SWNOVELXO Chapter 102
“Yes, Master.”
When Evangeline, shrouded in darkness, appeared once more with a cheerful voice, she looked like a black knight, pressing down a deep hood.
To put it simply, she resembled a ‘Death Knight,’ clad in black armor from head to toe.
I sensed something unusual about her appearance.
‘Her eyes…’
The color of the gleaming pupils from beneath the hood was not blue, but red.
In those crimson eyes, a white pupil danced ominously like flames.
‘No way.’
A wave of mixed emotions washed over me.
‘Is something wrong?’ I wondered.
After all, such transformations into darkness are often depicted in various media.
Isn’t the color change of the eyes a symbol of that?
I couldn’t help but worry that Evangeline, while establishing her identity as the Death Knight, had taken this path.
Would our relationship also change?
“I will gladly do so.”
However, such concerns of mine were unfounded.
As Evangeline removed her hood, her lips curled into a smile, and she gradually became illuminated by light.
The black armor turned silver and blue.
The cloak that had flowed down her back changed from a dark tone to white and aqua.
Her murky platinum hair, cascading from the hood, transformed to a shining gold.
Finally, the red glowing pupils that seemed to harbor resentment shifted to refreshing blue eyes.
“My lord, my master, my one and only ruler.”
The one now kneeling before me was no longer the Death Knight but a knightess that seemed to have jumped out from a fairy tale or game.
An extraordinary, beautiful hero.
“Eve…”
‘She’s incredibly beautiful.’
At that moment, overwhelmed with emotion, I instinctively extended my hand and opened my mouth.
“Congratulations on your achievement! Demon Lord Candidate ‘Libertus’! You are the first to have a hero under your command…”
I confirmed that the screen had appeared at my fingertips.
It had been a while since I encountered something like this, but I felt no joy whatsoever.
“You really have no sense.”
“Master?”
As I nervously dismissed the message that popped up before my eyes, Evangeline, attempting to grasp my outstretched hand but missing, looked up at me in dismay.
I extended my hand to her again, and she kissed the back of my hand, but all thoughts of what I wanted to say had flown out of my mind.
“No, I was surprised because you’ve transformed beautifully.”
… I completely lost the mood.
I knew that Evangeline was not an ordinary being without needing to say it out loud.
“I thought you would appreciate it, and I believed it was a good production.”
“So this was just to tease me.”
“Ah, it wasn’t solely to tease you. I sincerely wanted to capture even one more of your beautiful appearances.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Is it?”
Evangeline’s smile had shifted from refreshing to somewhat mischievous.
It resembled the smirk of Elias when he was a man, yet it was much cooler, more confident, and bold.
However, she hadn’t completely abandoned the polite and earnest image she usually presented.
While she spoke teasingly, she still held onto my hand, remaining motionless, as if she would endure there for millions of years unless my command was given.
“Rise. I want to see all of you.”
“Gladly, my master.”
As she stood, I walked around her, carefully taking in her newly revealed appearance.
Her hair was a brilliant blonde, shining as if it were sunlight vividly spun.
If Serika’s hair bore the color of the first light of dawn, then hers could be said to embody the brightness of midday.
Her armor was a clean silver, but it was riddled with undeniable scars.
It testified to her life, full of struggles and trials.
Her cloak and skirt were blue. They held the refreshing light of her magic.
Even as she didn’t turn her body towards me, her eyes, as if she didn’t want to let me go, were filled with that aqua hue.
The magical glow lingered in a trail as her eyes moved, briefly remaining before scattering away.
“I want to see your other forms too.”
“As you wish.”
Evangeline flipped the hood attached to her cloak.
It didn’t seem to be infused with any magic but appeared to be a conscious trigger for using her abilities.
Her appearance darkened in an instant, as if the refreshing glow she had displayed was a lie.
The blue light, full of clarity, was now engulfed in red, soaked in resentment and curses.
The armor turned entirely black, while the inner lining of the cloak became as crimson as her glowing eyes.
The hair that had seemed to catch the light of noon turned once again into a murky, ominous ash-grey mixed platinum.
Even though I knew her true form, the sudden change struck my heart with an unsettling thud.
“Come back.”
Beneath the black hood, her smile still shone refreshingly, yet the figure of the ominous black knight reverted back to that of a blonde noble knight.
This is truly…
‘A Death Knight and a Princess Knight.’
Isn’t that embodying both of the fantasies one has about knights?
“Do you like it?”
As I circled around her and returned to my spot, she smiled while asking.
Her smile was still fresh, and moreover…
‘I never thought she could have such eyes.’
Expressions such as reverence, admiration, respect, esteem, loyalty, devotion, adoration, worship, and deep affection were all reflected in her gaze.
That emotion flowed back to me, dismissing my fears of her distancing herself.
There was only one thing to say.
“It is wonderful. Even more than I expected.”
“If that is the case, then I am pleased as well, my master.”
I extended my hand to her once more, and she took it, leading me down from the altar.
After she guided me to a chair, I watched Evangeline talk with the others for a moment.
“You’ve taken a step ahead… Evangeline.”
“Xue. As I mentioned earlier, it was an interesting duel.”
“I was at full strength. That damn guy…”
“Who says I didn’t give it my all? It was fun, I tell you.”
The display between Xue and Evangeline retained the image of long-standing friends.
There was a hint of rivalry mixed with some animosity, like they were frienemies.
It looked like the years they had shared were evident.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen that… Evangeline.”
“I feel like I’ve awakened from a slumber, Lan.”
“… Don’t think you can relax just because you were ahead.”
“If you can follow, then come along.”
The relationship with Lan had a more sinister undertone, but it seemed it would not cross the line.
I could also see that they were not quite friends yet.
Was Lan a loner more than I expected, or was their relationship just strained?
“Lady Evangeline… It’s you, right? This is your true form?”
“While it is more so the form given by you, it is as you described, Lady Sonia. As Lan said, since you are my master’s disciple, feel free to speak with me.”
“I-I’ll get used to that gradually…”
“I do hope so.”
Unlike with the other two, she displayed a thoroughly respectful demeanor towards Sonia.
She didn’t perform the customary kiss on the back of the hand as she did with me, and while not making direct contact, she maintained a respectful distance and demeanor.
Yet, I still felt no urge to pull away from her.
“Congratulations on your achievement! Demon Lord Candidate ‘Libertus’! You have successfully commanded a hero under you!!”
“Congratulations on your achievement! Demon Lord Candidate ‘Libertus’! You have evolved a summon into a hero!!”
Listening to their conversation, I had my tea in hand and pulled up the previous discarded message window again.
Somehow, the message window felt more crooked than before, but it still delivered its message effectively.
“Due to your achievement, the Dungeon Lord will receive a modest attribute, and the dungeon will be granted a certain amount of materials!”
“Attributes – Health 43, Technique 54 (◀ 52), Durability 46, Magic 63 (◀ 61), Resistance 55 (◀ 53).”
“‘Achievement’, huh? One for each attribute.”
It appeared that the attributes gained this time only enhanced the specifications of the Dungeon Lord himself without affecting the dungeon.
Even just the enhancement of the Dungeon Lord’s power was a sufficient reward.
This was a concept that hadn’t existed back when it was just ‘Mill Don 1’.
It seemed they had separated what previously had been packaged as achievements into more specific details.
Achieving them was a given, and I had been ignoring the message windows that had popped up for some time.
But this one seemed unavoidable.
“The fallen human hero and the hero of the demon realm will serve as the staircase to the Demon Lord’s throne.
I hope you continue gathering them to stay by your side! The more you have, the deeper your darkness will grow, and the higher that throne will rise!”
Fallen heroes, corrupted heroes, or those who chose to perish.
Though the system used various terms to refer to them, users of ‘Mill Don 1’ simply called them ‘heroes’ or ‘warriors’.
Using all those names would be excessively lengthy, and besides, human heroes or warriors were merely ‘boss monsters’ enough.
“Subjectively, I find it ridiculous to determine good or evil in heroes.”
In the game, two routes could be used to secure them.
One was through ‘Hero Summoning,’ sacrificing a hero or warrior—or one with the potential to walk that path. This could either involve directly corrupting them or summoning heroes that had been corrupted by past demonic forces.
“Just thinking about that gives me a headache.”
As you could easily tell, that was a gacha with such settings.
It was permissible to disregard oddities such as using an archer as a sacrifice but summoning a magician instead.
And my gacha luck wasn’t great.
“I couldn’t summon a completed 5-star hero that everyone else got in the gacha.”
‘Completed 5-star’ refers to a 5-star hero that can be immediately deployed into the dungeon without any additional materials or upgrades.
To put it simply, it’s like putting money in to buy time.
It wasn’t that I was spending less than others.
It was simply terrible luck in drawing.
… To speak pessimistically, if I consider family as a single gacha roll, perhaps I had terrible luck my whole life.
This was also one of the reasons I became fixated on the growth and evolution of my first summoned unit.
If they weren’t going to be a gacha, I thought about taking a shot with something with a higher chance of success.
“For some reason, the summoned units or mercenaries from gacha didn’t feel attached.”
That was another reason.
Perhaps because they were inherently ‘touched by others’ from the start, I couldn’t form an attachment to the other summoned heroes or warriors from the gacha.
Even if I was happy with pulling a 5-star, it was only for a brief moment, and I would inexplicably return to using my existing units.
So I focused on evolving my first summons.
“And that turned out to be the right choice.”
The heroes I directly trained and created had better performance and higher growth limits compared to those made through gacha.
While the heroes trained by other users were also better than those drawn from gacha, two of the top heroes in the world were always the ones I had trained.
It felt somewhat like a message crying out, “This is your path.”
Although the game didn’t offer a wide range of appearances or settings for its heroes, that sense of superiority was likely one of the driving forces that kept me committed to the game.
It’s only natural that it would be enjoyable if the ones I raised were stronger.
“Name – Evangeline”
“Individual Name – Weapon Professor”
“Alias, Title – Hero, ‘The Scales’ Balancer'”
And before my eyes, the first hero in this world finally appeared.
One created by raising the first summon.
“The Scales’ Balancer – The hero ‘Judge of Absolute Goodness’ voluntarily cast away the absolute nature of their scales. Now, what she desires are the scales that tilt in the direction I want.”
Her title was different from anything I’d seen among the heroes in ‘Mill Don 1’.
Of course, that made sense.
If the era changes, the heroes should accordingly, and if they have thoughts, it would be expected to create a new game with even more diverse heroes.
And this place is reality.
The heroes I had seen before… may have died, but if they exist, they would be in ancient lands or the centers of magical realms.
They must have already surpassed 200 years in age.
“By the way. ‘The Scales’.”
I’d seen heroes with titles related to judgment or verdicts a few times before.
Most were titles granted to clergy, yet Evangeline, while outwardly magnificent, didn’t look like a paladin at all, raising questions.
But that doubt was washed away when I viewed her traits.
“Trait – The Scales of the Golden Rule, Heroic Commander, Overlapping Strong Aura, Hero’s Mask (Half), Member of the Necropolis.”
“The Scales of the Golden Rule – Do not impose on others what you do not wish for yourself.
■ Warrior’s Technique (Sword)
■ Heaven-sent Martial Arts
■ Tilt the Scales
■ Raise the Weight
A combined trait made up of the four aforementioned traits.”
Her main trait, “The Scales of the Golden Rule,” was a combination of “Specialization: Swordsmanship” and “Specialization: Weaponry,” mixed with “Martial Arts,” which acts as a superior version of “Refinement,” with two additional traits.
“My goodness.”
Now that she had reached elite-level, they were all active and mythic-level traits.
“Sonia.”
“Yes, Master.”
Seeing that, it became increasingly hard to endure.
Questions that I had delayed to concentrate on the immediate matters swirled in my mind.
“Now let’s rest. The class is tomorrow, right?”
“Ah… Yes, that’s right. Understood.”
Momentarily surprised, her eyes widened, but soon as if she realized something, she nodded and slowly stepped back.
She turned back once at the door, but upon meeting my gaze, she politely bowed once more and disappeared.
“My lord, you are in a rush.”
“Does it appear so to you?”
“It is apparent to us all.”
It was indeed a rather clumsy summoning ritual.
I thought it would be best to later mention this separately to Sonia to apologize or take some time to prep, then I lifted my gaze to look at the three.
“Let’s head to the private chamber.”
Yuran, with a belly as dark as its demeanor, exuded a façade akin to a gentle wife.
Lin Xue, expressionless and quiet, yet never hiding her beastly nature.
And Evangeline, with a refreshing smile on her lips, still had much left unspoken.
The time had come to ask them the truth.