Chapter 114
Boom! Boom! Crash!!
"Strike! Strike!! Just strike them all!!"
"For Carpe!!"
"Kill all those scrawny spear-wielding bastards!!"
"Waaaaaaaah!!"
Clang! Thud!!
"Ugh...!"
Pushed back by the Imperial spearman, Allen slammed into a pillar inside the castle and barely managed to stand.
'Strong.'
He was facing what appeared to be a captain-level spear knight, and the enemy was stronger and more experienced than expected.
"Damn...!! Brans!?"
Trying to rise from the pile of corpses, he spotted Brans among the faces lying near the pillar.
Surely he hadn't already lost his life in this chaos of war!!
Grit!
"Revenge will surely come."
Just as he was about to grip his sword again.
Someone whispered.
"I'm alive, sir."
Brans whispered, opening one eye lazily.
"!!"
Startled that Brans, whom he thought dead, had spoken, Allen nearly took the enemy commander's spear.
"Are you alive?"
"Yes. Please don't talk to me."
"No..."
At first he was glad, relieved even, but then he got a little angry.
Come to think of it, Brans' face was only smeared with blood—there were no actual wounds.
It seemed he had been playing dead the whole time.
"Where are you looking!!"
Bang!
Allen barely dodged the spear, stepped in, and thrust his sword.
A look of delight appeared on the enemy commander's face.
Realizing his mistake, he tried to retreat, but it was too late.
A faint divine power emanated from the spear as a small burst of light erupted.
"My eyes...!"
The bright light stole Allen's vision, and in the pitch darkness, he could feel the enemy commander's spear cutting through the wind as it charged toward him.
"You've lost even your other eye now, how fitting! Die!!"
Shedding tears of blood, Allen closed his eyes and steadied his mind.
Was he going to die?
'That can't happen.'
He had already lost one eye.
There was no reason to be shaken just because the remaining one could no longer see light.
'Don't panic. Don't waver! Do you want to die like that time, Allen!!'
When he lost his eye in the North.
Many comrades had thrown themselves in to save him, and they never returned.
Trying to protect him.
Allen had thrashed in agony over losing just one eye, forced to watch his comrades die with his remaining eye.
It was a situation he had imagined before.
Stay calm!
He told himself that, but Allen could feel death approaching.
'I can feel it?'
Death? No, that was wind.
The flow of wind against his cheek, his hand.
He could feel it throughout his entire body.
As if someone were guiding him, Allen twisted his body sharply to the left.
Whoosh—!!
His side was torn.
His face contorted in pain, but he had barely dodged.
"No, how!"
Allen didn't miss this moment.
He trapped the spear shaft against his side, gripped it firmly, and pulled.
"Where do you think—!!"
But the enemy didn't just take it. He resisted Allen's strength and raised his leg to shake him off.
"Damn you! Die!!"
"What—!!"
Brans, who had been playing dead, sprang up and drove a dagger into the spear knight's side.
Stab!!
"Ugh! You damned—!"
Feeling the enemy's movements through the vibration of the spear shaft, Allen swung his sword.
Slash!
"Aaaagh! My, my arm!!"
Having severed the flailing arm, Allen thrust his sword once more.
Stab!
The sensation of flesh parting and bone breaking transmitted to his fingertips.
"Ugh... khak."
Thud.
As the knight fell with a clatter, Brans rushed in and stabbed him several more times to confirm the kill before finally letting out a relieved sigh.
"Hah, hahh..."
"Are you alright? This bastard is completely dead!"
"I-I'm fine. If it weren't for Brans, I would have died too."
Allen wiped the bloody tears from his eyes and opened them with a grimace.
His vision gradually returned.
He saw Brans' hand and grasped it.
He had slumped to the ground at some point.
"Where is the Lord, sir?"
As Brans helped him up and asked, Allen shook his head.
"I'm not sure either. He said he was going to find the Queen, so I expect he went to the audience chamber."
"Then there's no need to worry particularly..."
It was then.
Even the troops engaged in fierce combat within the castle froze in their tracks all at once.
Before the frozen Allen could do anything, Brans practically tackled him and dragged him to the side.
At that very instant.
—Kuaaaaaaaaaah!
Crash!
A four-legged monster that had shattered the castle gate roared.
"The, the mad one! The mad one has come! Uwaaaah!"
Leaping on all fours, it began swinging its sword like a beast, tearing apart everything in sight.
Everyone opened the way in fear, and it headed straight for the top of the castle, cutting down everything in its path.
Boom! Crash! Craaash!
Carpe's mad one vanished in an instant.
Hundreds died in an instant, ally and enemy alike, from the mad prince's rampage.
"That wasn't human..."
"It even had a tail, what is that?"
"Well..."
But where he headed was none other than the King's audience chamber.
Where Kalias was.
"I'm not sure if Lord Kalias will be alright."
"No need to worry about the Lord. Let's worry about ourselves first."
The war wasn't over yet.
Besides.
"The Lord is strong, sir."
* * *
Whirl, thud.
The Ghost Spear retrieved his spear shaft and let out a sigh. His face, which had been filled with anticipation, was now etched with irritation.
"Hey, Viktor. Why don't you fight me properly already. The Queen dies either way."
"That will never happen."
The Ghost Spear scratched the back of his head.
It was an expression of frustration.
"We're going to kill the Queen and turn her into a symbolic spear. Of course, the prince too. They told us to bring about Carpe's destruction, the Queen, and the mad one's body."
"..."
"You know it too."
"I am the Kingdom's Guardian Sword. I can never turn from my path."
"Who said anything about turning? I'm telling you to fight me properly. You frustrating bastard."
The Ghost Spear rested his spear on his shoulder and glanced around.
He caught a glimpse of where the Queen was in the distance.
"The Archbishop is almost done."
"Carpe is not weak."
Hadn't they called him Zervan's ruffian?
Viktor felt a great burden lifted by the sudden intervention of the swordsman.
His purpose was, after all, the Queen's protection.
Just keeping the Imperial Master in front of him occupied would be enough.
But the Empire's vicious schemes didn't end there.
"Sure, but that precious son Carpe raised is coming to kill everyone, isn't he?"
"...!"
"Wasn't it the Archbishop who gave the prince that sword in the first place? I heard he had already driven him into a frenzy before the operation even began. If you just keep stalling like this, everyone will die miserably."
So.
Fight me properly.
Craaash—!
"!!"
An enormous slash.
A portion of the holy domain was attacked and torn apart.
At the destructive power of the thunderous slash, even Viktor, the Guardian Sword, furrowed his brows.
"Phew~ That's one crazy slash. Is that Carpe's famous Mad Dragon Knight? The knight protecting the Queen is done for."
The Ghost Spear, who had brought his hand to his forehead, twitched his mouth.
But then his brow furrowed.
"What, they dodged it."
The knight protecting the Queen was alive and well.
Though he clearly showed bewilderment at the sudden attack, he was breathing and his limbs were intact.
Even for a Master, that slash was a beast-like attack that was difficult to dodge.
To dodge that...
'This is getting troublesome. No wonder the Archbishop is losing.'
Then he couldn't provoke Viktor.
Just as he was wondering if he should help the Mad Dragon Knight—
"A flag?"
The Queen's knight suddenly pulled out a large flag from somewhere.
An ominous divine power.
The Queen's knight drove the flag, bearing the symbol of Valtherus, into the ground.
Thwack!
At the same time.
"This disturbance...!"
"The holy domain...!"
Suddenly, the energy of the holy domain spread outward.
Whooooooo—!!
Sand and dust swirled out from the Queen's knight like a storm.
And when they opened their eyes.
Goooooo—!
"Ugh!"
"Hmm!"
A pressure heavy enough to make movement difficult pressed down across the area.
* * *
When the maddened prince barged in, Kalias acted swiftly.
"Ghk...!"
He immediately drove his sword into the neck of Alhamtra, who was already on his knees, and having already lost all his strength, he couldn't resist.
【Spy of the Empire】
◆ Kill the Empire's spy and save the Kingdom that has entered the path of ruin.
◆ Spies killed: 18/18
[You acquire the Lord's Banner.]
As the quest was completed, the sensation of a long shaft settled in his empty hand.
Gripping the flagpole, he infused it with divine power and drove it straight into the ground.
Thwack!
There was no time to lose.
The creature was a beast that couldn't be reasoned with.
No different from a dragon.
"Damn it."
Was it because he had dodged the sword strike?
The mad one had completely recognized him as an enemy. Until he died, he would try to cut him down with that sword.
The sword gripped in one hand was less than a span in width but quite long in length.
It was a claymore-type sword, with a pattern like dragon scales formed on the blade, appearing as if it would burst into flames.
Long ago.
The mad dragon that had attacked Carpe.
A sword made from Varamut.
The Mad Dragon Sword Varamut.
"Brother...!!"
The Queen tried to approach.
I held out my hand to stop her.
"He is my brother! I can stop him. Even if he's become like that, he would still listen to my voice...!"
"Not now."
The one who caught the mad dragon.
Shall become the mad dragon.
The prince, forgetting such precedents and coveting power, had become a mad dragon.
But he hadn't forgotten his sister's voice, and when he thirsted for blood, it softened him.
'Not now.'
The madness of the mad dragon is overflowing, compounded by the thick energy of a true demon.
Right now, he's in a state of frenzy.
The Queen's voice won't reach him.
Even if the Archbishop died, in the end, the Queen was fated to die at her brother's hands.
I have no choice but to stop him.
"Lord Chloe is currently being eroded by demonic energy. He's in a frenzied state, compounded by the madness of the mad dragon."
"Then...!"
"Unless the Guardian Sword or other Masters come to help."
As things stood, there was no way.
The Guardian Sword was busy dealing with the Ghost Spear, and the other Masters would be occupied fighting the Empire's spearmen.
"Huu..."
The current Mad Dragon Knight's strength was on par with a Master.
It was far beyond a level I could dare to face.
Originally, the Imperial invasion should have come years later, but with everything happening so fast, there was nothing to be done.
The Sword's Pilgrim was originally set to a high difficulty.
The reason was simple.
Because swords were the most popular.
If it had been the Empire or the Principality instead of Carpe, he wouldn't have suffered like this. But what could be done.
It was not something he could decide, and it had already happened.
Thwack.
After driving the Lord's Banner into the ground, Kalias immediately drew his sword.
What he drew was the Conqueror's Sword—Karaktu.
It was a shame, but to face the mad dragon, this was the price he had to pay.
Thump—!
The Conqueror's Sword pulsed.
Like a heartbeat, the sand and dust quickly scattered outward like ripples.
Whooooooo—!!
A storm swirled.
Kalias' eyes turned silver and his hair rose strand by strand.
"Kneel. This is my holy domain."
Gooooooooo—!!
Craaaaaaaaaash!!
In an instant, a powerful gravity field spread as if the entire area had turned black.
"Grrrk!"
It wasn't just a slight flinch.
The holy domain unfolded through the Lord's Banner.
The Conqueror's Sword—Karaktu.
A gravity holy domain truly befitting the name Conqueror.
Kalias walked slowly, the Conqueror's Sword in hand.
Endlessly light footsteps.
But that applied only to himself.
In the holy domain he unfolded.
All shall kneel.
That was no different even for one approaching the level of a Master.
'There isn't much time.'
The Conqueror's Sword had already begun to crack.
He was forcibly raising the rank of his spirit through the Lord's Banner.
The sword's destruction was unavoidable.
So before that.
'I'll end this.'
Kalias immediately pulled out holy stones and a reverse scale from his coat.
Two holy stones.
One reverse scale.
Along with those, he took out a magic crystal and held it in one hand.
Crack!
With the sound, the holy stones and magic crystal shattered, and the reverse scale transformed into a small orb.
Without hesitation, Kalias swallowed it and raised his sword.
"Be crushed."
Goooooooooooo!
Crunch!!
The mad dragon's knees buckled.