The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

The day after meeting with Cyan.

In response to Cyan’s words about choices, Arin issued an official decree to the entire empire.

[Aschel Vert, the eldest son of the Duke of Vert and the owner of the Holy Sword, has committed the high crime of deceiving the royal family and insulting the emperor. Therefore, the royal family revokes his title and issues a warrant for his arrest as a serious criminal.]

This decree signified a refusal to adhere to the current order.

More importantly, it included the following:

[At the same time, the royal family announces the immediate withdrawal of all warrants against Mist and the full pardon of Cyan Vert. Furthermore, his noble title is reinstated.]

Issuing a warrant for Aschel and pardoning Cyan.

Some people commented upon seeing this.

They said that the empire had decided who to see as good and who to see as evil.

They believed this decision would meet with significant opposition, and many factions would soon rise to oppose her.

And most thought Princess Arin would not be able to withstand them.

But Arin thought differently.

This was merely the first step towards a new future for the empire.

It was not an act to define good and evil.

“I never expected to meet you in such a manner, Princess.”

“Nor did I expect to face you in this way, Boris.”

From the moment Aschel was declared a criminal, his close associates could not avoid the arrow of guilt.

Surrounded by knights and bound all over, Boris stood before Arin no longer as a royal mage advisor but as a criminal.

“This is foolishness! This is not for the good of the royal family or the empire! Withdraw the decree immediately and reissue the warrant against Mist!”

Despite Boris’s repeated demands, Arin showed no reaction.

“Do you think you rose to that position on your own, Princess?”

Boris changed his tone, veins bulging in his eyes as he continued.

“No. The place you are now was created by Aschel and me! Just because we’ve temporarily lost power, it doesn’t mean you can take it as you please!”

Hearing this, Arin thought.

How utterly disgusting.

“No one but my father, the Emperor, can create the position of the Princess. And yet, you claim you made it? It’s beyond disrespectful; it’s repulsive.”

Boris, struggling to contain his words, calmly continued.

“I apologize for what I just said. But please trust me, Princess! What you need now is not doubt but trust! Trust in the light!”

How had someone who seemed so high when she first saw him fallen so low?

Arin bent down to meet his eyes at the same level and spoke.

“I don’t deny that I learned much from you, Boris. But do you know what I felt during all the time I received your teachings?”

“What was it?”

“There was never any sincerity toward me in your words.”

Boris, suddenly speechless, only moved his lips aimlessly.

“Asking for trust from someone who has never shown any sincerity towards me, do you really think that’s possible?”

“You, you misunderstand! I’ve always been……”

As if not wanting to hear more, Arin straightened up and turned away coldly.

“I will delay your punishment for a bit. It won’t take long.”

Boris glared at the departing Princess with fierce eyes.

Then he burst into maniacal laughter, his mouth wide open.

“Humans truly are foolish creatures! How can they repeat the same mistakes over and over again?”

Perhaps because those words annoyed her, Arin turned around again.

“No one can punish me! Not even the Emperor himself!”

A fallen human in denial of reality, twisted into a pitiful state,

It was a sight that would make any observer sigh.

But,

“There’s one thing I didn’t mention.”

Even so, Arin’s resolve did not waver.

“We are not the ones who will punish you, Boris.”

“……?”

“For reference, there are no guards stationed in this prison where you are. In other words, if someone comes for you, there will be no guards to stop them.”

Boris’s face twisted again as he failed to understand the words.

“Good luck, Boris.”

With those final words, Arin left the prison with the knights.

Left alone, Boris hung his head,

Then started laughing madly again.

“The end of all this is already determined, so why do they harbor such doubts…….”

Soon, a white light emanated from Boris’s body.

The light released one chain and lock after another that bound him, and soon all restraints were lifted.

Boris leisurely rose from the floor.

“In the end, everything returns to its place with time. We must prepare for that. Holy Book……”

His smiling face suddenly froze.

An unresponsive call,

Unreactive magic,

Realizing something was wrong, Boris stared endlessly at his own hands.

“Holy Book? Why won’t you respond to me?”

The Holy Book was unresponsive.

Unlike the Holy Sword or the Demonic Sword, the Holy Book could be sensed mentally even from afar.

Yet, for some reason, the Holy Book Hishkrea was not responding to Boris at all.

There were two possible reasons for this.

Either it was deliberately not responding,

Or it was in a situation where it couldn’t respond.

At that moment, Boris couldn’t be sure of either.

-Thud

At that moment, unfamiliar footsteps echoed from the corridor.

Sensing the presence, Boris immediately stopped moving and looked towards the source of the sound.

“What, what is it?”

Boris thought.

This presence felt very familiar to him.

The problem was that it didn’t give him a good feeling at all.

It was a presence that surely could cause him immense harm and bring despair!

-Sss

As if to prove his instincts right, black mist seeped through the bars.

And then a voice followed.

“You said it yourself before, didn’t you?”

“……!”

“You said it would be better to resolve things when our relationship was at its peak, that it would be more fulfilling that way.”

Boris’s legs gave out, and he collapsed to the floor.

He tried to drag himself, but it was no use.

In this small area, blocked by iron bars at the front and iron walls on all sides, there was no way for him to escape.

Soon, the owner of the black mist that seeped through the bars revealed himself,

“I think that time is now.”

Boris’s face turned pale with fear and disbelief.

-Bang!

The black-haired man, unable to contain his excitement, banged on the bars with a murderous look.

Cyan, who had been eagerly waiting for this moment,

“Don’t you agree?”

Had come to deliver his punishment.

* * *

Head of the Ushif Empire’s Magic Society.

Achieved 9-star rank at the youngest age.

An unprecedented genius in the empire’s history.

And yet, he always stuck by that man’s side, volunteering as a loyal subordinate pushing his plans.

Boris Ruchelheim,

I couldn’t understand.

Where did such a monster come from?

His origin was the slums of the northern city of Axilium.

A group scorned as cursed ones with black blood, not even considered human.

Someone who wasn’t even treated as human suddenly appeared one day and stuck to that man’s side.

No matter how much I thought about it, it was strange.

It was as if someone living well in that place had suddenly been replaced by another person.

“Do you think you’ve won?”

The man, spewing black blood from his mouth, sneered as he asked.

“No. Killing me won’t end it. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen someone just like you before.”

I bent my knees slightly, lowered my body, and lifted his head to meet his eyes.

“Seeing your face, you seem curious why I’m saying this.”

Instead of answering, I stared straight into his eyes.

It meant he could say whatever he wanted.

“Yes. I’m from the era people today call the past, the old era. I was one who helped the forces of light punish the followers of the mist. Want to know an interesting fact? Dio Hafenkus, the former owner of the Demon Sword Kaeram that you possess, was my friend.”

[……!]

The response came not from me, but from Kaeram in my right hand.

“The edicts of the mist spread throughout the empire, you know? Dio wrote those. It was the last gift he gave me before he died.”

I focused on his story without showing any reaction.

“Dio and I were both seekers studying magic together. But we pursued different values. Dio couldn’t accept what was given and always had doubts. Eventually, he fell onto the wrong path. Just like you!”

My right hand holding Kaeram trembled intensely for a moment.

But she only trembled and did not speak or materialize.

“My pity for him soon turned into anger. Why couldn’t he trust this absolute element called light and always had doubts? The results of that doubt were horrific!”

He let out a maniacal laugh.

“In the end, the god of the black mist was banished from the divine realm, and many humans who followed him faced a tragic end at the hands of the Demon Sword’s owner! Dio told me one last thing! He said since he had led them astray, it was only right he personally gave them peace!”

The truth Mia told me was this.

The owner of the Demon Sword, subdued by the light, foresaw the tragic future of his followers and had to kill them.

Unable to do it with a sound mind, he asked Kaeram to devour him.

Kaeram must have granted her owner’s request.

Not out of nature,

but out of affection.

“So, on the day when the world’s order was reshaped, I decided to seal my personality within a sacred text. When, in the distant future, similar corrupt beings appear in this world! It’s to correct that mistake once again! The Blood Tribe in Axilium was also created by me! They are not a cursed tribe or anything like that!”

The mention of the Blood Tribe made me furrow my brow unconsciously.

“It’s just a physical form that can contain my personality! To prevent it from spreading elsewhere! I confined it within the slums! So that someday, I can have a complete body again in this world! The name Boris is not my true name!”

So, that was your true identity?

You didn’t even consider the suffering countless people would have to endure for your possible next life?

Well, it’s very much like you, so it wasn’t particularly surprising.

But,

“Don’t rest easy, Cyan Vert! You haven’t reached the halfway point yet. Endless hardships lie ahead of you! Besides Instructor Silica, you’ll lose everyone who followed you!”

“….”

“Oh, I haven’t mentioned my real name yet. It’s not Boris Ruchelheim, my real name is…!”

-Swish!

People tend to become talkative as death approaches.

“Cough!”

But you’ve crossed a line.

If you think I’ll quietly listen to that story forever, you’re mistaken.

I mercilessly pulled out Kaeram.

Then, I forcefully lifted his bowed head and met his eyes.

“I don’t care what you did in the past or what you intended to do in the future.”

“…!”

“You’re just a backstabber who sacrificed everything to that devil. The reason I’m killing you is purely that.”

He looked at me with a puzzled, questioning gaze as if he couldn’t understand.

“You probably don’t understand. No matter how much you reminisce or reconsider the situation, you won’t understand what I just said. So don’t try to understand. Without resolving that doubt and denial…”

-Squish!

“You just have to die!”

I choked Boris’s neck with my left hand covered in dark mist and slammed him to the ground.

Thus began another moment of repentance.

A harmonious blend of screams and cries spread beautifully throughout the space.