Chapter 128

On a plain, quite far from the first fortress, the frontier count and the King of Mercenaries halted their horses.

Seeing the demon approaching alone on horseback, they sent both the White Lion Knights and the Red Wolves company back.

“How useless what you’re doing.”

Kimaris, who stopped at some distance, watched them in silence.

“If they had come all together, they’d have at least a sliver of hope.”

His chilling voice was low, but clearly heard.

“Why did you follow me alone?”

“If someone bothers to entertain me, why shouldn’t I follow them?”

“I see.”

The corners of the count’s and the mercenary king’s lips curled in contempt.

To say that in the presence of two Royal Knights was pure arrogance—but Kimaris had the power to back it up.

Just by being there, skin stood on end.

That tremor was something neither of the two had felt since reaching the rank of Royal Knight.

Not even against another of their own level.

But retreating was not an option.

They were Royal Knights.

The count had to protect Bercheff.

The mercenary king sought vengeance for his disciple—or rather, to prepare for the future, in which he knew he would sooner or later have to face a demon.

“Come.”

Kimaris opened both arms, completely exposed.

“There is no one who can speak to me like that while standing before me.”

Still, the count did not refuse.

He pressed his heels into his horse’s flanks and charged. The King of Mercenaries followed.

An instant later, Kimaris’s black horse also set off.

Thud thud thud thud—

The three riders galloped toward each other.

In a fraction of a second, their weapons clashed.

Boom!

A shockwave erupted and spread.

Aura and magic intertwined. The horses neighed in pain, but kept advancing.

“Impressive.”

Kimaris turned his mount.

“So there was a reason you dared to face me with only two.”

Raising his greatsword, he charged again.

“Make me enjoy this more.”

Boom!

Once more, they crashed head-on.

The shockwave, even more violent, distorted space.

But none stopped.

The three turned and repeated the charge.

Clang!

Clash!

Neighhhh!

The first to fall were neither the count nor the mercenary—but their horses.

They were well-trained warhorses, but they could not withstand the pressure of a demon and two superhumans. They spat blood and collapsed.

Both riders leaped from the dying mounts.

Kimaris petted his black steed.

“The horses of this world are pathetically weak. Dying from not enduring something so trivial.”

And he dismounted as well.

“Come.”

“What the hell? Now you want us to joust as if this were a tournament?”

Three clashes and then sword combat—how long had it been since someone treated him like that?

The King of Mercenaries smiled crookedly. His scars quivered.

“Filthy demon, pretending to have honor.”

The count did not hide his fury either.

In the next instant, the mercenary king’s spear pointed straight at Kimaris’s face.

Clang!

His greatsword intervened.

Aura fragments and shattered magic dispersed everywhere.

The sword’s blade slid along the spear, searching for his neck.

The mercenary king bent his body ninety degrees to dodge it.

The sword changed angle, but instead of striking him, it launched in another direction.

Slash!

A powerful blue surge collided with a black wall.

The count, not wasting time, deflected the sword and counterattacked with a flurry of slashes.

Bang bang!

Dozens of hits within seconds.

The red spear sought to break through gaps.

Kimaris turned like a serpent, chasing it to the end.

“Impressive.”

He raised a magic wall, but the spear shattered it and reached his flesh.

Boom!

It wasn’t the sound of flesh pierced, but an explosion. The mercenary king staggered back a step.

For an instant, Kimaris’s attention wavered, and the count took advantage.

Crash crash crash!

A wave of dozens of blue cuts enveloped the demon.

The ground cracked, rock pulverized.

Through the dust, a black tide of magic arose—bigger still—and consumed them both.

Boom!

The two Royal Knights retreated with a groan, staggering.

“Humans have improved a lot in a thousand years.”

Kimaris’s greatsword fell across the count.

BOOOM!

The brute strength shook his arm. He stepped back, but the demon followed with another slash.

Crack!

The ground opened beneath his feet.

But he was not alone.

The red spear intercepted the sword, and in the opening the count thrust.

Clang!

Kimaris raised his magic again, blocking for a moment.

Boom!

The count was halted, but immediately the spear attacked from another angle.

Slash!

Clash!

Thus continued the battle, attacks and defenses intertwined.

The count and the mercenary king.

Sword and spear.

Lion and serpent.

Covering each other’s gaps, seeking the enemy’s.

When the sword was blocked, the spear struck.

When the spear was stopped, the sword cut.

The coordination was fluid, clean, almost beautiful.

Even Kimaris—a demon—could only resist.

“I admit it… I underestimated you. Now I’ll fight seriously.”

Suddenly, overwhelming magic exploded from his body.

BOOM!

The two Royal Knights retreated without resisting, but even so the impact shook their bones.

“……”

“……”

They tightened their hold on their weapons, with Kimaris between them.

“Incredible.”

The demon sank his greatsword into the ground.

“If you stood at this level, you’d rank among the top ten humans. And that coordination is as if you’d trained together all your lives.”

“What’s the matter? Now you want a one-on-one? Got cowardly, demon?”

The King of Mercenaries ridiculed him.

“Always so insolent.”

“I didn’t learn to show courtesy to scum like you. If you want me to, kneel and bang your head on the ground. Maybe then I’ll return the courtesy.”

“You don’t know your place.”

“The one who doesn’t know it is you, demon.”

The count raised his aura.

“Anyone who dares attack Bercheff dies by my hand. Even if it be a demon.”

“Let’s see if your skill matches your mouth.”

Shiing—

Kimaris now brandished two identical greatswords.

And at that same moment, the figures of the two Royal Knights vanished.

The battle resumed.

***

─!

─!

The thunder of the battlefield was deafening, yet the distant explosions could still be heard clearly.

They were proof that the two Royal Knights were fighting the rank-66 demon, Kimaris.

‘They’re going to win. Two Royal Knights fighting together—how could they lose?’

Fernan forced himself to suppress the anxiety rising within him.

“…But isn’t it true that a combined attack doesn’t always go well?”

Fernan was not a knight, but he knew that coordinating in combat wasn’t as easy as saying it.

If they didn’t train together for a long time, a 1+1 could become 0 instead of 2 or 3.

“Don’t worry. Those two have been fighting together for a long time.”

“Do they have a bond?”

“The Mercenary King has fought on countless battlefields. In a continent unified and at peace under the Empire, where do you think the most wars happen?”

Nowadays, with most wars between nations gone, there were three main hotspots left.

— Altrioque, constantly ravaged by the monsters of the Taklakan desert.

— Frazia, a kingdom at the southern edge of the Pandrein continent.

— And Bercheff, the guardian of the imperial north.

Among these, the most dangerous and exhausting was undoubtedly Bercheff, as the monster hordes descending from the Northeastern Demon were endless.

“I see, I understand.”

Bringing together two proud Royal Knights, and the fact that the two of them had fought together in the past, was a stroke of luck.

“So worry about this side too! We’re drowning here!”

“Exactly! Please stop zoning out!”

Luina, panting, decapitated an Orga climbing the wall.

Hyde intercepted a Crictor lunging at Fernan.

The situation was far from good.

Against more than ten thousand beasts, the first wall had barely a thousand defenders.

The duke had issued a full mobilization order across Bercheff and activated the reserves, but an army doesn’t appear just because it’s summoned.

If not for the fact that the White Lion Knight Order and the Red Wolf Mercenaries hadn’t returned yet along with the Royal Knights, and if not for Luina tirelessly racing across the walls, the fortress would already have fallen.

Even so, the situation remained critical.

No matter how veteran they were, ignoring the overwhelming numerical difference was impossible.

And they weren’t humans—they were all demonic beasts.

“Isn’t there another way?”

Luina asked after slaying five Crictors in one strike.

“If you think I’d have a miraculous plan in this situation, you’re wrong.”

“I know, but…”

Because somehow, she always expected Fernan to have one.

“But…?”

“It’s nothing.”

Luina shook her head, swallowing her words.

Blindly relying on Fernan without a real plan wasn’t a good habit.

“There is one way.”

“Really?”

“To hold.”

Hold on and endure until the end.

“We can defend the fortress. Reinforcements will come.”

“…That makes sense.”

Luina shut her mouth and refocused on the battle.

“Fire!”

“Aim for the flying ones first!”

The archers launched arrow after arrow without rest.

“Lightning Bolt!”

“Wherever you aim, you’ll hit a monster! Forget about friendly fire and cast everything you’ve got!”

The mages, exhausted, drank potions and squeezed out every last drop of mana.

“Don’t let them climb the wall!”

“Knock them down below!”

Knights and soldiers sprinted tirelessly along the wall, defending it with everything they had.

Even though the structure was half-destroyed from a demon’s slash, it was still a vital defense line.

Boom!

Screech!

Aaargh!

Dieeee!

Explosions, shrieks, and screams filled the air.

“This is insane! I want out!”

A soldier died when a monster scaled the wall.

Gismond avenged him with a slash, cutting the enemy down.

Bodies fell at the base of the wall, where beasts swarmed in to devour them.

“Drinking elixirs and learning swordplay isn’t enough! You need real combat experience, senior!”

“At my level, this is suicide!”

“Don’t say that. Few here have more mana than you.”

“Damn it! They were right—leaving home is suffering like a dog!”

Gismond whimpered but kept swinging his sword.

Even though his strikes were basic, his aura was enough to cut down enemy after enemy.

“They’re pushing us back!”

“Hold the line, even if you die!”

The shield wall gradually gave way and monsters began to break through.

“Back!”

Fernan raised a wall of steel, but it wouldn’t hold back the avalanche for long.

A giant golem emerged from subspace and landed among the rubble.

Standing in front of the exposed Fernan were Luina and Hyde.

Boom!

The golem ripped the head off an Urs, a rank 5 bear-like monster.

It crushed Lufardins and split Orgas in half.

Screech, boom!

The golem fell as its legs were devoured. Swarmed by beasts like ants, its light faded and it collapsed.

A Barka climbed atop the remains of the golem.

Boom!

Another golem appeared to confront it.

“I’ve always hated the Barka.”

Waaah!

“Stop them!”

The human voices grew fewer.

The space they held on the wall shrank. Monster corpses piled up, but the beasts knew no fear.

‘Damn it…’

Fernan, controlling the golems, clenched his teeth.

If the fortress fell, all of Bercheff would be swept away.

‘I’ll have to use Wooden…’

He didn’t want to reveal its existence in front of so many people, but he wasn’t about to die like an idiot without using it.

“Wooden, come out…”

And then—

The sky lit up.

“…What?”

A warm light made everyone look up.

They were fireballs. Dozens of fireballs, falling like a meteor shower upon the enemy army.

Boom!

Boooom!

Pillars of fire exploded across the battlefield.

The monsters were shattered, their formations broken.

“Reinforcements!”

“Reinforcements have arrived!”

The soldiers, previously drowning in despair, shouted with hope.

“It’s the Dragon God Cult!”

“It’s the priests!”

Dozens of mages in robes marked with dragons landed on the wall.

And then—

“Broooother!”

The red-haired saint, Jace Vines, flew toward Fernan, waving his arms.

“Are you alright? I didn’t arrive too late, right?!”

“…You’re late.”

No, in truth, they’d arrived faster than expected.

“You rushed, huh?”

“Of course! You ordered an absurd amount of holy water, so I came full-speed express delivery! Oh, and I also brought Cardinal Alby to justify the mission as official reinforcements!”

The saint grinned like a pleased merchant.