Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Blinding the Battlefield
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The way to verify this hypothesis was simple.
There was someone right next to me who likely knew the answer.
“Kayla, by any chance…”
As I grabbed Kayla’s shoulder to gauge the situation.
“…Yeah, that’s right.”
I realized there was no need to ask further.
Her shoulders trembling in fear, her face drained of all color to the point of pallor.
That was answer enough.
“Th-they’re out of their minds! Cut them down with the demons—!”
“Kill them! Kill them all!”
The knight captain’s order sent the situation spiraling into even greater chaos.
I watched the mayhem unfold while rapidly turning things over in my mind.
‘Killing them isn’t an option.’
Killing them might be the simplest choice available here, in a way.
All it required was treating those people as less than human and cutting them down.
But if I did that, I wasn’t sure I could face Kayla the same way afterward.
The same went for her.
In other words, I had to stop this situation somehow.
Of course.
Crunch!
“Argh! This bastard bit me…!”
“Die! Die!”
That wasn’t going to be easy.
The people of District 7 were attacking soldiers in a crazed frenzy, while demons kept pouring endlessly from the rift, swelling their numbers.
In a mess like this, I couldn’t just tell everyone to stop attacking without a plan.
So I needed a way to save the District 7 residents without our side taking casualties.
Fortunately, the decision came quickly.
“When I give the signal, everyone hit the deck! Uncle, look after Kayla!”
“What? Hit the deck? Hold on, top ranker! Where are you going right now!”
Clunk!
There was no time for detailed explanations.
Leaving Thompson’s shout behind, I dashed out of the outpost and searched for the knight captain.
He was right in the thick of it, furiously striking at demons and residents alike.
I immediately wrapped my body in electric magic.
Crackle!
The sensation of dormant muscles and nerves awakening all at once.
Maintaining that feeling, I launched myself forward.
Whoosh!
In an instant, I reached the knight captain and took out the demon he’d been aiming at.
Splat!
Squeeeal!
The punch, amplified by acceleration, sent the thing flying off tumbling through the air.
Confirming that much, I turned around to find the knight captain staring at me in disbelief.
“…And who might you be?”
“I’m Yoo Hanes, the 5th-circle mage assigned here.”
“A mage? What’s a mage doing up here? Fall back. We’ve got this.”
“No. Please hear me out first.”
“What do you have to say?”
“You need to stop the attack right now. Those are Asteron residents.”
“What?”
His surprise was fleeting.
The knight captain quickly schooled his face into neutrality and flicked the blood from his sword.
Drip, drip!
Staring at his now-clean blade, he muttered.
“…So that’s how it is. They’re the missing residents of District 7.”
The way he grasped it immediately suggested he’d suspected as much already.
That would make talking to him much easier.
However.
What followed was anything but welcome.
The knight captain met my eyes squarely and spoke.
“Thanks. Now I can act without hesitation.”
“…Pardon?”
“No need to feel guilty about cutting down trash like that, right?”
Damn.
It was the worst-case scenario I’d feared.
With the knight captain refusing to see District 7’s people as human at all.
‘That’s why I deliberately called them Asteron residents instead of District 7 ones…’
Of all people, he had to be this sharp.
No helping it now.
I’d have to persuade him somehow.
“If you save these people, it’ll definitely count as major merit.”
“Saving trash like this as merit? You’d be lucky not to get cursed out.”
“Your honor will rise too. Word will spread across all of Asteron that you saved District 7’s people. Isn’t honor the most important thing in knighthood?”
“Knighthood’s first principle is upholding justice against evil. Honor doesn’t rank above that.”
“You call harming people justice?”
“Do they look human to you? They’re unambiguous evil.”
“…”
How long did that back-and-forth last?
“They’ve been hit by Asmodeus’s power. Saving them might give us a clue to countering that power.”
“Asmodeus?”
For the first time, the knight captain—who’d been ignoring me—faltered.
The idea of it helping against the legion commander’s ability must have piqued his interest.
Seizing the moment, I pressed on.
“Yes. Corrupting minds is Asmodeus’s specialty. And this war won’t end quickly.”
“Go on.”
“Soon enough, Asmodeus itself will show up. And what it’ll do… is obvious. A wide-area mental attack. Just like what happened to District 7’s people. What do you think happens then?”
I posed the question, then glanced at the battlefield.
The knight captain followed my gaze.
“Arrrgh!”
“Get lost! I said get lost!”
The battlefield remained a madhouse.
Soldiers and residents grappling, biting, clawing at each other.
The heavily armored soldiers were winning most clashes, but here and there, some were starting to fall to sheer numbers.
“Urk, this bastard’s going for my throat…!”
The key point was that this was just from District 7’s residents.
If knights or the captain’s level got mixed in?
The outcome would be far more gruesome.
Did the knight captain sense it too?
“It does look dangerous, for sure.”
He nodded slightly, as if conceding the point.
I drove it home without missing a beat.
“We need to prepare for that variable. These residents might be the key.”
“You want to capture them alive?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Hmm.”
The knight captain mulled it over, lips pursed.
Then he shook his head with a decisive expression.
“I get the intent, but we can’t afford that luxury now. One slip, and our forces take heavy losses.”
Fair point.
If capturing residents led to injuries on our side, it’d be a disaster worse than the gain.
But.
“Don’t worry about that. I have a way.”
If there was any risk, I wouldn’t have brought it up.
“A way?”
“Yes. My magic can neutralize the demons and residents temporarily. Capture them then, and there’ll be no issues.”
“…Your magic can do that?”
“Trust me.”
The knight captain pursed his lips again.
Seemed like an unconscious habit when thinking…
Soon enough.
“Fine. Do what you want. But if this goes wrong, you take responsibility.”
Finally, a positive response.
Sure, the weight of responsibility made my shoulders sag a bit, but it was still a success.
“Yes, I’ll take responsibility.”
I nodded once, then laid out the detailed plan to the knight captain.
By the time the briefing wrapped up.
“Cease attack! Everyone to defensive formation!”
The knight captain bellowed the order to halt in a thunderous voice.
Now we were launching the operation in earnest.
Operation: Capture District 7 Residents Alive.
Clack, clack, clack!
At his command, soldiers raised massive tower shields and formed a line.
“Hold! Hold the line!”
“Don’t let a single demon through!”
Packed so tight it left no gaps—like a wall of men.
My admiration was brief; I ducked behind the shields and began gathering mana.
Mobilizing every mana-related artifact: the black-market belt, armbands, everything.
Whoooosh!
Mana surged out like floodgates opening wide.
No need to worry.
It was refilling fast enough to keep up.
-Mana regeneration increases by 300%.
Mana orbs formed above my outstretched palms.
Drawing on inexhaustible mana, I expanded them endlessly.
Whoom! Whoom! Whoom!
The orbs grew larger with every passing second.
What I was attempting now was a new technique unlocked upon reaching 5th circle.
In other words, a super-sized casting spell, amplified by the [Holy Staff]—something only 6th circle or higher could normally wield.
Meaning utmost concentration was required.
‘Stay calm.’
Mindful that District 7 residents’ lives hung on me, I steadily poured in mana.
Bigger. Even bigger.
“What’s that mage doing?”
“What size is that…!”
“That’s not any magic I know.”
The orb soon surpassed the rift’s size.
Only then did I stop injecting mana.
“This should do…”
It was enough.
To neutralize the thousands of demons before me.
“Hup.”
Steadying my wobbling body, I took a deep breath.
Then I bellowed at the top of my lungs in a voice I’d never used before.
“Everyone, hit the deck—!”
That was the moment.
The world turned white.
Fwoooosh!
Ultra-large casting spells activate in myriad ways, depending on the caster’s intent.
Dropping mana-forged meteors, flash-freezing all life around, drastically altering temperatures to change the weather—truly limitless, if skill allowed.
And what I’d cast was an ultra-large casting spell imbued with light attribute.
Near-zero destructive power, but capable of neutralizing enemies across a vast area.
In simple terms.
‘Ultra-large flashbang.’
An intense pure-white light blanketed the entire battlefield.
Even prone with eyes shut and hands shielding my face, I could feel it.
I’d cast it myself and prepared fully—imagine the others.
Their eyes would be blinded.
Yeah, just like those guys.
Kieeeek!
Grrr! Grroooowl!
Seized by the overwhelming flash, demons clutched their eyes.
And chaos erupted.
Some twisted in agony, others spun in circles, some charged blindly into walls.
A total circus.
Proof their vision was out.
The residents were no different.
“M-my eyes…!”
“I can’t see! I can’t see!”
They’d been biting allies moments ago; now they just flailed in panic.
Naturally, I glanced toward the knight captain—and our eyes met.
I gave a cautious nod.
He shouted.
“Cut down every last demon! Capture the humans alive!”
“Raaah!”
The soldiers roared and surged forward.
Now, they had nothing to fear.