Chapter 139: The Final Battle (3)
It’s the end of the world.
That’s what everyone thought.
A meteorite falls, and a giant flame consumes it. The sun absorbs its energy and shoots it down.
Beings beyond the limits of humanity.
What thoughts do mere mortals harbor when faced with the clash of heaven and earth?
What are the feelings of foot soldiers stabbing each other with swords and spears at the edge of an apocalypse where the atmosphere splits, the earth bakes, and the clouds of the sky evaporate?
And yet.
It’s not the monsters of the heavens and earth that set the stage for this battle.
Meteors and the sun are just triggers for war. In the end, it’s the infantrymen on the ground who carry the war.
“Get up there!”
Demons scramble up the walls, their bodies burning from the falling meteors and the aftermath of the sun that honors them.
“Stop the fucking bastards!”
Soldiers dropping and stabbing such creatures to death, as the knights who command them wield the power of concepts from the walls, and War Knights… War Knights of the highest rank, deploying the Legion Techniques.
Gildus, the First War Knight of the Lionheart Kingdom, looks down on the battle for the end of the world with a cold eye.
“Over a hundred meteors in three days. The land is becoming uninhabitable with nothing but debris.”
Will the land remain intact after this war? Even with the efforts of the Goddess of Earth and Fertility, it will take many years to recover.
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t look back. Even if the planet evaporates and the continents are cooked, we who are protected by the Lionheart King will survive.”
The land has become such a maw, then, that they don’t care about collateral damage, only victory.
Warnight Gildus stretched out his arms. His booming voice echoed throughout the city.
“Thicken the defenses of the city walls! Knights of the Dawn, Knights of the White Rose, mount your horses and charge!”
Knights in gleaming armor dismounted from their horses and climbed the walls. Armed with stardust swords and armor, the knights reached the ramparts where the siege tower had broken through the terrible conversational power.
“Kill them!”
“Kill them all──”
The gates of the siege tower burst open, and just as the demonic followers were about to pour out, they jumped back.
“Argh!”
“They jumped into the siege tower──!”
Knights are all-around warriors and even without the power of the Holy Law, they are specialists in armed warfare, and they single-handedly cut down a hundred demonic followers.
“…Kingdom bastards!”
Wolfhard, a former Imperial division commander, trembled at the overwhelming power of the knights.
In the three days since the start of the fight the million-strong army he started with was practically melted away.
Three days! A million casualties in three days!
The insane attrition rate was driving Wolfhard mad.
‘My troops don’t even obey my orders anymore.’
Who else is going to follow orders to charge into a maw that eats everything that lives?
Even if they had an additional million men charging at once, would they be able to overcome those walls?
‘We need to send in the high ranking demons! Even a simple war of attrition will only result in a one-sided defeat for this side!’
Wolfhard was about to ask the Caster of Prajna to give the order to mobilize the troops.
[I can see you’re getting tired, mobilize the 1st through 20th legions]
“……!”
The Demon Legions are a devastating force of over 100,000 demons each. Moreover, each legion was led by an Archdemon.
‘Damn it…! We’re expendable after all!’
With the Wisdom Lord tying up the Lionheart King and the demonic followers being consumed, the allied forces were becoming exhausted.
And now with over a million demonic followers expended, the demonic legions that had been using them as arrowheads to build up their power marched forward.
There was an army of thousands of terrifying high-level demons alone.
“Enemy Archdemons appeared!”
“Destruction!”
Among them, a fighter with huge horns, thick legs, and torn wings revealed a presence that could not be ignored.
“Big…….”
Its harsh breath burned away the oxygen. His arms, hard and thick as iron, pound the earth, and his head is lowered.
There was no mistaking that this was the precursor to a charge, a crushing charge that will crush everything in its path.
“Here it comes…!”
That’s the signal, stomping the floor.
“Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee……!!!”
The echoing roar is breathtaking but the priests have responded.
Fire spells rain down and thunderbolts fall from the sky but the priests are caught off guard by the enemy’s unexpectedly fast charge.
“Chet, we have to stop that charge!”
The Knight of the Sea and Waves raises his trident and charges the holy law. Waves poured from the dry air, blocking the Archdemon path.
The wave was not a point, but a plane, and the moment it struck the fiery demon, it burst into steam.
-Kaaaaaah!
Steam frosted the battlefield but the Archdemon leapt through the watery mist and landed on the ramparts.
“Oh, it’s up!”
It was a cow-headed red monster that could not have been more hideous and was exuding ferocious momentum.
By the time they realized it was there, dozens of soldiers had already been cut down by the giant greatsword.
“Damn…!”
The knight of the waves who had tried to stop the monster charged at him with his trident. The knight on horseback is one of the few who has ever managed to parry a charge.
“Fuck you…!”
-Bam!
The greatsword and trident clashed but in the next moment, it was the trident that broke.
“…….”
“Krrr…….”
At the split-second clash the knight crumbled along with his horse. Even the knights couldn’t keep their unity in the face of the Archdemon violence.
[That’s all you got, tin cans!]
The Archdemon roared and the roar was enough to drive the soldiers to despair.
“Shut up! You filthy bastard!”
[……?!]
With a poof, something leaps up and swoops down on the Archdemon. The demon’s greatsword, which traveled over three meters, swung out to block it.
[Haoh…….]
The impact of the clashing swords and the impact beyond the swords makes even his mighty arm shake, and the demon gives his opponent an intrigued look.
[Strong, I wonder if there’s ever been a stronger knight besides the Holy Knight.]
The Archdemon looks at the young knight, who doesn’t waver in the slightest under his searing gaze.
[Doomgore, the Archdemon of murder and destruction.]
“Aren, son of Antoine the Holy Knight and captain of the Brothers of the Sword.”
From what they heard, he’s not quite at the level of a Holy Knight, but they couldn’t believe he was strong enough to face an Archdemon.
“…….”
Aren clasped his arm, which was shaking from the collision earlier. Even though he was the one who attacked, just blocking it sent shockwaves through his body.
‘The Archdemons of destruction are known for their strength…….’
He heard that most of the Demons of Slaughter and Destruction have marched to the East, and he wonders if they are still there.
But Aren knew there wasn’t just one monster of this magnitude.
There were more than two dozen Archdemons to his left and right.
Archdemons of Destruction, Archdemons of Wisdom, Archdemons of Corruption and Archdemons of Chaos.
‘With His Majesty and Lord Loxley immobilized, we must do something on our own!’
Aren did not know. No, he couldn’t be bothered to care since this was not the only battlefield.
* * * *
When Jae-hyuk exited the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods, he found Ha-ri, looking restless and eager to rush to the battlefield.
“Senior, I’m done, too.”
“Oh, Jae-hyuk, you’re done too?”
Ha-ri looked at Jae-hyuk’s spear, which flashed with lightning. The treasure left behind by the Holy Knight of Thunder Knight was scattering destructive aura as if it was dissatisfied.
“I see…you haven’t gotten the recognition you deserve.”
“You’re the first to point out that it’s not a flicker.”
“No wonder.”
Ha-ri had seen the strength, will, and conviction of the Holy Knights time and time again. Their indomitable will is not something that can be easily inherited.
They would never recognize themselves as anything more than children in the eyes of the holy objects.
“…….”
Still, if that power were to be recognized…wouldn’t it help them on the battlefield right now?
“That’s enough, senior.”
“Huh?”
“That’s…not a place we can interfere.”
Jae-hyuk’s gaze looks beyond the city walls.
Meteors fly, battlefield sparks converge, and the sun shoots out rays.
That’s the battle between the Demon Lord and the Grail Guardian.
How long can ordinary soldiers and demons survive on a battlefield of such horrific destruction?
It was a full-scale doomsday battle that didn’t care about crushing continents and shaking planets.
The aftermath alone can wipe out an army of ten thousand units.
“Of all of us, only the Queen and Lord Yappy will be able to survive there. The last thing we need is to get ourselves killed at this gate, which is nothing more than a recreation of the past.”
“…….”
“Well, His Majesty is said to be victorious in this part of history anyway, and he killed three monarchs, right?”
That’s right. In the original story, Leon triumphs in the end. He slays every last demon and meets up with Ha-ri and the others who have come to explore the Black Gate.
Leon is a symbol of victory and the strongest man in the world.
Naturally, this battle must also be won in the end──
“Wait.”
“Senior?”
“The Last Grail plan…wasn’t it originally abandoned?”
“…… Wasn’t it?”
As they entered the gate and asked Leon for assistance, the forest sages decided to forge the Last Grail.
In the aftermath Isabelle, High Priestess of the Moon and Purity, was gravely wounded,
Antoine, Holy Knight of Iron and Blacksmithing, ascended,
The Holy Mother of the Temple of Ten Thousand Shrines and the Sages of the Forest were removed from the battlefield.
“History…has changed.”
The impact of a single Holy Knight on the battlefield is unimaginable but now three people of that lever are missing.
Beatrice and Yappy were sent to the battlefield, but Yappy armor was dismembered by the Wisdom Lord so he is no match for a Holy Knight.
A simple comparison of power alone would be missing two Holy Knights, and when you factor in the countless Sages of the Forest, the gap is even greater than it was in the original history.
“Can they win?”
The question was asked, and at that moment, the two of them felt uncomfortable almost simultaneously.
“Senior, look…….”
“I saw it.”
Evacuees rushing toward the Temple, their last refuge and in the midst of it all…….
“You guys, stop!”
Ha-ri and Jae-hyuk stopped a group of evacuees who were climbing the stairs towards the Temple. They looked puzzled at their sudden restraint, but Ha-ri’s gaze pierced through their center.
“Whoever’s wearing the robe over there, take it off right now!”
“…….”
Ha-ri stares, sword drawn, already convinced. The robed man is silent for a moment, then begins to giggle.
[You have a good sense, don’t you.]
The voice seems to echo from the bottom of the abyss, and the moment Ha-ri sees its twisted grin, she instinctively strikes.
A duality of divine flame and tidal power washes over him. Just as the holy laws, which only sweep through mortal beings, were about to graze the group of refugees, some of them threw up their arms.
-Kwah!
“……?!”
The waves and flames that had been raining down on them came to nothing. The Holy Law had been lifted by sheer force.
Was such a thing possible?
“Damn!”
At that moment, the sky rumbled and lightning struck as Jae-hyuk had struck them with the power of Ultima.
“Wow, this is some serious power! My power and precision have increased significantly!”
Using his inherited holy artifact, Jae-hyuk marveled at how much more powerful the lightning was and how precise it was. He hoped that he would be able to mortally wound some, if not all, of them.
[I wonder if there are two knights of the same rank.]
[No, one with the power of a holy relic.]
Despite being struck by lightning, the refugees…or more accurately, those in the guise of refugees, were remarkably unharmed.
Even a high-level demon would be incapacitated by a direct hit from the Holy Law, but they were unharmed.
And then there were the demons who peeled back the layers of human flesh to reveal their true forms, their sharp features memorable.
“Demons of pleasure and corruption…!”
There were four of them. No, that’s not all.
Of all the demons with a terrifying presence, there is one that emanates a particularly terrifying energy.
It was a well-dressed man in a robe and a sinister mask who gripped his chest with its sharp nails and bowed respectfully.
[I am the Fallen Archduke Quai, good day, and goodbye.]
A terrible malice was hidden in the polite voice that was directed at Ha-ri as a sharp ripple reached the nape of her neck in an instant.
“Huh?”
The moment Ha-ri’s voice sounded stupid in front of death. Someone grabbed Ha-ri’s shoulder and pulled her back, swinging a sword.
-Ka-ang!
“Hoh?”
Fallen Archduke Quai stared at the knight who blocked his nails, at the end of which was Holy Knight Gillingham of Sky and Thunder.
“I thought all the available power was at the city walls… I see there are still some left, huh?”
“Shut up, lowly thing.”
A blade swung sharply and a flash of light strikes Quay, who leaps backward to avoid it.
-Thwack!
“”……!!!””
The powerful explosion draws the Archduke attention to the direction the flash came from.
“I see His Majesty’s preparations were worthwhile.”
Standing there, with his face covered in bandages, was the High Priestess of Purity, holding a bow.
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