Kaien, commander of the Fourth Division of the Sun Knights.
As a knight, he respected my resolve and stood against me as an enemy.
In other words, he acknowledged my determination, but that didn’t mean he was going to go easy on me in battle.
This wasn’t some honorable duel between equals. Even though he was a powerhouse who could overwhelm me on his own…
“Urgh!”
…he pressed me with every single soldier he had brought with him.
Each one was roughly at my level.
At that point, it was hardly a battle at all. No, this was closer to a hunt or an execution.
Eliminating me, someone who might interfere with Emperor Abraham’s plans.
That was the role of the Sun Knights.
“Why did you come alone? If you had come with Princess Lobelia, you wouldn’t be getting pushed back this one-sidedly.”
“Are you asking because you know the answer? Or because you genuinely don’t?”
At my question, Kaien shrugged.
It meant he truly didn’t know.
Either way, talking bought me time. Not that buying time would necessarily accomplish anything.
“You have to be faster, then.”
“Why?”
“It’s a long explanation.”
If I’m being honest, I’d love to explain it and use the opportunity to stall, but unfortunately, I didn’t have much time.
The reason I hadn’t come with Lobelia.
It was because I had to be one step ahead of her.
The ending of this stage was Lobelia reaching Emperor Abraham.
And until that ending was set in stone, the Oracle would not die.
If, by some chance, the plan failed, the existence of the prophet would still remain relevant.
In other words, I had to reach her before the Oracle died.
And the clear time limit on that was Lobelia’s arrival.
Which meant there was no time to waste.
“Deploy.”
This was no time to hold back my cards.
My opponent was someone I could never defeat in a fair fight.
That meant I had no choice but to use my own cheat codes.
I deployed Helical Gear and Babel Gear.
Helical Gear was especially useful when facing multiple enemies, while Babel Gear was invaluable against powerful opponents.
Of course, weapons this powerful were difficult to use.
[Thought Split]
So I burned my brain if I had to.
I could feel the blood vessels in my eyes swelling.
I could also feel something hot running down beneath my nose.
Only by going this far could I barely fight on equal footing.
“So enough small talk. Let’s begin again, Sir Kaien.”
I’ll break through.
No matter what.
***
The moment the signal came from Kaien, commander of the Fourth Division of the Sun Knights, the knights began to move.
Boom!
Samuel Damus and Chris Damus, riding in the returning carriage, were jolted by the violent shaking.
“Damn it…”
They had been warned that the journey could be dangerous.
That was why they had chosen the safest route possible, even if it meant arriving later.
That decision might have been the problem.
“What’s happening?”
Samuel Damus asked the escorts Cattleya had assigned to them.
“We’re under attack.”
The reply came in a tense voice.
The mercenaries Cattleya had hired were all highly skilled professionals who commanded expensive fees.
On top of that, there were the guards the family had brought with them.
But Samuel knew.
“Hoo…”
The situation was bad.
His instincts were telling him so.
It was the same sense of unease he felt every time that damned son of his was about to get involved in something huge.
And now that feeling was washing over him again.
“Stay inside, Chris.”
This was no ordinary situation.
With that thought, Samuel Damus drew the sword at his waist and stepped out of the carriage.
Waiting before him were knights who made no attempt to conceal themselves.
Because they belonged to the Imperial Family, even the mercenaries hesitated to act recklessly.
The man who appeared to be their leader addressed Samuel.
“Count Samuel Damus. Is that correct?”
“Well, that’s right.”
“I see.”
Nothing more was said.
As though confirming his name was all they needed, the knights drew their swords in unison.
“So you won’t even tell me why you’re here to kill me.”
Samuel shrugged and poured mana into his blade.
“Well, I suppose that’s how it goes.”
The Damus family was a count’s house in name only.
Its influence often fell short of even that of many viscount families.
Most people in the capital didn’t even know the House of Damus existed.
Honor?
You naturally forget about things like that when you spend your summers working the fields alongside your tenants.
Then why stand and fight?
Why draw his sword and face them himself?
“My son has decided, for the first time in his life, that he won’t run away. How could the man who calls himself his father be the one to flee?”
At least once.
Yes, at least once.
Shouldn’t he try being a proper parent?
“Though I may be nothing more than a humble country lord, as a descendant of House Damus, once counted among the Four Great Noble Houses of the Kingdom, I cannot simply lie down and die.”
Samuel Damus was not strong.
He would lose even if he fought Johan.
But neither was he weak.
“Sorry about this, gentlemen. Still, if we’re going to die, we may as well die together. So let’s give it everything we’ve got.”
There was no chance of victory.
Most likely, everyone here would be cut down.
But that was no reason to give up.
As he spoke, a complete sword energy began to form along Samuel Damus’s sword.
***
The World Tree and the Misfits gathered together, preparing for the enemy’s assault.
“Lady World Tree, let us know the moment they arrive.”
“I will. I’m glad you’re here, young prophet.”
Now awakened as a prophet, Helena could see the World Tree’s avatar.
Those blue eyes bearing the symbol of Elysium were connected to a god.
The sole servant of “Beginning”, the Creator God who made the world.
Though the limits of that power diminished with each generation, Kult was the only one who had ever reached those limits.
And those limits were far from insignificant.
“I-I think they’re coming.”
“How many?”
Watching the World Tree suddenly turn pale and retreat, Helena frowned.
Johan had said it would be a difficult battle.
He had even said their chances of winning were almost nonexistent.
That was why he had asked them to die.
That was how desperate the situation was.
Peeking her head out from behind her true body, the World Tree’s avatar replied.
“Just one…”
Because of that answer, Helena could only think of a single person.
“The Black Knight?”
There was only one individual capable of overwhelming everyone gathered here.
The Grim Reaper who had once destroyed the nation of the elves, burned the World Tree, and slaughtered countless people across innumerable battlefields.
He had returned once more to eliminate the World Tree.
“……”
His steps were unhurried.
Yet the weight carried by each footfall was suffocating.
Clad from head to toe in full plate armor, he was no longer the mischievous old man he had once appeared to be.
He was nothing but a butcher moving to fulfill his assigned mission.
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
The Misfits were not weak.
Every one of them was a formidable fighter in their own right, each possessing a unique specialty.
And when those specialties intertwined, they produced far greater synergy than any of them could achieve alone.
Jeff’s barrier, famed for its impenetrable defense.
Dietrich’s sword, sharper than anything else.
Melana’s monstrous strength, regained along with the restoration of her soul.
And Helena’s divine power, which supported them all.
Together, the four of them formed a complete army.
Although Melana could no longer wield her power as freely as before, the Misfits were still strong.
“You know why you’re going to die, don’t you?”
“Couldn’t it be the other way around, Sir Lanius? The Black Knight?”
The strongest among the Misfits Dietrich leveled his sword as he spoke.
His opponent was the Empire’s…
No, now the second-strongest monster in the world.
They were outmatched in strength and experience.
The years of effort each side had accumulated were on entirely different levels.
If so, there were only two variables that could give them a chance.
Our teamwork… and our talent.
Would those be enough against someone like him?
Even as he swallowed nervously, Dietrich tightened his grip on his sword.
Looking at the assembled Misfits, Lanius rested his spear on his shoulder and spoke.
“There’s no need for a long conversation.”
His indifferent voice echoed through the forest.
The gloomy voice of the Black Knight, Lanius, was enough on its own to inspire fear.
Boom!
The knight clad in heavy full plate armor took a step forward.
In an instant, the Black Knight closed the distance and thrust out his spear.
Crunch!
With a single strike, the divine power coating Jeff’s shield was torn apart.
Jeff had devoted himself entirely to defense, yet even he could not stop a casual thrust from the Black Knight.
“Ghk!”
Clang!
Dietrich filled the opening.
His sword knocked aside the spear that had broken through Jeff’s defense.
Heavy.
That strike was heavy enough to rival a Great Warrior’s blow.
That one exchange alone was enough to prove that this was not an opponent they could afford to underestimate.
“Hah!”
Pouring more strength into the hand gripping his sword, Dietrich knocked Lanius’s spear away.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
When the deflected spear returned in an instant with three consecutive thrusts, Dietrich blocked every one of them as though he had anticipated them all from the start.
A flicker of interest appeared in Lanius’s eyes at that series of exchanges, and Jeff seized the opening to shove him back with his shield.
Not bad. He can keep up.
With that thought, Dietrich began pressing Lanius instead.
I need to get inside.
Against someone with this much of a skill gap, managing distance was more important than anything else.
The sword was often called the king of weapons not because it excelled in any one area but because of its versatility.
A spear, however, was different. Its greatest advantage was its reach.
So he had to close the distance.
Otherwise, he would be whittled down relentlessly from an awkward range.
Crunch!
At that moment, Lanius’s spear pierced through Dietrich’s shoulder.
But Dietrich paid it no mind and charged forward.
If anything, this was an opportunity.
For most people, it would have been a fatal wound, but he had a reliable healer in the Prophet at his side.
“Haaap!”
I’ll end this as quickly as possible.
With that thought, Dietrich swung his sword.
Crunch!
But his opponent was a veteran who had survived hundreds of years of battle.
He was not foolish enough to stake everything on a single weapon.
“Khk!”
Lanius immediately released his spear and grabbed Dietrich’s wrist.
His brutal grip twisted the wrist holding the sword, forcing him to let go.
In the face of such absurd strength, determination and willpower meant nothing.
After physically crushing Dietrich’s wrist, Lanius finally forced the sword from his hand.
“Ugh!”
Then Lanius seized Dietrich by the face, intending to crush it outright.
“You damn old bastard!”
At that moment, Melana’s sword came crashing down toward his wrist.
The Under Chain was gone, and now even her chains had disappeared.
As a result, she was using the sword she had carried back when she traveled with the Cradle.
Clang!
But her swordsmanship, rusted from years of neglect, could not leave so much as a scratch on Lanius’s armor.
Her strength, however, was another matter.
The physical abilities she had gained through years of enhancement by Helena’s divine power were more than enough to compensate for her lack of skill.
“Haaah!”
Rather than trying to cut, Melana put all her strength into driving the blade down like a hammer.
Creak!
To everyone’s surprise, the ordinary iron sword began to dent Lanius’s black iron armor.
“……!”
Sure enough, even Lanius could not help but be surprised by the sight.
There was nothing special about Melana’s sword.
It could not even properly manifest sword aura, making it little different from an ordinary piece of iron.
In that situation, the only difference should have been the quality of the metal.
That was why he could not understand it.
Ordinary iron should not have been capable of leaving so much as a scratch on this black iron armor, forged by the Empire’s finest smiths from the finest materials.
“……”
Lanius quickly released Dietrich and stepped back.
In that brief instant, he noticed that Dietrich’s crushed wrist had already healed.
He saw that the iron sword which had dented his armor remained completely intact.
“I see.”
Lanius’s gaze shifted into the distance.
The true center of this group was not Dietrich, the exceptionally skilled swordsman.
It was the slender young girl standing behind him.
“I understand.”
It did not take long for the others to realize the meaning behind those words.
The direction of Lanius’s gaze made it painfully obvious.
But Dietrich could not stop him.
Neither could Jeff.
Thud!
Thrusting was the foundation of spear combat.
And to unleash the greatest possible power behind a thrust, one needed a charge fast enough to match it.
Lanius was fast.
Even knowing exactly who he was targeting, they could not stop him.
That was the Black Knight’s specialty. The ability to kill his chosen target without fail.
Crunch!
That charge could not be stopped.
Breaking through their line in an instant, Lanius’s spear pierced straight through Helena’s heart.
“Hmm.”
Helena could not even scream.
Her small body hung limply from the huge spear.
Lanius lifted the weapon, then swung it broadly, flinging Helena’s impaled body away.
It was a gesture almost like shaking blood from a blade.
Everyone froze at the sheer brutality of the act, carried out with such casual indifference.
“Why do you all look so shocked?”
His indifferent yet gloomy voice echoed through the forest.
“Did you really think I’d gone all this time without ever killing a child?”
Leave a Reply