Chapter 398: Alexander (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 398: Alexander (3)
The soldiers' sudden appearance on the battlefield was no accident. It had been a meticulously planned operation from the very beginning.
A few days ago.
When King Daniel Cairo requested help, Roman Dmitry had delivered a new strategy via magical communication.
[Abandon your resistance and surrender the fortresses just as you are doing now. The war with the Kronos Empire must not become a war of attrition; we must decide the outcome through a single, decisive all-out war. When Kronos sets foot in the Patrick family's territory, we will face the enemy with the Patrick Fortress as our center. At that time, we will completely discard the advantage of a fortress siege. We will place King Daniel Cairo on the castle walls to give the enemy the illusion that we are putting up a desperate last stand, and then deploy hidden forces alongside Umberto's reinforcements nearby to lure them into a close-quarters bloodbath.]
"...Won't that be too dangerous? Our forces are already vastly outnumbered, and the enemy possesses a 9th Circle mage. In a battle of numbers, the destructive power of a 9th Circle mage is absolute."
It was Daniel Cairo who spoke.
He had long since redefined his relationship with Roman Dmitry, no longer finding it awkward to show the deference of a vassal state. Both Hector and Cairo had quickly accepted reality. In the rapidly shifting tides of the continent, they clung tightly to their only lifeline: Roman Dmitry.
[I understand your concern.]
Alexander.
The destructive power of his 9th Circle magic was nothing short of miraculous. Reports stated he had wiped out the capital of Odelia and shattered Cairo's Western Front with a single spell—absolute proof of his terrifying capabilities. Even Roman Dmitry could not guarantee absolute victory. Because 9th Circle magic was a realm he had never personally experienced, he had meticulously analyzed the situation to craft a foolproof plan.
It was a critical moment.
With Valhalla pushing in on other fronts, they had to overwhelmingly crush Kronos here to turn the tide of the war.
[But relying on the advantage of defending a fortress won't solve the problem. Alexander's magic renders castle defenses useless. Instead, we need to draw them in and blur the lines between ally and enemy through a chaotic melee. We must force him into a position where he has to slaughter his own troops if he wants to strike at us. In that sense, the Patrick family's territory is the perfect decisive battleground. It's a rugged terrain where retreat is nearly impossible once entered, meaning we can annihilate the Kronos Imperial Army in a single stroke. And in the midst of that chaos, I will target Alexander directly.]
Beyond the screen, everyone gasped in admiration.
Even when pushed to the very edge of a cliff, Roman Dmitry had devised a way to bring a definitive end to the conflict.
At times like this, people realized that Roman Dmitry had not reached his current absolute peak solely through raw strength. His ability to make timely, ruthless judgments and his bold actions had shaken the Cairo Kingdom since the days he was a mere successor of a remote fiefdom. A being who had transformed into a giant of the continent in just a few short years—his words were absolute law.
"Understood."
"We will follow your command."
And so, Cairo moved according to plan.
Whether they would crush Kronos and slay Alexander, or be completely trampled and fall into ruin—Roman Dmitry had made his gamble.
* * *
Flash!
Rumble!
Aura surged.
Roman Dmitry charged forward, his speed far eclipsing that of his allied soldiers.
Although it would take some time for the hidden troops to reach the main battlefield, Roman Dmitry did not slow down. The enemy swarmed as far as the eye could see. Normally, an army with such overwhelming numbers would be roaring with high spirits, but the soldiers of the Kronos Empire looked incredibly tense.
Recently, a new nickname had emerged for him.
Not "the match of a hundred," but "the match of ten thousand."
Faced with the sheer presence of Roman Dmitry—a monster who had already slaughtered hundreds of thousands of soldiers—they realized the utter meaninglessness of numerical superiority.
It was exactly as expected.
The moment Roman Dmitry collided with the vanguard, who were too terrified to even charge properly, a shocking sight unfolded.
He took the first step of the Heavenly Demon's Sovereign Step.
Rumble!
He did not hide his power. He unleashed it completely.
Confronting the sea of enemies, Roman Dmitry executed the Heavenly Demon Sword Technique.
'Heavenly Demon Sword Technique - First Half, First Form.'
Flash!
Rumble!
The first few hundred soldiers he encountered were instantly shredded to pieces.
There was no exchange of blows; the tempest of Aura whipping from his blade simply tore their flesh apart. For the soldiers of the Kronos Empire, it was a sight that instantly shattered their will to fight. They knew Roman Dmitry was strong, but seeing it with their own eyes made their minds go completely blank, leaving them utterly clueless on how to respond.
Meanwhile, he moved again.
'Heavenly Demon Sword Technique - First Half, Second Form.'
Boom!
Rumble!
He took his second step.
As he penetrated the space where the enemies swarmed thickest, a destructive wave of energy swept forward, slaughtering everyone in his path.
"Aaargh!"
"Aaaah!"
Screams echoed from all directions.
The Heavenly Demon's Sovereign Step was not just a single footfall. It encompassed an entire sequence of movements that maintained a single, unbroken flow; to advance from the first step to the second, he actually took dozens of strides. With every step, the energy of the earth surged up from the ground. The Aura boiling within his Dantian manifested as a devastating force, bending entirely to Roman Dmitry's will.
Flash!
He cleanly severed the head of an Aura Swordsman who dared to charge at him.
As the Aura Swordsman—a man who had enjoyed a decent reputation in the empire—died a futile, nameless death, Roman plunged once more into the teeming mass of enemies.
"Die!"
"Throw yourselves at him!"
Desperate, venomous voices rang out.
Once the blood began to flow, the enemy soldiers lost their minds to the frenzy of battle. Watching their comrades die in rapid succession every single second, they charged like madmen. Even if hundreds died doing it, inflicting even a shallow scratch would be a gain. Their goal was to wear Roman Dmitry down bit by bit and eventually drag him to hell.
Step. Step.
Exactly ten steps. He entered their range.
The moment they recognized Roman's figure and attempted to launch their respective attacks, blood splattered in all directions.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Heads took to the skies.
Taking his third step, Roman unleashed a swirling strike of the Heavenly Demon Sword Technique, severing the necks of every surrounding enemy. They did not even realize they were dead until the very moment their vision spun into the dirt. If they charged first, they died without fail; if they shrank back in terror, Roman Dmitry hunted them down and killed them anyway.
It was an overwhelming spectacle.
A single man. Yet Roman Dmitry's presence swelled to eclipse the entire army.
As he tore through the battlefield like an unstoppable beast, the Kronos Imperial Army had no room to worry about the Allied Forces charging in late. They had to kill Roman Dmitry first. If they could not deal with this demon who had slaughtered thousands of soldiers in just a few minutes, there was no hope of winning this war.
Flash!
Rumble!
Roman Dmitry pressed forward.
Pushing through the sea of bodies with brutal force, his true target was the single being waiting beyond this chaos.
'Alexander.'
He could feel it. He knew he was there.
The piercing gaze watching him and the explosively boiling mana were absolute proof of Alexander's presence.
It was then.
Whoosh!
Roar!
A sudden, blistering heat washed over him. Roman Dmitry, who had developed a formidable resistance to fire after absorbing the Flame Demon's essence, instinctively veered off his path.
'It's dangerous.'
Flash!
Roar!
Hellish flames swept the area.
The imperial soldiers charging toward Roman Dmitry were not spared from the aftermath of the magic; their bodies melted instantly under the immense, unnatural heat. The range of the spell spanned dozens of meters. Not a single soul within that space survived, and the massive, blackened crater left behind made one doubt the reality before their eyes.
"To think you avoided Hellfire. I heard you usually charge straight through fire-attribute magic, but I suppose you didn't have the confidence to withstand this one."
From afar, a voice echoed.
When Roman Dmitry raised his head, his eyes met those of Alexander, who was looking down at him with an intensely amused expression.
* * *
Alexander was genuinely amazed by Roman Dmitry's display.
'To think he would be this strong.'
During the previous war, Alexander had witnessed Roman Dmitry fighting through fragments of memories. Even then, he had shuddered at Roman's immense martial prowess, but facing the raw flow of his mana in person was an entirely different experience.
It was explosive. It was overwhelming.
Watching Roman sweep away hundreds of thousands of troops as if it were nothing, Alexander clenched his fists tightly.
His blood boiled.
Just what on earth was Roman Dmitry's true identity?
No matter how ignorant Alexander's past self had been, even he could tell that his opponent was an existence that utterly defied common sense.
'Even in the stories people babbled about when yearning for Murim, existences who displayed such overwhelming martial prowess as Roman Dmitry were exceedingly rare. It was a realm only titanic figures like the Murim Alliance Leader could reach. The problem is that Roman Dmitry's wild, destructive nature doesn't fit the Righteous Faction. Is he someone from the Evil Faction, or could he be...'
For the first time, the Heavenly Demon Cult crossed his mind.
Perhaps he was a high-ranking master of the Heavenly Demon Cult, someone who had lived in the same Hundred Thousand Mountains as himself.
A twisted smirk crept onto his face.
'This is far too exciting.'
Just think about it. In his past life, Roman was undoubtedly an existence he wouldn't have dared to even look up to. Yet, reborn as Alexander, he had obtained the power of magic—a power that could overwhelm martial arts. He would defeat Roman Dmitry. After brutally killing him, Alexander planned to turn him into a Death Knight and bind him as an eternal servant.
Just imagining it sent thrilling shivers down his spine.
If he bound Roman's soul and interrogated him, Alexander would be able to uncover the truth of the martial arts he had so desperately yearned for, as well as Roman Dmitry's true identity.
Ultimately, he had to defeat him.
Alexander channeled his mana. To deal with Roman Dmitry, he personally stepped onto the battlefield.
"Hellfire."
Whoosh!
Roar!
9th Circle magic. He conjured the very flames of hell.
It was a strike meant to test the limits of Roman Dmitry's boasted fire resistance, and seeing Roman evade it, it seemed even that resistance was not absolute. A powerful explosion erupted. Although thousands of his own Kronos soldiers died from the blast, Alexander was not shaken in the slightest.
"To think you avoided Hellfire. I heard you usually charge straight through fire-attribute magic, but I suppose you didn't have the confidence to withstand this one."
The battle was only just beginning.
Seeing Roman Dmitry charging toward him once again, Alexander channeled his mana.
"Lightning Punishment."
Flash!
Rumble!
Lightning smote down from the heavens.
Once again, innocent soldiers were vaporized, and Roman Dmitry vanished from sight, only to reappear much closer than before. Alexander did not lose track of his opponent. Continuously manipulating his mana, he indiscriminately rained down lightning bolts all around Roman's position.
Boom!
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Rumble!
The world flashed in blinding, apocalyptic white.
It was a bombardment no one could possibly survive. Whether the soldiers of Kronos died or not was irrelevant; Alexander's sole target was Roman Dmitry.
"As expected."
Amidst the raging storm of mana, he felt Roman Dmitry's presence.
He was a remarkable bastard.
Even though Alexander had cornered him with absolutely no room to escape, Roman was charging straight toward him, violently piercing through the storm of magic. The imperial soldiers he encountered along the way were invariably reduced to blood splatters. Every time Roman's Aura surged, the sight of enemies being obliterated as if struck by high-tier magic was utterly shocking.
However, Alexander felt no panic.
He raised his finger and pointed directly at Roman Dmitry.
"Earth Punishment."
Boom!
Rumble!
A massive earthquake erupted.
The ground collapsed, drastically warping the surrounding terrain as hundreds of jagged stone spikes shot up, skewering the flesh of anyone caught in the fissures. The soldiers of Kronos shrieked in agony. They cried out, begging for their lives, but to eliminate Roman Dmitry, they were mercilessly cast into the abyss of death.
Crunch!
Flesh and bone were ground to pieces.
The aftermath of the lightning had not yet settled in the sky, and the earthquakes erupting in all directions barred any approach.
This was the realm of the 9th Circle. The domain of a god.
The day Alexander first cast a 9th Circle spell, he realized that the humans of this continent could never stand against him. From the beginning, the conquest of the continent had been preordained. It was just that they needed time to fulfill the necessary conditions according to His command; Alexander's Kronos had completed its preparations long ago.
He gathered his mana.
He tried to locate Roman Dmitry, but no flow of mana could be detected.
It was then.
Flash!
"...?!"
In an instant, Alexander's eyes widened in shock.
Roman Dmitry had materialized right before his eyes.
The distance had clearly been substantial, and despite the consecutive use of 9th Circle magic, Roman had closed the gap in an instant with movements that defied all common sense. The thought that he had to cast a spell flashed through Alexander's mind. Instantly spinning the mana in his circles, he manifested a defensive spell against Roman Dmitry.
No.
He thought he had manifested it.
Flash!
The world flashed white.
By the time Alexander even registered the attack, his head was already flying high into the sky.
* * *
Thud.
Roll, roll.
The severed head rolled across the blood-soaked earth.
Amidst the raging magic, Roman Dmitry had pierced through the storm of mana to strike Alexander's true body.
It was a success.
However, Roman's expression remained completely calm. Alexander's head, which should have had its eyes closed in death, was grinning widely as if finding this incredibly amusing.
"You didn't die," Roman stated.
"Keh keh. Truly remarkable. To pierce through consecutive 9th Circle spells and sever my head so quickly that I couldn't even react? If I were an ordinary being, I would have died from that attack just now. But you picked the wrong opponent. I, Alexander, am not an existence that can be obliterated by such a trivial strike."
Rumble!
Dark mana surged.
Black mist billowed upward, and Alexander's severed head dissolved into smoke before seamlessly reforming back onto his neck.
It was a grotesque, unnatural sight.
As Alexander regained his original form, Roman Dmitry spoke.
"I expected as much. I figured that if you were an existence utilizing the power of immortality, severing your head wouldn't be enough to kill you."
"If you knew that, you shouldn't have shown yourself before me. Roman Dmitry, I truly acknowledge your strength. I stepped onto this battlefield because I was absolutely certain that no one but me could defeat you. But tell me... did you really think I lured you here relying on nothing but these ragtag Kronos soldiers?"
He smirked.
The stronger his opponent, the greater his ecstasy. Whenever he thought of the thrill of the moment he would finally bring Roman Dmitry down, Alexander could not hold back his laughter.
"The one who fell into a trap was you. Revive."
Fssss.
Dark mana exploded outward.
The corpses piled up like mountains across the battlefield suddenly opened their eyes.
Most of them were corpses with severed heads, torn limbs, and mutilated bodies, yet they rose as if they were living creatures. Necromancy—magic that resurrects the dead. The real reason he had callously wiped out his own Kronos Imperial Army with the aftermath of his 9th Circle magic was simple: he had calculated that they would be far more efficient as undead puppets anyway.
And then.
"Behold! The true reason we have been waiting for this very moment!"
Whoosh!
Whirrrr!
The wind howled furiously.
The space behind Alexander began to violently distort, gradually fracturing like broken glass to reveal a swirling violet void.
The rift tore open.
It was none other than a passage to the Demon Realm.