Screams erupted as I activated [Imperial Edict], plunging my banner into the ground. A dazzling light enveloped the area.

"What the hell?!"

"What is this?!"

Hearing the panicked cries of the Aegis Special Forces, a sly grin crept onto my face.

I had lured them into my base camp.

It wasn’t enemy territory, so it wouldn’t trigger [Siege Mode]. However, I could still generate territorial effects.

And within this territory,

Rumble!

I could form my very own fortress!

Ash-colored walls of magical power began to emerge all around us.

Caught in the sudden emergence of the walls, the Aegis Special Forces yelled and scrambled to avoid being trapped.

"Sucks to be you guys. This area has a lot of great guides too."

If you’d met a good guide like Nameless, you’d have had a fun sightseeing tour.

"But you had to get hooked by a scam artist like me!"

You’re all gonna die here!

"Ash, you bastard—!"

Realizing I was the cause, Mason charged at me, but,

Crack!

A gray wall materialized right in front of me, separating Mason and me.

Sorry, but I can modify this fortress at will! And instantly, too!

’That means—’

I didn’t need the fortress to maintain a conventional shape or function!

Ssshh! Ssshhhh!

The fortress, originally set as a default circular shape, began to reassemble like blocks, according to my will.

The fortress compressed and shrunk, morphing from a circle into a square—

Thud!

Eventually, it transformed into a rectangular structure.

Originally designed to keep out attackers, it now served as a prison to lock them in.

’Rules are meant to be broken!’

A fortress could turn into a prison.

In other words, it was all up to how I used it!

I wished I could just squash them by shrinking the walls, but resistance from the inside kept the prison from shrinking any further.

"You can’t leave until you buy everything~"

Kicking the ash-colored walls with a mutter, I turned around.

"Your Highness!"

"Are you alright, Your Highness?!"

My subordinates, who had been waiting at the base camp, rushed toward me.

Elize had come with a reserve party dispatched to the Merchant Guild’s Silver Winter division, and Saintess Margarita had also arrived from the temple.

"Ash, I don’t know what’s going on, but just give the order!"

Even Verdandi’s Holy Grail Seekers, who had been on standby at the base camp, were present. It seemed like I had gathered as many as I could on short notice.

I saw the Shadow Squad, who despite their injuries, had managed to evacuate citizens and muster forces.

I nodded at the trio.

"Saintess, I’m fine. First, see to Lucas and the Shadow Squad."

"Ah, yes...!"

Margarita immediately began pouring healing magic onto Lucas.

Lucas, who had been a bloody mess, started to regain his original appearance. Just then, a dwarf blacksmith rushed over.

"Ash!"

"Yes, Kellibey. At your service."

"What the hell is happening? I got a brief explanation from the guy from Godhand, but..."

"Details later. For now."

I extended my hand for a handshake with Kellibey.

"The equipment I ordered is ready, right?"

"It was still in the final adjustment phase, but..."

Kellibey twisted his bushy beard into a grin and handed me an object covered in cloth.

"Well, weapons are typically fine-tuned on the battlefield. Looks like you need it right away, so test it out."

"Thank you."

Whooosh—

As I uncovered the cloth, there lay a longsword in a sword coffin.

The simple yet refined hilt felt familiar.

[Bestowed Sword].

Lucas’s personalized equipment was complete.

I approached Lucas, carrying it with me. After his emergency healing was complete, Lucas staggered to his feet.

"Milord.""Lucas."

I extended the [Bestowed Sword] before him.

"Take it. It’s your new weapon."

"..."

Taking the longsword, Lucas quietly stared down at the hilt.

After a moment of silent scrutiny, Lucas slowly opened his mouth.

"...This is the sword you first bestowed upon me when we were young."

I silently listened. Lucas continued.

"And the night I betrayed you, the blade shattered into pieces."

"..."

"Ever since then, I’ve held onto this hilt, to remind myself of my poor choices... of my regrets and cautions."

Lucas, gripping the hilt tightly, extended the sword back to me.

"I am not worthy of taking this sword back."

"...Lucas."

"I am nothing but a mad dog, too shameful even to be called rabid, who betrayed you and inflicted an indelible wound upon you. I tried to run from that fact, but once again, my past has put you in..."

"Hey! Shut up! Would you?!"

I yelled, and Lucas’s eyes widened in shock.

I yelled again.

"I don’t care!"

"I beg your pardon?"

"I don’t give a damn about some guy’s past!"

Lucas slightly opened his mouth. I pushed the sword back into his hands.

"Whatever wrong you’ve done to me! I’ve already forgotten."

I really have. Because I don’t know.

"And whatever wrong you’ll do to me in the future! I’ll forget that too."

I forced the sword back into Lucas’s grasp.

"Betray me?! Do it again! Two times, three times, four times, be my guest! I don’t care!"

"Y-yes?! No, yes?!"

"As long as you come back to me and remain my knight!"

I slowly withdrew my hand.

"If you become my friend again. That’s all that matters."

Together, we failed 741 times, and finally reached the ending. To that protagonist, I said this.

It might be a silly story... We only watched it through a computer monitor, but I’ve considered you my friend throughout those 742 attempts.

Holding the sword in a daze, Lucas repeated,

"Fri...end?"

"Yeah, Lucas."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"You and I are not master and dog. We’re friends."

"..."

"Well, of course, professionally speaking, there is a military hierarchy of commander and knight, but..."

Rambling on, I cut myself short.

"We are friends, Lucas. Regardless of what happened in the past, or what will happen in the future, that will never change."

"..."

"Or is it that I’m the only one who thinks so?"

"No, not at all..."

Lucas lowered his head, his disheveled and blood-stained blond hair obscuring his eyes.

"...Not at all, milord. Absolutely not."

I patted Lucas’s shoulder and pointed toward the magic fortress.magic

"The fort’s maintenance is reaching its limit. The guys we’ve trapped inside will soon be coming out."

Even though my condition was a mess, I forcibly drank all the magic potions in my inventory and summoned the fortress. As a result, the limit was rapidly approaching.

The magic fortress was slowly crumbling, soon to be completely destroyed.

"They’re villains scheming to break our front line."

I looked around at my subordinates and nodded.

"I’ll define it. They’re ’monsters’ that our monster front line has to deal with... Wipe them all out!"

"Yes-!"

My subordinates responded in unison.

Elize adjusted her Sword Coffin, while Verdandi and the Holy Grail Seekers each readied their equipment.

Shadow Squad and the reserve parties also prepared for battle, and Saintess Margarita cast shield spells over them.

The armor Lucas had sent to Kellibey through Godhand had been quickly repaired.

With Kellibey’s help, Lucas donned the armor. I spoke to him.

"Lucas."

"Yes."

"Sever your past with that sword."I grinned at the protagonist of this world. The player who had taken over this body said, "Come back safely."

Lucas set aside the tin helmet he was holding in his hand and gave a blurry smile.

"...Yes. I will return, my lord."

In the distance, the magic barrier disappeared.

As if settling the bill, the residual magic power drained from my body, and then—

I passed out.

***

Aegis Special Forces’ Team 1 was a unit comprised only of those capable of combat in the dark.

In fact, their combat skills were so high that they often scored similarly to the Imperial knights during mock battles.

If ambushes, surprise attacks, and the use of various tools were permitted, they could even overwhelm the knights.

Each of their individual combat skills was on par with the elite heroes of the Crossroad.

However, this time the situation was dire.

Thud—Boom-Boom-Bang!

As soon as they teleported, they found themselves trapped within a gray barrier. The moment they were freed, attacks rained down on them from all directions.

Burnout, who had been prepared, unleashed a barrage of explosive arrows, and Bodybag hurled the iron bars created by Godhand.

Verdandi’s Holy Grail Seekers also fired short bows and threw daggers.

Caught without cover in this long-range bombardment, the Special Forces took heavy damage.

"Damn it! Break through in this direction!"

Mason, who had deflected arrows with his greatsword, looked back at his subordinates as he roared.

There, a woman in a maid outfit with a giant Coffin on her back had entered. She was swinging her bluish-black bobbed hair.

Those agents who recognized her were shocked.

"You are...?"

"Could it be, the Coffin Swordmaster, Elizabeth—"

Between the Special Forces members hastily swinging their weapons, Elize quietly drew the swords from her Sword Coffin—

Swoosh! Clang! Shatter!

Like a spinning top, she swiftly slaughtered the Special Forces members.

Watching his men fall one by one, Mason gritted his teeth.

‘At this rate...!’

Thud. Thud.

Footsteps approached. Mason looked in that direction.

"Mason, you’re not fit for the dark arts or this confidential mission."

It was Lucas.

Though his footsteps were unsteady, perhaps due to his condition, his bright blue eyes were firm.

"Why didn’t you join the knights? Then you could’ve used that crude swordsmanship."

Grinning, Mason gripped his massive greatsword.

"Lord Fernandez highly values a certain trait of mine. That’s why he entrusted this mission to me."

"What trait is that?"

"Survival."

Mason laughed ferociously.

"No matter how strong the opponent, no matter how dire the situation, I always manage to cling to life and complete the mission...! That’s the one thing I’m confident in!"

"Your pitiful life ends here."

Lucas slowly reached for the hilt of his longsword.

"Let’s end our bad karma, Mason."

"Bad karma? That’s disappointing, Lord Lucas."

Whoosh—!

Kicking the ground, Mason lunged at Lucas, slashing down with his greatsword.

"We had good times, too, didn’t we—!"

To counter, Lucas drew his sword.

Swish...!

As the hilt slid out of the sheath, the blade glimmering faintly below it revealed itself.

Mason frowned.

‘What is that sword?’

It was as if the blade was made of light.

Clang!

Lucas’ light-infused longsword clashed roughly with Mason’s greatsword.

As they strained against each other, blades locked, Mason cracked a wide grin and chuckled.

"Nice color, huh? You get it custom-made? It’s all shiny and pretty, what’s the deal with this sword?"

Lucas replied tersely.

"My regret. And..."

Gripping the hilt tightly with both hands,

Lucas mustered his strength and finished his sentence.

"...My forgiveness."

Whoosh-!

Lucas’ longsword began to emit a blinding white radiance, casting light in all directions.

--TL Notes--

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