I Am a Ruined Noble of a Ruined Kingdom

Chapter 17: 8 Years Ago, White Sisters (2)

"A soul being subordinated? I've never heard of that before."

I felt helpless again at the circumstances I was hearing for the first time.

'For a possessed guy, I sure don't know a lot of the backstory, huh?'

At this point, it might be better to discard all existing original knowledge and just remember the big picture.

The progression of Eldchain was unkind, but there's a limit to the variables.

"I don't know where to start."

A deep worry clouded Iruealfi's face.

"If you don't want to talk about it, I don't intend to dig it up."

Iruealfi was so seriously concerned that my curiosity disappeared. I don't want to satisfy my curiosity by digging up her painful parts.

"No. Now that it's come to this, I think it's better for Nephi to know as well."

Iruealfi took a sip of warm tea and began to rummage through her past memories.

"It was two years after my debutante. I was eighteen years old. At the time, I was a rookie who had just joined the Nelphrugia Knights."

A newbie and Iruealfi... It's an unimaginable combination. Then Iruealfi took the position of commander of the Knights in just 8 years. In reality, it would be even faster.

'I'm realizing once again that her existence itself is the epitome of unreasonableness.'

"One day, some of the Knights, including myself, were dispatched to a nearby kingdom for the protocol of a foreign prince. At that time, I got permission and was able to take Miren with me. Miren was happily pleased. It was a great opportunity to see foreign countries together."

Iruealfi smiled unconsciously. It must have been because she reminisced about a happy time.

"It was good at first. We saw a lot of things and enjoyed the attractions. The Knights, having finished their schedule, were waiting in a small village under the castle before returning home. Just in time, an invitation from the prince arrived for me."

It was the moment when her complexion, like a lake without ripples, crumpled. A subtle murderous intent slowly ate away at the room, giving me goosebumps.

"I couldn't commit a diplomatic discourtesy, so I went to the castle. And I had a private meeting with the prince. It was obvious what he wanted just by looking at his eyes. That bastard said he fell in love with me at first sight during the event..."

"That... that crazy bastard...!"

To privately summon the Emperor's escort knight and crave affection. Is the prince of a country empty-headed?

Iruealfi must have agreed because of her kind nature. Even though it was a matter where the Empire could blame the kingdom.

"I tried to leave, but I was forcibly held back and had to waste a lot of time. Until, at some point, crimson fog and dark clouds rose in the distance."

◇

As soon as she detected the anomaly, Iruealfi ignored all etiquette and procedures and ran to the source of the ominous energy.

Even by carriage, it would take half a day. It was inevitable that it would take some time for Iruealfi to run at her best.

Finally, the village that she arrived at had an unsightly tragedy unfolding.

"Keuk!?"

The crimson energy covering the sky and the lives destroyed by fire were there.

Disgusting shapes that looked like shadows were constantly coming out of the cracks in the sky. They gave birth to one, and two gave birth to four. The rapidly increasing monstrosities incited chaos.

Chainreach phenomenon.

In the world of Eldchain, an invisible chain tightly binds the world.

Occasionally, when the chain stretches, it connects to another dimension and brings forth alien beings, which is called the Chainreach phenomenon.

A flood of violence worthy of being called a disaster. It was an emergency situation that happened on a different scale.

"Vice Commander! Miren! If you're nearby, answer me!"

Iruealfi shouted until her throat was sore. She assumed that they didn't answer because they were too busy preventing the Chainreach phenomenon.

"Miren! Please... be safe, Miren...!"

Black beings whose shapes were difficult to recognize stood in Iruealfi's way. Normally, one would have lost consciousness by now, succumbing to the energy.

Well, that was in the case of ordinary people.

Pasit! Pasit!

Whether they were blocking her way or attacking her, they were already outside of Iruealfi's interest. Iruealfi didn't even draw her sword and created a sword-force field, slaughtering them all into more than seven pieces.

Even so, her eyes were only searching for Miren and the existence of the Knights.

"There are no living people, and I can't sense any groups fighting..."

Iruealfi assumed the worst-case scenario. Despair welled up inside, but she shook it off with a shout. She slapped her cheeks with both hands and swallowed the tears that were about to come out.

"Miren! Vice Commander! Ugh...?"

After wandering around the village for a long time, Iruealfi finally reached the central square. The central square she witnessed had a landscape that was the opposite of what she remembered.

Originally, the central square was a place where cheerful people laughed and chatted under the blue sky. It was a pleasant place where there was no shortage of food and entertainment.

On the other hand, Iruealfi's lake-like blue eyes contained a vision of hell.

'A plain of corpses soaked in blood.'

The shape of a beast tearing apart humans who had already died wailed.

A giant figure that continued to destroy meaninglessly crushed human intestines like ants.

She saw something familiar in a world where dignity had disappeared. It was a human wearing the uniform of the Nelphrugia Knights. Iruealfi hurriedly approached and checked his pulse.

"It's already too late."

The cold, hardened corpse left traces of a fierce battle. He must have resisted with courage until the end.

Then Iruealfi realized that the corpse had stopped breathing in a strange posture.

'Like a posture to protect someone... Could it be?!'

Iruealfi carefully tilted the corpse back. What was in the place the corpse was protecting was a lovely girl. White hair with the same moonlight as Iruealfi proved that she was Miren Yustiha.

"Miren... She's alive!"

She had already circled all the outskirts of the village. The last place she visited was the central square. Among them, the only survivors were Miren Yustiha and Iruealfi.

It was no exaggeration to call it a miracle that an ordinary girl survived, beating out warriors and grown men, thanks to the kindness of a fellow knight.

"Miren. Excuse me for a moment."

Iruealfi carefully picked up Miren and laid her down on a nearby bench. She gently brushed her hair back so as not to wake her and shared her warmth.

Miren's breathing was stable. Iruealfi checked several times before she was barely able to pull away.

"I'm sorry, Miren. If I hadn't left Miren alone... If I had been more decisive... Everyone would have been safe... Miren..."

Iruealfi's soft, small hand reached for the hilt of her ceremonial sword. To annihilate the cursed crimson sky and the alien beings.

She harbored murderous intent.

■■■■■■■!

There was no reason why the alien beings could not sense the extreme threat emanating from Iruealfi.

The giant figure, which had been repeating meaningless destruction, jumped and came running. A playful leap as if it had found an interesting toy.

The size of a mountain instantly dyed the sky black.

"Holy Memory."

She chanted clearly.

Koo-oong!

The giant figure completely crushed the place where Iruealfi and Miren were. The intestines of the numerous corpses caught up in the aftermath were ground away with the dust storm.

Iruealfi and Miren were gone.

"Your sister will be back soon. You have to wait obediently. Okay, Miren?"

The two sisters were completely isolated inside a blue and white cube.

The black giant figure sat on top of the cube, but it showed off the impregnable majesty of an iron wall that did not even have a crack.

Sreung-

The silver-white blade revealed its complete form from its scabbard, illuminating the demonic realm. A world of ravenous ghouls filled with resentment.

Swae-aek!

A sharp sound of slicing the air vibrated the area.

Iruealfi had only swung her sword quickly, but the giant figure that had been crushing the cube was cut in half vertically and fell into two pieces. The sword strike, which did not contain any energy, reached the low-hanging clouds and beyond.

At this moment, even the unintelligent alien beings regarded Iruealfi as an object of survival competition.

"Now I'm really going, Miren."

In order not to regret it any further. Hopefully, her sister can remember this disaster as a midsummer night's dream.

She completely stepped outside the cube.

What was aiming for her, who had only one sword, were beasts driven mad by slaughter.

The disaster, which did not distinguish between front, back, left, and right, waited to tear apart the only two remaining lives.

'Can I atone for my recklessness... even if it takes a lifetime? No, let's not question it.'

A streak of blue energy like a comet resided in Iruealfi's sword.

'I have to do it.'

■■■■■■!

Their screams were the signal flare.

Iruealfi quietly opened her closed eyes and rushed into the black mass, becoming white lightning. Even if she didn't have any special skills, her sword contained a tyrannical prayer that would overwhelm the world.

Kka-ga-ak!

Iruealfi's sword scraped the ground. The sword strike dragged the earth like an erupting volcano. The fragments of earth and sand that bounced like meteors tore the bodies of the monsters to shreds.

Iruealfi, entrusting her body to the dust, moved nimbly. Like a naturally flowing stream, and sometimes as violently as the waves of a stormy ocean.

When she stabbed, the lives in a straight line became vacant, and when she slashed, the enemies on one side disappeared with the sound of the air being torn.

Swae-aek! Swae-aek! Kka-ga-ga-gak!

Iruealfi did not look around. She only looked ahead and ran, cutting apart the shapes of beasts thoroughly.

There was no self-preservation in her merciless march. She continued to cut, stab, swing, and advance mercilessly.

No matter how strong a single force is, it cannot overcome the violence of a merciless number. It was a truth that has been passed down since ancient times.

That is why people and beasts form groups to rely on and protect each other. But Iruealfi was blatantly denying the truth.

Iruealfi's sword end contained the force of punishment and revealed the qualities of heaven and earth, without any reservation. But it never looked violent.

Like a dancer expressing a phoenix on stage, she seemed to be performing a splendid sword dance.

'I will bear it for the rest of my life. As a knight, as a family member.'

Iruealfi's sword dance was a memorial service. It was a requiem to comfort her fellow knights who willingly sacrificed their lives for the weak and the unjustly killed spirits.

The black powder that had taken shape scattered, and the unintelligent screams spread painfully. She was at the center of the silver-white sword dance that soared and meandered like a tornado.

The sword strikes, flickering like a meteor shower, finally found their place after an sikgyeong.

'Ah...'

As if nothing had happened, the blue sky revealed its hidden appearance. The warm sunlight, which had revealed its appearance hidden in the crimson fog, gently embraced Iruealfi.

Chap-lak. Chap-lak.

Iruealfi approached the Holy Memory cube slowly, stepping on the blood. The demeanor of not disturbing even one breath showed a dignity that was almost noble.

"Miren..."

The sight of Miren, still sleeping peacefully, relieved her tension. Iruealfi picked up Miren and left the royal capital leisurely.

The kingdom's soldiers, who arrived late, had to take care of the aftermath in a bewildered state, not knowing anything.

This is the unrecorded legend of the White Knight. It was Iruealfi Yustiha's first unofficial military exploit.

◇

"Crazy... really freaking crazy..."

By the time Iruealfi's story was roughly finished, I couldn't help but curse.

"Don't you think you're an unreasonable creature yourself? How much could you have trained at that age!"

"What can I do? I was born this way."

Iruealfi retorted in an indifferent tone. Judging by her nonchalant attitude, she really didn't seem to have any feelings.

"No, it doesn't make sense... What is this? Subjugating a disaster alone at the age of eighteen? Ha, I can't say anything, really."

Although it was not recorded in history, she was the first person to single-handedly suppress the Chainreach phenomenon. If the person speaking wasn't Iruealfi, I would have laughed at it in nine out of ten cases.

"Anyway... Miren suffered from Chainreach Disease as a result. And I reported it to His Majesty and negotiated. In exchange for using Eldchain."

"Because Chainreach Disease is incurable, except for the exception of Eldchain."

Chainreach Disease refers to maintaining the state just before the connection between the soul and the body is severed.

The soul and the body have the property of attracting each other, but Chainreach Disease is a disease that weakens that property infinitely. Those who have experienced Chainreach mainly complained of Chainreach Disease.

Eldchain is the only way to completely cure such Chainreach Disease.

'The Emperor agreed, luckily. It must have been a waste to use it on just Chainreach Disease. Well, it would have been a cheap price compared to Iruealfi's loyalty.'

"Thanks to that, Miren borrowed the power of Eldchain once."

"What? Then she should be running around like a normal person, right?"

Iruealfi sadly shook her head.

"There seems to have been a... mistake. Originally, Eldchain's golden chain was supposed to firmly fix the soul and body, but strangely, the soul became attached to the golden chain."

"So Miren's soul is asleep inside the golden chain?"

"Yes, you got it exactly right."

"Th... th...!"

I almost cursed Iruealfi to her face. The target was naturally not Iruealfi.

'Emperor, you crazy bastard! Yeah, I knew something was wrong.'

It is clear that the Emperor did not deliberately interfere with Miren's treatment. It must have been a mistake or error that happened by chance. Up to that point, it could be regarded as an unavoidable fate.

That's why the original's course of action becomes more cruel.

'No matter how much my sister died, that Iruealfi is going to devastate the Empire? If you used the chain Miren was going to use on the Empress, it would have ended with treason!'

It was easy to guess how the golden chain in which Miren's soul slept was used.

'She twisted the providence by sacrificing Miren's soul, which was separated from the chain. Even Eldchain can't bring the dead back to life!'

One of the powers of the golden chain is to grant equal rewards for equal prices.

An eye for an eye, and a soul for a soul.

There should never have been a way to offer a human soul in the first place. If only the incident in which Miren's soul remained in the golden chain hadn't happened!

Was it because my body was trembling? Iruealfi asked worriedly.

"Nephi? Why are you suddenly like this?"

"No. I just hope Miren gets well soon."

"I see. Thank you, Nephi."

'Hoo. Calm down. It's not something that has happened yet.'

I changed the subject back to the story about Charles. Then Iruealfi also seriously gave various opinions and there were inferences.

While we were busy deciding on a course of action, a knock came from outside.

Knock. Knock.

"Come in."

As soon as Iruealfi's permission fell, an elderly butler respectfully handed over a letter.

"It's His Majesty's seal."

"Yes, Marquis Alteon. There is an envoy outside the mansion. The Emperor may have ordered you two to enter the palace..."

"Tell the envoy that we will be out soon. Nephi, change back into your formal attire and meet me again."

"Okay. I thought he was in seclusion, but he's recovering faster than expected."

We each changed into our formal attire and uniforms and boarded the carriage sent by the Emperor.

It was a journey in the deep night, with a long time left until dawn.

I felt that it was dark because the thick clouds were covering the moon.