Chapter 146

Before the whisperer could even notice something, it had already arrived.

There was no time to defend with other monsters.

The flash fired from the wall took less than two seconds to cross hundreds of meters.

It was like the wrath of heaven descending.

The magical barrier around it couldn’t even last a moment.

The monster’s body touched by the spear tip scattered like dust.

A moment later, a thunderous sound echoed.

The following shock tore apart the remaining debris once more.

And then, the explosive device left by Asha reacted.

The remaining five hundred bullets.

All the gunpowder inside exploded at once.

– BOOM!

A deafening explosion that shook the earth.

The force of the spear throw combined with the explosion’s power, sweeping the monsters with thousands of metal fragments.

The spear shaft, now just a skeleton, pierced and overturned the ground.

It was like a small tidal wave crashing.

A wave of dirt, rocks, flames, and metal fragments surged.

The vanguard of the reinforcements was completely wiped out.

When the high-rising dust settled, only a huge crater remained, everything torn apart.

—-

I was sprawled on the wall, gasping for breath.

The floor I stood on was shattered by the spear’s impact.

If Asha hadn’t caught me, I would have fallen back into the castle.

My whole body felt like soaked cotton, even breathing was exhausting.

My startled heart pounded violently, and my trembling right arm ached as if it would break.

“Ha-shal-leur, are you okay?”

“Cough… Huh… Yeah, I’m fine, I can handle it.”

I barely lifted my head to look at the destruction I had caused.

A huge crater. A dust cloud rising, swallowing nearly half the enemies.

Three hundred monsters were annihilated at once.

So shocked, everyone stopped fighting and silently stared at the scene.

Not just people, but even the monsters.

Even I couldn’t believe what I had done.

It wasn’t just my strength, Asha and Lacey helped too.

“…An unbelievable power. Like the legendary hero’s strike.”

Lacey murmured in admiration.

“Indeed, the power rivals that of a tank’s main gun… Ha-shal-leur, honestly, are you even human?”

Asha, holding onto me, also laughed in disbelief.

Well, my parents are human, so I guess I am too.

But I’m more concerned that you guys are rolling tanks.

For a while after that, I sat slumped on the wall, recovering my strength with Lacey’s help.

Below, the monsters and the high-spirited soldiers had resumed the battle.

Asha, who had lost all her weapons, was swinging a dead knight’s greatsword wildly.

It took thirty minutes for my body to recover.

I immediately went down to join the defense line.

Passing through the awestruck gazes, back to the battlefield.

The longsword I drew shone like the sky.

—-

The enemies were still numerous, but the soldiers’ morale was high.

After all, there was a knight who had wiped out hundreds with a single strike.

Though it was a trick I couldn’t repeat.

I ran around the defense line, slaughtering every monster in sight.

Lacey’s blessings instantly healed minor wounds and even neutralized the Ice Blade’s curse.

A crimson vortex pulsed around my body.

Endless vitality flowed from the sword in my hand.

The glowing blue blade danced without rest.

A brilliant golden light trailed like an afterimage.

A body imbued with Life Force. A sword of oath filled with feats.

It felt like I could defeat anyone.

Each strike was more like a cannon’s blast than a human’s attack.

Rotting soldiers burst like fountains of blood at the slightest touch.

The tangled remains of tentacles flew slowly.

I dodged by turning my head and rolled my foot towards the monster’s body.

The following slash shattered the monster’s body.

Leaping over the cascading debris, forward.

“Groooar!”

The Grave Devourer roared.

A monster that would take three masters to handle easily.

Yes, just three.

I focused all my senses solely on it.

Heightened senses concentrated, the surroundings darkened, and the battlefield’s noise faded.

In this closed world, only the monster and I existed.

A foreleg larger than me approached, dripping black magical energy.

Raising sharp claws that could tear me apart with a mere touch.

“Haaaaah!”

I roared with rising fighting spirit, raising my sword towards it.

My right wrist radiated heat.

A blue arc and black whirlwind intertwined and danced.

Five minutes of fierce battle that overturned heaven and earth.

When my vision returned, only a corpse, sliced into hundreds of pieces, remained.

—-

The defense line of the collapsed wall held firm, thanks to me.

Until then.

The problem came not from here, but from the opposite wall.

– Rumble…

A faint vibration underfoot. My heated senses from the fierce battle fiercely warned.

Something was wriggling underground, rushing towards the opposite wall.

Damn it, I thought we had exterminated all the bone snakes!

“It’s the bone snake! West! Get away from the wall!!”

I urgently shouted a warning… but in the midst of the urgent battlefield, covered in noise, how many heard my cry?

“Prince Frederick! Withdraw the troops!”

“Shio!”

It took 3 seconds for my shout to reach the center.

It took 4 seconds for Leopold, who understood the meaning, to raise his voice and shout.

It took an additional 4 seconds for the prince’s voice to reach the west.

Before Frederick could take any action, the skeletal serpent that had arrived at the western wall began to overturn the ground.

“Everyone, retreat! Move quickly…! Oh no, too late…!”

Frederick, who was trying to control the troops, seemed to sense the signs of collapse and gave up, jumping off the wall.

Even for a master, it was a height that would kill upon falling, but as expected of a knight commander. He skillfully slowed his descent by scraping the wall with his halberd.

By the time he was about two-thirds down, the wall finally began to collapse into the ground.

With a loud noise, the wall cracked and fell apart.

The soldiers standing above screamed as they fell.

Frederick, who had kicked the wall with all his might to avoid the falling rocks, tumbled violently into the courtyard.

Miraculously, he survived, but his limbs were bent at odd angles from the impact.

Several priests rushed towards him.

Unfortunately, the others were not as skilled as Frederick.

Once again, countless people were crushed under the rocks.

The half-destroyed skeletal serpent emerged from the shattered debris.

With a longsword stuck in its head.

Had Gerard failed to finish it off?

“So this was why you were buying time…! Lord Richard! Lord Ludwig! We must block the west!”

Leopold, grinding his teeth, pointed his sword towards the west.

Beyond the writhing skeletal serpent, the monsters that had finally found an entrance were pouring in.

“Holy Legion! The time has come to offer our faith to Elpinel!”

The Holy Legion, lying wounded, and the paladins guarding the north all turned towards the west.

“Show the spirit of Randenburg! Hayden! Nigel!”

At the command of Marquis Ludwig, twenty eastern knights and two masters charged towards the skeletal serpent.

—

What followed was an endless war of attrition.

From the east and west, the commanders rushed in like mad.

Whip-like tentacles shattered the shield wall of the Holy Legion, while the swords of the advancing paladins severed the limbs of the monsters.

Rotting soldiers, riddled with spears, crawled over the shields and thrust their rusty spears.

A soldier, pierced through the head, trembled and fell, while another soldier’s sword cut off a monster’s arm.

Finally, the monsters that had climbed the southern wall engaged in fierce combat with the knights.

The blessings of the priests covered the knights, but they couldn’t save those who fell.

Floheta, who had used her last high-level magic to defeat the Flesh Golem, retreated, sweating coldly.

She said she had no more magic left to cast.

Perhaps she had enough magic left for a flight spell, but no one could question her in this situation.

Frederick, barely recovered, helped Hayden and Nigel deal with the skeletal serpent.

Richard and Bels, two paladins, stood against the Grave Devourer that was breaking through the formation.

The battle continued endlessly.

As if it wouldn’t stop until one side was annihilated.

The number of monsters decreased rapidly.

But the number of people decreased even faster.

Four hours of bloody combat.

The blessings of the priests were reaching their limits.

They gave up on healing and strengthening, barely maintaining the effects that harmed the monsters.

There were about a thousand monsters left, but most of the soldiers were exhausted.

The number of knights had significantly decreased, and even the masters had little strength left.

“Elpinel…! Like the constellations illuminating the heavens, guide these people on their path…!”

Lacey’s prayer.

Her voice was hoarse. Having invoked large-scale miracles several times, she too was exhausted.

The final holy light filled the interior of the fortress.

The remaining people squeezed out their last strength.

Once this blessing faded, everything would be over.

It meant the only means to fight the monsters would be gone.

Though such thoughts didn’t even cross my mind at that moment.

The four-hour battle was a fierce fight that drained almost all my strength.

But my limbs still moved, and though the brilliant blue light had dimmed, the raised blade was still sharp.

I swung my sword.

Stopping even to think, just endlessly.

Towards every enemy in sight.

Even if everyone else was exhausted, I could still fight.

Even after exhausting all the power of the curse… this body still surpassed human strength.

—

I fought for another hour after that.

How many did I kill, how many died.

My arms no longer moved.

Most of the people and monsters had died, and only hills of corpses filled the world.

In the distance, the sound of fierce hooves echoed.

Through my blurry vision, I saw an army rushing towards us.

Probably… the reinforcements Ernst had sent.

They’re only arriving now. Quite late.

Leaning on Durandal, which I had plunged into the ground, I smiled faintly and looked at them.