Chapter 614

"Who are you?"

At those shocking words, Ludwig couldn't help but stiffen.

Ludwig was at a loss for words, realizing that his opponent didn't know who he was.

"I don't have time to persuade a small fry like you."

Being treated as a small fry.

At that cruel comment, Ludwig felt the urge to bite his tongue.

"Step back, Ellen. I don't want to fight you."

"..."

In that situation, Olivia didn't speak to anyone except Ellen Artorius.

Even Louise seemed to be left out of the picture, as if knowing that once Ellen stepped back, the rest would follow.

Ludwig's eyes shone as he looked at Ellen, who neither drew her sword nor stepped back.

That hesitation.

That fear.

That dread and indecision.

Ludwig clearly saw it.

In the first place, being a hero was just a facade.

Was it impossible for Ellen to stand against the Demon King?

Had she still not forgotten the feelings she held in the past?

There was a lingering doubt in Ludwig's mind.

If Ellen faced the Demon King, she might not be able to fight.

Just as Ellen had shown a sensitive reaction to Christina's harsh words.

Regardless of the truth, Ludwig had thought that Ellen might not be able to thrust her sword at the Demon King.

In that situation, Ludwig couldn't help but confirm it.

Not even showing hostility to the people who had disappeared with the Demon King, Ludwig saw Ellen's inability to act.

Ludwig realized she wasn't the person who could fight the Demon King.

-Kuruung!

At that moment, Ludwig's entire body was enveloped in blue mana.

He understood Ellen's helplessness.

He didn't blame Ellen.

But if no one else stepped forward, if, for whatever reason, Ellen didn't try to fight –

Someone else had to fight.

One should not back down from fear and dread.

Someone had to punish those demons.

"Ludwig! No!"

As Ludwig tried to step forward, Ellen desperately grabbed his shoulder.

"You... No, don't do it. You don't know anything. Don't do it. Don't fight."

Why I can't fight.

Why I can't draw my sword.

At those words, Ludwig gritted his teeth.

"What don't I know?"

"..."

"What can't you tell me?"

At Ludwig's words, Ellen gritted her teeth.

She hated her position and actions, but she knew she had no choice.

"It's better not to know... Not knowing is better..."

The words of the Emperor and Turner, saying that it's better not to know, were returned by Ellen to Ludwig.

"It's all my fault. It's all because of my mistakes. Just know that... Just know that..."

You don't know anything.

It's better not to know.

Even a tiny bit of truth is more cruel than not saying anything at all.

It only plants a sense of unworthiness for not knowing the truth.

"Right, don’t be stubborn for no reason."

With a tone both affectionate and brutal, Ludwig looked at Olivia this time.

"I don't know about Ellen or the princess there, or even the supernatural, but you don't seem to matter much, do you? If you mess around, I might just kill you."

Those words were the raw truth.

"There are things in the world that you don't need to know, and things that only give you a headache when you try to find out. So just live without knowing. Don't think of throwing your life away with strange stubbornness."

It was a violent statement, yet at the same time, it was meant to prevent Ludwig from charging in recklessly.

There was no reason to approach the truth that would only bring about uselessness and sadness.

My opponent was out of my league, and charging in recklessly would only result in my own demise.

I don't even know who you are.

That's why you're a petty guy, someone whose death won't make any difference.

Olivia's words, that it wouldn't be a big deal to kill you, and that if you made a fuss, she'd kill you, were a brutal truth.

In the face of that truth, Ludwig couldn't even take a single step.

If he were to die right here.

If he were to be killed.

What would happen then?

If Ellen were to die, it would be a big deal. She was a hero, after all.

Louise von Schwarz was the commander of the Schwarz Army. If she were to die, the allied forces would be plunged into chaos.

Heinrich was a very powerful force within the allied forces, displaying a level of prowess similar to Ellen's.

They were all people who should not be harmed or killed.

In this situation, only Ludwig was...

Someone who wouldn't be missed even if he died, the most insignificant existence.

Ellen firmly gripped Ludwig's shoulder, preventing him from acting recklessly.

"That's... right..."

Because if a person who didn't matter died, they might actually die.

Because Olivia Lanze might really do it.

Ludwig couldn't help but notice that Ellen was desperately preventing him from stepping forward.

But the situation itself was already strange.

It was strange that Olivia Lanze would care about such a thing in the first place.

Why didn't Ellen attack Olivia?

Why didn't Olivia want to fight Ellen?

If Olivia Lanze was on the Demon King's side, she wouldn't have to worry about such things.

Not Ellen, nor Louise, nor Heinrich.

If she were a subordinate of the Demon King, she should try to kill them somehow. After all, all three would pose a threat to the Demon King.

However, Olivia had an attitude that she couldn't touch the three of them, but could kill the insignificant Ludwig.

And Ellen seemed to know that, blocking Ludwig.

Olivia didn't want to fight Ellen, and Ellen didn't want to fight Olivia.

Even after hearing the shocking news that the Demon King had swallowed the Five Great Religions, they didn't draw their swords.

The fact revealed by their attitude.

Though he didn't know everything, there was one truth he could understand through this situation.

Although they had to acknowledge each other as enemies outwardly, they couldn't actually confront each other when they met face to face.

They didn't hate each other.

They didn't even think of each other as enemies.

Ellen hadn't foreseen or known this situation.

However, though she was taken aback, she didn't try to fight in the end.

No, she couldn't fight.

"From the very beginning... all... all of it... everything that people know..."

Ludwig mumbled, as if feeling empty.

"It was all a lie, wasn't it?"

Ludwig's eyes sank, dark and deep.

There could be no fight at that place.

Heinrich and Louise remained silent, knowing that if they acted recklessly, a catastrophe would occur.

There were only those who didn't draw their swords and those for whom drawing their swords would be meaningless.

In the end, they could only watch helplessly as the Holy Knights were handed over to the Demon King, unable to do anything, and had no choice but to retreat from that place.

The Empire had been reviving the corpses of fallen warriors to create an army of the undead.

For some reason, Rowan, who was thought to be dead, was alive and had taken control of the Order of the Holy Knights as a servant of the Demon King.

They only knew the outcome.

They had no choice but to watch the outcome.

It was only natural for Ludwig, as well as Louise and Heinrich, to be shocked.

And the shock that Ellen felt could only have been greater.

Those who knew the truth behind Reinhardt's actions, as well as those who did not, could only feel fear and terror as to why this was happening and why he was doing this.

"Ludwig, I…"

"I don't know much. I probably don't even deserve to know. What difference would it make if I found out?"

Ellen hesitantly opened her mouth after a long walk, but Ludwig cut her off mid-sentence.

The right to know something.

The need not to know something.

Did such things exist?

"But even if I'm an idiot, I know this."

"…"

"If the Order of the Holy Knights already belongs to the Demon King, then you shouldn't have fought there."

Ludwig slowly nodded, as if accepting the reason Ellen couldn't fight.

"It's not about whether you can or can't fight the Demon King, it's just that you shouldn't have fought… I understand now."

Ludwig seemed to finally understand that the situation could have gone disastrously wrong if they had messed up.

"It's probably something nobody should know about, right? That the Order has fallen to the Demon King? If that gets out, even bigger trouble will arise."

Ludwig asked Ellen, looking at her. If they should keep this a secret.

Ellen couldn't give any answer.

With no answer from Ellen, Ludwig now turned his gaze to Louise.

"Because innocent people might die. They might get caught up in a fight that has nothing to do with them. To minimize the sacrifices, it has to be this way."

"…"

Ludwig didn't blame Ellen.

Ludwig had seen with his own eyes that Ellen couldn't fight the Demon King.

It was an unavoidable situation.

Ludwig put himself in her shoes.

What if his precious friends like Ranian Sesor and Delphin, who were actually the Demon King, had been at stake?

He wouldn't have been able to draw his sword either.

It would be unfair, infuriating, and sad.

But he couldn't imagine fighting without hesitation.

Therefore, Ludwig thought that Ellen might have wavered too, and that was the truth.

He didn't resent Ellen.

There was no reason to.

Not being able to fight was just that.

It was the world's demand that Ellen had to kill the Demon King, not her own will.

It was a cruelly sad thing for Ellen, who had saved countless people, to be resented for not being able to thrust her sword at the Demon King.

But if things continued like this, and they couldn't do this or that.

What would be left other than the words that nothing could be done?

With things happening as they were, and new events unfolding as they did.

It would be applicable to every moment that they must leave everything alone.

And another issue.

As they had heard from Christina as well.

The Gate incident wasn't solely the fault of the Demon King.

There was some hidden truth.

Ludwig didn't know what Ellen's words, saying that it was enough to know that everything was her fault, specifically meant.

The important thing was that he had no right to know the truth.

The reason was simple.

He was nothing.

He wasn't important.

He was a worthless existence, so it didn't matter if he died, and he had no right to know the truth.

Where did such a thing come from?

Who had the authority to grant the right to know the truth?

The truth didn't even matter anymore.

Regardless of what it was, Ludwig had come to realize that it held no value.

Thus, he wasn't curious anymore.

Ludwig's expression, having crossed the threshold of powerlessness and emptiness, became calm instead.

"It's difficult."

That's all he said.

"It's too difficult."

Having passed the Temple Gate, Ludwig hurriedly left, even though the path he took was the same.

"I'll go ahead."

No one was fighting.

Even though someone must have done something wrong.

If no one wanted to fight, what should they do?

Although Ludwig mentioned it was difficult, his dark expression and determined steps were more resolute than ever before.

As if he had finally decided what to do.

As if he finally understood.

Ellen watched Ludwig's retreating figure, biting her lip.

Only the dark and dull figure of a person who had realized there was nothing given to them, because they were so small and insignificant, could be felt.

The cruel truth in Olivia Lanze's insult that his death wouldn't affect the grand scheme of things.

That was the unvarnished truth.

Even though the reason for that was to prevent Ludwig from acting recklessly, the fact that her words were true and had pierced Ludwig's heart like a dagger didn't change.

Louise sighed.

"The Demon King doesn't want the world's destruction, and the Empire cannot help but waver. That's how it's come to be."

Louise had no choice but to somewhat understand the past, present, and future just by sensing the massive flow of events, even if she didn't know the specific details.

She could already feel it without Ellen telling her in detail.

The raging heretics.

The massacre.

The Demon King seizing control of the Holy Knights.

The hero who couldn't fight.

The Demon King's servant who didn't want to fight the hero.

And.

The silence of the Empire.

"I ended up not knowing the things I wanted to know, but I've come to know what I must know."

Louise couldn't tell where Rowan's story had started and where it intertwined.

She didn't need to know anymore.

But, quite unexpectedly, Louise had come to know what she needed to know.

What had to be done for the royal family to survive.

She had come to know in which direction the massive flow of the era was headed.

Louise had failed as an individual and had not resolved anything.

But as a princess of Kernstadt, she couldn't have been more successful.

Louise looked at Ellen, who stared blankly at the snow-covered wasteland with a hardened expression.

She was on the verge of crumbling.

But she couldn't collapse, so her hardened expression didn't waver.

That pale, hardened expression, like a piece of glass that seemed to break at any moment.

Louise continued to watch.

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