Ch.698Looking Down at the War Situation

======[ Haschal, One Minute Ago ]======

I was late.

From high above the city, I bit my lip as I gazed down at the urban landscape below me.

Even though I had flown here without rest as soon as my wounds healed, by the time I arrived, corpses already littered the area.

[ What a mess. ]

‘…Indeed.’

Perhaps the Danes had developed gigantism after gaining the power of runes, because they had fearlessly engaged in battle with the Ka’har on the plains and been utterly destroyed.

What remained of their forces, along with some winged female warrior, were engaged in a suicidal frenzy—like lemmings rushing toward a cliff.

Against the Black Banner Army led by War Chief Ibamay, and the Enemy Banner Army that was turning the Dane cavalry into pincushions.

“You think the war chief of the Aishan would lose to mere products of sorcery?!”

Ibamay, who had covered his horse’s body with ice armor, swung his axe fiercely, shooting ice spikes while raging wildly.

…Honestly, it was hard to tell which side was the product of sorcery.

To be frank, his heroic narrative looked no different from spirit magic or elemental magic to me. Except that it consumed the power of Karma instead of mana.

Anyway. Perhaps because I wasn’t a Ka’har, I couldn’t understand their standards at all.

How ridiculous that they despise creating ice through magic, yet praise creating ice through Karma and willpower. The result is identical either way.

Do they value essence over results? No, they didn’t seem capable of such philosophical thinking.

They probably just consider ice shot by enemies to be cowardly sorcery, while ice shot by their war chief is a mystical technique.

“Sterkur stríðsmaður.”

Unlike Ibamay, who displayed near-manic ferocity, the black-winged female warrior facing him was utterly cold.

“Sál. Söfnun.”

The winged warrior with the helmet murmured in an incomprehensible language as she brandished a storm spear, her black wings fluttering.

Her emotionless, neutral voice was so cold it reminded one more of a machine or doll than a person.

[ What is that? A woman with wings—I’ve never seen such a thing before. Is she human or a monster…? ]

Hersella muttered in amazement.

‘Probably… a Valkyrie summoned by the Church of Volberg.’

[ Valkyrie? ]

‘Angels of the battlefield who strike warriors from behind, bringing sudden death and dragging their souls to the heavens… or something like that.’

Gray holy light burst forth like waves whenever she moved.

The same attribute of holy light as the Eighth Apostle, Ragnar. Without a doubt, the being rampaging below was a Valkyrie, an angel of Volberg.

[ What nonsense… that makes her nothing but a vile assassin. They worship such beings? They must be mad. ]

‘Well. Perhaps they want to live in the celestial palace after leaving this world. Maybe they prefer being a god’s slave to the life of an insignificant soldier?’

[ Abandoning life and freedom in this world to choose a paradise of servitude to gods in the afterlife? Truly a weak escape. I understand now why the warriors of the plains rejected shamans and religion. ]

‘I think the same, but… well, people have different thoughts, and if life is hard and rough, some might think heaven is the better option.’

After giving a noncommittal response to Hersella’s sharp criticism, I glared coldly at the Valkyrie who was pushing back Ibamay.

Considering Volberg’s true identity, she too should be considered my enemy.

If my suspicions were correct and Volberg was another name for Alfodhr, then the Valkyrie, as Volberg’s angel, was also an agent of the ancient god.

…For now, I’d have to leave her be.

If I approached too closely and became her new target, the frenzied Danes would likely identify me as an enemy as well.

So instead of descending into the heart of the Dane battlefield, I passed them by.

—-

The situation inside the walls was even more serious than outside.

Corpses of imperial soldiers and knights were strewn everywhere, as if there had been street fighting, and fires burned throughout the streets as though the area had been carpet-bombed.

The thick smoke reached even my altitude, tickling my nose.

I quickly surveyed the city’s battle situation as I flew toward the inner castle.

Leonore was pushing back a Champion with a rain of thrusts, while Nigel was blocking a path to the inner castle, piling up corpses of plains people.

The remaining masters of Landenburg, only three besides Nigel, were similarly guarding pathways.

Hayden was slicing a group of warriors to pieces with twin swords that he wielded like a storm, while Michel was charging with a lance against the Ka’har.

The Eighth Sword, Jan Ridel, was swinging his great sword to cut down both riders and horses, filling the alley with the stench of entrails.

And Jahan…

“Filthy traitor! So the rumors about you sleeping with that whore every night were true!”

“How dare you utter such blasphemy!”

The crescent blade came down with his face contorted in rage.

The blade, filled with unbearable fury, split the enemy’s sword and helmet like kindling, cut through armor effortlessly, and finally crashed into the ground.

– KWAAANG!

The strike contained such force that Jahan’s crescent blade shattered into pieces upon hitting the ground.

The Champion who had provoked him was split in half, falling to either side. Foul excrement leaked from his severed intestines.

…When did he become so strong?

It was a powerful strike that even shattered his black iron crescent blade.

[ Yes! That’s my Champion! ]

Hersella shouted proudly.

I was already focusing on the center of the inner castle and had no mind to respond to her nonsense.

Thanks to the enemy’s main forces being dispersed outside and inside the castle, Leonore and the other masters were holding up reasonably well… but the situation in the center of the inner castle was urgent enough to require immediate intervention.

Orhan, whose armor was reduced to rags but who bore not a single wound, was pointing his sword at Joshua.

‘Going down!’

I turned my body toward the ground and accelerated my descent by expelling compressed Karma flames from my feet.

Fiercely, like a falling meteor.

======[ Present ]======

What awaited me after I dispersed the landing impact with a burst of Karma flames and rose to my feet were the battered heroes of the Empire.

Joshua, nearly dead.

Frederick, motionless, perhaps already dead.

Even Heinrich, who was in relatively better condition, was trembling while clutching his split side.

Thanks to accelerating by freely expending the power of Murder Karma, I had somehow managed to prevent Joshua’s death, but even that was merely a stopgap measure.

Even without Orhan finishing him off, Joshua would die soon without immediate treatment.

…Yes. This was inevitable if they faced Orhan without me.

Pity and guilt fueled the anger burning in my mind.

The War Chief Hatan’s verbal abuse barely registered in my ears. It was just noise.

Unpleasantly so.

I drew my sword.

【 Defying Fate 】

The familiar, now comfortably colorless silence descended.

In this world unfolded for me alone, I approached Hatan, who couldn’t even blink, and cut off his head. It was too simple. In this world slowed to near-stillness, he couldn’t even react.

He seemed unaware that his neck had been severed, continuing to speak a few more words even after Defying Fate was released, before collapsing.

The first heroic narrative I’d deployed since reaching the limits this world allowed.

Its power had grown remarkably, now evolved to the point where I could easily cut down even hero-class warriors.

“You’re next, Orhan.”

I declared, lightly swinging my sword to shake off Hatan’s blood.

I hadn’t yet received my winter armor and new Yeokrindoh, and the five-layered Hwipyeok that had destroyed the Unyielding Flesh couldn’t even be practiced with a mere black iron sword.

I had no means to penetrate the Unyielding Flesh now. Besides, having expended Karma flames to fly here, my Murder Karma was nearly depleted.

Even if I surrendered my body to Hersella, with the remaining Murder Karma, I would revert back in mere tens of seconds.

Hersella seemed to sense this too, as she didn’t suggest taking over my body.

But none of that mattered.

“Did your old body overexert itself? You seem quite exhausted.”

Thanks to the imperial heroes’ struggle, Orhan’s momentum had weakened significantly compared to before.

Inadvertently, we’d ended up fighting in shifts. At this rate, I could win through attrition alone, without needing to break through the Unyielding Flesh.

“…How disrespectful.”

“Sorry about that. I never learned manners from my father!”

I kicked off the ground and lunged toward Orhan. First, I needed to push him away from here. To create an opportunity for Joshua and Heinrich to receive treatment.

“You must have forgotten!”

Orhan raised Yeokrindoh like a shield to cover his chest, and kicked a boulder embedded in the ground with his right foot.

– KWAAANG!

The massive rock shattered into pieces, scattering like shotgun pellets. Not toward me, but toward Joshua, who didn’t even have the strength to move.

What? Using such a dirty trick?

I was caught off guard by a tactic I never expected from Orhan and hurriedly changed direction to fly toward Joshua. The Joshua I had just saved was about to die from flying rocks.

Durandal, swung like a storm, traced blue flowers in the air. It cut through everything in its path, raising stone dust like smoke.

“Yes, I knew you’d do that!”

Orhan’s voice echoed after stopping me with his despicable tactic.

In that brief moment, he had turned his back to me and was fleeing toward the collapsed inner castle!

“What, he’s actually running away?”

I was so dumbfounded by this absurd behavior that I gaped in astonishment, muttering to myself. What was he trying to do? Did he really think he could escape like this?

“Count Median…! Quickly… you must pursue him…!”

At that moment, Joshua shouted, coughing up blood—no, literally vomiting blood.

“Over there, over there is His Excellency the Margrave…!”

The reason why Orhan had used such a dirty trick to create a momentary opening.