Unable to believe the reality confronting them.
Those who climbed the ramparts and faced the radiant, blinding despair all wailed, sighed, and gave in together.
"Why! Why, Lord Starnassila Urtega!"
"Duke, Your Excellency! Pull yourself together!"
"Why are you obeying the demon's orders! Please, snap out of it!"
"It's over now! We're all going to die!"
Despite the cries filled with grief and desperation echoing out, Starnassila Urtega didn't so much as twitch.
He simply expanded the size of his Aura Blade with a calm, expressionless face.
"Kahahahaha! Kuhahaha! How delightful! Truly delightful! Begging and pleading even after being betrayed! Isn't it just pitiful!"
Cambello's booming laughter rang out, his excitement over the top from the series of events—threats to his life, combat—that were bound to shake anyone's emotions.
"...Suuup."
Ignoring him entirely, Urtega—who had been endlessly growing his Aura Blade—carefully drew in a breath before beginning to shrink it once more.
"Kukuku... Hm? What are you doing now, Urtega? Why are you reducing the size... No, wait, that's not it?"
As Urtega began acting strangely, Cambello's lips, which had curled warily, split into a wide grin.
"Haha... Kuhahaha! You're 'compressing' it right now, aren't you!? That already pure and dense Aura Blade!"
Surprised, Cambello unwittingly raised his voice as he stared intently at the Aura Blade, analyzing it with his senses and knowledge.
"O, ohooo... Incredible. That's an enormous amount of energy. With that, you could wipe out the entire duke's manor—barriers and all...!"
"Suuup, fuuuuu..."
Finally, the Aura Blade—which had seemed to stretch to the heavens—compressed down like dew clinging to the sword's surface.
Though it trembled unstably, unrefined and smooth, its power was nonetheless incomparable.
Swoosh!
Urtrega aimed the sword tip toward the duke's manor, then slowly raised it overhead.
"Finally... I've surpassed it."
A small murmur.
No one heard it, but anyone who saw Urtega's expression would have been shocked.
For he wore a smile so radiant it was hard to believe it belonged to him.
"Kuhuhu, as expected... Hm?"
The next instant, Cambello sensed the curse binding Urtega's mind and soul ripple.
The moment he felt the oddity and tried to raise his guard, the curse—split into hundreds of strands—vanished without a trace.
"...!!"
Sensing danger, Cambello hurriedly summoned his demonic energy.
But the instincts of a high demon were already screaming that it was too late.
Urttega's sword pointed in the opposite direction without moving an inch—yet it was too late. Far too late.
Something was coming.
No—something had already struck its target and passed.
"Kuk...!?"
He had prepared three life-saving measures.
The first was a backup demonic energy storage device embedded in his heart.
In emergencies, it allowed him to use twice the usual demonic energy, and with pre-engraved magic circles, it activated a powerful barrier during use.
The second was the incantation eye in his right eye.
Packed with curses and vengeful spirits, it exploded on activation, devastating the surroundings in one go.
The final third was Soul Lord.
A true last resort: when death was inevitable, his soul would escape his body and possess a pre-prepared clone.
It required Soul Gears to pave the soul's path in advance and a nearby clone due to distance limits, but success guaranteed survival and escape.
"...!?...??"
But Cambello couldn't use a single one of those three.
His body, Soul Gears, and even Soul Lord were already crumbling to dust.
'When... how...!?'
Even if ambushed, failing to react until he was reduced to powder was utterly abnormal.
Forcibly clinging to his fading consciousness, Cambello looked at Urtega and was even more horrified.
Because the Aura Blade he had compressed for so long hadn't been used at all.
'Not cut by the Aura Blade? Then what the hell...'
Slash.
The final strike.
Clean, perfect—yet cold and still—trajectory severed Cambello's consciousness itself.
Unable to finish his question, Cambello met complete death.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Boom! Bwoooom!
"...You really went all out."
I let out a hollow chuckle at the sight of Urtega annihilating hordes of undead with his compressed Aura Blade.
Was that really the firepower one human could wield?
"Oppa! Father won! He saved Terrabaon!"
"Yeah, yeah. Ugh. If you're gonna jump around, do it in Mother's arms."
I tossed the bouncing Vivian over almost like discarding her, and Pitra caught her deftly, letting out a sigh of relief mixed with complex emotions.
"Is it all over now?"
"Well... there's cleanup, but that's not my problem."
Ignoring her glare, I lounged onto the bed.
"I'm tired, so I'm going to sleep."
"Haa... Fine. Rest well."
"Sure... Oh, right. The coordinates for Father..."
As I slumped down, my consciousness plummeted, and right after giving the coordinates, I passed out like I'd fainted.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
At least I'd protected the duke's family that would serve as my backing.
The damage was too severe to call it "protected," but the family's prestige wouldn't diminish.
No—it was poised to shine even brighter and greater than before.
Because Starnassila Urtega had broken through the Sword Master wall to reach the 'Demi God' realm.
A realm free from the shackles of the sword.
A realm where mere thought could cleave all.
The demigod realm.
What had erased Cambello without a trace was none other than his Sword Heart, akin to divine power.
While I slept, Urtega swept away all the undead, returned to the duke's manor, and underwent another awakening to finally reach that realm.
Knock knock!
At that moment, a small knock sounded, and a face with brown hair peeked in.
"Um, excuuuse me... Lord Alzen. May I clean nowww...?"
"What...?"
"Eek! S-Sorry...!"
"Oh... Everil, huh. You survived nicely."
"Ahaha... Y-Yes... I got lucky..."
I nodded to the awkwardly smiling young maid, and she toddled in, straightening the blankets and clearing empty bottles.
Watching her with slightly drunken eyes, I couldn't help but think she lived diligently.
At least far more upright and noble than me.
"Hmm..."
Gulp.
As I downed my drink, a sudden thought struck me, and I rummaged through the drawer for a pouch.
A heavy pouch clinking with coins... This world was oddly advanced in some areas like modern times, yet so conservative in others.
How long did they plan to keep using bulky, heavy coins?
"Hey."
"Y-Yes!?"
I beckoned the girl—who startled from her cleaning—to come closer.
"Wh-Why...? Did I do something wrong...?"
I hadn't said a word yet, but she looked ready to burst into tears at a touch.
I understood Starnassila Alzen's abuses had been excessive, but separately, wasn't her mentality too fragile?
"Take it."
"Hek!? W-Woah...!"
I shoved a handful of coins into her hand, and she flailed before barely catching them, her face shocked.
Because what I gave wasn't copper or silver—but a pile of gold coins.
"Uh, uhh... An errand...?"
"No, for you to keep."
"I haven't done work valuable enough for this much gold..."
"Just take it. Consider it a survival bonus."
"B-But..."
Irritation flared as she kept refusing.
Ah, I'm so languid even moving my mouth is a chore, yet she keeps making me talk. Can't she just take it quietly?
"Just take it... Wanna die?"
"Eek!? Y-Yes! Thank you!"
Only when I lowered my voice did she grasp my mood and bow hastily.
"Fuu... Good. Leave once you're done cleaning."
"Ah, I haven't finished everything yet..."
"..."
"I-I'm going...!"
I watched her distressed back as she scurried out the door with bleary eyes, then deeply inhaled cigarette smoke.
Beyond the window came wails, shouts, noisy debris cleanup, and demolition explosions—faintly audible.
"..."
It'd take the duke's family considerable time to recover all damage, so I'd have to endure those noises for a while.
Not my concern, but maybe because of the booze, idle thoughts swirled in my head.
For example, ways to save the duke's family with less damage.
Pointless now... but decent drunken diversion.
"Lord Starnassila Alzen."
"Ack!?"
A thick, low voice from right beside me nearly gave me a fit.
I was so startled 'Ah, you scared me!' came out as "Ack!?"
"Wh-What...? Who're you?"
Clutching my nearly burst heart, I backed away to see a man kneeling on one knee.
Clad head to toe in black, visibly honed physique, sharp gaze, extraordinary presence.
Definitely not an ordinary human.
"I am Kamishen, assigned from today to serve as Lord Starnassila Alzen's guard and attendant."
"Guard and attendant...? Ah, aa... Father sent a Shadow Knight, right?"
"..."
He didn't answer, but the silence was affirmation.
Gulp!
Staring blankly at this Kamishen while sipping booze, an uncontrollable rage suddenly surged.
"No, what the hell is this... Unbelievable!"
I shot to my feet, yelling, and stormed straight to the family head's office.
Kamishen watched me silently before melting into the shadows like a ghost.
O... Impressive. Shadow Arts, huh.
No, not the time to admire.
I needed to vent this boiling rage to feel better.
"This is too much... How could you treat me like this!"
Bam!
I roughly flung open the heavy doors to the family head's office, where Starnassila Urtega gazed at me with his usual blank expression.
With retainers swarming around, he must've been handling meetings and work simultaneously.
"Father!!"
"...Quiet. What is it, Starnassila Alzen."
"What is that Kamishen guy! Do you think this treatment makes any sense?!"
"Haa..."
He released the desk, leaned back, and gestured—retainers quietly exited.
The now-silent office echoed only with my ragged breathing.
"Alzen. It's a reasonable measure. I won't hide that it includes monitoring you. But it's also to protect you. Your current situation is..."
I cut off his rare rambling.
"If you're assigning a Shadow Knight, make it a tall, busty beauty—not some dark hunk! Isn't that obvious!? How could you treat me like this! Change it now!"
"..."
Urttega shut his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut.
Such a rare emotional display—it was a bit intriguing.