Chapter 128
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Reinforcements
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A plain, a fair distance from the first fortress.
The Margrave and the Mercenary King reined in their horses.
Seeing the demon approaching alone, they had sent the White Lion Knights and the Red Wolf Mercenary Group back.
“What a pointless gesture.”
Kimaris, who had stopped quite a distance away, watched them idly.
“You might have had a sliver of hope if you'd all charged together.”
His chilling voice, though quiet, was perfectly clear.
“Why did you follow me alone?”
“You promised to entertain me with your little tricks. Is there any reason I wouldn't follow?”
“I see.”
The corners of the Margrave's and the Mercenary King's mouths twisted.
It was an impossibly arrogant thing to say to two Royal Knights, but Kimaris had the power to back it up.
His mere presence made their skin crawl.
It was a tension so palpable, they hadn't felt anything like it since becoming Royal Knights.
Not even when facing another Royal Knight.
But that didn't mean they could retreat.
They were the supreme Royal Knights.
The Margrave had to protect Bercefe.
And the Mercenary King believed he had to clash with a demon someday—for his disciple's revenge, no, for the future.
“Come.”
Kimaris spread his arms, completely defenseless.
“No one dares speak to me in such a way.”
Nevertheless, the Margrave did not refuse. He dug his heels into his horse's flank and charged. The Mercenary King was with him.
A step behind, Kimaris's black steed also bolted forward.
Thud-thud-thud-thud—
Three mounted warriors galloped toward one another.
In a fleeting moment, their weapons clashed.
───!
A shockwave exploded outward. Aura and demonic energy tangled. The horses screamed but pressed on.
“Indeed.”
Kimaris wheeled his horse around.
“So there was a reason for your arrogance, thinking you two could face me alone.”
He raised his massive greatsword and charged again.
“Entertain me further.”
───!
They crossed paths once more. The shockwave was even more violent this time, distorting the very space around them.
This time, they didn't stop. The three immediately wheeled around and continued to clash.
─!
──!
Hee-hee-hee-hing—
The first to fall were neither the Margrave nor the Mercenary King.
It was the horses they rode.
Mere well-trained warhorses, they could not withstand the pressure and impact radiating from the demon and the two superhuman warriors. They coughed up blood and collapsed.
The Margrave and the Mercenary King leaped from their falling mounts. Kimaris stroked his black steed and spoke.
“The horses of this world are so fragile. To think they'd die from something like this.”
Then, he dismounted.
“Come at me.”
“What a load of crap. Are you trying to start a jousting tournament with me now?”
A sword duel after three clashes? How long has it been since I was treated like this?
The Mercenary King's lip curled. The scars all over his body seemed to writhe.
“A filthy demon, pretending to be honorable.”
The Margrave didn't hide his anger either.
The next moment, the Mercenary King's spear was inches from Kimaris's face.
─!
A greatsword wedged itself between the spear and Kimaris.
Shattered fragments of aura and demonic energy scattered in all directions.
*Screech,* the greatsword slid along the spear's shaft, aiming for the Mercenary King's neck. He bent back nearly ninety degrees to dodge the blade.
The greatsword immediately changed its angle, but its new path was in the opposite direction of the Mercenary King's body.
─!
A massive cerulean sword aura was blocked by a black barrier.
His surprise attack having failed, the Margrave didn't hesitate for a second, twisting his sword to knock away the greatsword he was locked with. He immediately launched into a flurry of attacks.
*CRASH! CRASH!*
Dozens of blows were exchanged in a brief moment, and a red spear aimed for an opening in the chaos.
Kimaris twisted his body, but the spear coiled like a snake, pursuing him relentlessly.
“...Not bad!”
He summoned demonic energy to form a barrier. But the red spear shattered it and finally touched his skin.
─!
Instead of the sound of a spear piercing flesh, an explosion rang out, and the Mercenary King took a step back.
The pain drew Kimaris’s attention to him for a moment, and the Margrave did not miss that fleeting chance.
*Kwakwakwakwa—*
A wave of dozens of blue slashes washed over the demon.
The earth shattered, and rocks crumbled. Amidst the rising dust, a swell of demonic energy undulated.
A black tsunami, larger than the wave the Margrave had created, crashed down on both the Mercenary King and the Margrave.
──!
The two Royal Knights swallowed groans and retreated several steps. They tried to calm their churning insides, but there was no time.
“Humans have gotten much stronger than they were a thousand years ago.”
Kimaris's greatsword flew toward the Margrave.
*CRACK!* The brutish force made the Margrave's arm tremble.
He took a step back, but Kimaris immediately followed, swinging his sword down again.
*Crrrack,* the Margrave's legs dug into the earth. He could no longer retreat, but he didn't need to.
─!
The sword heading for the Margrave collided with the red spear that had been aiming for a blind spot. In the momentary opening, the Margrave thrust his sword.
As Kimaris twisted his body, the blade twisted to follow.
Kimaris summoned his demonic energy. It was instantly shattered, but it bought him the split second he needed for his sword to arrive.
*CLANG!* The Margrave's sword was blocked. But immediately after, the Mercenary King's spear struck from another blind spot.
─!
──!
The ensuing battle was a continuous exchange between attackers and a defender.
The Margrave and the Mercenary King.
Sword and spear.
Lion and snake.
They covered each other's weaknesses while tearing into the enemy's.
When the sword was blocked, the spear moved. When the spear was attacked, the sword swung.
Their coordination was as fluid and clean as flowing water, even beautiful at a glance.
Even for someone like Kimaris, it was all he could do to defend.
“...I admit it, I underestimated you. I will get serious now!”
In that instant, a formidable amount of demonic energy exploded from Kimaris's entire body.
───!
Instead of resisting the force, the two Royal Knights let it carry them backward.
Even so, a tingling shock coursed through their bodies.
“……”
“……”
Positioned on either side of Kimaris, they tightened their grips on their weapons.
“...Impressive.”
Kimaris planted his greatsword in the ground.
“For your skill level, you must be among the top ten humans, yet your coordination is this seamless? It's as if you've practiced together.”
“Are you going to ask for a one-on-one fight now? After acting so high and mighty? Are you a demon or a coward?”
The Mercenary King sneered at him.
“You remain arrogant to the very end.”
“I was never taught to show courtesy to the likes of you. If you want me to be polite, get on your knees and bow your head. Then I might graciously show you some manners.”
“...You don't know your place.”
Kimaris's expression soured.
“You're the one who doesn't know his place, demon.”
The Margrave summoned his aura.
“All who dare attack Bercefe have died by my hand. That will be true even if it’s a demon.”
“Fine. I'll pray your skills are as sharp as your tongue.”
*Shing,* another greatsword of the exact same design was suddenly in Kimaris’s other hand.
Immediately after.
The two Royal Knights vanished.
The battle resumed.
***
─!
─!
Despite the chaotic cacophony of the battlefield, the explosions from far away were distinctly audible.
It was proof that the two Royal Knights and the 66th-ranked demon, Kimaris, were fighting.
‘They'll win. There's no way two Royal Knights working together can lose, right?’
Pernyan forcibly suppressed the anxiety that kept trying to surface.
“...But teamwork isn't something you can just pull off, is it?”
Pernyan was no knight, but he knew that coordinating an attack wasn't as easy as it sounded.
Without long hours of practice and matching their movements, 1+1 was just as likely to equal 0 as it was 2 or 3.
“Do not worry. The two of them have fought together for a long time.”
“They have a history?”
“The Mercenary King has wandered from battlefield to battlefield since long ago. After the Empire unified the continent and peace settled in, where do you think the most battles occur?”
With wars between nations having mostly disappeared, there were three major hotspots.
Altriark, where monsters from the Taklakan Desert made frequent visits.
The Prasia Kingdom on the Pandrein Continent, the southernmost of the human kingdoms.
And Bercefe, the guardian of the Empire's north.
Among these, the most dangerous and grueling was, by far, Bercefe.
The monsters descending from the untamed demonic lands of the northeast were endless.
“I see, that makes sense.”
To think that the two prideful Royal Knights gathered here had once fought side by side in their younger days.
It was a stroke of luck.
“So please stop worrying about them and focus on us! We're in deep trouble here!”
“That's right! Please stop getting lost in thought so defenselessly!”
Ruina, breathing heavily, decapitated an Orga climbing the wall.
Hyde blocked a Krikter that was flying toward Pernyan.
The situation was not good.
The demonic beasts numbered over ten thousand, while the defenders of the first wall were merely a thousand.
The Duke had hastily issued a mobilization order throughout Bercefe and called up the domain's reserve forces, but an army couldn't just appear the moment it was summoned.
If the White Lion Knights and the Red Wolf Mercenary Group hadn't returned with the two Royal Knights...
If Ruina hadn't been fighting so desperately, rushing all over the fortress walls, the fortress might have already fallen.
Still, their position was precarious.
No matter how many elite soldiers they had, no matter how seasoned the people of Bercefe were in war, it was difficult to ignore a numerical disadvantage.
Most importantly, all ten thousand of the enemy were demonic beasts, not ordinary humans.
“Is there no other way?”
Ruina asked after annihilating five Krikters in a single blow.
“You think I'd have a brilliant solution in a situation like this?”
“I know, but…”
*For some reason, I feel like you would have a solution even in a situation like this.*
“But?”
“It's nothing.”
Ruina shook her head, swallowing her last words.
Relying on Pernyan without a plan was not a good habit.
Asking when she knew there was likely no solution wasn't really asking for a solution; it was just proof that she wanted to lean on him.
“There is a way.”
“Really?”
“We just have to endure.”
If they held on, and held on again.
“We can protect the fortress. Reinforcements will come.”
“...A sound argument.”
Ruina fell silent. Her senses on high alert, she turned her gaze back to the battlefield.
“Fire!”
“Prioritize the flying demonic beasts!”
Archers loosed arrows without rest.
“Giga Lightning!”
“Anywhere you shoot, you'll hit a demonic beast! Don't worry about friendly fire, just unleash every spell you can!”
Mages chugged potions, squeezing out every last drop of their mana.
“Stop them from getting on the walls!”
“Knock the demonic beasts off!”
Knights and soldiers scrambled frantically along the ramparts.
Though half-destroyed by the demon's attacks, the wall was still proving to be a significant advantage.
*CRASH!*
*Kieeeek!*
*Aaargh!*
*Dieeeee!*
The air was filled with explosions and monstrous shrieks, screams and shouts.
“Th-this is insane! I want to get out of here!”
A demonic beast scaled the wall. A soldier died. A slash from Gismond cut the beast down.
The two corpses fell from the wall, and swarms of demonic beasts, like ants, devoured them.
“Just because you've taken elixirs and learned swordsmanship doesn't mean it's over. You need to master it through real combat, Senior.”
“With my skills, this is just suicide!”
“Don't say that. There are few here with more mana than you, Senior.”
“Aaaah! Get away from me! They said leaving home is nothing but trouble!”
Gismond, though on the verge of tears, managed to swing his sword.
His technique was simple, but the aura infused in his blade was immense, and the demonic beasts fell one after another.
“They're pushing through!”
“Hold the line, even if it kills you!”
The shield wall formed by the knights was slowly being pushed back, and the demonic beasts began to set foot inside the fortress.
“Out of the way!”
Pernyan erected a wall of steel, but it couldn't last long against the relentless assault of the demonic beasts.
A massive golem tore through a subspace portal and landed on a pile of rubble.
Ruina and Hyde stood before the now-defenseless Pernyan.
*CRACK!*
The golem ripped the head off a bear-shaped Grade 5 demonic beast, an Ursus.
It stomped a Rupardin into paste and cut down the Orgas.
*Screech, CRUNCH!*
Its legs gnawed away, the golem fell.
Swarmed by the ant-like demonic beasts, the golem could not rise again, its light fading.
A Varga climbed atop the golem's remains.
*CRASH!*
Another golem smashed the Varga's head, and the battle continued without pause.
“Those Varga bastards are annoying to the very end.”
*Waaaaah—*
*Hold them back!*
The voices of humanity grew quieter.
Their territory on the wall was shrinking, and though the pile of demonic beast corpses grew, the creatures knew no fear.
‘Damn it…!’
Pernyan gritted his teeth as he controlled the golems.
At this rate, it was truly the end. If the fortress fell, the repercussions would engulf all of Bercefe.
‘It's really time for Wooden…!’
It was best if he wasn't discovered until the very last moment.
But he had no intention of dying foolishly while holding back.
Revealing it officially in front of so many people wasn't appealing, but now he had no choice.
“Wooden, it's your turn to…”
Just then.
The sky brightened.
“……?”
A gentle warmth drew everyone's gaze to the sky.
It was a fireball. No, they were fireballs.
Dozens of massive fireballs were raining down on the demonic beasts like a meteor shower.
──!
─────!
Pillars of fire erupted across the battlefield.
Huge holes were torn in the charging formations of the demonic beasts.
The monsters, advancing like a tidal wave, began to falter.
“Reinforcements!”
“Reinforcements have arrived!”
The soldiers, who had been steeped in despair, let out cheers of hope.
“It's the Dragon God Cult!”
“The priests of the Cult are here!”
Dozens of mages clad in priestly robes adorned with dragons landed on the fortress walls.
And.
“Brotheeeeer!”
The red-haired Saint, Jace Baintz, flew to Pernyan's side, waving both hands.
“Are you alright? I'm not too late, am I?”
“...You're late.”
No. In truth, he had arrived much faster than expected.
“You must have hurried?”
“Of course! You ordered a huge amount of holy water, so I rushed here express! Ah, of course, I didn't forget our justification for coming as reinforcements! I brought Cardinal Alvy with me!”
The Saint beamed like a merchant who had just closed a big deal.