WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Academy’s Pure Love Dark Knight

Chapter 045

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Episode 45. Drunken Life, Dream Love (醉生夢愛).

In the forest where Licht had vanished, Dennis and the Imperial Guards arrived.

“Are you all right, everyone? What on earth….”

“Professor Dennis!!”

The blue-haired man, his white eyes darting around to confirm the chaotic situation. Dennis was listening to the hero's party explain the full story.

“Steel Wolf, Ms. Mardol. No presence is detected in this vicinity.”

“Copper Wolf, even the scent has disappeared here.”

“Silver Wolf. It seems he’s gone missing.”

On the other side, Phine was using an alias to issue commands to the Imperial Guards with wolf ears and tails.

“We can definitely find him. No, we absolutely must.”

She had given countless instructions to find the man in the Black Knight helmet she saw last time.

The three swordsmen, color-coded like the Empire’s currency, sweated profusely, feeling mortified. No matter that it was Princess Phine Gransia’s command,

“But we can’t find anything….”

How could they find someone who had vanished without a trace?

“By your command, Golden Wolf pays respects to Ms. Mardol.”

It was then. A captain in golden armor rushed out next to them. He immediately knelt before Phine, showing his loyalty, and spoke.

“..I think I know where the person you’re looking for is.”

“Gold, is that true?!”

As soon as the hopeful news about the vanished Black Knight reached her, Phine uncharacteristically got excited and raised her voice.

“Ah.”

At this, everyone present was shocked and looked at the Glass Knight.

“Mardol! You found Helmet Guy?”

“Even Mardol went off to fight the Demon King so mournfully that she’d act like that….”

Kainel and Ariel, who now clearly sensed she was a person of high status, were also looking at her with surprised eyes, thinking that Mardol, who always seemed so cold, was acting this way.

“It seems he is in a different dimension.”

“..What do you mean by that, Gold..?”

However, what came back was grave news delivered in a stern tone.

“It means he is in a space we cannot access. Even if we try to track him with detection magic, all spatial coordinates are distorted.”

“No.. That can’t be.”

The Glass Knight’s eyes trembled. The fact that she was weak and had failed to protect someone again was despair-inducing. Her hands tensed and shook.

‘I’m still weak. Licht knew that….’

As her thoughts reached that point, her tail and ears, which had returned to normal with hope just moments before, drooped inside her armor.

“Isn’t that right? Dennis, the pinnacle of water magic among the Ten Greats.”

“..I also tried to find Licht, but magical access is simply impossible. That assumption must be correct.”

“Exactly. Even though he’s in the same forest, he’s in a different place. Like being reflected in a mirror.”

The Imperial Guards and the Ten Greats were acquainted. This was because Rook, the strongest emperor among the Ten Greats, had selected them to protect his children.

“...”

“I apologize, Mardol.”

“..Is there really no way?”

Gloomy emotions kept leaking from her. It had been 10 years since she last felt such helplessness. She hated her weak self. She hated the memory of obsessing only over strength, unlike that man.

“..Let’s return now, Ms. Mardol. We will remain here.”

“No. Gold.”

She stubbornly plopped down on the spot. The Imperial Guards tried to dissuade Phine and looked at Professor Dennis, but,

“..If he only escapes that space, we might find him, so wait a moment, Gold.”

He shook his head and told them to wait a bit. It seemed that leaving like this would go against his convictions.

‘Thanks for the fun until now, thank you? Is that all it ends with, Licht..?’

Phine kept having gloomy assumptions. Magic Hat was the strongest Demon King she knew. Even her father, the Emperor, couldn't deal with her.

“I don’t want to see anyone disappear anymore…”

Due to the muffled tone inside her helmet, only the hero and mage hadn't noticed Phine was a woman.

“Mardol…”

“Licht, will he be okay…? I was attacked without even a chance to react…”

They could feel how much the Glass Knight was thinking of Licht. Kainel and Ariel also sighed, worrying about the Black Knight together.

***

At that moment, in the darkness of the isolated space, I barely stood.

Think. My body has already reached its limit.

‘How many moves do I have left now?’

I stuck my sword into the ground, using it as a support. Gasping for breath, I barely maintained my balance. How did I clear this in the game?

Trusting the durability of my equipment, I guarded the fallen Saintess as much as possible, while….

“...”

The wolf-eared Saintess who died during a forced event came to mind. Anyway, that person isn’t here. Even if I fall like this, would anyone know?

“..Heh, ha ha.”

I laughed in disbelief. Pure Love Black Knight, what a light name. A human who became a Demon King because they couldn't protect their loved one, a Black Knight?

“My darling, please stop your useless resistance.. I don’t know how you’re still alive right now, but….”

Magic Hat smiled brightly at me. There was a terrible desire within her seemingly pure smile, which sent shivers down my spine. I swung the holy sword, cutting down one of the approaching clones.

“I.. won’t die.”

How sad our Saintess was when I died in the game.

I don't want to do that again. I pointed my sword at the Demon King, threatening her.

That person looks most beautiful when smiling.

“What’s important is that we’ve met again like this, darling!”

Seeing my sword-wielding hand tremble, perhaps thinking I was out of energy, the Demon King of Truth approached me step by step. Is this really the end?

Then, a memory flashed through my mind.

‘A Demon King can ‘utilize’ the abilities they used in their time as a hero.’

Therefore, Head, the Demon King of Omniscience, calculated through omniscience, and Magic Hat, the Demon King of Truth, used truth to do many crazy things.

A sharp move was still left to me.

I raised my sword high to the sky. I stomped hard on the ground, taking a stance as if about to leap. Clearly, the current Kainel couldn't fully draw out the Holy Sword's power.

But I know the future Kainel’s skills. From <Knight Heart> to <Black Heart>, I had watched his efforts and growth.

‘You must have suffered like this too, Kainel.’

I gripped the sword hilt tightly. The trembling stopped. The role of a hero is not so light. It requires fitting strength and abilities.

“..Hehehe, you truly are amazing. To be still trying to fight while bleeding so much.”

“Because I’m a Black Knight.”

With a spit sound, I spat out the pooled blood towards Magic Hat. She, a madman, still licked her tongue after seeing that. No, since she's a woman, is she not a madman?

‘Kainel, I don’t know if this will work, since you ran away back then.’

Actually, there’s one fraudulent skill that uses light. Another important reason I told the Yellow Dog to focus on speed. An application of Shine Strike.

A skill the hero self-taught, thinking he needed to become stronger while watching Ariel, the Mage of Flames.

“Wow, you’re even using the Hero of Light’s abilities now? You’ve really become like a Demon King..! My darling!”

A skill that allows one to move at light speed for a brief moment.

「Shine Advance.」

Flash! Light began to fill the space that was only darkness.

If Shine Strike condenses the energy of light and releases it in the form of sword energy.

This pours all of the holy sword’s abilities into one's own body to achieve incredible speed. It’s a very taxing skill for someone not chosen to use, so it can’t be used twice.

Kainel on the Corruption Route, despairing in a world where Ariel had died, denied his days as the Hero of Light and didn't use it, but I am different.

‘Since the status window popped up, there’s still hope. It means it’s not a failure.’

I will use every possible method. If I kill this one here, the future might be corrected, and our Saintess could live.

It was the case for Nex and Chartiness, and now I have evacuated Kainel and Ariel. It might still be reversible.

I push negative thoughts aside. First, I had to cut off that one’s head.

“..Just die.”

My whole body felt like my muscles were tearing, and I swiftly charged at Magic Hat. I began rapidly cutting down clones, running over their heads.

“Oh, my darling-.”

In a fleeting moment. A gap less than a second. The sword was thrust against the Demon King’s neck.

Slice.

A circular sword path was drawn, separating the magician's head from her body. I strongly struck down again towards the body that had lost its owner. Then, the Demon King collapsed, losing strength.

Thud, roll.

“Hee-hee...hee hee hee hee!!”

As expected, this one won’t die from this. From the severed head, the mad laughter of a lunatic began to spill out. Not even blood flowed from the Demon King’s remaining torso, and,

“My darling!! How fun!! How amazing!! Truly my one and only love…!!”

“Get lost.”

I slammed down on her arms, which she had opened to fiercely embrace my body as I approached. This meant her true body hadn’t come here from the start.

“..What a shame. I could have held my darling!”

As I quickly put distance between us, the body, holding its rolling head, reattached itself like assembling blocks, and the severed part of the neck became one again with a chilling grrrk sound.

“No, my hug count already has an owner.”

I underestimated the Demon King too much. This is why her difficulty was insane. The air in my lungs felt like it would burst. I clutched my chest, expressing my agony.

“Hee-hee, then perhaps I too.. should try using truth? My darling?”

Magic Hat once again pulled out a trump card. She was humming a tune, shuffling the cards with movements that suggested delight.

She’s a crazy magician who uses the truth spoken by her opponent to merge two things into one, or to turn them into a card matching a suit.

I gulped. There aren’t any cards that could affect me….

“Would Ace of Spades be enough? No. Jack of Spades would be better! My darling!”

Oh, fuck. If I get hit by that, it’s big trouble. I’ll end up in a worse state than a taxidermied butterfly. I shouldn’t have been complacent, thinking there wouldn't be a counter, considering Kainel or Ariel’s cases.

“...”

A suit and meaning fitting a Black Knight.

Perhaps in the case of Jack of Hearts, it would have been dangerous if the Glass Knight had been hit. It was a blessing that I intervened.

“Let’s not do that and just relax. My darling will surely like it too..!”

“I hate people like you the most, Magic Hat.”

Someone who blindly falls in love and rushes in.

That someone unqualified to obtain such sweet love would possess another’s emotions merely through looks or cheat-like abilities, these were the things I hated most.

That's not pure love. The bitter taste of blood filled my mouth.

“I can become any type of woman for you! What do you like? White hair, perhaps?”

“..You really say crazy things so well.”

Blood continued to leak, and a tingling sensation lingered on my skin. The flame of life would soon extinguish. This was likely the price for recklessly using someone else’s holy sword.

‘I have to land one blow, one strong blow on this one, at all costs.’

Only then will our Nameless Saintess be safe. In fact, after cutting her neck once, the darkness imbued in the holy sword faded.

The condition of losing a loved one was disappearing. Loss doesn’t necessarily mean death.

That’s why a route existed where Dennis, having obtained the holy sword, fell into corruption as a Demon King. His lover was cursed, but not dead.

‘..Thank goodness. She might truly still be alive.’

I needed a breakthrough to overcome this situation. I couldn’t suffer such hardship in just Phase 2. In my memory, there were many more phases and patterns left.

“Is there no other choice?”

Drake’s ultimate. Dragon Slaying (龍殺).

I’ll use it improvised, so it probably won’t have its original power. But this is the only trump card I have left. I re-assumed my stance and regulated my breathing.

“That gaze, I truly wish you would look only at me..! It’s so captivating!”

Towards the enemy before me, I had to pour everything I had, and prove the utmost effort I’d put in. I couldn’t let the training of 5 years go to waste.

“It’s not yours.”

“That’s too much..! My darling! Then whose is it..! There are no more obstructions now!”

I raised my sword to protect our Nameless Saintess.

Even if I die using an ultimate skill, a Black Knight is that kind of being. One who takes on the misfortune of their loved one instead.

“...”

In truth, I might have been prepared for it ever since that time, 15 years ago.

Since I was transmigrated into this game, I realized. That without my sacrifice, her happiness could not exist.

“There is. Such a thing.”

So this time, I absolutely wanted to save her and make her happy.

Even if it meant sacrificing my life for the Saintess. It’s a life I’ve already been saved once. I’ll repay that debt here.

..I didn't want to go this far. Our Saintess will probably cry quite a bit.

I steeled my resolve. I looked at the holy sword, its darkness fading. The corruption route was going off track. I had to protect the one I loved until the very end.

“My life.. it probably doesn’t matter anymore.”

I exhaled a hot breath. I raised my sword high. I sent the surging blood flow throughout my body. I had to end everything with this one sword technique.

“Because I am the Pure Love Black Knight.”

It might be an imperfect technique, as I haven't perfectly mastered the Dragon Slaying movements, but with that, I finished preparing to use Demon King Slaying (魔王殺).

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