Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Once the tumult came to an end, peace finally returned to the place.

Under the dominion of the Black Tower, the extremists were eradicated and the leaders who survived swore submission. The inflexible doctrine of “Black Justice” was firmly established in the Black Tower of the Necropolis.

A mandate built upon the blood and remains of those who dared to rebel.

At the same time, the descendant of the Crimson Duke, Ray Eurys, returned to the imperial city, while Dale continued to polish his capabilities, increasing his power constantly.

However, while tranquility settled in the duchy of Saxon, diverse voices against the oppression of the empire began to rise, breaking the silence one after another.

On the eastern edge of the territory.

On the other side of the Calais Strait lay the kingdom of Britannia, made up of four vast islands.

When the empire unleashed its unification campaign, commanded by its champion from another reality, the nation succumbed and was reduced to a mere province. At that time, Aurelia was nothing more than the descendant of a serf.

A girl who witnessed the loss of her loved ones and her homeland due to the conflict, plunged into despair by her own frailty.

Several years after the empire’s unification campaign concluded, an entity communicated with Aurelia, the humble daughter of the serf.

— I will provide you with strength. Free the Kingdom of Britannia from the imperial darkness.

That was the design of the Twin Goddesses of Sistina. Along with these words, the undeniable manifestation of the celestial will appeared before Aurelia.

The descendant of a serf was granted a dignity that was unattainable even for warriors who dedicated their entire existence to training.

Avatar.

Without hesitation, Aurelia assumed her destiny and wielded steel to become the protector who would rescue her people.

Baptized as the Holy Maiden Aurelia, held to be the living incarnation of divinity, she assumed without hesitation the command of the rebels who opposed imperial oppression. The defenders of the subjugated nation began to congregate, motivated by her magnetism.

In this way, the emancipatory campaign began to snatch her homeland, the Kingdom of Britannia, from the clutches of the empire.

The dark steel of the Death Knight traced an arc in space. Dale of Saxon, the empire’s greatest promise, commanded the soulless entity.

Facing his position was a girl holding a dark-hued blade.

Charlotte, wearing the shadowy armor of the Night Raven Knight, exchanged stabs with the Death Knight controlled by Dale.

This constituted the novel training system in which both had engaged.

Dale refined his ability to transmit his swordsmanship through the Death Knight, while Charlotte polished her combat skills, replicating each strike with exactitude.

A practice procedure so surprising that it caused a great impact. The warriors of the Duchy of Saxon watched with astonishment at the ingenious methodology employed by Dale.

A simultaneous advance in the art of steel and the secrets of necromancy.

Clang!

The Death Knight, imbued with the conditions of a paladin, lunged with speed. Charlotte’s dark weapon skillfully parried the impact and responded with promptness, handling the Saxon greatsword with the ease of a light rapier.

Both steels charged with dark energy impacted again and again in the environment, immersed in a perennial conflict.

An innate talent for combat.

Even though Dale did not yet transmit the entirety of his martial mastery to the Death Knight, Charlotte’s aptitude to not only keep pace but to surpass him was truly astounding.

The evolution of Charlotte, who had reached the rank of Aura Knight at such a young age, caused admiration even in Dale himself.

For the purpose of accelerating her progress, the most outstanding combatants of the Duchy of Saxon provided her with training of the highest category.

Her principal instructor was Sir Helmut Blackbear, the most powerful warrior of the northern lands.

The instruction she received went far beyond the simple mastery of weapons.

Just like Dale, Charlotte assimilated notions of military tactics under the tutelage of Sir Helmut, preparing to command the hosts of the Saxon duchy in her role as a future defender of Dale.

It was a portentous triumph.

A contest that could only be resolved in favor through the favor of divinity.

For that reason, the distinguished warrior Gilles de Rais, who served as the right hand of the Holy Maiden Aurelia, experienced an uncontrollable fervor.

The numerical disparity was four to one.

The emancipatory forces of Britannia, consisting of 10,000 combatants and commanded by the Holy Maiden.

On the opposite side, 40,000 imperial combatants were deployed, backed by contingents from the continental territory, accompanied by 5,000 paid combatants equipped with crossbows. The mounted units and the heavy battalions of the empire possessed an unquestionable advantage.

For the rebel hosts, it was a scenario with no options for triumph, and for the imperial forces, a confrontation impossible to bungle.

However, the Holy Maiden Aurelia led her people toward glory.

Only 10,000 combatants of the Britannia resistance defeated a joint army of 45,000 imperial effectives.

What the Holy Maiden Aurelia demonstrated was not limited to the mere grace of the deity Sistina.

It was a highly brilliant strategic approach.

Positioning the longbow combatants in a geometric V-shape on the elevations of the terrain, ordering her riders to fight on foot, and carrying out a meticulous deployment of her units, she pulverized the imperial heavy cavalry that advanced against her.

It gave the impression that she anticipated perfectly every strategy and enemy displacement.

Even before the irruption of high-caliber combatants, who intended to reverse the situation through the use of “unconventional force,” it was the Holy Maiden Aurelia herself who stood up to them.

Was it believable that it was the descendant of a serf who had never wielded a bladed weapon in her existence?

A girl devoid of formal military instruction, commanding a confrontation of major proportions and overcoming every adversity to claim the triumph?

It represented a prodigy that only found an answer in the designs of the deity.

“For the Holy Maiden Aurelia!”

“The Holy Maiden, backed by the mercy and benevolence of the Twin Goddesses Sistina, is with us!”

Dominated by devotion, the warrior Gilles de Rais knelt.

Before the savior of the fatherland, equipped with metallic attire of pristine white and holding the banner that represented the Kingdom of Britannia.

The enthusiasm of the combatants who gave their lives alongside the Holy Maiden was incalculable.

“This victory was due entirely to the dedication of each one of you.”

In the midst of those present, the savior of the fatherland, Aurelia, expressed herself with modesty, transferring the merit of the results to the troops under her command.

“I beg you to lift your gaze.”

Under the solar radiance, her golden hair waved with the wind. A young woman of admirable distinction, in whom it was incredible to suppose a humble origin. An impeccable combatant, distant from any blemish.

“Oh, Holy Maiden…”

Facing the hegemony of the empire, the feat of the Holy Maiden Aurelia was barely beginning.

As night fell, having concluded her training, Charlotte proceeded to strip off her dark metallic attire and headed toward the area outside the bastion.

—Charlotte.

“D-Dale!”

Charlotte held her breath upon realizing that she lacked her dark head protection to safeguard her features.

“My, are you still in this place?”

She tried to cover the blush on her features and questioned him shyly.

“Would you prefer that I withdraw?”

Dale inquired, showing disinterest, to which Charlotte reacted by gesturing with disgust at his apparent coldness.

“I didn’t intend to suggest that!”

“So you wish for me to stay?”

“Fool!”

Charlotte did not find the courage to respond to Dale’s question and, in its place, manifested her discontent.

It was inevitable for her to perceive the boy who was next to her as someone extremely valuable.

The impression of his physical contact on that occasion remained engraved in her memory. That fueled her desires to increase her power, with the purpose of remaining by Dale’s side showing a superior worth.

“… I long to increase my power.”

After a brief lapse of quietude, Charlotte broke the silence. Dale dedicated a comforting gesture to her.

“Your current progress is already outstanding.”

He confirmed the constant effort that she demonstrated, practicing without rest day and night for the well-being of her superior.

“No, it is not enough.”

Despite that, Charlotte made a gesture of denial.

“I will become much more powerful.”

Evoking mentally the individual who occupied her most intimate thoughts.

“Until I transform into the most formidable warrior in the entire territory.”

The Divine Sword. The most fearsome weapon in the region.

Charlotte pronounced her oath and Dale nodded silently. Immediately after, he took her hand without emitting a word.

Charlotte’s thin shoulders experienced a slight trembling. By lacking the metallic protection that guarded her, she perceived herself as vulnerable as an infant devoid of garments.

“You possess the capacity to become strong.”

Dale manifested, holding her hand, unaware entirely of the emotions that gripped the young woman.

“It causes me great expectation to discover the level that your mastery of steel will reach.”

Expressing himself in his condition of superior, endowed with a calm certitude.

“… Agreed.”

Charlotte nodded in response. Her flushed features, exposed upon removing the helmet, provoked in her a perturbation comparable to that of exhibiting her intimacy.

Before the boy for whom she guarded affection, she experienced the sensation of uncovering a hidden mystery. Her pulse accelerated noticeably.

“Listen, Dale.”

Impelled by an uncontrollable tide of feelings, Charlotte addressed him.

“What is happening?”

She moved her golden locks aside and approached with shyness.

A brief contact.

A clean and sincere graze on Dale’s features by the young woman.

“Charlotte…”

“Consider it simply a sample of affection for your support!”

Charlotte exclaimed, with her face ignited, attempting to simulate tranquility.

“You have provided me with enormous assistance and I hold a great debt to you… So this constitutes an exclusive detail for you!”

“Is that so?”

Dale showed her a smiling gesture, with a countenance similar to one who contemplates the clean reactions of an infant.

“I thank you.”

“Well, I…”

Charlotte saw herself deprived of arguments to reply to Dale’s courtesy and kept silent. Having passed a moment, she intervened again.

“You have experienced a great transformation.”

“You think so?”

“Indeed.”

Dale tilted his face, disconcerted by the observation.

“How could I express it? You transmit a greater serenity, you look more… mature, one could say.”

Charlotte commented. Her words made no allusion to his martial or mystical skills. Dale showed himself confused before the unexpected analysis.

“… I understand, I thank you.”

“I am the one who must show gratitude.”

Dale replied, and Charlotte nodded shyly, perceiving the temperature of their intertwined fingers.

Without pronouncing a word, under the frigid nocturnal atmosphere, they observed the celestial bodies that twinkled above them.

Entering the night, in Dale’s private dependencies.

Rememorating the experiences shared with Charlotte, Dale raised his gaze.

“I do not harbor the illusion that my faults obtain forgiveness.”

He evoked the expressions poured out by his progenitor, the Black Duke.

“However, the forces of the Empire and the longings of the Crimson Duke will not stop at this point.”

The appreciations of his progenitor were accurate. The motive for which the Crimson Duke had sought the collaboration of Dale in his quality of future “Lord of the Black Tower” consisted of establishing a renewed alliance of darkness.

His goal was absolute.

“The Empire will persist in its experimental procedures with the end of accessing again to the plane of the absolute truth.”

And for the realization of such tests, they would not hesitate to provoke shedding of blood and affliction, emulating the past actions of the repudiated Black Legion.

“With the object of preventing the Empire from reiterating such infamies.”

“So that you find yourself in conditions to stand up to them.”

Not under the investiture of duke and successor of the Saxon lineage, but in quality of allies linked by one same notion of rectitude.

“I will transmit to you the knowledge and the strength that at the moment I extracted from that plane.”

Chapter 64