* * *

There was no sound, the air around him was filled with an unpleasant dark energy, and his comrades were nowhere to be seen. No attack could break the prison he was trapped in, and until Yozen appeared, all Jeffrey could do was barely keep his wits about him in a vague sense of dread.

“You, you are……!”

Yozen stood in front of a wary Jeffrey, sword drawn. He didn’t need to use dark energy to tell; his shaky breathing, uncoordinated movements, and irregular heartbeat told him Jeffrey was afraid of him.

“You can’t be……! Surely the commander of the Scarlet Scales Knight Order said we’d have a chance to locate Port soon, and this is it? This was all planned! I knew something was wrong from the beginning!”

Yes, this was it. A familiar fear. Everyone before him was like this. Fearful, cowering, and sometimes resentful.

“You were Commander Cadel’s lackey! He helped you! He set this whole thing up on purpose to help you get your petty revenge! The whole Port thing, the whole demon thing, it’s all a lie! You set everyone up, and then you tried to kill me! You think you’re not going to be found out? You’re going to pay for it one way or another!”

The sentiment was so familiar, yet Yozen had forgotten it. He was able to shake off so easily what was engraved in his heart and would never be erased. By Cadel’s side. 

By the side of a man who was never afraid of him, who showed him nothing but compassion and love. It melted away.

“I’m not going to let you die so easily. I’m going to thwart your evil plans somehow―”

“I wasn’t going to let you know who I was until the end.”

Yozen strode toward Jeffrey as nonchalantly as if oblivious to the blade pointed at him. His slow, leisurely pace had the menace of a predator with his prey at his feet.

“Because it wasn’t worth it. I just wanted you to die a more painful death than anyone else. I wanted to kill you as much as I wanted so that your screams would linger, so that you would scream all day long.”

It was enough to make even Jeffrey shudder, after so many years of seeing the worst of the worst. He stumbled backward, and by the time he realized he was backing away, his already rigid body had been bounced off a wall of dark energy.

“But I’ll tell you. You still don’t deserve to know anything, you still don’t deserve to live, but…….”

Jeffrey lowered his gaze from Yozen’s face, whose expression was unreadable. The blade he was barely holding was blackened, the dark energy eating away at it, dissolving it like corrosion, until all that remained in his hand was a useless handle.

As Jeffrey gasped in panic, Yozen’s hand reached out from nowhere and grabbed him by the throat. Yozen choked him, his face pressed to Jeffrey’s nose as he spoke.

“I want to give my memories of you a plausible ending. Only then can I receive sympathy, affection, and…… love from that man.”

[City of Darkness] was a space created solely for Yozen. To enter the [City of Darkness] was to be in the palm of Yozen’s hand. It was a trap that not even the Scarlet Scales Knight Order could easily escape. There was no way that mere Jeffrey Holiven could rebel like this.

“Ugh……! Uggghhh……!”

Jeffrey tried to reach for his pierced right thigh, but Yozen’s chokehold prevented him from bending over properly. Yozen smirked, enjoying Jeffrey’s reaction as he flailed about with a face so red it was practically ghostly.

“Do you remember the Jaystick family?”

“Ugh…….”

“If you don’t even remember this, it’ll be difficult. I won’t want to save you.”

“I, re……. I remember. I do, remember……!”

“You’re lying.”

Jeffrey’s struggles intensified at the cold reply. He scrabbled futilely at Yozen’s wrists around his throat, trying to push them off somehow, but the dark energy coursing through his body only melted his skin, causing him terrible pain. Finally, giving up on struggling, Jeffrey managed to find his voice.

“An, Andy…… Jaystick……!”

Only at the sound of a recognizable name did Yozen’s grip loosen. Free of Yozen’s grasp, Jeffrey collapsed to the ground, writhing helplessly.

He moaned in agony, one hand clutching his bleeding thigh, the other wrapped around his throat. It was a reaction that had become so commonplace that it left no impression on Yozen.

“I was the kid who lived with Andy Jaystick and his wife, Helena, whom you killed back then…… I don’t know if you remember.”

Yozen crouched down right in front of him, and Jeffrey flinched in surprise as if he were about to have a seizure. One wrong move and he’d be torn apart by the dark energy. Realizing that Yozen was holding his lifeline, Jeffrey crawled to the ground, much more obedient than he had been at first.

“I, I remember.”

“Yeah. Then you know why I’m trying to kill you, don’t you?”

Yozen’s head didn’t turn toward Jeffrey’s face; he tilted it as if to check the wound on his thigh that Jeffrey was covering, then moved his hand away to expose it. Shaking off Jeffrey’s trembling arms, he plunged his dagger into the wound in one swift motion. A tearing scream echoed through the space of dark energy.

“Your death fulfills two things in me. Vengeance for Andy and Helena. And the satisfaction of having made the world a little cleaner.”

“Spare, spare me…….”

“But your survival will only fulfill one thing: Cadel’s peace. I will make sure my Cadel is at peace. In exchange, I lose so much. Anger, skepticism, guilt, maybe even regret that I couldn’t erase your presence from the world. Not a very helpful choice, no matter where you look.”

He twirled the handle of the dagger in the wound, cutting through flesh and muscle, sending a trickle of dark energy into the hole.

“And yet, I chose to keep you alive, …… for me to live as a human.”

“Ugh…… I, I’ll repent. I’ll repent, and I’ll atone for my sins.”

“That doesn’t mean I’ll be a merciful human who forgives even the wicked, because all I’ve chosen is to live in harmony with Cadel. I don’t have to stand beside him as an equal. It’s enough to live as his shadow, and as a shadow of that beautiful man, I can be…… a little cruel.”

As Yozen finished speaking, Jeffrey’s head snapped back and a horrible scream rang out. The dagger Yozen had driven into him, dark energy spread out from its tip like tentacles, engulfing Jeffrey’s leg completely. 

The dark energy that had infiltrated his leg soon boiled over, bursting through flesh and muscle.

“You’re done being a knight. It won’t matter if you try to rehabilitate yourself with a prosthetic leg, because the dark energy I’ve implanted in you will immediately blow off limb after limb. The same goes for telling anyone about me and Cadel, so don’t even think about it.”

Wiping the blood and flesh from his face, Yozen slowly pushed himself to his feet.

“And live a life of true atonement. Live the rest of your life helping others. Live a life of sacrifice for others, remembering the good people you killed. Pay for it with your life. For a very long time, steadily.”

Jeffrey seemed half out of it, in pain and shock, but Yozen spoke unperturbed.

“I’ll be watching you, and if you piss me off, I’ll blow you to smithereens, because the thought of a wasted scum like you breathing the same air as Cadel makes my blood run cold just thinking about it.”

As much as he’d love to be a human being by Cadel’s side, that didn’t mean he was going to wipe the slate clean and become his loyal dog.

Cadel just needed to accept him as he promised and love him for who he was. Yozen would stand by his side and destroy any evil that would harm him.

‘……I don’t feel any better.’

Despite taking care of Jeffrey in such a cruel and painful way, Yozen didn’t feel anywhere near as much relief as he expected. He didn’t know if it was because he’d spared Jeffrey’s life or because the act of revenge was less worthwhile than he’d thought.

For now, he’d rather feel Cadel’s presence out there than Jeffrey’s, who was dying.

* * *

Cadel was guarding the building Yozen had entered when he ran into Dasto, who had brought his men with him. He didn’t have to put on a sloppy act, though, because shortly after confronting them, Yozen’s [City of Darkness] was dispelled.

As the dark energy dissipated, the mine was once again revealed. The flames from the fire that had been lit earlier lit up the interior, illuminating the bodies of the knights and the fallen Port.

Port’s body was crumpled at the joints, but it was still large enough to fill one side of the shaft. Van, standing closest to Fort, touched the mangled corpse with the tip of his greatsword and grimaced.

“So this is how he assassinated humans, hiding his presence?”

“He’s a High Demon who specializes in assassinations, and with his invisibility, I’m afraid the damage would have been worse without Yozen.”

How would they have attacked Port without Yozen? It gave him a headache just thinking about it. Cadel tore his gaze away from Port’s corpse and scanned his surroundings unobtrusively.

‘……Nothing.’

Yozen was nowhere to be seen. He must have hidden his appearance because he had something on his mind. He had done nothing wrong here. If anything, he did cause an incident, but it was nothing to worry about. His eyes quickly turned cold and turned to the Shadow Knight Order.

“……Yes.”

“You’ve been badly beaten, please stand still. I’ll call the healer from the Scarlet Scales Knight Order to treat…….”

“It, it’s all right, Commander Dasto! I’m……. This leg is already ruined. No healer can bring a crippled leg back to life―”

“You’re not a dead person. Do you think he won’t be able to save your injured leg?”

“It’s not necessary!”

“……What are you trying to do?”

Yozen had crippled one of Jeffrey’s legs. A leg so grotesquely mangled that even a cursory glance at it was enough to make one frown. But someone of Garuel’s caliber should be able to restore it to some degree. Still, Jeffrey refused medical attention, and Dasto didn’t understand his subordinate’s reaction.

“Is this how you want to end your knighthood?”

“……Yes, I want to end it.”

“What did you just say?”

“It, it’s scary, I can’t fight for my life against the demons anymore, I want to live……!”

Before Jeffrey could finish his rant, Dasto’s kicks flew in, a short scream accompanied by the sound of breaking bones. In an instant, the surroundings fell silent and the atmosphere chilled.

The Shadow Knight Order was speechless at the successive tragedies that had befallen their group, and the Scarlet Scales Knight Order carefully monitored the mood of their allies.

“There is no life worth living for a knight who has lost his pride. If you are afraid to die, I will make sure you have no death to fear.”

Without hesitation, Dasto drew his sword, the killing intent he exuded genuine. He was going to deal with the man who refused medical treatment for defecting from the Knight Order himself.

Cadel, who had watched everything from the sidelines, decided to take matters into his own hands before Dasto did anything drastic.

“That’s enough, Sir Dasto.”

Jeffrey had stripped off his cloak, his panicked face plainly visible. Cadel took one look at Jeffrey and stood in Dasto’s way.

Dasto was uncharacteristically agitated. He had lost dozens of his men to a High Demon, and the few that had survived had failed him, and he had every right to be devastated.

“……If it were you, would you keep a man who has lost his knightly pride as a subordinate?”

“No. But neither would I allow such a man to be among the bodies of men who fought bravely.”

In truth, Cadel didn’t care if Jeffrey died here at the hands of Dasto, or if he bled to death, but Jeffrey was a life Yozen had chosen to spare. A human being, no matter how worthless a piece of trash he was, he had been given a second chance. So he couldn’t let another man ruin the vengeance Yozen had endured.

Meeting Cadel’s determined gaze, Dasto moved his blade slowly. Slowly, as if to control the anger that had risen to the top of his lungs, he finished with the lead blade and spoke in a calm voice.

“We have suffered too many wounded and dead to resume our search.”

“Go back first. We’ll explore the mine a bit more and then join you.”

“If you find another demon, use [Ullo], we’ll help as much as we can.”

It was unreasonable for the Shadow Knight Order to continue marching with survivors in tow. The Scarlet Scales Knight Order, on the other hand, didn’t have any casualties. They should continue exploring as much as possible to save time.

So the Shadow Knight Order carried the bodies of their comrades and the wounded toward the mine’s exit, while the Scarlet Scales Knight Order resumed their search for the Stone of Peace.

It wasn’t long into the walk when the Shadow Knight Order had gotten far enough away, Yozen appeared.