Torn Asunder by War, A Sword Saint for Tomorrow X The Knight Wizards!! – Chapter 113

Chapter 113: Where Obsession Leads
  Meanwhile, Heisel, left alone in the office, reacted instantly to the strange wind magic that vanished into thin air. He swiftly drew a percussion cap six-shooter from the holster hidden beneath his jacket, aiming it at the dignified maid with her silver hair neatly trimmed just below the nape of her neck.
  
  However, his finger on the trigger wouldn’t budge, and he wore a perplexed expression, his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. Seeing this pathetic display, the other maid, with her silver hair tied up in a ponytail on one side, let out a mocking laugh.
  
  “Fufu, I’ll grant you special permission to speak, Margrave Rigsia.”
  “You… What have you done to my body?”
  
  “Oh, we’ve done all sorts of things. Where should I even begin? ♪”
  “Theta, even if they’re a race that impudently calls themselves primates, I don’t think it’s right to mock them.”
  
  Exasperated by her distant relative’s mischievousness, the bob-haired girl who had skillfully slain the old man Aldabert with “Tindalos’s Magic Blade” – based on the myth of the Old Ones who could attack from any acute angle – frowned.
  
  The girl with the side ponytail, feigning boredom at her partner’s admonition before quickly composing herself, straightened her posture and spoke with a hint of amusement, revealing a crucial fact to Heisel.
  
  “You are already dead. A few days ago, when the report of your defeat arrived… you insulted our White Elf chieftain, Lady Fau, and were beheaded by Lambda’s Wind Blade.”
  
  “I don’t regret cutting you down in a moment of passion.”
  “Don’t spout such nonsense! Stop playing around!!”
  
  Despite shouting with his gun still pointed, unable to move from the neck down, Theta merely cast a pitying glance at him, prompting her partner to sigh shallowly.
  
  “Since you conveniently appeared on the battlefield and lured Nina Valer to the outskirts of the city, your role is already over. We can release the censorship.”
  
  “This… my memories…”
  
  The moment he heard Lambda’s words, imbued with special magic, several scenes that he hadn’t even realized were missing flashed through his mind, leaving him with an undeniable sense of unease.
  
  Heisel Ballenstein had indeed been killed, just as the beautiful, non-human maids had said. His current existence was nothing more than a cruel joke.
  
  “Not content with just killing me, you even turned me into an undead?! You bastards!”
  “That’s nonsense… You think noble White Elves would dabble in such unclean arts?”
  
  “It’s closer to a divine act, actually. After repairing and preserving your corpse, and filling it with pseudo-blood, Lady Fau used a secret technique to anchor your soul.”
  
  Furthermore, they had imposed various restrictions to prevent him from perceiving inconvenient truths, while outwardly granting him free will. This “husk” was the current Margrave Rigsia.
  
  It sounded like a highly effective and versatile resurrection technique, but… since they had forcibly bound his detached soul to his body, it was nothing more than a temporary return from the underworld, lasting about a week.
  
  “It wouldn’t be a problem if we left you to collapse at an inconvenient time, but we came here because we have a message from Lady Fau.”
  
  “But we don’t have much time… ‘Return to the Circle of Life.'”
  
  Once again, under the influence of Lambda’s words, Heisel’s still-stiff fingertips cracked and began to decompose into calcium carbide, hydrogen, oxygen compounds, and other substances.
  
  Hearing the echo of the pistol that fell along with his disintegrating right hand, the vanishing Margrave contorted his face in a grimace of regret, despite feeling no pain.
  
  “I have regrets… I dragged innocent people into my own blunder…”
  
  He couldn’t bear the shame of the current situation, where his prioritizing of the Empire’s aristocratic pride and bloodline, and his attempt to eliminate the suspicious Rare Human lord, the White Fox, had resulted in his territory being exploited by their true enemy, putting his people in danger.
  
  Still, there was nothing he could do but wait for his final moments, so he slowly closed his eyelids and entered a state of meditation.
  
  His body, defying the laws of nature, left no significant remains. In a short time, it was reduced to several types of organic matter that make up the human body. Swept up by a small whirlwind conjured by Theta, it scattered into the sky through the broken window.
  
  If this were a forested area inhabited by elves, rather than the central city of Leipzig with its cobblestone streets, everything would efficiently return to nature through the decomposition of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms.
  
  “…I’ve grown rather fond of the Eternal Forest. Let’s finish this quickly and return.”
  “Mmm, I agree. A city built by humans may be lively, but it’s stifling.”
  
  Seeking to escape this environment that suited them neither mentally nor physically, the two White Elves headed towards their respective roles, aiming to return to their second home, created by their surviving kin using knowledge derived from the “Hour of Ruin.”
  
  From the Central Plaza, towards which they were headed, the sounds of sword clashes, gunshots, and the shattering of objects by magic were carried on the wind. It seemed that some of the garrison troops stationed within the castle walls were engaging small, monstrous magical beasts… but they couldn’t prevent the spread of the new forces surging from the Spirit Gate.
  
  The monsters had even infiltrated the market area of the commercial district adjacent to the plaza, and the number of victims being brutally transformed into corpses by their sharp claws and teeth, and then devoured, was increasing exponentially.