Ch.146Final Battle

Before the whisperer could notice anything, it had already arrived.

There wasn’t even time to defend with other demons.

It took less than 2 seconds for the flash shot from the castle wall to cross hundreds of meters.

A sight like heaven’s wrath striking down.

The barrier of dark mana surrounding it couldn’t withstand even a moment.

The demon’s body touched by the spear tip scattered like dust.

A moment later, a thunderous sound echoed.

The following shockwave tore the remaining debris to shreds once more.

And then, the detonator Asha had left behind reacted.

Five hundred remaining bullets.

All the gunpowder contained within them burst at once.

– KWAAANG!

A violent explosion that made the earth tremble.

Thousands of metal fragments, enhanced by both the spear’s momentum and the explosive power of gunpowder, swept through the demons.

The skeletal remains of the spear shaft plowed through the earth, tearing it apart.

It was like witnessing a small tsunami.

A wave of soil, rocks, flames, and metal fragments surged forward.

The vanguard of the reinforcements was completely annihilated.

When the billowing dust finally settled, all that remained was a massive crater where everything had been torn away.

—-

I lay collapsed on the castle wall, gasping for breath.

The floor I had been standing on was shattered by the impact of the throwing spear.

If Asha hadn’t grabbed me, I would have fallen backward into the castle.

My entire body felt like waterlogged cotton. Even breathing was a struggle.

My startled heart pounded violently as if about to burst out, and my trembling right arm ached as if it might break.

“Haschal, are you okay?”

“Kehek… Heack… Yeah…, I’m fine, I can manage.”

I barely lifted my head to look at the scene of destruction I had created in the distance.

A massive crater. A cloud of dust rising over what had swallowed nearly half the enemy.

Three hundred demons annihilated in one strike.

Everyone was so shocked that they stopped fighting and stared at the site in silence.

Not just people, but even the demons.

It was an unbelievable sight, even though I was the one who caused it.

It wasn’t just my power alone; Asha and Lacy had helped too.

“…Such unbelievable power. Like a hero’s strike from ancient legends…”

Lacy let out a quiet exclamation of admiration.

“The power certainly rivals a tank’s main gun… Haschal, honestly, you’re not human, are you?”

Asha, still holding my body, let out an incredulous laugh.

Well, I suppose I am human since both my father and mother were human?

More concerning is the fact that you people are operating tanks.

For a while after that, I sat on the castle wall, recovering my depleted strength.

With Lacy’s help.

Below, the demons who had regained their senses and the spirited humans were once again engaged in battle.

Asha, having lost all her weapons, was wildly swinging a greatsword handed to her from a fallen knight.

It took thirty minutes for my body to recover.

I immediately went down to join the defense line.

Passing through the awestruck gazes of people, back to the battlefield.

The drawn longsword gleamed like the sky.

—-

The enemy still overflowed, but the soldiers’ morale was high.

Of course, they had a knight before them who could blast away hundreds with a single strike.

In truth, it was a feat I couldn’t repeat.

I ran across the entire defense line, slaughtering every demon in sight.

Lacy’s blessing immediately restored minor wounds and even neutralized the curse of Frosting.

A crimson whirlwind enveloped my entire body, pulsating.

Endless vitality flowed from the sword in my hand.

The blue-glowing blade danced without rest.

Brilliant golden light followed like an afterimage.

A body steeped in the Karma of Murder. An oath-bound sword containing great deeds.

I felt like I could defeat any opponent.

Each strike I unleashed was no longer a human attack but closer to artillery fire.

The rotting patients burst like fountains of blood even when merely grazed on their limbs.

Tentacles of mixed remains flew toward me slowly.

I twisted my head to avoid them and rolled my feet to burrow toward the creature’s body.

With the following slash, the demon’s body shattered into pieces.

Leaping over the debris that poured down, I moved forward.

“GRWOOOOOO!”

A Grave Eater roared.

A demon that would normally require at least three Masters to handle easily.

Yes, just three.

I focused all my consciousness solely on it.

As my heightened senses concentrated in one place, the surroundings darkened and the battlefield noise faded.

In this closed world, only the demon and I existed.

Its foreleg, larger than my height, approached while dripping black dark mana.

With sharp claws raised that looked like they could tear anything to pieces with just a touch.

“HAAAAAT!”

Exhaling my rising fighting spirit, I raised my sword toward it.

My right wrist radiated heat.

A blue arc and black gale intertwined and danced.

A fierce battle that tore through everything for five minutes.

When my vision returned, all that remained before me was a corpse cut into hundreds of pieces.

—-

The defense line at the collapsed wall was holding firm thanks to me.

Until then.

The problem erupted not from our side, but from the opposite wall.

– Rumble…

A faint vibration transmitted from beneath my feet. My senses, heightened by the intense battle, warned me fiercely.

Something was writhing, digging through the underground and charging toward the opposite wall.

Damn it, I thought they’d eliminated all the skeleton serpents!

“Skeleton serpent! West! Get away from the wall!!”

I shouted urgently to warn them, but… in the midst of the chaotic battlefield, covered in noise from all directions, how many could have heard my cry?

“Lord Frederick! Pull back your forces!”

It took 3 seconds for my shout to reach the center.

4 seconds for Leopold, who understood my meaning, to cry out loudly.

An additional 4 seconds for the prince’s voice to reach the west.

Before Frederick could take any action, the skeleton serpent that had reached the western wall began to completely tear up the foundation.

“Everyone retreat! Move quickly…! Damn, too late…!”

Frederick, who had been trying to control his troops, seemed to sense the impending collapse and gave up, jumping off the wall.

It was a height that would kill even a Master if they fell, but as expected of a knight commander, he skillfully reduced his speed by scraping the wall with his halberd.

When he was about sixty percent down, the wall finally began to collapse into the ground.

With a thunderous sound, the wall cracked and fell apart.

Soldiers standing on top screamed as they fell.

Frederick, who had kicked off the wall with all his might to avoid the falling rocks, tumbled heavily into the courtyard.

He somehow survived, but his limbs were bent at strange angles, unable to withstand the impact.

Several priests rushed toward him.

Unfortunately, others didn’t have Frederick’s exceptional skills.

Once again, many people perished, crushed under the hill of rocks.

Through the broken debris, a half-shattered skeleton serpent emerged.

With a long sword embedded in its head.

So Gerard couldn’t finish it off.

“So this is why they were stalling for time…! Lord Richard! Lord Ludwig! We must block the west!”

Leopold, grinding his teeth, pointed his sword tip toward the west.

Beyond the writhing skeleton serpent, demons that had finally gained an entry point were pouring in.

“Holy Order! The time has come to offer your faith to Elpinel!”

The Holy Order members who had been lying wounded, and the Paladins who had been guarding the north, all turned toward the west.

“Show the spirit of Landenburg! Heiden! Nigel!”

At Lord Ludwig’s command, the remaining twenty eastern knights and two Masters charged toward the skeleton serpent.

—-

What followed was an endless war of attrition.

East and west. Undead poured in frantically from both directions.

Whip-like tentacles broke through the Holy Order’s shield wall, and the swords of Paladins who stepped forward severed the demons’ limbs.

Rotting patients covered in spears and swords crawled over shields, thrusting rusty spears.

A soldier with his head pierced collapsed trembling, and another soldier’s sword cut off a demon’s arm.

Demons that had finally climbed the southern wall engaged in fierce battle with knights.

The priests’ blessings covered the knights’ bodies, but couldn’t save those who fell.

Floheta, who had defeated only the flesh entities with her final high-level magic, retreated sweating.

Saying she had no more mana left to cast spells.

She probably had enough mana left for a flight spell, but in this situation, no one could question that.

Frederick, who had barely recovered, helped Heiden and Nigel face the skeleton serpent.

Richard and Vels, two Paladins, stood against the Grave Eater breaking through the formation.

The battle continued endlessly.

As if it wouldn’t stop until one side was completely annihilated.

The demons were decreasing rapidly.

But people were decreasing at a much faster rate.

Four hours of bloody battle.

Even the priests’ blessings had reached their limit.

Abandoning recovery and enhancement, they barely maintained only the effects that harmed demons.

About a thousand demons remained, but most soldiers were already exhausted.

The knights had noticeably thinned, and even the Masters had almost no strength left.

“Elpinel…! Like the constellations illuminating the heavens, guide these people on their path…!”

Lacy’s prayer.

Her voice was completely hoarse. Having manifested large-scale miracles multiple times, she too was in a state of exhaustion.

The final holy light fills the interior of the castle.

Those remaining squeezed out their last strength.

Once this blessing faded, everything would be over.

It meant the only means to fight the demons would disappear.

Such thoughts didn’t even cross my mind at that point.

The four-hour battle had been fierce enough to make me pour out almost all my strength as well.

But my limbs could still move, and though the brilliant blue light had dimmed, the raised blade was still sharp.

I swing my sword.

Stopping even thinking, just endlessly.

Toward all enemies visible before me.

Even if everyone else was exhausted, I could still fight.

Even after consuming all the power of Karma… this body still exceeded human strength.

—-

I fought for another hour after that.

How many had I killed, how many had died?

My arms would no longer move.

Most people and demons had perished, leaving only hills of corpses filling the world.

In the distance, fierce hoofbeats echoed.

Through my hazy vision, I could see an army surging toward us.

Probably… reinforcements sent by Ernst.

They’re finally here? Much too late.

Leaning on Durandal that I had planted in the ground, I looked at them with a wry smile.