Dark Fantasy’s Extra Chapter 200

“Master Charmol… will this really be alright?”

Right after returning from meeting Eric, Yorick asked.

“Though the witch’s anger is directed at Eric now, the blade will eventually point at us.”

“That blade would have turned on us eventually anyway. If that’s the case, it’s better to induce internal division and chip away at their forces first.”

Charmol said.

“What they need to worry about most isn’t the witch but that fool prince. There’s no greater enemy than an intelligent behemoth who would do anything for their master.”

“But the witch…”

“I know the Sea Witch well. Though she may be angry at me, she doesn’t hold deep grudges over being deceived by enemy schemes during war. Rather, she’ll be more concerned about her only knight who deceived his master. This is where the real problem begins.”

“…You mean that man?”

“Yes. The witch will weigh the prince against the hunter. And the scales will likely tip toward the hunter.”

“But Eric served faithfully for hundreds of years…”

“You’ve never met a witch. That species is all selfish and self-centered. That pitiful prince gave hundreds of years of loyalty but still couldn’t win her true heart. The witch will execute a chess piece that disobeyed orders without batting an eye. At best, she might delay the execution or banish him. Being discarded is inevitable in the end.”

“That’s…”

“He’s no fool either. He must know all this. He just can’t give up because he’s a behemoth.”

“…”

Charmol didn’t see Yorick’s expression as they quietly lowered their head.

“So now we must think about what comes next. The Sea Witch will undoubtedly come personally to punish the prince.”

“So it’s a race against time to kill that hunter before the witch arrives?”

“No. We probably can’t kill him. At least not now.”

“What?! But you said we absolutely had to stake everything on killing him…”

“Of course. But Yorick, do you not know me? Since when have I handled such important matters so clumsily? You said it yourself, didn’t you? That we need to increase our allies…”

“N-no way!!”

Black King Charmol.

An arrogant behemoth who calls himself king.

Yet no one disputes this title.

Even the witches remember him as the Black King.

Of the only two behemoths who survived the White Witch’s Great Holy War, unlike Blanc who only wandered searching for a hero to kill her, he steadily built impenetrable armor and walls to ensure he would never die.

Hidden in a secret realm that none could find without his permission, he stole human bodies and souls as sources of power.

Until he built a nation surpassing even the mighty Arachne.

A kingdom deep underground.

Charmol rose from his throne and walked forward.

Below the hill where he stood stretched a vast plain far into the distance.

On that pitch black field, countless gray tombstones stood in orderly rows like teeth.

When Charmol struck the ground with the handle of his iron mace in hand, the king’s command descended to his subjects.

The earth heaved at each tombstone as skeletons rose with clicking, clattering, and creaking sounds.

If Blanc was a maiden who desired her own dramatic death, Charmol was a mad king enchanted by death itself.

That’s why he wanted to make a behemoth who desired death his wife.

Since as a behemoth, that desire for death would be genuine.

And now, the Black King also desired death.

Just not his own, but the deaths of those who dwelled in the deep sea.

“March forth.”

A small command that couldn’t even be heard from below.

Yet at that voice, crimson flames blazed from the eye sockets of the skeletons.

*    *    *

“…Noah.”

I hear a voice.

“Noah, wake up.”

I opened my eyes.

Blonde hair and blue eyes.

The appearance I created thinking of a typical fairy tale princess.

Clichés aren’t necessarily bad.

Just… she moved differently from my intentions.

“Belle… how long was I asleep?”

I yawned while stretching my stiff body.

“Hurry and get up. We’ll be late.”

“Late?”

“For the tea party. Everyone must have gathered already.”

“Tea party? …Ah, is it that time already?”

I rose from the chair.

“Oh…”

But I struggled to find my balance.

Just before I could fall, Belle supported my body.

“You shouldn’t forget your staff.”

Belle handed me the staff that was placed beside the chair.

It was exhausting enough recreating the world Vasilisa destroyed from scratch, but I used quite a bit of power creating a new child after that too.

The power of creation may be infinite, but I as a being am not.

“Right… thank you.”

I leaned on the staff and headed from the study toward the garden.

Belle tried to support me the whole way but I refused.

I don’t want help even with walking.

The noon sunlight was blinding when we finally made it to the garden outside.

“Noah! Why are you so late?”

Margarete puffed her cheeks with displeasure, frowning.

Since she’s not honest with herself, she probably wasn’t truly angry that I was late.

“When she was just terribly worried until a moment ago.”

When Rusalka said this with a laugh, Margarete glared at her.

Maybe I should have done something about that confrontational personality.

Though it’s too late to fix things now.

“Now everyone. We shouldn’t show Noah us fighting when he just arrived.”

While Bari soothed them, or more precisely Margarete, she gave me a greeting with her eyes.

Bari is too kind a child.

That excessive kindness was the problem…

“Hehe…”

Vasilisa is… still not in her right mind.

Though we managed to calm her enough to sit down, she just stares at me with unfocused eyes, not responding to her surroundings.

…It’s my fault.

If I had done things properly…

“Noah.”

And finally Karen…

Karen got up and trotted over to hug my waist.

At first I wondered if this was because her soul hadn’t fully separated from me, but she simply enjoyed hugging.

“Wait, Karen. You’re making it hard for Noah to walk.”

Belle gently pulled Karen away.

“…Alright.”

Karen didn’t protest and followed Belle’s words as the eldest sister.

I walked to the long table placed in the center of the garden and sat in my seat.

“Haah…”

A sigh escaped unconsciously the moment I sat down.

To think walking here would be this tiring.

“…”

“…”

Seeing me like this, everyone’s expressions darkened except Vasilisa.

Oh dear.

I didn’t want to show such weakness.

It just came out without me realizing.

Maybe I should rest and recover for a while like Belle said.

No, perhaps showing this weakness isn’t so bad.

After all, I already…

“…Well, now that everyone’s here, let’s start the tea party.”

As Belle tried to lift the mood, everyone picked up their cups.

I reached for my cup too…

“…Belle?”

“Yes?”

“Where’s my cup?”

“Oh my… You don’t need one, do you?”

“Huh?”

“Well of course… since you’re going to leave us.”

“What do you…”

When I turned to look at Belle, instead of the Belle I knew, there was Belle wearing white veil and armor, holding not a teacup but a sword.

“When you’re going to shamelessly abandon us and leave.”

“N-no, I…”

“You’ll give up being creator to become human? What happens to us when you leave?!”

“Y-you’re protagonists so…”

“Just look properly!”

Belle struck the table and pointed at her sisters.

“Only I need to exist. Only I need to exist. Only I need to exist. Only I need to…”

Margarete repeated the same words like a broken phonograph.

“This one was nothing special either. How disappointing…”

Rusalka was covered in blood, surrounded by countless severed heads of kings she had piled up.

“Don’t leave! Everyone stay here!!”

Bari clutched collars filled with dead people while crying.

“…”

Vasilisa was burning.

Her whole body engulfed in flames, burning pitch black.

Until nothing remained.

“Ah… aah…”

It’s my failure.

It’s my sin.

I created them selfishly, and ended up making them all like this.

How can I atone for this grave sin.

That’s why I wanted to become human.

I thought I could die as a human.

Of course, if I said that honestly they wouldn’t listen, so I said I wanted to live normally as a human.

Though Belle and Karen both said it was a good idea…

“Look! After reducing us to this state, you’re running away because you can’t handle the responsibility?! Coward! Coward! You coward!!”

“N-no. I… I…”

“I’ve done everything you wanted until now! Everything!”

Belle’s sword, that white sword pointed at me.

“I never wanted to be a protagonist. I just… I just needed you! I didn’t need sisters! I didn’t need other worlds! It would have been enough if it was just us from the start! So why did you have to create these things and make everything so miserable?!”

Robera, made from carving the moon, rises like an executioner’s scythe.

“Therefore… therefore…!!”

And with a white flash, it flew toward my neck.

“…No!!!”

Someone shouted and threw themselves in front of me.

*    *    *

“No!!!”

I instinctively reached out my arms.

Something soft was caught and crushed.

Countless screams burst out pitifully.

“Huff, huff…”

My blurry vision becomes clear again.

The remnants of Nightmare Shadow that were there until just now were slowly disappearing in my outstretched hand.

Was that just now… a simple nightmare?

No, it was Nightmare Shadow’s mental attack.

Who would have thought it could invade even my unconscious mind.

Rather, thanks to that I briefly awakened as Noah and could easily eliminate it.

But… I never want to experience that again.

…Huh?

Something feels missing…

“Ah… Vasilisa!”

Where did Vasilisa go?!

She was definitely on my back…

My back feels… empty!

“Vasilisa! Vasilisa!”

I looked around calling her name.

Damn it, what happened while I was unconscious!?

She couldn’t have been caught in Nightmare Shadow’s mental attack, could she?

No, no matter what, there’s no way Vasilisa would be taken down by a mere mid-tier Beast…!?

I searched desperately for her and fortunately soon saw Vasilisa standing alone up ahead.

“Vasilisa! There you are!”

I ran toward her with all my strength.

But the closer I got, the slower my legs moved.

Not from fatigue or curses, but from the ominous feeling rising in my chest.

“Vasilisa…?”

She turned her head to look at me when I called.

Black eyes that resembled mine.

But not the clear black pearl eyes from when we reunited, but closer to those from even earlier – darkness like the mud of an endless abyss.