Chapter I

News of the Imperial Consultative Group's entry into the Dark City spread quickly. Perhaps in order not to be alert, there are not many guards in the consultation group, but there is one piece of news that has attracted attention: the captain of the escort team is Sword Soul Barn.

Although the Dark Elves have always hated the Empire, this time they couldn't suppress their curiosity, and there were many onlookers wherever the team went.

Lobach: (...... Barn Baschut)

Sitting on his horse, some distance away from the pretending waving nobles of the Empire, Barn did look knightly - young, confident, and well-behaved.

People felt an extraordinary bearing from him, and even felt that the representatives of the Consultative Group could not even compare with his sword.

Lobach in the crowd unconsciously stroked his ghost hand, the twisted and ugly black arm wrapped in heavy sealing chains. Although she had never been depressed by having a ghost hand, she felt ashamed to think of the person who died at the hands of this ghost.

Lobach was once the companion of that group of swaggering Imperial knights. In many countries of Arad, people with ghost hands are often ostracized, but in empires that value strong force, ghost hands are not a big disadvantage, and some people are even envious of ghost hands that can exert extraordinary powers.

In such an environment, Lobach's growth path has been relatively smooth. Although she had to overcome many difficulties because she was not from an aristocratic background, with her natural talent and resilience, she achieved great results more easily than others.

However, it didn't take long for a question to pop up in her heart one day: why are all the people in the empire so obsessed with being strong? Why do they value showing off their strength more than helping the weak?

As time passed, the doubts in her mind grew. Lobach confided in several trusted companions about her troubles, but the answers she received were not satisfactory.

"First of all, you have to be strong yourself to protect more people, don't you?" That's probably the most plausible-sounding answer.

One day, the head of the Order gathered Lobach and the rest of the regiment and said this to them.

"Arad is hopeless. Order has broken down and the law has lost its binding force. Fallen people act only to satisfy their own greed, and monsters take advantage of this chaos to harm humanity. So, we have to use strict laws and strict standards to save this world from hell! ”

These words were deafening, and at once Lobach's heart was shaken by that little doubt. We were right, we were right. We are the saviors. We are warriors who fight for a better world!

With such a mission on her shoulders, she did not find life in the Order hard at all, and although the training was hard and arduous, she felt very fulfilling. You will be forgiven when you make mistakes, and you will be comforted when you are hurt.

Although the strict and upright head is not close to them in private, he is like a kind father.

For Lobach, who lost her parents when she was a child, the head of the regiment was her closest family member, and it was the first time she felt a bond from others. Even if it was a life-threatening mission, as long as it was for them, she would do everything she could to complete it.

The style of the empire is somewhat rigid and rigid, but the atmosphere of the knights who protect the empire is so free and harmonious that it seems ironic. Recently, however, Lobach has begun to feel that this is exactly what the emperor is aiming for.

The Knights are elite troops fighting for the Empire, no, to be precise, for the royal family represented by the Emperor. The stronger the bonds, the less tolerant the heretics are. Lobach's suspicions about the Empire's approach were revealed, and he was once approached by the regimental commander to talk.

At that time, she was still a newcomer, and she was afraid of being taught a lesson by the regiment commander, but the regiment commander, who had been looking at him with stern eyes, suddenly laughed when he saw her scared look. This is more effective than a hundred reprimands.

Captain of the Knights: The Knights, the Empire, are not as perfect as you think. The same is true of His Majesty the Emperor. After all, he is not a god, he is not omnipotent, and there will be times when he makes mistakes. Isn't that true of all of us?

Personally, I don't think it's a mistake for our empire to be strong. The vast territory means that there are also many things to protect. Although people in high positions have a slightly extreme ideological tendency. But either way, the essence is the same.

Because there are too many things to protect, sometimes there will be situations where you can't protect them, and as you said, sometimes you can't help the weak. A disgrace to our knights.

Therefore, we train every day and accumulate experience, just to be able to save one more weak person. In this process, sometimes there will be stupid people who forget their original intentions and think they are sorry...... Where, though, isn't there a or two? When you meet such people, you just have to teach them a hard lesson.

From that day on, the new knight Lobach practiced his swordsmanship even harder. In order to follow the emperor's will to save more people, in order for the empire to save more aradians.

Chapter II

As we live a stable life day after day, the doubts that I had at first are gradually forgotten like the scars of the rebellious period.

Although Lobach is a person with such a sense of morality that she has that kind of "boring" question, she does not hate fighting. In fact, she is more belligerent and fearless than anyone else, always rushing to the front when fighting.

In the face of the strange power of her muscles, which were so strong, her companions who had laughed at her for being a woman would have weakened their legs and feet with fright.

Despite this, she has never been complacent and has always insisted on cultivating. Her diligence and sense of justice are exemplary of chivalry. Everyone is very optimistic about her: as long as she accumulates some more experience, she will definitely become the strongest knight in the empire.

One day, the regimental commander called Lobach over. The commander said that the emperor had gathered young knights in various places and wanted to form a new order. The head of the regiment happily wrote a letter of recommendation for her, and Lobach set off for the golden city of Vertarun on the same day.

Lobach, who arrived in the capital city of Vertalen, successfully passed the examination of the Order. Composed of some of the best minds in the Empire, this order of knights undergoes brutal daily training that tests the limits of physical and mental strength.

However, no one complained. The honorary head of this order of knights is none other than the master of the empire, the Emperor. The young knights are imposing and energetic.

Lobach remembers very well the day he was about to go on his first mission. That time, she finally had the opportunity to show her strength to the emperor, and it was impossible not to be excited. For knights, fighting for honor in front of the lord is the most important priority.

That night, she was as excited as a child and couldn't sleep, and the twinkling stars outside the window seemed to cheer her on.

However, she senses that something is wrong with her and must wake up. It must be realized that you are wrong to think that the greatest glory of a knight is to "actively perform in the presence of the lord".

How could she forget her oath to carry a sword to save the weak? What a magic was that insignificant honor, how could she be blinded by utilitarianism and become the puppet of the emperor, killing so many people over and over again?

The Knights were given a simple mission. "For the sake of a better future for the Empire, take up the sword in your hand." The Knights are powerful armed groups. What they have to do does not need to ask the titular deputy head of the regiment.

Destroy the foreign invaders and take their land. Because the land on which the people of the empire live is always insufficient. As for whether those people were real aggressors, they do not know.

Execute the rebels who were disgruntled with the emperor and kill their three clans. Because the rebels disturbed the order of the empire. As for whether those people were really rebellious, they don't know. The only thing that matters is the fact of "getting rid of those people".

They simply don't have time to wonder if they're really doing something wrong. Reproach to the Emperor was tantamount to an insult to every member of the Order, so every time they swung their swords, they mixed even their personal anger with them.

The speeches of the nobles who came to a distant foreign land on behalf of the emperor were the same every time. "You are true knights dedicated to the Empire." It's really the most powerful hypnotic agent.

Of course, they are not unaware of the irrationalities in this process. But in order to propel the huge wheels forward, the stumbling blocks in the road must be cleared. Grievances and grief are just small scars that arise when stumbling blocks are removed. Everyone thinks so.

When he returned from a long long distance, Lobach was alone. Because the doubts buried in her heart have not been completely wiped out by the "noble" patriotism.

She didn't mean to say that every life was precious, and even the enemy had to be saved, but she couldn't accept what she had done. Lobach decided to quit the Order.

The deputy head of the regiment asked her a few questions with an indifferent face, and finally asked her if she had a place to go. She replied no, and the deputy head of the regiment said that he could write a letter of recommendation for her, and let her go far away from the empire to assist and protect the researchers.

Lobach wanted to change the empire as a knight, and after hesitating for a while, she asked the deputy head to write a letter of recommendation for her. Because, before she acts, she needs some time to sort out her mood elsewhere and think about her future plans.

This decision changed Lobach's life.

Chapter III

Where Lobach went, there was a vast testing ground surrounded by forests. The splendid equipment there amazed Lobach, who had been a sword all his life.

Researchers about the same age as Lobach said that the research here is the latest technology in Arad, and stressed the importance of preventing technology leakage.

She was in charge of guarding the testing grounds, and it was much easier to keep the researchers safe than a battle, and it wasn't a job at all. Lobach even felt like she was on vacation, and she began to think intently about how she was going to live.

In this way, a brief period of peace was spent. She still regrets that she was too focused on introspection and enthusiasm to find out what it was.

The test site is hidden in the inaccessible forest, and it is simply because of the "protection technology", how can I simply believe such words?

I don't know since when the atmosphere of the proving ground has changed. The researchers were forbidden to go out, as were Lobach's guards. Although they couldn't go out, someone came in from the outside.

Huge wooden boxes are brought in several times a day. Sometimes you can hear crying, which is said to be the sound of an animal used for experimentation.

One night, Lobach couldn't sleep for some reason, so he went for a walk outside. Suddenly, she noticed something strange about the atmosphere inside the test site, so she tiptoed over.

Although she didn't have access to the restricted area, she feared something might happen and walked straight inside. Then, she came to a very strange place.

There was a huge machine there, and it had a completely different feel than the experimental equipment that I had seen from a distance before. The machine that seemed to be a circle of rings was humming and seemed to be about to explode.

The researchers standing around were visibly nervous. However, their nervousness is not the fear that something will go wrong, but the anticipation of what is to come.

Lobach unconsciously hid behind the box.

The center of the noisy machine was constantly glittering, and suddenly bursting out of it with an intense light, even giving the illusion that the sun was rising from it. Not only that, but there was a strong wind blowing in the light, and Lobach couldn't poke his head out of the box at all.

What's going on? Lobach looked around inexplicably, and suddenly, she was stunned to find something that had been hidden by the darkness until now.

There were children, and there were adults. They were bound, their mouths gagged, their faces pale and trembling. Their arms are all red. Lobach suddenly had a feeling of suffocation.

Don't...... She turned her head away. She now understood that the researchers were not looking at the glowing machine, but at a man kneeling beneath the machine.

Like other patients with ghost hands, he was bound by sturdy chains that were constantly pulled by ghost hands. Maybe it was the marks left by the suppression, and he was covered in wounds.

His mouth was gagged and he couldn't hear what he was saying. But, from the look in his eyes full of anger and hatred, Lobach seemed to hear his voice clearly.

Lobach stood up suddenly. She tried to stop it, but the light from the machine grew stronger, and all around her was swallowed up by an ominous light.

It took a while for her to barely open her eyes, but there was something unbelievable before her. The man in front of the machine vanished, replaced by a monster wrapped in chains.

It had a very strange appearance, with roots attached to the roots under the dry fish head, and its horrible appearance was hard to call a living thing. This reminded Lobach of tricks like the circus turning into a human being, but how could that be.

Lobach's brain was unwilling to accept this fact, and she just stared at the monster with her eyes wide open. Her heart was pounding.

Just then, someone grabbed Lobach's wrist. Lobach quickly turned around in fright, and it turned out to be a female researcher who was anxiously mouthing her 'follow me'.

She didn't look hostile, and Lobach was pulled and run by the woman in a panic. There were faint sighs, sighs, and suppressed screams behind her, but she could do nothing but grab the ghost hand that was stinging her.

The researcher took Lobach outside, warned her never to come near it again, and then turned and re-entered the testing ground. Lobach could only nod in agreement.

Lobach returned to her room exhausted, and her confidence collapsed in an instant. To change the idea of the empire is just an unrealistic idea of a fledgling little girl.

Just thinking of the monster, the morality she insisted on disappeared like a bubble. What's going on here? What should I do?

After that night, everything around me changed. In Lobach's eyes, the smiling faces of the researchers overlapped with the faces of the monsters.

In a foreign land where no one could be trusted, she didn't know what to do alone. Just when she was distressed, hesitant, and wasted time, she received an order: to catch the thief who had stolen the confidential information.

Lobach, who was listlessly involved in the search, spotted them, but stopped in front of them. They were shabby, thin, and all possessed ghost hands.

The group of ghost swordsmen lunged at the guards as if possessed by demons, and Lobach had to kill several people in the unprepared battle. Because if you don't kill them, it's yourself who dies.

When she came back to her senses, she realized that all the members of the search team who were traveling with her had been killed, and the fallen ghost swordsman was staring at her with evil eyes. Lobach, who looked at them silently, found himself unconsciously at a crossroads of choice.

Orders must not be disobeyed, and if they are let go, they will be expelled from the Empire. Moreover, she also has ghost hands, so she may be forcibly taken to the machine as an experimental subject.

Lobach was their enemy for only one reason: because she was a knight of the Empire.

Lobach walked slowly towards them. The monster's terrifying appearance always appeared faintly in front of her eyes. She is not afraid of death. However, the threat of turning into that kind of monster is a different kind of horror than death.

In the end, Lobach followed his heart. She told the ghost swordsmen how to escape the forest, and knocked down the other searchers who were chasing after her. Although she didn't kill them, her actions were enough to be branded as a traitor.

On that day, Lobach lost his qualification as a knight of the Empire. In order to evade his pursuers, the fleeing Lobach took only a sword with him and wandered around in Arad. Although she lived in tension all the time, she never regretted letting those ghost swordsmen go.

She came to the Dark City, after the wanted warrant was revoked. When the inhumane experiments of Bilmark's researchers were revealed, the Emperor was furious and ordered severe punishment. The news spread, despite its great efforts to cover it up. The truth has been buried in the dust of time.

Lobach put aside the thoughts in his mind and looked again at the back of Barn Bashut, who had gone away. She had heard the story of Barn, the sword saint who was the sword of the emperor and went around to uphold justice.

How much does that man really know about the Empire? Was Barn also used by the Empire? However, it is impossible for her to go forward and give him direct advice now. She could only hope that he was really a big hero as people said he would one day change the empire.

Lobach turned and walked out of the crowd. She wanted to apologize and pray for the sins of those who died at her hands and those who died indirectly because of her. For some reason, the guilt on her shoulders was extraordinarily heavy today, stinging her long-sealed scars.