Repeat Vice - The Villainous Noble Doesn't Want to Die, So He Swore to Not Die As One of The Four Heavenly Kings - Chapter 17: The Dragon Rider and the Shadow Wolf

Chapter 17: The Dragon Rider and the Shadow Wolf

The dream of the story Rofus saw progressed from beginning to end from the perspective of the protagonist.

Therefore, the memories of Rofus, who had acted as one of the Four Heavenly Kings “Shadow Wolf,” are not present in the current Rofus Ray Lightless.

In the dream where he was killed thousands or tens of thousands of times, he certainly fought as the Shadow Wolf Rofus for that moment, but that was nothing more than a mere reliving.

Rofus as a member of the Four Heavenly Kings, his relationship with his comrades at the time such as the Second Demon Lord Raymond and the other Four Heavenly Kings, is unknown to the current Rofus.

However, just as the fear of being brutally killed was implanted in Rofus himself by reliving the memories of it, his memories and feelings of acting as one of the Four Heavenly Kings were engraved in the unconsciousness of the current Rofus—deep within Rofus’s soul.

In the story, Vallum of the “Dragon Riders” was a comrade, companion, and at the same time, an object of jealousy for Rofus, who had rebelled against the kingdom alongside Raymond.

Instead of Rofus, Vallum, who had inferior bloodline compared to the Rofus of the Duke’s family, was much more trusted and valued by Raymond.

This fact was enough to give Rofus a deep sense of inferiority against Vallum.

The twisted and distorted sense of inferiority accumulated in Rofus’s soul as the story continues.

The dark emotions such as inferiority and jealousy towards Vallum, which had been stored and suppressed in the depths of Rofus’s soul, would surely collapse with just a small trigger.

Even if it were a trivial coincidence, encountering Vallum Lio Draconis would be more than enough to break the dam of Rofus’s heart.

“Frugel…? Why, what happened… You were supposed to be dead…”

Vallum muttered the name of his former beloved dragon as he slowly approached the Wyvern.

The Wyvern that had been facing me, upon seeing Vallum’s figure, flew towards him in a single bound and began to nuzzle him affectionately.

“I can’t believe it… Is it really you, Frugel…?”

With an incredulous expression, yet seeming like he was about to cry, Vallum stroked the Wyvern’s head.

After wiping away his tears, Vallum turned his gaze towards me.

“This… Did you bring Früger back to life…? Who are you exactly…”

Though Vallum seemed to be saying something, I couldn’t hear him.

From the moment I saw Vallum’s figure, for some reason, a dark emotion that couldn’t be put into words surged from the depths of my heart.

Following the dark emotion, a inexplicable sense of exhilaration welled up from the depths of my heart.

Yes, that Vallum, for some reason, was right in front of me now.

I thought we would meet later, but I never expected it to be so soon.

Certainly, the Steria territory was Vallum’s hometown, so it wasn’t strange for him to be here, but I never imagined Steria to be this vast.

What a coincidence this was.

Encountering Vallum here, of all places, while flying around the Ice and Snow Mountains in search of his dead Wyvern.

How many coincidences piled up to lead to this current situation?

I couldn’t help but feel like this was fate.

“What… What’s wrong…”

Vallum looked at me with a puzzled expression as I laughed as if I had gone mad.

Laughing too much, I inadvertently wiped away the tears that flowed in my cheeks.

And then, I spread my arms wide and answered with overflowing emotions.

“What’s wrong? Haha, how can I not laugh!? I’m an atheist, but at this moment, let’s thank the gods! After all, meeting you here like this—Vallum Lio Draconisu— is truly a blessing!!”

“W-Why… my name…? I don’t understand anything since earlier. Who are you…”

Vallum staggered ominously, and his spear instinctively pointed towards me.

Seeing the spear pointed at me, I couldn’t help but smile.

“What’s wrong, are you feeling the same way too? It’s quite amusing. Vallum, you see, you’re the one I—dislike the most in this world!”

A black emotion akin to frustration overflowed me.

Responding to my emotions, waves of magical power spread out around me.

Vallum only turned pale as he faced the waves of magical power directly.

Yes, that’s how it should be.

Being unconscious while leaving me out, who is the strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings.

Let’s engrave directly on his body who is truly the strongest.

“What is this tremendous magical power… Are you really human…?”

“Rude, I’m a splendid human. I’ve even experienced magic power depletion recently. Thanks to that, I have almost no magic power left.”

“Almost no magic power…? Is this it? Ridiculous…”

“Instead of that, how long do you intend to stand there? Hurry up and mount your beloved wyvern.”

At this moment, within me welled up an emotion that was incredibly childish even to myself.

I want to show him my power.

Is it me or Vallum, who is superior? That’s all I want to know.

Behind me, I summoned numerous huge dark orbs from the shadows and aimed them at Vallum.

“What kind of magic is this…!”

Ignoring Vallum’s astonishment, I unhesitatingly launched all the dark orbs.

I have no intention of killing Vallum here. These orbs are not something he would die from so easily.

As expected, Vallum immediately mounted his wyvern and evaded the barrage of dark orbs by flying into the sky.

If Vallum is riding a flying dragon, then it’s time to see the true capabilities of the “Dragon Riders.”

In that case, it would be rude to hold back.

“Riding isn’t your exclusive patent—come, Straff!”

From my shadow, a monstrously huge octopus-like creature appeared.

Straff, who was too huge, causes tremors and destruction with every movement due to its massive body and weight.

Its shockwaves cause landslides and avalanches in the surrounding area.

Truly a natural disaster.

“This is… a Kraken!? Why is it here, away from the sea…!?”

“Are you surprised? You seem quite relaxed, even in this situation, which really irritates me.”

The countless tentacles of Straff, the servant of shadows, attacked Vallum, who was flying at high speed.

Though I watched from above Straff’s head, the tentacles were unable to reach the high-speed wyvern.

Even though my attacks were intense, Vallum easily avoided them all.

Despite Vallum’s angry expression, there was no trace of panic within it.

To Vallum, both Straff’s tentacles and the barrage of dark orbs were considered attacks that didn’t warrant a counterattack.

Though he had an angry expression, there was not a hint of impatience.

Even without the magical barrage, Vallum showed no urgency to counterattack.

It seems Vallum, despite his anger, was not worried about his safety. 

Straff’s tentacles and the dark orbs were not deemed threatening enough to require a response from Vallum.

Even though it’s still three years before the story begins, he’s still strong.

That’s the kind of person he is.

That’s what I don’t like about him.

I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.

Is he really that strong?

The strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings?

A dragon knight who is only somewhat skilled with a spear and excels in riding flying dragons.

He might be able to handle lightning magic a little, but his total magic power is insignificantly small compared to mine.

His magic power is far lower than mine, whose magic power has significantly declined.

Where is the element of strength in him?

Obviously, shouldn’t I be the strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings?

“How long do you intend to just flee, Vallum? I’m getting tired of this.”

I stopped the barrage of dark orbs.

There’s no convenient magic specialized in capturing a fast-moving target like him.

Most magic would be dodged by his high-speed movement.

Even tracking spells probably wouldn’t catch up.

If I had magic power, I would unleash an attack with such dense magic bullet barrage that there’s no room to escape, but I don’t have the luxury for that now.

So, let’s reduce unnecessary magic consumption and use it where it’s needed.

Magic must be used efficiently.

I stopped the barrage of dark orbs and poured the remaining magic power into Straff.

Given magic power, Straff’s body swelled up and its number of tentacles more than doubled.

“Wha—”

Vallum was shocked.

Each tentacle that had been dodged until now became thicker, and their number increased by more than twice.

Even without a magical barrage, it would be quite troublesome to deal with this many tentacles.

With this many tentacles to deal with, it seemed Vallum had judged it impossible to continue evading, so he began to fight back with his spear against the tentacles.

His spear was imbued with lightning magic by Vallum.

When the spear cut through the tentacles, the dark tentacles of Straff, the servant of shadows, burst apart.

“Mu…”

Lightning, with its nature of emitting light, is as disadvantageous for dark attributes as fire or light.

But to burst apart from just a touch…

These past few days, I’ve been quite unlucky with matchups.

If the number of tentacles continues to decrease like this, the situation will become unfavorable.

Even if tentacles are lost, they can be regenerated with magic power, but I don’t have the luxury to do so.

Regenerating the familiar of shadows consumes a lot of magic power.

If my magic power were at its peak, it would be a different story, but right now I don’t have the luxury of regenerating the body of my familiar of shadows as well.

Suddenly, a ray of sunlight enters my field of vision.

When I look towards the horizon beyond the mountain range, I can see a whitish tint.

“Huh?”

I take out my pocket watch and see that the hands point to half past four.

The time limit has long since passed.

My heated thoughts suddenly cool down like they’ve been immersed in ice water.

Damn it…

I had told Yurika I’d be back in an hour, but I’ve clearly gone too far.

The overflowing dark emotions subside, and now I don’t even understand why I was attacking Vallum in the first place.

I certainly don’t like Vallum, but why was I behaving like throwing away precious magic power… What was I doing?

It was as if I was being controlled by something.

By what, it goes without saying.

Those emotions weren’t someone else’s; they were certainly mine.

I take a deep breath and close the lid of my pocket watch.

Then, I focus on Vallum again.

Certainly, I lacked composure… but well, since I’ve come this far.

It’s a good opportunity, let’s settle whether it’s me or Vallum who’s superior.

“The game is over. Shall we go all out, Vallum?”

In response to my words, all the tentacles of Straff attack Vallum simultaneously.

Numerous tentacles approaching from all directions that cannot be physically handled with just a spear.

Vallum, however, releases a series of lightning-fast thrusts and eliminates all the tentacles coming from every direction.

Straff, subjected to fierce attacks beyond its tolerance, dissipates its massive body.

“Ha! Are you a monster or what!”

And I, using the augmented strength through magic power in my body, swiftly approach Vallum.

“What!?”

Vallum is astonished by my sudden appearance.

Of course.

I took advantage of the moment when Vallum was surrounded by tentacles and his vision was obscured.

Combined with the fact that I had been focusing solely on long-range attacks with magic and Straff’s tentacles, Vallum’s surprise at my approach wouldn’t be unexpected.

I summon the Dark Scythe in my hand and attack Vallum.

Vallum blocks my scythe with a spear charged with lightning, and we engage in a clash on the back of the wyvern.

“You… arent you a mage…!?”

“I don’t recall saying I can’t do close combat.”

However, even with the difference in compatibility, it’s surprising that Vallum is able to resist the specialized dark scythe for cutting.

The lightning attribute of this guy, the level of magical refinement, is more formidable than I imagined.

By the way, I have some knowledge about close combat as well.

Because I’ve received personal training from Carlos regularly.

But even so, in simple close combat techniques, Vallum is still overwhelmingly superior.

The standoff lasted only a moment.

The Dark Scythe is easily deflected by Vallum’s refined spear handling.

Despite trying to strike back urgently two or three times with the scythe, each time it is countered with minimal movement, and finally, it is deflected heavily.

I thought I could overwhelm him with the difference in weapons, but perhaps I underestimated Vallum.

The scythe is deflected, and as I recoil, Vallum doesn’t miss the opportunity.

“Prepare yourself…!”

The sharp thrust of the lightning-charged spear is unleashed towards me.

However, the spear never reaches me.

Blocked by my magical barrier, the spear stops just before touching me.

Vallum, whose piercing thrust was stopped by my magical barrier, grimaces bitterly.

“…you’re tough.”

“I’ve come to realize the inconvenience of a sturdy magical barrier more than ever.”

I grab the spear, stopped by the reinforced magical barrier, with the Dark Hand created in place of my missing left arm, and I smile.

“Rest assured, I’ll heal that Wyvern’s wounds later.”

“…I appreciate it.”

Vallum closes his eyes as if surrendering.

I continue and slice Vallum along with the Wyvern with the Dark Scythe.

Blood splatters.

With one wing severed, the Wyvern screams as it descends.

Both Vallum and I fall from the sky along with the Wyvern.

Under the snowy mountains.

Vallum and I fall into the accumulated snow.

The thick layer of snow acts as a cushion, and as for me, I absorb the impact with my magical barrier, while Vallum takes a defensive posture, so neither of us suffers much damage from the fall.

The Wyvern, with one wing severed, is resurrected and fully recovered with my magic power.

I drink a mana potion from my coat pocket and throw a healing potion to Vallum.

“Here, take it.”

“Thanks.”

Vallum opens the potion and drinks it all without hesitation.

As it is a top-quality potion, the wounds inflicted by the scythe on Vallum’s shoulder heal in an instant.

Vallum grimaces.

“Isn’t this quite a high-quality one… I rarely get this… how much do you want for this?”

“I don’t take money.”

What’s this man worrying about money for?

“More importantly, be a little suspicious. It was given to you by your attacker.”

“If you wanted, I would be dead by now already. Poison is the least of my worries”

I snort.

“You say that well. Your spear never aimed at my vitals. Not even the final blow. Aiming for the shoulder… and all.”

“I didn’t sense any killing intent in your attacks from start to finish. Besides, I have so many questions I want to ask you.”

“Well, that’s understandable…”

Then it becomes a storm of questions from Vallum.

“How did you know my name? Why is Frugel, who should be dead, alive? Why did you suddenly attack me?”

Vallum’s annoying storm of questions repeating why, why, why is all ignored.

All those questions are indeed due to my spontaneous actions.

Admit it, the bad thing was attacking Vallum with the motive of wanting to clearly establish who’s superior, like a childish fight.

But, sorry, this time I’ll prioritize my convenience.

Those questions will be answered when I feel like it, at the next opportunity.

He didn’t seem satisfied, but he calmed down.

Then, I explained the circumstances and reasons for my presence in the Steria territory to Vallum.

Come to think of it, it was fortunate that I met Vallum here.

I remember that Vallum’s father was a steward governing some territory within the Steria territory.

If Vallum is here, then this must be the land ruled by Vallum’s father.

I’ll leave the handling of that fat merchant who seemed to be a merchant buying slaves and causing trouble to the Lightless territory through Vallum.

I informed Vallum of the information about the slave buyer and handed him a small item with the Lightless crest on it from my belongings.

Presenting an item with my family crest as evidence of my testimony.

This is a declaration that my story is not false, and Vallum’s father won’t ignore this case even if it involves the crest of another family.

Vallum was greatly surprised when he saw my crest.

“Lightless… The eldest son was about the same age as me, if I remember correctly. His name was… Rofus, right? You’re him?”

“You know quite a lot. That’s diligent of you.”

“Everyone knows about you. You’re famous.”

Oh, I wonder what makes me so famous.

“Anyway, as I explained, the situation is as it is. I have a way to return to the Lightless territory. Lend me that wyvern. If you send us off, I’ll release your Wyvern from my magic.”

When I say that while looking at the Wyvern, Vallum falls silent for a moment and then speaks up.

“…Release from the magic…? What happens when you free him from your magic? “

“Probably, it’s life maintenance will no longer be possible. There won’t be an immediate death, but it won’t last long.”

“Can the magic you cast on Flugel be released at any time?”

“Huh? Well, if I want to, I can release it anytime…”

Well, this Wyvern has too much self-awareness and is not under my control as a familiar of shadows, and there’s no benefit to using it further. 

It’s just a nuisance that eats up my magic power, so I might as well release the magic right away.

But at least until I return to the Lightless territory, I have no intention of releasing the magic.

Vallum, looking at Flugel, continues.

“If Rofus doesn’t release the magic, will Frugel be able to live forever…?”

“…Well, In a way, that’s how it would be.”

I look at Vallum.

Is he seriously suggesting that Frugel should be kept alive in this state?

I, who manipulate dead creatures as familiars of shadows, have no right to say anything, but is that okay?

Even if Frugel’s life is twisted by my death and kept alive by the power of others, it’s a life I wouldn’t want even if I died.

Vallum kneels down with both hands on the ground and bows his head.

“Then, if possible, I don’t want you to release the magic. Frugel… broke its wings to protect me… it was still young as a dragon… because of me… please, if there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it.”

He pleads with a pained expression, kneeling down.

The “Dragon Rider,” Vallum, known as one of the four strongest in the story, is kneeling in front of me.

I don’t understand the reason, but for some reason, watching it makes me feel uncomfortable.

Discomfort and irritation rise within me.

I shake my head to dispel the black emotions that have risen again.

“I understand, so get up. Don’t show me such an ugly sight as kneeling again.”

“…! I’m sorry, thank you…!”

“That’s why I told you not to bow your head!”

Views on life and death vary from person to person.

If Vallum and his wyvern are fine with it, then I have no right to interfere.

Come to think of it, if I can create a rift between Vallum and me by raising just the magic power needed to sustain one wyvern, it’s not a bad deal.

Vallum reluctantly agreed to lend me the wyvern temporarily.

I was worried whether the wyvern would obey my commands, but it seemed to obey Vallum’s orders, and there were no signs of it going wild even when I rode it.

Riding the wyvern, as I’m about to leave, Vallum stops me.

“I appreciate you telling me about the slave trading. That merchant Gillan had many dark rumors, but he rarely showed his tail, and my father was having trouble with him. I think this incident will bring him to justice. I really appreciate it.”

“Yeah, do your best.”

Oh, that fat man, his name was Gillan or something like that.

From my perspective, I have no interest in the management of other territories.

Deal with it to the extent that it doesn’t cause trouble to the Lytes territory.

I fly off and return to the mansion where Yusrīka awaits.

The darkness of night has already been pushed back, and a faint sunlight appears at the horizon’s edge.