Chapter 113: On the Edge of a Cliff (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 113: On the Edge of a Cliff (7)
His circles opened.
To be precise, he assimilated with nature, entering a state where he could absorb mana to its absolute limit.
It was the ultimate trump card of a mage. At the cost of being unable to use magic for a period of time, Edwin Hector gained power far greater than ever before.
"Wind Blade."
Whoosh!
Edwin Hector struck first.
Seeing Roman Dmitry kick off the ground and charge, Edwin immediately summoned blades of wind. It was an invisible, formless force. Although Wind Blade was one of the spells swordsmen dreaded most, Roman's sharp senses allowed him to perceive the trajectory of the attacks without even looking.
He dodged with swift, fluid movements.
But the moment his advance was slightly hindered, Hector's knights rushed in from all directions.
Boom!
Rumble!
"Die!"
"Protect the Prince!"
Aura exploded across the battlefield.
This was enemy territory. A romantic one-on-one duel was out of the question, and Edwin Hector had absolutely no intention of proposing a fair fight anyway. Eliminating Roman Dmitry by any means necessary was his absolute top priority.
Flash.
A single strike.
Roman channeled the mana in his Dantian.
Unleashing the second form of the Heavenly Demon Sword Technique, Roman sliced through all the charging enemies, Aura and all.
Splurt!
The knights were blown away in an instant.
It was a truly spectacular sight. Brilliant colors of Aura flared from all sides, but in the blink of an eye, they were all dyed in blood. Yet, no one flinched at this overwhelming display. Not Hector's soldiers, and certainly not Edwin Hector. Watching Roman's monstrous martial prowess, they already knew he wouldn't fall to something like this.
"Entangle."
Thwip!
Rustle!
Thick tree vines burst through the ground.
Edwin Hector controlled the vines with his hands, restricting Roman's path while Hector's archers simultaneously rained arrows down upon him. Then, he immediately activated Memorize to prepare his next attack.
"Inferno."
Whoosh!
Roar!
A devastating fire spell!
Boasting the greatest destructive power among 4th Circle magic, the spell exploded with immense heat, amplified by his opened circles. It was truly like a dragon's breath. The sheer temperature was intense enough to scorch the skin of anyone merely standing nearby, and even Roman Dmitry had no way to charge straight through the flames.
With every step, Roman's life was threatened from all sides.
Having lost so much to a single man, Hector's soldiers risked their lives without needing a single order.
Their expressions.
Their resolve.
They no longer cared about death.
Knowing that they would all perish if Roman Dmitry was left unchecked, they struggled desperately to leave even a single scratch on him, even if it meant offering their heads to his sword. Their efforts were not entirely in vain. Roman Dmitry was not invincible; as he carved his way toward Edwin Hector, small wounds began to appear on his body.
But the more they pushed, the more Roman's fighting spirit boiled.
Facing enemies who burned brightly at the cost of their own lives, Roman responded in kind, giving his absolute all as if this single moment was everything.
Whoosh!
Step.
He broke through the flames.
Although the intense, searing heat enveloped his body, he could no longer let Edwin Hector run wild. It was a scene that evoked pure awe. Despite countless soldiers risking their lives and struggling desperately to halt his advance, Roman shattered their lines with a ferocity that made him look like something far beyond human.
But Edwin had anticipated this.
He knew that the Roman Dmitry he had experienced would inevitably reach him.
"Lightning Blade."
Crackle!
A powerful surge of electricity flared to life. It was the absolute strongest spell against a single target.
He had been waiting for Roman.
The moment the monster arrived right before his eyes, the violent current of electricity blasted from Edwin Hector's hand straight toward him.
Boom!
Crackle!
'It hit!'
This time, a distinct sensation transmitted through his hand.
He thought that, at the cost of countless lives, he had finally landed a decisive blow on Roman.
But at that exact moment...
Whoosh—!
Breaking straight through the lightning, Roman charged at Edwin Hector.
* * *
Roman was not reckless.
Instead of taking the magic head-on, he utilized his extreme lightness skills to dodge the attack at the very last second.
It only looked as if he had charged straight through the lightning. Even to the eyes of a genius like Edwin Hector, Roman's movements had completely transcended human limits.
'It's over.'
Edwin Hector. Though they had only known each other for a short time, he was an opponent who had struggled desperately to constantly be a thorn in Roman's side.
He had no intention of letting the prince live.
Precisely because he acknowledged Edwin Hector's capabilities, Roman had chosen to advance rather than retreat after breaching the castle gates.
Flash.
He swung his sword.
It was an attack that a mage's physical abilities could never react to.
But just when Roman thought it was over, his senses caught an unusual movement.
"Your Highness... cough!"
Splat!
Blood splattered through the air.
It was Kellan.
Having followed Roman from the castle gates to stop him by any means necessary, Kellan had thrown his body forward the moment he realized Edwin Hector was in danger. His chest was brutally, miserably torn open. Kellan's eyes lost focus as he collapsed to the ground. At that sight, Edwin Hector's face turned deathly pale.
"Kellan!"
His head spun.
First Butler, and now Kellan.
His people were dying one by one.
Even with Roman standing right in front of him, Edwin Hector hurriedly pulled out a potion and poured it over Kellan's ruined chest.
"Please, please!"
"F-flee... cough!"
Kellan coughed up a mouthful of blood.
His eyes had already lost focus.
Edwin Hector hovered over the wound with trembling, desperate hands. The fact that he could do nothing but pour potions made him feel as if he were about to lose his mind.
Right then.
Whoosh!
Someone snatched Edwin Hector bodily away.
It was Jackson.
As Edwin Hector struggled, trying to shake off the grip, Jackson shouted, his face flushed red.
"Do you really intend to die here?! Your Highness's people sacrificed their lives just to save you! Edwin Hector, you are a person worthy of that sacrifice! So survive until the very end! Even if the labels of coward and loser follow you for the rest of your days, please survive so that the resolve of those who gave their lives for you is not in vain!"
His voice was choked with tears.
Butler.
Kellan.
They were Jackson's long-time friends. One had already fallen, and the other was hovering on the very brink of it.
Jackson's blood boiled. He wanted to kill Roman with his own two hands, but he knew all too well what the outcome would be if he tried.
'Roman Dmitry is a demon.'
For the first time in his life, true fear gripped him.
Terrified that they would all die here, Jackson chose to flee with Edwin Hector.
"All forces, retreat!"
"Abandon the castle!"
His voice echoed across the bloody battlefield.
Roman pursued Jackson. Slicing through the Hector soldiers who threw themselves at him to buy time for their prince's escape, he followed closely on their heels.
Edwin Hector's head spun.
The sight of Jackson shouting at him with tearful eyes, the image of Kellan collapsing...
It was truly driving him mad.
Caught in a vortex of overwhelming emotions he had never experienced in his life, his mental strength finally reached its absolute limit.
And just like that—snap—Edwin Hector's consciousness faded into darkness.
* * *
Jackson. The commander of the Ranger Unit. Had he, a 4-Star Swordsman, ever experienced anything like this in his entire life?
Like a terrified child, Jackson ran at full speed, carrying Edwin Hector without daring to look back.
"Argh!"
"Urgh!"
Right behind him, he heard the agonizing screams of his subordinates dying.
The Ranger Unit had received Jackson's orders. At his command to buy time by any means necessary, they threw away their lives like worthless weeds. Yet, they still could not stop Roman.
Even though they desperately lunged from all sides to hold him back, Roman had already caught up right behind Jackson, making the commander's heart burn with anxiety.
In the end, he realized they could not all survive.
Just as Jackson was about to hand Edwin Hector over to someone else, the Ranger Unit Vice Commander stopped his hand.
"You must survive, Commander."
The Vice Commander was also a 3-Star Swordsman. He did not wait for an answer.
Drawing his sword, he blocked the path and shouted at the rapidly approaching Roman.
"You have already won this battle! Why must you go this far?!"
It was a question filled with spite. It was not worth answering.
The moment Roman reached the Vice Commander, instead of speaking, he severed one of the man's arms.
Flash.
The Vice Commander couldn't even react.
His face contorted in pain and shock as Roman immediately slashed open his chest as well.
Splurt.
He fell to his knees in disbelief.
Looking down at the dying Vice Commander staring up at him, Roman said,
"I clearly warned you. The moment you met me again, I would kill you all. This war began the moment you crossed our borders. So do not wail as if you are the victims."
In the distance, Jackson's figure was growing smaller.
It was too late to catch up.
Throwing away their lives like weeds had been effective. Roman shouted loudly enough for Jackson to hear.
"Remember today. The next time we meet as enemies, I will become an evil ghost once more and slaughter every last one of you."
Jackson and the remaining survivors felt sheer terror.
Just thinking of Roman made their hearts pound wildly against their ribs. They did not dare look back, terrified that Roman might still be pursuing them. Even as he heard the Vice Commander's dying breaths, Jackson ran at full speed without turning his head even once.
Watching them flee, Roman turned around.
'It is time to end the war.'
The remaining enemies inside the fortress—from this moment on, not a single shred of hope would be allowed to them.
* * *
The war was over.
The conflict that had begun with the Hector Kingdom's surprise invasion had reached its conclusion.
The situation, which had seemed utterly hopeless when the Southern Front fell, finally came to an end with Hector's retreat.
"We won!"
"It's Cairo's victory!"
"Cairo! Cairo!"
The soldiers cheered wildly.
Shouts of joy were a privilege granted only to the victors, and the rear base was flooded with passionate cheers. Cairo's soldiers tore down the Hector flag hanging on the castle walls in an instant. Throwing it to the dirt and trampling it, they showed the captured Hector soldiers exactly what reality lay before them.
Victory.
The nobles of Cairo stepped into the castle.
At the gruesome sight before them, they covered their noses with their sleeves.
"...What in the world is this?"
"This is truly horrific."
Corpses were everywhere.
No matter where they looked, there was not a single spot free of bodies. Blood was splattered everywhere, painting the very castle walls red. The nobles, unaccustomed to the brutal realities of war, could not help but grimace.
Though they wanted to leave the cleanup to the soldiers, the nobles of Cairo had something they absolutely had to do.
'Roman Dmitry. Where is he?'
The hero of Cairo. They had to meet the man who led this war to victory and personally commend him for his monumental achievements.
Count Fabius hurried his steps.
Not wanting to be outdone, the other nobles followed closely behind him.
But upon climbing the stairs to the top of the castle wall, they witnessed a shocking sight.
"...!"
Roman Dmitry. He was there.
He was drenched in blood from the fierce battle, and countless corpses—too many to even count—lay scattered around him. They knew instinctively that Roman Dmitry had created the vast majority of those corpses.
They knew he was strong, but seeing the physical proof sent shivers down their spines.
And suddenly, a collective thought occurred to them.
'The being who overturned a war that seemed utterly lost. From now on, Roman Dmitry's value will soar to the heavens.'
Their prediction was correct.
Not long after, the shocking news of an overwhelming victory, along with the tale of Roman's legendary achievements, swept through the entire Cairo Kingdom.