Ch.648I Almost Made a Complete Fool of Myself.

– KWAOOOOO!

A pillar of flame erupted, burning the debris of the wall covered in blood and flesh. The blazing heat was so intense that even the clouds disappeared from sight.

Everyone on the battlefield saw it.

“…A pillar of fire?”

Even Frederick, who had retreated to the rear after depleting his Karma.

‘Why is there a pillar of fire reaching the sky…? Wasn’t Orhan supposed to be trapped in a fire hell?’

‘Is this the traitor woman’s sorcery!’

Joshua and Ivamai, who were tearing up the ground beneath the wall with localized natural disasters, also noticed.

‘Flames from underground…? Could it be…!’

And Glar, who was pressuring Heinrich while avoiding the pillars of light summoned by the battle priests.

‘This is dangerous. If he’s been fighting in the fire all this time, the time limit must be…!’

Glar’s expression hardened.

He knew. He knew the limits of the Unyielding Flesh that Orhan had told him about.

The weakness that while under continuous attacks like fire or arrow rain, one cannot withdraw the Unyielding Flesh and must consume several times the normal amount of power!

‘So this was the Empire’s purpose in destroying the wall!’

The moment he witnessed the pillar of fire rising from underground, Glar realized the true nature of the Empire’s trap. And knowing this made him desperate.

He couldn’t understand what kind of sorcery made this possible, but they had created a fire hell in an enclosed underground space!

“IVAMAI!!!”

Glar shouted like a lion who had lost its cub, pointing toward the pillar of fire where their Ka’har must be trapped.

“Go! Become the Ka’har’s shield! If it’s you, it should be possible!”

It was infuriating, but Glar himself couldn’t even approach that pillar of fire.

Fire was his natural enemy. Unlike Ivamai, who could create ice with the power of his mental energy, Glar couldn’t block flames with his Defying Fate.

Enemy swords and spears could be returned to their wielders, but how could he possibly return flames and heat that merely flickered without substance? Where would he even direct them?

It was impossible for him, at least in his current state.

“My Ka’har!”

Ivamai momentarily forced Joshua back with a heaven-shaking ice attack that he unleashed without holding back, then immediately launched himself toward the pillar of fire.

There was no hesitation. If Glar was this desperate, then the Ka’har must be in danger, and Ivamai was the only warrior who could approach through that heat.

“Showing your back to me? Your recklessness is admirable!”

Joshua immediately manifested his Tale of Heros, the Giant Hunter’s Sword, and swung it toward Ivamai’s back.

Ivamai had protected his back with a wall of ice in anticipation of Joshua’s attack, but it was not a slash that could be blocked by such a simple defense.

– KWAJIK!

The slash of the giant sword, measuring over ten meters, swept through Ivamai’s legs below the knees. The warrior chief’s legs instantly turned to bloody mist.

“Kuuuugh…!”

Ivamai gritted his teeth so hard they nearly shattered, and pushed his falling body forward with ice, throwing himself into the hole where the pillar of fire had disappeared.

The ice covering his body evaporated in the heat that remained even after the fire pillar had vanished, creating a fountain-like steam.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Joshua, who had followed in pursuit, tried to cut down Ivamai just before he jumped into the hole, but—

“Don’t interfere!”

Glar rushed in and blocked him with his body, forcing Joshua to abandon his attack. If the Giant Hunter’s Sword were reflected back, it would cut his own Tale of Heros in two.

Seconds later, Ivamai emerged from the hole leading underground with Orhan, who had lost his left arm. His face was contorted with shock.

Ivamai had sensed that Orhan was in danger, but he never imagined that he would have lost an arm when his power hadn’t even been depleted.

The destruction of the absolute defense mental technique, the Unyielding Flesh.

The mental shock Ivamai was experiencing was comparable to that of a priest who had lost his god. He didn’t even notice the naked body, so great was his shock.

“Glar! The Ka’har is injured! The traitor is unharmed!”

Ivamai, carrying Orhan, shouted urgently toward Glar, who was single-handedly blocking Lord Landenburg’s sword.

“Injured?!”

Glar’s gaze met Ivamai’s, then moved to where Orhan’s left arm should have been.

‘The Unyielding Flesh…!’

His pupils trembled. Glar felt the same shock as Ivamai—no, even greater.

Astonishment, rage, murderous intent.

“How dare you…!!”

His spine turned ice-cold, while his heart burned hot as fire. It felt like sparks were flying in his head. The curved blade in his grip trembled.

However, giving in to his emotions would only worsen the situation. Even now, the traitor Haschal was likely crawling up from the underground pit to complete his terrible betrayal.

“Damn it…! Ivamai! Retreat while protecting the Ka’har! It’s time to withdraw!”

Finally, Glar suppressed his murderous rage and his urge to rush to his Ka’har, and instructed Ivamai to retreat with the warriors.

“Retreat? I can still…”

Orhan was about to say he could still fight, but Glar shook his head without letting him finish.

“Not in that condition! For the sake of the next battle, we must withdraw for now! If the Ka’har dies, Clan Aishan is finished!”

With Ka’har Orhan injured and exhausted, this battle was already lost for them. At least, that’s how Glar saw it. For him, nothing was more important than Orhan’s life.

“Glar…!”

Orhan couldn’t find words to argue back. Even he realized that continuing to fight would likely result in his death from exhaustion, and if that happened, Clan Aishan would undoubtedly shatter from internal division.

“Ivamai! What are you waiting for? Escort the Ka’har! If you have no legs, crawl if you must!”

Ivamai tightly closed his mouth, nodded, and began to flee toward their camp with Orhan’s body in his grip. He created an ice path on the ground and slid along it like a sled.

“Let go of me, Ivamai! I must help Glar…!”

“I cannot!”

Orhan tried to break free from Ivamai’s tight grip, but he was too exhausted to shake him off.

And so, the two disabled men moved away from the wall at high speed.

“Think I’ll let you escape!”

Joshua, Heinrich, Hayden, and Nigel, along with numerous knights gathered there, tried to block Orhan’s escape. Giant swords cut through the earth, earthquakes shook the ice path, and lightning spears targeted Ivamai’s back.

However,

“You will not lay a finger on the Ka’har, you cursed westerners!”

Glar blocked all those attacks single-handedly.

He stopped Joshua and Hayden’s slashes with his Defying Fate, countered Heinrich’s Tale of Heros by plowing through the earth with his curved blade, and simply endured Nigel’s lightning-wrapped spear with his body.

“Kuuuugh!”

Glar gritted his teeth against the pain of the nerve-burning lightning. Thanks to his desperate interference, Lord Landenburg’s sword failed to prevent Orhan’s escape.

“He got away…!”

Ludwig, watching the scene from headquarters, let out a deep sigh, but once they had lost their chance, he had no good countermeasures.

All the forces capable of pursuing and eliminating the exhausted Orhan and Ivamai were being held up by Glar alone.

‘This is bad. Now that we’ve lost Orhan, the wall has lost its meaning. We need to reduce the enemy’s numbers as much as possible…’

Ludwig looked at the battlefield with deep wrinkles between his eyebrows.

The sole purpose of this battle was to capture Orhan. Even if it meant resorting to the extreme measure of destroying the wall.

And now that it had failed, no matter how many enemy soldiers they killed, it could not be called a victory. The “next battle” that Ludwig had tried so hard to avoid would now begin.

The war he had wanted to prevent, even at the cost of destroying the wall.

Ludwig sighed deeply, sensing what was to come.

– HWAREUREU!

It was right after that when Haschal emerged with crimson flames.

======[ Haschal ]======

Damn, I missed him.

I bit my lip in frustration as I glared at the horizon. Through the dissipating blood mist evaporated by the flickering flames and heat, I could barely glimpse Orhan’s retreating figure.

It was infuriating, but the distance between us had already grown too great to catch up. They were fleeing so desperately that they moved faster than even Cascador running at full speed.

Unless my legs were in perfect condition or I had enough Karma of Murder left to fly, pursuit would be impossible in my current state.

…I’ll have to give up on chasing Orhan.

Given the situation, all I could do was reduce the number of remaining Ka’har as much as possible. Starting with those who would pose a serious threat if allowed to escape.

“All forces, return to camp! We’ve achieved sufficient results, it’s time to withdraw!”

For example, that warrior chief who was single-handedly withstanding the encirclement of two Heroes, two Masters, and battle priests while shouting retreat orders at the top of his lungs.

– Throb!

…No, I should receive a healing miracle first.

A healing miracle wouldn’t immediately repair my shattered leg bones, but at least I wouldn’t be staggering around unable to walk properly like now.

Standing on a blood-red hill that appeared to be a remnant of the Field of Mortality, I was about to head toward the command post in the rear.

– Jiggle.

If only I hadn’t noticed the flesh jiggling below my collarbone as I took a step down the hill like descending stairs.

Ah.

Come to think of it, all my clothes had burned off…!

I felt my cheeks burning as I hurriedly looked around.

The flames and steam were covering my body to some extent, but judging by the blank faces of soldiers occasionally visible through the flickering flames, they weren’t providing perfect coverage.

…My face grew even hotter.

“Kenaz!”

I hastily covered my chest with my left arm, then intensified the seal fire to create a wall of flames. So others couldn’t see me.

And in that moment, I searched for relatively intact clothing among those scattered across the sea of blood.

Whew. If it weren’t for the fire seal, I would have been completely humiliated.

“Was that woman just now possibly Lady Median?”

“Did I see wrong? Wasn’t she… naked…?”

…It seems I already was.