Chapter 394: The Presence of a Single Man (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 394: The Presence of a Single Man (4)
It had always been a mystery.
Alexander.
The Emperor was absolutely certain of victory.
No matter what impossible feats Roman Dmitry achieved, the reports regarding Alexander always echoed the same arrogant confidence in his ultimate triumph. Yet, Kronos's actions were contradictory. While claiming that Roman Dmitry alone could not change the tide of war, they constantly moved to exclude him from the battlefield by any means necessary.
What on earth was the source of their confidence?
Roman wanted to find out.
If he pushed them to the absolute limit... how would they respond? And did Alexander truly possess the power to stop him? If, as the Mother Elf had said, they relied on the existence of the Demon Realm, he would use this opportunity to uncover the truth.
"Attack—Urgh!"
Flash.
Blood sprayed from the neck of the knight who was about to issue the order.
The situation was on a hair-trigger. As the sudden slaughter shattered the tense silence, the Kronos imperial soldiers charged all at once, their faces twisted with venomous rage.
"Kill him!"
"Attack!"
It was a familiar sight.
Watching the massive crowd rush forward to kill a single man, Roman Dmitry calmly swung his sword.
'Heavenly Demon Sword Technique - Mid-stage First Form.'
Flash!
Rumble!
A storm of Aura swept across the vanguard.
The soldiers charging with their Aura flared were torn to shreds by blades of wind, a gruesome sight that forced everyone to face reality. This was Roman Dmitry. The presence of a single man who had defeated a 300,000-strong army alone and reversed the tide of the war in Umberto. By the time they realized something was terribly wrong, Roman Dmitry had already penetrated deep into their densely packed ranks.
Slash!
Spurt!
It was a slaughter.
Those surrounding him collapsed, spraying blood as Roman Dmitry violently carved his way through the battlefield, butchering anyone who stood in his path. There were no exceptions. Ordinary soldiers attacking in unison had their heads severed simultaneously, and Aura Swordsmen erupting with Aura were split in half right alongside their blades.
And then...
Rumble!
He stomped hard on the ground and swung his sword. Just like his first attack, a storm of Aura tore the surrounding space to shreds.
It was a bewildering sight.
This was completely different from a conventional siege. Watching Roman recklessly drop onto the castle walls and unleash a massacre, Baron Denikin found himself unable to utter a single command. Only then did he realize the truth. The order to hold out for a week... Marquis Memphis had known from the very beginning that Baron Denikin couldn't last that long. The intention was obvious. Marquis Memphis, a man who understood the threat of Roman Dmitry better than anyone, hadn't sent a single nearby reinforcement to aid them.
This place... had been abandoned.
It was nothing more than a sacrificial pawn meant to buy every possible second until the true Kronos reinforcements arrived.
"Block him! Block him, I said!"
He screamed at the top of his lungs, but there was no other way.
Disobeying orders meant instant death anyway, so he could only hope that Roman Dmitry, surrounded by countless soldiers, would fall to a stray blade. Meanwhile, beyond the castle walls, the Umberto forces were rushing in. Under normal circumstances, he should have ordered the archers to fire. A few archers, as if reading Baron Denikin's mind, nocked arrows to their bows—but their heads flew off before they could even release the bowstrings.
Flash!
Rumble!
Atop the castle wall, Roman Dmitry shut down any standard defensive response.
Everyone's eyes were focused solely on taking down this one man. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the wall fell.
It was then.
"Contact your superiors. If they do not come to stop me..."
Slash!
Thud!
He severed the massive chains connected to the castle gate.
The heavy iron doors crashed down over the moat, revealing the Umberto soldiers charging in from beyond.
"...Kronos will face an irreversible catastrophe."
*
The capital of Kronos.
Unlike the chaotic atmosphere of the Continental War, the people of the capital went about their daily lives in peace.
At that same hour, in Marquis Memphis's office.
Scribble, scribble.
Marquis Memphis was handling the Emperor's duties on his behalf.
With Alexander stepping back into the shadows for some unknown reason, all affairs of the Kronos Empire, both great and small, were being decided by Marquis Memphis. In pushing forward with this war, he had stepped into the realm of truth. He had always known that the Emperor of Kronos was connected to an unknown force, but the moment he truly met Alexander, a terrifying shiver had run down his spine.
Only then did he realize who his true master was.
From then on, he handled matters strictly within the guidelines set by Alexander, never daring to stray from that boundary.
A subordinate entered and spoke in a cautious voice.
"...The Frontline Defense Post has fallen. Baron Denikin is presumed dead on the spot, and Roman Dmitry immediately set fire to the post before moving on to his next destination."
Stop.
He paused his pen. Looking up at his subordinate, his reaction was ice-cold.
"He couldn't even hold out for a single day?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"Foolish bastard. He talked big about holding out for a week, but he was all mouth. Roman Dmitry's intention in burning down the Frontline Defense Post is clear. It is a warning. If we do not come to stop him, he will leave every piece of Kronos territory he conquers in an utterly ruined, unsalvageable state."
It was absurd.
In the entire history of Kronos, there had never been such a belligerent opponent.
Roman Dmitry pushed forward as if there were no tomorrow. If they failed to stop him, the main army of Kronos would inevitably be shaken. Had he not glimpsed the realm of truth, Marquis Memphis might have reacted with anxiety. However, he now knew exactly what Kronos was preparing. As one of the privileged few, he possessed absolute confidence and anticipation for the new future.
Still... he didn't like it.
The sight of Roman Dmitry repeatedly threatening Kronos grated on Marquis Memphis's nerves.
"This is a matter we must handle on our own. To be honest, I am starting to get curious myself. Just how far can Roman Dmitry hold out against Kronos?"
He smiled.
No separate orders were necessary. He had already dispatched forces to deal with Roman Dmitry—forces that even that monster would find difficult to handle.
Just as Alexander was certain of victory, Marquis Memphis also displayed a powerful, unshakeable faith in Kronos.
*
It was already the third battle.
Umberto's strategy was the same every time: their forces would only enter the fray after Roman Dmitry had personally swept through the enemy ranks.
"Leave not a single one alive!"
"We don't need prisoners. Kill them all!"
It was a perfect victory.
With Roman Dmitry throwing the interior into chaos and tearing open the castle gates himself, the Kronos Empire couldn't utilize any of the advantages of a siege defense. From this point on, Kronos had no choice but to feel the heat. Now that three fortresses had fallen, Roman Dmitry could branch out in any direction and throw the empire into utter disarray.
Crunch.
Debris from the castle crumbled beneath his feet.
Calderon Drake stepped into the fortress, surveying the devastating scene around him.
Is this the power of Roman Dmitry?
In truth, he had initially opposed Roman Dmitry's plan.
A strategy that involved charging in alone to open the gates was something anyone with a brain would naturally object to. It wasn't a matter of whether he trusted Roman Dmitry or not. He simply couldn't understand why Roman would take such a massive risk alone when they could easily secure an advantage by bringing the Umberto forces along.
At the time, Roman Dmitry had simply said:
"Umberto's forces number only 100,000. In a situation where we do not know how many battles we will have to fight within Kronos territory, the threat Kronos perceives will inevitably decrease as our numbers dwindle. For that reason, we must preserve Umberto's troops as much as possible. The primary objective of this operation is to actively utilize my presence so that Kronos cannot afford to ignore the situation here."
It was extraordinary.
From his sharp insight in reading the overarching war to his absolute confidence in pulling off such an absurd strategy, he was truly a being beyond the heavens.
Had he failed to prove his words, it would have been disappointing, but Roman Dmitry had truly brought down three fortresses in a staggeringly short span of time. The soldiers of Umberto had now become his fanatics. Seeing them ready to jump into a pit of fire at a single word from Roman Dmitry, Calderon Drake had no choice but to acknowledge reality.
The heavens had not abandoned the world.
Now that Kronos had bared its fangs and revealed its ambitions, having a presence like Roman Dmitry was nothing short of a blessing from above.
They began clearing the area.
They were about to set fire to this fortress as well, but Roman Dmitry stopped them.
"Repair the fortress and prepare for a siege defense."
"May I ask why?"
"According to the intelligence I received, the Kronos Empire's reinforcements have already arrived nearby. There is no reason to confront them in the open plains. It would be better to first reorganize the fortress, get sufficient rest, and then assess the situation once they engage us."
"Where on earth did you get such information...?"
Calderon was in awe.
They were deep in enemy territory in the middle of a war. Yet, seeing Roman casually mention precise intelligence regarding the movements of enemy reinforcements made him marvel once again.
The situation had changed.
Calderon Drake immediately followed the order.
And the very next day, just as expected.
Beyond the castle walls, the Kronos reinforcements were spotted approaching.
*
Atop the castle walls, a tense silence hung in the air.
Under the watchful eyes of the Umberto soldiers, the Kronos imperial army formed their ranks just outside of bow range.
And then... a single man stepped forward.
He was heavily armed in pitch-black armor, making it impossible to see his face.
However...
People recognized him instantly.
That armor, forged in the likeness of a dark dragon, was a treasure the Emperor of Kronos had personally bestowed upon only one man.
"...No way."
"It's Castro."
"Why is Castro appearing here?"
Everyone reacted with sheer bewilderment.
Aside from the terrifying fact that the First Sword of Kronos had appeared on the battlefield, Castro was the guardian deity of the imperial court. His sole duty was protecting the Emperor. He was a being who was never supposed to leave the imperial palace under any circumstances. The fact that such a man had appeared on the Southern Front was hard to accept. It was highly unusual, and it clearly demonstrated the sheer weight of Kronos's resolve.
Certain-kill intent.
They were expressing a powerful, unyielding determination.
Their intention was clear: rather than recalling their main army from the front lines, they would annihilate Roman Dmitry using only the elite forces remaining within Kronos.
Clank. Clank.
The tension was suffocating.
Castro confidently stepped into range, stopped at a suitable distance, and looked up at the castle walls.
"I am Castro of Kronos."
His voice was raspy and deep.
From inside his dark helmet, a sinister red glow gleamed, instilling primal fear in all who watched.
"Roman Dmitry. I challenge you to a Great Warrior Battle."
At those words...
The crowd fell into absolute shock.
*
For the past few years, there had been a strict taboo on the continent's battlefields.
Do not accept a Great Warrior Battle against Dmitry.
It was a painful, bloody lesson left behind by those who had perished.
Anyone who had engaged in a Great Warrior Battle against Roman Dmitry had met with a miserable, gruesome defeat. From a certain point on, no one dared to even propose one. It was only natural. Roman Dmitry was a monster who couldn't be defeated even with overwhelming numerical superiority; a one-on-one duel with him was nothing short of suicide.
Therefore... the bewilderment among the Umberto forces was immense.
No one had expected that Castro, of all people, would actively seek a Great Warrior Battle with the demon of Dmitry.
It was then.
Whoosh.
Roman Dmitry.
He leaped down from the high castle wall.
Landing lightly on the ground, he looked at Castro with a perfectly calm expression.
"I accept the Great Warrior Battle."
Schwing.
He drew his sword.
A taut tension filled the air, thick enough to cut.
Castro drew his own blade in kind, his ominous red eyes flashing toward Roman Dmitry.
"Roman Dmitry. Hearing the news of your exploits on the battlefield, I have always looked forward to this moment. People absurdly talk as if you have already surpassed me. Because Ares defeated Cesar, the number one in the Valhalla Ranking, and because you slaughtered hundreds of thousands of soldiers alone... the masses babble on that I am no match for you."
Rumble!
The very atmosphere vibrated.
As if his dark armor were drinking in the sunlight, the flow of mana emanating from him boiled violently.
"How utterly laughable. I ascended to this position decades ago. Even at the exact moment you first picked up a sword and absorbed mana, I was already the First Sword of the Continent, standing without a single rival. People think I have made no progress during my time in the imperial court. Just because the sweat I constantly shed in isolation, hidden from the eyes of the world, was not displayed outwardly, they treat it as if I have stagnated."
The people simply did not know.
Inside the imperial court... what kind of life had Castro lived?
The Emperor of Kronos had no rivals.
Since there was no one in the world who dared to target him, Castro, his ultimate shield, rarely had a reason to perform his duties. That was exactly why he repeated intense, bone-breaking training every single day. He knew that if a being who dared to covet the Kronos Empire ever appeared in the world... it was certain they would be a monster completely defying common sense.
So, he swung his sword.
From morning until the dead of night.
He poured out sweat like rain.
Though the public's perception of Castro remained frozen in the past, he had progressed, bit by bit, through his endless, repetitive life.
That kind of relentless existence... that was Castro.
He simply hadn't had a reason to draw his sword in public. Long ago, when Cesar faced Castro, he remarked that it felt like facing an insurmountable wall. The number one in the Kronos Ranking versus the number one in the Valhalla Ranking. Though they were only one rank apart in the continental standings, those who witnessed their secret duel declared that the difference between them was as vast as heaven and earth.
Rumble!
His Aura flared.
It expanded as if to swallow the world whole.
The explosive energy coloring his surroundings displayed a destructive might that completely defied the standards of this world.
"Roman Dmitry. By executing you, I, Castro, will once again prove to the world that I am the true First Sword of the Continent."
It was unmistakable.
Castro's Aura...
It had broken through to a domain that no one in the recorded history of the continent had ever reached.
The Realm of 7 Stars.