A Dark Fantasy Spy

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Life is a continuous series of surprises.

I thought I had lived for quite some time, yet there were so many things in this world that I had no knowledge of.

A chilling sensation settles in.

The blade resting on the nape of my neck radiates a deadly aura.

“Who are you?”

A knight in plate armor poses the question.

Episode 17 – The Tree that Drinks Blood

A crimson glow reminiscent of a ring hovers above the helmet, and the knight aims a greatsword at my throat, emerging from who knows where.

And then came the follow-up question.

“I’ll ask you once more. Who are you?”

The question was as nonsensical as the identity behind it was elusive.

“Did the cult send you? Or did you come from the Dawn Association?”

“……”

Setting aside the cult, what in the world was the Dawn Association? Since the moment I was assigned to the Embassy in Lateran, I had studied numerous groups, yet never had I heard of such a place.

The knight, tightening their grip on the weapon, seemed to urge me for an answer. A momentary clang of heavy metal rang out as the massive greatsword shifted slightly.

The sight of someone handling such a massive weight, easily and even with one hand, was undeniably absurd. But then again, it was hardly surprising; the world had been half-mad after all.

I pulled my hand away from the fallen firearm and began to scrutinize the knight’s helmet.

“And what about you? What are you doing?”

There was no response. The knight chose silence, merely tightening their grip on the greatsword without taking any other action.

Whether this being was male or female, the knight remained mute, but one thing I was sure of was that this individual was definitely not a vampire.

That was plainly evident from their demeanor.

“You’re not a vampire, are you?”

“A vampire? Those wicked beings still exist on this land?”

A skeptical tone echoed in my mind. The knight’s voice carried a subtle resonance, like that of an organ.

The armor emitted a metal clanging sound. The knight took a step back while keeping the greatsword trained on me, beginning to utter something in a low voice.

“Um….”

Was the knight taking a moment to gather their thoughts or sizing me up? They fell silent for some time. Then suddenly, it seemed they were about to ask me something.

Just as their mouth was about to open—

I rolled on the floor to evade and, right after, a bolt of flame struck down upon the helmet.

-Fwaaaaaah!

The greatsword swung, sparks flying in all directions. Detecting the ambush, the knight spun around and deflected the torrent of flames. The massive blade pushed the fire away like a shield, but a thin thread of flame slipped through the parting flames and struck.

As the straight line of fire was about to hit the plate armor, the greatsword was raised like a shield to deflect it. The flames burst forth like white foam crashing against a pier.

“Camila!”

“Get back!”

As soon as I stood up and yelled, a voice erupted from midair. Camila, who had approached from the blind spot of the plate armor, was firing flames as she pressed the attack.

“Wait, hold on—”

At that moment, a gust of wind whipped around, wildly tossing my hair. Before I could even turn my head, blue lines raced past my vision with barely a gap to spare.

Tendrils of magical energy wrapped around the plate armor. The arm that swung the greatsword froze as the knight looked up at their right arm. A thread pulled taut as if about to snap caught my eye—

“You should have been more cautious from behind.”

The knight’s low, purple eyes gleamed.

While I was distracted by the flames, Francesca had succeeded in immobilizing the knight’s movements.

The instant the knight realized Francesca’s presence, they launched a counterattack. They kicked a piece of rock from the ground and sent it flying like a cannonball.

Should it hit, it would crush bones. As she intertwined threads with one hand, her other hand gently waved, and a massive arm made of concrete and rock began to rise, shielding her.

-KUANG!!

-THUDD…!

The fragments clashing with the concrete shattered into pieces, the core embedded in the grand body shining with a brilliant light.

As if to protect its master, the golem stepped forward. When the golem scooped Francesca up with one arm, she naturally leaned against it.

-KUUNG, THUD.

The golem moved under the sorcerer’s guidance.

After safely setting Francesca down in a secure location, the golem charged towards the knight, swinging its massive arm.

The knight, now unbound, raised their other arm.

An empty gauntlet reached towards the golem. Compared to the golem’s rough and sharp arms, the plate armor looked fragile. However, just as the outstretched hand aimed precisely at the golem, the pounding fist that seemed unstoppable came to a halt in midair.

-THUUUUUNG——!!

Just before the fist could strike the armor, the air rippled, and a dull explosion surged forth. Realizing the attack was blocked, Francesca attempted to directly control the golem, but the knight moved first.

The outstretched gauntlet curled inward. As if grasping air, the knight clenched their open hand into a fist. In an instant, concrete and rock cracked apart and the golem’s body was crushed like paper.

The massive figure crumpled mercilessly, shards flying as if tormented by gears. The gears, responsive to the sorcerer’s magic, shone intensely and spun harshly, yet they halted under the constriction of the encroaching concrete and rocks.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

“Tch.”

Francesca clicked her tongue upon confirming that the golem’s core had ceased functioning. With the core infused with pure magic now destroyed, only the explosion remained.

The moment the core emitted an ominous light, the protective magic embedded in the magical tool activated.

A purple dome enveloped us, and as Camila appeared from thin air, she embraced Francesca and me tightly while screaming.

“Gyaaaaah! The Titan’s going to self-destruct!”

“No, stop the nonsense and just calm down!”

“Calm down? We’re about to die here; how can you ask me to calm down?!”

“Heeek!”

And then the explosion happened.

A tremendous roar erupted, and shockwaves burst forth. Just before the shockwave hit us, thanks to Camila’s instant teleportation magic, we narrowly escaped the blast radius.

“Ugh!”

Camila, who had fallen mid-air, screamed. She rubbed her forehead, which had just bumped into the table, with both hands.

“Did we die?!”

Francesca quickly lifted her head and raised her voice. Lifting her head from her fallen position, she hastily regained her bearings and checked for the knight caught in the explosion.

“Please, listen to me! Just stop fighting for now!”

In a panic, I called out to both of them, glancing back at the place where the knight had been. The air was thick with smoke and dust, and the billowing cloud was stained a deep red.

The knight hadn’t died. It was an instinctual feeling.

And that intuition was soon confirmed as fact.

As the smoke cleared, the knight emerged from the deep-pitted concrete. Despite the massive explosion, they bore not even a scratch.

The knight dusted off the armor, surveying the pit they had created.

“…Fascinating.”

Their deep voice reverberated within my mind. After expressing admiration, the knight looked around and naturally extended their hand behind them.

In the knight’s hand was a hammer. With a grip that suggested it had always belonged there, they held the handle as if it had always existed.

Climbing out of the pit, the knight raised the hammer high into the sky.

“Ah, this is maddening….”

I tried to mediate by urging both Camila and Francesca to listen, but my words fell on deaf ears.

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden?!”

“Have you lost your mind, Colonel?”

“Can we please talk about this? Why are you all reacting like this?”

“Is it really surprising that anyone would be baffled when you suddenly demand a conversation with the person you were just trying to kill?”

“……”

Even I thought that was a reasonable judgment.

Camila and Francesca showed no intention of backing down whatsoever. The will to finish this here radiated from their eyes.

And somehow, the knight’s thoughts didn’t seem to be much different either.

Whoosh— The hammer spun in a grand arc, producing a booming sound.

The knight treated the massive hammer like a toy as they twirled it. Gripping the handle firmly, they prepared to attack as if it was time for battle.

“……”

The knight stared directly at us with an unwavering stance. There wasn’t a hint of humanity in their posture or even in their breath.

Were we really going to fight? Am I actually entranced?

Having picked up the firearm I had dropped, I looked toward the knight with anxious eyes.

-Whoosh.

Just as the hammer was raised high with a spin.

-BANG—!!

A single gunshot successfully interrupted the knight’s attack.

A bullet struck the raised hammer. The bullet, flying across the darkness, collided with the hammer, and the struck weapon was sent reeling back.

But the knight didn’t let go.

The moment the displaced weapon crashed to the ground, the knight lifted it with both hands and inspected their weapon instead of preparing for the next attack.

“……”

A bullet was lodged in the surface of the hammer.

This wasn’t just any bullet. No common product could exude such a tidy aura.

Removing the bullet from their weapon with silent care, the knight gently stroked the dented tip.

“Stop right there.”

A figure emerged from the shadows. The shooter who had fired the bullet.

The slim voice suggested the shooter was female. While the knight toyed with the bullet, they placed the hammer down and waited for her to reveal herself.

And then Camila and Francesca exclaimed,

“Huh. Where have you been hiding all this time?”

“I’m alive….”

Each released a sigh of relief mixed with a bit of reproach.

Then, a person emerged from the shadowed corridor. With silk-like black hair swaying, a woman brandishing a revolver stepped into the battlefield.

“Puhuh—”

She blew out a puff of pale cigarette smoke.

Pinning the cigarillo that she had bitten to her fingers, she placed her hands on her hips, her face radiating an aura of annoyance and fatigue as she languidly leaned against one leg.

“Is everyone just throwing a ruckus in a sacred place?”

The 58th saint of the cult.

Saint Veronica.

The angel’s servant, the one who shot down demons with silver bullets, the greatest nuisance birthed by the Holy See.

“Arrest them all. You little pests.”

That much was clear.