ch21-ch40 · 034-ch34
Chapter 34: Underz②
That place was an underground chapel.
But thanks to special lighting, the ceiling was illuminated dazzlingly bright.
On the illuminated ceiling, majestic murals were painted in their entirety. These weren't stories of gods, but rather depictions of an actual battle that had occurred a dozen or so years ago.
Seven knights, each wearing armor of seven different colors: white, yellow, green, red, purple, blue, and black.
The murals began with the formation of these seven knights, and after numerous battles and adventures... ended at the center of the ceiling, with the white knight and the black knight thrusting their swords into the Demon King enveloped in ominous flames.
With that bright ceiling serving as indirect lighting, nine knights stood in the dim light. Though they weren't wearing armor, each wore knight's attire with different base colors.
Two in yellow, one in green, two in red, four in purple. They stood facing each other in the chapel, separated by the patterned floor in the center—the four purple knights facing the other five.
Clack, clack, clack, clack...
And then footsteps echoed from nowhere as the chapel doors were thrown open, and a single woman entered.
"Salute to Lady Grandine!"
When what appeared to be the eldest of the purple-clad youths gave the command, the knights saluted in unison, welcoming the woman who entered... their superior, Grandine.
Grandine wasn't wearing knight's attire but a pale purple dress with matching lipstick—an alluring woman.
Though hardly knight-like in appearance, the knights maintained their tension as they awaited her words.
"At ease."
Coming to the exact center between the facing knights, Grandine stopped.
The knights had dropped their salutes, but still maintained a tense, motionless standing position.
"To all the Underz members, thank you for gathering despite being busy with your respective knight orders. There's something I must tell you all... Some good news, and some unfortunate news."
The nine summoned knights... the members of Underz already knew that the operation to cross to 'the world beyond the mirror' had begun. Therefore, they had already anticipated that Grandine's announcement would be related to the operation.
"The good news is that the Black Bird's 'egg' has been discovered in Limilaru."
"Ohh..."
"No way..."
Until then, the Underz members who had maintained silence couldn't help but let out voices.
For those aiming to become Seven Knights, there could be no better news.
"And the unfortunate news... Melkid Mandarin has been defeated."
"!!"
Once again, silence returned to the chapel.
A different kind of tension than before ran through the knights. Melkid, who possessed eiyō-armor, had been defeated... which meant that his opponent also possessed eiyō-armor.
"Just as you all imagined, the Black Knight is alive. And not just alive—while weakened, he still retained enough 'eiyōso' to don his eiyō-armor."
No matter how skilled the Black Knight may be, without eiyō-armor, he's no match for the Underz.
But if he can 'Merge' with the Black Bird, that's a different story.
"...Rest assured. According to the information Mandar left us before his death, the Black Knight's Merge has a time limit. Besides, he was defeated because he let his guard down, but if you had known from the start that he could Merge, you wouldn't have lost. Am I right?"
""""Yes!""""
When Grandine asked, the Underz members straightened their backs and responded in unison.
Appearing satisfied by this, Grandine smiled bewitchingly, turned her skirt, and headed back the way she came.
"I'll contact those who will head to Limilaru next. I believe it will be two or more, so be mentally prepared."
Just before closing the door, at Grandine's words as she turned back, everyone saluted once again.
― ◆ ―
"Hey hey hey, your guys' Melkid got his ass handed to him, huh?"
Gone was the stern attitude from moments before, as the green-clad knight spoke to the two yellow-clad knights next to him in a mocking tone.
"........."
"Hmph, Melkid was the weakest in our knight order anyway..."
The one remaining silent with arms crossed was the largest knight among the Underz. And the one who grinned back with a snide remark was a shaved-head knight with a prominent large old scar—though not quite as thick as his partner, he was still heavily built.
"Heeyyy, Sulfur-senpai, that's not right, is it~? I mean, there's no way he can be the weakest if he was chosen for Underz, right~?"
"Come on, Vermilion, that's not good! The senpai is trying to maintain the atmosphere, so as a junior, you should go along with it!"
When the small red-clad knight Vermilion interjected Sulfur the shaved-head, the other female knight in the same red attire hurriedly stopped him.
Though she said this out of kindness, it only sounded like provocation to those around them. The green knight stifled a laugh, while Sulfur's veins bulged near his old scar.
"...Stop making light of the fallen. Regardless of his strength compared to ours, Mandar was sent first because his abilities were suited to searching for the Black Knight. Let us pay respect to Mandar, who successfully accomplished that, and show our mourning."
The purple knight who had given the first command placed a hand on his chest and offered a silent prayer, and the other three purple knights followed suit.
The yellow knights also silently obeyed, and the two red ones hurriedly closed their eyes.
'Damn, that Heliot guy, just 'cause he's the biggest faction, acting all high and mighty... pisses me off.'
The green knight was the only one who kept his eyes open, unimpressed as he scratched his short-cropped brown hair.
Though grouped together as 'Underz,' they were originally members of four separate knight orders, and moreover, they were rivals competing for the seats of the Seven Knights.
While they respected each other as fellow selected elites, their sense of camaraderie was thin.
Especially this green-clad knight—Berdigri—had a desperate desire to join the Seven Knights, even if it meant trampling over everyone else.
He lacked the carefree attitude of the young knight Vermilion, who was like 'I was selected, so I came to check it out!'
'I'll be the one crossing the mirror on the next mission! I'll defeat the Black Knight and get my hands on that 'egg' for sure...!'