After Vram watched Mary and the others leave, he slowly turned back to his opponent, the Argent Armor.
“Hmm. I haven’t seen you in a while, but you’ve certainly changed considerably,” he remarked. “You weren’t one to swing your sword around so clumsily, letting your emotions show so clearly. What happened?”
“Shut up,” the Argent Armor spat.
“Why conduct yourself as this cheap imitation? Where is your other half?”
“Shut up! Silence! Don’t you dare pry into my affairs!”
Vram knew that there were two existences within the Argent Armor, but Argent was one to remain mostly silent. Even when they did choose to speak, the armor mostly used a man’s voice. It was curious to see that only a woman’s voice came from the armor now. Furthermore, while it’d been some time since the two parties had met, the Argent Armor seemed emotionally immature and unstable. In fact, she emanated an almost alien, unusual air to her.
The battle against the Argent Armor had been a huge turning point for Vram. It was such a monumental event for him that he still remembered the battle vividly. It had been his conviction that a person’s value lay solely in their strength, and that through strength one could achieve whatever they desire—and yet, when the armor had engaged him in a clash of wills without the slightest hesitation, their unbreakable resolve saw them triumph over him and his unfathomable brawn. Upon his loss, his wife, Belletochka, who had just finished betraying him, begged the armor to take her life and spare his in an attempt to protect him...which compelled Vram to ask the armor a simple question. Why, exactly, had they gone along with Belletochka’s manipulation that would lead them into conflict with himself, the Dark Lord?
“I did it for the one who finds you so dear,” the armor had replied nonchalantly, sheathing their blade. Argent had been so dazzling, even in the eyes of the Dark Lord. Vram, who had always used his power for his own ends, had now found himself humbled by a warrior who always wielded their power for others, and his myopic preoccupation with his own strength had at long last been shattered.
In the aftermath, Belletochka successfully cemented the alliances with nearby nations she’d long since been working to establish. Everything she’d done, she’d done for the future of an exhausted Relirex and for the future of the foolish king who’d strayed off the right path, all the while knowing she would be branded a traitor against her kingdom and loved ones. For Vram’s part, having now shed his single-minded focus on strength, he learned to appreciate the world around him, and he began to understand the joy that comes from protecting others.
Frankly, he was grateful for what Argent had done for him, so he’d been willing to tacitly approve the armor’s visiting the queen. For the situation to end up like this had been so completely beyond his expectations that he could scarcely hide his shock.
“I once foolishly tried to use my power to command total control. You were the one who allowed me to see the light,” Vram said. “How ironic it is to see you now resorting to force to resolve your problems.” He gazed sadly at the armor—whom he had once considered his greatest foe, but who he later realized was among his dearest of friends—and lamented this profound change. “What caused you to become this way?” he wondered. “Ah, I see. She’s trying to offer you salvation this time...”
As he answered his own question, a certain girl with silver hair flashed across his mind. Until now, he’d been puzzled by Mary’s sudden visit to this kingdom, and all the more so by her wanting to meet Belletochka, who had been a completely unrelated bystander until now. Before he could gather further details, Emilia and his sister Elizabeth each acted swiftly in their own attempts to claim Mary. All he knew was that the Argent Armor was involved somehow.
As Vram now faced the Argent Armor, he could see what Mary was trying to accomplish. Furthermore, thanks to this string of coincidences, he’d at last managed to see the day Belletochka would step outside again. It’d been difficult for him to coax his wife to leave, and he felt lucky that she now had reason to do so.
Pleased as I am, this is a bit too convenient, Vram thought. Had it been mere coincidence that his timing for visiting his wife and Mary’s timing had overlapped? That dark elf girl did mention that Mary had noticed my presence... She must’ve known that I would be here and provoked the Argent Armor to attack so I could create this situation for her. The more he thought about it, the more he shuddered at the realization.
“That holy woman thinks far too many steps ahead, it seems,” he muttered. He smiled with self-satisfaction at having unraveled Mary’s tangled web...but Mary, of course, knew that this was a grave misunderstanding. Since she wasn’t here, no one was around to stop Vram from drawing his own conclusions.
“The holy woman? Ah, you mean Mary. She’s dangerous!” the Argent Armor declared vehemently. “People like you have your limits, no matter how strong you become, but that girl... I think she’s different. I cannot allow her to arrive at our garden. I just get an eerie feeling from her!” The armor’s outsized reaction served to further reinforce Vram’s preconceptions. It really couldn’t have been much worse for Mary.
“Ah, and speaking of which! Argh, I have no time to be playing around with you! I have to chase them.” Suddenly regaining her cool and recalling her goal, she moved to ignore the Dark Lord and leave.
“You think I’ll abide that?!” Vram roared. Naturally, he wasn’t going to let her pass. He didn’t like that he, Dark Lord of his nation, was dancing in the palm of someone’s hand, but if playing along was what got his beloved wife to step outside, he had no reason to refuse—he would play his part and stop the armor. Surely, she won’t mind if I crush this armor into pieces.
As he jinxed himself, he took a step forward and closed the gap between himself and the armor and swung his fist. And yet, despite her fall from grace, the Argent Armor was still a hero. She managed to block the attack and jumped back, lightening the intensity of the blow.
“Out of my way! Nova Flare!” she shouted.
An explosive spell appeared in front of the Dark Lord, blowing away the kitchen and nearby rooms. A normal person would’ve been decimated by the explosion—and even if they’d managed to somehow survive, the shattered debris would’ve buried them alive—but the Dark Lord was naturally anything but normal.
“You chunk of muscle...” the Argent Armor growled, annoyed at the farce in front of her. Vram was flexing his muscles and striking a pose, completely unscathed by the attack.
“Ha ha ha ha! Weak! How very weak!” he laughed. “Surely, you haven’t forgotten that such puny spells will hardly scratch my muscles! Argent, how about we converse about me and my muscles over a flurry of fists?”
“Why the hell would I do something like that, you pervert?!” the Argent Armor rumbled. “Vermilion Nova!”
The Prison Tower shook as a massive pillar of fire blasted a hole to the outside. The former hero and Dark Lord were locked in a passionate battle that would see their entire surroundings brought to ruin.