I am overwhelmed with emotion that this is being published. As I have removed and added a great deal, there will be differences from the web serial. That is all. ^^
****************************************************************************
Benites ultimately couldn't hold back his tears, and they streamed down his face. Though he had no memory of it, the fact that he had moved as the dragon's limb made Benites hate himself to a degree he couldn't control. To think he would understand such a person as him…….
"I—I am truly sorry, Your Grace the Duke."
"Sorry…… It was something unavoidable……"
Sergei approached with a distraught expression and embraced Benites. Benites couldn't help but burst into heavy tears.
"Si-since you have understood my heart, I now have no regrets even if I die……."
As Benites stammered on, his eyes suddenly flew open wide. It was because an unbearable pain surged from his chest. He lowered his head with an expression of utter disbelief.
Gush, gush, gush.
His left chest was already pierced by a long sword, spewing blood incessantly. It was exactly where the heart was located. Benites's face, pale from blood loss, turned toward the owner of the long sword. Perhaps because his heart was not at ease, Sergei's face was stiff and rigid.
"I'm sorry that you came to understand me on the day I would do this. You may think of it as punishment for leaking our plan."
"I—it was never my will."
Benites managed to spit out but a single word before his eyes rolled back.
Thud.
His lifeless body collapsed powerlessly to the floor. Without even watching him fall, Sergei turned away. A triumphant smile flickered in his eyes. He had engraved one fact firmly into his mind. The fact that if one bound by a Familiar contract died, the one who cast it would receive an enormous blow. It was precisely for that reason that Sergei had taken the life of his loyal subordinate.
Familiar contract. It was a type of subordination magic cast by a considerably superior being upon a lesser target. The subject was thoroughly subordinated to the caster through the Familiar contract. Furthermore, everything the subject saw, heard, and thought was transmitted to the caster across space. Because they could know the situation nearby or far away without risk, mages often formed Familiar contracts—with bats and other small, inconspicuous creatures, that is.
However, casting a Familiar contract on a superior being beyond a certain level was impossible in itself. Even a 9-Circle Archmage could not form a Familiar contract with a human. The only beings capable of such a thing were none other than dragons.
But Familiar magic was not without its flaws……. Namely, if the Familiar died, the one who cast it would suffer an enormous blow. Until now, there had been reported cases of mages going mad without reason or being bedridden for a long time. That was exactly what happened when their Familiar was devoured by a predator or died in an unexpected accident. The higher the existence of the Familiar, the greater the blow the caster received. If the Familiar was a high-ranking existence on the level of a human, it was clear an indescribable shock would be inflicted upon the caster.
Believing in this one fact alone, Sergei had driven his sword into Benites's heart.
"Even if you are a dragon, you will not emerge unscathed from your Familiar's death."
The smile vanished completely from Sergei's triumphant face. So surprised was he that he couldn't even finish his words.
"The Familiar died, so how……"
Surprisingly, there was no abnormality whatsoever in Berkis's body. He looked as if he were experiencing no pain at all. Instead, one of the Liches standing beside him had collapsed to the floor. Seeing it writhe incessantly, it seemed to have taken a considerable blow. Berkis, who had been silently watching Sergei, opened his mouth.
"As expected, humans are unquestionably sly and cunning creatures. In preparation for such an eventuality, I formed the Familiar contract using a Lich as a medium. Therefore, the pain caused by the Familiar's destruction is concentrated solely upon the Lich."
At those words, Sergei's body froze solid. Because of a rash thought, he had killed a capable mage with his own hands. At the cruel decision, even the heroes directed gazes of reproach toward Sergei. Perhaps his brilliant mind could no longer turn, for Sergei maintained a deathly silence. He looked as if he were thinking nothing at all.
Berkis glanced at the Lich writhing in pain and took a step forward.
"Now, starting with you, the humans of Truvenia will meet their end. The same is true for the humans of Arcadia. You things called humans are, in a word, beings utterly devoid of value."
Of course, if one didn't feel anger boiling up upon hearing those words, one wouldn't be human……
Unable to endure it, Schreckheimer stepped forward.
"Of course, I acknowledge that you are very powerful beings. But you will never be able to break humanity's tenacious vitality entirely."
Berkis's gaze shifted to Schreckheimer and stopped there.
"So you were the priest from that time. The only priest who escaped alive when the Oath Stone was seized."
"That is so. No matter how hard you strive, humanity will ultimately endure."
Berkis held back a scoff at Schreckheimer's voice, which was spat out like a wrung rag.
"Your frantic struggles to preserve your race were quite a sight. But know this. You have moved entirely according to my calculations……"
"What?"
"In short, you are the human who provided the most decisive assistance for my amusement of annihilating all humans."
"Amusement?"
Schreckheimer was not the only one who felt anger at those words. Rage flickered without exception in the eyes of the lined-up heroes. To call a matter upon which the lives of all humanity depend a simple amusement……. Two knights who could endure no longer hurled themselves forward.
"Kill."
They were not among the Four Great Knights, but relatively skilled Sword Masters. They closed in on Berkis at high speed. Having lost their comrades and being in an emotionally heightened state, upon hearing the word "amusement," they had completely lost their reason.
However, Berkis merely watched the approaching Sword Masters with a relaxed demeanor. Even the Liches lined up behind him didn't stir. As the Sword Masters approached within reach, Berkis raised his hand. A blinding light suddenly erupted from his hand. That light struck the Sword Masters' bodies in the blink of an eye.
Sizzle.
The charging Sword Masters' bodies froze in mid-air. Their bodies hung suspended as if in disbelief. But that was only for a moment. The knights' bodies began to crumble stage by stage. Starting from the head, then the neck, then the chest, step by step. What was astounding was that even the archmagic armor covering their bodies crumbled along with them.
The two Sword Masters soon vanished from that spot, leaving behind only a small mound of powder piled on the floor. Berkis slowly brushed off his hand after annihilating the two knights.
"To think you would charge at me, trusting in crude archmagic armor fashioned by mere humans……"
Having finished speaking, Berkis turned his head toward Schreckheimer. At the might of the magic, the heroes were all frozen in place, none exempt. To think his magical prowess was that formidable……. Though they normally didn't concern themselves with magic attacks thanks to their archmagic armor, as expected, dragon magic was on another level.
"I shall explain why you became the lead actor in my amusement. You could not have guessed it even in your dreams."
Having finished speaking, Berkis stretched out his hand and pointed at Daphne. She was trembling violently, carried on Daemon's back. Daemon too had gone rigid, his face stiffening at the unexpected situation. A smile deepened on Berkis's face as he looked around at the heroes with daunted expressions.
"First, you should know that the one who discovered the Saintess first was none other than me."
As Berkis's explanation continued, Schreckheimer's expression gradually hardened. The same was true for the lined-up heroes. To think all of this had been orchestrated by Berkis…… According to his words, the discovery of the Saintess had been carried out by a single Dark Elf acting on Berkis's orders.
"I was quite perplexed to hear that the Saintess, who was said to have disappeared in Truvenia, was still in existence. Of course, since I could not go against Lord Berhazel's will, killing her was out of the question. Therefore, I tried to use petrification magic to turn her to stone and let her rest eternally in my Lair. It was the only way to prevent the connection between humans and Lord Berhazel."
However, Berkis's plan was soon revised. That was because of the dragons' hibernation period that would soon arrive. Berkis's gaze turned to Sergei, who stood frozen.
"That one's efforts can be considered quite admirable. I speak of the method of maintaining core forces intact while driving only common soldiers onto the battlefield. Because of that method, our plan to decapitate the leadership and leave the cleanup to the orcs was completely disrupted. If the core forces remained intact, the orcs could never handle the humans. Therefore, we could not rashly take our sleep. It meant we had no choice but to use magic to extend the hibernation period until your Sword Masters were all disposed of. But that detestable person kept smuggling Sword Masters off the battlefield. Seeing the situation, it seemed impossible to dispose of them all before the hibernation period, so I eventually had no choice but to make a grave decision."
If Sword Masters remained in the human army, the orcs could never win. Because the orc army had no existence capable of opposing Sword Masters. Therefore, Berkis devised a plan to use the Saintess to eliminate the forces Sergei cherished and hoarded. Berkis first had the Dark Elf who discovered the Saintess meet Schreckheimer under the guise of coincidence. At that time, Schreckheimer was in a period of frantically scrambling day after day for humanity's survival. Schreckheimer, having grasped a single clue about the Saintess from the Dark Elf, ended up acting precisely according to Berkis's arrangement.
"If you were to obtain the Saintess, you would surely head to Northwood here to acquire a new Oath Stone. Therefore, I came here in secret and began preparations. First, to reduce damage, there was a need to reduce your numbers, so I ended up tampering with the barrier……"
The trap was completed exactly according to Berkis's arrangement. Not long after the barrier modification was complete, an assassin unit under Sergei's orders set foot here. They underwent the same process that the heroes had suffered and met their end. And in Feldrian, a report came that ghouls and wights were swarming inside the barrier—because to the assassins, their comrades had appeared as ghouls and wights without fail. Berkis's sneering voice continued to reach the heroes' ears.
"Let me teach you one more thing. The barrier between Arcadia and Truvenia has already been dissolved. Right after you revealed yourselves in Northwood, in fact. Because much power was consumed, Lord Cranus desperately needed rest. He should be devoting himself to preparations for hibernation in his Lair about now."
There was not a trace of color on the faces of the heroes who heard all these facts. They appeared greatly shocked by the fact that they had moved according to the dragon's machinations. Moreover, if they were futilely annihilated here, Truvenia would clearly fall into the hands of the orcs. If that came to pass, the fate of the humans living in Truvenia could not be guaranteed. It was clear that most people would become orc feed or be reduced to slaves. Looking at those heroes' faces, Berkis wore a sinister smile.
"Now, starting with you, the race called human will vanish from Truvenia."
Stone Golems had already perfectly blocked the retreat path. The dragons' Guardians were already fully assembled here. Added to that were hundreds of medium monsters, orc infantry, and Berkis's Liches. They began to approach slowly, radiating ferocity from their eyes. There was no chance of escape to be found no matter how hard they looked. But the heroes prepared to meet the enemy without a shred of hesitation. Sergei raised his sword with an expression of grief-fueled indignation.
"I sincerely apologize for driving you into a deathtrap with my mistaken decision. Knights. Let us give our lives to preserve our honor. Even if I end my life here, I will choose a death without shame."
Several knights answered in assent.
"It is not your fault alone. You have already done your utmost."
But deep frustration was already thickly embedded in Sergei's eyes. Because he knew all too well that this was a battle with no chance of victory……. As if casting had now begun, radiance flared simultaneously from the dragons' hands. But not the slightest hint of fear could be found on the heroes' faces.
Soon the battle began. Led by the charge of the Stone Golems and medium monsters, wyverns and orc infantry flooded in like a tidal wave. Behind them, large-scale support fire from the dragons and liches followed.
"Kuaaaack!"
"Keur-ruk!"
A desperate close-quarters battle where blood and flesh flew. The heroes resisted tenaciously to the last man. It was truly an astonishing fighting spirit. But regrettably, there was nowhere a method to overcome the overwhelming difference in strength. The heroes who had exhausted their lives were eventually lying their bodies down on the cold earth, one by one.