Chapter 279: translated
I Killed the Demon King. It Was a Mistake.
Chapter 279
Growoooooo!
Raven and Gloria stopped their camels at Drake's strange noise and looked toward the cliff of Sturungarden.
"...Drake has awakened."
Although the distance was quite far, Drake's magnificence reflected in the moonlight was impressive. Each time that massive body moved, the earth and sky vibrated, and startled beasts that had been sleeping fled in chaos.
Gloria's camel also refused to move forward anymore, its feet frozen in place.
"Kos, tell me. Did you really defeat such a brutish creature?"
Gloria's hand moved automatically to find a notepad.
It was Kos who had moved it.
[Hmm, I think it was much smaller than that one.]
"Of course. When you met that beast, it would have been only 20 years old."
Raven sent out a blue bird to quickly survey the situation.
Drake was using the two large horns on its wing joints to levitate scales and rocks with telekinesis to fight against the knights.
Surprisingly, the knights were inflicting wounds on Drake while deflecting the barrage of rocks and scales with their swords.
"It's the Ascension Knight Order."
"The Ascension Knight Order?"
Gloria had heard of the Ascension Knight Order.
They were Count Vex's personal knights and a traditional knight order that had existed since the beginning of the Vex family.
The Ascension Knight Order selected only 50 members and held annual competition tournaments where those ranking 1st through 40th could remain in the order, while the bottom 10 had to leave, a fierce competitive system.
As fierce as the competition was, they were known as a knight order with extraordinary pure martial powers, and were considered as honorable and powerful as the Dawn Knight Order that protected the Emperor or the Red Wing Knight Order of the Redfield family.
"If those guys are struggling, Drake must be stronger than I thought."
Raven had thoroughly witnessed the Ascension Knight Order's capabilities in the demon realm.
The true value of the Ascension Knight Order shines in chaotic battles. The swordsmanship taught to the Ascension Knight Order is the Vex family's style called 'Petal Cutting.'
It specializes in defending against all attacks that come within a certain space.
For example, during the demon realm war, Count Vex and the Ascension Knights alone blocked a Green Skin unit consisting of 1 Ogre and 10,000 Orcs.
Of course, the battlefield was a narrow canyon favorable to a small number, but the fact that just 51 people could block a horde of 10,000 Orcs was due to the extremely defensive swordsmanship taught to the Ascension Knights.
Just then, something strange caught the blue bird's eye. It was Rohan, clinging to Drake's back.
"Rohan is alive."
"What? How?"
"He's clinging to Drake's back."
Raven dismounted the camel almost jumping off.
"Let's go. We need to save Rohan before he dies."
***
Halschmidt, a veteran knight of the Ascension Knight Order, deflected all the flying scales and rocks. He had been an Ascension Knight for 10 years, and had lived as a knight serving the Count Vex family for 25 years.
During that time, Halschmidt had received sword training directly from Count Vex and took pride in being a member of the Vex family. Especially this swordsmanship, which proved he was a knight protecting the Vex family.
Falling Flower (Nakhwa)
Falling Flower was a swordsmanship that showed at once what the Vex family's swordsmanship pursued.
This technique, which could cut down all the petals falling abundantly under a cherry blossom tree, emphasized precision rather than speed.
At first glance, it might seem like merely swinging a sword quickly, but it wasn't about hitting the cherry blossom petals before they fell; the precision of cutting the petals accurately was far more important.
The most important thing for precision was sensation. And a wide field of vision was crucial for that. Halschmidt read the position and attack direction of all the scales and rocks pouring in from all directions.
Rough and wild as they were, to Halschmidt's eyes, they felt like cherry blossom petals. Halschmidt cut down all the cherry blossom petals. All the rocks and scales in every area his sword touched shattered, losing their will and falling. And then...
Shwaaaak!
Halschmidt cut out Drake's right eye.
Growoooooooooooooooh!
Drake couldn't regain its senses after suffering its first fatal wound.
"Now's the time! Press the attack!"
All the Ascension Knights were brave. They were knights who hadn't retreated a single step even in the face of 10,000 Green Skins rushing like violent waves. Halschmidt's blood boiled at the thought of hunting this vicious Drake with these proud knights. The horns on Drake's wing joints glowed red.
"Magic is coming! Prepare yourselves!"
Halschmidt and the other Ascension Knights prepared for Drake's magic. But it wasn't the kind of magic one could prepare for even if warned. Red mist began to flow from the holes in the horns. And the mist gathered as if it had its own will, forming red wings.
Growoooooooooooooh!
The wings soared upward and then flapped downward. Drake hadn't taken flight. But the red mist flowing from the wings rode the wind and instantly engulfed the knights. The knights covered their eyes to prevent dust from entering. And when they opened their eyes again, everything was covered in red mist and nothing could be seen.
"Gather here! Ascension Knights!"
When Halschmidt shouted, the Ascension Knights gathered toward the source of the sound. But only 8 out of 10 gathered. The remaining two, whether they were injured in battle or couldn't hear the call, were unknown. Halschmidt inhaled the red mist.
"Cough!"
He felt as if dust was filling his lungs. The other knights also began coughing after inhaling. They couldn't stop coughing even when they tried. Only then could Halschmidt realize that this mist was Drake's vicious magic he had heard about before.
"Hold your breath as long as possible and escape this mist! Here is...!"
Whoosh!
At that moment, scales and rocks flew through the mist without a sound. Halschmidt was startled and deflected the scales, but the other knights couldn't.
"Gak!"
One knight was suddenly hit by a flying rock and disappeared beyond the mist.
"Damn it! Fall back immediately!"
"What? What did you say?"
"I said fall back!"
"What?"
Halschmidt then felt his ears gradually becoming muffled as if submerged in water. Only Halschmidt's voice echoed quietly, and almost no other sounds could be heard. That's why he could only belatedly notice the rock flying from behind.
Thud!
A rock struck Halschmidt's back.
Thanks to his chest armor that covered his back, he could defend himself, but he couldn't prevent his body from being thrown forward.
Halschmidt quickly got up and checked his surroundings. There was no one around. Only red mist. Halschmidt felt terrible loneliness and fear simultaneously.
"Uaaaaaaah!"
Halschmidt dispelled fear and loneliness with a shout. And he frantically broke through the mist. Rocks and scales flew at him in the middle. Halschmidt swung his sword while repeatedly turning his head.
Tree Cutting.
Halschmidt shattered the huge rock flying toward him in one strike. He had to find the junior knights first. The Ascension Knights were too valuable to die in this desolate land.
They were knights who, even in death, should die honorably protecting Count Vex. They were humans who shouldn't die fighting mere lizards.
Just then, Halschmidt met flashing golden eyes.
Crack!
Drake opened its mouth toward Halschmidt.
An abyss of unknown depth unfolded before Halschmidt. The red mist was sucked into the abyss. It felt as if Halschmidt would also be drawn in by its inhalation.
Halschmidt knew exactly what it was preparing. The ultimate fire magic that all Drakes could use.
Breath.
"Uaaaaaaaaaah!"
Halschmidt charged toward the beast.
There was no way to avoid its breath. If he was going to die, he would at least cut off its tongue before going. Just as he was about to swing his sword toward it...
Flash!
Halschmidt's body moved.
Swoosh!
The sword cut through empty air. Halschmidt couldn't understand what was happening.
"----."
Halschmidt turned his head toward the voice coming from beside him. Next to him was a small girl with sparkling green eyes observing the world.
"......Raven."
A knight in red armor brushed past Halschmidt.
Flowing blonde hair. With eyes as clear and transparent as a winter lake, she was the knight Halschmidt had been tracking.
It was Gloria.
Gloria raised Flawless to the side and looked down. Below the cliff was Drake, spewing red mist.
"Can I cut that beast's neck?"
"With your current skill, it's impossible."
Raven prepared a One-Man Support magic for Gloria.
Gloria and Raven hadn't just been walking during the past few weeks in the wilderness. Raven continuously tested Gloria and was able to create a One-Man Support magic suitable for her.
"Just focus on breaking it."
"Yes. Understood."
Gloria's swordsmanship still lacked structure. She also had no clear philosophy about swordsmanship.
For Gloria, swordsmanship was merely a technique for cutting and blocking.
Casting One-Man Support magic on someone without a system and philosophy of swordsmanship is very dangerous.
It could interfere with Gloria's movements if the magic interpretation went wrong. Therefore, it wasn't right to cast One-Man Support magic on Gloria, but Raven found one clear value in Gloria. That was...
For Caesar.
She would face and break down any enemy proudly for Caesar.
That was Gloria's life philosophy and value.
Gloria's blue eyes turned red, and a faint red glow spread through her hair.
Gloria fell off the cliff. Her falling figure looked like a red meteor.
Was it only Raven's illusion that she looked similar to Caesar?
Gloria brought Flawless down on the head of Drake, who was looking around for prey.
"Woooryaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Crack!
Gloria's Flawless struck Drake's hard skull directly.
Drake's scales shattered with a crack like ground hit by a meteor. Drake momentarily lost consciousness from the impact to its head.
The hard scale layer covering Drake's head was completely stripped away, revealing bare flesh.
Gloria mounted its head and used rooting. Thanks to that, she could stand with both legs stretched out on the wobbling body. Gloria held her sword upright.
"Kos!"
The blood flowing from the gaps in Kos' armor gathered on Flawless. The sight of Flawless being covered in red blood gave a sense of sacrilege, like watching the world's purest holiness being corrupted.
"Wuaaaaaaaaah!"
Gloria plunged the blood-soaked sword straight down.
Thud!
It dug deep into Drake's hard skull as if it were cake.
When Flawless penetrated Drake's brain, Drake reflexively twitched.
Eventually, the blood that had soaked into Gloria's sword flowed through the brain... And exploded from within.
Pop!
Blood splattered in all directions with the sound of a small bomb exploding. Then the red mist that had been engulfing the surroundings disappeared instantly, revealing Gloria. The sight of her pulling out her sword while mounted on Drake's head was like a red angel.
***
Rohan looked around with a puzzled expression. Everywhere were fallen Ascension Knights bleeding.
Four were already dead, their faces covered with cloaks.
"What's going on here?"
Honestly, Rohan couldn't remember. He clearly remembered climbing onto Drake's back and grabbing its scales to avoid falling, was all he remembered.
Gloria wiped the blood off Flawless with her cloak and said.
"You were lucky. You passed out after hitting the wall while holding on."
Now that she mentioned it, he remembered Drake thrashing about and falling.
"Thank you. I'm alive thanks to you."
"You got involved because of our business. Well. If anything, we should be sorry."
"What business?"
Gloria said with an awkward smile.
"It's a bit difficult to explain everything."
Rohan was a wise person who knew that sometimes it's better not to know than to know. Rohan nodded, killing his curiosity.
"That's enough for me."
"Thank you for understanding."
Gloria saw Halschmidt and Raven talking in the distance. She wondered how their conversation was going.
***
Halschmidt placed his hand on his chest.
"Thank you for saving me, Wizard Raven."
Raven looked at Halschmidt with a blank expression.
"To be honest, I was considering letting you die. I'm not kind enough to save someone who put a bounty on me."
"......"
Halschmidt had nothing to say even if he had ten mouths.
"The reason I saved you is because I'm curious about a few things. Why did you track us?"
"......I cannot tell you."
Halschmidt drew his sword, knelt down, and respectfully offered his sword to Raven.
"I have pledged myself to serve Count Vex. I cannot say or do anything that would harm the Count. But I am a knight who knows honor. Please kill me if that will satisfy your anger."
Raven couldn't help but sigh.
Honestly, she had expected Halschmidt to react this way.
Halschmidt was famous for showing absolute loyalty to the Vex family.
Asking a knight who worried more about Count Vex's well-being than his own life to say something that could harm Count Vex was no different than asking to be killed.
Of course, while Raven understood this intellectually, she couldn't accept it emotionally.
"Forget it. I don't want to kill someone I just saved. Instead, stop tracking us. And don't be a nuisance."
"......I promise that on my honor. Thank you."
"By the way, how did you track us? We even changed our identities."
"There is no case where two women can travel safely alone in the wilderness. When rumors spread about two women traveling in the wilderness, I thought Lady Raven and Lady Gloria must be looking for something in the wilderness. It was half speculation, of course."
They had indeed spent too much time in the wilderness.
"Fine. You can go now. It seems all the toxins from the red mist disappeared after Drake died."
"Thank you for understanding."
"But please tell Count Vex. Tell him not to deal with us in this way, but to face Gloria fairly in a duel."
Halschmidt bowed his head, hiding his shame.
"Understood."
Halschmidt stood up.
And together with the other surviving Ascension Knights, carrying the dead knights on their backs, they slowly began to descend the cliff.