Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The Black Knight's Fury
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"Please take care of Irina."
Anticipating that Bison was about to leap down, Irina hurriedly spoke up.
"Hurry and unlock these shackles!"
Bison vaulted off his horse in a single bound.
The moment his body touched the ground after floating in the air, he rolled forward, sprang to his feet, drew his sword, and charged with ferocious momentum to intercept the line of Luke riders.
"Come on!"
Behind the Luke riders, a single black knight was visible, spurring his mount forward.
But he was still too far away.
All she could hope was that Bison could take out one or two, buying enough time to slow the pursuit of the remaining Luke riders even a little.
"Hah!"
Bison leaped high into the air.
His silhouette soared even higher than the orcs mounted on their Lukes.
In response, the Luke riders thrust their spears upward toward the sky.
Slash!
Bison swung his sharp blade, severing the spearheads, then descended onto an orc warrior and plunged his sword downward.
"Grrrk."
Bison's sword sank into the collarbone of the orc warrior, who was half again as large as a normal orc.
Yet the orcs that rode Lukes were no ordinary foes. Even with the blade lodged in its collarbone, on the verge of death, the orc stretched out its arms and clamped onto Bison in a brutish embrace.
As the orc's body toppled in death, Bison's form tilted along with it, still caught in its grip.
If he fell like this, he would surely be trampled to death by the following Lukes.
"Nngh!"
Bison desperately tried to pry the orc's arms loose, but they wouldn't budge.
At that moment, a spear from an orc warrior riding right beside thrust straight through Bison's torso.
"Urk! Please... live and make it to the Kingdom of Ramye..."
Bison rolled across the ground, praying for the success of his unfinished mission.
His lifeless body, eyes vacant, was soon pulverized into mush beneath the hooves of the pursuing Lukes.
The orc warrior's corpse and Bison's mangled remains tumbled disgracefully across the dust-choked earth.
The orc warriors passing by gave Bison's body only a single indifferent glance.
"Bison!"
Irina let out a scream laced with despair at Bison's death.
All the knights who had come to escort her under the guise of protection were dead, save for one.
How absurd was this situation?
They had accomplished nothing, only putting her in mortal danger and wasting the precious lives of those knights in the process.
Irina glared at the sole surviving knight, Sisler, with eyes blazing in fury.
"Unlock these shackles right now."
Sisler shook his head with a troubled expression.
"Captain Bison has the key. There's no way to remove them at the moment."
"Nngh."
Irina barely suppressed her rage.
If they had let her use her magic, she might have saved the knights' lives.
Though her spells lacked direct offensive power in battle, even auxiliary support could have drastically altered the fight.
'Why couldn't you trust me?'
They didn't trust her magic—or feared she might flee.
Irina resented everything.
Was protecting the Lights Magic Tower, her home with her master and comrades, such a grave sin?
Sometimes, she even resented her own background.
She would have been content to live and die as a mage of the Lights Magic Tower, nothing more.
Neigh!
In a final pointless echo of Bison's sacrifice, the horse carrying Irina reached its limit and collapsed.
As the horse buckled its legs and bowed its neck, Irina felt her waist drop sharply, her body stiffening in terror.
Falling like this would kill her.
'This is the end.'
What a foolish way to die!
It was in that instant, as her body tilted.
Sisler, riding beside her, desperately flung himself forward and caught the falling Irina.
Sisler and Irina tumbled across the ground in a tangle.
"Urk, are you alright?"
Thanks to Sisler's tumbling technique, they escaped broken bones, suffering only bruises.
Irina, her hair disheveled and her appearance a mess, let out a sigh of utter resignation.
"I've never seen knights as stupid as you."
If they were going to save her, do it properly—what kind of half-baked farce was this?
Sisler bowed his head deeply.
His own horse had bolted ahead, vanishing into the distance.
Sisler drew his sword and positioned himself in front of Irina.
But how could Sisler block the Luke riders that even Bison couldn't stop?
Irina sighed at the sealed manacles on her wrists. Frustration outweighed fear—she felt she might die from it alone. Even facing imminent death, she couldn't cast a single spell or resist. It felt utterly ridiculous.
'In my next life, even as an orphan would be fine—just let me live free.'
Having given up all hope, Irina's eyes caught sight of the black knight nearly overtaking the Luke riders. But what difference could one knight make?
'If only he slaughters every last orc...'
A futile wish.
Less than a minute remained before the Luke riders trampled her. No knight could fell nine Luke riders in under a minute.
As Irina stared blankly at the black knight, her pupils trembled violently in that very moment. Her vision shook as if caught in a storm; she widened her eyes, and soon tears welled up.
"N-No... impossible."
Irina doubted whether what unfolded before her was real or some illusion magic. The black knight's display was that astonishing, beyond belief.
So Gun-ak passed by Bison, who had gloriously felled one Luke rider before perishing.
He closed to within five meters of another Luke rider's rear, then snatched a throwing axe from his saddle.
Whoosh, thunk!
Four axes, hurled with precise timing, embedded squarely into the occiputs of the orc warriors atop their Lukes.
"Grrk."
Four orcs tumbled from their mounts, rolling across the ground. The terror of Luke riders lay in their refusal to halt even after their riders died.
The riderless Lukes charged onward relentlessly.
So Gun-ak drew his daggers and flung them straight ahead.
Alerted by the deaths of four comrades, the orcs now dodged the incoming blades.
Throwing daggers from a galloping saddle demanded utmost focus, but for So Gun-ak, it was effortless. Holding two daggers in one hand, he hurled them forward.
"Kkh!"
The orc collapsed without resistance. It had deflected a dagger aimed at its head with its sword but missed the one piercing its heart. So Gun-ak slew another orc the same way.
Now only three orcs remained atop their Lukes. He had just two daggers left.
So Gun-ak hooked his long cavalry lance into its saddle sheath, planted his feet on the saddle, and leaped upward.
"Hah!"
Two bounds off the ground propelled him faster than his black steed Mu-yeong, landing atop the rearmost Luke.
Shing!
Without a moment to catch his breath, So Gun-ak drew his greatsword and twisted to confront an orc thrusting a spear from behind.
Whoosh. Thud!
The greatsword, forged for mounted combat, unleashed devastating power. It cleaved through anything in its path, splitting obstacles in two. It shattered spear shafts and crushed armor alike.
The three orcs became bloody pulps in an instant. So Gun-ak, now atop the lead Luke, seized its horn and yanked its head, but the beast only shook in rage, refusing to veer.
Ahead, Sisler and Irina stared dumbly at the spectacle.
Staying put would mean they were trampled.
"Run!"
So Gun-ak shouted. Sisler snapped out of it, grabbed Irina, and bolted—but the Luke swerved to pursue them.
Whether through orc-exclusive control or sheer tenacity, the Luke doggedly chased its prey.
'No choice.'
The gap between the fleeing pair and the Luke was closing fast. In thirty seconds, tragedy would strike.
So Gun-ak couldn't abandon them. A mage from the Lights Magic Tower was essential to him.
Grinding his teeth, he reverse-gripped the one-handed sword at his right waist and drew it.
Its tip tapered to a point, with a bulging, broad blade below that narrowed toward the hilt. The weight balanced toward the tip, ideal for slashing and thrusting—reminiscent of the kukri wielded by elite assassins of the Great Curtain.
So Gun-ak jammed the blade straight into the Luke's nape.
Squelch!
Though Luke hide scoffed at spears or blades, So Gun-ak's infused with inner energy pierced it like a bundle of straw.
As the Luke rolled with eyes rolled back, the following beasts collided and tumbled in a heap.
Before that, So Gun-ak had vaulted off its back, soaring through the air to land atop another charging Luke nearby.
His sense of balance bordered on the divine.
Squish!
Just like that, he dispatched four more Lukes in a flash. Some crashed after toppling; others barreled through, kicking aside fallen comrades.
His steps, pounding the earth repeatedly to meet them head-on, matched the Lukes' speed without faltering.
After slashing freely in all directions, only two Lukes survived.
Yet the situation hadn't improved. The remaining Lukes were nearly upon Sisler and Irina.
So Gun-ak unleashed another miracle.
Squish!
"Hnggg."
With a grotesque sound, the Luke's neck snapped. Propelled by momentum, it carved a long furrow in the dirt before halting.
Sisler shoved the fleeing Irina aside and blocked the Luke bare-handed.
"Hrraaagh!"
Sisler's body was hurled back, his feet sinking into a depression in the ground. Though its speed was slashed, Irina gained a few more precious steps in the chaos.
"Aaah."
But with her hands bound, running was awkward and slow. Losing balance, Irina toppled and looked up in terror at the final Luke.
And at So Gun-ak atop it.
In the next instant, So Gun-ak stabbed his sword into the Luke's nape. But he was a mere five meters from the fallen Irina.
So Gun-ak stepped on the Luke's head and unleashed the Thousand Catties Drop technique.
Boom. Grroooar.
The Luke's thick hide dragged across the ground. Charging in fury, it screeched to a halt just fifty centimeters from Irina.
Tears streamed down Irina's face. Whether from the stinging dust or relief at surviving the ordeal, she couldn't tell.
Her face, caked in grime mixed with sweat and tears, was a sorry sight.
As the dust settled, Irina looked up at So Gun-ak and widened her eyes.
"Th-There's one more!"
One of the Lukes that had rolled with its fallen rider staggered up and charged from thirty meters away.
Swish, thunk!
So Gun-ak hurled his one-handed sword.
It buried into the Luke's crown. Seeing it tumble, Irina finally exhaled the breath she'd held.
Irina was thoroughly stunned.
She'd never heard of a black knight of such prowess in Lights City.
"Who... are you?"
Irina stared up at So Gun-ak through eyes streaming with sweat and grime. Though a rare beauty, her current state was far from glamorous.
"So Gun-ak. You're the mage from Lights Magic Tower?"
Irina nodded.
So Gun-ak was satisfied. Now he had a way into Lights City—and a connection to request crystal research at the tower.
Smiling, So Gun-ak extended his hand.
"I've come to save Lights Magic Tower."
At those words, Irina felt a thrill course through her like a lightning strike.