Chapter 698

======[ Ha-shal-leur, One Minute Ago ]======

It’s too late.

From the high skies above the city, I bit my lip as I looked down at the cityscape below.

Even though I flew here without rest as soon as my wounds healed, by the time I arrived, corpses were already piled up everywhere.

[What a mess.]

‘…Yeah.’

The people of Dane, perhaps suffering from gigantism after gaining the power of runes, had recklessly engaged in a plains battle with Ka`har and were utterly crushed.

The remaining forces, along with some winged female warrior, were charging toward a cliff like lemmings, engaging in a suicidal, frenzied battle.

Against the Black Armies led by War Chief Ibamai and the enemy forces turning the Dane cavalry into hedgehogs.

“Do you think the War Chief of Aishan would lose to some product of sorcery!”

Ibamai, clad in icy armor atop his horse, swung his axe, firing ice spikes as he rampaged fiercely.

…Honestly, it was hard to tell which side was the product of sorcery.

Frankly, his Heroic Tale looked no different to me than spirit or elemental magic, except that it consumed the Power of Feats instead of mana.

Anyway. Maybe because I’m not from Ka`har, but I couldn’t understand their standards at all.

They scorn creating ice with magic but praise creating ice with the Power of Feats and will. Isn’t that laughable? The result is the same either way.

Do they value essence over results? No, I doubt they have such philosophical thoughts.

They probably just see the enemy’s ice as cowardly cursed sorcery and their War Chief’s ice as a mystical technique.

“Sterkur stríðsmaður.”

Unlike Ibamai, who was rampaging with near-lunatic ferocity, the black-winged female warrior facing him was utterly calm.

“Sál. Söfnun.”

Flapping her black wings and wielding a storm spear, the winged-helmeted warrior muttered in an incomprehensible language.

Her emotionless, neutral voice was as cold as a machine or a doll, making her seem less human.

[What is that? A winged woman? I’ve never seen anything like that before. Is she human or a monster…?]

Hersela muttered as if amazed by the novelty.

‘Probably… a Valkyrie summoned by the Bølberg Church Order.’

[Valkyrie?]

‘Angels of the battlefield who strike warriors from behind, delivering sudden death and dragging their souls to the heavens…? Something like that.’

Every time she moved, a grayish divine light surged and burst forth.

The same attribute of divine light as the Eighth Apostle, Ragnar. No doubt. The entity rampaging below was undoubtedly Bølberg’s angel, a Valkyrie.

[What kind of… So they’re just despicable assassins? And they worship that? Are they lunatics?]

‘Who knows. Maybe they want to leave this world and live in the Heavenly Palace. Perhaps being a slave to a god is better than the life of an ordinary soldier?’

[Abandoning this life and freedom for a posthumous paradise under a god? Truly a weak escape. Now I understand why the Grassland People rejected shamans and religion.]

‘I think so too… but, well, people have different thoughts. If life is hard and harsh, some might think heaven is better.’

After deflecting Hersela’s sharp criticism with a half-hearted response, I glared coldly at the Valkyrie overwhelming Ibamai.

Considering Bølberg’s true nature, that thing was also my enemy.

If my guess is correct and Bølberg is another name for Alfodr, then Bølberg’s angel, the Valkyrie, is also a servant of the Ancient Gods.

…For now, I’ll leave it be.

If I get too close and it turns its attack toward me, the frenzied Dane forces might also recognize me as an enemy.

So, instead of descending into the heart of the Dane battlefield, I passed them by.

—

The situation inside the city walls was even worse than outside.

The streets were littered with the corpses of Imperial soldiers and knights, as if a carpet bombing had swept through, and fires raged everywhere.

Thick smoke reached even the height where I was, tickling my nose.

As I flew toward the inner fortress, I quickly scanned the city’s situation.

Leonor was overwhelming a Paladin with a rain of thrusts, and Nigel was blocking a path to the inner fortress, piling up the corpses of Grassland People.

The remaining masters of Landenburg, aside from Nigel, were also holding paths in a similar manner.

Hayden was swinging his twin swords like a storm, slicing through a group of warriors, while Michel was charging at Ka`har with his lance.

The Eighth Sword, Yan Ridel, swung his greatsword, cutting down both riders and horses, filling the alley with the stench of entrails.

And then, Ja-han…

“You filthy traitor! So the rumors of you bedding that prostitute every night were true!”

“How dare you spout such nonsense!”

The Crescent Moon Blade descended with a face twisted like a malevolent god.

The blade, filled with unbearable rage, split the enemy’s greatsword and helmet like firewood, pierced through the armor without hesitation, and finally struck the ground.

-KWAAAAANG!

Such was the force that Ja-han’s Crescent Moon Blade shattered into pieces upon impact.

The Paladin who had provoked him was split in half and fell to both sides. Foul excrement spilled from his severed entrails.

…When did he get so strong?

It was a strike so powerful that even a black iron Crescent Moon Blade couldn’t withstand it.

[Yes! That’s my Paladin!]

Hersela shouted proudly.

I was already focused on the heart of the inner fortress, so I didn’t have the energy to respond to her nonsense.

Thanks to the enemy’s forces being split between the exterior and interior of the city, the masters, including Leonor, were holding up decently… but the situation in the heart of the inner fortress was urgent enough to require immediate intervention.

Or-han, with armor in tatters but without a single wound, was pressing a sword against Joshua.

‘I’m going down!’

I turned my body toward the ground, spewing compressed Up-hwa from my feet to accelerate my descent.

Like a falling comet, fiercely.

======[Present]======

The explosion of Up-hwa dispersed the impact of my landing as I rose, greeted by the sight of the Empire’s heroes, battered and broken.

Joshua, on the verge of death.

Frederick, already dead, not moving an inch.

Even Heinrich, in relatively better condition, was trembling, clutching his split side.

Thanks to unleashing the Life Force Technique without reserve, I managed to prevent Joshua’s death, but it was only a stopgap measure.

Without immediate treatment, Joshua would soon breathe his last.

…Yeah. If they had faced Or-han without me, this would have been inevitable.

Pity and guilt fueled the burning anger in my mind.

The War Chief Hatan’s rant didn’t even register. It was just noise.

Annoying.

I drew my sword.

【Reversed Heaven】

The familiar, colorless silence enveloped me, comforting in its familiarity.

In this world, unfolded only for me, I approached Hatan, who couldn’t even blink, and severed his neck. It was too easy. In this near-frozen world, he couldn’t even react.

He didn’t even realize his neck had been cut, muttering a few more words after Reversed Heaven was released before collapsing.

The Heroic Tale I had just unleashed for the first time since reaching the limits of this world.

Its power had grown astonishingly, now capable of cutting down even hero-level warriors with ease.

“Next is you, Or-han.”

I declared, flicking Hatan’s blood off my sword.

I hadn’t even received the Winter Armor or the new Reverse Scale, and the five-layered Thunderous Rend that had destroyed the Indestructible Body was impossible to practice with just a black iron sword.

I had no means to pierce the Indestructible Body now. And with the Life Force Technique nearly depleted from flying here using Up-hwa…

Even if I handed my body over to Hersela, the remaining Life Force would only last a few dozen seconds before returning to normal.

Hersela seemed to sense this too, not even suggesting I hand over my body.

But that didn’t matter.

“Pushing your old body too hard, huh? You look pretty tired.”

Thanks to the efforts of Joshua and the Empire’s heroes, Or-han’s momentum had significantly weakened compared to before.

Unintentionally, it had become a battle of attrition. As it stood, I could win just by prolonging the fight, without needing to break the Indestructible Body.

“…How insolent.”

“Sorry about that. Never learned manners from my old man!”

I kicked off the ground, lunging toward Or-han. First, I needed to push him back from this spot. To give Joshua and Heinrich a chance to receive treatment.

“Must have forgotten!”

Or-han raised his Reverse Scale like a shield, covering his chest, and kicked a boulder embedded in the ground with his right foot.

-KWAAAAANG!

The massive rock shattered into fragments, scattering like shrapnel. Not toward me, but toward Joshua, who lacked even the strength to move.

No, would he really resort to such a cheap trick?

Caught off guard by Or-han’s unexpected move, I hastily changed direction, rushing toward Joshua. I couldn’t let the Joshua I had just saved die from a rock.

Durandal, swung like a storm, painted the sky with blue flowers. Everything in its path was severed. Stone dust rose like smoke.

“Yeah, I knew it!”

Or-han’s voice echoed like a taunt, having stopped me with such a cheap trick.

In that brief moment, he had turned his back and was fleeing toward the collapsed inner fortress!

“No, you’re running away?”

So absurd was his action that I muttered in stunned disbelief, my mouth agape. What was he thinking? Did he really think he could escape like that?

“Sir Median…! Hurry…! Chase him…!”

At that moment, Joshua, spitting blood—no, literally spitting blood—shouted.

“There, there is the Lord of the Borderlands…!”

The reason Or-han had resorted to such a cheap trick to create even a moment’s opening.