Ch.199199. Kagan (7)

The one who revealed himself was a great knight wrapped in pure white armor.

It was the king of the Frankish Kingdom, Louis de France VII, commonly known as Louis VII, who had made the decision to personally lead the kingdom’s knights against this great invasion.

A descendant of the first king, Charlemagne de France, and already celebrating his 43rd birthday this year, he was well-suited as the king of the Frankish Kingdom, a nation where the expression “country of knights” was more fitting than anywhere else.

As a holy knight who served Jephtal of the Golden Hand, the god of justice and light, he had reached the advanced level, perhaps thanks to inheriting the blood of his great conqueror ancestor, and was renowned as the strongest among all knights in the Frankish Kingdom.

And one could tell just by looking at Louis VII that his combat prowess was not to be taken lightly.

The white full plate armor with golden accents that covered his body was a national treasure of the kingdom, made with mythril and orichalcon. According to what my mother mentioned in passing, it was equipment she had personally completed by casting several spells on it.

….I can feel the lingering traces of my mother’s magic rising from the armor, so that armor must indeed be her work.

In his hand, he held a sword larger than a longsword but smaller than the common greatswords of this world…. to make a comparison, it was slightly smaller than a zweihander.

This sword, characterized by its golden hilt containing holy radiance, was likely “Durandal,” which was said to have been bestowed upon Roland, Charlemagne’s knight, by “Jephtal of the Golden Hand.”

This greatsword, distinguished by its golden hilt adorned with jewels that emitted a sacred light, was a holy sword that, true to its name, possessed the power to never dull or be damaged no matter what.

And thanks to this blade, a knight wielding Durandal could perform sword techniques that would normally put great strain on a regular sword without worry….

-KWAGAGAGAGAGAK!!!

The barrage of slashes erupting from the tip of the sword he now swung before my eyes was, I suspect, an attack utilizing this very property of Durandal.

Deflecting the shower of aura-filled shockwaves flying toward me, he, mounted on a Lord-class Pegasus that had reached the advanced level, naturally positioned himself between me and El-Temur.

And then….

“Are you the guerrilla commander, Gregory Al…Reynos?”

“Yes, Your Majesty Louis VII.”

After I answered his question, which he asked with a voice that seemed filled with mixed emotions as he spoke the surname Reynos, he advanced forward, holding Durandal with both hands after deflecting the incoming slashes.

“Since the situation is urgent, we’ll talk later. ….As our ancestors did in the past, may I entrust my back to you?”

“Of course. My… lover will also assist Your Majesty.”

I showed proper respect to him as my nominal liege lord (as a manor owner, I also pay taxes to him), then put away my weapons and took out my master’s staff.

[Noble blood, unleash the beast within!]

Until now, I had somehow managed close combat as a stopgap, but my essence is fundamentally that of a druid whose main role is rear support.

[Awaken, blood of the primal! Echoes of ancient wildness bubbling within!]

So after quickly casting the “Beast Explosion” spell on Louis VII, I then attempted to cast the “Primal Regression” spell on the Pegasus Lord to support him, and noticing my intention, the choir support from the rear also directed their attention toward Louis VII.

“Your Majesty, that orc possesses immortality seemingly granted by their god.”

“….What is it exactly?”

“I haven’t identified the conditions, but its form appears to be structured to greatly enhance defensive capabilities. ….He is a formidable opponent, so please be careful.”

“Thank you, young Reynos.”

As the two advanced warriors exchanged blows from a distance, we continued our conversation, and once we realized we had finished sharing the necessary information, we refocused on our enemy (El-Temur)….

[Hihihihihihing(DIEEEEEE)─!!!]

[O God, judge that one with your golden hand!]

[Claws of the wolf hiding in darkness, cut down your sworn enemy!]

[Voice of the heavens, I pray that one may avoid death!]

And so, even in a situation where four advanced fighters were coordinating their attacks against him, Orc Khagan El-Temur quietly drew his sword alone, burning with fighting spirit.

※ ※ ※

After the reliable vanguard, Louis VII, joined us, the battle situation clearly began to flow in our favor.

Indeed, Louis VII, befitting his title of “Holy Knight King,” possessed power that surpassed ordinary advanced knights as the kingdom’s strongest knight… but in truth, he was at a disadvantage compared to El-Temur.

This might seem strange considering he was equipped with items that could be considered national treasures of the Frankish Kingdom and royal family, but looking back, the fundamental problem was that El-Temur was simply too strong to begin with.

No matter how much we hit, struck, and battered him, his endurance, which persisted to the bitter end, prevented us from gaining more than a “slight advantage” even with four advanced fighters combining their strength.

We had pounded him hundreds of times with Durandal, trampled him at least 20 times with the Pegasus Lord’s hooves, and attacked while consuming more than half of our magical reserves—Sophia and I—yet he simply would not fall.

To put it bluntly, his life force, as sensed through life energy detection, had barely consumed even 10% compared to when the battle began.

Although this life force is a different concept from HP in games, it was clearly abnormal that after all that beating, the consumption didn’t exceed 10%.

[How can something like that… exist….?]

Even Louis VII, who had endured all sorts of hardships to reach his position, reacted with disgust at El-Temur, who showed no sign of dying no matter how much we struck him.

Therefore, at this point, we who had been coordinating tactics and next moves through Sophia’s mental communication network came to one agreement.

Somehow, we needed to discover the principle or identity of his immortality to devise a method to defeat him, whatever it might be.

‘I think it might be that armor?’

-CHAENG!

The first opinion offered by Louis VII, who had just blocked a sword strike from the Khagan’s leap and landing with Durandal, was that the armor was the source of that immortality.

Certainly, looking at El-Temur’s excellent adamantium armor, this opinion seemed quite credible, and simultaneously, equipment granting immortality is a form of ability with a fairly deep history.

Even if it’s not just about the armor’s excellent durability, the granting of immortality to the wearer of the armor is something that, while not exactly common, can be found not too rarely.

However, I didn’t feel this speculation had much credibility.

‘Your Majesty, I don’t sense such powerful mystical properties in that armor.’

[….Is that so?]

After blocking three incoming javelins, I refuted his speculation by citing the mystical properties I sensed from the armor as evidence.

‘Yes. And to add, the same applies to that green greatsword. The immortality persists even when separated from his hand, and it also has an automatic retrieval function through short-distance teleportation.’

[Like this javelin, you mean?]

-KWAAAAANG!!!

‘….That’s correct.’

The javelin, which flew at us whenever there was even a slight distance between us, had a retrieval function through teleportation magic, and furthermore, his greatsword, from which no immortality magic could be sensed, was the same.

[Then, the immortality must indeed be in the form of a divine blessing.]

‘Perhaps… that seems highly likely.’

Therefore, we proceeded cautiously with his body, speculating that El-Temur’s immortality was a power inherent to his physical form, and it was around that time.

‘….Hmm?’

As I observed the small wounds carved into the enemy’s body, trying to find any effective attack, I noticed that the marks from that recent freezing were abnormally numerous….

And at that very moment, I suddenly felt an idea flash through my mind.

….Wait, wait a minute.

Could it be that this defense… only applies purely to attacks?

At first, it was just a simple thought, but the more I pondered it, the more evidence for this speculation kept presenting itself.

‘Your Majesty, Sophia. I have something I’d like to share. Actually….’

So after I presented my speculation mixed with questions and enthusiasm to the two of them, how much time had passed?

[….That has credibility.]

[I think that’s the answer too.]

Based on my speculation, the three of us prepared a plan that was somewhat reckless but certain.