Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: 45. The Day the Sky Path Opens (3)
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The first to notice the anomaly were the Dotrin mages.
"Th-this is..."
"My God..."
The mages, who rarely ever left their tents, burst out all at once. As if by prior agreement, they all stared at the exact same spot. Black blotches were spreading across the sky. Like ink dissolving in water, the entire heavens quickly turned pitch black.
The mages trembled uncontrollably.
Mana from the entire world was surging wildly. Amid this unprecedented torrent of mana, the mages' minds grew hazy.
Rumble.
The thunderclouds let out a deafening roar.
Some of the mages jolted back to their senses. They hurried straight toward the command tent where the top brass were gathered.
"What is it?"
The commander asked with a hardened expression, seeing the mages' ashen faces.
"A-a sign of grand-scale magic!"
The mage screamed like it was a cry of despair, then added one more word.
"At minimum, a grand archmage has appeared on the battlefield...!"
Before he could even finish, the wide-eyed commander and knights burst out of the tent.
At that exact moment, a massive boom echoed.
Boom!
It sounded as if the sky was collapsing and the earth was caving in.
The knights stared blankly toward the western sky.
Thunderclouds blanketing the heavens unleashed dozens of lightning bolts without respite.
It was in the direction of the outpost.
The messenger dispatched with orders had returned.
His face was deathly pale, like a corpse, as he barely managed to deliver his report.
"It's... it's all burned to ashes. Nothing left but black cinders."
From the messenger's rambling words, the situation at the outpost became clear.
Collapsed palisades, tents engulfed in flames and charred black, and blackened corpses.
According to the messenger, the outpost had already become hell.
The commander immediately dispatched a search party.
But not a single survivor was found.
The outpost's eight knight orders and four elite legions had vanished without leaving even one survivor.
Forty percent of the defensive line's forces had evaporated overnight.
The commander, who had been frozen like stone, suddenly remembered the large-scale ambush operation he had forgotten in the chaos.
"At least half the troops must have left the base for the operation! We need to find them!"
And indeed, that was the case.
Some of the outpost forces out on the operation began returning to the main base where the command was.
But the commander and his staff couldn't feel even a shred of joy.
They learned from the survivors that the demon who had obliterated the outpost was moving while massacring allied troops.
The occasional thunderclaps confirmed their words were true.
Night deepened.
The number of returning survivors had dwindled significantly.
Just before dawn broke, one knight who had made it back alive sought out the command tent.
And he said,
"The captain of the Bail Mercenary Corps is still fighting!"
The dual-wield swordmaster was battling the demon.
He was buying time alone, preventing the demon from pursuing the retreating allies.
At his words, a few elderly men seated in the tent shot to their feet.
"I'll head out myself."
It was Burk Verten and the old knights.
"I've said something needless. It feels like I've pushed a promising young man into the jaws of death. Perhaps I misunderstood him. Either way, I feel responsible."
He buckled on his sword, suggesting the mercenary captain—who could have easily left long ago—had stayed in peril perhaps because of him.
"His contributions have been significant, but we can't send knights into danger for a single mercenary."
"I don't need help. I have no intention of endangering allied knights out of my own stubbornness."
As the commander opened his mouth to respond to the old man's death-defying resolve, someone flung open the tent flap and appeared.
"The former head of the Verten family has no need to court danger himself."
The command knights' eyes widened at the sudden arrival of the man.
To those knights, the man raised a single finger and pointed at the sky.
Screeech!
At that instant, the command tent shook as if it might fly away.
Roooaaar!
A beat later, the roar of something massive followed.
"The Sky Knights have begun their operations."
The man, Jin Katrin, flashed a grin.
Burk Verten bolted out of the tent like a madman. The old knights and commander followed behind.
Screeech!
Wyverns soared perilously close, nearly clipping the tent's banner.
"To think I'd live to see wyvern knights operating in formation..."
Burk Verten said in an agitated voice.
"You'll be seeing it often now."
Jin Katrin replied with a proud expression.
"And the enemy will see it even more."
He added one more line.
The enemies would soon fear the sky so much they could no longer enjoy its blue expanse.
The roles had reversed.
The Dotrin army was no longer the hunters. They had become the hunted beasts.
"Don't stop running. We're almost out of the swamp. Keep going, and we'll link up with the main force. Then we all survive."
The knight urged on the soldiers.
At that moment, a flashing light appeared above his head.
The knight looked at the others with a dazed expression. Identical orbs of light floated above the soldiers' heads as well.
In the dark forest, the brilliant glows were visible from afar.
The Imperial mages had finally pinpointed their positions and marked them.
"Damn it..."
The knight's face went blank.
Despair spread across the soldiers' faces.
"Don't give up—keep moving!"
Seeing his men's expressions, the knight forced some spirit into his voice and shouted.
"If the enemy shows, don't fight— just run!"
Despite his words, the knight gripped his sword tightly.
If the Imperials appeared, he planned to stay behind and buy time.
But there were things in the world that even iron resolve couldn't stop. This was exactly one of those cases.
Regrettably, it wasn't Imperial soldiers or knights who spotted their marks first.
It was the demon that had turned the swamp into hell.
Rumble.
The knight looked up.
Thick branches and leaves blocked the sky. But he could feel the monstrous energy gathering beyond them.
"Shit..."
He muttered, letting his sword droop.
That thing couldn't be stopped.
At that instant, the world flashed white.
The knight closed his eyes.
I'm dying here. That's what he thought.
Bang!
A massive boom rang out.
That was it.
No pain as expected, no looming death.
He cracked his eyes open.
Before him stood a man in utter disarray.
Clutching a sword brimming with searing light.
Crackle.
The light clinging to the blade writhed like a snake along its edge.
The man shook off his sword with a flick.
The unspent light scattered far ahead.
Crack.
A massive tree trunk was sliced clean. Flames erupted with a whoosh where the light had passed.
"That hurt like hell!"
A mage's mark floated above the shouting man's head.
Larger and brighter than anyone else's.
"What are you standing around for? Go! Get going!"
The man bellowed.
Only then did the knight snap to his senses and lead the soldiers away.
"What's your name? If I survive, I need to repay you!"
The knight called out just before leaving.
But the man didn't answer.
He simply glared at the sky, sword in hand.
"...!"
The knight had said something just before leaving, but I couldn't make it out.
Damn lightning strikes had probably ruptured my eardrums—sounds were muffled.
Riiiing.
All I could hear was that irritating tinnitus.
It wasn't just my ears.
My whole body was wrecked.
My armor had half-melted and fused to my skin, my hands shook uncontrollably.
Every breath felt like it was tearing my throat.
Yet I still couldn't leave the battlefield.
Joining allies with this mark hovering over my head would be insane.
It would bring that horrific lightning barrage down on the Dotrin main force.
I gritted my teeth and glared through the dense canopy at the clear patch of sky.
Thunderclouds were gathering again.
Their span was too vast to slip away.
Seeing the flickering light, I raised my main blade.
Flash!
Lightning crashed down on my head.
Rumble rumble.
My main blade devoured the bolt greedily.
The overflow energy coursed through my hand into my body.
"Hup!"
I circulated heart mana to expel it.
"Gah!"
But some lingered, and I ended up vomiting blood.
I stabbed Dusk into the ground and knelt against it.
"Huff, huff."
Panting, I glared at the sky.
This was truly the limit. A couple more strikes, and even with my blade offsetting the magic, my body wouldn't hold.
I rose, still glaring at the sky.
Then kicked off the ground.
After running awhile, dozens of light orbs clung to my head.
Each one a mage's beacon guiding spells and broadcasting my position everywhere.
Mana churned.
Enemies on all sides—east, west, south, north.
Only then did I realize I'd fallen into their trap.
It didn't make sense.
The vast swamp, so many enemies to face—yet they'd mobilized this many just for me?
Before I could grasp the situation, enemy spells rained down.
Flames flew, ice arrows surged.
I dodged, slashed, kept running.
Another massive energy built above my head.
Just before it coalesced into lightning, Imperials appeared.
The gathering energy dispersed in an instant.
Lucky.
If you ignored the hundreds of knights and dozens of mages encircling me—very fortunate.
Damn it.
"...!"
".... ....!"
Shouts rang from all directions.
But the tinnitus drowned them out—I had no clue what they were saying.
No need to hear anyway.
It was obvious.
Capture him. Kill him.
Standard battle cries.
I readjusted my grip and gauged the enemy forces surrounding me.
Seven paladins, two hundred knights. Twenty mages under heavy guard.
I let out a hollow laugh.
Fine, I'd avoided the tiger only to be swarmed by wolves—but there were way too many wolves.
"What the hell, so many?"
I readjusted my sword.
Dawn was breaking.
By now, word must have reached the Dotrin main force. I prayed they'd prepared countermeasures against this monster of an enemy.
If not, they couldn't hold the defensive line.
"Hoo."
I caught my breath. Eyes flashing, I sought an opening.
Then I noticed one side of the encirclement was particularly sloppy.
Maybe they'd left a gap on purpose so the cornered rat wouldn't bite the cat, or perhaps with this many knights, they figured catching me was a breeze and hadn't bothered tightening it.
Either way, I had no choice.
"....!"
As I plotted my escape in my head, two paladins and dozens of knights charged me.
"...!"
"What're you saying? Can't hear."
I shot back at the paladin drawing his sword and shouting. He immediately lunged, thrusting at me.
I blocked, dodged, slashed.
He blocked, dodged, counterattacked.
After a few exchanges, I swiftly thrust Dusk long.
As the paladin faltered with a pierced shoulder, I brought my main blade down.
Bam!
An aura blade from another sword intercepted, deflecting my strike.
The paladins had surrounded me before I knew it.
"Right. That's the Imperial way."
I spat and readjusted my grip.
My mind recalled a heroic poem to turn this situation.
Worst case, I'd use the Dragon King's Poem to break out.
But that was a last resort—I'd endure as long as I could.
I softly recited Golden Poem.
The leaking energy amid the crisis instantly gathered back inside.
My breathing steadied in a flash.
I stood Dusk upright and angled my main blade.
If I survived, I'd surely gain a new poem.
Battle spirit surged. Willpower welled up.
In that moment, a thought struck me.
Good thing I'm alone.
If Gunu, Adelia, or that Ilai bastard were here, it'd be a real disaster.
The thought made me flinch.
And I realized.
Something I'd never considered amid countless battlefields until today.
Maybe ignorance, maybe arrogance.
For the first time, I was contemplating my own death.
The moment I realized it, my main blade hummed and trembled.
A voice spoke in my mind.
Not the wastrel's voice. Not the occasional blade message.
But not entirely unfamiliar either.
It was...
[■■■!, ■■■!]