I Became the Dark Knight in the Game World - Chapter 67

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

◈ I Became the Dark Knight in the Game World ◈

Chapter 67: The Devil and the Knight (2)

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The Demon that had cast its shadow over Tirnanog through the Truth Cup watched Kriel’s actions with interest.

Though Kriel had concealed his presence with a mark imbued with Divine Power, he could not deceive a Demon’s gaze. The deep, pure darkness dwelling within him revealed the knight’s true identity.

So even when the knight’s dark sword aura struck the Truth Cup, the Demon took it for a kind of formality.

When a knight drew the attention of a Demon of the Abyss, one naturally suspected a Dark Knight. The most decisive response to such suspicion was an attack.

Yet Dark Battle Aura, drawn forth from powers such as Bloodlust and Resentment, had little effect against a Demon. Such concepts were already inherent in the very existence of Demons.

He would pretend to halt the flooding Abyssal Domain with a powerful-looking attack. Unfortunately, the Abyssal Domain would spread faster than the knight’s heroic charge, swallowing him in a world of darkness.

By staging such a scene, he would prove his innocence to the Lir Family, Alberic in particular. The real negotiations would take place in the darkness of the Abyssal Domain, where their sight was cut off.

Once an agreement had been reached, the knight would make it appear that he had barely escaped the evil Demon’s scheme. If he then executed the Spirit that had betrayed the family alongside Alberic, who had been moved by his desperate struggle, no one would have reason to suspect the knight any longer.

It was a clever scheme, especially since the sword he had thrown before negotiations began was one of the Seven Demon Weapons.

What else could presenting the Demon King’s Legacy before a Demon mean, if not a declaration of his intent to seize hegemony over the Abyss?

That Corpse-Eating Sword Gratuon was a crucial piece of Grikenkos’s plan. The fact that the knight possessed it meant he had taken one of the Seven Demon Weapons from Grikenkos’s vanguard by force. It was a display of his strength.

The Demon was fully prepared to accommodate such a powerful and cunning ally. For the wielder of a Demon Weapon, the Truth Cup was expendable, even if it had to be sacrificed several times.

The Demon’s expectations proved wrong.

The knight’s deep black sword aura was not Dark Battle Aura.

It was ordinary, and therefore pure, Fighting Energy. A pure sword strike, untouched by Blood Energy or Resentment, pierced the corrupted Truth Cup.

An unexpected development, but an interesting one. Beyond the cracks in the Truth Cup, the Demon cast a deeper shadow.

The Abyssal Domain flooded forth from the wound.

* * *

Kriel blinked.

The darkness was more than deep. It felt sticky. Moving his body was difficult, as though he were struggling to swim through dense liquid.

A whisper sounded beside his ear.

Accept us. Accept our authority. Your place is here.

The army you will command, the territory you will rule, the throne you will inherit. They are all here.

It was a voice from the Abyss, but also a temptation swelling within him. Kriel closed his eyes.

He felt the chill of his armor tightening around him. Recalling the pressure of Divine Power, he opened his mouth.

“Get- out- ─!”

Silence fell for a moment. Then the darkness filling the Abyss sneered.

We can give you eternity. We can give you power. We can give you infinity.

Everything people desire lies within this Abyss.

Kriel paid no attention to the whispering darkness. His cry had not been directed at the darkness of the Abyss, but at the temptation within himself.

Having regained his calm, Kriel glared into the Abyss.

The moment he looked into the Abyss, the Abyss looked back at him.

Fwoosh. Every temptation vanished. Beyond the voices of desire emanating from the Abyss itself, the Grand Duke dwelling in that place finally turned its gaze toward him.

[It is good to meet you, our knight. My name is Kromnagha. I am one of the six Abyssal Grand Dukes.]

The Demon greeted him. Its bizarre tone, with countless voices shifting with every syllable, remained unchanged.

‘It wasn’t Grikenkos...!’

Kriel did not answer. The Abyssal Grand Duke looked at the knight whose red eyes glimmered in the darkness. The black armor he wore was so fearsome that it eclipsed even its antique gold ornamentation. Was this how a mad artist would portray a human who had devoured a dragon?

Despite the clear will to fight radiating from him, Divine Power flowed through that armor. The Demon’s interest deepened.

[Why would the vanguard of darkness choose to be bound by the Principles? Such paltry rules and laws are useless before us.]

“I don’t trust you.”

A Dark Knight did not trust a Demon of the Abyss? This answer, too, was unexpected.

A Demonkin who craved greater power would naturally seek out Demons, even if that path ended with betraying a Demon, taking its power, and becoming a new Demon. It was impossible for those intoxicated by the Abyss not to crave power from beyond the world.

Power from beyond the world. The Demon asked Kriel.

[Knight, I understand that you do not trust us. But I have revealed my name. On your honor, I ask that you answer with yours.]

“I have no honor to offer the Abyss.”

A simple, clear declaration. Yet it was also something an ordinary Dark Knight could never say. If their obsession with power and madness for a knight’s honor took hold, it was a phrase they could not refuse.

A Dark Knight so distant from us. Such a being should not exist.

But the Demon knew well those who had been invited from beyond the world to accomplish the impossible.

[Now I understand. We know your kind well, guests of Tirnanog. But you are impatient, coming here already.]

“Wasn’t your king torn apart by those guests?”

Sharp hostility. The Demon was pleased.

[Of course. Of course he was. Those whom Tirnanog calls Heroes defeated our king. But, knight.]

[Did you know that the first Valor was also a guest of Tirnanog?]

It was a story Kriel did not know. The first Valor?

[There are six of us. The names occupying the seats have changed at times, but there have always been six seats. We six could not stand against the Six Principles, who are six yet three. Though our numbers were equal, the world of Tirnanog stood on the side of the Principles.]

[So we invited a guest. The seventh, a king who would lead us in our battle against the Principles.]

[We could not win in a battle of six against six. But if it were seven against six, we believed we could prevail.]

The darkness trembled. Kriel realized it was the sound of the Demon’s laughter. The entire Abyssal Domain twisted and turned, as if to shatter his sense of direction.

[The Principles did exactly what we had done. And so our seventh, Valor, was defeated, and the Hero disappeared.]

[But here stands the third heir to the throne of the Seven Seats to appear. How joyous this is.]

“Do you think I’ll become your vanguard?”

[No. Of course not! You will become not a soldier, but a general. Not a slave, but an emperor!]

The Demon added a cryptic phrase.

[The youngest becomes the eldest. For that is the seventh seat.]

“No. I will become nothing among you.”

It was not the impassioned roar from before, but a quiet murmur. Yet his lowered voice did not mean his conviction had wavered.

It was a calm declaration that he would not be tainted by the Abyss.

[Ah, the throne awaits you. The most glorious seat, engraved in the deepest part of the Abyssal Domain.]

Kriel raised his sword.

It was a wordless refusal.

The Demon laughed once more. Even as the Abyssal Domain shook, the sword tip Kriel held toward it did not waver.

[Very well. If we are to negotiate seriously, I should show you the truth, not clever words and pleasing expressions.]

Rumble!

The Abyssal Domain transformed. Not through a Demonkin or anything else. This was a miracle possible only because it was an Abyssal Domain directly ruled by a Demon, an Abyssal Grand Duke.

Walls rose high, and blue ghostfire lit the area here and there. A desolate stage enclosed by circular walls. It was an arena fashioned by the Abyss.

Then the Demon extended a finger. Shadows dripped from it like drops of blood.

The shadows of the Abyssal Domain began gathering in one place. Gradually, they took human form.

It was no ordinary human. The figure wore armor, gripped a greatsword in both hands, and crimson eyes gleamed beneath its helmet.

[The potential that lies farther ahead of you, the power you can claim even now....]

Kriel realized that one of the Demon’s many voices had left it. One of the souls the Demon had kept stood before him.

[Here is my servant. Though insignificant compared to a king, he is my loyal knight.]

“Kromnagha. Your faithful servant, Gila Dekair, answers your summons.”

[Go, Dark Knight. Reveal the clear truth to your distant successor and future king.]

Gila Dekair raised his sword. Blood Energy flowing through his body drew red lines across him. Then Resentment clung to the blade. Wailing Castle rang out from the shuddering blade.

The corrupted soul drew upon the power of the Abyss.

Footnotes:

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