Legion Commander Berthe

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“Hmm.”

Aside from Doyun and Haineken, everyone else trembled in fear.

There was but one adversary, while they were 40,000 elite troops.

Yet it was the Alliance forces gripped by terror.

“Indeed. It is Haineken, just as expected.”

“Kehkehkeh… Didn’t I tell you, Lord Legion Commander?”

“You shall be rewarded upon your return.”

“Thank you!”

Doyun turned his gaze towards the elderly figure cackling and rubbing his hands behind Berthe.

The Necrotic Gardener.

“…Why are you here?”

Haineken finally spoke.

“As ill-mannered as I’ve heard.”

Berthe grinned maliciously, baring his sharp fangs.

“Why am I here? Obviously to capture you.”

Anticipating his next words, Haineken clenched his fists tightly.

The Necrotic Gardener provided the explanation.

“After multiple high-ranking officers including myself fully committed our forces to occupy this fortress, the interrogation and undead conversion process revealed one of the knights to be your younger sister, Hero Haineken.”

He spoke while reining in the mana infused in his voice, as if telling them to listen comfortably.

However, in contrast to the soldiers’ slightly relieved expressions, Haineken’s condition was dire.

“Upon hearing this, the Demon Lord resolved to subjugate you this time. I was perplexed, but… after witnessing your abilities, I understood. Unlike other Heroes, you are worth eliminating even at the cost of breaching the Holy Stones’ barrier, for your prowess is that vexing.”

They had originally expected Lord Brudhild, but the Demon Lord’s army deduced Haineken would come after learning of his sister’s presence.

Only now did Doyun realize why he had failed to sense that entity’s presence.

Kyu-ryong – a dragon cloaked in armor-like scales.

It had concealed its overwhelming presence within that shell, lying in wait inside the fortress.

And since its killing intent had been solely focused on Haineken rather than Doyun, combined with that formidable concealment ability, even Doyun had remained oblivious.

‘She did ask me to inform her if I encountered any dragons…’

Tiamat likely wouldn’t appreciate this either.

In contrast to his trembling, rage-filled fists, Haineken spoke with an unnervingly calm expression, as if wearing a mask.

“So you’re aware of my abilities.”

“Indeed.”

Haineken’s skill, Dragon Tiger Clash.

It temporarily granted him martial prowess equal to his chosen opponent for a set duration.

“Then you must also know that alone, it would be insufficient.”

At those words, Berthe’s face contorted in a grotesque scowl.

“…!”

An intense aura instantly engulfed the battlefield.

Not like Doyun’s or Leah’s – this was of an entirely different dimension, a densely visualized killing intent that seemed to distort the space around him in an illusion.

Sheer, overwhelming oppression itself.

“Ughk! Ughk! Hurghk, ughk…!”

“Ughk, kkhrughk…”

The 40,000 troops gasped for air, some soldiers already collapsing while foaming at the mouth.

“You insolent insect prattle far too much.”

Even Doyun’s still immature physique reacted adversely.

His hair stood on end, pupils contracted sharply. His joints stiffened, movements becoming sluggish.

If that evil dragon willed it, he could easily slaughter the ordinary soldiers with just the act of breathing – such was the sheer dominance of his aura.

“A mere insect… while I acknowledge your abilities, there remains an insurmountable gulf between you and I.”

An overwhelmingly arrogant declaration.

Yet none could refute it.

For they truly felt that gulf in their very bones, a suffocating dread.

“However, the sublime Demon Lord has commanded that I commit my full power… that Satan is quite cunning, after all.”

As Berthe finished speaking, the Necrotic Gardener’s subordinates brought forth a pallid, sickly female corpse from somewhere.

Crunch.

The sound of Haineken grinding his teeth.

Doyun could surmise this woman’s identity.

“How does it feel? To be reunited with your sole remaining kin.”

“…”

“Fear not. A pristine undead specimen, undamaged. The Alliance should still be able to purify her somehow.”

He grinned derisively.

“As long as the corpse remains intact, that is.”

“……You spoke of an insurmountable gulf, yet…”

His eyes blazed with ferocious intensity, like a tiger’s.

“You are but an insect yourself…!”

A vicious, beast-like growl.

Despite lacking Berthe’s overwhelming aura, the surrounding knights struggled to breathe amidst his killing intent.

But Berthe only cackled in response.

“I discarded such paltry pride long ago – when I embraced this draconic form and joined the Demon Lord’s army.”

Haineken’s body trembled with fury, his fists clenched so tightly they seemed to shatter the air itself.

At that moment, Doyun’s voice rang out across the battlefield.

“Berthe.”

All eyes turned towards him.

Berthe too regarded him with a puzzled gaze.

“Oh…? And you are?”

He seemed deeply intrigued by Doyun’s dense life force aura. His outward appearance was human, yet he was clearly no mere human.

Alarmed, Haineken telepathically warned him.

[What are you doing! Stay hidden!]

If the opponent was a Legion Commander, even Haineken himself couldn’t protect Doyun. He couldn’t fathom Doyun’s actions.

But Doyun persisted, simultaneously telepathically responding to Haineken.

“Why is it that you, a great dragon, have subjugated yourself to the Demon Lord’s army?”

[Haineken. Calm your mind.]

Only then did Haineken start in realization.

Doyun had deliberately stepped forward to prevent Haineken from losing his composure.

‘…To display such behavior before my junior.’

Of course, that was one reason. But truthfully, it was also to address Doyun’s own doubts.

The Kyu-ryong Berthe – this entity had not been part of the Demon Lord’s army 100 years ago. He had subjugated himself during the 100 years after Enoch’s disappearance, only now manifesting as a Legion Commander.

Haineken’s eyes sank deeply in contemplation.

Thanks to Doyun, the killing intent he had unconsciously exuded, suffocating the surrounding knights, rapidly stabilized.

“Hmm…”

Of course, Berthe had also noticed this.

“Well, it’s a blatant ploy, but… I shall indulge you with a response.”

He had already resolved to bring Doyun back to the Demon Lord’s castle after their battle.

“Do you know? Even the Dragon Lord fell to our current Demon Lord. And the Greatest of Men, Razvolnic, is no more. There is no hope left for this continent. This world’s demise is assured. So then.”

Berthe raised a clenched fist defiantly towards the Alliance forces.

“The only way to escape annihilation. To side with annihilation itself. Is it not obvious?”

His words caused the soldiers to falter. The Dragon Lord had been defeated? Truly?

Even a dragon had discarded its pride to join the Demon Lord’s army?

Yet Haineken spoke softly.

“…What do you mean, the Dragon Lord was defeated?”

“What?”

“The Demon Lord of antiquity, referred to as a Demon God despite her mortal existence. One as formidable as she was slain by mere human hands.”

The Necrotic Gardener behind Berthe shifted uncomfortably.

“Though Lord Enoch may be gone.”

Haineken tightly gripped the spear in his hand, leveling it at Berthe.

Despite the wrath and resolve filling him as he readied his spear stance, his words remained solemn and composed – a stance Doyun could scarcely dream of replicating, the pinnacle of this generation’s paramount spearman.

An air of imminence, tension thick enough to cut.

“Fire-!!”

At his thunderous command, the Alliance forces unleashed a barrage that blotted out the sky.

Long-range attacks from the highest-tier Disciples. Arrows from 10,000 soldiers.

And amidst them soared Hero Haineken’s spear.

As it streaked through the air, the spear transformed into light mid-flight, splitting into thousands of individual spears.

One of Haineken’s Spear Skill Series – Skyraining Javelins.

Like torrential rain, the Alliance’s attacks and Haineken’s spears poured down.

Yet the Demon Lord’s officers behind Berthe remained unfazed, a lone mountain standing before them.

The entity possessing the supreme, absolute dominion second only to the Demon Lord himself.

A Legion Commander.

Berthe grinned mockingly.

“Indeed, a mere greeting.”

His colossal 3m stature shifted subtly as he adopted a stance.

Legs planted firmly in a horse stance, grounding him. Palms open, fingers curled slightly, arms drawn back to their limits.

‘…What is this?’

Doyun sensed a foreboding…premonition.

The torrent of attacks descended upon Berthe.

“Allow me to demonstrate.”

As the barrage formed a canopy blotting out the sun above him…

“The ultimate technique of history’s most formidable warrior.”

Creaking, crunching sounds as Berthe’s joints and muscles strained audibly.

“The apex of martial arts…!”

An overwhelming tyrannical aura enveloped his form.

It was a technique Sophie had witnessed firsthand against the Tsunami Tamer 3 months prior.

And one some veteran Disciples in this very army had indirectly experienced through the Sword Saint’s teachings – a familiar technique.

‘Surely not…!’

And the technique Doyun himself knew better than anyone else.

Berthe’s jaws stretched into a vicious grin.

“Hecleus’s Style Pugilism.”

The dragon’s eyes flashed.

“Mountain Toppler.”