Edge Forys (1)

What should I do? This isn’t an entity I can handle alone.

Should I use the <Morpheus’s Dream Fragment>? If I use that, I could at least avoid the worst-case scenario.

“……”

No, there must be a better way.

That should only be used when there truly is no other option.

Even if I used it, the best I could manage would be to escape from this situation.

The cost would be too high compared to what I’d gain.

So, what should I do?

The King of Darkness, Belial, had been lurking beneath the surface of the Empire.

He made the Empire the most powerful nation, and also corrupted it.

All to make human malice fester.

Then, what would be the best position to accomplish such things?

The very center of power.

Belial is the head of House Hope, one of the two ducal houses supporting the Empire. That’s precisely why I can’t drag him above the surface right now.

Who would believe me if I claimed an Imperial Duke was a demon?

And even if I got the chance to verify it through holy magic, it’s uncertain whether it would work on him.

“Young man. Why are you so quiet?”

I don’t think I can defeat Belial.

He’s a monster who drove the world to ruin. Even the Saintess couldn’t deal with him, so how could I possibly manage it now when I have no foundation?

It’s impossible.

But isn’t that what this journey is for?

To make the impossible possible, I’ll need a lot of groundwork.

So for now, I need to turn my eyes away from the opportunity before me.

“You.”

While I was searching for options, Belial’s face broke into a smile as if he’d begun to suspect something.

“Know.”

The sage-like appearance was gone, leaving only the visage of a terrible demon.

“Who I am.”

A red glint flickered in his eyes.

His mouth stretched unnaturally wide in a grotesque grin.

It’s too late. He’s convinced that I know who he is.

Even if I denied it now, there’s no way I could fool him.

“…I was wondering if I should pretend to know you.”

“Pretend to know? Who do you think I am?”

If that’s the case, I should proceed on the premise that I know him.

“Aren’t you Duke Wallace Hope, head of House Hope?”

“……”

Not as the demon bastard, but as the social shell he presents.

As the Duke of Hope, there might be people who know him. Of course, it would be impossible for someone to recognize him here in Forys territory, which has nothing to do with him.

But what if the person who recognized him was a heresy inquisitor? Someone who gathers information to eliminate half-demons across the land?

Of course, if the other party is the one producing half-demons, it’s natural for him to hate inquisitors like me. He’d probably want to kill me right away.

However…

“I see, that was thoughtless of me. Forgive my tactless question, not recognizing your consideration. Please, pretend you don’t know me.”

He’s not yet completely certain that I recognized him.

In such a situation, touching me would only confirm that certainty.

If he was the type to move without considering the consequences, the world wouldn’t have reached the point of destruction.

He’s strong, cunning, and meticulous. That’s why he succeeded.

The possibility that just attacking me here out of mere suspicion could lead to other inquisitors picking up his trail.

He wouldn’t ignore that possibility.

“Understood, Duke Hope. I saw no one here today. Just as you saw nothing here today.”

“Kekeke… Yes, let’s do that.”

The King of Darkness, Belial.

No, Duke Wallace Hope seemed satisfied with my proposal and left first, passing by me.

Only then did I turn my head toward the direction he had come from.

“That bastard…”

In the direction Wallace Hope had come from, I could see the Ryan Barony.

Another of his invisible poisoned fangs had been revealed.

It left quite a foul taste in my mouth.

*     *     *

“Ow… Urrrgh!”

Linea was struggling to hold up a collapsing wall with her eyes tightly shut.

She had succeeded in defeating the baroness and rescuing the children who had been taken through human trafficking. She was in the middle of trying to escape with them to somewhere beyond the effects of the battle.

That’s when Titan’s wrathful strike pulverized Tross Ryan and ended up demolishing the mansion as well.

Naturally, Linea, who had been moving through the interior, couldn’t avoid getting caught up in that violence.

“It-It’s okay! I can hold this, so everyone please…”

Linea held onto the building debris that was falling toward the children.

Beastkin possess stronger bodies than humans. But since Linea hadn’t particularly trained herself, there shouldn’t be that much difference.

“We’ll help!”

“Yeah! We can help too!”

While Linea was breaking out in a cold sweat, the children rushed to her side and started helping her hold up the building debris.

“No, that’s not what you should do – please hurry and get out!”

Of course, considering that Linea’s goal wasn’t to lift the debris but to buy time until the children could escape, they were actually hindering her.

If they didn’t escape, Linea would have to keep doing this.

Rumble!

Amidst the children’s shouts and the sound of the collapsing building, Linea’s desperate voice was drowned out, and in this subtle miscommunication.

She felt the debris she was holding suddenly rise up.

“Ah, Titan, thank…”

“Hmm, no need for thanks. Rather, I should be thanking you. You’ve put on quite a show in my territory.”

“……”

“Thanks to you, it hasn’t been boring.”

From the response she heard, Linea realized that the person wasn’t Titan.

There wasn’t even anyone holding up the debris. The debris was floating on its own, and there was just an old man leaning on a staff standing before it.

And the moment she realized she’d heard that voice before at the castle wall.

Linea’s face turned pale.

“Du-Duke Forys?”

“Yes, Lady Linea Spirin. Perhaps you were upset that I simply passed by that time? Is that why you thought to stage this demonstration?”

“Th-th-there’s no way!”

According to Lost’s plan, Edge Forys’s appearance was also anticipated.

But even if anticipated, being face to face with such a monster was something that drained one’s mental strength in real time.

“Then how about trying to stop that wild colt outside? Before I kill him.”

“Yes! I’ll try!”

Under Edge Forys’s gaze that brooked no argument, Linea ran off at full speed. More than bandits, more than orcs, Edge Forys was scarier.

After all, he was an absolute authority who possessed both power and authority.

“Hmm.”

After chasing Linea out of the mansion, Edge Forys swung his staff.

The collapsing building and falling debris all froze in mid-air, bringing silence.

“Heh heh, well now… The Ryan Barony has quite a lot of dependents.”

Flash!

The staff Edge Forys was holding began to pulse with blue light.

The ivory staff started turning blue from its tip, emanating an ominous presence as if it were a knight’s aura.

“So many indeed. To think they would dare try to deceive my eyes in my territory, I’m speechless with astonishment.”

His authority had been damaged.

This was the result of averting his eyes because he thought they weren’t worth his attention.

“Perhaps an example needs to be made?”

Perhaps an example was needed to show that no one could dare act out in his domain.

“Hmm?”

Just then, Edge Forys’s eyes caught sight of a particularly composed child among the others.

A girl with striking snow-white hair and red eyes.

For a moment he wondered if she might be a half-demon, but Edge Forys shook his head. Eye color is just one characteristic.

And such characteristics don’t appear only in half-demons.

Edge Forys hadn’t lived so long as to make such generalizations.

But…

“Little one, what is your name?”

“…Claire Ryan.”

The moment the white-haired girl, Claire Ryan, revealed her name, Edge Forys burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Well, well, it seems my instincts haven’t completely died even in this aging body.”

Tap, tap.

Edge Forys approached Claire Ryan while tapping his staff.

Each time he did, the scattered debris moved aside as if clearing a path.

The power to support an entire building, the skill to control each piece of debris, and yet another spell on top of that.

Just from that alone, Claire Ryan realized that Edge Forys’s true abilities were beyond what she could see.

“Lady Claire Ryan.”

“Yes.”

“Are you not afraid?”

“Of what?”

“Did I not say clearly?”

Edge Forys asked while meeting the eyes of the girl, whose gaze seemed unusually clouded.

“That an example needs to be made.”

“So you’re planning to kill me.”

“And if I am? Does that finally make you feel a little fear?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’ve been living unable to die.”

Boom!

Edge Forys tapped his staff just as he had when approaching Claire, but the result was different.

The ground where Edge Forys’s staff struck split open, unable to withstand the violent wave of mana.

“What are you doing in front of a child? Don’t you feel any shame showing such things? Duke Forys.”

“Who dares!”

Crash!

Edge Forys hurled all the debris he’d been holding in the air toward the direction of the voice.

“Oh my, quite energetic, aren’t you.”

After hastily dodging the debris, Lost shrugged his shoulders, and Edge Forys asked with a composed expression.

“Name.”

“Pleased to meet you, Duke Edge Forys. I am Lost.”

“An alias, young man. Is there some reason you can’t be honest before me?”

“What would I have to fear from you, Duke? The only thing I can’t be honest before is the gaze of the gods who always watch over us.”

Edge Forys’s gaze finally fell on Lost’s mask.

On its forehead was carved an inverted cross, the symbol of heresy inquisitors.

“Damn cultist.”

He’d gotten mixed up in something dirty. Edge Forys let out a genuine sigh. It was meant to be seen.

“May heaven’s punishment strike you.”

“Seeing how you lot who commit acts worthy of heaven’s punishment are still fine, the gods don’t seem very reliable.”

“Well, whether you’re an atheist or not isn’t particularly important.”

“Tch.”

Edge Forys clicked his tongue at Lost’s casual response.

Everything about this type rubbed him the wrong way. Even mere knights show complete loyalty to their lords, yet these heresy inquisitors tolerate insults to the gods they serve.

“Please don’t harm that child.”

“…Damn brat, just what do you take me for.”

Edge Forys pulled Claire closer by her shoulder. He never intended to kill her in the first place.

Though he thought an example needed to be made, harming innocents went against his principles.

“Look at her. Nothing but skin and bones. And here’s a child who shows more composure toward death than old men, when she doesn’t even know what death is.”

If Claire Ryan had been living in luxury as the Ryan Barony’s treasure that would be one thing, but knowing she was mistreated like this…

“Did you really think that I would execute a child who’s clearly a victim! I!”

Edge Forys was more outraged than ever before. It was an even more violent reaction than when he’d figured out what Ryan Barony had been doing.

He was angry that Ryan Barony had been secretly causing trouble.

The fact that it happened in his territory meant it was like someone had smeared mud on his face.

But more unforgivable than all that was being doubted.

“Young man, there’s only one reason I’m letting you live. I don’t care what organization you belong to, what position you hold, or how much wealth you possess.”

Crack!

Under Edge Forys’s pressure, the mansion he’d been supporting with magic suddenly rose into the air.

The building, lifted into the air without leaving a single piece of debris, seemed to compress before transforming into a massive boulder.

“I know you pulled the strings behind that foolish Prince Titan. I also know you tried to use House Spirin’s innocent daughter to meet me first and avoid my wrath!”

“She didn’t seem particularly innocent to me.”

“Silence!”

Edge Forys had already completed the puzzle in his mind.

And he didn’t care what elements were in that completed puzzle.

He didn’t care that they dared not follow the laws while in his territory, or that they tried to smooth things over using Titan’s position as prince.

“You’re alive because what you did was something I should have done myself. Because your actions were right!”

Crash!

The boulder that had been floating in the air slammed into the ground next to Lost.

It was meant to show that he was standing by his words.

Though he was boiling with rage inside, as he said, he wouldn’t kill Lost.

That was the meaning of this display.

“But young man, you’d best not think I’ll let this challenge to my authority slide.”

Crackle!

As Edge Forys swung his staff again, this time earth erupted from the ground and wrapped around Lost. But Lost accepted the restraints calmly, without showing any resistance.

“I must interrogate you.”

“Do as you please.”

“These days, young ones don’t seem to know what it means to fear others.”

Both this one and that one.

It made him furious how these children didn’t act their age.