episode_0025

Tecelomun began to pant heavily. He looked around. Despite positioning himself in the most perilous spot, most of the knights who had come with him were now strewn on the ground. It was easy to infer from the blood pooling on the ground that most of those who had fallen were dead, even without confirming it.

“Darn it…”

He had lost another precious comrade. However, he averted his gaze from the bodies and tried to focus on the battle. If he were to perish here, it would be an affront to the deaths of the knights who had followed him.

“Tecelomun, give up. There are barely ten comrades left standing. You caused this. If you hadn’t let civilians die in the first place, it wouldn’t have come to this,” Galard jeered, stepping forward as if to boast of his achievement.

“I have a proposal. If you kneel and beg for your life, I will spare your remaining comrades,” he said to Tecelomun.

Tecelomun’s hand trembled. Without hesitation, he lunged at Galard. But with one arm already gone and his strength depleted, he couldn’t reach Galard with his sword.

Clang!

The sword bounced off with a clear sound.

“Commander Tecelomun!”

Some knights tried to approach Tecelomun, but the mages behind Galard restrained them.

“Even if I die… I will take you with me,” Tecelomun charged at Galard while lying on the ground. Slower than before, yet refusing to turn his back, he chose to fight.

Galard shook his head and clicked his tongue.

“Tecelomun, just as you spared my life in exchange for the saintess before, I will spare your subordinates in exchange for your life. Is your pitiful pride more important than your subordinates?”

Tecelomun, still gripping the sword with one hand, dragged himself forward.

“Do not insult… my comrades. They are knights, whether alive or dead. They do not beg for their lives from villains.”

Galard kicked Tecelomun’s remaining hand with disdain, as if repulsed.

Teckeloman put all his strength into his hand, not even screaming to keep hold of the sword. But that was short-lived.

Thud

Gallad stabbed Teckeloman’s hand with a knife, causing him to drop the sword. Even in that state, Teckeloman tried to grab Gallad, but Gallad evaded the attack with a slight movement.

“You lost to me because you didn’t want to become a clumsy monster. You’re just a clueless kid, not a knight.”

“You’re rationalizing,” Teckeloman shouted at Gallad with bloodshot eyes.

“Don’t rationalize your actions using me. You are despicable and lead a cowardly life. The title of a knight is too much for you. Eventually, you will have to atone for your sins.”

Gallad looked down at Teckeloman with cold eyes.

“Yeah, I might die on the battlefield someday. But do you know that?” He added as he brought down his sword.

“Yet today, it’s you who will die, not me.”

Teckeloman looked at Gallad’s descending sword from the sky. He did not evade the battle until the very last moment.

“May peace come to the Empire of Pibron.”

Thud

The sound of flesh being pierced by the blade echoed. The knights all averted their eyes. Teckeloman also thought he had died without redemption. However, he felt no pain.

It was only then that the man realized someone was blocking his path. His hand was bleeding from the knife wound. He murmured quietly.

“Is this the extent of your power? Pathetic.”

A man in tattered robes. And a bright red sphere floating above him. He didn’t know who the man was, but he knew as much as the girl next to him.

“You…?”

He couldn’t forget her. The girl who had her arms and legs severed by Gallad, had her eyes gouged out, and begged to be killed.

The girl’s arms, legs, and eyes had been restored.

“I came to help.”

When the priestess Flemea clasped her hands in prayer, the severed arm of the knight commander Tekeloman was restored, and the flow of blood from his body ceased. As if asking when he had been injured, the wounds began to heal, and a true miracle occurred.

It was a moment when the priestess once again realized the majesty of her divine power.

Tekeloman quickly assessed the situation. He recognized that the priestess, the man, and the girl who seemed to be an assassin standing beside them were allies who had come to assist them. However, even with reinforcements, nothing had changed. The addition of just three people did not alter the situation. With the priestess present, they could engage in battle repeatedly. Even if they truly ended up being killed, it didn’t matter. If he could just plunge a blade into that bastard’s face, he would gladly offer his soul.

With these thoughts, Tekeloman rose from his position, ready to rush back into the fray. However, the man in front of him blocked his path.

Macderas.

He spoke briefly. “Step aside. I have personal business with that bastard.”

“You may not know who I am, but these are not opponents you can handle alone. The mages in the rear and the knights in the front are also exceptionally skilled, so cooperative attacks are necessary. I will fend off the enemies at the front. Please request support from the rear.”

Macderas looked at Tekeloman expressionlessly as he spoke. “Rest. Your role on this battlefield is over.”

He added, “I’ve heard that knights often reveal their names to opponents they respect. Remember this. My name is Macderas.”

Then he raised his hand toward the sky. Suddenly, from the corpses on the battlefield, threads like silk began to gather into a sphere. The size of the sphere had grown incomparably larger than before.

Watching this unfold, Galard felt a chilling and eerie sensation, though he couldn’t discern the exact type of magic. While he didn’t think a mere mage could change the tide of battle, it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

“Kill that sorcerer first!”

As Galard shouted, the mages behind him began casting spells all at once. But it was too late.

“Pierce through.”

At Macderas’s command, red fragments poured out from the concrete and rained down upon the mages of the Kareldeen Empire in an instant.

Kwakwang!

Heavy fragments descended from the sky like a massive hailstorm, overwhelming the mages. Though they attempted to use barriers, it was futile.

Chaengkang!

The relentless shower of red fragments completely nullified their barriers, shattering them into pieces. Subsequently, the mages behind them began to be struck by the fragments.

“Ugh… Ughhh… Aaahhh!”

As the fragments pierced their bodies, the mages writhed in agony. Blood flowed from their eyes and mouths as they clawed at their own bodies in madness before collapsing lifelessly to the ground.

Watching this spectacle, the knights of the Pveron Empire stood frozen in shock. Even Tekeloman, the leader of the knights, did not advance further, judging that his movement would only hinder the situation.

“What in the world is happening…?”

With a simple spell, dozens of mages fell to the ground. Moreover, the crimson sphere, presumably controlled by a man, seemed to be growing larger rather than diminishing.

This was no ordinary magic.

“It’s a disaster…”

Quite literally, it was a disaster—something impossible to overcome with human strength alone.

Regrettably, the Kareldeen folks did not give up. Despite dozens of mages falling in an instant, they still had around 500 troops remaining.

“We’ll give them a chance. Kill those who defect without suffering.”

Naturally, there were none who accepted Macderas’s proposal.

Macderas began to sprint forward.

Shiiieeek!

A crimson whip shot out from the sphere, and as Macderas brandished it, the whip struck people at an unimaginable speed.

Upon impact, individuals burst and disintegrated into the air. With overwhelming numerical superiority, the knights of the Kareldeen Empire began to retreat.

“Kill those who flee! Charge forward!”

Galard, who was fleeing backward, shouted as he cut the throat of the one fleeing. The knights whose escape route was blocked started rushing forward again, but the result was obvious. Their bodies burst, and the vitality remaining in their corpses was absorbed back into the entity.

Watching this spectacle, Galard understood. The entity. The key lay in the entity.

He didn’t know how, but it seemed that by absorbing the energy of the deceased, the size of the entity grew, and the man seemed to use magic based on that entity. Galard shouted with all his might.

“Don’t attack him, attack the entity! It’s about bursting the entity to stop the magic!”

Upon hearing this, Macdullas stopped in his tracks. Then, he began to laugh maniacally.

“It’s disgusting, almost comical, believing that you won’t die while callously killing others. How is it? Do you think I’m overwhelming you because of that entity? Do you hold hope that you could survive if only that were gone? Hope is a good thing. It becomes the driving force that keeps people alive.”

As Macdullas gestured, the entity swiftly retreated behind him. Moreover, he no longer absorbed the energy of the corpses. He simply lifted a fallen sword from the ground.

Finally, Macdullas swung the mana-infused sword.

Swoosh

With a brutal sound, as Macdullas swung the sword, ten men collapsed to the ground simultaneously. With a face splattered with blood, Macdullas looked straight at Galard and laughed coldly.

“How does it feel now that hope has vanished?”