Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: The Lord Has Arrived!
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"Huh..."
A ridiculous sigh escaped from the lips of Detrian, the priest leading the Holy Knights.
They had advanced to Denfos using the Havys Kingdom army as bait, intending to scatter the forces of this territory's lord, Kayer, and his men.
And naturally, he had no doubt that the defending soldiers of Denfos would kneel before the sacred emblem of the holy Neran and open the gates.
Throughout history, those who defied the name of the gods in what were called holy wars were few and far between.
Yet here, fearless young lambs were raising cheers, burning with the will to resist.
Not just Detrian—bewilderment spread among the Holy Knights as well.
The term "holy war" was only applied when purging continent-disturbing fiends like demons or black mages.
And this punishment of the Neruman lord Kayer fell into that same context.
It was a grand holy war waged to punish the villain who had kidnapped priests and brutally slaughtered Holy Knights.
Yet soldiers deceived by this seed of evil, Kayer, were now insulting the holy war.
"All hands, prepare for battle."
The sigh was brief.
A dry battle command echoed from Detrian's throat.
All who obstructed a holy war waged in the name of the gods were followers of demons.
Armed to the bone with the arrogant pride of a Holy Knight, Detrian hardened his resolve.
He would open an altar of blood for those who defied the gods.
Scraaaape.
Excluding the two hundred Holy Knights who would charge once the gates opened, all other Holy Knights dismounted.
No one was foolish enough to charge the walls on horseback.
"Neran! Your faithful servants open the altar of blood in your name! Know that all the glory we shall gain today is our prayer solely for you, and by your almighty power alone, grant us the strength of valor!"
An earnest prayer to the god flowed from Detrian's lips.
The knights knelt and traced the holy emblem.
"Atedatian Tumsabarshania..."
The priests' blessing incantation resounded over the Holy Knights' heads.
Fwaaaaa!
Transparent, holy auras tinged with blue scattered over the Holy Knights' bodies like dew.
A majestic sight that ordinary folk might never witness in a lifetime.
No temple on the continent had seen such a ritual in nearly a decade.
Kiyoooooo!
Wyverns raised in Neran temples, nurtured from youth on holy water, cried out long and joyfully at the radiance of the sacred spirit.
"In the name of the gods!"
Detrian, the leading priest, stood before the Holy Knights as the blessing ended.
"In the name of the gods!!!!!!!!"
Clang!
Swords imbued with rippling sacred blue energy were drawn.
Scraaaaping!
A thousand swords drawn in succession by the Holy Knights.
A sacred, spirit-filled light so brilliant even the sun averted its eyes.
"Attack!!!!!!!!"
A savage roar from within the wave of light.
"Attack!!!!!!!!"
Pababababat.
Abandoning their horses, the Holy Knights—clad in armor of the spirit's blue light—charged.
"Fire!"
Swoooooosh.
The defenders of Denfos, already resolved to death.
They loosed arrows fearlessly at the Holy Knights.
Knowing full well their bows couldn't pierce the Holy Knights' auras and armor, they still drew their bowstrings taut again and again.
A blazing loyalty for their lord Kayer and Neruman.
They would prove it with their deaths.
The hope for a future they had briefly tasted.
If their sacrifice could bring happiness to their beloved parents, children, and friends, that was enough.
The soldiers all knew it was no losing bargain.
'My lord... can you see? The burning love of your people for you...'
Derbal, watching from the watchtower, felt his eyes redden.
Neruman had transformed enormously in less than a year, all because of one man.
It was all the merit of that one person.
Kayer dr Neruman.
Their proud lord who ruled greater Neruman.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Kwaaaaaang!
"Arrrgh!"
"B-block them! Defend the walls!!!!!!"
Echoing screams of soldiers and knights, shouts laced with fury.
Kiyoooooo!
Wyverns of the Holy Knight Sky Knights plunged toward the wall defenders of Denfos, who received no aid from even a single wyvern.
Kwaduk!
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Soldiers drawing bows and gripping weapons on the wall were flung outward by the wyverns' iron claws, plummeting off the ramparts.
Step, step.
"D-dangerous."
Armis strode unflinchingly toward the blood-splattered, scream-filled wall with quiet steps.
The knights escorting her drew swords and tried to stop her.
But Armis, biting her lip tight, never halted her advance.
"Prepare for wyvern attacks!"
The dozen mages following Armis and the knights.
They readied spells, eyes on the sky.
Having endured immense trials under beastkin masters, their eyes gleamed like hawks hunting prey.
These mages were protecting Armis and the knights.
They too were Neruman territory mages who must stake their lives to defend the land.
Kwaaaaaang!
"H-hold the walls! Throw stones! Pour oil!!!!!!"
The aged walls defending the city of Denfos were a masterpiece crafted with utmost care by the Bazran Empire.
Reinforced by protective magic arrays personally applied by Lord Kayer, the gates held strong.
They endured the mana-infused sword strikes of the Holy Knights, emitting explosion sounds.
"Holy Burst!!!!!!"
"Great Fire!"
It wasn't just the gates under attack.
Holy spells poured toward the seemingly weak walls.
While holy magic was known mostly for healing, demon-purging, and blessings, it included many destructive spells rivaling general magic.
And priests perpetrating slaughter in the name of holy war unleashed spells at the walls under Holy Knight protection.
Whiiiiiing!
Kwaaaaaang!
Dreadful holy spells with long trails of light slammed into the walls.
Rumble rumble.
"Uwaaaaaaaa!"
Dozens of soldiers plummeted amid crumbling wall debris.
Kwadududuk.
Crushed under wall rubble, red blood and flesh fragments sprayed everywhere.
"Holy Knights, fall back from the walls!"
The Holy Knights, lacking siege equipment.
An shout reached the ears of those trusting in spirit auras and armor to assault the gates.
Tadadak.
Tiding tiding tiding.
They urgently retreated from the gates, deflecting arrows raining from the walls.
Kuaoooooo!
In that instant, wyverns waiting in the sky dove toward the gates en masse.
Piiing!
A dozen blessed spears slicing through space.
Blue, lightning-like bolts laden with holy power hurtled toward the walls at tremendous speed.
"D-dodge!!!!!!!!!!!"
A desperate cry from the knight commanding atop the walls.
Pubububububuk.
Ten spears embedding deeply into the gates.
A quieter impact than expected.
One might think the protective magic array had blocked the fiercely holy-powered spears well.
Whiiiiiing!
Kwarururuk.
But that was a fleeting illusion.
The spears' holy power shattered the magic array's mana, merging the two forces to create a mana shockwave.
A vibration so powerful it shook the gate-supporting walls.
"D-dan..."
A single word of "danger" slipped from Derbal, who had watched everything.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaang!
Before the word finished, a massive explosion rocked the city.
Puuuung!
The gates' protective array mana clashed with the spears' holy power in backlash.
The incompatible mighty forces collided, producing an unforeseen blast.
Kwang! Kwagwagwang!
Rumble rumble.
The gate section of the wall and hundreds of soldiers atop it were hurled in all directions by the explosion; the supporting wall collapsed for dozens of meters, unable to withstand the shock.
Ordinary knight spears wouldn't yield such destructive power, but holy power—called god-given mana—defied imagination.
"..."
Dust clouds blew in the cold winter wind, revealing the scene.
Both reverent Holy Knights and defending soldiers froze in stunned silence at the horrific aftermath.
An utterly unforeseen outcome.
In one strike, hundreds of lives vanished at the gates.
Helmets, spears, shields, and other gear lay scattered amid the stone rubble.
In pools of red blood.
"Surrender... drop your weapons now, and you'll be spared."
Detrian, leader of the remaining mounted Holy Knights, approached near the walls.
He called out for the wall soldiers to surrender.
Yet not one dropped their weapon.
No one fell into terror at their comrades' deaths.
Clank, clank.
Soldiers gripped swords, spears, and shields firmly, glaring at the murderous Holy Knights.
They exuded thick killing intent toward the Holy Knights who had slain their comrades.
Step, step, step, step.
That was not all.
From within the city through the shattered gates emerged thousands, tens of thousands of citizens.
Every man able to wield a weapon bore swords, pitchforks, even clubs.
The people unleashed the rage they had swallowed for years against monsters and countless foes.
They advanced with unwavering steps toward Holy Knights they would normally revere as heavenly.
"Neran... forgive these fools steeped in evil..."
Detrian traced the emblem and called to his god at the sight of citizens radiating the same killing intent as the soldiers.
High Priest Torfone's command echoed in his mind.
Make all who defy the gods cross the River Lute to the afterlife.
And Detrian, proud guardian of Neran, felt no fear.
That was the nature of holy war.
A mere city, mere tens of thousands of lives—nothing before the glory of the gods.
In past holy wars, millions of evil-tainted souls had been sent across the infernal river.
"Those blocking our path are all spawn of the evil god Ker ma! Purge all filthy things obstructing the holy war! In the name of the gods!!!!!!!!!"
Detrian's murder command, steeped in madness.
"In the name of the gods!!!!!!!!"
The Holy Knights regained their fervor before the sacred dictum "in the name of the gods."
Nothing now blocked their path.
Even a knight order might hold shattered gates, but those in the way were mere soldiers with common arms and the surging furious populace.
No one capable of even blocking a single strike stood out.
Step! Step! Step!
The Holy Knights, discipline ingrained in their bodies.
They advanced in formation before long.
Leading with swords of spirit-blue brighter than mana.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
"Ah..."
Derbal let out a groan at the atrocity he'd never witnessed in his life.
His jaw dropped at the sight of the gates—which he'd thought would hold for a while—shattering in an unheard-of explosion from mere spears.
Moreover, the hundreds of soldiers densely packed atop the walls.
Swallowed by the blast without even a final scream.
Crunch.
Derbal gripped the hilt of his longsword tightly in his one good hand.
All he could do was grieve like this.
His heart pounded as if to burst, but he swallowed it all without a sound.
"You... fucking bastards..."
Derbal, who neither devoutly believed nor scorned the gods, spat curses.
Holy Knights infusing their weapons with fierce holy power advanced on soldiers and citizens holding useless metal.
A slaughter scene perpetrated under the grand banner of "in the name of the gods."
Unable to bear watching, he looked to the sky.
"...!"
And saw it.
A single black dot piercing the chill winter sky choked with dark clouds far in the distance.
"M-my lord!"
A distance invisible to ordinary eyes, but Derbal recognized his lord with his mind's eye.
Hot tears he had held back streamed unbidden.
The arrival of his lord—alone, yet fearing nothing in the world.
"You bastards... you're all dead now!"
He turned to see the Holy Knights crossing beyond the former wall site.
He had no doubt that spot was their shortcut to hell.
"The lord has arrived!!!!!! Lord Kayer, master of Neruman, has arrived!!!!!!!!!!"
Derbal's bloodcurdling shout, sword thrust high.
In an instant, all eyes turned to him.
The weight of the words "lord" and "Neruman's master, Lord Kayer."
And all gazes followed Derbal's to the sky.
Amid the ten wyverns of affiliated Sky Knights circling over Denfos appeared a tiny black dot.
Flash!
A blue streak sliced the sky, drawing all eyes.
Like azure lightning piercing dark clouds on a dry windy day, streaking across the black heavens.
Thud!
A dull tearing sound from the wyvern struck by the bolt.
Kweeeeeek!
Moments later, a heartrending wyvern screech that shook the heavens.
The wyvern spun, flapping one wing, plummeting to earth.
Kugung!
Falling from hundreds of meters high.
It shook the ground but uttered no more cries.
Simultaneously, a Holy Knight Sky Knight—unable to escape with fly magic—splattered onto the wyvern carcass.
Buried to the hilt in the wyvern's right wing, a spear's blue mana gleamed like sparkling jewels.