Chapter 95: The Play (5)
Chaeaeaeaeang──!
When the Prince's broadsword and the Bard's dagger first collided.
Something was off from that moment. The explosion and the sound of the swords were too intense.
Of course, they were seniors of Endex. They were not ordinary people who perceived real swords as dangerous, so they chose real swords for more vivid visual effects.
───!
Even so, James, who played the role of the Prince, was too abnormal. His movements were bizarre. Should I say his muscles and joints seemed to be operating independently? Like an emotionless doll, he was literally 'hitting' Elise.
"It seems too intense. It must be on purpose, right?"
The staff dismissed it as a simple ad-lib, but I activated the SZX-9500. I frowned.
As I thought.
There was some bug-like magical entity in the Prince's essence. It was connected by a line of magic to somewhere in the audience, and if I traced the origin of it…
Noah Lucille, clutching a voodoo doll.
That crazy bastard.
"I'll go first."
"Huh? No, it's not time for the Duke yet."
The Duke's entrance was supposed to be next. After the Bard kills the Prince, he witnesses the scene.
Chang──!
But there was no time. Elise's dagger had just been knocked out of her hand, and the Prince still lifted his sword with a blank expression.
He was about to split her head open.
I quickly jumped out. I intruded onto the stage. I pulled Elise away and blocked the Prince's broadsword. I rubbed the swords together and pushed him away forcefully.
Tszuzzz──!
The Prince was pushed back, but he still gripped his sword with a vacant stare.
I need to put him to sleep without killing him.
I deployed the 'Traversing Sword'.
A sword that only moves forward. I focused on one point.
Shu──!
A quiet, condensed stab. The stroke pierced a hole in the Prince's sword. The broadsword, now hollow in the center, crumbled like sand and scattered in all directions. The exploding fragments caught the stage lights and sparkled in all colors.
It must have been a spectacular production for the audience.
The Prince, whose sword was shattered, slowly lost consciousness.
"...Whew."
I caught my breath. My heart was pounding. My heart was about to burst just from one stroke of Manifestation.
I looked back at Elise. Her mask had already been torn, and her wounded cheek was touching my chest.
Her cheeks were quite chubby, making her face look like a squished bun. No, is it swollen?
"...So it was you after all."
I said to her. It was the Duke's line.
The composition and development had changed quite a bit, but it wouldn't affect the ending if we continued like this.
Elise pushed me away with both hands. She also became the Bard again and continued the dialogue.
"When did you first suspect me, Duke?"
I put my sword in my belt and said,
"It doesn't matter when. I have no intention of interfering with you."
The Bard's cheek trembled slightly. This time, it looked like a glutinous rice cake.
"I propose a deal."
"...A deal?"
The Bard asked with a serious face.
"Yes. It's not much different from your performance. It's just a sword dancing as you sing."
I pointed to my chest with my finger.
"I get what I want."
This time, he pointed again at Bard.
"You will complete the revenge."
The completion of revenge.
To me, it sounded quite romantic.
"Lend me your sword. A sword that cuts better than that dagger."
"..."
Bard took a quiet breath before responding.
"...Alright. Gladly. I will become your sword."
With that line, the stage momentarily went dark.
I whispered to Elise, who was right next to me.
-Is your hand okay?
Elise responded.
-...Focus on the play. It's the climax now.
______________________________________________________________________
On the stage, the silver curtain projects the inner workings of the past.
─...Your Majesty, the Queen Mother. I have news that the maid, Bel, is pregnant with His Majesty's child.
It's a flashback revealing to the audience the truth that Bard is the king's illegitimate daughter.
─Your Majesty, the Queen Mother. Please, let me live with the child...
The Bard's mother, Isabel, pleading on her knees to the Queen Mother.
─If you genuinely care for His Majesty, take your own life. You do not deserve to have a child.
But the Queen Mother, with a cruel face, orders death, and Isabel, with the help of a servant, flees into the night.
She gives birth to the Bard in a village far from the capital and spends 12 years with her, but...
─There is a dangerous seed. Isabel. Find her and her child and kill them.
Immediately after the prince ascends to the throne as the successor to nip any potential threat in the bud, the Queen Mother once again seeks Isabel.
─Kill them all!
The village is on fire. The knight dispatched by the Queen Mother kills not only Isabel but all the people in the village, Bard's neighbors, friends, and even his siblings.
─Ugh...!
Isabel, her mother, is stabbed in the chest and dies in a hut.
Underneath the dying woman, the young Bard is witnessing the scene vividly. Two eyes were shedding bloody tears...
...Returning to the present, in the middle of the royal palace.
The Bard stares at the Queen Mother on the other side of the stage. Between them, countless knights are positioned as if to protect her.
"Now... it's time for the last verse of my performance."
The Bard sings La Vercit— 'Lonely You' to all of them.
The Latinel song echoes from her mouth.
The mysterious tone layered on the ominous rhythm fills the theater. The play gradually intensifies.
Eventually.
"...How was it? My final performance."
After the song of about three minutes ended, the Bard asked, looking at the bowed king.
"Father."
"Your father is already dead. Can't you see?"
The Queen Mother said. She showed Bard the king's face directly. His complexion had already turned purple, and his throat was dyed black.
A small ripple appeared in Bard's eyes.
"You killed him. Your pathetic revenge swallowed even your father."
The Bard, on the contrary, smiled and gripped his dagger.
"...I'm relieved. I don't have to kill him with my own hands."
She charged. Swinging her dagger at the knights trying to stop her, she rushed towards the Queen Mother.
______________________________________________________________________
By the end of the play, the royal palace was already stained with the blood and bodies of knights. Everywhere the eye could see was hell.
Amidst it all, the queen hardened her gaze at the Bard.
"…Filthy wench. You've conspired with The Duke."
Outside the palace, The Duke was aiding the Bard's revenge.
No, the Duke was also running for his own ambition.
The queen shouted at the Bard.
"You're being deceived!"
The Bard silently approached her. With each step, thick blood smeared the floor. She thrust his knife into the queen's throat, who was about to rant.
"You're… being… deceived… by… the Duke…"
Even as she was dying, the queen clawed at the Bard's throat. The Bard watched her death with wide eyes.
"…Gah… ah…"
The queen fell backward, spitting blood onto her face.
Her pulse was already gone.
Was this the completion of revenge?
"…"
The Bard looked at her hands, stained with blood. Her eyes were already filled with emptiness.
"It's over. Truly."
Murmuring like a sigh, she picked up the dagger that killed the queen, and held it towards her heart…
─…Cro Bricscal.
Suddenly, a Latinel song without accompaniment flowed in.
A short humming, about 30 seconds long. A voice humming with perfect pronunciation.
Bard weakly turned around.
It was the Duke.
He walked in grandly and sat on the throne. He mumbled while looking around the palace filled with blood and corpses.
"Nice view."
The Bard spoke to him, his voice dry.
"You got what you wanted."
"That's right."
Like the Bard, The Duke's body was also covered in blood and wounds.
"Bard, did you get what you wanted?"
At that question, the Bard tried to get up. Trying to answer, he suddenly froze.
"…"
The Bard stared at the Duke's sword with empty eyes.
In an instant, the past rewound behind the silver curtain.
The death of her mother, Isabel, as seen from under the floor of the shack.
The sword that pierced her mother's heart.
That sword and the one the Duke was holding now.
They were the same.
The Bard dumbly looked up at the Duke. She suppressed her swirling anger and sorrow and said,
"…It was you."
The Duke quietly watched the Bard.
He was still sitting calmly, but his silence was as good as a confession.
"It was a rainy day like today, probably."
He was still sitting calmly, but it was as good as a confession.
Fire flared in Bard's eyes.
"Bard. Don't hesitate. Your revenge is already complete. Now you just have to die as a traitor."
The Bard gritted her teeth. She spoke like a growling beast.
"You knew. You knew me from the start."
The dagger she was about to kill herself with, she twisted it towards the Duke again.
"…Yes. I recognized you at a glance."
The Duke stared at her and got up.
"I knew what you were going to do. Who you were."
"Even though you knew…"
The Bard shed tears. Seeing her sorrow, the Duke twisted his lips.
"I did well to spare you. You willingly became a pawn in my chess game."
"Shut up——!"
The Bard charged with her sword raised. The Duke also drew his sword.
Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!
A brutal battle.
Swords clashing, blood splattering, bones being chipped away.
With every possible effect brought to life by the silver curtain, this final showdown is dramatically highlighted.
Chaeaeaeang——!
Finally, a sound that shatters the theater.
The Duke's sword soars high into the sky at the end of the fierce clash, and Bard doesn't miss the opportunity.
He stabs Duke's heart with his sword.
Kwazoon─!
The Duke grabs the Bard's hair, but the Bard twists the sword still embedded in him.
"...Kuk!"
The Duke's heart is destroyed. The Bard glares at Duke, who is vomiting blood from his mouth. His eyes are filled with a terrible hatred.
"You..."
However, Duke is devoid of emotion. There is no fear of death, no anger towards Bard.
With his still impassive face, he speaks to Bard.
"...Do you think you can survive? In this country?"
The Bard tries to pull his sword from The Duke's heart.
"If you think so..."
The Duke doesn't let her. Holding tightly to the sword embedded in his heart, he whispers into Bard's ear.
"Don't lose."
In the end, it's the Bard who first lets go of the sword. The Duke, with his dying voice, admonishes him.
"Don't believe those who prattle that nothing remains in revenge. They're the ones trying to take away what's most important to you."
At those words, the Bard's eyes take on a strange hue. It's completely different from the empty eyes that once prayed for death.
The Duke nods, seemingly satisfied with this change.
"Don't die. You... didn't fail."
Soon after, The Duke pushes the Bard away. Staggering, he leans against the throne.
"You've won, so don't look back."
The Bard turns around without a word.
Leaving Duke behind, she walks out of the palace.
She never looked back, not even once.
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