Chapter 45 – Crescendo

Under Karl’s guidance, the place they arrived at was packed with numerous police forces under flashing warning lights.

Accompanied by several clerics, Rashid stood beside her, who had arrived in advance.

“How time has passed?”

Aria, glancing at him, answered in a businesslike manner.

“About twenty minutes have elapsed since the initial discovery.”

“We must accept the casualties.”

Although they came as quickly as possible, it was impossible to arrive in a short time due to the distance.

“Let’s enter.”

There was no time to delay.

Rashid touched his bracelet.

Soon, his armory popped out, tearing through space.

Seeing this, she also drew a line in the air with her fingertips and released her armory.

The two donned their magic armor, and the two armories that had emerged by warping space disappeared back the way they came.

The magic armor Rashid wore contracted as if it were alive, tightening firmly around his body.

‘It is on a completely different level from the magic armor I briefly borrowed and wore. It definitely feels like it holds me tight.’

Amidst the pressure that was neither heavy nor light, a distinct sturdiness was felt.

The fit was similar to Lucifer.

Having finished preparations, Rashid gave instructions to all the forces on standby.

“Even if the sound of the performance is no longer heard, be cautious when entering.”

Investigator Edgar, who had rushed over, approached Rashid.

“Inquisitor! Heavens! You even put on magic armor?”

“Yes, I intend to enter the scene.”

“Just the two of you?”

“Anyone else will only be a hindrance.”

“Then what do we do? Do we wait here?”

“The matter inside will be handled by myself and my attendant. You, Investigator, just need to remain here and wait.”

“Should we also move once the sound of the performance stops?”

“As I said, you must be cautious about entering. You may just wait until we return.”

“You mean it is alright to just wait?”

“Yes, that is helping us.”

“Understood for now. We will be cautious when entering.”

Before entering the scene,

Rashid also gave a separate order to Karl, who was nearby.

“If they try to force their way in here recklessly, stop them as much as possible. The opponent is a count. If he is captured by public authority, there will definitely be trouble later.”

Karl bowed his head.

“I will keep that in mind. But will it be alright for just the two of you to enter?”

“Don’t worry about the inside. Even if a problem arises, I will handle it myself.”

Since it was him, and no one else,

Karl did not doubt.

“Yes. Then I will focus on blocking entry from here. Please return safely.”

Rashid and Aria were deployed to the scene.

Simultaneously with their deployment, Rashid drew out the power of his magic armor and began to absorb the surrounding magical forces.

As this was one of several ways to counter Seraphine’s performance,

Aria, watching the red wave of light strongly emitting from his left palm, asked,

“Is that the Absorption Core? I heard that it was developed, but this is the first time I’ve seen it in actual combat.”

Rashid glanced at her.

“Do you know about this?”

“I regularly subscribe to Arcane Tech, a magic engineering journal.”

“You don’t look like it, but you seem to have a lot of interest in that area.”

“If you are a knight, you must know it even if you dislike it. Technical knowledge is one of the basic qualities of a knight.”

“It’s good that you are enthusiastic.”

That was enough small talk.

Rashid continued the conversation about the scene.

“I emphasize again, the count must never be left alive.”

“You don’t have to worry so much. Since I have absolutely no intention of leaving him alive.”

“Once the Silent Barrier begins, you won’t hear anything. If there is no one around, you might feel a severe sense of isolation. This is advice from someone with experience.”

“I won’t whine like a child just because you aren’t there, Inquisitor. I am not at that age either.”

The street they walked was empty, as if only the people had evaporated.

However, the sweet sound of the performance was heard more clearly and loudly as they moved their steps.

“If I didn’t have the power of absorption, I would have had to rely only on the Silent Barrier. In that case, finding them would have been harder. Since it would have been a state where nothing could be heard.”

“Still, there are ways.”

“If you are talking about the Red Thermal Eyes, I already know about it.”

“There is that, but the Deep Sight magic is a method that knights like us use a lot in the field to identify hidden enemies. I saw some success with it.”

“Well, there must be various methods.”

How long had they walked like that?

The two stopped at the same time.

And far away,

they were able to face a single violinist who continued her performance alone in a noble posture.

Seraphine was it.

“I will handle this place.”

Aria naturally cast Deep Sight and the Silent Barrier.

With the casting of the magic, a piercing vision projected the surrounding terrain and objects into her mind.

And the unfolding Silent Barrier blocked all noise approaching her.

“I will deal with the count.”

“I leave it to you.”

Seraphine, who was continuing her performance, slowly brought the rapier that was touching the strings to a halt.

Although she could have continued the performance further,

her calculations were not slow.

That they had tracked her all the way here must mean that a considerable force was waiting outside.

If so, an easy escape was impossible.

Moreover, the opponent was an inquisitor, the highest elite of the order, not a mere cleric.

She casually offered a greeting.

“You are the inquisitor. We met back then, right?”

“You are the count’s lover from back then. Is the count also nearby?”

“As if you didn’t already know when you came.”

Unlike her pure and noble appearance while performing,

she wore a chilling smile for the first time.

“If you are that serious, there is no need to hide it anymore. Yes, His Excellency the Count is the culprit.”

What a way to confess so readily.

But her true intention followed.

“So what are you going to do about it? What can you even do? The opponent is the lord of a great family who even has an autonomous territory. He won’t collapse over a mere matter like this.”

“Is that why you stopped the performance?”

“Yes, since it is actually better to be captured quietly. His Excellency the Count probably knows too. Why I stopped the performance. And how it will be helpful to him.”

She showed the smile of a victor on the spot.

“His Excellency the Count will surrender quietly without resisting.”

“How arrogant.”

“Even if he stands in court, they won’t be able to hold His Excellency the Count accountable. Since the imperial family is the only one that can hold the count accountable. But the imperial family doesn’t have that kind of power. Do you know? That the current Emperor is an empty tin can of an Emperor who has no authority?”

Well, it was already a known fact.

Just as she said, the current Emperor, Carlos XIII, was the height of incompetence.

His young age was a problem, but the biggest problem was the absence of the ‘sovereign power’ that an Emperor must possess.

“An incompetent Emperor without sovereign power will no longer be able to show the same strength as in the past. Rather, he will refrain from any action that causes trouble for His Excellency the Count as much as possible. Especially in this period when strange talk like revolution is floating around.”

Insane laughter drenched the surroundings.

That was why

Rashid’s thoughts were firm.

‘Therefore, that guy must be killed here.’

“I’m sorry, but I have no intention of leaving the count alive.”

Seraphine’s mad laughter stopped.

The corners of her mouth tore grotesquely.

“Will you be able to handle it? No matter how much of an inquisitor you are, you cannot kill His Excellency the Count so recklessly.”

She listed the facts she already knew.

“Rashid Preston. A commoner from the Kahak protectorate. Currently twenty-five years old. You have no family or visiting relatives, were once an honorary cleric, and currently reside in the archmonastery near the capital, right? You are probably the first in the order to rise from a commoner to the position of inquisitor. That is how unprecedented it was.”

“You did a very thorough background check.”

“It is basic etiquette toward the opponent. Or did you think we would just sit spacing out and let ourselves be victimized?”

She continued.

“I don’t know about inside the order, but looking from outside, a mere inquisitor with no backing and of humble origin dares to recklessly kill His Excellency the Count? Have you looked down on the world too much just because you are an inquisitor? The power you possess is restricted solely to the order. Yet you dare target His Excellency the Count?”

Seraphine shook her head as if to show him.

“That is out of the question. Inquisitor, do not make a mistake. Just withdraw. It is not too late yet.”

She thought she had threatened him enough with this.

But the one looking down on the opponent was not him.

It was her.

“Fine. Well, not all of it is wrong. I know it too. But do you know this?”

She tilted her head.

“What is that?”

“The attendant I just sent. Who that person is?”

She recalled the woman with an intelligent appearance and black hair who had split off from him.

“Is that important?”

“Aria Sanctum. The younger sister of the current Director of Palace Affairs.”

Seraphine’s expression froze.

“And she is someone who enjoys legal killing, in other words, the same class of person as the count you serve.”

“…”

“I will bear the responsibility, but in reality, she will be the one who kills the count. She went off happily just now. Why? Because she is excited at the thought of killing the count using me as an excuse.”

Seraphine raised her violin.

She realized her calculations had gone wrong.

‘I won’t let you do that.’

Drawing out the power of his magic armor, Rashid closed the distance in an instant.

Sword energy was already loaded on the Magic Stone Sword, and Rashid struck straight down.

Not to be outdone,

Seraphine played the violin.

The rapier’s blade and the strings met, sparking a short, sharp scream-like note, and that note became a wave close to sword qi, rushing toward Rashid.

Crescendo.

The technique that was like Seraphine’s trademark.

As Crescendo burst consecutively, the sword energy was blocked.

‘It is definitely tough.’

Rashid putting forward his talon hand equipped with the Absorption Core, neutralized her Crescendo and at the same time widened the distance.

* * *

Her performance, which had been sweetly tapping his ears, stopped.

Standing before the array of corpses, the count lost interest.

At this rate, the environment for working would not be set up.

“Seraphine…”

Why did the performance stop?

There was no way she would disappoint him.

Which meant…

‘Is it that inquisitor?’

Was the problem that he had thought too complacently?

Seeing as there had been no issues and he thought it would pass quietly this time too,

he must have relied too much on luck.

“It seems her performance is not omnipotent either.”

Swallowing a bitter laugh, the count threw off the gloves he was wearing.

As the performance had stopped implied quite a lot of things.

Perhaps a large number of police forces would barge in shortly.

‘This has become troublesome.’

At his feet,

corpses of those who had self-harmed and died lay in rows.

Fortunately, their condition was intact.

‘At least that is a relief. Having merely killed them.’

The excuses to make here were endless.

Weighing the gravity of the situation, the count smiled faintly.

In his mind, a Chief Justice ruling innocence or probation was already being depicted.

Clack.

Clack.

Clack.

But,

the sound of metallic footsteps was heard from somewhere.

Judging by the sound, it was like the walking sound of a knight clad in magic armor, but the sound was not heavy and clear, which meant it was surely the footsteps of magic armor with heels.

‘Who is it?’

The doubt was resolved shortly.

A female knight clad in black magic armor.

Immediately after discovering the count in the building’s vacant lot, she glanced sideways at the dozens of corpses with him.

Smiling faintly for a brief moment, she took off the glasses she was wearing and tossed them lightly to the ground.

The count knitted his brows, guarding against her.

‘Who is it?’

He was even more flustered because the inquisitor he expected did not show up.

Raking his memory did not take very long.

‘Ah, it’s that woman.’

The count was able to recognize her identity without much difficulty.

She must be someone related to the inquisitor anyway, and although he had seen her only briefly, she remained clearly in his memory.

“You came as an attendant, didn’t you? I still remember your elegant actions. Even if you disguised your identity as an attendant, you cannot deceive me. You are bound to be the daughter of a prestigious family.”

However,

as if she could hear nothing,

she released her armory with a faint sneer.

Then, as if to show him, she began to choose weapons to kill him.

“…”

The count was dumbfounded.

That she dared display such insolence toward him.

“Haven’t you come to capture me? If only you agree, I am willing to surrender quietly…”

Ignoring him completely, she grabbed a machete, glanced at the count, and soon set it back down in its place.

The count smiled bitterly.

Looking at that expression of enjoyment while choosing weapons,

it was in all likelihood the spitting image of his own figure rejoicing while imagining the artwork in the mirror.

‘Oh dear… are we of the same kind?’

She finally picked out and held the Limb-Shattering Mace.

True to its name, it was a mace that shattered limbs.

The count, who had no reason to welcome this situation, released his armory.

The bitter smile on his lips was not fading.

He already knew.

That at this moment, no threat or conciliation would work on that woman.

That woman simply…

only wanted to see him crushed by that mace.