Episode 174: The End and the Beginning

(Wh-What is this man…!?)

Siegfried’s words were beyond Shemhazai’s comprehension.

The only thing clear to him was the stark realization that if he entered combat now, his life would undoubtedly be forfeit.

“Tch…!”

The moment of decision.

Shemhazai steeled himself, casting aside hesitation, and activated his magic.

It was a spell from the spatial manipulation school—Spatial Severance.

As the name suggested, it was a spell that could sever its target along with the space around it, but if aimed at Siegfried, it would likely be deflected. Thus—his target was his own left arm.

“Guh… ugh…!”

He severed the arm that Siegfried had gripped, cutting it off at the root. Fresh blood sprayed, scattering into the cold night air.

Grimacing in pain, he immediately activated Spatial Leap—and Shemhazai’s form vanished without a trace.

 

◇

 

Shemhazai reappeared on a plain several kilometers from the capital.

“Haa… haa…!”

The white-haired court scribe, still carrying Luverios on his right shoulder, pressed down on the wound where his left arm had been.

“Siegfried von Kreving… more formidable than anticipated. To think that I, of all people, would lose an arm…”

But it was only temporary. Once he returned to the Silver Falling Star, regenerating his arm would be a simple matter.

And this place would surely remain hidden from Siegfried. After all, Shemhazai himself didn’t even know where he was, having cast the spell in a moment of desperation.

“Phew…”

To stem the bleeding, Shemhazai approached a large boulder nearby and leaned against it—at that very moment.

With a deafening roar, the rock shattered, and from beyond the flying debris, an arm shot out, seizing Shemhazai’s head in a vice-like grip.

“Wha!?”

The one who had grabbed him was—needless to say—Siegfried.

His voice trembling with fear and shock, Shemhazai cried out.

“W-Why!? How did you find me again…!?”

“I’ve revived Luverios multiple times with my own blood. Traces of my magic still linger in his body.”

The silver-haired youth cast his gaze toward the corpse slung over Shemhazai’s shoulder.

“Tracking my own magic is child’s play. This time, I merely followed its trail. …So, how does it feel?”

“Huh…?”

“The man whose corpse you dismissed as ‘worthless’ just exposed your location. How does that feel, I’m asking.”

Siegfried’s grip tightened, and Shemhazai’s skull creaked ominously under the pressure.

—Death.

That realization seized Shemhazai’s heart.

He couldn’t use Spatial Leap while being held like this.

Nor could he sever the gripped part as he had with his arm. An arm could be cut off, but his head—if he tried that, he’d die.

Suddenly, Siegfried tilted his head slightly.

“…What’s wrong? No laughter?”

“W-Wha… uh…?”

“I thought scheming villains or mastermind types like you would laugh in moments like this. Smiling even as their life fades, treating it as the curtain call of their grand machinations—isn’t that your style?”

“Wh-What are you…?”

“No pride in that, huh? Then there’s no point in keeping you alive—you won’t shine any brighter in the future. Your role ends here.”

The grip tightened further, his skull groaning under the strain.

In the next moment, his head would likely be crushed like a ripe tomato—Shemhazai realized this in a fleeting instant.

“Ha… hii… haha… hahaha…!”

Tears streamed down his face, his trembling eyes losing focus. Yet he—laughed. His instincts, his soul, screamed that it was the only way to survive.

“Hoh…”

Siegfried smiled, seemingly satisfied.

“You laughed. Then perhaps there’s still room for you to shine.”

Siegfried carelessly slammed Shemhazai’s head to the ground and snatched Luverios’s corpse.

Then, he planted his foot on the back of the white-haired youth, who was crawling on the ground.

“That laugh—and the resolve to sacrifice your arm earlier. You still have the right to stand on this stage. I’ll let you live.”

Siegfried drew his leg back and swung it forward with force, as if kicking a soccer ball, sending Shemhazai’s body hurtling into the darkness.

“Guhaaaa!”

Shemhazai soared through the night sky with a scream. Watching his trajectory, Siegfried murmured.

“A new chapter filled only with ‘new villains’ would lack flavor. Keeping a ‘familiar foe’ like you around adds some spice. Besides—”

Siegfried’s gaze fell to Luverios’s corpse on his shoulder.

“The final villain to fall in the ‘Kirchhen Kingdom Arc’—it has to be this man.”

 

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“Hii… guh… hii…”

Shemhazai crawled across the night-draped plain.

His left arm was severed at the root, his body caked in mud and blood. The impact of being kicked sent waves of aching pain through him.

“Guh… I—I, a high-ranking member of the Silver Falling Star…!”

All his actions had been seen through, and he’d been forced to laugh a pathetic, pleading laugh. Then, the humiliation of being kicked like an object.

“Count Siegfried von Kreving… this debt… I will make you pay…!”

Shemhazai’s eyes burned with vengeance—but he did not yet know.

This was merely the prelude to the pain and humiliation he would endure for crossing paths with Siegfried.