Circumstances of a Fallen Lord - Chapter 142

Chapter 142

 

The two didn’t enter the large front door but instead cautiously opened the smaller side-door. That door and the connecting passageway was often used by servants, and the two were able to enter without incurring much attention.

 

Luisen and Carlton took stock of the enemy’s situation.

 

The banquet hall was dark, but the area around the demon worshippers was relatively light since they were surrounded by countless lit candles.

 

The altar was placed at the head of the banquet hall, where the king’s seat would normally be placed. This altar was decorated so splendidly–it couldn’t compare to what we saw in the centipede den. Dead beasts were hung upside down around the altar, and blood droplets dripped down continuously. 

 

In front of the altar, there was a statue of a mountain goat with four horns and three eyes. The stone statue was particularly eye-catching because of its subtle glow. Red lines were inscribed atop the statue, resembling blood vessels; it looked as if the arteries had been stripped from a living person’s body and transplanted directed onto the statue’s surface.

 

‘How gruesome,’ Luisen thought. He didn’t know what purpose everything served, but this all looked terribly ominous.

 

The demon worshippers formed a semi-circle in front of the altar. There were about a dozen of them. Count Doubless led the demon worshippers closest to the altar in their ritual.

 

When the Count spoke, the demon worshippers mumbled something in unison. The resulting call-and-response resembled the chanting of some spell. From another perspective, the worshippers looked as if they were fervently praying. They shook back and forth, as if they were intoxicated. Occasionally, it felt as if the air itself was trembling.

 

At that moment, the low-hanging dark crimson mist surrounding the demon worshippers whipped up into a whirlwind, gathering mass until it formed a gargantuan snake. Wriggling, the snake slithered into the statue, becoming the blood that ran through the stone’s veins. 

 

As time passed, the stone statue increasingly appeared to be alive. Looking at it, Luisen wondered if the statue had absorbed the vitality contained within the entire palace. When he recalled all the people he had seen while climbing to this banquet hall, perhaps his hunch wasn’t so far off.

 

‘It really feels like they’re going to summon a devil.’

 

The bizarre sight momentarily overwhelmed Luisen and Carlton; then, the two looked at each other.

 

The bizarreness of the situation was actually in their favor. The demon worshippers had let their guard down. They had believed everything was going according to plan and had immersed themselves in their ritual without stationing additional guards around them. Perhaps they had too much faith in the Death Knight.

 

The two moved.

 

Unaware of that fact, the ninth worshiper was totally absorbed in his ritual. The stone statue was gradually coming to life. Their god would ascend there. He was so happy, he was dizzy from giddy joy. 

 

They had been in danger a few times, but, now that all things had passed, the worshiper thought that they did well to follow the count’s commands. Everything had gone according to the count’s plans, and now no one could stand in their way.

 

Who could have imagined that they could cause such a pandemonium in the middle of the palace after having to hide for so long. He was thrilled at the thought that all these precious blue-bloods that he couldn’t even stare at before were now reduced to mere sacrifices.

 

Everything was perfect.

 

‘Ahahahaha, I’ll now obtain an even greater strength. Now, the world will be plunged into utter mayhem. Now, I’ll be able to please him even more,’ he thought.

 

At that moment, something flew in front of him.

 

Crash–!

 

A small glass bottle.

 

The bottle shattered as it hit the statue; its contents burst out. The stone statue seemed fine and intact. The demon worshippers noticed the intruders in their midst as they looked towards the direction the bottle came from.

 

“Over here, you crazy bastards!” Carlton brandished his blade as he stepped out. Unprepared, the demon worshiper’s head flew from its neck.

 

“Block him! Damn–! What is that Death Knight doing?!” The ninth worshiper gestured towards Carlton. As he did so, the windows in the hall shattered as bat monsters rushed towards Carlton. The demon worshippers moved as one to keep Carlton in check. Though the mercenary was strong, he was alone.

 

“What does he think he can do by himself?!” The demon worshippers sneered. 

 

However, as they busied themselves with Carlton, blue flames suddenly rose from the altar.

 

“Fire!” 

 

They noticed Luisen sneaking around the altar with flint in hand.

 

‘They were planning a diversion from the start! We were fooled!’

 

“No!” The ninth worshiper’s face turned as pale as a corpse as he shouted. 

 

The flames on the altar were no ordinary fire. The blue flames were filled with the light of the god’s divine protection. It burned fiercely, consuming the dark red mist as its fuel.

 

The blue flames quickly engulfed the altar. As the blue flames grew more intense and vigorous, the red mist surrounding the castle became faint. The demon worshiper’s powers were also weakening as the dark, crimson mist receded. As the number of monsters the heretics could control diminished, the monsters’ collective strength was also significantly weakened. 

 

At this rate, the tide would turn! The ritual would stop!

 

“First, extinguish the fire on the altar! That takes priority!” the ninth worshipper shouted. The ninth worshipper called to his comrades to summon the Death Knight. However, it didn’t respond–where was it and what was it doing? ‘This can’t be happening!’

 

The worshiper felt an ominous premonition, but he couldn’t do anything about it. Therefore, he called for another monster.

 

Four or five more bat monsters flew through the broken window. The monsters, alongside a few demon worshippers, ran to the altar. However, they were blocked by Carlton and could not get close. With astonishing agility, Carlton darted around, preventing the demon worshippers from approaching the altar.

 

“Damn!” The demon worshiper looked anxiously at the altar and swore. Even if he were to attack, Carlton would just block him.

 

The only person that was close to the altar was Count Doubless, who had been standing in front of the altar from the very beginning. However, he was looking somewhere other than the burning altar: Luisen.

 

Originally, Luisen was only supposed to light the fire and run away when Carlton drew everyone’s attention. However, when the fire was lit, the small amount of oil made the fire slow to start. And, the count was far too close to the altar to guarantee success.

 

If the Count were to extinguish the fire, it would be a problem, so Luisen, in a snap-judgment, deliberately lingered near the altar. 

 

The count noticed Luisen immediately and was astonished, “You! How could you be here?!”

 

Luisen raised his chin and smirked. He ridiculed the count with the most arrogant expression he could muster and turned away. That single action proved more effective in provoking the count than ten words.

 

The image of the former Duke overlapped with Luisen; the count was, once again, drawn into his dreadful, bygone memories. Vivid shame and anger welled up within–emotions that he had experienced back then were directly transplanted to today. Even now–even when he was no longer the pitiful being he had been so long ago!

 

“You dare, Duke Anies?! How dare you! Again! To me!” the Count roared. His vision blurred with rage.

 

‘I’m going to catch you and kill you. I’ll really kill you! You dare attempt to destroy everything I have once again? My plans have almost come into fruition, and yet you dare disregard and ridicule me?!’

 

Consumed by the thought of murdering Luisen, the count chased after the young lord.

 

‘My Count!’ The ninth worshiper shouted when he saw the count departing his position. However, his cries didn’t seem to reach the count’s ears.

 

“Damn!” The ninth worshiper lunged forward; however, Carlton blocked his way. He bodied the mercenary with all his might, but, as he did so, his arm was cut off. However, he didn’t stop.

 

“Quickly, extinguish the flames. Protect the altar–the ritual must continue. We cannot let the ritual be ruined. Not when we’ve come this far.” He took off his robe and frantically tried to smother the flames with the cloth. “Go out, be gone… be… be gone… Ack!” He muttered.

 

Carlton slashed at the ninth worshiper’s back. The ninth worshipper collapsed onto the altar, and the sacred blue flames spread even more fiercely, consuming the heretic.

 

“Arghh! Do something! Gather all the monsters here!”

 

“We have no more monsters left! We’re fucked! Run away!” 

 

With the ninth worshiper, who had been their leader, dead, the other demon worshippers were thrown into chaos. Those trying to protect the altar and those trying to flee collided in a tumultuous mess. Not far away, the Paladins’ shouts could be heard.

 

The count should have rallied them, but his attention was drawn to Luisen. When brandished his arm, a stark white hand popped out of the young lord’s shadow and grabbed Luisen’s leg.

 

Cr-r-ash–!

 

Luisen stumbled heavily to the ground.

 

“Nngh,” Luisen tried to stand up, but the count was half-a-beat faster. He turned the young lord’s body around and clambered on top.

 

Slap–!

 

The Count slapped Luisen on the cheek. Luisen’s face snapped to the side from the impact. 

 

“You again… You again! It’s always you! Duke Anies. Just how much do you hate me…? Why do you always ruin my life? Tell me, Robert Anies!” The count’s face turned bright red and contorted monstrously. His eyes had rolled up from rage; he couldn’t tell whether it was Luisen or his father in front of him. No, to be frank, anyone would have sufficed. It was all ruined—it was all doomed. If it’s come to this, then he might as well just kill the Anies household for sure.

 

The count strangled Luisen; he was incredibly powerful despite being middle-aged. Luisen struggled with all his might, but he couldn’t push the count away.

 

“Knngh–!” Luisen felt like his neck was going to break; he was suffocating. Luisen struggled from the agonizing pain.

 

‘I have to… get him… off…’

 

Luisen recalled the self-defense moves he had learned from Carlton. Thanks to the long hours of practice, the movements came naturally. He raised his arm and struck the count’s arm with his elbow. The solid bone of the young lord’s elbow hit the joint where the count’s arm bent, and naturally, the count’s arm folded.

 

With that, the hand that had been strangling Luisen naturally released its grip. The count also stumbled when his arm folded because he was carrying his entire weight on his arm. Luisen took that opportunity to raise his arm again and struck at the count’s temple with all his strength.

 

Baam–!

 

Count’s head also snapped quickly to the side. As a result of strangulation, Luisen was unable to muster the strength to escape from the count. his head was dizzy, and it felt like his arms were about to break. His neck hurt so much. He wanted to stretch it out, but Luisen suppressed that urge, squeezed out the rest of the strength residing in his muscles, and pushed the count’s body away.

 

That was enough. If Luisen were alone, the count might have come to his senses and fought back, but Luisen had Carlton. As soon as the count was pushed back–the moment the count was able to snap out of his dazed state–Carlton’s sword penetrated the count’s neck.

 

“Kknn–ugh!”

 

The count looked between the young lord and protruding blade in his neck in disbelief. Luisen stared at the count with a firm, unmoving gaze. Would the man come back to life in some bizarre, supernatural way?

 

However, that was the count’s last moment of life. When Carlton withdrew his sword, the count fell down alongside a waterfall of blood. His expression showcased disbelief at the turn of events.

 

Carlton kicked the count’s body aside and sat on his knees before Luisen. “Luisen. Are you alright?”

 

“Uh… Ah…” Luisen nodded vacantly. 

 

Carlton used his sleeve to wipe off the blood on Luisen’s face. As Luisen felt that cautious touch, reality began to sink in.

 

While Luisen was fighting against the count, the Paladins had stormed the ritual site. They immediately began to attack the demon worshippers, and Carlton, who was now freed to move about, had saved Luisen.

 

It didn’t seem like there was a need for Luisen and Carlton to step forward to deal with the demon worshipers personally. As Luisen looked around at his surroundings, his eyes stopped on the stone statue.

 

The stone statue had returned to its normal state when the ritual stopped. However, it was somewhat unsettling to look into the statue–which was looking back at him–when there was a possibility that the statue could become a demon.

 

“…Carlton. Let me borrow your sword.”

 

“Yes, Luisen.”

 

Luisen took Carlton’s sword and approached the statue; Carlton followed. While Carlton deftly wielded the sword with one hand, it felt heavy to Luisen even when held with both hands. Luisen raised the sword high and forcefully struck the statue’s waist, imbuing the blow with all the weight the young lord could muster.

 

Thud–!

 

Although Luisen didn’t particularly have much strength, the stone statue was easily broken. Perhaps the fragility was caused by the flames, or perhaps the statue was sloppily constructed. In any case, a crack appeared, spider-webbing out in all directions from where Luisen struck.

 

Crumble–!

 

The stone statue crumbled uselessly. It fractured into nothing but debris, rolling around on the ground. Luisen stared at it for a moment before looking around the banquet hall. 

 

The ritual had failed. All the demon worshippers were killed or overpowered; same for Count Doubless as well. Their altar was burned down by Luisen, leaving behind only ashes. The dark, crimson mist that had engulfed the whole castle had vanished.

 

Morrison, who had joined with the Paladins, also delivered news from the South. The battle began sooner than expected, and that side had already finished with their subjugation.

 

‘Really… It took so long.’

 

One by one, the events that had happened in the previous timeline passed through Luisen’s brain. Memories of the confusion and resulting determination that welled up within him immediately after his regression sifted up from the dregs of his memories. He had only sought to correct one mistake and save his territory befitting his position as a Great Lord… But he came so far. He had suffered more than he could have imagined, but a lot has changed thanks to this.

 

Luisen looked Carlton. Carlton smiled and lightly kissed Luisen. Neither he nor the mercenary would fall to ruin, like what had happened in the past. The young lord felt overwhelmed and proud. This was worth all the hard work.

 

Before he knew it, the dawn was rising. The deep darkness was pushed away, and brightness touched everywhere. Soon, the distinctive blue light of dawn poured in the banquet hall, shining on Luisen and Carlton.