Chapter 65
Chapter 65
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: The Fake Knight
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[Chapter 64 - Lord]
The clash between the Lord and the knights was a mythic battle that no ordinary soldiers or raiders could dare interrupt.
It was only natural, facing a colossal being that shook the earth with every strike, like a minor earthquake.
That was why the site of their fight was hundreds of meters away from where the raiders and soldiers clashed.
As Arsen observed the Lord and the knights from a brief distance away from the camp, Eloise's voice reached him.
[How does it look?]
[Not good. Not good at all.]
Clearly, six knights had charged in first to slay the Lord, and six still remained.
One might think positively that none had died yet, but the few corpses scattered around denied that fact.
Knights who had been fighting raiders had simply joined to fill the numbers; in truth, a significant number had already met their end.
‘Our side’s situation is nearly wrapped up...’
The remaining raiders were now fewer than the soldiers, posing no real threat.
No more Ma-in could be spotted; other knights must have taken care of them.
The mage unit had exhausted their mana and could no longer unleash lightning, but they were warriors armed with powerful magic artifacts first and foremost.
As long as they fought under Eloise’s protection, Arsen believed they wouldn’t lose their lives.
Returning to the camp, Arsen summoned Bazkal and issued orders.
“We need to go assist with hunting the Lord.”
“Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”
It was easy to read the fear on Bazkal’s face as he replied.
Who wouldn’t be terrified under those heaven-shaking roars echoing even from afar?
Arsen wasn’t entirely fearless himself.
He simply realized that failing to take down the Lord would render this entire battle meaningless.
If they couldn’t slay it now, the beast would regroup on the western side of the mountains.
The world was vast, and raiders and Ma-in were everywhere.
Facing that monster again without allies to help on the other side was a horrifying prospect just to imagine.
“Even if it’s dangerous, we have to do what must be done. Sir Marun, I leave command here to you.”
“Don’t worry about a thing!”
Marun grinned, waving his bow.
Feeling a bit of tension ease at that carefree cheer, Arsen sent a message of caution to Eloise as well.
[Take good care of the soldiers. Stay safe.]
With Eloise’s skill in battlefield control, he could leave the soldiers in her hands.
Marun would be helpful enough as a knight, but he lacked Eloise’s ability to support so many troops.
[I won’t overdo it! We’ll wrap things up here quick and come help!]
Arsen grinned and waved at Eloise’s words.
* * *
“That thing... up close, it’s even more ridiculous.”
Bazkal’s voice carried a hint of lost confidence.
Ignoring it, Arsen observed the Lord’s condition.
Fortunately, the fallen knights’ sacrifices hadn’t been in vain; the Lord was bleeding from wounds all over its body.
Weapons were embedded here and there.
Its massive size made it hard to say if they were effective strikes.
“We’re here to help!”
Shouting to bolster the knights’ morale, Arsen charged alongside Bazkal.
At that moment, a knight clutching his side and slumped over shouted at them, perhaps injured.
“Dismount your mounts! They’re useless against it...?”
The knight trailed off, stunned by the sight before him.
Naturally, Arsen’s non-living Jin showed no fear toward the Lord and pressed forward unabated.
Unlike Bazkal’s massive tiger, which had frozen in place.
Arsen, who had advanced first, had switched weapons just before leaving camp.
A 4-meter pike designed for large magic beasts, one he didn’t usually carry.
Among them, an explosive spear enchanted by Eloise herself.
“What’s that?”
“An eastern knight!”
As other knights’ shouts rang in his ears, Arsen aimed the spear precisely and urged Jin faster.
His speed on Jin far outpaced the other knights, who lacked mounts.
Seizing a moment when the Lord’s gaze shifted, Arsen’s spear plunged deep into its torso.
■■■----!
It seemed far more painful than other attacks; the Lord let out a short screech and turned its eyes toward Arsen.
Legs trembling instinctively at the savage rage in those eyes, Arsen ignored it, infused maximum mana into the spear, and retreated.
Moments later, it exploded with a deafening roar.
■■■■■■■■---------!
This screech was incomparably louder and longer than the last.
He’d hoped optimistically that it might sever the torso, but regrettably, it hadn’t inflicted that much damage.
What astonishingly tough flesh and magic resistance; even stabbed deep and detonated, the scar left on the Lord’s torso was pitifully shallow. Just a chunk of flesh scooped out on one side.
Inside gleamed intact white bone, boasting its physical durability.
Considering this weapon had felled even upper-grade magic beasts in one blow, it was shocking.
Unfortunately, Arsen’s opponent wasn’t a straw dummy standing still to take hits.
The Lord whipped its enormous tail toward the source of the pain, sweeping the entire ground in retaliation.
“It’s coming—!”
“Evade on foot!”
Hearing the screams of the other knights attacking the Lord, Arsen maneuvered Jin to leap as high as possible.
Fierce wind pressure whipped past below, followed by an immense cloud of dust engulfing the world.
By the time Arsen landed again, the surroundings were like a smoke bomb had gone off.
Impossible to discern anything with the naked eye, but Arsen clearly perceived the enemy.
Through his magic helmet’s vision, the Lord’s mana-infused body shone brighter than anything.
Fortunately, the Lord seemed equally blind in the dust, swiveling its head to check for approaching foes.
As Arsen scanned around, he spotted two knights. Suspiciously, one was stealthily approaching the other from behind.
‘What the?’
Arsen immediately spurred Jin toward them.
* * *
“Damn it, what’s with all this dust...”
Leaving his terrified giant tiger behind, Bazkal had run ahead to the Lord’s front.
Right as the Lord swung its tail, kicking up a massive dust cloud.
Unlike Arsen with his magic helmet, Bazkal couldn’t see a thing.
“Brother! Where are you? Brother!”
Bazkal bellowed for Arsen without restraint.
The distant Lord wouldn’t hear him anyway.
Then, he sensed careful footsteps approaching from behind.
In such chaos, most wouldn’t notice footsteps, but as a former hunter, Bazkal was acutely sensitive to them.
Whipping his head around, he saw a knight frozen in an awkward stance. The same one who’d warned them to abandon their mounts earlier.
“You okay?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure.”
Bazkal felt an odd unease from the knight’s bold approach and casual question about injuries.
The armor looked proper, the mana felt right. Nothing wrong, yet something felt off.
Before he could pinpoint it, the approaching knight pointed over his shoulder.
“Hey, what the hell is that?”
“Huh?”
Bazkal turned to look where the knight pointed.
A javelin flew right past Bazkal’s side.
“Huh?”
The javelin embedded itself in the knight’s shoulder.
Piercing the ultra-hard alloy breastplate like thin cloth.
The knight screamed in agony, dropping the sword he’d held high.
“What the—who the hell!”
As Bazkal reeled in shock, a knight burst through the dust. Black star-iron armor, riding Jin—Arsen.
“Brother?”
“Get away!”
With Arsen’s shout, Bazkal ducked and rolled aside, creating distance.
The nearby knight’s swing thus whistled harmlessly over his head.
Then, the armor covering the knight’s body began writhing and bubbling.
As if struggling to maintain its shape from pain.
‘So that’s what it was?’
Watching, Arsen realized this was the ‘Ma-in mimicking humans’ Kirat had mentioned days ago.
He hadn’t imagined it could mimic armor shape too.
Its mana circulated similarly to a knight’s, so even his magic helmet hadn’t detected it.
If it hadn’t blatantly raised its sword from behind, he might have hesitated and missed the timing.
“Caught red-handed trying to backstab.”
“What... how...?”
Only then did Bazkal grasp the source of his unease.
The knight, who’d been slumped as if injured moments ago, had approached perfectly fine.
Rushing after Arsen earlier, he’d ignored it without thinking to help, but feigning aid would’ve led to a knife in the ribs up close.
The sword stance had clearly screamed ‘slash from behind’.
“Damn it, falling for such a cheap trick...”
Furious at nearly succumbing to such a laughable ruse, and chilled at how close he’d come, Bazkal vented.
“Wait, hold on—you’re misunderstanding something!”
As the fake knight spouted nonsense, Arsen was already charging on Jin.
In an instant, Jin’s forepaw pinned the sword arm and torso, immobilizing it. Arsen’s sword came down.
The blade pierced into the mouth, through the spine. Whatever drivel it meant to spew was lost forever.
After one twitch, the fake stopped moving.
“Just to be sure, make it good and dead. Don’t want misunderstandings—sever the head separately.”
“Got it!”
Leaving Bazkal to rise and hack at the corpse in rage, Arsen turned back to the Lord.
The fake’s approach at that perfect dust-cloud timing suggested a premeditated ploy.
Thus, Arsen guessed several dead knights had fallen to this trick.
Having experienced it, the Lord was fast in motion but sluggish in reaction.
Without such schemes, six knights wouldn’t have perished.
‘Clever bastard, pulling stunts like this.’
But now, he’d severed one of its hidden blades.
Satisfied, Arsen gripped a javelin.
Time to resume the hunt.
“Uwaaaah!”
Drawing near, Arsen saw a knight screaming as he clung to the Lord’s torso, hacking down. At the spot from his earlier explosive spear.
Recognizing him was easy.
Karik. The western knight who’d survived alone after losing all comrades.
Helmet discarded somewhere, his disheveled long hair exposed, he relentlessly struck the torso.
In that instant, Arsen realized Karik was in danger.
The Lord, entangled with knights until recently, now glared at Karik on its body.
“Sir Karik!”
Arsen bellowed, but whether unheard or ignored, Karik blindly repeated the strikes.
He looked less human, more like a malfunctioning machine.
Judging words futile, Arsen readied the javelin.
“Hup!”
The powerfully hurled javelin struck beside where Karik clung on the torso.
It barely pierced the tough scales, but that wasn’t the goal anyway.
As the Lord’s upper body lunged for Karik, the javelin exploded as preset.
“Uwaaah!”
The blast wasn’t enough to harm a knight but sufficient to shove him away.
Karik flew off, unable to withstand it.
Naturally, with Karik flung far, the Lord’s grasping hand clutched empty air.
The Lord’s gaze, filled with disappointment and fury, turned to Arsen.
“Angry, are we?”
Arsen murmured unwittingly at the sight, and as if in answer, the Lord gaped its maw wide.
From it came not curses or roars, but flames.