Chapter 59
Chapter 59
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Kneel
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The K1 transformed into a Benelli M4 (M1014).
It was the combat shotgun he'd used while serving in the U.S. Marines—a close-range killing machine nicknamed the "shotgun."
It had morphed into exactly the weapon needed for this situation.
"I can't wait to see the looks on their faces."
A dark smile crept across Arthur's lips. With that, he charged toward the bastard who'd launched the magic attack.
"I-Incredible..."
Barthes was stunned that his attack had been blocked so effortlessly.
Yarve, who'd witnessed the scene, was just as shocked.
"To block a 4th Class spell like that..."
Hajan replied with a grave expression.
"He's a... Sword Master."
"No way! A Sword Master in the Julius Count Family...?"
Yarve shook his head furiously.
He'd never heard of, let alone seen, anyone charging at him with such savage momentum.
Just who the hell was this guy?
For now, they had to hold out until Kapo arrived.
Yarve bellowed at the knights.
"Stop him!"
Barthes shouted in response.
"Caros Knight Order, follow me!"
As he charged forward, the knights of Densha Territory roared and followed suit.
Caros Knight Order Captain Balon approached Barthes.
"What are your orders?"
"Keep that bastard busy while I prepare my attack!"
"Understood!"
Balon raised his sword high and swung it side to side, signaling his knights.
The knight order split into two groups and rushed toward Arthur.
"If he blocked Rune Prayer..."
Barthes dismounted immediately and slammed his staff into the ground. He began chanting runes, preparing the most powerful spell he could cast.
"Power of light~"
Arthur's eyes flashed sharply as he spotted this while charging.
"You think I'll just let you attack?"
Arthur accelerated even more.
The distance to Balon's knight order was now just about twenty meters.
He knew their attacks would rain down from all sides soon, but with the shotgun, he felt no fear.
"I'll show you hell."
The moment Arthur's eyes gleamed coldly, Balon shouted.
"Attack!"
The knights lined up in a straight formation, charging ferociously at Arthur from both ends.
"Die!"
"Die!"
Swords flew toward him, dripping with killing intent from both flanks.
"Get lost!"
Boom!
A heavy gunshot rang out, and the magical shotgun shells engulfed the enemies.
"Arghhh!"
"Dodge!"
"Gyaaah!"
"Run!"
It turned into pandemonium in an instant.
Knights hit by the shells tumbled from their horses, rolling on the ground or trampled by their comrades' mounts.
The foes panicked in utter chaos, not knowing what to do.
Arthur didn't miss their openings.
He plunged into their formation, unleashing indiscriminate fire.
Boom!
Boom!
"Gyaaah!"
"My eyes!"
"Arghhh!"
Each shot knocked five or six men from their saddles.
Yarve Count's face twisted in horror as he watched.
"What the hell is that?!"
"It looks like magic, but it seems like a variant of an aura blade."
Hajan stared intently at Arthur tearing through the knights, his face deadly serious.
Golden armor!
The power radiating from it was so overwhelming it instilled fear even from afar.
'Who the hell is he?'
Questions filled Hajan's face.
No matter how he racked his brain, no one came to mind. For now, he figured it was a mercenary hired by the Julius Count Family.
But even if they felt threatened, they wouldn't hand over a family heirloom to a mercenary.
Plus, he'd never heard of any mercenary using such a bizarre weapon.
'This is maddening.'
The more he thought, the more his head hurt.
Yarve roared at the top of his lungs.
"Whoever takes down that bastard gets the Rose Knight Order captain position!"
But no one stepped forward.
If anything, their faces stiffened in terror at Arthur's prowess.
Yarve exploded at their reaction.
"What are you doing? Get out there and fight!"
The knights just exchanged glances, none daring to move.
"Damn it!"
Yarve grimaced and declared.
"Fine! Whoever drops him gets a barony and lifelong wealth and glory!"
"......!"
Eyes flashed across the ranks.
Moments later, greed twisted the knights' faces.
It started with the captains leading each territory's knights.
As they stepped up, their subordinates followed without hesitation.
The moment those who'd been hesitating charged, the captains bellowed.
"Charge!"
"Attack!"
Waaah!
The knights surged toward Arthur en masse.
Arthur, who had been massacring the Caros Knight Order mercilessly, gripped his shotgun tight as hundreds of knights swarmed like a pack of dogs.
"Let's go!"
Arthur kicked Kan hard with his spurs.
Neighhh!
Kan whinnied powerfully and bolted toward them.
"He's coming!"
"Archers!"
At the captains' cries, knights nocked arrows aimed at Arthur.
"Fire!"
Whoosh!
Dozens of arrows sliced through the air.
Arthur's eyes sharpened.
He was a man who'd charged through battlefields unscathed even under hails of bullets and cannon fire.
"Hah, you think arrows can stop me?"
He deflected the incoming arrows with his dagger and closed in on them.
Neigh!
Kan snorted fiercely and rammed the horses.
The mounts screamed and toppled.
Like a runaway locomotive, Kan rampaged, neutralizing enemies left and right.
Arthur pulled the trigger relentlessly.
Boom!
Boom!
Each gunshot sent the foes scattering in panic.
Over ten were wounded or killed.
"Die!"
Balon swung his massive bastard sword, matching his hulking frame.
Arthur parried swiftly with his dagger.
Crash!
A massive impact jolted through his wrist and arm.
"Block this!"
Balon brought his sword crashing down toward Arthur's head.
"Eat this!"
Arthur snarled back, jamming the shotgun barrel into Balon's face.
Boom!
The magical shells slammed into Balon's face.
"Arghhh!"
Wracked with agony, Balon fell from his horse and was trampled to death by flailing hooves.
The Caros Knight Order lost all will to fight with Balon's pathetic end.
As they fell back from Arthur, greed-crazed knights charged in, radiating killing intent.
They slashed at him mercilessly.
But Arthur calmly parried their swords with his dagger while firing the shotgun.
Boom!
Boom!
The foes collapsed helplessly.
Yet more knights kept pouring in endlessly.
Far from intimidated, Arthur grew even more ferocious, unleashing hell upon them.
That was when it happened.
"Fire Field!"
A booming voice rang out.
Barthes had finished casting and unleashed his attack.
It was the most devastating spell he could muster, turning a fixed area into a flaming hellscape.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
Fwoom!
A five-meter radius around Arthur became a pit of fire.
The knights and horses inside panicked wildly.
Neighhh!
"What the hell!"
"Why hit us too?!"
The knights yelled in confusion.
Barthes ignored them, glaring solely at Arthur.
"You're done now."
The flames roared fiercer as he poured in more mana.
Kan dodged the fire frantically.
But with the whole area ablaze, the ground grew scorching.
Neighhh!
Kan bellowed like an enraged bull, trying to break free from the inferno.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Knights blocked the way.
Kan kicked off the ground and leaped.
Several knights lunged at Kan, thrusting their swords.
The blades struck but bounced off harmlessly without penetrating.
Britannicker's hide was tough enough to shrug off orc attacks.
Moreover, Kan was the king of Britannickers, born with the strengths of both unicorn and Britannicker blood.
Ordinary attacks stood no chance.
Neighhh!
Kan roared deafeningly in fury, startling the horses into frenzy.
Knights tumbled from their mounts left and right, their fierce momentum evaporating.
That was when it happened.
Thud thud thud thud—
The ground shook.
Dust rose in the distance as a massive force appeared.
Banners of the Julius Count Family fluttered alongside those emblazoned with a blue phoenix.
"That's...!"
Yarve and all the knights' eyes shook violently.
It was the Phoenix Knight Order.
They charged ferociously astride Britannickers.
"What in the world..."
As Yarve stared in dismay,
Roar!
"Clear a path!"
Drakan led the knights in a brutal charge.
Giant Wolves tore into the knights mercilessly, while terrifying spears flew.
Helmets, armor—nothing could withstand them.
Thud!
Splat!
Yarve's legion panicked at the sudden Lannister Knight Order assault.
"What the hell are they?!"
"Monsters..."
Terror clouded Hajan's face.
Britannickers, and now Giant Wolves.
Knights commanding monsters? They had to be devil worshippers.
"Damn it! We should've sent those bastards straight to the castle."
"Kapo!"
Yarve scanned around, shouting.
But he was nowhere in sight—only allies crushed by monsters, bitten, slashed by knights' swords, or impaled by spears filled his view.
"This can't be happening..."
He shook his head, denying reality. But the more he did, the more anxious he grew, his body trembling.
Boom!
Boom!
The golden-armored figure massacred knights with his bizarre weapon.
Drenched in their blood, he evoked the image of a demon.
"D-Demon..."
As terror gripped Yarve's chest,
Their eyes met.
"Gasp!"
He nearly fell from his horse.
Hajan yelled.
"He's coming! You must evade!"
"S-Stop that bastard..."
Pale-faced, Yarve flailed in panic, at a loss.
Meanwhile, Arthur blasted through the knights blocking his path with ruthless shotgun fire.
"Move!"
Boom!
"Gyaaah!"
"Arghhh!"
The knights' agonized screams echoed endlessly.
Drakan followed, eliminating foes attacking Arthur from the flanks.
As their numbers dwindled sharply, the knights trailed Drakan.
"H-How...?"
Barthes was aghast.
Even a 5th Class spell couldn't harm him.
What shocked him more was that it hadn't hurt the knights following him either.
He recalled the legendary fame of the Phoenix Knight Order.
-They know no fear.
-Only advance.
"Everyone's been wrong..."
He'd thought it a fallen count family barely clinging to relevance.
But reality was different.
Their devil-allied forces were unimaginably formidable.
This power surpassed a mere count—it rivaled a marquis, and mishandled, could threaten the Empire.
He understood why the Emperor had ordered their extermination.
"This truth..."
Barthes whistled.
But his horse was gone, and a massive Britannicker charged.
The knight atop it exuded deep blue aura, flickering like fierce flames.
"Another Sword Master...!"
As Barthes' eyes bulged,
Skevin swung Excalibur.
Splat!
Barthes' head flew off.
Knights following Skevin swept through blocking foes mercilessly, carrying his momentum.
The combined might of Britannickers and knights unleashed devastating power.
The knights' eyes, fixed solely on annihilating the enemy, burned coldly.
Drenched in blood, armor thick with killing intent, they resembled yakshas risen from hell.
Terror filled the enemies' faces.
"T-They're not human..."
"We have to run!"
They began fleeing the battlefield one by one.
Panic spread like plague, thinning those daring to face the Phoenix Knight Order.
Skevin bellowed at the scattering knights.
"Pursuit squad!"
Whoosh!
Knights on regular horses gave chase.
They were no less agile than the Britannicker riders.
Not to be outdone, Drakan thrust his spear forward.
"Pursuit squad!"
Giant Wolves shot out like arrows at his command.
The fleeing foes met inescapable death.
Yarve Count gaped in horror as his vast forces crumbled helplessly.
"H-How..."
Hajan gauged his mood, then slipped back quietly and fled.
As Yarve's guards fidgeted in fear,
A Britannicker in golden chainmail and breastplate appeared before them.
Boom!
Over ten magical shells engulfed the knights.
"Arghhh!"
They tumbled from their horses, slamming into the dirt.
Even the pure white Rose Knight Order banner was stained crimson with their blood.
Yarve alone stood dazed, face ashen.
Clop clop.
The sound of death approaching.
"Gasp!"
His heart sank at the hoofbeats.
Kan halted before Yarve, eyes blazing.
Arthur gazed down coldly, aiming his barrel.
"Kneel."