Ch.277The Propulsion That Exceeded the Creator’s Expectations

The instigator of the civil war that engulfed the entire Empire, Isabella fell from grace due to her own arrogance just as victory was within her grasp.

It was a sudden end that no one had anticipated.

However, even with the culprit gone, the aftermath of her actions would not naturally subside.

The Empire was still groaning under countless threats.

======[ The North ]======

Blood splattered across the frozen rocks steams as it freezes.

Human screams and beast howls dissolve into the blizzard.

The Northern Wall.

Though not as massive as Berengaria in the east, it had been holding back the Werebeasts’ advance for hundreds of years.

The boundary line of human territory.

Now, it had transformed into a desperate battlefield where death surged like waves.

“Monster, bastard…”

Frider van Faelrun forcibly swallowed the blood rising in her throat as she gritted her teeth.

Around her lay broken weapons. Spears were snapped, chains were broken, and daggers were shattered and scattered.

Even the saw she held was only half intact.

“Senior Frider! We need to retreat! Any more than this…!”

Demian shouted urgently as he swung his greatsword, dismembering a Werebeast. He too was in the midst of fierce battle.

His entire body was drenched in blood, steaming profusely, and between each tooth of the saw attached to one side of his blade, Werebeast blood and flesh were thickly stuck.

Millia was nowhere to be seen, but she was probably somewhere behind them, pulling her bowstring with such intensity that her fingers might fall off.

“Damn it…!”

Frider bit her lip. Even without Demian pointing it out, she knew well enough.

The tide of battle was turning against them. No, it would be fair to say they had already lost.

From the moment that thing appeared.

“WROOOOOOOAR!”

A wolf Werebeast with snow-white fur stained red roars toward the sky.

Trampling crushed heads and fluttering entrails like a cape.

Rurik, the Winter Wolf.

The returned king of the Werebeasts now reigned over the Northern Wall.

—-

Duber’s strategy of infiltrating the Sky Mountains in squad units for reconnaissance and engagement had been working reasonably well despite causing many casualties.

Each time people died in droves, the number of Werebeasts was also steadily decreasing.

Even if fifty Imperial soldiers died, bringing down one pureblooded warrior was still considered a gain.

In reality, casualties exceeded twice that number, so rather than gaining, they were barely hanging on.

In the midst of that hellish struggle in the bitter cold, the skills of the three people including Frider rapidly advanced.

Their determination to throw Haschal into ice water also strengthened. Now they even joked about imprisoning him in an ice coffin and burying him.

About ten days later, when the Werebeasts’ guerrilla warfare had almost disappeared, Duber recalled his troops back to the Northern Wall. He judged that they had achieved sufficient results.

He predicted that the Werebeasts, having reached the limits of guerrilla warfare, would soon launch a full-scale offensive, and his prediction was correct.

His only miscalculation was misjudging the enemy’s methods.

It wasn’t Duber’s fault.

The Werebeasts attempting the full-scale offensive came with a radical approach no one could have anticipated.

Even when catapults were positioned in the middle of the Werebeast forces, the soldiers stationed at the Northern Wall weren’t overly concerned.

The Northern Wall was different from other walls. Reinforced over a long time in the northern cold, the barrier had become as strong as steel. It was impossible to break the Northern Wall with mere rocks or chunks of ice.

However, the ammunition the Werebeasts had prepared wasn’t rocks.

When a snow-white wolf Werebeast climbed onto the catapult, the watching Imperial army couldn’t hide their bewilderment.

When it soared into the air with a thud, they were utterly shocked.

Those crazy monsters were launching their king with a catapult!

—-

An attack that began in such an absurd manner.

The Imperial army couldn’t even think of how to respond.

The snow-white wolf, flying in a parabolic arc, landed on the wall without any interference, with a thunderous crash.

No, it wasn’t a landing.

It would be more appropriate to describe it as a collision.

A creature made of flesh and bone couldn’t possibly survive such a fall.

Rurik was no exception. When the dazed Imperial soldiers looked up at the wall, the king of the Werebeasts was left with only part of his upper body intact.

Somehow his legs had fallen off first, but the lower part of his torso had completely burst open from the impact.

It was a fatal injury that even a Champion, let alone a pureblooded Werebeast, couldn’t survive. It was an act only a madman who had lost his mind would attempt.

However…

“Kuh… it’s dizzier than I thought.”

Rurik, blood streaming from his mouth, smiled, revealing his fangs.

Flesh and bone sprouted from the cross-section of his shattered upper body.

As if rewinding time, his body was rapidly recovering!

It was an unbelievable sight.

No matter how remarkable the regenerative abilities of Werebeasts were, they couldn’t recover after losing 80% of their body in an instant.

Yet the king of the Werebeasts, who should have died on the spot, was wiggling his claws with a perfectly recovered body the next moment.

It was a fact unknown to anyone present… but with the destruction of the Holy Grail, the barrier spanning the entire world had thinned.

Thanks to this, some people had entered the realm of heroes, but humans weren’t the only ones to benefit.

The thinning of the barrier meant that all life on earth had an opportunity to advance to higher levels.

Even the Werebeasts, who had been confined to the limits of Champions, could step beyond.

It wasn’t a [Tale of Heroes].

That was a blessing exclusively for humans.

Rurik, the only Werebeast to transcend Champion status.

The realm he reached was power that brought him closer to the essence of Werebeasts.

Strength. Ferocity. Stamina. Regeneration.

His body was evolving to a new level beyond even Werebeast Champions.

It was a tragic development for the soldiers gathered at the Northern Wall.

“Your era is over, humans…!”

The wolf’s howling shook the Northern Wall.

Soldiers, pale with terror, dropped their weapons.

Then.

A winter storm rushed toward them.

Like an avalanche that couldn’t be resisted.

—-

The Northern Wall had fallen.

Rurik, standing atop the wall, was a disaster that no one could stop.

Silver weapons didn’t work, and even weapons mixed with true silver broke against the ferocious beast.

The Imperial army deployed to the north couldn’t stop him despite committing all their available forces.

No, it was impossible even to hold him back.

“Damn it, damn it…! To think I would, in a place like this…!”

Duber, who couldn’t retreat due to his position, had no choice but to stand against the Winter Wolf alongside other Masters, cursing all the while.

He stabbed his sword into Rurik’s thigh and paid for it with his head being torn off.

The five Masters who accompanied him also lost their lives one by one, leaving only wounds on Rurik that would heal before long.

Meanwhile, Werebeasts led by Champions began climbing the Northern Wall and engaging the forces on top.

The Imperial army fought valiantly, but… they couldn’t overturn their completely collapsed morale.

“…Lady Faelrun. I’ll try to buy time somehow, so gather the troops and retreat. We’ve lost this battle… we need to prepare for what comes next.”

The last remaining Master, 1st Corps Commander Georg, stepped forward with a longsword and spear in hand.

He had a deep wound on his shoulder exposing bone and one cheek had been torn off, but… as long as his body could move, he could fight to the end.

“Are you telling the daughter of the North to abandon the Northern Wall and flee shamefully in the face of the Werebeast army? If it’s to buy time for retreat, wouldn’t two Masters be better than one!”

Frider was determined to fight to the end.

Even with her left arm crushed and all her weapons broken except for a half-broken saw blade.

However, Georg shook his head and dissuaded Frider.

“Losing the Northern Wall that Faelrun has protected for hundreds of years is already something I must apologize to Grand Duke Valdemar for, but if I let his daughter die too, I wouldn’t be able to hold my head up even in the afterlife. This is an order. Withdraw to Faelrun Castle and request support from the Imperial House. Tell them the enemy in this invasion was… a monster beyond imagination.”

Before Frider could respond, Georg charged toward Rurik.

“Imperial Knights! Escort Lady Faelrun and retreat! As long as you live, there will surely be a chance to counterattack!”

The final order of the 1st Corps Commander.

The Imperial knights, though weeping as they watched Georg running toward death contrary to his order that they should survive, faithfully carried out his last will.

“Let go! I said let go!”

“Lady Faelrun! We must retreat! With all the corps commanders fallen, you’re the only one with authority to command the remaining forces!”

Frider strongly resisted, but her exhausted body couldn’t shake off the restraining knights.

Demian, receiving a nod from the knights, struck the back of her head, knocking her unconscious. Millia hoisted the limp Frider onto her back.

The moment Rurik turned his gaze toward the fleeing Faelrun, a sharp slash flew toward his neck.

Blocking Georg’s sword with his claws, Rurik smiled coldly at him.

“Buying time… your courage is admirable. Well then, with that exhausted body, how many minutes do you think you can buy?”

“Until my life ends!”

Exerting the final spirit of his life, the 1st Corps Commander of the Imperial Knights fought without retreat against an enemy he could never defeat.

Spilling blood and scattering entrails, desperately and gloriously.

All the life he had lived was contained in his blade tip, scattering.

Until all Imperial troops had evacuated the Northern Wall.

Until his heart stopped.