“So… Heavenly Demon, why are you here? I fought to stop the Demon Lord’s escape, but…”
I stood up, stretching my muscles. Everything had healed completely. I was confident I could wield a sword and use Vacuum Slash again if needed.
“You mean to tell me you fell from the sky without even knowing where you were? What an amusing fool,” remarked the Heavenly Demon, Baek Mok-ryun, chuckling incredulously as she observed me.
Why was she laughing? I glanced around.
“…Is this the Endless Monster Forest I know?”
Something was off. It resembled the forest I had been in earlier, but it was denser, more foreboding—an ominous, corrupted version.
“Not exactly. This is the heart of that forest,” she replied. “It’s not a place one can reach by ordinary means.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, feeling an unshakable unease. Her cryptic explanation wasn’t reassuring.
“This place is like a living prison, boy.”
“A prison… don’t tell me…”
Baek Mok-ryun let out a deep sigh, her gaze lifting toward the void above. I followed her line of sight.
“…”
The sky seemed clear, but there was an unsettling stillness. The clouds didn’t move—not even the faintest shift over time.
This was bad.
“Because of the Authority of Ignorance, this is a place no one can escape from.”
“Then… are you also trapped here?”
“Yes. It’s been about fifteen years now.”
This explained why she only reappeared at the very end of Knight Heart.
‘The game mentioned she was imprisoned somewhere, unable to escape because of the Authority of Ignorance.’
So this was that place. While chasing Magic Hat’s escape, I’d fallen into the same trap.
I adjusted my helmet and cursed under my breath.
Of course, it was Head again.
After thinking I had dealt with the Demon Lord of Truth, now the Demon Lord of Omniscience had me ensnared. I needed to return to the academy—people were depending on me.
“Is there no way out?” I asked.
“We need only find the right direction, boy,” she replied.
“Direction…?”
I was still alive. There had to be hope.
***
The Grand Hearts Academia – Swordsmanship Training Grounds
“…”
In the training yard, a young swordswoman relentlessly swung her blade until dawn. It was Phine, the Imperial Princess.
“Your Highness,” came a voice.
Standing nearby, Nex Aureus, her violet-haired companion, watched with a disapproving expression. He finally broke the silence, addressing her exhausted state.
“…I heard about Licht’s disappearance. But this isn’t your fault. You don’t have to do this to yourself.”
“No… it is my fault.”
“Really? Did Licht say that?” Nex’s blunt tone carried a hint of frustration.
Phine lowered her blade, turning toward Nex with anger and bitterness boiling over.
“If only I’d been stronger…! If I were like my mother, I wouldn’t have let Magic Hat take him!”
Her memories of the past tormented her. She hadn’t expected the Black Knight—the man with the helmet that concealed so much—to sacrifice himself for her.
“It’s my fault… Licht, too…”
At first, she thought he’d return soon, brushing it off as one of his cunning maneuvers. But as days turned to weeks, his absence became undeniable.
The Imperial Guard reported no trace of him. Even the knights she’d sent into the forest found no sign of Licht.
“I should’ve fought alongside him…”
“Your Highness…”
It was almost certain he was dead. The Demon Lord of Truth was too powerful.
Phine hung her head, haunted by thoughts of what might have been. If she had listened to him, tried harder, could she have changed things? Licht had wielded Kainel’s Holy Sword and fallen, trying to protect them.
“Nex… do you think… there could really be such a thing as a kind Demon Lord?”
“You’re talking about Licht?”
“…”
At first, she had been terrified, convinced he was a Demon Lord. But Licht never changed. Now, Phine wondered if she could’ve stopped him, had she acted sooner.
“If you mean Licht, I think it’s possible,” Nex said thoughtfully.
“What? Really?”
“Yeah. You know better than anyone that heroes and Demon Lords are still just people.”
“…That’s true.”
She hesitated, recalling the moment Licht entrusted her with the care of the Nameless Saintess before heading into the fray.
“Besides, Licht is too pure-hearted to be an actual Demon Lord. It doesn’t suit him at all.”
“…You’re right. That’s my failure.”
“Licht is alive. I’m sure of it. He’s not the kind of person to go down so easily,” Nex said with confidence.
At his words, Phine steeled herself. She needed to become stronger.
Someone like Licht could protect others, even at the cost of his life. Phine’s strength wasn’t enough—her sacrifices only came in hindsight.
Licht was everything she wasn’t: unusual, strong, but unyielding in his flaws. A contradiction, yet unforgettable.
“…If I meet Magic Hat again,” she muttered.
Phine approached the wooden training dummy once more, determination burning in her eyes.
“I’ll give it my all, just like Licht did.”
Schwing.
Her sword sliced cleanly through the dummy, its cut precise and resolute.
The sound of wood splitting filled the training grounds as the dummy fell in half. Phine had flawlessly executed the Shadow Slash, the first technique of the Drake School Swordsmanship.