Chapter 160
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 160
Chapter Title: The Appearance of the 7th Circle Mage
"Graaaaaah!"
Crash. Clatter. Clang.
Poltviran, who had abandoned the knights and escaped using teleportation magic.
He arrived at the underground magic circle in Central Fortress, where the Empire's central army was stationed, over 100 kilometers from the battlefield.
He had teleported using movement coordinates known only to the lords of the Imperial Magic Tower.
Upon arriving at the fortress, Poltviran was unleashing his madness, smashing every object in the room.
An unexpected blow struck while he was caught off guard in his sleep.
He had relaxed his pre-battle tension, feeling safe on imperial soil.
But that rat-like bastard had crossed the Rual Mountains to attack him.
A tactic he could never have imagined.
Poltviran's heart was on the verge of exploding with rage from falling victim to it.
"Your Highness, there is still a chance."
"..."
Silberon, gauging the mood before speaking up.
"What do you mean?"
Poltviran stared at Silberon with eyes filled with manic fury.
Count Silberon trembled at the gaze that seemed ready to tear him apart.
"No matter how fast he flies, it will take him at least half a day to cross the Rual Mountains and reach Denfos. The brave imperial knights are engaging him in battle, and the headwinds in the Rual Mountains will slow him down. We can use them at that moment."
"Those guys..."
Poltviran snapped to attention at Silberon's words.
"Have the Three Kingdoms Alliance stationed at the Haviss Kingdom border attack Denfos. From what I saw of the enemy attacking this morning, there were about 200 of them. Kair must have brought all the wyverns from before Neruman's betrayal. If we raid their empty home now..."
"Ooooo! That's a brilliant idea!"
He felt wronged by his own defeat, but if he could get revenge, his raging anger would cool.
Poltviran smiled as if he had never been angry, at Silberon's suggestion.
"Using the emergency communication orb, we can contact them immediately. Shall I order the attack right now?"
"Of course! Order Duke Omar, who was dispatched, to attack Neruman at once!"
"As you command!"
In the aftermath of the emperor's insane rage, only Silberon remained in the room.
Silberon bowed his head, having received the emperor's order.
A blessing in disguise.
If handled well, he could turn misfortune into fortune.
"Yes, launch the attack on Neruman now!"
The Three Kingdoms Alliance gathered at the Haviss Kingdom border, under the instigation of the Bazran Empire.
Duke Omar, dispatched from the Empire, issued the attack order to the alliance commander.
He appeared extremely flustered, stuttering, but was trying to compose himself.
"Does the Lumicar that just arrived contain His Majesty's orders?"
Everyone was on edge.
If Kair had failed, they would have to truly attack Neruman.
Moreover, by now, the Kerfer Kingdom army should have crossed the imperial border and seized Da Vinci On Fortress.
Duke Hardaim asked about the order's contents, masking his tension.
"Of course. His Majesty commands an immediate attack on Denfos."
"Directly to Denfos? As far as I know, the attack order was to come tomorrow morning..."
Even as he asked, Duke Hardaim felt his blood boiling.
Even as a fierce general of reversals, he couldn't help but tense up in this psychological warfare.
"According to His Majesty's decree, Neruman is empty right now. The knights of the three kingdoms must swiftly occupy the central city of Denfos in Neruman as per His Majesty's command. The imperial knight order will follow shortly."
Duke Omar, who had survived decades in the political world.
He sensed something off.
The emperor's attack order had arrived via Lumicar in utmost secrecy through communication magic from the eastern legion fortress.
It stated that Neruman rebels had crossed the Rual Mountains and inflicted massive damage.
And the command to counterattack by assaulting Neruman immediately.
He had briefly lost his composure at the news of defeat, but Duke Hardaim's question snapped him back.
'These bastards...'
It wasn't just Hardaim.
The supreme commanders of Indain Kingdom and Kubiran Kingdom also showed tension.
Something had happened.
"His Majesty said all preparations are complete and he is crossing the Rual Mountains first. Thus, he commands the loyal Three Kingdoms Alliance to follow!"
Duke Omar regained his composure and ordered them to obey the emperor.
But he had momentarily forgotten one thing.
That these men had rolled in their own kingdom's political arenas just as much as he had.
"Heh heh heh..."
A sinister chuckle escaped Duke Hardaim's lips.
"W-What is the meaning of that laugh! Are you mocking His Majesty's command?"
"Hahaha, hahahahaha!"
Duke Hardaim burst into hearty laughter at Duke Omar's words.
"Ridiculous."
"W-What did you say? Did you just call it ridiculous!"
No matter that they both held ducal titles, an imperial duke held a position equivalent to a foreign king.
Yet this kingdom's duke dared to call him ridiculous, enraging Omar.
"Let me ask one thing. Does His Majesty, who is currently crossing the Rual Mountains to attack Neruman, know that Neruman is empty? Has Neruman's lord and knights all fled in fear of His Majesty?"
Duke Omar froze at Duke Hardaim's words.
"T-That's..."
In his moment of mental lapse, he had uttered a contradictory statement.
He was flustered.
"Shall I tell you the answer?"
Duke Hardaim smiled playfully, a grin on his lips.
"By now, your great Emperor Poltviran has likely been pierced by Lord Kair of Neruman and is cowering in some fortress rat hole, trembling. And he's issuing attack orders to us, the oblivious ones, to cover his defeat. Am I right?"
"Gasp!"
Duke Omar paled and gasped as the facts were precisely laid bare.
It was information he had only learned from the urgent dispatch, which he had hastily burned upon reading, so they couldn't know.
Yet these men knew everything.
"Y-You bastards..."
Duke Omar was no fool.
They couldn't know unless they were in league with Neruman's lord, Kair.
"Heh heh..."
A low laugh rumbled.
Thwack!
"Guh!"
An unexpected blow amid the mental shock.
Duke Hardaim's ever-present long spear, wrapped in mana, pierced through Duke Omar's air plate and impaled his right leg.
"H-How dare you rebel... Ack..."
His face twisted in pain, but Omar glared at Hardaim.
"Rebel? We're merely reclaiming our rights. It's simply the will to live as lords of our kingdoms, not dogs of the Empire."
Duke Hardaim stared coldly at Duke Omar.
"I won't kill you. Go and tell your emperor clearly. The time has come to pay for his madness..."
A blatant declaration of war.
Duke Omar fell silent and closed his eyes tightly.
The kingdoms' full-scale rebellion.
He would have done the same in their position.
If death was inevitable anyway, it was instinct to go down snarling.
'Hm?'
The ground where Poltviran and the Empire's pride, the Sky Knights, had been utterly crushed.
Wyvern corpses that hadn't even spread their wings, struck down by three or four Blessed Spears, and those that plummeted from the sky, half-crushed.
The thick, cloying scent of their blood made him grimace.
The fishy aroma of blood was still hard to get used to.
He recovered the spears from the dead wyverns, stripped their armor, and took the air plates from the fallen Sky Knights.
His own knights had nothing to do.
He ordered the trembling imperial troops, faces buried in the dirt, to gather them.
His knights, except for those patrolling just in case, had all landed on the ground to rest.
They administered holy water to the fallen wyverns and knights, providing emergency aid.
'Enemy?'
As he caught his breath, a group of wyverns appeared in the distance.
Not imperial forces.
Nor Neruman knights.
"Enemy approaching!"
The patrol squadron leader's shout echoed in his helmet.
"All hands to battle stations!"
"Battle prep! Battle prep!"
'The knights haven't returned yet.'
The 1st and 2nd Flight Squadrons had gone in pursuit of the fleeing wyverns.
The remaining squadron was the smallest, the 3rd Flight Squadron with about 50 wyverns.
'M-Magic Tower?'
The wyverns flew not in a unified formation but scattered at various distances.
Their number was around 100.
Suddenly, he thought of the Magic Tower that had promised to join the fray.
Thud.
Bebeto stomped the ground and instantly flapped its wings, soaring into the sky.
The distance to the enemies was about 7 kilometers.
The territory knights swiftly formed a triangular squadron, shifting to a variant defensive formation.
Gulp.
He swallowed dryly.
Thinking about it, it was a precarious sight.
If the Magic Tower had appeared mid-battle, it would have been a disaster.
'A 7th Circle mage too...?'
Even with 7th Circle-level mana, he was strictly a 6th Circle mage.
The Magic Tower's wyverns were surely accustomed to magical attacks.
'Come on then. If we're gonna clash anyway, let's make it count now!'
Fear had long been cast aside.
Neruman's Sky Knights, who valued their lives as lightly as dust, just like him.
In that brief moment of hesitation, the distance closed rapidly.
Whoosh.
A single spear in his right hand.
The approaching mages seemed to be preparing attacks too, mana swirling wildly.
'What the hell is this!!!!'
The allied Magic Towers' forces had departed hastily before the emperor's rage over their delayed support reached them, spurred by a noble's message.
Leading them was Terobeian, vice-lord of the Il Dorian Magic Tower.
Not a 7th Circle master, but a talent who could claim a Magic Tower lordship or court mage position elsewhere.
He was the most skilled among the mages from the participating towers, hence at the forefront.
'T-That guy couldn't be???'
The intense sunlight had banished the darkness, revealing the scene.
This was still imperial territory, yet traces of a fierce battle littered the area.
The ground was strewn with corpses of black wyverns, symbols of the Bazran Empire.
A group of wyverns approached in battle formation.
Among them, one particularly striking wyvern.
Identical to the heterbred wyvern of Neruman's famed lord, Kair.
'Gasp!'
Doubting until suddenly the distance was 4 kilometers.
And confirming they weren't imperial by gripping spears.
Terobeian felt his heart sink in shock.
A 7th Circle mage, but this kind of battle was new to him.
The continent hadn't seen major war in decades.
Magic Tower mages had lived even more complacently.
No one dared disturb a Magic Tower's peace.
'Damn...'
He couldn't turn tail now.
Changing wyvern direction would expose their backs to the enemy.
A quick glance back showed the mage Sky Knights sensing the mood and preparing for battle.
'Even if their spears have long range, they won't pierce shield magic and wyvern armor. And we outnumber them.'
Among mages, the belligerent ones were selected as Sky Knights.
They burned with knight-like battle fervor.
Especially today's group: all high-circle mages of 5th Circle or above.
Spears could be deflected by shield magic.
Swish.
In the unavoidable battle, Terobeian gripped his mana staff instead of a spear.
Activating his 7th Circle mana hole drew massive mana swirling around him.
'Hoo!'
A mana vortex clearly visible to his eyes.
The Magic Tower's mage Sky Knights had finished battle prep.
'Amazing!'
Soon they'd enter range.
The atmosphere was different.
Unlike squadrons mixing mages and spiritists in 10-to-1 or 20-to-1 ratios, this was pure high-circle mages: the Magic Tower's mage Sky Knights.
Activating mana holes created enormous mana waves around the flying group.
Especially the lead squadron of mages.
'7th Circle mages!'
Incredibly, it seemed the tower lord had joined, as 7th Circle mana levels raged.
'They're targeting me.'
The 7th Circle mage flew straight at him.
Clearly concentrating mana on him.
'Fine, let's see some nosebleeds today!'
No matter a 7th Circle mage, he had no reason to fear.
No, he wanted to experience it once.
The 8th Circle knowledge in his head, realms of 7th Circle he couldn't yet reach.
He yearned to feel the power of one who had mastered it first, with his whole body.
'Bebeto, you're in for a skinning today if you're not careful.'
Bebeto, with its fearless spine of a warrior, feared the coming danger no less than he did.
It flapped vigorously, cleaving through space ferociously.
'Now!'
The range reached at last.
He hurled the spear he gripped with full force at the enemy.
Flash!
The spear vanished in a streak of light.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh.
Neruman Sky Knights' spears followed, slicing the air.
Boom!
Clang clang clang crack!
Crash crash crash.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh.
'Whoa!'
He threw the spear and awaited the result.
Even high-circle mages might take hits from concentrated spear fire, he thought.
But the unbelievable sight before him.
The vigorously flying spears, over a hundred strong, were blocked by milky translucent shields and bounced every which way.
'Shit!'
Meanwhile, the enemy distance had closed significantly.
Charging at each other, now about 2 kilometers.
He quickly drew another spear.
Mage Sky Knights would have enchanted their wyvern armor and air plates with all sorts of spells, treating them like their lives.
Especially Magic Tower affiliates—they wouldn't skimp on magic stones or materials.
"Squadron leaders, fire one volley of spears, deploy shield magic, scatter left and right, and reform formation to the rear! Hasipot, deploy shield magic to buy time!"
A situation where a misstep could spell disaster.
He made an urgent call.
"Yes, sir!"
Unlike other imperial or kingdom Sky Knights, Neruman's strength lay here.
Communication with squadron leaders, key to detailed attacks, enabled swift decisions.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh.
Among the mage wyverns, many gripped spears too.
As territory Sky Knights fired, they retaliated in kind.
"Shield!"
Beastkin behind him deployed shield magic, securing space and drawing enemy focus.
"Shield!"
He activated the shield magic on Bebeto's wyvern armor.
Whirr!
Just in case, fitted with 2nd-grade magic stones, Bebeto's wyvern armor.
Combined with his mana, it protected a 20-meter translucent shield space.
Flash.
Clang clang clang.
Thud thud thud.
'Ugh!'
2 kilometers was nothing at spear speeds.
He could barely dodge incoming spears by twisting the wyvern's body while watching.
In such perilous time and space, relying on a single shield.
Mages deployed shields to evade spears too, and he cast shield magic for the first time in ages.
An unforeseen battle outbreak.
Kueeeee!
Crack crack crack.
Neruman wyverns fired spears and sharply veered left and right.
Some wyverns behind him cried out in agony as spears shattered shields and armor, embedding in flesh.
'These bastards!'
Of course, some mage wyverns became pincushions from concentrated fire and plummeted.
'Charge in!'
Distance now 1 kilometer.
Maintaining shield magic, he plunged straight at the enemy center.
Melee seemed impossible no matter what.
First time facing an all-mage wyvern squadron, a momentary lapse.
And that lapse fell squarely on him.
'What are you staring at, punk! Eat this!'
The lead mage clearly prepping a fresh 7th Circle spell at him.
He gripped spears in both hands, charging with shield magic on his wyvern at the foe.
Whirr.
Shield active prevented spear use, so he briefly canceled the spell.
A highly risky choice.
Fortunately, enemies fired on uniform command, creating a brief gap, which he exploited to hurl spears.
"Shield!!!"
Of course, shield magic right after.
'Yeah, let's taste it. 7th Circle magic!'
Beastkin who leaped up at battle's call, even in sleep.
Following their reckless lord, they spread wide and dove between enemies.
Meanwhile, territory Sky Knights would veer broadly to regroup.
"Squadron leaders, once positioned, fire spears while maximizing distance! Fight by squadron, not mass defense formation! Hasipot Squadron, adjust speed to widen distance from me."
Sticking together meant death, not survival.
He issued urgent orders.
"Chuwung!"
Amid the frenzy, territory knights bellowed spirited cheers.
They didn't know their lord was charging on pure guts.
'Crazy bastard!'
Definitely Neruman's lord Kair.
In that short instant, several concentrated spears assaulted him.
And he flew on, maintaining shield magic.
Straight into 100 mage Sky Knights.
'I'll send that lunatic with his crazies.'
Five Sky Knights oddly riding gold wyverns, symbol of the Raviter Empire.
Following Neruman's lord toward them.
'Heh heh heh...'
Entering magic range, Terobeian grinned slyly.
The Empire's headache and Neruman lord who scorned the Magic Towers.
Today was his lucky day.
Wing.
He dropped the shield.
Gripping his mana staff, he bellowed the startup word for his memorized spell at Neruman's lord, now 500 meters away.
"Wiiiiiind Stoooorm!"