity is possible.

The existence of the ‘Sword Saint’ had great significance to me too.

“…I’m sorry.”

Finally, after a long silence, the Sword Saint spoke.

“Linne, I have nothing to say to you. I knew my choice would hurt you, yet I gave you no hint of it.”

Despite Hayden’s apology, Linne said nothing, couldn’t say anything.

Her hands trembled on her knees, and her bright eyes were now tinged red.

“That’s why I have a proposal for you. In fact, I recommended you to His Majesty Ulysses for this reason.”

I silently listened to the conversation.

Surely it was going to be an absurd story, so I braced myself mentally.

“Why not leave the empire and seek asylum in the Holy Nation?”

This guy must be insane.

***

She thought it was a cruel joke played on her, a disciple of the Sword Saint.

It was the Sword Saint himself, his proposal that woke her from such thoughts.

-‘Why not leave the empire and seek asylum in the Holy Nation?’

Hearing this, Linne truly felt the impact of Sword Saint’s defection to the Holy Nation deep in her heart.

The emotions were exactly ‘confusion’ and ‘anxiety’.

‘So, it’s true then, Master…’ 

It was really an absurd proposal.

She didn’t immediately draw her sword to strike his neck because the person who made the proposal carried significant weight to her.

The most noble Sword Saint.

The one who showed her a new path.

Because she couldn’t simply dismiss the proposal of the person she respected as a joke, she was plunged into contemplation.

“I, I…”

Her instinct was telling her to refuse.

But.

‘Master wouldn’t suggest this without a reason. There must be something.’

Linne slightly lifted her head to look into Hayden’s eyes.

As always, his expression contained a kind smile and his eyes were full of concern for her.

If she were to refuse.

‘He would be greatly disappointed.’

With that thought, Linne found it difficult to start speaking.

“Am I not a member of the ‘Closed Eyes,’ and you dare to mention ‘asylum’ to me, Master?”

Then Julian suddenly joined in the conversation between Linne and Hayden.

As usual, he hid his inner thoughts behind a smile, but those who had known him long could sense a hint of anger and displeasure in him.

“I knew you would be upset. It’s not something I should say to you, but what do you think?”

“Are you suggesting I, a hound of the royal court, should seek asylum in the Holy Nation? Haha. I politely refuse.”

“Don’t you want my head? Being closer would only increase your chances.”

Linne was already aware of this fact, that Julian was obsessed with the name of their master, the ‘Sword Saint.’

This also proved more than anything that he acknowledged the Sword Saint and wanted his recognition.

Thus, Linne felt slightly tense at the possibility that Julian might accept the proposal.

However, mocking her, Julian invariably laughed briefly with an annoying expression.

“A tiger dies for its hide, a man dies for his name. Because there is value in it.”

“I know. I told you so myself.”

“But who would desire a name that has fallen to the ground? It would only dirty their hands.”

He was a man of consistent principles.

To protect his own honor, he would ignore the downfall of others, thinking only of himself.

Thinking this, Linne looked at her master, curious about the expression he was making.

“Well, I knew you would answer that way.”

Hayden nodded as if it were expected, shifting his kind smile towards Linne, although.

“I too will refuse.”

Hayden had anticipated Julian’s refusal, but the disappointment was evident on his face when Linne refused as well.

“Just like my father did, I too am a citizen of the empire.”

It was a difficult answer to voice out loud, but Linne was able to steady her heart with Julian’s resolute attitude.

Even though she did not resonate with what he said, she could respect the loyalty to the empire they belonged to.

Moreover, once she spoke out, she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her chest.

“Right.”

The look of disappointment on Hayden’s face soon disappeared.

“It was an ignorant proposal to begin with, given that you came here to escort the prince.”

Taking a self-deprecating stance, Hayden quickly regained his kind smile and stroked his chin with his hand.

In the brief moment of silence that might have ensued,

“I have one question I’d like to ask. Master.”

This story’s key figure is Julian.

“Anytime.”

Hayden confidently shouts with his arms wide open, to which Julian delivers a pointed remark.

“Do you realize what has happened to your body?”

‘What is he talking about?’

Linne looked puzzled by Julian’s words.

It was a question that made no sense in context.

“Hmm.”

However, Hayden, the master, seemed intrigued, as if he had been waiting for this comment.

“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say, Julian.”

“Don’t you know? That body of yours, on the verge of death.”

Snap!

Julian placed his hand on his waistband, just as he had when they first met.

“Isn’t the demonization progressing?”

Shocked by Julian’s words, Linne gasped.

She wanted to ask what he meant, but the unbelievable truth made it hard for her to speak.

“Master?”

‘Impossible.’

Linne denied it repeatedly, thinking it couldn’t be true.

“You’ve noticed, I see.”

Hayden acknowledged Julian’s words.

“It can’t be…”

Linne’s complexion turned pale at her master’s neat acknowledgment.

The tone of their conversation might seem casual and insignificant, but the content was far from it.

If demonization progresses, the person loses their self and becomes a ‘demon.’ It means losing human dignity and turning into a monster that attacks people.

“Could it be that you chose this foolish asylum to stop the demonization?”

Julian’s emotionless statement made Linne somewhat understand her master’s choice of asylum.

There might be methods available in the Holy Nation that the Empire lacks, and the master might have known this when he chose to seek asylum.

“Maybe.”

Hayden’s non-committal answer deflated the mood.

“There’s no reason I need to explain.”

“Are you trying to hide something?”

“Isn’t it mutual? Julian, like you hide things, I think there are things I need to hide too.”

At the master’s words, Linne also shook her head.

She well knew that the sinister Julian had many secrets.

She had tried to unravel them, but like something wrapped in a veil, the details, or anything certain, remained elusive.

But what about Master Hayden?

It seemed he saw right through Julian’s vague something.

“Is that so? Haha.”

An ordinary person might have sweated coldly at the Sword Saint’s sharp words, but Julian was unfazed.

Still wearing his annoying smile, Julian responded calmly, making Linne shake her head in disbelief.

“You seem impulsive, but that character trait of coldly moving on when needed remains the same, Julian.”

Strangely, Julian seemed slightly displeased by the remark ‘the character remains the same.’

“Master, you have changed a lot.”

“People change. It’s inevitable.”

“You also know, Master. There is no technique in the Holy Nation to stop demonization.”

Julian slowly stood up from his seat.

“What then is the reason for the ongoing demonization? Why seek asylum in the Holy Nation? I may not know exactly, but I have a guess.”

He did not reach for the sword at his waist, but the aura emanating from him was as sharp as if he had drawn it.

“Master, it was not by coercion, but willingly that you embedded demonic energy within yourself, and it was the Holy Nation that facilitated this process.”

Swoosh!

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Julian drew his sword from its sheath.

“Drawing your sword again, I see. Are you sure about this? This time it won’t end with mere pleasantries.”

“Not only did he betray the Empire, but he is also becoming a demon.”

A beautiful sword made of gems. When she heard it was made from ‘Dusk Flame’, she thought it would break soon after getting it.

Yet, it still proved itself as a worthy gem sword.

“I see no reason not to strike.”

“Is it not merely to satisfy your personal greed?”

“Haha, maybe there’s a bit of personal desire, but what of it?”

“The belly is bigger than the beast.”

Hayden, scoffing at the absurdity, turned his gaze to Linne.

The nuance was as if he was asking her to stop this madness, but she shook her head from side to side.

“Master, why don’t you deny what Sir Julian is saying?”

“What are you talking about?”

“That you have… implanted demonic energy into your own body…”

“Haa.”

Hayden sighed.

“Since when have you started taking Julian’s words so seriously? You’ve always despised him and denied all his actions.”

“That’s… “

The master stated the most fundamental reason why she disliked Julian, but Linne, pausing briefly, then lifted her head.

“In situations like this, he doesn’t lie.”

She knew.

He’s called the ‘smiling executioner’, a demon with a human face, pointed at with fingers.

Lately, he hasn’t lied to her, especially not in such circumstances.

And even though he hides himself thoroughly with ‘narrow eyes’ and inscrutable smiles, to Hayden Reich he would have laid everything bare.

“That’s unfortunate.”

Hayden murmured to himself in a whisper.

At the same time, an immense magical force began to emanate from his body.

“Ugh…”

The demonic energy was so intense that it was difficult to even move a finger, let alone take a step.

At this level, it was similar to or even greater than the demonic energy of a Tri-horn Demon.

‘Not only demonization…To use that power fully.’

Julian’s words reinforced the claim that the Sword Saint had willingly undergone demonization.

‘Why?’

How could her master, who was once so noble, have become like this?

Drip.

At that moment of doubt, Linne felt blood trickle down from her nose.

This was a phenomenon that occurred when one was exposed to strong demonic energy without protecting oneself with mana.

Soon, headaches and chills overcame her.

‘Keep your mind…’

Her eyes started to lose focus, but the oppressive demonic energy pressing down on her began to lighten.

“Sir Julian?”

It was because Julian, who had stepped forward, was shielding her from the demonic energy emanating from Hayden.

To handle such a sudden release of demonic energy so naturally…

Linne was astounded by his capability.

Hayden felt the same.

“Even without wrapping yourself in an aura, to handle demonic energy this easily, you truly are…”

Before he could continue, a flash-like strike was directed at Hayden.

Hayden, similarly drawing his sword in response, clashed metal with metal, creating a chilling sound.

As if prophesying their future.

Thus, the second greeting began.

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