Chapter 278: The Truth of Kronos (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 278: The Truth of Kronos (2)
It was a bewildering sight. A being draped in pure white had suddenly appeared, radiating an overwhelming holy power.
While the onlookers watched in a daze, a troop of soldiers led by the pure white knight swept across the battlefield.
"Slay the forces of evil!"
Crash!
Rumble!
Hundreds of swordsmen charged forward. Every single one of them manifested Aura.
At first, the alliance forces couldn't distinguish friend from foe. But they quickly grasped the situation when the newcomers began slaughtering the imperial army. No one knew where these warriors had come from. What was certain was that they had branded the Kronos Empire as evil, fearlessly charging into the hundreds of thousands of enemy troops.
"Argh!"
"Agh!"
Screams echoed from all directions.
The pure white Aura cut down the soldiers of the Kronos Empire in an instant, rendering their belated resistance utterly meaningless. The tide of battle turned in a single moment. These mysterious beings were overwhelming an army of hundreds of thousands.
From behind the vanguard, the pure white knight stepped forward and shouted, "O arrogant and greedy fools! I warned you clearly. If you crossed the boundaries permitted to humans and sought to dye the continent in darkness, we could no longer stand by and watch. Yet, in the end, you accepted a power that should never have been touched, all to realize your ambition of continental conquest!"
Whoosh!
Aura flared. Pure white light enveloped her, magnifying her presence to a divine scale.
"In the name of God, I shall punish the forces of evil. Bless."
Flash!
Rumble!
Radiant energy cascaded in all directions. It was a holy blessing.
The swordsmen following her weren't the only ones affected. The soldiers of the Dmitry and Cairo alliance widened their eyes as this mysterious power rapidly healed their battered bodies. From start to finish, the situation defied logic. However, now that she had explicitly declared herself an enemy of the Kronos Empire, Chris wasn't going to miss this golden opportunity.
"Soldiers! Follow me!" Chris roared, charging forward.
Accepting these holy warriors as allies, he threw his forces into the assault against the Kronos Empire.
From then on, it became a one-sided slaughter.
The Kronos Empire was already struggling against Dmitry's warriors, who fought like demons. Now, they had absolutely no way to block the onslaught of Dmitry's soldiers, whose stamina had been instantly restored. Above all, the sheer strength of the swordsmen following the pure white knight was overwhelming.
Watching this dizzying sequence of events unfold, Duke Bamford stood in sheer bewilderment.
'...What on earth is this?'
The war had taken a turn he never could have imagined.
He knew of the pure white knight. But Shepir, the 8th Circle Mage deployed specifically to deal with her, had vanished because of Roman Dmitry. The Kronos Empire still possessed an overwhelming force. They clearly had the upper hand in numbers, but given the shifting momentum, he had to make a hard decision.
'At this rate, annihilation is inevitable.'
He gritted his teeth. Though his insides boiled with rage, he wasn't a foolish commander who would drive his soldiers to their deaths just to protect his pride.
"All forces, retreat! Fall back to the Old Castle! We will live to fight another day!"
A retreat.
It was an unprecedented order. The invincible Kronos Empire, a nation that knew no retreat, chose to flee in the face of an unfavorable battle.
The troops quickly withdrew.
The Old Castle. Though small, it was still a fortress. Bamford judged that if they defended the Old Castle, they could buy enough time for Kronos's reinforcements to arrive. It was the best tactical decision he could make. Even if he faced a severe reprimand for this setback, retreating to fight another day was far better than losing hundreds of thousands of troops in a disastrous defeat.
However, upon reaching their destination, Duke Bamford's face turned deathly pale.
Atop the castle walls, beneath the fluttering flag of Dmitry, a figure was conjuring flames.
The moment he realized it was Felix, Duke Bamford muttered, "...Damn it."
He had fallen into a trap.
* * *
Details were what perfected a strategy.
When Roman Dmitry declared he would defeat the Kronos Empire in a head-on clash, Flora Lawrence had added one crucial detail.
"Whether we win or lose the head-on clash, the Old Castle is crucial. If we win, the Kronos Empire is highly likely to choose the Old Castle as their last bastion. If we lose, we can target the enemy's rear from there. Therefore, rather than simply surrendering the Old Castle's provisions, we must hide our forces inside the castle's underground tunnels, which the enemy can never find. When the time comes, we can choose whether to secure the Old Castle and open the gates to attack their rear, or block the retreat of enemies fleeing toward it."
She believed in Roman Dmitry. However, striving for perfection was the role of an advisor, and Flora Lawrence's strategy was adopted with unanimous support.
The holy being had been an unexpected variable. But now that the Kronos Empire was retreating right into their trap, the forces stationed at the Old Castle faithfully carried out their roles.
"Fire Rain."
Whoosh!
Sizzle!
Felix channeled his fire mana.
With his magic—which boasted absolute dominance in siege defense—flames rained down from the sky, turning the ground into a blazing sea of fire.
Boom!
Whoosh!
"Aaaargh!"
The Kronos soldiers rushing toward the Old Castle screamed in burning agony. The ranks behind them dissolved into panic.
In front of them, the Phoenix Mages who had seized the Old Castle unleashed their magic. From behind, the Dmitry and Cairo alliance forces, led by the holy knights, pressed their brutal assault. The imperial army was completely cornered. Had they known the Old Castle would fall, they would have prepared, but lacking any siege supplies, they were utterly helpless against the magical bombardment raining down from the walls.
Surrounded on all sides and paralyzed by panic, the imperial soldiers were subjected to a one-sided slaughter.
"The enemy is cornered!"
"Kill them all!"
Driven to the edge of a cliff, the Kronos soldiers—their faces completely drained of the will to fight—resisted desperately against the relentless attacks from both front and back.
Hundreds of thousands of troops. The numbers meant nothing now.
The moment they lost their will to fight, defeat became a harsh reality.
"Do not retreat! We are Kronos! Kronos never loses!" Duke Bamford shrieked in desperation.
Yet, contrary to his throat-straining shouts, his face was painted with absolute despair. He couldn't believe it. Defeat for the Kronos Empire was supposed to be impossible.
Duke Bamford personally drew his sword to face the encroaching enemies, only to widen his eyes as a stray arrow whistled through the air.
Thud!
"Ugh."
The arrow pierced his heart. A fatal bloom of blood spread across his chest.
As his vision faded to black, he finally accepted reality. This war—the war against Dmitry that everyone had been absolutely certain of winning—was a complete and utter defeat for the Kronos Empire.
* * *
The tide of war was decided in an instant.
The moment defeat loomed large and their commander collapsed, the Kronos soldiers abandoned all hope of victory despite their overwhelming numbers.
Total chaos ensued. Some fled in all directions to survive, some threw down their weapons and surrendered, and others fought desperately to the bitter end to preserve the pride of the Kronos Empire. Those who fought met swift deaths, which only prompted the first two groups to flee or surrender even faster.
It was over. The fierce war had ended.
Realizing they had emerged victorious, the soldiers of Cairo and Dmitry roared with joy.
"We won!"
"Long live Dmitry!"
"Roman! Roman!"
"Roman! Roman!"
The name they chanted was Roman Dmitry. This victory had stemmed entirely from him.
Had he not dealt with Hannibal, the knights of Kronos, and the 8th Circle Mage Shepir, they could not have guaranteed victory even with the sudden appearance of the holy being. They didn't mind that Roman Dmitry was not currently present. They knew the man they trusted would surely return.
Amidst the enthusiastic cheering, Chris, his face drenched in blood, approached a certain figure.
She was an anomalous presence. On a battlefield where corpses piled like mountains and blood flowed like rivers, the pure white knight remained utterly pristine. She did not look like an ordinary human.
Chris bowed his head slightly. "Thank you for helping us. But where on earth did you come from?"
The pure white knight was a complete mystery. He had never heard even a single rumor of such a being existing on the Salamander Continent, yet her earlier words made it seem as though she had known of the Kronos Empire's dark ambitions from the very beginning.
It was incomprehensible. The holy power she manifested and the swordsmen who followed her—they were existences that couldn't be hidden even if they tried.
The pure white knight looked at Chris. She was breathtakingly beautiful. With her snow-white skin and blonde hair fluttering in the wind, her ethereal appearance made one doubt if she was truly mortal.
She spoke softly but with commanding grace. "I am Isabelle, the Queen of Luna, the only nation of humans that exists in Arcadia, beyond the Endless Mountains."
Arcadia.
Luna.
Isabelle.
At this succession of unexpected names, Chris's eyes widened in shock.
* * *
When Shepir died, a spatial passage had opened.
Stepping through it, Roman Dmitry found himself not in the middle of the battlefield, but at the entrance of the Endless Mountains. For now, he returned to Dmitry.
After confirming Isabelle's existence and their victory in the war through magic communication, Roman Dmitry arranged a meeting in Cairo upon hearing that Isabelle wished to speak with him. However, his first destination was not the Warp Gate of Adelian. Before leaving Dmitry, there was something he had to check.
He headed straight for Dmitry's library.
There, he scoured the ancient books. These texts recorded the deeds of historically renowned figures, and after cross-referencing several volumes, he finally found the familiar names he was looking for.
`[Maximilian]`
A wandering swordsman who once caused a massive stir across the Salamander Continent. As a 5-Star Aura Swordsman, he traveled the continent, challenging those hailed as the strongest. He eventually caught the eye of the Kronos Emperor and rose to prominence. He was granted the surname Maximilian and contributed greatly to the Kronos Empire under the title of Count Maximilian. Having once reached the rank of number one in the Kronos rankings, he supposedly met a peaceful death, fading into the shadows of history.
It was a summary of a single individual's life. The ancient book recorded in detail how this person, who had left a massive footprint in history, had lived and died.
However, what caught Roman Dmitry's attention was something else entirely. Count Maximilian. Before the birth of the legendary name people remembered, a small section of the ancient text revealed his original identity.
– Count Maximilian. His real name is Sven.
Sven.
The Shadow who had attacked Dmitry. It was the exact same name.
If only Sven had been mentioned, Roman Dmitry might have passed it off as a coincidence and not connected it to the Shadows. But there were others.
`[Mystic]`
A mysterious figure. He caused a massive sensation across the continent by developing magic that could manipulate space. However, contrary to the public's intense interest, he vanished without a trace at some point. A mage who once researched alongside him stated that his name was 'Mystic.'
`[Ellington]`
Born long ago as the eldest son of the Ellington family in the Kronos Empire, he was a magical genius recognized by mages across the continent. He realized the profound truths of magic at a young age and played a major role in the magical advancement of the Kronos Empire. However, much like Mystic, he vanished at some point. Because of this, rumors ran wild within the Kronos Empire. The 'disappearance of mages' had always been a historically recurring event. Since no clear evidence of his life remained in the present day, doubts were eventually cast on the very existence of Ellington. The Ellington family also faded into the shadows of history after the disappearance of their eldest son. There were many speculations regarding his real name, with variations such as Sheroni, Sherpe, and Shepir being recorded.
Mystic and Shepir.
They, too, were recorded in the ancient books. This proved that the existence of the Shadows hadn't just fallen from the sky.
It was clear now. Those who had achieved historical feats significant enough to be recorded in ancient texts were, for some twisted reason, still alive today as 'Shadows'.
But the problem didn't end there. Roman Dmitry had extracted four names while reading Shepir's memories, and the final name had genuinely shocked him.
What on earth did that name mean?
The final name proudly revealed its identity right on the very first page of the library's most magnificent history book, rather than some dusty ancient text.
`[Emperor Alexander]`
The creator of Aura.
He was the last name Roman Dmitry had been looking for.
* * *
At that exact moment.
Flash.
The Kronos Emperor opened his eyes.
Waking from his deep slumber, he grimaced at the sudden, surging pain wracking his body.
"...Is anyone there? I asked if anyone is there!"
His voice was dry and cracked. Though his face was completely drained of strength, his eyes shone with a sharp, lucid clarity that had never been seen in them before.