25 – The Slaughterer of the Battlefield
Teceloman began to sob. He looked around. Even though he considered himself in the most dangerous position, most of the knights who came with him were lying on the ground. It was evident from the blood-soaked ground that most of the fallen had died, without needing to confirm it.
“Damn it…”
He had lost another precious comrade. But he tried to focus on the battle, not paying attention to the bodies. If they were all annihilated here, it would be an insult to the deaths of the knights who followed him.
“Tekeloman. Give up. There are barely ten comrades left standing. It’s your doing. If you hadn’t let innocent civilians die, it wouldn’t have come to this.”
Gallad laughed loudly as he shouted. As if showing off his accomplishments, he stepped forward and spoke to Tekeloman.
“I have a proposition. If you kneel and beg for your life, I’ll spare your remaining comrades.”
Tekeloman trembled with his hands shaking. Without any hesitation, he charged at Gallad. But he couldn’t reach Tekeloman, who had already lost an arm and exhausted all his strength.
Clang!
With a clear sound, the sword was deflected.
“Captain Tekeloman!”
Some knights tried to approach Tekeloman, but the mages behind Gallad stopped them.
“Even if I die… I will take you with me.”
Even in a fallen state on the ground, Tekeloman crawled towards Gallad. He was much slower than before, but he still didn’t turn his back and chose to fight.
Gallad raised his head and licked his lips.
“Tekeloman. Just like how you saved my life in exchange for the Saintess, I will save your subordinates in exchange for your life. Is your pitiful pride more important than your subordinates?”
Tekeloman still held the sword in one hand and crawled forward.
“Do not insult… my comrades. They are knights, whether alive or dead. They won’t beg for their lives from villains.”
Gallad shook his head and kicked Tekeloman’s remaining palm with his foot, as if he was disgusted.
Tekeloman didn’t even scream and exerted all his strength to not let go of the sword. But it was only for a moment.
Thud.
Gallad stabbed a knife into Tekeloman’s hand and he let go of the sword. Even in that state, Tekeloman tried to swing his hand to grab Gallad, but Gallad easily avoided the attack with a slight movement.
“You lost to me because you tried not to become a monster. You’re not a knight, just a naive idiot who can’t grasp reality.”
“You’re rationalizing.”
Tekeloman shouted at Galad with eyes filled with flowing blood.
“Do not rationalize your actions by using me. You are despicable and live your life cowardly. The title of a knight is too much for you. Eventually, there will come a time when you will have to pay for all your sins.”
Galad looked down at Tekeloman with cold eyes.
“Yes, someday I might die on the battlefield too. But do you know something?”
The knight added, swinging his sword down.
“Nevertheless, it is not me who will die today, but you.”
Tekeloman looked at Galad’s sword descending from the sky. He did not avoid the battle until the very end.
“May peace come to the Phebron Empire.”
Thunk.
The sound of flesh being pierced by a sword could be heard. The knights all averted their gaze. Tekeloman also thought that he had died without any redemption. However, he did not feel any pain.
It was only then that the knight realized that someone was blocking his path. His hand was pierced by the sword, and blood was flowing. He murmured quietly.
“So this is the extent of your power. Pathetic.”
The man wearing tattered robes. And the bright red sphere floating above him. Tekeloman didn’t know who he was, but he knew as much as the girl standing next to him.
“You…?”
There was no way he could forget her. The girl who had cut off his arms and legs, stabbed his eyes, and begged him to kill her.
Her arms and legs, and even her eyes, had been restored.
“I came to help.”
When Fleamia the Saint raised her hands in prayer, Tekeloman, the commander of the Knight Order, had his severed arm restored, and the blood flowing from his body stopped. The wounds began to heal as if asking when they had been inflicted, and a miracle truly occurred.
It was the moment when Tekeloman once again realized the dignity of the divine power possessed by the Saint.
Tekeloman quickly assessed the situation. The Saint, the man, and the girl who looked like an assassin were his companions, and he realized that they had come to help them.
However, even if reinforcements arrived, nothing would change. The addition of just three people wouldn’t alter the situation. With the presence of the Holy Maiden, they could engage in battle again and again. Even if they were really to die, it didn’t matter. As long as they could stab a sword into that bastard’s face, they would gladly sacrifice their souls.
With that thought in mind, Tekello stood up and tried to rush towards the enemy again. However, a man in front of him blocked his way.
Macdarras.
He spoke briefly.
“Step back. I have a personal matter to attend to with that guy.”
“I don’t know who you are, but these guys aren’t ones you can handle alone. We need coordinated attacks because the mages in the rear and the knights in the front are also highly skilled. I’ll handle the enemy attacks from the front. I’ll leave the support to you in the rear.”
Macdarras looked at Tekello expressionlessly and spoke.
“Rest. Your role on this battlefield is over.”
Then Macdarras added.
“Knights usually reveal their names to opponents they respect. Remember. My name is Macdarras.”
Then he raised his hand towards the sky. Suddenly, from the corpses on the battlefield, thin lines gathered to form a sphere. The size of the sphere was incomparable to before.
Gallad, who was observing the situation, felt a chilling and fierce energy, although he didn’t know what kind of magic it was. He didn’t think that just one mage could change the tide of battle, but it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.
“Kill that mage first!”
When Gallad shouted, the mages behind him all began casting their spells at once. But it was too late.
“Pierce through.”
With Macdarras’s words, red fragments poured out from the sphere and rained down on the mages of the Kaorelden Empire.
Kwa-ah-gwang!
Heavy fragments fell from the sky like a massive hailstorm. The mages used barriers, but it was futile.
Cheng-kang!
The barriers were completely powerless against the torrent of red fragments and shattered into pieces. Then the fragments started embedding themselves into the bodies of the mages in the rear.
“Ugh… Ughhh… aaah!”
As the fragments pierced their bodies, the wizards twisted in agony. Blood flowed from their eyes and mouths, and they scratched at their bodies frantically. Only after their bodies became withered and dried up did they collapse to the ground.
The knights of the Pravion Empire who witnessed this spectacle stood frozen in shock.
Even Tecloman, the commander of the knights, did not dare to step forward. He judged that his movement would only hinder them.
“What on earth is happening…?”
Dozens of wizards fell to the ground with a simple spell. And the crimson sphere, presumed to be their weapon, not only did not shrink but grew even larger.
This was not ordinary magic.
“It’s a disaster…”
Quite literally, it was a disaster. Impossible to overcome with human power alone.
Unfortunately, the Kareldeon Empire did not give up. Although dozens of wizards were still being defeated in an instant, they had about 500 troops remaining.
“Give them a chance. Kill those who defect without pain.”
Naturally, no one accepted Macderas’s proposal.
Macderas began to run forward.
Swoosh!
A red whip sprang out of the sphere, and as Macderas swung it, the whip struck people at an unimaginable speed.
With each strike of the whip, people exploded into nothingness. The knights of the overwhelming numerical advantage of the Kareldeon Empire began to flee.
“Kill those who run away! Charge forward!”
Gallad shouted as he beheaded those who fled to the rear. The knights, whose escape route was blocked, charged forward again, but the result was obvious.
Their bodies exploded, and the life force remaining in their corpses was absorbed by the sphere once again.
Gallad could see it. The sphere. That was the key.
I don’t know how, but the man seemed to absorb the energy of the dead, causing the size of his body to increase, and he appeared to use magic based on that body. Gallad shouted with all his might.
“Don’t attack him, attack the body! Burst the body to stop the magic!”
As soon as they heard those words, MacDerrus stopped in his tracks.
And he started laughing like a madman.
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“After insulting and killing others without a care, it’s disgusting and amusing to see you believe that you won’t die. How about it? Do you think I’m overwhelming you because of that body? Do you hope that if you just get rid of it, you can survive? Hope is a good thing. It becomes the driving force that keeps people alive.”
When MacDerrus gestured, the body quickly moved back behind him. And it no longer absorbed any energy from the corpses. Instead, he just lifted a fallen sword from the ground.
Finally, MacDerrus swung the mana-infused sword.
Swoosh
With a brutal sound, ten men fell to the ground simultaneously from MacDerrus’ swing. With blood splattered on his face, MacDerrus looked straight at Gallad and laughed coldly.
“How does it feel now that hope is gone?”