Could this be the end of the wooden horse that took down the impregnable castle in legend?
Tsutsutsutsutsutsutsutsutsutsuts...
The giant horse's form slowly began to crumble.
From the tip of its broken horns to the tips of its hooves, it crumbled to ash and scattered, letting everyone know that there was an end to this long nightmare.
Amdusias of 5th Corpse. It was the moment when the 'Unicorn of the Abyss' was completely destroyed.
"...it, it's over!"
"The demon is dead!"
"The Hell Tree is collapsing!"
Excited exclamations came from all directions.
Parents reunited with children they thought were dead, children reunited with parents they thought they would never see again, teachers who had lost and gained disciples they loved, disciples who had returned to the arms of their revered teachers.
All of them shed tears of joy and cheered.
Their gazes fell upon the center of the crater, where the Hell Tree had disappeared.
The seven knights of the Baskerville Family stood there.
The Seven Chariots, who intervened on the battlefield at the crucial moment and led the last stand.
If it weren't for them, the crowd gathered at the Colosseo Academy would have suffered far more damage.
"Thank you, thank you, Baskerville! If it weren't for you..."
"I will never forget this favor for the rest of my life!"
"But why are the knights of Baskerville Family here?"
"Isn't the Ironblood Swordman Family an extremely closed family?"
"Surely that boy has summoned the knights, I saw him blow his whistle!"
The crowd began to roar.
Suddenly, all eyes were on one place.
The hero who had broken through the Abyss Tower.
The Swordmaster who had formed a pillar of aura that seemed to reach the heavens.
A freshman who once attended the Colosseo Academy.
...And the one who brought all the hounds of the Ironbloods swordman to this place.
Vikir. Vikir Van Baskerville!
Vikir unleashed all that he had been hiding.
And the seven hounds bowed respectfully before him.
"Your orders have been fulfilled."
Osiris, the young patriarch of Baskerville, the iron-blooded swordsman, followed by Isabella, the leader of the Doberman, German, the leader of the Shepherd, Metzgerhund, the leader of the Rottweiler, Cu-Chulainn, the leader of the Wolfhound, Boston Terrier, the leader of the Pit Bull, and Great Dane, the leader of the Mastiff, all bowed their heads.
Everyone who saw it was shocked.
This is Baskerville, not the other families.
The men gathered here represent the entirety of Baskerville's power. Even the next patriarch, Osiris, is among them.
The sight of them all bowing their heads toward a nameless boy was more than shocking, it was unreal.
And then a few sharp-eyed tycoons spoke up.
" ..., you mean Vikir Van Baskerville?"
"Underdog's Deputy Magistrate! A legend of the Baskerville family, even commended by the Emperor!"
"Huh, wasn't that a rumor? I thought he was a fictional character because of his outrageous exploits!"
"I was right, a golden statue with a face exactly like his stood at Morg's Red Fang Castle!"
"You mean the hero who opened the way for peaceful trade between the Baskervilles and the barbarians was a real person, my God!"
"Are you sure you're not the same student who recovered the Wraith Tree in the second round of the University League?"
He wasn't the only one.
Several students emerged from the Hell Tree and began to praise the heroic deities Vikir had seen inside the tower.
"Dad, he's the reason I was able to escape from that pack of hellhounds!"
"He saved me from the daylilies! Oh, Vikir, my friend, how can I ever repay this favor!"
"Thank you for forgiving us, and what the hell is your vessel...! Damn it, you are a true hero!"
Everyone, aristocrats and barons and commoners alike, were looking at Vikir with respect, admiration, longing, and gratitude.
That's because he's always been at the forefront, making all the sacrifices.
No one noticed, of course, that it was all so he could reap the rewards within the tower.
"Mr. Vikir, look over here, I'm taking a mana screenshot!"
"I know you've done a great job solving this Hell Tree situation, what do you think...!"
"Is it true that you're the hidden power behind the Baskervilles!"
"Why have you been hiding your identity for all this time!?"
The reporters, realizing they had the scoop of the story, the jackpot, swarmed around Vikir like bees.
He didn't see them coming, and he wondered how they'd managed to gather in such large numbers.
"Husband! Aah! Get out of the way! I can't see him!"
"Van-nim, I'll just pass by for a moment-!"
Camus and Dolores tried to get closer to Vikir, but it was impossible to move forward because the crowd had swelled so much in an instant.
Meanwhile, their gazes met, and neither woman backed down an inch.
Meanwhile. Vikir's normally tight-knit group of friends shrugged.
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, and Bianca waved at Vikir.
Luckily, they'd been around him from the beginning, so it wasn't hard to get close.
"Vikir, you finally did it, you bastard! You can't pretend we don't know you're a superhero!"
"Great job, buddy! I didn't realize you were a descendant of the Baskervilles, by the way, keeping such a secret. I'll bet you're going to have a good night's drinking."
"Aaahhhh! Vikir, I'm so glad you're okay! I'm most glad you're okay!"
"Whew. Anyway, he's a guy that makes me nervous."
"...."
Sinclair, who was standing in the back, was also walking towards them with a complicated expression.
....
But.
Vikir was just looking at all these situations calmly.
Unmoved, in fact, with a cold stare.
With his back to the cheering crowd, Vikir silently stretched his left hand to the ground.
He whispered in a low voice.
"Follow Ahul, and for now, we part ways."
He spoke to the madam cub attached to his left wrist.
[hack-hack-hack...]
The cub whined as if it didn't want to go, but at Vikir's urging, it jumped to the ground.
Sasasak.
The madam cub crawled after Ahul as they faded into a distant dot.
Looking back a few times.
"...."
Then, once the madam cub was completely out of sight, Vikir turned to face the crowd.
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, and Bianca came to his side.
"Now, reporters, please be respectful, our Vikir is tired! Now, I know you're excited to meet the superhero of the century~"
"Vikir. Are you feeling okay? You seemed to be giving off all your aura earlier, I wonder if you need some pills or potions."
"Don't you think you're doing too many interviews? Maybe you should rest first..."
"Ugh, where did all these reporters come from? I didn't even see them during the battle. What should I tell my dad to do to get them to leave?"
A tribute to a friend who crossed countless lines of fire and accomplished a great task that no one thought possible.
It showed in their demeanor.
...But.
Vikir's response to this pure and unconditional favor from his friends was short.
"Get lost."
The words froze his friends in their tracks.
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, and Bianca tilted their heads as if they had misheard.
"Huh? Vikir, who were you talking to?"
"Who else?"
"Whoa! Who's bothering Vikir!"
"You should tell your professors first, so they can bite some reporters..."
Then Vikir spoke up again, this time more sharply.
"I told you to fuck off. Scum."
At this point, Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, and Bianca realized something.
that Vikir was now glaring at them with the eyes of an enemy.
"Hey, hey, hey... what's the matter with you, why are you suddenly so...?"
"Ugh. Did you think we were trying to take your honor? You're wrong. We had no such intention..."
"Oh, that's right, Vikir! I was just purely worried about you..."
"Did you hit your head somewhere? What's wrong with you all of a sudden?"
His friends reacted to his unexpected attitude with confusion.
But Vikir cut them off.
"I don't have weaklings like you as friends. Know your fractions and get your heads out of your asses."
Ending symbol.
It was the line that cut off all the bonds, ties, and relationships.
Shock. A major shock. Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, and Bianca froze in their seats, mouths half open.
Tudor was the first to come to his senses, stammering with a pained expression.
"What? What's wrong, Vikir? Is it because you made the order in the last stage? Ha, but at that time neither of us had order..."
But Tudor didn't finish his sentence.
Vikir pushed him in the chest and walked to the center of the crowd.
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, and Bianca felt an unbridgeable line in Vikir's gaze as he stared down at them like bugs.
A line drawn in stone. A distance that could never be closed.
Tudor sprawled on the floor, unable to speak a word, and Sancho, Piggy, and Bianca beside him.
They weren't the only ones who didn't feel comfortable with Vikir's cold gaze.
Camus, Dolores, Sinclair, and everyone else whose lives had been saved by Vikir in the tower froze in place.
Vikir had drawn a line in the sand with everyone he'd ever met and befriended at Colosseo Academy.
No, everyone he had ever made a connection with.
He stepped up to the front of the crowd of reporters and said.
"I am ...."
It was so unexpected that few people in the front row understood what Vikir was saying.
As the reporters in the back of the room furrowed their brows and pricked up their ears, Vikir pulled something out of his pocket instead of answering.
And.
...!
Everyone who saw what came out of Vikir's arms had to take a step back in horror.
A crimson sword. Inverted pentagram necklace. And the plague doctor mask.
What these symbols meant was all too obvious.
As the room fell silent for a moment, Vikir spoke in a low, but clear voice.
"I am Night Hound."