Ch.178178. The Battle of Obitus Workshop

In an instant, the New Resistance members were terrified by the bizarre phenomenon of space distorting, yet they didn’t retreat. They trusted in the sturdiness of their heavy armored giant soldiers.

But that trust was soon shattered.

When Gilbert and Brynhild’s sword strikes came, the heavy armored giant soldiers raised their shields to block, but the sword energy that had torn through the magical barrier split both the shields and some of the giant soldiers’ bodies in half.

The members who had trusted in their giant soldiers until the moment of impact trembled in fear at the overwhelming display of power from the two warriors.

Conversely, the morale of the knights in Seraphina’s faction soared to unprecedented heights after witnessing such overwhelming magical control.

The technique demonstrated by their vanguard leaders wasn’t something just anyone could perform.

It was a supreme technique that required perfectly matching each other’s magical wavelengths, something only elite Imperial knights could accomplish.

This meant that Gilbert and Brynhild, who had taken the lead, were at least elite Imperial knights or better, which naturally boosted everyone’s morale.

This was all part of Gilbert and Brynhild’s strategy to overcome their numerical disadvantage.

Though both were technically academy cadets, they were veterans hardened by war, and this morale-boosting tactic was something they had improvised on the spot.

[I think we really are compatible.]

“We’re in battle, Brynhild.”

[I think we’d be compatible in other ways too.]

“Unnecessary chatter during battle is forbidden.”

[How cold of you.]

Brynhild ended the communication with a mysterious smile.

Gilbert quickly regained his composure and leaped over the giant soldier that had been cut in half by their earlier strike.

Some of the enemy soldiers seemed experienced in combat, as several giant soldiers reflexively swung their iron swords.

But Gilbert flexibly twisted his body to avoid their attack range. He also didn’t forget to deploy magical armaments in all directions to create an opening for the vanguard forces following behind.

Brynhild and the vanguard members rushed into the gap he created, widening the breach.

They had created the chaotic battle exactly as planned.

This was Seraphina’s strategy.

The best way to utilize Gilbert, an asymmetrical force, was to create space for him to rampage.

He had already demonstrated his resilience by surviving against hundreds of giant soldiers. If a special unit was organized to support such a Gilbert, the synergy would be doubled.

Fortunately, Brynhild, the great warrior of the Sigurd clan who had followed him to the Empire, also participated. Seraphina’s initial plan was to shake the enemy lines by pairing Brynhild with Gilbert as his combat partner.

Gilbert, Brynhild, and the vanguard performed their roles admirably. Showing overwhelming skill, they became the spear that pierced the New Resistance army.

Especially Gilbert and Brynhild, despite this being their first time fighting together on the battlefield, moved in perfect coordination as if they had been practicing together for years.

They used each other as eyes, blocking even the subtlest blind spots. This was only possible because they firmly believed in each other’s abilities.

Gilbert trusted the great warrior Brynhild, and Brynhild trusted the Imperial knight Gilbert.

With that trust, the Gilbert-Brynhild pair became perfect combat partners, sweeping through enemy lines like a hurricane.

“Block them! There aren’t many of them!”

A New Resistance executive shouted over the communication channel.

The members regained their composure at the shout and engaged the vanguard, but they weren’t the only ones in this war.

“All forces, advance!”

While Gilbert’s vanguard had started the attack, the giant soldier units of the succession candidates began moving in unison. They too seemed to have brought their elite forces, as their advance was remarkably fast.

Among them, the most notable was a giant soldier advancing from Prince Richard’s faction. Though it was in formation with the other giant soldiers, it moved with exceptional speed and fluidity.

Its identity was Ian.

The self-proclaimed protagonist of the world.

***

Ian, who had joined Prince Richard’s faction, thought the succession battle would be an excellent opportunity to make his name known to the world.

This was the event that would determine the successor to the throne, a position that had been vacant for nearly twenty years.

Moreover, it was an all-out war against the New Resistance, which had rebelled against the Empire, considered the strongest on the continent. If he distinguished himself here, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to become the Empire’s greatest hero.

The King-maker who ended the rebellion and secured the position of the next Emperor.

Envisioning this brilliant future, Ian boarded his giant soldier.

However, Ian’s expression wasn’t bright as he charged toward the New Resistance in his giant soldier.

Despite this being the moment he had longed for, a chance to elevate his name, he frowned.

The reason was the same as before.

It was because of his rival, Gilbert.

Gilbert, who had deployed with Seraphina’s faction, had once again performed an extraordinary feat.

He had formed a special unit with only a few dozen giant soldiers and plunged straight into enemy lines.

The enemy had thousands, not just hundreds, of giant soldiers.

Normally, this would be considered a crazy and meaningless act.

The New Resistance’s battle line consisted of heavily armored giant soldiers, a basic tactic to block the charge of light armored giant soldiers.

It was nearly impossible to break through heavily armored giant soldiers with large shields using light armored giant soldiers designed for speed.

In fact, when Gilbert drove his giant soldier toward the New Resistance formation, even Fresia assessed it as too reckless.

Although it was already proven that he was an outstanding giant soldier knight, she said that the performance of the giant soldier wasn’t good enough to overcome such a numerical disadvantage.

But Gilbert defied even the prediction of Fresia, the super artificial spirit.

He fired a magical sword energy along with the giant soldier following closely behind him, displaying a technique that distorted space itself, something beyond common sense.

[To think he could resonate magical wavelengths… I knew Gilbert was impressive, but I didn’t expect his companion to be so skilled as well.]

“Is it really that amazing?”

[Every person has their own unique magical wavelength. And a swordsman who has reached a certain level can match their magical wavelength with other knights. Of course, not everyone can do it; you need to have somewhat similar wavelengths. Coincidentally, Gilbert seems to have such a companion.]

Ian couldn’t suppress the jealousy that suddenly surged within him.

What was so unfair about this?

First becoming Briana’s exclusive disciple, then making a name for himself in the Empire, and now he has a companion with matching magical wavelengths?

It was a farce. To Ian, it was like a farce one might see in a marketplace.

Wasn’t it as if the world was pushing him forward?

Turbulent times create heroes, and the world seemed to have marked Gilbert as that hero.

Ian, who had thought of himself as the protagonist of the world until now, finally faced the reality he had been avoiding.

– Grind

Ian gritted his teeth audibly. He couldn’t hide his viscous emotions.

[Ian? Your heart is beating too fast. Is something wrong?]

“It’s nothing.”

Ian coldly retorted and waited for the deployment order. In the past, he might have rushed out unable to control his anger and jealousy, but after his previous mistake, he had developed patience.

He was still impulsive, but he wasn’t a fool who would make the same mistake twice.

– All forces, advance!

When the long-awaited order was issued, Ian rushed to the very front, though still within the formation.

[Ian! What are you doing?!]

“He did the same thing. There’s no reason I can’t do it too.”

[This wasn’t our plan!]

“No, this is also a plan. The goal was to stand out more than him.”

Ian’s eyes burned with ambition.

Someone watching might praise his passion, but Fresia, who had contracted with him, could see the truth.

He’s blinded by jealousy.

Fresia couldn’t hide her concern.

Ian was someone with talent that could take him higher and further than anyone else.

If he didn’t fall into arrogance and continued to strive, he could one day reach the highest position—such brilliant talent he possessed.

But that radiant talent was beginning to lose its direction, obscured by jealousy.

Fresia had seen too many such individuals.

Past geniuses who, despite being born with lofty talents, fell because they envied others.

That’s why Fresia was determined to keep Ian from going astray. She would be his guide so that he could walk his rightful path.

[Ian Tigris Linebarrel! Get a grip. Your goal isn’t just to gain a little recognition, is it?]

“Right. But I’m not doing anything wrong, am I? I’m just facing some ragtag giant soldiers. Nothing to worry about!”

[Ian!]

“I’ll listen to your nagging later!”

Ian ignored even Fresia’s cry and swung his sword at the heavily armored giant soldier. He was imitating the technique Gilbert had demonstrated.

It was certainly an excellent sword strike. His piloting and swordsmanship, honed through Fresia’s intensive training, were incomparable to before.

However, compared to the sword strike Gilbert had shown in the first engagement, it fell short.

Gilbert had enhanced his strike’s power through magical wavelength resonance with Brynhild, so the sword energy Ian displayed alone couldn’t match that level.

The New Resistance members, who had been tense expecting a strike like Gilbert’s, breathed a sigh of relief at the less powerful attack and relaxed their taut nerves.

They realized that while Gilbert was an incomprehensible force, others were more manageable.

“Don’t face that monster! The others are similar enough! We can bring them down if we attack together!”

“Surround them!”

The executive members shouted over the magical communication channel. They deliberately avoided Gilbert and began to engage the other giant soldiers.

Of course, the other giant soldier knights were not lacking in skill. Each one was clearly stronger than themselves, they knew.

But they had the numerical advantage, and they formed groups of two or three to face each succession candidate’s giant soldier.

Though unintended, Gilbert’s strategy was nullified by Ian’s action. Gilbert had aimed to break the enemy’s morale by displaying overwhelming power.

That’s why he had used excessive magical power to cause magical wavelength resonance.

The strategy had succeeded when he split the heavily armored giant soldier along with its shield. If the main force had followed up to face the demoralized enemy, it would have been an excellent opportunity for an easier battle.

However, the problem arose when Ian attacked in the same way as Gilbert.

Because Ian delivered a sword strike without using magical wavelength resonance, the New Resistance members’ morale, which had been crushed, recovered.

They now believed that while the giant soldier knights they faced were skilled, they weren’t unbeatable.

Fresia saw through this fact at a glance, but Ian, obsessed with gaining recognition, failed to realize it and continued to cut down giant soldiers.

Indeed, Ian, whom even Fresia judged to have exceptional talent, was holding his own against the surrounding heavily armored giant soldiers.

[Ian. Behind you!]

“Got it!”

Fresia had much she wanted to say to Ian, but now they were in the midst of battle. The most important thing was to survive this battlefield.

Guiding Ian could wait until after.

[Magic armament deployment detected at 11 o’clock. Evade to 7 o’clock!]

“Hup!”

He narrowly escaped the bombardment’s angle with a sharp direction change. Ian gritted his teeth and endured the gravity from the sudden acceleration, which had shaken his body.

“Damn it. Why are there so many?”

His initially confident attitude had disappeared. It couldn’t be helped. Although there were allied giant soldiers nearby, they were surrounded by enemy heavily armored giant soldiers.

To use an analogy, it was like putting one’s head into a lion’s wide-open mouth.

The reason they had been initially caught off guard was because of the combined attack from Gilbert and Brynhild, which had disrupted their composure.

Now, having regained their calm and facing the situation steadily, they could use their numerical advantage to pressure the succession candidates’ giant soldiers that had penetrated their lines.

[This won’t work.]

“Ugh…!”

Even though Ian possessed the national power-level trait skill of Integration, it wasn’t fully developed yet.

This meant he couldn’t utilize his trait skill at 100% yet.

If he could perfectly manifest his trait skill, he might have been able to overcome the current situation. The problem was that this was just a hypothesis, and the reality was different.

Fresia calculated frantically but couldn’t come up with a clear solution.

– Bang! Bang!

Magical bullets that he couldn’t dodge this time hit the giant soldier’s barrier.

Inside the shaking machine, Ian gripped the control stick tightly to maintain balance.

[Ian. Let’s use that.]

“Ugh! Use what?”

[The one I told you not to use until you’ve mastered it.]

“…You said never to use that.”

[Now’s not the time to worry about that.]

“I guess you’re right!”

Ian recalled the sword-drawing technique he had been learning under Fresia’s guidance.

After seeing Gilbert’s sword-drawing technique and envying it, Fresia had taught Ian a similar technique.

Although Ian usually absorbed sword techniques well, this one was different. Despite dedicating considerable time to it, he could barely imitate it.

It was only because of his exceptional talent with the sword that he could even imitate it. Without such talent, even mimicking would have taken a long time.

Yes, that should work!

Ian knew all too well how powerful this sword-drawing technique could be.

The demonstration through Fresia was as good as, if not better than, Gilbert’s.

To create space for the sword-drawing technique, he opened the front armor and poured out magical bombardment.

Explosion magic and freezing magic collided, creating steam that temporarily obscured vision.

Taking advantage of this gap, Ian distanced himself, sheathed his iron sword, and gripped the handle in reverse.

[Steady your breath. Focus your mind and hold just one image.]

Ian followed Fresia’s advice and delved into his mind.

It wasn’t an appropriate action in a place surrounded by enemy giant soldiers, but the steam he had created earlier bought him time.

Inhale, exhale.

Closing his eyes slightly and concentrating all his senses in that fleeting moment.

Lion Sword – Kiai

Lion’s Roar

The sword technique once used by the Lion King Terodamas appeared in the world again at this moment, accompanied by explosive magical power.

Blue magical energy extended from the sword, spreading in all directions like a lion’s mane.

The wide-ranging magical mane scratched the shields held by the heavily armored giant soldiers.

Shields touched by the magical mane were split in half without exception. This magical mane was evidence of Ian’s inexperience, but that didn’t mean its power was low.

Even so, this could be considered half a success…

[Interesting.]

The sword energy that was about to devour the New Resistance’s heavily armored giant soldiers disappeared like a mirage.

Ian looked with bewildered eyes toward the source of the voice. There stood a bright red giant soldier holding an iron sword longer than Ian’s.

Recognizing that familiar voice, Ian unconsciously murmured.

“Professor Horizon…”

The one blocking Ian’s path was the leader of the New Resistance and the mastermind behind this incident.

It was Horizon.