Ch.1244Hitting Hard After Some Casual Fun

There’s a saying about “taking advantage of a fire.”

If translated literally, is it a proverb about rushing into someone else’s burning house to loot and plunder?

You might think that sounds like some Ka’har-like mischief, but surprisingly, this wasn’t a Ka’har saying but actually an idiom from my original world.

The meaning isn’t literally encouraging despicable behavior as it might appear from a direct interpretation.

The true meaning of “taking advantage of a fire” is a tactical principle: when your enemy is weakened or in confusion, it’s the perfect opportunity to press your attack and completely crush them.

It’s a proverb emphasizing that the best fights are the ones where you have the overwhelming advantage.

“Come on, come on! Struggle all you want! Without arms, you’ll have to use your legs, won’t you?”

“How dare you…!”

It was also my most preferred battle strategy.

—-

The tide of battle had instantly turned overwhelmingly in my—no, our favor. Not just the fight with Erzsebet, but the entire situation.

“That’s the signal! Now…!”

“No need to hide anymore!”

First, with my appearance on the battlefield as their signal, Nigel and Jahan, who had been concealing themselves with separate units on both flanks, began to move.

Though they couldn’t compare to a demigod, they were battle-hardened heroes who had accumulated vast combat experience and Karma.

Moreover, their equipment was comparable to mine, so the martial prowess of these two was more than enough to significantly impact the battle.

“KRAAAAH!”

Jahan’s crimson blade spewed lava-like flames along its trajectory, burning vampires and castle walls alike.

“The fire, it’s coming this way…!”

The greatest weakness of blood magic, which uses blood as a medium, is its vulnerability to immense heat that can completely evaporate the blood.

The dragon’s breath stored in the crimson blade could erase the blood magic of Erzsebet’s subordinates with a mere touch, though perhaps not Erzsebet herself.

Simple arrows and javelins were swept away by the raging flames, and even boiling oil caught fire and soared into the air.

“KYIAAAAH!”

“LADY ERZSEBEEEET!!”

The vampires who had been raining attacks from the castle walls burned like torches, dancing in flames before falling.

Their species’ characteristic regeneration became meaningless once properly set ablaze.

They writhed in endless agony, repeatedly regenerating only to burn again, until they finally exhausted their strength and crumbled to ashes.

“I’ll bring down every last one of them. As my lord Haschal wishes!”

Nigel was equally active on the opposite side.

“KHAAAAAK…! My body… won’t… move…”

“Don’t touch that spear! It’s a holy relic of a human god! Both of them!”

The Oath Spear severed vampires’ regenerative abilities just like Durandal, while Eberond’s Holy Spear channeled miracle-class lightning that burned through the blood vessels and nerves of anyone it touched.

Eberond’s Holy Spear and the spear of Great’s Twelve Knights that Nigel wielded were both sacred artifacts imbued with Elpinel’s power, though of different ranks.

These legacies of ancient heroes, especially effective against creatures deemed impure by Elpinel—monsters—demonstrated surprising power against vampires as well.

“Too slow! Are those wings just for show?”

Using his previously launched spears as stepping stones to quickly navigate through the air, Nigel threw, controlled, retrieved, and wielded his two lances, raging like a storm of light.

His speed was nearly twice his normal pace. He moved so quickly it almost seemed like Demian’s spatial transfer.

In reality, it wasn’t high-level spatial transfer but simply an acceleration ability.

Yes. Just as Durandal contained the power of Unyielding Flesh and spatial cutting, those spears were inscribed with the ability to accelerate the owner’s movement and cognitive abilities.

One was probably the basic function of the sacred artifact, while the other was likely the hero’s tale of the original owner—one of Great’s Twelve Knights—that had become embedded in the weapon itself.

I had a pretty good idea who that might be.

If I recall correctly… Renault of Montauban? The red-haired, blue-eyed ghost knight whose remains were stolen by Feyrus, forcibly resurrected, and made my enemy.

His hero’s tale definitely included the ability to accelerate cognitive functions to respond to attacks that would normally be too fast to react to.

When fighting me, he combined that with runic power to accelerate his body, allowing him to counter my Defying Fate.

The rune was probably a temporary substitute since he couldn’t retrieve his original weapon.

Seeing how Nigel’s speed had doubled not just in perception but in actual movement after obtaining that weapon…

That incredible speed Nigel was now displaying must have been the prime power that ghost knight Renault possessed in his lifetime.

Though only the speed was the same—their fighting styles seemed quite different.

“HAAAAH!”

Thanks to that double acceleration ability, Nigel could fly around like a feather in a storm, demonstrating overwhelming martial prowess.

“I can see it. I can see everything! Is this the world as Lord Haschal sees it?”

…He seemed a bit overly excited, perhaps impressed by this newfound ability.

The world as I see it? What kind of admiration is that? I get what he means, but it’s honestly just funny.

“Our chance has come! Let’s move quickly!”

“Charge now and we’ll live! No, we’ll win!”

Well, anyway, the morale of the stone-heads soared thanks to him. With the enemy’s offensive faltering, not only their morale but their climbing speed increased as well.

At this rate, by the time I defeated Erzsebet, they could easily scale the walls and penetrate deeper into the castle.

Though by the time they reached the top of the wall, the main gate would have been blown wide open long ago, making their efforts somewhat redundant.

Why, you ask?

“Caljarat! Are you alright?”

Because the assault team attacking the castle gate had gained another demigod-level reinforcement.

“I almost wasn’t! What were you doing all this—”

“Good, you’re perfectly fine! Now go down and join the assault team!”

“……”

The muscular, tattooed, pig-orc demigod who had been struggling to make an impact despite his size…

—-

Caljarat, who had nearly been vaporized without a trace, was able to narrowly escape death thanks to me and join the gate assault team.

This was the best news for us and the worst news for the vampires.

Though he had expended much of his strength in the brief clash with Erzsebet, he was still a demigod.

His joining alone transformed the castle gate from an impregnable iron wall to little more than a slightly sturdy pile of stones.

“KRAAAAAAAH!”

Caljarat raised his greatsword with a boisterous roar, as if determined to blast away the gate along with the wall without any interference this time.

Though noticeably weaker than before due to his exertion, the power of severance that cuts through space itself once again imbued his blade.

“Block it—no, dodge! Get away from the gate! We can’t hold!”

“Damn it, is this the end…!”

The vampires guarding the gate shouted with pale faces as they scrambled to get out of the way.

There was no point in trying to block a strike that would shatter the gate completely.

The only resistance they could offer was to abandon the gate, create distance, and bombard Caljarat with attacks from afar to accumulate wounds on his body.

*Thud! Crack! Boom! Screech!*

Blood spears, fireballs, poisonous nets, and other attacks pounded all over Caljarat’s body as he held up his greatsword.

Pounded, not penetrated. They merely struck his skin and muscles, which remained tough despite being weakened. It was a desperate but futile assault.

“No…!”

Seeing this, Erzsebet stretched her arm toward him with a face full of dismay, clearly intending to fire something to stop him.

But she had no arms. What a predicament.

“Taking your eyes off me?”

And to do such a thing when I’m right in front of you—how fearless. Are the castle and your subordinates that precious? More than your own life?

“Oh no…!”

“Too late.”

The moment Erzsebet momentarily directed her attention toward the gate, I rushed at her like lightning, erasing the blood barrier she reflexively deployed with my rune of collapse, and swung Durandal.

*CRASH!*

The crystallized blood barrier. The hundreds of chains added right after. The giant maw plunging from above. All of it shattered like glass against my severing strike.

“Kuhek…!”

Erzsebet, who had been behind the blood barrier, staggered as her upper body was deeply cut.

That wound, like her arms, did not heal but remained grotesquely split open, revealing severed ribs and a cold, motionless heart.

A heart that doesn’t beat—what useless garbage to carry around inside your body.

If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to just remove it and store it somewhere? Like, you know, a rabbit’s liver or something. At least your body would be a bit lighter.

“KYIAAAAK!”

A barrage of blood magic flew at me in counterattack. The entire area was so filled with her attacks that the whole world seemed to turn red.

I dodged all those attacks, cut them down, smashed them with my limbs and rune magic, and smiled broadly at her.

“You must prefer the orc over me. To go so far as to offer your body like that. Aren’t you a bit twisted?”

I taunted with a grinning face.

“HOW DARE YOUUUU!”

Her composure shattered by the unfavorable situation and the pain of her wounds, Erzsebet distorted her delicate face like a demon and hissed like a cornered cat.

“I will kill you without fail. I’ll tear you into a thousand pieces and make you pay for your insolence, Sesco—!”

That’s not my real name though.

The Sesco introduction was just a joke, but she didn’t get it. Was it too otherworldly a joke?

“Like your castle and subordinates? Wow, take a look over there. Maybe not a thousand pieces, but it looks like about a hundred. Rebuilding that will be quite a task.”

“SESCOOOO—!”

I’m not Sesco, I tell you. This is truly hilarious.

Despite her intense hatred as she screamed the name I had casually thrown out as a joke, I found it nothing but amusing, even in the face of her rage that made my skin tingle.