Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: Chapter 29 Paradise and Hell (1)
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1
Ominous war clouds hung over every corner of the continent.
The seven kingdoms, born from the splintering of a single empire, were never on particularly good terms with one another. Tension always simmered along their borders.
Even so, after the initial chaos of their formation, large-scale wars had become exceedingly rare. There were only minor border skirmishes.
But now, with the Kingdom of Bajes and the Kingdom of Ieros amassing massive armies along their border in a powder-keg atmosphere... similar situations were unfolding across the continent.
The Yudresk royal family had long harbored bad blood with the Garan royal family over the legitimacy of their ancient lineage claims. They had clashed most fiercely during the early chaotic period.
As such, their border disputes were always intense. But just as members of the Guardian Shadow embedded in both nations had politically maneuvered toward a three-year truce... a prince dispatched as an envoy by the Garan royal family was assassinated, igniting the flames of war.
In the Dai Ran Kingdom, the king had been poisoned to death without clearly naming a successor. Signs of civil war were beginning to emerge.
Tensions between the Lurein Kingdom and the Laros Kingdom had reached a boiling point due to recent events.
In the midst of all this, Dragon Princess Arietta received a request for reinforcements from the Western Border Guard and marched out.
'The Great Alliance of Darkness is being revived.'
...That was the urgent dispatch from the Western Border Guard.
Just as the mutant orc Dakan had formed the Great Alliance of Darkness some thirty years prior, an enormous horde of demonic beasts had assaulted the Western Border Guard. They were somehow holding out by relying on the fortress for now, but unless reinforcements arrived swiftly, it would fall—that was their plea.
The fortress where the Western Border Guard was stationed had been sufficiently reinforced after the Great Alliance of Darkness. But this time, a variable beyond their calculations had appeared.
A dragon.
For some reason, a water dragon that had dwelled in a deep forest lake had attacked the fortress. They had repelled it after fierce combat, but the fortress facilities had suffered heavy damage, and the guard's forces had taken massive losses as well.
And then the large-scale demonic beast assault had come.
"Is that the one?"
Arietta climbed to the top of the fortress walls and observed the enemy.
The royal family had dispatched two hundred troops under her command, granting her authority over reinforcements gathered from various regions. The forces that had arrived at the Western Border Fortress with her numbered over a thousand.
These were merely the vanguard, and the royal family was assembling additional reinforcements. But until they arrived, holding off an army of over ten thousand demonic beasts against the battered fortress walls would be a trial by fire.
"It's so huge, I can hardly believe it's really an orc."
At Arietta's side was Zail. Before long, he had fully settled into the role of her adjutant.
He continued.
"Just as Azel described."
"Their tactics with the dragon, and all this being the work of Dragon Demon Worshippers..."
Arietta was dumbfounded.
The war clouds over the continent were the doing of the Duke of the Dark Snowfields.
Arietta and Zail knew this. While learning techniques from Azel and Kairen in the Tarantos Duchy, they had been taught much about the Dragon Demon Worshippers.
Azel had said:
'Orcs with exceptional physiques, intelligence rivaling humans, the charisma to subjugate other demonic beasts, and mana force comparable to Dragon Demon Hybrids were quite common during the Dragon Emperor War. They were created via forbidden black magic arts by the Dragon Demon King’s army to command demonic beasts. The forbidden art that birthed such beings was presumed to be the work of Aunsor...'
Azel had judged that the mutant orc Laura had deployed in the Baden County to lure in Seiga was also born from this forbidden art.
But according to the intelligence gathered here, this mutant orc called Paikan seemed to possess power surpassing even the old Dakan. It wasn't limited to flaunting its prowess by easily crushing the Western Border Guard's knights on the battlefield...
Shiii... Kwang!
An explosion rocked beneath Arietta's feet, shaking the walls.
It was an impact reminiscent of high-tier magecraft. Astonishingly, it had been caused by a single arrow.
"An orc who's a demonic archer? I'm speechless."
Arietta clicked her tongue.
Incredibly, Paikan could imbue arrows with mana force rivaling that of a Dragon Demon Hybrid. Wielding a massive bow too large for any human, it still achieved remarkable accuracy, and its destructive power on impact matched high-tier spells.
It had already sniped dozens of soldiers to death. To the Western Border Guard, it was a nightmare incarnate.
Shiii... Boom!
Another arrow flew in.
But this time, it detonated in midair before reaching the wall. Arietta had intercepted the shot aimed at her from afar.
Paikan's eyes changed. Instead of targeting Arietta, it aimed at other points on the wall and loosed arrows in rapid succession.
Boom! Pop! Pwoom!
But it was futile. Aside from the first shot, all were intercepted before striking the wall.
Arietta seemed to read Paikan's mind. The instant it nocked an arrow at a new point, she appeared there via Flash Step, unleashing Dragon Spirit Art to intercept it. And then...
"Pierce through the peculiar darkness!"
With a spirit chant-infused cry, pure white flash erupted from the sword she thrust into empty space. Paikan cried out in shock, discarding his bow and drawing his sword.
Kwaaaaa!
Incredibly, her attack reached over a hundred meters away.
The old Arietta could never have done this. Her skills had dramatically improved after learning forgotten forbidden arts from Azel.
"As expected. I figured you wouldn't just sit still."
Arietta murmured coldly with a smile. The next moment, the enraged Paikan charged from beyond the explosion.
"Grar! You insolent whelp!"
Paikan climbed onto an ogre below the wall. At his command, the ogre seized him and hurled him toward the top of the wall.
A feat possible only with the ogre's massive frame and superhuman strength. But Arietta wasn't startled in the least.
Clang!
Paikan's enormous sword clashed against Arietta's pristine white blade. Paikan was stunned. She had effortlessly deflected his powerful downward strike, leveraging the momentum of his leap.
It wasn't due to Arietta's raw strength. The Dragon Demon mana force concentrated at the point of impact had erupted in explosive repulsion, flinging him back.
"Not bad."
But Paikan fluidly redirected the repulsion and landed atop the wall. Seeing this, Arietta broke into a cold sweat.
'Unbelievable skill for an orc. My former self would have struggled against it.'
She could tell from that single clash. Paikan possessed martial prowess surpassing her old self.
Arietta declared.
"Orc, curse your overconfidence in your own power. I'll end the 2nd Great Alliance of Darkness right here."
"Hmph! You frail wench, flapping your tongue beyond your station! I'll sever your head and fling open the gates in one stroke!"
Paikan spoke human tongue fluently as he clashed with Arietta once more.
Thus, the battle at the Western Border Fortress, where the 2nd Great Alliance of Darkness had arrived, intensified further.
2
Azel's group, having fled from Reygus, headed east.
Though Azel had lost to Reygus, the enemy had lost its combat capability as well. The problem was their reinforcements. The moment Reygus linked up with them, pursuit to finish off the wounded Azel group would begin—it was inevitable.
Yet despite the urgency, the group couldn't move as swiftly as they'd hoped.
Having fought a brutal battle, everyone was an exhausted wounded soldier. With Azel hovering between life and death, their mobility was severely limited.
After about an hour of travel, the group decided to administer emergency treatment and rest.
Yuren, who had carried Azel here via magic with minimal jostling, carefully laid him on the ground.
"Alright then..."
Yuren glanced at Laura.
"I'll go first. You meditate or something."
"Yeah."
Laura nodded.
It was fortunate that their group included two high-tier black mages. Without a healer, only Yuren and Laura could treat their wounds.
"Use this healing potion. Only two vials left."
Kairen handed Yuren a healing potion from within his armor. He'd had more originally, but some had shattered during the battle.
Yuren asked.
"Everyone's injured. Shouldn't you use it?"
"Better to use it on the most critical case."
"I suppose, but..."
"Use it."
Kairen spoke firmly and approached Leticia.
"We'll rest in shifts too. Meditate first."
"Got it."
Leticia obeyed without protest. Her wounds were the more severe of the two.
Yuren scratched his head, uncorked the vial, and poured the potion bit by bit onto Azel's wounds.
"Urgh..."
Azel groaned unconsciously. The potion's disinfectant effect must have stung on contact.
But he showed no signs of regaining consciousness. Yuren meticulously examined the wounds, took a deep breath.
"Let's see..."
Yuren placed one hand against a sturdy tree and the other on Azel's chest as he lay on the ground. Soon, an ominous aura rose from his body, and the tree's condition began changing rapidly.
Crackle...
The tree, already thicker than Yuren by double and taller by triple, withered at accelerating speed. Its lush leaves shriveled and fell en masse, branches turning barren.
The black magic was plundering the tree's life force.
Yuren used a portion to invigorate his own body, pouring the rest into Azel.
Even high-tier black mages lacked the delicate healing arts of true healers. At best, they maximized bodily survival through life force plundering, granting unnatural regeneration.
Such treatment demanded utmost precision. It was far less effective on others than on oneself, and far riskier. Too much force could collapse the body entirely rather than heal it.
"As expected... Tree life force yields minimal healing."
"Better to fetch something more substantial?"
"If the Duke leaves his post, we'll struggle against enemy ambushes. Let's ask them."
Yuren pointed to the pale, misty figures prowling the surroundings.