Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Backstab
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'A great victory!'
The moment the wyverns, unleashing their bombardment, fell to that final desperate strike, the battle's outcome was decided.
And now, the knights were relentlessly raining down Blessed Spears on the fleeing enemy.
If they had met head-on without panic, it would have been a victory hard-won after suffering heavy casualties—but these ragtag territorial knights, lacking unified command, were like short-legged dwarves tossed into the sea before sharks.
Kueeeek!
Kiaaaak!
Even now, Neruman knights in excited formations chased after the plummeting wyverns of the Habis Kingdom.
Sky knights here and there cast Fly spells to escape.
With nowhere left to go, they thrashed in their final instinct for survival.
'Push them all the way to the border!'
He had issued the order before even taking off.
Chase the fleeing enemy beyond the territory.
And the Sky knights faithfully executing that command pursued the Habis Kingdom wyverns in loose formations of threes and fives.
"Drop your weapons, all of you! Any who resist will be slaughtered!"
The knights' mana-infused shouts echoed from all directions.
The infantry, unable to flee like the cavalry, had given up escape and formed defensive circles in groups of hundreds down to tens.
Neruman knights boldly urged surrender before these soldiers.
Blue mana blazed from the swords they held.
Clang, clatter.
Soon enough, Habis ground forces began dropping their weapons one by one and kneeling.
"Recover the Blessed Spears!"
"Search every inch of the surroundings!"
Archers and regular infantry from Gadein Castle poured out, retrieving weapons and collecting the Blessed Spears scattered everywhere.
They were old-model spears, but invaluable tools essential for such proxy wars—ones that couldn't be wasted.
Compared to the new models crafted by dwarves with my all-night enchantment efforts, their performance fell short, but you don't use a butcher's cleaver to catch a chicken; they were absolutely necessary.
"Huu...."
With soldiers already moved by wagon, the border would be sealed by now.
Many enemy Sky knights had escaped, but that was no longer my concern—it was now up to Rosiatte and the Habis royals.
Letting out a long sigh, I circled the battlefield once.
Wyverns and Sky knights impaled on spears, crashed beyond Gadein Castle.
And from the brief clash, nearly a thousand corpses from massive crossbow bolts or trampled by hooves.
They lay on the earth, spilling red blood into the cold wind.
It was an unimaginable great victory, yet a heaviness settled in one corner of my heart, unavoidable.
They were invaders who had trespassed my territory, yet now, like wolves stripped of fangs and claws, they knelt with eyes rolling in terror.
And their numbers: fully several tens of thousands.
Above their heads, Bebeto and the beastkin wyverns wheeled.
Embracing the biting winter wind called Kazofnra with their full wingspan...
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"W-We won, sir! A tremendous victory, they say!"
"Haa...."
In the Foreign Sky Corps building used as an office by Lord Kaier, who ruled Neruman.
Victory news came through the communication orb, and Armis's worried face, waiting anxiously in the office, brightened in an instant.
She trusted Lord Kaier, but with the massive number of invading wyverns and enemy troops breaching the territory, tension had gripped her.
"Thank you, Lord Neran...."
Armis drew the holy sign and offered a prayer of gratitude to the goddess.
Since the war broke out, she had prayed daily at the temple—now her face shone brightly for the first time in ages.
"Good thing it ended quickly. If those bastards had pushed to Denfos, it would've been rough."
Neruman's relative safety from monsters meant many lived between Gadein Castle and Denfos.
Had the Habis Kingdom scum advanced to Denfos, everyone would have suffered greatly.
With the weather growing colder, snow flurries weren't far off, and territory folk turned homeless would face disaster in the chill.
Denfos was a large city, but it couldn't shelter all the refugees.
"We might have many wounded, so we should send plenty of holy water."
"Understood. I'll handle it right away."
Armis, with her immense divine power, produced top-grade holy water daily.
Derbal knew well that the wounded included not just Neruman soldiers but Habis Kingdom troops too.
Pwooooong! Pwooooong~!
As the two discussed post-victory matters in high spirits, a long, drawn-out horn blast reached their ears.
Not the Sky Corps guard bell, but the conch used by Denfos city defense soldiers.
"E-Enemy! Holy knights heading for the city!!"
"Wyverns! Holy knights' wyverns have appeared!!!!!!!!!!!"
Soldiers' scream-like shouts followed.
Cried from Denfos walls, yet audible even to the Sky Corps.
"H-Holy knights?"
"Ah...."
Derbal unwittingly blurted a question about holy knights, and Armis's face darkened with a long sigh.
"Full combat readiness!! Combat readiness!!"
Pwooooong! Pwoooooong!
Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!
Conch blasts rang out repeatedly and long, joined by the Sky Corps alarm bell's sharp peals.
"I'll check it out. Stay inside!"
Derbal, knowing "holy knights" tied to Armis, urged her to remain in the office.
"No... I'm coming too."
Despite Derbal's dissuasion, Armis insisted on going.
An indescribable sadness etched her face.
"The lord will grieve. Stay safe here."
"....."
At "lord," Armis bit her lip hard.
'Trouble. The lord doesn't know holy knights are coming here....'
Clearly, the holy knights hadn't gone to Gadein Castle but straight to Denfos.
She'd heard of their involvement, but not this sudden raid.
Moreover, Denfos's remaining forces were just old veteran soldiers and 3,000 dispatched from Orak Castle.
Not a single wyvern left, and knights numbered only the dozens needed for essential command.
"Send word to the lord urgently. Holy knights are attacking Denfos! Knights, protect Priestess Armis with your lives!"
"Yes, sir!"
Derbal issued orders to the knights waiting outside the office.
The joy of victory from moments ago had flown far at the impending crisis.
'I'll protect her this time, no matter what.'
Clenching his one good fist, he silently vowed to give his life for Armis.
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'They're gone!'
While gliding on Bebeto, directing POWs and cleanup, a sudden realization hit.
They were missing.
Reports said holy knights worshiping the Goddess of Mercy Neran had joined the Habis scum, yet none were anywhere.
'No way!'
A hypothesis flashed in my mind.
Neruman's mostly flat plains, but the open field before Gadein Castle had notable hills—not quite mountains, but high enough.
The road split there toward Denfos; it hit me.
"Lord! Urgent report!"
At that instant, a communication chime in my ear.
From the highly tuned orb I'd sleeplessly perfected for helmet mounting, the word "urgent" rang out.
"Speak! What's happened!"
"Just got word from Denfos. Enemy—no, about a thousand holy knights and a dozen wyverns have appeared!"
"Huh!"
Like a dagger plunged into my back in a moment of carelessness, shock slammed my body.
"W-What of Armis! Surely they haven't fallen already!!"
I shouted in alarm at the communication knight.
"They haven't attacked yet. But the moment they do...."
The knight trailed off, unable to continue.
He knew too.
If over a thousand holy knights struck at once, those flimsy walls and gates would crumble instantly.
'Ah....'
An unspoken roar of fury.
I bit my lip hard.
A single lapse in vigilance brought this massive counterblow.
If Armis fell to them, no saving her.
And this battle's victory would mean nothing.
Armis.
She was Neruman's—no, my indispensable soul companion.
'Hold on just a bit! Armis! I'm coming!'
Gritting my teeth, I yanked Bebeto's reins around.
The battlefield wasn't fully secured, but nothing else mattered.
Only Armis, trembling faintly above Denfos in the sky.
Waiting for me alone...
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"...Haa."
Derbal headed to Denfos's main gate at the urgent report of holy knights massing.
He'd rushed at news of attack, but already the holy knights had camped about a kilometer out, Denfos fully in view.
Around a thousand holy knights, white cloaks emblazoned with the round cross symbol of Goddess Neran fluttering.
Soldiers atop the walls watched, holding their breath.
Holy knights, far stronger than regular knights.
Moreover, in Neruman, the Goddess of Mercy was absolute faith due to Armis.
Soldiers believed even scratching a holy knight meant hell. With anxious eyes, they glanced between the holy knights and current top commander Derbal.
They instinctively knew they couldn't handle them.
Kyuuuuw!
Kariii!
Worse, a dozen wyverns slowly circling above the holy knights.
Unlike others, dazzling golden crosses of Neran adorned their barding.
It made even thoughts of battle impossible.
Clop, clop, clop.
Dazed, staring at the holy knights, then one approached on horseback, bearing Neran's symbolic flag.
It galloped up swiftly to the gate guarding Denfos.
"In the name of the Goddess of Mercy Neran, who loves all creation, hear this, all humans dwelling in Denfos~!!"
A clear shout from the holy knight in silver helmet and plate beneath the white cloak.
Snap.
At "in Neran's name," devout soldiers unwittingly bowed deeply.
They knew war raged, but to those living by faith, a god's name was holier than anything.
"Neran's mercy endures until life's end, yet you dare, in corrupt human flesh, kidnap her priestess, mock the divine, and pour sin's oil upon her sacred name—thus we raise the banner of holy war to punish Denfos's lord Kaier! Hear this: whosoever draws sword for Count Kaier, who defiles Neran's name and shall find no glory even in death, shall fall to hell, by the word of the goddess! Thus, all soldiers and folk of Denfos, open the gates, repent your sins, and aid in executing the sinner Kaier!!!!"
Holy power laced with mana buzzed against Denfos's old, broad walls.
At the holy knight's words, soldiers flinched in shock.
Hearing their lord—who bled and sweated for them—slandered and called a hellbound sinner snapped them alert.
Who was their lord?
In dire crisis, when Neruman folk got no reply, he dropped from the sky on a hybrid wyvern like a god's grace.
Soldiers couldn't grasp him kidnapping a priestess and blaspheming.
They recalled the priestess Armis, supposedly kidnapped, never seemed tormented or sad.
No—everyone remembered happy Armis blushing shyly beside Lord Kaier.
Soldiers slowly raised heads they'd bowed.
Anger crept onto faces once humbled by "god."
They gripped weapons tight, glaring at the holy knight.
The mood had shifted.
Neruman soldiers, who bowed at "holy knight" alone, now exuded killing intent like facing any foe.
"Y-You defy the goddess's command?!"
The holy knight, close enough to see soldiers' expressions, yelled in fury at the change.
Never, since his holy knighting, had he felt such atmosphere.
Neran's name alone brought all to knees in worship.
Yet these fearless soldiers spewed hostility before holy knights, the sacred blades of god.
'My lord....'
Seeing the lord's grand shadow in the soldiers, Derbal felt awe amid crisis.
Where on the continent could soldiers stand against a temple's holy war, wielding inviolable divine authority?
"Begone! Cease slandering our innocent lord and withdraw your knight order!! Else, we'll charge you with unlawful territory invasion and extreme punishment!!!"
Emboldened by the soldiers, Derbal bellowed.
Unable to wield mana, he shouted till his throat tore.
His cry echoed beyond the walls, resounding far.
Twang!
Archers nocked arrows taut in response.
"Y-You!!!"
The holy knight ground his teeth at the absurdity.
"All shall face divine judgment!!!!!!"
Preaching judgment yet turning his horse back to the knight order.
'Hold out just a bit! The lord will come!'
A thousand holy knights.
Blessed by priests and charging, even tenfold defenders couldn't match.
Facing such foes, Derbal ignited battle spirit.
"Our lord who repelled Habis invaders will come soon! Soldiers! Take up arms! For Neruman, deem death in blood an honor! Today's blood is tomorrow's happiness for our descendants!!!!!!!"
Derbal, growing like his lord.
A single longsword in his one hand.
"Waaaaah! Let's defend Neruman with our own hands!"
"For the lord!!"
"For Lady Armis!!!!!!!!!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thousands of soldiers roared cheers, slamming spears and shields on the wall floor.
Unyielding before the overwhelmingly superior holy knight order.
For that precious something in their hearts, all burned hot with fervor.