Chapter 702

Ai-shan Gi-or Or-han.

Hersela’s father, and due to the story I altered, unlike the original, he became the indestructible Kagan who unified the Great Plains and marched toward the Empire.

He never reached the Empire, and perished alongside the Empire’s shield that had been blocking him his entire life.

Leaving behind only mountains of corpses and a savage army running amok without their leader.

I left Or-han’s burning corpse where it was, slung the Red Blade he left behind over my shoulder, and staggered back to the command headquarters.

Whatever I do, I need emergency treatment first to move properly.

—

Due to Or-han’s assault and Ludwig’s death, the command headquarters was in complete chaos.

“The Lord of the Borderlands…! Elpinel, damn it, is this the end…!”

“Ugh… my arm, my aaaarm…!”

The critically injured, missing limbs somewhere, screamed for their mothers, while those who seemed relatively intact ran around with no idea what they were doing.

“How is Sir Blake’s condition? We must save him!”

“Where is Or-han! He must be exhausted too! Locate him and surround…!”

What a mess, really.

“Where is Or-han—”

“He’s dead.”

I leaned the Red Blade against the wall and approached them.

“Sir Median!”

One of the officers, finally noticing me, rushed over in shock.

A gray-haired old knight. His name was… right, Shane. One of Ludwig’s close aides.

“Are you unharmed? Truly, truly a relief!”

“Not exactly unharmed… but I’m alive, at least.”

Shane’s gaze, as he hurriedly approached, fell on my left arm, which had been blown apart from the inside, and the injuries covering my entire body.

His face instantly turned pale.

“Good heavens…! Call a priest, get a healing priest here!”

At Shane’s frantic call, those who turned their heads toward me scurried off like sparrows struck by lightning.

I slumped into the chair Shane brought, placed the Ice Blade on the nearby table, and lit a cigarette.

“These injuries… no, more importantly. Did you just say… did you defeat Or-han?”

At Shane’s question, the people around us also stared at me intently.

They probably had some idea just from seeing me return like this, but they needed to hear it from my mouth to feel reassured.

“Phew…”

I inhaled the minty smoke to soothe my dizzy head and pointed to one side of the wall.

“Yeah. I killed him. Crushed his heart and burned his body. That sword over there is the proof.”

The Slaughter Sword, stained with the blood and guts of countless Imperial soldiers, still gleamed with a vivid red hue. Or-han’s beloved blade. As clear a proof of death as his severed head.

“Is that… the Red Blade?!”

“If that sword is here, then…! Did Or-han, that nightmare of a monster, finally…?”

The faces of the officers and knights brightened somewhat. They had expected to die without a fight, but it felt like a lifeline had been thrown from the heavens.

“Oh… Elpinel, we thank you for your grace…!”

Some even knelt and prayed, despite not being priests or paladins.

…I’m the one who went through hell, so why is Elpinel getting all the thanks?

All that guy did was hand me a sword. And even that sword didn’t work against the Indestructible Body.

Well… in the end, Or-han also released his Indestructible Body and charged, so Durandal’s sharpness did help.

“Enough celebrating… So, how’s the situation?”

I leaned back deeply in the chair and threw the question at them.

With Ludwig, who was supposed to be the overall commander, dead, it fell to me and those gathered here to assess and manage the situation.

“…It’s unclear.”

“Unclear?”

My voice sharpened slightly.

You don’t know? Is that something the officers of the command headquarters should be saying? If you don’t know, who does?

“Yes. Due to Or-han’s assault, the command headquarters was paralyzed…”

“Ah… I see. Then there’s nothing to be done.”

I clicked my tongue and nodded.

Well, from their perspective, it was like a natural disaster had swept through, so they wouldn’t have had the presence of mind to assess the situation. I could understand that.

“Then, did you manage to save Joshua, Heinrich, and Frederick?”

“Sir Joshua is being treated. Sir Heinrich has returned to the frontlines. But Sir Frederick…”

The officer answering shook his head and trailed off.

“…I see. He’s dead, then.”

The death of Frederick, commander of the Empire’s 3rd Legion. A truly massive loss.

He was the Empire’s strongest combatant, having reached the Realm of Heroes after Joshua.

I exhaled a sigh mixed with cigarette smoke and pressed my throbbing temples.

Losing one of the four heroes already… the road ahead looks bleak…

“Sir Marquis Median, if Or-han is dead, shouldn’t we announce it? If they realize their king has fallen, their morale will…”

“No, wait on that. Treatment comes first.”

I dismissed the young commander’s cautious suggestion.

If they hear of Or-han’s death, the Ai-shan army’s morale will break?

That’s common sense, and I agree, but… you never know.

If the Ka`har flee upon hearing the news, that’d be fortunate, but there’s also the possibility they might go berserk seeking revenge for Kagan.

You can’t predict what those lunatics will do with common sense.

So, at the very least, I need to treat my wounds first to handle any sudden situations. Though the treatment is only a temporary measure.

—

“…This is serious.”

The healing priest from the Shaulite Church Order, who arrived shortly after, examined my left arm and hardened her expression.

“Broken bone fragments have pierced the muscles and nerves at the severed surface, and a vicious curse is corroding the injured area. This isn’t a wound that can be healed with a Healing Miracle.”

“Are you saying it can’t be treated?”

The priest’s expression was so grave that I couldn’t help but stiffen my own.

Being one-armed… that’s a bit too much of a problem. Way too much.

“That’s not it. If we amputate above the cursed area… about half a span up, and alternate between the Blessing of Purification and Healing Miracle for intensive treatment… it’ll take a long time, but you’ll recover eventually.”

So it can heal.

That’s a relief.

“Half a span up, huh.”

“Yes? Ah, yes. Thanks to your Demon Resistance, the curse hasn’t spread beyond that point—”

– Slice!

I immediately drew a dagger and cut off my arm above the forearm.

Due to Rotholandus’s blessing, only someone with strength like mine could cut off my own arm.

“Wh-what?! No, why would you…!”

The healing priest exclaimed in shock.

Well, of course she’d be shocked.

Even though I tightened my muscles to suppress the bleeding as much as possible, the moment I severed my arm, the gushing blood covered half her face and dripped down.

“Ugh… that’s it, right? Stop the bleeding, purify, and heal. Please.”

Clicking my tongue at the searing pain, I thrust the severed surface of my arm toward her.

“Ah, yes. Right away…”

The healing priest, who had been unconsciously clutching the severed flesh, nodded blankly.

She tightly bandaged my arm, poured holy water over it, and bowed her head in prayer with the Shaulite Church Order’s holy symbol.

“O goddess of mercy and warmth, who burns herself to light the heavens and embraces all creation with warmth…”

A crimson divine light descended upon my body, glowing briefly before fading as if absorbed.

Seeing this, the other sun priests also prayed to Shaulite and cast Healing Miracles.

As the miracles of seven priests combined, my dizzy and weakened body returned to a somewhat functional state.

Though, to be honest, it was just the bleeding stopping and the wounds closing. It would take who knows how long for my forearm to regrow, and the cut wounds would take at least ten minutes to fully heal…

But for now, this was enough.

Stacking more miracles wouldn’t drastically speed up the healing, and this was enough to at least fight.

“Thank you.”

I stubbed out my cigarette in the ashtray, picked up Durandal, and stood.

The Ice Blade… I’ll leave it for now. There’s no point equipping it with this arm.

“I’ll head back out. Spread the word throughout the city. The fact that their Kagan, Ai-shan Gi-or Or-han, has fallen by my hand.”

So they should retreat to the grasslands immediately.

“No, you plan to fight in that condition? It’s too dangerous!”

“That’s right. We’ve cast Healing Miracles, but your wounds aren’t fully healed. You need to rest first…”

Shane and the healing priest urgently tried to stop me. Well, of course they would. A critically injured patient rushing to the frontlines…

But…

“There’s no one else but me.”

I shook my head at them and sighed.

Yeah, I’d like to rest too.

I feel like lying in bed and sleeping for three days straight.

But what can I do?

In this damn Empire, there’s no one stronger than me in this state.

So… I have to do it.

For now.