Chapter 648

– KWAOOOOOOH!

The pillar of flames that erupted, burning the remains of the barrier covered in blood and flesh. The heat was so intense that even the clouds disappeared, unable to withstand the scorching blaze.

Everyone on the battlefield saw it.

“…A pillar of fire?”

Frederick, who had exhausted his Power of Feats and retreated to the rear.

‘Why is a pillar of fire reaching the sky…? Wasn’t the plan to trap Or-han in a fiery hell?’

‘Is this the sorcery of that traitorous woman?!’

Joshua and Ibamai, who had been causing localized natural disasters while tearing up the ground beneath the barrier.

‘Flames from underground…? Could it be…?!’

And Glar, who was pressuring Heinrich while avoiding the pillars of light summoned by the battle priests.

‘This is dangerous. If they’ve been fighting in the flames all this time, they must be nearing their limit…!’

Glar’s expression hardened.

He knew. He knew the limits of the Indestructible Body that Or-han had told him about.

The weakness that, while enduring continuous attacks like fire or arrows, the Indestructible Body couldn’t be maintained, requiring several times the usual energy!

‘So this was the Empire’s plan all along, to bring down the barrier!’

The moment he saw the pillar of fire rising from underground, Glar realized the trap the Empire had set. And realizing it, he couldn’t help but panic.

He didn’t know what kind of sorcery could make such a thing possible, but they had unleashed a fiery hell in the sealed underground space!

“IBAMAAAAIIII—!!”

Glar roared like a lion who had lost its cub, pointing toward the pillar of fire where their Kagan was trapped.

“Go! Become Kagan’s shield! You can do it!”

It was infuriating, but Glar himself couldn’t even get close to that pillar of fire.

Fire was his natural enemy. Unlike Ibamai, who could create ice with the power of Conceptual Manifestation, Glar’s Reversal Body couldn’t block flames.

If it were the enemy’s swords or spears, he could simply reflect them back, but how could he reflect something as intangible as fire and heat?

At least for now, it was impossible.

“Kagan-sama—!”

Ibamai, without hesitation, unleashed his Frozen Hell technique to momentarily push Joshua back, then immediately leaped toward the pillar of fire.

There was no hesitation. If Glar was this desperate, it meant Kagan was in danger, and Ibamai was the only warrior who could withstand the heat and reach him.

“Showing your back to me? How reckless!”

Joshua immediately activated his Heroic Tale, the Giant Hunting Sword, and swung it toward Ibamai’s back.

Ibamai had prepared for Joshua’s attack by covering his back with a wall of ice, but it wasn’t enough to block such a strike.

– KWAAK!

The slash of the giant sword, spanning dozens of meters, swept past Ibamai’s knees. The War Chief’s legs were instantly reduced to a spray of blood.

“Grrrrr…!”

Ibamai gritted his teeth so hard they nearly shattered, and with a forceful push of his body, he threw himself into the hole left by the disappearing pillar of fire.

The ice covering his body evaporated in the residual heat, creating a fountain of steam.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Joshua, chasing after him, swung his sword to cut Ibamai down just as he was about to jump into the hole.

“Don’t interfere!”

But Glar, rushing in like a madman, blocked the attack with his body, forcing Joshua to abandon his strike. If the Giant Hunting Sword were reflected, Joshua’s own Heroic Tale would be split in two.

A few seconds later, Ibamai burst out of the hole leading underground, carrying Or-han, who had lost his left arm. His face was twisted in shock.

Ibamai had sensed that Or-han was in danger, but he never imagined that Or-han, who hadn’t even exhausted his strength, would lose an arm.

The destruction of the Indestructible Body, the absolute defense of Conceptual Manifestation.

The mental shock Ibamai felt was comparable to that of a priest who had lost their god. The fact that Or-han was now naked, without even a fur hide, didn’t even register in his mind.

“Glar! Kagan-sama is injured! The traitor is unharmed!”

Ibamai, carrying Or-han, shouted urgently toward Glar, who was single-handedly holding off the Sword of Landenburg.

“Injured?!”

Glar’s gaze, meeting Ibamai’s, shifted to where Or-han’s left arm had been.

‘The Indestructible Body…!’

His pupils shook. Glar felt the same shock as Ibamai—no, even greater shock.

Horror, rage, murderous intent.

“How dare you…!!”

His spine turned cold as ice, while his heart burned as if on fire. It felt like sparks were flying in his head. The dao in his hand trembled violently.

But if he let his emotions take over and went berserk now, the situation would only worsen. At this very moment, the traitor Ha-shar-leur was crawling out of the underground pit, ready to complete his heinous act.

“Damn it…! Ibamai! Escort Kagan-sama and retreat! It’s time to fall back!”

In the end, Glar barely managed to suppress his murderous rage and the urge to rush to his Kagan, ordering Ibamai to retreat with the warriors.

“Retreat? But I can still…!”

Or-han tried to say he could still fight, but Glar didn’t even let him finish, shaking his head.

“You’re in no condition! For the sake of the next battle, we must retreat now! If Kagan-sama falls, Ai-shan is finished!”

With Kagan Or-han injured and exhausted, this battle was their defeat. At least, that’s how Glar saw it. To him, nothing was more important than Or-han’s life.

“Glar…!”

Or-han couldn’t find the words to argue. He knew that if they continued fighting like this, he would likely exhaust himself and die, and Ai-shan would inevitably fracture from internal division.

“Ibamai! What are you doing? Escort Kagan-sama! If you don’t have legs, crawl if you have to!”

Ibamai clenched his jaw, nodded, and began dragging Or-han’s body toward their camp, creating an icy path to slide across like a sled.

“Let go of me, Ibamai! We have to help Glar…!”

“I can’t let go!”

Or-han tried to shake off Ibamai, who was tightly gripping his body, but he was too exhausted to break free.

And so, the two wounded warriors quickly distanced themselves from the barrier.

“Let them go, you think?!”

Joshua, Heinrich, Hayden, Nigel, and countless other knights tried to block Or-han’s escape. The giant sword split the earth, earthquakes shook the icy path, and the Lightning Spear targeted Ibamai’s back.

But,

“You won’t lay a finger on Kagan-sama, you cursed westerners!”

Glar single-handedly blocked all their attacks.

Using Reversal Body to stop Joshua and Hayden’s slashes, his dao tore through the earth to neutralize Heinrich’s Heroic Tale, and he simply endured the lightning wrapped around Nigel’s spear.

“Grrrr…!”

Glar gritted his teeth against the searing pain of the lightning strike. Thanks to his desperate efforts, the Sword of Landenburg failed to stop Or-han’s escape.

“Did we let them get away…!”

Ludwig, watching from the command headquarters, let out a deep sigh, but there was nothing he could do now that they had escaped.

The only force capable of pursuing the exhausted Or-han and Ibamai was completely tied up by Glar.

‘This is bad. If we’ve lost Or-han, the barrier is meaningless now. So, we must reduce the enemy’s numbers as much as possible…!’

Ludwig furrowed his brow deeply as he surveyed the battlefield.

The sole purpose of this battle had been to capture Or-han, even if it meant resorting to extreme measures like collapsing the barrier.

And now that it had failed, no matter how many enemy soldiers they killed, they couldn’t call this a victory. The ‘next battle’ that Ludwig had tried so hard to avoid was about to begin.

The war he had tried to stop, even by destroying the barrier.

Anticipating what was to come, Ludwig let out a sigh that seemed to extinguish his spirit.

– WHOOSH!

It was right after that that Ha-shar-leur burst out in a crimson blaze.

======[ Ha-shar-leur ]======

Damn it, they got away.

I bit my lip in frustration as I glared at the horizon. Beyond the shimmering flames and heat, the evaporating Blood Fog, I caught glimpses of Or-han’s retreating figure.

It was infuriating, but the distance between us was already too great to catch up. They were fleeing so desperately that even a Cascador at full speed wouldn’t be able to catch them.

Unless my legs were intact or I had enough Life Force Technique left to fly, pursuing them in my current state was impossible.

…I’ll have to give up on chasing Or-han.

In that case, I’ll have to reduce the numbers of the remaining Ka`har as much as possible. Starting with those who would become a serious threat if left alone.

“All troops, return to camp! We’ve achieved enough, it’s time to retreat!”

For example, that War Chief who was holding off two heroes, two masters, and a group of battle priests all by himself while shouting retreat orders.

– Twitch.

…First, I need to receive the Healing Miracle.

Even if the Healing Miracle won’t instantly repair my shattered leg bones, at least I won’t be limping around like this.

On the blood-soaked hill, likely a remnant of the World of Mortality, I immediately turned to head toward the rear command.

– Splash.

The moment I took a step down the hill, as if descending stairs, I caught sight of the flesh swaying below my collarbone.

Ah.

Come to think of it, all my clothes were burned off…!

Feeling my cheeks flush, I quickly looked around.

The flames and steam were somewhat covering my body, but judging by the dazed expressions of the soldiers peeking through the flickering fire, it wasn’t enough.

…My face grew even hotter.

“Kenaz!”

I hurriedly covered my chest with my left arm and amplified the flames of the rune to create a wall of fire, hiding myself from view.

And in that time, I searched for the least damaged clothing among the blood-soaked battlefield to wear.

Whew. If it weren’t for the Rune of Fire, I would’ve been utterly humiliated.

“Was that woman just now… Medean-sama?”

“Did I see wrong? Wasn’t she… naked?”

…Seems like I was already humiliated.