Ch.221Karmic Retribution

I charged toward the center of the battlefield, assessing the situation.

Though not as clear as viewing from 30m above, I could still grasp the general state of affairs.

Our flanks had not just overwhelmed the enemy—they had nearly crushed them completely.

The scattered cavalry of the White Banner were being impaled by lances and thrown from their horses in droves.

Those who stood frozen in the middle of the formation, desperately swinging their bent swords, coughed blood as they were pierced by the infantry’s spears.

Even those who had evaded the heavy cavalry and aimed their bows were struck down by a rain of arrows before they could draw their bowstrings.

The mounted archers, once numbering two thousand, had dwindled to fewer than two hundred.

Had they fought beyond the range of the Wall of Berengaria, the outcome might have been different, but most of the mounted archers had fallen helplessly to the shower of arrows.

It was strange they hadn’t retreated, though it was already too late for that.

In any case, I didn’t need to worry about the flanks.

—-

The center, however, which had devolved into chaotic melee, was nothing short of a hellscape.

Eight hundred White Banner infantry, four hundred Landenburg heavy infantry, plus an additional four hundred reinforcements.

Sixteen hundred humans entangled with each other, screaming and spraying blood and death.

Piles of corpses rose like countless hills on the flat prairie.

Blood-soaked armor reflected the sunlight with a crimson gleam.

Already, there seemed to be more fallen meat than standing warriors.

‘Perhaps I should have cut off Havar’s head…’

[Meaningless. These are not men who would stop merely because their commander is dead.]

She meant that calling for surrender would be useless. So what should I do…

I suppose I had no choice but to cut them all down.

Though I wasn’t sure how much longer I could fight with my creaking body.

My injured abdomen throbbed continuously, and my cracked wrist now felt like it was being stabbed by hundreds of needles.

As I whipped my tired legs forward, I glanced at both arms.

My left hand, which had absorbed much impact since jumping from the wall, was already half-numb and trembling.

The heat that seemed to melt my right wrist—I could no longer tell whether it came from the seal or from injury.

[Your wrist… Now that I think of it, there was a strange magical seal engraved there. Do you intend to scatter those flames?]

‘That would be difficult. And I shouldn’t use it.’

The mana in this seal wasn’t a power I could freely activate; it was more like accumulated energy that burst out on its own, making it tricky to use.

Besides, I couldn’t use it in this situation.

Setting fire during a melee would mean roasting both enemy and ally alike.

[Hmm… Would it be possible? It might be worth trying…]

‘What do you mean?’

[Try infusing the power of Murder Karma into that seal. Just like the shape of the seal itself, as if waking someone who’s asleep.]

Infuse it with Karma? Well, I suppose there’s no reason it wouldn’t work.

Following her instructions, I concentrated the power of Murder Karma around my wrist.

In the shape of the seal: ‘ᚲ’.

– Woong!

My wrist, infused with Karma, emitted a dark red light.

Bright enough to be clearly visible even through my glove.

A violent, irregular pulsation throbbed.

The heat that felt like it would melt away responded to the energy of Murder Karma and—

Whoosh!

—finally, flames bloomed.

—-

The fire seal awakened by the power of Karma.

The flames flickering with intense heat looked completely different from before.

Burning with an ominous aura, using the power of Karma as fuel.

The Murder Karma itself had transformed into flames.

Dark red like blood, sticky like tar, undulating like tentacles following the flow of Murder Karma.

Perhaps this is what hellfire would look like.

[Success. The name… yes, let’s call it ‘Karma Fire.’]

Hersella laughed with interest.

Karma Fire. A fitting name.

[All that remains is to verify its performance. Whether these flames will follow your will or indiscriminately devour everything around… we won’t know until we test it.]

I followed her words.

As I moved the energy of Murder Karma, the flaming tentacles writhed and changed direction according to my will.

Where the flames touched the ground, they burned it pitch black, yet they didn’t spread beyond the exact range I desired.

Just like the power of Karma itself, I could control the direction and range of these flames completely according to my will.

It was perfect.

Good. This should work.

[Relying on sorcery is unbecoming of a warrior… but then again, there’s no honor left to lose at this point.]

Ignoring her grumbling, I threw myself toward the heart of the melee.

A blackened fireball descended like a meteor.

—-

– Kwaaaang!

The dark red flames struck the earth, releasing sticky fire and heavy impact in all directions.

The piled corpses turned to ash and vanished. Broken soil spread like waves.

A spectacular entrance—descending wrapped in Karma Fire, blasting everything around me as I landed.

The eyes of all warriors gathered in the middle of the battlefield instantly focused on me.

About forty in number.

Befitting warriors with skills rivaling knights, fewer than ten had fallen despite fighting in the midst of heavy infantry.

In stark contrast to the numerous corpses of heavy infantry they had slain.

“What, what is that?!”

“It’s Haschal! The Blood Wolf, Aishan-Gioro Haschal!”

Blood Wolf? What’s that? A Ka’har nickname?

Well, it does sound cool.

“Yes, the Blood Wolf. Imperial Knight Haschal is here!”

Wrapped in swirling dark red flames, I shouted with heightened vigor.

“Your commander, Champion Havar, is already dead! His dismembered corpse lies buried in the mud! Now, what will you do?”

“Lord Havar defeated? By a warrior who doesn’t even ride a horse?!”

“Those flames…! It’s black magic! He must be using black magic!”

Their confusion was palpable.

Yes. Even if they didn’t fear death, they couldn’t eliminate their bewilderment.

“I’ll ask one last time. Will you attack, or will you surrender?”

Essentially an ultimatum.

I had no intention of sparing them if they surrendered, but if they fell for the trick and yielded, this would end easily.

Of course, such a shallow trick wouldn’t work.

A man who appeared to be a captain among the warriors raised his sword, grinding his teeth.

“A traitor who betrayed even her own father, now using black magic…! Like the daughter of a whore, you have not a shred of honor!”

[How dare that dog…! Tear him apart! No, cut him to pieces and burn him! Without fail, without fail! Do you understand?!]

A burst of maddened rage erupted all at once.

The bright red hatred went beyond ringing in my head—it spread throughout my entire body, seething.

The Karma Fire flames rose like a pillar.

“Attack! Show this shameless, filthy woman the law of warriors!”

“Death to the betrayer!”

[Yes, I’ll kill every last one of them!]

Hersella roared fiercely.

What a filial daughter. Such a filial daughter.

I’m the one who has to fight, so why are you shouting?

“Kill her!”

With screaming battle cries, the warriors clutching their curved swords charged all at once.

Like moths diving into flames knowing they would die. Fierce yet desperate.

The dark red flames welcomed them.

—-

“Gyaaaaaaah!”

The warriors who charged with such vigor sank with screams.

Could a dragon’s breath be like this? Wherever the tentacles of Karma Fire touched, flesh and bone melted like snow and evaporated.

Dark red flames that spread throughout the body at the slightest touch.

The tentacles of Karma, having traded sharpness for heat, created thirty torches in an instant.

Black smoke rose and filled the air.

“Guaaaah! The fire, the fire won’t go out…!”

Some rolled in blood trying to extinguish the flames, but once Karma Fire caught hold, it wouldn’t be extinguished even by water—instead, it evaporated the blood and burned even more fiercely.

“Kaaaaaaah!”

A warrior turned fireball charged at me with a scream.

His skin had burned completely black, and despite his muscles melting from the heat and dripping away, his tenacity in swinging his sword was impressive, but…

– Slash!

A blue flash cut across his neck.

His severed head rolled like a burning ball.

Maintaining the Karma Fire consumed more energy than I expected, but…

I wasn’t about to fall to the attacks of mere warriors, not even Champions, especially dying ones.

I didn’t even need to run.

I simply walked slowly, swinging the fiery tentacles in all directions.

Durandal’s blade lightly severed the necks of attacking enemies, and the scales of Frosting wrapped around my left arm easily deflected approaching blades.

Desperate screams, warm heat, and the smell of grilling squid filled the air.

The smoke made my eyes sting a little. A tear ran down my cheek and dried up.

Just ten steps.

Soon, only forty-nine bonfires and one warrior remained around me.

“You, demon…!”

The White Banner captain who had mentioned whores. I had specifically kept him alive.

I’d received quite a bit of help from Hersella, so I could certainly grant her this small request.

“You should have kept your mouth shut. You could have died peacefully.”

That was the extent of my sentiment. A Ka’har warrior. Not particularly worth my sympathy.

I swung my sword.

The blue afterglow split into dozens of streaks, finely chopping his limbs.

“Aaaaaaah!”

The warrior, now just a torso, crashed into the boiling sea of blood.

With a hissing sound, dark red steam rose.

His thrashing reminded me of a fish on a cutting board.

To finish him off, I placed a piece of the Karma Fire, which had begun to subside as its power was nearly exhausted, on his stomach.

So it would burn very slowly, very gradually.

He wailed like a pig.

—-

Once I had annihilated the warriors, the rest was easy.

It was natural for the White Banner’s morale to drop even though they fought to the death, and when I joined our forces after destroying the enemy’s main force, our troops’ spirits soared.

I had consumed all my Murder Karma power to fuel the Karma Fire, but that wasn’t my only strength.

With the heavy cavalry that had annihilated the enemy flanks turning to crush the White Banner’s rear, the battle outside the Wall of Berengaria finally came to an end.