Chapter 178
There are stars in the sky.
Stars and moons hold their places regardless of day or night.
Yet we often dismiss them as things visible only at night.
It is merely that the sun is too bright for us to see them.
People frequently forget this.
"……"
Night fell upon the North.
A vicious, piercing deep night.
The stars shining in that night sometimes faded away, and sometimes twinkled endlessly.
But regrettably, the star that fades burns brightest just before its end.
So brilliantly one cannot even open their eyes.
'You rogue.'
Old memories suddenly surfaced in his closed mind.
Five years ago.
When he was still thirsting for knowledge.
Bernard had suddenly spoken those words.
'What is it this time.'
'When I die someday, forge me into a sword and use me.'
'I would do so even without you saying it. I shall use you until you break.'
He had simply thought that a sword made from him would surely be useful.
'You wretched bastard. You're ghastly, so leave me in the North and only take me out occasionally. Even in death, I deserve some rest, don't I.'
'Then shall I simply bury you.'
'I refuse that. It's a contract sworn to my god, so I cannot do such a thing.'
But thinking about it now.
'You should have a place to return to. Even if not you. Your roots are right here in the North…… and so shall mine be.'
He had thought about what comes after death.
He had worried about himself being left alone.
"Haa……"
Step by step.
The steps approaching him are heavy.
Nevertheless, his superhuman senses dictate his death ever more precisely, erasing all room for doubt.
"You could have retreated a little. Or you could have fled and fought again later."
Kalias silenced the raucous battlefield.
His appearance alone quieted the battlefield.
He quietly looked down at Bernard.
"Why do you die with such a satisfied face?"
I still have much to learn.
If he departs this early, who will teach him?
Who will reprimand him?
'As expected, it won't do.'
Kalias, who had drawn the Iron Lord, sheathed it again.
He wished to exchange even a few words, but it was impossible.
He does not grieve.
He seems quite satisfied with his own death.
He cannot be raised.
Thus, for his death.
He could only murmur to god.
"Oh god……"
The god he had always cried out to.
Felt strangely unfamiliar today.
* * *
"Uraaaachaaaachaa!"
Boom!!
Aldu smashes a troll's head with a massive hammer.
Serena immediately fires arrows to steal the troll's sight, then lands fire arrows on its wounds to burn it.
And Philo's spear art, gradually achieving unity of offense and defense, forces the troll to its knees.
Thud!
"Got it!"
"Quick, the next one!"
"Ussah!"
Roaming the battlefield in groups of three and hunting only trolls, they fought without rest.
The castle walls were gradually crumbling, and trolls kept appearing.
At first, they struggled.
However, after fighting them a few times, they were becoming increasingly accustomed to the creatures' movements and strength.
Thud-!
"Obarna! Take care of that side!"
"Understood."
"Not that way, the opposite side, you idiot!"
"I am not an idiot!"
Swearing at Obarna heading in the wrong direction again, Philo thrust his spear.
"But where did that Lord of the North suddenly go?"
"You mean the wind manipulator?"
"Yeah! They said he's Kallis's father!"
"I saw him fighting fiercely with someone!"
Squelch! Wiping off the demonic beast's blood, Aldu looked inside the castle gate.
"There are always strong ones besides trolls."
Elberton was fighting fiercely with someone inside the castle.
He didn't know who it was, but they were unlikely to be an easy opponent.
"The situation isn't good."
The Northern army was fighting tenaciously and defending, but they were gradually being pushed back.
Desperation alone cannot fill the gap in numbers.
The trolls on their side were the problem.
Enhanced trolls.
High regenerative abilities.
And with the support of threads and strange humans riding inside them, their momentary judgment was vastly different.
Trolls have been foolish since ancient times, so they heard they should exploit that point, but like this, that became impossible as well.
"So isn't that why Kallis sent us here?"
"What is that guy doing and where?"
Sending them straight to Jaibarsh, what on earth was he doing?
As they poured out complaints and thrust their spears.
Only then did screams of enemies begin to be heard from beyond the front lines.
"He has finally arrived."
From the rear lines of the enemy.
A grey-clad legion in iron armor arrived.
At the forefront of the legion relentlessly sweeping through enemies was a knight emitting a terrifying killing intent.
Kalias was there.
* * *
Clang-!
Thwack! Thud!
Flutter, Elberton leapt out from the collapsing rubble and swung his sword.
Taeng-!
There was one who lightly received his sword.
A bizarre man with all sorts of iron needles embedded in his head and entire body, and threads clearly visible amidst bulging muscles densely packed throughout.
But his briefly visible eyes were grey, and his remaining hair was black.
What that indicated was as follows.
"Killavan-!"
He was Zerban.
The man Elberton had taken in as an adopted son and designated as Zerban's successor.
But a traitor who disappeared during the Orc War.
Killavan von Zerban.
"Is this really all you have, Father."
Dropping both arms and shrugging his shoulders, Elberton knelt on one knee before him. How this came to be could be understood by looking at his appearance.
"You've become a monster."
It was a gaze full of contempt.
Look at that appearance, as if he had given up being human. He bore a form that could hardly be called human anymore.
To be precise, a modified human, perhaps.
Whatever he had done, the iron needles embedded throughout his body and the threads burrowing into his flesh seemed to give him bizarre power.
"Yes. I am a monster!! Do you know how I endured all those years!? You don't know! You couldn't possibly know!"
Clang-! Clang!
Killavan's sword swung toward Elberton.
He was barely blocking, but his wrist grew increasingly stiff and his knee buckled.
Heavy.
His sword was too heavy for him to receive.
Each sword strike felt like a thousand pounds bearing down, making it difficult to receive.
"Living was pain. With my body transformed like this, I endured all experiments under the single desire to become stronger. And finally, I obtained it!!"
He had obtained monstrous power.
"You filthy bastard."
Heheh.
Despite his denunciation, Killavan maintained a grotesque smile.
"How does it feel to kneel before that filthy bastard. The North! Zerban!! It will fall into the hands of this filthy bastard! How is it? Eh?"
Killavan's sword, approaching with eyes wide open, surged like lightning.
Elberton's sword, which tried to block, swirled through the air and planted itself in the ground.
Stab.
Killavan immediately grabbed Elberton's face with one hand and shoved him against the wall.
Thud!
"What is this. Father. With merely this much strength, you commanded Zerban and oppressed the cadet branches? This is…… too insignificant. Eh?!"
Grind.
The sword that pierced his side dug into Elberton's wounds.
Even though it must have been excruciating pain enough to make one faint, Elberton did not let out a single scream.
He merely endured it silently.
"Therefore, you shouldn't have given someone like that the same look you gave me."
"A rogue is better than a monster!"
Boom!!
Kicking Elberton, who was pinned against the wall, the outer wall crumbled.
Crash!
Rolling amidst the destroyed chairs inside the building, Elberton lay spread-eagle on the floor.
Falling glass fragments.
Killavan's voice echoed calmly as he stepped on them.
"Your choices have created this result. Your decisions!! Have brought Zerban down!! Do you know that, Elberton!!"
At Killavan's ringing voice, Elberton did not bother to answer.
This was the oratory inside the castle.
There were likenesses of Valterus everywhere, and sacred sculptures shaped like swords, but now they lay rolling on the floor.
Elberton looked at them and barely raised his upper body to speak.
"Even so, I have no regrets about my choices."
"……Even if Zerban falls?"
"Zerban is simply Zerban. If it falls, we need only raise it again. Zerban serves the North, and the North serves Carpe. That is all."
And.
"There is no rogue in Zerban today."
Elberton's chuckling appearance contorted Killavan's face.
"Carpe's hero is my son. Even if Jaibarsh falls today! If it's my son, he will raise it again! What we have guarded for nearly a thousand years is not mere land, but a knight's conviction!! A sword that has lost its conviction cannot bring down Zerban!! Furthermore, the North!! Do you think it can?! With your pathetic sword, you will never be able to bring it down!!"
At Elberton's shout roaring out, Killavan momentarily stepped back.
But that too was brief.
"Do you think…… something like that can stand against my sword!!"
The moment Killavan was about to swing his sword.
"You expect too much from a rogue, don't you think."
A calm voice suddenly came from behind him.
Startled, he turned around and swung his sword.
Clang-!
It blocked his sword far too easily.
Killavan's face contorted like a vicious demon.
The one who blocked his sword was none other than Kallis.
Storm Sword-Kallis. And the one holding it was none other than Zerban's rightful successor.
"Kalias……!!"
Unlike Killavan who was enraged upon seeing him, Kalias remained composed even seeing him.
The reason was as follows.
"Who are you."
"Kaliaaaasss!!"
Rushing at him, Killavan emitted foul killing intent.
For years, only for Elberton and Kalias.
And Zerban, he had endured all kinds of pain to obtain power.
Killavan's power, erupting explosively, was approaching Master level.
No, for a moment, he had reached Master.
However.
'Flowing Water Transformation.'
Swoosh, Slash-!
Lightly deflecting his sword, the disrupted flow reversed back to its place like a returning current, slicing him in half in an instant.
"N-No way……."
Kalias, looking at Killavan who had been precisely cleaved in half, merely found him wanting.
He then turned his gaze to Elberton.
"You cannot have the Lord of Zerban fall to a mere fellow like this."
"Heheh, I merely held the position until you arrived. With someone like you here, how could I be the lord."
Tsk.
Kalias clicked his tongue and had the knights treat him.
It didn't seem necessary to even use holy water.
"That sword. Its aura feels somehow familiar."
"……"
"Is it Sir Bernard, by any chance."
"……Yes."
"I see."
Elberton smiled bitterly and let out a long breath. After praying for him briefly, Elberton clasped Kalias's hand.
"Kalias. No, Lord."
"Please speak."
"Zerban……"
Rumble-!
With a violently shaking tremor, their gazes turned to the sky.
"Save the North."
In the northern sky, a spirit radiating immense demonic power was positioned.
"Nohitel……"
Where his gaze reached.
The spirit that had guarded Zerban for over a thousand years by contract was trying to destroy everything itself.
"Save my old friend, Zerban's ancient bond……"
At Elberton's request, gripping his hand tightly.
Kalias stood up and turned his back.
In his hand that rose without a word, Kallis and Bernard were held.
With hands clasped with those who seek to protect the North.
Kalias stepped forward once again.