Ch.120Opening Battle (3)

# Two Weeks After the War Began

Two weeks after the war began. As December arrived with winter weather, knights exhaled white breaths while gripping their swords.

Their target was Hatan. Hatan had shown no official reaction to the Empire’s advance.

Instead, what Hatan displayed was a shadow that covered the entire Hatan duchy.

A shadow that some had already seen during the Roman subjugation—a shadow signifying complete defiance against the Empire’s will.

In the end, the Imperial army had no choice but to turn their blades toward Hatan, as the shadow carried the meaning that they had turned to Extinction.

“Though we anticipated this from the beginning, it’s frustrating now that it’s actually happening.”

“…Still, the three great houses will pledge eternal loyalty. Three great houses—I believe there were five great houses until just last year.”

Kane, the head of the Medive family, spoke up.

What lay before them were piles of black mages’ corpses.

Black mages had multiplied like rats in a plague-ridden city.

They were among the most difficult beings to deal with.

While Azest was called the world’s greatest mage,

the Medive family, famous for magic, possessed a completely different magical system from Azest.

If Azest had the optimal magic for slaughter, Medive was called a specialist in barriers and binding arts.

The ability to ‘seal’ and ‘defend’ against black mages’ magic while simultaneously ‘reverse-calculating’ it was unique to Medive.

Medive’s role was to defend until Azest could create magic and protect the knights. Kaisel nodded as he looked at Kane.

Without them, they would have suffered devastating losses and retreated long ago.

About 9,000 knights had marched at the start of the war.

Considering that casualties so far were nearly 100… if they could preserve 70% of this force until reaching Hatan,

perhaps it might be possible to completely eradicate Extinction.

‘But that would be reckless.’

In a war decades ago, the Empire had lost 30,000 knights.

Even at their peak with nearly 50,000 knights, they had been defeated.

No matter how much magical levels had improved, they couldn’t underestimate Extinction.

This force could be annihilated at any moment, so the only fortunate thing was that morale was still high.

“His Majesty’s speech seems to have had quite an effect.”

“Indeed. After all, not many would flee when told they’re fighting for their families.”

Military strategy dictates that momentum should be intense but battle time short.

There was a limit to maintaining this morale.

He wished they could teleport directly to attack Hatan, but the shadow surrounding Hatan completely blocked magical approaches.

It was nearly impossible to use magic from outside to inside, unless one was already inside.

“They probably prepared after seeing the Roman subjugation. With Azest’s Meteor, it would be possible to completely devastate Hatan.”

“So we must wear down their forces with knights alone? I’d rather not expend too much of our strength.”

“But we have His Majesty. And Lord Theorad as well.”

And then. Kane turned his gaze toward Kaisel and quietly moved his lips.

The most important person for conquering Hatan, a name that must not be absent from the Extinction subjugation.

“…When will Evan Fried join us?”

“I don’t know. I can’t say for certain.”

Kaisel shook his head and sighed.

Evan Fried’s participation wasn’t determined solely by the individual’s opinion.

Unless the Emperor forcibly ordered it, and since even the Emperor had given him autonomy, there was only one person in this world who could influence Evan Fried’s movements.

“He’s quite the henpecked husband.”

“He seems thoroughly controlled. How does the Yuris family’s young master manage to control him? Even though Evan has a gentle personality… it’s awkward.”

“There must be circumstances we don’t know about. And not many women would readily send their lovers to fight Extinction.”

Well, that’s true. Kaisel didn’t voice the thoughts floating in his mind.

If Evan had joined the Imperial army to fight, the advance would have been much faster, but Evan’s participation had essentially been postponed.

The official reason was to securely transfer ownership of Ascalon,

and the unofficial reason was that Airin Yuris said there was something that needed to be done before Evan could participate.

What that task might be had not been revealed at all, so Kaisel clicked his tongue and turned his gaze outside the tent.

One more day until they reached Hatan. Tomorrow, the real war would begin.

In the worst-case scenario… perhaps the red dragon Mavet would resurrect when the red moon rises.

But they had gathered their forces anticipating the worst from the beginning.

“What we need to think about now is how to achieve maximum success with minimum damage.”

“To be honest, that’s wishful thinking. It would be better to expect at least 3,000 casualties.”

“I think losing 3,000 here would be reckless too. Perhaps you or I might die.”

“If His Majesty falls… even if we end Extinction, the Empire would collapse. I can clearly see how that would end.”

Kaisel chuckled and tapped his epaulette, closing his eyes. He had no intention of dying.

As a Master, there weren’t many situations that could kill him,

and he would probably be fine unless the dragon Mavet resurrected and fought them.

“Let’s get going.”

“Is it tomorrow then?”

“It would be nice if Evan joined us tomorrow… but I’m not sure if things will work out that well. We’ll have to face it, aiming to end this as quickly as possible.”

The torch flared up, scattering ashes. Embers mixed with wind began to melt the snow and race backward.

As Kaisel watched the fluttering flags and perfectly lined-up knights, he narrowed his eyes.

The pungent scent of impending battle. Along with the fishy smell of blood, what he felt was the darkness in the distance.

Kaisel once again ordered the advance.

#

BOOM-!

War didn’t start with any particular signal.

Meeting eyes, confirming each other. It began with stomping feet and clashing swords—an act with no rules.

When two forces hated each other and knew that the end of the other meant their own survival,

the fight only became more brutal.

The knights’ objective was the ducal residence at the center of Hatan.

A place reachable in a day at the knights’ speed.

The knights tore through the outer defensive line, which had been instantly breached by the mages’ magic, and began slaughtering the black mages.

Since each individual possessed expertise beyond the Expert level, the black mages who couldn’t maintain proper formation could only hastily retreat, unable to defend their line.

THUD-! The knights’ feet stomped the ground as they advanced. Their swords were covered in flesh and blood.

They regulated their breathing as they cut through the shadows cast before them with mana. Their hearts pounded.

Knowing that even the slightest mistake would mean their death, the knights remained vigilant.

The crown prince fought at the front. The Empire’s two Masters were in the vanguard. Like a wedge, like an arrow cutting through the wind and tearing the sky.

The knights advanced rapidly with their honed momentum.

Treading the earth, crushing corpses as they moved forward. Kaisel looked around while checking ahead.

Three thousand knights following him, and 2,500 knights on each side spreading out like wings.

Except for the 1,000 knights left for the rear, most were advancing forward.

Breaking through the outskirts had been easy, but the enemy was black mages.

Preparing for unexpected situations was most important.

What appeared before Kaisel’s eyes was a giant so enormous it couldn’t be compared to human size.

Seeing the fist of the giant with its dark body, Kaisel opened his mouth and shouted loudly.

“All troops—scatter!”

BOOM-! Fragments of the shattered earth rained down on the knights.

The giants, clearly about 15 meters tall, weren’t just one or two.

Fortunately, the knights who quickly dispersed suffered minimal damage,

but Kaisel clicked his tongue as he read the shock on their faces.

“Everyone scatter! I’ll handle this.”

Golems created by black magic. Kaisel raised his sword as he confirmed mana seeping into the golems’ bodies.

He regulated his breathing while circulating mana throughout his body. It was better to abandon his horse.

After all, a Master’s body could move faster than a horse’s mobility.

CRASH-! Kaisel’s sword collided with the golem, creating a vacuum.

Twisting his waist, he stomped the ground again, and his rotating body thrust the sword toward the golem’s arm.

CRACK- The penetrating sword. Kaisel frowned at the sensation, like cutting through stone.

It was harder than expected. It was fine for now, but if these golems engaged knights who weren’t Masters, dealing with them would be difficult.

As he cut off the golem’s arm, mana surged again.

Blue flames enveloped his body, and Kaisel, infusing the flames into his sword, drew a diagonal line in the air.

From right to left downward, the sword left a large mark on the golem’s body as it traced the line.

Another mark was drawn. As time passed, the marks left on the golem’s body began to grow larger.

Evidence that his body was gradually adapting to the fight. Kaisel took another step forward after regulating his breathing.

He dodged a fist extending toward his face.

Bending his waist backward, he simultaneously used that momentum as propulsion to step toward the golem’s heart.

SLASH! The distance closed instantly. Kaisel’s sword, remembering that a golem’s core must be destroyed, pierced through its chest.

“Theorad! The core is in the center of the chest!”

“I’ve already destroyed one. Watch your side!”

That was faster than expected. As Kaisel pulled his sword from the golem’s body with a click of his tongue,

the golem, having lost its dark color, collapsed to the ground.

Now one more. Theorad had handled one. The rest could be dealt with alongside the knights.

The process of handling the golems was smooth. It would have been troublesome if black mages had intervened while dealing with the golems,

but with the mages’ support, Kaisel quickly dispatched three more golems and looked around.

“This seems to have ended too quickly.”

His eyes narrowed. What he saw was the ducal residence stretching toward the sky.

The residence, shaped like a spire, exuded an ominous aura just like what they had seen in Roman.

But it wouldn’t be as strong as Roman’s forces. Why hadn’t they counterattacked strongly from the beginning?

Kane’s thoughts had reached the same conclusion, and he looked at the spire with a somewhat serious expression.

“This is strange. Isn’t it too fast?”

“We need to proceed while being more vigilant of our surroundings. The enemy is Hatan. We don’t know what traps might be waiting.”

“…That’s true. But we can’t waste too much time either, which is troublesome.”

The momentum was good. But they couldn’t maintain this momentum all day.

If they set the battle duration at three days, they would need to reach that spire by tomorrow at the latest to have a chance of achieving their goal.

Since the opponent was Hatan, they couldn’t waste too much time, nor could they move too quickly.

Shadow of Hatan—it had been the most secretive of the five great houses, and the quietest.

Since Hatan primarily handled assassinations and information gathering, they were certainly masters of traps.

Extinction and Hatan—perhaps Hatan would be the most difficult place when time was wasted.

After briefly checking the knights’ condition, Kaisel looked at Theorad and spoke.

“…Let’s advance. Nothing changes by staying here.”

“It seems we need to be cautious.”

“Trust Medive. Knights don’t know much about such things.”

Kane, who had briefly chuckled, sighed and then Kaisel drew up his mana and spread his domain around.

Blue mana scattered in the sky, and feathers were simultaneously dispersed in all directions.

The blue feathers would soon become blades. Theorad moved his lips as he saw the bodies of black mages touched by the feathers crumble.

“Are we going at full force?”

“We must. I’m a bit uneasy.”

At those words, Theorad also drew up his domain, and at the completely changed atmosphere around them, Kane quietly resonated his circle.

As the magic circle unfolded, Kane, who had finished providing some defense against the darkness of black magic by linking the knights with chains, stepped back and looked at Kaisel.

Though he would be in the rear… even he couldn’t guess how far Hatan had prepared.

Hoping everything would go smoothly, Kane briefly surveyed the knights’ morale,

then moved toward the rear again to prepare defensive magic with Azest.

They continued to advance. The goal was the demarcation line not far from where the ducal residence stood.

From Hatan’s perspective, it was the last line of defense to stop enemies coming to the ducal residence,

and from the Imperial army’s perspective, it was the only path to the ducal residence and the last obstacle that had to be conquered.

However, there were no walls here. What remained was a plain devoid of even a little life, and an army.

Kaisel let out a hollow laugh as he spotted the black wave of people in the distance.

He had been suspicious about why they hadn’t made any defenses until now, but was this what they had been aiming for?

No matter which direction he looked, tens of thousands of enemies were visible.

The black-painted wave of people looked almost like a swarm of ants.

A vast plain. The only way through was the path they had walked so far.

Kaisel slowly moved his hand toward his waist as he calculated the probability of ignoring them and turning back.

“His Majesty said it. We might have to fight a reckless and cruel battle with perhaps no reward.”

The hand holding the sword trembled slightly. Was he nervous?

It was an emotion he had rarely felt in his life, but facing tens of thousands of enemies, he was quietly trembling.

More precisely, he was shuddering. The feathers that had soared into the sky began to crumble with the wind.

Blue mana was falling apart like snow.

Kaisel raised his sword toward the light that looked like stars adorning the gradually darkening sky and continued speaking.

“It seems that time is now.”

There is no retreat.

The knights’ expressions began to harden as they realized that to survive here, they could only rely on the swords in their hands and the mana in their hearts.

Sweat flowed from hands encased in armor, and some knights trembled with their legs and clattered their teeth.

But no one thought of running away.

Because they knew that running meant death, and if they ran from here, it would be their families who would die.

“No one can guarantee your lives. But if you want to live, fight as if you’re prepared to die.”

WHOOSH, blue flames rose from Kaisel and Theorad’s bodies.

As their domains enveloped the surroundings, they made the black mages who were in charge of the enemy’s front line burn in those flames.

They gained courage from that sight. Swords forged by unknown blacksmiths resonated as they drank blood.

Footsteps became one as they trod the ground, and the vibration merged with heartbeats to become one.

“Do you want to live?”

No one answered. Kaisel didn’t expect anyone to answer that question either.

But he could easily understand what everyone wanted. Who would want to die?

Neither evil nor good. In the end, everyone desires life. That’s why they wield swords.

Drawing swords, blue flames attached to the blades. Filled with will, filled with still-soaring morale. And so the knights began to run.

“…Advance.”

A total of 9,000 knights, gritting their teeth, swung their swords to cut through the approaching black magic and aimed their tips toward Extinction.

They crushed the hearts of golems dozens of times larger than humans,

and tore apart the hands of black mages reaching for them.

They felt their beating hearts and knew they were still alive.

They swung their swords, feeling the blood still circulating in their bodies.

In this moment, what they desired was neither the Empire’s safety nor their families’ survival, but solely their own survival.

It might be selfish, but with this most primal desire, the knights burned their lives.

They would return alive.

Without fail.

In this seemingly hopeless battle, the thoughts the knights harbored were all simple.

#

“You didn’t have to come see me off this far.”

“I just wanted to come. I can ride a horse too, you know.”

At Airin’s words, Evan smiled faintly and put his arm around her waist.

Airin, sitting on a snow-white horse, looked at Evan with slight regret,

but what could she do? She couldn’t participate in this war.

“Still, the crown prince won’t complain. Though I’m a bit late, this much force should be helpful.”

“Are they all wearing Count Kasim’s armor?”

“Though few in number, they’ll probably be more useful than the Empire’s 9,000 knights. Against black mages, they’ll be more effective than any knight. Except for you, of course.”

Evan awkwardly smiled as he counted the knights lined up behind him.

He never thought he would lead knights. Although they followed his orders thanks to his accumulated fame,

it still didn’t seem fitting for him to lead a thousand knights.

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

“You’re not going to come back injured again, are you?”

“How could I? I’m just going to handle this lightly. There shouldn’t be anyone stronger than Biltain anyway.”

Now very familiar with the gesture, Airin frowned as she hung a white handkerchief on Evan’s chest.

There was a time when he didn’t know the meaning of the handkerchief, but now he knew exactly what it meant.

A single wish for the safe return of the person she loved.

Airin kissed Evan’s cheek and quietly smiled.

Evan also looked at the handkerchief hanging on his chest and chuckled, recalling old memories.

“Come back safely.”

Though she wanted to add more words, Airin waved her hand, saving them for next time.

What was visible behind Evan was the setting sun. And a spire rising toward the sky.

White flames began to rise behind Evan as he led the knights away.