Chapter 138
Rank 8 – Part 7
『 Translator – Divinity 』
Magic and fists clashed. Aura that tore through space and magic that defied laws were directed at each other.
At first glance, it seemed like an even fight. Even though the Duke of Wei had the upper hand in both skill and experience, Beatrice was somehow matching him with her genius talent and senses… or so it seemed. As a Rank 1, I couldn’t tell what was going on.
There were just flashes, whooshes, and bangs. No matter how quickly I moved my eyes, I could barely see Beatrice or the Duke of Wei’s attacks, let alone their figures.
But even so, Beatrice was doing well.
She was, but…
‘…Should I use it soon?’
I could say with certainty that the current Beatrice, even in that state where she completely overcame her chronic illness, couldn’t defeat the Duke of Wei.
If I had seen the strength of a Rank 7 from the Archbishop, the power that the Rank 8 Duke of Wei displayed was simply absurd. Did it make sense that he could create a vacuum in the surrounding space with a single stomp of his foot?
If Rank 7 was the limit of humanity, Rank 8 felt like it transcended even that limit.
I reevaluated the Headmistress, who seemed so silly, and touched the ‘trump card’ that could summon her.
‘If I use this, the situation will be resolved immediately. But…’
The trump card was something I had seen before. The long-distance teleportation scroll that the dwarf acting mayor, Tir, used to come to the Headmistress’s office.
It had several drawbacks, like one side having to bear the mana cost that even the Headmistress found burdensome, but it was an insane item that could transport you from one end of the continent to the other. If you’re wondering how I got it, the Headmistress just took it along with other things last time.
If I tore this, the Headmistress could instantly cross space and appear next to me. I had no mana, so the Headmistress had to bear the entire cost, but even with her Aura half depleted, most problems could be solved.
Even now, if I summoned the Headmistress, she could rescue Beatrice.
But the problem was what came after.
‘If I do that, regardless of my intentions, it would be the Headmistress intervening in the civil war, and things would escalate in many ways.’
Not only the royal family, who were always looking for a chance to control the Headmistress, but also the Empire, the nearby nobles, and the Delphia Kingdom forces would target the Headmistress. A Rank 8 powerhouse was always a key figure in a war like this.
The Headmistress told me to summon her without hesitation if I was in danger, regardless of those problems. I also intended to summon her without hesitation if my life was in danger.
But the problem now was Beatrice, not me.
‘The fact that she could handle the mana in the air was something I happened to see on the strategy community… and although she succeeded, I don’t know what kind of side effects might follow.’
<Dark Kingdom> was a game divided into three parts, and I had only played through the first part. I knew how to completely cure Beatrice’s chronic illness, but I didn’t know what consequences it might have.
That’s why I put it off as much as possible… but I told Beatrice when she came to me for advice because she seemed troubled. Thanks to that, she was able to grow to a level comparable to a Rank 8 in an instant, but…
The problem was that the Duke of Wei was much stronger.
‘If Beatrice dies or is captured by the Duke of Wei, it will be the worst outcome. Here, I—.’
The Headmistress intervening in the Delphia civil war could be dealt with later, but if Beatrice died, there was no turning back.
Just as I hesitated for a moment and was about to take out my trump card from my pocket,
“…Your Highness?”
“From that expression, it seems you don’t know everything either, Finance Director. I would have been a bit scared if you hadn’t expected Beatrice to be pushed back.”
“Your Highness, now is…”
“So stay still. You’re trying to summon the Headmistress, aren’t you?”
“………”
“Well, I didn’t think you would actually come to the middle of this civil war alone. But you know how things might go wrong if you do that. So stay still.”
“But Her Highness Beatrice is in danger! It’s the Duke of Wei, of all people!”
“…Don’t worry.”
Click.
Crown Prince Zeke activated something in his hand.
With his ashen hair and tired eyes,
“The problems of Delphia… will be solved by Delphia.”
***
“Y-Your Highness? Where are you suddenly going!?”
“Your Highness! Stop him!”
“Your Highness! It’s dangerous over there! Her Highness Beatrice and the Duke of Wei are…!!”
He ran.
When was the last time he ran like this? The dignity of a crown prince, the majesty of a future king, or other reasons. He had never run to the point of being breathless like this.
But he had already abandoned all of that.
Seeing his father, who did nothing despite knowing the kingdom’s financial situation and reality,
And from the moment he personally went to see a mere Finance Director of an academy and visited the Headmistress,
He was prepared to abandon all that dignity and majesty.
‘…No, perhaps I couldn’t let go of it until the end.’
In the end, it was only at the very last moment that he ran so pathetically, abandoning all dignity and majesty. He was disgusted with himself.
What was a crown prince? What was a ruler? What was a drastic measure?
He was so pathetic himself. He killed his father, abandoned his family, and even tried to use his younger sister.
‘Beatrice.’
Come to think of it, there was a time when he last ran.
When he was young, he once ran away from his tutor and was playing in the dirt, hiding in the garden.
He suddenly heard a baby’s loud cries from a nearby tower and, curious, ran towards it.
What he found there was his father with an excited expression, his mother, who had now passed away, and…
—Did you run away again because you didn’t want to study? …Heehee, look. Zeke.
—This is your fourth sister.
He had many siblings. Several younger brothers and sisters.
Why did he take an interest in his fourth sister, whose number was even vague?
And when that interest faded, when his fourth sister’s talent, which the Archmage had acknowledged, was blocked by her chronic illness, and when Zeke grew up and stopped running,
He saw his fourth sister again.
‘You were always crying.’
When her anticipated talent became practically non-existent due to her chronic illness, their father’s interest in Beatrice waned, and she soon became the target of her other siblings’ frustrations.
To his fourth sister, who was bullied by her older sisters and brothers and cried alone in a corner…
…Zeke didn’t offer any comfort or help.
He just glanced at her and passed by.
He was never a good person. He sometimes helped Beatrice, but it was only out of pity.
—I don’t understand.
—What do you mean?
—Why do you sometimes help me and sometimes ignore me? Just bully me like my other siblings. Or please actively help me!
—…I’m going back.
—Brother!
No. It wasn’t actually pity.
He… was jealous of her,
Unlike him, who pretended to be Rank 5 despite being the crown prince because he had no talent, she had a talent acknowledged by the Archmage.
He felt a sense of superiority by occasionally helping her and seeing her cling to him. In the end, he was no different from his other siblings who bullied Beatrice.
“Your Highness! You can’t go any further!”
“Your Highness!! Are you trying to die?!!”
That’s why, when she went to the academy, overcame her chronic illness, and blossomed with her talent, he felt both opportunity and inferiority.
The opportunity for the Delphia Kingdom to gain a new Rank 8. And the inferiority towards her, who blossomed with her genius talent.
The title of the next king, the crown prince, was the only thing that could salvage his pride from that inferiority. No matter how much of a genius she was, he was the next king. Thanks to that thought, he could act nonchalantly.
It was a pathetic mindset, a mental victory.
He wanted to keep her at the academy to ensure her safety until she became Rank 8, but also because his inferiority couldn’t bear to see her for long. He was afraid that she, with her blossoming talent, would return to the Delphia Kingdom and instantly overshadow him.
Meeting the Finance Director was a godsend. If it weren’t for him, he wouldn’t have been able to stop her from returning.
But she still came back to the Delphia Kingdom.
As if to prove his worries and anxieties right, she exerted tremendous influence with her talent in just a few days.
‘He was afraid of her, Beatrice.’
That’s why he offered to make her a Rank 8 while trying to control her. He wanted to keep her under him. He was afraid that she would even take his position as crown prince and render him insignificant.
And when he came to his senses,
She was facing the Duke of Wei.
‘How pathetic.’
He was pathetic, consumed by inferiority and fear despite claiming to be acting for the kingdom and its people.
He was pathetic, fearing her when she wasn’t even interested in the throne.
He was pathetic, convincing himself that he was acting for the greater good, that it was his duty as a ruler.
Therefore,
“…Brother!?”
“Haha! Zeke! You’ve gone mad!!”
“………”
The words he said to her. That it was a ruler’s duty to sacrifice the few to save the many, a disgusting mental victory.
He might have never been a good ruler, or even a good brother, but…
At least at this moment, it seemed like he could protect her.
Click.
He would offer only one soul to the necromancy artifact.
A pathetic soul that would be captured and killed if the Duke of Wei won, and would only become a seed of conflict by opposing the new Rank 8 if Beatrice won.
If he could create a Rank 8 and save countless people with a single soul like that…
Sacrificing the few to save the many.
“Bro—”
‘You still call me brother until the end, my foolish sister.’
He might be pathetic, unsightly, and despicable, but…
At the very last moment, he would fulfill his duty as a ruler.
‘Ah.’
He suddenly found it amusing.
A ruler’s duty? What a joke.
He found it funny, that pathetic attempt to justify himself until the very end.
‘It’s just…’
He felt like he would be jealous of his sister again when she won and rebuilt the kingdom.
He felt like he would keep her in check and control her until the end. And that’s why he was trying to die at a convenient time.
‘…Pathetic until the end.’
Amatriuss Delphia Zeke was ultimately this kind of person.
He couldn’t be a good brother, nor a good ruler.
A cheap villain who only sought mental victories.
But by acknowledging all that, he felt a sense of liberation. Even as his soul was being ripped out by the necromancy artifact and his limbs were being blown off by the Duke of Wei’s fists, he could only laugh.
To become honest only in the face of death.
He truly was—
***
Thud.
Zeke’s body collapsed limply. His body, with its limbs already gone from the Duke of Wei’s fists, was now a cold corpse.
And in his hand was the necromancy artifact, enveloped in a dark aura.
Beatrice quietly picked it up and clenched it tightly.
“…Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious? That Zeke, he acts cold, but he’s the most agitated one inside. He must have been trying to do something since you might actually defeat me and even threaten his position as crown prince. It’s a pathetic death.”
“………”
“Are you pitying him? A pathetic brother who didn’t even help you, a ruler who deliberately started a civil war for the throne under the pretense of acting for the country?”
“I wonder.”
She didn’t know if she pitied him or if she was sad.
But one thing was certain.
“But… I feel quite unpleasant.”
“Why?”
“Because I still have so many things to yell at him about. He might have been an annoying brother whose intentions I didn’t understand, but he was still family. He didn’t even explain anything to me until the end.”
“Is that the reason?”
“I… don’t know. But…”
“But what?”
“I want to vent my anger. On anyone in front of me.”
Thud.
Footsteps were heard. The one ascending the stairs was Beatrice.
She had effortlessly climbed the countless steps thanks to her talent,
And now she stood at the very top, pausing before finally taking a step forward.
“How nostalgic. It was the same when I reached Rank 8. Back then, I was exhausted from a long fight, and in the end, my opponent’s greatsword broke the fist I was so proud of, shattering the bones. All the bones in my fingers were crushed.”
“…And so?”
“Do you know what I thought then? What went through my mind when the fist I had trained my whole life was finally broken?”
“What?”
“It’s simple. I just wanted to do the same to my opponent. I was incredibly furious. At that moment, I broke through Rank 7 and became Rank 8.”
Thud.
This time, it was the Duke of Wei’s footsteps. He walked slowly towards Beatrice, as if the fierce battle just now was nothing.
He looked exhausted from their earlier exchange, but Beatrice’s aura was growing increasingly ominous. He continued to approach her, saying,
“The truth is, those ranks, 6th, 7th, 8th, they’re all just arbitrary standards set by humans. They say the difference between Rank 7 and Rank 8 is the ability to control Sword Qi and Aura, but I don’t think so.”
“………”
“It’s not that being able to control those is the condition for Rank 8, it’s just that all Rank 8s happen to be able to do that, so it became the condition. Humans simply drew a line on the laws of nature.”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“The triggers are all different. A desire for revenge to inflict the same pain on your opponent, or someone’s death, or other things. But only a select few among Rank 7s can climb that final step. In my opinion, there are only two ranks.”
Rank 8 and…
Those who weren’t Rank 8.
“Rank 6, Rank 7, they’re all meaningless. No matter how you divide the ranks, they’re all just humans in the end.”
“You speak as if you’re not human.”
“Of course. What I consider a Rank 8 is simple.”
Humans, dwarves, elves, even monsters.
If Rank 7 was the limit of a race’s power,
Then a Rank 8 was a being that transcended the limits of their species.
“I didn’t know, but that Archmage published a thesis. ‘Rank Up,’ he called it? It seems like Rank 8s have a mutual understanding.”
“………”
“So I’ll ask. How does it feel to rank up and become a Rank 8?”
“…You’re asking pointless questions.”
Right now, it was simply…
She quietly protected Zeke’s corpse with magic, ensuring its safety.
And she hung the necromancy artifact containing his soul on her waist.
“I just want to vent my anger.”
“Haha! How ironic, it seems like he was trying to sacrifice his soul to you with that necromancy artifact. A single soul like that wouldn’t be of any help. But his death became the trigger for you to rank up to Rank 8…”
“Die.”
“I was just returning the courtesy I received when I reached Rank 8, so there’s no need to hold back now.”
[Fireball]
An elementary magic spell, unlike the ones Beatrice had cast earlier.
But the flames flickered dangerously, far more menacing than the flashy high-ranking magic.
“…I’ll have to be serious now.”
The Duke of Wei also focused his Aura, shattering the space around him.
It was time to end this.