Chapter 264: How Ridiculous (1)
Chapter 264: How Ridiculous (1)
Beretto Zigler.
Bentley Crawford.
Stellon Pereira.
Mateus Edward.
Davis Kaikara.
Every one of them was a powerhouse of the Caesar Kingdom, legends who had carved their names into history by reaching the Supreme Realm.
Against no fewer than five of these 7-Star Knights, the Overlord and the Black Knight fought on with valiant defiance.
It was a magnificent spectacle.
The thunderous roars of clashing Aura Blades and the blinding eruptions of light filled the air. The shouts and bellows of these masters, delivered with every ounce of their being, created a scene that was as perilous as it was sublime.
Even looking back through the history of the continent, there were few instances where so many superhumans of the Supreme Realm clashed on a single battlefield.
The mere shockwaves radiating from the collision of their Aura Blades were enough to claim the lives of ordinary soldiers. Even a trained knight would have to stake their life just to endure the pressure of this space.
Naturally, this area became the exclusive domain of these seven knights, a vortex where lethal strikes were exchanged in a desperate struggle for survival.
A five-on-two duel.
To an outside observer, the outcome might have seemed uncertain, but in reality, the Overlord and the Black Knight were at a severe disadvantage.
While the two were far stronger than an average 7-Star Knight, they were facing five opponents at once. Furthermore, the Overlord had been far too reckless with his use of Lord of the Sword during the initial stages of the battle.
Even in the Martial World, the Imperial Sword Form was a technique beyond reproach in terms of power, but its consumption of internal energy was extreme. Having utilized similar techniques, the Overlord had already exhausted more than half of his Aura Hall.
To be facing five 7-Star Knights in such a state… honestly, the fact that he was still standing was a feat in itself.
“Die!”
“This is the end, Overlord!”
Count Stellon Pereira launched an attack, followed immediately by a strike from Marquis Beretto Zigler.
The Overlord, who had been letting his sword hang low from exhaustion, bit his lip hard and swung his blade with everything he had left.
“Hyaaaaah!”
Boom!
Count Pereira’s longsword and Marquis Zigler’s mace were repelled by the Overlord’s strike, but that was all. Unlike before, the two were not pushed back; they held their ground firmly.
The ensuing barrage of attacks began to drive the Overlord back ruthlessly.
Clang! Crash! Crunch!
A relentless storm of Aura Blades—attacks where a single hit could decide the match.
“Urgh…”
The Overlord was forced into a defensive posture, retreating step by step. And behind him as he fell back…
“An opening!”
With his red hair fluttering in the wind, Count Mateus Edward charged forward, his long lance aimed squarely at the Overlord’s back.
The Overlord gritted his teeth in his defenseless state. He was barely managing to block the fierce assault in front of him; there was no way he could dodge this.
In that moment of absolute crisis—
“Who do you think you’re aiming at?”
K-boom!
Arriving like a bolt of lightning to save the Overlord’s life was the Black Knight, Matthias Carvan, clad in half-shattered black armor. He blew Count Edward away with a strike of his black Aura Blade.
“Tsk, what a persistent old man.”
Count Edward didn’t bother trying to resist the force; he simply grumbled and retreated. He leveled his spear again, searching for another opening to deliver a lethal thrust.
Seeing this, Matthias Carvan’s eyes turned cold.
He’s the most dangerous one.
Every 7-Star Knight present was a threat, but the red-haired spearman was the most perilous of them all. He never engaged in a fair head-on fight, instead circling the perimeter and ruthlessly stabbing at the backs of enemies who showed the slightest opening. His combat style was closer to that of a hunter than a knight, making him the greatest threat in the current situation.
“Are you alright, Sir Carvan?”
“I should be asking you that, Your Highness.”
“I’m still alive. I suppose I can’t ask for much more than that.”
“……”
Matthias Carvan’s expression darkened. Looking at the numerous wounds covering the Overlord’s body, it seemed unlikely he could hold out much longer.
It was a desperate crisis with no victory in sight. In this situation, where reinforcements were impossible due to the Decatur Kingdom’s betrayal, he had to make a choice.
“Your Highness, I will hold them back. Please break through and retreat.”
“And abandon everyone else?”
“You must live to fight another day.”
“I refuse.”
Prince Sierion, the Overlord, spoke as if the suggestion wasn’t even worth considering.
Matthias Carvan frowned and said, “This is no time for stubbornness. Have you forgotten your duty, Your Highness?”
“Hardly. However…” The Overlord licked his cracked, bleeding lips. “I cannot run from a battle where victory is in sight.”
“You’re saying there’s a chance for victory?”
To Matthias Carvan’s shocked question, the Overlord replied with a gaze of absolute sincerity.
“Sir Carvan.”
“……”
“Trust me.”
“Understood.”
The doubt vanished from Matthias Carvan’s face. He knew his lord well. When a man like Taerion Sian Yuzef spoke like this, there was always a reason. In that case…
“Huuup!”
His fading Aura Blade surged with renewed, violent intensity. He was squeezing out every last drop of his strength, with no thought for what came after.
The Black Knight glared sharply at his enemies and declared, “Come. Let’s finish this.”
*
“You’re telling me to just stand here and watch?”
“……”
“In all my life… I thought I’d experienced everything, but I’ve never felt a humiliation like this.”
“……”
“You want me to endure this? This?!”
The Sword Queen, Riona Mayvers.
She was watching the scene before her, her entire body trembling with genuine fury. Her allies were dying right before her eyes, yet as a knight, she couldn’t move a single step from this spot because of her orders.
Was this right? Was this truly what she was supposed to be doing?
Grit.
Blood seeped from between her tightly clenched lips as she struggled to contain her rage. Marquis Lobsky approached her.
“Your Grace. You must endure.”
“How on earth am I supposed to endure this?!”
As she screamed in a piercing voice, Dustin Lobsky replied, “…It is the King’s command.”
“……”
“And if we consider only our nation’s position, it’s not entirely incomprehensible—ugh!”
Marquis Dustin Lobsky was forced to fall silent as he met the Sword Queen’s murderous gaze. Regardless, his opinion remained unchanged.
The Sword Queen turned to Marquis Adolf Raines on the other side. “Marquis Raines, do you feel the same?”
“……”
“Speak. Do you intend to keep following such a dog-like command?”
At her question, Marquis Raines struggled with a grave expression before finally speaking. “Your Grace, we are…”
“Speak.”
Raines continued with great difficulty. “We are the King’s subjects.”
“……”
Perhaps she sensed the conflict and agony embedded in those words he had forced out. Even the Sword Queen could not bring herself to rebuke him.
Marquis Raines squeezed his eyes shut and continued, “One cannot put personal justice and positions forward on the battlefield. You know this well, do you not?”
“Damn it all…”
The Sword Queen bit her lip. Marquis Lobsky, who calculated the nation’s gains and losses, and Marquis Raines, who sought to fulfill his duty as a loyal subject to the throne—their motives differed, but the result was the same. Both refused to move from this spot.
Even if the Sword Queen tried to move alone, the number of knights and soldiers directly under her command was barely a thousand. As one of the strongest among the 7-Star Knights, she might be able to provide some help, but still…
“Dammit.”
She could not bring herself to force her vassals to die for the sake of her own justice and convictions. Ultimately, she too had to stand by with clenched fists, watching the battlefield as the 40,000 troops of the Yuzef Kingdom and the Overlord fell within the Caesar Kingdom’s encirclement.
It was then.
“Your Grace! An unidentified army has appeared from the north!”
“What?”
A massive shift occurred on the battlefield. A force had suddenly appeared on the outer edge of the encirclement created by the Caesar Kingdom. Their numbers appeared to be around 10,000, but the strength of these elites was extraordinary.
The messenger, seeing a single banner slowly rising at the front of that army, shouted in haste.
“A lizard wreathed in flames! It’s the crest of the Spirit Knight Order!”
The Spirit Knight Order.
The banner of the knight order that once reigned as the strongest in the Flame Kingdom had appeared here. If so, who could possibly be leading them?
*
Burning red hair.
Eyes that shone more brilliantly than gold.
A woman who possessed both beauty and dignity, clad in white plate mail, stepped to the front and raised her sword high. Then…
Whoosh!
Spirit flames erupted along her blade. There was only one person on the continent today who could wield the flames of a spirit with a human body.
“All troooooops!”
Her voice rang out clearly across the battlefield.
Catherina von Flame.
The woman once known as the Salamander Princess had appeared on this battlefield leading the Spirit Knight Order and 10,000 soldiers. And then…
“Charge!”
With her command, the Spirit Knight Order—the force that had once solidified the Flame Kingdom’s status as the strongest—charged forward.
*
“The Spirit Knight Order?”
Marquis Zigler’s head snapped around.
Of course, he knew. He knew that the Yuzef Kingdom had swallowed the Flame Kingdom and that the Overlord had become engaged to the Salamander Princess. Consequently, the Spirit Knight Order that followed her had also transferred their allegiance to the Yuzef Kingdom.
However, they had not appeared once during this entire war.
It made sense; the Spirit Knight Order was the pride of the Flame Kingdom. Even if they had surrendered to the Overlord, had they truly submitted in their hearts? Rather than bringing an unreliable force to the battlefield and risking a backlash, it was better to leave them in the home territory with the Salamander Princess as a defensive force.
In fact, because they were guarding the Yuzef Kingdom’s mainland, the Caesar Kingdom had been unable to split its forces to invade.
But now…
Of all times, the Spirit Knight Order had appeared at this very moment.
Grit…
“Was this your plan all along?”
At Marquis Zigler’s words, the Overlord, Sierion, barely steadying his blood-soaked body, replied, “A hidden card is best kept secret until the very end. Or so my aide told me.”
“…Marquis Noah Gregory.”
“I’m glad you recognize him.”
Noah Gregory, known as the Overlord’s Serpent, had made his presence felt several times during the early stages of this war. The Caesar Kingdom had suffered great losses due to his ingenious strategies and wondrous schemes.
However, he had gradually disappeared from view at some point. Rumors circulated that he had been demoted after losing the Overlord’s favor or had retreated to the rear due to illness, but…
To think he was preparing a move like this.
Marquis Zigler bit his lip. Now that it had come to this, he had to make a choice.
The prize was already in the trap. Sierion von Yuzef, the Overlord. Should he give up this prey and retreat to keep his army intact? Or should he somehow end this war before the Spirit Knight Order completely shattered their encirclement?
“……”
Marquis Zigler looked at the Overlord and the Black Knight before him. Both were a mess. Their armor was destroyed, the output of their Aura Blades had weakened significantly, and their bodies had long since been covered in blood.
I can’t let this chance go.
The Caesar Kingdom was also feeling the fatigue of war amidst a severe famine. If they let the Overlord escape now and the tedious battle of attrition continued, the future of the Caesar Kingdom would be bleak.
It’s not even a choice worth agonizing over.
Having made his decision, Marquis Zigler spoke. “Count Edward. Count Kaikara.”
“Yes, speak.”
“Give us your orders.”
Confirming their readiness, Marquis Zigler said, “Go to the perimeter and block the Spirit Knight Order. We will take down the battered Overlord and the Black Knight ourselves.”
“Aww, you’re asking us to give up the kill when it’s right in front of us?”
“Understood, Marquis.”
Unlike Count Kaikara, who answered readily, Count Edward spun his spear shaft with a disgruntled expression. Marquis Zigler bowed his head slightly.
“I’m asking this as a favor, Count Edward.”
When the supreme commander, Marquis Zigler, went so far as to bow and ask for a favor, Count Edward could no longer remain stubborn.
“Tsk. You owe me one for this.”
“I am aware.”
As the two 7-Star Knights retreated, Matthias Carvan spoke. “Now we can catch our breath.”
“Right? Since five have become three, maybe we can take it a bit easier?”
Seeing the Overlord’s nonchalant response, Marquis Zigler frowned. “You certainly talk big for someone who’s half-dead.”
“And who are the incompetent fools who can’t finish off a half-dead man and are just floundering about?”
“……”
He had no rebuttal. In truth, the fight had dragged on far too long. He had thought they could finish it and take the Overlord’s head within twenty minutes at most, but the battle had already lasted over an hour.
And for over an hour, the Overlord and the Black Knight had stood back-to-back, enduring their fierce assault. Because they had tied down five 7-Star Knights, the Yuzef Kingdom’s losses were smaller than expected. Now, if the encirclement was broken, the fish they had caught might all slip away. However…
“Even the Spirit Knight Order won’t be able to defeat Count Kaikara and Count Edward. Even if the Salamander Princess does her best to handle one of them, how will they stop the other?”
It was a valid point. No matter how much the Salamander Princess carried the bloodline and blessing of the Spirit Royal Family, she wasn't strong enough to stop two 7-Star Knights. However…
“Hey, Marquis Zigler.”
“……”
“Want to make a bet with me?”
“What nonsense are you—”
“I’ll bet my life that your encirclement won’t last even a minute before it’s smashed. Will you bet on the other side?”
“What are you talking about…”
K-boom!
It was then. The Spirit Knight Order crashed into the encirclement from the outside. Amidst the brilliantly exploding flames, the radiance of Aura Blades flashed vividly…
“Aura Blades?”
As Marquis Zigler looked on in shock, a voice thundered across the battlefield from the distance.
“Klavin Taerion is here!”
“It’s Vector Bridges! You Caesar Kingdom dogs!”
“Marius Shuleiman is here. Anyone who doesn’t value their life, come forward!”
Three 7-Star Knights who had once been the pride of the Flame Kingdom.
All of them had appeared on this battlefield.