Chapter 252: Shadows Looming Over Dmitry (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 252: Shadows Looming Over Dmitry (6)
A split second.
A single opportunity.
Fernando gritted his teeth and drew out every last drop of his Primordial Energy.
Rumble!
A deluge of Aura poured forth.
The Aura he had suppressed while absorbing Roman Dmitry's teachings erupted all at once, triggering a massive explosion. Bewilderment flashed across Sven’s face. He instinctively knew that even with his Shadow's Body, he could not withstand this surging Aura threatening to wash over the entire world.
But he couldn't break free.
With bloodshot eyes, Henderson desperately clung to the blade impaling him.
"Come with... cough, come with me!"
Squelch.
The blade dug even deeper into Henderson's flesh.
Henderson channeled his Aura and hugged the sword tight. Though he couldn't hold on for long, it was more than enough to create a split-second opening. A blood-smeared grin spread across Henderson's face. A difference of just one second. At the cost of Henderson sacrificing his own body, Sven was a step too slow in retrieving his weapon.
Splurt!
Blood splattered.
The moment Henderson collapsed, his eyes losing focus, Fernando's Aura crashed over Sven in an explosive wave.
Boom!
Crash! Rumble!
A tremendous shockwave erupted.
Sven was engulfed in a violent storm of Aura. His eyes widened as his flesh was torn to shreds. This was entirely unexpected. He never imagined that he, a 6-Star Aura Swordsman, would suffer such a fate in a place where Roman Dmitry was absent.
People said the 6-Star realm was a Heaven Beyond Heaven.
He could not allow himself to fall like this against mere small fry.
"Aaaargh!"
Rumble!
Dark Aura flared.
Sven's body dispersed into smoke as he desperately tried to redirect the impact. It was a feat possible only because his body was no longer that of an ordinary human. Wearing a demonic expression, Sven withstood the raging Aura swirling from Fernando and took a step forward. Both Sven and Fernando knew all too well that if this attack failed, Dmitry's swordsmen would stand no chance of winning.
However, this was Dmitry. And Sven was alone.
"Explosion!"
Boom!
Whoosh!
Nox's presence flared brilliantly.
Having activated Burning, he assimilated with the fire and cast a 6th Circle spell to bolster Fernando's attack. It was a devastating blow. Sven staggered. The Dark Aura that had been violently erupting just a moment ago was forced back into his body, and his face contorted as if his very being were cracking under the shock.
An opening revealed itself.
And there were many here eagerly waiting for just such a chance.
Thrust!
Stab! Stab! Stab!
McBurney was the first to pierce Sven's abdomen.
Then, Dmitry's swordsmen rushed in from all sides, hacking and slashing at the assassin.
Some had their heads severed or chests slashed by Sven's desperate counterattacks, but they paid no heed to their own safety, violently capitalizing on the hard-won opportunity. It was an onslaught that even a Shadow's Body could not endure. Amidst a sickening chorus of tearing flesh and shattering bone, Sven dropped his sword and fell to his knees.
At that moment.
Flash!
Sven's head flew into the air.
Having finally secured victory, Fernando channeled his Aura one last time and severed Sven's neck.
It was over.
As the headless corpse collapsed, Fernando didn't even spare it a glance. He immediately sprinted toward Henderson.
* * *
Kevin and Henderson.
Their conditions were utterly horrific.
Kevin had been unconscious since the moment Fernando arrived, blood flowing ceaselessly from his torn wounds. Yet, Henderson's state made Kevin's look mild by comparison. With a gash so deep his bones were clearly visible, Henderson was deathly pale, looking as though he might draw his last breath at any second.
"Hang on! Hold on to the very end! Don't you dare die like this!" Fernando screamed, his voice thick with desperation.
Pop.
He uncorked a potion.
It was a top-grade potion worth dozens of gold coins, but Fernando did not hesitate to pour it generously over the wound. The potion's efficacy was indeed remarkable. The laceration began to close rapidly, stopping the bleeding. But despite his healing flesh, Henderson's body trembled violently as he continued to cough up blood.
"Bring more potions! Bring more, damn it!"
The surrounding soldiers scrambled.
They brought out all the emergency supplies they had saved, pouring them over him continuously even though they knew the effects wouldn't stack.
Splash, splash, splash!
Fernando hadn't been in Dmitry for very long.
He was only just beginning to get to know its people, and he could never forget what Henderson had done for him. In Dmitry, Henderson was the most ordinary of men. Approaching with a friendly smile like the boy next door, he had shown Fernando immense consideration, helping him adjust to his new life.
Fernando hadn't realized it before—just how valuable a person like Henderson was to Dmitry.
Among those who followed Roman Dmitry, each had their own strengths—Chris in swordsmanship, Kevin in chaotic brawls, McBurney in tactics, and so on. But whenever anyone was asked who the kindest person was, everyone, without exception, named Henderson. That was the kind of presence Henderson had in Dmitry. He was a cog in a massive machine, and in the face of a powerful enemy like Sven, this small cog had played the crucial role of keeping all the other gears turning.
He couldn't let him die like this.
He desperately wished for Henderson to live.
"...P-Please stop."
It was Henderson.
He had regained consciousness.
Looking up at Fernando with a pale face, he gasped for breath.
"The... the war isn't over yet. So... please, do what you must do right now."
Beyond the Outer City, a battle was raging.
Even as they despaired over Henderson, Dmitry's soldiers were dying outside to hold back the enemy. Henderson trembled. Teetering on the boundary of life and death, he, just like Kevin, did not think of his own safety, but instead spoke of their purpose.
Just as Kevin had met Roman Dmitry in the slums, the sight of Roman Dmitry executing Blood Fang in the square had felt like destiny to Henderson.
He had accepted it.
Even if he were to die, he would accept it with a smile.
"...I understand."
Kevin and Henderson.
They were foolish bastards.
If they had only cared about their own safety, they surely would have found a way to survive.
Fernando stood up.
The basic first aid was complete.
From this point on, their lives were in the hands of the heavens. To ensure their sacrifices were not in vain, they had to lead this war against the Kronos Empire to victory. He, too, was now a man of Dmitry. Putting an end to the mockery of being called the "gatekeeper of the top 30," Fernando dedicated his very existence to Dmitry.
"You must survive."
He turned his head.
"From this moment on, we hunt down the remnants of Kronos."
Wearing the face of a demon, Fernando headed toward the castle walls.
* * *
Kronos's plan had been perfect.
A surprise attack on the walls, the infiltration of the Shadows, and an assassination attempt by the powerful Sven.
Not a single element seemed prone to failure.
Though it was called a diversionary operation, Mystic, who led the assault, had been certain from the start that Dmitry's walls wouldn't hold for long. But reality proved otherwise. He had believed they would maintain a clear advantage until the reinforcements from the Northeast Association arrived, but in less than an hour, the situation had completely reversed.
Creak.
Thud.
"Attack!"
"Execute the Kronos Empire!"
Dmitry threw open the castle gates.
Even before the reinforcements could arrive, they judged that they could wipe out Kronos with their own strength alone.
A chaotic melee began.
Abandoning the advantage of the walls, Dmitry's army slaughtered the Kronos soldiers with overwhelming might. It wasn't because they held any particularly advantageous high ground. Dmitry's soldiers simply possessed superior individual martial prowess, each strong enough to handle several Kronos soldiers on their own.
Furthermore, the presence of a few key individuals stood out.
Fernando and Rodwell Dmitry took the lead, charging ruthlessly into the enemy-infested battlefield.
Boom!
Rumble!
It was a massacre.
In close-quarters melee combat, the Kronos army was simply no match for Dmitry.
Goosebumps broke out on Mystic's skin.
Dmitry's military power was beyond imagination.
Even though they had highly rated Dmitry and deployed forces meant to overwhelm them, those forces were being utterly crushed. The attempt to take the walls had failed due to Felix's presence, and the Shadows who had infiltrated the interior had been completely wiped out in less than thirty minutes. Finally, there was Sven. Mystic had believed that Sven, at least, would produce results, but sensing that even Sven's life force had vanished, Mystic was deeply shaken.
"...Is this truly the power of Dmitry?"
Roman Dmitry was not here.
Kronos had always been wary of that 'single individual.'
They had believed his presence was the only thing that made Dmitry special.
But the outcome of this battle proved that Dmitry possessed the full military capabilities of a proper nation.
Crunch!
Rumble!
Fernando charged.
Having truly become Dmitry's gatekeeper, he severed the necks of the swarming enemy soldiers as he rushed straight toward Mystic. Mystic gathered his mana, but then his eyes caught the figure atop the wall. Felix's gaze was locked onto him, his magic power already gathered to neutralize Mystic's spells at a moment's notice.
It was over.
If he dragged this out any longer, his own life would be in jeopardy.
"Dmitry. Do not think this is the end."
Whoosh.
He scattered dark mana.
As if space itself were folding like a curtain, Mystic vanished into a shroud of darkness.
Mystic's flight marked the end of the fierce battle.
* * *
Not far away, Mystic emerged, parting the shroud of darkness.
At that moment.
Flash!
Rumble!
A brilliant flash of light erupted.
Mystic instinctively raised his dark mana to block it, but his face contorted from the immense impact.
Before his eyes, someone appeared.
A being clad in pure white armor looked down at Mystic and spoke.
"I believe I told you. Do not let me catch your tail."
"...Damn it."
Mystic showed clear signs of tension.
A holy halo radiated from his opponent.
Her pure white armor and cascading blonde hair proved that she was indeed the entity the Kronos Empire feared. The common people knew nothing of her existence. She was the protagonist of legendary rumors whispered from the lands beyond the Endless Mountains—a dangerous existence that Kronos kept a wary eye on.
There was a reason why the Kronos Empire had suppressed its ambition for continental conquest all this time.
While they were not yet fully prepared, the entity before him had also interfered with Kronos's plans at every turn.
She raised her sword.
Pointing it at Mystic, she unleashed a holy Aura that was the polar opposite of the demons of the Abyss.
"Today, I will capture you and uncover the truth. Just where 'that fellow' is hiding."
"That will never happen!"
Whoosh.
Rumble!
Mystic's magic power exploded.
The two clashed.
A tremendous shockwave erupted, turning heaven and earth upside down.
The war between Kronos and Dmitry.
To those who only remembered Mystic fleeing, the events unfolding here would remain forever unknown.
* * *
A single battle.
Dmitry was thrown into an uproar.
Dmitry and Cairo declared a state of war, and at the same time, the King of Cairo contacted the Hector Kingdom.
"Dmitry has suffered a surprise attack from Kronos. This assault, launched while Roman Dmitry was away, is clearly a scheme to strike both Roman Dmitry and Dmitry simultaneously. I beg of you. Please mobilize Hector's forces. If anything happens to Roman Dmitry on his way across the border, the continent will never be able to stop Kronos's conspiracies in the future."
He had made a swift judgment.
The attack on Roman Dmitry had already begun.
The problem was that the Kronos Empire, having failed to conquer Dmitry, might intensify its threats against Roman Dmitry at the border. This was an issue Cairo could absolutely not ignore. Roman Dmitry was the core of the Cairo-Dmitry Alliance, and they knew the kingdom could only survive if he remained standing.
However, Hector's response was unexpected.
"We have already dispatched our troops. We, too, cannot allow Roman Dmitry to die."
They had once been enemies.
But ever since they began receiving aid from Dmitry, the Hector Kingdom had come to view Dmitry as a steadfast ally. In fact, they had already been contacted by Duke Dmitry regarding this matter. The master of Dmitry, who cherished Roman Dmitry above all else, had declared that as long as the Hector Kingdom sent troops, he would spare no support.
And so, Roman Dmitry was able to use Hector's Warp Gate to travel back to Dmitry.
A few days after the incident...
Finally, Dmitry welcomed the return of the one they had so desperately been waiting for.