It was a fleeting memory that flashed past his mind in that moment in his final standoff against the demon lord factor before him.
Lancelot! Why do you keep swinging your sword? You missed the theater play!
A young girl with golden locks of hair and a cute oval-shaped face appeared within his mind. She was wearing a pink dress which suited her cute appearance. Although anything would suit her.
Because I want to protect you. Didn't I make an oath that day we became friends when our parents left us?
I-I thought you were joking. And how do you remember it so vividly? Weren't we 5 years old?
Angelica blushed. It was one of her cutest expressions and his heart would always melt whenever he sees it.
I'll always protect you, Angelica. Because you're my one true love.
Young Lancelot said that to her with confidence brimming in his eyes.
W-We need to get to the dining hall before they eat without us! Let's go!
That or something similar was always the kind of response he'd receive whenever he said that he loved her. She would make an excuse about having to do something or meeting someone as if she didn't know how else to respond.
It hurt Lancelot's feelings but he continued pursuing her despite everything else. No other person could take her place.
I want to at least hear if you loved me too, thought Lancelot.
He had a feeling that if he didn't survive this battle that Angelica would be taken by someone else. He hated that. Of course, Alitus already had a wife so there was no reason for him to get a second one.
Any other man could take her away when he's gone.
His mind snapping back to reality, Lancelot could see the demon sword slicing through the Avatar Angel's protective barrier as if it was a hot knife going through butter.
Realizing that defending wouldn't do him any good in this situation, Lancelot poured every ounce of his power into the sword. Had it been a normal blade then it would've shattered from the sheer power being sent into. However, the sword he held was a Star-class artifact.
"[Song of Light]!"
After charging towards the demon armored enemy, he applied one of his special skills onto the sword. The sword shone in a bright green glow.
The mountain was breaking apart at this point. The two opposite powers were just too much.
Demon vs Inquisitor. Two polar opposites. One was fighting with demonic aura while the other was using divinity and his spiritualist powers.
"!!!"
Arnold suddenly seized all his movements as he fell forward. His eyes blanked and his mouth froze as it was still opened wide. However, the sword was still descending.
Lancelot used that opportunity to dodge to the side, hit Arnold's wrist with his elbow and finally, plunge his sword through the chest of his enemy.
A powerful explosion ran out behind Lancelot but he didn't pay it any mind. The barrier fell down and disappeared into nothingness.
'He destroyed the magic item. What fearsome aura. It is comparable to the Demon King….'
Lancelot thought as he felt Arnold's body losing strength and sinking to his knees.
Arnold coughed violently as he held his throat. Blood gushed out of his eyes, nose and mouth. The holy sword was struck in deeper.
"You have lost."
◇
Lancelot looked at the man at his feet. His breath was labored and his face was bloody. Although he didn't expect to easily kill this Arnold von Berkley, he never would've thought that the person in question had such power.
Lancelot looked behind himself. The clouds of dust had faded by now so he could get a clear view of the landscape.
He saw a trench of at least 1—no—at least 3km long. He could even see water filling the trench. About a third of the forest was still burning from the black flames from earlier.
"I was right to have defeated you on my own. Had anyone else attempted this then they might not have lived."
Lancelot looked at his sword. He used all his strength to parry that strike.
In that one moment, Arnold's demon armor had faded away, which meant that he lost the ability to control that massive amount of power that he swung down with the sword. Lancelot used that chance to finish their fight which had probably lasted an hour.
"It's broken." He sheathed "Praise" on his waist. The blade was half cut off. In the few seconds before the sword reached Arnold's heart, the demon sword had used all its power to destroy its counterpart. "Yet, how is this demon sword still intact? Even though its direction shouldn't have changed on its own, it managed to break apart my sword."
When he tried to pick up the demon sword, a sudden pain coursed through his head.
He gritted his teeth.
'I am not surprised that much.'
The sword's will was rejecting him. And since he wasn't in top shape, there was no way to force it into submission. It was no longer his.
"So that's how it's going to be? You intend to stay with this man until his last breath?"
The sword didn't say anything. Well, it was an inanimate object so there was no way for it to speak. Of course, it still had the will of its previous master. He knew that it understood his words.
Lancelot heard that it was once the sword of a demon lord.
"I wonder…why could he assimilate with the demon sword so perfectly? And what was that power?"
Lancelot had heard of demon lord factors before. They were people who harnessed the power of previous demon lords who served under the Demon King but fell in battle against past heroes.
Although not fully classified as demons, they were still deemed as heretics by the Cathedral in the Holy City.
That gave Lancelot even more reason to kill Arnold besides finding Flora.
"Ahhh…." The youth stretched his back and looked at the sky. It was a beautiful day. Had he not hunted down Arnold then he would've enjoyed a nice cup of warm tea and read a book.
"…." Lancelot silently unsheathed a dagger by his waist and coated it in divinity.
He knelt down and held the dagger at Arnold's neck. Although the cut in his chest was deep enough to leave a fatal wound, with his body, Arnold could survive. Albeit barely.
Lancelot stopped that motion of wanting to slice off Arnold's head.
"What is this?" He spoke without looking behind him.
He already sensed their presence but hadn't paid them any mind until now. They didn't approach after all.
"You are interfering in official business that concerns the will of His Holiness."
Only then did he turn around to look at the cloaked individuals. They had landed behind him without so much as giving away sound.
But to someone like him, he could spot an ant from the sky so spotting them was no big deal.
The people before him weren't two or three. No, rather there were over a hundred people standing before Lancelot.
One of them stepped forward. By the looks of it, it was a woman.
She spoke:
"Step away from that man. He's a very important asset to our people."
The wind blew which made the girl's hood also fall down.
"A dark elf…" Lancelot's expression didn't change. Humans in general hated the dark elves since they were the crossbreed between elves and demons.
It was even more so for the churches of different religions. However, Lancelot was so tired that he didn't care enough to attack the dark elf.
"So Serz have their eyes on this man?"
The girl nodded wordlessly.
"Why?"
"…."
"I see…It is because of that power he showed before. All of you acknowledge this man because of the demon lord factor within him."
The girl didn't agree or disagree with that statement. Maybe there was another reason but Lancelot accepted his deduction as truth.
Speaking of that deduction, he wasn't surprised by that. Nations would go to war for such a convenient tool. The previous factors weren't just killed, they were first experimented on to see if one could make them obey. If they could mind control a demon lord factor then they could obtain a pawn for the day the Demon King ever decided to invade this world.
Demon lords were people born with the potential to defeat heroes. If they could manipulate such a person then their own military might would increase. Even the Great Nobles and the Theocracy's assault group would be in trouble.
"You seem to misunderstand us." The elf girl spoke.
"We do not desire to make this man a pawn in war against the Demons or their king. Rather, we want him to join our organization."
Lancelot's face hardened.
She could tell by Lancelot's gaze what he was thinking apparently.
"You will make the Theocracy your enemy. We have ignored your existence since you haven't gone overboard up until now but that will change if you take a demon lord factor."
"I am fully aware of that. Despite that, we still wish to make him our ally."
The girl and Lancelot locked gazes. Lancelot could see her slowly reach behind her back. Most likely to grab a weapon to attack him if he showed resistance. Her comrades were doing the same behind her.
Lancelot closed his eyes and thought about the matter calmly.
If he were to hand Arnold over to Serz then there was a chance that the Theocracy itself could be in danger. It took Lancelot nearly 70% of his power to subjugate this man called Arnold von Berkley.
'By level, he should be around level 89? His demon armor could survive strikes from a Star class weapon so I should assume that it is of the same rank or maybe a smidge lower. It should be semi-star or SS.'
If Arnold was left alive to grow stronger then Lancelot would have to take responsibility for whatever might happen in the future. Other than him, only Alitus and the high seats of the Testaments could stop him.
The Testaments referred to the ten high seats of the Warriors of the Word of God. They are the core of the power in the Theocracy. Besides them, there were hundreds of other members who were lower in rank.
'Wait, if he had this power all along then shouldn't he have used it earlier in our fight? He started fighting like a complete amateur but gradually showed his true power. Did I push him to that state?'
Perhaps, thought Lancelot.
Either it had a very serious penalty or it was a limited use of power.
After analyzing what he knew, Lancelot felt relief wash over him. Although Arnold would become an obstacle, it wouldn't be anytime soon. Rather, if that power really had a penalty like his lifespan then Arnold wouldn't see the next decade.
Just as the elf girl was about to approach out of impatience, Lancelot spoke.
"Very well." He activated space magic and pulled out a cloak similar to the one he wore before. He grabbed a mask as well. "I will let you do as you wish. For now. As I am not at full strength, I feel that it is unwise to fight so many people over a single man."
Lancelot took out a potion and gulped it down. Color appeared on his face that was paler than usual.
He threw the bottle aside.
"However, if you show yourselves to me a second time then I will kill you all."
It wasn't a bluff or an arrogant remark. He really will kill them.
Liumiala nodded silently.
"I understand."
A golden rune magic circle manifested on the ground around Lancelot. It was a teleportation spell.
Lancelot gazed at the demon sword, that he called "Worship", one last time before he disappeared.
◇
Liumiala gazed at Arnold's face as they rode in the carriage.
'Had I known he was a demon lord factor then I would've begged the executives on my knees to recruit him.'
"Are we really going to recruit him?"
One of Liumiala's comrades asked.
She smiled wryly and shook her head. "Not right now. I feel like he'll reject us."
"So you lied to that man?"
"Yes. The demon lord factor does indeed sound interesting. But don't we have a person like that in our organization already? No, I feel like he'd be useful to us in another way."
"…?"
Liumiala didn't speak any further which ended their conversation.
She placed her hand on Arnold's forehead and then a magic circle appeared.
When they parted last time, she had secretly planted a spell on Arnold that allowed her to follow his whereabouts and listen to his conversations. Of course, if he knew then she would most definitely be killed.
It was invasion of one's privacy, after all.
'He knew about that Great Magic spell that has been lost for centuries. Not even today's history books have it recorded. Only the tomb raiders have access to that information.'
The Theocracy got to the four grimoires before they could.
Liumiala wasn't certain before but now she was.
'Arnold von Berkley is an important piece in our plan. If I can convince my mother to let him join then he might even become a Cadre with his skills.'
Not only were his powers top notch, his connections and intelligence will be useful to them as well.
She took into account his demon lord factor as well but that wasn't really the biggest reason for wanting to work with him. As Liumiala said before, there was already a person who had a demon lord factor.
The problem with that person who possessed the factor was that they were unpredictable and wasn't easily to control. If one wanted to control him then you'd have to use force.
He was a two sided bastard and no one knew what he was up to.
Liumiala's thought shifted to the demon sword that was lying next to Arnold. Since she was part elf, she was sensitive to spiritual energy. The spiritual energy coming off the sword was so malicious that she questioned how Arnold could wield such a thing.
Unless his karma was extremely negative then it'd make sense why he could wield it. The requirements to wield a demon sword were to either be from the demon race's superior species, the Greater Demons or have very bad karma.
As Arnold was a human, Liumiala fitted him into the latter category.
"Where are we going, sis?" one of her comrades asked.
Liumiala thought for a second before answering.
"It would be bad if that woman came after us so let's take him back to the mansion as soon as possible. Only our carriage will enter the city. The rest of you go back to the base."
"ROGER!"
The others who were behind their carriage saluted in unison.
"I'll wait until he wakes up. Ziom, Si."
"Yes!"
"I want the two of you to monitor for any movements from rival organizations. Chances are big that maybe one or two of them followed us to this region of the Empire. I'll have a nice talk with Victoria Lurgun."
The carriage exited the forest and the city could be seen from afar. Of course, they could spot the dragon's corpse as well. Thousands of people were gathered around the corpse. They were celebrating its demise. The forest—which was the main supply of food and income for the villages—was now safer after its death.
Ignoring the cheering from the people, Liumiala looked at the beautiful sunset in the distance. The horizon, bathed in a red haze, was peaceful and quiet.
She heaved a sigh as she leaned against her seat.