BBYW Vol. 4 Chapter 67 (WN)
Chapter 67 – The Birth of a Monstrous Rival
“Is he…dead?”
Oboro whispered.
There was no trace of Benamis’ presence in the air. No body part, not even a shred of his clothing.
“…………”
I deactivated Shape of Indra. However, I did not let my guard down and carefully scanned the surroundings.
I had cut him down. I was sure of it.
The feedback made that clear, but still, an alarm going off in my head.
I just couldn’t feel like the battle was over.
“The Magic Tool that, only once, can be sacrificed in place of its user… ‘Osiris’.”
“What!? Where is he!?”
“Tch…you’re still alive. I knew it…”
Benamis’ voice echoed from the darkness. I clicked my tongue, as Oboro looked left and right, surprised. The immaterial voice continued, as if mocking us.
“Farewell, Sir Dyngir. Farewell for good…hopefully, we shall never meet again.”
Benamis did not show himself anymore: he said his one-sided goodbyes and left, apparently.
The alarm ringing in my head eventually went off. My instincts told me that the enemy was truly gone now.
“Benamis Saverne is a good-for-nothing…huh.”
I gritted my teeth, a sharp glare in my eyes, then brashly swung my sword. The frustrated slash sliced the grass at my feet, sending blades dancing in the air.
“Can’t trust the rumors, after all…you’re a proper monster in human clothing. Some nasty fangs you were hiding there.”
I had clearly underestimated the man called Benamis Saverne.
After dealing with the immortal Captain Drake, the mummified Valon Sphinx and an evil deity which unleashed an undead plague on the desert for centuries, I had probably grown a bit arrogant.
That man was definitely not someone I could take on easily. I had to use my full powers and abilities, or I was going to be killed instead. One of us was destined to go.
“Y-Young master? Should we really let him go?”
I just stood there, silently glaring at the darkness, so Oboro timidly approached me. As I put my sword back in the sheath, I snorted and answered his question.
“Let him go. For the time being, at least.”
“Mgh…we might be able to track him now, though…”
“No need. He treated me to dinner back at the capital, after all. I’ll let him off this once.”
Nahib Massab, the witness, had been killed, and all evidence had been stolen away.
I had gained nothing, except for a dagger wound on my chest.
It was my first defeat in a while. Captain Drake had escaped me once after I had tried to kill him, but the humiliation I felt this time was far greater.
“However…the next time we meet, I am going to kill the man. He better hope we don’t bump into each other on the street,”
In the end, both Drake and Valon fell at my hands.
Benamis Saverne…was going to meet the same fate.
“From this exact moment, I am your own personal grim reaper. I will be the one to take your life. I am not going to let a single strand of your hair continue to exist in this world…Sword Saint, Benamis Saverne…!”
I looked up at the moonlit night and made my declaration.
Believing that this death sentence was going to reach Benamis, wherever he was.
～
In the end, thanks to Benamis’ intervention, I could not find any evidence linking Viscount Massab to the invasion of the “Terror Armies”.
It was not possible to make the central province nobles admit their involvement either: thus the identity of the mastermind was buried in the shadows.
We managed, however, to reveal evidence of Nahib’s other illegal activities from his subordinates: on such a basis, the Viscount House of Massab was ultimately dismantled.
The land and assets of House Massab were going to be temporarily governed by House Sphinx: the “native nobles” faction center around Nahib crumbled too.
As a result, the rule of the western province became completely concentrated around House Sphinx and the “migrant nobles” faction: their political influence became even more powerful than before the conflict.
Incidentally, we also found out that Jaar Menfis’ mother was already dead: her remains were not even buried, and had been abandoned in a forest instead.
According to servants of House Massab, Nahib had taken out his resentment towards House Sphinx on her, since she was a “migrant noble” too: she had been harassed, tortured, and eventually killed.
The only silver lining was that Jaar’s sister had managed to escape Nahib’s clutches, though her whereabouts were currently unknown.
Vert Sphinx, though Jaar was the culprit behind his son’s assassination, had his subordinates look for her, to no avail — at least for now.
～
The conflict with the “Terror Armies” over the western province was resolved.
The heavy clouds of conspiracy cleared over the western skies, albeit leaving sour traces behind them.