Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: I Must Pass Through (4)
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Royal Knights.
That name alone was enough to make the battlefield tremble.
The Governorate's strongest force, created to counter asymmetric threats.
To the regular soldiers, their existence was no different from the heavens.
The leader of those Royal Knights, Izmel, pointed his sword at the back of one man.
“I shall now carry out the execution that was briefly postponed.”
The heavy voice made the entire area hold its breath.
The surrounding air seemed to sink.
“You will never leave this place alive.”
Izmel pronounced the man's fate like a judge delivering a sentence of punishment.
A chilling wind rose in response to his declaration.
Red petals fell from the plum tree, scattering on the wind.
Only then did the man, who had been showing his back, slowly turn around.
The white lion mask gradually revealed itself like a rising moon.
“It seems you thought I was an easy mark.”
A sharp white blade emerged from the fingertips of the white lion. The fierce gaze burning behind the mask stared straight ahead.
Even facing the solidly sealed encirclement, he showed no loss of momentum.
No, he spoke arrogant words as if it were no issue at all.
“I must pass through you.”
Despite the Royal Knights, the Crow Knights, and highly trained elite soldiers layered in multiple rings before him.
At his ignorance, some doubted their own ears, some shook their heads, and others sneered.
No one standing there took his words seriously.
He had barely slept for the past three days while fleeing, so his head must have gone mad.
They had heard rumors of his prowess through word of mouth, but now that his stamina had reached its limit, he was no different from a cornered, senile lion.
He would never pass through this place.
“Charge!”
With Izmel's command, the battle began.
Unlike before, they took the front lines.
With the Royal Knights stepping forward, everyone else was merely a spectator.
Shushushushuk!
The Royal Knights charged swiftly, leaving only faint afterimages.
The white lion was overshadowed by their shadows.
Everyone thought the outcome was already decided.
That was when it happened.
A blindingly blue flash bloomed amid the black shadows.
Like beams of light leaking from between clenched fists, azure rays burst forth from the front ranks of the Royal Knights bearing down on him.
Kwarung!
Accompanied by a roar that shook heaven and earth.
From that point, the ground split and trees were uprooted in the ensuing battle.
The shockwaves from the battlefield swept through the surroundings in an instant, turning them to ruins.
The soldiers watching had to retreat to areas beyond the aftershocks.
“……”
Everyone forgot to even breathe, focusing solely on the battle before them.
Otherwise, they couldn't hope to follow the white lion's movements.
Even with that focus, all they could track were the blurry figures slipping through the Royal Knights, the glowing blue trails, and the thunderous booms that followed.
No one there could clearly see what was happening.
But even so, it was plain to see that the battlefield was tilting to one side.
The Royal Knights, hailed as the Governorate's strongest force, were crumbling helplessly.
And in the end.
Chwak—!
Their leader, Izmel himself, was swallowed by a flashing gleam and cleaved in two.
The Royal Knights were annihilated.
The white lion emerged leisurely, as if nothing had happened, after wiping them out in one go.
With each step he took, the encirclement pulled back.
Without emitting any particular aura, he alone overwhelmed over a hundred soldiers.
* * *
Kwakwakwakwang!
A savage sword strike tore through the surroundings, followed by an explosion.
I was breaking through the enemies' encirclement at a single point.
The encirclement was layered thickly.
When I peeled away one layer, new ones blocked my path.
I simply pressed forward.
Blades coming from all directions vanished with a single gesture.
The ceaseless sword strikes, like a waterwheel, held not a shred of mercy.
“Kuwaaak!”
“Die!”
The enemies' screams and shouts were swallowed by explosions and death.
The forest resounded with ceaseless massive booms, as if a natural disaster had struck.
Kwakwakwakwang!
Once more, the furious blade swept through the area.
Red blood surged like a tidal wave along the path of the flashing gleam.
The roar from the battlefield echoed through heaven and earth.
I hoped that echo would reach the skies.
So that he, who had set off on a long journey, could hear it.
Before I knew it, I stood before a vast plain.
The forest had ended, and though the pursuit wouldn't stop, they could no longer hinder my steps.
The situation was over.
“Halent Barrein.”
I quietly mulled over the name.
Hatred toward him overflowed, spilling outward.
I turned my gaze far away.
The capital, Magnet.
He would be there.
“We'll meet soon.”
It would be worth looking forward to.
Though it wouldn't be a pleasant reunion.
* * *
The news that the white lion had broken through the encirclement reached Halent Barrein only after three days.
“……”
He was momentarily speechless at the report delivered by messenger bird. It detailed the annihilation of the Royal Knights and the overall damage.
“And yet you let him escape?”
Halent's eyes grew icy cold.
The losses incurred to capture him were not insignificant.
Not just troop casualties, but the property damage to Stis City as well.
But despite all that, they had let him go.
Especially the annihilation of the Royal Knights—it cut deep.
Considering the Prairie Dogs lost before that...
Euduk.
Halent ground his teeth, crumpling the paper in his fist.
‘Just how strong is the white lion's force?’
His power was immeasurable.
This operation had been planned assuming his maximum possible strength.
Anticipating he had reached Sword Master realm, they had avoided direct confrontation from the start, dragging it out to wear him down.
Engraving curse magic on Lordr's body was for that reason too.
To track his exact location, and because traveling with him would inevitably slow the white lion.
Up to the most recent report, the situation had matched his predictions perfectly.
But even so, he had overcome it.
‘It means he surpasses the strength I predicted.’
Where had such power been hiding until now, only to burst forth so suddenly?
It was utterly incomprehensible.
Halent cooled his head and pushed the unanswered questions to the back of his mind.
They weren't problems he could solve right now.
He spoke.
“Announce Lordr Heiser's death, and that the white lion suffered heavy wounds and fled.”
“Yes, sir!”
The subordinate saluted and left. Halent sank into his chair, stroking his neatly trimmed beard.
The situation had veered off course from his intentions.
He had planned to quell the flames the man ignited by publicly executing Lordr, but instead, he had fanned them appropriately.
But the man hadn't achieved his goal either, so it wasn't a complete defeat.
He too would know that Lordr had been lost right before his eyes.
Now, that blade would turn toward him.
Halent's lips curled in interest, then hardened coldly as he stared out the large window.
He already anticipated their meeting.
“The flames you ignited—you can quench them with your own death.”
Four more days passed.
News of Lordr's death and the white lion's injury spread rapidly across Francia.
‘In the end, the old man died...’
Ripord recalled Lordr's piercing gaze and suppressed his bitter feelings.
He had hoped since he crossed the city gates, but the result was unchanged.
Still, the white lion surviving was fortunate news for Francia.
“You think he'll be okay?”
Reina asked.
It was concern for the white lion, who had fled after sustaining injuries. Sarpe, beside her, spoke up.
“He shook off the pursuit, so he should be fine.”
Just as the man said.
Regardless of the injury's severity, if it were critical or he was still being chased, they wouldn't publicize this.
They had definitely lost him.
The odds were high he had survived somehow.
“Still, it's hard to believe. Breaking through that encirclement.”
Sarpe shook his head in disbelief.
Until now, Stis City had been completely sealed—no one could enter or leave.
To build the encirclement to catch the white lion, they had shut the entire gates.
Likely to prevent additional aid or the white lion slipping in amid the citizens causing chaos.
In any case, this operation had been one the Governorate poured effort into, enough to lock down an entire city.
Yet he had broken through and escaped.
“You wasted the artifact for nothing. He would've gotten away even without our help.”
As Ripord grumbled, Reina chuckled lightly.
“Regretting it now? There might not be more if you do.”
“Damn it.”
Ripord irritably flopped into his chair and picked up a cigarette.
“Anyway, Halent won't just sit still, so Francia's in for some big upheaval after a long time.”
Lordr was dead, but they lost the white lion, so it was practically Halent's defeat.
It must have bruised his pride. No way he'd stay quiet.
Ripord lit the cigarette and exhaled smoke.
“Things are about to get pretty exciting.”
Over the past ten years, Francia's turmoil had gradually cooled. It was natural. People were adapting to the Governorate's control, and independence felt ever more distant.
But with the white lion's emergence, that hot fervor began stirring in Francia once more.
Ripord exhaled smoke again.
“As exciting as it'll be, it'll be that dangerous too.”
The white lion rampaging alone through Francia.
It was intriguing just how fiercely the flames he ignited would consume the land.
“We need to prepare properly for that time too. We can't just keep riding his coattails forever.”
His eyes gleamed as he looked at his comrades.
“The world we want has to be built by our own hands to mean anything, right?”
They nodded.
It was what they wanted too.
They cheered for the white lion, but who they truly followed was Ripord before them.
He continued.
“I didn't suffer for ten years just to be a sideshow. I'd die before doing that. Do you know how much I've toiled?”