“I’ve killed my brother. You’re next, Crow Titus!”
As Crow cradled in his arms the emperor’s remains, which had now shrunk so much that they lay concealed within the royal attire, he reacted too slowly to Vortigern’s raised fist. It was kind of ironic how holding the emperor’s body, of all things, was what put him in a bit of a predicament.
“Die!” Vortigern roared, brutally swinging his fist at the young man.
The blow didn’t connect, however—halted by a pure-white sword.
“Y-You!”
“I, Iris of the White Blade, have arrived!”
Like a Valkyrie, the golden-haired knight Iris descended upon the terrorist leader, intercepting his attack.
“Here comes the pest,” Vortigern spat, putting quite a bit of distance between them. His three subordinates gathered around him, doing their utmost to protect him from Iris.
“I’m sorry I’m late, Crow,” Iris said. “I was patrolling the outskirts of the capital to keep suspicious individuals away, not realizing the enemy was already among us.”
“You couldn’t have known, Iris,” Crow replied, his eyes downcast as he held what was left of the emperor. “Our enemy is a prince, with full knowledge of all of the capital’s ins and outs.”
“Oh, Crow,” Iris murmured, her heart aching. She’d never seen him in such a state.
The golden-haired knight had been patrolling the outskirts of the capital because she hadn’t wanted to see her mentor Eldia and her beloved Crow be so intimate with one another. She had resolved to not interfere with their relationship, but she still couldn’t bear to watch it unfold. And because of that, she’d almost lost Crow.
“I was running this way when I saw it from afar,” Iris said. “The emperor, that man I thought was worthless, shielding you from the enemy.”
“Oh.” Man, he was such a nice guy!
“And here I thought he was a senile old bastard. People really can change.”
The reality, of course, was that he was still walking the path of hatred as his mind and life faded, but nobody knew that.
Either way, Iris had made a decision. Just like the emperor, she would embrace change with dignity. Not just within herself—she would make a vow to the man she loved.
“Crow!” she began. “I thank you for having told me you were in love with me! But...it’s all right now. Just like you got engaged to Empress Eldia to help stabilize this nation, I, too, will lay my life down and dedicate it to knighthood!”
“Oh!” Wait, what? Huh? Whuh? Beg your pardon?! Come again?!!!
And suddenly, Crow’s every misconception was summarily corrected.
“O-Oh?” Huh?! When did I ever say I was in love?! Wait, does she mean back in Salem, when I told her I loved her as a mentor?!
Carelessly, Crow dropped the emperor’s remains. He thought maybe he heard a tiny little yelp as he did, but he was far too dazed to really pay it any mind.
“Hngh,” he groaned. Has Iris been thinking this entire time I’d confessed to being in love with her?! And she said she loved me back?! Wait, no, I mean, no! She’s, like, hella beautiful, and dating her would be, you know, holy-shit-this-is-great levels of awesome, but I mean, whaaaaaaat?!
Crow’s face turned beet red, from embarrassment and happiness and whatever else, and his whole body shook as he continued to groan.
Seeing this, his enemies, Vortigern included, grew increasingly more alarmed. They mistakenly thought the kindhearted hero was in a state of unbridled fury.
“Urk!” Also, what was that she said next?! That I’m engaged to Eldia?! To stabilize the country?!
Startled, he stared at the ring in his hand. To the enemy, however, it looked like his eyes were on the sword at his hip.
All at once, the meaning behind being given the ring, Eldia’s lovey-dovey behavior, the request to scold the emperor in place of his father—everything finally hit Crow like a ton of bricks all at once.
“Ahh...” Did Empress Eldia seriously mean to make me a hero to reassure the masses?! Was I literally going to be the emperor’s new father?!
As if to confirm his thoughts, the empress dowager wrapped her arms tightly around the young man.
“Please control yourself, dear! Vortigern— Our son is a formidable enemy! If you lose yourself to madness, you can’t defeat him!”
“Hngh.” You gotta be kidding me!!!
Crow’s mind was in a complete state of chaos.
Unaware of his enemy’s internal turmoil, Vortigern taunted him. “What’s wrong? Come at me, bastard!”
“You be quiet,” Crow barked, his sheer intensity immediately silencing the terrorist leader.
He wasn’t angry, though. His mind was simply overwhelmed with so many thoughts that he couldn’t be bothered to consider his foe’s existence. Finally, he was beginning to understand the complexity of the situation he was in.
“My apologies, Eldia,” the young man said. “I’m fine now. And thank you, Iris, for coming to my aid.” Aaaaaaah! What do I do?! What do I do?!!! I can’t just tell them after all this time that I’ve been clueless about everything! What the hell was I even doing?! Iris and I confessed to one another?! I’m somehow gonna marry Eldia?! What the hell?!
Crow kept his business face on, but internally he was a wreck, completely at a loss. Sure, he had terrible discernment, but he wasn’t a total idiot. Given enough information, he could guess what was about to happen.
A-Am I going to become the next ruler?! I mean, the emperor’s dead, and I’m Eldia’s fiancé! Nooo!!! I don’t wanna be emperor!!! The pressure’s gonna kill me! Also, poor Iris!!!
He racked his brain with everything he had. He spent a few moments thinking, thinking, thinking, and thinking to the point that steam seemed to rise from him.
Vortigern took this as a display of his fighting spirit.
“Forgive me, Eldia. I must leave the throne in your hands for a while.”
“Huh?”
Drawing his sword, Crow turned to face his enemy.
“Eldia,” he said to the bewildered empress dowager, “I understand that if I don’t become the ruler of this nation, it may never stabilize. But gaze upon these people. Do they seem desperate to you?”
At Crow’s urging, Eldia turned to look at her people. In their eyes, she saw their strong, brightly blazing wills.
“Your Majesty! Your bravery inspired me!”
“We want to walk the path of light too!”
“Hey! Prince! We get your situation sucks, but you crossed a line! We won’t let you do this!”
It was as though the soul of Zilsonia—who, ashamed of his foolishness, died a brave and honorable ruler—lived on through the people.
“Thank you, everyone!” Eldia exclaimed.
“This is the answer, Eldia,” Crow said. “Thanks to the emperor, your people have become strong. They see the evil mastermind before them. They know he needs to be stopped once and for all. Now’s not the time for me to be a ruler.”
Crow stepped forward to stand next to Iris.
“Crow!” Iris exclaimed.
“Iris, I’ll continue to live as a knight for now. And please, don’t say you’ll lay your life down. As a man who has confessed my feelings for you, I...want to make you happy, someday,” the younger man said.
“What?! You... You mean...!”
Tears spilled from Iris’s eyes at the sight of Crow’s bashful smile. “Want to make you happy” could only mean one thing.
“Th-Thank you, Crow! When the time comes, please...love me!”
“You’ll be my greatest treasure.”
With this, Crow somehow managed to calm the chaos.
And then—
“Let’s do this, Vortigern!” Hell yeah! Thanks, evil organization! I don’t need to become emperor right now! And I can just stay war buddies with Iris for a bit! Which is great because, you know, as a certified v-card holder, I would be a total laughingstock for struggling when “the time” comes!!!
Yes, the solution Crow found was to take advantage of the presence of the enemy organization and stall for time, postponing dealing with his marriage and romance issues. What a scumbag.
Phew. Okay. I’m good for now. I should hurry and find some other guy better than me to be the next ruler, and also maybe get some experience with women! Yeah?!
Relieved though he might be, he didn’t know about his little nightly visits from the pink-haired mother-daughter duo. Nor did he know that one of them was going to show up one day with a little bump on her belly. But anyway...
“Prepare yourselves, Order of the Black Star! I’ll cut every last one of you down!” Actually, could someone please survive?! Even just one person?! Help me evade my woman troubles! Please!!!
Thus did Crow master the ancient technique of using work as an excuse to escape his relationship problems. Seriously, what a piece of trash.
If people knew that the Dragonslayer was only fighting the evil organization for this lame-ass reason, they’d all throw rocks at him and yell at him to get the hell out of their country, no doubt.
Vortigern growled. “You disgusting little... Very well, then, hero! You’re next! Let’s get him!”
“Yes, sir!” his three subordinates yelled in unison.
Roaring, the four of them finally began their advance.
Charging forward with such force that his footsteps cracked the very ground, Vortigern closed the distance between himself and the determined young hero in an instant, his fist raised overhead.
Still Crow did not flinch.
“Bring it on!” “Help me out here, Muramasa!!!”
“YOU GOT IT!”
In a flash, Vortigern’s punch exploded against Crow’s torso, piercing through it and splattering the plaza with copious amounts of flesh and blood.