Chapter 307: Siege (2)

They climbed onto the wall, drove in their swords, and brought it down.

It seemed like a simple process, but while Yuri was doing that, the other experts were desperately fighting against the black magic.

Even the air was hostile—an authentic killing field.

Countless forks in the road between life and death stretched before them.

“Be careful.”

“Thanks for the advice.”

Eto and Oliver were atop the wall, fighting back-to-back against the tentacles.

Panting, Oliver let himself drop down for a moment.

Eto spoke sharply.

“For an Imperial, I thought you had stamina. Are you going to collapse now?”

He wasn’t the type to enjoy verbal jabs, but he did it on purpose to provoke him. If Oliver collapsed here, it would all be over.

Oliver abruptly lifted his head.

“Don’t make me laugh, peasant from Liberta.”

“And yet you’re about to collapse in front of a peasant.”

“Not a chance!”

He sprang up.

“I am Oliver of House Elgast. I will not fall so easily.”

“Then prove it, Oliver.”

“Of course I will. Those bastards who soiled the name of the Empire and sold even their souls to these disgusting things…”

Oliver’s mana surged in fury.

“They will pay the price!”

“That’s the spirit.”

Eto cut down a tentacle and whistled.

“Oliver, is that all your rage?”

“Watch closely!”

Every word pushed him to fight harder. Provoking him was worth it; he seemed like a simple-minded type.

Eto threw another jab.

“Oliver, Imperial… I’ve already killed five monsters, what about you?”

“Wait, you peasant!”

In truth, Eto had only killed three, but he exaggerated. Unaware of this, Oliver charged madly at another creature.

“Die!”

Eto smirked and refocused on the battle.

It wasn’t easy.

The monsters atop the wall were on a completely different level from those they had faced before.

From the corner of his eye, Eto saw the Prince of Briol in the center of the wall, sword driven in, pouring out mana.

Seeing his clothes ripple in the wind, Eto nodded.

It was a technique impossible for most, but he could pull it off.

Because he was that kind of person.

So Eto only had to buy time.

“Watch out above!”

Suddenly, Oliver shouted, and Eto reflexively ducked his head.

Something brushed past where his head had been.

A winged monster.

“Kh…”

It was a grotesque creature, half human, half bird, similar to a legendary harpy, but its body was entwined with tentacles.

From the membranes of its wings splattered a viscous substance that, upon touching his shoulder guard, burned and melted it with a nauseating stench.

“Damn it…”

Eto tore off the shoulder guard and threw it away.

This wasn’t a place he wanted to linger in.

If the wall was like this, what kind of hell awaited inside?

Eto snarled in frustration.

“Hey, Imperial, what the hell were you people thinking making this? Trying to destroy the world? It’s a disaster!”

“…”

No response.

When he turned, he saw Oliver pressing his lips together in silence—he had nothing to say.

Eto softened his tone.

“In any case… thanks for warning me earlier. I almost died.”

“Hmph. Shut up and fight.”

“Alright.”

While they argued, the other three of the Ten Greats—Francesco, Jose, and Moyongchan—were fighting in an even more complicated situation.

They were blocking invisible projectiles raining down from afar, all imbued with black magic.

“Damn it!”

Francesco cursed.

“Are we sure it was a good idea to come alone?”

“Hold out!”

“Stop complaining.”

Tentacles rose from below, while distant attacks continued to pour in. Blocking them with sword energy had its limits.

A tentacle wrapped around Francesco’s ankle and made him stumble. He managed to cut it away and regain his balance, shouting over his shoulder.

“Hey, Yuri! Almost done?”

“Just a little longer!”

Jared answered.

“Kh…”

The attacks grew fiercer, and Francesco pushed his mana to the limit.

“We can’t wait much longer…”

His face was red; his body overheating from the extreme mana output. If he pushed further, he could damage his energy channels.

At that moment, an invisible attack struck him squarely.

“Kraah!”

The impact shook him as though a mace had smashed into him.

Though he diverted part of the blow with a mana barrier, another attack was already coming.

He looked to Jose and Moyongchan for help, but they had no room to assist him.

“Ah…”

The attack was about to hit. Francesco saw his life flash before his eyes—it began with childhood memories of playing on the swing with his mother.

Slash.

But suddenly, the sound of something being cut through halted the black magic.

The attacks headed for him disintegrated.

“Huh?”

“Are you alright?”

“You are…”

The one who had arrived alongside the Eastern warriors was a man named Bernard.

Francesco had long heard of the ill-famed swordsman known as the “Sword Demon,” and meeting him in person confirmed he was no ordinary fighter. Even as one of the Ten Greats, Francesco couldn’t guarantee victory against him.

Indeed, the world was full of masters.

Francesco smiled faintly and expressed his thanks.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I’m still alive.”

“We just have to hold out a little longer. His Highness is doing everything he can.”

His voice held no emotional fluctuation. Even in this desperate situation, he remained calm, making the title “Sword Demon” suit him perfectly.

Soon, a strange flow of power began emanating from Yuri, who was clinging to the wall.

He was sending mana directly inside to blow it apart from within.

To attempt such a technique against a wall that massive—his approach was, without a doubt, unlike anyone else’s.

“He’s definitely insane.”

Francesco lifted his sword again. He put strength into his exhausted arms and drew mana from his damaged channels.

Everything they had achieved so far was thanks to Yuri Briol, that young man.

So, this time too, he would trust him and endure until the end.

Francesco muttered,

“By the way… I wonder if things are going well over there…”

While in the West they were protecting Yuri and trying to bring down the wall, in the East they were using the opposite method.

They were battering it with unrelenting fire.

Jang Yeonghak soared into the air and began unleashing indiscriminate sword attacks, with the other warriors joining in the bombardment.

Martial arts so extraordinary followed one after another that any Easterner watching would have their eyes wide open.

The Illuminated Tai Chi Sword of Wudang, the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Strikes of Huashan, the Divine Hundred-Step Fist of Shaolin, the Thirty-Six World Swords of Zhongnan, the Dog-Beating Staff Technique of the Beggar Sect, the Boundless Blue Sky Sword of the Namgung family, the Heavenly Flower Rain of the Tang family of Sichuan, the Thunderous Roaring Sword of the Hwangbo family, the White Ice Divine Palm of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, and more…

It was the total sum of the martial arts accumulated by the Eastern Murim.

A storm of martial arts so intense that even its murderous intent could be felt swept over the wall.

Neither black magic nor monster attacks could come close to such power—they vanished instantly.

The wall was ripped apart and destroyed.

The monsters’ bodies were disintegrated.

Again and again, it broke and was destroyed.

But the Empire did not remain idle.

Flying monsters appeared, beginning to attack from the rear.

The warriors, who until then had been striking the wall without pause, had to halt their bombardment to repel the enemies threatening them from behind.

In that time, the wall began to regenerate.

At every damaged point, countless worm-like tentacles sprouted, intertwining and reforming solid tissue.

In an instant, all previous attacks were rendered meaningless.

“My God…”

Jang Yeonghak let out a sigh.

It was like a scene from hell itself.

What kind of horrors had the demon of the West summoned? If even a mere wall was so abominable, how evil must the entities beyond it be?

He couldn’t even imagine it.

Was this what the Westerners had been fighting against all along?

Suddenly, his gaze shifted to the wall on the left flank.

Their plan was simple.

Protect one, and have that one bring down the wall.

In that resolve, there was absolute confidence.

“Yuri Briol, was it…?”

Western names were difficult to pronounce, but he believed it was something like that.

He knew the moment he saw him.

“Right now, he is in a state of absolute perfection.”

That he had reached the level of a great master at such a young age was already surprising, but the perfection energy he radiated was even more astounding.

Perfection did not just mean being fully prepared; it meant that his training, the environment around him, the fortune granted by the heavens, and the flow of the universe itself were aligned.

The entire world was pushing the back of that man called Yuri.

The Heaven-Sundering Star had thrown the world into chaos, and this young Westerner had been chosen as its designated opponent.

Perhaps his entire journey to the West had been nothing more than a working of fate to aid Yuri.

Jang Yeonghak murmured,

“If that’s the case, it doesn’t matter. To destroy that evil existence, I will gladly become an anonymous grain of wheat.”

He had understood his role.

And he decided to use a supreme technique that could not be employed twice.

“Everyone, stand back!”

At his thunderous voice, the warriors instinctively withdrew.

Jang Yeonghak raised his sword.

His robe fluttered.

A massive wave radiated out from him.

It was not the Tai Chi qi he had been using until now, but something filled with an intense thirst for blood.

It was Wudang’s forbidden assassination art.

Shidanjin.

Screeeech!

A piercing noise, like scratching at the ears, accompanied the spread of crimson sword qi. It twisted and tore apart everything it touched.

The inversion of the natural order.

The collapse of order.

A martial technique created solely for destruction, accessible only to one who had reached the pinnacle of Tai Chi.

He charged toward the cursed structure formed of flesh, distorted magic, and energy from another world.

A grotesque sound rang out.

And at the same time, light burst from the sword Yuri had driven into the wall.

As if it had been coordinated.

The wall was enveloped in radiance from two directions at once.

***

The forces of the Anti-Imperial Alliance, watching from behind, held their breath.

They weren’t just standing there watching—they were poised to charge the moment the wall fell.

In fact, even if it didn’t fall, there would be no turning back.

Retreat did not exist. No matter what happened, they would rush into Zveta.

“Your Highness…”

Ainzer murmured.

At a glance, it was clear that the situation was not favorable.

The enemy’s defense was strong, and the wall showed little sign of yielding.

When it seemed the East was making progress, the wall would regenerate instantly, drawing sighs of frustration.

“Hey, give me that.”

“Yes, sir!”

Ainzer took the war horn to give the signal to attack.

If necessary, he would blow it himself.

Even if the wall didn’t fall, they had to advance.

They had to protect His Highness.

But at that moment, something changed in both sectors of the wall they were targeting.

On the left, cracks began to form and the structure was collapsing from within.

On the other, the surface was tearing apart and falling in chunks.

Light erupted from both.

It was so dazzling that even from afar it stole their sight for several seconds.

“W-what is that?”

Ainzer’s eyes widened. Tears streamed down his face, but he did not look away.

Even if he went blind, he couldn’t miss the signal.

Then he saw it.

Both walls.

They hadn’t fallen, but they were half destroyed, hanging in tatters.

The eighteen members of the suicide squad who had fought on them were also half-collapsed.

Seeing tentacles slithering from the cracks and intertwining to regenerate the wall, Angel held his breath and blew the war horn with all his might.

Wooooooo!

The signal to charge rang high into the sky.

“Forward!”

They could no longer rely solely on them.

Even if it meant their vanguard would be annihilated, they had to help bring down the wall.

Ainzer was the first to launch himself forward.

“All forces, attack!”

When the Anti-Imperial Alliance charged, the entire earth trembled.