Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Battle at Hayton Village
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"Where are those bastards now?"
"They've come almost within range of Hayton Village, sir. Combat will begin any moment!"
"Haa..."
The situation at Hayton Village came through the magic communication orb.
Hayton Village, the northernmost fortress and home to brave territory folk.
Its walls teetered without time for repairs amid relentless monster and Temir attacks.
Shailt, in charge of Orak Castle, let out a long sigh.
He had diligently patrolled per the lord's orders, watching the Temir movements, but they had abandoned their usual attack routes for a surprise assault on a new path.
'How are we supposed to handle fifty wyverns?'
The situation was better than before, but Orak Castle had only nine wyverns garrisoned.
That number even included ones seized from the Temirs.
'Even if the wyvern armor activates, a direct hit from a Blessed Spear will cause severe injury. But if we hesitate here, Hayton Village will be annihilated!'
The defending soldiers numbered barely over a thousand due to scale.
Add the territory folk and mercenaries in the village, and it was around another thousand.
Amid ground attacks from fifty wyverns, if they charged with infantry, they couldn't hold for an hour.
'Since when have we feared death? Our lord is even now battling monsters under this scorching sun!'
His fellow knights awaited his command.
There was no more time to hesitate.
"We deploy. Launch immediately!"
"Yes, sir!"
The skynights, eyes blazing as they awaited orders, shouted their acknowledgment with vigor.
Their numbers were woefully insufficient, but everyone here had the bitter experience of losing their wyverns to the Temirs.
The smoldering rage in their chests ignited.
"Sir Perman, keep the soldiers on standby until the next order!"
"Yes, sir!"
They yearned to join, but this battle could only be resolved by skynights.
The young knights in the conference room swallowed their surging passion.
One day, they too would become skynights.
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Shrieeeeeek.
Bebeto flew at top speed, as if sensing my resolve.
But there were limits.
The distance from Orak Castle to the cement factory was about five hours by flight.
No matter how supreme a hybrid wyvern Bebeto was, continuing like this would exhaust him soon.
'Those bastards!'
The Temirs, slinking in like bandits to ravage the territory.
They could request trade if hungry, yet they gloried in theft.
Unforgivable.
The blood of my knights and people spilled on my land was my own blood.
No mercy for those who wounded me.
'Please hold out safe!'
He had called Sir Shailt via emergency comms, but they had already sortied.
A knight could not abandon Hayton, the northernmost village and fortress.
He understood fully.
He would have done the same.
'Just hold on a little longer! Your lord comes!'
His chest tightened.
Those who staked their lives for him.
His repayment could only be with his own life.
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"Fire!"
Swooooosh.
Hayton Village, the Neruman northernmost fortress.
It lay just tens of kilometers from Temir territory.
Thus, it had faced countless invasions since ancient times, falling several times over the years.
But former Neruman supreme commander Count Yaiks had always recaptured it.
He knew that once the Temirs gained a foothold, they would devour all of Neruman, so he resisted desperately.
Kiyoooooo!
Kugugugugu!
"All hands, brace for aerial assault!"
The fifty wyverns rained stones and logs from the sky onto the fortress.
Nearly a hundred dead or wounded from the barrage.
No place to flee.
This assault included not just wyverns but three thousand Temir soldiers, as if determined.
Archers who had peeked out to shoot ducked behind cover.
Swoooooosh.
The roar of falling objects filled their ears.
Boom!
"Arghhhhh!"
"Aaahhhh!"
A massive boulder shattered the wall, and soldiers sheltering below screamed.
Yet no one could help.
Clang! Boom boom boom.
Not just stones—huge logs poured down like rain, with no way to resist.
"Waaaaah!"
Rumble rumble.
Emboldened by the wyvern assault, Temir troops charged with roars.
The already weakened low walls were full of breaches.
No ladders needed.
They simply used the rubble as footholds.
"Hold the line! Archers, loose every arrow you have! Empty your quivers!"
The knights tasked with Hayton's defense drew swords and bellowed.
Past battles had taught them these cruel savages took no prisoners.
Not victory or defeat—life or death.
Boom boom.
Swoooooosh.
Even in death's terror, archers loosed arrows.
Not just soldiers—male territory folk of Hayton lent arms.
Hunter-gatherers who lived slaying monsters or foraging herbs and mushrooms in nearby mountains, they were warriors born.
Thud thud thud.
"Arghhh!"
The Temirs, mistaking brutishness for valor.
They charged to the wall base behind shields of wood and monster hide.
"Defend the breaches! Hold at all costs! Hold!"
A bellowing knight led by example, blocking Temirs clambering through a gap.
"You bastards! All of you will di— Gah!"
Thud!
The knight channeling blade energy into his sword could not finish before his eyes bulged.
A single rusted spear from the sky.
It pierced his shoulder, skewering his body grotesquely.
"Lukebadio!"
"Waaaaah!"
A Temir warrior with feathered headdress shouted in their tongue.
He leaped toward Hayton defenders frozen in fear.
Temir warriors poured through the wall behind him.
Their bloodshot eyes spun madly.
Hallucinogenic herbs chewed before battle numbed their reason.
Clang clang.
"Bl-block them! Urghhhh!"
One breach opened, and enemies swarmed from all sides.
They were outmatched from the start.
Infantry could be handled, but wyverns and skynights blackening the sky were terror incarnate.
Holding this long was a miracle.
"R-reinforcements!"
"Waaaaah! Skynights!"
Defenders on the brink of death.
They spotted wyverns approaching from the eastern sky and cheered.
"Hold! Guard the fortress with your lives!"
Hope ignited last flames in knights and soldiers.
"Kill! Kill them!"
They bravely clashed with Temir warriors.
Melee now entangled both sides.
Temir wyverns wheeled toward the new Neruman wyverns.
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Zing zing zing.
Three kilometers out.
The latest Blessed Spears issued by the lord sliced the air.
'Fast!'
He had anticipated performance, but the territory wasn't rich enough to waste them in practice—this was his first real look.
One-and-a-half times faster than old Blessed Spears.
They crossed three kilometers in a blink.
Temir wyverns turning to attack flinched into evasive maneuvers.
Thud thud.
Kiyaaaaak!
Kreeeeee!
Three unfortunates from behind struck spears screamed sky-shatteringly.
Lacking proper armor, they sprayed thick blood and plummeted.
Zing zing.
Now rear wyverns closed and hurled spears at Neruman wyverns.
Old models, surely bought from empire or kingdom.
Flutter flutter.
Even with armor, a hit meant severe injury.
Wyverns veered to ground and sky in evasion.
Swooooosh.
"Shield!"
But oncoming spears put two wyverns at risk within effective range.
He cast shield magic.
Clang clang clang.
Thud thud thud.
"..."
Not mages, yet wyvern armor shields glowed milky white, deflecting spears.
Whirrrrr.
The armor sustained the shield without failing.
Instinct told them this surpassed their old shields.
Near sixth-circle barrier-level defense magic.
A ray of hope sprang in Neruman skynight hearts amid desperate battle.
Lord Kayer's astonishing gift.
Shining even in crisis.
'We can do this!'
Nearly five-to-one numerically, but now not disadvantageous.
A small smile touched Shailt's lips as he led the skynights.
Zing!
He hurled his spear at the next target with all his might.
The stage the lord had prepared.
Failure meant they were no skynights.
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Flash! Flash!
Magic glow far off.
Bebeto's muscles cramped after flying here with all his might.
'Sorry, Bebeto...'
But he couldn't stop.
Fatigue could be rested later, but crossing the River Lute to the afterlife wasted all.
He maxed the mana scope on his helmet, scanning the sky.
'Is the shield working properly?'
He infused heart power into the dwarven-repaired wyvern armor.
Since reaching sixth circle, he engraved barrier magic onto the armor instead of shield.
Of course, he used a fourth-grade magic stone to implement the barrier.
Rustle.
Far off, wyverns folded wings and crashed.
Swish!
Ten kilometers out.
He drew a spear.
"Bebeto, push! Mating after this!"
KuoOOOOOO!
Bebeto roared sky-shatteringly at "mating."
Shrieeeeeek.
He charged foes amid raging winds.
'Repeat after me: all dead!'
Grinding teeth, he dove into tangled wyverns.
Hell's murder license issued.
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"Sh-shield!"
Whirrrrr!
Clang clang clang!
Zing~! Zing!
'Dangerous!'
Fierce battle.
No time to track allies; spot enemy, hurl spear.
No guided control possible.
Merciless spears rained from all sides.
Old wyvern armor would have sent him to death's valley long ago.
But the lord's barrier-grade shield saved him several crises.
Shailt felt sweat soaking him.
Swoooooosh!
'Huh!'
Uncertain how long the magic stone would hold.
Suddenly, two spears flew at his head.
Clang!
Clang clang clang.
Raising his head, he saw the continuously manifesting shield shatter on the second spear.
'Is this... the end...'
He had fought fiercely.
Shailt had speared five enemy wyverns.
Fought to his heart's content—no regrets.
'My lord...'
Only Lord Kayer's face came to mind.
Young yet commanding the world with confidence.
'Thank you. Even in death, I am your knight.'
A knight's highest praise.
If first lord Count Yaiks was a father, the second was a hero.
Shailt closed his eyes tight.
Shield destroyed, surrounded by enemy wyverns—no escape.
He would meet death knightly.
He refused to be a skynight who lost wyverns twice shamefully.
Zing!
Kuaaaaaaaa!
Kiyaaaaaaaak!
Boom boom.
'...?'
Eyes closed, but ears caught fierce explosions.
And familiar wyvern cries.
Shailt's eyes snapped open.
"Huh!"
Boom boom.
Two wyverns lunging at him spewed blood, spinning to the ground—first sight.
"M-my lord!"
Behind falling wyverns appeared one unique wyvern.
Jet black with striking golden stripes.
Shailt cried out fiercely through his helmet.
Zing zing zing.
Then a dozen spears flew at the lord.
By the time he saw, they reached him.
Flash.
KABOOOOOM!
Dazzling magic flash, then earth-shaking blast.
"Hahahahahahahahahaha!"
Booming laugh laced with mana, unfit for battle.
Flutter.
A man slicing wind, red cape billowing.
Swoooooosh.
Sudden silver wind eagle Shrielle.
"My knights! I have come!"
Lord's stirring voice shook chests.
"Chuuuung!"
Loyal echo through helmet.
Swoooooosh.
He wheeled his wyvern reins to the lord's side.
The world's most trustworthy great tree—his lord.
He had come.
Reincarnating like wind's messenger in the sky...
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Kiyoooooo!
Summoned Shrielle swiftly bit an enemy wyvern's wing joint.
She knew wyvern weak points from attacks, doing what pleased me.
Armorless wyvern was mere food.
She dragged the screaming wyvern lightly to the ground.
'Fleeing?'
More worried than thought—situation not dire.
Two armored wyverns crashed to ground.
Surviving skynights nearby drew spears for support fire—good.
Around twenty wyverns visible.
Report said fifty, but numbers thinned greatly.
'Definitely effective.'
Obvious without seeing.
Temir without magic armor lost to my upgraded spears and barriers.
'Those bastards!'
Wyverns fleeing tail-between-legs after spear volley at me.
Shouting wildly, not looking back.
Problem: unlike fleeing wyverns, Temir soldiers fiercely clashed in ground melee.
Savages half-naked, bizarre war paint, no hard leather—slaughtering my soldiers and folk.
Swoooooosh.
Reins turned, Bebeto dove sharply to ground.
Thud!
Released reins, kicked off Bebeto.
Shing!
Drew sword.
Plummeted meteor-like into savage cluster center.
Thud!
Sword stabbed hard ground.
"All explode! Fire Explosion!"
Memorized sixth-circle spell.
Whirrrrr.
Red wave swirled in body, merging with air mana.
KABOOOOOM!
Vacuum imploded, then massive flames erupted.
Boom boom boom boom.
No screams.
Dozens of savages sucked into red flame storm, melting instantly.
"STOP ALL OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Rage-shaking roar across earth.
"..."
Everything in sight froze.
Roar roar.
Dozens of fireballs, bones aflame, collapsing.
"Drop your swords. That's your last chance to live!"
Blazing blade sword pointed at wide-eyed Temirs.
KuoOOOOOO!
Bebeto spread vast wings above, roaring.
That moment, battle ended.
Even brutish savages had but one life...
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"One wyvern dead, two wyverns severely injured, the rest light wounds. All skynights unharmed."
"And casualties among soldiers and folk?"
"Five knights stationed at Hayton all KIA, 321 soldiers fallen. Remaining severe wounded treated with holy water. Village folk: about fifty dead thanks to soldiers' desperate stand."
"Hmm..."
First large-scale losses since becoming lord.
Holy water could save if breath remained, but arrived too late.
'Damn killers!'
Rage turned to Temirs.
Innocents habitually slaughtered by savages.
They would pay soon.
"My lord, what of the prisoners?"
"What would you do?"
Another issue.
Far more prisoners than expected.
Nearly two thousand disarmed, kneeling outside fortress.
"Temir disposition makes them poor slaves from old. Inherently rebellious and belligerent—even young ones cause trouble routinely."
Shailt seemed troubled.
"Make them slaves. Having sinned, paying in life is natural law. Sentence to forced labor."
"Yes, sir!"
Could call inhuman, but he wanted it so.
Humans treated humanely earn human regard; dog-acting humanoids get no such folly.
"Pay consolation gold: 100 to families of fallen soldiers and folk. Also pensions: soldier families one gold monthly for twenty years, knight families fifty."
"M-my lord."
Unprecedented lavish consolation and pensions.
Even imperial troops usually ended with meager gold upon death.
"How many wyverns captured alive?"
"Few survived fierce battle. Of thirty downed, about ten alive—treated with holy water."
'Ten...'
Normally applaud, but not today.
Precious deaths of my soldiers.
Prayed silently for their good afterlife.