Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: Records of the Spirit King (1)
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The banners of the Philius Empire's Imperial Army came into view. Elite armed soldiers under imperial orders launched a surprise attack on the rear of the undead horde assaulting the Golden Grass Clan's city.
And there, commanding the Night's Executioner Rodin's 4th Legion, was the high-ranking lich mage, Delcris.
The Imperial Army's top commander, Kashyas, ordered his troops into a ferocious assault to annihilate the undead horde as per the emperor's decree, but breaching the enemy's rear defenses proved no easy task.
"How can you fail to pierce the enemy's rear guard?!"
Kashyas urged his subordinate commanders in frustration. With the emperor already inside that vast city, he was burning to collapse the undead's rear and rush to his side.
"The warriors guarding the lich in the rear are far stronger than expected!"
"They're dullahans. Their defenses are solid."
Those manning the rear guard were dullahans, elite among the undead races.
Though considered a step below death knights, they were undead crafted from the corpses of at least upper-grade knights, making them exceedingly tricky opponents.
"Damn it! We must hurry and rescue His Majesty the Emperor from those vile fiends!"
Kashyas gnawed at his lips in anxiety. But he was no foolhardy commander who would botch things out of impatience.
"Imperial Army, fall back!"
Kashyas's order spread through the messengers. The Imperial Army withdrew to reorganize their front lines. As they reformed, another force emerged behind them.
It was the vanguard of the knight brigade commanded by the high knight Biliang. Out of the 1,000 knights scattered across the Southern Central Forest, these 500 had been the first to assemble and raced alongside Biliang to rescue the emperor.
Under normal circumstances, neither the Imperial Army nor the knight brigade would have reached this place.
But thanks to Lich Delcris using the scroll Rodin had given him to shatter the barrier protecting the Golden Grass Clan's city, they had navigated without getting lost and arrived in one swift push.
"Tell me the current situation, Sir Kashyas."
The knight brigade linked up with the Imperial Army. Biliang sought out Kashyas first.
"Where is His Majesty the Emperor?"
"He's inside that city, Sir Biliang."
Kashyas pointed toward the city beyond the undead horde, now slowly crumbling into ruins, prompting Biliang to furrow his brow.
"So... he's right in the heart of the enemy lines."
"Yes."
"Then why hasn't the Imperial Army rescued His Majesty yet?"
Biliang pressed him. Kashyas bit his lip again and bowed his head.
"It may sound like an excuse, but the Imperial Army alone couldn't break through the dullahan knights' defenses."
"Then rest easy. Now that the knight brigade has joined, the worries you had are over."
Biliang drew his sword and stepped forward, followed by the brigade's upper-grade knights. Brilliant mana blades enveloped their swords.
"Break through in one go before they can rise again."
Biliang issued the order in a calm yet firm voice. With a lich among the undead forces, speed was key.
He charged first, scattering mana toward the dullahans. Each burst of radiant energy felled them effortlessly.
By the time Lich Delcris drew a magic circle to raise the dullahans again, it was too late. Not only Biliang but all the brigade's upper-grade knights had already pierced the rear guard lines.
"Lord Delcris... what do we do?"
One of his subordinate necromancers asked cautiously, but even Delcris had no solution. Instead of answering, he silently gathered mana to prepare for battle. At the gesture of the high mage lich, the heavens and earth trembled.
"That's a high mage lich. Everyone, be careful."
Biliang warned his knight subordinates in a quiet voice. For high knights proficient not just in swordsmanship but in mana manipulation, gauging a mage's level was no great feat.
"Don't give it time to chant its spells!"
The sword-wielding knights charged toward the lich and its wicked necromancers. Bone spears summoned by Lich Delcris pierced the upper bodies of five knights, but they pressed on undeterred.
Truly befitting the bravest knight order of the Philius Empire.
"Graaaah!"
"Arrrgh!"
In an instant, the knights closed the distance and slaughtered the necromancers. Only Delcris survived, retreating with blink magic, but his end seemed near.
High knight Biliang had closed the gap in a flash.
-How dare you! A mere mortal!
Biliang's swing severed Delcris's right arm. The severed limb hit the cold ground still clutching its staff. Delcris raised his remaining left hand to weave a defensive spell, but that was a mistake.
With the distance so close, the lich's weakness—the location of its mana-operating life vessel—was exposed the moment the magic circle formed.
"There it is!"
Biliang's sword thrust fiercely into Delcris's abdomen where the life vessel resided. The vessel shattered in one strike.
Delcris's jaw dropped wide as he staggered weakly, crumbling into dust and vanishing.
"The lich is dead! Entire army, charge!"
With the lich and necromancers all slain, no one remained to cast regeneration or healing spells. The undead would stay down once felled.
At Kashyas’s sharp cry, the Imperial Army roared in unison and unleashed a fierce assault.
The Golden Grass Clan, heartened by the Imperial Army banners fluttering in the dark night's wind and the armed forces pressing the undead, launched their counterattack.
"Reinforcements!"
Human reinforcements, but that hardly mattered. In their hour of near annihilation, these saviors were not the humans shunned for millennia—they were benefactors.
The flag bearers raised the clan's banners anew. Scattered rangers and spirit swordsmen regrouped. The Imperial Army and knight brigade covered their assembly. The reformed Golden Grass Clan army joined forces with them to annihilate the undead horde.
"I am Selethin, ranger commander of the Golden Grass Clan. We are grateful for the Philius Empire's cheers and support."
"No more thanks are needed. Where is His Majesty the Emperor?"
Ranger Commander Selethin had come personally to express gratitude for saving their city, but Kashyas firmly prioritized finding the emperor.
"I'll guide you."
Fortunately, Selethin knew the Philius Empire's emperor had collapsed in the city center, informed verbally by a messenger from Rainkio, who guarded him.
Selethin led the way, followed by Kashyas, Biliang, and the others. They headed toward the Golden Grass Clan's royal castle in the city.
The main avenue bore the scars of desperate resistance. Rotten undead flesh littered the ground, and elven corpses were being gathered.
"Where on earth is His Majesty?"
Kashyas urged repeatedly in his haste.
"We've placed him in the safest spot in the castle, so no need to worry."
"It had better be so."
Kashyas warned sternly in response to Selethin. The Imperial Army's deep loyalty was renowned even among elves, so Selethin nodded silently.
Soon, they reached the castle guarded by the elven spirit swordsmen. Recognizing Selethin's face, the guardians exuding sharp auras stepped aside without a word.
As Selethin had said, Raymond was resting in the castle's deepest, safest chamber.
Guided by elves into the castle's central hall, Kashyas spotted the emperor first and rushed forward, dropping to one knee.
"Your Majesty! This humble servant has led the Imperial Army to fulfill your decree!"
"Well done, Sir Kashyas."
The emperor Raymond's voice lacked strength. Looking up closely, Kashyas saw his red uniform soaked with blood at the chest.
Naturally, Kashyas couldn't stay calm at the sight. He sprang up in fury.
"You lot! What happened to His Majesty?!"
Had the emperor not been present, he would have drawn his sword on the spot. Unable to stand it, Marquis Blizzard stepped forward.
"Sir Kashyas. This is before the throne. Calm yourself."
"Tch, but Lord Marquis Blizzard... His Majesty is bleeding."
"If we're assigning blame, even we Royal Guards bear fault. Restrain yourself here."
"Understood, Lord Marquis Blizzard."
In the end, Kashyas yielded and stepped back. The tense atmosphere eased somewhat.
Rainkio, who had been tense with guilt over Raymond's injury, let out a deep sigh of relief.
Finally, Raymond spoke with a weary expression.
"The hunt festival has been safely halted, I assume?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. There were no small number of nobles questioning the sudden troop movements, but no real opposition."
Biliang of the knight brigade answered in place of Kashyas, who was still flushed with restrained anger.
With 3,000 Imperial troops and over half the knight brigade forces from the hunt festival suddenly marching off, questions from curious nobles were expected, even without backlash.
"How did you respond to questions about the troop movements?"
He hoped they'd handled it sensibly.
"We said it was a military movement to carry out an imperial decree."
Raymond shook his head with a short sigh at the reply. Biliang was a knight through and through.
It would have been better to claim a large orc horde in the north required extermination. Saying it was for an imperial decree only made it seem like they were hiding something.
The gossip-prone nobles wouldn't stay quiet.
It might even reach the ears of the accompanying envoys, but what was done was done, and without prior specific orders, he couldn't fault Biliang or Kashyas.
"And the envoys?"
"They're at the camp near the Southern Central Forest entrance with the nobles. I've assigned 20 brigade knights to monitor them."
According to reports from Shade and the Central Intelligence Agency, two dark nobles were among the envoys, along with no small number of Hashashin.
Though brigade knights were elites, they couldn't fully track them. Thus, Raymond had already placed a few Shade specialists suited for surveillance around them.
"Well done, Sir Biliang."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Biliang stepped back after replying, and Raymond nodded with a satisfied smile.
His handling of matters was solid. It was one of the minor contingencies when delegating to a knight without detailed instructions.
"I wish to rest now."
As he voiced his fatigue, Marquis Blizzard took the hint, and all but a few left the reception hall.
Rainkio seemed to have much to say but bowed silently and withdrew at his benefactor's request to rest.
"I said I wanted to rest, Marquis Blizzard."
Marquis Blizzard, Marquis Tempest, and four Royal Guards remained. Raymond issued another dismissal.
The remaining Royal Guards hesitated but nodded and withdrew upon realizing the loyal swordmaster and two high mages would guard the emperor.
However, unable to guarantee the castle's safety after the undead assault, dozens of Royal Guards were stationed flawlessly around the reception hall.
"Your Majesty."
With the Royal Guards gone, Gestain, Desia Heli, Sylvia, and Azure Tower Lord Risefield Dior stayed. Risefield approached cautiously and bowed.
"I have something to deliver."
"Show me."
"Here it is."
Risefield opened a subspace and retrieved an item. It was a jet-black ring infused with dark mana.
"The magic tool worn by the death knight?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. After checking records in ancient texts, we've identified it as the 'Sinister Veil,' lost by the Highfel Empire's black magic academy 500 years ago."
Raymond nodded quietly at Risefield's words. He recalled the setting book's description of the 'Sinister Veil.'
'A ring that generates an aura armor capable of blocking even high-level magic...'
Raymond's eyes gleamed as he remembered the Sinister Veil's function.