Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: The Day the First Snow Fell
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“Urk!”
The gates of Denfos, shattered miserably by an unexpected cowardly blow.
The gruesome sight visible through the mana scope embedded in the helmet.
The sturdy gates had vanished without a trace, and even the surrounding walls had collapsed in ruins.
And scattered around them were my soldiers.
Filthy holy knights clad in white cloaks were crossing the spot where the gates had stood, advancing toward the soldiers and the citizens.
“How dare you...”
Not even anger rose within me.
Holy knights who lived by trading on the name of the gods, yet failed to spread divine love and instead became cruel destroyers.
Piiiing!
One of the spears in my right hand cleaved through the sky once more.
Kuuuoooooo!
Bebeto, aware of the situation unfolding, announced his presence.
Pabababat.
The holy knights, startled by the surprise attack, hurled spears toward me.
Chijik.
The new-model spears I held in both hands.
Spears whose range increased exponentially based on the caster’s mana, now glowing not just blue but pure white.
Paat!
Shyaaaaaaaak.
The spears shot from both hands toward the wyverns positioned ahead, charging like a pack of enraged wolves.
An incredible speed, about twice that of the spears they had thrown.
“Shield!”
Spears and magic unfolded simultaneously from both hands once again.
Paang! Paang! Pabababang!
Nine spears flying toward me.
They collided directly with the mana shield I had created.
Jjeeeeng!
The pure streamlined shield made of mana cracked upon impact from the spears.
No matter how dense the mana used to form the shield, blocking nine spears with bare hands was too much.
Shyaaaaaaaak!
I released the shield and simultaneously hurled spears from both hands again.
Puuuuk!
Kueeeek!
Kiaaaaaak!
Krueeeek!
The pitiful screams of wyverns struck by the first three spears rang out in succession.
Spears that tore through wyvern armor like paper and embedded deep into their torsos.
The distance to them was now about a kilometer.
I could clearly see the Sky Knights floundering in panic at my brutish charge.
Chijik.
Spears manifesting in both hands once more.
Paaaat!
No need for guidance.
Spears on another level did not miss the massive wyverns.
Pubububuk.
Kiaaaaaak!
Kaaaaak!
The cries of different wyverns rang out one after another.
Now, only four wyverns remained.
The distance to them: 500 meters.
Parakparak.
Finally realizing they were riding express tickets to hell, the Sky Knights scattered in all directions, maneuvering their wyverns.
“...Too late.”
If they had charged valiantly, there might have been a chance, but against new-model spears with extended range and speed, no enemy could escape.
Especially not ones exposing their backs like barn doors.
Shiiik!
Puuuk!
Shik! Pububuk!
Spears leaving my hands mechanically.
“F-Fly!”
As if prepared in advance, whenever a wyvern cried out, the holy knights released their harnesses and cast Fly spells.
Before long, the only wyvern flapping its wings in the sky was Bebeto.
“I’ll kill you all...”
I turned my head to look at the ground.
In that brief sky battle, everyone was watching me.
I circled once above the enemies’ heads, riding Bebeto.
Chilkeok.
I released the safety harness.
Not a single spear remained.
However, one sword to protect me was left.
Not the one I’d used until now, but the sword made for me by the dwarf chieftain, Kasiares.
It began breathing blue along the churning mana hole.
“Taat!”
From atop Bebeto flying low over the ground, I leaped down, landing amid the holy knights.
Though alone, I blocked their path of retreat.
Those who entered my land could come as they pleased, but leaving was another matter.
They would have to abandon their lives or crawl out from under my legs.
Nothing entered my vision now.
Only the red blood of my pitiful citizens flowing helplessly.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
“...Hm.”
He had only heard of it, never witnessed it with his own eyes.
They said Neruman’s lord, Kaiyer, possessed strength beyond imagination, but he hadn’t expected this level.
And the price was the annihilation of the temple’s wyverns.
Daterian knew the spears had pierced deep through their armor into their bodies.
He also sensed the intense killing intent from Kaiyer, who had fearlessly dropped into their rear.
“Foolish.”
He acknowledged the strength, but jumping recklessly from a wyvern was madness.
Even a blade master had limits on the ground, not in the air.
Moreover, many among the holy knights approached master level, and Daterian himself was an undisclosed master.
“Tsk tsk. Not a sane one among them.”
From the lord called Kaiyer to the foolish territory folk blocking their path despite knowing death awaited, this Neruman was rife with problems.
“Those who wish to live, kneel!”
The cold voice of that Kaiyer carried on the wind.
“Y-You bastards...”
The arrogant one calling holy knights of continental renown “bastards.”
Burrur.
The dazed holy knights trembled back to awareness.
Passeus.
And holy power flames bloomed.
For holy knights who knelt only before gods, the command to kneel—and the defilement of their honor by Kaiyer—ignited fierce rage.
“Subdue him!”
The decapitation order from Daterian’s lips.
“Waaaaah!”
Stimulated by the annihilation of fellow Sky Knight holy knights and temple wyverns, bloodthirsty holy knights charged at Kaiyer.
“Hahaha! Hahahahaha!”
Kaiyer’s mad laughter echoing through the sky.
Wiiiing.
Atmospheric mana rippled in tune with his laugh.
And it began.
A 1,000-to-1 duel.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
“Divine Power!”
“Holy Boom!”
Pagagagagang!
The holy knights surged like a tidal wave.
Supported by priests’ blessings and spells, dozens charged like furious waves at a single man.
Kwaaaaaang!
Pugergergergergeng.
“Kraaaak!”
“Aaaaaak!”
But that was the end.
No matter how mighty the wave, it could not shatter a cliff weathered for hundreds of thousands of years in one blow.
The wave crashed against the steel cliff, sublimating into white foam—no, red blood—scattering everywhere.
Kwajik! Pagagak!
Nothing was visible amid the holy knights blessed profusely by holy spirits.
Yet the gruesome sounds of armor shattering and splitting rang clearly even in the melee.
“Charge!”
“Kill him!”
Seeing comrades flung back bleeding, the holy knights’ eyes rolled in fury.
The thick blood scent excited their souls to forget they were holy knights.
And like moths to flame, they charged the blazing torch.
Shiiiiiiik.
Intense mana from a master cleaved space along the sword.
Puk!
Not a single gap or mistake.
The neck of the charging holy knight severed clean through helmet.
Pultuk pultuk.
Not just that—arms and legs writhing ownerless around.
A hellscape painted in rainbow arcs of red blood around one man.
He had not moved a single step.
Black-glowing eyes shining through the air plate helmet slits remained unmoved like cold iron.
Merely a continuous slash, cut, thrust into the gaps of charging holy knights.
Puuuung!
“Tat!”
Dishonorable combined assaults from the holy knights unfolded in succession.
And at the moment dozens lay scattered around the man, limbs and armor severed, he leaped.
“Huh!”
“C-Catch him!”
Holy knights mistaking it for flight, screaming in rage.
But it was their delusion.
From five meters high, a resonant command rang from the soaring man.
“Rock Blaster!”
The holy knights had forgotten.
That Neruman’s lord before them was a high-circle magic swordsman.
The man plunged his magic-infused sword into the ground.
Tuduk.
A brief sound like inflating leather balls echoed.
Over a hundred holy knights around the man froze, unable to grasp the situation.
The moment they realized Rock Blaster was a 6th-circle wide-area earth spell.
The ground beneath them suddenly seemed to quake.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
And that was the end.
The ground they stood on shattered into hundreds, thousands of rock chunks, sweeping away the holy knights.
A radius of 50 meters.
An intense magic storm unbelievable for a 6th-circle spell.
Kwudududududuk.
Pububububuk.
Gruesome sounds of armor and helmets crumpling against rocks, flesh within exploding.
Passeusseuseus.
Blood-soaked dust became a gale, swirling in the magic’s aftermath.
“.....”
No more cries to charge or seize—only silence as mouths sealed.
The sudden carnage froze the charging holy knights in place.
Tegurururu.
Ownerless helmets rolled around them.
Round helmets prone to detaching in the rock storm had bounced free.
Bearing the lightless eyes of necks torn away.
“Euh...”
“D-Demon...”
Holy knights stepping back at rolling helmets and scattered flesh chunks, muttering “demon.”
Dust slowly settled.
The space after the spell and its backlash cleared.
“...Huk!”
“Uwaaaak!”
Gasps and screams as faces turned from the sight.
“Gruesome” was too kind a word.
The only fit was “hell.”
The earth turned to unyielding rocks had swept it into a hellscape painting.
No intact bodies remained.
Severed, shattered armor and flesh mingled with rocks into bloody pulp across 50 meters.
“Urk! Uweok!”
Even holy knights accustomed to killing vomited at the horror.
Innards and hearts strewn like laundry on lines over corpses and rocks.
Severed limbs barely registered amid the carnage.
“Kneel...”
The man’s quiet voice, laced with mana, rang in every ear.
Standing in his pristine 2-meter circle, Neruman’s lord Kaiyer calmly commanded them to kneel.
Holding the blue hell sword blazing like an unquenchable demonic holy image.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
“Euh...”
Daterian painfully confirmed his judgment was wrong.
That one was no human.
Even high-circle mages couldn’t unleash such destructive spells, experience told him.
Holy knights protected by potent holy power and mithril-alloy magic armor reduced to bloody messes.
Only 7th-circle archmages, the continent’s pinnacle, could wreak such havoc.
‘The Haviss Kingdom army must have fallen too.’
In the kingdom army’s final assault, he’d thought them invincible, yet Daterian intuited their defeat from Kaiyer ravaging here unscathed with savage blows.
This place now terrified him.
Confident moments ago of slaughtering all Denfos citizens, now he felt surrounded by them.
Holy knights instinctively retreated, forming a defensive line.
They feared no death but the gods, yet facing death’s terror froze their souls.
Kiooooo!
Kuaaaaa!
Not just that.
Five golden wyverns emerging from thick black clouds.
Shiiiiiiing.
They menacingly swept over the forming phalanx.
Sky Knights atop them each held mana-charged spears.
“Final warning. Kneel!”
Kaiyer’s warning, calling it final.
“Damn it...”
A bitter curse spat after ages.
Daterian felt the roughened texture in his mouth, assessing the dire situation.
Temple wyverns annihilated, surviving holy knights gripped by fear.
Desperate resistance might allow slaughtering Denfos guards and citizens.
No matter how strong Kaiyer, one hand couldn’t block ten spears.
‘Can’t stop now! Armis! Capturing that wench ends it all.’
Intel said one priestess Armis drove lord Kaiyer to invade Haviss Kingdom borders.
Taking Armis hostage could reverse the tide.
“Heh...”
Kaiyer’s cold sneer pierced Daterian’s ears.
‘Grab him and...’
The airborne wyverns and Sky Knights irked him, but retreat was impossible.
To seize Armis, they must breach the human wall.
First, deal with Kaiyer.
‘No matter his magic swordsmanship, chaining high-circle spells is impossible. Time to gamble.’
Unknown mana hole form, but after spells and fighting knights, mana must be depleted.
“Pint, Jeremy.”
He quietly mouthed the names of the two strongest flanking holy knights.
Signaling Kaiyer with his eyes.
Other holy knights’ wills broken, unable to attempt capture.
‘This bastard, let’s do it!’
Knightly pride deep in his chest.
Daterian eyed the arrogant Kaiyer.
Taat!
Seizing the wyverns’ aerial rotation, Daterian leaped.
Tadot.
Two holy knights shadowing him.
Hwarururur.
Swords brimming with holy power wreathed in blue flames.
“Haha, hahahahaha!”
Neruman’s lord burst into clear laughter at the three approaching holy knights.
Wiiiing!
Kaiyer drew a circle with his mana-filled sword.
Pat!
He kicked off.
Kagagagagang!
Swords screamed in a blink.
Tudududuk.
Mana-holy power sparks scattered like furnace fragments.
And the four-sword clash began.
All swallowed dryly in tension.
Knowing this battle was the final gambit.
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Kagagagagang!
Three holy knights bouncing like fleas.
Fallen breeds worshiping mercy’s goddess yet knowing no mercy.
Like those I’d seen much on Earth.
Trading on Jesus and Buddha’s names yet ignorant of their love and compassion.
The hardest to deal with, incurable stubborn souls.
They who smashed Denfos gates—my territory’s heart—massacred hundreds of soldiers, now targeting citizens.
“Hmph!”
Vipers, rattlers, cobras swinging death swords venom-laced for my throat.
Kaaang!
Mana rippling on my sword sprayed like water on oil from the mighty clash.
‘Strong ones!’
Among holy knights, the one with Neran’s cross gold-engraved on breastplate.
A master.
His two cooperating vipers near-master level.
Every move, thrust tied to life, dripping killing intent.
I sheathed carelessness, meeting their blades.
Kagang!
‘Won’t let go.’
No time to twist or breathe.
Sticking like my shadow, mindful of circling Sky Knights overhead, raining swordstorms.
Up, down, sides—any gap, they struck like demons.
Brutes who trained swords after meals.
Reached swordsmanship’s pinnacle beyond any I’d met.
Sword otaku maniacs praying to gods and honing blades daily.
Now I truly appreciated continental holy knights’ fame.
But only that far.
No leisure to play with them.
Haviss remnants likely hid throughout Neruman.
Never had time for such fools from the start.
“Hueup!”
Deep breath, drawing all mana hole mana.
Wiiing!
Blade swelled like a demon club, sucking supplied mana.
Kwaaaang!
I smashed the oncoming holy knight’s sword.
“Guk!”
First scream heard.
Kwaang! Kwagwang!
Immense mana neutralized viper fangs in succession.
“Heuk!”
“Kup!”
Holy knights retreating meters with cries, faces etched in shock.
Their swords still quivering, absorbing my unexpected blow.
“Done with your tricks?”
My heart cooling.
A sneer-laced word pierced the ears of honor-bound holy knights.
“Urk...”
“You wench...”
Two flushed crimson.
Unlike others, the master kept composure.
“You who sold your soul to demons. No one in continental history gained such skill young without demonic descent...”
Ridiculous fool.
Unable to handle my power, defying his common sense, he yapped I’d sold my soul to demons.
“Shame on your puny skills. Shameful breeds staining Neran’s name.”
“Blasphemer. As expected, demon spawn!”
Ear-rings or nose-rings, depending where hung.
True to polluted faith, they never faced their ugliness.
“Bullshit.”
“.....”
Sudden Korean outburst.
Their faces hardened instantly.
“Demonic tongue... Oh! Lord Neran!”
Absurdity bordered on fleeing.
If Korean was demonic, 50 million South Koreans were demons.
Taat!
No need to drag.
I kicked off first, striking.
‘Ghost Meteor!!’
My unwanted signature blade sword.
Pibibibibing!
Nine solidified blades detached, cleaving space.
“Ho-Holy Shower!”
The master sensed danger, unleashing his secret art.
Pararararat!
Dozens fist-sized blades fired bullet-like from his sword.
Unique blade sword.
Pagang! Pagagang!
“Guk!”
“Kuk!”
Two non-masters deflecting my incoming blades got slashed in gut and shoulder by rebounds.
Chwaaaaaak!
Blood fountaining from wounds.
Kagagagagang!
Fist-sized blades clashed with my Ghost Meteor, sparking.
Puk!
But superior mana Ghost Meteor devoured the holy knight’s blade sword.
“Heo... euk.”
A solidified mana lump pierced deep through armor into his heart.
Blood oozed with each glow.
Swik.
I raised my sword.
Approached the standing, breathless one.
For those not spared, beheading was my utmost human courtesy.
The clear leader must die to end this pointless fight.
“...La la~ ♬♬”
Faint song rode the wind.
“Lai laa~ ?♩”
Hardly melodic.
Sword in hand, I turned toward the source.
Not just me.
All eyes turned to the high watchtower overlooking the battlefield.
Paaaaaat!
It shone.
Eyes raised to blinding silver radiance blazing lighthouse-like from the tower over the sea.
‘Ah, Armis...’
Couldn’t see but felt it.
The woman crafting heavenly harmony piercing all souls was Armis.
“Rai... laa... arla..... ♬?”
Armis’s mystical voice echoing over blood-and-killing haze.
“T-The descent of holy spirits!”
“Ooo! Lord Neran’s grand spirit resonance!!!!!!!”
Holy knights crossing themselves at Armis, kneeling one knee in utmost reverence.
‘W-What’s that?’
Hole punched through black clouds, single sunbeam illuminating Armis’s tower.
Amid the beaming light, dozens of unseen beings sparkling.
All light.
Horses, birds, nameless beasts frolicking in light waves.
Unbelievable mystical sight.
Intent to kill one man melted like snow in sun.
“Arhandis... Luver.....”
Over half the holy knights closed eyes, murmuring unknown holy tongue in prayer.
Corpses strewn around forgotten in trance, tears streaming hot.
Some couldn’t.
Half trembled in fear, unmoved by spirit resonance.
Saraksaraksarak.
As sacred light bathed Denfos, small white fluff fell from sky.
“Haa...”
Neruman’s first snow.
Snowflakes dyed sacred light fell as silver white blossoms, blessing the earth.
“Aiiaaa...♪?”
Aria brimming with longing for god moistened all souls.
Dispelling bloody greed and madness, evoking only repentance for sins—under mercy goddess Neran’s blessing, all bowed solemnly.
‘It’s over...’
I felt it.
With god’s spirits descended, no human folly could intervene here.
And Neruman’s war was closing.
Sabaksabak.
Thick snowflakes piled softly on shoulders.
On ruined walls, cooling ruined flesh—no discrimination, god’s love as snow cloaks.
Huiiiing.
Chill winter wind gently fluttered bloodied cloak hems.
Teolkeok.
Unknown holy knight collapsing with faint smile at Armis’s grand spirit resonance in final moments.
I gently closed eyes.
And silently swallowed two unwitting tears.
Winter arrived.
My weary soul and body needed brief rest now.