Kuro no Maou 422

Battle Tower Pharos (Part 2)

“So, speak of the devil… What is it, Father?”

Though Eisenhart spoke as if talking to himself, he could certainly hear his father’s voice.

Two small, sparkly blue earrings adorn Eisenhart’s ears. Made with Telepathium crystal of the highest purity, they are a magic item that enables the wearer to communicate through high-quality telepathy.

“… Eis, you deal with those golems.”

“All by myself?”

“You can take along whoever you like. But you have to fight too, no matter what.”

“This means I’ll get the chance to do something heroic, huh? How considerate of you, Father.”

“I have a bad feeling about those golems. Come take a look.”

Eisenhart lets out a sigh so heavy that it seems as if it was on purpose.

But that sighing is not simply out of childish defiance or cynicism, but out of the pressure he feels due to the heavy responsibility imposed on him.

“If you’re so concerned about it, Father… then it really must be looking bad…”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

Saying nothing more than that, King Leonhart cuts the communication off.

Eisenhart takes another deep breath and slowly turns towards Vice-Commander Elwood.

“Oh, so that’s how it is.”

“Yeah… There’s no way around it.”

Seems that not even Elwood can help but follow His Majesty the King’s orders.

“But don’t worry. I’m sure I can somehow manage to deal with five of them. Besides, there are people other than Father who can deal with those huge things.”

Before Battle Tower Pharos’ attack, Eisenhart has seen a certain party of adventurers destroy one of the ancient golems on their own. Well, more than just seeing them, he couldn’t help but notice them.

That trio of adventurers who call themselves “Element Masters” has more to do with his brother Wilhart, who has always had a keen interest in them. Eisenhart had thought to see these friends of my brother’s whenever he had the free time to do so, but it was totally unexpected that they were to turn up at the throne room.

Wil’s not only smart, but he also has an eye for people.

When selecting Prince Wilhard’s guard maid at the time of his entering the Royal Spada Academy, it was none other than him who chose Celia, a former assassin from the intelligence department. Though she does have a good presence, there were many other maid candidates whose looks were way more charming and sexy. Some of them may have even approached him behind the scenes. Wilhart had no expectations for the near future, but if spoiled, he was still the second prince. Back in those days, the nickname “delusional prince” was not so well known, and he seemed to be normal. At least, to complete strangers.

However, the then-thirteen-years-old Wilhart chose Celia over the other more good-looking maids. At that time, his elder brother bluntly asked him whether he liked women or not to inquire about the reason behind his choice, to which Wilhart replied:

“I merely chose the best among them. There is no other reason.”

To this day, he still cannot forget his younger brother’s expression, who seemed to be genuinely wondering why was he being asked such an obvious question.

“If only Wilhart had the same power as me…” — Though meaningless, that idea often flutters about in Eisenhart’s head.

Anyway, those adventurers found by his younger brother have shown to be able to destroy an ancient golem. He can no longer doubt Wilhart’s judgment.

“You’ve made some great friends, Wil… but you’re not the only one who has friends capable of bringing down a golem!”

Eisenhart took a quick look around him, but his golden eyes could not find the beautiful gladiator of Spada.

“Come on, Fark, where are you? Selfish as ever…”

Despite carrying himself with the elegance and looks of a nobleman’s son, Farkius is a hopelessly selfish and moody person. However, very few people actually know that due to his unwavering smile and gentle demeanor.

He can be very enthusiastic about his interests and about things he wants to do, but he can also very eager to avoid doing things he either doesn’t like, has no interest in, or he’s tired of doing. Though he is a very skilled man, his true personality may closer to King Leonhart’s than what he lets others see.

In Eisenhart’s opinion, Farkius handles things in a surprisingly diligent way. Compared to both his father and elder sister, who do nothing but fight as much as they please like some sort of battle maniacs, he is far more interested in bragging about his own academic feats. At the same time, that makes him seem rather mediocre.

“Oh well, I guess he’ll be willing to join me as soon as I’m right in front of those huge things.”

Eisenhart began to focus on his battle, leaving his fickle friend’s absence behind.

Turning his deep crimson cloak aside, he unleashed his blazing red greatsword started walking towards the walled corridor.

“Well then, let’s go…”

And so, Eisenhart stepped forward into the empty sky from fifty meters above the ground without hesitation.

********

“Th-that was close… I thought’ I’d die…”

After falling and rolling over the hard metal floor, he clumsily stands up.

“Hitsugi, your calculations were messed up.”

“Aah, I’m so sorry, Master!”

Oh well. I can hardly say I got there in one piece, but at least I did get there.

“Well, it is lower than the castle walls, but still quite tall after all.”

I’m standing at a place that is twenty meters above the ground. Instead of the steady ground over which the castle walls were built, the steel underfoot is swaying around like a small boat caught in a raging storm.

That’s right, I’m standing on the shoulder of one of the ancient golems, who continue their march towards the castle walls.

Looking to the right, I can see the snowy landscape of the Galahad mountain range, and looking to the right, all I see is a gigantic full-helmet-like head and its single red eye.

I wonder if the pilot sees a magnified version of me on their screen?

“… Bullet Arts.”

I try shooting at it, but of course, it won’t break so easily. It seems to be some sort of glass lens, but my attack didn’t leave a single crack on it. It seems that a giant’s weak spot is not necessarily always going to be its single eye.

“Are you okay, Kurono? You dropped there almost like a meteor…”

The beautiful girl who came flying down from the sky so gently that you can almost hear the soft “fwoosh” was none other than Lily. That beautiful face that often seems cute and lovely now seemed serious and rather worried, so I decided to toughen it up.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine! This was part of our calculations!”

Did the way I came swooping down here look so dangerously fast from her point of view?

The way I got on top of the golem’s shoulder was the same way we struggled up to the top of the castle walls — using Hitsugi’s Bind Arts. Like some sort of hookshot, I coiled a long chain around me. Then it was a matter of just diving down.

However, since I had never jumped down such a distance before, I asked Hitsugi to calculate the acceleration. If the chain were to roll out too slowly, I’d only come crashing down. It’s not like bungee jumping using a long rope.

But still, I’m glad it worked well in the end.