Chapter 241 - Darkmtl
Switch Mode
You can get fewer ads when you log in and remove all ads by subscribing.

Chapter 241

The proclamation rang out loud enough to scatter the clouds.

Ha-shal-leur’s voice definitely reached everyone.

Even Marquis Valenstein, who was commanding the rear of Ernst’s forces.

‘Challenging me to a duel in this situation? Really…? What are you thinking, Or-han’s daughter…?’

Valenstein frowned, puzzled by the enemy’s incomprehensible declaration.

No matter how he thought about it, there was no real benefit to this. If she wanted to crush the morale of the conscripted soldiers, a cavalry charge would have been enough.

‘Does she want to reduce the number of elite knights before the real battle begins?’

That was the only explanation he could think of, but even that didn’t make much sense.

If that were the case, she would have proposed a one-on-one duel. Fighting multiple elite knights alone and losing would be a humiliating death.

‘Could it be that she’s hesitant to attack the conscripted soldiers? …No, that can’t be. She’s not a saint, and Or-han’s child wouldn’t…’

If she were that kind of person, she wouldn’t have carried out that brutal massacre when she surrounded the First Prince’s palace.

“…Marquis Valenstein, what should we do?”

A noble serving as Valenstein’s adjutant cautiously asked.

He also understood that the duel was meaningless, but the taunts from the Carnivorous Beast, Ai-shan Gi-or, were openly mocking Marquis Valenstein… Whether to accept or not was entirely up to the Marquis’s mood.

Valenstein, however, simply smiled nonchalantly.

“Do we need to entertain such nonsense? A duel in the middle of a battlefield? And not even one-on-one, but a group fight… Even if we win, what honor is there in that? It’s just meaningless banter. A few arrows should make her retreat…”

Valenstein’s words stopped.

His eyes turned to the front of the plain. Specifically, to the flanks of the cavalry.

Five on the left, and five on the right.

The ten elite knights at the forefront of the cavalry were stepping forward.

“Wh-what…? Those guys…! Moving without the Marquis’s orders? We should stop them…!”

“…Let them be.”

It was a clear violation of discipline, but unlike the furious adjutant, Valenstein seemed indifferent.

After all, those ten weren’t exactly under his command.

In fact, calling them “ten” was a bit off. They were more like ten beasts.

‘Paladins… Isabella still can’t let go of her greed.’

Yes. To others, it might look like knights acting out of a desire for glory, but this was entirely Isabella’s doing.

She probably wanted to capture Princess Ha-shal-leur Ai-shan Gi-or and make her a plaything.

Once the battle started, there would be no more chances for that.

“Ten of them, perfect! I’ll turn them all into fertilizer for the plains!”

With a spirited shout, Or-han’s daughter drew her longsword.

In her left hand, clad in beast-like gauntlets, she gripped a spear with a dark sheen.

The ten elites dismounted and approached Ha-shal-leur.

Fighting on foot was better to take advantage of the chaos. Fighting a warrior from a tribe renowned for their horsemanship on horseback would be foolish.

Since they had dismounted to fight, she would have to do the same.

Even if it was ten against one, it was still a duel.

If the opponent chose ground combat over mounted combat, it was the knightly duty to comply.

If the challenger didn’t follow the proper rules… Ernst’s forces could rain arrows on them mid-duel, and no one would complain.

As Valenstein expected, Ha-shal-leur soon stopped her horse and dismounted.

‘Let’s see how much she’s improved.’

Valenstein watched the center of the plain with a relaxed expression.

Their steps toward each other gradually quickened.

Ten black iron weapons reflected the sunlight, gleaming darkly.

The colorful patterns on their armor fluttered brilliantly.

“Kyaaaah!”

With a fierce roar, a crimson mist swirled like a whirlwind.

A blue light shot through the mist, streaking like a storm.

Fifty thousand eyes turned to the same spot.

And then,

Eleven flashes of light collided like a shattered rainbow.

======[Ha-shal-leur]======

Hersela’s plan was simple.

Use myself as bait to take down all the enemy’s elite warriors.

If the soldiers see their strongest fighters fall to a single person, their morale will plummet without the need for a massacre.

If her plan works, the number of casualties could be minimized.

Only one thing is needed:

Never lose.

No matter how many I fight, no matter who I fight, I must win. That’s all that matters.

[Remember one thing. Until you fall defeated, I have no intention of intervening in this fight.]

Hersela’s final warning flashed through my mind.

[From my perspective, what you’re trying to do is nothing but foolish stubbornness… But if that’s your belief as a warrior, I’ll watch over you just this once. Prove it with your own strength. If you can’t even manage that, then you don’t even have the right to talk nonsense about reducing sacrifices. Understood?]

“…Yeah.”

A warning that since this was my stubbornness, I had to solve it on my own.

No, perhaps it was her way of giving advice. Her tone was icy cold, but in the end, she was saying that if I tried to do things my way and failed due to lack of strength, she would save my life in her own way.

Setting aside my thoughts, I looked at the knights charging toward me.

Ten masters. In the past, they would have been unbeatable enemies.

In truth, even now, there was no guarantee I could win.

But I couldn’t lose. I had to win.

To save the world, to protect people.

And for myself.

**So I believe.**

That I can win.

As if making a vow to myself, I silently swore an oath to no one.

I will win.

No matter who the enemy is. No matter what I have to fight. I will never lose.

The longsword I gripped shone like the sun.

Durandal.

The sword of oath that protects humanity.

A symbol of endurance and resolve, unbreakable in the face of any hardship.

Its first owner placed five restrictions on the sword for those who would inherit it, hoping that his final words would never be forgotten by his descendants.

The first restriction:

The wielder must pursue righteousness.

Second:

Fight to protect the innocent.

Third:

Raise the sword to destroy evil.

Fourth:

Stake your life to uphold your beliefs.

The final restriction:

Even against an unbeatable foe, believe in yourself and never retreat.

Over hundreds of years, the details of the restrictions faded from memory, but the sword’s spirit never forgot its owner’s final words.

And now, in this moment, all the restrictions were finally fulfilled.

The sword of oath, meeting its true master, offered its reverence in joy.

The light of the inscription spread, dyeing the entire blade in golden light.

A radiant golden glow, like the sun, illuminated the world.

Through the hilt I gripped, an endless vitality surged into me.

Until now, Durandal had always shone and lent me its power whenever I fought. But this was on a completely different level.

I didn’t know the reason. Was it responding to my resolve? Or was there some other reason?

I still knew so little about this sword. But there was no time to ponder.

The enemy was right in front of me.

Ten—no, ten Paladins. Each one a powerful monster with strength equal to a master, wielding ten weapons as they charged.

Longswords, halberds, spears, axes, even a massive hammer. A dark aura, like a heat haze, shimmered over the blackened metal.

…In the past, I couldn’t have easily cut through them. Would it be the same now?

“Ooooh!”

With a roar like a reverberating echo, three spears flew toward me.

There was no space to dodge. Even if I avoided the thrusts, I’d just be running into the other weapons.

Even if I could have dodged, I wouldn’t have.

**I believe.**

That I can cut them down.

Firm conviction filled the tip of my sword.

“Haaaah!”

I swung the sword diagonally, as if deflecting the spears. The dazzling golden blade carved a deep scar into the world.

There was no sound.

The dark aura wrapped around the black iron spears scattered like smoke the moment it touched the blade.

And then.

Everything along the trajectory was severed.

The smoldering miasma, the sturdy blackened metal. Even the two monsters charging relentlessly.

A slash as if the very space itself was torn apart.

The bisected monsters tumbled helplessly.

…The plains fell into silence.


You can get fewer ads when logging in and remove all ads by subscribing for just $2 per month.
Academy’s Barbarian

Academy’s Barbarian

아카데미에 오랑캐가 입학했다
Score 7
Status: Ongoing Type: Author: Released: 2022 Native Language: Korean
I possessed a character from a game I played. And to top it all off, I get to be a female warrior of a barbarian tribe with a bad ending. I have to escape.

Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Options

not work with dark mode
Reset