Reincarnated as the Weakest Magical Beast-Chapter 117: Against the dark king

"Lionera was forsaken because of what you did!"

...

At those words, those accusations, the five Deathguards stiffened. Their gazes shifted slowly toward their king, disbelief and dawning horror mingling across their faces.

"No..." Amaras breathed, his voice strained. "That is not the truth."

The shadow laughed, low and knowing.

"Not the truth? Or simply a truth you lack the courage to face? The fact that I know this... means you have always known it as well. Come on, Amaras! I am your doubt! Your buried accusation!"

"SILENCE!" Amaras’s voice rang through the chamber, sharp enough to cut steel.

He turned toward his retainers, urgency flashing across his face.

"Do not listen to him. He twists half-truths into poison. He seeks to corrupt your faith, just as he tried to corrupt mine!"

For a moment, no one spoke. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Then one of the twin knights stepped forward.

"With respect, my liege... I do not believe he is entirely wrong," Theoric said, exhaling slowly.

Amaras stared at him in stunned disbelief.

"What?"

"Have you forgotten, my liege?" the knight continued quietly with a choking, angry voice, "Back then, we prayed day and night to the heavens. We begged Celestia for reinforcements. No one came. No gods. Not even an angel was sent to help us. Not until Lionera had already fallen. Only afterward did Goddess Neferia descend to gather our souls."

A heavy silence followed.

"You cannot mean this..." Amaras murmured.

He looked to other Deathguards, they shared the same expression as well.

Oh no...

Mimi’s heart dropped for a moment, her fur bristling. Are they... seriously betraying the king now? What the hell?

But then her worry eased as Theoric met Amaras’s gaze steadily. A faint yet warm and reassuring smile returned to the knight’s face.

"Still, I stand with you, my liege. Because even if the gods abandoned us... even if our hearts ache to return to the world of the living... we cannot give in to evil. If we abandon our ideals now, then everything we fought for truly becomes meaningless."

He raised his blade and stepped into position before the throne.

"As knights of Lionera, we swore to uphold justice. And that oath did not end with death!"

The other Deathguards followed, forming a tighter circle around Emilia.

"My brother is right. Whatever the truth of the past," Godwin finished, "our duty remains the same."

His eyes hardened as he faced the dark double.

"Do not worry, my liege. We will protect Emilia with our lives. He will not reach her, no matter what!"

"You all..." Amaras’s voice faltered for a brief moment.

Even after the secrets laid bare, after doubt had been stirred and old wounds reopened, his retainers still stood before him without hesitation. Not one had stepped back. Not one had lowered his blade.

There was no greater proof of loyalty than that.

The shadowed king merely smiled.

"Oh damn. How touching," he murmured. "Even now, you cling to one another. Fine, I will just slaughter you all then."

The moment shattered.

"Veronica!" Godwin called sharply. "Bless us!"

The priest raised her staff at once, light gathering at its tip. A warm radiance spilled outward, weaving through the Deathguards like threads of gold. Strength swelled within their limbs. Their armor gleamed brighter. Their resolve hardened.

"Divine protection upon you!" Veronica cried. "May your blades strike true!"

Steel rang from scabbards.

"Together!" Theoric roared.

"Yeah! Let’s gang up on this bastard!" the assassin roared.

And so, they moved as one.

Six figures surged forward in flawless coordination, blades flashing in arcs of silver and gold. Magic flared between their strikes, sealing off escape routes, forcing the dark double into the center of their formation.

From the rear, Amaras stepped in last, his sword blazing with the full authority of a crowned king.

Mimi’s eyes could barely follow anything. They were all too fast, displaying the strength of Arventia’s finest warriors.

For a heartbeat, it was magnificent.

The perfect unity of Lionera’s elite.

The whole chamber shook violently, space cracking with each blow. It was like watching an epic battle unfold in an anime, only far more real, far more deadly.

The shadowed king tilted his head.

"Oh? You speak of justice... yet attack six against one?" His lips curved in a faint, mocking smile. "What became of chivalry?"

"There is no chivalry in the face of evil!" Godwin answered without hesitation.

Their blades descended.

The impact should have shattered mountains.

Instead—

A single pulse of blackened aura exploded outward.

The sound struck like a thunderclap against the soul.

BANG!

The formation collapsed.

Godwin was thrown back as though struck by a siege hammer, his blade spinning from his grasp. Theoric crashed into a pillar hard enough to crack marble. The others fell in similar fashion, their blessed armor dimming as they hit the floor.

Veronica’s staff slipped from her fingers as she staggered, the light around her sputtering like a dying candle.

Amaras pressed forward alone, teeth clenched, pouring everything into one decisive strike.

Their swords met.

Slash—

CLANG!

His blade was deflected with effortless contempt.

A second blow followed, too fast to see clearly, and the Lion Sword King was sent skidding across the floor, armor scraping stone.

Silence fell once more.

The shadowed king stood untouched at the center of the hall.

"Too weak," he said calmly, his gaze sweeping over the fallen guardians.

"This is the result of severing yourself from what makes you strong. You cast aside anger. You suppressed greed. You buried hatred." His eyes locked onto Amaras. "And you call that justice?"

He took a slow step forward.

"A blade without desire... is a dull blade. That is the most basic principle of Lionera’s teaching, of our royal sword technique, isn’t it?"

Amaras forced himself upright, breath ragged, yet his grip on his sword did not loosen.

"That is not strength," he rasped. "That is surrender!"

The dark double only laughed.

In a blur, he struck, kicking Amaras in the stomach.

"KAH!"

The king vomited blood and crumpled to the floor.

"MY LIEGE!"

"YOU BASTARD!"

The Deathguards lunged once again, but without their earlier coordination, the shadow Amaras struck them down with terrifying ease.

"Urgh... damn it..." Amaras groaned, one trembling hand scraping against the cold stone floor as he struggled to rise. The shadowed double advanced steadily toward the throne, its dark aura pressing down on the chamber like a shadow god.

"And now," the dark figure said, voice low and venomous, "it is time."

In an instant, his body seemed to dissolve into shadow, a twisting, writhing mass of blackness.

Woosh!

He lunged forward. His form collapsed into a spinning orb of darkness, coiling and writhing as it surged toward Emilia.

Mimi’s eyes went wide. Her heart pounded fiercely, a mixture of fear and fury coursing through her tiny body.

No.

She would not let this happen. Not to her master!

She planted her paws firmly on the ground, her fur bristling.

"FLAMME! BURN HIS ASS!"

Pew! Pew! Pew!

Shadow balls shot toward the incoming darkness.

But... of course... they did nothing.

Mimi’s ears flattened against her head.

Is this... really all I can do?

No!

Without thinking, driven purely by instinct and love for her master, she leapt to the side, directly into the path of the shadow!