Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: The Lord's Final Charge
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Boom—!
Mohiaddin flinched at the explosion echoing from far away.
How many times had it been now?
Ever since Seo Woo-jin had stepped out to block the attacks, these blasts had been ringing out nonstop.
The hero's power, known only by rumor, truly lived up to the hype.
If he and his knights had been in that spot?
*We wouldn't have lasted even a second before getting wiped out.*
Mohiaddin felt a deep sense of helplessness at the fact that there was nothing he could do.
"Lord!"
That was when he spotted one of his knights racing toward him.
It was the one assigned to observe the battle between the hero and the she-dragon.
The knight's frantic pace suggested something had gone wrong.
"What is it?"
Mohiaddin tensed up as well but kept his composure and asked carefully.
"Th-the hero...!"
The knight stammered, his face drained of color.
"Calm down and report."
His heart pounded fiercely.
The urgent expression, the ashen face.
And above all, the mention of the hero.
Mohiaddin suppressed the ominous feeling creeping up on him.
"I need to block the attacks."
"It's fine."
"Have the knights help the soldiers evacuate the citizens. That would be more helpful."
He recalled Seo Woo-jin speaking with such confidence.
Someone who carried himself like that wouldn't go down easily.
That was what Mohiaddin had believed.
But...
"The hero has fallen!"
The knight's report shattered his hopes.
He staggered—
Dizziness hit him.
He never imagined the hope for defending the city would vanish so fleetingly.
"H-how? No, never mind."
Mohiaddin shook his head, starting to ask how Seo Woo-jin had fallen.
That wasn't important right now.
"Gather the knights and soldiers. Everyone except the minimum needed for citizen evacuation—assemble at the east wall."
The knight realized what his lord was planning.
With such a resolute expression while giving the order, it would be stranger not to know.
But the knight did not defy him.
Even if it was like an egg striking a rock.
He was a knight, and he had never once dreamed of shirking his duty to protect the citizens and his lord.
"Understood!"
After saluting, the knight turned and raced back the way he came.
"...My lord."
One of the guarding knights behind him called out to Mohiaddin.
"Speak."
"You should flee while you still can."
His duty was to protect his lord, Mohiaddin.
Above all else.
To do that, they needed to leave the city immediately.
With even the hero—who had been their hope—dead, staying here meant certain doom.
But Mohiaddin shook his head.
"How could I abandon my city and run?"
"The situation is dire."
To a knight, Seo Woo-jin had been an unfathomable powerhouse.
Even that hero couldn't overcome the she-dragon and had lost his life.
A man meant to fight the Demon King had died in this remote backwater.
That alone showed how overwhelmingly powerful the she-dragon was.
Hundreds or thousands of them wouldn't stand a chance.
The knight didn't want to leave Mohiaddin in a place where death was assured.
"I know."
Did Mohiaddin want to die?
But he was the ruler and master of this city.
What lord in the world would abandon his land and people to flee first?
At least Mohiaddin wasn't like those rotten nobles.
He would never leave his subjects behind and run alone.
However...
"Could I ask one favor?"
At Mohiaddin's deeply somber voice, the knight bowed his head.
"Your command is enough."
Mohiaddin smiled faintly at his loyal knight and spoke.
"Take Rashid somewhere safe."
"My lord!"
The knight cried out.
It was disloyal, but he had no choice.
"I know. I know I'm in the wrong. But what can I do? My only son keeps weighing on my mind."
Mohiaddin's sole weakness.
He entrusted his son Rashid to him.
Even if he died, he sincerely hoped that boy would survive.
"I said my command is enough, so take it as such."
As if refusing further argument, Mohiaddin turned away.
Then he began walking slowly.
At the end of the direction he headed stood the east wall, still ablaze.
* * *
In the darkness.
In the abyss where nothing was visible, Seo Woo-jin realized.
*I'm dead.*
The sensation of the she-dragon's foot crushing him was still vivid.
But it didn't hurt as much as he'd expected.
The backlash from 'Celestial Wing' had been hundreds of times worse.
Had he died before he could even feel the pain?
If so, he was grateful.
A peaceful death like this might be a blessing.
*If only I hadn't gotten drunk that day.*
The day he agreed to this damned summoning.
If he hadn't touched alcohol, he wouldn't have died like this.
Well, regrets were pointless now.
*If I'd known, I would've just lived carefree.*
Struggling desperately to survive felt ridiculous now.
Hiding that he was the 'Demon King,' doing everything to avoid dying to those monster-like foes.
*Well, I brought some of this on myself.*
This death too.
If Rinar hadn't pickpocketed him.
If he'd been a bit more careful and retrieved the scroll first.
No, if he hadn't accepted the decoy role to begin with.
He wouldn't have died like this.
What could he do?
Amid the regrets, Seo Woo-jin felt a strange relief.
He no longer had to live in constant anxiety.
*Yeah, just like this...*
He could die peacefully.
That was when it happened.
[Hidden condition has been released.]
Red letters appeared in the darkness.
*Hidden condition?*
Was he not dead yet?
Or perhaps...
[Sealed skill ??? has been unlocked.]
More letters followed.
The skill '???' he'd had from the start.
The one whose nature and use he couldn't figure out—it was being unlocked.
Seo Woo-jin knew instinctively.
He was dead.
And that death was the 'hidden condition' the letters mentioned.
At the same time, the final letters appeared.
[Skill 『Demon King Transformation』 has been activated.]
Thump—
His stopped heart beat again.
Thump— Thump—
His pulverized body, with no trace left, began reforming.
Thump— Thump— Thump—
Scattered mana seeped in, filling his body, and viscous demonic energy expanded his size.
And finally.
Fwoooosh—!!
With a burst of black light, Seo Woo-jin 'descended.'
* * *
"Knights, form ranks!"
At Mohiaddin's shout, the mounted knights began arraying in a wedge formation.
A total of fifty knights.
Behind them, seven hundred soldiers lined up.
It was far too meager a force to fight the she-dragon.
They knew that better than anyone.
Their fear-filled faces showed it plainly.
But no one fled.
Even with certain death awaiting them, their resolve burned fiercer.
There was one reason.
At the forefront of the knights.
Their lord, Mohiaddin, stood there.
Seeing their lord charge ahead to confront the terror, they all steeled themselves for death.
"Advance."
No grand speeches.
No rallying cries to boost morale, no pleas demanding sacrifice.
Just one step toward the she-dragon.
Clop—
Mohiaddin's warhorse snorted and began trotting forward slowly.
The knights and soldiers followed behind.
The horse's speed gradually increased.
Shing—!
Mohiaddin drew his sword and raised it high toward the sky.
"For the Empire!"
"For His Imperial Majesty!"
Thud thud thud thud—!
With a massive tremor, they charged toward the she-dragon.
Did it sense their hostility?
The she-dragon's gaze turned to Mohiaddin.
Traces of a brutal fight scarred its body intensely.
One front leg was severed, its wings completely gone.
Only one eye remained, and black blood poured from its body like a waterfall.
*The hero did all he could.*
To inflict such wounds on a harbinger of doom.
Considering it hadn't fully matured, Seo Woo-jin had been unbelievably strong.
*Now it's up to us.*
Mohiaddin's grip tightened on his sword.
"Show them the grit of southerners!"
"Uwaaaah—!"
The knights roared.
Swords brimming with mana gleamed in the sunlight, radiating sharpness.
"Chaaarge!"
At Mohiaddin's scream-like command, the knights collided with the she-dragon.
Boom—!
They were flung away pathetically.
The she-dragon merely stood there, yet not a single scale was scratched as the knights crumbled helplessly.
Mohiaddin fell first.
Unable to withstand the rebound from his sword, he tumbled from his horse.
Knights followed, spewing blood as they hit the ground.
Just one strike.
And against a stationary foe at that.
Yet the knight order collapsed.
They couldn't even endure the mana emanating from the she-dragon's body.
*Ah...*
Lying on the ground, Mohiaddin looked up at the she-dragon in despair.
He hadn't expected victory, but he'd thought they could at least deal some damage.
The she-dragon didn't look that great either.
Yet his prized knights hadn't left a single mark.
*The hero was incredible.*
Seo Woo-jin, who had inflicted those wounds alone, seemed even more amazing now.
But that thought was fleeting.
All that remained was death.
[Worthless pests.]
Boredom filled the she-dragon's remaining eye.
Just as it said, they seemed utterly valueless.
[The price for deceiving me will not be light.]
It had no intention of forgiving the vermin that woke it before its time.
It would kill them and raze that pathetic city beyond.
That was the she-dragon's thought.
[Die and be gone.]
As death filled the she-dragon's maw, an irresistible killing intent rained down on them.
Just that made their hearts feel like they would stop.
Its power could bring death to ordinary humans with mere intent.
But as if it saw no value in such ability, the she-dragon seemed content to simply crush them underfoot.
"Save the lord!"
"Block it! Don't let it step! Block it with your bodies if you have to!"
The arriving soldiers charged in, but it was futile.
The she-dragon's front foot, planted on the ground, rose to trample them.
And Mohiaddin could see it.
The 'black presence' beneath that foot.