The Night Is Over
A low, bone-deep rumble rolled across the land.
Beneath a sky stained pitch-black, an undead legion of such terrifying numbers approached that they seemed to blot out the earth itself. The vile death aura pouring off them was enough to choke the breath from a man's lungs.
Steel whispered from its sheath.
Raon drew the Heavenly Sky Sword and the Requiem Sword and flung their scabbards to the ground.
The Light Wind Squad's scabbards piled up in a heap atop them — a declaration of will from every last swordsman present. They would come back alive. They would reclaim those scabbards with their own hands.
"We'll keep these safe for you."
"Come back in one piece!"
"We'll be waiting."
The house retainers, faces pale as paper, gathered the scabbards into their arms with reverent care.
Raon nodded to them and strode out through the castle gates. He took his stand against the undead legion crushing the death-forged earth beneath their advance.
A unified, low hum of aura answered him. The Light Wind Squad followed at his back, their presence fused into a single blade.
"Seal the gates."
"Seal the gates!"
The moment the gates slammed shut, the death aura thickened until it felt almost solid. He could feel the swordsmen behind him trembling.
A deep resonance thrummed through the air as Raon circulated the Ring of Fire and the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames as one and raised the Heavenly Sky Sword.
The instant the blade pointed downward, massive boulders tumbled from the ramparts above.
They crashed down the walls and smashed through the undead, shattering the enemy's front ranks into splinters of bone and black ichor.
Then fire-arrows streaked from the sky as if to erase the night itself, plunging into the horde. They were arrows the house retainers had poured every last ounce of their strength into crafting in so short a time.
"Loose with everything you've got!"
At Frika's cry, the rangers drew their bowstrings to the absolute limit with fingers dripping blood, then released. The blood staining the fletching of those arrows made Raon's chest ache.
"Uaaaaah!"
"You damned corpses!"
The moment their arrows were spent, the rangers hurled javelins, carving a path open before the Light Wind Squad.
"That's enough covering fire."
Raon raised the Heavenly Sky Sword. The blade flushed crimson, birthing flames that scoured the darkness away.
"Charge!"
He clenched his teeth and drove his foot into the earth.
"Charge!"
The Light Wind Squad unfurled the Great Light Wind Formation and surged after him. Mark Goetten and Wendy Ariane took their places at the squad's flanks, raising their ganggi.
Flame roared. Raon swept the fire-wreathed Heavenly Sky Sword back over his shoulder.
Here…
Against enemies packed into a linear formation, the best sword art to cut them down was already decided.
Flame Dragon Form
The fire packed into the blade became a storm, carving a crimson road through the dark.
Along the line those flames had traveled, not a single undead remained. But there were so many crowding in from every side that they had to pass through before the path closed.
"Keep charging!"
Raon raced across earth that still radiated heat. From the Light Wind Squad at his back, he felt an iron will that would not break.
They closed up right behind him and slammed into the undead he hadn't fully finished. The first form of the Great Light Wind Formation — Verdant Whirlwind — was swift and unshakably stable, and under its force the undead burst apart into black blood.
"Dullahans!"
Wendy Ariane sprang to the left. She closed the distance before the pack of Dullahans could charge and brought her sword down. A dull, crushing wave of ganggi smashed two of their skulls to pieces.
"Death Knights already…"
Mark Goetten held his breath and surged toward a Death Knight. He crashed in before the thing could summon its hellfire and brought his saber down. The stroke fell like a thunderbolt and split the Death Knight's body in two.
Raon glanced back.
As expected. They're coming this way.
The undead were no longer advancing on the walls. They had turned, as if to encircle the Light Wind Squad. Just as he'd anticipated — they had been waiting for the squad to come out.
They're thinking, too—
A massive pulse of mana erupted on the right while he was still reading the enemy's intent.
A Lich!
It was the Lich that had been commanding a magic battalion, together with its Skeleton Mages. They were drawing an enormous magic circle, clearly preparing a linked spell.
Raon stamped down hard and hurled the Requiem Sword from his left hand.
The demonic blade, riding the formula of Flawless Flight, split the magic circle in two and buried itself in the Lich's skull.
The Lich clawed at the sword lodged in its temple, but the demonic energy locked its body in place.
Raon did not waste the opening. He stepped through the Supreme Harmony Footwork and tore the Lich apart with the Mad Fang Sword.
Without its soul bead it would revive — but that would take a long time.
The Light Wind Squad never broke stride, advancing as if they had trusted him to handle it all along.
Marta took the van in the form of Aureate Strike Heavy Guard, becoming a colossal iron mace that smashed the undead ranks to pieces.
"Indeed."
Wrath nodded vigorously at the sight.
"The name Mad Dogs suits them well."
It does, doesn't it.
Raon smiled faintly and fell in behind them.
If we pull this mission off, I'm seriously thinking of changing the squad's name to Mad Dogs for real.
He ran for the front, entertaining a thought that would send the Light Wind Squad into an uproar if they ever heard it, and drew a Frost Lotus across the field.
A colossal blade of cold crushed the undead and tore their clumsily woven encirclement apart.
"We keep going!"
He could feel the will of the Light Wind Squad, Mark Goetten, and Wendy Ariane pressing up from behind — a fierce resolve to catch up no matter what it took and end this war. Smiling at that pressure, he raced across the land of death.
Raon bit his lip as he stared at ground so dark even shadows refused to show.
The death aura is getting thicker.
The moment they left the castle's reach and entered the Land of Death proper, the aura of death deepened. The presence of the undead approaching from within was on an entirely different level from before.
Spartoi — a higher species of skeleton, called dragon-fang soldiers — rose from the earth, and Ghoul Lords that summoned zombies and ghouls burst into view. In the distance, Ha-gwi Death Knights watched for their opening and kindled hellfire.
As Raon spread the resonance of the Ring of Fire wide so the Light Wind Squad would not be touched by the death aura, the Spartoi battalion charged.
"Charge!"
The Light Wind Squad met the Spartoi head-on in the form of Snow-Mystic Divine Manifestation.
For the first time, the squad that had been advancing like a breaking wave came to a halt.
Wendy Ariane and Mark Goetten were blocked as well, Death Knights crashing in from both flanks, and could not come to their aid.
"Hah…"
Raon tasted bitterness flooding his entire mouth and stepped forward.
They aren't giving us a single moment to breathe.
He clenched the Requiem Sword in his teeth and took the Heavenly Sky Sword in both hands. He loaded ten thousand geun of weight into his advancing foot and spun the blade through a vast circle.
Flame Sea Flawless
A crimson line bloomed from the sword's tip as if the blade had been dipped in paint, and a tidal wave of fire surged up.
The rising sea of scarlet crashed down and burned every last undead surrounding them to ash.
"No time! Move!"
Raon gestured toward the opened path and stepped into his footwork. The Light Wind Squad, Mark Goetten, and Wendy closed up behind him, cutting down the undead he hadn't finished — but a new wall of corpses had already risen in their place.
This fast?
"They've gathered every last one of them here to catch you lot."
The undead were filling in at a speed on an entirely different order from the fighting before the gates. Just as Wrath said, it seemed they had concentrated every undead they had on this side.
The Light Wind Squad shifted formation. They poured their strength into Marta, crushed the Spartoi's bones, and pushed forward.
Mark Goetten and Wendy Ariane split Death Knights apart with dense ganggi and fell in beside the squad.
Every person here was pouring their sword strikes out at full power, trying to lighten Raon's burden.
"Damn it…"
Even so, Raon's expression was grim. He wiped the sweat running from his brow and bit down hard on his lip.
It's not easy, after all.
Higher undead were appearing already enhanced, and their numbers were staggering. The path would not open easily.
It felt as though a great deal of time had passed since they entered the Land of Death in earnest, and yet they had advanced hardly any distance at all.
Honestly, if the fighting continued like this, he would need Wrath's help before they ever reached the pillar.
"What the hell kind of skull is this hard!"
"They're Spartoi made from dragon teeth!"
"They don't even freeze well…"
Burren, Marta, and Runaan bit their lips. The mid-grade undead, wrapped in dense death aura, had such high defense that nothing short of sword-ganggi could split their bones.
Aura was draining fast, and the Light Wind Squad's faces grew paler by the moment.
Raon clicked his tongue and brought the Heavenly Sky Sword down, the principles of the Mad Fang Sword riding the blade. Savage, grinding ganggi opened a path — but other undead immediately shoved in from the sides.
It's not just these.
More had come up from behind.
Behind the Spartoi and Skeleton Warriors currently surrounding them, a wall of Ghoul Lords and Dullahans had been raised. Specters wheeled through the sky as well, exhaling the breath of death.
Raon scattered Flower Spirit to wipe the specters away, then hurled sword-ganggi toward the rear.
Even after he erased the specters and Spartoi, new undead filled the gaps until he couldn't see what lay ahead.
"Hah…"
The fingertips gripping his sword trembled. Whether because his mental strength had reached its limit, the drain on his stamina and aura seemed to have accelerated as well.
"Uaaaaaaaah!"
"Die already, you skull-faced bastards!"
"Enemies of my sleep."
Just as frustration made the world go dull before his eyes, the Light Wind Squad charged forward.
Savage, unrestrained sword strikes lashed out, and the undead ranks that had only just been filled collapsed once more.
Mark Goetten and Wendy Ariane's keen ganggi opened a path for the squad to drive even deeper. They plunged into the opened space and smashed the skulls of the undead that had gathered there.
"Huh?"
Crain glanced back and grinned.
"Vice-captain isn't falling behind, is he?"
"Come on, no way."
"Right. This is the guy who told us we didn't need to sleep for ten days!"
The Light Wind Squad shrugged, as if to ask whether he was already tired — and looking pathetic for it.
"These kids…"
Raon let out a hollow laugh and straightened his back.
They're the ones who should be more exhausted.
Even with rest, it had been a mere three hours. Mental-forging drills or not, they should have wanted to give up from the strain — and yet they were smiling for him. He was genuinely grateful.
I can't lose to them.
He crushed the pain flaring from every part of his body and the sense of foreboding alike, and stepped out in front of the Light Wind Squad.
"If I don't keep you on a leash, who knows where you'll go charging off to."
Standing at the van, Raon burst a sword-cry soaked in demonic energy from the Requiem Sword.
Blood Rain — a wail steeped in resentment — spread outward, and the undead that had been gathering froze in place.
The Light Wind Squad and Mark Goetten kicked off the ground as if they had been waiting for exactly that, and crushed bone and flesh alike.
Raon and the Light Wind Squad no longer knew how long they had been fighting, or how far they had come. They cut, and cut again, through the corpses packed in front of them, racing toward the end of this road.
The Light Wind Squad, who had been pouring out their strength, were so spent their blades drooped toward the ground. Mark Goetten's back was bent like an old woman's. Wendy Ariane was dripping cold sweat like a patient on a sickbed.
Raon clutched his aching dantian and stretched out ganggi, sweeping away the Skeleton Mages that had been flinging magic from a distance.
"We're almost there!"
He knew, because he had been here before. They had crossed more than half the Land of Death. The end would come into view soon.
"The pillar is just ahead—"
A shriek tore through the air, as if hundreds of children were screaming at once, just as he tried to give the Light Wind Squad hope.
He lifted his head. A Death Knight with green blazing eyes, astride a phantom steed, and a ghostly Banshee in the shape of an old woman were diving toward them.
The Death Knight's ghastly green eyes flashed as it plummeted in.
Raon narrowed his gaze.
That thing… it can't be.
The aura felt familiar. It was almost certainly the Death Knight he had killed at the far end of the Swamp of Death. He stepped his left foot forward and poured a predator's savagery into the Heavenly Sky Sword.
The Death Knight's Hellfire Sword dropped like a thunderbolt and collided with the Heavenly Sky Sword, detonating a violent shockwave.
"Kh…"
His insides churned, as if he were a hair's breadth from internal injury. It was the same one. The Death Knight had returned stronger than before, and it kindled hellfire.
Overhead, the death-breath of the Banshee and the specters made the Light Wind Squad stagger as if they were about to collapse.
Mark Goetten leapt beyond his limits and cut the Banshee down — only to take a specter's strike from behind and slam into the ground.
"Nngh!"
Wendy was too busy holding back the undead flooding in to spare any strength for anyone else.
"Damn it…"
Raon bit his lip until it bled.
There's no other choice now.
Killing this Death Knight with his current stamina and aura was impossible. Even if he won, he would take so many wounds that it would be a net loss.
"Uaaaaah!"
"You bastards! Hold on somehow!"
"He said we're almost there…"
Thanks to the will of Burren, Marta, and Runaan, the Great Light Wind Formation was somehow still holding — but it looked ready to shatter at any moment.
If the formation broke, a massacre would begin at once. This was the limit.
Wrath!
Wrath did not answer. He was watching only the hill to the right.
We're out of time! Restore me right now—
Raon was scowling, calling Wrath's name, when it happened.
A horn blast punched through the death aura from the hill on the right, deep and resonant enough to shake the bones.
"Huh? Wait— that horn…"
Dorian was the first to react. He had been on the verge of collapsing; now his jaw trembled as he lifted his head.
"It can't be—!"
Raon threw everything he had into shoving the Death Knight back and turned to the right.
An old knight astride a pure-white charger stood upon the hill.
"A land overflowing with death."
Milland, Lord of Habun Castle, looked down on the undead horde with eyes as cold as winter steel.
"Still, it doesn't quite measure up to Habun."
Terian, the Vice-Lord, rode up behind him on a black horse, a faint smile on his lips. He raised his spear and pointed it at a sky that was beginning, little by little, to brighten.
"Form up!"
"Form up!"
A magnificent roar rolled out, and behind him the Night Fox Knights and the Snow Strike Squad lifted silver spears toward the heavens.
A military spirit that had been a thin thread surged upward as if it would pierce the sky.
"For the benefactor of Habun Castle!"
"Chaaaaarge!"
Milland lowered his spear and drove his heels into his horse's flanks.
The horn thundered again as the cavalry came pouring down the hill.
The charge formation with Milland at its tip was like a spearhead quenched a thousand times. The undead barrier that had seemed impossible to breach was smashed apart without mercy, and a road of silver opened through it.
"A young pup summoning an old man, of all things."
Milland passed right in front of Raon's eyes, a faint smile on his face.
"Still as insolent as ever!"
"It's been a long time, Sir Raon!"
"Your face has gotten even more striking!"
"Why do you only ever pick the hard fights!"
The knights and the swordsmen of the Snow Strike Squad dipped their heads as they swept past. They advanced as if they meant to erase every last undead from the field.
Before the emotion of seeing Habun Castle could even fade, a hawk's cry rang out from the left.
"I was wondering why that monster of a friend was calling me. So there was a reason."
"Even I have never seen undead on this scale."
Familiar voices, this time as well.
It was Grier de Owen, Third Prince of Owen, and Borini Kitten, the Spear-Point Sword. The two of them had formed ranks with the Azure Falcon Knights and the Silver Knights to which they each belonged.
"Return the dead to the earth that is theirs."
"Charge!"
Unlike Habun Castle's force, a long-stretched cavalry line drove forward. They lowered their stances, piled on speed, and the undead wall tore like paper before their spear-points.
"I was wondering when you'd cash in this favor of mine — and you've used it quite thoroughly, I see."
The Third Prince drew up alongside Raon, grinning.
"I won't consider this a personal request from you, Sir Raon."
Borini Kitten followed at his side, giving a slight shake of his head.
"This is a matter for the continent. Of course we should take part."
With ganggi honed to a sharpness that made the skin crawl, he smashed the left arm of a Death Knight that had been hanging back, and pressed forward.
Raon was clutching his chest, which had gone hot enough to burn, when an enormous heat bloomed in the sky.
A tremendous explosion detonated in the center where the undead were packed thickest, and the corpses the two knight orders had left behind scattered as ash on the wind.
He lifted his head. Morell — commander of Valkar's mage corps, the one called the Serpent of Blazing Flame — had his hand extended.
"I don't know how you managed to wrap that brat of a princess around your finger."
He frowned and gestured forward. Flame magics of every kind lanced from the hands of the Salamander mages behind him, crushing the undead that remained scattered across the field.
From the dust the magic had kicked up, a pair of green eyes flashed. The Death Knight that had been hiding to restore itself lunged in, thrusting its Hellfire Sword.
Someone burst forward before Raon could even block. With a masterful deflection he slipped the Death Knight's blade, then smashed its skull. Even for a surprise attack, the martial force was formidable.
"Pathetic."
The man who pulled his sword from the Death Knight's cranium turned around. A middle-aged figure whose short-cropped blond hair gave him a clean, open impression — Trevin Zieghart, leader of the Iron Blood Sword Squad.
"You called us because you couldn't handle undead of this caliber?"
"The Iron Blood Sword Squad seemed a little short on experience, so I thought I'd help you fill it in."
Raon shook his head with a faint smile.
"You've got a mouth on you. Iron Blood Sword Squad!"
Trevin raised his hand.
"These are enemies the Light Wind Squad couldn't finish! Smash them all!"
"Yes, sir!"
The instant he advanced, the Iron Blood Sword Squad waiting behind him surged to the front.
The undead's death aura grew stronger and stronger, but nothing could stop the Black Iron Sword Formation of the Iron Blood Sword Squad as they opened the path with Trevin at their head.
They made it. All of them.
Before the war began, he had requested aid from them using Dorian's disposable artifacts. He had been worried there was no guarantee they would arrive — but it seemed every message had gotten through.
Raon clenched his fist until it bled.
This is different from before.
When he had been kidnapped, the people who came to save him had been the power of House Zieghart, gathered under Glenn's name. What stood here now were the bonds that had gathered under the name Raon Zieghart.
His own strength. His own bonds. The sight of them made his chest pound as if it would burst.
Swordsmen and knights advancing with the dawn cleaved through the dead sea thick with death aura and opened a golden road.
Raon tightened his grip on the Heavenly Sky Sword and the Requiem Sword and looked back at the Light Wind Squad.