WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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◈ I Became the Dark Knight in the Game World ◈

Chapter 66: The Devil and the Knight (1)

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Alberic closed his eyes. Ever since speaking with Kriel, a thought had been drifting through his mind. A thread of suspicion had taken root in his heart.

He hurriedly searched through every source he could find. After reading the books over and over, he reached one conclusion.

He might have been fundamentally mistaken about something. Alberic made his reluctant way toward the garden.

“Oh? Young master? What brings you here?”

Niam was taking a walk near the garden. When Alberic waved, she happily waved back.

Alberic had come here knowing Niam would be present. He had been following her from the start.

“I have something to say.”

“At this hour of the night? I won’t accept a confession. At least quit drinking first.”

Niam answered teasingly. Alberic tried to smile back, but the corners of his mouth would not rise.

“Niam. You’ve been by my side since I was born.”

“That’s right. I’ve always been with you, young master.”

“Yes. You were my only friend, and my older sister. Though you only acted that way because Mother asked you to.”

“Acted? I truly care about you, young master.”

“Then, as your contractor who inherited Mother’s contract, I’ll ask you.”

This time, Niam’s expression stiffened.

“I thought about it. There probably weren’t many cases like Father and Mother’s relationship during the Demon King War. But I don’t think there were only two, you and me. So why?”

He took a deep breath.

At first, he had acted out of rebellion because his parents had not cared for him. Later, he had kept up the foolery and idleness so that Mother would change her mind and decide to live on, at least until her worthless son learned to live properly.

All of it vanished.

“Out of all those war orphans, why were you the only one who became my milk sibling?”

“Because I was the child of one of Elder Nawiden’s subordinates. Everyone knows that story, so why are you asking?”

Niam composed herself. Alberic shook his head.

“The great elven families are strangely proud of their bloodlines. Even after abandoning all their ideas about being chosen people. That’s why their genealogical records are thorough. Of course, there are also casualty lists honoring those who died in the Demon King War.”

Kriel had said, “Niam is suspicious.” Alberic had denied that it could be true in front of Kriel, but the more he considered the circumstances, the more he realized there were parts of Niam’s identity that could not be explained.

Still, that suspicion was not directly connected to Niam stealing the Truth Cup. If she had been a servant of the Abyss from the beginning, she would have had countless chances to steal the Truth Cup.

“I looked through the family records for direct members of the Lir Family who died in the Demon King War. Quite a few had married World Tree Elves, but none of them had a child named Niam.”

Alberic prayed that the secret Niam hid was only her identity. That she had simply disguised herself to protect the young master and had nothing to do with the disturbance now shaking the family.

“My parents, yes. They are people who think deeply. The Demon King War was the golden age of Abyssal spies. There’s no way they wouldn’t have worried that a servant of the Abyss might be hiding in the main house.”

The only other being Lady Fand could fully entrust her child to. A World Tree Gardener Spirit contracted to Lady Fand.

Alberic recalled memories from the past. Niv. Whenever that Spirit sat there disguised as Lady Fand, he would approach, knowing nothing, looking for his mother. Then he would see his mother collapse before him and, startled, sit down and cry his eyes out.

The Spirit would ruffle his hair with damp hands, as if she found his crying unbearably adorable.

Niv was a Spirit born with the traits of Water Mirror and Mirage. Though she was still young, her disguise was so precise that a child could not recognize her even when she was posing as his mother.

It was only natural that no one had noticed, even if she had lived as an elf named Niam Lir from the moment Alberic came to the main house until now.

A water Spirit. Someone who could govern the nature of water, which ran through both the Poison Ring and the Truth Cup.

“Come to think of it, I always found it a little strange. You liked the broth in soup with rice more than the rice or any of the ingredients. I wondered if you lived on water alone.”

It was the usual nonsense. Normally, Niam should have replied by now with something like, “That’s because you don’t know the pleasure of hot broth going down smoothly, young master.”

But Niam only remained silent.

“Just answer one thing honestly. Were you the one who stole the Truth Cup?”

“…Young master.”

Niam gave a faint smile. Alberic understood her true intentions from that smile and was about to bind her with the spell of their contract.

“Please sleep for a moment. Lady Fand will get better.”

Mist had begun to flow from beneath Niam’s long robes. The dense fog carried a Sleep-Inducing Force. Alberic’s body swayed.

“Stop, Niv…”

Just as Alberic was about to collapse, an ash-gray blade flew in from somewhere. It was so sharp that it sank soundlessly into the ground. A chill that seemed to freeze his spine flowed from the blade.

The tiny droplets making up the mist froze and fell to the ground. Little pellets of hail pattered across the earth. Alberic struggled to raise his head.

“It doesn’t seem like good weather for a night walk.”

“Not for you, either…”

* * *

‘What was that fellow doing here?’

Alberic tried to catch his breath and shake off the drowsiness, but he had already inhaled too much. He did not seem capable of keeping himself upright.

“Stay near this sword. It may not block everything, but it should condense the approaching moisture and lessen its effects.”

Kriel drew the greatsword from his back. The sound of it cutting through the air rang clear.

“Was I a little late? My apologies. I haven’t had much experience accepting another person’s invitation.”

“……”

“I’ll say this in advance. I kept my promise. I came here without telling anyone in the Lir Family. Do you dislike that I’m armed? Blame the barbaric nature of your invitation.”

The word he had emphasized was “I.” He had asked Orisin to set a time bomb, but he was still the one who had made the promise to the uninvited guest.

Niam looked at Kriel with grave eyes, then raised her right hand.

It was not preparation for an attack. Niam’s right hand pierced through the area around her own heart. No blood flowed. Her body only rippled and swayed like the surface of a rolling wave.

Niam withdrew her hand. A large cup was in it.

It did not shine with the same silver splendor as the counterfeit he had seen in the underground vault. Black stains, like plague spots, sullied its radiance. Not every part of the cup had been tainted by the Abyss, but even the portions that remained silver had faded to a dull color.

The moment the cup entered his sight, alarm bells rang.

There was Abyss within it.

Conversely, no Abyssal Demonic Nature had taken root in Niam. By preserving the pure structure of a Spirit, she had used herself as a barrier to hide the Abyss’s presence.

Kriel thought he understood why Orisin’s unicorn senses had supported Niam. The unicorn’s instinct, which favored pure energy, must have detected the clear water Spirit.

The sharp contrast between the Abyss and a Spirit. Kriel lamented inwardly.

‘This wasn’t something I expected.’

He had known it in theory. Those who did not accept the Abyss’s Demonic Nature, but were tempted by the price offered by Demons or their servants and worked for them.

At the beginning of the Demon King War, there had been no shortage of people who made contracts with the Abyss for immortality, wealth, power, and the like.

‘To think that even a Spirit would serve the Abyss…’

“I kept the contract, Demon.”

Her voice was calm and subdued. A deep melancholy could be heard in it.

[Ah, my friend. Not yet. I did alter the conditions somewhat.]

A voice flowed from the Truth Cup. A collage of countless voices stitched together. It was the voice of a Demon.

It was clear that the corrupted Truth Cup had become a catalyst linking a Demon of the Abyss to reality.

“That’s not what you said! You said I wouldn’t have to hand over the cup to you completely, only bring you face-to-face with that knight!”

[The matter between the knight and me is not over yet. If this concludes safely, the contract between us will be fulfilled.]

[Well then.]

No facial features of the Demon appeared anywhere in the garden, but Kriel could clearly feel its gaze fixed on him.

[This is not a suitable place for you and me to talk. As the one who invited you, I should prepare a proper venue.]

The contents of the Truth Cup bubbled and boiled. Droplets of water glinting with an ominous, sinister light splashed in every direction.

Wherever the boiling water struck turned black. Unreal darkness, as though it absorbed even light.

A sign of an Abyssal Domain.

Kriel looked at Tuon. As the Demon cast its shadow and approached him, how much aid could that powerful Demon Sword provide?

In the middle of the darkness spreading like a rising tide, a hemispherical Ice Wall had formed around the spot where Tuon was embedded. It did not waver even as the Abyssal Domain spread. Proof of the Demon Sword’s authority.

And inside the wall of ice, beside the ash-gray blade, he saw the fallen figure.

His deliberation ended. Kriel left a single command.

“Protect.”

Black Armor enveloped Kriel’s body. The knight charged. A cloak billowed around his armor, leaving a black trail behind it. Its dark, ink-black hue differed completely from the Abyssal Domain swallowing reality. His steps carried him toward the source of the flood.

The knight gripped his sword tightly. He aimed at the Truth Cup, which was pouring out the Abyssal Domain.

His blade fell without hesitation upon the source of the darkness.

Footnotes:

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