EP.125 The road to the north (3)
It was a dark night.
The knights who had been marching forward to provide support to the battle line that had collapsed under the apostate’s control stopped. They felt strange. The torches that illuminated the path ahead went out one after another.
“······.”
The torch went out silently.
There wasn’t even ashes left from the fire. Although the light has been lost, the knights do not panic. Take a deep breath and look around. They are also skilled soldiers.
And then they meet.
A being that appeared in the darkness.
The knights’ gazes waver. They break out in a cold sweat. The spear knives they held shook noisily in front of the fear they faced. Someone clicks their teeth together.
‘disaster.’
One of the Four Plagues.
‘Ancient lich, Skeval.’
An indescribable being looks down on the knights.
“Ahhh···.”
Humans feel fear of beings they cannot understand. The same goes for knights. Even if they are skilled soldiers, they are just humans in the face of disaster.
gulp.
The knights swallowed dryly and shifted their gaze. The direction of hundreds of eyes is all the same. They see a ray of light that has not been swallowed up by darkness.
A being that is not just a human being.
A being chosen to fight against disaster.
‘The hero, Kyle Torben.’
Looking away from the pouring gaze, Kyle adjusted his grip on the sword. Platinum-colored starlight dwells in his eyes. Kyle raised his head.
『You are alone.』
A gurgling noise rings in my ears. What is contained in the multi-layered voices is mockery.
“······.”
Kyle looked back without saying a word.
There is a saint. There is a shrine. There are many soldiers. However, that ancient lich said, ‘I am alone.’ It’s clear what that means.
“···It’s enough to be alone.”
『You are arrogant, star child.』
Overlapping ridicule rings out.
Frowning, Kyle dragged the holy sword low. A halo of light shone brightly in the darkness.
-Skebal? That coward?
Funny enough, what comes to mind in this situation is his voice. A story I heard a long time ago lingers in my ears.
-Why would that guy be a coward?
– Laying traps, making altars, and mass producing traitors… It’s definitely annoying, but how many times has that Skull Gourd actually appeared on the battlefield?
The guy said
-If you exclude what I forcibly dragged out… there won’t be much, right? That means you’re a coward. There’s a lot they do, but they do it all in secret. Annoying.
The ancient lich Skevall is a coward.
There are so many things I do to show myself. They always act secretly behind the scenes.
-You’re a coward, right? That’s true, but…
but.
-But I’m not an idiot.
-You’re not one to miss the opportunity right in front of you.
When the moment comes to seize victory, the ancient lich always moves. There is no way to miss a gap. That’s why it’s annoying.
-Look at this.
-I never miss a chance.
The traces of the ‘altar’ engraved on oneself.
Raniel said while pointing at it.
Even then, Skebal did not miss the opportunity when Raniel was shaken. That skull has always been like that. If there was even a small gap, they dug in and pried it out.
Skebal appears on the battlefield.
That means only one thing.
‘Because I was confident of victory.’
Kyle clicked his tongue briefly.
‘is it.’
I have a vague idea why the ancient lich appeared here.
Troop loss due to apostate’s magic.
The front line retreats and the Demon King’s army concentrates in the east.
The Eastern Front on the verge of collapse.
The shortest route to the East.
When information meets information, an answer emerges. Kyle frowned at her as he pondered the answer. From the enemy’s point of view, he had no chance like this.
‘So, this is it.’
Was he waiting for you here?
Kyle strengthens the fingers holding the holy sword. In response, Skebal also moves his fingers. A bundle of spells is woven around long fingers.
『Be afraid.』
Skebal clenches his fists.
Kyle kicks the ground.
Sigh!
Kyle swung his sword amidst the pouring spells.
Disaster and warriors collide.
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2.
The fight between a wizard and a warrior is a fight of spacing. Wizards must keep their distance. A warrior must close the distance. What each other wants is conflicting. The moment the scale tips to one side, victory or defeat is decided.
And, the scales are always tilted towards the warriors.
Most wizards can’t deal with warriors. That is a well-known fact. The means to stop warriors who rush forward with determination are limited.
Even more so, if it were a warrior who reached the rank of superhuman?
‘It’s almost impossible to stop.’
That’s why warriors always have the upper hand against wizards. However, there are always exceptions.
Rebuild.
The ground shakes like waves crashing. The floor sinks. The terrain changes. There is nowhere to step. Kyle swung his holy sword towards the ground.
Suddenly.
The ground cut by the holy sword becomes flat. However, the moment Kyle takes a step, his feet sink into the ground.
Swamp.
Before we knew it, the land had turned into a swamp.
Since there is no place to hit, there is no speed. Since there is no place to put weight, there is no posture.
Nevertheless, Kyle swung his sword.
This is Kyle, who learned the sword from Kuntel, a sword expert. You must be able to swing your sword in any situation. That was Kuntel’s first teaching.
Sssssssssssssshhhh!
The swing of the sword turns the floor over.
Cut off the spell that seeped into the floor. Kick the floor and jump up. At that moment, the completed spell hits Kyle.
Flame balls rain down.
Lightning strikes, and bone spears shoot out from the ground.
Top-quality orders poured down like rain.
‘hot.’
The hem of my clothes is burning from the heat. My skin gets scorched by the bouncing lightning. Skin brushes against the bone spear. Kyle gritted his teeth and swung his sword.
Suddenly.
Swing the sword and cut. Sometimes I avoid it. What I can’t avoid, I trust my body’s resistance and hit it with my bare body. The wounds increase, but it’s okay.
‘Anyway, Sarah’s blessing…’
This is the moment when light tries to heal Kyle’s body.
Richie snaps his fingers.
Anti-Spell.
A crack is made in the blessing that surrounds Kyle’s body. Kyle’s eyes narrowed. He reflexively looks back.
“Kah, Kyle!”
Sarah hastily gives a blessing.
However, the blessing is never complete. Lich’s pronunciation is faster than the saint’s chant.
『■』
The pronunciation is all mixed up.
It is unclear how much incantation language is contained in the slurred pronunciation. There is only one thing to know.
Spell-Seizure.
Spell-reversal.
Sarah’s blessing was robbed.
The starlight-filled blessing turns black. Skebal snapped his fingers. As if in response, a sound comes from beyond the darkness.
Tap, tap, tap.
Black-bone soldiers pour out from beyond the darkness along with the sound of rolling bones. A reversed spell flows down over their heads.
Blessing.
Black light seeps into the skeleton of the Black Bone Soldier.
Skebal laughs as if he had been aiming for this from the beginning.
-Keeeeeeeeee!
The reinforced black bone soldiers let out a roar. Rushing towards Kyle. Kyle gritted his teeth and swung his sword. He can’t cut them all. The black bone soldiers cross Kyle and head towards the knights.
“Huh, huh!”
Damage occurs.
The knights are swept away by the strengthened black bone soldiers. Remia is shooting moonlight arrows, but it takes time to catch the Black Bone Soldier. The knights’ blood spurted out.
『I would have told you.』
derision.
『You are alone.』
It laughs.
The spell that filled the sky is still targeting Kyle. Several of them are aimed at Kyle’s back. Target her saint.
“Tsk!”
Kyle kicks the ground and swings his sword.
Although he succeeds in protecting Sarah, he fails to protect the others. The knights are swept away by the pouring spells. Confusion adds to the battlefield.
Blood splattered out.
The screams of the knights ring out.
Remia’s arrows rain down noisily.
Skebal laughs amidst the confusion. She weaves a spell on my fingers. An incomprehensible language fills the sky.
『There is no one who can intercept my spell.』
Skeval casts a spell.
『There is no one who can check the usurpation of spells.』
The spells weaved emit light.
『There is no one who can break my spell.』
A rain of spells fills the sky.
『There is no one who can send you to me.』
The ground is turned upside down.
A shower of chains entangles Kyle’s body. The body that has lost its blessing is slower than before. However, the battlefield continues to worsen.
“Therefore, you are alone.”
Kyle gritted his teeth and swung his sword.
Suddenly.
Cut down one spell.
Dozens of spells come to mind.
Okay.
Cut down the pouring spells. He uses his body to respond to spells aimed at the back. Kick away the falling chains. It rushes forward, stamping its feet and exploding mud.
『■■』
When you cut one, dozens come to mind.
『■■■■■』
When you think of dozens, hundreds come to mind.
『■■■■■■■■■■■』
If you cut down hundreds again and again.
The spell that filled the sky is targeting me again.
‘There is no end.’
There is no end, so there is no answer.
‘Was he this difficult of an opponent?’
no. Definitely not.
Originally, all of the spells that Skebal had concocted were intercepted. Stealing a spell? There is no way something like that could happen. Rather, Skebal’s spell was robbed.
‘If it’s the way it is.’
Sarah’s blessing would be taken away.
Even if you can’t close the distance yourself.
There was no chance of the rear ranks collapsing due to something like black bone disease.
『Look.』
Something happened that wasn’t supposed to happen.
『It’s nothing.』
Kyle knows the reason better than anyone else.
『Without the gray light, aren’t you nothing?』
That guy isn’t there.
There is no one to neutralize the spell, protect the back line, or stand in the front line to help him.
‘···once.’
Kyle looks back.
Knights filled with fear come into view. There are wizards mixed among them. They are wizards worthy of being called first-class.
“It’s okay just once, so stop the spell…”
Kyle stopped speaking and then closed his mouth.
The wizards’ eyes are trembling. There is no confidence in their eyes. I am not confident.
‘···There is no way we can stop it.’
The ancient lich, Skeval.
An ancient magician who has lived for hundreds of years.
The path of magic he has walked is long. He accomplished countless feats that would take a single person a lifetime to achieve. A person with first-class talent studied magic without stopping for hundreds of years.
Such a being.
There is no way a human who has lived less than a hundred years could understand the magic of such a being. Since you don’t understand, it’s impossible to stop it.
‘alone.’
The weight of those words strikes me again.
“······.”
It’s the moment when you have to make a decision.
‘If you ignore the back line and rush in, if you burn the starlight… you can kill it.’
However, what comes next is the problem.
If you abandon the rear ranks and rush in, all the knights will die. Perhaps, either Sara or Remia could be seriously injured.
A warrior should not pursue victory alone.
A warrior is a protector.
If you give up what you need to protect, you can hunt disaster.
But, is there any meaning to it?
‘···No, it has no meaning.’
Even if you prepare to sacrifice yourself and rush in to pierce that skull, you will only reduce the life vessel of that ancient lich by one. Skebal comes back to life somewhere again.
“······.”
Kyle looks back while cutting down the pouring spells. What came into view were exhausted and injured soldiers. Sarah’s robes are stained with blood. Remia is shaking out her empty quiver, holding it upside down.
‘···is it.’
Kyle makes a decision.
“······Retreat.”
The warrior decides to retreat.
The warrior who should be the symbol of victory admits defeat. The knights’ eyes shake at that fact. The swords of the knights, who were struggling despite feeling fear, stopped for a moment.
They look at Kyle in disbelief.
Kyle shouted again.
“Retreat! “Give up the Eastern Front!”
Defeat spoken of is humiliating.
Kyle grits his teeth as he endures the humiliation. The ancient lich laughs as he watches them retreat.
That day, the warrior was defeated by the ancient lich.
It didn’t take long for the rumor to spread throughout the royal capital.
3.
The road heading north.
I talked to Lark quite a bit in the carriage. It wasn’t because I had no one to talk to except Lark.
‘It fits surprisingly well.’
Lark nods his head no matter what I say. He agreed without any doubts, and it seemed like he had quite a story to tell.
“Indeed, that’s right…”
Above all, Lark was simple.
Lark’s questions were simple and fundamental, so there was a lot to talk about. You know why. Who is stronger than anyone else? Same, really one-dimensional questions.
“Now that I think about it, Professor.”
Lark suddenly asked me a question.
It was still a simple question.
“Professor, who do you think is the strongest wizard?”
“Of course I…”
“me?”
“Aren’t you the gray wizard Raniel, the wizard who received three stars from I…?”
“Is that so?”
“···Lark, why do you seem to think differently?”
I narrowed my eyes.
Lark answered breathlessly.
“No, I was wondering if there was an ancient dragon wizard too…”
“Hey, that guy is out of the question. To begin with, that guy isn’t even a wizard. Not even human. “What can I say, the existence itself is a bit different.”
“yes? “For some reason, it feels like we’ve met each other…”
“···I heard it from Raniel.”
I hastily added an afterthought.
“But wouldn’t the next one be Raniel?”
“He is said to be the strongest wizard in the human world… I think Raniel will definitely come next.”
“yes.”
“Hmm,” I nodded, then blinked.
It was because I felt like I was recognized within a limited scope.
“But, you’re the strongest in the human world?”
“yes? Ah, I wonder if there are strong wizards in the demon world…”
“···For example?”
“Like an apostate or an ancient lich…”
“Apostates are not wizards. He’s a summoner. “That crazy bitch shouldn’t be considered a wizard.”
“yes? Resty is not a summoner…”
“···Lesti is different.”
I was silent for a moment.
‘···f*ck, I’m not even in second place, am I?’
No, but apostates have strange arms. Among pureblood wizards, I am the strongest. I decided to think so.
“Then the ancient lich, Skebal…”
“He’s a piece of shit.”
“···yes?”
“You get beaten up by the gray wizard all the time.”
“uh···.”
Lark had a very mysterious expression.
I nodded and smiled brightly.
“Anyway, the gray wizard is the strongest.”
“Oh, I see···.”
I felt like I was reluctantly agreeing, but whatever.
‘That’s all true.’
I only told the truth without a single lie.
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It’s not yet… 12 o’clock… not…!
