Roia's Trial (5)
'Sword Empress Atlin...'
As Erti had said, the female swordsman who had just sliced through the beast moments ago was none other than Atlin.
Her signature was an aura blade that surpassed milky-white or silver ones, shining like the sun itself.
And the sword in Atlin's hand was unmistakably the holy sword Sielertia. Erti froze in place, staring blankly at her former master.
For a moment, Erti reached out toward the figure ahead with a wistful hand. But she quickly lowered it again.
The Sword Empress before her eyes wasn't turning toward us. I pretended not to notice Erti's reaction.
"Don't fear! Attack! I'll lead the charge!"
Atlin bellowed in a fierce voice like a lion's roar. The soldiers around Erti and me surged forward toward the front lines once more at her command.
'Not the real thing, then.'
Where Erti and I stood was the heart of the battlefield. It felt so vivid, even the demonic aura's oppressive pressure, but this wasn't reality.
Erti, having snapped out of it, explained the scene.
"...As you can see, this battlefield isn't real. It's just the Bernige Defense Battle unfolding from my memories. But since Roia's voice commanded me to recall this battlefield, it must hold some meaning for you."
I nodded. Given that this was Roia's trial, it wasn't strange for Erti, the holy sword, to hear the voice of the god of combat.
'The Bernige Defense Battle. And the Sword Empress.'
It was the fierce siege that made history—and birthed the legend of the Sword Empress. As Erti said, it was clearly significant to me as well.
'I've entered dungeons before, but this is my first time in a massive battle like this.'
I followed Erti. She pointed to two nearby soldiers, and as we stood beside them, we naturally slipped into their bodies.
"We can't control or intervene in these bodies ourselves. But viewing through their eyes should be best."
I nodded in agreement with her words.
The beast horde's assault faltered for a moment. Knights in lion-emblazoned armor and soldiers gathered near Atlin.
They were the White Night Knights and Essemont's elite troops.
A knight who appeared to be her adjutant reported the situation to Atlin.
"The imperial forces who came to our aid have been completely wiped out, Your Highness!"
Atlin's face paled and hardened at his words.
"And the Essemont forces?"
The adjutant bowed his head. His fists trembled as if he could scarcely believe it.
"We've lost most of our remaining troops in the last clash. We have about 1,000 soldiers left. Roughly 50 White Night Knights remain."
"Just that many?"
"Yes... Your Highness."
"Then the beast horde led by Graiel?"
"They're still at full strength. We've only taken down about a fifth..."
"So around 3,000 beasts remain. Three times our numbers. We've been outnumbered."
"Yes, Your Highness. And... the beasts have begun surrounding us."
With that, the adjutant fell silent. Atlin closed her mouth as well.
As recorded in the history books, this was two weeks into the siege.
The imperial forces from the palace and Essemont troops had united to desperately hold back the beasts. But as the adjutant reported, the imperials were annihilated, and Essemont's situation was hopeless.
For a moment, the holy sword Sielertia in her hand let out a brief resonance.
Atlin and Erti seemed to be exchanging words.
"Aren't you curious what they're saying?"
Erti spoke to me at that instant.
In this desperate situation where no one could see an inch ahead, a conversation between the famed holy sword and the Sword Empress praised as a legend.
'No ordinary talk, surely. Maybe there's some insight to gain.'
But Erti promptly dashed my expectations.
"At that moment, Atlin apologized to me. She'd promised to find me a partner no matter what. I was forged in the ancient imperial era, yet I'd stayed a virgin far too long, she said."
She mimicked the line in an exaggerated theatrical tone.
"What she actually said was this: 'I was going to personally bring a man to sweep the cobwebs from your pussy. But at this rate, I'll turn you into a virgin ghost. Sorry, Erti.' That's exactly how it went."
I was caught off guard. Erti had an odd personality—probably influenced by her master. Atlin didn't seem entirely normal either.
'A holy sword and Sword Empress having such vulgar banter...'
And the idea of the ego sword Erti being a virgin was bizarre too. Sensing my incredulity, she added,
"It's an Essemont expression, really. It means she was prepared to die. She couldn't keep her promise if she died. Right? Even the Sword Empress is just human—death is frightening for her too. She was joking with me to forget that fear, acting like it was nothing."
Her words made me look at Atlin's face again. The despair, frustration, and fear radiating from the soldiers around her.
Yet Atlin, just like when she'd cleaved through the beasts earlier, scanned all directions with unyielding eyes, showing no tremor.
'Even she was afraid deep down.'
As the supreme commander responsible for her soldiers' lives, she couldn't reveal her inner turmoil in this hopeless situation.
'But not just anyone could do that. To stand so resolute...'
Soon, Atlin spoke to the adjutant.
"Assemble all commanders from squad leaders upward. I'll issue the next orders directly."
Then Atlin headed to her command tent with the adjutant.
Night fell.
All remaining Essemont forces assembled on the Bernige Plains. Atlin stood before her soldiers.
She shouted to them.
"As you all know, I'm not one for many words. So what I say now is no joke or empty talk."
The soldiers focused on Atlin's words. After a brief silence, she continued.
"Tonight, you will all die here."
The soldiers murmured in unrest. Borrowing a soldier's body as I was, I could feel their agitation.
The fear of those facing death. And the death sentence pronounced by their commander and liege, Atlin.
A confirmation kill that there was no chance against the beasts—deep despair spread among the ranks.
Atlin continued calmly, as if she'd anticipated their reaction.
"Victory is already impossible. We're surrounded by the beast horde. If more time passes and they fully encircle us, Essemont's forces will be annihilated. A full retreat is impossible too. As you know, if the beast horde crosses the Bernige Plains, Essemont has no tomorrow."
Atlin was right. The Bernige Plains were the final defensive line against this horde.
The soldiers stirred at her words but soon fell silent, affirming her with their quiet.
"So Essemont's forces have two choices: die now, or die later. And as I said first, the latter is impossible. Soon, you'll charge the beasts and die to the last one. I intend to hold the horde with your lives."
Unable to bear those hopeless words, one soldier cried out.
"Your Highness, are you telling us to commit suicide!!"
Extreme insolence for a mere soldier to challenge his lord. But with a death sentence already passed, he was hardly in his right mind.
Atlin replied calmly, unperturbed by the rudeness.
"You're right. Charging the beast horde's camp tonight is suicide. But I command you to do so. My resolve won't change."
The soldiers erupted in turmoil. But Atlin's words weren't finished.
"And even if you all die, I alone will survive. No matter what. I'll use your lives as sacrifices to live on—ugly, viciously clinging to life. So you must protect your margrave, me, with your own."
"Using us as bait so only Your Highness survives!! Are you saying you'll flee?!"
"It's true there's hope if the margrave lives... but for your escape... must we die... No! I can't accept that!"
"Calm down! Everyone, quiet! Her Highness is speaking!"
The commanders tried to quell the soldiers' unrest, but the chaos, once ignited, wouldn't die easily.
At that moment, the holy sword Sielertia shone brilliantly. An aura blade blazing like the noonday sun. The soldiers fell silent in its flash.
Atlin raised her sword, pointing in one direction.
"No. You're misunderstanding. I'm not heading south to the retreat path. I'll go with you all—straight into the enemy camp. And in the heart of that horde, I will survive."
The soldiers' agitation halted. Her words were utterly unlike what they'd thought.
Until moments ago, they'd assumed she meant sacrificing them to break the encirclement and retreat.
But Atlin pointed right into the enemy's midst. She continued.
"Soldiers, sacrifice yourselves! Use your lives to push the White Night Knights even one more step forward. And the surviving knights must sacrifice too."
The knights all fixed their eyes on Atlin.
"That sacrifice will get me to the wretched lord of those beasts. I say it again! Pave the way for me with your lives!"
Every soldier's eyes changed at her words. They awaited her next.
"Send me alive to that Graiel! Then I'll grovel if I must, but I'll survive and take Graiel's head. You'll all die tonight, but Essemont will live. Your families will survive, passing Essemont's pride to future generations!"
Only then did the soldiers grasp Atlin's true intent. She'd ordered them to give their lives, saying she'd survive.
But in truth, she meant to charge alongside them, staking her own life too. She was prepared to die tonight.
A reckless night raid in moonless darkness thick with demonic aura. Yet it was the only plan with even a slim chance.
Graiel, a 1st-form beast.
Only the Sword Empress could face that calamity, whose power transcended its form while commanding an imperial legion.
Atlin fell silent after that. Moments later,
The entire Essemont army knelt on one knee toward her. They shouted in unison.
"Glory to the lion's valor that tames the north wind's bite!"
An hour later, the Essemont forces launched their night raid on the beast horde.
The raid caught even the beast horde off guard.
Night favored beasts, whose senses far outstripped humans'. And they'd already surrounded the Essemont forces.
Beasts mimicking humans to form legions, even aping human tactics.
Yet their command structure was even more rational than humans'.
That's why Atlin and Essemont's mad raid succeeded—not a retreat to escape encirclement,
but a direct strike on the beast horde's main camp.
The beasts couldn't react swiftly to the midnight assault. Erti, riding along in a soldier's body, said,
"That's why the plan worked. But we couldn't avoid the soldiers dying."
Yet Essemont remained outnumbered. As Atlin had foretold, the soldiers carved a path, resolved to die.
A ferocious advance sparing no lives. Their morale, confirmed by Atlin's resolve, burned like wildfire.
Still, the beasts cut them down in moments.
"Oh. All the soldiers are dead. Let's switch to a knight."
The knights charged through the path the soldiers had opened. The survivors were all elite knights who could wield aura.
They too carved onward, but perished all the same.
"Still, more survived than Atlin expected. When we reached Graiel's camp, not just Atlin—five knights lived."
Those five clashed with the horde's lieutenant beasts.
And Atlin finally faced the beast lord, fallen angel Graiel.
"Ah. Now I get it. Why Roia chose this battlefield to start the trial."
"What do you mean?"
I asked Erti.
"You'd know if you've learned the Lion Heart Sword. That ultimate art. White Night."
"White Night? I've already mastered it."
"No way. If you had, it wouldn't be the real White Night."
Her subtly dismissive tone made my blood boil—
just as Atlin and Graiel's battle began.