Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Cheat-like Ability (4)
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A crimson blaze was engulfing an entire tree.
The sight of undead staggering out from between the flames was utterly gruesome.
"Where is Jerolt?"
The knight standing guard beside Count Nordin smiled bitterly at his question.
"We haven't seen him since earlier."
"..."
"It seems he upheld his honor."
He upheld his honor.
That carefully worded phrase meant the knight had met his end in service to his lord.
Count Nordin paused his sword swing and turned his head to the side.
This was the knight who had stood by his side ever since he had earned his count's title.
Knight Heinz.
His face and body were covered in burn scars from the flames.
The beard he had so meticulously groomed was charred and curled, and half his face was twisted and drenched in blood.
And his body?
One of his two arms, needed to wield the sword, was already gone.
"Forgive me for dragging a fool of a lord like me along."
Heinz's sword, infused with aura, cleaved through a specter.
The aura was not particularly sharp, but it was more than enough to protect his lord.
"Flames surround us on all sides. Please retreat, my lord."
As he said, the situation here was spiraling into the worst possible scenario.
This was the rearmost position of the forces climbing the mountain.
Count Nordin had led his knights here to ensure the main force wouldn't be encircled.
It hadn't been part of the original plan.
But when did war ever go exactly according to plan?
"If we break out of here, the troops atop the mountain will be completely surrounded."
"..."
"The fire will die out eventually. We must secure the retreat path, mustn't we?"
The elves would arrive soon.
Holding this path and handing it over to them.
That was what Count Nordin considered the best course of action.
"The knights you led here number fifty, my lord. And you've saved thousands of troops."
"We're earning merits before we die."
"I'll lend a hand to heighten your achievements, my lord."
Heinz reached up habitually to stroke his beard, then smiled bitterly.
He no longer had the arm to do so.
Having slain two Death Knights, he didn't regret losing the arm.
Count Nordin chided Heinz with a jest.
"You should lend both hands. How rude of you."
"Heh heh, are you looking down on me for missing one arm?"
A chuckle escaped.
For a conversation before death, it was remarkably lighthearted.
They would be steadfast companions in their final moments.
The count readjusted his grip on his sword and asked,
"Does it hurt badly?"
The reply was concise and clear.
"Endurance and restraint are the knight's foremost virtues."
"You've learned well."
The surviving knights gathered behind the count.
Over thirty at a glance.
Having survived without the mages' aid, they were the elite of the elite.
Eye contact passed between Heinz and the knights.
No words were needed; they all shared the same resolve.
"My lord, forgive our impertinence."
"Hm?"
Heinz's hand struck the back of Count Nordin's head like lightning.
Thwack!
Thud.
A clean strike without hesitation.
Even before this act tantamount to treason, the knights did not waver.
"Youngest."
"Yes, Captain!"
"Escort the lord."
The knight called the youngest hoisted Count Nordin onto his back.
"We offer our lives."
"The rest of you, follow me and hold this position!"
Thud!
He flinched.
"What in the world is..."
A soldier who had lost consciousness awoke.
He had been bewitched by a banshee and walked into the flames.
"How...?"
Looking down at his hand clutching something, the soldier realized.
It was the talisman Chris had given him.
A comrade following behind clutched his crumpled armor.
"You survived too, eh?"
That soldier had also received a divination from Chris the night before.
He had been told his chest might be pierced, so to wear thick armor.
"I have no idea how this is possible."
He was a veteran who had experienced the Continental War in his youth.
His breastplate was bent out of shape.
Had he worn his usual armor, his chest would have been run through, killing him instantly.
This mystical experience wasn't unique to him.
Similar incidents were happening everywhere.
"He told me to stick close to this guy."
"We saved each other."
Spear-wielding soldiers.
They were a perfect match for one another.
The ways they survived varied wildly.
"The explosion missed me."
It sounded absurd.
How could a mere foot soldier dodge a magic circle's explosion?
This soldier had received this divination from Chris the day before.
'Hesitate once before charging in impulsively. That alone will completely change your luck—for the better, a great fortune.'
And it had come true.
A moment's hesitation before charging.
The spot he'd aimed for exploded without fail.
Later, people even traveled with him for protection.
"Hand misfortune, was it? He told me to bring a spare weapon."
Following that, he had climbed with his spear and a small axe.
Astoundingly, the fortune came true.
His spear snapped under repeated attacks.
Without the axe, he would have died then.
"I heard on the way up—the nobles are in similar straits."
"That guy was told he'd get hurt but not die, and that's exactly it!"
Count Philad, ascending from the east.
He pressed on, bewildered by the unexpected situations.
Most territories trained their soldiers.
Count Philad's domain had a particularly rigorous system.
A master of military tactics, he had drilled them in various scenarios.
And now, those trainings were unfolding flawlessly in this unfamiliar mountain.
"My lord! There's a side path to the right! Looks like one the herbalists used."
"Even if we take it, we can't move many troops through, can we?"
"Trees are felled at intervals! Perfect for advancing in formation!"
They had trained extensively for mountain warfare.
Oddly, the terrain matched the training grounds perfectly.
The rugged mountains worked to their advantage.
One could tell from how readily the soldiers took their positions.
"At this rate, we'll break through to the summit in no time!"
"Order the troops to advance immediately!"
Countless ways to fight while climbing against the undead came to mind.
Exploiting the terrain here would yield advantageous positions galore.
"Several tangles in the limbs, was it..."
To think it would manifest like this.
As the count moved to seize a favorable spot, a voice echoed in his mind.
'Beware the necromancer's magic. You might find yourself at a loss against the undead, my lord.'
He froze.
"Halt the troops! There might be an ambush there! We'll go around further."
Knights and soldiers changed direction on command.
Away from the path they had intended.
An anomaly occurred soon after.
"N-Necromancers and undead in large numbers ahead! They're turning toward the vanguard!"
The necromancers, realizing their trap was pointless, seemed to have shifted tactics.
Preferring to join the vanguard rather than waste their forces.
"...If Count Nordin had been at the front, it would've been dangerous."
Count Keveman, positioned on the opposite side, faced a similar predicament.
He hadn't truly believed in Chris's divination.
But the unfolding reality left him no choice.
Just as foretold, he had injured his left arm.
"...Unheard of."
Easily swayed by temptation.
Avoid impulsive actions.
Those words lingered in his mind.
"Might lose everyone around you."
The count shook his head and changed his thinking.
He began to advance with utmost caution.
"Follow the plan to the letter. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"How goes the soul harvest?"
"W-Well..."
The responding necromancer stammered.
And rightly so—the yield of sacrifices was far short of expectations.
The reason was clear.
The attackers weren't dying in nearly the numbers anticipated.
The necromancer receiving the report grimaced hideously.
"Can't you fools do anything right?"
The necromancer in charge of sacrifices here had his own grievances.
The pope suddenly arriving with holy knights hadn't been in the plan.
And their tactics and strategies were baffling in many ways.
"Th-They're avoiding the traps in ways we can't understand."
The installed traps and magic circles were being systematically dismantled.
Even the encirclement strategy was failing one after another, as if they knew.
It was as if the humans knew every detail of their plans.
"At this rate, we can't proceed as planned."
"..."
"Activate all magic circles and set everything ablaze. We need to kill them all to meet the sacrifice quota."
"Yes!"
The necromancer paused in thought before speaking.
"Even decades ago, they thwarted our plans like this."
Those bearing the names Klaus and Astor.
Truth be told, that was why he had come here.
Though his fellow necromancer had died en route, opportunity remained.
"All necromancers 6th Circle and above, step forward. We'll crush them individually."
No matter how skilled they were, they couldn't handle a coordinated assault.
And preparations for that had been thorough.
But his plan crumbled utterly at the next report.
"Those two are sticking together more closely than we thought...! Even the pope is moving with them!"
"...Does that even make sense?"
Why would a Sword Master and archmage travel together?
And with the pope, no less? It defied logic.
Fighting separately would be far more efficient.
Having powerhouses clustered together was a waste of force.
They surely knew that.
"We need to separate them."
If he could manage that, it would be done.
As he moved to act, he halted.
An incomprehensible sight entered his eyes.
"The... sky..."
Clouds were turning black.
The clear weather had shifted abruptly.
Reports poured in.
"Holy knights approaching at high speed!"
The path here was already blocked by fire.
Impassable flames.
"They're leaping into the flames bare-bodied! Next orders, quickly!"
"Damn...! Without divine power, they're nothing! Isolate and eliminate them..."
His words cut off.
At something he hadn't even considered.
"E-Elves! The fires on the blocked path are going out...!"
The necromancer bellowed in fury.
"Why the hell are elves showing up here?!"