Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: For Carpe!
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“For Lactus!!”
Swords and spears tangle together.
Blades gleaming coldly under the moonlight bury themselves in hot flesh and blood.
Some scream in agony, while others unleash mad laughter filled with ecstasy.
The royal palace, half-destroyed by the grand ritual.
A pillar of light rising into the sky.
From it emerge the men of the Empire.
Along with the burning palace, the soldiers’ fresh blood splatters across the walls.
“Kallias! You must retreat!”
It was Allen.
Kallias silently gazed down at the urgently shouting Allen.
Seeing Kallias’s face, Allen asked in bewilderment.
“Will you fight?”
Half of Carpe had staged a rebellion, and the Empire had seized the opening to invade.
The situation was dire.
Anyone else would flee for now.
However.
No one else could take my place.
“If we don’t fight now, then when will we?”
He closed his eyes, and the sounds of the battlefield filled his ears.
Fleeing footsteps.
The pounding of feet charging at the enemy.
Screams of pain and outrage.
Laughter brimming with joy.
All of it rang clearly in his ears.
Closing his eyes amid the chaotic scene made the sounds in his ears sharpen.
And they grew clear.
First, he realized that those who needed to die were all the ones laughing.
Clang.
Kallias leaped into the fray.
The scenery blurred.
At the same moment, he drew his sword.
“!”
The Empire’s commander, who had been slaughtering soldiers, flinched in surprise before letting out a sinister chuckle.
“Come on!”
Kallias pierced through the ranks of soldiers like a single point.
Like a single arrow loosed, he swiftly swung his sword.
Whoosh.
The single blade, swung with his full power and focus, crashed down on the Empire’s commander like waves shattering against a rock.
Craaaack!!
Boom!!
“Guh!”
“Kuaaagh!!”
A single strike.
Everything in front of Kallias froze solid. The Empire’s commander, who had unilaterally butchered the kingdom’s soldiers, met his end in that one blow.
Kallias’s expression remained utterly calm despite the horrific carnage he had wrought, but his mouth moved urgently as he commanded the soldiers.
“The Queen is in danger. I’ll head straight to her, so hold this place.”
As he turned to leave, Kallias paused for a moment and looked at the soldiers.
“…….”
“…….”
Amid the sudden rebellion and the Empire’s invasion, they couldn’t hold their wits together. So Kallias spoke.
“For Carpe.”
Allen, grasping it instantly, shouted even louder.
“For the honorable Carpe!!”
Even the stunned soldiers understood the meaning.
Soon, the royal palace echoed with their roars.
“For Carpe!!”
“For Valterus!!”
“Uwaaaaaah!!”
Amid the allies’ battle cry that shook the field.
Kallias dashed toward the Queen.
* * *
Clank, slash!!
A mountain of enemy corpses.
A man perched atop it glared at the traitor wielding a spear.
“Open the gate.”
“I cannot.”
“Gerald of Judgment. Today, that name won’t be fulfilled.”
“To think the Archbishop of the Church would sell the kingdom to the Empire! What madness is this?!”
Before him stood a man leading the Empire’s forces.
A traitor once called the Archbishop of the Valterus Church.
“I was never an enemy of Carpe. I merely served my mother and Valterus. If I have sinned, it is in forsaking the god, not selling the country.”
“Sophistry!”
“Sophistry or not, it’s the only thing you can hear. Carpe can do nothing now.”
Unlike his leisurely expression, the archbishop’s heart boiled within.
His meticulously prepared plan had gone awry beyond imagination.
‘The internal rebellion is a total mess.’
It had erupted spectacularly, but it was hollow inside.
Over half of the key nobles he had conspired with had gone silent, preventing proper coordination. If the center held, the rebellion would be crushed in less than a week.
‘Only five of Golus’s grand rituals.’
For some reason, three hadn’t activated.
No one should have known the locations of the holy relics.
As if under Valterus’s protection, some of Lactus’s sacred objects had failed to function.
‘But what can a pathetic Carpe do?’
His mother is dead.
Carpe has no hope.
“What have you done?”
“I borrowed their forces using the Empire’s sacred objects. And I incited foolish nobles to lead the rebellion.”
“Foolish…….”
“Wiser than you lot. No need to toil to revive a crumbling nation.”
Gerald gripped his sword until it nearly shattered.
He had thought him a power-hungry wretch, but he was a traitor to the country.
“Carpe is already finished.”
Even Valterus.
“It will vanish into history.”
Archbishop.
No, Alhamtra of the Empire raised his sword.
And struck down with his spear.
Clang—!!
The sword snapped in half in an instant.
Crash!!
At that moment, a golden lion in full plate armor burst through the castle wall.
A lion with a flowing golden mane.
The captain of the Golden Lion Knights.
It was Luen von Luidren.
“Sir Gerald! Are you alright?!”
“I’m fine.”
He cried out while checking his condition, but it didn’t look good.
Blood flowed from his side, and bruises covered his body.
“The Queen….”
“She’s inside. Victor is guarding her, so no need to worry.”
The kingdom’s greatest guardian sword, Victor.
With him, there was peace of mind.
Alhamtra’s brow furrowed at the golden lion’s appearance. As if resigned, he glanced back and spoke.
“We’re short on time.”
“I know.”
A gravelly voice approached from the darkness, and Gerald’s white eyebrows shot up.
“Gerald, long time no see.”
“Paseton! How could you…….”
Gerald’s face twisted.
A sense of despair rose.
The Empire’s third spear. Monster Spear Paseton.
A man undefeated against swordsmen aimed his spear at the one who had first forced a draw from him.
“With you here, how could I not come? We must settle that unfinished fight from the old days, right?”
“……The place you and I should meet is an honorable battlefield.”
“Where I have my spear and you have your sword, that place is the battlefield.”
In an instant, Paseton’s form vanished.
Boom!
The sword and spear, carrying immense force, unleashed an earth-shaking aura.
Unthinkable for veterans.
The walls rang with a deafening echo.
Merely clashing weapons.
That was the power of masters! The golden lion unwittingly swallowed dryly.
“Gerald, sorry about this, but what can be done? This is the will of the gods.”
“Lactus’s will always stands opposed to Valterus. Today, your god won’t have his way.”
“No chance.”
He leaped back, radiating intense energy, and shouted.
“This place is my sanctuary.”
“My battlefield is my sanctuary!”
Boom—!
Their sanctuaries intertwined, twisting space itself.
Their forms vanished, and only the whooshes of air from somewhere announced the old knights’ fierce battle.
“…….”
The palace grounds had become a barren desert and a land of hostages.
The golden lion felt infinitesimally small before the two knights’ sanctuaries that devoured the area.
But he felt no fear.
Behind the gate where he stood was the Queen.
No matter what.
He would hold this position, even in death.
That was the best he could do.
The golden lion gripped his sword with both hands.
“It’s futile, golden lion.”
“Archbishop. Why have you done this?”
“Such things mean nothing. What matters is that I aim to topple Carpe.”
Crunch.
At the archbishop’s reply, the golden lion severed his lingering attachments.
The man before him was the enemy.
A traitor seeking to overthrow Carpe.
“Come, I shall soothe the souls of our valiantly fallen comrades with your head.”
But Alhamtra shook his head.
“Regrettably, I am not your opponent.”
Behind the archbishop gleamed golden hair, radiant even amid the barren sands.
“You…….”
It was his own brother.
Luteon.
“Long time no see, brother.”
“Luteooon!!!!!!!”
Boom!!
The golden lion’s enraged downward strike was blocked by Luteon’s explosive spear shaft.
“How dare you set foot in Carpe with that face! You of all people!!”
“I have my circumstances too. Everyone has their reasons. Just like when you sent me away that day.”
Sent me away.
At those words, the golden lion’s face darkened.
“……I gave you a chance.”
“With that chance, I died once.”
Swish.
As Luteon shook off the explosive spear, the golden lion retreated.
Silence fell between the brothers turned enemies.
Soon, Luteon adjusted his stance and aimed his spear at him.
“Brother.”
“You, who haven’t even mastered the golden chapter, think you can face me?”
“I haven’t been idle either.”
Click, boom!
A massive explosion. But from the pitch-black smoke burst a golden lion lunging at Luteon.
Boom—!
Rumble!!
The desert sands cratered in a perfect circle, and once more Luteon’s spear gleamed from within.
Boom—!
Alhamtra watched impassively from above and then began to move.
“Deep brotherly love.”
“Alhamtra.”
A hooded figure appeared behind Alhamtra.
Alhamtra politely turned to the man holding a massive spear.
“Yes.”
“Guide me to Carpe’s guardian sword. I’m eager to see just how great the kingdom’s best truly is.”
“Understood.”
Alhamtra pulled out a wooden compass and dropped a drop of blood onto it.
The still compass whirled and pointed in one direction.
“Step aside.”
The hulking man spread one palm and dragged his spear back to his waist.
Then thrust in one motion.
Boom—!
A hole pierced the barren earth, and through the gap in the breached royal gate, a knight stood proudly with his reverse-gripped sword resting on the ground.
“You must be the guardian sword, Victor.”
“Seeing you shatter an old man’s sanctuary, you must be the Empire’s noble spear.”
The hulking man removed his hood.
One ear was torn, and a large scar draped across his cheek, giving him a ghostly, vicious look.
“You shall not pass.”
“We’ll see after I break through.”
“You cannot pass.”
Thud!
Victor stamped the ground with his reverse-gripped sword.
Crack.
The ground behind Victor, where the Queen stood, split and soared into the sky, the scenery now embroidered like a starry night sky.
“Alhamtra. Go! Kill the Queen, and we win!”
“I won’t let you pass.”
The noble spear and guardian sword clashed.
Meanwhile.
Alhamtra advanced steadily.
Advancing, advancing further until he reached the king’s throne floating high in the sky.
He gripped his spear and slowly approached the king.
“Archbishop. You’ve come a long way.”
“Yes. Have you been waiting?”
“I’ve just been watching. A powerless king can do nothing.”
“Then offer me your neck.”
“If I’d give it that easily, you wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.”
Alhamtra immediately raised his spear. Even as the fierce blade aimed at her throat, the Queen stood unflinchingly.
“It’s no use. My surroundings are protected by the kingdom’s guardian sword, Victor.”
As the Queen said.
Something transparent shimmered around her like an enveloping shield.
The guardian sword’s sanctuary.
Absolute defense.
But Alhamtra scoffed lightly.
“Do you know how long I’ve awaited this day and how much I’ve prepared?”
“…….”
“The guardian sword’s absolute defense. Famous, isn’t it? The sword that always guards the king at his side. His absolute defense has never been breached.”
However.
“Did you think I’d launch this without accounting for that?”
An ominous light swirled around his gripped spear.
Something like black, red sludge dripped onto the Queen’s protective barrier.
Sizzle!
Sparks flew, and the absolute defense began to waver.
“!”
“Impressive, isn’t it? Do you know how the Empire made this spear?”
“……Demonic spear.”
“Yes. Not just any demon beast, but one made from a true demon.”
True demon.
Not a derivative demon beast.
The real thing.
Signifying corrupted flesh.
“You’ll face divine punishment for…….”
“But it’s all for the god. While the Empire walks the path of demon extermination, what has Carpe done?!”
“Carpe…….”
“Merely clung to survival. And yet it still walked the path to ruin.”
Incompetent king.
Incompetent vassals.
Incompetents gathered to form an incompetent nation.
“Time to pay for that incompetence.”
Incompetent Queen of Carpe.
“I may be incompetent, but Carpe is never incompetent.”
“Why is that?”
Siiiizzle.
As Alhamtra pressed the true demon spear against the absolute defense, he posed the question.
Even this Empire-forged spear, culmination of their demonic arts, couldn’t easily shatter the guardian sword’s famed defense.
One could see why the kingdom’s guardian sword was the best and stood closest to the king.
But this was merely a matter of time.
“Do you know why the balance of sword, spear, and mace that formed the three great powers collapsed?”
“Because the mace fell.”
“No. They chose to become slaves to the spear.”
“But that’s why they remained a duchy. Unlike Carpe.”
“A duchy is still a slave to the Empire in the end. We won’t choose slavery. We’ll fight to the end.”
“Why? Why do that?”
“Because Carpe is strong.”
Alhamtra sneered, twisting his lips.
His scoffing face at the absurdity soon hardened coldly.
“Foolish. I’ve treated you as a nation’s queen, but now I discard that. Time’s too precious to listen to a child’s delusions.”
“No. That’s not true. Carpe…….”
“Carpe!! Will fall!!”
“…….”
“Shall I tell you what happens when you die? First, every knight in the palace dies. Is that all? No, the Empire’s vast forces at the border will pour in like a flood.”
A lesson to other small nations.
The futility of resistance.
“To conquer the fallen land that defies the gods’ will.”
All for the gods.
Yet the Queen remained unflinching.
Even as the spear tip drew nearer before her eyes.
Even after hearing of her kingdom’s grim future, she stood straight.
“Carpe is strong.”
“Where does that confidence come from?”
“Unlike you, Carpe isn’t swayed by the gods.”
That was why Carpe hadn’t merged with the Church.
“We use the gods as tools. Clinging to their power for survival while spouting such nonsense.”
“We are no one’s slaves. The gods merely exist and pose questions. Whether to use their power is our own choice—don’t you know that yet?”
“Nonsense!!”
Shing.
The sharpened spear tip aimed at the Queen’s throat.
The guardian sword’s absolute defense crumbled.
With viscous malice.
With frozen, venomous killing intent.
Rumble, boom boom!
Even the heavens thundered to herald Carpe’s end.
“A fitting day.”
Alhamtra thrust his spear.
Boom!!
“What…….”
But his spear did not pierce the Queen’s throat.
A blue bolt from somewhere.
Had blocked his spear.
“You.”
It was Jerban’s Wolf.
Kallias.