The Wall That Broke Itself
The Death Knight was the pinnacle of undead existence.
A knight from an earlier era who had been resurrected through deep grudges, curses, or forbidden magic. Among all the monsters and specters roaming the continent, it stood at the absolute apex. Its power and techniques were already overwhelming on their own. Add to that the dark aura that clung to its every movement, and no one who had ever seen one needed an explanation to understand just how terrifying it truly was.
“Right, the Empire,” Rai chuckled, nodding. “The Empire would have at least a hundred of these Death Knights, right?”
The Death Knight could usually be summoned by some sorcerer, but natural births happened too. When a knight’s body lay dead on the battlefield, the overwhelming resentment he carried at the moment of death could birth one. Betrayal, unfinished missions, broken promises—any reason would do, but the ones that truly became Death Knights had almost always been those who lost everything in war, their nations or their lives.
Rai’s words drew a glare from Leila, but she said nothing.
“So the rotting corpses have actually wandered into Legandia?”
Selma’s question, after she had mentioned a necromancer, made Rai shake his head.
“Looks like it resurrected on its own.”
He gave a quick explanation to the somewhat unskilled sorceress, and she frowned.
“A masterless Death Knight… That’s interesting.”
“Those fellows always acted like they were too great to need a master. Having one or not changes nothing. The real problem is—”
“A Death Knight broke through the city wall.”
Leila cut him off.
The simple words carried heavy weight. If anything, it would have been better if a necromancer had simply walked in and summoned the creature inside.
The walls of a capital were not mere stone barriers. Legandia’s fortifications, raised to the level of a fortress, were meant to stop every monster and enemy that dared approach. Only a dragon-level disaster or an army willing to spend months tearing through them could breach them. Countless spells were layered into the walls to reinforce them. The longer the city went untouched, the more potent the accumulated magic became, making the defenses even harder to overcome.
Of course, maintenance costs for magic stones set a practical limit, but the sheer number of spells installed over decades turned even the most fortified walls into near-impossible obstacles.
Ironically, the strongest border fortresses had been constantly attacked and thus spent down, while internal strongholds and the capital itself grew safer with every passing year.
Legandia had never once fallen to invasion in the empire’s long history. The accumulated mass of magic was said to be able to repel any threat. It was easier to believe a blind guard would simply open the gates than that someone had scaled the walls undetected.
But a Death Knight? Guards would never miss one.
“What evidence is there that it wasn’t summoned?” Leila asked, trying to deny the fact.
Rai glanced around.
“If it had been summoned, the chaos would have been obvious. The place is spotless. No traces left behind. It’s acting like it has a perfectly normal mind. The scorch marks on the wall are just from its own dark aura, and there’s only one spot. It even took the trouble to erase the rest.”
He had no choice but to admit the logic.
And the situation had just grown far worse. A Death Knight powerful enough to breach the city wall, and its original mind was still intact. All the knowledge and experience it had accumulated over its lifetime could be used without limit. Strategy, tactics, combat theory—whatever a knight needed to reach this level of power, it would wield with cold, calculating precision.
A priest trying to use divine power would find himself the first target. A soldier’s movements would be read instantly, and the commander’s intentions would be laid bare.
When Leila saw every worst-case scenario unfold in her mind, she hardened her expression. “I’ll go report and check the wall first.”
The two of them stood alone in the stinking house, staring at each other in silence.
“Grandma, take care of yourself. You don’t have many days left anyway. If you get beaten to death by a Death Knight and die first, I’ll be sad.”
“And you, take care. The guy you killed isn’t coming back for revenge?”
They left the house and walked the streets, still talking.
“Why did you kill that alchemist?” Rai asked. “A Death Knight is born to achieve a purpose. There’s no reason it would just kill someone.”
Selma thought for a moment before answering.
“The victim had nothing suspicious. She was kind to everyone around her and didn’t seem to have any real problems. Oh, right—she was doing illegal animal experiments.”
“Animal experiments?”
“Yeah. While they were searching the house after she was killed, they found out. It wasn’t on a big enough scale to matter.”
Selma pulled a sheet of paper from her documents and handed it to Rai.
The alchemist had fed animals illegal substances for her experiments.
Though it was illegal to experiment on livestock without permission, the fine was usually enough to settle the matter. Only those who had already given the association the required research details or payment could obtain approval. Many alchemists quietly experimented on old, dying animals that they were supposed to hand over.
“So the Death Knight was an animal lover?”
“An unlikely pairing.”
Rai’s reasoning drew a laugh from Selma.
Even she thought the idea was ridiculous.
“Maybe the alchemist was experimenting on an animal and accidentally birthed a Death Knight?”
“More likely than not.”
Selma still nodded. She had worked as a fixer for years and knew exactly how grand the magic-accumulated walls of a fortress truly were. Back when she and Clay were at their prime, they had crawled through walls reinforced by magic or hidden themselves inside cargo that passed through the gates.
Yet a Death Knight punching straight through the wall alone still sounded impossible.
“So the dead alchemist was working on a study that would have shaken the world. Turn a rat into a Death Knight! If she had succeeded, the Empire would have unified the entire continent.”
The two of them traded the stupid joke and split off toward their separate houses.
* * *
Late night.
A woman walked through the quiet, deserted streets.
The night curfew had been announced, but those who earned their living through night work found it impossible to accept.
She had been tasked with delivering ingredients to restaurants.
Places that did business in the morning received fresh supplies the day before or at dawn and began preparations. When the curfew suddenly took effect, many worried about their next day’s sales, but the major trading company banned all deliveries. The shopkeepers who opened early found themselves staring at their feet. Some even paid extra to hire night workers.
That was exactly the kind of woman Rai had been.
Without deliveries, her life the next day would have been bleak. Refusing extra pay from the shop owners felt impossible.
She moved objects through streets no one else dared walk, eyes scanning every shadow. With patrols active, she could only transport one load at a time. Still, that single haul paid enough for three days’ work.
Normally crowded sidewalks had become eerily empty. The woman walked with a tense gait until she reached the end of the street, where a single figure approached. Her shoulders relaxed.
It was better to see an unknown person in a city that felt like it had died overnight. Even if it was just another delivery worker carrying a burden somewhere.
‘Yeah, if that person can walk around normally, nothing bad will happen.’
Without a torch, she assumed it wasn’t a guard and let her guard down a little, quickening her pace.
As the two figures drew closer, her expression grew colder.
The silhouette was not wearing ordinary clothes. The heavy burden suggested a large frame, but the figure was slim. The silhouette wore armor. Even one piece of armor alone would be heavy, yet each piece was massive.
It was not a mere guard. It was a knight.
The woman froze when she met the patrolling knight’s gaze. The helmet hid the face completely, yet the eyes turned directly toward her.
She had already broken the curfew. Running now would only add to her crimes. Regret for breaking the law to earn a little more money twisted in her chest as she stared at the approaching knight.
The knight emerged from the shadows cast by the buildings in perfect, measured steps.
Moonlight struck the figure, and the woman dropped the load in shock. The flickering black aura surrounding the armor was ominous. The helmet, covered in black cloth, was nothing but darkness. And what rested on its shoulders was not a burden—it was a person.
She could not scream. Her legs gave out. She collapsed.
The knight kept walking and looked down at her without stopping. Terrified, the woman curled into a ball and covered her head.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. She pressed a trembling hand over her mouth, trying to stay silent.
“… …”
How much time had passed? It felt like an eternity. The woman suddenly sensed something wrong and lifted her head.
The street was empty. The ominous knight was gone. Only she remained.
But the memory of that terrifying encounter made her too afraid to stay. She ran straight to the nearest patrol.
* * *
“They’re back.”
Rai’s expression darkened when Leila reported to him.
“Don’t say ‘overtime.’”
“You’re talking about people who are dying and you’re worried about overtime?”
“Well, if it were someone I knew, maybe I’d get angry. But why should I step in? I already submitted the report. Strong fighters are probably on their way. Why do I have to?”
Rai kept chewing the bread in his mouth with perfect calm. Leila sighed, then relaxed her face and spoke in a steady voice.
“Reinforcements will take about three days. Until then, we have to protect the civilians. I’m begging you.”
“… …”
It was not an order. It was a plea.
Rai stared at Leila for a long moment.
“How do you plan to handle the academy?”
“Students will stay inside the academy until the situation stabilizes.”
“Complaints are going to fly.”
“Safety is more important than student complaints.”
The academy’s care for its own students was unmistakable.
Although no one had officially announced the Death Knight’s presence yet, word would spread fast. Students would try to rush out the moment they heard. Dorms could be locked down, but students who lived outside the academy could not be controlled.
Even so, Rai still nodded. The academy’s quick response, despite the risk of complaints, left him impressed. “Understood. I’ll go too.”
“Patrols run from evening until dawn. Lectures can wait until the situation calms.”
“Yeah, that’s good.”
Leila shot him a disappointed look when he cheerfully agreed to skip class.
One person dead. One missing.
The woman who had reported seeing a knight in black armor had passed the information through the city. By nightfall, only soldiers remained on the streets.
Rai walked the empty roads on Black Horse’s back, opening a few windows to peer inside. He felt the citizens’ gazes on him.
Patrols like this were nothing more than a waiting game. Unless you were hiding and ready to strike, it was almost impossible to catch anyone. You had to wait for the enemy to move first.
Black Horse was clearly enjoying the freedom, but Rai simply yawned and stretched lazily across the horse’s back.
Since he had not given any orders, Black Horse wandered wherever it pleased.
“You seem shy. With so many people around, you can’t even show yourself.”
“Exactly. The revenge target is right in front of us and you’re hiding.”
“Idiot, pay attention. Once you get stabbed, you’ll remember.”
Rai wandered the streets casually until he met Selma. He gave her a friendly greeting. Clay followed right behind, complaining about getting hit by a bread roll before walking on.
Since the Death Knight was now public knowledge, every capable fighter Legandia could field had been sent out. Instructors who were still fit for duty, adventurers, mercenaries, and countless soldiers from the guard were all patrolling the streets.
“Hey, didn’t that knight seem normal?”
“That’s what the explanation was.”
Clay looked around after hearing Selma’s comment.
The streets were quieter than usual, yet lanterns and torches lit the way. People still moved about.
“If it really is normal, it shouldn’t come out with all these people around.”
“My husband really is smart.”
“Ehehe, I’m not as dumb as I look.”
Selma laughed and ruffled Clay’s bear-like head in return. She turned away quietly.
“But it seems like it’s not normal. Or maybe the explanation was wrong.”
At the end of her gaze stood the black knight.
The figure was completely enveloped in thick armor, just like the woman had described. Selma smiled.
“I wonder if I can take a look at the skill of a knight powerful enough to become a Death Knight.”
Selma and Clay drew their weapons. The black knight drew its own crimson blade without hesitation.