Black Badger

Erich and Yekaterina did not answer immediately.

The one who spoke was Yoow, who had just let out a sigh of relief.

“He went to look for the nuclear launch key.”

“What?”

Hildebert’s brows twisted.

“In the short time I stepped away?”

“He swallowed that man’s words whole.”

Yoow grumbled.

He opened his mouth wide as if about to add something more vicious, but then he noticed something in Hildebert’s expression and shut it again.

“Couldn’t even sit still and wait.”

Whether he failed to notice Yoow’s odd reaction or simply ignored it, Hildebert muttered under his breath and raised his right hand to point toward the cinema doors.

“Anyway. Everyone out for now.”

All eyes fixed on Hildebert.

The only one who did not look at him was Colton Wiseman, seated above.

Hildebert blinked at the silent stares and repeated himself.

“Igor and Yoow. Rose, you too. All of you. Out.”

“And what are we supposed to do outside?”

Igor asked, brow arching.

The three Titans whose names had been called stared straight through Hildebert. But none objected. They all knew that in the present situation, it would not be easy for Colton Wiseman to deal Hildebert a fatal blow.

Of course, given that the opponent was Colton, no one had completely let their guard down.

“Keep an eye on those two.”

Hildebert glanced at Erich Erhart and Yekaterina.

Then, with a tilt of his chin, he indicated the man standing behind him.

“And take care of Luke.”

“Luke?”

“My junior.”

Luke lowered his head toward Igor, Yoow, and Rose.

The three Titans quickly grasped the situation and returned the greeting. While they did so, Hildebert was already walking toward the two Elders.

“No need for spectators. Wait outside.”

“Regrettable, but it can’t be helped.”

Erich said with a smile, while Yekaterina walked toward the door without comment.

Lee Seunghyun, who had been watching Hildebert, followed his master.

Meanwhile, Shashinsky and Levi were dutifully approaching to retrieve Jaeyeon.

Hildebert matched his steps with the third Elder who was carrying Jaeyeon out.

The moment they stepped beyond the cinema doors, Hildebert lightly tapped Erich Erhart’s shoulder.

“Hmm?”

Erich turned his head with a puzzled sound.

Hildebert lowered his head and whispered into his ear.

So that only Erich could hear.

Softly...

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Erich burst into laughter.

Mad, ringing laughter echoed through the corridor outside the cinema. Even the Titans who had followed out flinched and widened their eyes. Yekaterina, who had been walking ahead, frowned and turned back at the sound.

What on earth had he said to draw that kind of laughter from that man?

Shashinsky’s expression asked exactly that.

The platinum-blond Elder threw his head back and laughed for a long while, then covered his mouth, choking on the remnants of it.

Unable to bear it, Shashinsky shoved Jaeyeon into Levi’s arms and strode over, striking Erich in the chest with a solid thud before he finally regained himself.

Ash-gray eyes wet with tears from laughing too hard.

Erich narrowed those eyes and looked at Hildebert, who stood there without expression.

“You truly are the best.”

Hildebert let out a soft scoff.

Then he turned without replying. Facing back toward the interior of the cinema, the knight sent his subordinates out one by one. Igor, Yoow, and Rose all stepped into the corridor with reluctant expressions and shut the doors behind them.

The moment the doors closed, sharp gazes lifted toward the Elder.

Unbothered by the wary looks of the Titans, Erich Erhart began to hum.

As he did, he savored the words Hildebert had whispered to him.

Words that had sent a thrilling sensation down his spine.

“What a truly special one.”

Erich smiled, showing neat white teeth.

***

“Colton.”

Once the cinema doors shut, only the two of them remained.

Hildebert spoke his old adversary’s name evenly. The man addressed was seated, drinking coffee.

The hardliner whose hand Hildebert had once held.

An elegant psychopath.

“If you hadn’t been quite so greedy, we might have looked upon each other for much longer.”

“We might have.”

Colton readily agreed with the words Hildebert tossed out as he climbed the steps.

“But it would not have been eternal.”

“That goes without saying.”

“What I mean is that we would have turned against each other someday.”

Colton answered kindly at Hildebert’s grumbling.

Golden eyes lifted.

Colton set his coffee cup down.

“You grow too attached to trivial things, and I have no intention of seeking your permission when handling what exists beneath my feet.”

Hildebert did not argue.

He understood what Colton meant.

Sooner or later, they would have pointed the tips of their swords at one another.

Unless Hildebert abandoned all concern for those around him, or Colton suddenly discovered what a conscience was.

“Even so, there were times I wished you would just behave.”

Hildebert said as he reached the top of the stairs.

The white-haired knight now stood before the chair, looking down at Colton.

“You might not understand, being a psychopath, but I rather enjoyed playing poker with you from [N O V E L I G H T] time to time.”

“Why assume I wouldn’t understand? I truly consider you a friend.”

“But you would have preferred me as a flattened dog, wouldn’t you?”

Hildebert said coldly.

“You must have thought I’d be perfect to pick up after my final clash with Kyle left me broken.”

Colton leaned back against the chair.

“Hm.”

“I won’t deny it.”

“And what nonsense is this about a nuclear warhead?”

“You look excessively intact.”

Colton examined the man standing before him.

“Your clothes do not. Jaeyeon would never have let you go alive with his own head still attached. So you must have absorbed something.”

Hildebert did not answer.

Colton remained seated, lost in thought.

“There was nothing there to absorb.”

Hildebert remained silent again, and Colton found the answer on his own.

“You absorbed the Emperor.”

“Don’t ask when you already know.”

“I suspected as much. Did you bring the ring as well?”

“Does facing death make you brave?”

“How did you wake from the dream? Was the Emperor’s magic insufficient?”

The Elder asked with genuine curiosity.

For the first time, Hildebert smiled.

His eyes curved into crescents.

There was true amusement in them as he answered.

“I remembered your name.”

Colton blinked.

For the first time, surprise flickered in those blue eyes. The Elder lifted his head to look at Hildebert.

A brief silence.

He stared into the knight’s smile, then let out a faint scoff and lowered his gaze.

“In that case, I have nothing to say.”

Colton let everything fall from his hands.

The middle-aged man in the immaculate suit tidied the objects around him with neat precision. He closed the book that had been spread open and shut the cigar case. The empty coffee cup was moved to the edge of the table.

Only after arranging everything cleanly did he raise his blue eyes and meet Hildebert’s gaze directly.

“My defeat.”

Instead of answering, Hildebert drew his sword.

“It seems there truly is no other way now.”

The tip of the blade touched the Elder’s throat.

A thin line of blood trailed downward.

The wound was shallow.

Not even a sword wound—more like a fine cut from paper.

The sharp blade had inflicted only that precise, delicate injury and then did not move again. The white edge reflected the limited light in the darkness.

Colton Wiseman remained seated, unmoving.

It was Hildebert who broke the silence.

“At first, I had no intention of letting you die peacefully either.”

His subdued voice spread through the dim cinema.

“I thought I should leave you alive in misery, like Jaeyeon.”

“And?”

“But I realized you’re nothing like Jaeyeon.”

Hildebert withdrew the sword.

With a fluid motion, he slid it back into its sheath.

Colton’s brow lifted faintly as the blade disappeared from view.

The white-haired knight lowered his eyes and looked down at the Elder, who now wore a trace of puzzlement.

“As long as you’re alive, you’ll search for a chance to strike back.”

Colton let out a soft scoff.

“You’d write rebellion with your mouth even if all four limbs were severed.”

“I won’t deny it.”

“Even soaked in drugs, you’d attempt retaliation in the brief instant your reason flickered back.”

“Most likely.”

“Stand.”

Hildebert said coolly.

“Colton.”

Colton did not resist.

With an expression suggesting that indulging such a request was no hardship at all, the man rose slowly from his seat. He fastened the button of his suit jacket with one hand. After smoothing his attire, he faced Hildebert with a gentlemanly posture.

“Has even using your sword become a waste?”

When Colton asked, Hildebert drew a gun without expression.

“Quite.”

Bang!

The bullet shattered Colton’s knee.

Bang!

Another shot obliterated the remaining kneecap. Colton let out a low sound and dropped to his knees before Hildebert.

Blood poured out, quickly soaking into the carpet.

The metallic scent stung the air.

Hildebert looked down at him coldly. Colton dragged in uneven breaths before murmuring,

“Where was the mistake?”

He was not ordinarily talkative.

But tonight, he spoke more than usual.

“I do not consider saving you a mistake.”

“Strange. I think that was the greatest mistake of all.”

“I misjudged that once you regained your memories, you would adapt to the present situation rather than seek revenge. Thus I merely observed your recovery. That was my error.”

Colton spoke as if sighing.

“Had I not made that judgment, I would have dragged you out from under the former Commander-in-Chief by any means necessary while your memories were still incomplete.”

Hildebert opened his mouth to reply.

But before he could speak, Colton bent his upper body forward.

The golden-eyed knight went silent, staring down at the man pressing his lips to his boot.

Throughout the entire motion, the knight did not move.

Hildebert seemed unable to decide what emotion he ought to feel as he watched the man lightly kiss the military boot smeared with blood, dirt, and flesh.

His gaze held a mixture of horror, instinctive disgust, and surprise.

Colton slowly raised his head.

A man who had never knelt before anyone in his life smiled faintly.

“Is this not the scene you dreamed of?”

“Now that it’s real, it’s more revolting than I imagined.”

“As expected, you are not suited to rule anyone.”

Hildebert’s body gave a faint twitch.

“That is something Kyle was born with.”

A sharp blue fury surged into the knight’s golden eyes.

He did not express it.

Receiving that blade-sharp stare, cold as his own sword’s edge, Colton smiled.

“So, do you truly wish for confirmation of who was right? Do you want to hear in greater detail how I intended to respond if we lost the First War?”

“No.”

Hildebert answered quickly and firmly.

“Don’t speak.”

Colton laughed again.

A pool of blood had formed beneath his knees.

Even so, no pain could be found in the Elder’s blue eyes.

“Yes. In a way, that may be more cruel.”

“In the end, I intend to burn you. Until not even ash remains.”

“As you wish.”

The man replied concisely.

“Torture me to death. Turn me into a vegetable, conscious but unable to move. Sever all my limbs and make me into a human pig. It is entirely your choice.”

Colton’s blue eyes sought the golden ones again.

“You have won.”

In the darkness, a pair of faintly luminous golden eyes.

White lashes casting shadows over them.

Colton had gambled twice upon those eyes.

Once before the First War broke out.

And once on the final day of the First War.

The first gamble succeeded.

He joined hands with Hildebert, removed the Ice Empress, and at some point after the war seized the throne.

But the second gamble failed, and now he knelt before Hildebert.

Even so, he did not regret saving Hildebert.

He only believed he should have separated Kyle at the last moment.

Because Kyle had survived unintentionally, much had gone awry. Had he died as planned, Colton could have easily taken possession of the hollowed Hildebert.

The white-haired and black-haired knights who descended upon Earth.

Always beautiful.

Called Michael and Lucifer, half in mockery, half in awe.

To some, salvation.

To others, calamity.

Among those who sleep in the dust of the earth,

some shall awaken to everlasting life,

and some to shame,

to everlasting disgrace.

“Congratulations.”

Colton gave his final greeting.

“The end of a long game.”

Hildebert raised the gun.

***

Jaeyeon regained consciousness.

It was not bright around him.

He could not tell what lay nearby.

He could not tell who was present.

He had certainly self-detonated...

“Jaeyeon.”

A calm voice called.

He turned his head.

Erich Erhart stood before him, dressed as usual in a light-colored suit, slowly kneeling on one knee.

In his right hand was something resembling a remote control. He held no weapon.

Jaeyeon stared at the Elder extending the remote toward him.

Where is Colton?

Where is Hildebert?

Lost in confusion, Jaeyeon realized he was not restrained.

Can I run?

The thought he had repeated thousands of times surfaced again.

This time?

Perhaps now?

“Take it.”

The Elder’s voice sounded again.

Thinking he must seize the opportunity to bolt, Jaeyeon obediently accepted the remote Erich offered.

“Oh my, thank you. Such a charming gift. But I’m afraid I’m rather busy at the moment...”

“It is the detonation button for the bomb attached to Colton Wiseman’s neck.”

Erich Erhart said.

Jaeyeon froze stiff.

They stood beneath dim light, pale in the darkness.

Erich leaned closer toward the frozen Jaeyeon and tapped the remote lightly with his index finger.

“Whether you press it or not is entirely up to you.”

There was only one button.

“Until then, no one else will press it.”

A small red bulb above the button blinked.

Blinking light illuminating Jaeyeon’s drained face.

“Jaeyeon.”

He did not move.

Clutching the remote in both hands, he could not tear his eyes away from the single square button.

His hands trembled faintly.

“A gift from Hilde.”

Jaeyeon clung to a false hope.

***

“Prometheus said that man would never be able to press that remote.”

Erich laughed.

He paid no mind to Shashinsky’s look of disgust or Levi’s raised brow of puzzlement as they stared at Jaeyeon.

“He will live his entire life consumed by the desperate desire to press it.”

The Elder burst into loud laughter.

“He will never be able to save himself.”

Colton Wiseman passed away.