Ch.997It Was Too Much Money to Refuse.

# Knight Order

“In the name of Elpinel, Goddess of Heaven, master of our fate!”

At the moment when Haschal was clashing with the last demigod of the fairies.

“Menes watches over us! Glory to the moon and dreams!”

“Astraea of Order, grant us your golden justice!”

Lacy and Agnes’s Knight Order had retreated to the edge of the great forest and were engaged in fierce combat with the fairies there.

“Special Crusader Unit! The miracle of purification! The pure white radiance that erases everything beyond providence!”

Even as they were gradually pushed back by the enemy’s strength, they tenaciously held the fairies’ ankles to prevent them from retreating toward the capital.

The Knight Order’s duty and role was to hold back the Guardians and Patrollers until the assault team targeting Alvheim’s capital and the World Tree—Saint Astika and her companions—could achieve their objectives.

“Sun Knight Order! Temporary retreat! Regroup and reorganize!”

The battle situation was a stalemate at best. In reality, they were at a disadvantage.

Ever since the fairy Guardians who had tried to chase Haschal gave up and returned after being baptized by photon cannon fire illuminating the sky, the situation had continued to deteriorate.

The fairy army, having regained their commander, restored order, and with the strengthened blessing of the forest supporting them, they continuously unleashed widespread disasters.

“Grooooar…!”

“A tree giant…? What in the world…!”

Even the tree spirits, which should have been guarding the depths of the great forest, had joined the fairy army and begun rampaging.

The Knight Order, armed with firm faith, continued fighting fiercely despite their clear disadvantage, but wars cannot be won by will alone.

On the battlefield where waves of vegetation and stakes came crashing from all directions, forming a defensive formation was meaningless. In this chaotic battle, they were slowly being worn down.

“No sinner shall escape His judgment!”

“Clear the path with radiance, O Hauteclere!”

Ceylon and Perlien de Genes, the strongest of the Paladins, were still firmly holding their ground against several mass-produced Guardians, but…

*BOOM!*

“Ugh…! Not yet!”

In truth, they too were exhausted beyond measure.

No matter how powerful the blessing bestowed by God might be, there are clear limits to the strength of the person wielding it.

Ceylon’s golden sacred armor was already half-destroyed, and his exposed flesh was covered with various wounds.

Torn, pierced, and burned scars. Wounds that would have healed instantly before were now accumulating on his body.

It meant that healing through divine miracles had reached its limit.

“…O Sun.”

Perlien was in no better condition.

Unlike Ceylon, who had been fighting purely with his own strength, Perlien was actively utilizing Hauteclere’s power, so his situation was slightly better, but…

*HISSSS!*

The sun’s crimson flames that had enveloped his body had long since disappeared.

The current Perlien was so exhausted that he couldn’t continue fighting without Hauteclere.

In fact, all the powerful members of the Knight Order were exhausted.

Lacy, who had unleashed miracles of purification and celestial fury without restraint, eliminating several high-ranking spirits.

Richard, who had led the Church of Elpinel’s Paladin Order and fought at the forefront.

Agnes, who had focused on defense with protective miracles, and the newly appointed Cardinal of the Church of Saulite, who had endlessly healed the severely wounded while protecting the healing priests.

‘Demian… are you okay? You are okay, right…?’

Millia, who kept glancing worriedly toward the vicinity of the World Tree where tremendous roars and radiance continuously erupted.

Joshua, who had been cutting down waves of vegetation with his giant-hunting sword, and Heinrich, who had been shaking the earth to knock down fairies perched on trees.

“Haa, haa… This really is endless…!”

“…Indeed.”

“If only we could fight on horseback…!”

Leonore, Nigel, and Jahan, who had been fighting alongside them, were also feeling their strength drain away.

The battle situation was such that if they continued fighting for just ten more minutes, somewhere would collapse under the pressure, causing a domino effect of destruction.

Although the fairies had also been greatly reduced in number as they met their deaths one by one, they still had reserves left since they had the battlefield itself as their ally.

After several minutes like this.

At the moment when the Great Guardian Varnir Freyus finally met his death in the depths of the great forest, a place the Knight Order couldn’t see:

“GRAAAAAAAH!!”

The fairies’ offensive became even more fierce, and the two remaining tree spirits went berserk. The World Tree’s fury was granting them power filled with madness.

“Ugh, what suddenly…!”

“Divine barrier…! No, we can’t hold! Dodge!”

The fairies’ sudden, frenzied, and powerful assault caught them off guard. Shouts of confusion and screams mixed with the roaring sounds.

“The Moonlight Knight Order has been breached!”

“Fairy detachment attacking from the rear! The healing priests are holding them off, but it’s not enough!”

“Order Knight Order requesting retreat!”

“Lady Elmaine! We need to fall back…!”

Bad news poured in all at once. The disadvantageous battle situation rapidly transformed into something close to defeat. Lacy bit her lip.

‘Is this as far as we go…!’

Even to her, continuing this fierce battle any longer seemed impossible.

They could hold out a little longer if they fought with death in mind, but in a situation where fairies weren’t humanity’s only enemy, they couldn’t sacrifice the entire Knight Order just to buy time.

‘I apologize, O Elpinel! They have proven their devotion and spirit, dedicating themselves to you to the best of their ability, but because my faith, my strength was lacking…!’

Lacy suppressed her frustration, made the sign of the cross with a sigh-filled prayer, and then turned to the commanders to speak.

To order a retreat before total annihilation, as the Knight Order had clearly reached its limit, leaving the rest to Astika and the gods.

At that moment.

“Golden Scale Guard, descend!”

A deep, rough voice echoed from above the great forest.

“We support the human race as per our contract! For His Majesty King Cylude!”

Winged dragonborn wearing golden scale armor were descending one by one toward the battlefield.

They were the elite members of the Golden Scale Guard, the royal guard protecting Jin’s Dragon King, Cylude.

“Heavenly Horse Dominion, Ten Thousand Demon Suppression-!”

“Hey, hey! That’s classified!”

…Though there were some dragonborn mixed in with questionable backgrounds.

“Dragonborn?!”

“Why are these lizards here!”

Anyway, as soon as the Golden Scale Guard dragonborn landed on the battlefield, they began breathing fire, casting spells, and wielding weapons in fierce battle against the fairies.

“Lady Elmaine! Dragonborn forces have appeared in the rear! They claim to be reinforcements sent by the Dragon Kingdom!”

The dragonborn without wings, who couldn’t participate in the assault operation, also joined the rear of the Knight Order to protect the healing priests and engage in battle.

“The Dragon Kingdom…? Reinforcements, what does that…?”

Lacy was momentarily confused. Dragonborn from the Dragon Kingdom coming to help? It was something she couldn’t have anticipated.

No, not just her—no one in the Knight Order could have predicted this.

Even Haschal, who had proposed this operation, probably wouldn’t have guessed that dragonborn would participate.

Why on earth were dragonborn suddenly invading Alvheim and supporting humanity?

The answer to that question was not known to any human present at the scene.

The person who had summoned the dragonborn reinforcements was currently enjoying a brief rest that he had barely managed to squeeze out in the Imperial Territory of Extrashafel.

In the imperial palace of Extrashafel Territory.

In the most secluded personal office:

“By now, the dragonborn reinforcements should have arrived. I’m not sure how the battle is going… but I hope they’re of great help.”

Leopold smiled as he moistened his throat with tea mixed with distilled wine.

—-

“Will this be alright, Your Majesty? I’ve heard that Hestella has a considerable share in that black dragon’s corpse.”

Lord Wien, sitting across from Leopold, asked with a face that seemed to question whether this was acceptable.

“What can we do? That was the only compensation we could offer. We actually gained an advantage by obtaining the Dragon King’s support in exchange for two dragon corpses.”

Leopold nodded with a relaxed smile.

The corpse of the black dragon that had been defeated by the combined efforts of the Imperial Knight Order led by Percival and Haschal’s reinforcements heading toward the Holy State.

Originally, about thirty percent of it should have been sent to Hestella, but Leopold ignored this and sold all of it to Cylude of the Dragon Kingdom.

In exchange for that corpse and another dragon corpse that the Empire possessed, he secured the support of the Dragon Kingdom.

“Hmm… I apologize, but what do you plan to do if that woman returns victorious and protests about this matter?”

Lord Wien asked again. What would he do if Haschal returned victorious and questioned why her share of the corpse had been sold without permission?

“With finances tight due to the mass production of airships, we currently don’t have the resources to provide compensation equivalent to thirty percent of the dragon.”

If the Empire had been financially stable, they could have resolved the issue by providing compensation equivalent to the value of the corpse… but now they lacked the means.

A massive budget was being consumed for the improvement and mass production of airships.

“Ah, there’s no need to worry about that. I’ve already prepared an excuse to quell her protests.”

Leopold smiled confidently. Lord Wien felt an inexplicable unease at that smile.

“May I ask what it entails?”

“I plan to mention that the Chancellor—that is, you—tried to expose the embezzlement of wall restoration support funds, but I chose to overlook it.”

Leopold answered.

“It’s essentially a proposal to quietly cover up each other’s transgressions.”

Since Hestella was the first to misappropriate funds from another country for different purposes, if they had any conscience, they should let this matter slide—that was his plan for persuasion.

“Why are you trying to sell me out…”

Lord Wien lamented quietly.

“If there are two targets for venting anger, the anger will be divided in half. So bear with it. The position of Chancellor is one that shares the rise and fall with the Emperor.”

Leopold smiled with a shameless face.

“It’s not as if I’m lying. It’s the absolute truth that you tried to publicize and problematize this, and that I ordered you to remain silent.”

“Urgh…”

“It’s not a lie,” he said. Lord Wien groaned with a dissatisfied face, at a loss for words.

He inwardly lamented whether he had chosen the wrong son-in-law, or perhaps the right one after all.

The two bald heads gleamed like full moons in the evening moonlight.