The Goddess Has Bestowed Her Blessing!
The Goddess has bestowed her blessing!
"Snap out of it, my lord!"
At the urgent cry of the elderly knight beside him, Franz Schmidt regained his senses. Had it not been for him, Franz might have remained completely dazed, staring endlessly at the sky. At the end of his gaze was a miraculous sight blooming amid utter despair—a silver-haired girl descending from the heavens, radiating a blue glow.
She did not land on the ground. Instead, she gracefully soared between the tall trees surrounding the battlefield. Wires shot out to wrap around tree trunks, using the recoil to propel her body in every fluid motion. Her sudden appearance had clearly rattled the Astra soldiers as well. Their tightly packed formation stirred with unease, and the archers holding bows could not bring themselves to draw their strings at her unpredictable trajectory.
"My lord… who on earth is that person…?"
Franz was just as stunned. He quickly racked his brain to assess the situation. A girl descending from the sky, emitting a blue light. That appearance was just like…
'…The Blue Comet?'
"…!"
Only then did he see it. Far above the treetops, beneath the thick storm clouds, a massive silver silhouette circling in the sky. The Northern Divine Artifact, the Frost Griffin, said to be ridden by the Empire's Flash. If that was the case…
"Could that person be… the Empire's Flash that His Highness the Second Prince spoke of? Lady Elhardt?"
While the Astra soldiers were distracted by Serian, the thunderous sound of hundreds of hooves shaking the earth rang out. Over the hill, hundreds of knights came pouring forth! The hammer emblem engraved on their black armor!
"It's the Black Hammer Knights! Reinforcements have arrived!"
Hopeful cheers erupted among the Schmidt soldiers.
"Bite them! Tear them apart!!"
With a thunderous war cry, the Black Hammer Knights fiercely slammed into the flank of the Astra soldiers. Their heavy maces, hammers, and massive halberds sliced through the air, ripping the Astra soldiers' armor like sheets of paper.
Taking advantage of the chaos caused by their intrusion, Franz Schmidt quickly reorganized the Ironclad Knight Order, which had barely managed to preserve their lives.
"Over here!"
At that moment, the rear unit of the Black Hammer Knights approached the Schmidt camp. A single supply wagon followed behind them.
"Uahaha! We've come to help!"
A bold voice like that of a bandit leader. The massive knight at the front tossed off his helmet and shouted.
"I am Braum, commander of the Black Hammer Knights! By order of His Highness the Second Prince, I have come to aid you!"
He approached Franz and extended a thick hand.
'The Black Hammer Knights…!'
Franz's eyes widened. It was not an unfamiliar name. It was the very name from the heroic tales his older brother, who had loved such stories as a child, used to tell him. The Iron Wall Knight Order of Silver Horn Fortress, once called the Empire's strongest shield. Their legendary achievements and tragic end. Though they had ultimately been defeated by Astra, it was said that the few surviving knights had inherited their will. They melted down their shattered shields to forge hammers and, with the resolve to rebuild the fallen iron wall, adopted the black hammer as their symbol.
After receiving Braum's handshake, Franz unconsciously cried out.
"Could you possibly be… the Black Hammer Knights who have inherited the will of the Iron Wall Knight Order?!"
"Hahaha! So the young lord remembers all that!"
Braum puffed out his chest with pride.
"That's right! We are the proud descendants of the Iron Wall Knight Order!"
In that moment, Franz became certain that his decision to request help from the Second Prince had been correct. Amid the power struggles within the imperial palace, despite the fierce pressure from the First Prince's faction, the Schmidt family had consistently stood by the Second Prince. And now, the Second Prince had not abandoned them!
The legendary unit that carried on the will of the Iron Wall Knight Order. And the Empire's new hero, Elhardt. They had arrived right before his eyes, holding the very cards needed to defeat that calamitous lightning mage!
"Here, take these first!"
Braum laughed heartily as he gestured toward the large supply wagon following behind.
'That's it!'
That had to be the new weapon personally designed by the Empire's hero to counter that calamitous lightning mage!
The adjutant carefully opened the crate on the wagon. The gazes of Franz and every Schmidt knight who had finished reorganizing turned toward the crate. However, what lay inside was neither a long-range weapon nor even a common siege engine. There were only hundreds of glass bottles rattling around.
"……?"
Franz's face hardened with confusion. He looked around, but there were no other wagons in sight.
"The weapon to defeat that… that mage is…"
"Hahaha! What we've prepared is precisely these potions!"
Braum proudly lifted one of the glass bottles.
"……!"
Franz's mind went completely blank. He couldn't believe it. No, he didn't want to believe it. Just when he thought a chance for a reversal had finally come!
It wasn't that he doubted the martial prowess of Braum and the knights under his command. But that wasn't what mattered right now! No matter how strong they were, they were still a close-combat unit armed with heavy equipment. If this battle could have been won with the knights' strength alone, they wouldn't have been pushed back this far. The Schmidt knights possessed skills that rivaled any knight order in the Empire, and his brother, Albert Schmidt, was a 5-Star knight.
What mattered was finding a way to deal with the mage who rained down lightning. And yet, all they brought was a single knight order and a measly supply of potions?
"Are you joking?! What are we supposed to do with recovery potions like these!"
The elderly knight beside Franz, Garen, screamed in despair. He was a veteran who had once served as the knight order's vice-commander.
"One hit from that magic and a person burns to death instantly! There's no time to recover!"
Despite Garen's desperate cries, Braum simply continued laughing heartily.
"Are you laughing right now…? You don't understand the situation! Commander! Withdraw your knights immediately! This is not the time—retreat! Retreat!"
No matter how much Garen shouted, Braum didn't budge. Then, something strange began to happen. It was right when the Black Hammer Knights clashed with the elite troops guarding the mage.
"The enemies… are running away!!!"
Franz's eyes widened in shock. The elite soldiers at the front were gradually falling back. And taking advantage of that gap, the mage was spurring his horse and fleeing in another direction. The knights who had been blocking the path were retreating in the opposite direction from the mage.
"The mage is the priority! Chase the mage!"
The vice-commander of the Black Hammer Knights shouted as he fiercely pursued the fleeing mage.
Franz's gaze wavered as he chased after the escaping mage. The mage was heading alone toward another hill in the distance.
……!
"This is a trap! Come back! That place is dangerous!"
But his shout was swallowed by the noise of the battlefield. It was already too late. The moment the Black Hammer Knights charged up to the base of the hill, the hooded mage slowly raised one hand from atop his horse.
Crackle—!
A tearing sound ripped through the air. Thunder roared, and—
Boom—!!!
In an instant, dozens of lightning bolts mercilessly poured down upon the pursuing knight order. A massive cloud of smoke rose, obscuring their vision.
Lightning Storm
In the intensifying rain, Franz, who had been staring at them in despair, suddenly came to his senses.
"Hurry! All remaining units, retreat to the fortress!"
Franz shouted, attempting to pull back his own knight order and the rear unit of the Hammer Knights. The Schmidt knights grabbed their reins, preparing to flee to the fortress. At that moment, Franz's eyes caught the silver-haired girl soaring through the sky.
"…Lady Serian?"
"That is no ordinary mage! You must evade first!"
Shwoooosh!
"……?"
Did he see wrong? A human figure flashed across Franz's vision. Leaving a blue afterimage, it flew at tremendous speed straight into the heart of the lightning storm.
"…Lord Elhardt?"
No…! This was bad!
'Why on earth…!'
Then—shwoosh, shwoooooosh, shwooooooooosh!
The remaining Hammer Knights, as if by some prior agreement, all spurred their horses and charged straight into that deadly storm.
"No! General! Have you gone mad and decided to die?!"
Garen screamed at Braum.
"Turn back immediately!!"
Franz was overwhelmed with shock. He had clearly included all the information in the letter sent to His Highness the Prince—had something gone wrong in transit? They were charging in like moths to a flame with absolutely no countermeasures against lightning magic.
"…It's over."
They had now completely vanished from sight, swallowed entirely by the electric storm. No matter how powerful the knights were, rushing into magic of that magnitude meant certain death. The elite knight order of Astra reformed their ranks and began advancing up the hill to finish off those who had taken heavy damage from the lightning.
"This won't do. We should retreat as well…!"
As much as he regretted it, there was no other option left. While they bought even a little time, it was better to save as many lives as possible. Just as Franz was about to issue the retreat order to the reorganized Ironclad Knight Order—
"Look over there!"
"……?"
The thick smoke cleared, revealing the scene at last. Franz could hardly believe his eyes. There stood…
Ultra! Muscle-bulging! Men!
On their flawless, soot-free skin like white jade, their muscles had swelled to an unreal degree.
"Were they… always that well-built?"
"And why are they all naked…!"
Their speed and power had changed dramatically from before! The ultra-muscular Hammer Knights were absolutely pummeling the Astra elite soldiers who had come to finish them off—beating them like dogs on a rainy day, sending dust flying despite the downpour!
"Uahahahahaha! The Goddess has bestowed her blessing!!"
"Omnipotent power is surging forth!!"
"Yes! This is it! These guys aren't even worth a single punch!"
"Uhyo~ I'll kick the asses of those Astra bastards!"
"Serian Elhardt… she is… a goddess!!!"
'What the hell… is going on here…!'
Faced with this absurd scene that had unfolded out of nowhere, Franz felt like he was losing his mind. And the goddess they worshipped, Serian Elhardt, was already fiercely chasing after the mage who had fled far into the distance.