Ch.131Red Moon (5)

# Charge

As nearly ten thousand soldiers charged forward, Kaisel quietly drew in a breath.

What was that sinking feeling in his chest just now?

A sudden surge of anxiety rose within him, but Kaisel deliberately ignored it.

Hadn’t Theorad just said it? That he was the one leading these countless soldiers. He couldn’t afford to tremble with fear.

“A-hoy!”

“My lord, I told you that’s not how it’s done!”

Count Kasim, shouting strange battle cries more fitting for pirates, seemed quite excited.

Well, it would be disappointing if he missed the opportunity to crush the Extinction, who were practically his sworn enemies.

Kaisel drew courage from the sight of dwarves occasionally riding bears and running about.

“Ahoy!”

Though it was a frivolous shout, it felt like something knotted in his chest had instantly unraveled.

Perhaps pirates at sea shouted such things to gain courage.

When Kaisel shouted like that, the snickering dwarves also began to follow the battle cry.

“Don’t dwarves usually live underground? Why are they…”

As elves, who didn’t have much contact with other races, wondered aloud, Evan shook his head with a bitter smile.

He had noticed they were tense, but he never expected the crown prince to shout such an unhinged battle cry. Still, he thought it was fine.

After all, it was true that the morale of the army had risen somewhat because of that cry.

“It’s just a cry people sometimes shout when they’re in a good mood. Don’t elves have such battle cries?”

“We prefer quieter battles. Even for me, it’s been 200 years since I’ve fought in a full-scale war like this.”

“200 years… will you be alright?”

“For elves, 200 years is enough time to be called ‘merely’ in human terms. We are warriors. Always ready to fight, especially if the enemy has harmed the forest. We can always bare our fangs.”

It wasn’t just Evan and Kaisel who were fighting other races for the first time.

After all, wasn’t the last time humans and other races fought together a thousand years ago, during the battle between Emperor Alarr the Founder and Mabeth?

They all felt awkward around each other. However, their purpose was the same.

To completely drive the Extinction from the continent, and to join forces to kill the dragon Mabeth if it were to resurrect.

“You must be the elder of the elves. I am Zhanjin, Troll Lord. Pleased to meet you.”

“My, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a troll. I didn’t know there were any left.”

“Besides the Red Fang tribe, there are few. We’ve integrated almost all the tribes.”

Proudly tapping his broken tusk, Zhanjin spoke.

Evan felt a strange emotion whenever he looked at Zhanjin. He was the son of Zhanjir, whom Evan had killed, yet how could he receive such goodwill?

It was quite fascinating that he had been forgiven because he had cleanly dispatched his father, who had been consumed by darkness, in a culture that revered strength.

It was also strange to see elves and trolls conversing so amicably.

“Hey, what are you doing there?”

“Ah, Count.”

When Evan turned his head, he saw Count Kasim holding two sausages.

It was surprising to see sausages in the middle of an advance, but then again, dwarves couldn’t go without alcohol and sausages for even a moment, so perhaps it was natural.

Evan naturally accepted the sausage and took a bite with a slight smile, his eyes growing languid as the juices spread in his mouth.

“Aren’t you worried about falling asleep during battle?”

“I’m used to it, so I’ll be fine. You, on the other hand, I’m not so sure. But… where on earth did you bring these trolls from?”

“We met them at Mount Verdeng on our way here. They said they were also going to fight the Extinction. To avenge their father, they said.”

“Come to think of it, you killed Zhanjir. Well, trolls probably don’t care much about such things.”

Kasim looked at Terazein’s territory, which was gradually becoming visible, with a slightly serious expression.

If they could just occupy that place, everything would be completely over.

As he thought about finally ending the Extinction that had killed his family long ago, his eyes narrowed involuntarily with a strangely empty feeling.

The burning mansion, the family who couldn’t escape and had to die inside.

Later, when those family members appeared before him as ghouls, and when he killed those ghouls with his own hands, what had he vowed?

Kasim, fingering the hammer in his hand, looked at Evan and spoke.

“What do you plan to do after this subjugation is over?”

“…Well, I plan to get married. I’ve already proposed. We’re also having two children. Will you come to their first birthday celebration?”

“Aren’t you going to invite me?”

“Of course I will.”

Normally, such talk would be taboo during war, but neither Kasim nor Evan had any qualms about it.

They would survive. Even if the dragon Mabeth appeared, they would eventually defeat it and return home.

With the battle about to begin soon, what was wrong with having this much composure?

As Evan stared at Terazein, he turned his horse around, drawing Ascalon from his waist.

“I think it’s about time I move to the side. Since we originally planned to attack from both sides, if not now, we won’t be able to slip away without them noticing.”

“Hmm… I see. Then I’ll see you later. Alive.”

“Yes, I’ll see you later. Definitely alive.”

As he rode his horse, a cool breeze swept through his hair and brushed against his cheek.

The moon in the sky was bright enough to put the night to shame.

Evan quietly swallowed as he gazed at that ominous red light, with trolls riding wolves following behind him.

The red moon—he had heard tomorrow would be a lunar eclipse… Evan quietly swallowed.

We should prepare. What if they had miscalculated the date of the lunar eclipse? What if it was today?

In the midst of the blazing white flames, Evan’s pupils once again began to shine with a brilliant golden light.

‘I need to clear the direction I’m heading… as quickly as possible.’

According to the original plan, they would strike with a time difference, but Evan chose to move a little faster.

Because the ominousness rising in his chest didn’t feel like mere coincidence.

#

“The enemy is coming! Deploy defensive magic!”

Meteors created by magic fell from the sky, and black mages began to intercept them by drawing magic circles in the air.

With a resonating circle and swirling black lightning, the stones were destroyed.

Kwagagak! The black current extending from their hands shattered the meteors, but only momentarily. As more magic flew in, the black mages swallowed hard.

“Archmage…”

The Empire had Masters and Archmages, entities that didn’t exist among the Extinction.

What good were countless ghouls? In the face of overwhelming power like grand magic, they would be swept away like dust.

Kururururu! The ground shook. Ghouls reached out through magic circles drawn on the ground, resurrecting using the corpses buried beneath.

“Ghouls!”

At the dwarf’s cry, knights began charging toward the ghouls.

It was the mages’ job to keep the black mages in check. The knights’ task was to deal with these ghouls and charge forward.

Kaisel, standing at the very front, began to run, drawing a long blade beam from his sword.

Fear is quickly forgotten. In this moment, Kaisel erased all thoughts.

He couldn’t pulverize everything like Evan.

Even if he reached a realm beyond Master, he couldn’t replicate the innate characteristics of dragon blood.

He would do his best with what he had. Being an ordinary person without extraordinary talents,

he would put everything into this one sword in his hand.

Whururuk, as blue flames completely enveloped Kaisel’s body,

an exhilaration incomparable to before overtook him. His body felt light.

Right now, he felt like he could cut down any enemy.

Deflecting the swords of ghouls stabbing from both sides, he simultaneously stepped forward, diving into the center of the enemy formation.

Paang! The movements of Kaisel, who had ascended to Master and become superhuman, were catastrophic with just a single step.

The ground shook and crumbled. The wind became sharp like a blade, cutting down enemies and simultaneously tempering Kaisel’s sword.

Kaisel’s thighs swelled firmly. He ran like the wind, like a gale.

The black mages, whose distance was closed in an instant, couldn’t even register surprise in their gaze.

Because it was faster than any sword. Sound followed belatedly where the sword had passed.

The explosion caused by the bursting air blew off the heads of ghouls.

Chwaak! Blood splattered on his clothes with each enemy he cut down, but Kaisel paid no mind.

The more enemies he cut down, the closer he got to the territory of Terazein, the only person who came to mind was one person.

‘…Scarlet.’

He had decided not to think about it anymore.

She was a woman raised by the Empire’s enemy, the Extinction, and now she had returned to this Terazein.

When his momentarily wavering sword lodged in a ghoul’s mouth, Kaisel wiped his face with his hand and let out a faint sigh. It would be better not to think about it.

In this battle, if he let other thoughts distract him, he might make a mistake and ruin everything.

“But… why is the moon red? Isn’t the lunar eclipse tomorrow?”

“I’m not sure either. Is it a precursor, or was the lunar eclipse actually today?”

Amused by how casually Theorad uttered such dangerous words, Kaisel glanced at him and smiled wryly.

They had come to this war assuming the worst-case scenario anyway. With the army split in two,

the power of the other races and Evan’s individual strength would be enough to subjugate them.

With three Masters and two Archmages from the Empire joining, no matter how strong the Founding Emperor was, couldn’t they seal away one dragon?

The battle situation around them was clearly tilting in favor of the imperial army.

Dwarves, each smashing ghoul heads with hammers, even while staggering drunk.

Their innate robustness didn’t allow the ghouls’ claws and teeth any leeway.

And the elves and trolls. Though they seemed an unlikely pair, they were working together in their own way to crush the black mages.

Kaisel’s brow furrowed slightly at the flesh fragments flying in all directions whenever the trolls moved.

“…The situation is favorable. But we can’t completely let our guard down.”

“The red moon is ominous. Will you continue to advance?”

“We must advance. Retreating from here wouldn’t be good.”

It would be right to press forward when they had the upper hand.

Although the unusually weak resistance of these enemies was bothersome, they couldn’t retreat even if it was a trap.

Even if what they were preparing was the complete resurrection of Mabeth,

the fact that they needed to eradicate the Extinction from the continent remained unchanged.

As Kaisel extended his hand, knights who had been dealing with ghouls began to advance forward again.

The sky, unusually clear without a single cloud today, provided an unobstructed view.

The knights, running toward the clearly visible castle of Terazein in the distance, caught sight of a woman.

“Your Highness! There’s a woman ahead!”

“A woman?”

Could it be? Kaisel, hearing the knight’s words, slowly began to walk through the gap between the knights toward the front.

At first slowly, then with increasingly faster steps that he found regrettable.

In a time flowing more sluggishly than ever, only Kaisel’s time was moving forward.

Many thoughts crossed his mind. Terazein, woman.

There might be dozens or hundreds of women in this territory, but his intuition was screaming.

To confirm with his own eyes the woman standing in that castle right now. The truth he least wanted to confirm, yet had to.

When he broke through the ranks of knights and reached the end.

Kaisel let out a small sigh when he saw a woman standing at the top of the castle.

Her hair was longer than he remembered. Red hair as if soaked in blood.

Kaisel’s body began to stiffen like a statue as he saw the hair she had once proudly compared to the color of roses.

-I’ve always been in the castle. I wondered what I’d do if I ever got out, but thanks to Your Highness, I’ll get to do it all.

“So. What I’m seeing now… that woman.”

-I wanted to be a bird. With wings, flying. Just living freely was my dream. Now? Now… I’ll keep it a secret.

Her eyes were glowing ominously with a purple light.

If only it had been just her eyes, Kaisel bit his lip.

Despite blood flowing from his whitened lips, Kaisel could only stare blankly at the woman standing on the castle. Wings spread on her back, scales covering her body.

Anyone could see that woman was no longer human.

“You mean… Scarlet.”

The woman’s appearance was gradually transforming, becoming a dragon.

Not the Scarlet Terazein he remembered, but becoming the dragon Mabeth.

Even as he watched it with his own eyes, he couldn’t believe this was reality.

Despite blood flowing from his tightly clenched fist, Kaisel didn’t take his eyes off the dragon.

Standing directly in front of the red moon, the dragon with pitch-black scales reflecting light had Scarlet’s eyes.

The eyes of the woman he had briefly given his heart to, which had looked beautiful when they curved slightly as she smiled, were visible in that dragon.

The wind blew.

A cool and lonely wind blew, reaching Kaisel.

Carried on that wind was a strand of red hair.

After staring at the long hair that still hadn’t lost its luster for a moment, Kaisel quietly tied it to the end of his sword handle.

“…You said you wanted to be a bird, but you became a dragon.”

Is she dead? No. She must be dead. Kaisel didn’t grieve.

He simply didn’t smile. He didn’t rage. He just decided to kill that dragon here.

Blue flames began to rise from his heart, which had become calmer than ever before.

Whururuk—blue flames rose, contrasting with the red moonlight, once again filling this pitch-black curtain with color.

What would probably be the final battle.

In this moment, Kaisel staked his life.

Thank you LOCOLOCO for drawing the princess!!!

Thank you!!!! I think Lobelia is a really nice name for the child!!!!!