Those Who Answered the Call

Burren's jaw trembled as he watched the knights and mages carve a path through the battlefield as if the undead were nothing at all.

"Wh-what the hell...?"

What on earth was going on? They had been fighting with everything they had, braced for death — and then, out of nowhere, knights, swordsmen, and mages had appeared and begun slaughtering the undead.

The Third Prince of Owen and Borini Kitten. Morell of Valkar. The Iron Blood Sword Squad and Trevin Zieghart. Unexpected reinforcements crashed onto the field, and Burren's heart hammered as if it would burst from his chest.

And those ones, too.

He looked at the cavalry that had appeared first and smashed through the wall of the undead legion. The rampart emblem set into their armor told him exactly who they were. Milland, Lord of Habun Castle, and his knights.

"Then that means..."

Burren swallowed dryly and turned toward Raon.

There was no need to ask who had summoned them. Every last one of those people shared a deep bond with Raon.

This guy is genuinely impossible to keep up with.

Their side was already on the verge of collapsing from fighting the undead alone — and yet Raon, who had not rested for even a moment across five straight days of battle, had somehow found the time and the means to plan all of this. Burren could not begin to guess when or how.

He no longer even had the nerve to try to catch up.

"Ra—"

"You called them, didn't you?"

Marta spoke first, cutting in before Burren could reach him.

"Yeah."

Raon nodded, spitting a mouthful of blood-streaked saliva onto the ground.

"When?"

Marta turned her head at the knights' battle cries rolling across the field.

"From the moment the swamp's waves started coming down."

He told them that from the instant those waves had come crashing in, he had known something they could not handle was coming — so he had used Dorian's artifact to call for support.

"You really are disgustingly thorough."

Marta let out a hollow laugh and shook her head.

"Anyway. Thanks."

"Huh?"

"We lived because of you."

"Huhh?"

Raon's eyes went round, as if the word thanks coming out of her mouth were some rare and startling creature.

"I know how to be grateful too, you know!"

Honestly, she had never managed to say it properly until now. No — she had said it, but she had never put her whole heart behind it.

But when Raon and Dorian had been abducted, and she had moved to save them, she had realized that after her stepfather, she had gained people who were truly precious to her.

From that moment on, she had decided that the words that needed saying would be said for real.

"Anyway, thanksh! Ah!"

Marta opened her mouth in a knot of nerves and bit her own tongue.

"Itsh fine."

Raon nodded with a faint smile.

"Squadmatesh don't need to shay that kind of thing."

"Ah — don't copy me!"

"Thanksh, itsh fiiine."

Runaan drifted up beside Marta and twisted her mouth, parroting the slurred words with deadpan precision.

"Hey!"

Marta swung a fist. Runaan bounced lightly aside, bobbing out of reach.

"Looked fun."

Runaan shrugged, her eyes as vacant as ever.

"You damn brats..."

Marta scowled and jerked her head away. The tips of her ears had gone scarlet.

Tap.

Runaan looked at Raon, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Burren, and Marta, and drummed her fingers lightly against her thigh.

Everyone's gotten brighter.

Only moments ago they had been on the brink of dying, yet no one was cursing anyone, and no one was laying blame. They just looked at one another — alive, intact — and smiled.

It was a long way from their trainee days, when they had all been sunk in the darkness of their own hearts, their faces always clouded and grim.

It meant they had become a family now. Each of them a pillar for the others.

Good.

She knew both the preciousness of family and its ugliness, and looking at the Light Wind Squad — who had become a real family — the corner of her mouth lifted before she even noticed.

She thought she might finally be able to smile a genuine smile, without that person rising unbidden in her mind.

Runaan hopped forward, came up beside Marta, and bumped her shoulder.

"Let's go get ice cream later."

"I'm not going!"

"Then we're going together."

"Get lost already!"

Marta reached out. Runaan bent at the waist, slipping the hand with an easy, liquid motion.

"Would you two cut it out?"

"He's right. You're not children."

"They get more childish by the day, I swear."

"Yeah, but that's kind of the charm..."

Burren tried to break it up, and the rest of the Light Wind Squad piled in, laughter spilling out of them. They had nearly died only moments before, and yet the air among them was as warm as it ever was.

Crack!

Raon clapped his hands and gathered every eye in the Light Wind Squad.

"Rested enough?"

He pointed toward the four forces that were wiping the undead off the map entirely, and smiled.

"Then let's catch up."

The Land of Death, where three pillars stood driven into the earth.

The Archlich stared into the orb that reflected the battlefield, and the hand gripping his staff began to shake.

"Where in the world did those humans even..."

Just in case, he had severed every communication network around the castle. He had no idea where they had been summoned from.

"Damn it..."

He had been so close. A little further and the young ones of Zieghart would have been reduced to bloodstains, and that accursed wall of House Arian would have been shoved aside. Fresh interference had come crashing in, and his insides churned as if they had been flipped inside out.

It's him.

That damned Zieghart!

Watching how the humans moved, it was clear they had not come at Arian's request. They had come because the young Zieghart had called them. A thousand years ago and a thousand years later, the same relentless Zieghart obstruction — he ground his teeth until they ached.

"This is not the time to be irritated."

The Death Knight with blue flame-eyes shook his head. He wrapped his hand around the longsword at his waist and looked up at the sky.

"At this pace they will reach us before noon. We need to finish preparing for the fight before then."

"I suppose we must."

The Archlich nodded slowly. He spread both hands, and the death energy rising from the Land of Death grew thicker still. Black magic circles began to etch themselves across the darkened earth.

"We take that one first."

The Death Knight lifted a finger and pointed at Raon in the orb.

"He is the strongest among them, but he is badly exhausted, and he appears to be carrying internal injuries as well. Kill him, and the rest of the battle will unwind easily."

"He is the reason we are in this state. Do you think I don't know that?"

The Archlich worked a tide of pitch-black death energy and flicked his fingers. Mid-to-high-class undead began to surge up from the far edge of the land.

"I will make my own preparations."

The Death Knight leaned his back against a pillar and gathered the movements of the warriors in the orb into his green flame-eyes.

His fingers twitched in time with the flow of the swordsmen's martial arts.

While the Death Knight and the Archlich prepared their defenses, Manghongwi rose silently behind them.

"This was outside my expectations as well."

Manghongwi looked at Raon's face in the orb and clicked his tongue, savoring the sight.

I took him for a lone wolf. To think he actually knows how to use people. That makes him more dangerous.

The Demon Spirit Lord's experiment is finished. Should I discard them?

He stared down at the undead with cold eyes, then clapped his hands once.

No. This is an opportunity, if anything.

Everyone coming here was a powerhouse whose name rang across the continent. If he killed them all, he would take one more step toward the plan.

"Good. I shall help you through to the very end."

Manghongwi drew a bead from the sleeve of his robe.

Gooooooo!

A ghastly current spilled from the black-stained bead and began forcing an enormous tide of death energy not only into the Death Knight and the Archlich, but into the very ground they stood on.

Gyaaaaaah.

The death energy Manghongwi created was not shaped like the Archlich's black magic circles. It writhed outward as if it were alive.

Kugugugu!

Manghongwi spread a mass of death energy vast enough to make the three pillars driven into the earth shudder, then tucked the bead away.

The Archlich and the Death Knight, as if they had no idea he was even behind them, were busy laying plans to kill Raon and the swordsmen.

"Something's still a little lacking... Ah!"

Manghongwi scratched his chin and lifted his head. His lips twisted upward, and his mask shifted slightly.

That should be just the thing.

A dull laugh rolled out of him, and his body vanished into the dark.

Raon moved up alongside the Habun Castle cavalry that was leading the charge, smashing through the undead horde.

"My lord."

Milland, Lord of Habun Castle, glanced back and snorted.

"You sure got here fast."

The words were dry, but his face was full of unmistakable welcome.

"It's been a while since This King last saw that old geezer, too."

Wrath seemed just as pleased, waving a tiny round hand.

"Why is it that you're always in the middle of some brutal fight?"

Milland let out a long breath as he looked over the undead still crowding the field.

"You did some slightly insane things yourself when you were with us."

"Slightly? He was completely insane. Who jumps off the walls himself to save people who fell?"

"And he stood in front of those walls until morning and saved every last one of them, didn't he?"

"That's right. Not a single person died beneath the ramparts."

The swordsmen of the Night Fox Knights and the Snow Strike Squad grinned and nodded.

"Thank you! I lived back then because of you, Lord Raon!"

A young swordsman from the Snow Strike Squad raised his hand. He had been an ordinary soldier at the time, and told them he had awakened his mana after that incident, bowing his head in gratitude.

"The feats you accomplished are still alive at Habun Castle."

Milland, who had been driving his horse with his eyes only on what lay ahead, came up beside Raon and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Right now we're just paying that back, so don't worry about it. Conserve your strength in the rear."

With that, he spurred his horse even faster.

"Then at least let me buy you a meal!"

"We'll see you when this is over!"

"I'll be looking forward to it!"

The knights and swordsmen waved as they pressed on, shattering the wall of Spartoi and Skeleton Warriors.

Raon bowed his head to Milland, then went over to the knights of Owen.

"Thank you for coming."

"A favor has come full circle. This is only what we ought to do. Think nothing of it."

The Third Prince smiled with a hawk perched on his shoulder — the same bird, it seemed, that had loosed that sharp cry earlier.

"Hrmm. It has been some time since I last saw Swordswoman Marta as well."

He turned his gaze back toward Marta and winked. The soft unfocusing of his eyes made it obvious he was still thoroughly smitten.

"What is with you! That's slimy!"

Marta scowled as if the prince's greeting had gotten under her skin and jerked her head away.

"Urgh..."

Keee.

The Third Prince folded at the neck as if he had taken a mortal blow. The hawk on his shoulder stroked his cheek with its beak, as if offering comfort.

"As I said, this is a duty we must ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fulfill."

Borini Kitten came up beside the wilted Third Prince.

"I am grateful you allowed us to take part in a battle like this!"

He said it would be a valuable experience — that it was an honor, if anything. He really was a man who could serve as a model for every knight.

"Thank you."

Raon returned the greeting, then approached Morell and the mages of the Salamander Magic Corps.

"I was surprised you came all this way. Thank you."

"It really was far."

"It really was far, wasn't it?"

"It — it was far, yes. Wait. You don't have to speak formally to me anymore!"

Morell started to nod along and then bellowed.

"I was joking."

Raon smiled at Morell, whose face had gone red.

"Haa. Fine. How in the world did you win over our princess? She came to me and outright begged me to hurry."

Morell clicked his tongue, saying he had never in his life seen Princess Jayna bow her head like that.

"Don't tell me you and the princess are... involved..."

"Absolutely not."

Raon waved the suggestion off without a shred of hesitation.

"As you said yourself, there is no world in which I end up in that kind of relationship with that bratty princess."

"Then what is it, exactly?"

"We made a light promise. In any case, thank you for coming. I'll be counting on you until the end."

"As a mage who deals in truth, I can't stand these corpses of black magic. Even without your request, I would have wiped them clean."

Morell stretched out a hand, declaring that filthy things like these dragged the very level of magic down.

A colossal serpent burst forth and swept away every Skeleton Mage in front of them.

"Squad Leader."

Last of all, Raon went over to the Iron Blood Sword Squad and tossed out a joke.

"What took you so long?"

"This was as fast as we could come."

Trevin, leader of the Iron Blood Sword Squad, frowned. Ever since the first exam, the Iron Blood Sword Squad and the Light Wind Squad had been sparring steadily, and the two units had grown quite close.

"Thank you for coming. We lived because of you."

"Those brats behind me said they'd be bored without you. That's the only reason we came."

Trevin glanced back and shook his head.

"Huh?"

"What's he talking about?"

"Wasn't he the one cracking the whip, telling us to get ready faster?"

"He really can't be honest. This is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the same man who ran out in his underwear saying we had to go save Raon."

The swordsmen of the Iron Blood Sword Squad cocked their heads as if their commander were talking complete nonsense.

"Would you shut up?"

Trevin turned and scowled, and the swordsmen clamped their mouths shut.

"Thank you."

Raon smiled faintly and bowed his head to Trevin.

"I will be sure to repay this debt."

"No need."

Trevin shook his head.

"If you're grateful, then raise the Light Wind to a full division. It's embarrassing for our Iron Blood Sword Squad to have its rival stuck at the squad level."

He said that would be enough, and charged forward.

"You heard the man."

"Hurry up and climb."

"We'll be waiting."

The swordsmen of the Iron Blood Sword Squad smiled and followed after Trevin.

"Hah..."

Raon let out a short, incredulous breath as he watched Trevin and the Iron Blood Sword Squad go.

Is that man really a direct descendant?

He was so different from every other direct-line member Raon had ever met that it almost felt awkward.

The other direct descendants would surely glare daggers at him for saying something like that — and the fact that Trevin had said it so calmly only made Raon more grateful.

"Hey, Vice-leader. We should get in there and wreck them too!"

"Yeah. We can't just leave it all to the guests."

"Let's finish this fast and go to sleep."

Burren, Marta, and Runaan wrapped their hands around their swords and began working their aura. Behind them, the eyes of the Light Wind Squad glittered with fighting spirit.

"You're right."

Raon nodded and adjusted his grip on the Heavenly Sky Sword.

"Follow me."

He ran toward the backs of Habun Castle, Owen, Valkar, and the Iron Blood Sword Squad as they opened the way.

Kwagagagagang!

The flame magic condensed by Morell and the Salamander mages shattered the undead legion's solid formation, and the Habun Castle cavalry under Milland became a single spear that drove the collapse even faster.

Dududududu!

The Third Prince and Borini Kitten spread the knights' line wide like a hawk's wings, cutting down every last scattering undead without letting a single one slip through. Trevin Zieghart and the Iron Blood Sword Squad worked the Black Iron Sword Formation and picked out only the mid-to-high-class undead the other three forces had missed, smashing them apart.

Raon led the Light Wind Squad forward and threw himself at a Chimera Zombie rolling in from the front.

Grrrk!

Five Chimera Zombies swelled their bodies to trigger a corpse explosion — and Raon stepped into the Supreme Harmony Footwork.

He folded the ground beneath him as if running across creased paper, slipped into the zombies' space in a single instant, and drew the Frost Lotus.

Jjeojeojeong!

The heads of Chimera Zombies swollen to the brink of detonation went flying, and the bodies about to burst froze solid in the frost of the Frost Lotus.

Chaaaaang!

The Light Wind Squad coming up behind him carved the frozen Chimera Zombie bodies apart without mercy.

"I told you to stay in the rear."

Milland directed his cavalry and swordsmen with a faint smile.

"Slow. Painfully slow."

Morell let out a long sigh and raised a serpent of flame, incinerating the undead clustered on the right.

"They're exhausted. Waiting this much is hardly a burden, is it?"

Borini Kitten split a Banshee's body with a gentle smile.

"R-right, of course..."

The Third Prince, eyes unsteady, was far too busy stealing glances at Marta as she smashed undead apart with her Hard Sword.

"Even so, they'll do their part."

Trevin, leader of the Iron Blood Sword Squad, nodded, saying that once Raon started moving, he was a man you could trust.

"From here on, the Mad Dog Squad will take the lead again."

Raon smiled at them all and pressed forward.

"You son of a—!"

"We are not mad dogs!"

"Woof!"

Burren, Marta, and Runaan led their squad members and carved through the oncoming undead without a shred of mercy.

Kwagagagagang!

The five forces had never once coordinated before this day, and yet they meshed as smoothly as interlocking gears, sweeping the battlefield and driving relentlessly forward.

None of them spent more strength than they needed to. All of them conserved their power as they reached a point where the pillars at the far end of the Land of Death came into view.

As if this were where they meant to fight the last battle, the ground was packed with Spartoi, Ghoul Lords, and Dullahan-class monsters, with Ha-gwi and Jung-gwi Death Knights and Liches mixed in among them.

"Huu..."

Raon steadied his breath and lifted his gaze.

There he is.

In front of the pillars at the end of the Land of Death stood the Archlich, blue flames burning in his eyes.

A presence so ghastly it made Raon's fingertips tremble. Just as he had expected, this was an Archlich who had risen to Sang-gwi.

But troops and death energy were not all the enemy had prepared.

Raon sent an aura message to all four of them at once.

From everything he had felt so far, they were clearly targeting the Light Wind Squad — and more specifically, him, the vice-leader.

They'll have made a great many preparations to kill me.

If they all charged in at once, the trap the Archlich had laid would trigger, and there would be countless casualties. From here on, moving according to the original plan was the right call.

Milland, Borini Kitten, Morell, and Trevin asked nothing further, and gradually eased their pace.

Raon gave them a slight nod, then set his foot on the pitch-black earth.

Can this even be called ground?

The triangular stretch of land was not soil or sand. It was packed with a vicious energy, as if death itself had been condensed into earth. A strange, foul stench hung over it thick enough that even Expert-level swordsmen would have struggled to endure it.

Raon swallowed dryly and stepped deeper into the Land of Death — and the sky and the earth heaved as a black current boiled up with savage force.

Chiiiing!

Countless black magic circles sprouted from heaven and earth, and a Death Knight with blue flame-eyes burst from the darkened floor, driving a Hellfire Blade straight at him.

A Sang-gwi Death Knight that had been hiding its presence in the darkness of the ground.

It was a crisis that looked impossible to escape — and yet Raon's eyes had sunk as cold and still as a sheet of ice.