Chapter 18

Chapter 18

#18. Enemies of the North (3)

My firepower and the knights’ sword qi warmed the cold ash-gray ground.

Even with numerical inferiority, our skills were a hundred years ahead in magic and even a hundred years later unmatched in swordsmanship, balancing the scales perfectly.

KWAH-AHNG!

SHHH-GEKK! PAH-AHHT!

KOOOORRR-OHHH!

KYAAAH-AHHHCK-

“Insane monster-like bastards!”

“Weren’t they supposed to have drained their strength from weapons to stamina over the last two months?!”

Finally, cries of shocked disbelief replaced screams.

The rampaging monsters had drastically decreased in number.

And proportionally, the twenty estimated Imperial agents and ten estimated Demon Den Dark Wizards had dwindled to less than half.

Victory was tilting towards our side.

“HUH… HUH… PHW!”

Of course, Ariana and the knights weren’t invincible either; their physical exhaustion was clearly visible.

“Hey there, Professor Arad.”

Then, at that moment.

A knight named Doyle—whether it was an alias or real name, no one knew—suddenly called out to me. He belonged to Frosthaven.

“How many arrows are left? The ones that unleash magic when fired, I mean?”

“Five shots remain.”

Without any suspicion, I replied to his question.

While doing so, I immediately fired one towards a large monster approaching us.

GURK-DURRK!!

This arrow was a mix of ice, wind, and water attribute magic stones into a magic stone bullet.

KOOOOORR-OHHH…

In an instant, from its waist to the middle of its neck, the Hydra was encased in ice.

Due to its tough skin, muscles, and bones, complete freezing was impossible, but it was enough to temporarily incapacitate it for battle.

“This is easier than eating cold porridge! HAAAAP!”

Taking advantage of this opening, another High Knight of Lenslet, Knight Karot, slashed through the slowed Hydra’s necks with his sword.

“Now we’re down to four shots.”

After reloading the next magic stone bullet following the shot, I informed Doyle.

“Is that so? We need to hurry then.”

Upon hearing my words, Doyle nodded and suddenly headed towards where Ariana was.

“…?”

The retreating back of Sir Doyle, who had been protecting me and then suddenly left.

‘Does he think this side is calming down enough to go offer support?’

While glancing at Sir Doyle’s departing figure, I refocused on the battle.

One shot, another shot, yet another shot, and once more…

Before long, the undead monsters, along with the dark wizards, were wiped out, and the number of Sigma knights and magicians belonging to the Empire had also significantly decreased.

Now, the enemies were countable on one hand.

Six knights presumed to be knights and one mage who seemed to be the leader of this group.

These seven were surrounded by the knights of the High City.

“Knight Irina! Sir Dominic! I’ve run out of arrows!”

I promptly informed Duke Ariana and Valkyrie about the lack of further firepower support.

“Understood!”

“That was truly a great help! Truly!”

At my shout, Ariana and Valkyrie smiled slightly and nodded.

Perhaps because they saw my sincerity while fighting together, much of the suspicion and wariness on their faces from earlier had disappeared.

‘But why do these guys seem so calm?’

Still, an indescribable unease lingered.

The final seven members of the Empire’s Sigma team appeared strangely composed despite their mission being completely failed.

“…”

They silently stared at Duke Ariana with incomprehensible gazes.

And then, simultaneously.

WHOOSH-!

An unbelievable scene unfolded right before us.

Sir Doyle, who had been quietly fighting back-to-back with Duke Ariana, suddenly turned around and drove his sword into Ariana’s abdomen.

“!!”

“!!”

Duke Ariana, Valkyrie, the other surrounding knights, and even me watching from the carriage—none of us could find words to continue speaking due to the surreal situation.

If Ariana had been in normal condition, she might have blocked Doyle’s surprise attack.

But Ariana had exhausted her stamina and spirit inside the barrier.

No matter how much I had helped repair her equipment and prepare stew for her, she was far from fully recovered.

And above all, the infinite trust placed in someone too trusted—or rather, someone not wanted to be doubted—allowed Ariana to fall victim to a fatal ambush.

“KEH-HUK…!”

With blood spilling from her mouth, Ariana collapsed onto the ground, her abdomen pierced.

“NOOOOOO!!”

Valkyrie let out a cry filled with despair.

“Why… Why…?”

Sitting on the ground, Ariana looked back at her once loyal knight with eyes full of disbelief.

“IIINNNGGGHHH!!”

Valkyrie hurled the handaxe at Doyle from her waist.

Though weakened by fatigue, even an average knight would find it hard to dodge the speed of the old knight’s throw.

CLANG-

But traitor Doyle deflected the axe with the sword he’d retrieved after stabbing Ariana.

SWISH SWISH SWISH

As if the signs of fatigue until now had all been an act,

Doyle nimbly leaped high and moved to the Empire’s side with remarkable agility and confidence.

“Traitor!”

“A Frosthaven knight betraying his oath!”

The three other High Knights of Lenslet—Knights Eopte, Karot, and Roji—glared fiercely at Doyle with hatred.

“Tch.”

But Doyle didn’t show any remorse, glaring back at us instead, even spitting on the ground.

“You guys… really are persistent bastards.”

His gaze was filled with relief, irritation, and regret all at once.

“I thought it would be over quickly when you first entered the barrier.”

Doyle pulled out a black marble-sized magical artifact from his coat, something uncharacteristic for a knight, as he spoke.

“But you were just too stubborn. Even though you’re made up of superhuman High Knights, managing to endure nearly two months without proper food supplies… incredible.”

Judging from this, it seems his tricks started from the very moment we entered the barrier.

“Can you imagine how much trouble I went through? You guys had to starve forcibly! No baths either!”

Guiding us to wander aimlessly within the barrier.

Poisoning and killing the elite horses.

All these acts were done using the black orb in Doyle’s hand.

“And finally, it seemed like the end was near…until…”

His gaze swept over me and the golden carriage.

“In the cursed realm of magic itself, loaded with provisions?! What a joke!”

His expression was one of bafflement and disbelief even now.

“Not to mention shooting those absurd magic arrows! His Majesty the Duke must have been secretly developing some kind of secret weapon. Of course, none of it matters anymore now.”

His gaze finally settled on the Northern Duke lying in a pool of blood.

“Pouring potions all day won’t change anything.”

By Ariana’s side, an elderly knight knelt, examining his liege.

“Please… Please…!”

Valkyrie was frantically pouring every potion he had on Ariana’s severely wounded abdomen in preparation for the worst.

The tide of battle was shifting again.

What had initially been overwhelmingly favorable for Lenslet was now turning into a stalemate or even disadvantage.

A grim and oppressive atmosphere emanated from the Lenslet side. In contrast, joy and arrogance radiated from the opposing side like stars shining brightly.

On the silver-magic-covered battlefield, two distinct emotions were clashing.

“What happened to the other Frosthaven scouts you went on reconnaissance with? Was their disappearance also part of your betrayal?”

Instead of Valkyrie, who was busy treating the duke, another High Knight, Eopte, questioned Doyle.

Incidentally, only Ariana and Valkyrie used aliases.

“Do you mean the Frosthaven knights who were in my team? Hmm? Who knows where they are? Sir Eopte.”

“Don’t let my name come out of your filthy mouth. It makes me sick.”

“Whoa~ I’ll keep that in mind. All the members ended up inside the bellies of monsters. By now, they’ve probably become bones and flesh floating in the cursed realm.”

“…Thankfully, at least you were the only one who betrayed us. That’s fortunate.”

“Exactly, incredibly fortunate. Thanks to that, I get to claim all the rewards myself.”

“Why did you betray us? Did His Majesty make a decision that upset you?”

“The entire north! I hate this damn frozen land! Always hungry, nothing satisfying here. This accursed place disgusts me!”

“If you hated the north so much, why didn’t you just leave? Why go this far?”

“Would you have let someone deeply embedded in Frosthaven just walk away peacefully? Really? After taking the knight’s oath? At best, they’d cripple my dantian or chop off an arm.”

“But the Empire is different! They promised an amazing reward if I cooperated in this operation—a warm and prosperous land for a whole year, along with a baron title that can be inherited!”

‘Both Earth and the North are pretty similar when money’s involved, huh.’

Listening to the conversation between traitor Doyle and our side’s knight Eopte, I recalled the memories from Era of Silver 1.

‘Still… There’s no information about this guy named Doyle anywhere?’

Even though he betrayed the duke and sold out the north, there should have been some records left behind, but nothing came to mind.

Even assuming he took on a new name and identity, it was odd.

‘The Empire’s promise was likely false.’

I inwardly sighed and sneaked into the golden carriage.

Once prepared, I exited the carriage and approached the fallen duke and the elderly knight tending to him.

“Damn it… The potions…!”

With his white hair and beard disheveled, Valkyrie was examining the duke.

Despite using all his potions, the duke’s injuries wouldn’t heal.

They merely extended his life by a few hours.

“HACK… KEH… KEH…”

Lying there, coughing up blood, the duke’s condition was obviously dire.

“May I take a look?”

I carefully asked the injured duke and the elderly knight.

“!”

Hearing my voice, Valkyrie hesitated for a moment before slowly raising his head to look at me.

“I’ve learned some healing techniques.”

Valkyrie alternated his gaze between me and the golden carriage behind me.

“Please! I beg you! Save His Majesty!”

THUD!

He eventually bowed his head to the ground in supplication.

His voice was filled with a knight’s tears.

‘It seems there’s no point hiding anymore. Anyway, that guy Doyle already revealed the duke’s true identity.’

Ironically, until just now, I was supposed to be unaware of the identities of the high knights and the duke present here. Officially, at least.

“So you are indeed His Grace the Duke. Then, the real identity of Old Knight Dominic must be Frostblade Valkyrie of the North?”

“Yes… Sorry for deceiving you until now.”

“It’s fine. May I examine His Majesty’s condition? Could you step aside for a moment?”

“Of course!”

With permission granted, checking His condition was the top priority.

‘Very bad.’

Unsurprisingly, the condition of Lady Ariana, Duchess of the North, was critical.

It was only thanks to the abundant use of potions that she was holding on this long.

Without them, she would have died much earlier.

‘I can’t save her with just the medicinal herbs and treatment tools I currently have.’

The diagnosis results were extremely pessimistic.

Moreover, our current location was deep within the barren Magic Realm, where everything was scarce.

“Is there any chance of saving her?”

Valkyrie’s cautious voice came from the side.

“Hmm…”

I exhaled and opened my mouth.

“Possible.”

Although the duke’s condition was severe and the current situation wasn’t good, I didn’t think it was impossible.

“Ho-how?!?”

When I gave a positive answer, Valkyrie’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Cough… Cough… Can… be saved…?”

Even Ariana, still conscious, asked with a breathless voice.

“Yes, not only her life, but she will wield her sword again.”

“…”

Tears welled up in Ariana’s eyes upon hearing those words.

She must have mentally prepared herself.

Her dantian was completely shattered.

Even if her life was saved, she believed she would never wield a sword again.

“However, I need you to retrieve what I’m about to say.”

“I’ll swear! I’ll risk my life to bring it back!”

Valkyrie swore with the eyes of a fanatic.

He firmly believed my statement that both the duke’s life and dantian could be restored.

From Arad salt to the golden carriage and magic stone bullets,

The words coming out of my mouth sounded nothing like a snake oil salesman’s exaggeration.

“Sigma mages likely carry the highest-grade potions used by the Imperial Royal Knights.”

Looking at the enemies we were facing off against, I said.

“Also, the Black Wizards mobilized for such operations must possess various rare and inhumane medicinal herbs.”

“I see.”

Valkyrie immediately understood.

“Bring everything back, everything!”

SWOOSH-!

Before my words even finished, the old knight vanished from sight.

SHHH-GEKK!

PAH-AHHT!

A frosty wind blew across the silvery snowfield.

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