"Until... you were challenged by the Crimson Moon and easily defeated. You were willing to abide by the etiquette of the vanquished and submit to his will, and in return, he granted you the status of a follower."
Rimuru's calm voice recounted the history of the past, while those around them looked increasingly intrigued.
They understood what the White Knight was implying, and they understood his intentions.
He didn't want to follow the Black Winged Duke's plan. Instead, he wanted to carry out the Crimson Moon's wishes.
Challenge you and beat you into submission!
It had to be said: this was a clever idea. It sidestepped the awkward part of the original arrangement, and if he succeeded, he could prove his own strength. But if he lost... he would lose everything, and even the last vestiges of his authority would vanish completely, leaving him utterly humiliated.
"Interesting." The golden-haired girl in the ripples lowered her face, then suddenly looked toward the shadow slowly emerging from the darkness nearby with an expression of distaste. Raising an eyebrow, she said, "Tsk. The Church's lackey is coming to our gathering, too?"
"Do you think I wanted to come, Sumire?" In the shadow, Merem Solomon's youthful face lifted into the reddish moonlight. He warily glanced at the White Knight, who had unleashed his aura in full. Four days had passed, and he was even stronger.
"Besides, you call me the Church's lackey, yet the bigwigs from the Magic Association are here. Can't someone from the Church come take a look?" He then looked at the man beside the golden-haired girl, who had been quietly watching the show while leaning against the doorway with the elegance of a gentleman. Mockingly, he said, "As the Director of Atlas Academy, shouldn't you be attending the Grand Resolution?"
"Clearly, I find things more interesting here, especially when my contracted partner needs me." The man smiled and answered without a care. He was Zepia Eltnam Oberon, the person Altrouge had once mentioned to Rimuru. In pursuit of a higher level of Magecraft and in an attempt to challenge the Sixth Magic, he had sought out Altrouge of his own accord and willingly become a Dead Apostle.
He was probably the only Ancestor present whose original allegiance leaned toward Altrouge.
Nearby, the golden-haired girl watching the two of them gave a soft, cold laugh.
See? This was the Dead Apostle Ancestors.
The Director of one of the Magic Association's three major factions, a lackey of the Burial Agency, a Magician staunchly committed to neutrality—and then there was the Financial Demon King upstairs, who refused to come down from the second floor and had his head buried in money.
She was looking forward to it. This... resolution of the Dead Apostle Ancestors.
Rimuru didn't know what was going through the minds of those outside the fight, but he was now grinning as he fixed his crimson gaze on the bewildered Black Winged Duke and made a demand the other man had never anticipated.
"Then let's recreate that history, Black Winged Duke."
He issued his challenge as if it were only natural. "I hope you'll still honor the etiquette you once upheld."
The loser would submit to the victor's will.
The Black Winged Duke turned his hideous bird's head slightly. The wings at his waist fluttered twice with a thunderous rustle, and he suddenly chuckled. "Hahaha, of course."
"I never thought I'd live to see the day when someone valued me enough to challenge me again."
"But, unknown White Knight, although Lord Crimson Moon defeated me easily, that doesn't mean my strength is truly mediocre."
"I don't mind putting on a grand opening ceremony for the gathering, but take heed, White Knight."
Darkness gradually cloaked the sky. Dense flocks of crows and other birds flew in from every direction, blotting out the heavens as they danced overhead. The Black Winged Duke's figure was gradually swallowed by the darkness, leaving only his voice.
"The birds dancing in my night sky show no respect to the dead."
"Are you sure about that?"
The pitch-black domain began to swallow everyone. The once-glamorous palace gradually vanished as well. The White Winged Duke frowned slightly, but after considering it, he chose not to resist the encroachment of this Reality Marble, allowing himself to be drawn inside.
A battle of this caliber would be no fun without an audience.
With that thought, more and more Ancestors let the Black Winged Duke's darkness swallow them. Then a voice filled with certainty rang in their ears.
"Of course!"
In an instant, the blood moon pierced the darkness, bringing a sliver of crimson light and illuminating the lightless world.
Nevermore!
The Black Winged Duke's Reality Marble. Its battlefield was an endless, desolate graveyard, filled with the wails of Birds of Death and countless feathers.
Every bird was a messenger bearing the souls of the dead—a source of endless murderous intent!
With a complicated look in her eyes, Altrouge slowly retreated while holding the White Beast. Rimuru's hair rippled slightly, and in an instant, he left behind an afterimage and vanished from where he stood.
A sonic boom erupted as he broke through the sound barrier, sending a wave of air blasting outward. Several black crows were cut down, and the twin blades in Rimuru's hands suddenly turned to flowing water. In the blink of an eye, they became a pitch-black demonic sword wreathed in blazing flames, appearing before the Black Winged Duke with a hum.
"Clang!"
The wings at the Black Winged Duke's waist instantly turned into weapons harder than steel, and with a thunderous crash, they blocked Rimuru's attack. Standing perfectly upright, the Black Winged Duke suddenly called out, "Be careful—"
"Birds, dance!"
In the next instant, he became a streak of light, transforming into a giant bird and soaring into the sky. As an elegant Mage, he naturally wouldn't engage in close combat with someone known as a knight. He swiftly opened the distance, and the birds in the sky began circling in perfect unison. Beneath the red moonlight, they truly revealed a breathtaking beauty.
The scene left the many Dead Apostles deep in thought, but they were also awed by the immense power of death filling the sky.
An overwhelming aura of death.
Rimuru raised an eyebrow. Hidden among thousands upon thousands of birds, it seemed that being struck by even one would make him wither like a flower in an instant and fall into eternal death.
"I may not agree with your theory, but I have to admit... your birds' dance is certainly... breathtaking." Rimuru came to a stop. He couldn't let the birds hit him. Even if he was immune to physical damage, the death energy they carried would still erode him and cause him considerable trouble.
He could devour the birds and analyze his opponent's abilities, but he also knew that analyzing an attack by devouring it meant forcibly enduring that attack. His body might be able to withstand one bird, but there was no way he could endure tens of thousands of them!
He'd gone all out right from the start. He certainly thought highly of me.
"Ah, how nostalgic. That great person once said something similar to you." The Black Winged Duke led the birds in circles through the air and spoke. "But, alas, people are only ever moved by their deep-seated contempt. They never truly look at them... Now, be careful!"
As he spoke, the birds in the sky seemed ready to carry off anyone who dared look down on death. They all rushed toward Rimuru!
They came from every direction, from above and below, filling every angle and corner.
Amid that overwhelming onslaught, Rimuru, holding only a single greatsword, seemed utterly insignificant between heaven and earth.
At that moment, Rimuru said softly, "Ah, be careful."
"Birds aren't the only things that can bring death."
As soon as he spoke, the bird at the very front abruptly stopped. A visible layer of frost instantly froze it solid, and then it burst apart with a bang.
In the silent world, where the only sound had been their conversation, a single noise suddenly rang out.
"Drip."
The black bird instantly burst into a pool of clear water. As a drop fell swiftly to the ground—
Crack! The desolate earth split apart, and an endless flood surged forth to the sound of crashing waves. As the Black Winged Duke stared in astonishment, water spread across the entire ground. One curtain of water after another rose up, enclosing Rimuru and protecting him from the birds.
"The sea can bury people, too."
Thick fog spread, and an unsinkable Ghost Ship slowly emerged. Countless ghosts appeared on the surface of the sea.
"And what happens when your birds, bearing death, encounter ghosts who know nothing of death?"
The ghosts drove the birds away, but the birds circling overhead paid them no attention. Instead, they relentlessly attacked Rimuru inside the curtain of water.
The Black Winged Duke didn't stay idle, either. He spread his enormous wings, and as countless deadly feathers transformed into even more powerful birds of energy and poured down, they turned the ghosts black one by one and made them dissolve—
"When death grows sufficiently potent, even ghosts tremble beneath my wings."
"Tsk, are you devoted to birds or to death?" Rimuru looked at the ever-growing flock and complained, "Aren't birds supposed to represent the will to be free?!"
Rimuru raised a hand. As the seawater surged, Wuyin frantically used the water to duplicate itself. In an instant, countless transparent seagulls formed from seawater, charged with water-aligned magic power, and flew into the oncoming black tide!
"I revere both. I revere birds precisely because they bear souls."
"Souls, huh..."
No wonder they could dissolve his ghosts. Though their nature and energy were infused with a powerful aura of death, his opponent's true specialty in Magecraft was souls—
Rimuru sighed and glanced back at Altrouge. If he kept this up, the fight would become a straightforward contest between their respective Reality Marbles, each side simply trying to outlast the other with magic power. He really didn't want to use this girl's abilities.
Altrouge hadn't inherited the Crimson Moon's Marble Phantasm. But as a failed creation with the bloodlines of both Dead Apostles and True Ancestors, she had developed a power of her own. Combined with the terrifying magical power and talent she had inherited from the Crimson Moon, it meant that even when facing Arcueid Brunestud, who had perfectly inherited the Crimson Moon's power, she wouldn't be at a disadvantage—provided the Princess of the White hadn't abandoned her restraint over her Blood-Sucking Impulse and was still in an unreleased state.
After all, in her fully released state, Arcueid was nearly as powerful as the Crimson Moon at the height of his strength. There was simply no comparison.
If the Princess of the White's power had been the Crimson Moon's carefully chosen gift, with Marble Phantasm—the most fundamental power—instilled in her, then the power Altrouge had inherited was probably something the Crimson Moon himself hadn't thought much of. It was more like an instinctive form of Magecraft, such as the Blood-Sucking Impulse.
With that in mind, Altrouge had sealed away her appearance, which resembled the Crimson Moon's, along with most of her power, out of disgust. That was why she could transform into a second form.
Even so, this power was beyond what an ordinary Dead Apostle could withstand. The True Ancestors had created the Dead Apostle Ancestors, while the True Ancestors themselves were all inferior versions of the Crimson Moon.
So, when Rimuru first devoured Altrouge's blood, he had noticed how overwhelmingly powerful this force was, as well as how strong Altrouge herself was.
Now, Rimuru raised his head and looked at the blood moon in the sky. The instant his eyes turned completely crimson, an aura from the primordial chaos, mixed with that of a True Ancestor, burst forth. The endless waves turned blood-red in the blink of an eye!
The blood became a claw that tore across the sky. With a thunderous crash, it swept through the endless flock and raked across the heavens!
The Dead Apostle Ancestors watching from the sidelines murmured in shock.
Because high above, the sky shattered into pieces like a broken mirror...
"How... can this be?" The Black Winged Duke stared at the scene in disbelief, unable to accept it.
Such a similar attack. Such a similar scene.
It was just like that time, nearly a thousand years ago, when that person had shattered his Magecraft with a casual blow!
Now the White Knight had used the same kind of attack to break through his... Reality Marble?!
Nevermore... had shattered!
"P-chan." (Water Demon Smirene, I'm sorry for the trouble.)
PS: Thanks for the Pocky, Alice QAQ.
Evolution is impossible. This is four thousand words, after all—equivalent to a double-update beast!!
If I evolve again, I'll be a quadruple-update beast. I still have to go to work!
Also, the protagonist's Mystic Code is Wuyin (serious face).
Not Wuyin Bird!!
The Man Who Began in Type-Moon, Demon King Rimuru! Chapter 50: I've Captured Him! The Black Winged Duke!
"He actually... broke through a Reality Marble..."
A flicker of emotion finally surfaced in the White Winged Duke's dignified eyes. He looked at his opponent warily, even as the fighting spirit in his heart became impossible to suppress.
The Black Winged Duke watched in astonishment as the dark shadow gradually vanished and the once-black sky gave way again to a sunset tinged with gold. A few circling birds flew away in alarm. He transformed back into human form, landed, and fell silent.
The same was true of Nevermore and Rimuru's Reality Marble, Ghost Ship Fleet. His seemingly powerful strike had also injured himself in the process. But overall, even without the bonus from his Reality Marble, Rimuru was still a first-rate Executor. For a Mage, on the other hand, losing their workshop or the advantages of careful preparation meant a drastic drop in combat ability!
With ample preparation, a first-rate Mage's potential was limitless. But once their territory was destroyed... the difference was no less staggering than that between a Mage with no equipment and one fully equipped.
The Black Winged Duke was a powerful Dead Apostle Ancestor. His Reality Marble's destruction wouldn't render him completely powerless, but... in this battle between Mages, he had clearly fallen behind—
He stood on the ground with his two slender legs together, his posture as elegant as a gentlemanly bird. Raising his head, he said, "If I were still a Mage as I once was, I'd probably be so flustered I wouldn't know what to do."
"By the standards of those days, I should admit defeat here. But... I have a pride of my own—"
"Then let's keep fighting." Rimuru couldn't be bothered to listen to his rambling. He swept his hands across Wuyin, which instantly became a greatsword that blazed with demonic flames. "I want you as you are now, not... the person you used to be!"
As he spoke, Rimuru became a blur, dragging a long trail of flames behind him. With a thunderous crash, he appeared above the Black Winged Duke and brought his sword down hard!
His style had abruptly changed. He seemed to have gone from an elegant Mage to an unrelenting conqueror. His crimson eyes showed that he had activated Great Sage's support system. At Rimuru's words, the Black Winged Duke lowered his eyes, then smiled atop his hideous bird's head. "I see!"
Clang!
The pitch-black wings turned into two weapons brimming with the aura of death, dancing like blades. Two blurry figures clashed again and again at incredible speed. A few birds circled overhead, while the spectators around them fell silent.
"Rumor has it... the newly appointed White Knight is a Mage..." Rita Rozay-en, the Fifteenth Ancestor, had appeared at some point beside the Water Demon, Sumire. She narrowed her eyes.
Merem Solomon beside them remained silent.
Upstairs, the chubby Ancestor drained his glass of champagne and set it down, falling into thought—
Bang!
Great Sage swiftly spotted an opening. The greatsword came down, and the Black Winged Duke's blurred figure had no choice but to cross his wings and block the powerful strike. Magecraft Enhancement!
Rimuru's muscles swelled in an instant, while the Black Winged Duke's wings turned to steel. A layer of silver magic power covered them, and as the two collided, they rang out with a clear metallic hum. But although the steel enhancement had increased the hardness of his wings, it couldn't withstand the powerful impact. The Black Winged Duke used that recoil to pull back, grunting as he swiftly created distance!
His powerful body withstood the impact, which was strong enough to displace his internal organs, while all his magic power surged outward, instantly becoming an endless storm of black feathers! At the same time, the light in his bird's eyes suddenly blazed red!
Mystic Eyes of Binding!
This seemed to catch Rimuru off guard. His retreating figure abruptly froze, and with a boom, he was swallowed by the raging storm.
Seeing this, a hint of shadow crossed Altrouge's eyes. She turned away, suddenly too lazy to watch. She had believed Rimuru would win, but she hadn't expected...
him to win so easily.
At that moment, the Black Winged Duke came to a stop, then stared blankly for a moment before giving a wry smile... The Rimuru in the storm was instantly torn to shreds by the rampaging energy, exploding into countless drops of water. At the same time, a shadow condensed behind the Black Winged Duke. Rimuru's crimson eyes had already returned to their indifferent gold, and the evil demonic sword in his hand had become six Black Keys gleaming with the sacred light of the Baptism Sacrament. Their aura, so inimical to Dead Apostles, left the Black Winged Duke in no doubt: if Rimuru drove that attack into his body, even his ageless, immortal form would suffer severe damage and fall into a state of extreme weakness—
He was proficient in both the fighting styles of Mages and Executors, could switch freely between them, and had even learned Altrouge's secret art. The Black Winged Duke looked once more at the Princess of the Black's back. Where had she found such a freak?!
Before you continue