Chapter 114

My consciousness awakens. Good… it’s really me. I’m in Silent’s form.

…But that conversation just now—
that wasn’t a dream, was it?

“Still… I think you’re right.”

I had already suspected that the mastermind behind this wasn’t acting on a scale as small as “toying with a single nation.”
Knowledge of dungeons was, after all, knowledge of the very mechanisms of this world itself.

…Yes. I’d better avoid drawing their attention too carelessly.

“…It’s gotten quite dark. If I’m going to strike, it should be about now.”

I dash through the shadowy hills.
The air is thick with the scent of greenery, mixed with a battlefield-like tension.

Eventually, I arrive at the rear of the royal capital.
Naturally, soldiers are patrolling the outer wall.

“…No sneaking in, then. That’s right… I need to make them wary to a certain degree.”

If I’m going along with Still’s “scheme,” then I need to steadily reduce the number of soldiers while forcing the enemy into a state of heightened alert, making them prepare as thoroughly as possible.
That means not charging directly into the castle. To minimize damage to the city, I have to strike with compact, precise attacks that reliably kill, slowly thinning their numbers.

It’s troublesome—but not impossible.
I creep up behind one of the patrolling soldiers and cut him down in a single stroke.

…That vivid sensation, and the reality of ending a life before he could even sense something was wrong.

Compared to cutting down a group at once from a distance, this close, direct act of killing brings a far denser sense of… joy.

“…For now, I should be thankful for this feeling.”

I wander quietly around the capital’s perimeter, hunting prey one after another.

Before long… there are no soldiers left in sight.

The next step is the gate. From here, I’ll be seen, and they’ll be on guard.
Which means a direct fight.

I restrain myself from wide-area techniques and focus on killing one soldier at a time, with certainty.

To lower the closed drawbridge, I unleash Gale Break.
The chain holding the bridge snaps, and with a great crash, the bridge falls into the water-filled moat, forming a path to the capital.

Naturally, soldiers flood toward the disturbance.

“Hey! Golda’s grunts!”

“Who goes there, you bastard?!”

“And what if you knew?”

In a flash, I close the distance, beheading the soldier at the front.
Before panic can spread, I swing my greatsword in a broad arc.

Several soldiers are cleaved cleanly in half—one swing, many lives gone.

“It’s Silent!!! Silent has appeared!!! Hurry, warn the castle—”

The soldiers gathering on the main street are cut down one after another.
Arrows rain down from above in a volley.

There’s no need to block them. The arrowheads scratch only the surface of my armor.
As expected, these soldiers can’t hope to match Silent’s stats.
At most, the arrows leave faint marks across my skin.

“Forget the collateral damage! Mage unit, fire!!”

So the capital did keep a certain military force stationed here.
Their movements show some discipline: arrows and spells pour down in coordinated support fire.

A massive fireball surges toward me, scorching the surrounding stalls in its wake.

“…Pathetic!”

I drive my leg into the flames with a kick like a yakuza brawl.
The sheer force and pressure overpower the fire’s destructive power.

I don’t even feel heat—
the blaze scatters, and the gust from my kick sends soldiers tumbling.

I rush the fallen ones, plunging my sword into them one by one, finishing them off.

Like scooping up spilled coins from the ground, I move swiftly, killing carefully, efficiently, soldier after soldier.

“A monster…! There’s no way we can win…!”

“Run! Run for your lives!!!”

“You’re not getting away.”

I lunge with my sword, impaling one fleeing soldier. With a swing, I hurl the corpse aside.

…A rampage. By now, word should have reached the castle—
that I, Silent, have returned to this land once more.

“Hey, something crazy’s going on outside. I thought for sure the army would come to purge us for angering the guild, but… looks like someone launched a night raid instead. Is he the one you meant, with that plan to end the war?”

In the Golda capital’s Adventurers’ Guild, where she had holed up, Melissa casually explained the situation outside to Remiya, who continued working on paperwork as if it were none of her concern.

“I see… so he waited until nightfall. I thought he’d try to settle it in an instant, but… perhaps he’s trying to minimize damage to the city.”

Standing from her desk, Remiya peers outside alongside Melissa.

There, Silent was cutting down soldiers and mages, one by one, with meticulous precision.

“That’s not normal. Thirteen Knights… he’s about on par with that man.”

“Yes… his coldness, relentlessness, judgment. I’ve thought so too—he’s very much like him.”

“…Who is he? A candidate for the Thirteen Knights?”

“No. Just an adventurer. In merely two days he rose to the rank of Sapphire Gem, and he single-handedly repelled the infamous criminal Fulerica, driving her to the brink of death.”

“What? There’s no way that’s just an adventurer! He’s obviously a hero-class warrior from another nation. Investigate properly—no matter how far away his homeland is, find out his origin.”

“…Ordinarily, you would be right. But… I want to believe in him. No matter where he came from, I believe he takes up the sword for the sake of this country—or rather… for the sake of the powerless.”

Remiya gazes at Silent with something close to reverence.
What made her feel that way was known only to her.
But it was certain: she was already half-infatuated with Silent.

“…Well, that’s unusual. For you to say something like that to anyone other than Burke-sama.”

“Hehe, true enough. …So, what shall we do? Given the situation, I’d say this is the perfect chance to slip out of the country.”

“Maybe so. But if we clumsily try to help that man, we might just get in the way… Perhaps it’s better if we take in those who need shelter at the guild.”

“Oh? That’s unexpected. I thought you’d leave the country while you still could.”

“It’s not that simple. I may hate the current royal family, but I still owe the townsfolk. And if what you say is true, then the war will be settled within a day or two, right? In that case, it’d be over before we even managed to escape. It’s far more meaningful to focus on evacuation efforts here.”

“…You’ve mellowed out quite a bit.”

The two of them laughed together, then rushed out of the guild to gather and shelter townsfolk who had been left with nowhere to flee in the wake of the battle—

The soldiers vanished from the streets.

Even more than the number I had cut down, they were disappearing.

Most likely, they had retreated back to the castle to regroup.

“…So far, everything’s going according to plan. All that’s left is… to fulfill the conditions.”

I headed for the castle. Golda Castle, standing tall on a hill deep within the city.

Along the sloping road, several gates were set up—every one of them sealed shut, barred and locked.

Did they really think that would be an obstacle?

I swung my greatsword down, shattering not just the doors but the gates themselves, and pressed forward.

But—through the rising smoke and dust of the destroyed gate, I caught the scent of something else.

The next instant—my whole body was engulfed in a thunderous explosion and searing heat.

Gunpowder. Most likely hidden within the gates and ignited remotely.

They had turned the entire structure into a bomb, attempting to crush me with it.

I silently applauded the Golda army for their ingenuity.

Not bad. I actually took some damage this time. My skin was slightly burned.

“…Stings a little.”

But I didn’t heal it. Because this would be useful later.

It seemed every gate had been rigged with gunpowder, and I found it ridiculous to take such blasts at close range every time. From then on, I destroyed them from afar before proceeding.

And so, when I finally reached the castle grounds—

“They’ve gathered quite a force… No, it’s more accurate to say they’ve scraped together every last man they could.”

All available soldiers had been assembled there. Dozens of archers stationed on the high ground. Dozens of mage-soldiers ready to unleash spells.

And of course… the moment they saw me, everything was fired at once.

“Tch! That’s… taking a fair bit out of me—!”

Roaring flames and lightning tore at my body, and arrows rained down into the scorched flesh.

I could feel it—the damage was greater than before.

I swept my greatsword wide, dispersing the lingering traces of magic.

Still, the arrows didn’t stop. I gave up trying to hold position, and instead charged straight into the soldier formations.

That at least forced the archers to cease, lest they hit their allies. But then spears lunged at me from all directions.

I took them all, trampling and tearing through the soldiers.

“He’s not stopping! He won’t stop!!!”

“More spears! Pin him down—!!”

Wave after wave of soldiers rushed in with spears. I swung my greatsword wildly, cutting them apart, dealing back far more damage than I received.

It was a one-sided massacre. I rampaged through them, sword sweeping in wide arcs, bodies sliced to pieces and hurled across the field. The sight alone was enough to terrify the archers above.

Their arrows stopped completely. Even though this was the very moment they should have continued firing, ignoring their comrades below—their hands trembled in fear.

“Pathetic!!”

I unleashed Gale Break at the castle’s high platforms.

Part of the structure crumbled, sending archers crashing down along with the rubble.

I crushed them, cut them down, trampled them underfoot.

And after all this—after they had gathered such numbers—the only wounds they managed to inflict on me were spearpoints that barely pierced the flesh.

Not even slashes. Just shallow indentations. Almost no blood at all.

It was absurd. Even I wondered—how could anyone possibly defeat me like this?

But covered in countless corpses’ blood, drenched head to toe, I must have looked like the walking dead myself.

As though I’d dumped a bucket of blood over my head.

Drenched, with no clean spot left, my every step carrying the stench of gore.

It should have been nauseating. Repulsive.

And yet—there was a part of me reveling in it.

Not just Silent… I myself was enjoying it. The act of cutting down enemies filled me with a twisted joy.

There was no doubt now—my mind was being dragged into Silent’s madness.

And more than anything—

“Just as planned… things are progressing.”

“Once swollen, false illusions must be erased at least once,” Still had said. …Honestly, it had opened my eyes.

And I came to understand that it was indeed necessary. That’s why… I went along with his plan.

At a glance, I looked near death. My figure was that of someone cornered, staggering as I made my way into the crumbling castle.

By now, there were likely no other soldiers left. No one appeared to block my intrusion.

I advanced through the familiar halls of the castle. My destination… the audience chamber.

That’s where they’ll be, right? With the king… surely they’ve kept their strongest warriors by his side?

With every step, bloodied footprints stained the corridor.

Blood dripped down my forehead, decorating me as though I were weeping crimson tears.

At last, I arrived before the doors of the audience chamber. A fateful reunion.

I kicked open the great doors.

A thunderous boom resounded, and I saw the bodies inside flinch at the shock.

“It’s been a while, King Golda. And… those brats as well. Seems you lost to your little comrades and came running back with your tails between your legs, didn’t you?”

The king sat upon his throne. Standing before him as his shields were Isaka and Inami.

And of course… he was there.

An older man dressed in something like a black trench coat, his demeanor evoking an English gentleman.

…Was he the mastermind, or merely a messenger?

“You…! How dare you show your face before me, Silent!!”

“I thought I’d let you rot on your own, but it seems the chance to end things came sooner than I expected. So I came to personally deliver your last rites.”

“Ugh…! Isaka! Inami! Kill him—kill this man at once!!”

At the enraged command of the king, Inami hesitated timidly while Isaka stepped forward brimming with confidence.

“What’s this? You mean to challenge me? Even though I’ve heard you couldn’t do a damn thing against that ‘half-baked weakling brat’?”

“…So it’s true. You were working with Shizuma, weren’t you? Betrayers are well-suited to each other, I see.”

“And yet you—who couldn’t even defeat that traitor—are nothing but a small fry. And that woman with you… still hopping from one host to another, huh? What’s the matter, are you that drawn to this failure of a man?”

I provoked them, feeding them fragments.

That Shizuma was “only half-strong.” That compared to Silent, he was “nothing but trash.”

And then—

“You sound awfully confident, brat. You think you can actually beat me?”

“I do. …Because you’ve fallen perfectly into our plan. And now I’ll prove it to you!”

In that instant, my blade had already swung.

The throne shattered. My attack grazed the fleeing king’s back and tore through the castle itself.

Walls, ceiling—collapsed in a single strike.

“Lucky it didn’t hit you, King. Now then, brat, I’ll be your opponent.”

I leveled the massive sword I had swung. Time to shape the battlefield. Time to sweep away the unnecessary.

The night sky stretched above us. With walls and ceiling crumbling, a canopy of stars glittered over our heads.

“…You’ve exhausted yourself greatly, Silent. And… you’ve already spilled far too much blood here.”

Thus began an unwanted battle.

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