Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Silver Moon Chains
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"Young Lord Ian, what are you doing!!"
Sophia Clonen, who had been fighting the Death Knights beside Ian, spotted the scene and cried out in horror.
"That muddleheaded bastard...!!"
Manus Kalia, who had just deflected a Death Knight's halberd with his club, gnashed his teeth as well.
It wasn't that Manus particularly liked Ian or was worried about him.
The weight of being called a "little star" of the Martial Clan wasn't as light as winning a neighborhood game of tag.
There were fully twenty Death Knights, but the little stars—including Alex—were somehow holding off their onslaught.
But even that had its limits.
The Martial Clan's little stars numbered five in total.
Without Ian, each of them would have to face four Death Knights right away.
However, Andy Pallkion, Manus Kalia, and Sophia Clonen could manage only up to three each.
The only ones handling four were Alex and the branch family's thunderbolt rascal.
And even among them, only Alex had any margin left; the thunderbolt rascal looked like he could collapse at any moment, teetering on the brink.
The reason they were holding out against the Death Knights without crumbling was solely because Ian was tying down three of them.
A perfectly divided allocation of roles.
If Ian fell before Alex, who still had some leeway, could take out even one more Death Knight... this precarious balance would collapse in an instant.
And the fallout wouldn't end with just this battle falling apart.
It would immediately open a hole in the captains' lines, who were facing that monstrous lich right beside them.
In that case... this strategy of targeting the lich would end in failure.
With such a fragile balance on the verge of shattering in a heartbeat, it was no wonder they were panicking.
Regardless, the Death Knight's black blade fell mercilessly toward Ian's head.
Just before the Death Knight's sword strike reached Ian's head.
...Chiriririt!
Kaaaaang!
Something burst out from Ian's clothing at the shoulder, tearing it open, and blocked the Death Knight's blow.
Death Knights were skulls in armor, their empty eye sockets burning with eerie blue soulfire, devoid of any muscle or flesh—so no expression was visible.
But even from its awkward stance alone, one could guess.
"Never seen anything like this before, huh?"
This Death Knight was utterly flustered.
Kirrik, kiririk!
"Well... can't blame you. In all of Agena, how many knights have ever experienced a 'relic' like this?"
What had torn through Ian's shoulder was none other than a chain.
A chain gleaming brilliantly silver in the sunlight.
"Even I was pretty shocked the first time."
Indeed.
The chain protruding from Ian's shoulder was a masterpiece crafted by Midas Alloin—one of the pinnacle mages and greatest heroes born in the southern continent of Bestrika.
It was the hidden form of the Silver Moon Armor.
Chiriririririt!
The chain from his shoulder whipped out fiercely, wrapping around the flustered Death Knight's sword.
Toward the Death Knight, now exposed with its weapon sealed, Ian thrust his greatsword straight in.
Puuuuk!
Death qi leaked out from between the pierced armor.
For a Death Knight, death qi was like human blood.
Bing!
As Ian twisted the greatsword to rip open the armor, the Death Knight released its sword and retreated.
If it stubbornly clung to its weapon and took a fatal wound, it would have to withdraw from the front lines immediately.
Better to fall back, replenish its death qi, then reclaim the weapon when an opportunity arose...!!
"You think I'll just let you go?"
Puhiiaak!
Like the chain from his shoulder, chains snaked out from spots along Ian's right arm gripping the greatsword, wrapping around the Death Knight's body.
The Death Knight was captured in an instant, unable to move a muscle.
Faced with this bizarre attack it had never encountered in life or undeath, it froze in confusion, helpless.
And for Ian, that much time was plenty to deal with a Death Knight.
Kwadudududuk!
Ian stabbed his shortsword into its torso after the greatsword, then tore the Death Knight in two, bisecting it completely.
With all its death qi drained, the Death Knight was forcibly resummoned and crumbled away on the spot.
In the meantime, the other Death Knights' maces and flails continued assaulting Ian.
But every one was blocked by the chains of the Silver Moon Armor he wore, coming to naught.
"Y-Young Lord Ian... what is that?"
Sophia stared blankly at the unreal scene, seemingly forgetting she was in the middle of battle. Ian simply pressed a finger to his lips.
"It's a secret."
Silver Moon Armor.
The mystical armor received from Agena's foremost sage and southern hero, Midas Alloin.
After completing the birch forest mission and receiving it, Ian had been unable to shake off the strange sense of familiarity and déjà vu it evoked.
"Sigh... there has to be a way to use it..."
But contrary to that sensation and Midas's words that infusing mana would release the memory magic...
The Silver Moon Armor refused to reveal its true form to Ian.
He tried channeling qi through it every which way, tossing it around, even striking it with the Twin-Headed Blood Serpent—but Ian uncovering the Silver Moon Armor's secret was pure coincidence.
Blood Demon Iron Chain Art.
When he fully unleashed the martial art he had created in his days as Lucas Alexei, the finicky Silver Moon Armor revealed its true nature as if by magic.
The memory magic was a lie, too.
The Silver Moon Armor produced chains from anywhere at Ian's will as he circulated the Blood Demon Iron Chain Art, and could even transform into armor.
Ian knew little of magic, but he could tell it wasn't something as simple as memory magic.
Midas, that old fox... why the hell did he lie to me?
He couldn't fathom the reason just yet, but at least one thing was certain.
The Silver Moon Armor's true form bore an uncanny resemblance to the supreme weapon he had wielded in life: the Golden Heaven Chain.
Now that he knew... Ian could wield the Silver Moon Armor better than anyone in this world.
Chwarararuk!
The chains that had shredded the Death Knight's armor retracted, reforming as armor.
"Huuuuu..."
Sweat beaded on Ian's forehead as he caught his breath.
This damn armor... it's similar to the Golden Heaven Chain, which is great, but the efficiency is total garbage.
Unlike the Golden Heaven Chain, it was fine that it stayed in armor form normally—but transforming it guzzled an insane amount of aura.
If he handled the Silver Moon Armor at full power like the Golden Heaven Chain... the current Ian wouldn't last ten minutes before it sucked him dry.
But even with such poor efficiency, the Silver Moon Armor was...
"...plenty effective for surprise variations like this!!"
Chiririririt!
Ian deflected a Death Knight's mace swing toward his shoulder with his shortsword.
And from Ian's wrist.
Tupaaak!
A single chain shot out in ambush.
A strand infused with the Blood Demon Iron Chain Art's aura—which had been armor just moments ago—pierced straight through the Death Knight's helmet.
Suuuuu!!
Death qi surged and spilled from the helmet.
The Death Knight holding the mace panicked, trying desperately to cover the hole in its helmet.
Chiririt!
But a chain extending from Ian's leg wrapped around it, sending it tumbling clumsily.
"Off you go."
Kwajik!
Ian's twin blades crossed in an X, crushing the Death Knight's armor mercilessly.
With that, another Death Knight was resummoned.
Only one Death Knight remained.
As two were neutralized in the blink of an eye, the evenly matched battlefield began tilting slowly toward the Martial Clan side.
"...Tch."
Watching the Death Knights fall one by one starting with Ian's exploits, the lich Arckandor clicked his tongue.
"Tsk tsk tsk... My carefully crafted Death Knights, and they can't even properly handle a bunch of greenhorns. This is a problem."
"Now's not the time to worry about others!!"
Hoong hoong hoong hoong!!
The tonfa spun ferociously, plummeting toward the skull hidden in Arckandor's robes with enough force to shatter it.
Kwaaaaaang!
Walter's tonfa could shatter even diamond with ease, so a mere skull would be pulverized to dust.
Kik, kik!
Yet Arckandor's head remained intact.
Between the tonfa and Arckandor's skull, a shield of mana piled up over centuries rippled thickly.
The tonfa that crushed diamond fell short against the wall of mana accumulated over endless ages.
"That skull bastard... really tenacious. Hey, skull."
Visibly annoyed that his attack had been blocked, Walter scowled as he retrieved his tonfa and shouted at Arckandor.
"What?"
"Why not just give up? You're barely holding this front with your endless undead anyway. If we just stop you from spawning more, the rest of the lines will crumble soon enough. No point wasting energy—why not surrender?"
Indeed.
No matter the Earth Dragon's blessing, the Great Curtain's forces were numerically inferior.
Filling that gap was Arckandor's role.
The near-infinite undead spawned by the Immortal Legion's king, Arckandor, bolstered the other fingers of the Great Curtain—left, center, right—that were being pushed back by the alliance.
With that wave of undead stemmed...
The remaining fronts without reinforcements would soon collapse helplessly.
That was why Walter was taunting Arckandor to surrender.
But...
"Kuh... kukuku! Kuku!! Puhahaha!!!"
Arckandor burst into mad laughter, as if he'd heard the funniest joke, forgetting he was in battle.
"...What's so damn funny, skull?"
Irked by the unexpected reaction, Walter growled with a hardened expression.
"Kuku... Ah, pardon me. Living among monsters for centuries, it's been ages since I heard humor like that."
Arckandor rubbed the hollow sockets of his empty eyes as if wiping tears.
The gesture was blatant mockery toward Walter.
"Captains of note, yet blind to the state of the battle. Truly amusing. It seems you've learned nothing from your ancestors' records of history."
The captains' faces chilled at the Arch Lich's words.
They were men to be admired, not ridiculed.
"...You're banking on the Earth Dragon, huh. Sorry, but... our Patriarch is counted among the strongest in Lichtenauer history. Some washed-up lizard from bygone eras will be exterminated by him in no time."
The captains were convinced.
Paon Lichtenauer had transcended human limits, earning the title of Sword King in present-day Agena.
Not only that.
In the long history of the Lichtenauer Martial Clan, few were rated stronger than Paon.
Such a man had no reason to lose to an Earth Dragon he had already sealed once in the past.
"Puhuhuhuhu!!"
But despite the captains' icy retort, the skeletal mage merely sneered.
There were a few in present Agena stronger than Arckandor.
But Arckandor possessed an experience unique to him.
He had faced both the past and the present.
"You lot understand nothing. From the start, the goal of this front and all the other fingers was singular."
Thus, he declared with certainty.
"To buy time until the Earth Dragon fully recovers its power."
The Lichtenauer Martial Clan's might they so confidently trusted...
"Once that happens... this time, no one will dare stand before it!!"
...would never reach the Martial Clan of old.
Mountains crumbled, canyons collapsed.
Auras of those who had reached the pinnacle shattered the landscape, and from the melted ground, residual heat sent endless smoke billowing up.
Plip, plop!
Was the sky itself startled by the battle?
One drop, two drops.
The rain that began to fall slowly...
Shwaaaaa!!
Soon engulfed the battlefield in a massive downpour.
The clash between the dragon and the three absolutes of the southern continent churned up mythic-scale shockwaves.
No sane person wanted to get caught in the aftermath and die pointlessly, so no one closely observed the battlefield where the Earth Dragon, Paon, Golden Eye, and Sea King were entangled.
No one wanted to peer in and get killed.
They simply believed their side would win.
As the rain fell, the black smoke that had risen began to dissipate, slowly revealing the hidden battlefield.
That their battlefield was far off was truly fortunate for the alliance.
If they saw the spectacle unfolding now... they would lose all will to fight in an instant.