Chapter 98: A World Never Experienced Before (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 98: A World Never Experienced Before (2)
Kevin's plan worked.
One of the soldiers he had intentionally let escape sought out Edwin Hector. With a face pale from terror, he vomited out everything he had just experienced.
"Th-there must be a mage in Cairo's camp! We lit up the darkness, confirmed the area was clear, and moved forward. But suddenly, Cairo's soldiers appeared out of nowhere and attacked us! Please believe me! They didn't just hide in the bushes to ambush us. They appeared like a mirage, as if they had torn right through space!"
Even as he spoke, his body trembled violently.
He was remembering the demon who had brutally slaughtered his comrades.
Every time Kevin's face flashed in his mind, the soldier anxiously checked over his shoulder.
"...Commander. It seems the enemy laid a trap," Jackson said.
Reports of enemy ambushes were currently pouring in from all directions. If they were suffering such one-sided defeats despite their overwhelming numerical superiority, there was a high probability the soldier's words were true.
"Jackson. There is no magic in this world capable of hiding a large number of people. While they could project illusions using Illusion-type magic, the enemy is launching simultaneous surprise attacks in at least four different locations. The possibility of them using magic scrolls is extremely low. High-circle magic scrolls are strictly managed by the Magic Towers, so there is no way they would possess such a large quantity on the Southern Front. If so, that leaves only one possibility: Cairo possesses a high-circle mage. Do you think that makes any sense? That such an existence is stationed on the Southern Front, of all places, rather than the Western Front?"
"It is impossible."
"Indeed, it is impossible. This is not magic."
Mages.
Existences even rarer than Aura Swordsmen.
Most of them belonged to the Magic Towers, which were neutral organizations. Like the Golden Bank, they operated across the entire continent. Nine out of ten people born with a talent for mana wished to join a Magic Tower. The reason was simple: the Magic Towers were vast treasuries of knowledge. Anyone who wished to grow as a mage had no choice but to join them.
Because of this, only a tiny number of mages served individual nations.
Thus, Edwin Hector could not comprehend how such an incredible existence could have appeared on the Southern Front.
'There is something special about Roman Dmitry. He isn't reacting to our pursuit on a whim; he lured us into these mountains after completing thorough preparations. This is likely a ploy to buy time. The longer we are held up here, and the more casualties our forces suffer, the more breathing room the Southern Front gains. The moment the Cairo Royal Family's reinforcements arrive, the tide of war will instantly turn.'
He looked at the bigger picture.
The chess pieces on the board were moving rapidly.
Although a war of attrition here would prove fatal, Edwin Hector had no intention of backing down.
'A single retreat. The moment we lose our momentum, it's over.'
Even if they withdrew their forces and captured the frontline defense posts, would they be able to achieve their goal as intended?
It would be difficult.
Roman Dmitry would gain the reputation of having repelled Hector with a mere handful of men, and that reputation would give Cairo a reason not to give up. War is dictated by momentum. The moment a hero named Roman Dmitry was born from this conflict, the shadow of defeat would naturally loom over them.
'It is still too early to withdraw our forces.'
His soldiers were dying.
But this was something he had prepared for.
To save the Hector Kingdom, everyone had sworn to lay down their lives, and Edwin Hector would not let their deaths be in vain.
'I will bide my time. Until Roman Dmitry falls into my trap.'
It was then.
[Roman Dmitry! He has appeared!]
A voice crackled through the communication device.
Roman Dmitry had begun to move.
* * *
Flash.
The darkness was swept away.
The moment the light emanating from the magic artifact illuminated the surroundings, the Aura Swordsman's face was dyed with shock.
"Gasp—?!"
Pierce!
Right before his eyes stood Roman Dmitry.
Lunging out of the darkness, Roman plunged his sword into the swordsman's chest before the man could even react. The Aura Swordsman staggered. He fell to his knees, coughing up bloody foam, but a smile spread across his face as he looked up at Roman.
"Cough! Y-you've finally fallen for it!"
Flash!
An explosion of Aura.
The intensely boiling mana manifested as a blinding light through the artifact.
The Aura Swordsman had already prepared for death. However, before his consciousness faded, he intended to hang a bell around Roman's neck, marking the demon's location at the cost of his own life.
Beeeep—
"It's Roman Dmitry!"
"Roman Dmitry has revealed himself! Form the perimeter!"
The situation changed rapidly.
It was entirely different from before.
Previously, there was no way to track him once he attacked and vanished into the darkness, but this time, a trail of light illuminated Roman's path. Shards of light, blasted in all directions when the mana exploded, embedded themselves all over Roman's body. Though they caused no physical pain, they made his figure glow like a firefly in the night.
The Aura Swordsman's death was not in vain.
As Roman darted away, the commanders frantically relayed messages through their communication devices.
[Roman Dmitry is moving north!]
[He just turned in the opposite direction!]
[2nd Company! 2nd Company! The rat is heading your way!]
A perimeter formed in an instant.
Hector's soldiers systematically cornered Roman. No matter how fast he was, he could not break through the encirclement at mere human speed. To achieve this, Edwin Hector had spread his soldiers far and wide, fully prepared to take casualties. From the moment Roman Dmitry was spotted, they rapidly scaled the mountain, pressing down on his position from the high ground.
The Heavenly Net.
They had cast an inescapable net to catch Roman.
As time passed, the net tightened significantly. Soon enough, the soldiers began to clash directly with Roman.
Under these circumstances, the Hector Kingdom believed they had finally cornered their enemy—that Roman Dmitry was now a rat in a trap.
Though they had lost many allies to a single man, eliminating the ghost that had tormented them all night was now only a matter of time.
* * *
They were hot on Roman's heels.
Seeing him fleeing while scattering a glowing trail, Hector's soldiers attacked all at once the moment they spotted him.
"Die!"
"I will avenge my comrades!"
The soldiers rushed forward eagerly.
Roman Dmitry.
He was the demon who had slaughtered countless of their allies.
At the memory of trembling in fear all night, the soldiers' eyes burned with venomous malice.
Whoosh!
Sharp weapons lunged at Roman from all directions.
At that moment, Roman's body blurred.
Instead of fleeing, he suddenly changed direction, diving into the crowd of soldiers and swinging his sword.
Flash!
Splurt!
Blood sprayed.
The soldiers who had just displayed such venomous malice were torn apart in a single strike. Roman didn't stop, seamlessly cutting down all the soldiers who followed up with attacks. His movements were so fast they were hard to track with the naked eye. Countless soldiers sprayed blood in all directions whenever they clashed with him. Though they had radiated a fierce killing intent capable of swallowing any opponent just moments ago, they were helplessly slaughtered by a single man.
But...
"Chase him!"
"Never let him escape!"
The pursuit was only just beginning.
Enemies poured in one after another in endless succession. Even if he cut down several at once, even more appeared to chase after him.
There was no room to run.
The Heavenly Net.
He was caught in a perfect, inescapable net.
And as he was held up, Hector's experts finally began to appear.
Boom!
Rumble!
Explosions of Aura erupted from all directions.
Aura Swordsmen.
They charged forward, unleashing their Aura.
Among them were 3-Star Aura Swordsmen. Their powerful Aura tore through the air—an attack that even Roman could not ignore. The soldiers of the Hector Kingdom were certain their assault would succeed this time. According to their commanders, Roman Dmitry was a 3-Star Aura Swordsman. There was no way he could handle multiple Aura Swordsmen of the exact same level.
In this touch-and-go situation, faced with the blazing flames of Aura closing in from all sides, Roman exploded the mana in his Dantian.
'Second Form of the Heavenly Demon Sword Technique.'
His sword flashed.
The fiercely rising mana clashed with the Aura that filled his vision.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Aaargh!"
"Aaack!"
The Aura Swordsmen were swept away by the powerful explosion.
Their swords, shimmering with Aura, were snapped in an instant, and the fragile flesh behind them was torn apart just as easily.
A single strike.
It was a shocking sight.
Even after unleashing such a devastating attack, Roman left the spot without his breathing being disturbed in the slightest.
Everyone was thrown into shock.
Roman was a terrifying enemy.
He completely defied common sense. They realized that even if they managed to catch his tail, killing him was an entirely different matter.
But...
That was precisely why they pursued him even more tenaciously.
He was a monster who was this strong all on his own. What would happen if they let him escape? They didn't even want to imagine it.
Even if they captured all the bases on the Southern Front, Roman Dmitry seemed like a demon who would somehow slaughter the soldiers of the Hector Kingdom anyway. Everyone was driven to madness. The soldiers of the Hector Kingdom threw away their precious lives like worthless weeds, willing to thrust their necks onto his blade if it meant stopping Roman's movements for even a second.
It was a desperate struggle.
A golden opportunity to kill Roman.
They acted not on cold reason, but on pure instinct.
Barely ten minutes had passed.
It was a short amount of time. Yet during that brief window, the blood of the dead formed rivers, and with every step, corpses were trodden underfoot.
But since when had it started?
A strange feeling began to creep over the Hector soldiers.
Roman Dmitry.
The demon who seemed within reach yet remained elusive.
Was he really running away?
The thought that suddenly crossed their minds was an incredibly ominous possibility that made their hearts sink.
* * *
Pierce!
"Urgh."
Once again, he dispatched a pursuing enemy.
Blood dripped down his sword.
Roman flicked the gore off his blade and calmed his slightly rising breath.
'My stamina is also gradually reaching its limit.'
The Heavenly Demon Sword Technique.
It was a technique that even Roman could not use frequently. However, with Hector's Aura Swordsmen rushing him from all directions, he had no choice but to push his limits.
It was then.
At Roman's feet, a swordsman with a deep gash across his chest gasped for breath and spat curses at him.
"Do-do you think you can make it out of here alive? Pant, pant. That will never happen. Thousands of troops have surrounded this place. No matter how strong you are... pant... in the end, you have no choice but to die a miserable death!"
He struggled desperately.
Shouting, he looked up at Roman with bloodshot eyes.
In that moment, Roman smirked.
Humans were always so consistent. Just like with Thompson, people fell into the exact same delusion under certain circumstances.
"Why is it that none of you ever consider that I walked into this trap of my own free will? Even though I clearly saw the swordsmen stepping forward using magic artifacts, I still killed them and allowed the shards to embed themselves in my body."
"W-what do you mean by..."
The Hector Kingdom hadn't dared to even imagine it.
Roman Dmitry was the bait.
He had intentionally wagged his tail, setting the stage so that the soldiers of the Hector Kingdom would chase after him.
The swordsman's face paled with shock.
Looking down at him, Roman delivered the brutal reality.
"Countless people are running around in all directions just to pursue me. You might think your encirclement is perfect, but in the end, anything done by humans is bound to have flaws. One minute. No, even just thirty seconds. The enemies who arrive first foolishly risk their lives to charge at me, convinced they must hold me down at all costs. Isn't it amusing? Because you think you've cornered me, you are less cautious than ever before."
He knew.
He knew exactly how reckless this operation was.
However, the Heavenly Demon Baek Joong-hyuk had always lived this way.
Unconventional thinking.
He was an existence that shattered common sense.
"So, let's see this through to the end. After all, dawn is still a long way off."
The enemy would soon find out.
Roman Dmitry...
No.
They would learn that in the world of Baek Joong-hyuk, common sense did not apply.