Chapter 78
Chapter 78
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Fraudulent Ability (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Flash—
A dazzling radiance struck the undead.
It was holy magic targeting the banshees and specters floating in the sky.
Even in broad daylight, the glow was bright enough to illuminate the heavens.
The source of that holy power was the Pope of the era.
"Clearing a path is our top priority. Can you do it?"
Crack.
Aluerd, having smashed a skeleton's head, shouted.
"We receive Your Holiness's command!"
A blinding light flowed down the blade of his sword.
Unlike an aura blade, it exuded a noble aura.
It hardly looked like a shape meant for cleaving through foes.
But to the undead, nothing could be more lethal.
Slash—
Aluerd's sword cleaved the skeleton's waist.
It was swift and sharp swordsmanship that allowed no room for resistance.
"Paladins, follow me! Priests, I ask for support from the rear guard!"
The sky began filling with undead once more.
Under the priests' holy magic, the paladins swiftly traversed the mountain.
"For Illia..."
Aluerd, about to shout vigorously, closed his mouth and steadied his breath.
It was a battle cry he would have shouted without hesitation in the past.
But now, it felt strangely awkward.
It was because of all he had felt while following Chris around.
Hadn't he seen them prioritizing their own desires over serving the god?
The path they should follow was not for the god, but one of footprints.
Aluerd shouted once more.
"Follow Illia's will!"
Thud—
The paladins stomped in unison and raised their shields.
Boom—
Magic exploded around them.
Withstanding the shockwaves, they charged into the flames.
Undead within blocked their path.
"Clear the way!"
Aluerd, leading the charge, had skin flushed red-hot.
The flames had seeped into his armor, leaving burns.
"Look straight ahead and run! Sir Aluerd!"
Light poured from the hand of a paladin following closely behind, reaching Aluerd.
His scorching skin began returning to normal.
Slash—
Crack!
Swords sliced through undead, and shields smashed them.
Boom—
Magic exploded nearby, engulfing the paladins in flames, but none stopped.
As long as their strength held, holy power would heal them.
All they had to endure in their advance was pain.
For those walking the path of the god, even pain was a lesson.
"If we endure the pain, we can advance...!"
"Draw forth your holy power!"
Suddenly, Aluerd's eyes sharpened on one spot.
Truly insidious wretches.
Plotting schemes while hiding during battle.
Whoosh—
Aluerd's form shot toward that spot.
Boom—
Roar!
His body, warped by the flames, met the light and regained its shape.
Pain from cooking flesh was beneath notice.
Following Illia's path had always been called a path of austerity.
"Reveal yourselves!"
The necromancer hiding in the tree, concealed by magic, spat in shock.
"Have you ever seen such monstrous bastards...!"
What human in the world charges into flames?
The magic was meant to burn them alive, not let them punch through like this.
Walking through fire was not part of the plan.
"You brutish fools! Now I see why you're called zealots!"
They said that at the invocation of a god's name, they threw themselves in without regard for fire or water.
The necromancer's hand, about to launch magic at Aluerd, froze.
He could no longer move it.
His head was already falling toward the ground.
Thud.
Crack—
The head hit the ground and shattered underfoot.
"How can blood be the same yet so filthy? That friend's blood was noble."
The owner of the foot was Parmon.
Slash—
Slice—
Thud—
A sword moving at invisible speeds.
Each time Parmon's form vanished, a necromancer's head rolled to the ground.
"Eek...!"
The lone remaining necromancer cast a fireball, but it dispersed and vanished.
The work of an old man who appeared behind Parmon.
"Fire magic is used like this, young one."
Roar—
"Heuuk...!"
The necromancer's body was instantly engulfed in flames and began burning away.
Those flames would not extinguish until it was utterly gone.
"Ramon, more death knights are descending. The knights there are already facing three!"
As Closel's words ended, Parmon's form crossed the ground.
The knights battling the death knights were the ones he had brought.
Descendants of comrades he had fought with long ago.
Sensing their state, Parmon poured strength into his legs and kicked off the ground.
Clang—
The knights' bodies were covered in wounds.
Scars beneath burn marks.
Wounds that hadn't fully healed and had festered.
Most weren't from here, but injuries from the castle.
Without holy power treatment, their conditions would have been far worse.
Grind—
Four knights combined their efforts against a death knight, but it was insufficient.
No matter how they stabbed or wounded it, the death knight wouldn't fall.
Instead, they took damage with every attack.
Clang—
Resolve filled the eyes of a knight who blocked a sword.
An opening at the death knight's neck.
'Now!'
Swoosh—
But the full-force strike was futilely blocked.
The death knight's arm had swatted the sword.
Clang—
The blade snapped in two and floated in the air.
In that instant, time seemed to slow for the knight.
'A broken sword, of all things...'
What an ill-fated coincidence.
To have the nickname he'd carried all his life be the last sight in his final moments.
Pierce—
The death knight's sword impaled the knight's gut and protruded from his back.
"Hup!"
The knight smiled and gripped the sword in his belly with both hands.
"I'll take you with me!"
"Bilzen!!"
Crack!
His comrades' swords instantly shredded the death knight.
"Hurry and help the others!"
Bilzen, clutching his gut, shouted.
But the situation was bleak.
Two more death knights had appeared.
"Splendid, without equal."
Bilzen's head turned toward the voice behind him.
"...Lord Parmon!"
"Bilzen, you resemble your grandfather perfectly. In face and actions alike."
The broken sword slipped from Bilzen's hand.
In its place was the sword Parmon had been wielding.
"Do you know why I brought you here?"
Step.
Parmon raised his sword before Bilzen's eyes.
"Your grandfather..."
Step.
"We! Pierced enemies even with broken swords."
Parmon charged and swung.
A sword without even an aura blade.
A shortened blade less than half its length.
Whoosh—
Parmon dove into the oncoming attack and thrust into the death knight's neck.
Crack—
"...!"
The knight's eyes widened in astonishment.
Parmon's movement matched exactly what he had intended.
The death knight's head fell, emitting a small, sorrowful cry.
"Countless times, this swordsmanship severed enemies' necks."
"...I will remember."
Bilzen's vision blurred.
Was it the severe injury? Had he lost too much blood?
Bilzen knew better than anyone that this was his final moment.
It was regrettable.
He could have severed the enemy's neck too...
"Don't mistake it. You're not dying."
"...?"
"They said you won't die young. Something about a long life."
As Parmon leaped at another death knight, someone lifted Bilzen from behind.
"You are...?"
"A soldier from the Nordin Earldom."
The soldier rummaged in his bosom and pulled out a small vial.
A potion.
What a strange thing.
For a mere soldier to carry such a precious potion.
The soldier poured the potion on Bilzen's wound and spoke.
"Sir Chris said I would be someone's benefactor today."
"...Ha."
"He firmly handed me this potion he'd obtained from somewhere."
The odd man who carried a saint around.
Even after seeing him perform unbelievable feats, doubt lingered in one corner.
How could he save someone in the midst of war?
Yet it had come like this.
Sizzle—
A stinging pain spread from his gut, and Bilzen's vision normalized.
"No time for this. Hurry to the battle...!"
Before his words finished, a transparent barrier enveloped Bilzen and the soldier.
Boom—
Magic passed by, and a golden-haired elder appeared in their view.
"Flames will soon spread here. What are you waiting for? Move!"
Black smoke was already rising around them.
The hot heat was only natural.
"The elves will come. Hold out until then."
Closel's gaze turned to the rear they had come from.
"Undead in the back too. We'll be surrounded soon."